Conflicting Feelings

THE UNDISPUTED MASTRESS OF MISERY, TITAN OF TORMENT, LORD OF STRIFE AND FIRE, SEEKS SERVANTS IN A MATTER OF UTMOST IMPORTANT TO THE LORD OF FIRE AND THEREFORE OBVIOUSLY YOURSELVES YOU PATHETIC MORTALS. WILLING SERVANTS SHOULD PROSTRATE THEMSELVES BEFORE THE SMOULDERING CRATER IN ROM JUST AFTER NOON THIS COMING SIXTH-DAY.

TIME WASTERS WILL BE ANNIHILATED.

- Posters that have been appearing around the city. Attempts to remove them have resulted in the posters sticking faster to the surface they were attached to, eventually leading to resignation from the Bureaucracy and additions from the Circle of the Enlightened Mind reading “The Circle will be grateful for fruitful investigation into this”

• Min Scholz - Florence
• Florian Dorian Delorean - Mat
• Commissioner Chance - Joe
• Joshua - Dan

The party find themselves at the largest crater whereupon they succeed in a battle to the death against other hopefuls to win the employ of the Lord of Fire, who explains to them that as the city has relocated, Strife is further away and a new base of operations is needed. After proving their mettle, all except Commissioner Chance (who takes it on his Buckler), accept a brand from the Lord of Fire and the Liege of Conflict explains that what they want the party to do is find the Legendary Sword of Enmity in order to defeat one of the Lieges of the two Courts of Conflict closest to the city: Supremacy, held by the Lady of Storms, and Challenge, held by the Lady of Tremors.

First, though, they need an appropriate vessel for the Lord of Fire and are deposited into the bathroom of Grand Magister Isabella to retrieve the Grail of Fire from her. The disgruntled Grand Magister tells the party that the Grail was destroyed and they proceed to ransack her office, steal her belongings, and eventually deposit the Lord of Fire in the Teapot of Improvement, after failing to put him in the Urn of Unspeakable Acts. Commissioner Chance gains a fear of the dark from the Lamp of Enlightenment in the process, and Joshua gains the metaphysical enmity of the Grand Magister in the process.

Back in Conflict, the party dig their way toward the Chasm of Doom where the Liege of Darkness lives. After a battle with the very earth they wished to tunnel through itself, in which Joshua died and discovered that the brand of the Lord of Fire caused an interesting interaction with the Blessing, they encounter Braggarts. The party prove themselves more effective heroes than the Braggarts and Min, Buckler (who at this point is the subject of much discord between Chance and Florian (who claims it as his own, calling it 'Shieldo') and Commissioner Chance gain sycophantic bootlicker familiars from this.

At the Chasm of Doom, they leave the Lord of Fire in the Teapot outside the chasm and enter. Chance's fear of the dark causes him to lose his familiar, but the party make it through unscathed into the domain of the Liege of Darkness. They rob the Liege blind, stealing their entire armoury of impressive artefacts, and make their way back to the Lord of Fire, with Joshua and Florian gaining temporary fears of the darkness along the way. Min, going by “Bitey” is declared chief minion at this point due to the Lord of Fire's concerns about the rest of the party.

Given the choice, the party decide to head after the Court of Supremacy to kill the Lady of Storms. After an altercation with Storm Scouts, the party find their way barred by a gate of Storms. Chance uses Dark Potential to weaken the gate, but Florian accidentally hits the gate with the Legendary Sword of Enmity, using up its one charge of obliteration. Panicking, the party persuade the Lord of Fire to guide Florian through a ritual to recharge the sword and they partially bind the Gate to it. Realising the sword will be useless against the Lady of Storms now, the party decide to attempt regicide against the Lady of Tremors in the Court of Challenge instead.

On shaky legs, the party make their way through the quaking Court of Conflict, fighting through the rhythm and tricks of the Court of Tremors they find themselves before the Lady of Tremors. They fight past her guards, but when Florian attempts to use the sword to kill the Lady of Tremors he unleashes the gate and traps her and him in a cage of Storms. Chance pours the Lord of Fire into the cage as well, who promptly creates a fire portal out, freeing the Lady of Tremors. A fight breaks out with shifting loyalties until Chance lays a trap using Dark Potential to increase the power of the storm cage, incapacitating the Lady of Tremors while the Lord of Fire resurrects her courtiers as their own willing servants. Florian attempts to bring the Lady of Storms in on this but his ritual backfires and the Lady of Storms simply removes the lightning cage as it belongs to her.

