Ch.1: "By the Fire" / Village of Ogygia

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto watches in awe as the gardener from the temple -- whom she still thinks might be Demeter -- stands on a lily pad facing a bearded man. The winds somehow blow into both their faces at once.

Leto blinks as Wu Chen and the bearded man speak, then jumps as a bolt of lightning leaves a crater in the plateau. Her first thought is of Thor, but this man doesn't look at all like the red-headed, hammer-wielding god worshiped in Barbieria. Eyes wide, Leto stares from the missing piece of the plateau, to the huge pink flower and finally to her new friends.

All she can think to say is, "What just happened?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

As the flowers bloom on the end of her staff, Kell coos, “Ooh, purdy.â€

When Wu Chen uses her wire-fu to transport her and Leto down from the lair, she squeals, “Wheeeeeee! Cowabunnn-gggggaaaaa!â€

________________________

The one advantage to being this close to drunk is that Kell is so relaxed, she hardly feels it when she and her friends crash on the final cucumber. “Wha- (hic) happ’n’d?†she slurs, staggering a bit as the breel collides into it.

Looking at the breel blood, she says, “Ooh, shiny.†Then, “D’ya think people would think (hic) we’re tough girls (hic) if we wore that as face paint? (hic)â€

As the acidic breel blood causes the sea cucumber to melt away and the breel to disappear, she amends, “Well, mebbe not. Easy come (hic), easy go.†And she shrugs, collapsing into giggles.

The appearance of the man and the gardener seem to sober her slightly, though. She doesn’t do much more than watch. The man in particular seems somewhat familiar to her, though she can’t say why, exactly, or who he is.

It’s the sake. It’s fuddled my wits!

At the man’s final injunction, she asks, “How in th’ worl’ are we s’posed ta take care uva giant lo-tuss?â€

Rubbing her head, she wails, "Ken I jes' go n' sleep this off?" before collapsing in a heap on the spot.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Wu Chen shrugs at Leto's question. "I was hoping one of you could explain this to me."

When Kell passes out, the nun says, "Maybe Kell is the sister I must care take care of?"

Wu Chen picks up Kell in her arms and stares at the nymph's pink cheeks in amusement. The nun is wearing only culottes and bandages as a top. With so much her exposed skin pressed against the sleeping nymph, even the nun can feel an effect. Fortunately, Wu Chen's will is stronger.

"Your friend is such adorable creature, Leto. I can resist her, but it seems she cannot resist my sake. I am sorry you must see her this way, but better than if she were to slip from your hand in flight."

Wu Chen is able to maintain her grip on Kell as she lowers herself from the plant. Should Leto follow the nun or simply look down, she'll notice that the breel's corpse remains beached on the sea shore. Its blood is now diluted from mixing with sea water and no longer dangerously acidic, should Leto carve into the beast with her knife.

The nun finds a place to meditate. She sits cross-legged in the dry sand, allowing Kell to use her lap as a pillow. As the nun closes her eyes, she catches herself stroking Kell's hair. She realizes what she is doing, and adjusts the position of her hands so both are pressed together in prayer.

"I am in control," Wu Chen assures Leto. "Go ahead and claim your prize. Many hunters and huntresses will envy you for wearing the skins of this beast. And of course, we can claim the bounty. Thank you for inviting me on this hunt Leto! I had other plans today, but you changed them for the better."



((Leto can skin the breel and carry enough hide to make Huntress armor. Once the sake effect wears off all three characters will be equals in strength. (These three happen to be the characters who have no bonus or penalty.)

Kell should wake up during the time Leto is carving, so next Kell post can be her waking up with her head in Wu Chen's lap.

The nun will simply sit and meditate, though she remains awake (and alert) if any questions are directed to her.))

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto follows Wu Chen down from the plant, and smiles as the nun thanks her. "Thank you just as much for accepting the invitation. You were a huge help to us."

