The Last God

So we decided to try out Sword and Board, based off of  Lasers and Feelings. It was originally just going to be Lena. I'd asked a couple of friends and no one else was available, so we prepped to have a solo game. And then David, her husband, had a free night. Which was excellent! David is a very imaginative player and I don't get to play with him enough. We decided to just do a one shot, see how we liked the system. I'll put up my thoughts in a later review. For now, here's what we did!

I rolled the quest randomly, as per the rules: Retrieve the Lordvessel to slay the last god. Travel to the Upper Iron Wharf, which is guarded by the Duke's Orphan Giant. 

David made Sasha, who was cursed by his priestess mother-in-law to kill the Last God, who he could smell, but could smell him as well. Sasha was a Hunter, whose class ability was to spot weaknesses. He had a pair of binoculars, a shortsword, and a longbow. He started his Stance at 7, meaning he was excellent at attack and aggression, but not defense and finesse.

Lena made Yelena, who was cursed to be in torment until the Last God perished. Yelena was a thief, with the class ability to go unnoticed. She had a bandit's knife, master key, and a repair box (which was totally not abused throughout the game. NAW). She started her Stance at 4, meaning she was good at finesse and defense, but not attacking.

I explained the quest, telling David and Lena that the Upper Iron Wharf was built into the side of a shardmind inverted pyramid, made entirely of the same crystals that powered their bodies. This Shardmind Temple was in the arctic circle of Pyheeta, in a land named Chetyre. Sasha and Yelena had made their way to the desolate snow plains of this abandoned land. Well, mostly abandoned.

Sasha and Yelena were about a quarter mile from the Upper Iron Wharf. Sasha took out his binoculars to examine the place from a distance. So it was here I decided to try out the rolling mechanic. I explained it as best as I could (I am not a very confident teacher in media res), and David asked if he could use his class feature (which can only be activated by Poise, which he had none of at the time), as proof that he was an expert in examining things, thus getting the extra dice. I thought that was pretty reasonable. 

And... he got one success. Oof. That's a success with a twist. So I had it that a gigantic crystalline avian came out of a cave that was at the inverted base of the pyramid. And it looked right at Sasha, over a quarter mile away. Lena quickly had Yelena cover herself with snow so that she could sneak attack the avian when it go closer. She critted! So I ruled that she would get advantage on her next roll against the avian. Lena seemed more than okay with that. 

The avian charged, and Sasha noticed that its eyes were probably quartz, and thus brittle. So David rolled to shoot out an eye... and got it. Down went the avian, crashing almost atop Yelena. Lena declared the repair box had some wire in it, and jumped up, out of the snow, wrapped the wire around the avian's long crystalline neck, and held it down. Sasha then shot out the other eye. The avian flipped around flapping its wings and screaming in a digitized sound that sounded like a tape being played backwards. David gave a helping die to Lena to help get Yelena from under the avian creature... and his dice rolled a failure. Which in this game is bad. A wing clipped Sasha in the face, giving him a concussion. There's no HP in the game, so you just hand out conditions. Stumbling over, Sasha had to roll for what I would normally make just a narrated action, due to the concussion... and David rolled one success. Gah. I took away Sasha's sword. I think now it was a mistake. I should have lamed him or something, because the sword allowed Sasha a greater amount of autonomy than he had later.

I hard cut them to the cave Sasha had spotted, and flat out told them there was nothing else walking around inside of it. No need to roll or anything, that wasn't what I was interested in. I told them there were multiple tunnels bored into the crystal. 

And that's when David does what David does. He just made up something, right on the fly. The curse he had linked him to the Last God, allowing him to see the god's smell. It also meant that he could not avoid the Last God. I'm sure not going to say no to someone who says something like that. 

So they found the correct tunnel, one where they Last God had definitely been. But they heard footsteps and had to hide. Lena rolled well.... Sasha rolled one success, even when David lowered his Stance to 6 thanks to a Poise point.... gah. So Sasha managed to find a hiding space, but got boxed in by the shardmind who had come in who, knowing someone was around, called out to his fellows in a digitized, odd sounding voice (think those weird birds from Twilight Princess). Yelena and Sasha could hear the tramping of inorganic feet. So Yelena took a screw out of her repair kit and chucked it down another hallway, rolling two good successes. 

They quickly made their way to another room. And that's when there was a stomping from above them. The crystalline ceiling crack, and down came the Orphan Giant. The shrapnel of its landing was a danger to Sasha, since he had a concussion and couldn't move as quickly as he'd have liked. He got cut up. Lena spent poise and automatically hid. The giant swung and Sasha ducked beneath the swing, winding up next to Yelena, who had found a locked door. Good thing she had The Master Key!

Up and up they went, till they came out on top of the crystalline inverted pyramid. The god stood on the iron wharf, jutting out into the air. The good was covered in dragon scales, with draconic wings, even though he had the shape of a man. The god walked away from the wharf and came up to Sasha and Yelena. He didn't want to fight; the gith were coming to get him off the planet and he just wanted to leave. And be at peace. But Sasha and Yelena could not be at peace, so long as he lived.  The god gutted Sasha with his wing talons. Falling backwards, Sasha saw the wound on the side of the god's head... and the dagger that was in a nearby fallen god's hand. Sasha grabbed the dagger... as the god jumped on Sasha's legs, breaking them. Sasha threw the dagger to Yelena. Lena tried to get me to let her cheese that damn box again, which I outright refused. Lena lowered her Stance with a point of Poise and struck the god in the wound on his head, driving the Lordvessel dagger all the way through his skull. 

