Back to SeanKReynolds.com home : Back to RPG Files : Back to Campaign Journals : Back to New Argonauts campaign

New Argonauts, Session 6b: Mad Cyclopes


    The return of the Argonauts to Colchis caused a stir, for their quest for the Golden Fleece and heroic task given to them by the king were well known to the people. Though other heroes had asked for the Fleece, the Argonauts were unusual in that they completed the task, and heads turned as the foreigners walked through the city streets. When they reached the palace they were greeted in surprise by the guards and Hippolyon. Cutting to the chase, their formerly-charmed noble ally showed them to the guest rooms and arranged for them to attend the banquet that night. The heroes went into town to bathe and prepared for the banquet. At dinner, the king seemed pleased of their success, though Anaxis and Thyrsos sensed he actually disliked that they had returned at all.
    Presented with trophies from the dead centaurs, the king congratulated the heroes on their victory in battle and succes at the first task. Their second task would be even more difficult. One week to the west is a mountain range separating Colchis from its barbarian neighbors. Living in those mountains are two one-eyed giants--cyclopes, the Greeks call them--who sometimes hurl bolts of lightning at Colchis' border soldiers, killing them instantly. The Argonauts' next task was to slay these giants. The heroes retired to their rooms to discuss their plans (and that the king was actually unhappy with their success). Sharing half-remembered stories and legends of the cyclopes, they established a few common elements: there were three cyclopes who worked with the god Hephaestus, one was killed by Apollo for creating the thunderbolt who killed his lover, the remaining two my have been driven mad and cast out of Olympus for some offense, and there were other cyclopes not gifted at the forge who accosted Odysseus. Based on the information from the king, the Argonauts believed they were dealing with the first kind, and would need to consider appropriate tactics. They then went to sleep.
    Thyrsos awoke in darkness, aware that someone was in his room. Again, it was princess Meledria, and again, she warned Thyrsos about trusting her father. While few heroes had returned from fighting the centaurs, none had returned from fighting the cyclopes. She feared for Thyrsos' safety and that of his friends, and cautioned the handsome Greek to be careful in dealing with the second task. Again, he asked her to share his bed, and again she refused, for she was still being watched by her fathers' spies.
    The next morning the Argonauts bought provisions and headed west, stopping at small towns along the way to spread tales of their deeds. A week later they had reached a border town with a military garrison, the last settlement of Colchis before the mountains. They spoke to a captain there who informed them that the north-south patrols along the foothill road were attacked about once a month by the cyclopes, which seemed content to hurl one or two thunderbolts at a passing patrol before retreating deeper into the mountains. The soldiers were never able to reach the cyclopes because they threw the lightning bolts from higher elevations and from over a hundred feet away. The captain said the cyclopes' lair was probably along a path into the mountains about two days' travel north of the town. The heroes rented a room for the night and went north after breakfast.
     Two days later (and after passing a southbound patrol who hadn't seen the cyclopes) the heroes spot a westbound trail into the mountins in the approxmate location the captain told them about. As a gentle rain began to fall, the Argonauts trudged uphill, Anaxis in the lead. The path lead toward two mountain peaks, and eventually Anaxis found a fork in the path, one leading to the farther peak (where he could barely make out an old ruin) and one to the nearer (where he could see a circle of large stones). He and the others decided to visit the circle first, as they'd have a better view of the ruin from there.
    The circle was old, dating back hundreds of years, and while none of the heroes were experts in stoneworking, it looked older and more primitive than anything they had seen in Athens. The mountain peak was mostly flat, and the large stones taller and broader than a man and spaced equally around the edge of the mountaintop. Piled at the base of each of the stones, on the inner side of the ring, were several large stones, each about the size of a human head. The outer surfaces of the stones facing the ruin were marred as if from hurled rocks, and given the clear view of the ruin from the circle, the Argonauts surmised that the cyclopes sometimes threw rocks at each other across the valley, whether in anger or as a game they couldn't tell. The circle also gave them a clear view of the path they had just trod for several hundred feet, which made them wary of coming any closer to the ruin without working harder at hiding.
