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
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.
As luck would have it, just before sunset, Ajax picked up a wide snakelike trail in the mud, and followed it to find a worm feasting on some carrion. It had grown, to about two feet in length, and it now had a number of stubby legs which did not reach the ground. Neilos tangled the worm in a bundle of vines, and Steidis picked it up and put it in a sack, hoping to raise it until its death organ began to function and he could kill it for its blood. Overnight, it kept trying to break free of its bindings and bite anyone who came near, but didn't do any harm.
Ajax spent the next day searching for an adult Drakkon, but didn't find any traces of one. The gods then took stock of the Eniad situation. They'd been banned from the city, but their appearances had all changed drastically. Neilos and Steidis were both completely different to their mortal appearances, but were also instantly identifiable as gods, leaving Ajax as the only one who could pose as a mortal, if a sickly one. Figuring it would be better to wait for Evenia, they made camp on the coast just around the bend from Eniad.
After a day, a small galley bearing the flag of Eniad found them, and the sailors aboard asked what they were doing so close to the Emperor's holdings. Steidis, suddenly filled with a desire to help others, stated his divinity and said they were waiting for friends. The lead sailor informed him that gods were not welcome in Eniad, and they would have to leave. Heeding their words, the gods sailed out to sea, and headed to the west, where they spotted Keti's stormcloud over a boat and approached their allies.
Infiltration
Evenia had apparently wrangled a ship from one of her charmed goons, and had gotten several others to crew it. Neilos asked Keti, an Eniadnan in her mortal life, if she knew of any secret ways to get inside the city, but she didn't. Evenia, now concerned that the gods didn't seem to have a plan asked for details, and was disappointed with the responses; they hadn't even met the person they needed to talk to. Further discussions revealed that sneaking in wouldn't really even be an option, as only Ajax had any actual skill at going unnoticed.
Evenia was confident that she would get herself into the city without any problems, but if they were counting on her getting them past as well, they were pushing their luck. Keti was questioned about the Emperor's tyranny, but didn't know much. As far as she was aware, he was no worse than the princes they'd been working with in Susae. There were always rumours of some noble or another running afoul of the Emperor after scheming went against his will, but they were only rumours.
Ultimately, they decided to trek through the swamp to one of the farming villages that supplied Eniad. From there, Ajax and Evenia would go into Eniad, while the rest of them hung out and waited to hear that they'd made contact with Meda, the goddess of thieves and trickery. Evenia wasn't pleased with the prospect of trudging through a swamp, but Steidis made a palenquin for her goons to carry and she relented.
When they arrived in the morning, Neilos found a group of villagers and introduced himself as the god of plants and the sun, but was careful not to mention that he brought with him the god of death. The farmers were overjoyed at this, and eagearly offered up lodgings. He asked if they knew anything of the city, and they voiced complaints about long queues as the guards at the gates were checking everyone and everything more thoroughly than usual. Further, all of the midwives and healers had been exiled, which meant that those living in the country were now in short supply, as they were moving to the city to fill the vacuum.
Ajax asked after the Drakkon, and when they didn't know what he meant, broadened this to any large beast that would have been attacking people and livestock. They claimed that there had been such a beast, but the attacks had stopped a month ago (which lined up with when the gods had hunted and killed the Drakkon). Neilos tried to get a feeling for what the villagers thought of the Emperor, given he was making their lives worse, but while they were annoyed, it wasn't so bad they were willing to rise up against him.
Overnight, Neilos suggested the obvious to the other gods: what if they just strolled up to Eniad and vaporized anyone who stood against them? Evenia noted that, while she wouldn't stop them, she wouldn't be participating in any massacres, and Keti sided with her. She also refused being sent in solo to build up a network of goons to track down a Meda candidate, because it would take too long and was asking too much. Eventualy, Ajax relented to going with her, and further, Neilos would declare his presence openly after 5 days. Steidis burned off Ajax's Metran tattoo, which the guards would have on record, and he, Evenia, and her goons walked to Eniad.
The Thief
The queue at the gates was indeed quite long, slowed down by guards checking every person and cart for smuggling. Ajax and Evenia made it through with no problems, and found the glittering silver and gold city gripped by sickness, a situation only made worse by all healers and midwives being banished by imperial decree. Evenia gave Ajax an accusatory look, but he ignored her. Tanners and other sources of acid Ajax could use had also been banished, and he began to suspect the Emperor had somehow learned of their prophecies.
Evenia found a place for her and her goons to stay, and Ajax left her to her own devices while he went to surveil the poorer areas of the city, which still sported golden lightning bolt iconography, if less. He asked around about recent happenings, and learned that the Emperor was still granting wishes, but they tended to turn out badly for those who asked. In one of many rumours, a man had asked for a fortune in gold and received it, but had then been trailed by the imperial guard and beaten to death. Understandably, the fervor had died down.
