Quoted By:
Rolled 14, 2 + 4 = 20 (2d20 + 4)
A daring plan comes together in your mind, as you prepare to speak with Pollux, son of Zeus.
The nepenthe vials, sitting inside your coin-pouch, tied to your belt. Paris, currently traveling to Mount Ida for a secretive hunting expedition, likely expected to be absent for many days. Helen of Sparta, almost certainly being kept hidden within the Royal Palace of Ilion. If you succeed in catching Paris later this evening, you may be able to return during the night. And with Paris - the Royal Palace becomes accessible.
Why not allow Pollux and Castor the ability to speak with Helen directly – hear from the absconders together, to explain themselves and their conduct?
As siblings, the Dioscuri would no doubt be able to appeal to Helen’s reason effectively – who better to understand her condition and mindset? And they’ve already rescued her from kidnapping once before. A part of you imagines that Helen may have been ensorcelled through some nefarious action of Paris – if so, perhaps the application of your nepenthe could break the enchantment? If it is a matter of straight-forward kidnapping on Paris’ part, Helen will no doubt leap at the chance to return to the galleys and return to Mycenae. And – some greedy part of you imagines that a daring infiltration of the Royal Palace would make for a phenomenal song or tale. The lure of such Kleos tugs at you, despite the incredible danger of the attempt.
With Paris in your possession, there would be multiple avenues to war between Mycenae and Ilion – not the least of which could be the raid of the Royal Palace itself and the (possible?) execution of Paris before the opening day of the diplomatic council. Even should Pollux decide to take Paris hostage instead, the chances of a successful diplomatic resolution would almost certainly diminish… Unless Odysseus intervenes. If Paris is kidnapped, he would likely counsel Menelaus to ransom him back to Ilion for a larger share of treasure than was stolen. But if this comes to pass, you need only ensure that the ransom attempt fails…
Finally – it occurs to you that failure to penetrate Helen’s apartments in the Royal Palace would – by definition – return Paris to the Palace, and would cause no shortage of tension in its own right, as well as reveal deception on Priam's part. Of course, there’s a substantial possibility that you would be imprisoned, ransomed, or killed in this scenario. Better then, that you succeed.
Your head whirls with possible outcomes – but ultimately, bringing Paris back to the Royal Palace (by force, if necessary) best serves your interests, and so you make your pitch to Pollux...
>okay, players – I need TWO rolls of dice+1d20+4. Nikon has a +0 CHA bonus, but his respect/regard level with Pollux correlates to a +3 bonus to his persuasion attempt. I’m assigning an additional point for mentioning the nepenthe (but only +1, since Nikon doesn’t actually know that Helen is cursed).
>good luck