The god fell, dead. His blood washed over Sasha, who found himself drinking it. It cured his wounds. And so Yelena drank it as well. 

Wings sprouted from their backs, as scales cascaded over their skin.

The gith ship, sails spread wide, came to the dock. They got on board. And left the two dead gods behind.

Death is a Patient Master: Session Two

 

Aria, Ember, Galina, and Wiztiyc the minotaur went into The Beautiful Caves to take out a group of orcs that were sitting outside of Ilona. What they found instead was a cult of goblins, possessed by a rot god; Aria was possessed by this rot god, temporarily. Beaten and scared the group retreated back to the surface, only to find the orcs had been trying to besiege the goblins. An alliance was promptly formed.

The sun came up, as it always did. The orc sentries relaxed, even if only a little; goblins were afraid of sunlight. As much as orcs loved battle even they did not care much for their foe, for these goblins worked for the rot god. They were stronger, faster, meaner, more intelligent. With day the orcs could continue their scouting, which had been continuously interrupted by the falling of the sun. Their backs were turned when the goblins came pouring out of the Caves like fetid water out of a sewage pipe. The goblins washed over the surprised orcs, leaving blood and corpses where once were living bodies.

Ember, who was just waking up, heard the commotion. He blinked in disbelief; how were goblins out in broad daylight? The energy comeing from these goblins, which Ember could see with his arcane sight, was even stranger. Bits of Aria's aura were now in the eldritch strings that the rot god was using to boost the goblins. Looking at how the goblins were being strengthened by the rot god's aura Ember came to the realization that aura is a sort of language. Life is communicated in the way the object could best receive it. But what if one confused this language, confused the recipient? Ember realized he could do that. And so he did. He reached out to as many of the rampaging super goblins as he could and scrambled their ability to "hear" the rot god. He couldn't do it for long, but one doesn't need long for a group of terrified and confused creatures to be slaughtered. The eyes of the rot god were upon Ember; he could feel the gaze boring into him. No matter what Ember did he couldn't make the eyes go away. They hung in the air, as if they were purple smoke.

Galina and Aria had run up to one of the goblins who hadn't been slaughtered and-

It had Aria's eyes. Aria's eyes were staring back at her... and Aria found she couldn't see anything else. "What... what is this, Galina?"

An orc came running, scimitar out. Galina interposed herself between the goblin and orc. "No! Keep this one, for questioning! Back off! Go!" Growling, the orc went back to a campfire and sat down, kicking the campfire before him. Galina turned back to the goblin and looked at its aura; it thought of Aria as a mother! It looked at Aria with no small amount of adoration as it sat there, hogtied. Aria's revulsion was total. She'd hope the look on its face was-

"Aria... Aria...! Return to me" boomed the goblin. Who returned to his nervous giggling a moment later.

Galina and Aria stared, horrified. And yet fascinated.

Wiztiyc was staring at a fresh orc corpse. No one was looking. Galina and Aria were squabbling with some goblin, the orcs were driving off the rest of the goblins, Ember was just staring into space... the orc's arm looked so good. Just one nibble... it had to taste like chicken. Shaking, Wiztiyc picked up a severed orc arm. It loomed in his vision, blotting out all else.

The arm tasted like pork, raw.

No, that couldn't be right.

Wiztiyc knew orcs tasted like chicken and he'd had a hankering for months. There was a cooking fire just over there. Maybe, just maybe...

The orc shouts didn't matter. Not anymore.

The wind fled his lungs.

Just reach

REACH

"Mmmph.... chick- OOMPH!"

Ember didn't want to stop looking at The Eyes; he was scared they would become a face and the face would become a body and the body would come after him, if he so much as turned his back. But Ember could still hear things and there was orc shouting and Wiztiyc grunting in pain. Ember wrenched his gaze away.

And then looked back.

The eyes had not grown into a face. There was that much, at least.

Wiztiyc's grunts were fading under the thick thudding of orcish fists. The orc leader, impossibly beautiful sword strapped to his waste, appeared at Ember's side. He was watching with amusement, Ember knew.... maybe that could be turned, somehow. So Ember reached into the web of relationships in the orc leader's heart. Ember found the orc's relationship to Wiztiyc, which was... neutral, at best.. and forced it into the center of the orc leader's being.

Well, tried to anyway.

The orc leader's web was frozen into a hierarchical configuration. Forcing him to love Wiztiyc like a brother meant breaking and reforming that configuration. And the eyes were still watching, even here, even while Ember was deep within the orc leader's soul. Fright turned to fury; Ember pushed on the hierarchical web with all his strength.

The orc's eyes narrowed in the fury forced upon him. Running over to the pile of orcs and minotaur, he began breaking necks and ruining bodies. Pulling what was left off of Wiztiyc, the orc leader asked "You get in battle?"

"Well, yes," lied Wiztiyc.

The orc leader grabbed the arm from Wiztiyc. And took a big bite out of his fallen compatriot. The other orcs gawked in astonishment. with a gulp the orc leader clapped Wiztiyc on the shoulder and returned the arm to the minotaur. "Spoils sacred. Eat, friend, eat!"

Aria and Galina walked up to Ember and Wiztiyc, who was greedily chomping down the rest of the orc arm before the orc leader changed his mind. "I'm going back in," Aria declared. "I need to know why this... thing.. this god has done..." she gestured at the goblin in disgust and terror. "I would appreciate the company."

"Mmph. In a minute. Earned this," grunted Wiztiyc, as he pulled more flesh off his grizzly trophy.

