"When we arrived in the city, we found it under enchantment. People who would never do certain acts were doing them contrary to their normal path in life. Married spouses were cheating on their loved ones, things of that nature. They were being manipulated to strife by...me. Or at least who used to be me. Diskord," she states, gesturing to Amphitryon who had mentioned her. "Then, we heard of the disappearance of your son from his chosen post from one of his guardsmen. We infiltrated the keep as city guards and investigated his office and disappearance with respect, my lord. It was there we found poisoned Ambrosia and Diskord herself trying her best to hide in the corner and check out what we are doing there."
She continues.
"Clearly, she was looking to stifle any investigation on her tail and lured us to where she was keeping your son. There, she hoped to dispatch our lives but found us, by your empowering grace my lord, strengthened and capable. It was too late for your son, as he drank from the cup already. Weakened and not his glorious self, he held an honorable account of himself, struck the goddess Diskord in true war-like fashion, and he perished. No amount of healing could recall him. Ares' mighty blow and our own meager strikes were enough to kill the goddess, and upon both your honorable son and that vile goddess Diskord dying, what you see here happened."
"Please..." she begs of him as one who has prayed to him the whole of her long life. "Do not strike down your servants. We did not conspire for this end. Perhaps it was Ares' will to pass his spirit to Amphitryon, a noble warrior, and perhaps to cause one more streak of discord into the world, Diskord sought her soul to pass to mine. You would know more, my Lord. "
She lowers herself to the floor, hoping to calm his anger.
Varocles leans on his trident, fiddling with his holy symbol of Poseidon, and observes, "to be honest, Lord Zeus, I am as suspicious as you with respect to what has happened with these two. From the outside, it appeared as they describe, but I am not near wise enough to discern what happened inside."
"Well I believe you or at least that you believe your story or I suppose that will have to do for now. It is good to know that my son ended his life in battle, it was an appropriate end for him. But there will be time for mourning later, welcome to the family I suppose. The other gods and I will have to discuss what this means but as far as I'm concerned you two are Olympians and should be treated as such. I will have my assistant draw up the paperwork to have the temples transferred to you. Do you have any questions for me?"
"That's it?" Varocles is flabbergasted. He points at Amph and Aikaterine, "kill a god, and become a god? That's the policy? Won't that make every mortal start planning the demise of the gods?" He shakes his head, "how can we know that when they soaked up the god-ness from those two that they didn't get some of their less savory aspects as well? In particular those from Diskord?"
Varocles looks at Amph and Aikaterine, and laughs, "oh, sorry, I didn't mean to be rude your godnesses. Don't you need to go and do some inspections of your new temples, or something? Pose for new statues?"
He stomps around, "this is outrageous, you don't just BECOME a god, it's unseemly."
Amphitryon rose up and turned to Varocles. Grabbing him by the shoulder he hissed ”My friend, please, calm yourself. Would you prefer we be executed? Zeus is the king of the gods. Trust him to know more of this than we do.” He was still in a state of shock and hadn’t truly processed what Zeus had said. But what he did know was that he wanted to live, something Varocles didn’t seem to hold as any kind of priority.
Varocles attempted to shake the godling's hand loose, but his newfound power made his grip all the stronger. Varocles stared at Amphitryon, "you may be a god, and if Zeus says it to be, then it is, but you are NOT my god, and neither is Zeus. I am devoted to Poseidon, Lord of the Seas, and while I may honor you others, I do not worship you." He stands rigid, "now, if you would please, your godness, please unhand me, and I shall leave you to your god stuff."
Amphitryon felt a rush of anger pervade his entire being. It was a call to draw his blade and for it to taste blood. He fought it down, knowing that it was not who he was. War was a profession to him. It was not mindless slaughter or vindictive rage. He refused to allow it to consume him. Rather than draw the sword he removed his helmet, showing his face beneath the emotionless steel. He looked Varocles in the eyes, his own gaze hard, but tinged with sadness. And with that he turned to walk away. As he did so he hoped that Zues would be merciful.
