Session 98: 14th June 2022 - “Attack the North”
Words and poems and twisted tales come from the mouths of the hags.
But one question hangs in the air. Kill the Oracle. Kill Versi.
Xan finds herself gripping Calliope's hand, not sure if she is comforting her, or the other way around. Alke approaches the Fates, her intentions are unclear. She won’t. Xan won’t let… she can’t…
Words fly about over the fate of Versi, unclear. Of secrets and lies. Of them being playthings.
The Fates attend to the loom, pull a folded canvas out, and display it for the Chosen on the floor of the cavern. Images of Damon. Hooded and floating and holding a staff. Riders of dragons swooping through the air. A white bearded man with a third eye weilding a spear of some type with litening and clouds forming in his stead. At the base, a woman with antlers sits on a throne with manic minions surrounding her.
The tapestry shifts. Calliope and Damon holding hands on the tapestry, a wedding ceremony, leaves and stone surround them. Floating and ethereal. Guests attend and in shadow the Oracle watches with a face of thunder.
A shift again. Damon leaving Calliope with a promise. He will end the war. Peace will reign. He leaves to meet with the Oracle. She offers him a choice. A battlefield on the North of an island, or the South. A small sleepy village stands to the North, inhabited by Sirens. The South is a barren wasteland. Damon asks which will ensure their victory.
The Oracle answers, “the North” The South would lead to a victory for the Dragonlords.
Damon returns and prepared to attack the North. A mighty battle begins and the magic breath of the dragons, storms and dark magics leave the village destroyed.
The next panel shows Caliope weeping. She speaks aggrily to Damon and leave shim for the last time. She flies to the underworld with a dragon, fights Estor and returns to the Oracle, and falls into her arms.
The Oracle soothes her, and makes her forget.
The Fates speak again. Their words seems to act like a spell, riling up anger in Theo and Alke, and they raise voices. Calliope speaks up - “It’s not true. You can make whatever you want. It’s not true.”
The Fates reply, that nothing has been a lie. Calliopes grip on Xan tightens, digging her fingers into her hand. Xan’s grasp tightens around her own dagger, and she stiffens as she fights her instincts to stab one of those awful anger-inducing hags. They clarify they have two weeks to make their kill. Alke approaches Calliope, sending Xan into panic mode - she is afraid at her core of what Alke may do, or maybe of even Calliope. Or herself. She will not have her threatened. This is her friend. Alke is her friend. They speak more on the subject and finally decided, they will leave. Steps are made towards the exit. Calliope falters in her steps and looks back at the Fates, while Xan watches her like a hawk, willing her to leave with every fibre of her being. They leave the cave.
As they walk out they see a statuesque woman with blue skin and bat wings. Theo names her as one of the Furies. She flies off into the air and away from them. Theo describes them as “Oath police” - if you break an oath they will come for you and you suffer eternally on a hellish island.
Theo suggests yet another diversion from their path and it is too much. Xan snaps and shouts for them to get Calliope back to the ship. Seemingly sick of the harsh words, and without warning, Calliope snaps up into the air and flies over to the ship by herself. Leaving Xan mid-sentence shouting towards Theo - raising her voice and speaking of their responsibilities to their friends. She stands while he wastes time shouting into one of the cavern entrances. Nothing comes of it and they finally set off to the ship.
As they reach the beach they heard a far off wail. Painful. Calliope. Xan dives into the water and speeds off to reach the boat. She reaches the ship and as her hand slams up onto the upside she heard a yelp from the crew, then a laugh from the crew as they realise it is just their captain. She clambers up onto the wood and spots the tapestry on the boards. Instructing the crew to collect it and move it to the Steerer. Bana stands strong at the wheel while Xan sits on the step, the tapestry at her feet.
She watches it over and over again, trying to burn it into her memory.
After she has logged it in her memory, she takes the tapestry down to Hipofilius.
As she drops it off she has a conversation with Hipofilus. They speak about the Oracle. If she lied to Calliope, did she also lie to them? If she lied, then is their path false? Is Xan not meant to be who she is?
Xan is not sure. For the first time she cannot say whether she would be able to take a life when it is needed.
As she departs and readies herself for dinner, she pulls her weapons off of her body and stands in the middle of her room, defenseless. She remembers standing in her night dress, on the shore as she watched the lights dance in the stars and on the horizon. She is a child.
She grabs a dagger and attaches it to her belt, then walks down the corridor to join the crew for their meal.