The four returned to the cavern where Aria had been possessed by the rot god. The torchlight revealed more objects in the unreal feces. Everyone started collecting the gold they had found. But Galina was the only one to find anything other than small handfuls of gold: a chipped diamond, shining crooked rainbows in the light of her torch. 

Aria began to look at the chute she had seen before, where she knew that the rot god waited. She felt the pull again and... and...

The floor opened beneath Aria.

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

WHUMP

Aria grabbed whatever it was she'd bounced off of, even though her fingers tore. There wasn't time to think; she pulled herself up in a hurry. She was in pitch black, true darkness. Aria felt out the small island she'd found in this sea of fuligin she'd discovered.

"Why does it matter that I died?" asked Tonya's voice, without hardly a ripple in the darkness. "People die all the time, violently even. They're hanged, cut open, starve, jump off of bridges. Death is normal. So why does my death upset you so much?"

"HELP!" Aria called upward into the absolute darkness. "I'm down here! I'm alright, but it was a long drop!"

Back up in the cavern of shit and gold Galina, Ember, and Wiztiyc were standing by the new hole in the floor, trying to figure out a way down after Aria. They heard Aria calling out just as they were done splicing their ropes together. Ember looked down and saw the rot god's presence centered next to Aria. Terrified, he shouted down. "Hang on, we're coming for you!"

Wiztiyc went down first, torch in hand. The light could be seen by Aria who looked over-

-Tonya was hanging in the air, neck broken at a right angle, rotting eyes staring at Aria with a sight that she could not accept. She screamed and almost jumped off her island, heels in the infinite abyss.  Wobbling, Aria forced herself back to the island, facing the floating corpse.

"Why do I sadden you so?" croaked the floating Tonya. "Is that you think you caused it? You've had to kill others before, have you not? Is death acceptable so long as you're not responsible for it?"

Wiztiyc was there, torch in hand, rope around waist, reaching out. Tonya was gone.

A few exhausting tens of minutes later and Aria was back with the group. The rot god's aura had retreated a bit, allowing Ember a little bit of a breather; he could feel there were spells living in this complex, somewhere. And they were calling to him. "There is a spell I can find, if you'll help me. I can use it to help us in the future." Everyone took a moment, and then nodded. "Thank you," Ember said. Wiztiyc went to the passageway that led back towards the surface and threw their rope high, managing to catch it a on something in the gloom. 

The group pulled themselves up into the bright sun. The structures of an ancient civilization greeted them. Stone cubes with curious scrapings acrost the stone. But Ember didn't care to look. All he saw was the well; another way underground. The group, hungry and exhausted, lowered the trembling Ember down into the well.

The Eyes followed him.

The well broke off into a small room, covered in the usual shit, to Ember's right, and a rough shaft to Ember's left. After a second Ember could hear it: a low buzzing noise. It didn't stay low for long. Gigantic hornets, the size of Ember's forearm. But Ember saw the truth, even with the Eyes distracting him. These were what real hornets were imitating. This energy of rage... Ember could connect with it. He reached out, in his fear of The Eyes, in his helpless rage against them, and invited these hornets, the real hornets, into him. His soul. His very essence. Their energy filled Ember with warmth. The Eyes were still there. Ember was still afraid of them. But Ember didn't care.

They pulled Ember back up, out of the well. From beyond the ruins they heard the sounds of conflict; human and orc voices could be heard. Galina ran ahead... to witness what she hated most in the world: a nobleman leading. He sat atop his horse, full plate shining in the sun...

That's not what Ember saw. The man in shining armor, blonde-haired and blue-eyed, was an apparition, used to cover Ember's old foe, Lord Reynolds! Ember immediately hid himself in the crowd; if he was caught by his former mentor there'd be little he could do to defend himself.  

Galina, however did not hide from the prancing jackass she saw. "There's something worse under the ruins! The orcs were helping us fight it!"

"Something worse than orcs exists?" asked Lord Reynolds, incredulous. 

"A rot god, for one, you shiny fool!" spat Galina. The soldiers looked to their lord, but Lord Reynolds waved them off.

The orc leader came up to them. "We no enemies! Want rot god dead!"

"I see... I see..." Lord Reynolds rubbed his chiseled chin. "Would you be willing to come and help us eliminate this dark and heathen god?"

"Already trying to!" roared the orcs. 

"Then let us battle together!" cried Lord Reynolds, and all cheered except Wiztiyc, Ember, Galina, and Aria. They were in various stages of pain and exhaustion.

The orc leader strode up to Ember and Wiztiyc, clapping them on the shoulders: "Friends come! Kill rot god! We have numbers!"

"Yeah, I'd love to die today," quipped Wiztiyc. "No thanks."

The orc leader, shocked, looked to the others. Not one was able or willing. "Die for glory better than live as coward!"

"I dunno, I like living to spend my hard-earned cash, so you can keep the death, thanks," insisted Wiztiyc.

The orc leader was forced to like Ember and Wiztiyc, thanks to the spell Ember had cast on him. So he didn't have his orcs kill them.

Just beat them within an inch of their lives. And then left them there.

Somehow the quartet dragged themselves back to the town of Ilona, practically penniless.They found the town inhospitable, particularly as Lord Reynolds was clearly solving the problems they had not. Not that anyone was paying attention, as new visitors had come to town: a group of gith monks, said to come from the stars themselves. The week was spent ignored, injured, and trying desperately not to let their wounds become infected. Finally they'd had had enough. It was time to go.

Creditors followed Aria and Ember, yelling about unpaid debts that both swore they'd paid. Just as weapons were drawn, one of the yellow-skinned gith everyone had been raving about. "Will this cover them, friend?" asked the odd monk, holding out a few jewels. The creditor's eyes were like dinner plates. He left happy.

