Duel Arcana

Dearest matriarch and most magnificent of mothers,

  I once again am writing from the lands of the Spartans. Since my last letter we’ve had a good many interesting things go on. Our companion Nicolos had decided to remain with the dwarves of Kor Volcas to act as an ambassador of sorts and to learn more of his father’s art whom the dwarves’ worship as Vulcan. We left Kor Volcas and returned to Sparta; along the way we had an altercation with a vengeful giant but were able to persevere. More disturbing was the fact an axe dedicated to Ares found its way into Ouroboros’s hand and it left him mad. As we approached Sparta, we could the ocean draw out and a massive wave crash into the bay. It seems as if Poseidon intervened, and the wave split sparing most of the port. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I took the liberty of removing the aforementioned axe and sent it to Ozen, with the hopes she might be able to dispose it properly. I’m hoping once it’s truly out of his reach, Ouroboros will regain some measure of control once again.

  We raced down to the port to have a look and found some death and much disarray. Several ships including our own needed immediate attention to prevent them from floundering. After a very long and busy afternoon and evening, I think we’ve managed to save all of them. The port itself on the other hand is going to need weeks of work to get back to its normal working rhythm. Exhausted, I finally settled down to grab a cat nap, and was awoken with some significant noise coming from the village surrounding the port proper. Silenos, Ouroboros, and I raced out to examine the situation. I caught a brief glimpse of a tall regal woman in diaphanous robes, mahogany hair, carrying a staff walk away from the gathering throng. She looked back with a dismissive look and vanished. Ouroboros was deep in his obsession about the axe, and I kindly directed him to the midden, where I claimed to have seen it. I don’t know if that’s where he went, but he was on his way in moments. Silenos and I canvassed a bit more and it seemed as if some folks thought the gods themselves battled in the streets wielding mighty magics; others thought it was one of the companions as we have gathered some degree of local notoriety amongst the Spartans. Seeing as we have two companions who might see themselves in arcane combat, we decided to check on both. As we were closest to our ship, Lady Alexandra was our first stop.

  Silenos and I approached the door and he knocked. Lady Alexandra claimed nothing was wrong, but there was a timbre to her voice that belied that claim. With that settled, we didn’t feel the need to check in on Thalia as she was ensconced with king Eudomitus. I tried to return to sleep but found that difficult. Once again one of my companions, a member of my crew was assaulted. Unlike the last time, it was far from trivial.  Anyone capable of tossing a home as if it were flotsam, as reported by some witnesses and arcanely challenge and perhaps best Alexandra is trouble.  I found myself spending the rest of the small hours taking stock of my resources and knowledge, finding both lacking.

  I know not what the rest got up to the following day. I went to the temple of Apollo which was nearest to the port. They showed a great willingness to share what information they had after our company’s defeat of the vampire threat. After much reading I found nothing matching the description of the woman I saw. From there the next closest temple was that of Poseidon, and as before the time spent while illuminating yielded nothing. I traveled closer to central Sparta proper and was able to find at the temple of Athena some leads. There was an old text that spoke of the lesser goddess Circe. The description seemed to match the woman I saw the night before. From that thread I followed on to the tales of Odysseus and his encounters with the sorceress. Kronos or one of the other titans must have severed her bonds to the island to which she was bound. Thankfully Odysseus’s story holds more about the sorceress, including a warding herb that he used to be safe from her ability to transform others. It also provided a bit of insight into her psyche, which might at the right time prove useful. Sadly, there was no specific weakness or critical flaw to leverage. I must admit I don’t know how best to be prepared for that future encounter.

  I know you are not located far from the Library, would it be possible for you to entreat with the keepers there to see if there is any lore on battling sorcery? Perhaps your little name’s sake could serve as a conduit or courier for what knowledge they might have to share.

When I returned to the ship mostly it was quiet and well after dark. I’m not sure what the outcome of Thalia’s efforts were, I can hear some small snuffling sounds as if she was upset coming from her room, and some much louder noises seeping out from Alexandra’s. Given the warry looks of the on-watch crew on the deck, I’m guessing Niobe is involved. She is the amazon if you don’t recall.  Anyway, I’m all for bed, my eyes are weary after all that reading today.

Yours with love and affection,

    Gyasi