Traveller Session 3: Verorum (Part 2)

Player Characters:

John A Rico - Former Star Marine

Rocke Ramora - Thief-Turned-Trader

Willy Warder - Noble Administrator

NPC Crew:

Zuleikah - Money-Obsessed Astrogator

Clonelord

The crew made contact with the Clone Master Tiberius, who dabbled as a spice merchant on the side, and set up a meeting at the Veroran Super Brothel.  They arrived at the meet to find that the brothel was in full anti-gravity, lending it an appearance similar to an Escher painting full of floating naked people; Rico and Rocke took some sanity damage from the debauchery on display, but Willy, as a noble, was used to it.  Eventually, they found their man entwined with about 20 lovers, but after noticing them the clonelord disentangled himself and got a slave to spray him down with a can of Space-Axe.

Still nude, Tiberius sat down with the crew, and he and Willy got to business working out a deal.  Willy was able to get a phenomenal deal by pointing out that the spice was neither certified cruelty-free nor ethically mined ("It's mined with slaves, sooo").  Willy beckoned for a bottle of space-wine, but upon seeing the exorbitant prices, the crew took their leave.  While they were on the way back to the Suck-It in their rented spacecar, an air-raid siren began to sound.  Pedestrians on the promenade looked around, surprised, but no panic broke out.  Willy asked GX-415 if he knew what was happening, but their slave didn't have any idea.

Lockdown

As Rocke chided GX to properly refer to him as 'master', Rico tried to call Zuleikah on the spacephone, but had no signal.  Several minutes later, they arrived at their ship's berth, and found it on lockdown.  Rocke knocked on the door, and Zuleikah, awkwardly holding a gun she clearly didn't know how to use, opened the door.  She was spooked by the still-sounding siren, and reminded them that Rocke had told her to lock the ship if anything weird happened, so she'd locked the ship.  Willy tried to contact the control tower so they could at least get outside of the dome, but found that something was jamming their comms.

Traveller Session 2: Verorum

Player Characters:

John A Rico - Former Star Marine

Rocke Ramora - Thief-Turned-Trader

Willy Warder - Noble Administrator

NPC Crew:

Zuleikah - Money-Obsessed Astrogator

Gorod

Having sold the haul of Space Tobacco they'd picked up on Lucus III, the crew set about figuring out what to purchase and where to go next.  After some searching, they figured that Gorod's manufacturies produced a variety of finished and raw goods that would fetch a high price on the desert world of Verorum.  Remembering that the S. S. Suck-It's cargo hold still had some xenomorph acid coming from somewhere after a smuggling mission gone wrong, they decided on the raw goods, as if anything melted, at least the loss would be less costly.  They booked as many middle passengers as they could, though none of the crew were willing to double-bunk to squeeze out all the money they could (Rico and Willy heavily considered it, but they couldn't overcome their personality differences).

Willy was confident in his abilities as a medic, so they also filled all the low-berth pods.  The crew decided to leverage half of their assets for the buy (though for Willy this was only 1000 Spacebucks), and both Willy and Rico rolled poorly and dropped a wealth tier.  The crew went to Juan Ghoulio's Industrial Goods Warehouse, and picked up 33 tons of industrial goods, though Willy made a slightly bad deal, costing them another 5%.  With crew, cargo, and passengers aboard, the S. S. Suck-It jumped to Verorum.

Verorum

Verorum, a desert world, had a mildly toxic atmosphere, which would require a breathing apparatus if outside; Rico and Rocke had picked up full breather masks back on Gorod, while Willy could only barely afford a cheap filter mask with straps that chafed and a seal that dug into his face.  Anagathics, aka immortalitiy drugs, were produced here, and could fetch a high price throughout the galaxy.  Fittingly, a patrol corvette of the Star Marines sat in orbit, though it didn't request anything from the Suck-It as they flew towards the main settlement, a great dome which shared the name of the planet.

Path To Godhood Session 6: The Tetrarchs

Characters:
Ajax Karo   -   Gregarious Hunter and Aspiring Kostis, God of Death and Plagues
Neilos   -   Aspiring God of The Sun and Plants
Steidis   -   Aspiring God of Fire and Smiths
Ursula Bearclaw   -   Klutzy Woodswoman and Aspiring Chelak, God of Bears and Independence

House Raptis

As they left the Oracle's temple, Ajax mentioned wanting to go out and try Life Draining some more livestock, but ended up having a raucous night drinking and old-man dancing thanks to his Compulsive Carousing.  The next morning, Neilos asked around the common room and the piper who'd been playing the night before pointed him towards Voula Raptis' estate.  The gods hoped to go have a chat with her about the Hunters, as they were still unsure if they could trust Natasa.  The Raptis estate, famous for its menagerie of exotic animals, was under heavy guard, with a pair of men, in blue tabards with a crescent moon, every 50' down the walls, and three at each entrance.

