Characters:
Ajax Karo - Gregarious Hunter and Aspiring Kostis, God of Death and PlaguesNeilos - 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.
The Moons Collide
Ursula agreed to help, but asked Evenia 2 to explain the situation more clearly, as she'd lost her memory. Evenia 2 had, following Ursula's earlier advice, found a woman in possession of the Still Harp, and had tried to gain possession of it, but had been unable to convince her to part with it. Ursula interjected to suggest that, following the "law of the forest", she should take it by force, but Evenia 2 had already tried "more direct methods" after her initial attempt and failed, driving the woman into hiding along with the Harp.
Evenia 2 now wanted Ursula to help track down this other woman, and Ursula proposed that she could use her bear form to follow the woman's scent, but she'd need something of hers to smell. Coincidentally, Evenia 2 had taken several things from the other woman's hideout after their last confrontation, and brought Ursula to her home to pick up the scent. Ursula transformed into her giant bear form indoors, pressing Evenia 2 into a wall and trapping herself. After breaking free (and destroying one of the walls), Ursula sniffed around the basket of things Evenia 2 had collected and picked up the trail.
The trail led them to a dilapidated building on the outer edge of the western mesa. Three unarmed men were standing guard outside, trying, but failing, to look inconspicuous. Evenia 2 asked Ursula to cause a distraction, so Ursula, still in giant bear form, bounded forward and started talking to them about the weather. While the guards were (understandably) distracted, Evenia 2 snuck down an alley. After several minutes, a woman screamed in the building, and the guards turned to dash back inside.
Ursula grabbed them in a giant bear hug, and, while they protested that they needed to get inside and "protect her", Evenia 2 came out the front door carrying a harp, her white dress covered in blood. The plan had worked, and Ursula luxuriated in her victory, while Evenia 2 told her to meet up where they had before and then ran off. After a few more minutes of holding the guards, Ursula bid them a good day, walked around a corner, and reverted back to her normal form.
Evenia 2 showed up at the square some time after Ursula, wearing a fresh dress, and thanked her again, then offered her assistance. After some time poring over her prophecies, Ursula asked if she had heard of "the treasure of Kerithmos"; she recalled something like that, and suggested they return to her home so she could examine some of the books she'd acquired to track down the reference. Ursula pointed out that she was perhaps being overly generous to call the building she'd ruined a home, but Evenia 2 seemed confident that it wouldn't be a problem once she gained more godly powers.
Feeling a bit guilty, Ursula mentioned that she knew a guy who was good at building stuff, and once Evenia 2 realized she was referring to Steidis, who had fixed the elevator and rope bridges, she asked to be put in touch and expressed her thanks. After some time clearing dust and debris, Evenia 2 found the reference she was looking for: Kerithmos had been a city-state that had been razed during the last Age of Gods, the only survivors those who had fled into the wilderness. Roughly 80 years ago, the city-state of Phocaea, north of Metros on the shores of the Green Lake, had suffered a similar fate.
Meanwhile, Ajax and Steidis had been resting back in their rooms, and Neilos had gone down into the canyon floor in search of healing plants, but found none. Ursula regrouped and tried to get Steidis to help repair "a building" she'd broken, and, after realizing this was a way to make up for abandoning her during her entombment, agreed to do so the next day.
The next morning, the gods heard disturbing news: one of the candidates claiming to be Doros had been murdered in Metros! Neilos pointed out that he must have gone there from Urbos at some point. Ursula led the gods to Evenia 2's home, and, after admonishing Ursula for working with someone who was opposed to his waifu, Evenia 1, Steidis got to work repairing the bear-shaped hole in the wall. After some time, he had the wall repaired, but the rubble had been too damaged to make it structurally sound. With some wooden reinforcements created by Neilos from a nearby shrub, Steidis finished the work and left her home better than it had been.
The Belt
While they were doing that, Ajax had been thinking about what kind of disease could produce the results shown on the walls in The Pit complex, and figured that it was almost certainly supernatural. After some rest, the gods headed to the Divided Palace's entrance hall to show off Steidis' accomplishments. The old lady who had been forced to escort them last time fled at thet sight of him, so Steidis pointed to another clerk, who also squeaked and fled. Ajax used his courtly manners to gain them a proper audience, after a short delay.
In the Divided Throneroom, the white queen blandly noted that Steidis had completed two thirds of his "belt", and he was annoyed that she didn't seem pleased. She continued that this was a decision which would affect the entire city, and was not one that she could reach lightly (the black queen chipped in to correct her to we), and proposed they inspect it along with a team of experts. Steidis was dismissive of these "experts", but agreed anyway.
