Scion - Petro Campaign - Session 92
Okay, so I think I left off with us saving Hel from the servants of Mikaboshi, who were creeping around Helheim in the hopes that Hel would trade me to Mikaboshi in exchange for the promise that Suko-no-Kumi troops would fight for Jacob during Ragnarok. >_< Well, shortly after we finished off the last of our enemies, Hel came charging in with a bunch of her guards (Adam had shunted her out of time during the fight).
I finished healing Hrisma while Adam and the others chatted with Hel about what had happened. She wasn't exactly apologetic, but she was more than willing to hand over her bone coin after we'd saved her (and her daughter). And with that, we had all the coins! It was time for us to head out to the Caribbean and raise the death titan's tomb-island. We made our way out of Helheim and back to Red Mountain via the Underworld passages in the mines.
I was thrilled to find Yi waiting for me when I went home. She'd come home with Shanyu (who was with her) to stay for awhile, and was waiting for me to get back. Dahlia and Kimiyo had filled her in on what was going on. Sera, on the other hand, had finally gotten over her fear of being pregnant and was really excited about it, and had been spending the last day or so with Amy.
We all decided to split up and go to our various homes to take it easy for the night before we headed out to deal with the coins the next morning. Everyone was pretty happy to do that. Pierre and Elisa never need an excuse to kick back at their home, and Charles wanted to be with Sera. Of course, I just wanted to spend time with our children (I missed Shanyu over the past few weeks!) and spend the evening cloistered away with Yi and Echo in our subterranean sanctum. T-Bone apparently had a little trouble with Dahlia, who wasn't keen on sharing her bed with Fray. From what I gather, Dahlia won that argument and had T-Bone to herself for the night.
Actually, I think Adam was a bit reluctant to take the night off...but he tends to be all business at times like this anyway. And really, he was able to use the time effectively. See, he wanted to try something with the coins before we headed to the Caribbean, and it's a good thing he did. He wanted to analyze the coins for some sort of magical resonance that he could then use to triangulate the sites to which the coins were attuned. We would have to activate the coins at those sites in order to raise the island, so figuring out where we needed to go was a big priority.
Adam's efforts also had the side effect of tipping us off to which of our coins was fake. After all, the fake one didn't share the same magical resonance as the others. I was certain that the coin found by the heroes was the fake one, and that Kalfu and Legba had given T-Bone the real coin among all the fakes, but apparently I was wrong. It turns out the one given to us by the Queen of Air and Darkness was the fake.
The thing is, I don't think she gave us a fake on purpose. And neither did anyone else. Chances are, she didn't know it was a fake. That's when Adam understood the last part of the prophecy he had when this all began: we would apparently meet a wizard or sage or something connected to horses: Manannan mac Lir. He was the one who took the coins in the first place and scattered them among the gods, and he is a bit of a trickster, so it only makes sense that he'd hold onto one.
The Queen of Air and Darkness might be unhappy to learn that she was had. T-Bone actually suggested that we might be able to twist the oath I made with her and renege on our part of the deal since she didn't actually give us what she said she was giving us...but I don't really want to antagonize her like that.
Oh, I should also mention that T-Bone agreed to switch coins with me, so now my mother's coin is safely in my hands. ^_^
Oh, and speaking of T-Bone, that bastard brought a screw-in shower curtain rod and installed it vertically in the back of the Valkyrie. >_< He and Pierre have been clamoring for a stripper pole ever since we built the plane, but Adam and I have steadfastly refused. I mean, seriously? I know I'm more than willing to indulge my lusts and show off a bit at times, but a stripper pole in the back of our cutting edge luxury jet is just tasteless. >_< Still, Adam and I let Pierre, T-Bone, Echo and Audrey have their fun. We just moved up to the front of the plane with Charles and Yi and tried to ignore the hijinks going on in the back.
