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.

The exterior of the estate was more lightly guarded, with only a pair of men wearing yellow tabards depicting sunbursts at the main entrance.  Neilos introduced himself, and the guards looked him over, then one politely asked for proof; several others had claimed divinity in the last several weeks.  With ease, Neilos emitted a bright ball of light from his hand, and the guards bowed and called for an escort.  A young slave boy led the gods through an immaculate garden of colourful plants, and through the lush estate, to a pool at the rear, where a man in his late-30s was seated.

Pan Metaxas' long white hair spread out around him as he lounged in the hot spring.  When the slave boy introduced Neilos, Pan slowly stood, then bowed deeply.  Neilos bade him to rise, and stated that such formalities would not be necessary, which Pan replied was just his way of thinking.  After some niceties, Neilos explained the purpose of their visit: he was looking to cleanse the evil away from Urbos, and would like Pan's cooperation.

Pan said that sounded great, and invited them to have the meeting in the hot spring, but Neilos refused, so the Tetrarch called for a towel, which was brought by a finely-dressed servant who smelled overwhelmingly of rosewater.  Pan led them to a wide room with a table laden with food to continue their discussion, and bid the slaves bring them drink.  In a very casual manner, Pan asked what aid specifically the gods were interested in, as the whole "hunting spies" thing was really more for the Hunters.

Neilos asked Pan's about the Hunters, and other than that they were kind of uptight, he thought they were more or less doing what they were supposed to do.  Given the riot in the foreign district several weeks ago, the Hunters had been allocated more resources, and after the assassination of Voula's husband, it seemed like they may need more still.  They'd been around since before he'd been born, but he didn't get involved, as he didn't want any of the stress of dealing with that sort of thing.

Pan knew nothing of the public execution the gods had seen on their arrival in Urbos, but assumed the deceased had been a spy if the Hunters claimed it.  Neilos asked if any Tetrarchs had pushed for the increase of the Hunters' resources, but they had brought it up themselves, and none of the Tetrarchs had seen any reason to object.  Pan also mentioned out that a bunch of young men of the city had taken up arms with the three gods off fighting in the plains to the north, and while they hadn't come into the city yet, that was no guarantee they might not in the future.

Apparently Voula's husband had been poisoned, but the Hunters were looking into that and Pan hadn't heard anything more.  Neilos asked if Pan would be able to arrange meetings with the other Tetrarchs, and he said that he would, but pointed out that Voula was still in mourning, and may not be interested.  He could lean on her if necessary, but would prefer not to.  Neilos asked that he try anyway, and Pan agreed to, but offered no promises.

As the meeting seemed to beb winding down, Pan offered Neilos and his companions food and lodging; it was really the least he could do, given that Neilos was his house's sire.  Neilos asked if Pan knew a Venetia, but he couldn't recall one.  Ajax questioned Pan about the gods to the north of Urbos, and he replied that they had all recruited armies of young men, but were fighting entirely among themselves for now.  That said, damage to the local farms was a real possibility, and so was a flood of newly unemployed military veterans.

Their meeting finally concluded, Pan threw a feast in the gods' honor, which again distracted Ajax from his nighttime plans.  During the festivities, Steidis noticed Pan grow annoyed with Neilos as the latter's lack of emotions became apparent.  The next morning, the party regrouped in their apartments to find that Pan had come through: there were written responses from two of the Tetrarchs waiting in the common area.  House Michelakis "graciously accepted" their invitation to meet, whiel House Andreas merely "accepted".  As expected, there was no response from House Raptis.

House Andreas

The gods presented their invitation at the Andreas estate, and the black-robed guards let them through to an audience chamber, where a woman who was probably Arethusa (her face was still covered by the hood) was seated on a raised dias, while they were forced to stand.  A variety of slaves and servants stood around the edges of the chamber, including one Eniadnan woman who stood out because of her height and reddish complexion.

With prior coaching from Ajax, Neilos began the standard overlong courtly apology for his rude behaviour at the Oracle's temple, but before he could finish, Arethusa interrupted and asked why they had come to her.  Neilos began stating that he was going to end the threat facing Urbos, only for Arethusa to interrupt again and ask what he knew about this threat.  Neilos and Ajax both struggled to explain that while they didn't know exactly what the problem was, there definitely was one, and he was going to stop it.

