GURPS Spooky Halloween "One-Shot" 2022 (Part 1)

Characters:

Dingus Nerdingham - Serendipity, Curious, Grocery Delivery, Could Be A Chemist, Has A Dog

Joe Schmoe - Enhanced Dodge, Violence Phobia, Bicycle Courier, Former Nurse, Caving

Zoe Lastgirl - Enhanced Dodge, Very Unfit, Food Delivery, Could Be A Carpenter, Accordion

Beef Hardbody - Very Fit, Darkness Phobia, Rideshare Driver, Could Be A Linguist, Basketball

I Really Need The Money...

The climate is imploding causing food shortages and mass displacement, the world is gripped by a global pandemic that has been declared not a big deal by those in charge, and "inflation" (which is definitely not just corporate price-gouging) has led to a formal policy to reduce employment to make labour's bargaining position more precarious...  But hey, those are Big Problems, and you just need to worry about making enough money to get by, which is why these four individuals found themselves working gig jobs that they were vastly overqualified for.

Joe had burned out of nursing during the "not pandemic", and took on the much less stressful job of being a bicycle courier in a major city with no cycling infrastructure.  Beef had found it impossible to get hired as a professor of linguistics due to issues with the established dogma in the field, and found himself taxiing other people around for barely enough money to get by.  Zoe had wanted to learn a trade, but then encountered systemic sexism and quit to deliver food instead.  Dingus had his chemistry degree, but had bombed the few interviews he'd had because the interviewers didn't like that he had brought his dog (don't they care that he has abandonment issues and can't be left alone?!).

Each of them had been lucky enough to, at one point or another, end up working for a wealthy client.  The man, a businessman in a suit with short undercut black hair, had given them a $100 tip and asked if they would be interest in working as waitstaff at a corporate gig later that week.  He understood it was short notice, so naturally the pay would be more than generous: $3000 cash for one night.  Each was given a business card by "Tad Crawley", who apparently worked for "Chester-Dreier-Kovacs" in marketing management, the logo simple boring red block letters over a grey oval.

Path to Godhood Session 31: The Godwar

Characters:

Kostis   -    God of Death and Plagues
Neilos   -    God of The Sun and Plants
Steidis   -   God of Fire and Smiths

Portents

The other gods reacted to Vunos' appearance in a variety of ways (Kostis suggested a grand feast, while Neilos retreated to a corner and brooded harder), but fell silent when he spoke again.  First, he said that it was good to be reunited after so long, then he asked how long it had been since they had all ascended to godhood.  Nephele spoke up first, stating that it had been just over 300 years, which prompted Vunos to remark that his belief seemed to have been correct.  He then asked what they knew of the cyclical rise and fall of the gods, but Kostis, who knew by far the most, played dumb and said that he would love to know what Vunos knew about it.

Vunos started from the basics (as best he knew): gods reincarnate as mortals, they complete some trials, and then ascend to godhood.  The world goes through a Golden Age, until, inevitably, the gods turn to infighting and kill each other, which plunges the world back into "Calamity", as he called it.  This all tracked with what Kostis and Steidis knew, and Kostis had a lingering suspicion that Vunos had been the unknown entity that had killed several gods in the prior cycle.  Vunos had never been the last god, and so did not know what happened to them, but was confident that they died too.

However, he had been through 3 prior cycles, and going by his experience, the longer the Golden Age, the longer the Calamity, and the Calamity was always longer than the Golden Age that preceeded it.  Therefore, to minimize the suffering of mortals and the world in general, it would be best if the gods voluntarily ended their reign prematurely by committing suicide.  While the other gods pondered this question, Neilos finally spoke up: if he had died, then why hadn't Vunos reincarnated with the rest of them?

Path to Godhood Session 30: The Golden Age

Characters:

Kostis   -    God of Death and Plagues
Neilos   -    God of The Sun and Plants
Steidis   -   God of Fire and Smiths

Flashback

In the months after they attained godhood, the group split up.  Neilos aided Meda in her prophecies in an attempt to make a good impression.  Kostis tracked down Simon the Sculptor and found that he had kept his promise never to pick up his tools again; for now, he was one of the new Syrinthan farmers, and fished on the side.  Steidis tried to help out Nephele in Syrinth, but left soon after arriving when a riot due to his presence seemed imminent and just wandered the cities until the appointed time.

In Metros, Doros was intent on establishing his own cult, and Kotum's faction of Steidis-worshippers were failing.  In Urbos, the Tetrarchs became the Triarchs when Chelak threw Voula Raptis and her infant son into the sea from the cliffside.  In Mantea, the White Queen died from the plague, while the Black Queen recovered.  She was able to seize a position as the sole monarch, and the remnants of the Circle's End cell in the city were ruthlessly hunted down.  In Eniad, Chelak slew the Emperor, putting a stop to a planned invasion of Syrinth.  Lastly, in Susae, a great typhoon sent by Keti flattened most structures in the city.

