Anaxa of Serethon
Anaxa of Serethon (a.k.a. Nox, Naxa)
Exiled from her father's kingdom for saving it from treachery, Anaxa turned her misfortune into opportunity, taking up spear and shield as a mercenary hoplite with no duties remaining to hold her back. In pursuit of glory worthy of the great poems and further knowledge about the Serpent Mysteries, she voyaged from ship to ship for years with an elf named Hephane to vanquish the monsters plaguing the Merine Islands.
As a Serethonian, Anaxa was raised to rely on stealth, reconnaissance, and cunning to better understand her enemies and the battlefield before any engagement. If at all possible. Once in the thick of combat, however, a bloodlust sometimes overtakes her. Clouded by this fury, her tactical mind is pushed aside to make way for brutal acts against anyone who dares to stand against her.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Boasting a height well above most men, Anaxa cuts an imposing figure with a lean, muscular, and agile body with olive skin.
Facial Features
Long, black hair hangs loosely around her face, often casting a shadow over it. But calculating brown eyes and a mischievous grin often pierce through the shroud. Enemies know a different set of eyes though, with the rare survivors of her onslaught claiming to have seen the slitted golden orbs of a hungry snake staring back at them.
Special abilities
Serethonian hoplites like Anaxa have learned the secret of never being alone on the battlefield. By some blessing of Shade, they are able to pull together umbral clones from the shadows to fight alonside them. Anaxa makes frequent use of hers to confuse enemies, strike where they least expect it, serve as an expendable decoy, and gain better positions on the battlefield by swapping places with it supernaturally.
Apparel & Accessories
Anaxa finds little use for clothes that offer no protection, preferring the comfort of her fine suit of hoplite armor embossed with serpentine motifs. A matching crested helm and round shield complete the set, the latter proudly emblazoned with the symbol of Serethon, a pair of gold snakes mirroring each other on a black field.
Anaxa favors long hafted weapons like tridents and spears for piercing the small gaps in the enemy phalanx. Her weapon of choice of late is the Blood Spear of Iris, the heirloom of a warrior woman of old who slew a cyclops. A sword curved in the Merian style hangs at her hip, patiently waiting for the end of battle when Anaxa hews off heads and limbs as a show of victory.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Anaxa is very elusive when it comes to her past. Unfortunately, her elven companion is not so discreet. Hephane often forgets she is supposed to refrain from using words like "Princess" and "Highness" when referring to Anaxa, despite being scolded endlessly for it. When such titles come up, Anaxa brushes them off quickly.
Only a complete idiot can't puzzle out the truth of it though. It's clear that Anaxa was a princess of an island kingdom called Serethon and has been living in exile for years. Why exactly she was cast out is something that even Hephane has not let slip. At least not yet. All that can be pieced together is that she acted in defense of Serethon, but her brash fury led to her being exiled.
Gender Identity
A proud female hoplite who struggled for her entire youth to prove she could stand toe-to-toe against the best male warriors in both battle and strategy.
Sexuality
Anaxa is attracted to men but rarely acts on it. She will say the bawdiest things about them one moment and spew hatred for them the next. The way she mutilates male opponents who fall to her in battle but honors female ones hints at some deep-seeded resentment.
Education
As a princess of Serethon, Anaxa suffered through many long hours of study from a variety of tutors. Music. Etiquette. History. Diplomacy. Philosophy. Most of it never stuck.
Her heart was always drawn away to the practice yards of the Serethonian hoplites instead, her head filled with dreams of future glory as Anaxa sought to follow in the footsteps of her hero king father. King Kyriax had little choice but to take Anaxa under his wing, where she learned the importance of stealthy reconnaissance and cutthroat strategies to best Serethon's enemies.
Employment
Anaxa serves as bosun on the Hive, seeing to the ship's repairs after harrowing encounters at sea. She's also taken it upon herself to train the crew of the Hive in boarding and beach assault tactics, fancying herself as their unspoken commander. When pressed, she consistently defers to Captain Squeelob's leadership though. Anaxa can often be found by the captain's side, acting as her trusted strategist, treasure hunter, spymaster, and strong-arm.
