User:LyreOfOrpheHyus/The Quest for Uranometria

The cover of Uranometria.

United States Naval Observatory Seal

Map of Area 51

Quest Guide

• Dream
• Overview
• Questors and Locations
• Prophecy
• Notes

The following message took place during a dream:

Dear Akihiko,

Now then, I would skip the pleasantries and greetings. Do you know the star atlas Uranometria? No? Well, that star atlas was created by one of my proud children, Johann Bayer, back in 1603. Some centuries after, it was brought to the United States Naval Observatory in DC for safe keeping. Unbeknownst to these mortals, that star atlas was in fact a weapon containing great power from the celestial bodies itself. I helped Johann in crafting the weapon myself as my personal reward for him for doing a vicious and dangerous quest for me. And now, some foolish scoundrel took hold of it and got away from under my son’s nose, Stilbon, whom I asked to retrieve for me. Stilbon bawled his eyes out on me, and asked help from me. At first I didn’t, because it was his fault anyway. So he asked Hermes, the god whom he serves, to send his children to find it. But for some reason, they all ended up dead. So I stepped in the matter and now asking you and some friends of yours to find Uranometria, wipe the floor with that scoundrel, and give it to my son back at the US Observatory. Don’t worry; I’ll take care on duplicating it for the sake of the mortals. From Stilbon’s memories, the children of Hermes last saw the thief trying to pry open the star atlas’ secrets around Area 51 before they were dead cold. Good luck, and do hope not to have your cabin blown off by a meteor.

-Astraeus

Overview

So the Uranometria was a star atlas written/produced by Johann Bayer, a son of Astraeus all along. Actually, the Uranometria was a powerful weapon created by him, under the guidance and power of his Titan father, as a gift for doing a quest for him. Some time after, it was transferred to the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. A few weeks ago, a thief managed to steal it under the nose of one of Astraeus' children, Stilbon, whom at the same time was tasked on retrieving it. Stilbon was the minor god of the planet Mercury, and was under the service of Hermes. Astraeus didn't help him at first, so he asked the messenger god to send his own children to find the Uranometria. However, the questors ended up dead (who were actually killed by a Hydra), so the burden was passed onto the star god himself. So he sends Akihiko and three more questors to find the star atlas, before the thief can misuse it for harm.

Questors

1. Akihiko Sugimura, Son of Astraeus, Hyu
2. Natalie Coceancig, Daughter of Cybele, Birdie
3. Leia Anne Anderson, Daughter of Melinoe, Merc
4. Drake Cooper, Son of Hecate, Hydro

Locations and Monsters

1. Camp Half-Blood Entrance
2. Penn Train Station in New York - Three Empousa, because of the attack they miss the train and they have to take the bus, which would take about 4 hours
3. Washington DC - They arrive at the US Observatory to investigate first regarding the Uranometria. Three of the workers were disguised as hellhounds, and attacks the group. They flee from the trouble they've caused to the mortals, and try to plan out on how to get to Area 51 as fast as they can.
4. Auriga Transport - They take a strange bus imprinted with stars, with the name "Auriga Transport". It was actually the constellation Auriga (the charioteer), driven by another one of Astraeus' children, Hesperus, disguised as a bus driver. Some of the star nymphs, dressed like stewardesses, tend to their wounds while the god explains to them the hidden powers held by the Uranometria, under the discretion of his father. After that, they were given the constellation Circinus in the form of the compass, which can help them find the star atlas.
5. Rachel, Nevada - They are dropped off on there, the closest town to Area 51. They continue their journey on foot, where they're attacked by two stray Lamiae.
6. Area 51 - The compass eventually points them to Tyrell's location, but he was found dead, and the Uranometria not with him. They search for it for some time before they encounter the same Hydra that killed the children of Hermes, with the Uranometria stuck on its neck . They retrieve the Uranometria and kill the Hydra. (They leave Tyrell's body to prevent being traced.)
7. Auriga Transport - Hesperus arrives at the highway beside Area 51 to escort them to Stilbon back on DC.
8. Washington DC - They go back to the Observatory, where Stilbon meets them. He takes the Uranometria to be delivered to Astraeus, and flies off. Hesperus takes them to his bus once again, and he brings them back to Camp.
9. Camp Half-Blood - Upon going back, four small meteors drop in front of them, which contained gift boxes from Astraeus (contents will be decided on later), who has known of their success when Stilbon came back to him with the item. The family secret of the Bayers, on the other hand, remained undisclosed.