She looks at the breel's corpse, which still has her skinning knife stuck in it, then goes to retrieve her weapon and a suit of armor from the beast's hide.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Leto cuts enough skin for armor while Wu Chen meditates and Kell naps. She will need to spend a good portion of the night cleaning, drying, cutting… she may not get any sleep at all! But she is confident she will be able to create a breastplate and skirt. One of those glowing eyes might be worn as a helmet. She can also collect some pieces of a splintered fang for studding the armor.

Leto has heard from other Huntresses that when you skin your kill, you might gain some of these beast's powers—though sometimes at the cost of inheriting its weakness as well. Lightning is the breel's weakness, though lightning also seemed to rejuvenate the beast. What will lightning do to one who wears breel hide? What ability will Leto gain?

((@Ireth, you can work on armor without fear of interruption by the hearth. Maybe you've seen the Hearthland entry? A bit of a spoiler, but you'll have access to the Hearthland in most areas of the game.))

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Some time later, Kell isn't exactly sure how long, she wakes to find...her head in Wu Chen's lap?

"Wha...?" she begins groggily before the feel of hammers pounding away in her skull begins. Slowly the memory of the breel hunt comes back, their finding of Wallace's body and his tools, the use of the Grappler Gun and spear to kill the breel, and their headlong flight toward the earth and her reluctant drinking of the sake.

Vaguely she also remembers something having do with the gardener they saw at the temple, an unknown man, a command to take care of someone's sister, and a giant pink lotus. Or was the giant lotus an alcohol-induced hallucination?

Gingerly sitting up, Kell looks around. "What happened after I drank the sake? That part's none too clear in my mind. I didn't...you know...do anything....stupid...did I?"

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto looks over as Kell wakes up, then laughs and shakes her head. "You giggled a bit and passed out pretty soon after Wu Chen I got us to the ground, but that's all. How do you feel?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Wu Chen laughs. "I must apologize, Kell. My drink is strong, but I needed you to have strong grip. I am only in my underwear because I was caught in arterial spray of acidic blood—we did not dishonor ourselves, if you worry about this."

The nun offers to help Kell up.

"I actually think the effect you have on others is beautiful, if it does not embarrass you to hear nun speak of this. I will confess, I let you lie in my lap so you do not wake with mouthful of sand, but when I meditate, I catch myself stroking your hair. I take my hand away because you have not permitted me to do this, but I assure you if I were to break my vow, it would be with man, not woman.

"Desire of mine which you trigger is hair. I lose my hair from burning at stake, and I once made others envious because of my hair, so long and dark and fine. I would often tease my own hair when meditating, and so when I closed my eyes, I imagined myself doing this. I apologize… but I also am glad to understand this part of you better. I know that someday, you will find love. You will trigger the desire of another. If this other can give back in some way—not with your power of course, but in other way, then I think you will find happiness."

She closes her eyes.

"When you find this person who makes you happy, cherish what you have before fate takes it away from you." There is a hint of bitterness in Wu Chen's words. After a moment of silence she says, "We should see Buck about reward. I will travel with you. Can we use big tree to access underground? I have not seen fairy healers in many moons!"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Leto, "Apart from the crazy drumbeat in my head, well enough, I guess."

She tells Wu Chen, "I'd like to think I'd remember that much if we did dishonor ourselves, but I wasn't really worried about that. If you are not compelled by my being a nymph, then you may stroke my hair however much you like. It's hard for me to trust that people's responses to me about me and not about my being a nymph, so anyone who is NOT affected by my nymphness is a pleasure to be around. I'm not sure I'll EVER meet someone who is not affected by it, so I'm not holding my breath. For the time being, I'm content being alone."

She finds herself feeling curious about who fate took away from Wu Chen, but she decides to remain silent for now. Perhaps if she gets to know the nun better later on such confidences can be shared.

Kell replies, "The tree that just went up in Ogygia does, thanks to Demeter. And yes, I'd love to claim that reward money." She gives Wu Chen a smile.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Our heroines head back through the Tigerwood. Some curious woodland critters follow for a while--rabbits, cardinals, a doe--but there are no sightings of magic or monsters.

Wu Chen's exposed skin earns her glares of disapproval. Comments are overheard, such as "what kind of a nun...", "...is she doing with that nymph?", "...have some sort of skin disease?"