Homecoming

Drawn by the knowledge that something important had happened, the gods assembled in front of the stone gates high in the tallest mountain east of Syrinth, and once they all had arrived, Colossus pushed them open.  Beyond was a fantastic city of marble and gold, stretching up the side of the mountain all the way to the peak, and Colossus welcomed them home to Chrysos, the Golden City.  The plaza in front of them contained numerous bubbling fountains, but no residents.  According to Colossus, populating Chrysos was up to them.

Path to Godhood Session 29: Ascension

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

Reunification

Having completed his work, Steidis gave Ajax his weapon: a finely-wrought stylus.  The others were stashed away for now, and they teleported back to the God Galley with their powers.  From there, the gods split up: Steidis wanted to wait for Neilos at the meeting point in the Antominian Swamp, while Ajax was anxious to finish his prophecies, and teleported to Susae.  From there, he headed out at night into the hinterlands to the fort of Pirus' Rest and the Lionesses.  The next morning, Neilos arrived by boat at the docks of Susae, where he resolved to wait for the others.  During his stay, ge would notice that the city seemed even more ill-managed than during their last visit.

During their last meeting, the gods had said they would go deal with the princes, but they had gone back on their word (in a sense they had kept it, because they ended the civil war in a roundabout way) and were last seen walking in an entirely different direction.  Once at the fort, Ajax turned into a rat to and infiltrated it through a crack in the wooden walls.  The Lionesses had been hit by his plague, with a trail that had seen obvious use out the north end towards a series of burial mounds.  Ajax spent the next day or so observing the fort, and was able to figure out the local political situation.

• The people with influence all wanted to achieve full independence from the Susaean royalty, though they disagreed about the means to use
• Calypso, the matriarch they'd met with last time, wanted to use diplomacy
• Themis, a huge older woman and stern traditionalist, suggested they strike while Susae was weak from plague and the civil war, burning any noble holdings in the region to ash
• Sophia, the Eniadnan woman with a pet monkey on her shoulder, sided with whatever suggestion would result in the most glorious battle
• Marietta, the other young Eniadnan woman with a back tattoo of a lion, wanted to recover the artifact known as the Fleece of the Lion (which, according to legend, made the bearer invincible) to strengthen their position before negotiations
• Theodora, who was far more richly dressed than the others and had the weakest support base, had taken on the role of a mediator, siding with one group and then the other as necessary to keep things from escalating

Path to Godhood Session 28: The First and Second 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

Setting Up The Board

Before Neilos left with the unconscious Adlai, he asked Meda if she knew of the negative side effects of completing prophecies.  She joked that it made you get a little glowing orb that floated around your head, but he informed her that they were losing memories.  He only knew this because he had been travelling with companions, so as Meda was on her own, she may not have realized.  It was therefore very important to come up with some method of confirming that she owed him one in case she forgot recent history.

Neilos tried to convince her to finish his prophecy first, because that way it wouldn't be a problem, but she insisted that she would simply write a note to herself, and hold it in her hand when she completed the prophecy.  With that, she returned into the secret passage and closed it.  As Neilos moved across the open field outside of Eniad, some guards on the wall spotted him and ordered him to stop.  He did no such thing, but did change course to a different village for a while, to not give away where they were staying.

The gods regrouped at the farmhouse, with Ajax the last to arrive as he had to walk all the way from the swamp.  They spent the night planning who would go where, as Ajax wanted to use the distraction to go into the palace with Steidis and drink the acid he had brought for his prophecy while it would be largely empty.  When the sun rose, Firuz woke, and, upon seeing Adlai similarly tied up, asked if they would set him free now.  Ajax told himi it would be a bit longer, but he replied that he'd heard that before.

Path to Godhood Session 27: A Man to Trade

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

The Oracle

With Ursula still not able to use her powers, Steidis thought about sacrificing 33 people to his temple's flame to complete his "bonus" prophecy he'd learned from the ghost of the other candidate.  Considering how close Evenia seemed to be to breaking their deal if they inconvenienced her, though, he asked Firuz how to cure Ursula, and he revealed that the shard she had been stabbed with needed to be touched by Evenia.  Unfortunately, that shard had been stolen in Mantea, so it was still off the table.

The gods decided to visit the Oracle while they were in Urbos, to get some hints and new knucklebones for Firuz.  On the way, Neilos suggested they might be able to just hand Firuz over to Meda instead of completing her prophecy.  Remembering Meda's hatred for nobles, they then thought over their past interactions with Firuz and decided that his lack of courtly manners meant he was not nobility.  Ajax noticed that the recruiters for the Pirrus candidates were nowhere to be seen, likely due to his plague.  At the temple, the gods were allowed straight through, but Firuz would have to wait in the antechamber.  This resulted in them going in one at a time to make sure he didn't leave or trick Steidis who is very gullible.

Steidis learned what things he had to forge for the Armoury of the Gods, and Neilos was told that the Emperor could accept Firuz in exchange for Meda fulfilling her prophecy, depending on his mood.  Ajax asked what would happen when a god finished all of their prophecies.  Simply put, they would ascend to godhood, causing all other candidates of the same god to fail, and would become immortal until they died.  They all inhaled the swirling vapours in the inner chamber, but Steidis got nothing.  