The monk drew near to Aria and Ember, who were stunned to silence. "There is a weapon in the Beautiful Caves that had killed Neizbezhnyy, the rot god also known as The Inevitable, once before. The goblins you've seen had originally brought it to kill Neizbezhnyy, but he had used it to enslave them. You will know it when you see it. Bring it back to this town and I'll find you. Your debt to me will be rectified then." Ember and Aria nodded, and went to talk to Galina and Wiztiyc.

Lord Reynold's white stallion came running up to the gate of Ilona, were the four stood, white fur turned pink.

Death is a Patient Master: Session One

A few weeks ago orcs were seen near the sarcastically-named Beautiful Caves by the inhabitants of the metropolis Ilona. They attacked the orcs, who slew all who came after them... except one, who managed to flee and warn the city of Ilona of what was undoubtedly an incoming invasion. The townsfolk of Ilona braced themselves for an assault, possibly a siege; panic was in the air as supplies were laid, troops mustered, and everyone thought their days were numbered.

The invasion never came. the orcs camped outside the inhuman and twisting structures that marked the entrance to the Beautiful Caves; the orcs didn't move one inch towards Ilona. The Lord Mayor of Ilona, moved by the outcries to drive the orcs away, but not willing to send his own men to attack a group of orcs who had made no further aggressive moves against his populace, issued a substantial bounty to whomever could either clear the caves or report back what the orcs were planning, as well as if the force actually required the town militia.

Galina, the reluctant Celestial Knight of the star Ilona, the rogue mage Ember, the thief Aria, and Wizktiyc the minotaur decided that bounty was worth their while. They had never met before (well, Ember and Wiztiyc had met and been on a job before), only having met at an inn, looking over the same proclamation of the Lord Mayor. They made a plan to scout for alternative entrances to the Beautiful Caves, so as to catch the orcs by surprise and pick them off, one by one. Wiztiyc in particular had developed a taste for orc meat, something he was very vocal about. "It tastes just like chicken. I want more."

That may have been enough reason for Aria and Galina to offer to scout ahead, leaving the not as stealthy Ember holding the bag that was the awful conversation Wiztiyc wanted to have about how to cook orc flesh. Aria and Galina chuckled as they made their way along the ridge before the Beautiful Caves. Aria's foot landed on a section of ground that was definitely hollow. With Galina's help They pulled up a section of the earth that had grown over a section of wood. They pulled that up to reveal darkness, which fled away from the light fifteen feet, abandoning unworked stone. Securing a rope with the help of Galina, Aria repelled down down into the hole. 

The instant her feet sunk into it Aria was almost overwhelmed by the smell of feces. Gagging, she called up "Galina! - HACK - careful about the smell! The walls are - UGH - covered in shit!"

Galina didn't smell it until her feet sunk into it.  "Oh, oh!" She gagged, remembered the money, and found a way to not throw up. She stumbled over to Aria, who had lit a torch. The darkness continued its retreat, this time into a passageway at the far end of the shit-covered opening they were in. Something glinted in Galina's periphery; a silvery response to Aria's torchlight. Galina grimaced as she wiped the caked droppings off the wall. It wasn't silver Galina had found: it was a vein of mithril. Galina touched the vein in silent awe.

Another hand placed itself upon hers. A familiar hand. A hand from a dead man. Galina turned to her right, to see Corin, her husband, looking at the mithril with her. Corin had been dead awhile now, since before Galina had met Ilona. "That is so beautiful," declared the dead man. And then he was gone.

Aria, for her part, had found something round in a deeper section of poop: a goblin skull. Aria hated goblins. No one had talked about them when the bounty was announced, just orcs. Aria heard Galina gasp; she was pale in the torchlight. And she had her hand in the smelly wall. "Something happen?" Aria asked, concerned.

"Uh... um... mithril!" Galina said a touch too hastily. "Mithril, mithril right here!" Aria walked over, wincing at every footstep as it sank into the muck. They didn't need to stay another minute, and so therefore they didn't.

When they got out of the cave there was not one bit of feces on them. When they looked back down they couldn't see even a trace of the foulness that was in the cave.

Wiztiyc and Ember were having a conversation about eating orcs, a bit farther down the Beautiful Mountain. Well, Wiztiyc was trying to, with Ember trying to redirect the conversation to something, anything, else, and failing. So he was excited when Aria and Galina came back with a sure way forward. Wiztiyc, however, was disappointed when he heard that the route didn't include orcs he could chew on the bones of. 

"Wiztiyc sank much lower into the horrific muck than the others, and his sensitive nose made the experience a whole order of magnitude worse. Ember, however, didn't notice the filth at all. The whole complex was roiling with the most awful eldritch energy he'd ever seen, surrounding him, hugging the walls, forcing its way into his nostrils, into his lungs, his heart...

Goblins. Way, deep, deep down.

Spells. Living, sparking, beautiful spells.

A gigantic. Rotting. Rotting to eternity but never running out of a thing to rot corpse.

Eyes. Burning through eyelids that never would fully go away. Staring out. Staring at him. Beckoning. 

Deeper. 

Deeper. 

Deeper.

While he was gagging on the stench Wiztiyc noticed that Ember wasn't in the cave with them. Footprints led down the adjacent hall. The minotaur barreled ahead of the torch Aria was holding to find Ember standing at the edge of an abyss. His eyes were glazed and he teetered, mouth forming words that made no sound. Wiztiyc grabbed Ember, whose eyes cleared; the tunnel reverberated with Ember's scream. As Wiztiyc pulled Ember back to Aria, who had come running with the torch, Ember somehow regained his composure. "There's a lot of really evil energy around us. And there's something... I think it's a god of rot. Or it was. This is not what we signed up for."