Wu Chen does not respond to any of it. She almost makes a joke of it. "It seems my nakedness has an effect too. Please allow me a moment to dress." She still has the bracers on her arms. When she throws a punch toward the temple window above her, you get a glimpse of her hook reflecting the golden light of the sinking sun. She reels herself into her room.

Kell and Leto are free to enter the temple. People there are praying, reading or tending the garden. The gardener in the sun hat does not seem to be around (but then, it is a big temple).

After a few minutes pass, she returns dressed as she was when you first met. Kell and Leto can see the nun's cheeks are a little moist. "Thinking of Wally," she says of her evident trail of tears.

She perks up as the ivy on the great tree parts for Kell. Once underground, all of our heroines are greeted with hugs. Sapphire flies to Kell and wraps her tiny body around the nymph's bare arm. (She is able to control herself.)

Hess rushes to Leto, but blocks her nose when she gets close to the breel hide. In a nasally voice she exclaims, "I knew you'd beat that mean monster! That's what it gets for eating Wally!"

Wu Chen gets a kiss on each cheek by a fairy, one purple-haired and one pink-haired. Wu Chen greets them as "Indy?" and "Brynn!"

The rest of the fairies are not far behind. All are in their little white dresses, healing the three heroines. Leto has a mild limp after her leg is healed, but she should be able to walk normally after a rest.

Buck is the last to arrive. "Come sit by the fire, wyvern-slayers!" There is food on the table by the hearth. The place settings include three bags of silver.


((+$2000 per heroine!))

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

At the comments made against Wu Chen, Kell's expression becomes stormy. She snarls at one critic, "She is dressed like that because she risked her neck to fight the breel. It bled on her and she had to remove her clothing to keep its acid from killing her. Learn to hear out people's stories first before you advertise to the world what a shallow, horrid, judgmental FOOL you are!" At the woman's shocked expression, Kell says more calmly, "Learn from this. Become a better person. That's all you have to do." But as the group passes the woman, Kell's own eyes are tearing up. "Why do people have to be so mean AND stupid?" she asks brokenly.

While waiting for Wu Chen, Kell glances around, hoping to see the gardener again, and is disappointed not to find her. She really does wonder if the woman is Demeter.

At Wu Chen's tears, Kell simply places her hand on Wu Chen's arm and says softly, "Your tears are evidence of your capacity to love, and as such, they are beautiful. At least to me." She gives Wu Chen a shy smile. No one at Aphrodite's villa ever understood Kell's fascination with tears or how Kell could see them as anything but a cause of ugliness to be avoided at all costs. Will her new friends be any better?

When Sapphire comes to hug her, Kell squeals, "Sapphie! It's good to see you!" and gently rubs the fairy's back with her finger.

At the group sits down to dinner, Kell asks Buck, "Has Demeter ever been known to have any dealings in this part of the country?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Wu Chen strokes Kell's hair once as she thanks her for her words. "Everyone speaks of appearance of nymph, but true beauty about you is inner beauty. You remind me of Vivian. Should your paths cross, I know you two will get along."

Buck serves everyone steak and grilled portobello with a side of spinach salad with tangerines and candied walnuts. Hess cuts three spinach leaves into tiny pieces and divides one tangerine among the ten tiny winged women. This is enough food for ten fairies. Only an orange-haired fairy named O'Ranju is interested in a morsel of meat and portobello. It takes her a while to chew the meat. A gold-haired fairy named Fawn teases her, but in the end, O'Ranju and Fawn share the tiny serving of meat and mushroom. The two giggle as they each take little bites from the same piece of meat.

The fairies are seated at a tiny table placed on top of the human table. Sapphire sits on the end closest to Kell, and is facing Kell.

Buck replies to Kell, "I am sure that in Nyse, you have a place to revere Aphrodite. Here we have a temple of Demeter. It is older than I am."

Hess pipes in, "My sister works there, Kell! Oh… but Didi likes hats. Didn't you say hats aren't pretty or something? It's okay. I think that hat's too big for her anyway."

Buck just smiles as Hess speaks, but as soon as he gets a word in, he says, "I have an abundance of oranges. How about I make orange juice, freshly squeezed!"