Path to Godhood Session 26: The Chained 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

Mannapping

After seeing that the silver charm dispersed the stormclouds that usually followed Keti, the gods decided to use her to abduct Firuz.  The plan was for her and Ajax to accost him somewhere, beat him into submission, have Ajax tie him up in a net, and then have Keti fly away, with Firuz trailing behind, far enough back that any charms he had on him would be out of range.  As a backup plan, Evenia and Neilos would be waiting on her boat in the harbour, and Steidis would be waiting outside of Eniad, waiting for a signal from Neilos to start lighting things on fire as a distraction.

Neilos suddenly realized that Keti had come within range of the charm and hadn't instantly flown into a rage about being charmed by Evenia, which suggested that either Evenia's powers persisted or that she had never charmed Keti in the first place.  Steidis made the net + rope easily enough, then Ajax and Keti took it and walked to Eniad to learn Firuz' appointments for the next few days to find a place to ambush him en route, and to retrieve Evenia and her goons.  The guards at the gate found the giant net odd, but let them through.

Jibril Malik, whose arm was still in a sling after his wrestling match with Adlai, was more than willing to point Ajax towards another gathering that Firuz was to attend.  Working off of this, Ajax determined which bridge he was most likely to cross during his transit.  Evenia was not enthused about having to trek back through the swamp two more times, and said that this would be the last time she helped them other than the original agreement to make Neilos fall in love with Meda.

Path to Godhood Session 25: The Emperor's Charms

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

A Party

Before Adlai could wander off, Ajax approached him to make polite small talk, and skillfully turned the discussion to the Emperor's right hand man, Firuz, and his strange charms.  Adlai didn't seem talkative, and rocked back and forth as Ajax spoke, possibly due to Evenia's powers.  However, he was more than willing to get him the "Charmformation" he sought, as he and Firuz were actually on good terms.  It could even be possible to acquire a charm for him to peruse, in exchange for a favour.  Having recently taken up wrestling, Adlai was interested in showing off to the assembled nobles, so he would appreciate if Ajax could find him an opponent, and no offense to Ajax, but he seemed a little frail.

As luck would have it, Ajax's sponsor, Jibril Malik, was up for the challenge, and the two men stripped down, oiled up, and get into a makeshift ring in the dirt of the garden.  The two grappled while the crowd cheered on, with Adlai even doing some showboating acrobatics before bending Jibril's arm at an inappropriate angle and forcing him to submit.  Ajax approached Adlai, who thanked him for getting Jibril to fight him, and promised to deliver a charm "at some point".  After giving him the location where Evenia and her goons were staying, Ajax went to mingle with other guetsts.

Glancing around the party, he spotted Abessa Rostami, the Emperor's Marshall, wearing a bright blue tunic, conservative by Eniadnan noble standards, with the golden pendant of a hand gripping a sword displayed on her chest.  Unfortunately, Firuz joined her before Ajax could, apparently to discuss scorpions and other insects, and he'd rather keep his distance from the soothsayer.  Instead, he turned and found Mahali Abbasi getting "the fun kind of drunk" as best he could.

Path to Godhood Session 24: The Man With The Scorpion

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

Changing Course

Ajax wondered what to think about the transition to godhood, as the cost of losing all of one's memories was slightly terrifying.  In addition, they seemed to be driven to pursue divinity, and he doubed how much of that was his own thoughts.  Steidis explained that he got past this problem by simply not thinking about it.  Figuring that his prophecy in Susae would be harder, Ajax suggested they go to Eniad, and the other two agreed.  They all teleported back to Mantea to pick up Punished Evenia, as per her agreement with Neilos.

Evenia wasn't excited, but honoured her word.  She would arrange her own passage, though, clearly still not trusting the gods after their earlier betrayal.  Neilos told her not to go to the city directly; they would find her vessel and guide it into the swamps.  When the gods returned to the God Galley, Steidis discovered that the god-slaying mirror shards were missing.  He saw into the past through the "eyes" of the Galley, and witnessed two men stealing the sack containing the shards, one of whom he recognized as one of those who had been tailing them earlier.

The thieves had randomly checked everything on the Galley before finding the shards, which they reacted to as though they knew of their importance.  They had taken nothing else.  The gods decided this was a low priority, and if necessary, they could probably find the shard they had left in the other Steidis they had murdered in Syrinth, even if the body had been dumped in a bog.  Steidis stoked the God Galley's fire even hotter than normal, and they made the trip to Eniad in only 3 days.

The Antominian Swamp

Seeking one of the "worms" in the hopes that they were juvenile Drakkons (Steidis still needed their blood), Ajax found the spot where they'd landed last time, though the bloated corpse was now entirely gone.  Neilos interrogated the nearby trees about the whererabouts of the worms, but they had left quite some time ago.  The only thing they learned is that they had spread out.  The gods spent the rest of the day searching for a worm, but it was difficult.  If they were Drakkons, they weren't yet killing all the plants in their vicinity, which left them chasing after subtle tracks in a swamp.

