Session 1 - Snails, Tales, and REGICIDE?

General Summary

We arrive in Cherianto, a sizable city on the coast. It’s a very active port that does a lot of trading with the Merchant Republics, exposed to the sea and has an artificial harbor to protect it. Tomorrow is Heroes’ Day, a holiday in Koss that celebrates heroes and heroic deities. Xanthos and Neo arrive first - Ophia wants to reverse her dryad curse, she’s starting to physically transform and can’t move more than 60ft away from the seed that forms the curse. There is a long line and some kind of hold-up ahead, and they get into an altercation with a dwarf in line who won’t let them skip the line to help.
Xanthos goes ahead and finds that a broken cart is causing the jam, it belongs to Rhoecus, a chariot racer here for Heroes’ Day. Xanthos is able to fix it up and get the line moving again. Rhoecus offers to buy Xanthos a drink at the Hollowed Horn later. He warns them they should find accommodations quickly before everywhere fills up.
The rest of us are arriving by boat, Captain Eryxo wishes us farewell and is considering hiring more security for the boat. She’s 8 years old and doesn’t have much information about the Children of Kallipilos and how they age, whether they can be maintained etc. We disembark, there’s a man (Kriton) standing on a plinth calling upon champions and heroes to battle in the arena the following days. Kriton is a speaker for heroes, he ensures that people’s legends spread to “the right people '' to ensure their name endures. Apa recognizes the name Isadora, a Vasilli hero who disappeared mysteriously in the city, the Arena of Isadora is named after her.
Kriton says to come by his manor, he offers to give us top billing in the arena. There’s a battle against the arena champion, then against The Beast. We ask some guards where we can stay but they freak out about Kovu and haul us off to talk to their guard captain. We finally get directions after some warnings and everyone heads to the Hollowed Horn. Preparations are being made for the festivities, banners are being hanged, lines are being painted on the streets in red paint.
We bump into Ophia, who sells herself as a hero for free drinks. After introductions, we find that there are no free rooms at the Horn. We try Crito’s next. Vas has free room and board! We learn a little about each other, get some glimpses of backstory. Aga knows loads about dragons! Neo claims to be researching all the gods to find core commonalities throughout them. Xanthos hides his backstory. We decide to go speak with Kriton about the arena in the hopes There’s some poetry reading happening at the theater. Chariot racing. A hunt (ask Hedylus for more info, big lion looking guy). Wrestling. Javelin toss. The feast tomorrow night!
It’s extra crowded in the inns because the soldiers aren’t staying in the Temple of Zole as usual. Maybe something is happening there? We head to Kriton’s manor, it’s very fancy but he’s not back yet so they won’t let us in. We go to check out the Temple instead, on the way we encounter Hedylus who is recruiting for the hunt. His master, King Bion, is after a particular shell of the snail of Creteone (Creteone is the daughter of the first Elf, she is the first of the Eladrin, favored by Kairemos. She was a very gifted artist, so gifted that everyone was compelled to steal all her art. Frustrated, she painted the most beautiful masterpiece ever created and told everyone she hid it in a boulder in the wilderness. However, the boulder was the lair of a great terrible snail beast, adorned with magical power from the painting that adorns its shell.)
King Bion is the current ruler of Cherianto. Human, veteran of the Great Wildfire, Allegedly was visited by Isadora and convinced him that he could keep his rule in Cherianto for as long as he lived but after that it would become a servant state to Vas. Sometimes called The Last King.
The Snail was spotted in the forest to the North of the city, we can bring the shell back to Hedylus or to King Bion (in the biggest house in the Agora) then we will receive payment and renown and a place of honor at the Feast of Heroes. We rent a cart from Hedylus for a 10gp deposit.
We head to the Temple of Zole. It seems there is room in the barracks, but somebody called “Menarcles” and his contingent of soldiers from Vas refuse to stay there. Seems like it’s just an issue of comfort, but it is causing issues of vacancy in the city. Ophia asks about her curse, Zole would be able to remove it if he was willing.
Menarcles says he does not feel comfortable staying in the temple, they’re not guards of the city. Ionessa picks up on him being guilty about something. The group questions him about it, it doesn’t seem like a jilted lover thing but he thinks he’ll get into a fight or confrontation if he stays there. Kestor gets confused and thinks he’s an elf friend and defends him, then later apologizes for getting confused as Aga sneaks into his room.
Aga finds a note written deliberately by someone with bad handwriting, it says “If you are reading this, King Bion is dead. I understand that I have forsaken myself and my Gods and that one assassination does not make up for another, but I cannot abide this man making a mockery of Vasili Isadora. Kaiotim may judge me but I will find absolution in the afterlife.”
The King will be present at the Feast, and will be unveiling the statue in the Agora. We distract the guards to get a better look at the statue, which is of a woman holding a sword, shield, and hoplite armor. It is Isadora of the Black Praxillid, former Vasili of Vas. Aga does not see any traps on the statue, though maybe it could come to life?
We meet with Hedylus and convince him to warn the King. We decide to hunt the snail to get in the King’s good graces. If we successfully get the shell, we are to come to the FRONT DOOR, if we do not we are to come to the SERVANT ENTRANCE. King Bion is a powerful philosopher.

Rewards Granted

Friendship

Character(s) interacted with

Kriton - A noble in charge of recruiting combatants to fight The Champion and The Beast in the Arena of Isadora.
Hedylus - A leonin in the service of King Bion. Recruiting heroes to hunt the Snail of Creteone, and later alerted to the plot on the king's life.
Menarcles - A vas soldier who is plotting to assassinate King Bion.
Crito - A tavern keeper who runs "Crito's", knows everything going on in the city.
City Watch Captain - Has a name but I did not write it down. Is not very happy with us because we keep annoying her and making her life difficult.

Report Date

23 Apr 2022