"Well without direct permission from the king, there are few rooms I can show you. As far as Greece has come, many city-states or rather the people living in them harbor resentment for anyone trying to escape war and terror. While the eastern lands of the orcs are ravaged by war, many of its citizens want nothing to do with it and thus flee. These both combined turn into a situation where our fine island houses them. The king uses kingdom funds to feed and house them. But even here, there are those opposed to foreigners, especially those seen as warmongering thugs. It is not right, but at some level understandable. No citizen has to pay for healing from priests, we give subsidies and protection to merchants to lower their prices though some still attempt to swindle people. We try to take care of all our citizens, but even we can only do so much."
Kyronai nods to show he understands. He doesn't have anything left to talk about; he's ready to meet the king.
"You should acquire direct permission. In the meanwhile, show us the rooms. When we are done, we may go and see the situation with the refugees. If there is unrest, perhaps Zagreus is stirring up trouble there."
"As you wish." Alexia takes the lead out of her office into the main hallway. Across from her office, she shows the group the barracks where the rest of the guard sleep as well as the mess hall. A few of the men not currently on watch are seen eating here. The smell of roasted boar is fragrant here along and you can see that they are also enjoying fresh greens alongside their meal. She then leads you through the kitchen where staff are hard at work.
The next few rooms are empty guest rooms followed by the sick bay. A priest of Athena is tending to a guard's broken wrist. The tour is rather short lived as you pass by the throne room where you see a very large bull-headed man sitting atop the throne. Alexia takes this opportunity to address him. "My lord, these agents of Olympus have information about an attack on your castle. I have shown them the common rooms and request your permission." She asks while taking a knee. The King stands up and eyes the group up and down. "They don't make them like they used to." He smirks. "Welcome to my kingdom. I am King Taurus of Crete. I already know that pirate Glaucetas is here, I just haven't found him yet. So what do I not know?" Alexia explains what you have told her to him.
"So is that why cousin Zag paid a visit? He said he needed my strength for something though he didn't say what. I suppose he does have a legitimate gripe against at least a few of them. Myself, I have seen equal cruelty from mortals so very little what the gods do rile me.
Do you have a plan? Or any idea what he wants from my castle?"
Aikaterine will explain how they had witnessed necromancy and efforts by the doctor to form a super soldier, as well their efforts of alchemy and the reaction of animals. Each of these are likely to come into play. More than that, she explains what happened with Diskord and Ares. The loss of their divine spark and the transfer of their powers to another, even to mortals, is enough to send chills down the spine of any of the gods.
"Any and all of these things could put your kingdom at risk. I don't know why he wants access to your castle. Only you'd know that, your highness. Do you have anything he'd want? Would he wish to take your life? And is there anything he could steal that would help him in his efforts to take down the rest of the gods? Some item perhaps? I would wonder if that is why Glaucetas is here at this precise moment. It can't be a coincidence..."
"I have no idea. I doubt Zagreus would try fighting me, I've always beaten him. We house no artifacts or even enough gold to fund a large scale army." Taurus replies.
"Papa!" The voice of a little boy rings loudly as you see a smaller version of the king run up to him. Though is horns are but nubs and he looks no older than six seasons old, he is otherwise a spitting image of the king. "I did tell you to stay in your room, boy. I have work to do." The king says to his son as he picks him up in his massive arms, before turning back to you. "Apologies, this is my son Asterius. Say hello, boy." Young Asterious enthusiastically waves to the party.
An older woman enters the throne room, jogging and a bit ragged as if she was chasing a young child six decades younger than her. "You must stay within my line of sight, my favorite grandson." She half-heartedly chides the young prince.
"He is your only grandson, mother." Taurus lightly jabs putting his son down, who then takes ahold the grandmother's hand.
"Well then he guaranteed to be my favorite then." She chuckles as she leads the young lad out of the room.
"Now where were we? Ah yes, Zagreus only asked for my help and I turned him down. Even if I wanted to, I have too much to do running Crete and making sure it prospers."
"Hello, Asterius," she greets him with a royal bow.
