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 . . .

It’s about Noon-Thirty while Baba Yaga is cooking in the kitchen in her suite. Or rather she’s got a small cauldron on top of the small range in the kitchen and the rest taking the time to rest up and restore their magical energy with the aid of the hotel. Checking the dog, the flesh spackle got it back to something resembling health, but it’s still tired after everything it had been through. Liam compliments and thanks Baba Yaga on the doughnuts that she gave him, and she calls him a nice boy. The dog food has also somehow ended up sitting in Baba Yaga’s room watching 80’s songs on the television as well.

The Kindness of Baba Yaga

Adelphin Jean-Baptiste, Liam O’Shea, Mitzidu Ito, Suveer Patel, & Yannis Papadopoulos
Karnival Resort Hotel and Casino
Tuesday January 24th, 2012, 1230 hours
3500 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89169

Yannis ends up leaving the room to screw with his motorcycle some more while Baba Yaga scries upon things. Bowls of water, floating mirrors, animal bones and runes. Liam is a bit nervous considering that he was recently disemboweled for the reading of entrails. The Chad is poking at the chicken bones, causing the others to pull him away from what is happening. Mitzidu says that if he’s not needed, then he’d leave to do some research in his own suite in the hotel, which Baba Yaga says that once she locates Poseidon then they’re moving. She doesn’t care about the sword pieces but more about whomever harmed her husband, Koschei. At the thought of him, Koschei stumbles from the bedroom into the main area.

Adelphin asks if he could remember anything, and he remembers dying. He couldn’t stand for someone being killed and brought them back, but the effort killed him and his body was taken to Tartarus. The seconds flowed into hours flowed into minutes over the eternity that he was tortured by the cyclopes. Talking about the dog, Koschei calls him the companion of heroes over the years, someone that saved his life once before he was called The Deathless and he appreciates that the dog is doing well. He slowly relaxes with a cup of tea that Baba Yaga brings him while others ask if there’s some kind of healing god to help him or getting him an appointment with a psychologist to aid him. He speaks of spending half the night in the garderobe investigating the two toilets inside and then talking about pop culture with most of the group.

They talk about Koschei being lost in a forest for 200 years and it being a similar experience to that which he went through in Tartarus mentally, and he’d feel better with a sword in his hand which Liam obliges Koshchei by handing them his back-up blade. Koschei is unsure of what happened to his own blade and Adelphin suggests scrying for it since it belonged to him for a long time. She breaks through the protections over the blade to find it. . . at a bowling alley alongside Poseidon. Liam, for a second opinion, asks the stone if the people that took Koschei still has the sword, but there’s no response. Rui talks about teaching the stone binary to allow it to answer more complex questions. When Liam asks the stone if the stone wishes to learn binary, it answers in the affirmative. Liam says fine, but he’d have to ask The Dagda first.

Baba Yaga tells them to go get the Greek boy, referencing Yannis. Mitzidu volunteers to go find him down in the garage, finding him easily still working on his bike, informing him that Baba Yaga had found the false Poseidon and wanted all hands-on deck. Yannis tells him that’s good for her. When Mitzidu asks what he should tell Baba Yaga, Yannis tells them to just tell her “Good Luck” and when Mitzidu making a joking remark about Yannis having a nice bike, but that his own was better, Yannis proves himself to not be in a joking mood when he spits out a vulgar epithet at him. Mitzidu retreats back up to Baba Yaga’s room and says that Yannis has declined her summons. Apparently, that’s fine with her.

Battle at Red Rocks

Adelphin Jean-Baptiste, Liam O’Shea, Mitzidu Ito, & Suveer Patel
Red Rock Lanes Bowling Alley
Tuesday January 24th, 2012, 1700 hours
11011 W Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89135

Her plan of attack is to just break into the bowling alley and rain down hell upon everyone within for what they did to Koschei. She divines that they’re at a place called Red Rock Lanes which the group heads for via a teleportation spell. It’s basically right outside the Strip. They find it closed down with a health department notice on the door. They take a bit of time to reconnoiter the area, noticing a large amount of people shuffling around the open spaces inside. It also looks like most are avoiding the place but not consciously. One mortal walks up to the door, places their hand on the door, and then walks away without breaking stride. A closer look reveals the men inside have guns on them. They plot somewhat for how to start their attack.

It’s a fairly squat building with only two real entrances, the front entryway and the employee entrance. The go in stealthily through the employee entrance where Adelphin wants to go behind the pinsetter area and throw out fireballs at the assembled groups inside the alley proper. They charge up and prep for combat, Mitzidu using Safeguard on himself and Liam while Liam preps Barkskin for a bit more defense.

