TAKE X (6-5-17: The End)

> Sienna: Brainstorm.



"Let's see," you mutter. "We'll need to get those orbs away from the One Goddess. If we can do that, then we can get into the monument. There were two doors there."

"That would mean that the one that we didn't go through leads to the Centrality," Ione says.

"Hey, too bad you don't got someone who's real good at stealing things," says the purple goddess. "We find the goddess, someone ducks in and loots her, then we go to the Centrality."

Finding the goddess shouldn't be a problem - you're still not convinced that Indivar's mask isn't a tracking device of some kind - but someone who's really good at stealing things...



Ah. Yeah, she might work.

"Ione," you say, "I know someone. Can you help me track them down?"

She nods, and the two of you take off.

> Duximas: Brainstorm.



"So... what now?" Breza asks.

You begin pacing up and down the hallway. It helps you think. "We gotta wait for Travler t' get back with her thief, first of all. Once she's back, we track down the goddess, we steal the orbs, we make tracks for the Centrality. Like you said."

Krytikas frowns. "That plan's missing a certain something."

"Like what?" you ask.

"Like details." Krytikas eyes the mortal in blue suspiciously, who hasn't said anything since Travler left - he's just been nursing a cup of coffee. "Where will we be doing this? Who will go to the Centrality? Who will distract the goddess? How do we distract the goddess?"

"The mountaintop," the mortal says. Everyone's eyes turn to him. "Everyone knows that if you want to get a god's attention, you call from a mountaintop."

Krytikas sighs. "Well, that's a possibility. Let's use this time to try and plot out the rest of the details for the plan."

Hm... man, what do we know about the One Goddess's ability to monitor people? Assuming we're not being watched right now, what's our best option for a) getting noticed, and b) staying noticed for long enough to be a good distraction, without getting successfully dealt with?

Maybe an unorthodox use of Krytikas' power- deliberately exploiting the One Goddess's domains in order to get her attention, then using Void Cloak to make it seem as if nobody's there. Do this enough times quickly in succession, and she'll probably twig to the fact that someone's trying to hide from her, and you'll be able to lead her on a wild goose chase while the rest of you sneak into the Centrality.

The real problem is figuring out how to steal the orbs- if we're unlucky, she's already stashed them away in the Centrality where we can't get at them. And even if she's got them on her person, do we want to bank on the hope that she won't have a way to foil a single mortal thief? How do we keep her from realizing "Oh shit, they stole the orbs, they must be trying to get into the Centrality"? Besides the Krytikas stealth approach, is there anyone who can keep her occupied for any length of time without being killed instantly with Tzarth's powers?

Some reflection on what the One Goddess is and isn't capable of is probably warranted right now.

I don't think we have to worry too much about being watched. If she was able to watch that effectively, she wouldn't need to bother with proxies.

Can Tukha open his door without actually being in the Centrality? That would probably get the One Goddess' attention if she's in there.

Although we probably wouldn't be so lucky that she'd go through it to check what was up, would we.

> Duximas: Reflect.



The One Goddess has a wide range of powers right now, and to be honest, you're not entirely sure you even know what all of them are. You know she has access to all of the domains that didn't belong to the four of you: truth, togetherness, death, life, twos, family, fives, money, health, the harvest, crafts, the homestead, rumors, cruelty, records, knowledge, judgment, elements, creation, love, tragedy, weather, music, logic, and directions. And then, of course, there's the domain of heroes too.

That said, you are pretty certain that she doesn't know how to use most of them. For example, the element system doesn't seem to have changed between the old timeline and the new one. In fact, the changes she made were mostly just to history - and she could do all of that with Meion's library.

Huh. You might actually be onto something here. You know that she likes to warp all over the place, but Krytikas says that's just from the void element. She must have done the same thing to move everyone to the Normal Place - and the Normal Place itself is what kept your powers from working there, not anything she did. And... you heard that her chosen hero, that Indivar guy - she likes to buff him up with the power from some of the domains, but that doesn't mean that she knows how to use them.