At the front gate, Neilos introduced themselves under their godly names, and claimed that they were here for a meeting with Voula.  The guards refused to let them in, claiming that their lady was not accepting any visitors, and Ajax noted that Chelak's name in particular had sparked a negative reaction.  Neilos wrote a note beseeching the Lady Raptis to meet with the gods, and handed it off to the guards, who assured him that it would reach her.  Still wanting to meet with a Tetrarch, they thought over their options: Arethusa Andreas, the Scion of the Thief (whom Neilos had already met), Pan Metaxas, the Scion of the Sun, and Lamia Michelakis, the Scion of Violence.

House Metaxas

As House Metaxas claimed to be descended from Neilos, the gods figured Pan would be their best choice.  Neilos pulled aside a messenger to get directions, but he maliciously directed them to the "foreign district" down by the port, and the gods wasted the rest of their morning searching in the wrong place.  Annoyed by Neilos' failure, Ursula pulled a man aside and promised him a footrub in exchange for directions to the Metaxas estate, which he promptly provided: it backed right onto Mt Fotia, and was famed for its many hotsprings.  Ursula directed the man to meet her later, and the gods set off.

Traveller Session 1: Lucus III

Player Characters:

John A Rico - Former Star Marine

Rocke Ramora - Thief-Turned-Trader

Willy Warder - Noble Administrator

NPC Crew:

Zuleikah - Money-Obsessed Astrogator

Lucus III

The S.S. Suck-It jumped into the Lucus system and set course for the third planet in the system with a hold full of hard drives carrying mail for the Aurora Corporation, as well as some spare industrial components.  Lucus III had a thin atmosphere, and was operated by Aurora as a garden world.  On the way in, Willy attempted to find a local selling some of the famed Lucus Space Tobacco, and got responses from two; Marcus Primus sent official-looking letters on Aurora letterhead, while Eudoxia Strategos' reply was much more slapdash and casual.

Oddly, Eudoxia claimed to be in the settlement around the only spaceport, in the southern hemisphere, while Marcus' directions stated that he was operating out of a camp in the northern hemisphere.  As they closed with the planet, they received a comms ping, and Rico brought it up on the main screen.  A man in the teal military uniform of the Aurora Corporation confirmed that this was the "SS... Suck-It?", and Rico started to respond in the affirmative only to be interrupted.  Rocke shouted for Rico to "know his place", then confirmed that they were.

The man introduced himself as Proculus Titius, Chief Intelligence Officer in the system, then explained that the main starport on the planet was experiencing "issues", and advised them to land at a set of coordinates in the northern hemisphere which were almost exactly matched those from Marcus Primus.  Willy tried to coax some more information about the starport, but Proculus wasn't talking.  Rico tried to run some scans of the area, but the Suck-It's sensors were a barely functional mess, and the light cloud cover on the planet rendered them utterly useless.

Path To Godhood Session 5: The Oracle

Characters:

Ajax Karo   -   Gregarious Hunter and Aspiring Kostis, God of Death and Plagues
Neilos   -   Aspiring God of The Sun and Plants
Steidis   -   Aspiring God of Fire and Smiths
Ursula Bearclaw   -   Klutzy Woodswoman and Aspiring Chelak, God of Bears and Independence

Urbos

The morning the gods arrived in Urbos, the skies were cloudy, and as they disembarked, the scent of fresh rain filled the air.  The blue domed roofs atop white stone buildings, as well as the deep blue water of the many hot springs around the city in the shadow of the volcano, convinced them that they'd finally found the Azure City.  With Ursula carrying the mortally wounded Steidis, they headed off into the city, and soon came across a large gathering in a public square.  On a raised platform, a man was kneeling in front of a wooden block, while a shirtless man holding a large axe stood nearby, and a woman in a bright red cloak with some sort of markings under her right eye read out the "crimes" of the guilty man.