Once the child is secured, she thinks on everything she's seen.
"He asked for your help. You turned him down...Zagreus is wanting power to overthrow the gods..." she muses to herself at the sight of Asterius. "Perhaps his intention is to come after a vulnerable target. In hopes of securing that you will give him your power. A kidnapping..." she states to the king. Her eyes focus on the young boy once more. "If you are true, that he cannot defeat you. You have nothing of value that he wants, and by his own words he wanted your power, then that must be what he's after. If he can't take it by force...he'll take it by despicable means."
Taurus raises an eyebrow as he ponders what Aikaterine is implying. "If you are saying what I believe you are, I would still find it hard to believe. Even Zagreus would not stoop so low as to endanger a child. But nevertheless we should stop him. Is there a plan?"
"Your grace, we have just arrived in your city today."
"And Zagreus' secretive entrance into your castle isn't expected for another two days' time. Grant us permission to explore your home -- and the cooperation of your soldiers and staff -- and we will devise a plan."
"One who is willing to fight the gods would certainly be willing to harm a child. Please, corporate with us, so that we can minimize the harm that he will certainly try to do."
Making sure the child is not there anymore, she will respond to the king:
"Of everyone we've met under the coercion of the Prometheans, they believe what they are doing is right. The ends justify the means to them. They will go to any length. This is a fact. The bodies of numerous villagers, dead from their actions cry out from the grave. The souls of Spartans pleaded with us to deal death in vengeance to those who betrayed them (I believe this was the haunt and survivor). The broken heart of one whose beloved betrayed them, now drinks himself to oblivion. None of it was expected. None of it was what those people would do normally we find, but they felt pained and wronged by the gods and devoted themselves to bringing them down by any means. It is no wonder these simple people, commoners, alchemists, and scientists, all gave their lives to these Prometheans. Now we know their--potentially--last leader. If anyone left in his organization was willing to sacrifice everything for their goals, it would be him. The Zagreus you have in your mind is a construct of who he once was. All that is left now is what his ambition and pride have let take over."
She gestures to the brothers.
"Let us have access and let us conduct a covert assessment of the city and your castle. Allow us the manpower, materials, and means to set what we need to set in order to ensure these fools end here and the world can rest from this torment."
"You will have whatever you need. In fact Captain Alexia will accompany you and aid you in this. She is the best of the best so you will be in good hands. If you need any more of the guard, we will spare what we can. I will make sure my family is safe, I have a secure room my father built for this sort of thing." Taurus replies to you before looking towards Alexia who just nods in response.
"So where to first?" Alexia turns to ask the group.
Speaking more to the others than Alexia, Kyronai lays out where he'd like to go.
"I'd like to start at wherever Atticus will let Zagreus or his agent into the castle. From there, I want to see what areas of the castle he will have to go through. Perhaps he has further allies or other deception that he needs to acquire."
After a moment's thought, he adds.
"We should also consider what other targets in the castle beyond the king there might be."
"I agree," she voices to Kyronai.
Aikaterine nods to the king and will bow at his request. She wonders something differently than Kyronai though.
"After we see these things you suggest, I also want to get a look at this 'secure room'. Would Zagreus somehow know of its existence?" she asks the king. "If so, it may be in his plans to have you go there with your family. Instead, we should secure another room in an effort to ensure that you do not fall into his plan in any way, shape, or form. If this can be done without the knowledge of the guard to some degree, we will ensure that the chance of being found out--should he have any other allies in the keep--will be minimized."
"Unlikely as the only people to know of it's existence is the royal family and my captain here. My father had the builders executed out of paranoia. The other guards should be unaware of its existence." Taurus replies.
"Fine..." Aikaterine hums to herself, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to hide her irritation.
"If Zagreus were to become stronger than he used to be, by either drinking something that made him ten times bigger and stronger...would you be worried if he came at you? What would be the ramifications of that?"
