Doing Business - Bellerophon's Account (Part Two)

It's time for the second thrilling instalment of Bellerophon's Of Gods And Men Megagame report. When last we saw him (at the end of Turn 2), he had forged profitable relationships with a few gods and, most significantly, the city-state of Argolis. He had come from Eighth Most Glorious Hero to Most Glorious in an astonishingly short time. And, he was starting to fear that he may have peaked too soon. Over to you, Bellerophon...

"My Worries are Fulfilled?
The next turn is a real blur, but I recall spending a long time walking round in search of work and visiting the Oracle to thank the mighty Apollo, Aphrodite and Artemis for their inspiration. At one point I receive a Poker Chip from the Tavern Keeper. He tells me this is a Puissance counter? “What does that do?” I ask (having completely forgotten everything I’d read from the Game Handbook). When I hear the screech of a Banshee (or was that Bruce, the Game Control) uttering the dreaded phrase “we are now entering the Resolution Phase!” I realise this means I've probably missed any opportunity for a battle this turn and get busy working out if I can hunt down and dispatch any beasties. The pickings are slim and I begin to panic that all the other Heroes know what they are doing and I'm lost at sea. Many of the feats on offer are beyond my current abilities (or should I say Hero card skills). I manage to find a Large Wolf wandering the lands of Phokis and using a large number of Hero Cards for a plus 3 slaughter it for the honour of Artemis (although I wasn't able to provide the requested wolf skin coat to the Gods, as I didn't have a ‘Skinner’ follower card). Just another ‘Favour of Zeus’ token would have to do. I am about to return to the Tavern with the heavy burden of such a mediocre haul, when the Phokis Wanax thrusts a quest sheet into my hand. I get excited at this point, but this is short-lived when I realised that the Hellespont Gateway has not yet been opened. The quest for Hippolyta's Belt will require me to battle the Amazons and I will need to amass a great army to conquer these savages. I’ll keep hold of this quest for later, I think. As I haven't been as busy as the previous turns I am not surprised to be told that I am no longer ‘Hero Most Glorious’, although following another ‘Paper-Scissors-Stone’ victory I only slip to fourth place on the Glory table. By this time most of us Heroes are getting into the swing of the game sequence and badge exchange is a routine event. “Just give me my cards!” I hear another Hero cry as we all quickly disperse to the far corners of Hellas.

My rates are reasonable and my service unforgettable. ;-)

I guess it is at this point I begin to realise that I am a prostitute. No work – no glory, no glory – no point. The hunger for glory begins to burn deep inside, but there’s still a part of me that doesn't really know what I'm doing (and it feels like everyone else does). Am I having a panic attack? No, it’s just adrenalin. I turn to my lunch box for inspiration, but looking at its contents I can’t bring myself to actually eat anything. The thought of food starts to make me feel sick…

Now as the day progresses the specifics of turn sequences and when things actually happened become a little hazy. However, the what and why are still etched on my brain and the feelings of sheer immersion are very apparent. I found myself with increasingly less time to make notes of any actions and began falling into the habit of creating a tally chart to rack up glory. I think it was around now when I received another green sticker, only this time from Apollo. Despite my failing memory, I know I was then involved in leading another expedition to new lands. Yet again another City State had the same idea and had their own hero in tow. I was again victorious in a duel against their Hero and was triumphant in our battle against the other City State and the colonies of the new lands. I dispatched a ‘Bard’ (follower card) to sing of my tales most glorious (the folklore of Bellerophon will live on long after my death) and began to discuss with other Heroes what quests they were in search of or if any of them had the right cards to help me with the Hippolyta’s Belt. I was at the Oracle in deep contemplation, when things may have gone out of turn sequence as I was grabbed by the elbow, pulled with an act of desperation, and asked to defend the people of Attika against an invasion on their City State. As I walked toward the Attika table I had a token thrust upon me by the hand of a god. I thanked the God in question for such a divine intrusion. Although, when I looked down I could see this was from Athena and said -1 to all die rolls, Noooo! Seconds after I had another token presented to me from the Hand of Artemis, this said +1 to all die rolls (relief). As I began to realise the Attika nation was under attack by a significant force of two, possibly three, other city states it was clear that I needed to place on the table all the tokens presented to me by the gods as they cancelled each other out, but my Green Sticker granted me +1. The hero in front of me (I don’t think this was Laertes this time) and I decided to Duel. I played a Puissance counter and was successful, although the Wanax from Boeotia (I think) then arrived with a handful of Divine Might counters and attempted to intervene on behalf of a God. Have the Gods developed a franchise system (I thought) or the ability to be in 2 places at once? I know the will and wit of the Gods is a mystery, but what the...

They sure look exciting, but what on Olympus do they do?

There was almost an uproar, but fortunately, Bruce was on hand to restore calm and the counters were sent back to the God from whence they came. There was then a long calculation incorporating all the pluses and minuses present around the table. This was a complex scenario for City State control to co-ordinate (but with the help of Bruce it was resolved) and even after a re-roll counter played by the Attika Wanax we still lost. The attacking forces moved on to the Inner Hinterlands. We were able, with the intervention of a God (not sure which), to successfully defend and despatch the invading force back to their homelands, this was counted as a ‘win against the odds’ and I duly ticked that off on my Hero Player Sheet. Feeling very pleased with myself I walked away, only to be tapped on the shoulder by the Hand of Artemis. I enquired at that point if the Hand was allowed to talk to me. “Why of course I am” came the reply as counters were expended. “I would like to present you with this gift” said the God. This was a Quest! (A voice inside in a French accent then said “Tell them we already got one”). The quest to locate and present the head of Medusa to the Gods. Yes! At last, a chance to make a name for the heroic Bellerophon. I thanked Artemis with a wide grin on my face and returned to Attika to claim my Hero Cards for agreeing to defend their nation against the pillaging forces of the Barbarian Horde.

