Ares reveals himself

As soon as the Lord Marshal spots your small company, he moves down the steps of the Temple of War apparently eager to intercept you.

"King Kalion, you've arrived just as the priest promised. I'm delighted to learn that you've decided to join the United Armies." You stare at the Lord Marshal in surprise, but he continues on confidently, "with your drakes we have the numbers needed to overpower the Citadel and end this war swiftly." Lord Marshal Raxius takes your arm in his and turns you towards the waiting holy men. He ignores the High Priest of Ares and his entourage, instead pulling you in the direction of the old priest who had caught your attention earlier. The grey-haired man straightens and smiles brightly as he studies you. Thankfully, Galeon steps up to the Lord Marshal's shield arm and addresses him giving you the opportunity to politely pull yourself free. No sooner do you escape Raxius' grip then you are captured by two other arms, albeit much softer and more feminine ones. Alexia and surprisingly, Lady Sandrine, drag you to the side apparently determined to interrogate you and no doubt express their displeasure.

"My Lord, you've said nothing to me about joining the Alliance." Alexia face is stern as she accosts you even if her words are polite, more importantly you notice her sliding her free hand into a slit in her clothing to where you know for a fact, she has a dagger strapped to her fit body. As you begin to explain that you have no idea where the Lord Marshal got the idea that you had agreed to join with him, Sandrine actually bares her ancient dagger holding it discretely against your thigh dangerously near to your royal jewels. You remember all too well how easily that razor sharp blade had dispatched your lame horse the first time you met Sandrine and you wonder if a blade like that could cause permanent harm even to a god. Sandrine is clearly incensed by what she must see as your betrayal of her and her city.

"Your Majesty," Sandrine hisses in your ear, "You assured me that you had not come to pillage my city and **** my people." Her passionate voice is full of bitterness. "I even started to believe you, but I guess all men are the same."

Suddenly the grinning Priest is at your side, you don't even have time to figure out how the lame octogenarian was able to get down the steps and through the throng of people to get to you side before he starts speaking.

"My boy, I see your choice in women is very similar to mine, so much beauty and such passion." He eyes roam appreciatively over the exposed skin of the two women, apparently unconcerned that they are ready to butcher you in front of your father's temple. "I hope for your sake that they are this feisty in bed so you can reap the benefits of their passion." The priest's walking stick flicks twice like a duelists sword striking first Sandrine's wrist and then Alexia's hand that is pulling a blade from its hidden location. "I'll have to demand you let my son go as this is my temple and Kalion joining the Alliance is my decision." As the two women rub their hands awkwardly the body of the old priest morphs into the familiar figure his Warrior God form in full armor of gold holding his spear that was just a carved walking stick a moment earlier. The glorious presence of your divine father Ares drawing the surprised attention of everyone but yourself and perhaps the Lord Marshal.

"The warriors of Kalion cannot sit like doves on a tree branch while the greatest battle of this generation is about to commence." Is you father criticizing your decision to remain neutral? You forget sometimes that unlike your mother Athena, who balances her warlike ability with wisdom and compassion, Ares cares only for warfare and not the cause that is contested. "I will leave it to my boy to negotiate concessions for the services of his elite troops and Rider wings, but make no mistake about it, the mighty warriors of Kalion will bloody their spears to honor me, and my son." You are not sure how you feel about your father committing the fighting men of Kalion to the siege of Athenapolis, especially as he seems to share none of your concern about the innocent lives that will suffer if the United Armies have their way. It is Galeon however that speaks his mind in his simple straightforward manner.

"If Kalion abandons its position of neutrality, there will be no one to hold the free-companies in check." Your general is correct, you've seen before the atrocities of war suffered as victorious men stream through the streets looking for plunder and females to ravish. The United Armies stated plan to auction every woman naked from the **** block of the fallen city is perhaps even more horrific, guided no doubt by the gold-robed slaver's guild this is a systematic escalation of the very practiced that ignited this war in the first place. Your father however is not impressed by Galeon's honest assessment. He shakes his head scornfully at your battle-hardened general; raising his voice to fill the entire temple courtyard, Ares makes it clear what he thinks is wrong with the mortal world.

"What do I care for the plebes of the city, or the women collared and chained. Let them fight like the Sisters of Accor if they don't want to be victims." To your side you see Sandrine press against Alexia and you wonder if your father would protect her because of the fight in her heart? Whatever Ares does, you are not going to leave her to fall into the greedy hands of the slavers. "Do the city-states of Hellena lack true warriors to lead them? Whatever happened to the warriors of old like King Leonidas?" Ares raises his spear to the heavens as he turns his scathing rebuke from your loyal friend to Lord Raxius himself. "Even Polares, the city dedicated to my name is led by a man more afraid of **** than dishonor."

All around you sense the armored hoplites responding to their god's fiery rhetoric, and Ares too feels the rise in passion and sweeps his spear over them challenging them directly. "Are you afraid of ****?" Both the armored men guarding the temple of Ares in Athenapolis and the honor guard escorting the Lord Marshal roar in raw emotion pounding their spears against their shields even as they tighten their ranks and eye the men facing them. The numbers are roughly the same and unless something or someone calms this rising urge to battle there will be bloodshed right here on the very steps of the temple you have been called to as followers of Ares kill each other in an attempt to win the favor of their god.