Ajax noticed that all of these stories had one thing in common: all those who had wished and suffered were both Eniadnan and poor. That night, as he crawled through seedy taverns, he received a vision of a hand reaching into a pocket. Glancing around, he spotted two foreigners, which he figured were more likely to be a god: a Susaean man sat alone at the bar, and a woman, either Metran or Urbosan, hooting and hollering with a group of five. Given that Meda was conventionally believed to be a woman, he approached the group and joined their revelry.
It turned out that the others hadn't known the woman prior to that night, but she was buying drinks, so they were friends, at least for the evening. Now that Ajax had joined their party, though, she ceased drinking herself, and became more reserved in conversation. Ajax, also obviously a foreigner, turned the conversation to his homeland in an attempt to get her to give hers, but she deflected, and the other drunkards were more than happy to hear his tales and tell him of Eniad. He continued, mentioning a "grand ceremony" he'd taken part in before leaving the city for his travels, hinting of his divinity, if she was, in fact, a candidate.
As the night was winding down, and their drinking buddies were stumbling home, the woman pulled Ajax aside to ask what exactly he wanted. He explained that he was looking to arrange mutual assistance with completing prophecies, and, after a moment's contemplation, she agreed. However, she wouldn't work with just anyone; they would meet to discuss this further on the rooftop of the imperial palace as proof of their competency.
Without skipping a beat, Ajax agreed, but asked that they meet at midday. She quirked an eyebrow, looked him up and down, and asked if he was sure he could pull it off. He explained that one of his associates would be going, and with a nod, she left. Ajax returned to the lodging Evenia had arranged, updated her on the situation, then returned to the village to inform Neilos. Their initial task complete, Evenia could do as she pleased until they needed her powers again. She was grateful for this; she'd really needed a vacation after the months long secret war against another god candidate.
In the meantime, the villagers had been making veiled requests, mentioning problems they'd been having with crops lately. In typical style, Neilos had deliberately ignored them, as mortal concerns were beneath him. When Ajax arrived and informed him of the imminent meeting, Neilos made his preparations and, when the time came, teleported to the top of the largest dome of the imperial palace. Immediately after landing in a pillar of light, he used his powers to create multiple decoy lights to hopefully keep any guards confused.
Looking around, he saw no Meda candidate when she suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of him. Meda started by asking what he wanted as a favour, and Neilos explained that he simply needed for her to be present at a meeting with a third party, who would then do something to him. As that seemed relatively straightforward, she tentatively agreed, and then explained that it was fitting, as her request would also involve attending a meeting.
One of her prophecies had required her to steal the "Regalia of the Tyrant", and she had done so, taking an ermine cloak, which she drew from somewhere Neilos couldn't see as proof. Now, however, she had to return the item, and "humble" the Emperor. Quite reasonably, she was worried about reprisal, and wanted assistance. Neilos immediately asked if the Emperor had any children, which seemed to surprise her, but she confirmed that he did.
Interrupting Neilos' child hostage scheme, Meda pointed out a larger problem: the Emperor's right hand man, a soothsayer named Firuz, had created some sort of protective charm that nullified her powers, and, presumably, those of the other gods as well. Naturally, the Emperor carried several of these charms on his person at all times. Apparently Firuz wasn't particularly cautious himself, however, and socialized with the nobility, earning favours in exchange for answering meaningless queries such as if the petitioner would ever find true love. He'd be easy to spot: he carried around a pet scorpion on one shoulder.
While she detested nobles and would not deal with them, it was possible that Neilos or one of his associates could learn more from one of them. Neilos expressed interest in getting one of the charms to experiment with, and Meda told him that other than those that the Emperor and Firuz carried, there were more in each of their quarters, and several given to the Emperor's children. He asked if she might be able to grab one, but she didn't think it was possible; she wasn't that good of a thief without using her powers, and she was NOT going to deal with the nobles.
With the conversation over, they arranged how they would meet up in the future: Neilos would make a lightshow and they would meet here, on top of the imperial palace. Neilos informed her that he could only do so during the day, which Meda wasn't happy about, but apparently this wasn't so inconvenient that she would agree to meet somewhere else. Before he left, Meda asked what exactly Neilos' meeting would entail, as perhaps it would be easier to do that first.
In monotone, he explained that he would have someone make him fall in love with her. She didn't have to worry, though, because it didn't need to be mutual or anything, she just needed to be present. Meda was clearly shocked, and remarked that this was the strangest favour she'd ever heard of. After a moment, she asked how exactly Neilos planned to accomplish this, and he stated that the goddess of beauty and love had come with them, and owed him a favour.