Path to Godhood Session 23: The Moon's Collapse

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

The Bringers of Toxin

After quite a bit of discussion, the gods headed to Metros to hunt another Achaierus for Ajax's prophecy.  Reconstruction was underway, if uncoordinated, and the ash and soot in the air soon formed a thin layer of grit in their mouths (except for Steidis, who no longer needs to breathe).  The gods tracked down Atlas easily enough, as his dark Susaean skin stands out.  He was annoyed that, after the death threats, they had left before he ever arrived in town.  He didn't hold it against them, though, as there was a wealth of information to be translated, and he was happy here.

Unfortunately for Atlas, Steidis informed him that he was going to have to back to Mantea to work in the "Linguistics Mines".  He tried to object, but stopped when Steidis made a threatening gesture, and dejectedly walked away to pack his things.  That taken care of, the gods headed back to the ruined city of Phocaea a day north of town, and found the Achaierus' lair once more.  They realized they'd forgotten their purifying masks, so Steidis smithed some more out of the birds' metal feathers.

They tried to have Neilos lure one out again, but they saw through his deception, and the four-legged metal birds lunged at him together.  The gods killed some of the Achaieri in the initial scuffle, but were careful to leave three alive for future harvesting, suffering only minor scratches themselves.  Ajax dug into one of the corpses, freeing a cloud of the maddening black smoke that served as the creature's blood, hoping to extract the organ that was the source of the poison.

Path to Godhood Session 22: A Lion Slain

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

Betrayal

Suddenly remembering that they'd agreed to help Punished Evenia, Ajax asked her what aid she wanted.  She bluntly stated that the other Evenia candidate had the Still Harp, and they just had to take it back.  When he asked if she had a plan, she grew frustrated that he seemed to think she'd just been twiddling her thumbs while they were gone.  She had built up a veritable army of spies who were tracking the other candidate's every move, but she'd gone into hiding for now.

Neilos didn't care for any of this, because he had places to be, and could not be convinced to help her.  Keti insulted them for going back on their word, at which Neilos retorted that he'd said that he would offer aid in return for aid; as Evenia had done nothing to aid them, she would receive none.  The gods went to find the "local smartman" only to remember halfway there that Steidis had bullied Atlas into going to Metros.

They attempted to translate the text on the walls of the black stone ruins on their own, but only Neilos succeeded at translating  part of a prophecy (which he kept a secret).  As they continued on to the docks, Steidis noticed some men tailing them.  Figuring them to be Circle's End agents, and not worth dealing with at the moment, the gods just ignored them for now.  Once they'd boarded the God Galley, they argued over where to go next for some time before finally setting sail for Syrinth.

Path to Godhood Session 21: The Dead Kings

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

The Lionesses

As the gods journeyed southwest with Keti in pursuit of the Ouranoi, Ajax hunted a deer and drained it.  After several days of passing through farming villages and asking after the beast, they came to a wooden fort flying banners of a golden lioness on red (which Ajax determined was not the flag flown by Lady Pirrus in the highlands of Urbos), and gained entry by declaring their godhood to the women guarding it and Neilos making a promise of aid.

The gates opened, and one of the guards, a young Eniadnan woman, came down to escort them through the fort.  On the inside, it was apparent that there were only perhaps 30 people, all Susaean, and that all of the women wore armour.  As they walked to a central tent, Ajax observed that their escort had a back tattoo of a lion.  They were introduced to Calypso, an old yet fit woman in a bright red tunic with ritual scars on her face, who still wore armour and had a spear in arms reach.  She dismissed their escort, her "daughter", before welcoming the gods to their home.

When asked what aid they might want, Calypso, entreated the gods to make a deal with the three princes that had declared war on the king of Susae.  The kings had often been at odds with the Lionesses, who claimed independence, but since the old king's death, they had reached an agreement, one of their number having become a concubine of the new king.  The princes, however, didn't care, and had all but declared war on them, raiding them and the villages they protected for supplies before taking them back to their camp in the northwest.

Path to Godhood Session 20: The Orca Crown

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

The King

After thinking about who else might have information they needed, the gods decided to go visit the King Ioannis IV of Susae to see if he could tell them about the Ouranoi.  They easily obtained a meeting, and found the palace in chaos.  The king had just returned from the latest battle of the civil war, against the armies of his three younger brothers and their supporters.  A hundred crises had exploded during his absence, and each needed his attention.  When the gods found him, the King, wearing a plain crown depicting a seahorse, was looking over a map of the countryside while trying to determine which nobles were supplying the traitors with soldiers.

Ajax interrupted, and after introductions were made, asked after the Ouranoi.  The King replied that it rang a bell, but he couldn't remember any details; he turned to his mob of advisors and one squawked that he would find the lore they sought.  Apparently the information wasn't going to be free, as the King remarked that Susae could use the aid of powerful patrons.  As the gods could surely tell by the fact that the Seahorse wasn't a god, the Orca Crown had been stolen ten days earlier, and he was having to make due.  The lack of legitimacy that came from losing the crown, and the blessing of the Orca, queen of all the gods, was undermining his rule, and he'd appreciate if the gods could get it back.