Aikaterine is desperate to find SOME semblance of a reason why Zagreus would even bother coming in here. As it is, there is no indication of any reason why he would yet and it bothers her. She doubts very much she'll find some reason why as they explore the castle, but she has to keep her hopes up. Frustrated, she thinks to herself, "Why is he (Zagreus) doing it??? It just doesn't make sense!"
From behind his helmet, Amphitryon watched the captain to see if there was any trace of dishonesty there. If he were to try and pull off something like this, he'd want someone on the inside. However, if there was any traitorous thoughts there, they were hidden to him.
"At the very least, we can map out a few areas that he'd have to go through to get to the safe room and plan an ambush there. Even if the room is hidden, I would not completely trust to it's secrecy."
Neither Aika nor Amphitryon sense any trace of dishonesty from the guard captain. "Worried? Of course I am. But if he comes at me, I will fight him. I will not be a prisoner, never again. You have the run of the castle. If you want to set up a trap just in case near the safe room, I will allow it. Alexia can show the room to you. I will start packing up goods for my family for this siege."
"Alright," she states with acceptance. Giving a nod to Kyronai, she will follow him out to investigate the castle. "It was a pleasure to meet you, your highness." She will bow as she takes her leave.
Kyronai asks Alexia to take them to the entrance that Atticus guards. Without going outside the castle, if possible.
Alexia takes the party through some hallways into a very large dining room. Besides a few pieces of art, the only thing occupying this room is a small(small for a king anyway) dining table that would fit eight people at most. "If need a large area for maneuverability, this would our best chance." The guard captain comments before taking you into the last room on the trip.
It turns out that the back room that was guarded by the corrupt Atticus was the castle kitchen. Though rather large itself, much of the space is taken up by prep tables, cabinets, and bushels of various foodstuffs. "I put Atticus here because I thought it was where he could do the least harm. It turns out I was very wrong and it could have cost the king his life."
Aikaterine comforts Alexia with a hand on her shoulder.
"It's not to late. Let's finish this right."
Gesturing vaguely, she asks:
"Clearly, this is the kitchen, but is this the king's kitchen as well? Would the king's food and drinkstuffs be here and available to be poisoned? That is how Ares met his end. Poisoned Ambrosia. Part of me wonders if Zagreus will even be the one to do it, or if he will send one of his lackeys. We should plan for that eventuality too, because I'm sure he will want to be watching from close by. We should set a watch in nearby buildings to see if he visits any home near by the entrance to this room."
Kyronai asks if there are/were any events (such as a meeting or a party) planned on the day in question.
"Yes, we have the single kitchen for the entire castle. Everything is delivered and then prepared here. There were no events planned in the near future. King Taurus does hold court everyday for citizens to come and air grievances but that is when the palace is most well guarded. Well if it helps any, I have never witnessed the king imbibe ambrosia. As far as I know, that is reserved for full gods. I can be on watch if you wish. I am well skilled in such matters."
"The poison I'm sure is not needed to be in ambrosia. What is it that the king normally eats or drinks? Something that someone who has eaten or drunk with him before would know?"
"Poultry and Pork mostly. No beef inside the castle for obvious reasons. He prefers simple honeyed mead and you can confirm that with any guard here. The king makes it a point to have many of his meals with his staff and guard. We're a family here."
Aikaterine thinks for a moment and looks to the others.
"It may be best not to change his routine at all. Zagreus developed a poison. I'm certain he would want to use it. That means this entrance is not a selection of mere chance. He would have access to the king through this room by poisoning his food and expressed interest in borrowing his power. With this...he can take it, and kill the king. Someone told him how to get in and where to go, or he knew it himself."
The poison seems unchanged from any extreme temperature changes and you are fairly certain whatever it is, only affects ambrosia.
"Well, we need to be in the right place, at the right time. I would suggest that being there early is fine, but being there late is bad."
"You know...thinking back to what we learned over the last couple of weeks of testing out this concoction, Callie said it doesn't change over temperature...and it might only work for ambrosia, so if the king doesn't take that drink, then poison can't be Zagreus's intent. He may seek to lead an assault through here. How far are the king's quarters? Or his son's?" she asks, hoping to figure this out instead of everything always being unknown to them. She feels like they are always many steps behind with little to no information.
