Dramatis Personae

• Chad “The Chad” H. Ramirez (NPC): Demigod of Cupid. Surferbro. Good guy. Not really a great combatant. Guess he’ll die. Tagline: “Whoa.”
• Cosmos aka The Management (Adelphin’s Ally): Cat and hotel manager. No, really. He’s got keys to everywhere, but is still a cat. Tagline: *Forgets to cat*.
• Rui Qui (Adelphin’s Ally): Theogenic Demigod. Hacker, magician, and entrepreneur. The team’s backup fighter and sneaker. Tagline: “Reality is just another simulation to be hacked.”
• Siv (NPC): Demigod of unknown parentage. Not a big talker. Doesn’t understand modern-day and was obviously raised in another dimension. Tagline: “. . .”

Previously . . .

The previous time, most of the folks had returned from Tartarus dragging back a man and a dog. The man belonged to Baba Yaga, he was her husband. Liam has claimed the dog for his own. Adelphin is taking care of Baba Yaga’s husband, and her adopted father, Koschei, he refuses to let go of her hand and keeps muttering random sentences. He was supposed to have died several centuries ago during a Harrowing. Mitzidu escorts Baba Yaga upstairs and catches her up on things until about 3 in the morning before he takes the time to contact Hachiman to let him know that he had killed his child.

Adelphin helps treat Koschei, he’s pretty quiet now after getting dosed with a potion, but he’s still gripping her hand fairly tightly. Baba Yaga is looking over his wounds, some look to have been inflicted a long time ago and it just healed around it. She takes out a container full of a putty-like substance which she places into the unnatural holes, bubbles for a moment and becomes flesh, giving Adelphin a similar jar and instructions to help Baba Yaga “spackle” Koschei’s holes. After filling Koschei, Adelphin moves to do the same to the dog they brought back while Suveer brings back questionable dog food from the place he works, getting rid of it quickly after discovering how bad it is.

Those that need to sleep, do so, and so the morning turns towards eight o’clock. Liam wakes to a cat, Cosmos, sitting on his chest and just staring at him. A seeming “meow” emerges from the cat like a badly done Hong Kong dub before it walks off. Liam tries to ignore it and takes the time to replace a few charms that he’d created.

Mitzidu takes the time to call up various press people to round up enough interest to hold a press conference, managing to get some reporters and journalists interested in his story. They meet outside his small consulting office. Informing them that a terrorist has attacked him, a philanthropist, an FBI office, and has killed multiple people during the attack on them. Placing the blame on the Thule Society and the Spartan group. Showing a lot more intelligence than what has probably been in the news considering the Federal Cases that barely happened a week ago being made, drawing attention to himself in probably unhealthy ways, along with showing a tattoo that the Spartans have on them. He takes no questions. His speech was:

“Thank you for coming. As you know terrorists attacked my home, burned it to the ground and killed several people in the process.  I was not the only target, other recent attacks have been made. A Philanthropist, the local FBI office, even a motel they may have been using as a staging ground, and other attacks have also been made by these so-called white supremacy and terrorist groups. The attack to get me or perhaps just destroy my home killed 5 employees and friends. A retired Marine, two young women who kept things in order, my gardener, and a young chef I was mentoring. I ask that you leave their names out of things and be respectful to their loved ones by not bothering them as they mourn.

My sources tell me its two groups working together, the Thule Society and the Spartans. The authorities have solid leads and intel on the Thule Society but the Spartans are better funded and trained so will be tougher to bring to justice and make our city safe again. I cant reveal details of course but Police Chief Benoit has already taken action, with further plans I heartily endorse and approve of -not that she needs my approval of course <small laugh>. However, once the mayor and city council approve and these plans are announced I will move swiftly to help them as we discussed. In the meantime, we should all be careful and watchful. If you see or hear anything suspicious pleased inform the authorities and do not try to approach or take these terrorists on yourself. They are cowards, but very well armed ones and we have seen they don’t care who or how many people they kill to achieve their goals – whatever those are.

One bit of info I want to pass along to you. <holds drawing up> The Spartans apparently have a gang tattoo that looks like this. If you see anyone with it notify the authorities as quickly as possible!

