

Teuta Varinia
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Sarah
About Teuta Varinia
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Freedwoman
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Annabel Scholey
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Location
Rome
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Fast
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Face Claim
Annabel Scholey -
Location
Rome -
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Recent Posts
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Varinia's brows rose in surprise at Jannus's revelation. He'd wandered away from his family and a Roman cavalryman had just... picked him up and taken him. In her village, if a legionnaire had even taken an interest in a wandering child he would have deposited them back in the village, but her lands had not been in the process of being conquered. That happened long ago now. She supposed, in war, anyone was considered a possible captive. And now he was here, so far from his home, and from the sound of things with little memory of it. "I'm so sorry. You must have been very young." The thought of having a child wander off and not come back, or even seeing them be scooped up by a soldier and carried off, made Varinia's heart clench in her chest. She'd only had the one child, but even if she'd had ten, she would have mourned the loss of one, especially so young. It had been so hard to be separated from Teutus and he'd been considered a man grown. She felt for Jannus's mother, wherever she was. And she felt for the little boy, now a young man, who had lost her.
But Jannus had asked her what her home had been like. "It was beautiful." She told him, grey gaze looking back across the years. "We lived in a great, broad valley, where we herded cattle and made cheese. I used to swim in the little river that ran past our village; you could follow it all the way to the big river where Lutecia is. It was our town before the Romans came, but that was more than one hundred years ago now, and it's much bigger; I only saw it once. But where I lived was quiet, peaceful. You could see the mountains in the distance, topped with snow in the winter. We usually only got frost, and the summers were gloriously warm, with flowers in the grass and bright leaves on the trees. It was very green, and we grew fruit as well. I remember helping my parents and siblings to pick the ripe berries." She smiled shyly, realising she might have said more than he really wanted to know. She didn't often talk about her past. "But I was sold as a young woman. We had several bad years, and the food ran out, and I had a lot of brothers and sisters." Selling her meant buying food for the rest. She'd never forgiven her father, and she still toyed with the idea of asking Teutus if they could take a trip there one day.
Inside the shop smelled of wood and oils, shavings and sweat, and all around were arrayed items of furniture in varying states of completeness. Varinia ran her hand along the back of a chair with a particularly fine carving, momentarily distracted, before addressing the shop slave who came forward and explaining that she was there to collect the loom she had ordered.
"Did you do any interesting jobs for your last owner?" She asked Jannus whilst they waited. He'd been sold as a runner, but had he done anything else?
@Insignia
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You know him well?
She did. Or she had. She thought she did, but was Tertius still the man she had known? Of that she wasn't certain. He'd certainly been welcoming when she went to visit him, and she felt that they understood each other, but then her son would say something and she'd wonder. And now, suddenly, she was looking at another young man who, in the right light, could have been brother to her son.
"I do." She said at last. "I've known him for many years." Though not over the most recent of those years. She hoped that they were now able to bridge that gap at least somewhat. But what was this young man to him? Only one way to find out. "Tertius is father to my son, and I'm wondering whether it's only my imagination that thinks you look an awful lot like him as well?"
Please, she silently begged the Gods, let this be a nephew or something. A cousin. Secundus's long lost brat. Not Tertius's; not again. Let him have been able to keep it under his tunic, just for once. Not for her sake, but for his.
@Atrice
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He seemed like such a bright and carefree young man, warm and interested in what she had to say, which was a rarity for a woman who'd spent her life as a slave. It made Marcus's company very enjoyable, even if they were a bit of an odd pair. But that was part of what Saturnalia was all about.
Varinia's achievements and celebrations were, in the grand scheme of the Empire, very small things, but she treasured them. Surely someone born to the Empire's upper echelons would have many things to celebrate? But as he glanced away and his smiled faded, she realised with a sinking feeling that her light-hearted question hadn't proven the opportunity to count their blessings that she had hoped. Rather the young man across from her suddenly looked rather lost. She watched him throw back his wine and stare into the cup morosely. "I'm sorry Marcus." She said, reaching across to squeeze his hand. "I assumed that a charming and well bred young man like yourself would have much to celebrate." Whilst one could suggest that one who was a member of the Patrician classes could surely have little to complain about, perhaps it just went to show that people from all classes had problems and disappointments, and that they really were equal before the Gods, as this celebration intended.