Prophecy

A purveyor of the truth have endangered the fate of the skies,
Plundered a mysterious weapon, forged in exchange for an expedition.
Power of the eighty-eight lights face the cliff of revelation,
In which four heralds the starry-eyed Titan must save from demise.

Measuring Heaven was its name, to be given back to whom it came.

Notes

OOC: The thief, named as Tyrell, is a descendant of Johann Bayer. Though not a demigod, he has the Sight (but others wouldn't believe him), and possesses excellent skills on stealth and stealing. He was sent by a branch of the Bayer family to unearth a family secret bounded within the Uranometria. But ever since he was chased down by the late children of Hermes, he'd gone lost and wandered throughout the country. In his spare time as he tries to find his way back, he tries to uncover the secret of the star atlas by himself, and he has no idea on what danger he is trying to unfold.

The Secret: Johann and his ancestors came from the Greek gods, how they were able to see through the Mist, and why some of them received strange visions. Ever since the Uranometria was created, Johann decided to hide their secret within it, as he feared the future generations of his family to misuse its power. After his death, it was kept in a museum in Germany, masked by magic to keep it from being stolen by non-mortals and to keep its powers hidden from them, then transferred to the US. Around the time it was stolen by Tyrell, the magic wore off, and he was able to steal it easily.

Quest

Camp Half-Blood

• Akihiko: He slowly walks up to the camp's entrance, with nothing but a small blue and brown backpack hanging on his right shoulder. He's sipping on a plastic cup containing piping hot brown coffee, blowing on its surface every now and then to ease the heat. He stops in front of a bench and sits on it, while he waits for the other three to come.
• Drake: *He walks up the camp entrance, wearing a green duffel bag that hangs on his left shoulder. Wearing a black Spider-Man T-shirt and blue jeans. He sees Akihiko, recognizing him from the quest briefing. And proceeds to walk up to him* I'm guessing we're early?
• Natalie: She bounds up to Akihiko, armed to the teeth with various daggers. Over her shoulder is slung an olive green army sack, and she waves as she nears him. "Hey there! I'm Nat, are you the quest guy?"
• Akihiko: He stops sipping his coffee to look up at the both of them, and places the cup on the bench's surface to relieve himself from the liquid's heat. "Yeah I am. You're both just on time, actually, which is better than making me wait here for you lot to pick what to bring with you before you come here. I just came here a few minutes ago. You two must be, from what I remember, the Hecate and Cybele members? If so, we're only missing the Melinoe one."
• Leia: She walks up to the lot of them, a backpack around her shoulders. She's wearing a black Punisher t-shirt and gray jeans. As she comes up to the entrance, she greets them all with a small smile. "Hey there guys. We ready to go?"
• Akihiko: He nods, taking his cup again and sips the last of it. He stands up and leaves the cup on the bench once again. He adjusts his backpack and walks a few paces. "Right. We can't let the thief get away further from our objective. But first, we're heading for DC via the Penn Train Station. We're gonna visit the observatory my father told me about in his dreams." He walks for the road, while signalling them to come after him.
• Leia: She follows suit, marching a long, putting sunglasses on to shield her eyes from the light. As they walk, she tries to make conversation. "Tell me again, what does this weapon do exactly?"
• Akihiko: He shrugs at her question. "Who knows? Only the one who made and used it knew the weapon's true potential, but I assume its too powerful that its dangerous."
• Natalie: Feeling out of her depth already, she silently follows Akihiko and Leia, listening in on their dicussion and making mental notes before remembering something. "Oh, where are we going again? I really don't know my American geography."