When not serving on the Hive, Anaxa invests a lot of money secretly building a network of spies known as the Shrouded Vipers. Composed of both snakes and people, they provide leads to lost treasures, collect dirt on important individuals, keep tabs on rival crews, and gather lore on different islands to feed Anaxa's huge appetite for secrets. She even keeps eyes and ears on her crewmates, with no one but its members and Hephane being aware of the network's existence.
Accomplishments & Achievements
If asked, Anaxa will claim her greatest accomplishment is surviving multiple battles unscathed thanks to her mastery at deflecting attacks and spells with her shield. In truth, nothing makes her more proud than proving a woman can equal a man on the field of battle.
Failures & Embarrassments
Anaxa hates admitting it, but her greatest shame was being exiled from Serethon. She was protecting her home city but her rage overtook her tactically reasoning.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Anaxa seeks glory above all else to remove the stain of her exile. Whether by felling the monsters and demons who have overrun much of the Merine Islands or by deftly outwitting them, she longs for her actions to be worthy of an epic poem and earn her a place in the Elysian Fields upon death. Throughout that journey, she is also determined to uncover the secrets of the Serpent Mysteries.
Likes & Dislikes
Anaxa enjoys pulling pranks, skulking about to surprise others, and having a bit of harmless fun at the expense of her crewmates. Despite always being fully armored and ready for battle, she seems more inclined to make jokes, share drinks, and enjoy good music than fight.
When stirred to action, however, Anaxa loves a good brawl. She always gives fair warning for people to reconsider when they challenge her. Anaxa does not like killing others without good reason and does not want to be held responsible for getting carried away with her mercilessly brutal battle tactics.
Nothing infuriates Anaxa more than betrayal. She doesn't expect people to be trustworthy. She assumes everyone has secret agendas and are using each other. Still, once someone gives Anaxa their word, she views that as an unbreakable pact. Betraying that pact invites only her fury...and then death.
Vices & Personality flaws
As the blood of her enemies stain the battlefield in greater pools, Anaxa grows ever more brutal, crushing bones, dismembering limbs, and severing heads of even those who have surrendered or begged for mercy. Short conflicts and friendly sparring do not provoke this, only long or dangerous encounters have a chance of inciting her bloodlust. Once in such a state, it requires all her crewmates to force her to stop.
Personality Quirks
When deep in thought, Anaxa drums her fingers on the edge of her shield. She also tends to pull her hand down over her face when frustrated.
Hygiene
Anaxa knows all the proper ways to keep clean. Better than most of her crewmates, except for maybe Zephyria. She just chooses to remain caked in sweat and dirt to maintain a fearsome visage.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Wherever Anaxa goes, Hephane is not too far behind. The eccentric elf smith grew up on an island of mischievous and thieving fairies, but she left Dioma in pursuit of "shinies" to craft into even "shinier" wonders. Hephane was forced into slavery for stealing said "shinies" until Anaxa freed her, earning the elf's eternal gratitude.
The two formed quite a bond in the years since. Anaxa keeps her kleptomaniac confidant out of trouble as she scavenges for "shinies" like laconium, orichalcum, and other metals. Meanwhile, Hephane outfits the hoplite with an arsenal of armor, weapons, and trinkets.
Family Ties
Anaxa is the first child of King Kyriax and Queen Delodandre, her two younger siblings being Princess Nephara and Prince Xemedes. As a child, Anaxa idolized her hero king father and convinced him to teach her the art of war. However, a brash and destructive decision made while angered forced the king to exile her from Serethon.
Anaxa always had trouble seeing eye-to-eye with her mother. Despite Queen Delodandre fussing over her for years to pass on the secrets of becoming a great mage and proper princess, Anaxa's temper and obsession with becoming a hoplite put them at odds all the time. It took years in exile and a parting gift left in Hephane's care for the hoplite to finally find value in the lessons her mother imparted.
Religious Views
Anaxa's beliefs are a bit complicated and currently evolving. She was raised to pay lip service to most of the gods and spirits, as one can never tell which might be the most useful in any given situation, and it can be detrimental to incur the wrath of such powerful beings. So, she does her best to keep them appeased with sacrifices and offerings without truly being devoted to any of them. That said, there is a special place in her heart for Shade, as all Serethonian hoplites are trained to follow methods taught by his acolytes to ensure victory.
In the last several years, however, things have changed. Anaxa has become obsessed with what she calls the Serpent Mysteries. Her affinity for snakes, their affinity for her, and the fact they once saved her from certain death has driven Anaxa to seek out this strange blessing's source. So far, she has not met anyone else touched by the Serpent Mysteries, but her search is still in its infancy.
