Session 4: Under the Sea

The party members spent the night camping in the forest, but in the early hours of the morning they awoke to a thunderstorm raging all around them and the crackle of lightning scorching a tree in the distance. The adventurers quickly deduces that Zeus was angry—perhaps having found out about the Fates’ plan to depose him—and that the lightning-scorched tree, still burning, had the potential to turn into a massive forest fire. They quickly packed their things and started heading out of the forest.
Around dawn, the party found themselves near the Mediterranean coastline. Melantha and Amara spotted two specks in the sky that seemed to be moving closer and closer to them. One speck began to rise up toward the sun, then suddenly plummeted down into the sea. The other speck, which was now discernable as some kind of winged creature, circled over the water for a while, then started heading for the shore, where the party members are.
This figure, a middle-aged man with huge mechanical feathered wings strapped to his back, crash landed in front of the party, frantically praying under his breath: “Lord Poseidon, have mercy on me. Save my son from drowning. Let him swim to shore, or if he is dead, may his body wash up on the shore so I can give him the proper rites. If ever I have pleased you in defying King Minos, Lord Poseidon, have mercy on me.”
Upon being questioned by the party, he introduced himself as Daedalus, the famous artificer, who was fleeing from King Minos along with his teenage son Icarus, using Daedalus’ magic craftmanship to fly to safety. Icarus, however, flew too close to the sun and fell into the ocean. Daedalus was beside himself with grief.
Amara immediately ran to the ocean and dove in to search for Icarus, to the concern of the rest of the party, who did not know that she could breathe underwater. Daedalus created enchanted armbands for Meredythe and Melantha that would allow them to swim and breathe underwater, and they vowed to bring Icarus home to his father.
After combing the area, Amara found three nereids and was successfully able to communicate with them in Aquan. They told her that the god Poseidon had saved Icarus from drowning and taken the boy to his palace. They did not know what their king intended to do with the boy, but they said that the party was welcome to follow them and bargain with the god themselves.
The nereids led the party to Poseidon’s underwater realm, which had the feel of a pocket dimension rather than physically being located at the bottom of the sea. Meredythe noticed that some of the architecture and statues decorating the exterior of the palace seemed oddly reminiscent of her cult background. Inside the palace, the party found Icarus lying on a pallet with severe burns all over his body, being tended to by nereids.
Poseidon came out to meet the party. The adventurers immediately noticed that he had tattoo-like designs all across his back, right arm, and the right half of his chest—tattoos that matched the markings on Amara’s arm. While Amara did not immediately realize this meant Poseidon was her father, the rest of the party put the pieces together fairly quickly. Poseidon himself seemed surprised by this development, but quickly regained his composure and told them that, although he had meant to keep Icarus as his lover, he would be willing to return the boy to his father.
Poseidon then questioned them about the Fates’ plans, to which they truthfully replied that they knew nothing whatsoever. Poseidon mused that the Fates must have planned his involvement in their scheme and tells the party:

“I used to be ruler of the gods, long ago. I wasn’t the god of the sea back then. I was the Earth-Shaker, god of horses, and oh, those were good old days. But then little brother Zeus decided he wanted to rule the mortal realm as well as the sky, so we made a deal—he would become lord of Olympus, but anything and everything within the sea would be mine.
I came to regret that deal. Hera, Athena, and Apollo also came to see that Zeus was an unfit ruler of the gods. We rebelled against him. Bound him in adamantine chains. Hera, Athena, and I decided we would rule as a triumvirate. But it was not to be. One of Zeus’ paramours released the Hekatonkheires—hundred-headed, hundred-armed Titans—and we were quickly crushed. I have no desire to relive that experience. But I suppose I can give you some advice. How not to organize a rebellion.”

Poseidon told them that they would need as many deific allies as possible, particularly Hera, Athena, Apollo, and Hephaestus—the smith god being particularly important, as they would need adamantine chains (also known as dimensional shackles) to restrain Zeus. He also warned them not to underestimate minor deities, as that was the first rebellion’s fatal mistake.
Poseidon also gave Amara a parting gift: he shook the earth to loosen a bit of seabed and sculpted it into a familiar for his daughter, a sea-green octopus who could magically breathe air as well as water. Amara instantly fell in love with the creature and named it Doro, meaning “gift.”
The three party members took Icarus to shore to reunite with his father. “I love family reunions,” Meredythe quipped, looking at Amara, who gave her a glare in return.
Daedalus offered to craft them another magical item and revealed he knew how to make adamantine, dimensional shackles. The only problem—the party had no shackles readily available for him to enchant. Daedalus told them that he and Icarus were planning on settling in Sicily and told them to find him there once they acquired shackles for him to work with.
The session included when Icarus said to his father, “That was awesome! Can I do it again?” Daedalus sighed and replied, “No. You’re grounded.”

Relations

Protagonists

Amara, Melantha, Meredythe Maegwund

Allies

Daedalus, Poseidon

Neutrals/Bystanders

Icarus, Nereids

Plot type

Session