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  Ajax asked if they might be able to mete out their own justice, as the authority of the gods superseded that of the queens.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.