Cyrene taps people on shoulders and elbows and then nods significantly towards the door. Once enough people have her message she simply leaves and waits in the shadows of the nearest alley.
Varocles slips out to meet up with Cyrene.
”Well, like I said, we just popped in for a quick drink. We may be heading to an inn next,” she remarks concerning their possible next step. It is all said to throw them off should Aika and her friends be heading out on the road and the group of Promethiums want vengeance. This way they will spend their time searching local inns and not following the group. ”I hope our money will be more welcome next time,” she flirts as she rises from her seat and follows the others out.
Amphitryon downed his drink and left a coin on the table as payment. ”Ah well. At least this place was memorable. Not for a good reason, but memorable nonetheless.”
Kyronai pays and leaves without a word.
Once the group has assembled Cyrene proffers the papers she purloined downstairs.
"I find your writing difficult," She says simply. "But this is the keep where we met and this is a list of the gods and people. Perhaps they are people who feel the gods have failed them somehow? This may not be the Prometheans, but the people who met below that house know a lot they should not at least."
Kyronai takes the papers and looks over their contents.
"Well done. There was nobody beyond that door that you retrieved this from?"
You find some some papers, one of which has details on the spartan keep where you met this group. A few others have what seem to be filled with names of victims followed by the name of a specific deity that has wronged them somehow.
What are the names of the victims? Who is the named deity?
"No-one saw me." The huntress replies with confidence. "There was no-one there when I was."
"The question is, what are we going to do with this information? Should we return to base and see what the gods have to say? With this list, they should easily recall up what was done and why."
Acacia -Demeter
Xenos -Hera
Adelphe -Aphrodite
Thanos -Hades
Nyssa -Dionysus
Leandro -Aphrodite
Phoebe -Apollo
Nicia -Dionysus
Gregor -Ares
Demitri -Artemis
Urian -Artemis
Stavros -Artemis
Xander -Zeus
Pietro -Poseidon
Narcissa -Hecate
"I say we go find this Pietro first, and fix his wagon wheel, the hard way!"
"I think it might be hard to find this specific person in a large city, if indeed these people are even in this city. It seems they are spread out given our past experiences. It's strange Hermoine isn't on this list either. I doubt news of her death has reached here. I don't know..." she wraps her arms around herself. "I think we need the gods' insights on this one. They might be able to let us know exactly who these people are from their records. I don't want to bring harm to anyone else without knowing for sure that they are at fault."
"I could consult milord Poseidon on this tomorrow morning, if desired."
"I will commune with my sisters in the Hunt." Cyrene offers, "Many men claim to have been wronged by Lady Artemis - my sisters may know more than I do, or speak to Artemis in person."
Aika nods in response to Cyrene and Varocles' grace. "That would be preferred. Perhaps, we will find out what we need to do without having to return."
The mage has experienced a lot of hardship in her life by the hands of the gods, but in time, their wisdom has come about full circle. It is hard for her to understand the pain these people feel. Perhaps it is a human emotion from their shortened perspective? Yet even still, knowing what happened to her mother would be pleasing to her. Perhaps she rests down with Poseidon?
"Hmm. Stavros is the name of a centaur Amphitryon, Varocles, and I met near Athens, but it seems unlikely that he would be mixed up in this. Even more unlikely is that this Xander is the same Xander as the little boy from ."
He looks at Varocles and Cyrene.
"If you can get any guidance from the gods, that could be helpful. If we just go around asking after these names, we may tip off those we need to find.
"Perhaps we can enlist any authorities in the area for assistance."
Kyronai purses his lips as he briefly looks at the papers Cyrene acquired before looking back up at the others. "And wherever we stay for the night, I think we should set a watch."
"Very much agreed on setting a watch. Anyone who would challenge the Gods will have their own eyes and ears. We need to assume that they will act against us. Speaking of which, we should be careful with our food and drink from now on as well."
"I would rather us just stay outside the city where we can see dangers from afar off and perhaps just a nice concealed spot away from the road to see if anyone comes after us."
"I would rather us just stay outside the city where we can see dangers from afar off and perhaps just a nice concealed spot away from the road to see if anyone comes after us."
Cyrene nods. "In the woods I can hide us easily. I am little use in human towns."
"Let's go to another part of town and find some dinner. We can ask innocuous questions about the various leaders here and see if any of the same names are on Cyrene's list. If not, the information might still be useful."
Aterwards, unless Varocles has any objections, it seems like the party is on board with letting Cyrene find a place to sleep for the night.
"I won't argue with dinner after that ale. I'm pretty sure he gave us the worst type of his supply. I'm not usually picky, but I'd love to have some sweet elven wine and some higher quality food if we can manage it before we head out. I doubt they will notice the names missing, let alone any time soon. I'm sure they know who their members are, so probably rarely refer to the list."
”At the very least let’s get enough wine for the road, and enough for me to cook with. If Cyrene can hunt, and if I have the right ingredients, then it will be my pleasure to have you eat in style.” Amphitryon said.
"Mmm...now that's an idea. Fresh food. I like that better."
They can gather some supplies for the road and then go hunting that evening while some of their party seek to ascertain the will of the gods.
The party makes their way out of town and through Cyrene's survival skills are able to find a clear spot away from the main road to set up camp. The night passes uneventfully as Cyrene is very successful in her hunt, catching a handful of rabbits which Amphitryon is able to roast for a fairly delicious meal to go along with some medium priced wine. The morning comes and the assassins have chosen not to strike no one comes after the party.