Ajax opined that they should try to get the executioners to let him drain the condemned, while Ursula asked the nearest member of the crowd what was going on.  In a fervor, the man responded that the Hunters had found another of Eniad's spies, who were looking to destroy the city with their "foreign ways".  Ajax pointed out that the man on the platform looked to be from Urbos (he, like most of the crowd, had white hair, yellow eyes, and golden skin), but Neilos rebutted that this only made him the perfect spy.

It started to rain, and the executioner beheaded the accused; the crowd cheered, and the head rolled to a man close to Ursula, who grabbed it and held it up as a trophy while decrying the guilty "Eniadnan scum".  Ursula got in his face and asked how he knew the man was guilty, and he stated that the Hunters had found him guilty, and they knew better than he did.  She asked who those were, and he pointed up to the woman in the red cloak, who was now slowly walking away from the crowd, which also began to disperse.  Neilos tried to find out if the people of Urbos disliked all foreigners or just Eniadnans; the first man he asked told him to "get away you foreigner" while grabbing the hilt of a knife, and that settled that.

Path To Godhood Session 4: The First Battle of the Gods

Characters:

Ajax Karo   -   Gregarious Hunter and Aspiring Kostis, God of Death and Plagues
Neilos   -   Aspiring God of The Sun and Plants
Steidis   -   Aspiring God of Fire and Smiths
Ursula Bearclaw   -   Klutzy Woodswoman and Aspiring Chelak, God of Bears and Independence

Time in Mantea

While Ajax was venturing through the Starlit Desert, 3 weeks passed outside.  Ursula spent that time resting and recovering from her time spent in hibernation.  Neilos did some work for Atlas and learned that the Azure City referred not to Mantea, but to Urbos.  Steidis was contacted by a man who represented a "mutal friend" who wanted to meet, but instead put "Operation Trouser Pants" into motion and constructed the two smaller bronze "belts" which would hold up the western and eastern mesas at incredible speed, then had to rest to recover from his expenditure of godly energy.

Once Ajax was back, he spent a day recovering under the care of the doctor the gods were retaining, then, with 13 days left to live, went to experiment with his new power of draining life.  First he tried to drain a squirrel, but failed to manifest his power.  He then asked the other gods for help, but Ursula wouldn't summon bears for him to kill, while Neilos suggested that he'd heard a rumour about the god of healing being in Urbos.  Later at night, he disguised himself in rags, then snuck onto a farm and tried to drain a sleeping pig, but likewise failed.  Still later, hefound a sleeping vagrant, and drained him fully; the young man dried out and skeletized, but Ajax was invigorated, having gained 7 more days of life (and 30HP).

The next morning, the party heard rumours that a man claiming to be Kostis was in Mantea and seeking The Pit.  While lounging about a public square, Ursula was approached by a woman in white that she didn't recognize, who struck up a conversation about the Still Harp.  Ursula interrupted her to ask if they'd ever met before, and the woman, confused, re-introduced herself as Evenia (to clarify, it was Evenia 2), and explained that they'd cooperated in the past, and that she'd like Ursula's help again.

Path To Godhood Session 3: The Starlit Desert

Characters:
Ajax Karo   -   Gregarious Hunter and Aspiring Kostis, God of Death and Plagues
Suraki Karo   -   Stinking Wagon Driver and Aspiring Neilos, God of The Sun and Plants
Steidis   -   Aspiring God of Fire and Smiths
Ursula Bearclaw   -   Klutzy Woodswoman and Aspiring Chelak, God of Bears and Independence

The Sealed Door

The gods continued to investigate the black door for clues as best they could, given it was night; Ajax looked for a "secret lever" but didn't find anything, then debated with the others whether the canyon they were standing in was the Starlit Desert, because it was physically below the door.  Considering that the door referred to numbers growing in darkness, Ursula looked around the ruins to see if anything had changed, but didn't notice anything.  Figuring this was a dead end for now, Suraki brought up one of his prophecies, which he thought would take place in Mantea proper:

In the Divided City He Shone Brighter than ever to banish the darknesss, but found Himself Consumed on His own pyre.

He was interpreting it as mostly literal, and so would need to go find flammable materials (trivial to acquire with Control Plants), then light himself on fire and use his Wild Talent to shine like the sun.  Having reminded himself that he could Control Plants, Suraki took a moment to see if he would be able to animate vines to pry open the door, but it was sitting perfectly flush so there were no openings.  Steidis went back to Mantea and used his fame from fixing the elevator to get some torches from patrolling guards, then came back to investigate the ruins with more light but still didn't find anything, so they broke for the night.

