Ch.6: "Bob Oracle's Inferno" / The Underworld

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn watches the women with interest, especially when the dark-haired woman uses differing tones when speaking to Khloris and Sigrlinn; and nods when asked to introduce herself. "My name is Sigrlinn. It's nice to meet you both." To the timid blonde she asks, <Do you speak Barbierian?>

 

[tbgg]

Kell walks over to the two women and gives her best non-threatening smile. "Khloris, my name is Kell and I'm a nymph. It's nice to meet you and your Amazon friend, though I really do feel compelled to mention that you two look an awful lot like you're related somehow. Do you get told that often?"


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Khloris seems about ready to respond to Sigrlinn, but upon hearing the unfamiliar language, she sits with her jaw agape. She looks at the amazon.

The amazon laughs lightly. "I - don't - know - those words!"

Khloris seems amused by this.

The amazon goes on, "But - that's- okay! - You use - your - words!"

Khloris then listens intently to Kell. She gives Kell an exaggerated nod, then looks at you both. A smile stretches across her face. She squirms out of the muscular woman's embrace. She points at her.

"Mm..." Her voice is almost musical, as if Khloris decided not to talk, but hum shyly. She holds the note for a while, then her voice becomes a trumpeting of pure, unbridled joy. "MY - MOMMY!"

She is clearly very proud to introduce her mother to you. She throws herself around the seated amazon, nearly knocking her over.

"Whoap!" the amazon yelps. Holding her daughter tightly, she says, "Iolanthe's the name. You probably don't want to call me Mom."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn can't help but grin as Khloris proudly announces that the dark-haired woman is her mother, and nods when Iolanthe gives her name. "I just thought I'd ask what language she'd be more comfortable with. This is my second language; Barbierian is my first."

She smiles at Khloris. "Are you enjoying the sunshine?"

 

[tbgg]

Kell decides to take a different tack. She says, "There's a joy that emanates off of you two that is really quite remarkable. I can't say I've ever seen anything like it before. It puts me in mind of two people separated against their wills who after a long period apart finally find each other again. But I think that must just be my imagination, trying to dream up an explanation for what I'm seeing. It's funny how our minds work sometimes, isn't it?" If Hades is going to say Kell can't ask about people's pasts or deaths, she won't, but she is going to push that rule as hard as she can. Trivial conversation, indeed - pfaugh!


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[Legendary Sidekick]

"Uh - haaaa!" Khloris replies. When she speaks, her eyes and smile are wide.

Iolanthe says, "I wasn't expecting the sun to come out. The first few days were dark." Hugging her daughter tightly, she adds, "Not that the low light level dampened my mood." She presses Khloris' nose and says, "YOU - are - my - sunshine!"

Khloris says, "Suuuuuuuuunnnnn...!"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

When Kell speaks, Iolanthe says, "Oh! Hades didn't tell you..."

Khloris perks up at Hades' name. "UN-coal HAY-dee!"

Iolanthe goes on, "We were never separated. Not by death, I mean. Khloris and I died together." She pauses a bit. "I guess maybe one of us passed before the other, but... I didn't even know I was pregnant. I mean, I couldn't've been. I mean, I never... y'know? Never." She swallows and says, "But on my last day, I conceived a child. I didn't plan on it, didn't plan on dying either. But these are things that happened."

Khloris holds her mother tightly.

"And I found myself in a dark place. And a lump of flesh was beside me. It kept growing and became a baby, a girl, and then a woman. And she looks so much like me... I just knew. Hades did explain it to me anyway, and I think I needed to hear it: she died in my womb, this person I didn't know existed, and y'know... we all get a body down here. Her body grew and aged until we were about the same."

"MY - MOMMY!" says Khloris.

Iolanthe goes on, "So I've been teaching her to talk, to walk... and she's never known the other world, so I don't need to teach her about that."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn smiles at Iolanthe's story, though it's a little sad as well. "I'm glad you got the chance to meet each other and be together here." It's very tempting to ask how it's even possible that Iolanthe conceived if she's never slept with a man (as her words strongly imply), not to mention who the father is, but Sigrlinn feels that's probably too personal a question.

 

[tbgg]

Ch.6: &quot;Bob Oracle's Inferno&quot; / The Underworld

Kell smiles at the two, telling Iolanthe, "I agree, it's wonderful you two have each other, and in some ways it's a good thing that Khloris didn't have to know the world above. Your story reminds me a little bit of that of a nymph we know. She was never to her knowledge intimate with a man, only one time with a woman, and yet she bore a son. However in her case, we believe Zeus came to her in the form of the one she loved and tricked her. You, however speak more like one who has never been in love before, so your circumstances were probably quite different from our nymph friend's. Our world is indeed strange, where a female can become with child without having to engage in the usual activity required for that blessing." With a warm smile, she concludes, "Still, it is good to see that in your case you truly appreciate the unexpected blessing you were given."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Khloris makes a W of her arms and shrugs. She tilts her head and says, "How - I - GET - here?"

