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
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.
Massacre
Despite the return of sunlight to the city, the stone buildings of Syrinth still glistened with a thin layer of moisture. The noise of construction crews filled the air, as numerous decorations were being repaired or installed on parts of buildings that had previously been out of sight in the permanent darrkness. They were headed for Agathi the astrologer in her building outside the city, but as they went, a whispering crowd grew behind them.
When hatchets and pitchforks began to show up in the hands of the mob, the gods grew concerned, but worried about what to do (Steidis: "If we just kill them all, the survivors will probably get even angrier"). Steidis yelled at them to disperse, but the mob held its ground before a rock was thrown at the gods, and someone yelled "We're not going to take any orders from you!". Though Ajax would prefer to just leave, Neilos and Steidis preferred violence, so the gods turned to face the crowd.
In a show of mercy, Neilos only manifested blinding flashes of light. Steidis and Ajax had no such "non-lethal" powers, so flaming discs were hurled into the crowd, followed by a stream of death rays. In the face of such abilities, the mob stood no chance, and those who weren't massacred promptly fled, leaving the gods to continue their errand. Unfortunately, as they approached Agathi's dwelling, Ajax's fear of the outdoors took hold, and he retreated. Neilos similarly refused to speak to mortals, so only Steidis would benefit from this detour after all.
Agathi seemed well enough, and offered her assistance in deciphering their prophecies; Neilos tried to figure it out on his own without her help, but was utterly hopeless. Steidis learned that the Drakkon he needed to hunt was adapted to see in darkness, so it would be disoriented by bright lights. In an effort to avoid another mob, the gods took a more circuitous route to the docks, but were accosted by the Nephele that Steidis had married on the way.
She was furious, demanding to know why they'd just slaughtered dozens of random mortals. Did he have any idea how hard this would make things for her in the future? Steidis said that he would take responsibility for their actions, but when Nephele asked how exactly he would do so ("What, you're going to get up in front of a crowd and say 'I did all the violence, don't blame any other gods'?"), he shrugged and confessed that he wasn't actually going to do anything.
Grumbling, Nephele proclaimed that Steidis would owe her for this (apparently forgetting the other two gods who had participated in the massacre), which he reluctantly agreed to. Neilos butted in to explain that this wasn't fair, but dropped it when he learned that they could continue their travels for now, as Nephele couldn't think of a way to make this right. She left in a huff, and Steidis was just relieved to see she was still wearing the ring he'd given her. Again, the gods argued where to go next, and settled on Urbos.
Urbos
As soon as they docked, the gods headed directly to the Temple of the Oracle for more help deciphering their prophecies. Neilos took his meeting privately to keep something secret from the others. Ajax learned that the three "Bringers of Toxin" he needed to harvest were the Achaierus, Drakkon, both of which they'd already encountered, and the Necrophidius, which they hadn't. Steidis, figuring he had all the clues he needed, gave his question to Ajax, who learned that he needed specifically the venom glands of the Drakkon.
As per usual, the gods were led by the oracle to the inner chamber with the flickering steam that gave those who inhaled it visions, and, though Neilos only received a slight high, Ajax and Ajax both gained more the Necrophidius. It was a 30' skeletal "snake" made of human vertebrae, with a fanged human skull for a head. It was said to lurk in the deep swamps of Syrinth, and could create beguiling lights with its eyes to lure unsuspecting victims into the darkness (Neilos: "I knew it!").
As though that weren't enough, the Necrophidius also had a paralytic bite. Fortunately, it had a weakness, and one that would likely be easy to exploit: if a stake of mistletoe were driven between two of its vertebra, it would instantly perish. When they regrouped and asked Neilos how hard it would be to find mistletoe, he informed them that it grew pretty much everywhere, so they'd have no problems finding it.
The gods spent the next day or so discussing how to take out the "immortal" Fotian Lion. They knew that only a weapon made from its own bones could stop it from regenerating, so thought about their options. Ajax figured he could possibly find the bones of its predecessor, but that would likely involve going near its lair.