In a different tactic, Neilos pointed out that, as the lady well knew, he could get the truth from people, no matter how unwilling.  Arethusa visibly straightened in her seat, but said nothing, so he continued; he and his companions merely needed help to root out the darkness afflicting the city.  When asked what kind of help he wished for, Neilos began by flattering her power only to be cut off and asked again what specific help he wanted.  Neilos asked for information, and was again asked to specify what information.

To start, Neilos wanted to know what she knew of the Hunters; in response, Arethusa asked what he knew about them.  He told her what he knew, and of their meetings with Natasa (though not the upcoming deal between Voula Raptis and Venetia).  Arethusa claimed that she knew little more than he did, but what she did know would not be given away for free.  Neilos offered to help her with any tasks that needed doing (Ajax: "Oh no, we're doing it again, aren't we?"), and she asked for him to bring her a map of the exterior of the Raptis estate, including guard positions, entrances and exits.

The gods agreed, and were informed that upon completing the map, they should send a message to her, at which point someone would meet with them at an abandoned mansion in the south of the city at midnight for the handoff.  With that, the meeting was over, and the gods headed over to meet with Lamia Michelakis, to see if she would part with information without requiring any busywork.

House Michelakis

At the estate, the red-tabarded guards escorted them into a meeting room; this one at least had seats and a table, but it was unlit at the far end.  From the shadows, a barely-perceptible woman with painted markings of snakes entwined around her arms leaned forward and bade them to state their purpose.  Ajax made the proper introductions, and Neilos again stated his mission to clear the darkness from Urbos.  

As before, he brought up the Hunters, and Lamia's opinion matched Pan's: they were doing their jobs, and whatever measures they were taking seemed to be appropriate.  Unlike Pan, she seemed more informed.  Neilos mentioned the public execution, and Lamia replied that it had been a low-level local collaborator; there was more to it, but she was not to tell anyone.  Neilos tried to use his divinity as leverage, but Lamia was disinterested, and pointed out that her own divine patrons were having a childish fight up on the northern highlands at that moment.

Again, Neilos promised favours, and the Tetrarch took a long moment to think.  Finally, she stated that Voula Raptis was a dear friend, and asked them to find what kind of gift she might like when they next met.  The gods were somewhat taken aback at the personal (and low-stakes) request, but she merely pointed out that it was to see if they were capable of gathering information on their own.  Ajax attempted to weedle any information on Lamia's divine patrons out of her, but she pointed out that, though she may not care for their actions, she would not betray their secrets.

A Sacrifice to the Gods

With that, they were dismissed, and the gods headed back to the Metaxas estate to plan their next move.  For once, Kostis resisted the urges to party and feast, and Neilos was able to master his fear of darkness, so the pair headed out to the farms on the outskirts of the city to find some livestock to Life Drain.  They attempted to get Ursula to come along, so her wounds could be healed, but she wasn't interested in something so "unnatural".

After some searching, they came across a small herd of cows sleeping in a pasture, and Ajax snuck up to an outlier, then drained it, gaining another 6 days of life as the cow slowly skeletized until only a thin layer of skin over bone remained.  Ajax and Neilos both snuck up to another one, and Ajax drained the cow to heal Neilos' leftover wounds from the god battle in Mantea.  That done, Neilos covered the remains in long grasses to make them easier to carry, and the pair hauled them several miles to the cliffside, and threw them into the sea.

The next morning, there was still no message from House Raptis, so the gods discussed what to do next.  Ajax suggested they go back to the Raptis estate without Ursula, to see if maybe they would have better luck without her, and they headed out.  Meanwhile, Ursula attempted to Shapeshift into a seagull to surveil the estate from the skies, but failed.  They were barred entrance again, perhaps because they had been seen in the company of Ursula earlier.

Observation

As they were heading back to plan their next move, Ajax got the sense that someone was following them.  Neilos attempted to lead their pursuer into a narrow alley, where they could be ambushed, but whoever it was, they didn't take the bait.  Figuring they might as well try to fulfill Arethusa's request for a map of the Raptis estate, Steidis went to the various markets around the city and got the materials and tools necessary for him to forge a variable-zoom telescope with his godly powers.

Ursula then used one of her powers to teach him how to climb like a bear, and the two went to climb Mt. Fotia high enough to reach a vantage point from which to map.  Ursula tired out and couldn't make it high enough, but Steidis found a small outcropping with line of sight.  As he drew, Steidis realized that, due to the limited view, he had only half of the exterior map of the Raptis estate.  Ajax scouted to see if there were vantage points from the other side, but the tallest buildings were 3 stories, and could not see clearly over the walls.