And much as she would love to be able to fix things for him, whatever the problem was, she was pretty certain that whatever troubled a young Patrician would be beyond her means to remedy. Perhaps distraction was better. "A future is always worth celebrating. 'Do not begrudge getting older, there are many who are denied the privilege'." She quoted, unsure who'd originally said them, but certain they were wise words. "So what's your next step? Are you doing the..." she waved her hand, searching for the words, "the cursus honorum?" That was it. Secundus and Tertius had done it.
@Atrice
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The quiet of winter had changed the household's routines due to the change in Teutus's business practices, but Varinia had adapted to it. In some ways the winter lull reminded her of the lifestyle growing up in northern Gaul, where snow would make many activities impossible in the winter, and the household spent much time inside. In some ways this felt much the same, and she actually enjoyed it. Plus it meant she had more time with her son. Their simple ientaculum of bread and oil had been cleared away, the morning chores seen to by herself and Persephone, the boys sent off on errands, mostly to get them out of the house. Olipor tended to gravitate as close to her cook fire as he dared because of the cold, so she'd given him a pot to stir.
All was well, and at last she had the opportunity to do something she'd really been looking forward to. Her first loom had arrived, a simple warp-weighted loom, which was a good way to start. She'd put in an order for a two-beam loom but had been told that there was a significant wait for the more complex item. In the meantime this would do nicely. She had skeins of wool all spun and ready, so she was now winding out the warp, which involved using a few items of furniture, and her son's arm, as points around which to wind the strands. They had to be a certain length for the cloth, plus the extra to tie to the loom beam and the weights, and in this small apartment that meant there was soon a maze of string around everything as she measured and wound.
Sitting where he'd been told and keeping the tension taught, Teutus was watching her work and keeping her company. He spoke quietly as they chatted back and forth.
Charis came by over Saturnalia... I invited her to dinner in a week or so. Just her, and her baby.
Varinia looked up and smiled. "It would be good to see them." She said warmly, before focusing on the wool in her hands again. "Let me know which day, and I'll get something special for cena." She told him, thinking that it would be nice to see Charis again, and her darling little boy of course. Being in much the same situation as Varinia had been, all those years ago, she had a lot of fellow feeling for the younger woman.
@Sharpie
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I do also. Or, I almost know people here.
It was an odd response. Then he amended his words, trying to explain. I am not sure it is good. He knew Tertius, or someone in Tertius's household, but perhaps didn't get on with them? Or wasn't welcome? She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling it was something like that. How did this clearly foreign man know someone in Tertius's household? Unless it was Charis; but she had a very different accent.
Then he turned to look at the door again and the sun caught the line of his jaw, his nose, his cheekbone, and Varinia felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She'd seen that profile before; not just in her erstwhile lover, but in her son. Could this be? Tertius had served in the provinces, Germania if she'd heard right, but she had no real concept of where that was or what Germanic peoples were like. She studied his profile, trying to tell herself she was imagining the resemblance, but she could still see it. He was a few years younger than Teutus, but with a shave and a haircut, could easily be his brother.
"It's Tertius, isn't it?" She asked bluntly.
@Atrice
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He had an accent, that much was obvious from his first words. And his Latin was fluent but not polished. He was a foreigner, or at least had been born elsewhere. Like herself, though after the majority of her lifetime spent in Rome, Varinia's accent had disappeared. It only made her wonder more what the man was doing here. But he seemed friendly enough. Of course, that could change in a moment, but she was determined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
You know people who are live here?
She followed his gaze for a moment. Definitely Tertius's domus. Varinia felt a little shiver down her spine as her suspicions seemed to be confirmed. This man was loitering outside Tertius's house. "I do." She said cautiously. "Do you?"
Who was he? And why, of the whole of Rome and the Empire, was he here?
@Atrice
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Unaware of her companion's inner monologue of conflicting impressions and concerns, Varinia continued to peruse the markets, listening as Jannus answered her question. Britannia. The most recent of Rome's conquests. He might well have been captured as part of those conquests, but he was young. "Did you not go very far from your village?" She asked, when he said he didn't know where in Britannia he was from. Many people's horizons had expanded exponentially when the Romans came, and Jannus seemed such a quiet soul. Thoughtful, or scared.
"I'm from what the Romans call Celtic Gaul." She told him, glancing over her shoulder. Since she'd asked him she felt she should share. "A village not far from their town of Lutecia. They call us Parisii." Though of course her people would have had their own names for their tribe, and those around them. But it was over one hundred years since the Romans had come, there was no one alive who remembered their arrival when she was a child. Jannus's people would be very different. And from what she understood their lands were not that far apart.
