Heroes of the Peloponnese Game Thread #2

[Karvon]

Leonaidas nodded, "I agree we should avoid as many of the beastmen as possible; there seems to be an almost endless supply of them, so engaging them is a waste of our time and resources. Not sure how we would collapse a tunnel; they might be able to dig themselves out in short order."

[smartalec]

"Ah, they're no match for us," grumbled Polytropos. "Running the other way makes no sense to me! All it took was a narrow walkway, and three of us saw off almost a dozen! If we pick our ground and let them rush onto our spears and swords, these beast men fall like wheat. If we're worried about saving our strength, we should head straight for the head of the beast, not find ourselves being hunted through unfamiliar caverns. You can save your magics, friends, for the point at which we face this immortal King."

"We saw that the way into the King's land was not the way out," he went on, "so jumping into the portal seems like the best way to find ourselves in a place they're not roaming. Thrace's time is running out!"

[Shadani]

Eleni shook her head. "We might be able to overwhelm them, but we'll only have so many opportunities to look after your wounds, Pol. I like Tel's idea - if the other passage leads upwards, we can come around and strike at the King while many of his troops are still down here looking for us, and if it doesn't, well - we'll only face them on different ground."

[Vanya Mia]

Eyes flicking between the rest of the group in turn as they spoke, her lips pursed and brow creased through indecision. Yet a slight smile curved them as Polytropos spoke and and her eyes flashed a little. "I'm with Pol," she said after Eleni had finished. "I think we should face them here and make them pay for every pous they gain with a dozen bodies. In the least that will give them pause to allow us time to check the other passage." She sniffed a little. "But if you others cannot face the glory of that challenge.... " Kataramene let that the comment fade with a shrug at Poly.

[Lazybones]

Since everyone is now at least 8th level, +1200xp for full-party IC posting.

IP is 108.202.208.218:5121
PWs are as usual.

I'm opening the server early as I have a lot of set-up to do. We'll start play at the usual time. My Internet has been dropping connection at times over the last few days so I apologize in advance if I lose connection.

We resume where we left off, in the Caverns of Thracia near the underground river.

[Mirgalen]

"Magic pools, magic pools, what would you like to do with these now?"
Andreas never had his mother's talent for magic and was still suspicious about the whole idea of playing with these unpredictable forces.
"Where shall we look and where shall we go? Don't ask me but you could spy on that Satyr fellow and see what he is up to."

The last trip to the caves had been a success. The Gods had given them a bounty, or perhaps a stone which killed the two "black birds" at the same time. Now with the King gone taking with him the servant of Thanatos the people of Thrace should be free of these threats.

"I wonder where the Thraciens went, if they have left for good some other power will come and claim the land even we could claim it."

Andreas looked up perhaps for a sign and shook his head.

[Vanya Mia]

It had been a tired and strangely drained Kataramene who walked from the Immortal King's castle, almost too tired to make it but determined not to spend the time inside. The woods were pleasant, she decided as she gazed around, more so now the threat was gone. "At some point," she said, to no one in particular, "we should talk to that dryad woman behind the thorns. If she's still there, of course, they might have all guessed the big dog has been whipped."

Finding a nearby tree she sank to the ground, her back propped against it and turned tiredly to Andreas as he spoke. "When we're rested, we can look," she remarked. "We don't want to be battling more elementals while we are weak and tired. All of us need to take a little time to recover, if the threat is now over, then we can think about things like what to do with those other dogs, and why that light killed that man, and all that."

"Actually," she paused a moment, "Eleni can work out the light thing, it's probably a good idea to stay away as his death looked like a sacrifice." There was another pause. "Which could have meant something bad happened." She pauses again, her brow furrowing. "Apart from the poor fellow dying, of course, but who knows? Either way. Rest, then look. Though we can think about what to do when we do look, I suppose."

[Shadani]

"Oh, there are so many places we could look towards!" Eleni said, incapable of hiding her excitement at her new toy in spite of her weariness. "The Thracians, of course, but there's also the Magi who got away from us in Crete, the Satyr - oh! We could check in on the gladiator school. I have to wonder just what the limits of this chamber are - could we rove our eyes to places where no Greek has ever wandered to? Perhaps different places entire, beyond the portal! Though that might be getting a bit too optimistic. Still, even if not, the possibilities are still nearly endless!"

The sorceress grinned. "And that's not even mentioning the best part. Whatever we see, I can bring us to. Just once, of course - I can't get us back and while I intend to learn as much about the enchantments at work here as possible, it is probably quite beyond my abilities to recreate them in a reasonable timeframe. Not that I intend to let that stop me forever, of course. Eventually, when I have my very own glorious island castle or magnificent crystal spire or labyrinth of illusions or such, I simply must make sure it has a chamber much like this one."

[Vanya Mia]

Kataramene gave Eleni a long look as she finished. "Heroes need to travel, or reputations fail before the stories are well learned." Then grinned a little wryly. "Unless it's one of those reputations that send other heroes to the door of their tower bent on destroying you for your foul deeds. But that's for the future!"

"If you say you can look at places then we should probably take a look at all those you mentioned, and probably check on our families back home too, then let our minds wander to far fields." She developed an excited tone, and her eyes sparkled. "Look for the homes of ancient monsters. Seek the sites of long lost cities. Find places where we can prove ourselves further. We could locate Troy. Follow the footsteps of Hercules and Odyseus!" Kataramene paused and held her breath a moment. "Perhaps I could see my fa ...."

Her excitement dampened to the tiredness once more and the warrior gave a little sigh. "That's of no matter. We should find the Thracians first, in case they are in deeper trouble, I think. If not then we can take our leisure and examine as many as sense dictates. If they are then we may need to move swiftly and not wait for further images." She shook her head. "We cannot let more die while we verify the deeds of miscreants, let alone sate our curiosity concerning ... less pressing matters."

[Gulfwulf]

Damian patted Kat on the shoulder in sympathy. "I agree with Kat, we should first look on the Thracians to ensure that they're no longer being attacked by the beastmen. We should also inform them that the 'king' is dead and help with any further attacks. If they're no longer here, then we can see about the satyr and other, less pressing matters." He smiled at Kat. "After that, we should return to Argos if there's no ship here to take us. We can look for further monsters to slay and treasure to liberate, but we should let our host city know of our successes first. Besides, the journey is usually more interesting than the destination." He paused and stared at the ceiling. "But I too would like to know how our townsfolk are doing."