Infiltration

Neilos decided to try to infiltrate the Eniadnan spies, and headed to the foreign district where they were rumoured to congregate, posing as an interested recruit.  His cover story painted him as Damokles, a new (mortal) migrant to the city, who had been heavily discriminated against, and was looking for revenge.  After crawling through a number of taverns, most of which immediately told him to get lost, a Metran woman took the bait.

The agent ferretted out that "Damokles" had been a wagon driver, and asked if he would be able to smuggle things into the city.  When he agreed, she offered a test: the next morning, he would go east of the city, receive a wagon, get into the city, and then drop off the cargo at Generico's Tavern.  The people he was meeting would use the codeword 'songbird'.

The next morning, Neilos headed out to the countryside and met the men who gave him the cart (which was full of oranges) a short distance away from Urbos itself, then got in the lineup of other carts awaiting inspection.  While waiting, he checked the cargo and found that the pile of fruits concealed 5 swords, which he concealed more skillfully, and so he made it through the inspection.  On arrival at Generico's, a fat bald Urbosan man walked up to him and mentioned that it was such a lovely morning, with the songbirds singing in the trees.

Neilos handed over "some of the sharpest fruit around" ("Wait, I can't tell jokes, damn"), and was instructed to head to a warehouse in the poor district the next evening to meet with the people he'd be working with in the future.  Instead, Neilos asked the rotund man who his leader was, and took in some excess divine energy to Reveal Secrets, causing him to blurt out the name "Acantha".  At that, the man went for one of the swords, but Neilos effortlessly beat him unconscious with his staff.

Interrogation

With the fat man unconscious, Neilos stuffed him under the oranges, and headed out to an overgrown ruin in the abandoned section of the city.  After tying the man up and waking him with a splash of water, Neilos used Reveal Secrets and learned that the man worked out of Generico's, and that "Acantha" worked out of the Andreas estate, but then his powers failed.  Resorting to more mundane (and violent) interrogation methods, Neilos also learned that the fat man's organization worked for Eniad (though he was just in it for personal gain), and that they weren't working with the Hunters.

Further, the man they'd seen publicly executed had been one of his organization's agents, but the Hunters had killed innocents in the past, which made recruiting easier.  The fat man lost consciousness, and, now more confident Natasa wasn't complicit, Neilos took him to her estate.  The same slave woman he'd met before answered the door and explained that Natasa was out doing Hunter things, so Neilos resolved to wait in an alley nearby, restraining the fat man by using Control Plants on the contents of the wagon when he regained consciousness.

Natasa finally arrived, gathered some slaves from inside, and led Neilos and the wagon to a side entrance.  Assuming he hadn't just brought her some fruit, Natasa swept the oranges aside and asked what this man had done.  Neilos informed her of the man's affiliation with the Eniadnan spies, and stated that he'd be back later once he'd gathered his fellow gods.  In the meanwhile, Natasa asked the servants to take the shipment, wearing a straight-jacket made of fruit, to the dungeon.

Neilos returned to the Metaxas estate and informed the other gods of the day's events (Ursula: "I laugh at the funny parts"), and they discussed what to do next.  Neilos figured that the wording of his prophecy suggested that, in addition to stopping the Eniadnan spies and their "terror", he also had to get the Hunters to stop using such extreme measures, as they were creating more unrest.  The others agreed, and the gods returned to Natasa's, where she was waiting on the usual balcony, another bottle of Metran wine uncorked.

Reformation

In an effort to direct the conversation, Neilos explained how he'd infiltrated the spies, and that he knew who and where the leader was, but before he could continue, Natasa asked him to clarify who and where.  He restarted, stating that he wanted to talk about something else first, and went over the negative consequences of the Hunters' aggressive tactics.  Natasa pushed back that, for all his flowery words, Neilos had used much the same "interrogation tactics" as she had, but she was nonetheless curious what other methods he was proposing ("Clearly you wouldn't just come here without any alternative?").

Neilos stumbled through an improvised idea to use his powers to show that the accused were guilty of their crimes, but then defeated the concept himself when he realized that he'd have to stay in the city, and that the people of the city might not necessarily trust him.  Natasa pointed out that, once they rounded up and executed the leaders of the spy ring, the public executions would cease.  Neilos countered that so long as large portions of the city felt that the current order didn't work for them, there would always be unrest.

