The Danger Gang Auxiliary Keeps Trying To Figure Out Where Halcyon Is

In the morning, Eorl and Arben track down Oeonoe and ask her to scry on Halcyon again. He and Solevei have got a little blood on them; Solevei is armed with a homemade wooden spear. In the background they can see a shrine to Achilles. They ask around, Norro says there's a Shrine to Achilles in Crete. No good. Ezio says he heard of an island with a shrine to Achilles that got messed up by pirates somewhere, but he doesn't know where. However, that rings a bell with Arben, who said he heard of one in the northern Euxine. The harbor master tracks down a knowledgeable old salty dog who knows where it is. Now all they need is a boat.

Arben heads down to The Governor's Mansion Inn and asks his collected followers if any of them have a boat. Anyone who can give him and his buddies a lift to this island gets drinks on the house. One gentleman, named Capt. Eustwice steps forward and offers the services of his ship, The Iris. Looks like they're ready to do. However, they did want to stop by Leander's Tower. They ask Oeonoe for a Divination as to what to expect on their quest to find Halcyon and hack this tower.

Bacchus tells them that the tower is the home of some kind of flame being and some other stuff about the Achilles island, but nothing about Chrysopolis burning down while they're gone, so they decide to go. In addition to Eorl, Arben and Oeonoe, they also track down Xenon, Leo, and Ezio. They're all ready to set sail when they notice that it's actually raining really hard and the weather is all fucked up. Capt. Eustwice tells them they can't sail. So instead they grab a little rowboat and head out to the lighthouse known as Leander's Tower.

They arrive on the lighthouse's island, a mere three minute row from shore. The rain is pelting them, and the place is falling apart; it's very spooky. They head inside the rickety old lighthouse, and the floor is covered in bird droppings; these droppings conceal a trap door. They decide to head up first, as the possible distance up is infinitely more finite than distance down. Upstairs they find a spooky ghost of a girl getting bitten by a snake. She gets bitten by this snake over and over, constantly repeating the same action of looking in a fruit bowl and then getting bitten by the snake therein. This freaks out a lot of the Auxiliary, and they run downstairs. Eorl and Xenon remain sure footed though. Unfortunately, it seems like there's nothing else in this room. Everyone continues up. Eorl falls through the rotting floor and everyone has a good laugh. Once they reach the top, they find the walls are covered in the words "Battel & Adeodata" over and over. Someone had written in Arabic, "I love you too snookums" in response. Adorable.

They head out to the balcony and Eorl falls again. Oh, how we laughed. They head downstairs and find a room with manacles and a door. Behind the door, they find a two-headed baboon with tentacles for arms. Woah! They slam the door behind them. Arben tries to reason with the gentleman; offer him a job, but he'll have none of it. They kick down the door and unleash some Magic Missiles, but they sail right through him and he disappears. Behind where the 2-headed baboon monster formerly was, they see an Arabian looking gentleman with a tornado for legs. He says something about being driven crazy by being trapped down there for so long, blah blah blah. Xenon has had enough of this jibber-jabber. He steps forward and starts hacking and chopping. However, this dude punches with the strength of five monks. There is some serious punching going on, indeed. However, Arben, Leo and Ezio all have magic missiles at the ready and unleash a huge flurry. Wave after wave of the tiny balls of force crash into this dude. He still stands, though. Arben throughs up some Hypnotic Patterns, allowing Oeonoe to heal Xenon enough that he has the juice to polish him off. He disappears in a puff of wind. The Auxiliary continues down the hallway until it ends in a ladder. The ladder leads up to a trap door which, in turn, leads to the stables of The Governor's Mansion Inn. Good to know.

They rest up and head back to try to get that ghost to give up the ghost. It seems immune to their attacks. They agree to just leave it for now. The weather has improved, so they grab Capt. Eustwice and set sail. After a half day's sail the land in a small fishing village. They hit the pub and hear a few rumors.

1. The heir to the throne of Ileria went to China to find a bride.

2. Bardas Phocas has allied with a huge Black Dragon.

3. The pope in Rome has a sister who has disappeared. The pope kidnapped the Patriarch in revenge.

After that, they hit the sack.