Thank you for your time, that will be all.”

The Anger of Baba Yaga

Adelphin Jean-Baptiste, Liam O’Shea, Mitzidu Ito, Suveer Patel, & Yannis Papadopoulos
Karnival Resort Hotel and Casino
Tuesday January 24th, 2012, 0900 hours
3500 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89169

Checking on the dog, Liam notices that what was left of the hair on the dog has fallen off and he looks fresh peach fuzz is growing all over him. The stone assures him that the dog is fine before Liam orders up breakfast and gets what looks like an exquisite banquet. Enjoying his food, he leans back and rests while looking after the dog.

Suveer finds the dog food has returned to his room, which Cosmo is engaging in a staring contest with. Cosmo takes the corner of the bag into his mouth and drags it off out of the room and into Adelphin’s room. Cosmos drops the bag into the middle of the floor and stares at Adelphin as though to tell her to fix it up. Adelphin is quite confused at the situation and converses with Cosmo. Even poking it with a sword does no good as they stare at each other as she debates whether or not it should be fed to a dog. She finally just drags it into another room and turns on a music channel and tells Rui that she’s grounding their son as it takes on the shape of a man.

Yannis, not having had a fun time over the past week, spends his morning taking care of his motorcycle which he’s had for the past 30 years.

By the time Mitzidu returns to the hotel, Baba Yaga summons everyone to her room at the top of the hotel via a crow that shows up next to them, informs them of the summoning, and bursts into an explosion of feathers like it smacked into a highway sign at high speeds. Everyone seems to accept it gracefully, excepting Yannis who goes reluctantly, not even bothering to clean up. Auriol also isn’t exactly happy to be there. Baba Yaga looks suitably annoyed and not looking quite as imposing as the previous night, waiting until everyone shows up, thanks everyone, and informs them that she’s at war with the Greek pantheon.

As far as she can tell, her husband disappeared at the behest of one of the Greco-Romans that drove him into Tartarus, though he’s still not quite coherent yet. A few of the people are commenting that it seemed convenient that they were near where the sword piece was supposed to be. Auriol seems to almost flinch every time Baba Yaga speaks. Baba Yaga asks for their stories over the past couple days, where Adelphin and Mitzidu give the best rundowns and who may have had a hand in it. Most seem to agree that it’s most likely Poseidon that was the most likely culprit for everything.

Yannis points out his point that Hades was about as culpable as the rest of them. A false sword in there, trap could have been sprung at any time. He’s just not happy with everything or anything regarding the Greco-Roman pantheon. After pointing out his view, Baba Yaga approaches Auriol with a needle, demanding some blood from Auriol, taking it from her finger. She comments that Auriol looks just like her mother, which Auriol doesn’t want to talk about. She asks if the others know who her mother is, which no one does. A guess of Pandora is refuted and instead revealed that she’s a daughter of Pythia, an Oracle of Delphi, revealing that her mother is dead but the grandmother is still alive but if the grandmother dies then she might be the new one. Auriol is struck by the news. Liam points out that if the rest of the line dies, then it’d be Kora that’d probably be the new Oracle, as the daughter of Poseidon and Pythia.

Either way, Auriol doesn’t want to become an Oracle and instead she ran away. She wanted more time, that maybe someone else would be born, but with the death of her mother that went awry. She’d left Kora with someone that disliked what was happening. She had dreams once. She could let the line die, she could give the position to the child, but so young it may break the child’s mind.

Mitzidu asks Baba Yaga what her plan is to dispense justice to the Greek Pantheon, and she says that it’s Poseidon’s fault. She’s not sure what they’re up to or how so. Mitzidu reiterates that he’s spoken to several Greek Gods about what he’s been up to. But his actions haven’t been against the compact yet since he’s been getting proxies to do his dirty work. Baba Yaga demands the piece of the sword that Auriol has, threatening death. When pointed out that it would cause Kora to become the Oracle, Yannis mentions that they could fix that too which causes her to glare at him. She draws out a knife and cuts her side open, drawing out a rather piece throwing it to the floor and spitting on it. She starts healing immediately as Baba Yaga nods appraisingly.

