Types of Motus
Mortal players may engage in two different types of motus
depending on the time of the year, as follows:
Aestas
During an aestas, players who have not
been issued a flagitatio or are involved in a proelium
may travel in two ways:
- By sea: mortal players who possess a classis may travel to any region, except Parthia and Germania by sea. Players transporting legiones must have one classis for each legio
- By land: mortal players and their properties may move freely between adjacent regions as long as there is seating available. If there is no seating in an adjacent provincia/regnum, a player may not move through it unless s/he can travel there by sea.
Motus
During a motus period, movement is unrestricted and players
may move to any region where there is available seating. Mortal players
may take legiones to or through Rome but may not use them in
combat there.
Hiems
There is no motus permitted during a hiems.
Apollo/Diana
Apollo/Diana will announce the beginning and end of each motus period. All players who have not finished moving when Apollo/Diana declares the end of a motus must return to the region from which they came. If there is no longer seating available in that area, senatores/imperatores/matronae must go to Rome, and reges must go to their respective regna. If Rome is full, senatores/imperatores/matronae must go to the first available seat in the nearest province.
Numina
For the most part, numina may move about at will. During an aestas, any number of numina may occupy a provincia/regnum, if there is seating available. During a hiems, all numina (except Venus, Mars, Mercury and Apollo/Diana) must choose a provincia/regnum to inhabit and remain there until the next motus. More than one numen may inhabit a provincia/regnum during a hiems if seating is available. Venus and Mars must inhabit Rome during each hiems and Mercury may never establish a lengthy residence in any particular region.
Sedes (Seating)
For any player (including a numen) to enter and establish residence
in a provincia/regnum, there must be seating available. In the
event of conflicts over available seating, numina have priority
over mortals. However, no numen except Minerva may forcibly unseat
any player already situated in a provincia/regnum. Mercury
may move one (1) player each aestas who seeks to be rescued through
his intervention. Minerva may at her own discretion transfer one (1) player
to a new region once each aestas. If two or more mortal players
simultaneously claim the last available seat in a provincia/regnum,
Minerva will decide which player remains.
Neptune/Amphitrite/Oceanus
Neptune and his fellow sea-deities oversee maritime travel. If a player
traveling across the sea is confronted by a sea deity during an aestas,
the player must show the god his classis/es. If a player who
possesses no classis attempts to move by sea during an aestas
and is apprehended by a sea diety, the god may, according to his (dis)pleasure,
confiscate the player's legiones and Denarii and relocate
the player anywhere where seating is available (except Parthia or Germania)
or pronounce him dead. If the player does not have sufficient classes
to transport the number of legiones in his/her possession, those
legiones for which there are not classes become the
sea deity's property.
Reges
The movements of reges are like those of other mortal players, except for the following:
Fuga. Once during the Game, any foreign rex except Cleopatra may return at will to the throne of his homeland as long as he is not at that moment involved in a proelium (i.e. from the issuance of a flagitatio to the final concursatio of the proelium). Fleeing reges must present a special Rexpressus platinum card (included among the properties they receive at the beginning of the Game) to any deity who agrees to escort them to their homeland. The deity will then retain the card until the end of the Game. It cannot be re-used. Reges in fuga ("flight") may take with them all of the properties in their possession.
A rex may not enter Rome without a Roman senator or imperator as protective escort, upon pain of death. His escort may not abandon him in Rome. Reges discovered in Rome without Roman escort are subject to the will of Venus who may summarily execute or expel them.
Mercury
Mercury may rescue one player each aestas, taking that player
from one region to another in which there is seating available. The player
wishing to be rescued must invoke Mercury by pleading, who may choose
to ignore the player's pleas. Rescue by Mercury immediately ends all activities
in progress, including proelia.
Terrae Motus (Earthquake)
Twice during the Game, Neptune may cause a terrae motus immediately
before a hiems (either at the end of the preceding aestas
or during the the prior motus period). Once during the Game, Amphitrite and Oceanus
may do the same. They do this by turning over to
Apollo/Diana one of the terrae motus cards given to them at the
beginning of the Game. Upon receiving this card, Apollo/Diana must skip
the next motus period (or what remains of it) and go directly
into the next hiems. Once the terrae motus has been
announced, no player (mortal or divine) residing in a region may move
or change location. Players who happen to be moving over land at the moment
the terrae motus is announced may either return to the region
from which they came or move into the region where they were headed but
in either case there must be seating available; if not, they come under
the authority of Minerva who may dispose of their saleable properties
at will and move them to any region where there is seating available.
Players who are at sea when the terrae motus strikes come under
the authority of Neptune/Amphitrite/Oceanus; their saleable properties
become the possessions of the sea god/s who may decide to kill them or
rescue them by taking them to a nearby coastal region.
Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.