Galina had not followed Wiztiyc and Aria to help with Ember. She had been looking at the vein of mithril, wistfully. Corin had come back. He had loved it. She couldn't leave it behind. She took a hammer and began to chisel out some of the mithril, just to keep. For Corin. Forever for Corin. Galina was tired. So tired. She just wanted all this to be over. And it soon would be. She'd settle down, with this one piece of mithril, and forget about the rest. 

Corin grabbed Galina and shook her. "Get rid of that and get away! This place is evil!" Galina's scream joined with Ember's, just down the hall. Nobody knew they were the same cry.

When Wiztiyc, Ember, and Aria to Galina a moment later they grabbed a swig of wine from their skins. When they'd taken a moment in the pregnant filthy darkness they all walked back to the abyss that Ember had almost fallen into. Turns out that abyss was about thirty feet deep, easily reachable with the ropes everyone had brought. They repelled down the thirty feet, to discover another hallway that went further down. The giggling of goblins echoed down the shit-covered walls. Galina, using the aura reading powers Ilona had granted her, counted seven goblins. Aria made out their voices. "They're saying they'll find us when the sun goes down and cut us open. They're about to start gathering their friends to get ready for it." They all shuddered and began to think of what to do next.

Snarls and the yells of orcs interrupted their internal reverie. The echoes of steel and death followed. Wiztiyc desired to go and see what was going on, but Galina and Aria insisted on going. Galina's astral blade, received from Ilona, glowed lightly. It would be enough to see without attracting too much attention. So they snuck down the smelly passageway.

The orcs were having the fight of their lives. They were fighting the oddest goblins Aria had ever seen. Dark brown green and markedly bigger than normal goblins, they moved with a manner that Aria found deeply disgusting. She wanted to grind them beneath her foot, to feel them squirm in the shit, to suffocate in it. She wanted them to vanish.

I can make that happen whispered something old. Rotting. Powerful. It frightened Aria, but only because she longed for it with every fiber of her being. That power... she could have prevented Tonya's death with that power. Yes, you could have It whispered in heart, in her mind, in the most secret  recesses that not even Aria could have known were there until It talked to them. Oh, how sad, this vow you made. Never again. It cooed. You're right, my dear. Never again. Aria knew something about this was wrong, tried to pry it away from the raw and screaming part of her heart that had sworn that stupid vow up and down and demanded Aria fix the impossible, morality and rationality be damned. Don't worry, my dear, I'll fix it. I'll fix it all. 

There may have been one last scream of Aria's conscience.

She didn't care. Not anymore. Because she could see, perfectly clearly, where there had been darkness, both in her heart and in this shit-filled cavern. There they were: those fucking goblins. All the anger and fear were gone. In its place was confidence as she looked down the twenty foot drop, at the top of the head of a goblin as it slurped down the throat tendon of an orc. That's it, she felt her deep in her body. That's it.

HUNT, MY BEAUTY.

Galina looked over and almost dropped her sword. Aria was now a dark green-brown, her eyes emitted a fuligin glow that drank in the light from Galina's blade like a desert in a monsoon. Aria's smile was now a hellish skull-mask of a grin, with her cheeks beginning to sink visibly before Galina's gaze like quicksand. "Don't worry," said Aria. The voice was the same. And then Aria jumped the twenty feet, laughing at the thrill of the fall, landing on the goblin below with a sickening KRUNCH. The orcs and goblins stopped and looked up, but the thing that was Aria and the god had already charged them all. Galina's jaw went slack as Aria's touched turned goblin after goblin, orc after orc, into dust. Stumbling as she got up, Galina ran back to Wiztiyc and Ember.

Ember recoiled in horror when he saw Aria. Eldritch strings, crackling purple things of energy that buried themselves into Aria's soul like fishhooks. The strings went back and back, through the floor, down back to...

It could see him. 

It hated him. 

Blood popped out of Ember's eyes, nose, ears, and fingers and he fell over. He practically drowned in the overflow of red coming from his mouth, which was open so the scream could come escape the blinding pain he was in.

Wiztiyck almost didn't hear the scream. He was staring at the piles around the massacre at the bottom. There was that telltale glint. Wiztiyck hurriedly tied a rope, ignoring the screams of his friend as he got down to the bottom to fill his pockets and knapsack with the loose gold coins he had seen instead of the death and carnage. Aria disintegrated the last orc and looked around. She saw Wiztiyck, who was busy throwing gold into backpack.  Him too, It hissed. Aria pushed back as hard as she could. It was not amused. All must go eventually, It told her. He is ours. Aria pushed and pushed, but she couldn't get It to let go. Wiztiyc looked up and saw the fuligin eyed Aria advancing on him, eyes drinking in the torchlight that Wiztiyc offered. He looked up and saw the darkness backing into a shaft high above them, as well as a chute behind whatever the hell Aria was now. 

Ember forced himself to his feet, Galina helping him not to lean against the feces encrusted wall. Ember began to weave a music of great beauty, something that spoke of friendships remembered but long since cracked open to the dust of time. Aria convulsed for a moment as It forced Itself to stay in that wound in her heart. But there had been a moment of weakness and Aria knew it. Galina, sensing the opening, began to push on Aria's aura. Aria, we are here. This isn't you.

I know.

Even a god must flee those two words.

They went back to the entrance, carrying the wounded Ember. As they climbed all the shit vanished as soon as the light hit it. They were greeted by a white flag and fifteen orcs. 