Kyronai speaks softly from the side of the room.
"Nobody has asked you to worship them, Varocles."
Aikaterine doesn't address Varocles or the squabble happening beside her. She just keeps low to the god before them.
"Honorable Zeus, I wish to inquire of you. As you can hear before you, this is an emotional time for all of us mortals, and even I have not processed everything myself being longer lived than all here beside you, Lord." She takes in a breath. "I understand the worry prevailing here from our companion. I ask you spare Varocles for his outburst, as I'm sure it is out of his passion for the authenticity of the gods."
She then rises just a little to look at Zeus.
"I understand his pain. I am...not a goddess. To call me one is demeaning to the very sanctity which we as mortals hold you in reverence. Call me a demigod or some abomination. But do not call me an Olympian or grant me a temple. Such an honor is grand indeed, but I cannot say I deserve it as this has infected me. Your son, who was mighty indeed, clearly made his choice in regards to Amphitryon, but I do not begrudge mighty Varocles for his suspicion of me."
In fear of his violence, regardless she reveals what she is feeling.
"Deep within, even now, I feel the desire to cause strife and dissension that was not there before. A wildness that is not of me, yet is. It is hard to explain. It reminds me of the wildness of my youth as a young elf without wisdom. Does that mean I will be like Diskord? I don't think so, but I can't say what it means. If it would better serve you...I would offer my life to settle this affront."
She swallows hard in the saying of this.
Varocles backs away from Aikaterine as she confirms his worst fears.
"Well to answer your question, this is probably what the Prometheans were counting on. I mean if they are so unhappy, I assume that they would find some means to replace us or just get rid of us. Admittedly this is new territory for everyone. As outrageous as this is, this is the new status quo. It would make sense that Diskord's essence would influence you since you inherit her portfolio. But overall I sense you have the will to overcome it or not, so the choice is yours. Perhaps young dwarf, you should get some rest. You should take a trip to the sauna here, it works wonders for stress."
Aikaterine looks at Varocles backing away from her. She smirks and rises as Zeus shows grace to their ally.
"Thank you for your kindness, Lord."
"I do not think he will be convinced. Damn the stubbornness of dwarves...no...remember who you are."
She runs her black nails through silvery locks and relaxes a bit, pushing aside that flash of rage that rises. Her movements show she is not concerned with being frustrated with Varocles.
"I think the sauna would do wonders for us. In the meantime, perhaps there should be an official taste-tester of ambrosia and set up to have security increased over the production of it. It is not likely with Diskord dead that her followers know they have been found out and slowed from their ultimate goal, which would be to put a cup in all the god's hands."
She pulls her hair to one side and looks to Zeus to ask him another question.
"Can you sense your followers? Their thoughts? Where they are? Their prayers? If so, I'd love to learn how. We could end this right now..."
It is clear that the Prometheans in part worshipped or at least gave reverence to her portfolio. If that is so, perhaps she can suss out where they are.
"Well, I will leave you to it. Good luck fomenting strife and war you two," Varocles points at Aikaterine and Amphitryon respectively as he references their portfolios. "I'm going to go and pray for a bit, to my own god."
Amphitryon shook his head, both relieved that the dwarf hadn’t been smote and upset at the sheer rudeness of it all. He had shed blood with Varocles, and the dwarf apparently wanted him dead. He didn’t know what to make of it all. Pushing away the anger that seemed to now reside deep within him, he decided to pay the dwarf no mind. He had much more pressing matters to deal with.
”Fate is written for all of us, and only a fool tries to escape it.” Turning to Zeus, he gave a salute and continued ”Whatever I have become, and whether it bodes ill or well, I pledge my loyalty to Olympus.” Having done so, he said ”I will retire to the temple of war. See what is there and…I suppose, fulfill what duties are mine to bear. Brother, would you like to come with? It would be good to have a wiser head with me in these times.”
