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
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.
The brain of the birds was extremely large, filling most of the combined torso/head, which left the other organs almost flattened. Ajax removed the heart and liver, and captured two samples of the smoke in his own canteen and a vessel that Steidis forged from the birds' metallic feathers. With that done, the gods journeyed back to Metros, boarded the God Galley, and set sail for Syrinth to hunt the Necrophidius.
Docking slightly short of the city itself to avoid any mobs, they headed straight for Agathi the Astrologer, hoping to gain some clues. Despite their concerns if she was eating properly, she seemed fine. Ajax learned that the "Three Warriors" in his prophecy could have referred to the three Princes of Susae, but it could just as easily be someone else (good for him, as two of the three were now dead). Steidis didn't need anything, so he gave his turn back to Ajax, who confirmed that the Lionesses could serve as the "Sacred Blade".
Neilos, meanwhile, asked about a specific technicality; did it matter if a thing which was to be "stolen" was given willingly by a third party at his request? Somehow, the patterns in the stars had an answer, and it was that it did not matter. The gods went into a huddle, determined that Agathi was of no use to them anymore, and so Ajax drained her life into himself. To cover their steps, Steidis shoved the mummified corpse into the fireplace and burned it to ash.
Neilos easily tracked down a mistletoe tree at the edge of the swamps, grew a branch into the shape of a narrow stake, and handed it to Ajax for their upcoming hunt of the Necrophidius. Knowing it was nocturnal, the gods found the pond under which it made its lair and set up camp until nightfall. Sure enough, once it was dark, the pulsing, multi-coloured beguiling lights appeared. Fortunately, the hgods had taken countermeasures: Neilos had wrapped plants around his head as a blindfold, and was seeing through their "eyes", while the others kept their eyes closed.
The gods lashed out with their powers, wounding the 30' skeletal snake, though it slithered up to Steidis without him realizing and bit him. Following Neilos' directions, Ajax blindly struck out with the stake of mistletoe and slew the Necrophidius, the lights in its human skull going out. That done, Ajax scraped off samples of its paralytic venom into a collection of vials for later use. With all three of the toxins Ajax needed, the gods left and sailed to Mantea.
Again, as they walked from the docks, they noticed that they were being tailed, presumably by the Circle's End. First, they stopped at the ancient ruins; Atlas flinched slightly upon seeing Steidis, but nonetheless offered his help in deciphering their prophecies. As the other two were finished, they offered their turns to Ajax, who learned several things about his prophecy in Eniad:
- "Betrayal" referred to the aftermath of being poisoned, meaning it would have to give him some lingering effect, like a wracking cough
- The "House of the Tyrant" referred not just to Eniad, but to the Emperor's Palace specifically
- He didn't need to be poisoned by anyone in particular, and could even poison himself
The Still Harp
After some discussion, the gods ultimately decided to go track down Punished Evenia before going to the Pit, as Ajax wasn't feeling up to journeying outdoors. As before, Keti was trivial to find, her trailing storm cloud this time floating above a private residence. Neilos talked their way past a pair of men standing guard, and they went in to find an open chamber with benches, where Evenia received updates from several dozen followers while Keti lounged behind her.
On seeing the gods, a number of the followers drew weapons, and Evenia neither gave the order to attack nor to hold. Instead, she asked what they wanted. Presumably they now suddenly wanted to cooperate because they needed something from her? (Neilos: "Yes"). For once acting sincerely, Neilos admitted that he needed her help, and would assist her with acquiring the Still Harp first in exchange. He won her over, and she said that she actually had a lead: her agents had learned where the other Evenia candidate would be staying the next day.
Surprised that she'd be acting openly in broad daylight, the gods agreed, and after a night spent resting, met up with a group of Punished Evenia's supporters. After picking up some stashed spears, they proceeded down an alley to the rear of a multi-story building. Keti slammed into the top floor, sending the other Evenia and her guards down and out the back door, directly into the gods and their mortal allies. After Steidis resisted an emotional compulsion from the other Evenia, a quick brawl resulted in her being knocked out, and her men slaughtered.
