The Gaming Den

Polycrates is still with the guards, and he is being as unhelpful as he can.

'I understand you've arrested Dipthis and Crabia,' you say.

'And others. Your friend Lactris is in trouble too. I was hoping Psyche was going to have it out with him, but you seem to have defused that particular situation.' For the first time, his manner lightens a shade.'What is your interest in these traitors?'

You have a sinking feeling. 'I want them released.'

'Oh, is that all?'

'Please, Polycrates.' It is not going to work.

'All right.' Polycrates draws you away.

'All right?' You are as surprised as you have ever been. 'What's the catch?'

'You must kill Kremton.'

'I don't understand,' you say.

'Then listen. Minos is an effective king, who gives me the power I need. But he is not immortal, and when he dies Kremton will be king. I cannot imagine Crete surviving for a year after that. Can you?'

'I suppose not.'

'Well then. If you kill Kremton today, that removes the... danger.'

'And leaves what? Ariadne?'

'Ariadne I could rule without difficulty, if it became necessary... But all this is idle speculation. You want a favour from me: you'll have to do one in return, first. It's your decision: we'll see how you decide in the fight.'

In your room you sit and wait, anxiety gnawing at your stomach like rot at the base of a mighty tree, which crashes to the ground in the forest. Two guards come to collect you and take you to the temple. You have time to conceal one weapon and one piece of armor about your person, as well as any number of miscellaneous items. On your Chronicle Sheet, bracket off the arms and armour you leave behind, as you may be able to recover them later

In the temple, cunningly wrought iron braziers burn with heady incense. A drum throbs out a slow intoxicating beat. On the altar are an amphora of water and a bowl of grain, as in a normal ceremony of Demeter, but also a beheaded heron. It is clear that this is the fashion in which the Cretans worship the Earth Mother, an obscene twisted parody of a celebration of life, growth and fertility.

Pangryon, the High Priest, is officiating at the altar. There are guards on all the doors. The rest of the court are grouped in a half circle around the altar. The seven youths and seven maidens are in a huddle of their own, under heavy guard. They stare at you reproachfully and you wink at them with a confidence you do not feel.

'Lady Demeter,' intones Pangryon, 'we are met here at this time to celebrate your festival. Now two strong youths are to battle in your honour. Let the contestants stand forward.'

Opris takes your tunic and pats you reassuringly on the shoulder. Ariadne, from the other side of the temple, blows you a kiss, and you look at her in surprise. Kremton, too, has stripped to his loincloth, and is striding around the ring slapping his belly with the air of a master fighter. You step into the ring.

The pankration, or boxing-match, is handled by you the player. On a piece of paper write down your Endurance, and Kremton's which is 50. Combat takes place as a series of punches. Each boxer continues to box until he is blocked, when his opponent takes over.

To punch, choose a target area (head, groin, or body) and roll a die to see if Kremton is defending it (see table). If he is not, you subtract from his Endurance an amount of damage corresponding to the area struck: a body blow does 1 damage, a groin hit does 2 damage, a head punch does 3 damage. If he is defending the correct area, the blow does no damage and he takes over. You decide which area to block, then roll the die to see which he is attacking.

1: Attacks head, defends body.
2-3: Attacks groin, defends groin.
4-6: Attacks body, defends head.

If your Endurance falls to 0 or below, you are dead and Zeus will not save you. If Kremton's Endurance falls to 0, he is unconscious. If Kremton's Endurance falls below 0, he is dead.

• Kill Kremton as he lies unconscious at your feet?
• Let him live?

Darth Rabbitt wrote:I think we should spare him, as it is Honorable

You leave Kremton and stagger out of the ring into the arms of Opris and Noa. Looking over your shoulder, you see, to your horror, two small boys dressed as the catamites of Zeus skip into the ring and beat out Kremton's brain with small leaden hammers.

'Blood has been spilt,' booms Minos, 'and blood must atone. Demeter, dark lady of the under-earth, accept this offering of a foreign wretch. Into the labyrinth!' You look at the seven youths and seven maidens, but it is you who are seized by the guards and manhandled to the edge of the pit. You have been betrayed!