"At least let me have a fingernail to nibble on, before they kill us," whinged Wiztiyc.

But Ember could see their auras, as could Galina; they were utterly sincere. One of the orcs advanced. Ember took of his glove and offered it to the orc. They shook. "We have come to kill... monster," said the orc. A beautiful sword hilt was buried in an equally beautiful sheath at his hip. "Lost many already. Want to.. how you say... ally. At least make camp. Together."

The last part was agreed upon. And it was just as well: rats got into camp's rations, so Aria had to preserve what they had left. Ember drew a map of what he'd seen while they were in the Beautiful Caves, but that hadn't included the shaft and chute in the room of gold, so the others helped him draft it again.

The night was busy, but ultimately quiet.

Autarchy: Session Two

 

Two years after the events of The Giggling Dark Xellous went to find Telos. He did so, but also met Xalmantra, the man who had originally ordered that Xellous's family be destroyed in the first place. Xellous had looked for Telos in order to get advice on using an Angel Arrow to make a weapon that could protect his family, as well as journeying to get a power source for Ikuinen Lampo that would assure their safety. With permission to build the weapon and a deal cut with the elves of Heranyt to get a Void Ship, Xellous is almost all set.

Xellous was eager to get to work, but Telos took him aside. "Xalmantra couldn't track you before. He still can't."

Xellous nodded. "He said as much, yes."

"But just because you can't see a stone doesn't mean you can't track the ripples it made when it got thrown into the pond."

"So he knows where my family is?" Xellous asked, feeling a little sick.

"Wouldn't you be curious if you just saw a pond send up water, for no reason?" Telos dropped a few pebbles in Xellous's hand. "For whenever you want to come back to this planet." He turned to leave.

"Is there really nothing you can do?" asked Xellous.

"Who is the most helpless in the universe?" asked Telos. Xellous shrugged. "The one with the most power. With power comes obligation." Telos's golden robes were a whirl in the howling blackness. And then he was gone. And so was Xellous.

Xellous was back in his barn. The aura was all wrong; the whole world felt tainted. Xellous made his way out of the barn as fast as he could; nothing seemed unusual with the farm. The front door slammed against the house as Xellous rushed in. Threen and Kora's laughter greeted his ears. So did Xalmantra's. He put his cup down and stood to greet Xellous. "Welcome home, friend! I hope you don't mind, but I thought I'd come and meet the family. I hope that's alright! I didn't want to intrude on this idyllic scene." Xellous managed a nicety somehow, but all the wrongness in the whole world was coming out of this entirely sincere man. Gerard, Xellous's two year old son, came running up to Xellous and jumped into his daddy's arms. "Oh, he's adorable!" cooed Xalmantra.

Finally Xellous found some words. "Would you mind taking a walk with me? Old friend?"

Xalmantra practically skipped out the front door after Xellous. "You really have it all, young man, " Xalmantra gushed. "Truly! Power, a beautiful family," he tickled Gerard's neck with tenderness, who snuggled harder into daddy, "Fame, and on top of it all you deserve every last bit of it."

"Thank you," was all that Xellous could manage.

"You've done so much. I'd really like your input on things whenever you feel ready. After all, who's the most powerless in the world?"

Xellous felt a sinking in his gut. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Oh, those with the most power," said Xalmantra, with a sadness in his yes that was eerily similar to Telos. "Any help one such as that can get is invaluable."

"I... I honestly don't know what to say." That was true.

"Well, think on it. Please. I really could use your help." Xalmantra clapped Xellous on the shoulder and vanished.

Gerard wanted to play, but Xellous barely heard him. Walking up to Kora Xellous pulled her aside, leaving a disappointed Gerard with Threen for a moment. "We need to leave." Kora sputtered in confusion. "Ernzen claimed to be a member of The Cursed of Xalmantra. That's him. That's Xalmantra."

Kora was ashen. "He's the one who-"

"Who wrecked our family. He's the one who gave the order. We need to leave. He's... the king? Of this whole planet."

"Yes, now. Let's get out of here. Did you find Telos?"

"I did! He's living in a palace Kora!"

Kora's brows furrowed and some color returned. "... Telos. He's living in a palace."

"Yup, with cloth of gold clothes."

Kora laughed so hard  she almost dropped their daughter Lily. "He must look so uncomfortable!"

"He does! So much!" They laughed and laughed, with Lily looking at the both of them with a serious confusion that was amusing to her parents, all on its own.

"So Telos is the king of his planet?" asked Kora.

"He is. He shouldn't have been here at all. A war could easily start over Telos being here."

Kora's smile was devious. "So we're solar criminals. We're king smugglers."

Xellous opened his mouth and shut it. "I mean-"

"WE'RE SMUGGLERS"

Xellous sighed. "Yes, dear. We're smugglers." 

Kora giggled. And then regained her composure. "We should get going." Xellous was still shaking his head as they walked into the house to gather everyone together.

Kora's jaw dropped when she saw the golden palace. As Telos came out to greet them she called out "KING SMUGGLERS FOREVEEEEEEEER!!!"

Telos laughed as he embraced Kora. "You all were smugglers, of a sort." Telos saw them into his palace, nodding at Xellous while he cooed at Lily, who was fast asleep in her mother's arms.

