Following the voice leads you deep into the bowels of the castle and down a long flight of stairs into a dungeon. You eventually find the voice belonging to an older man in his mid-forties chained up. He looks as though he has been here for weeks.
Though he is worse for wear, the dark hair and impressive mustache are unmistakable. This is Autolycus, the self-proclaimed fairly famous king of thieves! He has not been heard from in a few months, but most believe that he has been lying low or retired.
Polyoinos looks at the imprisoned wretch, brow furrowed, then raised in recognition;
"By Baccus' Hairy Flanks! Gentlemen - note the magnificent mustache. If I am not mistake this is Autolycus; King of thieves! Do not worry my felonous friend liberation and libation are at hand!"
Varocles doesn't seem convinced as he responds, "yeah, how lucky are we?"
Tightening his grip on his bow, Kyronai asks "How long have you been here?'
"One, thank you for recognizing the greatness of the mustache. Secondly, I honestly don't know. The days all blend together." Once you free him, he dusts himself off and combs through his hair. "So what are you all doing here? Did my famous friends, Hercules or Xena, send you here to rescue me?" He asks inquisitively.
"King Jason. Is he your friend?"
"Friend is a little extreme, more like acquaintance. But good to know even he cares enough to hire people to find me. So, uh, how much did he offer for my safe return? I wanna know how much I am worth."
”Uhm...well, that’s still to be discussed. Let’s focus on getting you to safety first. How did you managed to end up in such a dreary abode?”
"Circe's necklace looked nice and I figured I'd be able to get a pretty dinar for it. She disagreed with me." Autolycus shrugs.
Varocles wonders if Jason really is this man's friend.
Polyoinos wonders what the value of Circe's necklace is in quarts of wine...
Varocles wonders if Jason really is this man's friend.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Varocles wonders if Jason really is this man's friend.
You believe that they are the closest of friends, confidants, brothers really.
Fair enough!
"Jason sent us here with a task that's not at cross-purposes with your own. What can you tell us about how to find Circe? Her followers in this realm have been mostly hostile to us, so I assume she will be as well."
"Well this is her castle, so she's probably in here somewhere. I can tell you where her boudoir is since that's where she keeps her jewelry. But I don't think she'd be happy to see me."
"But I don't think she'd be happy to see me."
"Then it would be good if you could lead us there without us being seen."
Kyronai searches the others' faces to make sure they are all on board with what he's implying. (That they let this man sneak them deeper into the castle.)
Varocles shrugs.
Polyoinos grins and claps the self-styled King of Thieves' shoulder with a wry wink;
"Boudoir you say? Ho-ho... Perhaps Queen Circe would entertain one who can woo amazons! A jug of wine, a ribald tune and she would be mine! Lead on my friend!"
"I somehow doubt that, but feel free to try." Autolycus pats Polyoinos on the back before leading the party through the castle. Though it is lavish and adorned with expensive art, it is empty. You see no guests, not even a servant. Of course this makes it easy for the king of thieves to lead you to Circe's bedroom. However she does not seem to be here at the moment.
"Where is she?"
"Like I have any idea? But since she isn't, I think I will help myself." Autolycus rubs his hands together as he starts searching the room for valuables.
"Might as well have a look around."
Varocles gives the room a once over...
Varocles searches the room alongside Autolycus. The latter finds some jewelry, quickly pocketing it. The stalwart Poseidon-ite searches the room and any jewelry he spots is quickly noticed and taken by the king of thieves. That is until he finds a small locket made of cheap copper. "Eh, that's not worth anything. Not even worth the pocket space." Autolycus comments.
Opening the locket, Varocles finds it containing a drawing of someone very familiar. It looks to be Alistair. The party does not have much time to digest this before there is an interruption. "I see that you've escaped, Autolycus. You've also brought accomplices. Maybe letting you keep your human form was a mistake. Yes, I think making you all into rats is rather poetic." Looking to the doorway the party sees a very voluptuous and stunning woman who is also very, very, annoyed.
Varocles flashes the locket with the portrait of Alistair to the others, "how sweet!"
Kyronai says nothing, but he readies an action: If he sees or hears Circe begin casting a spell, he'll cast steal breath to interrupt her.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Polyoinos' eyes widen at the arrival of Circe, he clears his throat with a grin and speaks;
"Queen Circle... Your bountiful beauty is truly legend. I am Polyoinos; Beloved of Bacchus. Scion of a Satyr, Woo'er of Amazons, Drainer of Casks and most recently I shall admit Liberator of Autolycus..."
He bows dramatically, with a wistful look to the sorceress;
"I... We... freed him so he could take us to you. We wished to meet the legendary Queen of this realm. To pay her proper homage. Alas I feel Autolycus duped us into acting as mere stooges so he could rifle your belongings... We are not petty the petty thieves our company would damn us as."
Knelling before her, the skald proffers;
"I ask of you Queen, whose clemency is as esteemed as her comeliness, to spare us the indignity of lives as rodents and hear our tale. I can but offer you my voice, my wine and my carnal prowess... in whatever order you pleases you!"
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"I've been told he's very good," Kyronai adds, unhelpfully.
Autolycus drops everything when Circe comes in, like the child caught red-handed with baked sweets. He slowly puts the jewels in his hands down where he found them. Sheepishly he takes a seat out of direct line of sight.
"You can save that last bit but your honeyed words do soothe my annoyance. Now before I turn you into vermin, pray tell me why you have chosen to break into my home and invaded the privacy of my bedroom? Also how did you evade Belach and Arachne?" Circe asks her annoyance waning a tiny bit.
Varocles looks at his shoes sheepishly.
