Aleta follows Dysis up. "I am fine with the extra protection. Orkoi is fine. I am not sure why we need a witch, are not they bad? and Dysis likes the sisters, I am not sure I want the competition." she says with a smile.

She looks at Dysis "My patron gods are so much more fun though, Hermes and Dionysus. I always lift a glass a of wine to the god.

"Competition? You company with an ocean nymph, yet you are worried about mortal competition?" She gave Aleta a teasing, conciliatory smile, knowing the humor was plain.  "More fun?  Hmm. Maybe. Much fun occurs under moonlight, don't you think? Also, I can't give Hermes any points around Eurnomes. He's smug enough, already." 

But, Dysis was serious when she added: "Bad is relative, isn't it?  Some consider my art 'bad'. Magic, most magic, is much like your dagger.  It depends for what it is used.  'Witch' is a harsh term...though, I've been called worse myself...but, they are said to have some very unusual powers.  Things that enemies might be unprepared to face. That could be our advantage, in some tight spot. Anyway, the sisters are mercenaries, loyal to those who pay them. But, I know, we run this little troupe by vote. I won't try to push anything on you, or the others, that you're uncomfortable with."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:17, Thu 15 Sept 2016.

She looks very put out and gets dramatic "Oh my Dysis, I admit, mortals can not compare to your grand beauty and of course magic in the wrong hands is what is bad. But I know you, not them, my wonderful Nymphy one"

Doria looks at her wife ,"We were married by the sea before the gods and goddesses am I not pleasing enough for you mortal?"

Arthanos looked up as the women approached and listened as they spoke. As they started to argue, his tired mind couldn't be bothered trying to figure out what was in jest and what wasn't. Glancing around to see where Lysandrous had gotten to, he spots him with an old woman and no sign of the Lady in Red.

"I apologise for interrupting, but since opinion seems to be to see if we can get the others to work with us, we may as well do something about that now. It looks like our other companion will be busy for the time being." he says and gestures towards the other noble. "I say we tell them we want to speak with them in the morning about them working with us, then get some rest." he remarks, then looks at Dysis. "Dysis, if you want to mention it to the ladies you spoke with, that would probably be quickest. Itylus or myself can speak to the Orkoi." he then glances back at the others to see if they had anything else to add.

"Otherwise, I am going to go find a room and rest. This has been an exhausting day and this evening has not been much calmer."

 

"You want to hire a... what!?" asked Itylus, taken aback after hearing the word witch. Then, after Dysis tried to console him with the Moon Goddesses trio, he pretended to throw a dark stare at the elementalist and muttered. "Could be a bad thing if you consider that the other two goddesses represent the dark aspects of the Moon and the Night!..."




"Alright then," said the hunter, now serious, to Dysis. "If you deem that wit...," he paused " magician woman...  and her companion to be trustworthy enough, I'll trust your judgment, Dysis. I can't  deny your arguments about her uselfuness, and of course, dark magic is not always synonym of a black soul as we have learned with you..." he paused, looking serious at the elmentalist. "... However, as we know, that is the case most of times. So I'll still be keeping an eye on both of them. After all, even normal mercenaries are far from be the most trustworthy of the folks. And dark-magic wielding ones certainly don't inspire me anymore more trust and are certainly much more dangerous".

However this could be an opportunity for him to learn more about other types of dark arts besides the ones Dysis wielded. The more he knew, the better he would be at fighting against dark magic.




"I agree. I can go tell the Orkoi that we'll inform him of our decision tomorrow while you go find where the are rooms are located, Arthanos." said Itylus to the nobleman that presented signs of exhaustion on his face. He realised now that, he himself felt bone-deep weariness. He wouldn't take too long falling sleep when he finally reached his bed.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:47, Thu 15 Sept 2016.

For once, it was Dysis' turn to be confused.