• Akihiko: He reaches for his pocket, and pulls out money he got from some Hermes children the fornight before, which was enough for all of them for one taxi ride. "Again, we're going to Washington DC, about 3 hours usually from here, so its not that far. We're going for the US Naval Observatory first and investigate, so we can actually know what we are chasing after on. Even I'm not that familiar with the US, since I mostly grew up in Japan and ended up on New York a few years before."
• Natalie: Her eyes widen as he talks of DC, then resume their normal size as she takes out her triple dagger and begins playing with it. "You still seem to know a lot more than me." She offers Akihiko a smile, thinking he seemed a bit nervous.
• Akihiko: He shrugs. "I'd take that as a compliment, but still; the only cities I visited ever since moving to the US were Detroit and Seattle." He averts his gaze in his front when he notices a taxi from their left. He stops just beside the asphalt-covered road, and hails the taxi. He signals the others to get in, while he opens the door near the driver and sits beside him. He takes off his backpack and places it on his lap to accomodate more room for his back and shoulder. He leans for the driver and tells him, "We're heading straight for Penn Train Station, sir."
• Drake: *He follows suit of Akihiko, placing his duffel bag on his lap as he sits down next to him.* So we're headed to DC right?
• Leia: She sits in the seat behind them, sitting her bag on the floor by her feet. "Oh, Washington is marvelous at this time. I've went there with Tiffany to visit her grandmother there." She smiles to herself as she remembers the trip they both took.
• Drake: *He looks at her for a moment* Uhm who the hades is Tiffany?
• Leia: "My girlfriend, that's who." She shows him a picture of her with herself, an arm around her waist.
• Drake: *He admires how hot she and Tiff look in the picture before looking away, blushing a bit* Oh cool.....
• As they talk, their taxi approaches the Penn Train Station at a short time, more or less 15 minutes. After that, they arrive at the station, Akihiko pays the driver the fare in behalf of all of them, and they get off.

Penn Train Station

• With Akihiko's money once again, he pays for the train fare for all of them for the tickets. After spending rather a lot from his savings before and after joining camp is pretty painful for his wallet. They arrive at the platform, and the train isn't there yet; so they wait. (don't want to get hung up on very minor things such as getting out of the cab, paying the tickets and getting on the platform one post at a time >.<)
• Akihiko: Using the perks of a child of Astraeus, he leans forward to poke his head out of the metal roof and look at the sky. Like a fast bolt of lightning he records the time (around 7:50 am). He then leans back. "The train should be here in 10 minutes more or less."
• Leia: She nods, playing with a strand of her hair out of boredom. "I hope it gets here fast, standing here waiting is not something I enjoy..."
• Natalie: She frowns and watches the space where the train should be, strangely silent and reserved. Looking around, she can see nothing natural, everything's man made. Thinking that must be the cause of her discomfort, she seats herself on a bench and absent-mindedly twirls her twig bracelet.
• Drake: *He sits down next to Nat, already bored out of his skull. He considers conjuring a small fireball to amuse himself. But decides it would be a waste of energy, plus some mortals might see. He taps his foot on the ground. Making a small pounding sound
• As time passes with the train still not rolling its way for the station, something feels odd all of a sudden. A strange presence-wait, make that strange presences-approach the demigods. Finally, three familiarly looking half-women appear in front of them, agitated.
• Akihiko: He suddenly grabs for his naginata, which is strapped to his back, masked as a hockey stick by the Mist. "Shit, we've got company."
• Natalie: She jerks her head up to look at Akihiko and spies the monsters behind him. Her fingers stop playing with her bracelet and she taps it once, transforming it into her spiked quarterstaff. She moves silently to Akihiko's left, her weapon at the ready, forming a defensive wall. "Thanks for the warning." She whispers quietly.