PBEM Olympus, city of Gods - the story

[Luthor_Saxburg]

The beginning​

Cronus sired several children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. But he swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overcome by his own son as he had overthrown his own father—an oracle that Rhea was to hear and avert.

When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed.After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge his siblings in reverse order of swallowing.

After the War of the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead (the underworld). The master of the skies then built a magical city: Mount Olympus!

The War of the Titans II​

Hades, tired of has emerged from the Underworld to defy Zeus, his brother!

The second battle of the Titans had began! Gods, Cyclopes, Dragons, Griffins, Unicorns, Nymphs, Wraiths, Undeads, Trolls, Gnomes, Medusas, Basiliks, Succubus, Wraiths, Mermaids, Manticores and many other foul creatures were involved in this complex war!

The fall of Olympus​

The Underworld Master was able to overthrow the Lord of the Skies and took control of the magical Olympus!

With Zeus fallen, the city of Olympus was not able to hold in thin air, as it did before! And so Olympus fell! Literally! With high speed it came down from the skies only to crash into the ground! There was a very loud bang that has heard everywhere in Kyrll... the only reason that it did not crumble into bits was because it is a magical city.

The challenge​

When Gaia heard of the fallen city, she became to worry... Hades was now in control of the underworld and the skies... soon enough hordes of undead became to emerge from the deeps of the earth... she knew that he hated mankind and was set to destroy them. Unable to interfere directly, she started to look for different humans, ones that could have the abilities to challenge Hades. She started to prepare magical weapons to help this special humans fight against the resentful God...

After a hard search she has identified 4 heroes that could match her desired profile. They are soooo different that she is not sure on which one she should bet. Therefore she decides to test them all to see which one is the fittest! She has designed a serie of challenges and rewards to see wich one deserves to be a Demi-God! She is willing to give fitting prizes for each of her challenges. It will start with simple tasks and modest rewards but it will increase as time goes by... until it reaches the ultimate Quest: to conquer Olympus! And what more fitting reward then to be transformed into a Demi-God?

But one question is worrying Gaia: is Olympus inexpugnable?



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[Luthor_Saxburg]

The story of Olympus

This is the thread in which IN CHARACTER communication takes place considering PBEM Olympus, a standard Beyond the Sword PBEM game, but with lots of imagination!!!
(for settings see the game thread)

THE CHOOSEN HEROES
01. Richter Scale, the crippled lunatic Engineer
02. Dionys Biliades, the gorgeous disorganized semi-Dark Elf, loved by men, hated by women
03. Gaius Palutius, the immodest puritan Leader
04. Uncle Flower, the beloved rich&naive Hippie



.

 

[Eclipse4449]

Town crier; Here ye here ye here ye. It is February 01 Nevernight is under attack, the evil Underworld has risen! Hades hellish minions are surrounding the immediate area. Nevernight bring me your strong and able, your weapon makers and wielders, lets stand as a Measurable Might and repel this evil uprising!

The air is thick and still as the last members of this tribe gather on, one man brings a lit torch and you can here someone ask him why.

Town crier; I had a dream, in this dream there were many stones and Giants that could not see me, I was building a wall but it wasn't straight, and I couldn't tell what it was. Asleep drenched with sweat I awoke when I place the last stone laying there.

Villager; Your wasting our time here, what's that have to do with Hades' invasion?

Town crier; Let me finish please? When I realized it was a dream, I shook it off and got comfortable again, soon I was dreaming again, this time I wasn't alone, all of a sudden I felt anxious and looked around for more stones to complete this curious project but seen none, I turned to see a Christian Missionary who points to a very large pile of blocks, enough to build a this project.

Villager Are you talking about the 3 Southern Forts?


Town crier; Yes the Undead has beaten us to those Forts and now we must fight them from the outside of those Walls!

Gaia units yells Quest Kill the Undead!

General Eric(Generic); a Chariot calls out, "I'll do it, I'll kill those undead. But as he approaches he has second thoughts and tags a Cho-ko-nu . The Cho-ko-nu turns and takes aim towards the Fort and takes the shot. His bolt finds purchase and an Undead falls and Generic swings East. Meanwhile the escorted Settle group is ambushed by an Orc but our Phalanx runs him threw.