Hobbies & Pets
Snakes of all kinds seem to gravitate to Anaxa. Of all of them, she gives special attention to a constrictor snake named Aneprion, who almost never leaves the protection of the ship.
When she has more than a week of shore leave, Anaxa always tries to set one night aside to catch a play or watch a dance performance. She also takes time to appreciate marvels of Merian architecture and sculpture.
While much of her time is spent keeping ships in good repair, Anaxa often surprises people with her intricate wood carving of idols and furniture. There is usually never a plan. She just sees a form locked in lumber and releases it.
A hoplite mercenary, strategist, and trickster with a penchant for snakes and a brutal temper, Anaxa seeks glory fighting the evils spawned from Tartarus to earn her place in the epic poems of the Merine Isles.
View Character Profile
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Honorary & Occupational Titles
The Malefic Smile, Snake of the Phalanx, Mutilator of Men, the Exiled Princess
Age
17
Date of Birth
24th of Shade, 1572 YH
Birthplace
Serethon of the Merine Islands
Children
Current Residence
The Merine Sea (sailing aboard the Hive)
Gender
Female
Eyes
Brown (or gold with snake slits)
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Olive
Height
6'3"
Weight
237 lb.
Quotes & Catchphrases
"By the depths of Tartarus!" and "Don't poke a sleeping viper."
Temple Treasures
As minutes turned into hours, Hephane's lesson with Artemis came to a close, leaving the elf to wander the anchored ship aimlessly. Her thoughts swam through the river of distinct barks and growls that made up the blink dog's language. She was so close to mastering it. So close to adding a sixth river to feed the ocean of languages she had mastered over the last thirty-four years. Hephane counted them off in order. Sylvan. Primordial. Ancient Primordial. Merian. Harmonian. And soon Blink Dog.
"Hmm. Strange that I don't know Elvish. How did I miss that one?" But the question immediately disappeared as Hephane's attention shifted to the rusted and bent shinies in her hands. Those were new. Three nuts, two bolts, and six nails. Looking back over her shoulder, the elf saw that decrepit ballista Her Higness still needed to repair. "Ah yes. More friends seeking rebirth from my craft. Come along then."
Forgetting about keeping topside while the officers were away, Hephane abandoned her watch to head below deck, all the while meticulously polishing her new shinies. She added them to a small crucible of other iron shinies neglected by The Hive. These final additions topped it off, leading the elf to smile and say, "It's time to get a fire going and make you into useful shinies again, my friends. You will enjoy your new life as nails for my princess and rejoin the ship soon."
"Boom. Buh-bum. Bum."
"Boom. Buh-bum. Bum."
"Boom. Buh-bum. Bum."
A distracting rhythm broke Hephane's concentration as she tried to melt the iron with a spell, forcing her investigate the noise back on the main deck. A hefty woman with dark gray skin and bright orange horns beat a large set of drums with cold determination. Arteria. The first mate. Hephane knew so little about her. Maybe she should spy on her for a while...but then it clicked. Arteria? The drums? Her princess must be coming back from the Temple of Thoros!
Hephane bolted to the edge of The Hive to peer out at the water between the ship and the temple. In the blink of an eye, Artemis appeared beside her, eagerly panting for the satyr's return. In the next instant he was gone again, reappearing next to Orri after spotting her on a rowboat only a short distance away. Manning the oars of the small boat were the mighty arms of Princess Anaxa, skillfully steering the vessel alongside The Hive.
After coming aboard, Her Highness sought out the elf, gave her a broad smile, and boasted, "Do I have a treat for you, Hephane. I come bearing the gifts of our greatest haul since we joined this crew."
Her princess began untying a silvery coil from the hem of a bag she held. Hephane couldn't help but admire her own handiwork. That coil possessed magic that increased the space of any bag strung with it by over tenfold. And it seemed Princess Anaxa had filled every inch of it with an armory's worth of helms, shields, breastplates, and similar goodies. They clanged onto the deck piece by piece, creating a chaotic symphony only the elf could love.
"Shinies!" Hephane squealed as she dove into the midst of them to appraise their quality. "So many fine shinies!"