Xellous refused to let the elves see his work until he'd finished it all; he didn't want them changing the deal and keeping him there. The elves wanted a few magical swords that they would use with certain races they deemed unworthy of being killed with elven weapons. Xellous made both items relatively easily and then turned to his pistol and the Angel Arrow. When he emerged a few days later Xellous proudly carried  the pistol to Telos. Telos held it with fear. "Xellous, you could rip a hole in the fabric of the universe with this. If you miss your target you could punch a hole in time." Xellous blanched. "You should only use this weapon once. Anything more than that and everything in the universe would come for you. I'm sorry but I... I can't advise you to use this even that many times. Even for your family. Don't use this unless literally everything rests on you doing so."

Xellous hid it away, profoundly shaken.

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Autarchy: Session One

Xellous couldn't wait any longer. Two years of rebuilding, raising Gerard, caring for Kora in her second pregnancy, helping rebuild their homeland Khouria, training... all while look at it. The motherload. The arrow that the angel Raphael had left him. Xellous had been told that he would know when to use the arrow. And for the last two years Xellous had stared at it on his mantle, hoping the day would come when he would know.

So he brought Ikuinen Lampo, the star whose sponsorship made him a Celestial Knight and capable of the manipulating aura, the life energy of each and every creature. Kora came along as well, swaddled baby in her arms. "I want to use the Angel Arrow to power up this" Xellous told them, taking out the khen-zai pistol he'd lifted off one of their footsoldiers over two years ago. "With the Angel Arrow I can make this pistol capable of hurting gods. Gods. We would have the firepower to destroy anything that attacked us. The khen-zai are still out there and we have to fight back. And the pistol is only the beginning!"

Xellous was going to say more, bu the look on Lampo's face made him stop. "That's... that's blasphemous"she said, face screwed up in disgust.

Xellous was taken aback. "What do you mean? I'm trying to protect us! I want us to be safe."

"But this wasn't... this isn't just any object" Lampo stammered. "This is a gift from Heaven itself. It's not an object in the way you think of it. The Angel Arrow is a sign, a gift. Look at all the myths of Pyheeta about tampering with Heaven."

Xellhous thought through all the stories he'd heard about during his stay at Ikuinen Lampo's Observatory. All those people who had messed with Heaven, for whatever reason, wound up cursed. But this was different. Right? "You may have a point. What do you think, Kora?"

Kora shrugged and shifted her weight, holding the sleeping infant. "I'm definitely with Lampo. This isn't just anything, it's a gift. I understand what you're saying, where you're coming from, about wanting to protect us. It is warranted, given what's out there. The Angel's Arrow would certainly accomplish that goal."

Xellous nodded. "That's all I care about. But I don't want to be cursed either. Telos would know what to do with this."

"But honey, how would you do that? It's been two years. Telos is on another planet. It's not like we can walk to the next farm or anything!" quipped Kora.

"Ikuinen Lampo, you're always connected to your metal, regardless of where it is, right?" asked Xellous. Lampo nodded. "Well, Telos has a suit of armor made from your metal. And I can shift to where he is, courtesy of some modifications I made to my wedding band, courtesy of that khen-zai corpse we've been keeping around," Xellous said, brandishing the ring on his left hand. "I just need to know where he is." Lampo nodded. She focused for a few seconds, and then touched Xellous on the shoulder. "I'll be back as soon as I can" Xellous promised.

A few seconds later and Xellous was standing in a bright field. Before him loomed a palace of solid gold. The energy of the field was completely malleable and could respond to his thoughts, even without the aura bending. But the palace was completely immovable: a fixed aura in... whatever this place was. The golden gates swung open at the slightest of touch. The silence was only broken by Xellous's footfalls.

All of a sudden a man in plain robes appeared next to him. "Well hello there!"

Xellous turned to face him. "Hello!"

The stranger fell in beside Xellous and they began walking down a hallway of reflective gold. "I'm looking for Telos, how about you?" asked the man.

"I'm here to see Telos as well. What's your name?"

"Xalmantra. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Xellous, Celestial Knight."

Xalmantra. It had been a very long time since Xellous had heard that name. Years ago Ernzen, the man who had sent flammeous lads against Xellous's family, had identified himself as the last of "The Cursed of Xalmantra". Xellous had never found a lead after that and was more concerned about looking for Kora, who had been kidnapped by the khen-zai. But Xellous had never forgotten. "How're the flammeous lads treating you, Xalmantra?" he asked coolly.

"Oh, I've questions for you too," chuckled Xalmantra "But first: Telos."

"Right here, Xalmantra". Xellous and Xalmantra turned around. Telos could barely be made out in his reflective golden robes. His retinue were clothed the same way. Xellous finally noticed that all the surfaces  were totally refective: they all were standing in an ever-reflecting series of golden surfaces. He could finally feel the intended effect: floating in an eternal sea of gold. All of them, together, were in an ocean of light. And telos was the anchor point.

Xalmantra bowed to Telos. "It is wonderful to see you again, Autarch of Heranyt! It has been some time since you were last here and available to visitors."

Telos returned the bow. "Always a pleasure, Autarch of Pyheeta. Xellous here is one of your patrons."

"Ah, yes the intrepid young Xellous, Celestial Knight! Hero of Khouria, twice over! Friend of Angels, destroyer of Nameless! Enemy of the godless khen-zai" crowed Xalmantra. He turned to Xellous. "It's such a shame. Normally I can locate all life on my planet... but I couldn't find you, to lend you aid, while all these things were happening to you." While he was talking Xalmantra began to prod Xellous's aura...

Xalmantra was an aura bender.

That was supposed to be unique to Xellous.

"Like what you're seeing?" Xellous asked Xalmantra.

"Oh yes," Xalmantra said, a surprised delight on his face. "A fellow aura bender! I've never met another. That must mean you've made quite the impression on a star. I'm most impressed." Xellous suppressed a shudder. Xalmantra was many times more powerful than Xellous and could crush him like a grape. So he let Xalmantra poke around as he wished.