"The carpenter's just up here." She gestured, heading for one of the shops that ringed the Emporium Magnum.
@Insignia
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Well maybe you're making a new one tonight.
Having revealed why she wasn't with her old friends this night, Varinia smiled at Marcus's words. "I would like that Marcus." She replied easily. Whether he'd still want to be friends after Saturnalia was another question, but this whole festival was about living in the now and she could do that.
She voiced her guess that gaining freedom wasn't something Marcus would ever have to worry about, and he confirmed it. No real surprises there, but she listened to him speak. No slaves of his own, and he was young, so someone else must be pater familias if she understood Roman customs correctly. Perhaps he would be in time, but she wouldn't ask. It was none of her business. Then he suggested that she must have been good to be freed, or purchased her freedom.
"Neither, though I assure you I was good." She said, with a cheeky twinkle in her eye. "My son bought me and freed me. He was born to the son of my previous master, and freed by his father when he came of age." Which was a bit convoluted. No real need to go into further details. "So now I have my son back, and my freedom as well. So I have much to celebrate." She declared, raising her glass.
She considered the young man across from used, who had no slaves no his friend his night. "What about you Marcus, what do you have to celebrate?"
@Atrice
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"It was hard." She agreed simply, then she shrugged. "But dwelling on the past gets me nowhere. My present is much brighter." She said, then nodded slightly in answer to his next question. "I was young, though no younger than many Roman women." After all, the Romans considered a woman marriageable once she'd had her first blood. So some had children as young as she did. So now she had a son who was a man grown, and she might yet be young enough to have another child, though the chances were low. As that thought flicked through her mind she felt a small pang; perhaps she should consider whether that might be something she wanted enough to have a man in her life again.
I guess you must know him well. Since… you have known him for so long.
"I did." She agreed. "But we've both changed since then. Grown up, for a start." Again that little shrug. "We'll just have to see." There was only one way to find out what kind of man Tertius was now, and that was to speak to him. And she would. It was a meeting she was both anticipating and dreading, because what she remembered and what she heard about him were very different; and the outcome could be just about anything.
Then Alexius said he should be going. "Don't apologise, I enjoyed talking to you." She said honestly. "Thank you." She replied. It was good to know that there was someone else that Teutus knew and she could rely upon, in the insula. "Feel free to drop in again, if you're hungry or just want to chat." But Teutus was probably waiting for Alexius down at the warehouse. "And here." She turned away for a moment, then turned back and pressed two pears into his hands. "Give one to Teutus for me." The other, of course, was for Alexius.
@Atrice
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It had been months since she'd shown up at Tertius's door to announce her freedom. Months since he'd welcomed her in and they'd had their conversation. It had gone far better than she'd feared, and their friendship seemed to be working well. Tertius had his world, she had hers, and occasionally they crossed. In fact, when Teutus had something to send his father, she'd offered to take it herself. It was enjoyable to say hello occasionally, and she didn't need more than that. The fact that her yellow linen chiton and blue palla spoke of the spring in the air, and her fibulae were brightly polished meant nothing, of course.
As she walked up the street, she noticed a young man leaning against the wall opposite the Domus that was Tertius's. He might be resting or lingering with greater intent, but as she drew closer, Varinia noticed that his gaze often focused on that particular door, then moved away. Hmm. If he had business with Tertius, surely the man would just knock. She knew little about his work, but did know that it involved the law, and the untangling of legal matters. Might someone who didn't feel well done by seek some sort of revenge? Or could the man be a thief, casing the house? Or perhaps he was simply tired and had to look somewhere.
There was one way to find out, and the woman who was everyone's mother and general busybody knew just how to do it.
"Good morning." Varinia said with a smile as she approached. "Are you alright?" She added, a touch of concern in her tone.
@Atrice
Topics I Participated In
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Like mother, like son
Started by Teutus Quinctilius Varus ·
Two days after Saturnalia, 76AD
Winter was quiet, as far as business went. It was dangerous to sail from about November through to some time in February - it didn't mean that ships didn't sail in those months, just that those months were more prone to storms at sea and so the most prudent sailors preferred to winter in some port or other. Which was just fine by Teutus, who was well enough aware that he had built flexibility into his business plans. Winter was a time to ensure the warehouse was clean and tidy, ready for new stock to come in.