Hess says, "Can't you just pour water from your tea pot, and we think it's juice?"

"Well, yes I can. But why drink an illusion when you can have the real thing. Real orange juice has vitamin C. Water that fools you has only the nutrients of water."

"You said I need eight glasses a day."

"You had nine."

"The ninth glass was chocolatey!"

"Yes. Yes, it was." Buck turns to Kell. "Come with me, Kell. We will squeeze oranges."

Hess says, "You never make a guest help. Can I help?"

"We have three guests, child."

"We have ten fairies. See? I work with you, guests are entertained." Hess turns to Kell. "Oh! But maybe you want to help Buck squeeze the oranges. Then I'm being rude to a guest. Yeah. Go ahead. I'll squeeze them next time."

Buck gestures toward the kitchen. To Kell he says, "Shall we?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell smiles at Wu Chen's reference to Vivian. "I shall look forward to meeting her, then." Vivian actually sounds like a nymph who might get me. I think she'd be one of the first. I hated it in Nyse.

Kell assumes that the request for help squeezing juice is just a pretense for a private conversation of some sort, and she's curious about that, but she nods at Buck and says cheerfully, "Lead on and we'll make some juice."

Winking at Sapphire, she says, "Be back shortly, and hopefully with some yummy orange juice."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Buck really does have oranges, but he tells Kell he can handle the task himself. If she's interested in helping, he shows her his technique. "This way, we do not waste any of the delicious juice."

He knows Kell is aware of the real reason he wants a moment alone with her.

"Hess has been under my roof for ten years now, though she is a peanut despite how I feed her. I suppose she passes for eight or nine. Two years ago, a new gardener came to the temple. She made it beautiful, and so we have our temple of Demeter with its many flowers and crops. I let Hess go to the temple. She loves to roam the gardens, and it is a safe place, I believe.

"She met the gardener, and told me this woman is her sister. I have seen Didi's face. She is like Hess would appear as an adult. I cannot deny the resemblance. The woman appears to be about thirty, give or take some years. Have you seen this woman? What do you make of her?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Following Buck's technique to squeeze orange juice, Kell tells him, "We have seen her twice. The first time, when we went to the temple to get Wu Chen, she told Leto and me that she hoped we could help keep her sister safe. She also said that my staff and the tree that grew up and helped us escape from where Akantha was being executed were blessed by Demeter. Her knack with plants seems...rather otherworldly. Between that and the way she disguises her face, it made me wonder if she is Demeter herself. Since she's been here, does she disappear for part of the year? Or talk about a missing daughter?"

"We killed the breel while we were...riding it, I guess you might say. Wallace had managed to get himself stuck in the breel's throat, which inhibited its ability to roar for a time. Once we got the breel to disgorge Wallace, we found some of his equipment, and it is that that ultimately let us both mount and kill it. But then it started plummeting to the ground. After casting Entangle for Wu Chen to connect her wires to, I had to drink some Strong Sake so I would be strong enough to hold on. I am afraid that I don't hold my alcohol well at all when I don't take it with food and I immediately became fairly drunk. My Entangle spell caused giant sea cucumbers to rise out of the ocean to help cushion our landing, and both we and the breel crashed into the final one. My memory is a bit hazy, but I *think* both the gardener and another man were there and the woman again said something about taking care of her sister. The man seemed familiar to me, though in my drunken state, I couldn't put a finger on why. He said something about whoever they were talking about being his sister, too, and then disappeared in some kind of storm-like flourish - lightning or thunder, I think it was. Then I thought that the woman somehow transformed to a giant lotus flower, but that part I'm definitely not sure about. Leto or Wu Chen might have clearer memories of this part of the story."

"When we saw Hess in town during the attempt to execute Akantha, she seemed to recognize Akantha, because she said, "You" in that way that people have when they encounter someone they know unexpectedly, like if you had been having visions of someone, then all of a sudden you see them in the flesh.