True to their word, the Lord of Strife and Challenge grants each member of the party a BOON, on the basis of one word. Joshua chooses “Disguise”, Min chooses “Patricide”, Chance chooses “Fire”, Florian chooses “Freedom”, and the Buckler chooses “Annoying”. The Lord of Fire then sends the party on their way.

Joshua reports to the Bureaucracy who are concerned by the amount of activity from Conflict in such a volatile time for the city. They are grateful for the information. Joshua also performs a ritual to bind the stolen Connection staff to him and gains an implement of sorts.

Florian returns to Grand Magister Isabella who hurls the Urn of Unspeakable Acts at Florian. The Urn shames Florian and in order to avoid the Grand Magister's displeasure he tells her everything that happened. The Grand Magister is less displeased but expresses the remnant of her displeasure by binding the Urn to Florian. She says she will undo the binding should Florian bring the rest of the party to her on a platter. Florian is unsettled by the Urn, and spends his time trying to drink away his problems.

Min, upon considering the torch of darkness, finds it most effective at casting light out of a room.

Commissioner Chance attempts to remove his fear of the dark but finds it difficult to heal himself. He does manage to isolate the sense of fear as an external influence and can respond to it accordingly.

• Branded by a Liege of Conflict - You are branded by a Liege of Conflict and as such are identifiably their servant while in Conflict. Actions you undertake in Conflict will metaphysically reflect back on your patron and particularly striking actions may have consequences. While you are in their Domain, you are IMMUNE FEAR. If you die while in the Plane of Conflict on the Lord of Fire's business, you will be returned to their Court and given the choice of returning by the Lord of Fire's power (at a potential cost), or of falling into the Void (at which point your regular Blessing would kick in if you are Blessed).

• Sycophantic Familiar - You have a familiar in Conflict who follows you around and tells you how great you are. Once per encounter you may call RESIST to a ROLEPLAY effect as your Conflict familiar strokes your ego. Your minion is likely to leave you if you suffer an embarrassing defeat while in Conflict.
• Boon of Patricide - Once per adventure you may follow up a successful BACKSTAB with a SLAY on someone who has a position of authority over you, calling upon the Lord of Fire as you do so. Brief this possible eventuality at the start of the adventure to the GM as sufficiently powerful entities may mitigate the effect of this. The Lord of Fire himself will always resist this.

• Minor Affliction of the Mind: Fear of the Dark - Take FEAR at double duration in the dark, and other roleplaying effects at your discretion.
• Sycophantic Familiar - While you own the Buckler, Buckler, you have a familiar in Conflict who follows you around and tells you how great you are. Once per encounter you may call RESIST to a ROLEPLAY effect as your Conflict familiar strokes your ego. Your minion is likely to leave you if you suffer an embarrassing defeat while in Conflict.
• Boon of Fire - Once per adventure you may call upon the Lord of Fire when using Dark Potential to change your target into Fire rather than your chosen Substance.

• Gains the Quality: “Annoying”. At GM discretion, once per adventure this Buckler should become a narratively appropriate inconvenience.

• Severe Affliction of the Mind: The Urn of Unspeakable Acts - Your mind is bound to the Urn of Unspeakable Acts. Brief the Monster party that once per encounter someone should make them ROLEPLAY SHAME for something they've done.
  • Backstory: The Urn, was forged by a Shroud Paladin that believed that telling their secrets to a Shaped Item would help them from breaking their vow. After the Paladin’s death, the urn changed hands and to its embarrassment it up being used as more of a confessional piece, learning far more than they needed to about its new owner. In retaliation, the urn started making whoever was holding it feel immense shame about their actions, and swiftly it found its way into the hands of a particularly innovative College Dean who found its side-effect most effective on unruly students for a whole term before being confiscated as “cruel and unusual” by the board of education, and later given to the Grand Magister for a favour.
• Own Worst Enemy - You have declared something bound to you as your Nemesis. For anything that specifically targets the Urn, you may take the effects as normal, but you also count as your own Nemesis for those purposes.
• Boon of Freedom - Once per adventure, by calling on the power of the Lord of Fire you may grant someone the effects of MOVE FREELY (Wheel Paladin Act) for the rest of the encounter.

• Enmity of Grand Magister Isabella of Rom
• 1 favour from the Imperial Bureaucracy
• Staff of Connection - Gain an additional Connection charge every encounter. This is bound to you and if you lose it it will return to you within 2 encounters.
• Boon of Disguise - Once per adventure, you are able to call upon the power of the Lord of Fire to disguise yourself. You must call upon the power loudly and obviously, but become disguised as a generic individual. You may choose to ping as any of the 4 Congruent Planes when you put on this disguise. This disguise is ineffective in the plane of Conflict, due to the brand on your head.