"Pardon me?  You thought I was referring to myself?"  She shook her head with a laugh.  "I'm quite human!  I was referring to Doria. Anyway, as I said, the sisters are mercenaries.  Money would buy their loyalty.  If we decide to go that way. I won't cry if we do not. You are right;  we don't know them."   To Doria, she said-

"Tell dear Aleta just how beautiful she is! I think she needs to hear it."

To Arthanos, "Yes. I'll tell them we wish to speak with them, as a group, about possible employment."   And, lastly to Itylus-

"Ah, like Persephone, Hecate is wrongly judged by many.  She's a stern goddess, and touches things that many find frightening.  But, she is not evil. I would not suggest taking any servant of true evil, trust me!  We'll surely make enough enemies, without bringing any."

She looks at Doria and Dysis "Oh, I think Dionysus has blessed me far too much as I have consumed some of the gods wine way too much. Now I am mixing up the woman around me" she takes another sips of wine, figuring she was already messed up, how could it get worse.

"I can't claim to have stood before the gods like Doria," Eurenomes spoke up for the first time in a while. "Still I am a servant of swift thinking Hermes and I am not so sure about a follower of the Goddess of the Crossroads. Itylus has fears that we should pay credit to. Besides, with respect Dysis, we already have servants of the gods with us. I have magic of my own, granted by the son of Zeus and you and Doria are alike blessed. Would it not be better to seek more swords and spears instead?"

He smiled ruefully. "Besides in my experience sterness can be almost as bad as evil."

Room arrangements are made for the party members and eventually each makes their way to retire for the evening, either by themselves or with a companion. The accommodations are modest and pleasing enough for seasoned travelers who just want some privacy, safety, and a warm bed. A strong and steady lock was on each room.

Despite this comfort and safety, clearly the inns of Hyperborea paled in comparison to even the poorest inn anywhere outside of the Great Cities, at least with regards to luxury.

Fortunately the evening passed without any further incident, and the next morning after awakening and using a common cleaning room to freshen up, the party members found themselves free to lounge a bit further in their beds or rooms, make their way downstairs for breakfast, or even step outside to enjoy the crisp weather or check on the horses.

For any party members going down to the common room where they had been the prior evening, they found the inn to be quiet. The smell of freshly baked bread lingered in the air, and now there were serving girls bringing out bowls of bread, cheese, fruit, and meats such as pork to a few customers. At the bar sat the twins, Efimia and Myrine, and they were sharing their breakfast together and talking quietly amongst themselves. In the corner of the inn sitting close to a window enjoying the sunshine sat Mugarod. He was smoking a carved pipe of some kind and was casually sharpening a hunting knife. The evidence of a finished meal laid out before him.

An elderly couple, apparently having stopped to delivery chicken eggs, were now stepping out with a small bag of coin in hand. The owner, Aegir, who was absent last night was now present and carefully inspecting the eggs with approval. A small child darts around the inn with a small broom a pan in hand, sweeping up scraps of bread, cheeses and such which would likely be tossed or fed to farm animals.

Doria bedded her wife barring her objections after mutual bathing and she is in a good mood, clearly affectionate to Aleta and not hung over, eager to get to her ocean again at some point.

"Inn Master your inn is very nice, cozy and warm, and the bread smells good. Hope your morning is going well.," she said as she rested way to overdressed for her tastes. The Oceans cold she can handle unclad but this dry cold is different.

Aleta wakes up in a good mood and cleans up with Doria. She giggles as she is affectionate with Doria.  She gets dressed and heads down with Doria "Oh, I can't wait to get some breakfast. I am so hungry" she sees the inn keeper and smiles at him.

Eurenomes awoke to a blameless and otherwise empty bed, which did little to improve his mood. Still after bathing, dressing and prayers to the gods he was sufficently hungry to let the desire for breakfast drive away most of his grumpiness.

"Good morning my friends," he says as he enters the common room, graciously includng the twins and Mugarod in his greetings.

