Session 1: Way Down Under the Ground
Three living souls awoke to find themselves suddenly transported to the Underworld—Amara, a bard and hermit who lived by the sea; Melantha, a ranger and hunter; and Meredythe, a half-elf warlock from the distant realm of Albion whose patron was a Great Old One. Bewildered and confused, they encountered a cheerful, optimistic Orpheus failing to convince Charon to ferry him across the Styx in his quest to bring his wife Eurydice out of the Underworld. By a combination of bargaining (promising to double the ferry toll), bluffing (claiming to be part of Persephone's guard), and promising not to play any music while they crossed the river, they secure passage across the river.
When giving her name to Charon, Melantha identified herself as “Melantha of Artemis,” to which Amara raised her eyebrow but said nothing. Meredythe expressed her desire to kill Hades due to his apparent patronage of the cultist nuns who raised her, but she was quickly dissuaded from doing so after Orpheus’ tale reminds her of “a love from long ago.”
During the ferry ride, Amara, Melantha, and Meredythe each heard voices whispering in the back of their heads, voices which they quickly determined belonged to the Fates. The Fates told them that they had a greater destiny and needed the “protection of the Underworld” in order to complete the “task at hand.” Orpheus did not hear any voice.
They approached the Judgment Pavilion but attempted to sneak their way around the building rather than encounter Minos. Amara ran into a Minotaur Skeleton guarding the path and the party prepared to fight, but Meredythe, being able to speak Abyssal, managed to convince the Minotaur that they should pass.
The party reached the Palace of Hades and Persephone. Orpheus tried to plead his case but was stopped short by the king and queen of the Underworld, who told him that they’d heard his story many times before and it always ended the same way. Suddenly, they noticed the other party members and were shocked at their presence, as it was not a part of the original story. The Fates whispered to Amara that she should invoke the name of the Moirai, which Melantha informed her was the name of the Fates.
Hades and Persephone explained that the Fates were likely plotting against Zeus, who kept all of Greece in stasis, unable to move on from its ancient days and myths and instead forced to repeat the same stories over and over with each generation, always ending the same way. He also warned against crossing the Fates by telling the story of Oedipus, afterward quipping, “There’s one guy down here who thinks Oedipus wanted it,” making everyone wince. The “protection of the Underworld,” also known as Chthonic Protection, is a feature shared by dying-and-rising gods and similar figures—Persephone gives herself as the first example and also names Dionysus as a chthonic god—that allows the dead to be resurrected and also protects against manipulation by Zeus. In Persephone’s words,
“When winter comes, the plants in the land die, the soil becomes less fertile, sometimes it erodes away. But the land is still the same land in spring.”In Hades’ (less articulate) words,
“When you die, come down here, persuade us to resurrect you, and you can scoot back up.”Melantha expressed reluctance at the idea of resurrection and asked if she could, theoretically, choose to remain dead if she wished. Hades agreed to this, and so the party agreed to receive the chthonic protection. Hades recited a spell in an old, ancient language (under pressure, the DM identified it as Proto-Indo-European) and Persephone produced a pomegranate, which she invited the party members to eat. Orpheus asked if this included him, and Persephone got an idea—if Orpheus became chthonic, he could change the ending to his story, a tragedy which the Underworld gods had seen play out too many times before. Orpheus partook of the pomegranate along with the party, and Hades put to him a test of will: making him promise not to look back at Eurydice until they were both in the land of the living. After this, Meredythe expressed her respect for Hades, showing no apparent malice toward him despite her earlier threats. Persephone advised the party to befriend Hermes and to call on her if they needed any help come spring, then transported the group, including Orpheus and Eurydice, to a pomegranate grove near the entrance to the Underworld but still within it. Tragically, even with the party members’ aid, Orpheus still turned to look back at Eurydice. However, he then made the decision to stay in the Underworld with her, ultimately changing the ending of his story. After a short stop Amara made to pet Kerberos, the three-headed guard dog of Hades, the three mortals returned to the living world.
Relations
Protagonists
Amara, Melantha, Meredythe Maegwund
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