Path to Godhood Session 26: The Chained Oracle

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

Mannapping

After seeing that the silver charm dispersed the stormclouds that usually followed Keti, the gods decided to use her to abduct Firuz.  The plan was for her and Ajax to accost him somewhere, beat him into submission, have Ajax tie him up in a net, and then have Keti fly away, with Firuz trailing behind, far enough back that any charms he had on him would be out of range.  As a backup plan, Evenia and Neilos would be waiting on her boat in the harbour, and Steidis would be waiting outside of Eniad, waiting for a signal from Neilos to start lighting things on fire as a distraction.

Neilos suddenly realized that Keti had come within range of the charm and hadn't instantly flown into a rage about being charmed by Evenia, which suggested that either Evenia's powers persisted or that she had never charmed Keti in the first place.  Steidis made the net + rope easily enough, then Ajax and Keti took it and walked to Eniad to learn Firuz' appointments for the next few days to find a place to ambush him en route, and to retrieve Evenia and her goons.  The guards at the gate found the giant net odd, but let them through.

Jibril Malik, whose arm was still in a sling after his wrestling match with Adlai, was more than willing to point Ajax towards another gathering that Firuz was to attend.  Working off of this, Ajax determined which bridge he was most likely to cross during his transit.  Evenia was not enthused about having to trek back through the swamp two more times, and said that this would be the last time she helped them other than the original agreement to make Neilos fall in love with Meda.

Path to Godhood Session 25: The Emperor's Charms

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 Party

Before Adlai could wander off, Ajax approached him to make polite small talk, and skillfully turned the discussion to the Emperor's right hand man, Firuz, and his strange charms.  Adlai didn't seem talkative, and rocked back and forth as Ajax spoke, possibly due to Evenia's powers.  However, he was more than willing to get him the "Charmformation" he sought, as he and Firuz were actually on good terms.  It could even be possible to acquire a charm for him to peruse, in exchange for a favour.  Having recently taken up wrestling, Adlai was interested in showing off to the assembled nobles, so he would appreciate if Ajax could find him an opponent, and no offense to Ajax, but he seemed a little frail.

As luck would have it, Ajax's sponsor, Jibril Malik, was up for the challenge, and the two men stripped down, oiled up, and get into a makeshift ring in the dirt of the garden.  The two grappled while the crowd cheered on, with Adlai even doing some showboating acrobatics before bending Jibril's arm at an inappropriate angle and forcing him to submit.  Ajax approached Adlai, who thanked him for getting Jibril to fight him, and promised to deliver a charm "at some point".  After giving him the location where Evenia and her goons were staying, Ajax went to mingle with other guetsts.

Glancing around the party, he spotted Abessa Rostami, the Emperor's Marshall, wearing a bright blue tunic, conservative by Eniadnan noble standards, with the golden pendant of a hand gripping a sword displayed on her chest.  Unfortunately, Firuz joined her before Ajax could, apparently to discuss scorpions and other insects, and he'd rather keep his distance from the soothsayer.  Instead, he turned and found Mahali Abbasi getting "the fun kind of drunk" as best he could.

Path to Godhood Session 24: The Man With The Scorpion

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

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.

Path to Godhood Session 23: The Moon's Collapse

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

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.

Path to Godhood Session 22: A Lion Slain

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

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.

Path to Godhood Session 21: The Dead Kings

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

The Lionesses

As the gods journeyed southwest with Keti in pursuit of the Ouranoi, Ajax hunted a deer and drained it.  After several days of passing through farming villages and asking after the beast, they came to a wooden fort flying banners of a golden lioness on red (which Ajax determined was not the flag flown by Lady Pirrus in the highlands of Urbos), and gained entry by declaring their godhood to the women guarding it and Neilos making a promise of aid.

The gates opened, and one of the guards, a young Eniadnan woman, came down to escort them through the fort.  On the inside, it was apparent that there were only perhaps 30 people, all Susaean, and that all of the women wore armour.  As they walked to a central tent, Ajax observed that their escort had a back tattoo of a lion.  They were introduced to Calypso, an old yet fit woman in a bright red tunic with ritual scars on her face, who still wore armour and had a spear in arms reach.  She dismissed their escort, her "daughter", before welcoming the gods to their home.

When asked what aid they might want, Calypso, entreated the gods to make a deal with the three princes that had declared war on the king of Susae.  The kings had often been at odds with the Lionesses, who claimed independence, but since the old king's death, they had reached an agreement, one of their number having become a concubine of the new king.  The princes, however, didn't care, and had all but declared war on them, raiding them and the villages they protected for supplies before taking them back to their camp in the northwest.

Path to Godhood Session 20: The Orca Crown

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

The King

After thinking about who else might have information they needed, the gods decided to go visit the King Ioannis IV of Susae to see if he could tell them about the Ouranoi.  They easily obtained a meeting, and found the palace in chaos.  The king had just returned from the latest battle of the civil war, against the armies of his three younger brothers and their supporters.  A hundred crises had exploded during his absence, and each needed his attention.  When the gods found him, the King, wearing a plain crown depicting a seahorse, was looking over a map of the countryside while trying to determine which nobles were supplying the traitors with soldiers.

Ajax interrupted, and after introductions were made, asked after the Ouranoi.  The King replied that it rang a bell, but he couldn't remember any details; he turned to his mob of advisors and one squawked that he would find the lore they sought.  Apparently the information wasn't going to be free, as the King remarked that Susae could use the aid of powerful patrons.  As the gods could surely tell by the fact that the Seahorse wasn't a god, the Orca Crown had been stolen ten days earlier, and he was having to make due.  The lack of legitimacy that came from losing the crown, and the blessing of the Orca, queen of all the gods, was undermining his rule, and he'd appreciate if the gods could get it back.

The Thieves

While they had discovered who had taken the crown, the culprits had vanished, and their patron was a mystery.  There were many possibilities; in addition to the nobles who had openly declared for his brothers, there were many more who might take this opportunity to try to gain more personal power.  Further questions and Steidis' ability to see the past of objects pieced together how it had happened: while the king was on campaign, three soldiers guarding the throne room had beaten one of their compatriots unconscious, then grabbed the crown from where it and the rest of the royal jewels rested, before leaving the city by means unknown.