Session 378 - Opinions on the Creation of a New God

Date: 2 July

Moon: Waning Crescent
Zenith: The Dead God

Events:

--- 19 Days Later

- It has been nearly three weeks in Sydney's increasingly busy extradimensional flat. Previously a simple place to crash for a number of PCs equal to level, it's now home to a bustling array of weird beings, hangers-on, and a techno-deity that is significantly older than life on Earth.

- During that time, a familiar face returns! It's Little Jack Tall on a flying visit after a long time in the far east! He pre-dates Mentor Multiclassing, so this Halfling Specialist is technically pure Specialist!

- Our heroes discuss their next steps. They're constructing a Seraphim shell into which they can place the aggregate mind of a new god. How much is enough? The Old Miner is the template for all current gods, and he contains the aggregate mind of a whole alien civilisation. The other gods contain copies of whole Dwarven arcologies. What's the minimum viable god?
- Just then they hear shouts of warning from the front door out to the real world! The Foundry is under attack!

--- Hellhounds

- Our heroes rush out of the front door into the Foundry. An emaciated Termaxian Priest manipulates levers at the control panel, printing out complicated Seraphim parts using the big cylindrical forge in the middle of the room.
- Bursting through the door - frankenstein parodies of dogs stitched from many bodies! Huge green-bellied flies swirl around their mouths!
- Sydney has a plan. Their spell, Escape Rope, will take you to where you entered the dungeon! They cast and... ZOOP! They're all... back in the Foundry exactly where they left the Safe Space. They did technically enter the dungeon from there.
- Luckily there are Dwarf-borg guards here to help! Combat is joined, the dogs breathe out metal-melting fly-breath, but between Sydney's incredibly powerful Magic Missiles,Aximander's incredible forge-lit use of a flaming sword, and Divinity's Sword of Ages, the dogs are summarily destroyed.

--- Jonathon Toast Welcomes All

- With the Escape Rope spell not operating as intended, Sydney tries plan B - the Mountaintop Gauntlet! He grabs Little Jack Tall and they both warp up to the peak of Dwimmermount. It's afternoon, but raining heavily.

- Holding hands, since unclenching the gauntlet warps Sydney back down, the two begin to descend in the general direction of the Red Doors - the entrance to Dwimmermount. There is evidence that Rudolphus was here fairly recently.
- Suddenly they are lit up by a searchlight! Somewhere in the rain a booming voice... it's Jonathon Toast!
- They follow the beam as it leads them down towards the flat ground in front of the entrance. Jonathon Toast floats above them, an obscene flesh-blimp. His floating bulk keeps off the rain... yet big warm drops are still falling wetly from his underside. Ew.

- The other change is that an ethnically diverse array of red shirt-wearing people are milling around, all connected by gossamer threads to the great sky whale above. They don't have much of a mind of their own. There are humans, red elves, green mutants from the dungeon, and even Brogi! Remember Brogi?

- They ask Jonathon Toast if he has any contact with the Wheatlands. Apparently he does! Connected by the long "guideline" threads, he's got a minion over there! The Wheatlands are luscious, but unfortunately the pawn at the other end is immediately killed when it emerges from the wheat and starts screaming.

- Jonathon offers Sydney the chance to be blessed, joining his burgeoning coterie of people. Sydney politely declines. They head towards the dungeon entrance.

--- Theology Ensues

- The entrance is barricaded, but Sydney and Little Jack Tall hear a voice and are beckoned forward. There is a green-skinned mutant man, wondering why the pair haven't been eaten by the horror above.
- They gain entrance upon showing that the backs of their necks do not have gossamer threads growing out of them. Sydney unclenches the gauntlet and pops back down, gathers the party, and Escape Ropes back up to the entrance. Easy!

- Theology ensues! Many ideas for what to put in the God-shell are thrown around. Perhaps they can put Jonathon Toast in there? He's basically an aggregate mind all on his own! Can he be trusted or at least influenced?

- Even more pressing - the first level of Dwimmermount is basically a friendly town these days. That means... carousing!

--- Realisation of the Sydnod

- While the others party, Sydney researches a new spell alone. Knock, that's a good one!
- Hagen is the life of the party in the town, using his alcohol-related Lorebond to induce a state of On the Lash!