 

[Nighthawk419]

Background

Dionys Biliades is a 27 year old female raised in an orphanage from a young age. She was born an accident of well to do parents who took advantage of the welfare state and left her at the orphanage when they decided they didn't want another child. She was told about her parents at a young age and has since harbored a deep resentment for them and any concept of government organization and order. As a result she lives her life to destroy the concept of structure and order; she works for chaos and anarchy in the world through all of her deeds.

This does not mean she is evil per se, she is simply against the concepts of organization and order. Even organized evil is bad in her eyes and she would work to stop it. In her mind chaos and anarchy is the best way for the strongest and smartest to survive. She has a hunters eye and is impeccably accurate with a bow and arrow, preferring to attack her foes from afar and by surprise. She can fight in close range with knives, however being a woman has found it more effective to stay back and support a main attack force if possible as she would get overpowered in close range by many (but not most!) men.

She is strikingly beautiful, with long dark hair and mysterious eyes, almost elven looking. Smart as a tack, she knows how to use her looks to her advantage and is a master manipulator of men. She has infiltrated many male dominated organizations in the past, using her looks and brains to manipulate the male leaders to do as she wishes, often bringing down these organizations from the inside out.

She is ultimately a wanderer and a loner, however for her own safety typically finds herself among a small force of fighters, usually as the bed maid of the male leader, whispering her wishes in his ear and getting her way. She has infiltrated large organizations in the past and has the capability of commanding a large army, however her chaotic impulses mean that these armies tend not to far well in battle and she finds herself breaking up the army before they can be of any real use to her, sometimes resulting in whole divisions fighting amongst one another.

She wishes to bring down large organizations/governments and will put up with the beuocracy in small doses, but once again her impulses are her weakness and eventually she will find it hard to keep up the ruse before exposing herself.

 

[Nighthawk419]

While on her travels one day, Dionys heard of the falling of Mount Olympus. She was happy to hear of the fall, knowing that fighting amongst the gods brings about chaos and anarchy, a world situation that she best thrives in. However that night, while sleeping with her camp among the trees, a vision of Gaia came to her in a dream. This vision whispered to her subconscious that she must win Olympus as her own and become a demi-God. A second vision came from Hades, who said that she must help him stop the humans who wish to win Olympus, allowing his terror to reign freely on the earth.

Waking from her dreams and feeling touched by the gods, Dionys decides to herself that she would win Olympus. Neither because she wished to become a demi-God, nor because she wishes to rule the earth in Hades’ favor, but because winning Olympus meant it could be burned. Without an Olympus, humans might be lost to the influence of gods entirely, chaos would reign and she could have her way with the spoils of human-kind, forever living as she might enjoy at that moment, with no law and order to get in her way.

But how to win Olympus with her little band of men? The band’s thief leader, Viktor Griph, could steal gold from the pocket of anyone, but he was not a fighter. She surely could not hope to win Olympus like this. Against all her sensibilities and knowing it is for the right cause, she gathered up former groups of thieves, poachers, hunters and travelers she had been a part of over the years into a large camp called Camp Nowhere. Over the years she had manipulated many male leaders of these groups with her looks and prowess in lovemaking, and sending a white dove messenger bird to them was able to convince them to join her cause, to be repaid in the future with acts that cannot be described further here. Just the promise of moments alone with Dionys was enough to convince some men to leave their wives to join her group, and to think that Dionys is not currently being followed by jealous and angry former wives would be foolhardy.

Shortly upon gathering at the camp, Dionys convinced the men to hold a meeting to discuss their plans. Viktor Griph was to be named leader of Camp Nowhere, while the other groups would split out into their own camps. They would trade freely amongst themselves and lead their own groups independently, although of course Dionys was pulling the strings behind the scenes and knew exactly when and where to get involved in their plans. Their goal was to set out into the world separately to find Olympus and determine the best way to own it. She secretly told the men individually that when Olympus was won, he would be named its ruler. Of course in reality she knew her true intention – once Olympus was in her control, the men would fight each other to the death in front of her while the city burned around them.

Dionys herself set out alone, feeling the most comfortable alone in the wilderness. The bustling camp was small by the standards of most cities, but even it was enough to make her stir crazy. With a batch of messenger doves and limited supplies, she set out alone to look for Olympus, with only a simple scout sent ahead to warn her of dangers.

That evening she was sent another message from Gaia in a dream. There were undead creatures just south of camp, and killing them would prove her worth to Gaia. While not particularly loyal to Gaia or Hades, she took it as a sign that killing these creatures may win her favor with Gaia, at least temporarily, and she planned on doing her best to win favor among any gods… at least until Olympus was ash.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

Table of contents, once I actually produce some.

