The party debate how to deal with the creature that causes petrification, using the blood magic they learned from Mish the Druid, they buy five dogs to douse their hands and lips with blood and help with hunting, banking on bleeding a little bit from each won’t kill them. They also buy bandages to distribute among the children of Donenashoe. Making their way to the temple, they take one dog away and cut it to get a bit of blood with a First Aid roll. They take a second one but fail the roll, causing the dog to bleed out into the bowl. They don’t need to bleed anymore dogs but are down a dog.
I commented that I was expecting more pushback on their own plan, but the party said they were getting into the swing of the S&S Viking setting.
Dousing lips and hands (more rubbing it on. The core three (the Viking and Yrestor couldn’t make it this session) and three rowers enter the temple and see it’s in ruins inside, with stone-shaped holes in the columns and a defaced shrine. They encounter the Handmaiden of the Empire, a enticing figure in red robes and a veil. She seems to think the empire is still around and the party are foreigners. She demands a payment to worship in the temple of Augustus, See roll tells the party her clothes are patched and torn from age. They pay her with the remaining tetradrachamas. Straight up paying her with ancient currency is good enough to make her lave them alone and she retires to a couch in the side room.
They are unsure of what to do for the ritual. But interacting with the alter causes three flames to appear, representing the trio of cosmic powers. Declaring their names causes the representative of Chaos to appear. A demonic face ringed with eyes constantly rolling, each with contains eyes rolling in the opposite direction comes out of the stonework.
It offers the players a choice to leave after the ceremony is complete and return to the Young Kingdoms. Or they can stay, potentially undertaking new missions or being trapped here. The party are unsure, the demon unfurls it’s tongue and offers a weird horn (demonstrated by a player playing Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1 on 100+ year the piano through a Discord link). The Handmaiden starts shrieking and the face mentions it’s keeping her down for the ritual. With much erratic dancing and playing, there is the sound of pieces of slate grinding together and everything sudden is much more acute. The face vanishes. The Handmaiden rushes into the room with an ancient short sword decrying the desecration of the temple of Augustus.
She tears off her veil and bodice like skin, revealing something that cannot be looked upon, but in turn hovers somewhere between a young human woman and maybe a snake. Sigmar fails her POW resistance roll even with the dogs blood giving POW+3 and turns to stone, the rowers didn’t have any dogs blood and turn to stone.
The fight is drawn out with the Handmaiden’s supernatural AP. A critical hit from the handmaiden snap Miklas’s two-handed axe, he takes Sigmar’s. A Critical parry from Allthrows Tams snaps the Handmaiden’s sword. They push her closer to the entrance, so Sigmar’s player takes control of the remaining rowers and they advance, eyes averted with the hand mirror they left outside. The handmaiden cannot bear to see herself and moves back. Eventually a critical hit from Miklas (subject to change on player commentary) cuts her, severing the spinal column from her body.
The party loot her hoard, Sigmar emerges from her stone cocoon, horribly pink new skin underneath, losing 1 HP permanently. Everyone gains 1 POW for the ritual. The trio representing Law, Chaos and Balance appear, they offer rewards for continual service and to help push this world to the final doom at the Conjunction of A Million Spheres.
The players asked how long before their home in the Young Kingdoms would also have it's final doom. They were told when Elric of Melnibone had come of age into his power. He will be the yet-unborn son of Sadric the 86th who was 3 years old. Since they players knew him as some sort of elf, they figured they had a while. The trio mentioned they shall compete for the player’s loyalties, offering Sorcery and power. They players, three of which want to be sorcerers and engage with Stormbringer’s nonsense, love the idea.
The players are directed to serve the keep of the Deathless in the Cnivian Kingdom in the mountain highpass, follow his instructions, bend him to the trio’s will. They get a map of the setting, they are most thrilled to own.
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