The Thieves

While they had discovered who had taken the crown, the culprits had vanished, and their patron was a mystery.  There were many possibilities; in addition to the nobles who had openly declared for his brothers, there were many more who might take this opportunity to try to gain more personal power.  Further questions and Steidis' ability to see the past of objects pieced together how it had happened: while the king was on campaign, three soldiers guarding the throne room had beaten one of their compatriots unconscious, then grabbed the crown from where it and the rest of the royal jewels rested, before leaving the city by means unknown.

Path to Godhood Session 19: The Dwindling God

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

Ashes

After bringing Steidis up to speed, Ajax got him to reforge his dagger into a metal stylus, which he was now more comfortable with, and then the gods walked back to the remains of Metros.  Despite all of them having now forgotten their time there, the other gods had told Neilos of the philosopher in Susae before losing their memories, and he told them that they should seek him out for help with their prophecies, as there was now no reason for them to stay here.

On the second day of the journey, Steidis realized that his internal flame was burning out.  Luckily, he had a way to keep it going: lighting himself on fire.  This would keep him going a bit longer, but wasn't sustainable (he would eventually die from burn wounds), so the gods changed their objective to finding a Doros to heal him.  At the outskirts of Metros, they came across the philosopher Kotum, badly burned and covered in soot, who prostrated himself in front of Steidis and blubbered out his thanks for listening to his prayers.

Kotum asked what he could do to repay Steidis' favour, and was told to build statues in his honour, and to "rebuild Metros as the town you'd like to see".  He bowed as he walked away, then the gods continued on into what was left of the city.  Large crowds of refugees crowded the docks, looking for a way out, while most ships had already left when the fire started.  After yelling at one of the soot-covered survivors, Steidis tracked down Noble Doros, who was resting on a pile of blankets after spending the last few days treating the (many, many, many) wounded, with powers and without.

Path to Godhood Session 18: Metros Ablaze

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

Metros

The gods arrived in the early morning to find the city covered by a light mist.  As they walked up from the docks, they overheard a nobleman, still drunk from the night before, complaining to his companion about a woman who had called him a drunkard.  Figuring they didn't have enough knowledge to work towards any prophecy at the moment, the gods split up and asked questions around town.  Neilos learned that no new gods had arrived in Metros recently, while Ajax discovered that "The Razored Tongue" in one of his prophecies was likely Melite Floros, a noblewoman who had apparently been (accurately) insulting other nobility at gatherings.

Steidis, meanwhile, went to his home to burn the bodies which Ajax assured him belonged to his family (for a prophecy, not out of sentiment), but they weren't there.  He decided to just burn the building down in case that would work, but wasn't able to get it to catch.  In an attempt to track down the bodies, Steidis then yelled at a random child in the street until he told him where the city burial sites were.  Later, Ajax hunted a deer to Life Drain, while Neilos shut himself in a room in his family's home (not that he remembers them as such) when the sun set due to his fear of darkness.

The next morning, they tracked down the overseer of the burial sites, a wizened old crone with bedraggled, hip-length white hair named Athania.  Neilos lied, claiming that Steidis had been out of town and wanted to visit his family's gravesites to pray to the god of death for them, and they were led to the site where the bodies had been buried.  Athania started to scuttle off, but Steidis interrupted her to ask how they had died; she hadn't seen any wounds or signs of disease, and figured they were cursed.

Path to Godhood Session 17: The Volcano Unerupted

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

Conspiracy

The black queen's guard formed a tight circle around her at the sight of the bodies, while Neilos explained that they had attacked him and tried to free the prisoner.  She conceded that there did seem to be something untowards happening, which prompted Neilos to give her the list of co-conspirators they'd gained previously.  Fortunately, none of her personal guard were on the list, but many of the others were powerful Mantean nobles.  From there, they discussed what would happen to the surviving "assassins".

Regardless of the gods' divinity, if someone had tried to assassinate someone in the palace, that would be an affront to the authority of the queens, which would merit a death sentence.  Even if they were only there to free the prisoner, they had brought weapons into the palace, which was punishable by a period of enslavement.  Ajax asked if they might be able to mete out their own justice, as the authority of the gods superseded that of the queens.

The black queen agreed, and offered up three of the six survivors for them to do with as they wished, though she also pointed out that they were technically violating the prohibitions on weapons with their presence.  Regardless, she dropped the issue, and Ajax Life Drained one of the survivors to heal Neilos' wounds while making an extremely chilling declaration on the perils of defying the gods.  As that display concluded, the queen asked if they had any more evidence.  She trusted their word, of course, but something more concrete might sway those who doubted them.

Path to Godhood Session 16: The Royal Circle

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

A Return to Mantea

The gods arrived at the coast near Mantea, and walked through the canyons to reach the city proper.  Just before boarding the Grand Elevator of Steidis, a piercing note echoed through the air, forcing everyone to cover their ears.  It slowly faded away to a just-audible tone over a minute, and Ajax asked a local whether this was normal.  The man informed them of the Whistling Rock which wandered the canyons, and figured that it must be closer to the city than usual.

