"The city's name is 'Athens'--I doubt that they'll forget Athena here. At any rate, what was left of the temple? Is there anything else you think we should see while we're here?"
Scott
Calliope's expression gradually changes from anger, through frustration, to just looking glum. "They might not have forgotten as such - but I doubt they really remember. To them, it's just a name, and maybe some stories. They don't care about it - not as would matter to a faerie."
She sighs.
"Most of the outer structure is still there, and the friezes are well worth coming and having a look at. They're completely changed the interior though. As to the rest - I don't know, I went straight to the Parthenon. Idid see some other ancient buildings, so they may be worth looking at, but if they're repurposed the Parthenon, I don't know that they'll have escaped unscathed.
Viola promises she'll go take a look at the Parthenon as soon as Ipek is finished in this tavern. How is Ipek proceeding, by the way?
Scott
Ipek's come out with you.
Proceeding to the Parthenon, you come to a huge white marble building, surrounded by elegantly sculpted columns. Above the pillars are carved friezes and statues, but sections of them appear to have been removed, or defaced.
Entering into the building, Viola immediately feels the divine aura that covers Athens thicken. The interior is again richly decorated, but this time it is with Christian iconography - this is clearly a major centre of worship.
She didn't want to go back in and continue interacting with the soldiers? Viola's in no big hurry.
That aura disconcerts even Viola. Let's move along. What else is there to see?
Scott
She's mostly scouting and possibly doing a bit of publicity for now - actual performing can wait for later when the tavern's busier.
There's another ancient building parallel with the Parthenon but to the north side of the Acropolis, with finely carved statues of women doubling as pillars to create an elegant porch. The building is clearly in use, with guards posted on the doorways, and a little investigation quickly reveals it's being used as the local centre of government.
Moving on, you come back round to a building you had first seen whilst climbing the stairs to the gatehouse - a temple with four columns supporting a porch at each end, perched slightly precariously on the edge of a protrusion of the great rock that makes up the Acropolis. It's considerably smaller than the other ancient buildings - but it does appear to be unoccupied.
That's odd that it's unoccupied. Let's go have a look at it. I assume Ipek is coming with us? Letting her out of sight doesn't strike Viola as a good idea.
Scott
Ipek has been peering into and asking questions about everything - it was her who discovered exactly why the one building was being guarded, and as Viola turns round to check on her she sees her leaning over the balustrade that lies between the temple and the sheer drop to the city below, trying to see if the frieze depicted on it is replicated on the other side.
The building itself consists of a single room, around 5m to a side. Entering in reveals that it has in fact been converted into a small Christian shrine, although it does not appear to be attended right now.
Any idea of what it was originally for? Does Calliope or Ipek have any interest in it?
At any rate, we'll continue the exploration of the city.
Scott
Neither Ipek or Calliope know enough about the history of the area to do more than guess; it's a fairly well built and ornate building, so some short of shrine seems likely, and Calliope thinks a few bits of the frieze may be depicting Nike (a guess made more plausible by the scenes of battle elsewhere on the carvings).
Exploring the rest of the acropolis shows that you've discovered all of the ancient buildings on it that are in anything approaching decent condition - the rest of it is much more modern, although you do find another tavern. It's once again apparent that this is the stronghold of the Frankish rulers of Athens - most of the buildings and people are either relatively wealthy, or military.
Are you returning back to the lower city?
Yes. I'm not sure we're going to find much of value here, but having Ipek poke around, and maybe even talk to a few traders (something that might be useful once we have faerie toys to trade) can't hurt.
Scott
You return back to the lower city, retrieving your weapons on the way out (although one of the guards does suggest you leave them with the innkeeper whilst in the city). There you can find a few more taverns, this time dominated by greeks, as well as arranging lodgings.
[OOC: Do you have anything specific you want to do further, or do you want to do a timeskip whilst Ipek spreads the song?]
Timeskipping sounds good, as does the suggestion about leaving our weapons with the innkeeper.
Scott
Ipek spends the next month performing at various taverns around the city. She doesn't get herself into too much trouble in the process, although she does seem very interested in the news that the acropolis is being attacked every year by a small force of ancient greek ghosts. However, it's an annual event and the last time it happened was only a month or two ago, so there's a limit to how much she can do about it right now. Probably?
Is Viola doing anything in particular over the period?
The attack by ghosts is an interesting phenomenon, but even if we could force it to take place outside the usual schedule, I'm not sure what the point would be. It's something to remember should we ever plan to come back.
Viola will poke around (or more likely, have the grogs poke around) for any sort of interesting rumors about magical beats, gods, etc. Other than pining for her lab, I'm not sure there's much else she can do right now. What does a maga stuck in a city for a month do, anyway? Is there a covenant in this vicinity?
Scott
There's no covenant in the immediate vicinity, no - Calliope thinks you're about equidistant from Aegea and Epidauros, but you're talking 50 - 100 miles with sea travel for both.
As far as the rumours go, the grogs (and, primarily, Ipek) hear some more tales about the ghostly soldiers. Apparently until they reach the Acropolis they ignore people unless attacked (at which point they'll take on their opponents and then proceed). Once they reach the Acropolis, they proceed to furiously assault the Franks. Most of the greek citizeny seem less distraught about this than they could be. There are also reports that they are proceeded by a single ghostly figure a few nights previously - this figure has been appearing long before the attacks started, but he used to cry out "We were victorious!" before collapsing. These days, he simply turns away before fading out of existance.
An (apparently) unconnected tale is that the city never suffers from outbreaks of disease, thanks to the protection of St Haralambos.
Calliope, meanwhile, has made a trip out to Eleusis. She returns despondant again - apparently these days Eleusis is a small village, the sanctuary on the route where initiates traditionally stayed during the procession has been turned into a monastery, and the great 42-columned Telesterion where the rites were held is in ruins.
Does this figure appear more often than the annual attackers? Are there no more clues to his identity?
Viola understands why this disappoints Calliope, but it shouldn't scupper our quest--indeed, it means we won't have to compete for Demeter's attention.
Scott
No - only once a year. After thinking about and investigating it more, Calliope thinks it might be on the anniversary of the battle of Marathon.
Ah, that makes sense...and now there's no one for him to report to. If Calliope is interested in investigating, we can always come back next year.
In the meantime, once Ipek has finished her story-spreading, let's head out for the shrine.
Scott
It's well into November by the time you start down the road to Eleusis, although the day is significantly warmer than you would expect back in Tanais - cool, but certainly not cold. The journey is around 15 miles - you could do it in a day, but you'd arrive fairly late. The alternative would be to spend the night at the monastery where the initiates into the mystery used to stay.