11/3 Meet with Pythor,
12/3 Chained to Rock of Estor at dusk, kill two basilisks.
13/3 Released at dawn, celebratory feast at palace.
14/3 Leave for Telamok, meet with Centaurs. Overnight at ford inn. Rumours of a great storm in the Cerulean Gulf.
15/3 Into the mountains. Capture and release female Cyclops. See Hands of Kentimane. Approach the Necropolis of Telamok.
5/3: Kill 2 maenads & 5 goatlings (1 escapes) and rescue 12 more youths. Rest overnight in the Mossy Temple.
6/3: Leave the Mossy Temple. Kyrah escorts 4 youths to Mytros, accompanied by Meroe. Others head north for Estoria. Leaving the Oldwood & heading west along the north bank of the Arkelon River, when confronted by Commander Gaius of the Order of Sydon astride a silver dragon, then attacked by 5 Sydon-worshipping centaurs. Elpis the Satyr is slain after wounding Gaius, but is returned to life by the intervention of the spirit of her mother Roxana. The centaurs retreat. Camp overnight in a shallow cave.
7/3: Head for Estoria, stay that night at a roadside inn.
8/3: Reach the southern outskirts of Estoria around noon. Aster visits the Dragon Shrine, is thanked by Keeper Aesop, and begins research into the Antikythera Mechanism. Lodging at Dragon's Tooth Inn.
9/3: Elpis gets a breastplate from Volkan's Hall.
10/3: Meroe rejoins the party at the Dragon's Tooth.
11/3: Kyrah rejoins the party. Summoned by the King.
(15/3: Night of the Full Moon. Princess Anora due to be sacrificed at the Rock of Estor.)
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XP
Monster XP:
5 goatlings 250
2 maenads 1400
Total 1650/6 = 275 each.
Youths rescued 120 each.
Battle with Centaurs 225 each.
Total 620 each.
Approaching Estoria:
The settlement is nestled between the cliffs of a rocky gorge. The north wall of the town is part of a stone fortress, and protects the town from any dangers that might come from the steppes. Houses, taverns, and shops of all kinds sprawl down from the fortress, filling much of the gorge. The northern wall is defended by a legion of soldiers, while the southern gates admit a steady stream of travelers and merchant caravans. The road that runs south from the gate is lined with tile-roofed inns.
News of your coming with the rescued teens and the Horn of Balmytria precedes you; a small crowd of locals gathers along the roadway to watch as you approach the city. A few of the teens spot relatives, and there are several grateful reunions and shouts of "Praise the Heroes! Praise them with Great Praise!"
The land here seems dry and parched, despite the time of year - clearly it has not rained in weeks. Approaching the city from the south, you see ahead a caravan of merchants who are also headed towards Estoria. With them are the first domesticated animals you have seen in some time, a herd of bony oxen lumbering along the dusty road.
Meroe is well acquainted with Estoria, though she has not been here in some years. Since the dragon took her mother, her father King Pythor has spent most of his time in a drunken stupor, mixed with the occasional alcoholic rage.
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Entering the city, several of the teens are swiftly reunited with their families, to much rejoicing. Here and there is weeping from mothers whose sons will not return.
Accompanied by a small throng of admirers, Corinna and about a half dozen remaining teens whose families dwell in the vineyard vales east of Estoria, you arrive at the city Agora (E5). *Estoria’s well-trodden streets converge at the bustling central agora. A motley assortment of stalls litters the area, from canopies of fine silk to stacks of rotted wooden crates. Merchants at the stalls eagerly vie for your attention with a wide variety of quality wares, all of which seem very reasonably priced. * Around the outside of the agora are long, open air buildings that have shops in the back. It looks as if you should be able to sell most of your loot here.
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As Aster is trading with the merchants, he encounters a starved looking man desperately trying to sell an emerald necklace that he claims to have found at the Necropolis at Telamok. Claus is willing to sell it for only a few gold, but none of the merchants in Estoria are willing to buy it. Claus spots Aster and sidles over to him. "My friend! This is a mighty *Necklace of Fireballs * taken from the Necropolis - to such as you, only 1 gold!" The plump jeweler Aster was talking to yells: "Claus! Be off with you, and your cursed necklace!" Claus scowls.
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Claus mumbles something. The merchant speaks up: "Claus managed to sneak past Damon, the guardian of Telamok, and gain entry to the Necropolis. He stole the necklace from one of the tombs and is now cursed by the gods. As long as he has the necklace he is unable to eat: he just throws up everything. The only way for him to end the curse is for him to sell the necklace to someone who knows how he got it. If he lies when he tries to sell it, or leaves it somewhere, he always wakes up with it in his possession." Claus nods dumbly. "You'll be hungry - but only 'til you sell it to someone else!" he suggests hopefully.
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To the west of the Agora is the Amphitheatre, it looks as if a matinee performance is just beginning. To the north on the right is the great smithy of Volkan's Hall, a large building with fortified stone walls and a shingle roof. A sign hangs from the building’s heavy, bronze-banded doors. And beyond that on the left you can make out the large merchant's inn, the Dragon’s Tooth. It's an expansive red brick building with carved white stone accents.