As they rose into the city, they noticed that more of the "islands" seemed to have fallen away during their absence, and that the "Belt" that Steidis had almost finished was totally gone, the stone where it had been scorched black.  On their way to the Divided Palace to check in with the two queens, Steidis aggressively asked after any new god candidates, and learned that one of the Evenias had come out of hiding, though he wasn't able to figure out which one.  Additionaly, the other Chelak, Kostis, and Neilos had come back, but left shortly thereafter.

At the Palace, Ajax was able to arrange an audience with the queens through one of the purple-clad clerks, and they were led through.  On the way, they passed a man with a spectacular moustache sporting an ostentatious red robe.  Once in the throne room the usual formal introductions were made, then the white queen cooly welcomed them back after their long absence.  Steidis declared that he had finally killed his rival, which prompted the black queen to declare thta this explained why there had been only three when the other group had returned to Mantea.

Path to Godhood Session 15: The Colossus

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

A Deliberate Error

Neilos was able to convince "Old Nephele" that they were willing to help (with a critical on Fast-Talk), and so she told them what she knew of Steidis' marriage prophecy.  Whichever Nephele candidate he proposed to first would immediately lose her powers, and no, Phaedra was not a candidate.  Her plan had been for Steidis to propose to the Urbosan woman (nicknamed "Shy Nephele") first, and then marry Old Nephele.  Neilos asked what she would gain from this, but other than having a powerful god for an ally, she would only gain peace of mind that she could no longer be de-powered.

The gods asked after the visions they'd been seeing, and Old Nephele informed them that each vision corresponded to one god candidate, and that it was easier to see them for her due to here affinity for prophecy.  The range at which they would receive one was fairly short, but variable.  Neilos wanted to know what visions she saw from them, and learned that his was a bright light, Steidis' was a raging flame consuming a man, and Ajax' was a skull with flies pouring out of one eye socket.

Old Nephele theorized that as they gained more divinity, they would see the visions more reliably, but when Neilos stated that Steidis had been seeing the most of them, she didn't have a response.  They moved to discussing the next course of action, and she wanted Steidis to go propose to Shy Nephele, but warned them that she had the same information on the prophecy, so she might try to stop him from doing so.

Path to Godhood Session 14: A Brief Marriage

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

An Anonymous Marriage

The Syrinthan woman asked for clarificatoin on Steidis' proposed quid pro quo, while the Urbosan woman tensed up even further.  Seeing her discomfort, Steidis asked if she'd like a glass of water, but she declined with a squeak.  Neilos, still not sure if either of these women was actually the goddess Nephele, tried to detect some trace of divinity but unsurprisingly didn't notice anything.  To "clarify" his intent, Steidis stated that he was "looking for love" and waited for the others to respond; the Syrinthan smiled, while the Urbosan gulped audibly.

Still taking the lead, the Syrinthan woman agreed that something could be arranged.  The Urbosan, for her part, started sweating bullets and blushing, but stayed silent (Neilos: "These emotions confuse me").  While she understood that Steidis wanted to keep his secrets, the Syrinthan stated that she could be open about what she wanted aid with.  You see, there was a fishing village one day north of the city (Neilos: "Now I gulp audibly").

A Merchant Prince had recently acquired the land and driven the villagers out to dig a mine, but the land needed to stay pristine so that a ritual could be carried out and a prophecy fulfilled.  The Syrinthan needed them to remove the miners, soldiers, and anyone else who would defile the lands from the area, though she left the actual methods up to them.  Steidis asked if she had already tried negotiating with the Prince, and she claimed that she had, though he wasn't convinced she was telling the truth.  Now, Steidis clarified his intentions: he wanted to marry the Syrinthan woman.

Path to Godhood Session 13: A Feast of Souls

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

The Dead God Speaks

The gods carried the deceased rival Steidis out into the swamps, away from any witnesses, and, after discussing whether their Steidis wanted to steal a replacement arm (he didn't, as it turned out), Ajax forced the corpse to answer their questions.  The dead god's eyes opened, but were clouded white despite dying extremely recently.  They asked after his prophecies, and though they were in present tense and second person, they mostly matched those that Steidis had been given.  There was one outlier: the other Steidis had one entirely different prophecy, which read "You offer thirty-three souls up to the purifying flame".

The different phrasing of the others were enough to give him some insights, however.  For one, a "twelve-legged lion" matched his need for golden hide, and likely referred to the legendary Fotian Lion, rumoured to live in the volcano above Urbos.  Second, the Edge of the World was identified as Metros, due to it being referred to as "the city of the library".  

Unfortunately, the other Steidis had apparently been a loner, and hadn't known anything as useful when it came to the prophecies of his companion gods.  The questioning continued for some time, and they gained some information:

Path to Godhood Session 12: A Flame Extinguished

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

Reunion

Neilos woke up in a fancy bed in the Metaxas estate, and this time he got a slave put the shards of the mirror in a sack instead.  He checked in with Pan, then teleported back up to the sun and down to the outskirts of Syrinth; when he was in the sun, he felt a presence similar to his own.  Neilos then walked back into town and found the other gods at the place they'd been staying.  Happy they wouldn't have to wait a week, Ajax suggested they go find a smith to turn the mirror shards into weapons.