Kyronai silently agrees with a nod of his head.
"Why do I need to do anything when you are doing it for me?" she considers and shakes her head as he exits.
When the dwarf is gone, and Amphitryon salutes and exits with his brother, she will wave goodbye to them and turn to Zeus in a more somber stance. Her arms are placed at her front as if she is ready to beg or as if she is prepared to receive punishment.
"I fear he will not work with us any longer. This party saved my life. Varocles' divine magic restored me many times. I owe him so very much; so despite his hatred of what I am now, I cannot hate him...," she explains.
"I am dearly sorry for the loss of your son, my Lord. My words cannot express the sorrow I feel." She bows her head in respect and takes in a breath with almost half a laugh. "I've always found it so interesting how the shorter-lived races can just be on to the next thing. They don't see everything in the way I've seen it...through the lenses of a great many years. When an elf dies that I've known for hundreds and hundreds of years, my soul is torn. Yet what am I to you, Lord? Your time with your son is infinite compared to me. Even in my simple, basic understanding, am trying, but I know I cannot begin to comprehend how you feel, but I am mourning with you and will hide my face from you from now on for the pain in word I've brought to you."
"Well the issue is that we don't know who else is in on this. As far as we know, anyone we hire or assign to it could be a Promethean and it would be useless. But if you find any you trust, let us know. It used to be that people prayed with their voices at a temple and we would hear them. Nowadays all followers file paperwork. Hermes has a whole department dedicated to traveling all over Greece and picking up the paperwork where it's then sorted and sent to the correct deity. We can somewhat sense our followers and their general mood but nothing precise and definitely not where they are. But we can travel anywhere in Greece in an instant. Your friend will be fine, eventually." Zeus sighs once the rest of the party leaves. "Yes I will miss my ill-tempered son. But now is not the time for mourning. If we don't act quickly, I'll lose more of my children. You do not have to hide your pretty face on my account. Though I have a question for you dear. I do have a question for you though if you would indulge an aging god. What is your family like? Are your mother and father still alive?"
Aikaterine shifts with discomfort at the question.
"I never knew my father. Mother used to say he had a wandering heart and too much wildness to stick around. I never knew him. Something in her words always made me suspicious as to whether she was just telling me that so I wouldn't seek him out. I could see that behavior in humans happening, but in elves, it's far rarer."
She takes in a breath and continues.
"My mother went missing when I was a little girl. I still remember her sometimes when I look in the mirror..." "Not anymore..." "We don't know what truly happened to her. I recall that she would often disappear for days at a time and would leave me in my grandparents care. I still remember the fights between her and my grandparents. Despite their disdain for my mother's behavior, she could not be swayed to stop, nor would she tell anyone why she was leaving. I thought she was going away to look for my father, but I don't really know. Whatever caused her to travel out into the blue yonder was important, that much I know. After so many years, I assume she died. We were a fishing family. It's possible she went to sea and drown. Only Poseidon and Hades would know."
Gesturing vaguely toward home, she mentions:
"I was raised mostly by my grandparents. They have provided well for me and set me on a course that has led me to be able to explore this world and admire many of its beauties. Thank you for asking." Tilting her head, she asks, "Can I ask why you are curious about them?"
"I see. Well it is natural for mortals to seek out their kin so I understand her motive. I ask because you seemed familiar, so it's possible that I knew one or both of your parents. I would keep conversation between us as HR has told me that things like this are inappropriate for the workplace. But in any case you should also get some rest along with your friends." Zeus shrugs. " Despite the loss, this was still a victory. And I will ask Poseidon to speak to your friend after our meeting."
"You are too kind. I can't speak to the mind of Poseidon, but he has always seemed a god that doesn't like offense. If I or Amphitryon offend him in a similar way as Varocles takes offense, please speak to him to spare us. If he is of the same mind as you, that we are gods, and in his great emotion, he hears the anger of Varocles, please beg him to spare our friend," she responds to him.