"Now, now. They are not all for you," her princess clarified. "These are for the crew. Some will have to be resized and refitted since we have all shapes on board. And we'll need to divvy them up by lot, as well, since there's not enough for everyone. Can you do this for me?"
"Of course, princess. Anything you command."
"Ugh, Hephane. Can you please stop calling me that? And enough with this 'as you command' formality." The elf heard variations of this speech a thousand times before. But she could not shake her veneration of the mighty Serethonian hoplite. Her Highness also didn't scold her as sternly for it as usual. There was a softness in her voice. And a glow about her that Hephane hadn't seen in some time. A fiery excitement that wouldn't be doused by the elf's poor choice of words. Could it be...
"Is...is there more?" Hephane inquired with hesitation.
"Much more," the imposing woman replied as the grin returned to her face. From a small chest, Her Highness slowly revealed three uncommon smithing materials. "Do you happen to know what these are?"
The elf's eyes widened and a sliver of drool escaped the corner of her mouth as she idenified each instinctively, "Hephaestos ash. Marine coral. And...is that really? An adamantine ingot?!?"
Hephane cautiously touched each one in turn, scarcely believing her eyes. But as her fingers confirmed they were not illusions, she began bouncing giddily in place. The princess chuckled at the elf's reaction before adding, "As with the armor, these are not for you to keep. I believe Captain Squeelob, Edea, and a few other officers would like to make use of these and their special properties. Your name will be stamped on each as a testament to your skill, of course. Shape them into whatever they desire."
"Yes, yes. It will be done, Your Highness. Anything you need." Hephane's gaze remained locked on the special materials as she responded reflexively, completely missing the hoplite's exasperation over the use of another formal address. Only one troubling thought pulled the elf out of her trance to ask, "But what about you? Surely you have earned some of this as your reward?"
"The best part is still to come," her princess teased.
Returning to the bag with the silver coil, Princess Anaxa pulled out a mannequin donned in one final suit of armor and placed it in front of the elf. The distinct coloration of its unique metal made Hephane drop to her knees, where she remained stunned for several heartbeats before grabbing it in a deep hug. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she strained between sobs, "Orichalcum? Sniff. You found...sniff...a suit of...sniff...orichalcum? The quietest...sniff...of all the shinies?"
"Yes. I certainly did," her princess laughed. "This and a bloodthirsty spear are my spoils. I'll tell you all about our adventure while you draw up the plans for how to reforge this. You can reforge this armor to fit me, right?"
Hephane whipped up her head and jumped to her feet quickly to stare up at the towering hoplite in defiance. "Is that a challenge? Do you doubt my skill? I was not enslaved for prying the secrets of orichalcum only to turn back now! When can we start?"
* * *
"The Temple of Thoros was once a gorgeous structure dedicated to Undine, the Great Spirit of the Water and beloved patron of Old Meria before most of it sank below the waves. It housed many rooms, several of which were barred or hidden by magic. But our clever captain quickly solved the riddle of the first hidden door. We were in a room dominated by a crumbling statue of Undine holding a trident and an empty vase. By filling that vase with water, an archway leading only to an empty wall before turned into a doorway to the deepest reaches of the temple."
Hephane hung on every word her princess spoke while scrawling serpentine motifs across multiple pages at her workbench. Captain Squeelob had set a course for the Cycladean Isles after returning from the temple, so the quiet days of sailing ahead were an ideal time for Hephane to draw concepts for Her Highness' orichalcum armor.
"We made our way forward carefully," Princess Anaxa continued. "As whispered alongside the same rumors that guided us to this temple were warnings of Cult of the Kraken activity within its walls. Our first challenge came after Calliope picked a lock to a chamber holding a lesser form of kraken known as a krake spawn. A large beast brimming with tentacles, Orri pounced on it immediately, stunned it with a single strike of her fist, and hammered it with a flurry of kicks. The captain followed suit by having her giant spider mount restrain the monstrous creature with webbing. And that's when the others let their guard down, costing us a flawless victory."
Recognizing the frustration in her tone, Hephane pulled over a chair and motioned her princess to have a seat. "Sit. Relax. Explain. You had the creature cornered. Seems an easy matter to finish it off."