Neilos found the Still Harp in a sack the other Evenia had been holding, then some of the mortals picked her up and they carried her unconscious body across the city to their hidout in broad daylight. Once inside, Punished Evenia asked if she'd been carrying the Still Harp, and Neilos held it out. She sighed and facepalmed, then explained that she'd forgotten to tell them that she had to be the one to take it. Having figured that "plucking the Still Harp" actually meant stealing it, this wouldn't work if they had been the ones to steal it.
She also reasoned that this was why the prophecy hadn't worked initally, as Ursula had been the one to take it from the chamber beyond the Door of Eyes. They returned to the ruins, and at Evenia's direction, Neilos placed the harp back on its plinth. Shortly, Evenia went in and then emerged holding the harp, but still hadn't completed the prophecy. Now, she hatched another plan: since it seemed like the person she "plucked" it from needed to want the harp, they would give it over to the minions of the other Evenia, and then Punished Evenia would move in and "steal" it back.
The gods went to one of the other Evenia's backup safehouses, and handed it over to a handful of gracious if confused mortals, then walked back to Evenia and her goons and told her it was ready. The group charged back in, smiting those who now held the Harp, and when Evenia grabbed it from the clutches of a dead woman, she was filled with a golden light. Suddenly, the earth quaked, then tilted, as the plateau they were on snapped. Thanks to the "Pants" that Steidis had installed, however, it merely collided with the central plateau instead of falling apart. The Divided City was divided no more.
After the ground stopped shaking, and Evenia finished exulting in finally completing that prophecy, Neilos reminded her that she had promised him assistance: he needed her to make someone fall in love with him. She sarcastically asked who the lucky lady was, and he replied that it was Meda, goddess of thieves. She should be in Eniad. Evenia groaned, asking when he wanted to do this, but he said he wasn't ready yet, so she had some time. When he was prepared, Neilos would return to Mantea and erect a pillar of light to announce his presence.
The Pit
Now that Ajax was feeling up to confronting the horrid outdoors, the gods made the day-long journey to the Pit, and descended the stepwell to the temple. Neilos stayed outside in the light, but Ajax returned to the cauldron, and threw in the samples and organs from the Bringers of Toxin, which he mixed into a foul brew, which he then used to amplify his powers and create a truly horrific plague. As it spread through the land, Ajax glowed with the golden light that came with completing a prophecy.
In exchange for the memories of his childhood, he now recalled how to control vermin, and disappear in a cloud of flies to travel to any major city. To test out his new ability, he teleported directly to Urbos, and the others followed suit, noting that they'd have to return to Mantea to fetch the God Galley. Now that he was more powerful, Ajax returned to Soldier Pirus' fort and snuck up close, then, after seeing that Pirus was still healthy, crafted another god-slaying disease which he sent into the camp.
The Tome of the Sun
Having used the left-over pieces of the Drakkon and Acheirus, Ajax figured that this time it would work for sure, so the gods teleported back to Mantea, then sailed to Susae. Neilos purchased an empty book, then teleported onto the peak of Mt. Kniumeas aka The Mountain of Tears. Once there, he held the necessary organs up to the sun, and interpreted the results.
He recorded what he saw in the book, and upon its completion, was filled with golden light. Nelios' white hair grew longer, reaching his shoulders, and a small glowing orb now orbited his head. He traded the knowledge of his old mortal appearance for the memories of how to turn his body into plants, and how to rapidly grow vines to ensnare his foes.
Notes:
Prophecy Scoreboard:
Steidis 6
Neilos 6
Ajax 4
Missing Memories:
Neilos Family, Mortal Name, The Last 5 Years, Childhood, Most Precious Memory (His Horse, Daisy), Mortal Appearance
Steidis Mortal Name, Family, Childhood, Most Precious Memory (His Mentor), Mortal Appearance, The Last 5 Years
Ajax Mortal Appearance, Most Precious Memory (His First Hunt), The Last 5 Years, Childhood
Neilos' clue from Agathi probably shouldn't have been something she could have told him, but whatever.
The two Evenias were both constantly getting people to fall in love with them, sending them after the other one, and then the other one gets those people to fall in love with them. It's been a messy situation.
Upon gaining the ability to Control Vermin, Ajax asked how useful that would be, given that they hadn't yet seen any vermin in the game. I told him to retroactively imagine that there were 2d6 rats in every scene that I just never mentioned.
Ajax is getting memed by Soldier Pirus' disease resistance rolls. Both times he has made what he needed to resist exactly (a 9 and then a 6).
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