" And I fear the influx of Diskord upon me will render your recollection difficult to resolve." she gestures to her new form. "I know that my mother worshiped you greatly." Aikaterine then begins to blush. "I cannot say whether or not she knew you or you knew her...Her name was Semele." Aika bows deeply in an elvish fashion. "But in any case, I shall not bother you anymore, my lord. I have longed to look upon your face for many centuries. You have given me grace beyond measure, and now I bid you good day."
With that, unless he stops her, she will move to the doorway and will exit.
"My brother does have a temper. Tis something all three of us derive from our parents, but I think he would understand the situation from both sides." Zeus seems to be taken aback at the mention of Semele. "I see. Well I give thanks for your willingness to humor an old deity today."
Aikaterine considers his taken-aback face to be nothing more than just hearing that her mother is likely dead. Perhaps he knew of her when she prayed in the temple. Aikaterine leaves now, considering the words of the elder god and goes to find her own peace and solace. Before she leaves, Aikaterine checks in with Callie and explains everything. Perhaps it will help the woman make sense of what has been going on. What likely won't make sense is how Aikaterine is different now, at least until she explains.
When the meeting is over, Aika will leave the information on where she will be and where Amphitryon and his brother were last heard to be heading. The group needs to solve this if they haven't already. All leads seem exhausted, so only a person like Callie can give them another path. As for Varocles, she doesn't bother to speak to Callie about him. Aika figures he will show up at headquarters or he won't. The dwarf can make up his own mind.
As Amphitryon and Kyronai walk to Ares' former temple, Kyronai gives his brother a curious glance.
"So... have you figured out how prayers work? Can you sense them, somehow?
"If not, I suppose it's now just paperwork."
Amphitryon laughed. "I have no f*cking idea about how any of this works." He said. "I am in over my head SO much. This is even worse than the time that those sergeants mistook me for father and I ran with it. Gods above, this isn't going to end well, is it?" He said, looking at his brother with obvious worry on his face.
Kyronai puts his hand on Amphitryon's pauldron and pulls on it a little bit to stop and turn him so they face each other. He pauses and looks at him eye-to-eyeslit for a moment before speaking.
"There will be challenges, but this is going to end well. This is going to end so far beyond well that I have trouble imagining how I will find the words to describe how this ends in my eventual grand epic.
"I have never seen you shy away from a fight unless it was strategic. Nor have I ever seen you fail to competently lead soldiers, both in battle and between battles. What else do you need to be the embodiment of War? Aside from being the Heavyweight Champion, that is."
Kyronai flicks the buckle of the "Big Gold Belt" his brother still wears. He indicates that they should continue walking.
"Embrace this. I believe that Varocles will come around. He is concerned that a god can be killed, and he is right to be. But more than any of us, he has trusted in the gods' immortality. If a god is so fragile, are they worthy of worship? I believe he is wise enough to work through this with us if we give him time.
"As for Aikaterine..." the half-elf sighs. "Eris strove to spread discord, but now Aikaterine embodies it. Her long, mortal life now wars with her new, chaotic divinity. By definition, I don't know what will happen with her, and that seems... appropriate."
Amphitryon gave a small smile, his helm held under his arm. "You always were the more level headed one." He said. "I'm glad that you are here. It feels more real. Less terrifying. I just hope that Aik will be alright. With bits and pieces of Ares in me, I feel more hot headed than before, but otherwise I'm still me. Being a soldier or being a g-..." He trailed off, feeling uncomfortable saying it. "...divine, it fits, you know? But having diskord in her? I'm worried. Much moreso than that bearded backstabber. Still can't believe he tried to throw us under the cart like that." He shook his head at the memory. "When he comes around, he owes all of us a drink."
Callie blinks when she first sees you but then adjusts her glasses a bit to reclaim her composure. "At this point, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by anything. In any case, this information will take time to be fully processed and analyzed. Unfortunate that there were losses, but we did cut off one of the hydra, though we are all aware what happens next."