"That's excatly what I thought. There is no sweeter victory than a battle won before the enemy can even respond. But the others decided it was safe to just poke it with their weakest attacks and spells. There I was, driving my trident with all my might to reach its heart and calling out to the rest to do the same, and it fell on deaf ears. You know that damn satyr even let the stun drop because she felt sorry for the krake spawn? By the depths of Tartarus!" she yelled while slamming her fist onto the workbench in exasperation. "It's a literal spawn of a kraken, one of the most terrifying beings to swim the Merine Isles! Such a creature should never be underestimated! And they learned that the hard way when it conjured an ice storm down on our heads!"
Loose pages fluttered through the air around a very startled elf as Princess Anaxa finished her rant. Realizing her slammed fist was the cause, the fearsome hoplite suddenly turned meek and started grabbing the scattered sheets. "Ah, damn. So sorry about that, Hephane. No, no. Sit down. Let me get those for you."
It took a while to gather all the drawings, but Hephane didn't mind the shambles. In fact, the mess had resurfaced a few of her early concepts, which she felt went better with some of her later armor designs. And just like that, the elf was merging two motifs together into a new drawing.
"Well look at that beauty," the towering woman marveled from over the elf's shoulder. "Let's definitely go in that direction."
"Shoo shoo. Nothing's final yet. Including this tale of yours."
"Ah yes, the exciting tale of Anaxa teaching children how to fight," she said sarcastically. "After getting a taste of the krake spawn's magical prowess, Orri made up for her brief lapse in judgment with a kick that fell like a flaming meteor thanks to Edea's magical song. On the brink of death, I finally plunged my trident deep enough to skewer its heart and began ripping off tentacles so it could never rise again. Zephy bandaged the wounded, which excluded me, since I actually raised my shield to fend off the icy barrage."
"The power of shields," the elf stated as a matter of fact.
"The power of shields," her princess agreed. "Especially your shields."
Hephane wiggled with pride at that. She welcomed any praise Her Highness spared concerning her smithcraft. "Is this when you found all those shinies for me? In the creature's hoard?"
"It had no hoard, but its chamber held the first of the treasures we collected. Venturing between rooms, we found pockets of valuables here and there, alongside clear signs of recent habitation by the Cult of the Kraken. But still no cultists.
"Down one long passage, the air grew as heavy as water and crusted our flesh with biting frost. Giant doors stood at the end emblazoned with a glowing tentacle. Ominous chanting echoed from beyond the doors, but a powerful spell barred our entry. In need of a magical key of some kind, we backtracked to a sister passage and heard voices coming from a distance away. Captain Squeelob and I told the others to wait while we scouted ahead. The idle chatter of the four cultists we spied on made it clear the chantings in the prior hallway were part of some profane ritual that needed to be stopped. But before the captain and I could report back to the others, Edea came bumbling along and revealed our position...
"It still boggles my mind. Scouting is such a fundamental tactic. The most stealthy sneak forward, get the lay of the land, and report back to the larger force before engaging. It is drilled into every Serethonian when we turn seven. I've talked about it amongst the crew at length since joining The Hive. How could Edea not know that?"
"Aren't you being a little dramatic?" the elf questioned. "You all came back alive. How bad could it have been?"
"Calliope nearly died!" the frustrated hoplite roared. "Why a spellcaster was on the front lines in the first place is another tactical issue, but there were these creatures of pure slime that could engulf a person whole. Calliope got trapped inside one and all attempts to harm it inflicted her with wounds instead. And my foolish companions kept trying to attack the slime anyway, even though it was clearly hurting the person they were trying to rescue. If I hadn't used my shield to push her out of its grasp, we would be singing a funeral dirge for Calliope right now."
"Yeah. That's pretty bad," Hephane conceded.
"We just need to fight smarter, not harder. I don't want anyone needlessly coming into harm's way. Not on my watch. Is that too much to ask? With a little more time, maybe the captain and I could have learned about the three hidden slimes in the room and prepared the others for the confrontation instead of struggling through that mess."
"You have such a loving and protective heart, Your Highness. Maybe if you shared that side instead of barking orders, they would heed your advice more."
Face blood red with a vein on her temple ready to burst, Princess Anaxa gave the elf a venomous look. Hephane had just used a title, accused her of being loving, and called her out for treating the crew like a military unit. All in one breath. Was she suicidal? But the enraged hoplite only unclenched her fists and laughed.