And right after Saturnalia was a very quiet time indeed, with no need for Teutus to leave the house for business purposes. Which meant that he was at home today, watching as his mother set up her new loom.
"I don't think I mentioned it earlier, Mama," he said quietly. "Charis came by over Saturnalia... I invited her to dinner in a week or so. Just her, and her baby."
@Sarah
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Walking In The Air
Started by Wulfric ·
Late March, 77AD
It had been a while, since he’d been back here last time. He had actually come back a few weeks after Charis had come to see him at the market. And he’d had time to think the whole thing over a few times. He still didn’t quite grasp how such a sweet and kind girl could turn into the opposite over such a short span of time. She’d been so nice and friendly when he met her at his father’s domus. She even said she took his advice for Peregrinus and sleeping habits. But then she came to him at his job at the marketplace and told him to leave Rome and not come back. Few had treated him nicely here in Rome. Most seemed to misunderstand him or simply just not understand him at all. There was nothing for him here. Or, not much.
He had tried to not give up too easily. He had told Charis the truth about why he was here, just like he told his father. Why would they not believe him? But he said to his father after that dinner party, that he’d be back and so he kept his promise, at least to begin with. He was stubborn. His mother had sometimes said that he inherited that from his father. He never saw that before… but now that he knew that Wulfstan was not his father, he understood. He had come back to his actual father’s house quite a few times, knocking on the door and walking inside. This was his father’s house. He was not just yet another visitor here, so why should he wait outside? Yet every time he was met by a slave and eventually asked to leave, because the Dominus was not at home.
That had happened quite a few times over the next few months. Antonia was apparently never at home either, so he'd never met his half-sister. And if Charis was there with Peregrinus, she stayed out of the way. Eventually he stopped coming. Charis was right. He clearly wasn’t wanted. Not by anyone but his half-brother Teutus it seemed. At least they got along. Time went by… and now springtime was coming and he had always planned he’d return to Germania when next spring came. That time was now. He had finished with the warehouse at the marketplace and had told the landlord of the insula he lived in, that he was leaving very soon.
And now, he showed up in front of his father’s house one last time. To tell that he was leaving. He didn’t expect them to be sad that he had to leave. He wasn’t sure what he expected. But it felt right to tell them. So there he was, outside the house, pulling himself together to knock on that door. Why didn’t he just do it? It felt so… final, somehow, to do it. Rome had not always treated him nicely, but still, it wasn't easy to just say goodbye, was it? Once he left, he wasn't sure he'd ever come back, after all. He might not see any of the people he met here, again. Wulfric sighed and leaned against a wall opposite the front door to his father’s domus.
(( OPEN THREAD FOR ANYONE ))
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A day at the markets
Started by Teuta Varinia ·
March 77AD
The year was beginning to warm, and that put a spring in Varinia's step as well as in the year. She'd thrown open the windows of their little insula apartment and washed and hung the blankets out of them to air and dry. Next she was going to go through everyone's clothes and find what needed mending, or replacing. Then she would consider what else their little household might need. Teutus had told her that she could buy whatever she wanted, but she was determined to be careful with their funds, and acquired what they needed as they needed it. But now at least she could afford better quality goods.
Varinia stood out amongst the Romans. Dressed in a rich, brown chiton that matched her wavy hair, carefully coifed by Prosperpina, and a pale blue palla that brought out the grey in her eyes, she might dress like a Roman woman, but she was too tall and too pale to be anything but barbarian stock. Jannus, she'd noted, seemed to have similar heritage, and a Roman might have mistaken them for mother and son. She hadn't really had much of a chance to talk to the young slave; he shared Teutus's room unlike the little boy Amandus who shared hers along with Proserpina. Poor old Olipor slept in the main room. It felt odd, having been a slave and now keeping them, and Varinia tended to treat them more like family; like the children and grumpy old uncle she'd never had. Perhaps she'd have to make time to sit down with each of them.
First however, she needed to shop for food. And for a very special collection. She'd spent much of the winter spinning fleece, and now the loom that she had ordered was ready to be picked up. Varinia had to admit that she was quite excited. She'd always spun for her domina as a slave, but it was only her last mistress who had taught her to weave. Now she was free and, as the woman managing the household, it was her duty to see them properly clothed. And would she ever. She'd already dyed some of the spun wool and planned out the fancy weaving she was going to do for Teutus's new tunica; then she'd see to the rest of them. There were six of them crowded into the three rooms of the insula, but Varinia was loving her new life. Teutus made mention of the idea of getting a bigger place every so often and she wouldn't mind that, but she was in no hurry. She didn't ask for much and, for the first time in her life, she was getting more than what she asked for.
