fandomhigh | History in Living Colour - Friday, Period 3 (Week 2)

"Okay!" the Doctor said, bounding into the room when the students had gathered. "No time for chatting, let's get to it. Get to what you might ask? If you are, you didn't read your syllabus! Ask Peyton or Dick for one if you missed out. They're you're TAs and in case you've forgotten, I'm the Doctor."

There were three doors in the room. "Pick a door, any door! Well, except the one leading out of the Danger Shop. One of these three doors, which will lead you to a turning point in history. This week is all about not messing with the turning points, the important stuff, the moments in history that make today the way it is. We're going to learn by doing the wrong thing. Do whatever comes naturally to you once you're on the other side of the door. When you're done, we'll talk about what happened as a result of your actions.

We're all a part of history in some way, shape or form, and there's a lot you can get away with when you're outside of your home time period - by the way, time travel happens, get used to it - but there are some things you should never tamper with. You'll see why. Or, if you read a lot of alternate history fiction, you'll already know. Go on, pick a door." He nodded towards the doors, then commented quietly to himself, "guess we did have time for chatting after all."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thankfully, the building was empty. The fire wasn't large yet, but it was starting to pick up from the corner it had been started in. In fact, it was making its way across to some pots that looked like they were of Roman design. The tapestry on the wall was going up in flames as well. Also Roman design. And that sign on the wall? Latin.

Warren squinted at the sign, walking up to it to get a better look.

Not that he could actually read Latin, really. But it was enough to hold his interest. For... maybe a moment or so.

The place appeared to be empty. Which was good. The pots were just pots. And the tapestry was too far gone to save, and for as much as Warren appreciated the arts... or whatever... he really had better things to do than bother with trying to put it out.

Better to get the heck out of dodge before the building could fall on him. For as much as fire didn't bother him, for whatever reason, he didn't care for being crushed alive. He was weird that way.

He stepped outside, momentarily perplexed, before looking around for people who might be stupid enough to hang around flaming buildings in the dead of night.

A crowd had started to gather outside the building around the other side and the noise of their rumblings could be heard even over the flames. The fire lashed out of windows and onto nearby buildings. The light was enough to see the city a little better. The men and women in Roman garb watched on. There was still a chance to put the fire out, but it wouldn't last long once the fire started to spread further.

"You, boy!" one of the men called. "We need all able bodies to ferry water. Come," he ordered. "Help."

Warren stood there for a moment, awkwardly eying the man who was asking for help.

He was certainly able-bodied. And quite capable of ferrying water.

And he had a very good notion of how dangerous this fire was going to become.

"Rome is burning," he mused to himself, taking off at a run after the man. The teacher had said to do what came naturally to him. Sure, he'd take a stab at finding out what happened if he took part in trying to put out the Great Fire of Rome. "Point me in the right direction," he said more loudly, to whoever would listen.

The man hurried him along to the well. There were only a handful of men able to help. The neighbouring suburb wasn't yet worried. It was a local matter, not theirs. They carried pots and tubs and buckets full of water to the fire, though none of them knew best how to fight it.

Warren knew his way around fires. He couldn't control them the same way he could control his own flames, of course, but he did have an idea as to what to do about keeping them from spreading.

"Keep to the edges, where it's trying to spread," he said, to whoever would listen. "Douse the buildings that are just catching- keep them from going up in flames too. We won't be able to save the ones that have already caught. Not with buckets."

A pause. A frown. Getting in close to douse the flames was easy enough for Warren. He had his doubts that a citizen would be able to get too close for too long without getting seriously hurt.

"It's going to be hot work."

One of the men looked fit to argue, but when the flames licked higher, he was quickly quiet. They followed Warren's lead, doing as they were told, putting water where there should have been water when they normally would have gone for the gut of the flames, not the edges.

They were making progress and keeping the fire from spreading much further.

Warren would settle for keeping the fire from spreading much further.

He continued dousing as well, getting closer to the hottest flames than any sane person would dare. If they kept it up without tiring out too much, they might even be able to push inward and start working on the fires that were already burning, too.

He hoped.

With hard work, the flames started dwindling. They were finally able to get it all under control.

That was when the Doctor appeared. "You're good with fire," he commented. "Congratulations. You just stopped the Great Fire of Rome a week before schedule and with very limited damage."

"Which is something I should try not to do when I'm not in a simulation, I'm guessing?" Warren was wearing maybe the slightest of smirks on his face. He already knew he was good with fire. "Do I even want to know how this would affect history?"

"Considering it's only a simulation? Why not. Maybe you'll learn something. So it's believed that the Great Fire of Rome, in which Emperor Nero watched rather than actually doing anything, was the start of the downfall of the Roman Empire. Because it didn't happen, Rome stayed on and on and on and it set off a chain of events that led to Rome taking on more and more territory. The problem is that having everyone under one banner, a Roman banner, led to uniformity rather than the diversity that Europe needed in order to thrive. The Renaissance never happened, intellectual and scientific progress didn't pick up because of it and now the world is stuck a few hundred years behind where it should be. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's the base of it. Good work helping out strangers, though."

History in Living Colour - Friday, Period 3 (Week 2)

Re: Door 2

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even

Re: Door 1, even