Session 5: Any Way the Wind Blows

(Alternate Titles: Spaghetti Demon Boys, Concentrate on Your Mayhem)

After reuniting Daedalus and Icarus, the party traveled with them on the road to Argos, a city where the father and son hoped to find passage to Sicily. Along the way, Meredythe noticed some suspicious movement in the nearby bushes. She threw a rock at the source of the movement and was surprised when a voice cried out in pain. Emerging from the bushes was a teenage girl dressed in fine clothes and jewelry, warily brandishing a knife. Meredythe apologized and greeted her as “princess,” upon which the young girl turned and ran.
The party managed to persuade her to stop running and explain who she was. The girl told them she was Iphigenia, daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra of Argos. She was worried that the party might have been sent by her father to capture her. She explained that she had a prophetic dream in which her father sacrificed her to appease the goddess Artemis so she would allow the wind to blow and Agamemnon’s fleet to sail off to the Trojan War.
Melantha immediately told Iphigenia, “I will do everything I can to make sure that dream never becomes a reality.” She mentioned that she had previous experience with escaping an attempted human sacrifice.
Iphigenia told them her mother was planning on murdering her father if he tried to get near Iphigenia, but she doesn’t want any bloodshed and her father will just keep coming after her unless they get the wind to blow some other way. She believed if she could travel to the Island of the Winds and convince Zephyr, the West Wind, to blow, no sacrifice would be needed.
The party were then approached by a group of armed soldiers and a well-dressed nobleman, asking for the whereabouts of the Princess Iphigenia. While Iphigenia hid, the party successfully denied any knowledge of the princess and the soldiers went about their business, though not before making some misogynistic comments about women needing “protection.” The party members muttered that they could protect themselves just fine. Impressed by their confidence and capability, Iphigenia gushed, “You’re so cool!” and the party instantly felt protective of her.
Icarus gave Iphigenia his Cloak of the Manta Ray (given to him by Poseidon to keep him from drowning) as a disguise, and it became clear he was smitten with the beautiful princess. The party headed into town to find a ship, but first they needed less royal-looking clothes for Iphigenia. They came upon the shop of the weaver Arachne, who sold them a chiton.
Atalanta mentioned hearing about a ship called the Argo looking for a crew of adventurers, led by a man named Jason. After several failed attempts to locate Jason, including Amara doing impromptu performance art with her octopus familiar Doro, a mysterious old woman pointed them in the right direction.
Jason explained that his crew were on a quest to fetch the Golden Fleece of Colchis. When the party tried to convince him to divert his course so they could reach the Island of the Winds, help arrived in the form of an unlikely coincidence: two of Jason’s crew members, Calais and Zetes (affectionately nicknamed Penne and Ziti, the Spaghetti Demon Boys, by the party), were the sons of Boreas, the North Wind, and as such were able to commune with him. Iphigenia suggested that they convince Boreas to make the winds blow so the fleet can sail, albeit in the wrong direction. The party decides on this course of action and the wind picks up.
Iphigenia questions why Artemis of all gods would call for the sacrifice of a young girl. The party agrees that this is uncharacteristic of her, which may mean it was some other god impersonating Artemis… but who? Who would want to keep this fleet from sailing? And did the party do the right thing in blowing the ships off-course, potentially averting the entire Trojan War? They are left feeling unsettled, and with more questions than answers.

Relations

Protagonists

Amara, Melantha, Meredythe Maegwund

Allies

Iphigenia, Jason, Calais and Zetes, Daedalus, Icarus, Atalanta

Neutrals/Bystanders

Arachne

Adversaries

Agamemnon

Plot type

Session