"You've got some balls, Hephane. Gi-gan-tic balls. I have beheaded many people for less than that. Still...you may have a point." Bitterly, she added, "I'm not very good at treating people as anything but soldiers, am I?"
"Don't you fret. Just focus on your allies strengths, not their weaknesses."
"Hmm. That is actually very good advice," her princess agreed as the words sunk in. "The captain, Orri, and Zephy really pulled us through the muck in that battle. The captain took on two cultists and a black slime on her own thanks to that squad of deinonychuses she summoned. Zephy kept our wounded alive while taking two other cultists out of the fray with a sleep spell. And quick-legged Orri delivered blazing pain across the battlefield with her Scorching Squirrel Dance."
"Scorching Squirrel Dance? That's a funny name for a fighting technique. Why am I picturing her with a bushy burning tail now?" Hephane chuckled at the ridiculous thought before getting back on track, "Did the cultists have the key you needed?"
"They had four, in fact. Four talismans with a tentacle symbol and four robes with a protective enchantment against icy cold to boot. I stripped them of their belongings then ripped off their manhoods for the trouble they caused. You should have seen the look on Orri's face. Apparently, our love-seeking satyr had never seen one before. I kind of feel bad for making that her first experience, but I didn't know. What I don't feel bad about is smashing that unholy basin the cultists spawned their slimes from. The captain wanted it as a prize, but I could not allow such evil to continue existing."
"Was the captain mad?"
"She didn't complain. More disappointed than anything. But we had more pressing matters with a profane ritual underway by the remaining cultists. The fight was nine against six in favor of the cultists, but my plan to take out the kraken priests in the back was sure to even the odds quickly..."
* * *
Hephane listened intently as her princess detailed the battle against the Cult of the Kraken. Sheer numbers were on the enemy's side as two octopuses descended from the ceiling to fight alongside the cultists. Captain Squeelob summoned a boneheaded dinosaur and transformed into an ichthyosaur herself but could barely scratch the first kraken priest. And a horde of enemies clogged the chamber, slowing advancement to the second kraken priest. Even when Princess Anaxa summoned her shadow clone to reach one of the dangerous spellcasters, it could barely act before being crushed by a giant octopus.
Using her shield to dive out of the way as a mass of black tentacles erupted from the ground, the Serethonian hoplite found herself even further away from her intended prey. No enemy had fallen. No ally could take down a kraken priest. And after weathering two battles without a single wound, Her Highness was feeling the bite of multiple stabs from a cultist's bloodthirsty spear. She couldn't hold her rage in check any longer. She needed it to empower her. To consume her.
Summoning forth another shadow clone next to the kraken priest assaulting the captain, the enraged princess swapped places with her shadow, swept the priestess to the ground with her shield, and fed her trident spellcaster blood again and again. Much of the battle was a blur after that. She remembered Edea showing her true might by calling lightning bolt after lightning bolt down on the enemy. She remembered Calliope floating in the air unleashing stream after stream of magic missiles. She remembered Orri stunning the second kraken priest, giving the captain's summoned sharks an opening to tear him apart. She even remembered Zephy burying a cultist with an explosive spray of sweets, of all things.
Princess Anaxa regained full clarity only to find herself paralyzed by Edea's magic. The delightful taste of one of Zephy's treats chased away the rage, which had driven her to chase down fleeing cultists and rip off their arms. No better way to deal with dangerous spellcasters, rage or not. Zephy applauded the raw display of Merian thumos. Orri, Edea, and Calliope were reviled by it.
Hephane wasn't pleased with how her princess ended the battle either. They had spoken often about keeping that temper in check. But the elf understood it was inevitable in the heat of such a tenacious battle.
"Now comes the point in our adventure when it truly becomes worthy of the poets," Princess Anaxa explained. "You know that stone you keep stealing from the captain that I have to keep returning? The first of the Seven Treasures of Undine? Well, we grabbed a second one off a kraken priest and both of them lit up to reveal their Psi and Theta marks. Coalescing from droplets of luminous water, the Great Spirit of Water manifested to us as a striking woman dressed all in blue. She told us to cleanse the Merine Sea of the Blood of Tartarus by collecting all her missing treasures."
Regaining her balance after nearly falling from her chair from shock, Hephane gasped, "Undine? You spoke to Undine? The Undine? And she wants you clean up some blood? With some treasure? How does any of that make sense?"
