Session 8: Blacksmith's Prayer
After passing the Island of the Sirens, the crew of the Argo noticed the setting sun and docked on the nearby island of Thera for the night. The villagers came out to greet the visiting adventurers and threw a feast in their honor. At the feast, the party members reencountered Charaxos the Lesbian wine salesman, looking far more dejected and drunk than when they had seen him last. Charaxos told them that he was trying to sell as much wine as possible on his journey back to Lesbos, as he had spent all his savings and some of his family’s money buying the freedom of a courtesan he loved, only to be abandoned by said courtesan. “Sometimes love doesn’t last,” Amara told him. The swordsman Caeneus heard Amara’s words and looked pensive.
The party members found themselves seated next to a strong, heavily-armored, eight-foot-tall woman with grayish-blue skin and a reserved, somewhat awkward personality. Drunk on Lesbian wine, Atalanta asked the woman if she had ever wrestled anyone raised by bears. The woman replied that she hadn’t and declined Atalanta’s challenge, not wanting to take advantage of the huntress’s drunkenness. Surprisingly, Melantha chose to drink, due to the stress of being tied to a mast and hearing the Sirens’ song, and she became slightly tipsy and more readily giving out personal information to strangers.
The tall woman, a new player character named Kallos, told the party that she was a blacksmith and cleric devoted to Hephaestus. Meredythe asked Kallos to appraise her weapon, the World-Render. Upon inspecting it, Kallos was mystified by its wrought iron, strange runic inscriptions, and green glowing cracks through which unearthly voices were whispering. She asked Meredythe where she acquired it, to which Meredythe replied that she would rather talk about it at Kallos’ lodgings.
Kallos led them to the forge where she was staying, explaining that she was a traveler searching for a friend she had been separated from, and that she was currently enjoying the hospitality of a local blacksmith and his daughter. As they walked down the road, a blazing comet arced across the night sky above them. Kallos, recognizing it as a sign of Hephaestus’ favor, smiled and told the party that she would be leaving soon for the island of Lemnos, where the comet was leading her. The party agreed that they would ask Jason whether or not Kallos could accompany them on their journey until they reached Lemnos.
Inside the forge, the party found a pile of poor-quality copper ingots and an angry note in Greek complaining about a fraudulent Mesopotamian copper merchant. During their conversation, Amara and Melantha heard Meredythe speaking in a strange accent and then a strange language, while Meredythe insisted that she had always spoken this way. As suddenly as it had come, the language difficulties were gone, leaving the party bewildered.
Meredythe then attempted to flirt with an oblivious Kallos, but her efforts were hindered by poor social skills and misremembering Kallos’s name. Bewildered, Amara pulled Meredythe aside and asked:
“Meredythe, I have less experience with this sort of thing, I presume, since I have never been married… but how in the hell did you get a wife?” “Ritual combat, and wine, and mutton, why do you ask?” Meredythe said. “Oh, and she may or may not have been royalty, and we may have been stuck together, and we may have been desperate.” “Look, flirting is weird, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but you need to do better than that,” Amara said.The two continued bickering for a little while, but eventually Amara said:
“Look, I want you to be happy again. And I just… I’m not good with people, I live alone, I grew up in the woods… But I really just want to help.” “Thank you. That’s very admirable of you,” Meredythe replied. “And you should know that your efforts have certainly won over this old soldier’s heart.”Upon returning to the Argo, Amara found Caeneus staring out at the ocean and brooding. She asked him if he was okay, and after a moment of hesitation, Caeneus replied:
“No. Not really. That wine salesman’s story, and what you said to him… it just touched a nerve.” He sighed, then asked, “Those markings on your arms—how did you get them?” Taken aback a little, Amara said, “They’re birthmarks. I don’t know… this is all new to me, since I just found out a few days ago, but I’m the daughter of Poseidon.” After a moment of somber silence, Caeneus said, “I thought as much. They reminded me of him.” Another pause. “I might as well tell you… Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a boy. I was a boy, but people didn’t see me that way, and I wanted my body to be different. So I thought I’d make a pact with the gods. With Poseidon. He would… change me… into a man, and in return I would do whatever he wanted. And he wanted… to love me. “For a while, we were happy—I think we really were in love. But you know my blade-proof skin? He gave that to me. I didn’t ask for it, and it made me feel like I owed him for it, and then I just felt used. So I left.”Amara expressed her sympathy and support, and both of them headed off to bed. As Meredythe put aside her World-Render for the night, the strange whispering voices Kallos had noted grew louder, causing Meredythe to wince in pain. Meanwhile, as Kallos slept, Hephaestus appeared to her in a dream from his forge, a vast cavern with red-hot magma running through the walls. The smith god was not ugly, but looked like a perfectly average man—medium brown skin, short-cropped brown hair, a mole on his nose, some handsome facial features, some less than flattering—but the most notable thing about him were his prosthetic legs, made of shining bronze and powered by clockwork, steam, and sheer divine determination. He told Kallos:
“You have been a faithful devotee of mine, always. Both of us know what it’s like to be different from others, to be stared at and whispered about. To have to work hard and long, to build yourself up from nothing just to get the same things others have at birth. I respect that. Hardship has made us strong . . . “The three young women you met last night on the Argo. They are on a dangerous quest, and they need allies now more than ever. Convince them to come to Lemnos—within a day’s sail from here. You’ll know where to find me when you see it.” His voice cracked a little, and he said, “I need their—and your—help. Can I count on you?” “Absolutely, Lord Hephaestus,” Kallos said. “May a blessing be upon you and your craftsmanship,” he said, then the dream ended.Kallos spent the morning polishing her armor, including her prized hand-crafted shield, then headed to the Argo to ask for passage on the ship. Jason accepted her without hesitation and introduced her to the rest of the crew, then they set sail for Lemnos, the sacred island where Hephaestus fell to earth.
Relations
Protagonists
Amara, Kallos, Melantha, Meredythe Maegwund
Allies
Plot type
Session
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