 

[Nighthawk419]

Angry wives, girlfriends and former lovers of the various men of Camp Nowhere head towards the camp with torches ready to burn. Fortunately Dionys' earlier charm over the men is still strong and the men charge out and kill these women, for it is thought among the camp that the strongest man with the most willful ability to kill other women will please Dionys.

Meanwhile Dionys circles away from some armored Orcs spotted on a hill while her scout gets a little too close, but spots a large smattering of villages just past them, no doubt full of more men to join her party... but also more angry wives, girlfriends and lovers. Weakened slightly by her battle with the undead minions she just fought, she moves to camp on a clear hill with great sightlines, with a new scouting party that recently joined her from the most recently burned village...

 

[Luthor_Saxburg]

At Olympus

G - Sir, Mr. Hades, sir...
H - Yes, Ganesh, what is it?
G - I have news to report, Sir.
H - OK. But hurry up. I need to go and torture some freshly arrived humans before they join my undead army.
G - Ah, well, it relates to that, sir. The Undeads. There have been several destroyed by humans in the past months.
H - Off course! First, they derive from humans. Phew! (spits on the ground). Then, most of them have been rotting for a while, which means that most of them are incomplete... so what did you expect?
G - But... but... there has been an usual loss rate in the region of Kriland...
H - What?
G - Well, the humans are killing a lot undead, Sir.
H - Killing? How can they kill what is already dead? Ha ha ha
G (with a forced smile) - Very funny, indeed, Sir.
H - Why should I be concerned about that????? There is a lot more of those! Not to mention the millions stuck in the UnderWorld, that I can unleash at any moment... if I care to stand the stench, that is!
G - Well, I just thought you needed to know...
H - So, now I know. It's not that the rabble is are being helped by anyone, is it?
G - Errr.... not that I know of....
H - OK then. Anything else? (Hades takes the whip out of the closet while speaking)
G - No, nothing else.
(scared, Ganesh starts to leave. Then, near the door he turns around and, very nervous, speaks in a very low tone of voice)
G - Ah, just one other thing...
H - Yes...?
G - There has been confrontations between bandits and Manticores... it's seems they hate each other...
H - What???????????? The bandits that I have let out of several prisons? The ones that were rotting in cells and that I have set free for them to help in the destruction of mankind??????????
G - Me thinks so...
H - I hate humans!!!!
(Ganesh opens the door to leave, scared of his anger)
H - Tell my minions they can kill all humans! Even if they are Barbarians, bandits, rapists or scoundrels! Not even them we can trust!!!
(Ganesh nods and leaves)
H - I hate humans! I hate them! Hate hate hate!!!!



.

 

[Nighthawk419]

After barely fighting off an armored troll, Dionys' explorer-scout breaks through into the freedoms of the riches of the poor villages south of Camp Nowhere. Following the orders of her leader, the explorer burns the cities and takes all the gold he can find, hoping to please Dionys and be favored in her eyes.

 

[ruff_hi]

Greetings Viewers - this is Sky Fieldchild reporting. Tonight, as promised, we start our series on the life and times of Uncle Forever. Everybody should know who I am talking about. He has been a mainstay of our civilization for the past 5000 years.

Uncle ... is this true? Have you been alive for 5000 cycles?

Sky - that is a good question ... and, truthfully, I cannot answer it. Wait wait - let me finish before you jump it. I've lost count of the cycles. I stopped counting at 326 and that was many many cycles ago. Do I feel 5000 cycles old? Sometimes. What is it like? Let me just say that you look exactly like your one of your ancestors, Sally Fields - a very charming lady.

Hmmf - thank you Uncle - they said you were a flatterer. Looking back over your time, what has been your greatest achievement and your greatest disappointment.

Sky - that is easy. I grew up in the time of brotherly love, rebellion against authority and a life style that was relaxed and 'its going to be ok'. One of the common sayings was 'just let it be, man'. My greatest achievement was that I brought that approach to my time leading this civilization. We developed a relaxed, easy going approach to life. There was very little conflict. The tribe (in the very early days) pulled together.

They had all heard me tell my story about the place I was from and they all wanted to get there. Mighty works of engineering that could span rivers and canyons. Flying machines. Being able to talk to each other over great distances. The tribe wanted those things and they were willing to work together to get them.

