Session 17: Holy Moly, Who Set the Sheep On Fire?!

Amara, Callidora, and Meredythe split up to search for Medea. Amara was unsuccessful in her search, only managing to find an empty kitchen and the bathrooms. Callidora found a chamber with a table full of various herbs and spell components, a cauldron, a scroll library, and a young woman with red hair and gold eyes—the spitting image of Circe, whom the party had killed. When Callidora mentioned that Hecate had instructed them to find her, Medea asked to meet with the rest of the crew, though by her tone she seemed very dismissive of adventurers.
Meanwhile, Meredythe stumbled upon a section of the palace that was closed off by a metal grate and a warning sign in Greek, which Meredythe could not read. Meredythe pried open the grate to find an antechamber with a strange pattern on the far wall and an air duct on the adjacent wall. Meredythe fashioned a grappling hook from her supplies, attached it to the grate, then went crawling down the air duct, which opened to reveal a secret chamber containing two gold dragon wyrmlings and a sheep. She used some of her rations to distract the wyrmlings, cast Enthrall on one of them, then sent her Unseen Servant to set fire to the sheep.
The sheep began frantically bleating. The dragon wyrmlings flew around the chamber, with the enthralled one flying right into Meredythe’s face. Amara heard the ruckus and found the grate and the note, which read: HERE THERE BE DRAGONS. Amara managed to press the stones in the far wall in the right pattern, which revealed another chamber with two more wyrmlings, a goat, and the sound of a very distressed sheep coming from the other side of the wall. The non-enthralled dragon opened the passage connecting Meredythe’s chamber with Amara’s. Amara cast Create Water and doused the sheep, though it was horrifically burned.
By this point, Medea and Callidora had heard the noise and come to investigate. Medea, thoroughly annoyed by these shenanigans, cast Chill Touch to put the sheep out of its misery, called the dragons to her, and fed them an herb which made them fall asleep, all curled up together. Medea chewed out the adventurers, then revealed her identity and told them that she needed to speak with all of them urgently, because, in her words: “You’re all going to die.”
Amara sent Dóro to fetch Aegis and Kallos, who was still severely sleep-deprived and thought Amara had been turned into an octopus. These two arrived at the palace. Kallos took an immediate dislike to Medea due to her similarities to Circe, and Medea reciprocated the feeling. She then told the group:

“All throughout my childhood, over and over again, I’ve watched men try to take the fleece, and I’ve watched them all be gored or burnt to a crisp trying. So, I’m having trouble caring about you idiots. Why should I care to help you if you’re just going to die on me at the end?”
“I literally can’t die,” Aegis said, to her fellow party members’ surprise.
Medea quickly cast Detect Magic, looked Aegis up and down, then looked at the other party members and noticed their Chthonic Protection. “Okay. So maybe you won’t die. But you could technically still be left alive as a smoldering lump of flesh in constant agony. Still, you are different… and my goddess wants me to help you. So let me tell you about the tricks Aeëtes is going to pull on you, and how I can help.”

First, she told them that Aeëtes would ask them to yoke two fire-breathing metal bulls made by Hephaestus. Medea could make an ointment that would give them resistance to fire damage, but they would still need someone incredibly strong to grapple the bulls.
Then they would have to plough the field and sow it with dragon’s teeth. Once planted, the teeth would grow into an army of undead warriors who would attack them. When Amara asked if they had any weaknesses, Medea revealed that they were incredibly stupid and could be tricked into fighting each other. Kallos also seemed confident that she could deal with them, specifically because they were undead.
Then Aeëtes would postpone the third trial to the next day and use that night to curse the party with his magic, dooming them to disadvantage on all saving throws during their final fight. Medea explained that there was a particular herb, called moly, that nullified the magic of all descendants of Helios. It was said to grow from the drops of blood shed by a certain giant that Helios killed during the Gigantomachy. Medea couldn’t touch it herself or it would nullify her magic, but if they managed to eat the flowers and feed Aeëtes the root, it would render them immune to his magic.
Finally, they would have to take the Golden Fleece from the sleepless dragon who guarded it—the mother of all Aeëtes’ dragons. Medea explained that she spoke Draconic and could perhaps convince it to let them pass. If not, they should start thinking of ways to fight it or put it to sleep. She also suggested that they steal it during the night and flee if things went badly. Meredythe asked if she would like to assassinate her father and become queen. Medea replied, “Gods, yes.”
Medea and Aegis then got into an argument over Aegis’ name—the Apple of Discord was acting up again, also provoking Kallos and Jason (who had developed a crush on Medea) and making Callidora cry for no reason. Medea left, and Kallos and Aegis went into the hallway to cool down. Jason followed them. He and Aegis began chatting about girls, and Aegis revealed, “I already have a girlfriend.”
Kallos seemed enthusiastic and happy for Aegis. Then, when she sent Aegis to go find a flowerpot and some soil, she broke down crying in front of the rest of the party, wondering why Aegis didn’t trust her enough to tell her about her girlfriend. The party members suggested that she ask Aegis her girlfriend’s name.
Aegis returned. Amara promptly asked Aegis what her girlfriend’s name was, but Aegis was in the middle of eating some dirt and her response was muffled. Kallos shut down the conversation, then cut herself and began bleeding into the pot. The goliaths were descendants of the giants, and Kallos, it seemed, was a descendant of the giant killed by Helios. She grew nine moly plants out of her blood.
The rest of the party kept trying to get Aegis and Kallos to communicate their feelings about each other, but an embarrassed Kallos and an oblivious Aegis would not cooperate. Amara and Callidora heard the faintest sound of a woman’s laugh nearby. Amara cast See Invisibility and, for a brief moment, glimpsed Aphrodite laughing at them.
Amara suggested that Kallos get some sleep, then added, “When you’re more fully rested… would you like to help us spite a goddess who hates us?” And with that, the party began planning for Aeëtes’ trials—and their revenge on Aphrodite.

Relations

Protagonists

Aegis, Amara, Callidora, Kallos, Meredythe Maegwund

Allies

Medea, Jason, the Argonauts

Neutrals/Bystanders

Flappy and Scuttle (baby dragons), An Innocent Sheep

Adversaries

King Aeëtes

Plot type

Session