Present Party: Aria, Claudia, Emori, and Steve. Aria's player was late to the session, so when she arrives in the summary is when her player was introduced again.
World Setting: Typical medieval fantasy world with various Greek elements, seen mostly in temples. The gods in this world are part of the Greek pantheon. The entirety of this session takes place in the city of Blackpool, at Ike's Farm.
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| One of the players made this edit to our map on Roll20, showing where the party had been so far. Cyan = Steve and Aria OR just Steve, starting session 3 Orange = Emori and Claudia Red = Aria, post session 3 |
Steve, Claudia, and Emori woke up the next morning, having been invited to stay at Ike's home for a time to "conduct research" about The Darkening. They were given a few places that were off-limits, including the basement and the east wing of the house. However, they'd previously found a secret door leading down to a basement level.
After some discussion about what they should do - including a conversation about whether or not they should attempt to become gods themselves - they decided to further investigate the basement. Becoming gods became the designated Plan B and they resolved to ask Conah about it sometime, thinking that he would probably be their best bet (in terms of who wouldn't smite them on sight for asking.) They recruited Confidence again to help them move the bookshelf, and he helped albeit hesitantly.
Claudia investigated the basement again using her Spectral Mind from her spellbook. She knew that she couldn't get into the double doors at the end of the hall; the room had dispelled the magic. She wanted to visit the "memorial" as she called it - the room that was tens of feet high (somehow) and had plaques with names and dates. She learned that there wasn't anything behind them; there couldn't be. The plaques were too small, and there was no way to "pull out" anything to put ashes or a body into the wall. Some of the names had gold lettering. Claudia recognized one name: Magnus. This name came up in their conversation with Phoebe and Achaeus. Magnus was their father, and one of Ike's alters before he became a god. Phoebe and Achaeus, for all intents and purposes, had two fathers and then a mother. Some of the other names included: Thalia, Junk, Karai, Doyle, Simon, Oz, and Inala. In total, there were about twenty golden names.
Claudia brought herself back to the others. They decided that the only way they'd find out anything else is if they actually went looking. Emori and Confidence decided to stand watch, in case they (for whatever reason) didn't come back. Steve and Claudia made their way down, and Emori and Confidence shut the bookcase behind them. Emori made sure to Mind Link herself to Steve and Claudia as well.
~~~~~
Aria had been spending time with Lex and Ava, Conah's wife and daughter. When Hekate was reincarnated, Ava told Aria that Conah would probably be back once that whole situation was handled. Then, he'd escort her to where her friends were.
Conah did just that, and the two of them started to walk to Blackpool.
On the way, he nudged her and asked, "So... who's the guy?"
Aria remembered that Conah was Eros - a god of love. She answered, "Oh! Um... His name is Silas."
"Silas and Aria..." he echoed, almost tasting the names together, before nodding. "And how's that going?"
"It's um... complicated right now."
Conah studied her for a moment. "You know, I... I sense that. It's almost like he's... really, really far from you. But the thing with love is that it's like a pull. When two people love each other - in any way, really - they're always going to be pulled towards each other."
"I believe that too."
"I get the feeling it's going to work out. I really do."
After that, he offered to make the journey go a little faster, and fly her to Blackpool on dragon-back. Aria accepted and they set off.
They arrived and were greeted by Jin. Jin told Aria that her friends were probably in the library and told her how to get there. Conah also asked Jin if he could stay for a few hours, take a rest. Jin was more than happy to oblige.
Aria got to the library and met up with Emori. She and Confidence filled her in on what was going on, and what Steve and Claudia were up to.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, Steve and Claudia searched the basement for anything new or interesting. In the forge, the workshop, and the memorial room, they didn't find much. The only thing that they noticed was that lights seemed to turn on when they entered a room, and then dim when they left.
Then, they approached the final room: the room with the double doors. They debated whether or not they should go in. Claudia poked the door. Nothing happened. Then, she pulled them open. They noticed several things.
1. The room was very large and appeared to made entirely of white marble.
2. Ike was standing in the center of the room. Alaion, the boy Steve and Aria had picked up from Sinner's Den, was sitting on the floor beside him.
3. There were three other double doors in this room, one on each wall.
4. There were strands of some kind of blue magic all around Ike and Alaion, but they were unable to make out what exactly the strands were before Ike waved his hand and they disappeared.
Ike looked at Alaion. "Alaion, why don't you go up to the kitchen and get a snack from Jin, okay?"
"Okay," he replied. "That was really cool, Mr. Ike."
"Thank you. And you'll be part of it very soon." He ruffled Alaion's hair. "And you already are. Go on."
Alaion scurried out of the room, through the doors opposite where Steve and Claudia were standing. Ike reached out with one hand and clenched his fist. The doors behind Steve and Claudia slammed shut. They called telepathically to Emori, but felt as though there was a wall there - something preventing the message from getting to her.
Ike sighed, "I want you to know... that I'm not angry with you. I'm just... so incredibly disappointed." He took two steps closer. "There were two places I asked you not to go. That's it. Two."
"Technically three," Steve reminded. "We're not allowed in the barn either, remember? Near the animals?"
Ike conceded, "You got me there. Three. But... that's still only three places. So, what made you think... that this would be a good idea?"
Unable to come up with a very good lie, Steve and Claudia feared for their lives against the god of time.