Anyway, that's what I had to put up with during our flight to the Isle of Man. At least there was an upside, though: I got Adam to admit that kissing was fun! ^_^
Tracking Manannan mac Lir down once we were on the isle wasn't hard; we just asked for an audience through prayers and then went to a temple dedicated to him. He made us wait for awhile, but showed up before too long.
And that's when he hit us with the prophet's whammy. It turns out he engineered this whole thing with the coins to make us seek him out, or so he claims, anyway. It seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through just to have a chat with us, but who knows? He IS a trickster, and he's an older breed of god than we are. And it's a pretty impressive feat if he did engineer all of this for us. It kinda boosts the ego a bit too. ^_^.
Anyway, he was more than willing to give us the coin. But that's not really why he manipulated us into seeking him out. He had warnings too. The kind of warnings it's best not to ignore. Apparently, we're all at a crossroads. Our fates could go one way or the other, and he wanted us to be aware of why lies ahead. As he put it, we needed to know the things he told us.
He told T-Bone that the issues he dealt with in the Unseelie Court are just the tip of the iceberg. T-Bone did something to Abigail St. Croix, and doesn't even know what that is. According to Manannan mac Lir, that not knowing has to end. Of course, this raises all sorts of other questions. T-Bone may not know about a lot of things he's done. He might be living out a whole other life without even knowing it. It's possible that Abigail is T-Bone. Or is now, anyway. I tried to summon her ghost to confirm whether or not she was dead, but all I got was a brief flicker of her distorted image, like her ghost appeared and was then sucked away immediately. Then again, it might not have been a ghost at all; but if not, what was it? My mastery over death doesn't let me summon illusions... Needless to say, we're a bit on edge about T-Bone. I believe in him. But if he IS working against us sometimes...against himself even, then we can't exactly trust him, can we? For all we know at this point, he could have been the one who poisoned Dahlia and Quinn a several months ago, and if so, that's bad.
Charles and Sera received a joint warning. The twins that Sera is bearing will become important in the war against the titans and the ongoing political division between the Amatsukami and the Celestial Bureaucracy. Hun Dun wants them, and will do anything to get his hands on them. Manannan mac Lir warned us that the chaos titan wanted to deepen the schism between the Bureacracy and my pantheon, and that Sera and her children are the key to doing so. He hopes to bring out the darkness in Sera and turn her into a being of darkness and chaos, and plans to use that to deepen and worsen the evil image of the Amatsukami that most members of the Bureacracy hold. Uh uh. There's no way we're gonna let that happen. Sera has worked too long and too hard to give in to the darkness now, because the darkness we're talking about isn't the good darkness that I represent. It's the bad, Mikaboshi-type darkness. The news scared and discouraged Sera, but Charles was right there at her side. He'll look after her, and if she needs me too, I'll be there for her.
Elisa and Pierre also received a joint warning. Elisa's developing role within both the Atzlanti and the Loa has the potential to be a great boon for both pantheons, but it could also do great harm. She has the potential to bridge the gap between them and bring the Atzlanti closer to the Loa, and by extension closer to the other gods. On the other hand, the jealousy of certain other gods within those pantheons could drive the pantheons apart and further isolate the Atzlanti, whose distance from the other pantheons is already dangerous. It looks like Elisa's going to have to go against her own nature and become political. I'm sure she's up to it, and if need be, Charles, Pierre and I can coach her on the fine art of diplomacy. ^_^
Adam's warning was probably the least ominous of all. Manannan mac Lir basically told him that he needed to be careful in his relationship to Hrimsa. If he were to become involved with Hrimsa, it could have a major effect on Ragnarok. I don't really know all the details, but Adam seems to understand. If he's not careful, he's going to end up bound to Hrimsa by fate, and he'll lose the independence that he's worked so hard to maintain. Honestly, it doesn't sound so bad to me, but Adam and I are opposites in many ways (that's why we attract so easily! ^_^). Losing his independence within the strands of fate may very well be a fate worse than death for him... >_<
My own warning played off things I already knew, but put them in perspective for me in new ways. Manannan mac Lir explained that my mother's bone coin was the reason she didn't just die when she gave birth to Kagatsuchi. That's another reason it's so important to her. But he also pointed out that like my mother, I'm about to give birth to a child who could destroy me. F**king hell, why didn't I see that parallel on my own!? >_< Manannan mac Lir gave me some hope, though. He told me that when the time comes for Melanthea to be born, I must maintain my connection to the light. I cannot allow the darkness to overwhelm me, or else I will be lost.
