Heroes of the Peloponnese Game Thread #3

[Gulfwulf]

Damien rubbed his eyes and rose stiffly from his bed on the ship. Groggily he made his way to the fore deck where he saw the others returning. He yawned and looked at them through bleary eyes. "So, what trouble have you lot managed to find without me? And where are we? And why are we here?" He rubbed his eyes and looked at them again. "For some reason I'm getting the feeling this is about a woman, right? Who did Leo try to seduce this time?"

[Lazybones]

By the time that Eleni and Damien recover enough to clamber up to the upper deck of the ship, it's clear that the sickness that affected them was no natural affliction. Eleni reports that it feels like there is a taint upon the very core of magic itself, and that it is getting stronger.

There has been no word from the rest of the group that went ashore some eight hours ago, so the pair of magic-users prevail upon the captain to go in close to the cliffs that surround the island once more, to the narrow beach where the others landed.

[Karvon]

Wizards; Leoniadas officially decided he didn't like tangling with them. After getting beaten to a pulp while clasped in a magical hand, he'd crawled clear of the confusion and attempted to collect his wits, only to have the others rush by calling for an all out retreat. Yes, obviously they needed their own magic users to have any prayer of overcoming this rascal.

[Vanya Mia]

"They're going to be such smug sods," Kataramene mutters, glowering. She adopted a sing-song imitating - probably badly - Eleni's voice. "So you got scared off by a wizard, did you? All you big warriors need us little magically gifted sorts to come and help you, do you? Your swords weren't sharp enough, and you need a little fire?" The commentary ended with an irritable snort.

"Insufferable, I tell you," the warrior continued, stomping along and glaring back at the tower steps. "If the muse ... or muse's ... whatever makes them muses, wasn't in there I'd say set fire to the whole damnable place and toast some sweetmeats on the flames while watching it burn. Who'd laugh then, eh? Who? Who?"

[smartalec]

"Can't do anything about it now. Whole place is stone, it wouldn't burn," Polytropos insisted, nervously looking to the door upstairs, bow drawn and ready should something come down. "But we need them. There's something in the back of that room, some sort of... floating ball. He got angry when I shot it, and started guarding it like a puma with a deer carcass. Could be it's important to his damn magic, or..." he grimaced. "Or it's something that lets him call those song-spirits."

The archer shrugged ruefully, arms still tensed for a shot. "I couldn't break it, but if we had some fire and lightning, then we could smash it, and see if it ruined him enough to hurt the bastard. Then we could see how he liked a taste of Greek iron."

[Shadani]

Sensing the wrongness that afflicted this place, Eleni seemed to be halfway between fascination and revulsion.

"It might be a natural side effect of whatever is being done to the muse," she thought aloud. "A twisting of things that the master of this place has learned to harness, somehow. I can only speculate as to how he obtained such knowledge. Surely, it must have taken him many years to get to this point, if not decades. A literal usurpation of divine power... it's not exactly a quest one simply stumbles upon one lazy afternoon."

[Topato]

"Well there was a giant library with lots of books. Even a giant one that might have told you what he was doing or how he did it. But someone decided to set fire to it while we were still in it." Tel sighed. "The wizard himself was covered in magical protections. We couldn't seem to hurt him. Pol might be right about that orb thingy."

[Lazybones]

+1950xp for full-party IC posting this week.

[Vanya Mia]

((Server up, should be same connection.))

[Lazybones]

The letter from home:

Dearest Eleni, and our other children of Mantineia:

It is with greatest regret that I must inform you that Aristarchus has died, after a brief period of sickness. In his last moments he spoke of you, Eleni, and expressed his hope that you would continue your exploration of magic in the wider world. We have heard many accounts from travelers of the great deeds being accomplished by a band of heroes who has taken up residence in the city of Argos. We are all very proud of you.

Eleni, Aristarchus indicated that it is his will that you inherit all of his possessions, including his items of Magicka and his collection of lore. I hope that you will be able to visit the village of your birth in the near future, and pay your respects.

Ismene