Off-put by this revelation, Meda stated that they would do her task first. Neilos asked her not to take advantage of him in his lovestruck state, and in turn, she asked that, if the tables were turned, would he would take advantage of her? Ever the diplomat, Neilos admitted that he probably would. With that, Meda then made her farewell, and, after attempting and failing to use some power, climbed down off of the palace and snuck away. Standing alone on top of the palace, Neilos muttered "We'll just trust the god of trickery, I suppose", created several more decoy light pillars, and teleported back to the farming village.
Mingling
After a long discussion, it was decided that Ajax would gain access to a noble garden party, and then try to gain intelligence on Firuz. Ideally, he would also acquire one of the protective charms. Afterbenig stuck for most of a day in the queue again, he spent the evening carousing with some of the nobility, and learned of three people in particular that would be familiar with both Firuz and the Emperor.
- Abessa Rostami, the Marshal, had been friends with the Emperor since childhood
- Adlai Charmchi, the Chancellor, was a renowned scoundrel who loved partying
- Mahali Abbasi, the Treasurer, had a hobby of pretending to be a commoner and visiting normal taverns; his disguises were usually seen through
He continued partying the rest of the night, winding up on good terms with a nobleman named Jibril Malik, a notorious scoundrel whose fiery red dyed hair was seen as scandalous, and secured an invitation to a festive gathering in three days. After some haggling, Ajax also gained an invitation for Evenia. Ajax found Evenia to bring her up to speed, and though she was unenthused to have to go back to work, she relented. One of the goons was sent out to the farm village to update the others as well.
Meanwhile, the villagers had been getting increasingly overt in their requests for aid, but Neilos continued to ignore them. Steidis decided to help, though, designing and constructing a barn that would last a thousand years. Three days passed, and Ajax and Evenia went to the gathering as Malik's guests. The air was filled with the scents of incense and perfume, as that was how one stopped the plague, and a parade of nobles in outlandish outfits shuffled around a marble patio adorned with several fountains. Off in a manicured garden, a strange beast, 15 feet tall with four spindly legs was eating leaves from the top of a tree.
Having set out their goals of learning about the Emperor's children, Adlai Charmchi, and the protective charms in advance, Ajax and Evenia split up to socialize. A quick circuit confirmed that Abessa, Adlai, and Mahali were all present. Ajax went to approach Adlai, but stopped when he spotted a new arrival: a man with greasy shoulder-length hair and a scorpion on his shoulder, fiddling absently with something in his left hand. Figuring this was Firuz, the source of the charms. Ajax walked past him to see if the charms would disrupt his godly appearance, but nothing happened.
Next, he attempted to rot a strange red fruit (Malik informed him they were called "strawberries") while close to Firuz, and, as Meda had claimed, he found that his godly powers did not work. He reached for the familiar energy, but it was simply not there. Further away, his powers returned; a bit of experimentation suggested the range was around 15-20 feet. Ajax made to approach Firuz, when he noticed something important: Adlai was hitting on Evenia.
Wary of what she might do, he went to intervene. Just as he arrived, however, Adlai made a small bow, apologized for something, and left. Evenia told Ajax that she was sick of dealing with that bore, had charmed Adlai, and so now was his chance to go question him.
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 remembered an NPC's name! Then he immediately forgot it within 20 minutes... (It was Punished Evenia, for the record)
Steidis rolled a natural 3 on his power to see who had stolen the shards. The thieves also rolled a natural 3 for how professional they had been, so nobody held up a sign saying where they were taking it or anything.
Neilos wanted to use his Body of Plants ability to turn into grain and sneak into the city in a cart. Unfortuntely, if the guards stabbed him with a pitchfork, which the farmers claimed they had been doing, he would still be stabbed and probably scream out in pain.
A random roll had Ajax stumble across Meda on the first time he went out, which was pretty funny.
The candidate they met may have been the candidate from Metros, but Ajax has long since forgotten her face.
The PCs suggested that Steidis could dig an escape tunnel to use to flee Meda's meeting with the Emperor. When it was revealed that they'd need to use the God Galley's materials to do so, they dropped it.
Ajax believes that the scorpion on Firuz' shoulder is a "Ratatouille" situation.
Unlike the other cities where they've been, which have 2d6 rats present in every scene, Eniad now has 3d6 secret unmentioned rats! Clearly the plague has made things worse.
Ajax's explanation for his deathly pallour, lack of eyebrows, and shabby clothes that he gave to Eniadnan nobles? "This is the style in some of the other cities".
Official Dall-E fanart of Firuz: 
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