Dysis arose in the morning, after an evening of sporadic talk with several patrons who'd further caught her interest, as well as study of a historical scroll in the Stygian tongue, which she'd been meaning to read.

She'd already spoke her prayers at midnight, when the gates of the Underworld were most open, and they most likely to be heard by her patron goddess.   So, with no more ado, she washed and prepared herself, then went down to join the others.

And now on to the matter of hiring help, or no.  Aleta and Eurnomes had both had valid points, and she did understand Itylus' feelings in the matter, though he'd been willing to defer to her judgement.  Perhaps she was jumping the oxybeles*, so to speak.  Well, they would decide that together...

"Good morn to you too, priest of Hermes.  And to you, sisters," she greeted Efimia and Myrine.

"Our little troupe will decide upon what we spoke of yesterday, once everyone is here."

OOC- oxybeles = greek siege weapon, like a ballista -- used in place of the modern saying "jumping the gun"

Aegir had stopped briefly from inspecting the eggs and turned to nod in response to Doria and Aleta's greetings saying in Minean with a thick accent . "Good morning to you as well. I heard we had a visiting nymph who had caused a little trouble." he says, now going to produce a bowl of fresh bread and a board of cheese for the two, while whistling for another server to attend to the others that had come down - Dysis and Eurenomes.

He looks at Doria with some curiosity. "You are what we call a Nereid, if I am not mistaken?" he states. Aegir looks thoughtful. "The last one I had seen, at least the last one traveling openly and not disguised  was a few years ago. One of the Naiad of our great river." Aegir takes one of the eggs delivered and inspects it again. "Had just started her journey, knew nothing of mortals and customs." He chuckles, putting the egg down, as it had passed his careful inspection. Aegir calls to one of the staff who comes and takes the basket of eggs away.

At the bar the twins, Efimia and Myrine had listened with curiosity and gave their greetings to Dysis and Eurenomes as they had come down. Efimia, the "witch", as she had been called says in response. "Of course, we shall await their arrival, though I feel it a courtesy to let you know that should we not be hired, we will regardless, be traveling north on the trade road by late morning towards the mouth of the river Rhena." She continues "At the mouth is a trading village and thus plenty of opportunity for travel and employment for my sister and I.""

"There is greater safety in numbers, obviously, and if this is where you intend to travel then we would be pleased to travel on the road with you, but we would not impose our company if any of companions should find our presence offensive." she smiles and then invites Dysis to sit near the two of them and join in their breakfast.

Doria said ,"Not all of us share the same powers my kind can't alter our appearance but in the Ocean there is little need, and on the Coast and in the Seas no mortal would dare try to harm us but I'm not near my home. But our Elders send some of us to learn about the mortal world the ones who in time will be leaders and bring back knowledge and experience. We are creatures of deep passions however for good and for ill. I might like to meet the river sisters what was the ones name you met she might be present when I near it?," Doria said as she ate picking some bread one of the mortals more interesting creations she liked it though.

Arthanos woke up the next morning still feeling tired. While he could hear the sounds of the inn coming to life, the idea of getting up into the cold made him delay for a while. Having never traveled this far north before, he just continued to find the cold really annoying and unpleasant.

Eventually he managed to stir himself from his bed. After bundling himself back up into his warm travel gear, he headed down to the main tavern room. Seeing some of the others already down, he nodded to them before bee-lining towards the nearest server.

"A serve of hot food and warm drink please." he requests before heading towards Eurenomes and sitting down at his table. "Morning." he remarks quietly before looking around the room. Spotting Dysis speaking to the women and Mugarod sitting along, Arthanos figured he'd wait to see if Itylus showed up in a bit to speak, since he had been the main contact point, before heading over himself.

She was listening when Arthanos showed up. She was still eating and drinking "Greetings Arthanos, please join us" she couldn't wait to meet Doria's sisters or her people.

"Morning Arthanos," Eurenomes greeted the newcomer pleasantly. The young priest evidently felt the cold too - his blue chlamys was wrapped tight around his frame.

