All Sorts of Learnins - 29th June 2021
On their journey back from Pamplaxyia Xan finds a boat abandoned at the side of a river. A free boat!
Xan packed the boat with loot, including the small box containing the sticking stick. She orders Theo to take control of the boat, inviting Hipofilious to join as another challenge for Theo.
He does so well on the boat, fighting against the current (a small one) and the beasts surrounding them (starlings and deer). He shouts loud and proud into the skies, gaining control of the elements. Theo commands the boat well, gaining support from his teacher. Xan adds difficulty to the task, rocking the boat and causing splashes around her student.
As they practise, their companions make nuisance alongside the river, producing loud noises, fog clouds and whooshes as the javelins are thrown.
Theo rises to the challenge, even when Hipofilious panic-transforms into a Bear and takes a dive into the river. Theo hoists the boat up, and saves the loot and himself. Before the end of their lesson, Xan throws herself into the water, to see how Theo will react… and he KEEPS GOING. Xan exclaimed in joy at her student taking on the lessons. She swims quickly through the water to meet the boat.
As they sit between the lessons, Slippy the snake comes over and sits with a flower next to her. Xan looks awkwardly at the snake. Slippy pushes a flower towards her. Xan takes the flower and holds it until Slippy slithers away. She places the flower next to her on the riverbank.
After some flower related nonsense Calliope sings a ditty, which sends a wash of calm over the party.
Calliope walks by the boat during their training, humming an odd tune with not much to it. Xan growls under her breath, unsure of the Siren’s calls. She knows she is on her side but she isn’t entirely sure how to read this one.
Xan is satisfied with Theo’s learnings; he has become a very good sailor. She presents him with his reward, a sticking stick of shiny gold. She shows Theo how it works and shows him some basic knots. He is a quick learner. Xan spots him over the next few days practising his sailing solo.
One of the days they stopped for a break in walking, Xan came across a cart in a field. When they left she packed the party’s things into it and dragged it out.
Sirens are not Harpies
Xan walks with Calliope and tells her about her experience with Harpies and Sirens, for which Xan is not sure of the difference.
“There is no denying the beauty of the songs of the sirens. They can be heard miles from shore, joining with the din of the ocean waves to create haunting melodies. Sailors are always blaming them for shipwrecks, of course, but I imagine that’s a convenient excuse when you crash your own ship on the shoals.”
“On the Saviour of the Seas, it was late at night, and there was a beautiful song reaching out across the waves. I was lay next to Tiap Ca and Am Silverbranch, members of the crew on my sub-crew. AM woke up in a panic, he had heard this type of song before. He shouted out to his brother, Frath, who was on watch.
Tiap threw a blanket over us, slamming our heads down onto the deck but Am fought him. He yelled out to Frath, demanding he answer but the only thing we could hear was the song. And a splash. In the days following Am was silent. We dropped Am off at the next town and never saw him or his brother again.”
Calliope assures Xan that although she is not safe, she is with a good crew. Xan explores a little about her history and her mother's untimely death, mentioning how though she could trust her hometown but they then killed her mother. She states she wants to trust them but is not sure how.
They discuss Versi and their shared trust with the Oracle, and Xan tells Calliope how she sees her as a mother and would do what she says. Calliope says though she is not good at fighting she hopes to be a good party member.
Calliope jokes that she could always send their enemies off to their death for her.
Return to Mytros
A satyr greets the party. He welcomes back the party, greeting Alke especially. Alke squeezes him tight in an embrace. He advises Alke to come privately to him.
Xan recalls a drunken conversation with the owner of the Siren’s Roost that if she has an opportunity to promote their business she does so, in exchange for room and board.
As they walk through the streets, the buildings have been painted in different colours for a variety of teams - blue for Praxys, scarlet for Mytros, yellow for Estoria, burgundy red for Eresia and so on, including a luminous green for Themis.
As the party moved through to the Siren’s Roosts they see people with painted faces in green. It appears that districts of the town are weighted towards different cities. Siren’s Roost has a large banner across the front saying ‘Home of the Heroes of the Oracle Prophecy, chosen competitors of the Siren’s Roost in the 500th great games of Thylea. There are additional small scribbles on the flyers' names ‘first to the top of mount Volkan’ with a crude scribble representing Xan which looks more like a hurricane. Theo is delighted at the promotion gained from these flyers.
They are announced by a patron of the bar as they walk in and welcomed with open arms.
They drop their things in each of the rooms. Xan selects a room at the end of the corridor, near a back exit.