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.

Path to Godhood Session 19: The Dwindling God

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

Ashes

After bringing Steidis up to speed, Ajax got him to reforge his dagger into a metal stylus, which he was now more comfortable with, and then the gods walked back to the remains of Metros.  Despite all of them having now forgotten their time there, the other gods had told Neilos of the philosopher in Susae before losing their memories, and he told them that they should seek him out for help with their prophecies, as there was now no reason for them to stay here.

On the second day of the journey, Steidis realized that his internal flame was burning out.  Luckily, he had a way to keep it going: lighting himself on fire.  This would keep him going a bit longer, but wasn't sustainable (he would eventually die from burn wounds), so the gods changed their objective to finding a Doros to heal him.  At the outskirts of Metros, they came across the philosopher Kotum, badly burned and covered in soot, who prostrated himself in front of Steidis and blubbered out his thanks for listening to his prayers.

Kotum asked what he could do to repay Steidis' favour, and was told to build statues in his honour, and to "rebuild Metros as the town you'd like to see".  He bowed as he walked away, then the gods continued on into what was left of the city.  Large crowds of refugees crowded the docks, looking for a way out, while most ships had already left when the fire started.  After yelling at one of the soot-covered survivors, Steidis tracked down Noble Doros, who was resting on a pile of blankets after spending the last few days treating the (many, many, many) wounded, with powers and without.

Path to Godhood Session 18: Metros Ablaze

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

Metros

The gods arrived in the early morning to find the city covered by a light mist.  As they walked up from the docks, they overheard a nobleman, still drunk from the night before, complaining to his companion about a woman who had called him a drunkard.  Figuring they didn't have enough knowledge to work towards any prophecy at the moment, the gods split up and asked questions around town.  Neilos learned that no new gods had arrived in Metros recently, while Ajax discovered that "The Razored Tongue" in one of his prophecies was likely Melite Floros, a noblewoman who had apparently been (accurately) insulting other nobility at gatherings.

Steidis, meanwhile, went to his home to burn the bodies which Ajax assured him belonged to his family (for a prophecy, not out of sentiment), but they weren't there.  He decided to just burn the building down in case that would work, but wasn't able to get it to catch.  In an attempt to track down the bodies, Steidis then yelled at a random child in the street until he told him where the city burial sites were.  Later, Ajax hunted a deer to Life Drain, while Neilos shut himself in a room in his family's home (not that he remembers them as such) when the sun set due to his fear of darkness.

The next morning, they tracked down the overseer of the burial sites, a wizened old crone with bedraggled, hip-length white hair named Athania.  Neilos lied, claiming that Steidis had been out of town and wanted to visit his family's gravesites to pray to the god of death for them, and they were led to the site where the bodies had been buried.  Athania started to scuttle off, but Steidis interrupted her to ask how they had died; she hadn't seen any wounds or signs of disease, and figured they were cursed.

Path to Godhood Session 17: The Volcano Unerupted

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

Conspiracy

The black queen's guard formed a tight circle around her at the sight of the bodies, while Neilos explained that they had attacked him and tried to free the prisoner.  She conceded that there did seem to be something untowards happening, which prompted Neilos to give her the list of co-conspirators they'd gained previously.  Fortunately, none of her personal guard were on the list, but many of the others were powerful Mantean nobles.  From there, they discussed what would happen to the surviving "assassins".

Regardless of the gods' divinity, if someone had tried to assassinate someone in the palace, that would be an affront to the authority of the queens, which would merit a death sentence.  Even if they were only there to free the prisoner, they had brought weapons into the palace, which was punishable by a period of enslavement.  Ajax asked if they might be able to mete out their own justice, as the authority of the gods superseded that of the queens.

The black queen agreed, and offered up three of the six survivors for them to do with as they wished, though she also pointed out that they were technically violating the prohibitions on weapons with their presence.  Regardless, she dropped the issue, and Ajax Life Drained one of the survivors to heal Neilos' wounds while making an extremely chilling declaration on the perils of defying the gods.  As that display concluded, the queen asked if they had any more evidence.  She trusted their word, of course, but something more concrete might sway those who doubted them.

Path to Godhood Session 16: The Royal Circle

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 Return to Mantea

The gods arrived at the coast near Mantea, and walked through the canyons to reach the city proper.  Just before boarding the Grand Elevator of Steidis, a piercing note echoed through the air, forcing everyone to cover their ears.  It slowly faded away to a just-audible tone over a minute, and Ajax asked a local whether this was normal.  The man informed them of the Whistling Rock which wandered the canyons, and figured that it must be closer to the city than usual.

As they rose into the city, they noticed that more of the "islands" seemed to have fallen away during their absence, and that the "Belt" that Steidis had almost finished was totally gone, the stone where it had been scorched black.  On their way to the Divided Palace to check in with the two queens, Steidis aggressively asked after any new god candidates, and learned that one of the Evenias had come out of hiding, though he wasn't able to figure out which one.  Additionaly, the other Chelak, Kostis, and Neilos had come back, but left shortly thereafter.

At the Palace, Ajax was able to arrange an audience with the queens through one of the purple-clad clerks, and they were led through.  On the way, they passed a man with a spectacular moustache sporting an ostentatious red robe.  Once in the throne room the usual formal introductions were made, then the white queen cooly welcomed them back after their long absence.  Steidis declared that he had finally killed his rival, which prompted the black queen to declare thta this explained why there had been only three when the other group had returned to Mantea.