That could mean that when it comes right down to it, you wouldn't be going up against a goddess with the powers of four-fifths of the pantheon, you'd be going up against a goddess who has no idea how to do anything - not even, to hear tell, monitor everyone all the time.

That's not going to be easy, but it isn't as bad.

> Duximas: Talk to Tukha.



"Hey Tukha," you say, "can ya open your door in the Centrality from here?"

"I'm afraid not, friend," he says. "That door only works when I'm there, physically. Or metaphysically, anyway. Which means that the usurper isn't properly moving souls into the afterlife... but I could have told you that anyway."

"What do you mean?" Krytikas asks.

"She isn't even coming to sever the souls from the mortals' bodies at all. I can still see them, unable to leave mortal lands. Like I told you earlier - I have no idea what that usurper thinks she's doing."

"Wait." You frown. "Are ya tellin' me that there are just... ghosts wanderin' around all over the place?"

"That's right, friend."

That's a little chilling.

> Duximas: Talk to Krytikas.



"Krytikas, lemme bounce an idea off ya," you say.

"Go ahead."

"What if we get the goddess' attention, then ya use your void ability t' keep her from noticin' you."

Krytikas eyes you. "I like the part where she doesn't notice me, but what about that is different from what we've been doing?"

"Nah, so we keep doing it, over and over. Eventually, the goddess is gonna realize that someone is tryin' t' stay hidden from her, and she's gonna go after them. Boom, distraction."

"Hrm." Krytikas looks away, thinking. "Logistically, it seems like it would work, though I'm wary of any plan where she ends up chasing me specifically. If it's what I must do, though, I'll do it."

"That just leaves the orbs," you say. "How is someone gonna steal them from a goddess?"

Krytikas shrugs. "That's on the shoulders of whoever Travler picks up."



Speaking of, Travler, Raptis, and their thief have all just reappeared.

This hallway's getting a little crowded.

>Hey Shadan are you ready for ROUND TWO of stealing the orbs?

Important question we need to answer before we can make a plan: do we think the One Goddess has the orbs on her person? And if so, does she have... pockets? Clothes? A hammerspace inventory? Hell, if she's gone and stored those orbs inside the Centrality, our plan is boned before it even begins.

> Duximas: Talk to the thief.



"Shadan Hamidi," Travler says, "now that you're here, I'll elaborate more on what we're hiring you for. You'll be stealing the stone orbs."

Shadan frowns. "Again? I just got done stealing them the first time."

"Long story short, the One Goddess managed to take possession of them," Travler says.

"Wait." She crosses her arms, watching you all carefully. "You're telling me that my job is to steal from the goddess herself?"

"Is that gonna be a problem?" you ask.

A smile spreads across Hamidi's face. If you had to describe it, the words 'avaricious' and 'vainglorious' would leap readily to mind. Well, not readily, but you'd definitely get to them eventually. "Not in the slightest," she says. "When I pull this off, I'll go down in history as the best thief ever."



"Is it really gonna be that easy, though?" Breza asks. "Where's Travler even keeping those orbs? S'not like she's got a lotta pockets on her person or anything."

"She probably stashed 'em in her inventory," you say.

"Her what?"



"Y'know, her inventory." You flash your inventory open to demonstrate. "Ya tellin' me ya don't know what that is?"



Breza stands there for a moment, opening and closing her inventory and gawking in amazement. "Wild! Hey, look! There's all sorts of stuff in here... My stuffed ammon! I thought I lost that!"

Travler snaps her fingers a few times. "Not that this isn't fascinating, but aren't we sort of in the middle of something?"

"Oh. Right." Breza clears her throat. "What if Travler isn't keeping the orbs in her inventory? What if she handed 'em off to someone else - or even left 'em at the Centrality?"

"We'd have to find another way in, I suppose," Krytikas says. "The only other option would be to somehow get her to bring us to the Centrality herself. But how likely is it that she left someone else in charge of the orbs?" She glances to Sienna. "You're the closest one here to her. What do you think?"

> Sienna: Weigh in.



You think about that for a moment, but the answer is obvious. "She wouldn't trust anyone else with those orbs, not since she seems to know how important they are now. She's got them on her. I'm certain."