Baba Yaga says that she could kill everyone in the room with the piece she’s got, permanently, and that it would be difficult to destroy as it stands. She asks where the other pieces might be, and they list out that one may have been with Poseidon, while Hades had a false piece revealing that there’s anyone might have the piece from Tartarus. Baba Yaga asks for Liam’s help, before Liam points out that Suveer has the ability to break through obstacles and giving Suveer the divining stone that Liam’s father gave him and instructions on how to use it.

The first question is if Poseidon has a piece, which is affirmative, he has a piece. The second question is if the Greek Pantheon holds two pieces, which is negative, they only have a single one. Third is if another Pantheon possesses a piece, which is negative, no other pantheons possess the piece. They could do a normal divination to try to locate that piece if they wanted to. The fourth question is if all three pieces are on the mortal plane, which is affirmative, all three pieces are on the mortal plane. The fifth question is if all pieces are in Las Vegas, which is affirmative. . . and highly convenient. The sixth question is if Poseidon is ultimately responsible for what happened to Koschei, which is neutral, he is and is not responsible for what happened to Koschei. The seventh question is if Hades was responsible for what happened to Koschei, which is negative, he is not responsible. The eighth question is if Poseidon is Poseidon, which is negative, he is not currently Poseidon. The ninth question, which Liam wants to know, is if Loki is Poseidon, which is negative, Loki is not Poseidon. The tenth question, from Mitzidu, is if Eris is masquerading as Poseidon, which is negative as well.

Liam takes back the rock, asking if it’s still alright, which is affirmative.

So far they know that Poseidon has one, the group has one, and the third is somewhere in Las Vegas. Poseidon is and isn’t responsible for Koschei. And that Poseidon is not Poseidon. Mitzidu still wants to destroy the piece they have, which isn’t currently possible. Now the question is how are they going to secure it, which Baba Yaga has them secure it in the hotel. It’ll be safe enough there and Baba Yaga has people to kill. Liam asks the stone one more question, if the true Poseidon is free to move, which is negative, so Poseidon she takes out is probably the one responsible for her husband’s condition.

Despite being pissed, she still has something to do with Liam. She sets him down gently and pats his cheek, and then disembowels him alive to read his entrails. Apologizing, but she’s got some eyesight problems and he’s the largest one there. She puts on some human spackle and heals him up afterwards. He returns to his room to turn to the dog for comfort afterwards. Baba Yaga follows her and apologizes for gutting him, she’s been alone for a long time and forgot it was rude. In exchange, she offers him Russian treats. The dog seems to want the treats, though Liam tries it first which is cinnamon sugary rum bliss and shares some with the dog as Baba Yaga leaves. The dog has seen quite a bit and deserves some rum.

Aftermath

The rest of the group gets to see Baba Yaga do a full-on scrying with a bowl of water to find the location of the last piece. Using a couple chickens from Adelphin’s coop for sacrifices and energy. It’s not as good as people, but Baba Yaga feels that she may have hurt Liam’s opinions, only to be reminded that it’s feelings, not opinions.

After Action Report (GM)

This was a slow burn session where Yannis sat in the corner and tried his damnedest not to explode (which he didn’t). More information was revealed and the PCs got to play 20 questions with a rock – which was kind of humorous to be honest. They got their first piece of the Harpe and are in the endgame of the Dark Tides plot. They know Poseidon is not Poseidon, but not who they are. They know Poseidon has a peice of the sword and the other one is in Vegas somewhere, but not where. Next game will probably be another 20 questions, this time with scrying and divination and whatever other information resources they can bring to bear. There was some talk of Rui super-charging the stone so it could learn to speak binary and that amuses me GREATLY at even the thought. A short session because I had the outer storm of Ivan rolling through and I’d rather wrap up a short session then get stuck in the model of a longer one. Another 2-3 sessions I think and it’s done. We’ll see.

Other Notes

Bonus report here.

Soundtrack

“Time” by Hans Zimmer (Opening Song)
“Baba Yaga” by Ruth Blake
“I Started a Joke” by Confidential MX ft. Becky Hanson

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