Session 21: Riptides
General Summary
Captured and chained, Helios tried to argue with Kallos and Aegis for his freedom, but they remained unswayed. He then asked to talk to the “reasonable one” of the group; as Callidora was asleep, Amara stepped forward. Helios tried to argue that the Olympian gods would surely notice he was gone and exact vengeance on the party, but a frustrated Amara snapped and said they were already in trouble with the gods, so freeing Helios wouldn’t help at all.
Meanwhile, the spell that summoned Valentia and her Valkyries was starting to fade. Valentia described how, after she died, she awoke in the halls of Valhalla, reborn as a Valkyrie. She then asked Meredythe where the World-Render was, as it was “the only way to get back home.” Meredythe confessed that she threw it in the ocean, as its power was slowly killing her. She showed Valentia her wound, and Valentia used magic to heal her wife.
Meredythe then turned to Amara and said,
“You said before that you wanted to help me be happy. So help me. Please.”Though clearly pained, Amara promised that she would try to contact her father and locate the World-Render. Valentia embraced Meredythe one more time, and spoke with great urgency:
“Find it. No matter what it takes, find the World-Render so we can go home. And remember… I will always find you.”After Valentia disappeared, Calais asked Jason what they were going to do with the Golden Fleece. Jason explained that they still needed to give it to Hera. Medea returned with a coterie of nobles and kissed Jason, who explained the situation.
“Good,” said Medea. “We can dedicate it to her on our wedding day.” Jason was confused. “You turned down my proposal.” “I changed my mind,” Medea said, kissing him again.Helios suddenly started laughing hysterically, to which Medea responded by giving him a withering glare. Suspicious, Amara cast See Invisibility—nothing invisible was there to be seen—and then touched Medea’s shoulder and cast Identify, allowing her to see any spells affecting her. Sure enough, Dominate Person had been cast on the young sorceress, meaning someone else was controlling her actions. Medea reacted badly to this, jerking away from Amara and saying, “Unhand me, peasant!” An argument ensued between Medea and the party, culminating in Aegis throwing an axe at Medea, though Meredythe jumped in the way. Furious, Medea grabbed Jason and retreated into the palace along with her entourage. The party regrouped and came to the consensus that Medea had been dominated by Aphrodite. They interrogated Helios and found out that he and Aphrodite have bad blood, as he was the one who broke the news of her infidelity to Hephaestus. Amara cast Invisibility on Calais and Zetes, who in turn cast Flight on themselves and looked into every window in the palace. They were unable to find Jason and Medea, so they reasoned the couple must be in the inner sanctum of the palace. Before they could continue searching, though, the adventurers desperately needed rest. While the Argonauts, Kallos, and Aegis slept, Amara started walking toward the ocean. Soon Meredythe joined her, put a hand on her shoulder, and confided in her:
“I don’t think that was my wife. There’s something… terribly wrong about this. Where has she been? A hall? A Valkyrie? My God… I don’t know how this will all shake out, but I’m afraid about whether this is a trap… about whether I can handle that sort of pain again. So… watch out for me, will you? And watch out for yourself. Especially around your father.” “Why especially around my father?” “It seems as if you’ve had a history. He doesn’t seem the most pleasant or trustworthy of men, that’s all.” “Maybe not… but there isn’t much that I can do about that, and there are plenty of people who I’ve met who also don’t seem the most pleasant or trustworthy and prove otherwise.” “That’s… a very worthy assessment to make,” Meredythe said. “Don’t get caught in any riptides out there.”Meredythe left. Amara dove into the sea, settled down in a bed of seaweed, and fell asleep. Soon, Poseidon came to her in a dream, congratulated her on her defeat of Helios, and consoled her for the loss of Dóro, although he explained that the octopus familiar could be re-summoned after death. All Amara had to do was “play the tune that’s in your heart.” Amara then asked him about the World-Render. Poseidon revealed that after it was thrown into the sea, it only stayed in the ocean for about an hour before vanishing. He did not know who took it, but it must have been someone powerful. “I’m sorry,” Poseidon said, “but it’s gone.” Amara awoke with more doubts and questions than she had started with. However, she was able to re-summon Dóro. This time, the octopus was bright gold instead of sea green, likely because he had been killed by a gold dragon. The party, Callidora included, debated what to do to rescue Jason and how they were going to get out of Colchis. Helios offered them “the coolest ride in the entire pantheon” but smugly told them that they would have to free him in order to get to ride the sun chariot. As an alternative, he suggested a “dragon chariot” that was the royal means of transportation in Colchis, but some party members objected to stealing it from Medea. Finally, someone suggested going to the temple of Hera. Her power could surely help them rescue Jason and thwart Aphrodite—if they were able to convince her to do so.
Report Date
22 Nov 2019
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