Natasa didn't disagree, but pointed out that they weren't going to just kill all poor people (Ajax: *cough*).  More importantly, while there would no doubt be more foreign spies in the future (honestly, it would be irresponsible if the other cities didn't send them), the current leadership were the problem; starting riots and committing high-profile assassinations was substantially out of the norm.  Ajax tried to insist that more Eniadnans could easily just use the same tactics in the future, but Neilos came to a realization and suggested implementing public trials.

If the public could personally see the evidence that the accused were guilty, that should help convince the public that the Hunters weren't tyrannical.  Natasa was eventually won over, and claimed she would support them, but rewriting laws was really above her paygrade.  Instead, she suggested they take it up with the Tetrarchs, "like your good friend, Pan Metaxas".  With that debate settled, she then requested the information on the spy ring's leader, and Neilos handed it over.

On learning that "Acantha" was operating out of the Andreas estate, Natasa asked if Arethusa was involved, but again, Neilos didn't know.  He asked if she knew of this "Acantha", but Natasa just said she'd have to look into it.  Their current business concluded, Natasa reminded them of their "little meeting" the next night, and asked if they were all ready.  The gods confirmed and stood to leave, when Ajax interjected that, if they were done with the prisoner, he could, ah, use a meal.  Natasa asked for some time to "talk" with him first, gave Neilos a big hug, and wished them farewell.

That night, the gods discussed if they could forge the other half of the map of the Raptis estate for Arethusa Andreas.  Steidis successfully argued against this, as he detested lying.  The next morning, Neilos and Ajax went to go meet with Pan, to try to convince him to implement public trials.  As usual, he was bathing in the hot spring; when the gods approached, he gave only a nod of his head and asked what he could do for them.  He agreed with their reasoning, and said that he'd bring it up at their next meeting.

However, Pan was concerned that they would face objections from the other Tetrachs.  He wasn't sure what Voula would think, but she was still in mourning, and he wasn't going to disturb her if he could help it.  Arethusa was not, to put it mildly, a fan of openness, and very much liked her secrets.  Lamia could go either way, but would likely argue against in order to win concessions in other areas.  As such, Pan pointed out that it would be best if Neilos could win them over before he brought the idea up, and Neilos agreed, and promised to do so.  Pan likewise promised to put on the "ol' Metaxas charm", and gave Neilos a thumbs up.

A Little Meeting

While debating whether to abduct someone who worked at the Raptis estate, Neilos realized that he could fill in the map with his ability to Reveal Secrets, though it wouldn't be easy, so he resolved to wait until the night's business was complete.  Before heading out, Ajax tried to convince Ursula to let him drain some poor bastard's life into her to heal her wounds, but she refused.  Steidis requested healing, but had only minor wounds, so Ajax went and bought then drained a pig.  The gods readied their weapons and arrived at a small farm outside of Urbos, where Natasa was already waiting.

The gods were led towards the abandoned mansion, but when it came into sight, Natasa turned left and down a hill towards the cliffs, where there was a small opening in the side of the rock.  Natasa extinguished her torch then headed inside, and the gods followed.  Neilos ignored his fear of the darkness, but Ursula hesitated to enter and was extremely on edge in such close quarters.  After a while, they emerged into the bottom of a wider cavern, and off on a stone bridge in the distance, they could see two groups of a dozen or so people carrying lanterns and torches, one led by Voula Raptis in a silvery gown.

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

After a looooong break due to scheduling conflicts, we're back!  With what ended up being practically a Neilos solo session...

Due to the large gap in between sessions, I was much freer with information than usual, and I told Ursula's player about a clue which she hadn't yet received.  Oops!

Ajax thinks the Hunters (and perhaps Natasa personally) are orchestrating a military coup.

Neilos refused any and all invitations to use the hot springs because he Does Not Bathe.

When infiltrating the spies, Neilos was lucky enough to make both the Fast-Talk -4 roll to act as a disgruntled foreigner, and the 2-in-6 chance of someone noticing and trying to recruit him, and the 2-in-6 chance of the fat man knowing who the leader was, and the 1-in-6 chance of knowing where the leader was based.

I was trying to think of a mediterranean thing to put in the cart, and settled on oranges which are... not mediterranean.  In hindsight, I should have just gone with grain.

Ajax, on Natasa, who has shown extreme willingness to abduct and torture people: "So far, I think she's been fairly reserved"

Something I found funny: the concept of "just stop publicly executing people" was never brought up.

Ursula refuses to let Ajax use his powers on her, not because of some ideological committment to "independence", but because human "sacrifice" doesn't sit right with her.