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The feast hall is still erupting with raucous cheers and applause, and a strange feeling washes over you. Your extended family, the guests present within the hall… all wearing fine raiment, eating and drinking of your uncle’s near-infinite substance – united in cheering your uncle‘s gamble. The feeling is certainty - you are watching history come to pass, here in the Argive Royal Palace.
You wonder if any <span class="mu-i">daimons</span> are present.
You are no priest, knowing the minds of the gods, but it is well-known in Hellas that deities may assume the form of common mortals, and so disguised, observe events that are of interest upon Mount Olympus. A declaration of war - the <span class="mu-i">first</span> declaration of war - between two of the great Hellenic cities must certainly be interesting enough to warrant divine observation. You are seized with desire to speak with one of these divines - to know their thoughts, as they observe your relatives baying for Theban blood.
But who to approach?
There are many guests in the hall that you do not know - some of these simply being humble travelers enjoying the right of ξενία, Zeus’ hospitality, in the Royal Palace, and there are also those of noble disposition. In one corner of the hall, you see an ebony-skinned man of Aegyptus, dressed finely in silks, and watching the chaos with amusement. In another corner, a cluster of wealthy young Phocian noblemen are hissing amongst each other, clearly at odds. You discard these foreign nobles - these guises are perhaps too obvious for one of the divinities.
You peer through the masses of Argive nobility and spot a crazed bum, cackling to himself in a far corner and waving a walking stick wildly in the air - too filthy to be a god. In another corner, a grizzled soldier, shamefully swaying and drunk. Finally, you spot your target - a boyish messenger, handsome and clean-limbed, but dressed modestly in wool robes. He is perfectly anonymous, and almost instantly forgettable – armies of messengers like him are constantly flitting between the great cities on various errands. He sits in the back of the hall, far away from Adrastus and the head table. The perfect disguise for a god, you reason, and so you approach the young man promptly.
He's alarmed by your sudden appearance, but you have the initiative – how do you proceed?
>Hippomedon is within the Royal Palace and therefore enjoys a solid bonus to all social rolls (at minimum, an extra die!)
>Attempt to persuade the boy to tell you of his past and how he arrived at the Royal Palace, with the intention of catching him in a lie - sustained chatter may cause the god to reveal himself.
>Directly intimidate the boy into spilling his secrets, and attempting to force the god to announce himself.
>Make conversation with the messenger and listen carefully for signs of his true divinity; it is said that most deities are prideful and cannot help but drop hints and clues about their true nature.
>Something else?