Seeing that Steidis didn't have a plan, Neilos got restless and successfully convinced him that they should really go back to Mantea. Ajax jumped in to say that they'd just been in Mantea, and should go somewhere like Syrinth. Eventually, they agreed to go to the Antominian Swamp outside of Eniad (though not to the city itself) to track down the Drakkon.
The Drakkon
As they disembarked from the God Galley, wondering how they would find a camouflaged ambush predator, the gods stumbled directly across a man's bloated corpse, covered in dozens of half-foot long fat "worms" with toothy maws. Ajax opined that they might be juvenile Drakkons, though Neilos thought they were a bit small. Regardless, Neilos asked a nearby willow tree what had happened to the man and learned that a "big lizard-snake thing" had attacked him, then went north. With that, Ajax followed the beast's tracks, with Neilos filling in the gaps by speaking with other plants.
After some time, Ajax noticed that the tracks were going in a loop, and spotted the Drakkon, a long snake with a dozen or more legs, moments before it launched what would have been an ambush. Neilos blinded it with birght lights, and Steidis was able to slaughter it without further difficulty. Ajax successfully harvested its venom glands, then cut out a 1' length which he sensed contained the source of its "death aura".
Steidis, meanwhile, misread his prophecy and mistakenly harvested the Drakkon's teeth, when he actually needed its blood. They returned to the God Galley, where Ajax extracted the Drakkon's slowly failing death organ, which was constantly leaking black oil. Now that he had a new reagent that would hopefully help him craft a god-slaying disease, the gods headed... back to Urbos.
The Bringer of Plagues
The gods trekked out to Soldier Pirus' fort in the highlands, where they noted that his numbers seemed to have grown. Most likely, they reasoned, some of Old Pirus' troops had split between the two surviving candidates. Ajax snuck as close as he could, then used the death organ and plague censor to craft a fatal plague that would affect ONLY Pirus; he didn't want to accidentally catch it himself, after all.
Careful not to absorb too much divine energy (he didn't want to pass out like last time), Ajax wove his disease and sent it into Pirus' camp. It would take several weeks to see the results so, for now, the gods travelled up Mt. Fotia, where Steidis would (hopefully) kill the Fotian Lion. Steidis attempted to summon some heat-resistant metal to smith into protective suits, but instead backfired so horribly that he would be unable to summon any materials for the near future.
The Fotian Lion
With the other two unable to descend down into the caldera, Steidis turned his body into magma and proceeded alone. He and the Lion found each other soon enough, and it rolled out to meet him. It was shaped like a wheel, with a dozen legs sprouting from the "hub" at the center which held the beast's face. Remembering that it was immune to fire, Steidis instead used his powers to throw magma at it, relying not on the heat but the sheer mass of the molten rock.
While the Lion was reeling, he strode forward and cut off a leg with an axe, only for it to instantly sprout another, which clawed him across the chest. With a wave of his hands, Steidis reforged the bones of the leg into a hatchet, then created a multitude of flames which he teleported between, leaping from one to the next. Finally emerging directly behind the beast, he struck out with the bone hatchet. The legs he removed did not grow back, and, after saying "I can't just leave you lyin' there", finally smote the Lion. With the bone hatchet, he removed the golden hide.
Notes:
Prophecy Scoreboard:
Steidis 6
Neilos 5
Ajax 3
For Neilos' secret prophecy, he thinks he needs the help of Evenia. Too bad he just pissed off the one they were on the best terms with.
Ajax's new plague for Soldier Pirus was so severe that it was an HT-6 roll or slow death; however, Pirus has progressed far enough along the path to godhood that the has Resistant to Metabolic Hazards +3, making this effectively HT-3. Incidentally, he made the roll, and will be fine.
Steidis' player's strategy when it comes to how much HP or FP to spend to mitigate huge penalties? Simply roll a critical success! Except for the crit-failed roll to Snatcher the Lion's bones, he's been on a streak lately.
Technically Steidis' axe that he brought with him should have melted from his magma body and the volcano, but I forgot.
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