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New Argonauts, Session 4: The Second Boar, and Off to Colchis

    Fully rested and with full bellies, the Argonauts gathered the now-recovered Xanthos from the ship and left the palace in the morning, intent on tracking the surviving boar from its last known location at the old ruin. A fast walk for two hours got them to the farm, and another two got them to the ruin where they slew the first boar. Though none of the five heroes were skilled in tracking, the fleeing boar trampled grass in its path, making it relatively easy to follow, and Anaxis' keen eyes were invaluable in sticking to their course when the ground grew rocky and bare of plant. They followed the trail deeper into the hills and by early afternoon they heard the noise of the boar rooting about. Shortly thereafter the boar charged them, and though it wounded two of the Argonauts it alone was not much of a threat to the heroes, who quickly dispatched it and took pains to make sure it wouldn't recover from its wounds. They extracted the teeth and returned to the palace, leaving word with the farmers living near the ruin that the king would want the second boar's body hauled to the palace like the first.

    Presented with evidence of the second boar's death, King Phemius was overjoyed and announced that the Argonauts would be hailed as heroes in his land. He also surprised them with news from his alchemists: presented with the bones of the first boar, they had been working on a potent brew that should be able to heal the greatest wound. It would take a week for them to finish, and they could use the second boar's bones as well, if the heroes were willing to wait. The Argonauts chose to enjoy their stay in Calydonia, carousing with the locals and buying new equipment. At the end of the week the king presented each hero with two drinking-skins of boar's brew, a potent ale that bring healing. They thanked the king for the gift and returned to the New Argo, where captain Phaedron grumped that not only had they made him wait on the ship for a week, they didn't invite him or the rest of the crew to join the celebration!

    Once that complaint was settled, the ship got on its way. Phaedron took them back to Athens (as their home city was along the way to Colchis), where the Argonauts gave a report to the Athenian priestess Echthrone. Pleased with their success in defending the oracle and surprised at the oracle's prophecy, Echthrone wished the Argonauts good luck and told her that she and the people of Athens would pray for good speed and a successful journey. After a day to resupply, meet with friends and family, and revisit old haunts, the Argonauts set sail again. Lacking precise directions to Colchis, Phaedron stuck close to the coast as they navigated the Aegean Sea clockwise toward the barbarian lands to the northeast.
    A freak storm came upon them before they had traveled more than a few days, and the terrible winds tore the Argo's mast in half. Phaedron directed all hands to row the ship to shore, where they waited out the storm. With the skies once again clear, Phaedron sent the heroes inland to find a suitable tree that could be cut into a replacement mast. Unfortunately, they had beached the ship at the mouth of a swamp, and secondary damage from the storm prevented them from rowing to a better location; the heroes would have to search for a replacement mast in and near the swamp. Phaedron and the crew would remain with the Argo, making what repairs they could and protecting it against any curious barbarians that might come by.
    The heroes entered the swamp, and fortunately were able to follow a series of solid and drier paths through the stinking bug-ridden mud. After two hours Anaxis spotted a great serpentine head beyond a huge fallen tree. He paused to point it out to the others and realized there was a second creature next to the first one. The heroes split into two groups to better attack these monsters, and were quite surprised to find that they weren't facing two snaky monsters, but one large one with five snaky heads growing from its shoulders -- a hydra!
    They charged in, hoping to kill it quickly before its could do too much damage. They struck at the monster's body, wounding it, but it healed even faster than the Calydonian boars. The hydra's bites were less severe than the boar's teeth, but there were five of them and the multitude of attacks quickly added up. Even worse, a second hydra crawled out of a nearby pool of muck and began making its way toward the battle. Zala recalled the old stories of the hydra, that to kill it you must cut off its heads and burn the stumps or they'd sprout new heads, and the rest of the group put that theory into practice. Unfortunately, the hydra was skilled at retaliating for these attacks, and each man that struck at an exposed neck found himself bitten by the hydra for the attempt -- all save Xanthos, who sliced at the hydra's necks with amazing skill. Zala used an alchemical substance to bind the first hydra in sticky goo, preventing it from moving about, and two Argonauts ran to engage the second hydra while Xanthos and the others dispatched the immobilized one.

    But the fight with the first hydra had taken its toll. All of the Argonauts were wounded, even after drinking their boar's brew, and one by one Zale, Arcturus, Xanthos, Anaxis, and Thyrsos fell, leaving only Doxthenes to face the barely-injured hydra on his own. Dox stood over Xanthos' body, readying a prayer, knowing that Xanthos had the best chance of lopping off the beast's heads without getting killed in the process.

    To be continued....