"Our friend Doria is becoming a local celebrity," he added in amusement. "I guess even a roguishly handsome priest of Hermes cannot compete with a daughter of the water for attention."

Aegir looks thoughtful for a moment. "I don't believe she had given a name... just the name of her river." he says. "It was a few years ago now after all. She didn't stay too long though, I gave her a cloak of mine as an act of friendship and some words of advice in traveling amongst humans and she went on her way."

"I'll mention the cloak gift and your name it might help, and if your married with children I can see they come from fine lineage your honorable and good hearted. And if your wife does the cooking she is exceptionally good you obviously eat well.

Now we need food for the road can we get bread, cheese, preserved meat and fruit and nuts and a skin of local wine after we are done here? I think for a few days each on the food.," Doria says pleasantly when she gets angry mortals will know it but that is uncommon.

"I would ,my friends, prefer to be on the sea we should try to get a ship with me on board you will be favored and if we must go to battle on the Ocean my power is formidable.," she added as she was eating.

"I am an Argosian and there is much of the sea in my blood," Eurenomes began, before smiling in amusement and gesturing in mock surrender at Doria. "Though not as literally as you my friend. If I had the choice I might have chosen to be a daughter of the sea. As it is life on the wave would suit me, but don't forget we are looking for the Bow of Herakles."

"I am pretty useless on a boat but I can go up the rigging. I am fine with the sea though as I know Doria will be able to protect us greatly there" she says with a smile.

As Arthanos waited for his hot food, he listened to the others talk.

"While I really like the idea of heading back the Aegean and its warmer weather, we have made the trek up here already. Not only that, but we have already stated our intentions to people here, and it would look weird for us to suddenly change direction. It would also affect those of us who gave their word to do certain tasks but then left." he says, glancing quickly at others.

"Plus, if we do find the Bow, the fame and prestige from such an endeavour would allow us to outright BUY a boat of our own, instead of having to rent or borrow one."

The companions gather around and discuss with one another their plans outside of earshot from Mugarod, Efimia and Myrine. Collectively they are in agreement to attempt to hire all three. Given that the Ork was most favorably predisposed to Itlyus, the hunter is sent over to the Ork's corner to come to an agreement, while Dysis, having earned the friendship of the twins already goes to speak to those two.
The terms they come back with are very favorable indeed...

For his part, Mugarod waives any right to collect wages or a percentage of treasure earned, assuming that his food and shelter when staying indoors is covered by the party. He agrees to give his guidance and impart knowledge to Hyperborea, and even assist with translation as needed so long as he gets weapon training from Arthanos and Itylus in return.

He does note that unlike the Hyperboreans he is uncomfortable with sea travel so while he is happy to guide them on land, if they eventually decide to travel elsewhere on the sea then he would part ways with them at that time.

As for the twins, Dysis' is able to get the two to agree to travel with them as guides and mercenaries in exchange for a small percentage of any treasure gained during the course of their employment, approximately 10 percent, or 10 silver to every 100 silver (1 gold piece) which they would split amongst themselves. Alternatively, if during the course of the adventures the party finds a magical artifact that Efimia is interested in, they would collect that treasure and waive their entire percentage, assuming that the other party members are in collective agreement to that trade at that time.

They confirm they are a package deal. Where one goes the other will follow and they refuse to be split up in any circumstance. They eventually agree to take care of their own lodging and food as they travel together.

They express some reservation about traveling with Mugarod (after that is revealed to them as well) but agree to do so long as he is kept in check and does not bother them. Myrine, the warrior, makes this point expressly clear to Dysis that she will tolerate any beastly creature (or anybody else for that matter) making unwanted advances towards her sister. Dysis makes her assurances and promises that Arthanos and Itylus will keep Mugarod in check.

With that matter now cleared up and terms agreed to. The party checks out and exits the inn...