2 days pass after the meeting with Zeus, When you wake, you find a letter next to your bedside. It is a summons from the Lord of the Ocean's office requesting a meeting between you and Poseidon.
Varocles will ready himself as rapidly as possible and head to his meeting.
"Well the dwarf being as devout as he is, I can see how he would feel that way. I suggest we keep this quiet and on a need to know basis. If anyone outside the company asks, a spell went awry. The last thing we need is panic in the streets of Greece. I suppose I will not turn down a request given by a god." You see what seems to be a smile, but given you have not seen Callie ever smile, you aren't quite sure.
When you get to Poseidon's office, you check in with his assistant and led inside where the Ocean lord is sitting. He puts his hand out to direct you to sit. "Do you know why I have called you here, Varocles?"
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Varocles bows his head, "weal or woe I should imagine milord. I know you are far too busy for idle scuttlebutt."
Aikaterine will work with Callie to surrender a day, or part of a day in the next week that the two of them can enjoy some comforts and pampering, some shopping, and perhaps lunch. The rest of the day will be Callie's, to which she is "commanded" not to check in at work until her next shift in an effort to appreciate the world she is in and why she does what she does. No doubt this will cause a bit of chaos and perhaps even...diskord...but it is for her benefit, and no doubt Callie will set things right when she returns, or else.
In the meantime, Aikaterine will attempt to use her divine powers to teleport to Ares' temple.
Callie begrudgingly agrees to your ridiculous demands, though the halfling has to be convinced to buy anything that isn't strictly utilitarian. It does become obvious that her mood improves though she doesn't admit to anything of the sort. Unfortunately despite your new godly powers, you find yourself unable to teleport anywhere, much less a temple. It seems you will have to use your new deific feet.
[b]"Zeus has informed the rest of the gods and I of the new status quo. As much as I do not enjoy said situation, I will have to learn to live with it. I suggest you do the same. I am furious that regardless of their fate, someone was able to murder a god. Even with the titans, we could only imprison them. No one is asking you to worship your friends, only to do what is necessary to continue our way of life. As much as I dislike agreeing with my brother, we are of one mind in this. Do you have any questions?
"Of course not milord. I shall not question you on this. I shall accept your judgment on the matter and press forward in your service, happily. I am ashamed that I left you the impression that I would do anything else."
If Aikaterine has to walk to Ares' temple, she'd rather just not. It was worth a try. She settles into her normal off-mission activities instead.
For a time, in those early days, she tried to go out into the city as she would as an elf, just keeping a lower profile. She quickly found all sorts of trouble due to her odd appearance. Even through her chosen concealing clothing, some people could discern she was not human in appearance. Reports would come into Callie that some guards even became nervous because of this and tried to arrest her. The report says that the arrest was due to not knowing what she was and they found themselves incapacitated quickly with spells. One of them had been fairly injured who grabbed her, but nothing mortal in terms of wounds.
The next time anyone from the group will see her, she has purchased a hooded robe and cloth mask. When she isn't wearing them, she is magically in disguise as her old elven self, using a simple lower-powered spell that conceals her true nature. Unlike the normally vibrant elf she used to be, she is reserved, seeking to not be touched by others. Those proficient in magical illusion may understand that until interacted with, such figments are near impossible to see through.
"Well in all fairness, my brother told me about your reaction in his office and was a little bit concerned. We need to be united in this. What these people want is division which is the only way they can have an advantage. If my nephew were still alive, he would tell you the same."
"Milord, I accept your direction completely. I shall carry forth your will as commanded."
A week later, everyone in the party is sent a letter requesting their presence. Once there, you are greeted by Callie. "Well it might have taken a while but we have word on where a suspect is currently. We have reason to believe that there are one or more Prometheans on the Isle of Crete. So your assignment is to go there and see what you can find out. Any questions?"
"Not yet. What else have you found out about this suspect?"
Varocles moves to stand near Amph and Aika as he nods at Kyronai's question.