Xalmantra turned back to Telos. "He certainly couldn't have masked his aura from someone like me, no matter how impressive he is.Only another autarch could ahve hidden his movements so completely. It would have almost destroyed him to do so, but anything's possible. Still. That breaks so many laws of the Sopusoin System it makes my head spin." Xalmantra smiled a thin lipped grimace at Telos. "Know anyone who would fit that bill?"

"If I see any autarchs breaking Sopusoin Law I'll let them know" Telos responded icily.

Xalmantra threw back his head and laughed. "Right you are! What a notion, an autarch interfering with the domain of another! I suppose I'll just have to keep looking. And now I must take my leave." He turned to Xellous. "I'll be seeing you very soon."

Xalmantra vanished.

Telos shook his head. "That was... unpleasant. Unlike seeing you, my friend!" The two men embraced; one was in simple farm clothes, the other in pure ever reflective gold. Neither cared."What can I help you with?" Telos asked warmly.

"I need advice and a drink with an old friend. Maybe a ship to sail the Void. Nothing much."

Telos chuckled. "Oh, is that all? Such simple desires! What advice do you seek? I'll do what I can."

Xellous pulled out the Angel Arrow. A man in Telos's retinue gasped. "I want to use this as an antecedent," Xellous said.

Telos dismissed all of his retinue but the man who gasped. "That is not a conversation to be had in our halls. Let us adjourn elsewhere." They made their way, floating on solid ground. Telos tapped a reflection and it slide aside to a myriad of reflections right next to Telos, Xellous, and the man who came with them. "This is Tyce," Telos said. "He's my chief bodyguard."

Xellous could tell they were in a smaller infinity. A table and chairs radiated in all directions. Telos touched one of the seats so Xellous could sit there. "Now, what you're asking for is very serious. What are your intentions?"

"I'm horribly outgunned. The flammeous lads, the khen-zai, and now Xalmantra... I need to protect my family. I know I've not been attacked in two years, but it's coming. And we need to travel to that junkyard planet we had been told about to get a generator for Ikuinen Lampo. So that way we can bring the fight to the khen-zai and everyone else connected to them. And if I use this arrow as an antecedent... I can do that. And if that's not lawful, good, can you help me find something that does?"

"Did you not see that conversation out there?? I can't directly intervene. Other lives depend on my neutrality, no matter how much of a lie that neutrality is. But... but I can call on an old friend. Stay right here." Telos got up and walked into a newly appeared hallway of infinities.

After a minute of awkward silence Tyce said something. "I've heard a lot about you. Your kindness... nobility... but this?? This is blasphemous. Or, at least I think it is. Please help me. I want to understand."

"I'll try. Imagine if you were a chef. And one day you get an ingredient that could just end hunger, forever. Now, wherever you got that ingredient from, wouldn't you at least think about it? Why wouldn't you use it?"

Tyce's jaw worked. "That's a... terrible analogy! You can't compare an Angel's Arrow to... too..." Tyce sat back, speechless.

Telos came back a few minutes later with a man in a white robe. "My old friend, Raphael the Archangel. Tyce, let's go discuss how on earth he got past the help without a proper greeting!" They were gone.

Raphael radiated calm power. "I was told you had questions about the arrow I'd given you and how you wished to use it as an antecedent. What are your intentions Xellous, Celestial Knight?"

Xellous scratched his head. "The world around me is so much bigger than I thought. And I want my family to be safe I'm about to take them on something strange and unusual and I want them to be safe. They definitely won't be safe without me, but now they have to be safe with me."

"You don't care about the power this thing could give you?"

Xellous looked confused. "Well, of course I do!"

"What would you use that power for?"

"To protect my family!" Xellous was even more confused.

Raphael smiled. He clapped Xellous on the shoulder. "Go in peace. You're the first person to ever take the trouble to find me and ask in person. You have my blessing."

And Raphael was gone.

Telos and Tyce, who looked greatly chastened, re-entered. "Got what you need?" Xellous nodded. "Then we should get you the rest of what you need, like a ship."

"And a drink."

Telos laughed. "Twist my arm why don't you?" He pushed in another wall and they were looking out into a freezing, howling, eternal night. Glowing ebony-skinned figures tended ships with white wood, white sails. Telos walked up to one of the glowing midnight folks and had what was undoubtedly a friendly conversation. He came back to Xellous. "You won't let me pay, will you?" Xellous shook his head. "Well, I told them you were an enchanter. They'd like some items enchanted in the human manner. It will allows them to be more versatile in their eternal war with the Nameless."

"I'd be more than happy to! Now, how about that drink, before I get to work?"

"Have the last two years been that bad, that you have to drink them away?"

Xellous laughed and shook his head. "Well, you weren't there. A lot's changed."

There was a beat where only the wind made any noise.

"I can't go with you, Xellous" said Telos over the wind. "Xalmantra won't stop watching. I can feel his spies, waiting on the edges, to report anything they see. Tyce, however, isn't bound to the laws that I am. With power comes more laws, more rules, more things to restrain it. He'll go with you. Is that acceptable?"

"I... I don't think Tyce likes me very much"

Telos chuckled. "Oh, he's young. He's not seen what you have. Few have. This will be good for him. Besides: if I tell him to he'll go."

"Ah, the power of an autarch," Xellous said with a mocking twinkle.

"Power indeed!" Telos shook his head. "I don't feel particularly powerful, most days. That drink you keep talking about may change that, for just a little bit."

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