They found one easily, a woman named Lyssa who took care to stay clean despite the dirty work, and Neilos started the conversation oddly by reciting the Circle's End code phrase.  From her perspective, this man just seemed unhinged.  When she saw how careful they were with the shards, she asked what was going on, and Neilos informed her of their divinity (thought not which specific gods they were).  Lyssa agreed to make a backspike for Steidis' hammer, and told them it would be done in two days.  Neilos tried to volunteer Steidis to assist with her work, but he refused ("My honor!"), and she wasn't interested at any rate.

To prepare for dealing with the beguiling lights, Ajax and Neilos wanted Steidis to make a mirrored shield, in the hope that the lights' hypnotic power wouldn't work through a reflection.  He bought the required bronze, but failed to use his powers to create it instantly, and stopped when they realized it would take several days.

Path To Godhood Session 11: The Rekindled Sun

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

The Missing Assistant

Ajax tried to pick up Rini's tracks, but it had been 3 days since she'd gone missing, there had been a heavy storm, and it was a swamp, so he found nothing.  The gods asked around Syrinth as to what might cause someone to go missing in the swamp.  Boring explanations like "if your light source goes out it's really easy to get turned around" weren't much help, but then they found a "swamp fisher" who claimed that there were beguiling lights out in the swamp that only showed up in pure darkness.  You're going to want to walk towards them, but you have to resist, because those who followed the lights were never seen again!

As the god of "the sun" (which is, allegedly, a bright light), Neilos wanted more information about the lights, and the swamp fisher told him what he knew, which wasn't much.  He'd once seen them while out harvesting swamp fish way into the darkness, with all his light sources turned off.  Ajax asked whether groups could be affected, and the fisher figured they probably had been, otherwise how would people know that the ones who'd followed the lights had never been seen again?

They discussed what to do with this information, and Ajax noted that Syrinth's unnatural darkness seemed to be more absolute than the starlit desert.  Neilos decided to ask around if there were any other gods in town, but didn't turn anything up.  While they were walking around the city, Steidis momentarily saw a vision of a cresting wave gently rolling into the shore in twilight.  He told the others of this, and put forth a theory: the swamp eats people and then moves the remains to the sea.

Path To Godhood Session 10: The Land of Night

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

Hunting The Lioness

Ajax wasn't a fan of Pirus 1's attempt to get him to kill the other two candidates (and doubted he could pull it off anyway), so they went into a team huddle to discuss their options.  After a while (35 minutes real-time), they broke off and Steidis attempted to intimidate Pirus by threatening to tell Pirus 3, whose forces were still at full-strength, that she was wide open to an attack.  She was unmoved, and said that she knew the gods weren't on good terms with Pirus 3, so their actions would be irrelevant.  Neilos Revealed Pirus' Secrets, and asked what she wouldn't want the other gods to know.  In a semi-dazed state, she replied that she had spies in their camps.

Out of further ideas, the gods charged Pirus 1, intending to wound her badly enough that she would request them to stop.  Ajax shot out death rays, Steidis fired fire from his eyes, and Neilos fired off blinding flashes of light, while Pirus failed to activate any of her own powers, but grabbed a spear and was able to hold them off and retreat outside.  While most of her men were disabled by the sickness Ajax had spread in their camp, Pirus herself was far more capable in a fight than they had anticipated, and the gods were forced to flee.

Homecoming

Thinking he was locked out of that prophecy for now, Ajax told the other gods that they might as well go somewhere else.  Eventually, they settled on going back to Metros, and after Ajax drained the life from a lost child to stave off his steadily approaching death, they booked passage on a ship.  They ended up docking after dark, and found a group of militia dragging a dishevelled looking man out of town.  Exile was a fairly common punishment, but the gods decided to follow along in case something interesting happened.

Path To Godhood Session 9: The Three Lions

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

The Assembly

The Tetrarchs sat on a raised dais, while Neilos made his case for instituting public trials, the Urbosan nobility in the crowd arguing with each other and him over the proposal.  One horrified noble asked if he was planning to cancel public executions; the crowd gasped, and one noblewoman fainted.  The ensuing discussion about whether trials overseen by the Tetrarchs would help stop the Eniadnan spies took several hours, and was only settled when Pan Metaxas intervened and brought up that the nobility would appreciate the new trials if they were accused of espionage.

It was all for show, as the gods had already secured the votes of three of the Tetrachs, and after some haggling between Pan and Lamia Michelakis, the new law was instituted.  The assembly continued on, but the gods left; they didn't care about the nobility's struggles with crops being seized by the battling armies on the highlands.  Instead, they headed to Natasa's to check in on the Acantha situation.  After a short wait in the lounge, Natasa emerged from the dungeon, lightly spattered with blood.  Apparently Acantha had given up enough of her co-conspirators that they were confident they could take down most of the spy ring, so they could start the trial the next day.