"The Blood of Tartarus is not actual blood. It is a cursed dark ooze that can swallow entire ships and islands," her princess corrected. "Reuniting the Seven Treasures of Undine will grant us the power to end its voracious appetite."
"Ah! Much clearer now. Carry on then."
The imposing hoplite could only laugh at the elf's sudden shift to calm. Those not raised in the Merine Isles would likely still be dumbfounded. But for a true Merian, encounters with the gods and spirits were commonplace enough to be expected.
"Undine's charge to us was only the start," Princess Anaxa continued. "The strings that pull each soul towards its fate revealed themselves only moments later. Mosaics of ancient heroes guided us to a blue door, which Orri claimed opened to the Tower of Fate. Only a select few ever find their way to this realm that watches over Gaia. Within we met by a mysterious merchant and his assistant who offered ways of unlocking our true potential. And we knew ourselves to be among the Fated."
S01: The Witch and the Dog
Life aboard The Hive excited Hephane. Such a colorful cast of crewmates to spy on. Darting between shadows and hidey holes, she spent a lot of her early weeks on the ship following the only other elf on board. Zephyria. Zephy for short. Though she turned up her nose at that name.
Zephy had a beautiful set of shinies. Twin chalices. One twinkling with golden beauty. The other brimming with dark malice. Hephane found them enchanting but was warned not to touch them. That only made her eagerness more unquenchable, but the foul energy emanating from the second chalice coupled with what Her Highness uncovered about the prim elf gave Hephane pause. For once.
In time, her curiosity about Zephy waned as she learned they had little in common. Zephy was a haughty and immortal high elf born from the World Tree. She was slightly taller than Hephane, but with a lighter build and a pale complexion that comes from years of not doing manual labor of any sort. Hephane was cut from sturdier stock, never shying away from any forge soot in pursuit of her smithcraft. She boasted lavender skin and magenta hair with a metallic sheen to it.
"An outward reflection of your love for shinies," her fey brothers and sisters had teased her. That thought always made her smile. Despite being an elf, Hephane's connection to the World Tree was severed long ago. Possibly ages before her birth, by either her parents or her grandparents. But those memories were lost to her now. Everything before Dioma was lost to her.
Hephane decided to keep Zephy at a distance. Especially after The Hive sailed to the island of those centaurs who trained her in medicine. She had not been back in many years and the whole place was in ruins. While surveying the rubble, Princess Anaxa deftly spotted some crumbling statues dedicated to the "Great Witch Zephyria." It seemed the dainty elf hid a sinister side. Her magic came from a tainted source of curses and debilitation. Very different from the magic Hephane used to enrich her shiny creations.
Her shiny creations. Hephane wished to get back to them. Why was she not at her forge again? She had a stack of armor, weapon, and jewelry plans piling up to craft for her princess. Just no shinies or pretties to back them up...
"Rruh-rruff," came a gutteral sound to her lower right. It was Artemis, the satyr's dog.
"Pay? Pay for what?" Hephane asked in response. "Pay for shinies?"
"Rruh-RRUFF," he said again, stressing the last part. Seeing the elf was still unaware of her surroundings, Artemis nipped at the her sleeve and pointed his nose to the goblin captain addressing the assembled crew.
"Thanks, my friend. Must have been daydreaming again," Hephane whispered while giving Artemis a deep scratch on the neck. It all came back to her in an instant. Acting on a tip the first mate picked up at the last port, The Hive followed that lead to the lost Temple of Thoros. While fully submerged during high tide, it could be reached with a small boat during low tide. Rumors also warned that kraken cultists had laid claim to this ancient temple of Undine to perform unholy rituals.
"They won't stand a chance against my princess," Hephane thought proudly. The sun glistened brightly off the trident and armor of Princess Anaxa as she boarded the rowboat. But Hephane couldn't help but marvel at her own handiwork on the shield. Bolstered with a protective spell and emblazoned with twin golden snakes mirroring each other on a black field that announced Her Highness as a Serethonian, that shield was Hephane's finest piece to date. "Not with my shinies protecting her."
In only a few months serving on The Hive as bosun, her princess quickly rose to become an indispensible asset to Captain Squeelob. She regularly drilled the crew in the famed military tactics of Serethon and shared the captain's appreciation for stealth and reconnaissance. Her Highness also made the crew richer with her uncanny sense for treasure, tasting its presence in the air with just a flick of her tongue.