Polyoinos remains on his knees, but ;
"Consider first we did not break into your abode. We announced our presence, but no answer came... Concerned you may have been requiring assistance, we entered seeking you out... As for Belach and Arachne. I bear grave news..."
The skald bows his head solemnly with a dramatic pause;
"We met your servants and rightly were challenged on our purpose. However Arachne's monstrous nature overtook her and a fight for the ages ensued. Regretfully our combined might overcame theirs."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Circe ponders Polyoinos' statement for a moment. "That is disappointing. I had thought that Arachne could control herself. And to think that I believed her when she claimed that eating people was a one time thing. Very well, I will not curse you all, for now. No answer came because there is no one else here, save a certain fool who can't his hands off my property. I am here alone." She glares at Autolycus who just looks to an unknown corner of the room, whistling as he pretends to not be aware.
"Please tell us how you came to be here."
"Like anyone else here. I angered a god, or goddess in this case. Why do you care? I assume you're here for a similar reason. For instance the fool you freed decided to steal from the Amazons which happened to upset Artemis." She replies gesturing to your new compatriot.
"Listen, how was I supposed to know that some girdle was sacred to them? I had an anniversary gift to get for my wife. Okay, I don't have a wife, but it looked like I could make a pretty dinar on it so I went for it." The rogue attempts to explain himself.
"The fact is, it doesn't matter why I'm here. It will not change anything." Circe sighes.
"We care because we have learned that you can leave this place for one day every ten years. Respectfully, we would like to know more about that."
"Oh, I see. So Jason has sent you here so he can weasel out of our deal? Yes, it is as he has told you. But I have held up my end of the bargain and given him his youth. I expect him to do the same so you can run back to your employer and tell him so."
"I'm actually not overly-concerned about the arrangement you've made with King Jason. What does concerns me is your man Belach's claim that you plan to lead warriors from this realm with the intent to conquer and rule.
"Again, I mean no disrespect. I cannot claim to know what it's been like to be exiled for ten years due to the transgressions of another."
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Varocles will pay close attention to Circe's response...
...but as usual, is completely useless in this situation!
"He was right. And why shouldn't I? I tried to turn over a new leaf, to live a normal life. But the fates are cruel, aren't they? So yes, once I am free I will do exactly what they would expect of me. I will leave this prison and take my revenge. Are you here to stop me?" She asks raising an eyebrow at the lot of you.
”Could we stop you, even if we wanted to?” He shrugged. ”To challenge the gods? Such a feat is beyond any of us. Any who could realistically do so is thus, by logic, beyond us as well. Some seasons I am but a mere mercenary, who fights for ever ephemeral coin. And when there is no war to fight, I am a chef. Truly, if I stood before you with chest puffed, then what would happen? I would become the story of bards, a cautionary tale about hubris. But, please tell, how is it that you plan? Is it as your man said, that the gods themselves will be overthrown? Or is it that you plan to carve out a mortal kingdom? For the latter, I am far better acquainted with. But I must ask, for given your reputation, I cannot discount the former as a true possibility.”
"You would indeed become a fable much like other tragic heroes before you. Killing Hera would be first obviously, but after that, I think every single god in that stupid pantheon will feel my wrath. Since you do not plan to try to get in my way, I don't suppose you'd like to help then?" Her face curling into a seductive smile.
”As I said, I’m a mercenary. Never cared much about the politics behind the contract.” Amphitryon said, truthfully. The more he thought about it, the more he was coming to the conclusion that the Gods were all jerks. Few, if any, cared about mortals at all. Zeus was the worst of them, buggering everything that moved and then running away when Hera punished his victims. Or perhaps Ares was worse? Slaughtering those weaker than him and fleeing from any real fights. Not to say that the seductress before him was any better. It seemed like this was just a high stakes contract.
”But what’s the plan? What’s to stop the gods from just turning everyone into insects, or throwing the lot of us in with the Titans?”
Polyoinos too listens to her plan and vengeance to be wrought upon the gods;
"All gods? Surely not Dionysus!? I addition to him being the god of wine, he is also a liberator of both flesh and soul!"
The skald fishes for his wineskin, then gulps a draught before continuing;
"What would be your plans for wine and debauchery in this new-world-without-gods you will fashion? Will the casks of the gods be open to us mortals? Will the nymphs still exist to frolic with love-drunk men? This is the crux of things to me Fair Queen!"
"I believe it should be obvious that I shall not be turning against the gods, at least not one god in particular."
"You underestimate my considerable power. Besides, I have a plan for an army. And yes, they will all burn. None of them are better than any other. We will be the arbiters of our own fates."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"What of those without your power or the power of the gods? In your efforts to burn Hera, how many people fearful of the gods' ire will also burn? Those that survive will not look on you kindly, no matter your intent!
"What has happened to you is unjust. None with a scrupulous mind will dispute that. But any plan that includes an army will upend thousands of lives in ways far worse than what has happened to you -- if not end them completely. And a vengeance that results in a thousand further injustices is not vengeance.
"I know not a single word to describe such an act, but surely they have a place reserved in Tartarus for such acts. There must be another way for you to find peace!"
Kyronai makes a mental note to write that monologue down for use in one of his future plays.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Though Kyronai stumbles with his words, clearly nervous speaking to someone who curse him for life, Circe softens a bit. Apparently the words were perfect even if the execution was not. "You are... right. The gods deserve to burn, the rest of Greece does not." She takes a seat on her bed. "It's lonely here you know. The only friends I had were Belach and now they're gone too. Just leave me be. She says waving you off. Autolycus is more than happy to oblige as he tip-toes out, pockets full of ill-gotten gains.