Even Aikaterine will help with the cooking if needed. With wine in her system, she doesn't mind dancing for them for entertainment. The dance is something seen in Hebrew cultures along the coastal regions and involves some far different movements than what is normally seen in Greece. When she's drunk herself happy (assuming there is enough wine), danced, and eaten her fill, she will collapse onto her bedroll. Her time for watch comes along and she struggles to get up, but she will study through the morning hours until others are up.
In this time, she will find a peace within herself and will inquire of her own personal ancestral gods, but also the actual gods to which she is employed by.
"I beseech you to guide our way, and if there is a person among us with greater faith than I have, and a greater love for you, then please speak with them instead. Let your words resonate in their hearts. We need guidance concerning this list. I bow my head lowly oh great god Zeus. Don't forget me. Look upon your servant in good standing, despite my great failures, and show mercy."
Varocles will settle down into an appropriate praying position, with incense, and 25gp of some offering (fish, or a pearl, or something from the sea), and will send 10 minutes praying.
This is him casting the 4th level spell divination.
"Oh great Poseidon, lord of the deeps, your humble servant comes to ask of you a question. How shall I find and deal with this Pietro, believed to be a Promethean, and one who claims he has been aggrieved by your greatness?"
You close your eyes to meditate and you see something. You see shadows that slowly turn into humanoid shapes. One is of a man running away from a battlefield before he is confronted by and strangled by a large figure wearing a horned helm. That vision fades until you see a couple, holding each other as a large female form turns them into rabbits. Finally you see a man in a boat with a net before he is grabbed by the ocean itself and it breaks his arm. His scream is the last and only thing that you hear before it all goes dark.
"In Sparta you will find an answer. For another you must return."
As images come into her mind, she tests this vision by trying to think of the words she's saying to herself in her meditation and visualizing her intent in her mind to distract from this. That however doesn't change what she's seeing. All at once, she realizes that if she is not in control of her faculties, then this is a vision of the gods and is out of her control. In worship, she bows her face to the ground as the images play out in her mind.
"I have had a vision," she speaks finally as it all goes dark and that familiar feeling of her own mental control returns to her. "There was a man who ran from a battlefield. He is confronted by and strangled by a large figure wearing a horned helm. Then, after, a couple are together in embrace as a large woman transmutes them both into rabbits. Lastly, I saw a man in a boat with a net. The ocean itself rose up and grabbed him and broke his arm horribly. My vision faded as he screamed in horrible agony from the pain. I do not lie...," she states with utter seriousness while sweat of nervousness beads at her forehead. "Perhaps this last one was your Pietro?"
"I don't know, but possibly. Poseidon says we should off to Sparta."
"Sparta? Hmm.
"I would think a sea journey would be the fastest way to get there. But it would take us past Athens, which would not be much of a detour if we have any reason to go there."
Cyrene likewise takes time to commune with her goddess, climbing a tree to embrace Artemis in the bosom of nature.
Lady Huntress, offer me guidance now. Demitri, Stavros, Urian, these men claim to have been wronged by you. How might I hunt them?
You begin to center yourself and attempt to commune with the goddess of the hunt. Minutes pass and you see/hear nothing. You continue to commune for almost half an hour but you sense nothing but your own thoughts.
With them agreed, she readies her things to return to the coastal village and rejoin with their companion. Once there, they can board their vessel and return to the ship.
"Lady Artemis did not communicate with me last night." Cyrene reports in the morning. "Did any of you have any more fortune?"
Aikaterine re-explains what she saw early that morning for the huntress as well as what Varocles stated was Poseidon's will .
"Yes, as I said, to Sparta we must go."
Cyrene responds with a simple shrug. Without guidance from Artemis she has no better plan, although the fact that the Prometheans can apparently be found here makes her suspicious.
The group makes it back to Eretria without incident and picks up Pelagos from the Thirsty Gorgon. The young man is hesitant to go with you. "Why do you want to go to Sparta of all places? I should really get back to the ship."
"It is the will of the gods that we go to Sparta. It is not required that you take us. I'm sure we can find travel here?" she asks, looking to her companions at those vessels anchored at the dock. "Otherwise, we may do well to rejoin the ship for now."
”And here I thought it was for their famous food…” Amphitryon muttered.
"And the ladies."
"We don't need you to take us all the way to Sparta. But it would have been terrible of us to leave without at least letting you know, seeing as how you've been waiting here for us."
The young man sighs. "I mean the drink is not half bad so waiting was a breeze. If you like, we can head back to the ship and talk to the captain. He might require some convincing monetarily speaking, but I think he would be willing."
"I think that's fair, and you are a great sailor too. We'd be foolish to set aside this relationship so soon," she will harmlessly flirt and will move toward the boat. "Are you up for the task now, or do you want your ale to settle?"
"We can leave." Pelagos nods and the group makes their way back to the Frisky Satyr. You explain the need to go to Sparta and Captain Argus thinks for a moment. "Alright, I can take you straight up the Eurotas river to Sparta and I will even wait for you. But it is out of the way and time is money, so I will need 2000 dinari for it upfront. Or... I have a job that needs doing that I think you lot would be more than capable of handling."