Microsoft has launched a website which may offer some clues as to the future of Ryse: Son of Rome.
The site, nomencompletum.com, is hosted on Microsoft servers and was registered by Mark Monitor on 23rd December 2013, a month after the launch of Ryse: Son of Rome. Mark Monitor is the company Microsoft uses to acquire web domains.
The site itself shows a single image of a book, with the pages opened to reveal an illustration of a tomb, as well as the words “Altius” and “Perscrutemur”, and the dates 54 - 68 AD.
Digging a little deeper, the word “altius" means “higher” in Latin, while the word “perscruemur” means either “I search (high and low)” or “I examine or investigate (thoroughly).” Microsoft is clearly tempting fans to investigate the mystery.
Even more interesting, 54 - 68 AD was the period in which the Roman Emperor Nero held power. Fans of Ryse will remember that Nero was one of the major characters in the game. The illustration, meanwhile, is of Nero’s tomb, something which itself throws up some interesting facts.
Nero’s death is shrouded in mystery. While the official records show that he committed suicide, few saw the Emperor’s body and the location of his death remains vague.
Furthermore, Nero was not buried in the typical manner befitting an Emperor. The funeral was a quiet affair, paid for by a former slave. He wasn’t buried along with the rest of his dynasty, but in a relatively small family tomb. It’s the one you can see in the image.
The unusual circumstances regarding Nero’s death and burial gave rise to the Nero Redivivus legend. The earliest written version of the legend claims that Nero didn’t die and instead fled to Parthia, where he would amass a large army and would return to Rome to destroy it.
Others myths suggested that Nero’s ghost haunted the walls of Rome near to his tomb, feasting with devils and witches.
All of which is fascinating and may provide some insight into Microsoft’s mysterious teaser site and its connection to further Ryse content. However, there are some clues in the book that we can’t get to the bottom of.
First up is the watermark on the left-hand page. We can’t quite work out what it refers to. Also, there’s some faded text on the right-hand page that we can’t decipher. There’s plenty more of the mystery to uncover.
So precisely what the page refers to remains unknown for now. Maybe it’s some upcoming story-based DLC for Ryse: Son of Rome? Perhaps it relates to a sequel? Or we could be reading into it too much. We’re not sure.
Also, we haven’t verified this yet, but the website was brought to our attention by Twitter user @St0nerJR, who spotted the url in the Invitation commercial for Xbox One, currently showing on UK TV.
Get your detective hats on chaps.