[Private Note - Keeping the Light]
It sounds like I need Echo and Miko with me when I give birth. They are my strongest connections to the light, aside from Amaterasu, and I guess whether or not Amaterasu will be there depends on how she reacts when I tell her about Melanthea. I had intended to retreat to Erebus's realm during the final days of my preganancy and give birth there, but maybe that's too dangerous. I don't want to bring Echo there, and I can't bring Miko there. Maybe the only way Melanthea will become a force of pure, beautiful darkness is to bear her outside of Soku-no-Kumi. And maybe that's the only way to ensure my own survival.
I should probably tell my mother about Melanthea. She may disparage me for it, but at least she'll understand the risks I'm taking. And maybe she'll let me keep the coin if it can save me like it saved her. Then again...she might think it better for me to perish than to become like her. Actually, I would rather perish than become bitter and lifeless like my mother.
[End Private Note]
Anyway, that's pretty much what we learned from Manannan mac Lir. Fun, huh? Well, we wouldn't be gods if we didn't face this kinda stuff from time to time. that doesn't make it any easier, though. T_T
So, after concluding our audience and receiving the real fifth coin, we took the Valkyrie back to the Caribbean and cruised through the airspace in the rough area where we believed the death titan's tomb-island to be. It took a few hours, but Adam was able to triangulate the locations of the five receptacles in which we have to simultaneously activate the five coins. Looks like we'll be splitting up to do that, which is a bit daunting. As soon as we activate the coins to raise the island, every titanspawn out there is going to zero in on us, so being separated is NOT something I'm looking forward to. Unfortunately, that also means we're going to have to empty the premises surrounding each site so that we can exert the full force of our godly powers to defend each site while the island rises. If we didn't get rid of everyone, we'd end up with a lot of fatebound bystanders. >_<
So, here are the sites and our plan for dealing with them:
1) The Resort: Site one is located in a nice tropical resort. We're putting T-Bone, Louis, Fray and Adam on that. I have no doubt that they can defend the site effectively, and T-Bone should be able to manipulate people into leaving the place vacant without using any divine magic.
2) The Slums: Site two is located in some slums. It'll be hard to get people to leave a place like that, but we put Charles on it. I'm sure he can figure something out. And Hiney will be helping him (yes...Hiney was at Red Mountain and insisted on joining us >_<). So it looks like they'll be causing a panic. I think Charles also mentioned fire...but I hope he was kidding.
3) The Jungle: Site three is in the jungle interior of an island. Elisa has the most experience trekking through the jungle and can more or less take care of herself in most fights (provided no one's playing with her mind), so we're sending her after that one. Hrimsa is going with her to provide company and support.
4) The Beach: Site four is on a crowded public beach. I shouldn't have too much trouble convincing people to leave the area, so I'll be taking care of that site. Of course, I'm not really up to defending the place all by myself, but I'll have Echo, Yi, Sadako, Audrey, Mercy and Ophelia with me. The group of us should at least be able to hold our ground long enough for the island to rise.
5) The Trench: Site five is at the bottom of a deep ocean trench. That pretty much limited our options on who we could send, though it does have the advantage that there aren't going to be any bystanders around. Naturally Pierre's got that one covered since he can hold his breath for ages and can withstand the pressure easily. I was anxious about Pierre going down there alone, though, so I'm sending Tabby with him. She's got the fortitude to handle the environment, and who knows what's down there? He might need her. I just hope I don't need her more on beach.