After all, it's what you would do.

"Very well." Krytikas limps to the center of the group. "Then let's recap. The plan we have so far is this. I'll lure the Goddess to us by repeatedly dropping and using my void cloak. Once she's near, Shadan will steal the orbs from her. At that point, we will use them to go to the Centrality. Does anyone have any extra ideas? Or should we begin splitting up the party?"

>What about the Miracle Men? They might appear, we might need someone who knows a more about them.... a lot more....

> Palmer: Interject.



"One problem," you say. All eyes in the room turn to look at you. "The Miracle Men."

Krytikas tilts her head, thinking. "Miracle... Men. Yes, that sounds familiar."

You sip your coffee. It's strong. "The goddess has them under her thumb. They're nasty pieces of work. Turn your back on an orange puddle, and that'll be the last thing you do."

"Orange puddles? Hey, I know those guys," Shadan says. She grins a bit more widely than you would think would be appropriate for this particular discussion. "In fact, I think I know someone who could give us some insight on keeping them at bay. She survived one of their attacks."

"Excellent. There's another problem taken care of." Krytikas paces up and down the hall - at least as much as she can, given how crowded it is. "How quickly can you get her?"

The smile on Shadan's face doesn't fade. "I'll have her ready to go before you need me. Don't worry."

Krytikas nods. "Very well. Then let's split up and review."



"I will be Group 1," Krytikas says.

"You're the entire group?" Breza asks. "You're awfully small for that." She lets out a laugh, but is quickly halted when Krytikas elbows her in the gut.

"As I was saying," Krytikas continues, "I'll begin by getting the Goddess' attention."



"Shadan is Group 2."

Shadan shoots a sidelong glance at Breza. "Spare me your jokes, please."

"She'll steal the orbs from the Goddess and deliver them to Group 4."

Breza counts something out on her fingers. "You skipped 3, didn't you?"

"Have patience, dear Breza," Krytikas says, shaking her head. "I'll get there."



"Group 3 - Breza, Tukha, Duximas, and Shadan's friend - will be on call to run interference for me. I know I can't handle the Goddess on my own, so I'll need backup."

"Aw yeah!" Breza says. "That's a fancy way of saying I get to beat Travler in the face! I'm all in!"



"Finally, Group 4 will be the three of you. As the members of our party who can cloak themselves in the void, it'll be up to you to use the orbs to sneak into the Centrality. I will find a way to meet you up there if I can get away from the Goddess once Group 3 is on her, but if I can't, it'll be on you to fix history."

Ione nods solemnly. "Understood. I will end her reign by my own hands."

"Enough talk," Breza says. "Let's get this done!"

"Agreed." Krytikas looks around the room one last time. "Shadan, go get your friend. Then we will begin."



> Duximas: Begin the plan.





"Explain again why we're waiting up on top of this mountain," Breza says from her perch on the edge of the cliffside.

You squint. "Are ya sure ya ever spent any actual time doin' your job?"

"You know as well as I do that I spent most of my time getting kicked out to the Normal Place."

"I guess I can't argue that," you say. "Th' boundary between th' mortal world and th' Centrality is weaker on mountaintops. It'll be easier for the goddess to catch onto Krytikas from here."



"Speaking of," Krytikas says, "get ready. She's coming. I can feel it."





"I should have known it was this group of has-beens!" the goddess says with a sneer. "Especially you, Krytikas. I've been waiting to get my hands on you. Once I kill you, I'll finally have everything I need to make everything finally work!"

Krytikas starts to say something, but can only stumble over her words for a moment before managing "Is... is that my staff?"

"What'd ya do with it?!" you ask.

"If you must know, it was murder. But believe me when I say I don't need it to completely destroy you!" she says. "By the time I'm done, you'll be nothing but dust!"

Krytikas looks over her shoulder at you. "Group 3! Interference!"




...(Oh right! Since I got more than just me on my team this time, I can direct what actions my teammates take with the 'Allies' command. But... knowin' how Breza works, I feel like if they get too ticked off, they might not listen t' me an' end up doin' their own thing.)


