✎ resources:adventure:the_world_that_could_be [animus]

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====== The World that Could Be ======
===== Initial Brief =====
As a pulsing beacon lights up the sky to the south and waves of energy are detected resonating through the bronze tower, a shadowy recruitment drive gets underway as the order of the shroud hurriendly assembles a team to attempt to assassinate the god emperor.
 
===== PCs =====

Sumprema - Katie

Jasine - Anna

Jamil - Peyton

Carmen - Emma

===== Summary =====

The party don the disguises of the Archon, Governor and Legate and using the underway head towards the heart of the false empire. They encounter some road builders on the way who have discovered the underway and are exploring it but use their disguises to bluff their way past merely informing the Strategos that the group should be dealt with. When they emerge they find the city in the middle of a carnival as they celebrate the imminent completion of the great work. 

Apparently the empire has for the last century been bent towards the construction of a great ritual ziggurat from which they plan to cast their great work. Realising quickly that this is where they must travel, the group fights through a group of stampeding Perfection entities before attempting to bluff their way past the soldiers of the First Legion who have been tasked to guard the tower.  When it becomes clear that the soldiers' orders will not permit even officials of the rank they have assumed to disturb the God Emperor, the party cut their way through and charge into the ziggurat.  No sooner have they begun to ascend the structure, however, they stumble upon a trap- a golden cube that locks them inside a single instant.  

The party find that they are not alone within the cube of frozen time- an ancient Perfection being named Xanatos explains that it constructed the device as part of its plans to freeze the entire world, however it was tricked by one of its fellows, the being now called the God Emperor and sealed away in its own creation.  Over the centuries it appears that the Emperor trapped several other beings here, these but mortal; an explorer who had freed the Emperor from his own Tomb-Prison, a barbarian warlord who had stood in the path of the Emperor's expansion of 'Rastaban's' influence , a still dedicated Archon and an Architect who had assisted with the designs for the ziggurat.  Speaking with these prisoners the party learn that the ziggurat's power will allow the God Emperor to rewrite reality itself, remaking the world according to its own alien ideal of perfection.  They also learn that the power of the ziggurat could be usurped by another if the Emperor were undone.
Carmen forges a deal with Xanatos, ensuring that both can escape with the elder beings knowledge being harnessed to Carmen's mortality.  The deal struck Xanatos disappears into Carmen's body, the commissioner promptly plunging a dagger deep into her own chest whilst screaming incoherently about the presence of 'Magos'.  Seconds later Carmen vanishes, and as the others ponder this escape black ichor begins to drip down from the golden sky above, the ceiling of their confinement melting away into a rain of salt.  Jasine gathers all the prisoners in an Embrace and spirits them up and out of their confinement.

Back in free-flowing time, the party ascend still further defeating perfection entities that seek to rid their forms of all impurity, though in this battle Carmen is struck down only to arise later as ichor moulded wings burst forth from her back.  They next found themselves traversing a laboratory where the rules of reality seem to shift from minute to minute, affecting them and their enemies alike.  Eventually they reach the pinnacle and find that the Emperor is sealed behind tiers of wards, bound to the lives of the Immaculate warriors to stand in the party's path.  The battle against the Immaculates is difficult and one by one the party find themselves battered and hurled from the tower's edge.  Jasine regains consciousness and speeds around the tower, catching Jamil and Suprema, though Carmen's form twitches away from her grasp.  The Wheel Paladin launches her reinvigorated companions into the sky and they strike back down into the midst of the Immaculate, swiftly overwhelming the survivors and bringing down the last wards. Carmen returns to the tower top slightly later born aloft on black wings.

As the wards fall the party approach the God Emperor who seems unwilling to pause their ritual. As they turn to address the party Carmen launches into the air dropping a black rot upon their form. As the corruption spreads they screech in pain and the ritual goes slightly awry and they are wrenched in two into a form of pure action and pure  thought, leaving in it's original location and oscillating sphere of power.

As the a fight breaks out Carmen approaches the orb and attempts to offer it up to the vulture, this offer is gratefully accepted and inky blackness begins to spread through the sphere as small bird like creates begin to emerge around the platform. As they watch the darkness spread through the orb they see a shroud fall over it before it is dragged away, when they request further clarification they see a small model of Rastaban being flooded buy Ichor before a velvet gloved hand plugs the leak.

As combat resumes Sumprema also approaches the orb and drawing legacy shoves it fully inside instructing it to seize control of the power and use  it to protect Jasine. Small chains begin to spread through the orb combating the inky darkness. As the fight continued the number of vultures seems to only increase and eventually Suprema drags both the orb Jasine and herself into the shadows. Drawing the dagger given to her earlier Suprema and Jasine plunge it into the Orb attempting to unmake the ritual before it can take effect. As the dagger plunges into the orb the erosion energies contained within spark off  the already underway perfection ritual causing a massive rather out of control power spike whilst driving all other influence. Absorbing the energy into themselves the pairs forms are rent apart but they are able to channel it the energy from the collision to a purpose switching the locations back in the world of Rastaban and the capital of the pretender empire.

Atop the tower Carmen feels the remnants of the vulture which was within the Orb flee back into her slightly panicked advising her to flee the area and live before the pair return. Taking this advise she jumps from the top of the tower gliding away. As Suprema and Jasine emerge from the shadows death walks with them and the God Emperor who was previously impervious to most harm falls easily before their blades before  being wiped from existence. The energies the pair channelled begin to catch up to them however and as they and the tower begin to fall to Ash Jamil quickly flees.



===== Debrief =====

Carmen flies out if the tower and hides in the fields outside Rastaban.  Hiding her mutations she returns to the commission to find that the source of Ichor has been left behind.  They are moving to secure the source of Ichor Benten created in the Unbroken Chain

The Ziggurat slowly collapses into ash as Jamil makes a swift escape and returns to the hirer at the tavern.  Jamil receives the promised 5 favour and convinces then to construct a memorial to the fallen heroes who helped them escape the forest. The hirer is slightly concerned that the dagger was not recovered however.

Carmen speaks with the Mystikos and hiding her devotion to the Magos reveals most of what happened.  The Commission is happy enough with Carmen to ensure her safety and after a bit of laying low returns to collect her own Favour from the hirer.  The hirer is slightly ominous about how the change of scenery will be good for Carmen, removing them from corrupting influences.

Jamil returns to the Barrens and manages to secure support to advance their claim over the Esteban operations.
The Tyrant of tyrants encourages their senior thieves to expand operations in the new prime real estate in the wastes.

Carmen tips Black Ichor over an acolyte as an act of worship to the Magos, they convert into a twisted feathered form.

Jamil infiltrates the commission and learns of their loss of Ichor, they hear talk of the need to recover Benten.

Carmen reveals many secrets to Alessia and recruits her assistance.

===== Consequences =====

  * The capital of the false empire of Rastaban and Rastaban itself have switched locations as the climax of a titanic ritual.
  * The order of the shroud is currently running a full scale misinformation operation to prevent the rest of the false empire of Rastaban realising the switch has occurred although even supernaturally powered deception is unlikely to be able to keep this up for long.  
  * Currently the status of the pretender city teleported into the forest is unknown.
  * Commissioners will be aware that the supplies of ichor under the commisions are starting to run dry, although word  has gone out that this is to be kept a strict secret.
  * A feast day is declared in honour of Jasine and Sumprema and although the details a unclear the fact that they were responsible for moving the city and freeing it from the forest is well known.

{{tag>"the world that could be" adventure}}
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