He continued, "I'm not going to kill you. I believe in second chances. So who wants to go first?"
"Go first... to leave?" Steve asked.
"Oh no," Ike declared. "I'm taking you out. Who wants to go first?"
Neither replied.
He nodded. "Alright..." His eyes focused on Claudia. "Ladies first then."
~~~~~
Emori briefly heard Steve and Claudia freaking out downstairs through the Mind Link, but they didn't go down. When Emori tried to reach out and reply, she felt some kind of block there. She, Aria, and Confidence decided that, at this point, it would probably be better to act as though they hadn't seen their friends. Then, they could figure out what happened to them. Even if they were dead, due to the known laws of working for The System, they would not be dead forever.
They grabbed a few books, and went back to the room to reconvene. Aria informed Emori that Conah was here, and that they could try to talk to him. That seemed to be their current best course of action. They went downstairs and saw Phoebe and Achaeus briefly as they entered the east wing of the house with two small children bundled in their arms. They reached the dining room, and heard an earnest conversation going on in the kitchen. They went inside and the conversation dropped. Jin, Ike, and Conah were there.
Emori asked if Conah would be willing to talk to them, and if he'd seen their friends. He replied that he hadn't, but that he'd definitely be willing to talk to them. They asked how exactly the first Eros died, and how exactly one becomes a god.
He sighed, "Well... that's complicated. It really depends, but in all cases what you need is a dead god. Eros - the first one - died when his mortal lover, Psyche, stabbed him, thinking he was a monster. She realized what she'd done and then killed herself. His mantle transferred to Aphrodite - his mother because she was his mother and because she already had the same portfolio. Then, I became a legendary hero. I was an aasimar of Aphrodite in my mortal life; she'd been like a mother to me, especially considering my own mother was awful. So... she asked me. I accepted, but on the condition that I got to live my own mortal life first."
"So you died? How?"
"Natural causes. An old man, in my bed, surrounded by my wife and children." He sighed. "Ike became Kronos because the first Kronos was going to kill Phoebe and he was holding Hekate captive. So, Ike killed Kronos. Phoebe and Achaeus became Day when Hermera - the original Primordial of Day - died fighting Nyx. We knew it was going to happen because she told us. It was fated that Phoebe and Achaeus would become Day, and not even gods can escape fate. Then... Echo. Someone had to take over Night or else there would never be night ever again. Echo was a hero, the gods approved, but... they still keep eyes on him. Of course they do. They want to make sure he doesn't do what she did. That's why he keeps his head low and doesn't get involved in a lot of the 'god-stuff' if you will."
After that, they returned to the library, but Achaeus stopped them and told them that Ike wanted to see them when they had the chance. He informed them, very brusquely, that their friends had been caught in the basement. They met up with Ike again in the dining room. Emori, Aria, and Confidence sat with him. Achaeus stood in the doorframe.
Ike looked at Aria. "You've been here less that an hour. So I want you to know that you're not in trouble." He looked at Emori and Confidence. "I'm going to ask once. Do not lie to me. Did you know that your friends went down to the basement?"
Emori lied, "They talked about it, but I didn't think they actually went. We were just looking for them too."
The Deception Check was successful. She also attempted to telepathically reach out to Steve and Claudia again. The message seemed to go through this time. So they weren't dead, but Emori still received no response.
"Well... they're here. They're not dead. They just broke some rules. And because you are with them, and I sincerely believe that you have nothing to do with their poor decisions, I'll give you a choice. You can either stay here and get a second chance alongside your friends or you can go, forget this ever happened, and never come back."
"Does that offer apply to him?" Emori asked, gesturing to Confidence.
"No," Ike replied. "I have no effect over him, other than the ability to send him places and... scramble his mind a little bit." He stood and walked over. "I'm thinking... Atlantis might be a good place to look for the answers you want, Confidence."
"Isn't Atlantis underwater? Maybe you want to send him somewhere he can breathe."
"Oh fine... I'll have Conah take you to Olympus."
Ike grabbed the back of Confidence's head. Confidence's eyes rolled back into his head, and then closed. He went completely limp.
"Is he okay?!"
"Yes. Just a little scrambled, is all," Ike assured. "So... what will it be?"
"Which would you pick?"
"Me? Well... Personally, I'd pick to stay with my friends. Because I believe in second chances. And if I could help them get their second chance, I think I'd do that."
Aria and Emori discussed it, and decided that they would stay. They played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would "go first" as Ike had offered to Steve and Claudia.
Emori went first. Aria watched as Ike snapped his fingers, and Emori disappeared. Her clothes tumbled to the ground where she'd been. Then, they wiggled. There was the sound of a baby crying.
Aria gasped, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You said we get a second chance!"
"Yes... and isn't this quite the second chance?"
Ike snapped his fingers, and Aria felt something warm inside her chest. Then, her vision faded to black.
~~~~~
Ike and Jin adopted four infants.
Two were human, a boy and a girl - Hugo and Avery. One was a kalashtar - Amelia. The last was a tiefling - Alex.
Their parents love them very, very much.
~~~~~
Credit to @ijaymendell inspiring this awesome campaign!
Additionally, thank you to my friend @bandcat5313 - the original homebrewer and DM for the world of Eushora. This setting and some NPCs were inspired by hers.
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