By the time Hephane finished her thoughts, the rowboat carrying the goblin, the satyr, the witch, the werewolf, the half-squid, and her princess was already a fair distance away. A motley crew to be sure.
Hephane turned to go below decks and was halfway back to her forge before remembering she was supposed to stay topside while the officers were away. "Must keep watch for any trouble. Must be prepared to act if high tide comes and my princess is not back."
But she had a terrible time staying focused on such things, so the elf scampered up to Artemis instead. During her months onboard, Hephane found comfort in his scent. The familiar scent of the fey. Being in his presence brought her back home to Dioma.
"Grrr-ruhawr," Hephane said in greeting as she plopped down on all fours before him. "I didn't understand before. Rruh-rroof. What is rroof?"
Artemis turned his attention to the elf acting like a dog in amusement and corrected, "Rruh-rruff. RRUFF."
Hephane repeated the second sound he made numerous times before Artemis nodded in satisfaction. Then, he went from a lazy, lounging position to an alert, standing position a number of times while the elf guessed what word he was trying to convey.
"Attention? Is it attention? Pay attention?!?"
Artemis barked excitedly, and Hephane quickly joined him, both of them yipping and howling together happily to the confusion of the nearby crew.
It was no easy feat learning the language of the blink dogs. But Artemis was a patient teacher, and Hephane was eager to learn. The elf became obsessed with the satyr's dog shortly after losing interest in Zephy. The way Artemis could teleport short distances made her giddy and reminded her of fun times playing with the pixies of Dioma. So, she made it her mission to learn how to converse with the smart canine.
S00: Snakes in the Hive
"The third ship's the charm, right? Right?!?" Hephane looked down the dock at the two ships that rejected them earlier. Rejected them just for needing to bring a large snake onboard. How dare they reject a Princess of Serethon? But then Hephane remembered that the princess didn't like to be called that. "I have to remember. Anaxa. Only Anaxa."
But it was gone a moment later as she fretted over the safety of her princess. "How will we get more shinies without a ship? Her highness needs more protection. For that, she needs better armor. And quieter. We need more shinies. Orichalcum ones, too. They're the best at whispering. We'll need a full barrel. But these ships won't take us. How can I forge armor for my princess without a boat to take us to shinies?"
"Hephane? Hephane, snap out of it." Pulled from her rambling mutters, the elf blinked several times to bring Anaxa into view. A formidable warrior, taller than most large men, clad in the armor, shield, and helmet that Hephane labored over. The elf was so proud of them. So proud to have a worthy warrior to wear her shinies.
"Yes, your highness," Hephane responded reflexively.
Anaxa grumbled, "For the thousandth time, don't call me your highness, princess, or anything royal of any sort. I want to find glory of my own...without titles!"
The elf nodded, but Anaxa was sure she would fall back to her old habits at any moment.
"Hephane, the captain of this ship has agreed to take us on. The ship is called The Hive, and it's an apt name to describe the crew onboard. Aneprion will fit in without any trouble. Captain Squeelob is desperate for a bosun to keep it in good repair, so that's the main service we'll provide. At least for now. The oarsmen could do with some military training, I suspect. And, unless my scent has been deceived, the captain unknowingly owns one of the Seven Treasures of Undine."
Hephane gasped, "The prettiest of the pretties? Want me to..."
"No. No. No," Anaxa interjected as calmly as possible, knowing the elf's propensity for pilfering. "Please. Try your best not to steal it. One is of no use to us anyway. We need all seven, but a ship that will carry Aneprion is more important right now. Understand?"
"Shinies only for now then," Hephane agreed before darting away, leaving Anaxa's next words to the wind.
The elf explored The Hive with curiosity and disgust. Curiosity at the crew of goblins, spiders, satyrs, werewolves, and half-squids. No one would even bat an eye at a constrictor snake onboard with this lot. Aneprion would be safe. Hephane reserved her disgust for the state of the ship. It was in terrible repair. So many loose nails. And the elf pocketed as many of them as she could, each time sighing, "Shiny enough."
There was one member of the crew that piqued Hephane's interest more than shinies though. There was another elf onboard. The only other elf she could remember ever laying eyes on. Zephy? Was that what the satyr called her? She would have to trade stories with that one.
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