Aiaia

Circe's lioness

Circe is first brought to her island by Helios in Chapter 7.

## Features

There is a soft, high hill that is thick with grass. At the top is a house with a wide porch and walls built from finely fitted stone. Its doors are carved twice the height of a man. A little below this stretches a hem of forests, and beyond that, there is a glimpse of the sea.

The forest is full of old growth, and is gnarled with oaks, lindens, cypress, and olive groves. The air has a fresh scent from the trees. The trees shake in the sea wind and bird dart through the shadows.

There are blooming vines and gaudy roses, shining dragonflies and coiling snakes. There are orchards and vineyards where purple grapes grow thick as coral. In the meadows grow thyme and lilac.

There are coves and grottos.

## Interior of the House

The doors are made of oak and banded with iron. The air smells of incense. There is a great-room set with tables and benches, and a hearth at one end. At the other end is a corridor that leads to the kitchen and bedrooms. It is large enough to hold a dozen goddesses.

Treasures shine on every side -- carved chests, soft rugs and golden hangings, beds, stools, intricate tripods, and ivory statues. The windowsills are made of white marble and the shutters are of scrolled ash wood.

The kitchen has bronze, iron, nacre shell, and obsidian knives. There are bowls of quartz crystal and wrought silver.

The house is enchanted so that no speck of dust can cross the marble threshold. The floors are always clean, the tables always gleam, the ashes vanish from the fireplace, the dishes wash themselves, and the firewood regrows overnight. The pantry is always stocked with jars of oil and wine and bowls of cheese and barley.

## Background

It is the place where Helios threw his strength to Zeus and proved his loyalty. In the sky above, he vanquished a Titan giant, drenching the land with blood.

## Visitors

1. Hermes
2. Daedalus & his men
3. Odysseus & his men
4. Queen Penelope of Sparta
5. Athena

## Flora

* oaks trees
* lindens
* cypress trees
* olive groves
* cedar trees
* purple grapes
* thyme
* lilac
* hellebore
* ash trees
* roses
* mosses
* ferns
* rhododendrons
* crocus
* yellow jasmine
* iris
* moly
	+ a flower small as a fingernail, white as milk. The blood of that giant which my father had spilled in the sky. I plucked a stem out of the tangle. The roots clung hard a moment before yielding. They were black and thick, and smelled of metal and salt. The flower had no name that I knew, so I called it moly, root, from the antique language of the gods.
	+ "Oh, Father, did you know the gift you gave me? For that flower, so delicate it could dissolve beneath your stepping foot, carried within it the unyielding power of apotrope, the turning aside of evil. Curse-breaker. Ward and bulwark against ruin, worshipped like a god, for it was pure. The only thing in all the world you could be certain would not turn against you.” --chapter 8

## Fauna

note: all of the animals on Aiaia are tamech. 11.

* wolves
* frogs
* lizards
* birds
* mice
* owls
* boars
* minnows and other fish
* cormorants
* moles
* lions
* rabbits
* wood-grouse

## Insects

* dragonflies
* scorpions
	+ their poison is barely a pinch
* bees
* flies
* wasps