The Trial

The trial was held in the city's amphitheatre, dug into the base of Mt. Fotia, with nobles looking down from hot-spring balconies.  The Tetrarchs held court, with Neillos behind Pan, and Acantha was brought out.  The evidence Arethusa had found in her quarters turned out to be orders signed by an imperial official, and several co-conspirators testified that Acantha was the leader.  It wasn't particularly dramatic, but she was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Path To Godhood Session 8: The Circle's End

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

The Konstoninus Estate

While waiting in their apartments, Neilos tried to use his powers to fill in the missing half of the map of the Raptis estate, but they weren't working.  A while later, Kallisto came to fetch them and took them out into the street to rendezvous with the 10-man goon squad she'd been able to call up on such short notice, and they headed to one of the side entrances of the Konstoninus estate.  Kallisto was sent forward to intimidate the pair of guards into letting them through on "Hunter's business", and they parted and unlocked the door, but stayed at their posts.

As they crossed the grounds to the inner doors, Kallisto suggested going in loud because nobody other than herself (and possibly Ajax) were remotely capable of stealth.  This lead to a discussion of how suitable their powers were for taking prisoners (Neilos somewhat, the others not at all), and a decision for the gods to take point as they headed to the second-floor apartments, where prisoners would likely be held.  Predictably, their large group was spotted by a lone man who cried out that there were intruders and ran off.

Neilos grabbed him with some decorative flowers nearby, and the party decided to rush forward and engage the foe before they could organize themselves.  They spilled into a long hall where 15 armed men were trying to form up and the two forces clashed.  Up the stairs, a dozen of the house Raptis guards in blue tabards waited, blocking one hallway but not intervening.  What was left of the warped mirror was brought out, and several of the enemy drew shards of it, but the gods wisely sent their goon squad in to engage the shard-wielders while they hung back and tried to use their powers.

Path To Godhood Session 7: The Warped Mirror

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

The Meeting

Just now realizing that they hadn't discussed any plan with Natasa, Neilos asked what they should do in a whisper.  She replied that they would listen in on the meeting to determine if Voula Raptis was associating with the Eniadnan spies, and then move in to apprehend them.  From where they were, she couldn't hear anything, so she snuck under the bridge on which the Tetrarch, carrying her child and speaking from behind a circle of her guards, was meeting the spies.  The negotiator for the spies had the pale white skin of a Mantean, which was somewhat odd, as the spies were supposed to be Eniadnans working with the local Urbosans.  None of the gods felt sneaky, so they held back, ready to charge up a rough incline to the left when Natasa gave them the signal.

Apparently Neilos' ears were sharper than Natasa's, because he was able to hear the discussion from their hiding spot.  Sure enough, they were negotiating the terms of the spies bodyguarding Voula in exchange for "the mirror", and once the deal was struck, a shrouded object was brought forward by two guards, the disturbance in the formation revealing a lion wearing bright silver "armour" beside her.  The cloth cover was removed and beneath was what could only generously be called a "mirror".  It was as though a fine 6' gilded mirror had been stretched and twisted, now utterly useless.

The gods were inflicted with a sense of imminent doom upon seeing it, and Neilos froze in shock, rendering them unable to further hear the conversation.  Ajax walked Neilos back into the passage they'd come from to try and slap some sense into him in a place where they wouldn't alert the others.  One of the spies came forward to inspect it and seemed to approve, so the two groups went to leave.  Natasa signalled to Steidis and Ursula to launch the attack, but they failed to notice her, so she walked over and in hushed tones told them that it was go time and began to sneak up the incline, followed shortly by Ursula.  Steidis apparently had other ideas and went to check on Ajax and Neilos, leaving Natasa and Ursula alone.

Traveller Session 4: Verorum (Part 3)

Player Characters:

John A Rico - Former Star Marine

Rocke Ramora - Thief-Turned-Trader

Willy Warder - Noble Administrator

NPC Crew:

Zuleikah - Money-Obsessed Astrogator

A Quick Departure

Rocke gazed on in horror as "his" ship crashed into the bright-red ship one berth over and came to a stop at a 30-degree angle, crammed onto the platform.  He, Rico, and Overseer Paulus Calidius started down the concourse towards the ship, planning to climb up to the airlock intercomm.  A rocket launched from somewhere off to their right, streaking towards the star marine patrol corvette which they just now noticed hovering higher up in the dome, and the sound of gunfire echoed off in the distance.  They jogged towards the ship, Rico carrying their 5kg of immortality drugs.

Meanwhile, Willy and Zuleikah yelled at each other on the bridge ("You should have piloted the ship!" "I told you, I'm not a pilot!" "Well neither am I!").  The ship was obviously way off-kilter, but neither of them were certain if it was stable, or if it was about to fall off the platform.  The crowd that had been around the red ship they'd collided with dispersed, so Willy lowered the entry ramp; as the ship was still at a steep angle, the bottom of the ramp was still 6' in the air.  He then used the intercomm to ask if anyone was injured, but nobody responded other than Zuleikah, who was one chair over.

Wanting to check on their "passenger" Willy brought the camera for the main airlock up and heard a bunch of pathetic moaning from the nobles who had been aboard during the crash ("Are there any other secret cameras I can check?" "Only Rocke knows about those" "Hey, those were supposed to be secret!").  After some fiddling with the computer system he was able to force a connection to the room GX-415 had been locked in, and he claimed to be injured but it didn't sound urgent.