So that's the plan. But first, there's something else we have to do. There's another on of those Hulks of Drowned Souls out there, just waiting for us to activate the coins so it can fall upon us while we're separated. We're not going to let that happen, so we're going to hunt it down and destroy it first. And that's where we're headed now. Wish us luck!
I finished healing Hrisma while Adam and the others chatted with Hel about what had happened. She wasn't exactly apologetic, but she was more than willing to hand over her bone coin after we'd saved her (and her daughter). And with that, we had all the coins! It was time for us to head out to the Caribbean and raise the death titan's tomb-island. We made our way out of Helheim and back to Red Mountain via the Underworld passages in the mines.
I was thrilled to find Yi waiting for me when I went home. She'd come home with Shanyu (who was with her) to stay for awhile, and was waiting for me to get back. Dahlia and Kimiyo had filled her in on what was going on. Sera, on the other hand, had finally gotten over her fear of being pregnant and was really excited about it, and had been spending the last day or so with Amy.
We all decided to split up and go to our various homes to take it easy for the night before we headed out to deal with the coins the next morning. Everyone was pretty happy to do that. Pierre and Elisa never need an excuse to kick back at their home, and Charles wanted to be with Sera. Of course, I just wanted to spend time with our children (I missed Shanyu over the past few weeks!) and spend the evening cloistered away with Yi and Echo in our subterranean sanctum. T-Bone apparently had a little trouble with Dahlia, who wasn't keen on sharing her bed with Fray. From what I gather, Dahlia won that argument and had T-Bone to herself for the night.
Actually, I think Adam was a bit reluctant to take the night off...but he tends to be all business at times like this anyway. And really, he was able to use the time effectively. See, he wanted to try something with the coins before we headed to the Caribbean, and it's a good thing he did. He wanted to analyze the coins for some sort of magical resonance that he could then use to triangulate the sites to which the coins were attuned. We would have to activate the coins at those sites in order to raise the island, so figuring out where we needed to go was a big priority.
Adam's efforts also had the side effect of tipping us off to which of our coins was fake. After all, the fake one didn't share the same magical resonance as the others. I was certain that the coin found by the heroes was the fake one, and that Kalfu and Legba had given T-Bone the real coin among all the fakes, but apparently I was wrong. It turns out the one given to us by the Queen of Air and Darkness was the fake.
The thing is, I don't think she gave us a fake on purpose. And neither did anyone else. Chances are, she didn't know it was a fake. That's when Adam understood the last part of the prophecy he had when this all began: we would apparently meet a wizard or sage or something connected to horses: Manannan mac Lir. He was the one who took the coins in the first place and scattered them among the gods, and he is a bit of a trickster, so it only makes sense that he'd hold onto one.
The Queen of Air and Darkness might be unhappy to learn that she was had. T-Bone actually suggested that we might be able to twist the oath I made with her and renege on our part of the deal since she didn't actually give us what she said she was giving us...but I don't really want to antagonize her like that.
Oh, I should also mention that T-Bone agreed to switch coins with me, so now my mother's coin is safely in my hands. ^_^
Oh, and speaking of T-Bone, that bastard brought a screw-in shower curtain rod and installed it vertically in the back of the Valkyrie. >_< He and Pierre have been clamoring for a stripper pole ever since we built the plane, but Adam and I have steadfastly refused. I mean, seriously? I know I'm more than willing to indulge my lusts and show off a bit at times, but a stripper pole in the back of our cutting edge luxury jet is just tasteless. >_< Still, Adam and I let Pierre, T-Bone, Echo and Audrey have their fun. We just moved up to the front of the plane with Charles and Yi and tried to ignore the hijinks going on in the back.
Anyway, that's what I had to put up with during our flight to the Isle of Man. At least there was an upside, though: I got Adam to admit that kissing was fun! ^_^
Tracking Manannan mac Lir down once we were on the isle wasn't hard; we just asked for an audience through prayers and then went to a temple dedicated to him. He made us wait for awhile, but showed up before too long.