She had however asked to borrow Jannus for the day; she needed someone to help carry the loom home.
@Insignia
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Where the f... is Tiberius?
Started by Marcus Junius Silanus ·
Saturnalia, 76 AD
It was Saturnalia and that meant many nights of having fun. The first night Marcus had spent in his own home, or rather, his mother’s husband’s home. Marcus had never been adopted and didn’t really consider Tusca his father at all. But he was there, for the dinner and to have fun with the slaves. Or they had fun with him. Apparently he deserved a lot of pranks, but he supposed he should have seen it coming, with how he often treated them. This was their only chance at getting back at him. But this was only the first night.
Days went on, more nights came and one evening he thought that maybe he should take Tiberius out for a drink or two. Or ten. He deserved a bit of fun! So off Marcus went to the palace, only to find out that his friend wasn’t there. The praetorians had not seen him and his body slave wasn’t there either. Claudia couldn’t be lured out and besides, her bodyguard was missing as well. There were a lot of people missing from the palace, Marcus learned. What worried him most was Tiberius though. It was one thing to go out with Marcus, at least they’d be two then. But alone? Tiberius, with his history, alone in Rome on Saturnalia?
So out he went again, to look for Tiberius. Where the fuck could he have gone? He didn’t even know what he was wearing. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but he was determined to find his friend before something went wrong. He couldn’t have gone far, surely, without a litter or anyone guarding him. Marcus went in the direction of the Forum Romanum first. Something interesting was bound to happen at the Forum and maybe he’d find Tiberius there. On the way, he stopped many people to ask if they'd seen his friend. Maybe one of them would actually have a useful response?
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I just called to say...
Started by Teuta Varinia ·
Late August 76AD
She had to do it. It had to happen. Probably it would amount to nothing, but it would at least close a chapter in her life. The young girl she had once been, the one who still carried a torch for the young man who had seduced her, who had fathered her child, demanded it. The more pragmatic woman knew that the young girl was likely to get her heart broken one more time, but at least it would be the end of it.
She had to see him.
Prosperpine had done her hair in an elaborate and very modern style and even applied a little make-up. Not too much, she didn't want to look like she was negotiable, even though she was still an attractive woman with a good figure, just no longer an adolescent girl. But he knew that, they'd basically grown into adulthood together, or at least in the same household. Being unwed she wore not the stola but a rich, brown chiton, offset by a pale blue palla that she wore draped around her shoulders and pinned with a polished bronze fibula. It was the finest clothing she'd ever owned, and thanks to her son and her body slave, she felt like an Augusta.
That feeling slipped for a moment as she approached the family domus where she had been a slave for so many years, but she reminded herself that she was a slave no more, and importantly had not been freed by Tertius, so was not beholden to him. Taking a deep breath, she straightened up, caught the drape of her palla up in her left hand, and rapped smartly on the door.
@Atrice@Sara
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Leave The Door Open
Started by Lucius Antonius Alexius ·
Early August, 76 AD
Well lately had been eventful! It wasn’t like he was bored at all with the job he had with Teutus, the warehouse gave him plenty to do. And then he happened upon Ovinia, such a beautiful young woman in need of a proper guard, and he’d escorted her home. And now her father would pay him to escort her out from time to time too. But he liked not being bored and he liked meeting interesting, intelligent people. And who wouldn’t like to spend some time in the company of a lady like Ovinia, even if he should not think further than to actually guarding her. Not with his entire body. Only if he needed to.
Gods, what a night it had been! He stretched in his bed. The company he had for the night had already left, he probably had to go to work, and Alexius was alone. Lexus usually also left early for his job and he had it all to himself. He wandered out to splash a bit of cold water in his face and emptied a cup of wine that stood on the table, although it had turned sour over the night. Oh well, a bit of wine was better than nothing, best not to let it go to waste, right?
But he was hungry and had little to eat with the wine, so what to do about that? He tossed a tunica over his head and left the small insula. He didn’t feel like going down to the street just yet, so knocking on some door to ask if they’d share some morning bread with him was the next best thing. And he had many friends in the house now. First he considered Didia, but decided she too would be busy working now. Maybe Teutus was at home?
