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New Argonauts, Session 3: The Calydonian Boars

    The trip to Calydonia took a little over a week, with the New Argo stopping at every seaside town along the way to pass the word that Apollo's sacred oracle was in need of guardians. The new Argonauts reached the Calydonian docks and found the mood of the people there pensive and fearful. They questioned the people on the dock and were told that a monstrous boar had been attacking farms and ranches on the outskirts of the city, slaughtering men, destroying crops, and even eating livestock. The locals were especially frightened this day -- they thought it was only one boar, moving fast and striking farms and ranches on opposite ends of Calydonia, but that morning two boars were seen attacking a farm at the same time.
    The heroes assured the locals that they had been tasked by the oracle of Delphi to deal with the boars, and then split into two groups to learn what they could about the situation. Thyrsos and Doxthenes went to the main city temple, devoted to Dionysus, while the others questioned a soldier, Lieutenant Ercole, about where to find the commander of the city's forces. Xanthos, feeling ill from food he ate at the last seacost village, opted to stay on the ship.
    Thyrsos and Doxthenes found the temple in short order and met with Deucalion, one of the senior priests of the temple. He told them that the boars were sent by Hades so that the king of Calydonia, Phemius, would sacrifice them to the Lord of the Underworld (as odd as it may seem, the gods often tested the loyalty of mortals by revealing a perfect animal specimen to a person of importance, expecting that the mortal would sacrifice the animal as a sign of devotion to the god). For some reason the king neglected to make this sacrifice, so Hades drove the boars mad, and since that time earlier in the season they had killed many people. The Athenians explained their quest and asked to speak to any survivors of these attacks. Deucalion took them to an infirmary where one of the soldiers sent to kill the boards described the creatures--shoulders reaching the height of a man, great tusks, a terrible rage, and the ability to quickly recover from even the most serious wounds. Doxthenes used his ability to channel the power of the Olympian gods to help heal the man's wounds, Deucalion suggested they speak to the king at the palace.
    The rest of the group followed Lieutenant Ercole's directions to the main garrison in the hopes of speaking to Commander Xenos. Though rebuffed at first by the garrison's door guardsman, after explaining their quest the guard relayed a message to the commander. Xenos was a gray-haired man, weathered like Captain Phaedron and with the mannerisms of a man used to years of combat. He explained the background of the boars, told his visitors that none of his squadrons of soldiers had succeeded in killing the boar, and gave them the total number of deaths by the boars: over twenty soldiers and sixty civilians, not including livestock and damage to crops. Xenos said that if they wished to slay the boars, they should speak to King Phemius at the palace, and he wrote a letter to get them an audience with the king.
    The two groups met at the palace and traded information. A few careful words from Thyrsos and loud boasts from Zale got them an audience with the king. Phemius was a man in his forties, still strong but starting to grow soft. He repeated the story of the boars and the great destruction they had caused, occurring as often as every other day or as infrequently as once a week. The king also mentioned that after the newest attack that morning where both boars appeared, he had sent his son, Prince Phyrixius, along with a group of soldiers to dispatch the boars. The journey to the farm where the newest attack occurred was to take two hours, and the king was hoping his son would return home victorious by sundown. The heroes told him of their oracle-quest and the prophecy she gave them, and the king was happy to accept their help, as he wanted the attacks to end and his son home safely.
    The heroes set out immediately with an older soldier as a guide to the attacked farm. When they reached it, they saw cattle torn apart in the fields, two walls of the barn torn open, and several people milling about trying to clean up the mess. The farmers pointed the heroes toward the hills, and though they had no skilled trackers among them they could easily follow the trail of flattened grass and oats that marked the path of the huge boars. As the sun set, they reached some low hills, with one larger hill bearing an old ruin. Lighting torches, they continued, and soon spotted a fallen soldier, his belly torn open as if by monstrous tusks. Further along the meanderings of the boars they spotted a second body, and a third, with the third being partially eaten.