Koschei breaks through the doorways into the building proper, slicing through one of the Spartans with ease, breathing heavily as blood sprays over everything. Rui follows behind, summoning his blade storm swirling around him. Adelphin moves behind Rui and sends an explosive fireball across the aisle, filling it with a large amount of Aetheric Power, burning multiple Spartans to ash. Baba Yaga is moderately impressed by what was dropped while Not-Poseidon isn’t interested inside the conflagration, Baba Yaga casts a spell to protect the group from Not-Poseidon’s godly powers, keeping them from dying from a look or being affected by his powers in general. Mitzidu charges forwards towards the conflagration that Adelphin summoned as Suveer moves behind the pinsetter machines alongside Liam for a different entrance into the alley proper. Auriol charges out and fires a round from a pistol into the head of Not-Poseidon, but he manages to dodge it. The Chad pulls out a bow as he walks out into the alley.

Koschei steps to the side, stumbling slightly as he tries to slice through another Spartan. Rui uses his swords to attack Not-Poseidon who manages to avoid only twelve blades out of 54, going for a death of a thousand cuts, but it doesn’t actually get past Not-Poseidon’s protections. Not Poseidon attempts to throw off the spell that Baba Yaga casts and fails. Adelphin glares one of the Spartans to death, turning to dust. Baba Yaga whips up a spell to help weapons penetrate defenses, granting everyone another buffing spell. One of the Spartans fires at Koschei, failing to defend against some of them and taking bullets, though he appears unphased. Mitzidu gets fired at from multiple Spartans, managing to dodge against most of them, but still gets hit with multiple rounds impacting against his armor, having to spend Aetheric Power to resist the damage that penetrates it. Liam buffs himself and bursts through the doorway and shield charges one of the Spartans from behind, knocking him to the ground. Mitzidu, having survived the onslaught of bullets, charges to Not-Poseidon and attacks three times, only to get parried by Not-Poseidon each time. Suveer buffs up his own strength before he charges in past Liam and attacks the Spartan Mage twice from behind, though the Spartan Mage manages to live through the attacks. Auriol fires again at Not-Poseidon who dodges it easily. The Chad sidesteps and fires an arrow at some of the Spartans, knowing that there’s no way he’ll get a shot off at Not-Poseidon, and kills one of them by firing a shot through the Spartan’s eye. One of the Spartan Mages starts casting while the one that Suveer is fighting turns around and blows a powder into Suveer’s eyes, but he’s able to notice it in time to parry the Mage’s handful and slices it off, killing the Mage.

Koschei slices apart another Spartan with ease while Rui directs more swords towards Not-Poseidon, managing to land about 40 of the blades after Not-Poseidon’s attempt at defense, losing a lot of blood. Not-Poseidon goes for Mitzidu with his Trident as he walks past Mitzidu while Mitzidu stands his ground by riposting the attack and keeps him from moving forwards only to have to parry another attack. Adelphin gazes upon the final Spartan Mage, killing them and turning them to dust and then casting a buffing spell upon Rui. Baba Yaga buffs up Mitzidu with a Juggernaut spell, granting him extra health and durability. Several Spartans fire at Koschei and Mitzidu to no avail as the one on the ground tries to get back to his feet while Suveer chops apart one of the Spartan’s guns before they can fire upon him. Liam moves forwards between two Spartans, attacking the foe on each side, killing both. Mitzidu, now up, slashes back at Poseidon, getting two good hits in on Poseidon but dealing almost no damage. Suveer runs across the alley and throws his weapon at the standing Spartan’s back, killing them. Auriol takes another couple potshots at Not-Poseidon’s head to no avail. The Chad fires an arrow as well that misses its mark.

Koschei, with no other marks, moves in and attacks Not-Poseidon who manages to defend against it. Rui pulls out a weapon named Lament and feints against Poseidon, transferring that effect to his companions. Not-Poseidon attacks all three around him with his trident, which they manage to defend against, and tries to turn Koschei’s blood to sea water but fails thanks to Baba Yaga’s protection. Adelphin casts All as One through and on Rui to allow it to affect Rui, Koschei, and Mitzidu before copying her adopted mother’s spell and casting Juggernaut on Rui, sharing the effects of both All as One with him. Baba Yaga casts an offensive spell against Not-Poseidon, causing plenty of damage against the false god. Liam heroically charges against Not-Poseidon’s backside and slashes with his sword, managing to get through his defenses thanks to Rui’s feint and deals a bit of damage. Mitzidu attacks Not-Poseidon, getting through his defenses to nick him a bit more, before feinting him to transfer that bonus to another attacker. Suveer runs past the Spartan with his axe in the back, fast-drawing his axe from where it’s stuck. Auriol does nothing as she does not have anything to contribute as Adelphin calls for her to call Zeus through Oracle linage while The Chad misses his attack.