He ran both hands through his hair to try and set it, although it probably didn’t work, and then he went knocking on Teutus’ door. He had a larger insula than Alexius had, and he knew Teutus bought some slaves recently… maybe it would be one of them, answering the door?
@Sarah
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Teuta Varinia
Started by Sarah ·
Teuta Varinia
41 | 12 April 35 | Freedwoman | Mother, to everyone | Bisexual | Wanted | Annabel Scholey
Personality.
A quiet, pragmatic woman, Varinia is what happens when the romantic young girl grows up. She has loved, and she has lost, and she feels she's lost more than she's loved. She didn't ask for this life, but it's the one she has and she makes what she can of it. Obedient and dutiful, if sometimes wistful, she holds her eternal sadness close, adding to it as life's disappointments grow over the years. But she is never without the tiny spark of hope, the young girl with big dreams is still in there somewhere.
Appearance
Tall compared to most Roman women, Varinia has a willowy build and lightly tanned skin with a few freckles across her nose. Thick, wavy brown hair frames her face, with a few grey hairs at her temples. Her eyes are grey and deep set, sometimes appearing dark at a distance. Time has given her lines around her mouth and across her forehead, suggesting that she's frowned more than she's smiled, which is a shame because her smile lights up her face.
She keeps herself neat in appearance, and as well dressed as what she is provided with allows. Particularly she takes care with her hair, to brush it well and do it as elegantly as she dares. It's her one little indulgence. Otherwise is a practical woman of necessity.
Family
Father: Vopiscus
Mother: Danu
Siblings: Litogena, Cathirix, Viction, Sama, Indercilia, Perula
Spouse: None
Children: Teutus Quinctilius Varus
Extended family: Unknown
Other: Tertius Quinctilius Varus is the son of Varinia's former owner, and father of her son Teutus.
History
Childhood
35AD, Born the second child - and second daughter - of a Gaulish farmer in the north of the province, the young girl they named Viriana was a lively and energetic child. She loved the farm, working with the animals, spinning the wool, tending the crops and helping her parents, especially her mother as Viriana grew older and her parents' brood grew. The next two children were sons, and three daughters followed, with only one child lost between them. Their neighbours whispered that they had the favour of the Gods, to have so many healthy children.
And so it seemed until 48AD, the dry year, when the soil turned to dust and baked beneath the sun. Suddenly having seven children with huge appetites was no blessing. By this point Viriana was well grown and beginning to show the first hints of womanhood. An officer in the local garrison took an interest with her, and her parents made the decision to sell her to him, for coin to buy food for the rest, and so that she would be cared for. She'd cried, screamed and begged when the officer had come to take her, her father's face stony and uncompromising. Her older sister cowering in the corner, her mother pressing something into her hand as she said goodbye, then ran weeping from the room. That first betrayal was a strong memory. She'd kicked and screamed, been carried away, and thrown into a room at the garrison fort. Eventually the officer who'd bought her had cowed her, all the while cursing barbarian slaved for their insolence. He called her Varinia, which was as close as he cared to come to her name.
She lost count of her tears, but through it all she kept the stone her mother had given her; it had a hole through the center, and such were said to bring luck. When her days seemed darkest, she would touch the stone, carried on a thong around her neck, and remember the day that she and her mother had found it in the nearby stream. The sun, the trees, the warm grass, her mother's voice and warm embrace; that day now seemed like heaven. And it was gone.
Youth
She didn't stay in the officer's possession for long. When his legion returned to Rome she was sold, presumably for the coin it would get him, and purchased by a man named Publius Quinctilius Varus Major. The name meant nothing to Varinia particularly, but the home that she arrived in was large and comfortable, and the other slaves there told her that he was powerful and important. Her skill at spinning wool was noted, and her mistress would set her to spinning for the clothing she would weave when Varinia had nothing else to do.
She became a body slave to her new Domina, Laelia Calida, and general house slave, learning how to keep a Roman Domus and how to cook food to Roman tastes. At first the garum made her feel ill, but she got used to it. Not that the slaves had to eat it, but her master and mistress seemed to feel that food wasn't complete without it. They had two sons - had had three but one had died - and a daughter, and the younger of the sons, Tertius, was only a few years older than herself.