And your greatest disappointment?

The same - the easy going life style the tribe had developed meant that there was no hierarchical control. There were always elements in the tribe that wanted it now. Wanted it quicker. Were willing to do things off their own bat to get there.

Do you have an example of that?

Sure - in the very very early days, we sent out some explorers to discover the land. They met the undead - a result of the unholy war between the titans. I would have preferred that they left them alone. But the boys had their new shiney tools and were eager to use them ... the result ... 3 dead undead (if you know what I mean).

Thanks Uncle. We'll return after this break.

 

[Luthor_Saxburg]

The surprised Trolls​

The Trolls were surprised by Hades order... off course they didn't want to follow it! But the knew well enough the wrath of their Master... as he also ruled the UnderWorld, not even death would allow them to escape his anger!!! So, against their destructive impulses, they forced themselves to follow it...

But why would Hades give such a command? "Not to attack human settlements"? There was nothing else they wanted more than to feast on humans. They would off course provoke humans as much as they could. After all, "they started it" seemed like a good excuse!

But while humans were off the Menu, Orcs, Undeads and other Trolls could allow some distraction... at least until Hades reverted that strange strange order.


.

 

[ruff_hi]

Uncle - while we are on a break ... can you help me understand something. I was reading one of the many biographies on you and it was saying that the very early days were one of constant danger from Orcs and Trolls. Those beasts are fearsome - how did we survive those early days?

That is true - they were very hard days in the very beginning. Unfortunately, I can't recall exactly how we managed to survive, especially against the Trolls. I do remember that a goodly number of my tribe prayed daily to GAIA for protection ... it must have worked as we are still here.

I have some notes of those times at home - I will phone one of my assistants and ask them to send me a summary of the very early days.

Thanks, Uncle

 

[Nighthawk419]

The little party of theives led by Trevor Mustakis come upon a troll in the forest north of Camp Nowhere. They decide to attack, else the troll follow them and haunt them travels forever. The decision was risky as the troll was powerful and their little group was not. The front-line men armed with nothing but swords attacked and were easily slayed... but the backline archers armed with longbows damaged the troll enough to kill it before he could destroy too many of the ranged fighters. With most of his men injured, Trevor decides to push onwards through the forest with the rest of his settlement group, hoping to find a space to make camp in the near future... and hoping there are no more trolls or other ugly monsters in these woods.

Meanwhile another band of men led by Gregor Blanco head into the hills. Gregor himself comes upon his ex wife, who has been turned into an undead zombie creature by the creatures of Hades. Hoping to further win favor with Dionys, Gregor shows no mercy, shooting her in the eye with his crossbow and then chopping her head clean off.

Meanwhile Dionys is on the move again, now with two scouts leading her, plundering the gold from the abandoned villages her men left behind...

 

[Eclipse4449]

Before leaving the area Generic stops at Sinan's Tent, Sinan a Great Engineer and also Richter's father has been the leader of this tribe until now with no prospects to replace him. Generic dismounts his Chariot and announces that Cho-ko-nu arrived in the South, he has killed the first Undead Warrior and was taking aim at another when I left.

Wait the last we heard you volunteered to do that what happened? Asked Sinan. Honestly I had every intention of doing it, but as I arrived a Cho-ko-nu appeared and was taking his first shot. A townsmen overhears the conversation as he walks up and says, "that's not what happened, You made it to the Fort and chickened out and a Cho-ko-nu killed the Undead standing on the Fort's wall, by the time it fell to the ground you were on your way here. How long have you been here asked the man. Um I got here as fast as I could. "Yes because you were scared Generic", "by the way how is it you are a General here in Nevernight anyway?"

Generic mounts his Chariot looks at the townsman and shakes his head but doesn't answer him, he snaps the reins and heads East.

With a loud boisterous voice Sinan calls the Town's people to meet him at his tent.
As they arrive they here a blood churning scream. Oh GAIA that sounds like Mallet Butt the Phalanx's wife. The scream was one long breath and another joined, this was the Phalanx Screaming for Vengeance!
Everyone looks toward the scene and sees the Phalanx's Spear impale an Undead version of himself.

Stab after stab, some of the crowd got closer to help if there was the need, the Phalanx clearly not stopping until the creature was in pieces. Someone close to the Phalanx puts their hand on his shoulder and tells him that it is dead, it's ok to stop.

