Atlantis: Eyebrows, Eyebrows

Here we are on the island nation of Gorgos. Things are going swimmingly! 

The heroes awaken on this, the second day of the month of Wayeb - the Day of Insatiable Lust. Guess what good Set-worshipping Gorgons spend today doing? 

The heroes, though they are invited, do not partake. Instead, they get on a ferry driven by one of the many enslaved men of Gorgos (recall that all men are slaves here) and head out to the island of Mogador (four islands make up Gorgos: Bogador, Mogador, Lypisha, and the Black Isle). They tell their ferryman to head towards the main city, Abalessa. As they approach, they see the first Vril obelisk, but this one is jutting out of the water some distance away from the docks.

They tell the ferryman to anchor near it, and he looks at Eithne and looks horrified. Imani tells him to speak freely, and the ferryman tells them that the waters around the Vril circle are guarded by a creature called the eronka'iseju, a sea monster that feeds on magic. Thanos recalls such a creature from his studies at the Dar Institute; it's attracted to Vril and to magic. Probably they shouldn't be in the water while casting spells.

Akala notes, though, that it's high tide at the moment, and at low tide (taking into account the side of the obelisk and the level of the water) the obelisk should be on a sandbar, making it approachable on land. The heroes land at the docks and walk inland, traveling to the other two Vril circles and casting the same spell upon them (a timed spell that, at sunrise on the fifth day of Wayeb, will turn the ground beneath the obelisks to loose sand and send them crashing down). 

That afternoon, they head back to the docks and find that the tide has indeed gone out. They walk out to the sandbar; Imani stands on the docks and talks to the two guards watching the Vril obelisk. Thanos and Eithne approach the obelisk, and Eithne begins casting. She takes her time, wanting to make sure the magic works. Akala takes to the air to keep lookout.

And indeed, as Eithne completes the spell, Akala spots a horrific silhouette approaching. The eronka'iseju nears, its many tentacles questing up to snatch Eithne. 

Thanos, thinking quickly, summons a Vril sunfish, a creature he's seen that carries a large amount of magic in its scales. He bites his hand and bleeds into the water, sending the blood out into the bay and conjuring the creature. The eronka'iseju takes the bait and swims out after it, but leaves one of its tentacles behind. The tentacle lashes out to grab Eithne as she finishes her spell, but by now Imani has seen what's happening. 

She and the guards leap off the dock, Imani calling them to battle. She hurls her spear and skewers the tentacle into the beach, and the characters back the hell off the obelisk. 

One of the guards, though, looks at Eithne suspiciously. "Were you casting spells?" she asks.

"No," says Eithne, "I was making sweet love to the ocean." The guard is...not fooled.

Thanos, however, observes this exchange. He walks up to the guards, pats them on the shoulder and shakes their hands, and thanks them for their service. The heroes walk away, and fifteen minutes later, as they're boarding their ferry, both guards collapse dead of heart attacks.

The heroes have their ferryman take them to the smaller isle of Lypisha. He asks to anchor off the island so that the lunatics on Lypisha don't eat him, and the heroes agree. They head inland, this island small and rocky, and Eithne casts a spell to protect them from the snakes they see lounging about. Akala takes to the sky again, and at the Vril obelisk sees a camp of people. She listens in on their conversation, and realizes that they are debating whether to accept or eat these newcomers.

When the characters arrive, the inhabitants don't attack - the see how strong and well-armed the characters are and drop their clubs. Imani tells them that if they stand aside, the heroes are planning to improve things in Gorgos and she'll make sure they get help. Eithne casts the spell on the obelisk, and the heroes return to their boat. They swing over to the Black Isle and take care of the last Vril circle, and then set sail back to Bogador. 

By the time they arrive, night has fallen. They disembark and Thanos starts preparing to wipe their ferryman's memory - he can't be allowed to report what they've been doing. But as he does, the moon vanishes from the sky. Apep, the mighty serpent, is once again on the hunt.

It lurches down and snaps up the ferryman, and Imani loses her temper. She charges at the snake, fully prepared to battle the monster to the death. Thanos grabs her horns to try and stop her but she just drags him along. Eithne tries to cast a spell to stop her charge, but it fails and Imani lowers her head to drive her horns into the snake. Thanos, as a last-ditch effort, casts a spell and blinds her.

Imani, unable to see her target, stops, and the snake (which might not have even noticed them) moves on into the city. Imani snarls at all of them that she's tired of plans and magic, and they assure her that when the time is right they will kill that snake. Imani says she'll hold them to that promise.

They all go back to the palace. Imani finally succumbs to the lust of the day with Amara, while Eithne sits in her room and meditates. Akala mingles with the Set-worshippers on the balcony, who gasp and sigh in pleasure when Apep dips down to swallow someone's slave. Thanos spends the night in prayer to Exú, the god of the Dead, the Between, the Caretaker of Roads. He feels like they need some attention from a god other than Set.