Kyronai looks around at the kitchen and the layout beyond. He was hoping that there would be a clear path or goal from the kitchen entrance into the larger part of the castle, but beyond the kitchen, there's too many other places an invader could go.
If the best they can manage is to ambush the invader in the kitchen, then that will have to do. But Kyronai keeps his eyes and ears open for another potential strategy as he listens to Aikaterine's questions and Alexia's answers. He also notes various locales throughout the castle so that he can use his dimension door spell to help the party more quickly travel throughout the castle.
"Well the king's quarters are on the upper level on the opposite side of the castle. Next to his quarters is the royal mother's room and on the opposite side is the prince's room. All the other rooms on the top level are staff residences. He always has two guards in front his son's room as well as his mother's."
"Okay, this is not productive..." she comments, getting irritated again. It seems that everything that logically makes sense for Zagreus to attack is out of his reach, or the worst possible decision, so what the hell is he doing coming in this entrance? "If you were Zagreus, with Zagreus's abilities, looking to gain or destroy godly power in people, why would you specifically choose this entrance. Think! We need your insight because right now we are no better off than we were." "This is a waste of time. We should just set a trap and be done with it. We are not learning anything here..."
"Perhaps like you said, the goal isn't the king himself. And I believe you did say that he might be allied with the famed scoundrel, Glaucetas'. Perhaps the master thief thought this to be the best route for entry given his skills. I mean no one would think to heavily guard this entrance given its proximity to everything else." Alexia responds pointing to herself as an example. "Perhaps they possess some ability that only works once they're inside the building that will aid them in infiltration. Or they chose this entry point as a way to get any opposition to overthink themselves to the point of failure." The guard captain pats Aika on the shoulder. "We will stop them, keeping a cool head will ensure our success. Villains aren't always predictable, sometimes they act irrationally to distract the hero long enough for their evil plan. Their are two options; either we wait it out and attempt to ambush them here, or we can try to flush them out. Zagreus might be able to go where he pleases at a moments notice, but pirates cannot. We know they're here but we do not know where."
"Very much so. And success isn't always total. Even if the main villains are forced to flee, if we can catch anyone in the process, then we will have advanced. Let's keep our spirits up."
She will continue on with the tour, but if there is nothing else of importance or significance, they will have to set about making preparation with these traps.
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The party decides to make preparation for an ambush. While some guards are a little wary of what exactly their looking for, they otherwise do their job. The kitchen staff are told to stay in their quarters for the night and the royal family is in their safe room.
The party waits in hiding in the kitchen for some sign. A few minutes before the proposed time, there is a knock on the door. "We have heard noises coming from the east but we have seen nothing. Orders?" A voice you recognize as one of the guards asks through the closed entrance. Alexia just looks to the group for a response.
"What sort of noises?"
"Footsteps mostly. A few whispers that we cannot make out. A block away at most."
"I will scout it out." If permitted, she will cast invisibility and will rush out that way, hoping to see and hear in advance just what is going on before returning.
Varocles will go ahead and hit himself with longstrider.
Kyronai nods at Aikaterine.
"It could be a distraction because they know we are here. But if we don't hear back from you soon, one of us will investigate."
Kyronai, Varocles, and Amyphytrion remain at the ambush site near the kitchen.
Amphitryon smiled under his helmet. Filled with anticipation, he subconsciously tapped into the well of divine power that he had inadvertently become linked to. Some of fallen Ares' strength filled him.
You cast your spell and head out into the dark streets of Crete. It doesn't take long until you hear the footsteps you have heard about. Following it closer, you eventually see a pair of leather clad halflings walking about making a little bit too much noise. They seem blissfully unaware of you.
You do not detect any magic in the general area. You do notice that they are surreptitiously looking around to see if anyone is nearby and stand around as they notice no one. The pair seem purposeful in trying to draw attention to themselves as they stomp their feet just a tad too loudly and talk about mundane topics like food.