The Phalanx turns to him with something in his eyes like rage and screams "The Damn Undead don't bleed! I was just trying to make that thing bleed for killing my sweet Mallet Butt.
Another townsman joins the conversation, Scotch Guard walks up and kicks the Undead's head off its torso and tells the Phalanx to collect his wife and that he will deal with this part of the mess, reluctantly the Phalanx agreed.

 

[Luthor_Saxburg]

The story of Samas​

After an eternity locked in the UnderWorld, Hades was having fun torturing humans in a way to turn them undead to join his legions. Sometimes he wonder what would happen to those humans that, after dead, would not show up in the UnderWorld, but he didn't spend too much time thinking about those trifle matters.

After killing thousands of humans it started to become boring... he tried delegating the job, but his minions could just not do it in the proper manner! So it had to be him doing it. More and more it became an obligation without fun. He was confused and annoyed. This was something that he had been wishing for for thousands and thousands of years! Now it was... boring!

One day, one of the prisioners dared to escape. The door was old and not in a good shape for quite a while. In Olympus, Hades knew everything that was going on (a power he stole from Zeus after his downfall) and he was aware of the old and worn doors. But worry? Nobody had dared to try to escape. Not to mention that it was impossible to escape from Olympus.

Samas, the prisioner, realizing that the door was barely standing, used some force and broke it. He started to go through the dungeon's corridors and, after killing some stray undeads, he soon encountered the Orc guards... Six armed Orcs against one human with a stick would seem a predictable end, but - against all odds - the human won!!!

Hades found this curious, put down the whip and started to follow the matter closely. He sent in small groups of Orcs and undeads against the human to see what would happen. And the human always won! Even when he sent against the human 20 undead and 12 Orcs, he was cleaver enough to run to a narrow corridor he had found before, allowing him to fight with only 2 at a time. After a long and exausting battle, Samas was victorious once again. And with only minor injuries!

After this battle, the Master of Olympus arranged a bed and some food for the human that was trying to escape through the sewer. He allowed him to rest a few hours without interruption. Samas, sooooo very tired, didn't even question why a bed and fresh food could be found in the sewer of the catacombs!

Everytime Samas fought and won, something would light up in his spirit. Hades was finding this interesting. The next day, Hades gave him only minor challenges (an occasional undead here and there) and guided the human (by blocking the other exits with strong minions) near the sewer exit...

Samas, realizing that the light was increasing, started to look for the source of light as he knew that it was daylight and that he was getting closer to some sort of exit. With increased energy, he searched and saw the exit!!!
Amazingly, the exit was big enough for a human to go through!

As Samas headed for the exit, 2 Trolls appeared from the side corridors... he had seen Trolls in the sewer before and always avoided them (thus following the path layed to him by the Master of UnderWorld) but now they were blocking the exit... so close... he thought 'I can do this. I can beat them. It is possible!'

Hades found his thoughts interesting. The human actually believed he could win against two Trolls. The final battle began! Samas fought well and was able to cut off a leg of one of the Trolls, taking him out of the fight. There was hope in the human mind, and Hades could sense this (as this occured in Olympus). With one Troll out of the way, the fight went on. During the heat of the battle, Samas, the strong human, slipped on a rock and fell down. The Troll took the advantage, raized his weapon and went straight for the head... in those microseconds, the human, that had high hopes of escaping, suddenly realized it was all gone. From hope he went to despair before the Troll's mace crushed his head.

Hades felt this "passage" from high hopes to complete despair watruly exciting!!! This was true revenge!!! He know knew why he was so bored in the Torture chamber. The humans there were dead even before they died. They had no hope. None. Zero. Niente. Nichts.

The ruler of Olympus decided to change strategy and to give humans hope before crushing them. He wanted to relived that moment over and over again. So he had to allow the humans to have hope before crushing them!!!



.

 

[Eclipse4449]

Town crier; Here ye here ye here ye. It is March 01 Nevernight Richter has just killed the Second Undead liberating two out of the three Forts.

 

[Nighthawk419]

Trevor Mustakis settles down with his little party, naming his base "Camp Somewhere". However he is weak and in the wilderness with nothing but a small party... life will be tough for this group for a while.

Meanwhile Gregor Blanco continues to march towards his goal for an encampment on a hill. There is a troll stalking him and an armored Orc also in the area.