The Hunt for Medusa:
Having skim read the quest sheet I set about thumbing through my now extensive deck of hero cards to determine if I had the prerequisite cards to spell out the word ‘Medusa’ in the Greek alphabet. I had three of the six cards and returned to the Oracle to enquire if the remaining letters were present in any of the God's hero card decks. I continued the search for these cards when back in the Heroes' Tavern, exclaiming that if any other hero were able to locate these cards I would gladly invite them to join me in this glorious expedition. I was so engrossed in my hunt for these cards that I’d missed the opportunity to compete in the (now) traditional round of ‘Paper-Scissors-Stone’ and was duly informed I had lost that opportunity to compete for first place and was now second in the Glory Table (but at least my 100% ‘Paper-Scissors-Stone’ record was still intact). During the Hero Card trading session it appeared that another Hero had also been given the same quest and we agreed to team up to locate the whereabouts of the ‘Grey Sisters’. I had no clue what this meant, but we agreed this was probably an aforementioned ‘Rumour’ and we would share the burden of trying to locate this information. It later transpired that the ‘Grey Sisters Know’ was a token although none of the city states or Gods I spoke to appeared to have any indication. However, Artemis instructed me to return to the Oracle when I was ready, as a God can Teleport anyone to anywhere in Hellas.

The Defence of my Cherished and Lucky Argolis:

Team Argolis: Dressed for Success and Jammy Dodgers.

Turn five began (I think) with me being requested by the Wanax of Argolis to defend the city state from an attack. We were faced with several invading forces. Yet again, I was presented with the Hero Laertes and we began to duel (I hope he’s not taking this personal), he was part of the invading force and I was leading the defence. I felt it was worth expending a Puissance Counter at this point to ensure a +1 on my roll, but I rolled a one!  Laertes rolled his dice and it trickled off the table and was exclaimed by some players as a 6. I had been subject to the fickle nature of the Gods (or it could just be that all their Divine Might for this turn had already been expended). As I turned back to the Argolis table the invading forces and Gods struck me with a feeling of dread. As the battles began our Outer and Inner lands were sacked and slowly the Gods disappeared. As many more counters were expended we were able to defeat the offensive on the Citadel and I asked if this was a “Victory for a lost cause”, the answer was “Yes”. This resulted in me retaining second place in the Hero table.

There followed a “Homeric Interlude” - Bruce provided a summary of the event so far and a number of Heroes were asked to regale the room with their tales of glorious conquests. Laertes was able to provide a tale of being the “Pharaoh of Egypt (for five minutes)” and Autolycus was eloquently able to impress the people of Hellas. So it was my turn, I told the City States and Gods “I have KitKats and spicy treats from far off lands” should they wish to ally themselves with me. Although, I was still not able to eat as it made me feel nauseous.

Poor Boeotia (sob, sob):

Hey Boeotia! If you start something, you'd better finish it!

At the start of this turn I was asked by the Tavern Keeper to roll a dice (arr, the paranoia of unexpected requests to roll a dice check). This was a roll against my Providence to determine if agedness had affected my faculties. The roll was good, but I still received a Black sticker to denote the maturity of my Hero. The action continued with an attack on the Boeotian people by the now leading Argolis City State. As we arrived their Wanax exclaimed “now there’s a surprise”. “Have you come to pick over our bones?” said another player. We quickly progressed through their Outer lands, wounded their Wanax and onto their Inner Hinterlands, when we were interrupted by the City State Control of Lakonia (Tom) to tell us we were starting the resolution turn too early. We all agreed this would have affected the outcome and waited a short while to see if any other City States/Hero’s turned up. Although, I was keen to progress as they did not have a Hero or a Hand of a God present and we did. As we broke through we pressed on to their Citadel and were Triumphant in sacking their city. Not fully understanding the City State protocols I left it up to the Argolis player to decide on the consequences and which two Citadel features were destroyed. I received a significant amount of glory and took the ‘Favours of Zeus’ to the now beloved Artemis. In consultation with the Voice we agreed I would attempt another feat in her honour and I clutched a ‘Luck’ token in my hand as I went on the prowl for something else to kill and to continue my search for those elusive Greek letter cards. Upon inspection of the City States there appeared to be a Giant that I could attempt to defeat, although I did not have the prerequisite cards, but eventually I found a Lion prowling around the lands of Messina. The Wanax (a rather well-dressed gentleman) asked that I attempt to rid them of this terrifying beast in return for a Hero Card. Thankfully I had the required cards to undertake this feat and was triumphant over it. Following the expenditure of a now located “Skinner” card I was able to present a Lion Skin to the voice of Artemis (although later I realised I could have worn that myself for the remainder of the game). The Voice exclaimed that a Lion Skin coat was clearly preferable to that of a Wolf Skin and the “Favour of Zeus” token was exchanged in return for a small green card. I didn’t really understand the information on the Item Card, I smiled, thanked Artemis and bundled it into the deck of Hero Cards I was continuing to accumulate. This most noble sequence of events resulted in the gift of an additional glory point from the Tavern Keeper and my rightful return to the top of the Hero leader board.

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All images courtesy of Jim Wallman (Megagame Makers)