It's amazing what you find when you clean out the
closets.
The Roman goddess Athena was doing her usual
housecleaning (well, temple-cleaning) when she came
across something that she could swear wasn't there
last century. What it was, nobody in Heaven or Hell
is quite sure ... but very shortly after she found
whatever-it-was, three Tethers to Nightmares exploded
quite messily.
This has obviously managed to catch the interest of
both sides. Normally, one side or the other would
send a raiding party to 'acquire' whatever-it-is...
well, actually, they did. The ones from Heaven came
back tight-lipped and refusing to talk to anyone
except Michael (the one who sent them) and Dominic.
Shortly after their debriefing, further expeditions to
that particular part of the Marches were forbidden
until further notice.
The ones from Hell didn't come back at all.
Now, there isn't a Superior on either side that's
willing to let this slide, so naturally they're all
planning to quietly send another expedition. Unlike
the first ones, anyone sent this time is just supposed
to scout and report back, avoiding an open
confrontation at all costs. Well, an open
confrontation with the Olympians: a little discreet
conflict with certain rival reconnaissance parties
might be necessary. Try not to look too obvious.
Now, if the PCs aren't sufficiently unnerved at the
fact that apparently Michael and Dominic are actually
agreeing on something, they will be after they start
encountering gibbering, quite mad celestials on their
way. None of them will have any real information to
give: contradictory information and wild ravings is
definitely called for, here. The PCs will almost
certainly be quite nervous as they reach Olympus...
... and find it deserted, and already starting to fade
away. It would seem that the Greek gods have finally
died. A quick examination of the area will seem to
indicate that the end was quick, and strangely
nonviolent: we're talking about the standard "supper
laid out and a pot left to boil over" kind of mass
vanishing here. However, there simply aren't any real
clues, so eventually even the most thorough party will
eventually conclude that there's nothing left to see
here and return to base.
Unfortunately, they can't seem to find it now - and
the landscape is starting to look strange, even for
the ethereal plane - and every so often there seems to
be a whisper on the wind that they can't quite make
out...
Now, GMs that were planning to incorporate some good,
old-fashioned horror into their IN campaigns anyway
can easily insert their versions of the Evil Even
Worse Than Hell here and go for a resolution. For the
rest, well, there's nothing like an Elder God or two
to spice things up. Needless to say, springing this
on players who won't appreciate it is contraindicated,
but you knew that anyway.
If you simply must have a Scooby-Doo version, however,
then the Greek gods aren't actually dead, just
relocated. Athena apparently came across an old
artifact of Vulcan's that would allow all of them to
create a more secure stronghold: unfortunately, it
required the life force of a Seneschal to be operated.
This wasn't considered wise (or really needed) at the
time, but that was before the Crusade. Anyway, as
Athena doesn't much like Beleth, anyway, the choice of
whom to grab and sacrifice was obvious. It just took
a couple tries to bag one alive, that's all. The
Heavenly raiding party appeared just in time to see
Athena power things up: Michael and Dominic put a lid
on the report until they could figure out
countermeasures.
Meanwhile, any celestial in the area (which will
include the PCs) is being whapped with Songs that
induce insanity, the better to confuse the issue. If
the PCs can just figure things out (and break the
damned artifact) before they get driven mad, the
situation gets resolved. The mad celestials will
probably even recover in the end. See? There's a
rational enough answer, after all.
I still think that Elder Gods would be cooler, though.
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