- Everyone at the party swears blind they saw Sydney show up, even though they were definitely spending the week researching spells instead.

- Theories abound... was that Elf Sydney? Born from the moon when Sydney died that time? And hey, if that's the case, are there multiple Sydneys around? They could keep casting Lunar Womb and multiplying right?
- This theoretical Council of Sydneys is hereafter referred to as the Sydnod.

--- He is no Beast! He's a guy! In a can!

- Having spent many obols partying, the gang reconvene in the kitchen of the extradimensional flat.

- Sydney, the real Sydney with the slime familiar that hates him and the saggy skin, is baffled that they saw them at the pub. Sydney was researching spells the whole time, they swear!
- They were all told that the pieces of the God-Shell were being warped to level 4. From there they'd be taken to the elevator, transferred to the launch level, assembled, and fired up into space. That's all the Termaxian priest knew at least!

- So saying, the gang head to the elevator and descend to Level 4, known to some as the Halls of Lesser Secrets.
- They cautiously head down the wide corridor, and see a bunch of extremely buff anthropomorphic unicorn men. They wear purple bandages and are facing away, behind a barricade of upturned and very ancient tables, facing towards a similar barricade on the other side. They are armed with long sharp rods used as javelins.

- The purple-ragged unicorn men turn because they hear the party coming, largely because Sydney has animated a cart and it's singing terribly and loudly.

- Hagan strides forward - he's got a bone to pick with Vespusian. That purple-bandaged mummy motherfucker chatted shit about the Old Miner, and Hagan has new information! His Grudge-sense tells him exactly where Vespusian is hiding. In his room!
- Vespusian is shocked to see Hagan alive! They chat at length, and at last Vespusian apologises for calling the old Miner "a mere beast". Hagan reveals that the Old Miner is no beast, and is in fact an alien and impossibly ancient aggregate mind! It's also currently trapped in a can trapped in an imaginary flat in a room filled with water and also sea-goblins!

- Vespusian accepts all this and apologises. Hagan's Grudge is settled!

--- You motherfucker, it's a fetch quest??

- With the Grudge settled, it's time to chat. In Latin.

- Vespusian says that he's been helping out the Swolicorns because they've been trying to prevent the Frog Monsters from stealing all the god pieces. That's right, the horrible frog monsters are still around!
- He's got one piece in his treasure room, snagged by the Swolicorns during a previous battle, but the rest are out there somewhere.
- The big issue they have is that the teleport maze keeps warping people around. The wide corridors end at tall cylindrical rooms which warp you to any other. This makes it very difficult to get the God pieces to any one place, for both sides. Luckily the local Ratman population is staying out of it.

- They talk some more about the situation - there is a frog queen somewhere and hopefully killing her will stop the frogs. Also -

- Just then, Sydney yells "Ave Vespusian!" to pause the teleport maze and leaps into the cylindrical room! It is very brave! There is a croaking sound from nearby and a tongue SCHLOPS onto Sydney!
- We end on a cliffhanger, Sydney being pulled through the air by a long sticky hand-tipped tongue! What happens next?!

Total: 8000 exp

Enemies defeated:

- Several frankensteined hellhounds (300 exp)

Total: 300 exp

Downtime:

- Sydney learnt the Knock spell!
- Divinity spent 2400 obols! (2400 exp)

- Aximander spent 1800 obols! (1800 exp)
- Little Jack Tall spent 1000 obols! (1000 exp)
- Hagan spent 2000 obols while On the Lash! (4000 exp)

Exp Totals:

- Carter / Sydney, Level 8 Magic-User: 200242 (Level up at 288000)

- Kitty / Julian & Aximander, Level 7 Languid Wastrel: 114618 (Level up at 144000)

- George / Hagen the Heretic, Level 7 Dwarf: 92490 (Level up at 128000)

- Ollie / Divinity, Level 6 Battle-Cleric (Fighter 3/ Cleric 3): 61348 (Level up at 72000)

- Henry / Little Jack Tall, Level 4 Halfling: 14462 (Level up at 16000)