    Eventually the trail led them to the ruin on the hilltop. The few remaining upright pillars formed an L-shape, and they could see two more fallen soldiers in the light of their torches and the waning moon. Approaching the first body, the light of their torch fell upon a fallen figure hiding in the crux of the ruin--a man who fit the description of Prince Phyrixius. Doxthenes ran to check on him and found him severely wounded but alive. Dox said he'd need several minutes to tend to the prince, and the rest of the group checked the hilltop for enemies and prepared for an attack.
    Soon after, they heard the sound of a large creature crashing through the brush to the southeast. Anaxis, Thyrsos, and Zale moved to that corner of the hilltop, while Arcturus maintained a defensive position near Doxthenes and the prince. Moments later, a huge boar charged into the radius of the torchlight. Combat was fierce, and each gore by the boar's tusks was nearly enough to make one of the heroes fall. As they attacked, they saw the animal's wounds close up almost instantly, and realized they'd have to inflict several mortal wounds in a short amount of time to kill it.
    Only a handful of heartbeats had passed since the boar's appearance when Arcturus heard a noise to the north. A second boar charged out of the darkness, and he met it halfway. Of equal size to the first one, the boar struck at the scion of Ares. In a rage, Arcturus swung at it several times but only managed glancing blows. Though greatly wounded, he held his ground. The other three managed to dispatch the boar, Zale burying his spear in its heart. They scrambled to help Arcturus -- Zale leaped dramatically over a fallen pillar with a shout but failed to strike a blow on the monster when he landed, Anaxis circled around to the rear of the second boar, and Thyrsos moved into a flanking position.
    To their shock and surprise, the first boar stood up again, shrugging off the mighty stabs of the Argonauts and turning to flee into the night. Unwilling to let his prey get away, Zale ran after the boar and managed to overtake it for one brief moment, but was unable to hit it as it ran past him. Angrily he returned to the second boar, just in time to see it gore Anaxis heavily, causing the lightly-armored champion of Hermes fell. Desperate and all of them wounded greatly, the Argonauts made a heroic effort and brought down the second boar, following up their attacks with several careful blows to the brain and other vital organs. Doxthenes ran to help Anaxis and managed to stop his bleeding and bring him around. The priest insisted on everyone waiting until he had the chance to tend their wounds, and so despite Zale's urgency to find the lost boar, the heroes waited for nearly an hour while Doxthenes used magic and surgery to patch them up as best he could.
    Battered, bloody, but still ready to fight, Zale talked Arcturus into following him after the boar. Thyrsos called upon the power of his divine ancestor Aphrodite to bewitch Zale's mind, urging him to stay for fear of losing his life. Zale's stubbornness won out over sorcerous charm, however, and he urged Thyrsos to stay behind as it was too dangerous for him. The argument continued for a short while until Zale grabbed a torch and charged off after the boar. No longer having a choice in the matter, Thyrsos followed behind, a grinning Arcturus on his heels. Soon enough they heard the boar and it charged into their torchlight. This time luck was not with them, and the weakened heroes fared poorly against the fully-recovered boar. Arcturus and Zale both fell, bleeding heavily. Fortunately, the sounds of the fight attracted the attention of Anaxis and Doxthenes back at the camp-ruin, and while Anaxis was too injured to give chase, Doxthenes ran toward the battle and -- to his surprise and everyone else's -- smote the boar across the snout, wounding it greatly. The boar again chose to retreat, Doxthenes stabilized the fallen Argonauts, and he and Thyrsos dragged them back to camp to rest for the night, deliberately not rousing them for fear of another suicidal rush.
    In the morning they spoke to the prince and got his story -- he and his men followed the boar's trail and one by one were killed or wounded, and the prince managed to drag himself into the corner of the ruin where he could hide from the boars. The heroes chose to return the prince to his father and report the slaying of one boar, bringing it's severed head as proof (but not before removing the teeth, remembering the oracle's prophecy). King Phemius was relieved and overjoyed that his son was alive and one of the menacing boars was dead. He declared a feast for the heroes, who swore to go back the next day and kill the second boar. He also sent a team of porters to butcher the boar and drag it back to the palace to be sacrificed.
    The king mused that his alchemists and philosophers might be able to use the boar's teeth to make a magical elixir that drew on the boar's phenominal powers of recovery, and offered their services to the heroes for that purpose, but the Argonauts politely refused, trusting the oracle's prophecy that they would need the teeth in the adventures to come. The palace had its feast, the heroes' honor and courage were praised, and they took to bed so they might leave in the morning, fully rested and ready to slay the last boar.

    To be continued....