Chapter 2: The Potency and the Existence (with Epilogue)
My name is Calypso. My garden overflows.
Thick and wild and hidden is the sweetness there that grows.
My hair, it blows long as I sing into the wind...
At first Brother Cayvie, the traveler of islands, thought it was the song of the sirens he heard echoing over the waves. He froze for a moment in horror -- then relaxed as he realized, a moment later, that if it were a siren song he heard, he would already have thrown himself overboard. Yet bewitching the song was, and he listened to its strains even as he became aware that the crewmen around him heard nothing.
The song was a plea for help. He knew it, though the lyrics did not say it. Somewhere on the wine-dark sea, the same sea over which the Palladium cruised at last, there were Greeks that needed the kind of help only the gods could send. Who were they? Did they mean his ship well or ill? And could his conscience bear turning a deaf ear to the pleas of those in need?
Cayvie closed his eyes and tried to hear the counsel of wise Athena. She was silent today, however. Perhaps she was waiting for her child to show his resolve. Or perhaps she wasn't even watching.
Brother Cayvie was a sensate, one who knew the ways of the gods and could interpret signs when he saw them -- or heard them. Still, he thought, the gray-eyed goddess helps those who help themselves. If I want to aid the ones who suffer so, it is a task for men, not gods; Athena has given me a key, and the door is mine to find.
With that thought, the traveler of islands turned from the prow where he stood to face the seamen teeming over the ropes, took a deep breath, and addressed them...
***
Many leagues away, Royce, the long of hope, awoke. The captain of the Odyssey had been kind enough to let him use one of the few cots on the ship, to help ease his residual soreness from spending days in the Calypso's brig. He put his hand to his forehead, silently sending thanks to each god in turn, and to his deliverer, the great tactician Kevan.
On the other side of the room, dark-browed Strider saw Royce stir. "I've gotta give you credit," he murmured sleepily. "That prayer of yours... that song... sure got results."
"Who knows?" Royce replied. "Maybe it was all coincidence, and this would've happened anyway. I'm not sure it really matters. We are where we are now, and where we are is on a ship bound for Ithaca. I for one am glad to be here."
To this Strider could only say amen.
***
The subtle Aaron, captain of the Palladium, glanced again over his navigational chart. His ship had not run across anything unusual in the days since his priest sang that beautiful song to the crew. While the captain knew Athena would not lie to her sensate, he knew too that the affairs of mortals moved quickly -- sometimes more quickly than even the gods, with their unending lives, could keep up with. Perhaps the Palladium's help was no longer needed. Perhaps the ones in misery had been saved by another. Or perhaps Cayvie had simply been mistaken.
Regardless, the captain could not help but marvel at the progress his ship had made since the sensate's performance, as his emboldened crew had redoubled their efforts. Aaron smiled, his intuition that Athena smiled on the Palladium's journey confirmed.
Thick and wild and hidden is the sweetness there that grows.
My hair, it blows long as I sing into the wind...
At first Brother Cayvie, the traveler of islands, thought it was the song of the sirens he heard echoing over the waves. He froze for a moment in horror -- then relaxed as he realized, a moment later, that if it were a siren song he heard, he would already have thrown himself overboard. Yet bewitching the song was, and he listened to its strains even as he became aware that the crewmen around him heard nothing.
The song was a plea for help. He knew it, though the lyrics did not say it. Somewhere on the wine-dark sea, the same sea over which the Palladium cruised at last, there were Greeks that needed the kind of help only the gods could send. Who were they? Did they mean his ship well or ill? And could his conscience bear turning a deaf ear to the pleas of those in need?
Cayvie closed his eyes and tried to hear the counsel of wise Athena. She was silent today, however. Perhaps she was waiting for her child to show his resolve. Or perhaps she wasn't even watching.
O Cayvie, traveler of islands, please select an option. How do you deal with the mysterious song that only you can hear?
1. Pray to Athena on behalf of those crying for your help, hoping she will see fit to end their suffering.
2. Pray to Athena to let the singers suffer, knowing that wisdom may often come from hardship.
3. Sing the song you hear to your shipmates, hoping to inspire them to pray -- or even search -- for the lost souls.
Brother Cayvie was a sensate, one who knew the ways of the gods and could interpret signs when he saw them -- or heard them. Still, he thought, the gray-eyed goddess helps those who help themselves. If I want to aid the ones who suffer so, it is a task for men, not gods; Athena has given me a key, and the door is mine to find.
With that thought, the traveler of islands turned from the prow where he stood to face the seamen teeming over the ropes, took a deep breath, and addressed them...
***
Many leagues away, Royce, the long of hope, awoke. The captain of the Odyssey had been kind enough to let him use one of the few cots on the ship, to help ease his residual soreness from spending days in the Calypso's brig. He put his hand to his forehead, silently sending thanks to each god in turn, and to his deliverer, the great tactician Kevan.
On the other side of the room, dark-browed Strider saw Royce stir. "I've gotta give you credit," he murmured sleepily. "That prayer of yours... that song... sure got results."
"Who knows?" Royce replied. "Maybe it was all coincidence, and this would've happened anyway. I'm not sure it really matters. We are where we are now, and where we are is on a ship bound for Ithaca. I for one am glad to be here."
To this Strider could only say amen.
***
The subtle Aaron, captain of the Palladium, glanced again over his navigational chart. His ship had not run across anything unusual in the days since his priest sang that beautiful song to the crew. While the captain knew Athena would not lie to her sensate, he knew too that the affairs of mortals moved quickly -- sometimes more quickly than even the gods, with their unending lives, could keep up with. Perhaps the Palladium's help was no longer needed. Perhaps the ones in misery had been saved by another. Or perhaps Cayvie had simply been mistaken.
Regardless, the captain could not help but marvel at the progress his ship had made since the sensate's performance, as his emboldened crew had redoubled their efforts. Aaron smiled, his intuition that Athena smiled on the Palladium's journey confirmed.
Cayvie's choice has encouraged the crew to sail with all speed. Cayvie's Speed therefore increases by 2 until the beginning of the next Lacuna. Had he chosen the first option, Athena would have seen fit to free the prisoners Strider and Royce from captivity on the Calypso, had they not been freed already. Had he chosen the second, every Mariner on the cursed Calypso would have lost 5 Morale to the hopelessness of the dark brig.
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