...(Jus' so I got it all in my head, these are the skills I can use:

Vorpal Edge - A quick sword strike that hits enemies arranged in a row.
Crimson Crash - A stab that hurts the foe nearest to me. Can cause recurring damage over time, and has a greater chance to do so if I use a knife or dagger.
Grapple Check - A grab attack that lets me either suplex a foe or throw it at another foe. Causes more damage if I'm unarmed.
Cross Strike - A powerful attack that causes damage along an X-shaped pattern. Can only be used if I can reach higher ground than the foe.)


...(An' these are my items:

My sword
A stack a' autopsy reports
A paper crown readin' "Sunset Pose Champion"
A dagger
A history book an' a burnt book on magical critters
The sixpike
A cape a' dramatic wind)


...(An' these are the skills my allies can do, aside from a basic attack. I feel like they could probably perform one action each every time I make an action myself.

Tukha:
Odds - He can calculate probability for any situation, given a certain baseline a' information.
Ends - He can unlock a special door in the Centrality, behind which lies th' afterlife.

Breza:
Athlete - She can master any sport if she practices it for a short period beforehand.
Ultraviolence - If she can grab a foe, she can pick them up and slam them into the wall, or the floor, or whatever else happens to be near at th' time. She can finish this attack by either stomping on the foe or by throwing them.

Krytikas:
Secrets - She can read the secrets that others are keeping.
Void Cloak - This skill allows her to avoid the notice a' those around her if she so chooses.)


...(Finally, there's Shadan an' her friend. They're stayin' hidden for now, but I can call them into the fight when I think it's the right moment. Shadan can use Five-Fingered Discount to steal from the One Goddess, and her friend can do... whatever it is she does to neutralize the Miracle Men. I gotta be careful, though - I bet those two can only do their tricks once. I need t' make sure I get them into battle at just the right time.)


...(This is it. I need to think carefully about my actions.)

...wait. no, hold on, this seems suddenly very dangerous. like moreso than fighting a goddess i mean.

>Shadan: "Hey, remind me how you survived the Miracle Men, again?"

-

>Duximas: Crimson Crash with your dagger- on the off chance that she bleeds, the damage-over-time should provide either a) an opening as she focuses on treating her wound, or b) free DPS, so that strategies focused on dodging or blocking aren't wasted time. If she doesn't bleed, uh, hopefully it at least does some damage.

...or, wait. We don't need to grapple with that uncertainty.

>Tukha: Calculate odds of Crimson Crash inflicting bleed damage on the One Goddess.

If good odds of bleed, go with that- otherwise, COMBO ATTACK: Grapple Check, and instead of throwing her at a foe, throw her at Breza to combo into Ultraviolence. FOOTBALL

Hey, remember what we're here for. We have one objective: steal the stones. Bleeding doesn't help us with that, unless the One Goddess is preoccupied with trying to recover from it. The only reason to go for it is to convince her that we're aiming for a kill.

What's more important is seeing her defenses. Grapple Check is good because it involves coming in direct contact with her, which will also be necessary for stealing. If she's got inherent defenses against physical contact, Shadan's going to want to see them in action.

So I guess I'm seconding Grapple Check into Ultraviolence, but for different reasons?

Well this is somewhat worrisome.

First point of order- hide Krytikas. She is the prime target right now, and OG Sienna already sees her, which is not good. Question is, is it because of the staff, or because Krytikas just didn't go under cloak in time? Krytikas should know, so we need to quickly ask her. If the former, then we need to get the staff away from Sienna STAT, and group up around Krytikas to keep her from being teleport ganked (we can potentially ask Tuhka for the Odds of that). If the latter, we may be able to throw the autopsy reports and/or cape to temporarily blind OG Sienna, letting Krytikas get up a cloak. We probably do NOT want to risk letting her try to steal the orbs even if she manages it though- let's pretend this is an escort mission or something, we really can't risk her dying.