In the eyes of a girl growing into a young woman, he was strong and handsome and clearly destined for greatness, and she developed a youthful crush on her master's youngest son, and entertained dreams that one day he might free her and they could marry. So when they came his advances were welcomed, and for a few at first awkward and then more pleasurable nights, it seemed like her dreams might come true. Then something changed. Whilst her dreams had included bearing Tertius's children, that had come after they were wed, so learning that she was pregnant came as a nasty reality check. All the more so when she bore Tertius a healthy baby boy, and he refused to touch him. Even if she remained a slave, the thought that her son could be a free Roman citizen and heir of a man who she knew would be powerful had bouyed her, but the day she presented her new son to the man she loved and he refused him shattered those dreams forever. The boy they named Teutus would remain a slave. That was the second betrayal. She began to wonder whether Tertius had ever loved her.
Young Adult
It was only later that she realised that it had probably been at his father's direction that Tertius had refused to take Teutus. And it was her Dominus's work again when Tertius and Secundus were sent off to serve in the legions, away from the Domus and away from her. Her heart fell further as the young man she still loved left, and she could only hope that he would return soon.
In the meantime her life settled into the kind of comfortable monotony that was probably the best a slave could hope for. She served her Domina and Dominus, she raised Teutus as best she could, and life rolled on, the years passing as her boy grew, but with little else to mark them. She made herself as useful as she could, and she ensured that Teutus learned every useful skill that anyone would teach him, in the hope that he would at least be a valuable slave with a comfortable future. There was that, at least. She still remembered, a lifetime ago, that year of drought and famine when she was sold; here they did not want for what they needed, Publius ensured that.
In 65AD rumours began to circulate through the household that Secundus and Tertius were returning. By now Teutus was a grown youth, old enough to take his toga if he were free, and Varinia was comfortable in the current state of the household. She had her place. Suddenly things were about to change again. Older now, she doubted that Tertius's interest in her had persisted, or perhaps even been more than teenage lust in the first place, but she held some hope that when he returned and saw Teutus - who was grown to be so very much like his father - he might have some change of heart. Indeed the whole household seemed energised by the idea of the boys, now men, returning.
And then she was sold. Away from her beloved son, away from reuniting with the man she still hoped held the key to their freedom. It was the third betrayal. Before she left she gave her son the stone her mother had given her, with the silent hope that it might bring him more luck than it had brought her.
Adult.
Since leaving Publius's household Varinia served a family of Equites who valued her house keeping skills, and wanted her to supplement the older woman who ran the household. Tana was slowing due to age, but was sharp as a blade mentally, and when she saw Varinia's fine spinning she showed her how to use the weighted and two-beam looms, which she also proved to have a knack for. Varinia threw herself into her new duties and learning this new skill as a way of taking her mind off the loss of her beloved son who had been her world, and the hope that her erstwhile lover might still free her.
Whenever she went to the markets for her master and mistress she listened for any news of her former owner and his family. She heard when Publius died, as someone mentioned his funeral, but that was all. She accepted that this was her life now, but she longed most to hear of her son.
Sarah | AEST - GMT +10 | DM or Discord
@Gothic
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July 76
Teutus' business was going well and he needed to expand because there were certain things he just couldn't do on his own. He had made arrangements with Alexius for his services regarding the security side of it but he needed a clerk for himself (or would do soon), a body slave and a general runner/messenger. The latter two were more urgent than the former; Teutus was more than capable of keeping his own books and records, at least for now.
He also needed someone who could act as an agent, but he would rather not look in the slave markets for someone to fill that role - though if he found someone who could, he wouldn't turn it down.
He had to steel himself to enter the slave market; he had himself been a slave and although he was never in any danger of being sold, it had left him with a sour taste in his mouth when it came to actually buying slaves, though it was something he would have to get used to.
"Good morning," he said as a guard or auctioneer or someone otherwise connected with the trade came up to him. "I don't suppose the boss is around?"
@Sarah
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A missing mother
Started by Sharpie ·
This is Varinia, the mother of freedman Teutus Quinctilius Varus, who fell pregnant with him at a (relatively) young age by her master's son Tertius Quinctilius Varus.
She was sold when her son was fifteen, and they have not seen one another since. Where she has been and what has happened to her in the meantime is up to you, but in the meantime her son has been freed and is now in a position to buy her and free her (if she has not been freed already).
There is plenty of potential for plots - her son Teutus and ex-lover Tertius are both played, as is Charis, a slave in a similar position as she was, with a new baby son by Tertius.
Suggested PB above is Annabel Scholey from Britannia but anyone who looks plausibly like a parent of Teutus with Tertius would work. If you have any other questions, catch me or Atrice on Discord!
Reserved for @Sarah
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