Two hours later, Steidis was leading a tour of his Belt, and the experts agreed that it would hold up Mantea "just like pants". As he was explaining the ability to support additional homes in the "tactical pockets", much to the black queen's delight, Steidis noticed a small defect in a critical portion of the Belt. Closer inspection revealed that it was partially melted, and some faint scorch marks defaced the bronze. Neilos stepped up and Revealed Secrets to discover that another Steidis candidate had used magical fire to partially melt the Belt in an act of sabotage.
He asked the Matriarchs if they were aware of another Steidis in Mantea, and the white queen recalled that there had been another, but that he had left quite some time ago. The black queen proudly declared that Steidis would have access to whatever resources he needed to complete the Belt, while the white queen begrugdingly admitted her initial impression had been mistaken, at which point Steidis yelled in anger that the Matriarchs must hunt down this other Steidis to prevent him from sabotaging the city.
This backfired, as the white queen announced that if the threat was so great, the project must be halted until the other Steidis was dealt with, but the Matriarchs would not get involved in the affairs of gods. With the tour ended, they decided to focus on finding the other Steidis; figuring that other gods would also be looking for clues, they went to Atlas' worksite outside the Black Door.
The Hunt
Ursula tried to use Sex Appeal to find out if Atlas had met with another Steidis, but he kept his mouth shut until Neilos Revealed his Secrets and he stated that he had indeed met with a man claiming to be Steidis, as well as three others, and had given them directions to The Pit. Atlas shook himself back to normal and asked what had happened, and Neilos politely chided him that it was impossible to hide secrets from the light.
With this information, the gods discussed whether they should attack the other party, and how to do so. Ajax was still incredibly close to death from his time in the Starlit Desert, and Steidis had sustained heavy injury from over-using godly energy during his work on the Belt, but Ursula and Neilos were in good shape. After much discussion, they decided to attempt to ambush the other group; Steidis wanted to have Ajax drain some random guy and then just say he was the other Steidis so he could complete his prophecy, but he was outvoted.
Ajax picked up the other group's trail and didn't see any returning tracks, so they set up an ambush behind some bushes en route from The Pit. Neilos tried to Control Plants to make their hiding place harder to see, but failed. Ursula changed into her bear form in preparation for the "god-battle", and they settled into the bushes. When the other group finally showed up, they spotted the giant bear, so the gods lost the element of surprise, and combat was joined.
Steidis tried to shoot fire from his eyes again, but burned himself too badly with excess godly energy and was knocked unconscious, mortally wounded, while the other Steidis turned into a pillar of living flame and began scorching whoever he could get his hands on. Ajax and the other Kostis both fired Death Rays at each other, which cancelled out in an explosion of purple energy, then charged with knives. Ursula charged at the other Chelak, who turned his skin to bronze just before she arrived and was unharmed.
Neilos made some minor flashes of light, but not the disorienting mini-stars he'd been hoping for, and charged in with his staff, while his opposite sent vines and creepers towards them, trying to capture them. Outnumbered and with less godly abilities, the battle was lost horribly, but between some more "flash grenades" and Ursula's bear-speed, the gods were able to mount a retreat. Badly injured, they fled immediately to the docks, where they gained passage to Urbos.
Notes:
Prophecy Scoreboard:
Neilos 2
Ajax 1
Steidis 1
Ursula 1
Missing Memories:
Neilos Family, Mortal Name
Ajax Mortal Appearance
Steidis Mortal Name
Ursula The Last 5 Years
Poverty exists, but most people have families or social networks that will provide assistance, so there aren't tons of beggars etc. If Ajax starts draining and skeletizing a bunch of people in the same place, it will be noticed fairly quickly.
I mistakenly let them recover FP at normal GURPS rates instead of at the end of the day, which is what I've been doing in this campaign.
Steidis' sudden breakdown in the Belt inspection with the Matriarchs was due to a critical failure on default Diplomacy.
It's come up before, but most people in-setting don't want to work against a god, even if the person asking them to do so is another god.
I'd have put their odds at about 60% in the god-battle. They had a decent chance of ambushing, and were otherwise roughly evenly matched. The dice turned badly against them.
Ajax has 12 days to live. Steidis requires magical healing to recover from his mortal wounds; the options they're aware of are either finding a healer god or Ajax draining energy from some sacrifice into him.
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