Second, if we manage to get that taken care of, we need to create an opening so the two on the side of the cliff-face can steal the orbs. We don't need to actually hurt OG-Sienna, just distract her- preferably in a way that's annoying, rather than actually harmful, as she can just teleport away if she thinks she's in actual danger. To this end, I propose we attempt something unexpected- what do we think would manage that? Even if most attacks won't, we have some weird stuff in our collective inventory. Not even sure what the heck Breza's stuff was, but throwing the weird looking fireball thing or the miniature baby might be weird enough to warrant surprise. We need some sort of team attack, to be honest- everyone doing something that Sienna can't really predict the outcome of, and thus has to defend against just in case. Hopefully Shadan and co will take the opportunity without a signal, but if not we yell and hope they have enough time.

Third, so far as I'm aware, for all the power she stole, OG Sienna can't fly. So, best option to "end" this battle is we fling her off the mountain. She is standing RIGHT on the edge, after all. A grapple check or ultraviolence, if landed, could potentially do that, but it runs the risk of the user getting flung off the mountain instead if she turns it on them. Care will have to be taken.

> Shadan: Ask about the Miracle Men.




...I never got around to asking, Justice, but how exactly did you survive those orange guys?


I'm glad you asked! It's quite interesting, if I do say so myself. You see, I started by...

> Duximas: Hide Krytikas.




...(Good. Krytikas cloaked herself. That'll keep some of the heat off a' her.)

> Shadan: Get it.




...and that's when they realized that the baked Lycus hadn't been flambéed at all, so I made my escape. I was so exhausted, though, that I fell right asleep in that room you found me in.


Oh, I get it. That's definitely something. Well, that answers my question as completely as I could hope for.

> Duximas: Ask Tukha about odds.




...(Okay, so the probability there is, what, 96%? That's... really good. I'll keep that in mind.)

> Duximas: Combo attack with Breza








...(Hm. I could grab her, but Breza's attack is just going right through. Maybe she can dodge physical blows once she puts her guard up...)




That little rat was right here a minute ago! What did you do with Krytikas?!


Can't imagine ya think I'm actually gonna tell ya.


Grr...



> Duximas: Use an unexpected attack.




...(It's workin'! She doesn't know what t' make a' that! It's a good time to...)

> Shadan: Leap into action.






Hee hee hee...

>No time to loose! TeamThief, time for Centrality!

oh, good, a perfectly prepared explanation for how she survived that is not "she didn't survive, and is in fact a miracle man in disguise who is going to backstab us at the first opportunity"!

>Duximas and Breza: See if you can tie her up by playing "catch" with Grapple Check and Ultraviolence, while Shadan and Totally Really Justice And Not An Impostor make their escape!

>Shadan: Don't get cocky, now- the One Goddess can teleport, so escaping's going to mean not getting noticed, not just putting a lot of distance between you.

> Shadan: Avoid notice and flee.



While you mentally give high fives all around over successfully stealing from a goddess, something appears beneath you. It looks like... a magic circle?



You hear Krytikas' voice. It's quiet, and it sounds like she's somewhere nearby. "It's time to leave. Stand in the circle."

Who are you to argue? You gather the orbs and you and Justice position yourselves in the middle of the circle.





"Ah, that's better," Krytikas says. Looks like she tagged along too. "We have some breathing room. Is everyone ready for the next step?"

Justice raises her hand. "I have a question. Since Shadan and I aren't void or whatever, does that mean we have to stay here?"

Krytikas nods. "Unfortunately so. Staying hidden would be my best advice."

"All right." Justice looks a little forlorn, but it's not the first time you've had to hide for an indeterminate amount of time.

> Palmer: Open the entrance.



Shadan hands you the orbs and flees with Justice. You slot the orbs into the pedestal, and the entrance appears.



Inside are two doors. One of darkness, one of light. Just as the others said.

"Cloak yourselves now," Krytikas says. "We can't afford even one second of being noticeable once we're there."

> Palmer: Go to the Centrality.



You take a deep breath and focus on fading into the background. Then you take a step into the door of light.



It works. Or at least you assume it works. You have no idea what this place is, even if it seems gnawingly familiar.

>Caution, look for mysterious doors

> Palmer: Look for mysterious doors.



You enter the building. Krytikas mutters to follow her as she carefully stalks down the nearest hallway, but even if she weren't here, you get the feeling you'd know where to go.

