Thanks to Jade’s connections, we had an easy time finding a ship that would take us to the island on which the local Olympian Council resided. The edges of the island held various ruins. In the center, a large Parthenon was built just in the past few years. On our way to the structure we encountered a dark haired woman. Akaya, a priestess of Artemis, let us know where we could find the priest of Apollo.
The priest is an older gentleman, tall with silver hair and a matching beard, named Adrestas. Zeno quickly set about trying to prove his mettle to the priest. It went… well it went. There was discussion of sacrifices needed, but in the end we were able to come to an agreement that the priest would consecrate the Theater using the Gem of Brightness as a focus, and the blood of few animals for proper sacrifice.
At some point things began to bore me, so I wandered off to talk to Akaya about hags business. She was able to give me a bit more insight (though requests for gathering information of a different nature were rebuffed).
We returned home and snuggled in to sleep in our temporary upstairs beds. Of course, someone just had to come in and ruin that. The sound of the front doors being bashed open woke us all. Unarmored and half dressed (literally, Zeno was wearing only a shirt), and in some cases entirely undressed (we get it Za’lynn, you’re a naturalist), we wandered out to investigate the commotion.
Bugs, bullywugs, troglodytes, and one rather angry Sea Hag had invaded our theater and meant to kill us all. Given our disheveled state, it was a hard fight. I thank Athena that Funuku was there. I do not know that we would have made it without him. A single look from that wretched Sea Hag laid me low for a time. Zeno was bitten and smashed to bits by bugs and trogs. But we emerged victorious, and had quite a stinky mess to clean up.
The priests arrived finally and we were able to consecrate the Theater. We stood guard, just in case, but everything went off without a hitch. We’re very proud of our new community center/theater/PR firm/job creation site.
After that was settled, Casta finally got back to us with the list of sites we had negotiated earlier.
- A ruined castle
- Military outpost with a new bridge
- A beached shipwreck
We set off first for the beached shipwreck. It turned out to be filled with undead, they were gnolls, I think. I hypnotized the zombies in place while Tayanna sent them screaming in fear. Zeno got swarmed and there was a moment that we were worried we might lose him, but we managed to pull through.
For our troubles, we hauled off a good deal of money and various trade goods. There was some lovely golden cloth that we offered to Rennan. He, in turn, had another proposition for us. Veisa, his enchanting sister, was in need of a job. We were happy to help. Fresh from the conservatory, she is a talented scribe and I cannot wait to have someone to discuss my book with.
In addition to her mundane skills, if we bring her the heart of something, she can create a scroll of protection for that thing. I am so excited to have her here! I’m going to set her up in my office and make sure she has all the ink and lighting she needs and oh she’s just so enthralling!
Well, that settled we headed out to explore the castle. While scouting, Jade and I discovered a pair of sailors guarding the front door of the castle, but acting strangely. I held them in place with a hypnotic pattern and aggressive cittern playing while Jade ran back to gather the others. We took them down only to find a strange plant growing from their ears. Jade and I did some further reconnaissance and found a back door of sorts, but the armored among us voted against stealth and we went bursting into the front door.
It was on pretty quickly. The lady of the ruined castle spoke of the whispers beneath the waves and we knew what we had to do to that spore queen. It was a nasty fight, with mindless sailors swinging at us and horrible goo puppetry trying to eat Za’lynn’s memories. Finally, our glorious hero, Jade took the abomination down. She’s so dashing.
Again, there was a good deal of coin and pretty items to profit from. I scooped up a very pretty marble orb. I think Veisa might like to use it as a paper weight. I hope she likes it!
Zeno’s Code (updated)
- Never take the first deal
- No one knows they’re hunting ghosts until they’re hunting ghosts. Be prepared.
- Punch up, no down.
- Open mind not closed fist.
- There is a very thin line between evil and dick.
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- Justice doesn’t have the stealth skill
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- Talking doesn’t get stuff done. Doing gets stuff done.
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- In any conflict the high ground is important, even if only the moral high ground.
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- When someone hurts you, hit them back ten fold. TEN FOLD!
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- Backdoor friends are best and don’t steal babies.
Revelations of Modern Lore: A History of the Occurrence at Da-Rin and the Appearance of Arkyn 