Dionys is marching through the old abandoned villages south of Camp Nowhere collecting gold... except they aren't all abandoned! Some crazed abandoned wives of her men surround her. She is already scratched up and hopes with her scout to protect her she can survive the onslaught of women.

Meanwhile, some denizens of Camp Nowhere charged out of the camp towards the approaching Troll and were very swiftly defeated by the powerful troll. Viktor Griph tells his men to prepare their arrows and stake out hiding spots throughout the camp, as the troll will surely attack the Camp this turn. Time (and Gaia) will tell whether the men survive...

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

Gaius Palutius, the unlawful son of a sailor and a small business owner, is only of average physical ability and couldn´t wield a sword to save his life. He doesn´t fare much better with arrow and bow and didn´t touch them again after inadvertently killing his beloved pet tortoise at the age of eight, which traumatized him for years to come. In spite of his shortcomings which would spell certain doom for him against a determined opponent when unguarded, he shows great organizational and strategic talent. While others may be more charismatic than him or have better family connections, his deeds speak for themselves.

Growing up in a medium-sized port town with his mother, few friends and little in the way of fighting skills he was easy pickings for the thieves infesting it. The local guards were of no help, often being bribed and rarely interested in defending the common good. His mother did what she could to provide him with a loving environment but her low position in society coupled with the fact that Gaius' father sailed away and never came back after having heard of her pregnancy made it difficult for her to be there when her son was in need. Gaius came to despise corruption, crime and disloyalty, and promised himself to uphold law and order wherever possible. To that end he left his hometown at the age of 16 and over the next years took control of a small empire to enforce his vision. He also has sympathy for the poor and exploited due to his upbringing, and does his best to ensure that his laws do not favor the wealthy and powerful, which makes him unpopular with the classical aristocracy but beloved by the people.

Order, loyalty and honesty are his prime virtues and for expanding his rule he relies on his tactical skills and cooperation with his allies rather than deception or intrigue. The members of his personal guard are hand-chosen amongst the trustworthiest and most competent of his troops and virtually immune to attempts of bribe or seduction. He is said to be generous and kind to his friends but cruel and unforgiving to his enemies, and has a very low tolerance for criminal and rebel scum.

His goal is to unite the entire world under his banner, not because of lust for power, but because he genuinely believes that everyone will be better off under his rule. After having heard of Olympus he immediately knew what to do...

 

[Nighthawk419]

Gregor Blanco and his team set up Camp Everywhere on the hills south of Camp Nowhere. They are stalked by trolls and orcs but are willing to take the risk that their paltry force will be able to fight them off if attacked, they do have the high ground.

Meanwhile, back at Camp Nowhere, Viktor Griph and his men are hidden away in the camp, ready to defend against the troll. However, from their hiding spots they notice the troll walk right past the camp, apparently heading somewhere else... or looking for a better angle. But the threat is not over yet, lookouts on the western side of the camp spot attackers from the scoundrel gathering west of Camp Nowhere, heading right for the camp! The defenders hunker down, trying to wait out the invasion, while the camp workers begin a new project in the middle of camp upon receiving a letter on a dove sent from Dionys herself...

That's right, Dionys, what's new with her? The angry ex wives and girlfriends of her men were camped out in their old villaged and ambushed her. Dionys fought one of them off and then retreated to a wooded hilltop with her scout close at hand. She is scratched up and sore and tired from her adventures, but knows of the threats to her encampments from Hades' minions. She says a little prayer to herself that night:

Great Hades, master of the underworld, I pray for your guidance. Your minions surround us! Help guide them towards those who are truly good, and away from those of us who help create the chaos you desire. Eye for an eye, limb for limb, you do this for me and I will do something for you. Gaia has attempted to guide me but I am no more loyal to her than I am you. I think you can appreciate dis-loyalty. Let's talk more...

There, she thinks, maybe that will stop Gaia from sending me these stupid visions about rocks...

 

[ruff_hi]

Welcome back. Uncle ... you have ruled many, many years. What is it like being such a ruler? Did everyone always heed your wishes?

Sky, does anyone heed my wishes?

All jokes aside, child. The answer is no. As you know, I have many sons and daughters. Some of them, others might say 'all of them', have stuck out on their own at various points in time. I remember a time, very early in our history where a son of mine attacked a troll. He didn't survive. It was a very foolhardy thing to do.

What did you do?

I flew into a fit of rage, attacked and killed the Troll.