Koschei attacks Poseidon, doing some more damage while Rui attacks Not-Poseidon in the heart, utilizing his sword’s abilities to cause extra damage to Not-Poseidon as Lament plunges into Not-Poseidon’s chest, though Not-Poseidon is still standing after the horrible blow. It’s now Not-Poseidon’s turn to blast Rui with a God Blast, dealing a large amount of damage to Rui and he’s still standing thanks to the Juggernaut spell. Adelphin utilizes her Aetheric Energy to lock down the building so Not-Poseidon cannot run away and then casts a healing spell upon Rui to bring him back to full health. Baba Yaga slaps Auriol and tells her to call to Zeus. Liam tries to grapple Not-Poseidon with his sword in hand, but he manages to defend against it. Mitzidu attacks again, striking at the eye first and misses, before doing another feint against the divine avatar, transferring the bonus to Suveer who shoves Lament further into Not-Poseidon’s heart with an acrobatic move, fueling it with his own vitality to cause massive damage, the same as Rui and destroying the avatar.

A bolt of lightning strikes the ground and Zeus shows up inside the bowling alley asking what the Hades is going on. They just started a war. They all throw it back in Zeus’s face that it’s their side that started it when Not-Poseidon attacked. Zeus is confused until he investigates Not-Poseidon, looking into the body’s eyes. It’s Poseidon’s avatar, Zeus claims and says there’s no real evidence otherwise. Zeus, due to the sheer gravity of what is about to unfold, he summons Poseidon down to the ground. Poseidon begins to converse with Zeus, about the claims and asks why they would try to kill the people out of nowhere. Auriol unveils herself as the Oracle and as such cannot tell a lie if compelled by the gods and testifies that the deity before them is not Poseidon. His eyes go a bit crazy and tries to stab Zeus with his trident who catches it, tosses it away, and grapples Poseidon. Zeus says that he’s going to dig into Poseidon’s head a bit to make sure what they’re telling isn’t a lie before he vaporizes the group. He isn’t going to vaporize the group though as he literally rips a figure out of Poseidon’s head, leaving what is basically a skin suit on the ground and a maniacal figure in his hands laughing.

Aftermath

A large amount of people start appearing rapidly around the group and it’s claimed that it’s a matter for the Greeks and not the Council, but it’s counter claimed that it was made a problem for the Council and they want to know how long Poseidon has been being masqueraded against. It’s being called a draw as the group was defending themselves against an unwarranted attack, but Baba Yaga, Mitzidu, and Adelphin want their blood price for what they’ve done.

Zeus takes the arm of the man, identified as Zagreus, and rips it off to throw it to the group and promises that it won’t be growing back as it’s not much of a blood price if it would be so easily negated. Baba Yaga takes it and cradles it in her skirt. Zagreus foams at the mouth, claiming that they can’t stop him as the Great Harrowing will bring him to the Earth and he’ll make them pay. Liam ignore the raving loon and asks who is up for waffles as Baba Yaga and Koschei seem satisfied. Pointing out that Mitzidu’s house and staff killed results in Zeus ripping out an eye and placing it at Mitzidu’s feet. Now satisfied, Zeus says that they’ll see each other later that year. Mitzidu and Liam searches the crowd for their respective pantheons and Liam invites Bridgette for waffles who gestures that she’s currently busy and can’t.

Rui mentions that he knows a good diner for them to go to. It’s got delicious blueberry waffles and homemade maple syrup among other breakfast items.

After Action Report (GM)

This was a difficult session for a couple of reasons. The PCs were down a player more or less. The bad guy’s avatar was his *least* powerful one. He wasn’t playing by the rules. He hadn’t gone completely crazy and used his full god-form, but it was still dangerous enough. The PCs were doing minimal damage and if it wasn’t for about an equal number of NPCs filling the gaps the PCs might have had some real problems. As it stood the spellcasters cast spells, the fighters got up close, and the PCs in between moped up what was left. The Juggernaut, All as One, and Safeguard spells REALLY turned the tide (hehe, see what I did?) here. Those spells kept the PCs from going down to firearms fire and keeping them in the game. Mitzidu had to spend AP to stay up, but in hindsight it was kind of badass. He just sort of strolled through gunfire, got to Fauxseidon, and stood there against the might of an avatar and kept pace. He didn’t do a ton of damage, but he did enough that it kept the crazy god busy. Liam kind of went off to the side (which was tactically a good idea), but didn’t quite live up to his strength’s promise until he leapt at Fauxseidon and damaged him with that monstrous power of his. Adelphin just kept casting magic after magic spell and used her psychic link to Rui to double her efforts and cast short-range spells on her allies since they were near Rui. Suveer got to the party late, but eventually was the one who killed the avatar with Rui’s sword, Lament with a all-or-nothing use of the relic’s power to do a final strike. I didn’t land as much damage on the PCs as I thought. The spells protected them pretty well for the most part and Fauxseidon got really annoyed when he couldn’t just kill them with a look. Even performing a god-blast didn’t do as much damage as I thought it should have. Will have to tinker with the god/avatar templates some. This should have been a fairly lethal fight in some ways. Overall, I was pretty happy with it and it was a good close to a 11 session arc.

Other Notes

Bonus report here.

Soundtrack

“You Want It Darker” by Leonard Cohen (Opening Song)
“More Power” by 7kingZ
“Dangerous Man” by  Valley of Wolves
“Far Cry” by Rush (Closing Song)