• Are you in favour with Demeter? x

You land heavily at the bottom of the pit and lie winded on the damp earth, as you hear the sounds of the ceremonial crowd breaking up and departing. You stand up and with Minos' parting shout of 'Fool!' echoing in your ears you prepare yourself for the labyrinth. You grab a lighted torch from a bracket and start to search for the entrance to the maze.

You scrabble around frantically at the bottom of the pit, and find that the entrance to the labyrinth of Minos is concealed beneath a paving-stone. You lift it up, and there you see a flight of smooth, well-crafted steps leading down into the distance. Warily, as the hunter stalks his prey in the dim twilight gloom, but with joy in your heart at the culmination of your quest, you set off into the maze.

• Do you have a lamp?
• Do you have a torch?
• Otherwise...

As you proceed down into the depths of Crete's black land, you realize that to see in the labyrinth you must light your torch. Yet fortune does not altogether smile on you.

For each paragraph you turn to, mark off one box of your Labyrinth Track on the chronicle sheet (there are forty boxes in all). When this is completed, your torch goes out and you will take a penalty of -2 Might and -2 Protection in combat, because you cannot fight effectively in the dark. Some light filters in from the surface through tiny holes, whose prime purpose is to let air circulate, so that the Minotaur's victims die a slower death.

You reach the foot of the flight of stairs. Above you the slab crashes back down, barring the entrance. You must proceed. Beyond you stretches the labyrinth. It will be an awesome task indeed to brave its reaches, and yet harder to meet with the Minotaur. Perhaps adventurous Altheus will suffer the same fate as his heroic brother, and his shade will whine forever, homeless at the borders of the house of Hades.

On the walls to left and right are brightly painted frescoes depicting scenes of bull-leaping in the arena of Knossos. One youth takes hold of the sabre-sharp horns, while another springs atop its cold, hard back. The onlookers cheer and clap their hands, blood-lust in their eyes. If only it were as easy to kill the king of bulls!

• Do you have some means of finding your way around the labyrinth?
• Or not?

angelfromanotherpin wrote:

• Do you have a lamp?
• Do you have a torch?
• Otherwise... √

angelfromanotherpin wrote:

You land heavily at the bottom of the pit and lie winded on the damp earth, as you hear the sounds of the ceremonial crowd breaking up and departing. You stand up and with Minos' parting shout of 'Fool!' echoing in your ears you prepare yourself for the labyrinth. You grab a lighted torch from a bracket and start to search for the entrance to the maze.

• If you have a ball of thread... √
• If you have a map of the labyrinth...
• If you have the bronze-cast bell...
• If you have the eye of the Graeae...
• If you have none of these...

Secure in your mind that this talisman will ward off all evil, and perhaps stay the hand of the merciless Minotaur, you steel yourself to the ordeal you must undergo in order to save the honour and lives of the people of Athens. Have 1 Honour point.

• Proceed?
• Take a hint?

Suddenly you realize the purpose of the ball of wool. You take the end of the thread and weight it down with a loose piece of masonry, fallen years past from the dew-damp walls. Now, Altheus, you will be able to retrace your steps, once the slaying of the Minotaur is accomplished, simply by following the thread that was unwound on the journey to the centre.

Dimly in the dark you make out lettering inscribed on the walls of the maze. As you look, they light up with a fiery glow, and you read: 'Altheus, look you well, for in these walls are vouchsafed many truths and tales, both past and present, and some yet to come. Look you well and wonder at the works of Daedalus, for you will never leave alive.' The lettering grows dull again, and you can read no more.

• West?
• East?
• North?

SGamerz wrote:The only way they could have made Altheus any stupider is for him to try to eat the ball of thread instead!

Painted on the wall in sombre and faded colours you see proud Hreakles performing his first service for his treacherous cousin Eurystheus. In a green-clad valley the mighty hero strangles the Nemean lion, tearing at its shaggy mane, as the beast cries out in its death-agony, crushed by the powerful hands of Zeus' son. No drop of the hero's blood pollutes the place, yet beside him clubs and arrows lie, broken and useless.

• East?
• South?
• West?