    Looking at the ruin, Anaxis was able to see two tall muscular figures working at some kind of red-glowing forge, with small arcs of lightning sometimes stretching from their hammers to whatever they were forging. Though it was hard to see in the continuing rain, the path leading from the fork to the ruins was mostly obscured by the curve of the mountain, and the remainder had many shrubs blocking direct line of sight from anyone at the ruin except for the last three hundred feet as it zig-zagged toward the peak, much of which was hidden behind small cliff faces. The heroes decided to proceed carefully to the point where the other path rounded the corner then oh-so-carefully creep forward from there, with Anaxis and Zale (the two with the lightest armor and best chance of sneaking) in the lead and the others following a short distance behind. With the cyclopes still distracted by their forging, the heroes began to sneak forward as quietly as possible, hoping not to be spotted until the cyclopes felt cold steel.
    Anaxis cloaked himself in invisibility, Zale shrouded himself in Poseidon's mist, and they moved forward. It seems the gods smiled on them, for despite occasional noise the cyclopes didn't hear their enemies approach (perhaps it was the distance, or the noise of the rain, or the cyclopes were just very focused on their work). Just before coming into view the very top of the mountain, the heroes paused to let Anaxis scout the edge of the ruin invisibly. The cyclopes were hard at work, talking in Greek in low voices too hard for Anaxis to hear over the forge and rain. The cyclopes themselves were over nine feet tall, very muscular, each with a single glaring eye. A stair led eight feet up from the ground to the stone floor of the ruin. The ruin was circular, with great stone pillars reaching forty feet into the air and capped with a parly-ruined circle of stone blocks. Anaxis determined that the gaps between the pillars were small enough for a human to walk through, and began to formulate a plan. He sneaked back to the group and reported what he saw.
    Zale and Anaxis decided to move around to the back of the ruin and climb out the outer edge, slipping between the pillars to flank the cyclopes when the rest of the group charged in from the front. This plan almost fell apart when Xanthos was tempted to charge in early, before the flankers were ready, but he sensed that would displease his allies and put them all at risk, so he held his ground. Pulses pointing, the other three Argonauts waited at the last hidden spot on the path. Anaxis and Zale began to climb. Feeling the time was right, Arcturus and Doxthenes ran to the stairs, hugging the eastern side of the ruin to stay out of view just a few moments longer. The Argonauts' luck ran out when Thyrsos and Xanthos ran forward, as Thyrsos' armor made just enough noise to attract one cyclops' attention. The brute set down his tools, walked to the head of the stairs, looked around, and spotted Xanthos hugging the edge of the ruin near the stairs.
    "My brother, we are under attack!" cried the cyclops, hurling a thunderbolt from his waist-sheath at Xanthos. Xanthos staggered, the full force of the bolt of lightning nearly knocking him off his feet. Doxthenes called upon the power of Dionysus to cloud the cyclopes' mind--the Argonauts' first sight of his godly bloodline--but the giant shrugged off its effects. Arcturus and Thyrsos ran up the stairs, while Anaxis and Zale finished their climb and confronted the second cyclops. With a quick stab, Anaxis hit it before it could react, striking deep. Zale likewise made a good stab at the giant, causing it to howl in pain. "Arrr, my juice is comin' out!"
    Arcturus, Xanthos, Thyrsos, and Dox hammered at the first cyclops, which struck back with his huge meaty fists. Each punch was enough to stagger the heroes, but they held firm to their resolve and rained down sword- and spear-blows as fast as the raindrops. Finally, though each was greatly wounded, the three managed to fell their enemy, who cried, "Brother, avenge me!"
    Meanwhile, Zale and Anaxis were having a tougher time dealing with their cyclops. Lacking the advantage of surprise or flanking, they were forced to stab at the giant as best they could, hemmed in by the pillars and the still-hot forge. Fortunately, the giant's attacks were wild and the heroes were still strong after several exchanges. When the first cyclops fell, Xanthos eyed his foe's quiver of thunderbolts and only hesitated a split second before grabbing one. Grabbing it sent a surge of power up his arm, and with the light of his ancestor Zeus in his eyes*, Xanthos stood up straight to hurl the glowing weapon at the second cyclops, who took the brunt of it in the chest. Cursing Xanthos, the cyclops vowed to kill him if it was the last thing it ever did, but as it was quickly surrounded by the rest of the heroes, it didn't last long against the combined might of the Argonauts, and fell. Victory!
    The heroes searched the ruin, finding forge tools, some jewelry and coin, and the two belt-quivers of thunderbolts. They gave the thunderbolts to Xanthos, as he had demonstrated the ability to use them and perhaps was the only one who could do so safely, given his ties to Zeus. The others divided the jewerly and decided to bring back the tools and coin to the border-town to compensate the families of the soldiers killed by the cyclopes. Their second task finished, they fell back to a nearby cave where they could camp for the night. Two days later they reached the border town, and a week later they were talking to the royal palace guards again.

    To be continued....

* Or, as I said it to Xanthos' player James, "You pick it up, and it feels awesome." :)