This is a story that has wonderful ingredients: danger, excitement, a threatening villain, a bevy of beautiful women, our heroes being heroic - and lots, and lots, and lots of hot water.
Into which Iolaus proceeds to get with inevitable regularity. He probably has more baths in this one episode than he ever had in the whole of the entire previous seasons. But it's all in a good cause, of course. (And no, not that of ensuring that the delicious Micheal Hurst is naked or half naked for most of the filming ... I don't know though. That's a pretty good cause now I come to think about it. And he'd be joined by a naked Kevin Sorbo for that first bath scene, which has to have a certain amount of merit on its own account ...)
Ahem.
Anyway, this story gives all sorts of people a chance to shine. The set dressers. The costume designer. The extras' casting director. The CGI wizards. The guest stars. And our heroes, of course. The fight arranger gets the week off. The Action Pack get to stand around and look menacing before being washed away, and the location special effects guys get to play with lots of smudge and smoke pots. Oh - and an explosion or two!
The tale itself has an interesting genesis. I knew that I needed a story to follow the events of part two that would give a reason for our two heroes to be traveling separately in parts four and five. I also knew that I wanted it to have a slightly lighter approach than the first two tales, without losing any of the tension and heroic deeds that are the mainstay of the series. I had a vague idea of a city under seige, and of Iolaus racing to get help under difficult (and dangerous) circumstances.
At which point I got a little stuck.
I only became unstuck after a long and hilarious phone call to a friend of mine (thanks Carole!) during which we discussed the problem, dismissed a lot of my original ideas and came up with a far more interesting twist on the whole idea.
Which she promptly dubbed 'the one where Iolaus commits sewercide' ...
Well, it sounded good to me!
The story more or less took shape that night, although it took me a while to add all the explanatory detail and to come up with the subsidiary characters.
Tantellus, of course, is a completely mythical city. While there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the palaces of Minoan Crete had rainwater channels and ritual bath tubs, no-one has ever excavated an ancient city built on the side of a dormant volcano in order to utilise the twin benefits of preheated water and natural gas. I've described the place as a Greek version of the rock city of Petra, with strong Minoan/Atlantean influences; the Atlanatean colonists who originally built it obviously had a love of luxury as well as colour and light.
The Atlantean connection was essential - I needed complex engineering and sophisticated waterworks in order to make the story work - but it wasn't until I arrived (along with our heroes) in the pump room that I realised I had another connection here. The presence of a magical crystal helped justify the way the system had kept working for centuries, and added another piece to the puzzle of the shattered staff of Chronos. Let's hope that Ares never does take an interest in the city; without that crystal the fountains of Tantellus would fall silent - at least until someone figured out how to install a turbo-generator instead!
Once I had the basic concept, the rest of the story slowly took shape. The presence of natural gas in the tunnels explained the city lights and added extra tension to the plot; the lure of the baths brought our heroes to the right place at just the right time, spring maneuvers got the menfolk out of the city - and the formidable members of the Tantellus Women's Council finally got round to introducing themselves.
Amymone was the name of one of the fifty daughters of Danaus (No, not those fifty daughters - the ones Hercules heroically dallied with in a single night - they were the daughters of the King of Thespis. Guess Kings had a lot of daughters in those days ...). An Oracle had informed Danaus that he would be killed by one of his sons-in-law, so, when the fifty sons of Aegyptus paid court to his daughters he supplied each of them with a dagger and made them solemnly swear to defend him. All but one of them murdered their husbands on their wedding night - and were subsequently condemned to Tarterus, eternally trying to fill a vessel that was so full of holes that as much water poured out of it as they poured in. Amymome was spared this fate because 'she had been continually employed, by order of her father, in supplying the city of Argos with water in a great drought'. Poseidon saw her at work, carried her away and - in her place - raised a fountain by striking a rock.
The queen of Tantellus isn't that Amymome, of course, but the seemingly endless supply of water, the fountains, and a statue or two of Poseidon all make an appearance nonetheless.
Lysander was the name of a renowned General of Sparta who fought in the Peloponnesian war. His name was immortalised in the lyrics of a well known march 'The British Grenadiers':
'Some talk of Alexander and some of Hercules,
Of Hector and Lysander, and such great men as these ...'
Hercules we all know about, of course. Hector turned up as an advisor to Orestes in 'King for a Day', and I've used Lysander here as a wily old general who knows a true hero when he sees one.
Alexander is due to make his appearance later ...
Petrayus, Mithias, Merrine and Icastus are purely mine. As is Jayce, whose Persian/Babylonian ancestry foreshadows events scheduled for much later in the Chronicles. It's not so unlikely that a selfish and arrogant nobleman would flatter and use the sultry daughter of an ex-slave girl, even if she is the cook. As both Hercules and Iolaus discover she is a very good cook. I hope that Amymome and Mithais go easy on her, despite her attempt to poison everybody.
The Women's town council were originally intended as the comic relief. (In the first version of the plot, I had Iolaus teaching them how to drive back attacking besiegers with frying pans and cooking pots). While there is a level of humor still lingering around them - Hercules really doesn't know how to cope with all these women with so many eligible daughters - their role became a more pivotal one as the plot progressed. Lucina and her daughter represent the hardworking people of the city, Milone the worthy merchants and traders, and Cystalia - well, Cystalia just turned up, sat down and made her presence felt. She and Yvanis are suitable rivals for our golden hunter's attention, one the fresh faced innocent, the other streetwise and knowing exactly what she wants. She's likely to get it too - once he's recovered sufficiently from 'friendly fire' that is! I don't think Yvanis will mind that much - she and the courtesan appear to be fast becoming firm friends. The kind that share everything ...
I feel kind of sorry for Iolaus, you know!
He goes through a lot in this story, giving 110 percent as usual and - for once - getting recognition for the fact. He and Hercules demonstrate how well their skills complement each other, as evidenced by the rescue in the mud splattered square, and prove, once again, that - while each is a hero in his own right - they work best as a team. Neither one, on their own, could have saved the city, and without his partner around to watch his back, Hercules might well have succumbed to Jayce's plot to poison him. The son of Zeus' strength is an essential part of the final solution and yet it's Iolaus' courage and determination that wins through to warn the King and save the day.
He gets a little broiled in the process, fights off a few eels and learns to scuba dive along the way, of course, but that's the kind of thing a Hound of Artemis tends to take in his stride.
Tantellus will undoubtedly be grateful to them both for a long time to come.
So, we leave our heroes celebrating - one relieved that the threat is over, the other a little 'hors de combat' but reaping the rewards of being a wounded hero in a city of grateful women. As Mithias remarks, he probably will need rescuing before the day is over - but I'm sure Hercules will think of something long before his partner is overwhelmed by well intentioned kindnesses.
And - when Hermes arrives in a couple of days time, bearing an urgent request for his presence on Crete - Hercules will be able to leave without concern, knowing that his friend's recovery is in good hands.
Neither of them will consider that the storm clouds gathering on the horizon might be a hint of things to come ...
