The Following has been translated for your convenience.
August Centurion's Log Entry 1:
I've been here a week so far. I've heard great stories about Plathington. A large, sprawling city that's easy to get lost in... I may have spent a day or two just trying to find my hotel. The address said it was at 2457 Falstaff lane, although when I looked the first time I saw nothing there. Almost as though the address didn't exist. I asked around and was given the correct address by a very friendly woman named Beth. She seemed nice, maybe if I wasn't here for business I'd ask her out. The week passed without much trouble, I just needed to check in with the local museum and make sure that they had the artifact ready for transport. Unfortunately I was informed that it would be a while, they needed to bubble wrap before putting it in the box for the plane ride. That was on Wednesday, they've probably got it ready by now. Then it's just me, the artifact, and a plane ride back to Invicta.
Augustus Centurion's Log Entry 2:
Finally back in Invicta, oh how I love this city. We've got architecture dating back to the first Emperor, all the way up to the thousandth. So much history in one place, and the imperial archives are just a short walk from my house. As Imperial Archivist to his highness Emperor Gaius Julio Claudius Flavius, I've got a very important job to do. My first order of business after returning home was to check the artifact and make sure nothing bad happened to it on the ride home. Opening the box and unwrapping the bubble wrap, I finally laid eyes on it. A scroll dating back to the days before Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus took power. This beautiful artifact needs to be put under glass immediately, if only so that I can study it without damaging the thing. It's been said that looking upon something so old could drive one to insanity, but that's just a folk tale. Something clearly made up to fool the incredibly superstitious.
Entry 3:
Well, the scroll's been under glass for a week now and it seems to just be a census written in a language I don't know. Considering Plathington's geographic location, it's probably one of the, now dead, languages of Gaul. Not every language is as permanent as Latin, especially not since Gloriae Romae conquered the entirety of the world. This artifact isn't of as much import as some of the others, just another pre-conquest census to be added to the rest of them. Such a shame too, I thought there'd be something worth deciphering in there. Perhaps even something worth insanity. I sighed slowly and walked back home, writing my official report on the ride back. The report read as follows: "Another non-Roman census. Mentions a few major figures of the time, but I regret to inform our Great Emperor that it's completely useless just like the ones from Nova Roma's pre-imperial days."
Entry 4:
Another week done and gone, another census made its way here carried by a lower ranking archivist. This one from Nova Roma, as expected Gaulish names were on it. Funny how Britannia thought they could form an opposing empire, only to be betrayed by their colonies across the ocean. And that republic didn't last much longer. On Wednesday I stepped out for a bit of fresh air, I love the archives but standing around with a bunch of musty old tomes and scrolls isn't the healthiest thing to do all day. On my walk home that night, I was bitten by something although I couldn't see what. Whatever bit me, the wound it left hurt like hell. I called in sick yesterday, so that I could stay home and make sure the wound wasn't infected... And also so I could figure out what the bite was from.
Entry 5, First Week of May:
Well, it's not from a dog. The doctor I stopped by last week confirmed that much. I had thought this week would pass without incident, at least until Wednesday. Wednesday evening I had felt something like excess hair growing on my arm. When I looked down I noticed that the wound was both fully healed and completely covered by thick hair. I've noticed more hair since then, on my legs and other arm. On Friday it seemed to get worse, the hair continued to spread. Just yesterday I thought that it was the worst it could get. Fortunately the hair only seems to grow at night, although once there it stays. I've taken to wearing sweaters and jeans under my toga to hide the excess hair. I can feel it getting worse, something's gnawing at me from the inside... Not physically, but mentally.
Entry 6, Second week of May:
So it turns out that whatever bit me is supernatural in nature. And capable of running great distances in a short amount time. I woke up on the other side of the city entirely, specifically at the Colosseum. Eviscerated entrails surrounded me. I don't know what I did last sunday night, but I have a feeling it involved the thing killing someone. On a possibly related note, the colleague who brought in the census from Nova Roma last month hasn't come into work today. I fear the worst. Not only that, but the beast is speaking... Sort of, it's nothing even vaguely human sounding. It's more like loud growling that I hear constantly, it sounds like a leopard or maybe a cheetah. During the days, work has been roughly the same. New text, same old story. Our finest archaeologists are out studying in what used to be Greece, looking for the sunken city and studying the ruins of Minoan Crete. At night, the beast stalks and looks for prey. I've been buying live chickens just to keep it occupied, I don't know how long this will work but anything that keeps the thing from eating another co-worker is fine by me.
Entry 7, Third Week of May:
The thing is still at full strength, but I've at least got it occupied with chickens at night. This is clearly not a permanent solution, but conventional medicine can't help me and anyone working in the supernatural would probably run if they knew what was happening. I've been spending more time inside and less time socializing, that's just how it's going to have to be until I figure out this thing's schedule and when it goes dormant. At least it can't read, although I'm starting to think it understands my thoughts. It's only a matter of time before it decides to fight back. Night is about to fall, I'd better get the chickens ready.