"People are going to look at us strangely if we just go there and start asking if we've seen any Prometheans. What were your leads? That may help us in narrowing our search a bit."
Her voice is diminished. Not at all confident or herself anymore.
Varocles nods in approval at the goddess’ wisdom.
"Unfortunately not as much as we'd like. We only know that there are one or more individuals asking very suspicious and/or blasphemous questions. To not arouse suspicion on our end, we've only sent a single scout to every major settlement."
"Can we contact this scout? They should be able to point the person out to us, at the very least."
Amphitryon listened. He was wearing his armor, with the helm held under his arm. It felt 'right' in the sense that he had still yet to take it off, but 'wrong' in the sense that he did not feel divine. He still slept, he still ate, he still needed to heed the call of nature. He couldn't hear or answer prayers. And what little miracles he could do paled in comparison to that of Varocles, who received his power from a true God. And worst of all, he now felt that there was a sense of expectation on him, a weight on his shoulders to not screw up. He gave a terse smile at Kyronai's question, for it was on his mind as well.
"It's also probably hard not knowing who you can trust. You're doing a great job though. We wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for your organization and your spy network."
She sighs.
"One thing that you may not have noticed, that even slipped my attention, is that we may have dealt with the group's alchemist and body manipulator, and now divine source, but somehow they likely still have a stockpile and someone manipulating people to join. Perhaps he or she is the last head of the hydra? In any case, they likely would have been found out, but detection of them has been difficult for many months. That tells me they are hiding AND moving. There are two methods of moving around to avoid detection. One is overland through unknown routes, the other is overseas under the guise of legitimate companies."
She gestures to Callie, "If we look at the locations we've been, as well as the start of all of this with the visiting of a Titan, there is a very common theme of the sea being used as transport. My bet is it started that way, and remains their tool to avoid detection. Callie, can your spies in each major city take note of the docking ledgers over the last year in each of these cities we've been to so far? When we were in a city dealing with Prometheans, perhaps a similar ship, or group of ships will be seen having made harbor there? It may be a lead to follow up on while we investigate this random lead."
The alabaster-painted-skinned goddess looks at Amphitryon from behind her magical disguise that shows the elf she once was. There is a hint of envy in her eyes directed at the warrior who is able to be himself before the look is consumed in the business at hand.
"The figure was cloaked and even when they could see their face, it was blurred, as if hidden by magic. Protocol dictates to fall back when dealing with a powerful spellcaster. It is unlikely that Diskord was the only divine being associated with them. You should suspect any and all demigods at this point. And given that, transport is easy for even a demigod but I will put scouts on all major trade hubs. We've already put extra security on all the other imprisoned Titans in case they were sought out to be contacted for "advice"."
"I can't see how it can be the demigods banding together. Such a conspiracy would have been found out surely, as there are some who are very loyal to their parents if approached. We would have heard of it. I am certain this is just a few more conspirators, not a whole movement." She's said her peace. "We will set off now and will report back as soon as we may."
She turns to Varocles and looks at him. Her arms fold together and wrap about her in discomfort. On her face is a look as if expecting something from the dwarf. An explanation. An apology. Anything that would help ease her heart would be welcome. All she can muster to say to him is:
"Well, here you are. That is something."
The meaning is to convey that she is glad he has arrived and perhaps wondered if he was done with all of this.
At the talk of the demigods turning, Amphitryon stood up straighter, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. The notion of fighting them stirred his soul, something which before would have left him in dread. He swallowed the words that he wanted to say, knowing that voicing excitement would be most improper. But he couldn’t stop himself from feeling, and what he wanted was to test himself against them in battle. While it was wrong, he truly hoped that there was a conspiracy afoot which would set the heavens aflame in war.
Kyronai is about to announce that he cannot teleport them to Crete unless there is some means available for him to scry a location there, first. But then he decides to let Aikaterine (and perhaps his brother) hear from Varocles.