And that's when he hit us with the prophet's whammy. It turns out he engineered this whole thing with the coins to make us seek him out, or so he claims, anyway. It seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through just to have a chat with us, but who knows? He IS a trickster, and he's an older breed of god than we are. And it's a pretty impressive feat if he did engineer all of this for us. It kinda boosts the ego a bit too. ^_^.
Anyway, he was more than willing to give us the coin. But that's not really why he manipulated us into seeking him out. He had warnings too. The kind of warnings it's best not to ignore. Apparently, we're all at a crossroads. Our fates could go one way or the other, and he wanted us to be aware of why lies ahead. As he put it, we needed to know the things he told us.
He told T-Bone that the issues he dealt with in the Unseelie Court are just the tip of the iceberg. T-Bone did something to Abigail St. Croix, and doesn't even know what that is. According to Manannan mac Lir, that not knowing has to end. Of course, this raises all sorts of other questions. T-Bone may not know about a lot of things he's done. He might be living out a whole other life without even knowing it. It's possible that Abigail is T-Bone. Or is now, anyway. I tried to summon her ghost to confirm whether or not she was dead, but all I got was a brief flicker of her distorted image, like her ghost appeared and was then sucked away immediately. Then again, it might not have been a ghost at all; but if not, what was it? My mastery over death doesn't let me summon illusions... Needless to say, we're a bit on edge about T-Bone. I believe in him. But if he IS working against us sometimes...against himself even, then we can't exactly trust him, can we? For all we know at this point, he could have been the one who poisoned Dahlia and Quinn a several months ago, and if so, that's bad.
Charles and Sera received a joint warning. The twins that Sera is bearing will become important in the war against the titans and the ongoing political division between the Amatsukami and the Celestial Bureaucracy. Hun Dun wants them, and will do anything to get his hands on them. Manannan mac Lir warned us that the chaos titan wanted to deepen the schism between the Bureacracy and my pantheon, and that Sera and her children are the key to doing so. He hopes to bring out the darkness in Sera and turn her into a being of darkness and chaos, and plans to use that to deepen and worsen the evil image of the Amatsukami that most members of the Bureacracy hold. Uh uh. There's no way we're gonna let that happen. Sera has worked too long and too hard to give in to the darkness now, because the darkness we're talking about isn't the good darkness that I represent. It's the bad, Mikaboshi-type darkness. The news scared and discouraged Sera, but Charles was right there at her side. He'll look after her, and if she needs me too, I'll be there for her.
Elisa and Pierre also received a joint warning. Elisa's developing role within both the Atzlanti and the Loa has the potential to be a great boon for both pantheons, but it could also do great harm. She has the potential to bridge the gap between them and bring the Atzlanti closer to the Loa, and by extension closer to the other gods. On the other hand, the jealousy of certain other gods within those pantheons could drive the pantheons apart and further isolate the Atzlanti, whose distance from the other pantheons is already dangerous. It looks like Elisa's going to have to go against her own nature and become political. I'm sure she's up to it, and if need be, Charles, Pierre and I can coach her on the fine art of diplomacy. ^_^
Adam's warning was probably the least ominous of all. Manannan mac Lir basically told him that he needed to be careful in his relationship to Hrimsa. If he were to become involved with Hrimsa, it could have a major effect on Ragnarok. I don't really know all the details, but Adam seems to understand. If he's not careful, he's going to end up bound to Hrimsa by fate, and he'll lose the independence that he's worked so hard to maintain. Honestly, it doesn't sound so bad to me, but Adam and I are opposites in many ways (that's why we attract so easily! ^_^). Losing his independence within the strands of fate may very well be a fate worse than death for him... >_<
My own warning played off things I already knew, but put them in perspective for me in new ways. Manannan mac Lir explained that my mother's bone coin was the reason she didn't just die when she gave birth to Kagatsuchi. That's another reason it's so important to her. But he also pointed out that like my mother, I'm about to give birth to a child who could destroy me. F**king hell, why didn't I see that parallel on my own!? >_< Manannan mac Lir gave me some hope, though. He told me that when the time comes for Melanthea to be born, I must maintain my connection to the light. I cannot allow the darkness to overwhelm me, or else I will be lost.