Entry 8: Fourth Week of May:
I'm still waking up covered in blood, some of it chicken the rest of it I'd prefer not to know. The standard routine is not working, it's doing far more than just chasing and killing chickens. I don't like sharing a body with this thing. Against my better judgement though, I've decided to name the thing because "Beast" just doesn't fit. It needs a proper name, he needs a proper name. I've settled on Janus after the old two-faced god, from the mental purring I gather that he approves. I don't like Janus, but I'm going to try harnessing his abilities for good... Unless training him to stick with chickens works, in which case we'll continue with that process. As the month moves closer to its end Janus seems to be getting weaker, tireder, like he's about to settle down for hibernation. Perhaps next month I can do something to get out of Invicta, I can't risk Janus committing worse crimes and while as long as his tracks and patterns remain animal like we should be fine I don't want him anywhere near the emperor.
Entry 9, third week of June:
Just as I thought, he's not active outside of the month of May. Although I wish he was further restricted to a single day, like the ides of May. Beggars can't be choosers. I've moved to Plathington, I'll be here for the rest of my life and I'll be getting a new job somewhere. Beth has been my pen pal for the past couple of months, although I haven't told her about Janus. The first few weeks of my new life in Plathington have been fine, I've been working at the local museum. Just last week Beth and I had a dinner date, I think it went well but we'll see. Janus has expressed approval through the usual way, I don't know why he likes her but at least we agree for once.
Entry 10 Fourth Week of April:
It's been a long while since I last wrote one of these and there's a lot to catch up on. First off, After eleven months of dating Beth and I are engaged. Janus has continued to be mostly dormant, outside of the occasional purr of approval or growl of disapproval. In a month he'll be more active and I need to take the necessary precautions. Had to explain to Beth why I bought so many chickens today, which means I had to explain Janus's existence... She seemed rather unfazed, strangely. And then she explained that she also had something like Janus sharing her form, apparently something exactly like Janus. So, that explains why he approved. She has explained that the virus, as she calls it, actively seeks a suitable host and spreads through biting. Now I wonder where she was the night I was infected. I'm sure the truth will reveal itself in due time. We have agreed that the proper term for what we are now is Were-Cheetah. Similar to werewolves, but more feline and with greater speed. I went out and bought more chickens, we'll need them considering that we're both still trying to get our other forms under control.
Entry 11 May again:
Well, tonight's the night. It's time for all those chickens I bought to start paying off. Over the course of this month, we've been going through chickens like crazy... And apparently other livestock as well, I found some pig and sheep carcasses among the chickens. At least Janus and Minerva, what Beth has been calling her other self, have been satisfied. It's weird being able to communicate with Janus, yes it's still in growls and purrs but I'm learning to understand what each one means. Living out here in the province of Brittannia has been interesting so far, I'm starting to wonder if there are other werebeasts around here. According to Janus, it's just him and Minerva here the wolves territory is elsewhere. We've been able to set basic ground rules for the beasts, on the basis of we need to guarantee our survival for the good of the group.
Entry 12:
Another year has passed, Beth and I got married in December. In the first hunt of the year Beth and Minerva had unfortunately been spotted by humans... As we would later learn these were slayers intent on culling the more dangerous werebeasts and removing the virus as a whole. She was fine, merely wound by a shot to the foot. I doubt they were even carrying the right type of ammo for a truly lethal shot. The next hunt wouldn't be so lucky. I saw the hunters coming this time and gave the warning for her to run. She didn't listen, although I can't blame her. We descended on the hunters as a pair. I had seen the flash of a muzzle and then felt the impact. It hurt like hell but I could move, sorta. Beth was fine, grazed slightly but she'll live. Not too sure about myself, that bullet was made of tungsten and I took the full brunt of it. I could hear Janus trying to console me, the damned voice in my head letting me know that I didn't have much longer. Three years with this virus and it feels like a lifetime, if Beth hadn't turned me in the first place maybe things would be different. This looks like the end, hopefully I won't be forgotten. Beth, if you're reading this promise me you'll protect this journal.
Agent's Report:
We found this on the corpse of a werecheetah, mid thirties, female. The male had been dead for a decade by the time we found her, just as well these things are dangerous. As befits the CIA's Supernatural Phenomena Division, the locals were told it was just a wild leopard that had escaped a zoo and was too dangerous to drag back alive. Anyone who witnessed the creature or the inter-dimensional rift that she walked through to get here have had their memories erased, following standard protocol. The names of those involved in this journal have been left the same considering the extenuating circumstances of alternate universes. Signed, Agent Gladius