Krytikas leads you through a twisted labyrinth of identical hallways. It's completely silent - not even your footfalls are making noise. The air is still as the grave.



You head past a door with a flower on it. The door next to it grabs your attention - not that you know why, since it doesn't look any different than any of the other doors you've seen so far.

It's slightly open.

Krytikas eyes the door, but whispers "We need to keep moving." She sneaks past you, with Sienna and Ione following her.

You eye the door again. Something about it is calling your name.

>...Hey, Krytikas, do you remember that door being there?

>Go forward, hope the door won't follow you

> Palmer: Ask Krytikas about the door.



You ask Krytikas if she knows anything about that door.

She looks at you for a moment before answering. "Yes. I know all about that door. Now come on. We really don't have time to lollygag."

You consider what it means that Krytikas, the goddess of secrets, knows all about that door.

> Palmer: Keep moving.



You follow Krytikas through the various and sundry hallways until you end up at the library. The room has sort of a comfortable feeling to it - like the boughs of the big tree back in Eldarin. You spent a large chunk of your childhood in those branches, and it always felt like a safe haven.

This library feels the same. You're not sure why.

Okay, so is whatever we're looking for in here?

>Reminisce about Meion

(terrifying Meion: appear)

> Palmer: So what are we looking for, exactly?



"So it's in here, then," you say. "Whatever we're looking for, I mean."

Krytikas nods slightly. "This is the library of Meion, god of records and knowledge. Every book, tome, anything at all that could be classified as a record is kept here. On top of that, Meion has extensive books detailing the sum of all knowledge, mortal and otherwise."

She turns her gaze to the rows upon rows of bookshelves. Even though you can clearly see where the room ends, somehow the shelves still go on forever. It's giving you a little bit of a headache. "Somewhere in here is a book, or books, on the history of Ennen. It is that book that the usurper edited. We need to find it and change it back."

"Point of order," Sienna says. "So maybe I'm a little off-base here, but this library looks pretty..."

"Infinite?" Ione says.

"Yeah. So how do we find the book?"

Krytikas frowns. "That's a good question. We could be here for eternity searching. If only..."

"If only what?" you ask.

"If only Meion were here," she says. She doesn't say anything for a moment, but then her eyes light up - which is more literal for her than most. "Wait. He couldn't have..." She looks to you, Sienna, and Ione. "I have an idea that might help, but for it to work, we need to drop our cloaks. It'll put us at risk, but if I'm right, we'll be able to find what we need much more quickly."

"Sounds good to me," Sienna says.

"Anything to end this nightmare sooner," Ione says.

You nod.

Krytikas taps her foot on the ground. "Very well," she says, and simultaneously, you all become more noticeable.



"Usurper! How did you return here--"



"Wait, you're-- Krytikas!"

"Meion!"

The reaction is less understated than you've come to expect from Krytikas, but then, you suppose you can't blame her.

"I'm-- I'm so--" Krytikas says, only barely getting words out of her mouth. She looks down, taking deep breaths. After a moment, she continues. "I'm... very pleased to see you, Meion."

Meion smiles, which is altogether a nicer expression than the one he was wearing a moment ago. "You as well, Krytikas, though I'd rather it be under better circumstances. I'd like to be alive again, for one."

"That's what we're here to fix." Krytikas once again looks out over the stacks. "The book the usurper edited. Where is it?"

"I... don't know," Meion says, looking a little remorseful.

Sienna's eyes flare. "What? You don't? So we need to go and look through infinite books by hand?!"

Meion waves his hands conciliatorily. "Hold on, hold on! I can tell you where it was. I think she cloaked the book so I couldn't see it. Otherwise I would have changed it back myself as soon as I was able." He writes something down on the semi-transparent slate in his hands, then hands it to Krytikas. "Here. Check that shelf."

Krytikas reads the note, then nods. "Understood." Without a further word, she disappears into the stacks.



A few moments later - far faster than you would have expected anyone to navigate those shelves - she returns. "I believe I have found it," Krytikas says.

>Get Meion to edit it, it stands to reason