Cybele will clasp his forearm and smile warmly. "Poseidon grant you gentle water and strong wind." She knows it would be fruitless to tell the General to rest and holds her peace. "We will safeguard things here on the mainland until you return."

Achilles takes the time to Clasp arms with each one of you. "You've done well in the last two years, Soon you will be greater then Myself and Odysseus at the rate you are growing." Carrus as you try to give the General some boost, You note that it doesn't physically make him look better. While the wounds do seal a little the man still looks ready to collapse.

"You as Well Anax, Keep them safe." Achilles clasps your shoulder Anax and turns to Cybele. "Thank you my Friend, Artemis chose wisely with you." He turns and steps up onto the nearby horse, straddling the saddle. "Protect eachother and keep pushing your limits. Zeus watch over you while you sleep, I have a feeling he wont need to while you are awake." 

With that Achilles stirs the horse and makes for the Docks of Athens, He vanishes from sight after a minute or so. You are left by yourselves around the fountain.

Cybele's smile will turn wistful and she'll shake her head as Achilles disappears.  "Gods willing he'll get some damn sleep on that boat." She'll turn toward the temple, "Come on, we don't want to keep the King and High Priestess waiting."

As Achilles rides off, Carrus does indeed say a prayer under his breath, asking to the Gods to watch over the General and lend him their strength.  He turns as he hears Cybele echoing his own thoughts and grunts in agreement.  He then follows as Cybele takes the lead and they travel back to the temple.

So you get to the Stairs leading to the temple, Its a simple set of 5 steps that lead up to a beautiful garden. Green thrives here as the grass looks lush and well maintained, Various flowers are alive and blooming after the recent rainfall. A stream of water runs threw the garden horizontally threw the path that keeps the foliage hydrated. There is no gate or door of any kind to the temple. Instead a simple curtain hangs in the entry way, This is a common practice in the temples in Greece. As worship to the gods should never be locked behind a door..

You push pass the curtain and are welcomed with the smell of Lavender and honey., A pleasant aroma that immediately catches your attention. Soft yet sharp and very nice. Ahead you see a massive open room, Rivaling the War hall in size. Open windows shine the morning light in on a couple dozen people praying in front of a 20 foot high statue of Athena. Some look like citizens while others are dressed in the White robes of worship. 

The Room is low lit but warm and welcoming, Across the great hall of Worship you see Theseus speaking to Merci, Somewhat in the back of the room. 

Anax bows his head as he enters, offering respect to the Goddess of Wisdom. 

[OoC]: Aren't we meant to be heading off to Olympia?

Dicaeus also says a quick prayer as he enters before moving to stand a respectful distance away from Theseus.

(OOC: Yes, but we were going to use Speak with Dead on the drow corpse first)

Carrus walks in and follows the others in paying respects to Athena, but he then approaches Theseus more directly, walking up to him as he speaks with Merci and catching his eye.  He will approach Theseus if given permission and make a small bow.  Your majesty.  Is the drow here?  Can we offer assistance in this?  Carrus looks around to get a sign of whether Theseus waited for them, or went ahead and interrogated the drow without them.

"Ah you've arrived, Yes the Drow is just inside we are about to go forward with the event, Just ironing out some details. It seems we've only five questions so we must choose them wisely." Merci nods along as Theseus explains. "Being a Drow, I imagine that it cannot speak the common tongue very well so we will need to speak in it's native language. I unfortunately do not know the Elvish language, Merci can translate if need be however. Furthermore the Drow will be under no inclination to tell us the Truth."

Dicaeus nods. ”At least one of our questions should be about Rome’s involvement. It would be good to know as much as possible before we go talk to the High King.”

 I can stop any creature from lying, says Carrus.  A spirit is not a creature, though.  He thinks for a moment.  We must give it a reason to speak truth. What might it want?  What might it fear?

Carrus speaks Elvish and knows a little of elven culture, though much less about drow.  Is there any special burial custom they have?  Would they care about having the body returned to their family?  Or fear any particular desecration?  History/Religion: 10

Anax sits nearby and lets the arcanists have their talk, trying not to make it too overtly obvious that he's checking out the priestesses of Athena.

[OoC]: Is there anywhere in Athens where he can go to sell or buy magic items? If so, he might go check that out, taking the Cape of the Mountebank with him to see what deals he can get.

Carrus

The Drow are a odd race, they fear very little and have no real Burial rights. They wouldn't care for their bodies return to their families However, One of their biggest fears is the actual sun. While it causes no more then Discomfort for them, Many actually fear it because The intense rays causes them slight pain. Unfortunately your limited experience with the Drow hinders your knowledge on them.

Anax, Most of the Priestesses look no more then 25, alot are young and fit but pay no heed to you or your companions as you walk threw. There are a few older Priestess's but you notice everyone of them is Female, there is no Male priest of Athena.

Theseus rubs his chin. "I Agree Dicaeus that is the prominent question, Perhaps another should be why they allied with the Minotaur?" Merci is simply listening, In the dull light in the Temple, One could confuse her for a statue by how little movement she is making.

((WOO FREEDOM, Back to our regularly scheduled posting from here on!))

While Theseus and Dicaeus consider the best questions to ask, Carrus's thoughts are still focused on how they would get the drow to give truthful answers.  He cannot think how to use fear of the sun to intimidate the drow, given that it is already dead.  If not fear, maybe deception.  If it sees a drow.  Or minotaur.  Perhaps a minotaur king.  He touches his hand to Drogon's battleaxe hanging from his belt, and walks over to where Anax is sitting.  Still got that cloak?

"Not the cloak, but I've got these." He points to the pauldrons hanging from his shoulders and eyes man in front of him. "I've got a bad feeling that you're gonna make me wear that minotaur's head." After looking serious for all of three seconds, a large grin breaks across his face.

Whats the plan here folks? Kinda cant move it along until you guys are ready.

(OOC: We do need a plan, yes.  We need to decide on the five questions we're going to ask - we've got two already, one about Rome, one about the alliance with the minotaurs.  We also need a way of getting the spirit to give us truthful answers - Carrus is suggesting someone disguises themselves as an ally of the drow, maybe another drow, or a minotaur, maybe even Drogon himself.  Does anyone else have any ideas?)

Cybele will rub her chin, "I'm afraid I don't have much that will help deceive the drow; illusions are not my specialty. We could ask him what they were planning to do after they took Athens. It might give us a clue for where they will strike next. We could also ask if they have any other allies besides Rome."

[OoC]: I also have no idea. Not sure what we need to know or say least what our characters think they need to know. Anax doesn't know about any connections to Vespa or the Gorgons does he?

Carrus nods, taking Anax's offer to wear Drogon's severed head completely seriously, and turns to Dicaeus:  Have you means for deception?  To disguise a face or voice?

(Do we still have Drogon's head, or is it mounted on a pike somewhere?)