Ajax and Ursula made camp at the ruins in case something happened, and overnight Ajax had a vivid dream of a white orb moving through a black sky.  The next morning, the gods all reconvened at the ruins, and waited around until Atlas and the other scholars showed up.  Now looking more closely at random strangers, Suraki noticed that Atlas wore a pendant depicting an owl, and that a woman in white, possibly not affiliated with the scholars, was off on her own.  Ajax walked over and told Atlas their translation of the script on the door, and he muttered "that makes sense" before offering to aid the gods with his skills.

Path To Godhood Session 2: The Emperor

Characters:

Ajax Karo   -   Gregarious Hunter and Aspiring Kostis, God of Death and Plagues

Suraki Karo   -   Stinking Wagon Driver and Aspiring Neilos, God of The Sun and Plants

Steidis   -   Aspiring God of Fire and Smiths

Ursula Bearclaw   -   Klutzy Woodswoman and Aspiring Chelak, God of Bears and Independence

In His Light, They Were Fed

Looking to win the hunter-gatherers over to agriculture, Suraki focused on the foreign memories of how to use his latent godly powers.  Golden light emanated out from him, and a few moments later a stretch of open land outside the village was suddenly flattened, plowed, and bearing a bountiful harvest.  The villagers were awed, but confused.  Euandros asked why Suraki wanted them to worship this god "Neilos", when clearly Suraki had been the one to carry out this blessing.  After an explanation that he was going to be Neilos, but was travelling covertly because nobody would believe him, they settled into the village for the night.

The next morning, Suraki had regained some more godly memories, and remembered that he could now control plants, an ability which he used to aid the villagers in their first harvest.  During the work, a chat with Kassandra about who the rest of them were took an odd turn whe Suraki introduced Ajax as his friend, and not his brother.  Apparently, all Suraki's memories of his family members being actual family were gone, and when questioned about who he had been born to claimed to have emerged from the earth fully formed.  Somewhat concerned, the party started the day-long walk back to Susae to look for "The Thunderclap", who Ursula believed had to shock her with lightning twice, and talk to Koios before heading elsewhere.

Destroyed By Facts and Logic

The party didn't make it back until after dark, and as they walked back to Koios' school, heard no thunder.  While the rest of the city's denizens were crowding the taverns and pubs, the gods found Koios still in his "house of wisdom", alone; he disliked "pointless" socializing, and his only vice was knowledge.  Ursula engaged him in debate about what it meant for her to be struck twice by lightning, where Koios was even more hostile than usual, demeaning her for foolishly thinking that a it meant being literally struck by lightning, when it was clearly a metaphor (Ursula: "Met-uh-for?  Metal Foe?").

Path To Godhood Session 1: The Revelation

Characters:

Ajax Karo   -   Gregarious Hunter

Suraki Karo   -   Stinking Wagon Driver

Hamocrates   -   Honest Warrior

Ursula   -   Klutzy Woodswoman

Background

For generations, the world has wallowed in twilight.  After the death of the gods, the sun and moon have vanished, the ocean has grown barren, and crop yields have plummetted.  The once great cities of man have withered, and vast stretches of them lie ruined and uninhabited as their populations could no longer be supported.  Most of the knowledge from this golden age has been lost, as literacy in the old script vanished as the gods did.

Prophecy

The city of Metros was pierced by shouts from the town crier: the scholars at the Great Library had decoded part of the Metros Tablet, and made a great discovery!  The planets would soon come into alignment, and the time had come for the gods to be reborn!  Before the next day, they would reveal themselves at the amphitheatre, and you shall know them by their signs!  He then rambled on down a long list of prophecies for the pantheon of gods, and four people were drawn to some of his words.

Ajax, upon hearing of the death god Kostis, knew that he was his reincarnation, and his brother, Suraki, had the same reaction to hearing of Neilos, god of light and the harvest.  Hamocrates realized that he was destined to be Steidis, god of fire and the forge, and Ursula believed herself to be Chelak, the bear god.  One problem: Chelak's prophecy referred to a man, when she clearly was a woman, so someone must have made a mistake.

Postings of the signs of the gods had also been placed on a public board, which many people had crowded around, their skin bearing the typical tattoos most adults in Metros received upon entering adulthood.  Some were clearly gripped by the fervor of becoming a god, while others were just curious.  They each went to get a better look, and Ursula tore down Chelak's in fury.