"Now, when I was in Aphrodite's villa, the goddess made sure we were well educated about all of the Immortals, and that we became especially familiar with those stories where she herself is featured - the goddess delights in being the center of attention, that's for sure. I know that Aphrodite and Demeter are sisters, and that the two of them are sisters of Hestia and Hera, as well as Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus. I know 'Hess' is a name that Akantha gave the girl, and that she seemed to like it. From there, well, it's not a terribly long stretch to think that the man we saw could have been either Poseidon or Zeus, both of whom, I might add, visited Aphrodite's villa from time to time, and that the girl might be Hestia. 'Hess' would be a reasonable nickname if the girl needs to hide her identity. Do you know anything else about her? What circumstances brought her to live here with you? Who or what does she need to be kept safe from?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Buck takes in the details of Kell's account.

"What you say makes sense. Well, no… it really does not I suppose, but let me put it this way. I come from Bwana in the south, and the Huntress you came with is from Barbieria in the north. Wu Chen is from Ngong Ping in the east. You are the resident expert when it comes to western gods.

"As for Hess, I know she is immortal. It occurred to me that when I said she has been here for ten years, you might have assumed she was a baby in a basket. In fact, she was exactly as she is now. She was burned at the stake for not aging, I suppose. She frightened people, or maybe that was just an excuse for the judge to burn someone.

"If she did not tell you already, Wu Chen was to assassinate him today—but thanks to you and Leto, Akantha killed the judge. Wu Chen and I arrived too late to fight at your sides, so I instead used my illusions to save you.

"I suppose it was fate that the judge die today, and fate that you meet me. But then, Wally's fate did not have to be. How is Wu Chen handling the news? Or did you even tell her? I thought she would be devastated. I know when I lost my wife…"

Buck's voice trails off and he falls silent for the moment, squeezing oranges as he contemplates the weight of Kell's revelation.


((Hess' identity confirmed! Updated Hearthland entry.))

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell says, "Yes, I told Wu Chen about our visions via the Hearthvision and I specifically mentioned that Wallace was dead. She saw his body when it came out of the breel, though sadly, it was headless. Leto and I had been hoping that somehow he might have managed to survive in there, since he wasn't actually digested. She did not tell us she was close to him, though after it was all over, she did tell me that if I was ever lucky enough to find find love, I should hold on tight, since Fate can take it away at any time. I sensed bitterness in Wu Chen when she said that, but since we only just met each other, I did not wish to pry into her personal affairs. If she was close to Wallace, though, her comment makes sense. I had no ideas you and she were planning to kill the judge today. It seems Wu Chen is quite good at keeping confidences."

As we continue working on the oranges, I ask Buck, "And so you know of no threat to Hess besides the judge? I think we should continue to call her that, since she likes the name."

 

[Ireth]

Leto

Leto accepts food and orange juice, and listens to Kell and Buck's conversation without speaking. It seems she has more to learn about this place and its gods than she'd considered before. There doesn't seem to be much she can add to the discussion, at least at this point.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"I know of no threat," Buck replies. "The judge tried to kill her—he found any excuse he could to burn people for his demon. His attempt on Hess was what brought her into my custody.

"This underground place existed long before my time. Perhaps the ashes were once disposed of down here generations ago. I only discovered it while in hiding. My crime was impregnating a white woman. She was my wife, and she was carrying our child. A child of mixed blood is an abomination, so the judge said.

"The fairies were dwelling here. After they heard my story, they taught me magic. I cannot fight with illusions, but I could fake the deaths of those at the stake and use the trap door to save lives. When I heard a child was to be burned, the fairies and I already implemented this plan which we were afraid to try, I must admit. As you may have guessed, the fire was harmless to Hess. The fairies only had to peel the burned clothing from the child's body. But thanks to her, we knew our plan to save lives would work. We only failed to save two. The second failure was recent. That pushed Wu Chen to prepare her assassination attempt.

"I don't know who can harm this child or why anyone would. Perhaps the gardener is Demeter, as you say. You should seek her."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell nods. "I agree, seeking the gardener is a good idea. Perhaps we can try that tomorrow. But in the meantime, who was the person you recently failed to save?"

"I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I am glad we killed that judge. He sounds like a horrible person."