"It's true," Iolanthe says. "She is a blessing." Listening to Callisto's story, Iolanthe says, "But that poor nymph seems to have been both blessed and cursed. But you say... you believe Zeus tricked her. So you don't know? Or... oh. You mean she doesn't know!

"Intimate with a woman... well, that's not exactly unheard of in an amazon camp. Some even bear children and find a fellow amazon to help raise the child. Usually, if it's a girl, and of course she'll be raised an amazon. Is your nymph friend going to raises Zeus' son with a woman?" A look of guilt crosses Iolanthe's face. "Oh... if I'm prying, please tell me."

Khloris asks you both, "How - you - GET - here?"

 

[Ireth]

"The child is already three years old. I don't remember if she's found someone to raise him with or not."

When Khloris asks how she and Kell got here, she smiles and says, "Uncle Hades brought us here." That much is probably safe enough; Iolanthe would probably assume they died together.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Un..........cle-Hay-dee!" Khloris claps her hands together. Her voice trails off singing, "Haydee, Haydee, Haydee..."

Iolanthe gives you a sympathetic look. "Well, I hope things work out for your nymph friend."

Khloris is looking past you making odd faces. First she makes a gloomy face. Then a toothy grin. Then she opens her eyes wide and makes a face like she's struggling with something, mentally. She puts her finger on her nose. One eye looks at her finger, then the other. She then stares at something behind you.


((Optional: roll shoot/instinct dice to shoot a quick look behind you!))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn smiles as she watches Khloris, and looks confused for a moment when she notices the girl looking past her. She tries to sneak a peek over her shoulder without being obvious...

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((Yeah, go ahead.))

((For consistency, let's just always combo if you're rolling "X3" dice.
For defense, you roll "E5" and those dice don't combo.))

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

You both turn around and see Hades with his finger on his nose, with his eyes crossed so both eyes are looking at the point where his fingertip meets the tip of his nose.

In almost the same instant, he straightens his pose and expression to the usual neutrality. But he knows he's been caught in the act.

Hades remains silent, and patiently waits for you, Bob and Icarus to wrap up your respective visits.

Khloris giggles, "Uncle Haydee!"

 

[tbgg]

Ch.6: &quot;Bob Oracle's Inferno&quot; / The Underworld

Kell replies to Iolanthe, "I think our nymph friend would probably choose to raise the child with the one she loves, given a choice in the matter. But there are some complications in that matter. The lover has some enemies who are after her and would kill her if they could. The nymph is for the time being stuck deep in territory controlled by one of her lover's enemies, and the lover stays away from there because she is badly needed elsewhere, and possibly also because she doesn't want the enemy to harm the nymph as a way of drawing the lover out. Before we came here, we offered to carry a letter from the lover to the nymph, since we needed to go to where the nymph is anyway and *we* aren't in foul odor with the enemy, but we wound up here instead." She shrugs philosophically. "But thank you for your well wishes, we are hoping for a happy ending for them as well.

When Khloris begins making her faces, Kell subtly shifts her body so she can check the direction Khloris is looking in her peripheral vision.





Seeing what Hades is up to, she says to him with a smile, "It's nice to see that even the King of the Underworld can unbend a little for a child."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

"Yes, well... you know my stance on... keeping the atmosphere..." Hades clears his throat. "Speaking of bending, you can tell Iolanthe the true nature of your visit here, if you feel the need to share this with someone. I trust Iolanthe can handle that truth, and Khloris can certainly be trusted with secrets."

 

[tbgg]

Kell walks over closer to Hades, out of earshot of Iolanthe and Khloris. "I am not completely sure *we* even know our exact reason for being here, aside from returning Icarus to his father, and hopefully a little information-gathering," she says in low tones. "But we have found our expectations turned on their ears at times. There are always surprises along the way."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Hades replies, "I think it is important you take a look at what I do here. Talking to you and Sigrlinn is a convenient means of communicating with Artemis and Aphrodite, and they—or perhaps you—might also speak to Athena on my behalf. But if you tour my realm before we talk, I think you will find my motives believable. That's what is in it for me. That's why I saw fit to invite you.

"For you, talking to the Departed may benefit you in ways you may not expect. I hope you understand now why I do not simply tell you what you will find out. I could have told you Iolanthe is Khloris' mother. I could even tell you how she died, which Iolanthe herself cannot. Out of respect for the Departed, I will not.

"The Departed choose which of their stories to tell, and to whom. I will say this much." He gestures toward the two amazons and two soldiers who are still talking to Bob. "They are no longer interested in the battle they were fighting in life. I doubt they will care to discuss Hippolyta and Heracles. What they are interested in may turn out to be more valuable to you, but you will need to talk to them to find out."

 

[tbgg]

Ch.6: &quot;Bob Oracle's Inferno&quot; / The Underworld

Kell raises an eyebrow. "Are we to talk, after our tour, about how the depredations of those inclined to war, violence, and destruction affect the Underworld, then? That should make for an interesting conversation."

"Are there any aspects of your realm you'd recommend we pay particular attention to as we tour?"

"And as for speaking to Athena, I need to have my own conversation with her anyway. It should be no problem to carry a message to her."


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