[Private Note - Keeping the Light]
It sounds like I need Echo and Miko with me when I give birth. They are my strongest connections to the light, aside from Amaterasu, and I guess whether or not Amaterasu will be there depends on how she reacts when I tell her about Melanthea. I had intended to retreat to Erebus's realm during the final days of my preganancy and give birth there, but maybe that's too dangerous. I don't want to bring Echo there, and I can't bring Miko there. Maybe the only way Melanthea will become a force of pure, beautiful darkness is to bear her outside of Soku-no-Kumi. And maybe that's the only way to ensure my own survival.
I should probably tell my mother about Melanthea. She may disparage me for it, but at least she'll understand the risks I'm taking. And maybe she'll let me keep the coin if it can save me like it saved her. Then again...she might think it better for me to perish than to become like her. Actually, I would rather perish than become bitter and lifeless like my mother.
[End Private Note]
Anyway, that's pretty much what we learned from Manannan mac Lir. Fun, huh? Well, we wouldn't be gods if we didn't face this kinda stuff from time to time. that doesn't make it any easier, though. T_T
So, after concluding our audience and receiving the real fifth coin, we took the Valkyrie back to the Caribbean and cruised through the airspace in the rough area where we believed the death titan's tomb-island to be. It took a few hours, but Adam was able to triangulate the locations of the five receptacles in which we have to simultaneously activate the five coins. Looks like we'll be splitting up to do that, which is a bit daunting. As soon as we activate the coins to raise the island, every titanspawn out there is going to zero in on us, so being separated is NOT something I'm looking forward to. Unfortunately, that also means we're going to have to empty the premises surrounding each site so that we can exert the full force of our godly powers to defend each site while the island rises. If we didn't get rid of everyone, we'd end up with a lot of fatebound bystanders. >_<
So, here are the sites and our plan for dealing with them:
1) The Resort: Site one is located in a nice tropical resort. We're putting T-Bone, Louis, Fray and Adam on that. I have no doubt that they can defend the site effectively, and T-Bone should be able to manipulate people into leaving the place vacant without using any divine magic.
2) The Slums: Site two is located in some slums. It'll be hard to get people to leave a place like that, but we put Charles on it. I'm sure he can figure something out. And Hiney will be helping him (yes...Hiney was at Red Mountain and insisted on joining us >_<). So it looks like they'll be causing a panic. I think Charles also mentioned fire...but I hope he was kidding.
3) The Jungle: Site three is in the jungle interior of an island. Elisa has the most experience trekking through the jungle and can more or less take care of herself in most fights (provided no one's playing with her mind), so we're sending her after that one. Hrimsa is going with her to provide company and support.
4) The Beach: Site four is on a crowded public beach. I shouldn't have too much trouble convincing people to leave the area, so I'll be taking care of that site. Of course, I'm not really up to defending the place all by myself, but I'll have Echo, Yi, Sadako, Audrey, Mercy and Ophelia with me. The group of us should at least be able to hold our ground long enough for the island to rise.
5) The Trench: Site five is at the bottom of a deep ocean trench. That pretty much limited our options on who we could send, though it does have the advantage that there aren't going to be any bystanders around. Naturally Pierre's got that one covered since he can hold his breath for ages and can withstand the pressure easily. I was anxious about Pierre going down there alone, though, so I'm sending Tabby with him. She's got the fortitude to handle the environment, and who knows what's down there? He might need her. I just hope I don't need her more on beach.
So that's the plan. But first, there's something else we have to do. There's another on of those Hulks of Drowned Souls out there, just waiting for us to activate the coins so it can fall upon us while we're separated. We're not going to let that happen, so we're going to hunt it down and destroy it first. And that's where we're headed now. Wish us luck!