Surrounded by statues of her former victims, including Theo's friend Nyx whom we came here to save, I don't know really what I expected about facing down a medusa crime lord in her own territory. Conflict, perhaps. Avoiding her petrifying gaze as she becomes hell bent on not being cornered and captured, almost certainly.
Not tea and literature.
Having surrendered to us, she gave us information about herself and her checkered past. She first became a medusa after accepting the power with her sisters to lead a revolution and take her place as Thessalae VI, Queens of the Amazons.
Wow.
It was some 13 years ago, her sisters approached with a deal- power and influence in return for troops. They would collectively take over as Queens of Themis. Moxena and her rangers dealt with the forces of the old queen, tactically sound, her plan going off without a hitch. That is, until the realisation that the power came from a fickle benefactor- Lutheria- who turned her into a medusa. Her sisters had betrayed her, accepting the curse freely, but excluding her from the circle of power. Moxena fled, escaped her sisters' assassins and came here. Plotting revenge, she began began to build up loyal vassals- no oaths, but truly loyal followers, planning to return and fight her sisters.
The kingdom of Amazons is under the sway of Lutheria.
She has since forged alliances with powers up and down Thylea. Hexia, the former wife of Pythor is one such patron. She has promised support to Moxena, with her army of followers, in return for 3 petrified artists or poets a month, Moxena plucking them from their lives to be shipped for whatever whim Hexia has for them. She has sought and out freed slaves and built up favour within the poor and disenfranchised of this city, distributing her wealth to some of those that needed it and seemed capable of service.
She did slyly disclose that entrusted to the queens to guard was a blade, forged by the Gods in the days before the Oath of Peace- the sword, Titansbane. This legendary blade may be a key weapon if we expect to one day live up to the prophecy Versi has laid upon us.
She also gave us 2 history books. covering the Birth and the War of the Titans that told of Sydon and Lutheria's struggle against their parents and siblings, and how they wrested power from them.
Having surrendered, she agreed to our terms- to swear an Oath to not harm the innocent citizens of Mytros, an Oath of Service to us for the next year and crucially, 6 ointments that cure the petrification, allowing us to free Nyx. Alke seemed unusually agitated during our interrogation and pale as we used the first dose to free a confused and shaking Nyx. I'm certain there's something she's not telling us, but she doesn't seem ready to share it.
Time and trust may help with that. Whether she shares the source of her worries or not, I hope she finds peace with it.
I wonder how slippery she was with her oath though. She suggested that Neurdagon might not be as innocent in the slave trade as he might appear. I could never approve of Moxena's methods and the petrification and kidnapping of people for her own power is unforgivable, but I have to stop and wonder, about the feud between her and Neurdagon.
Did we choose the wrong side?