BlackwaterDnD

Em:
Welcome to BlackwaterDnD, where good friends tell better stories. This series, Oblivion, is an eleven part miniseries using the Powered by the Apocalypse system, Godkiller, which was created by Connie Chang, now available on Itch.io for purchase. Our story tells a tale of the end of all things, and follows one prophesized soul who challenges the shackles of fated and foretold divinity. This story is our love letter to fearless storytelling, passionate vulnerability, and incredible creators who challenge us to bring our best selves to the table. For this story, your GOD, everyone else, and the thrum of the Cradle, is myself, Em Carlson, and my GODKILLER is played by Jannes Wessels and Christian Navarro. As this game falls within a holypunk and dark fantasy genre, it may contain themes and depictions that are triggering for some listeners. Please take care of yourself and access support as you see fit.
Content warnings for this episode include:
Grief / fantasy violence / guns as weapons / threats to loved ones / allusions to war & genocide / memory loss
So sit back and relax, heretic. And welcome to Godkiller: Oblivion.
FINALE, PART II: BEGINNER
Em (reading in iambic pentameter):
Barrencliff in ruins, the Last Light forces stand;
Their quest completed and silence ‘round once more;
Two gods, a new Devoid task now at hand,
To bind their foe to a prison beneath a chasm floor.
A haughty countenance, a gloried victory, a shared smug pride
Upon their faces now revealed in the dark
Their fear deep masked about how it’s freedom would turn tide,
The end of the reign that the presence of a Godkiller would spark.
Pulling magics from across the Weave, they give of themselves a part
To keep the void asleep in it’s restless state
Though this giving has robbed them of any kindness in their heart,
And tied them to their end through a written act of fate.
Now, one soul stands, two parts making a whole,
Calling forth these powers high divine,
To cause Heaven Fall and Frozen Hell, regardless of the toll;
Perhaps seeing their cause through to appease the Weave’s design.
We know not the fate that will befall our Godkiller, ready to pay the price,
Ever forward, having given up a life of love, peace and joy,
The future fraught and held in rolls of dice,
To seek oblivion, guiding the universe towards rebirth, rather than to destroy.
With gritted teeth, knives at their sides, at the back of the one that knows him best,
We pray there will come a time where the Sons of the Void may reach a well-deserved long rest.
Em:
So, the two of you stand at the bottom of the Chasm of Lethe within Temple Vocivon, leagues below the ruins of Barrencliff. You've come to meet your God. You've come to find Archeveleon and broached the runes that have bound him in the well. As you crossed the barrier of the second innermost ring, you saw the red and white light arc around and you were blown back, now lying prone as you watch Ashmedai the Cloven, Lord of the Ninth, and Halinaea, the High Nova, now stand before you. I'd have you roll to recognize a God here, but truly at this point it's impossible for them to be anyone else. The divinity before you and the divinity you carry feel in such stark contrast that there is a tension held in the air. It feels thick and heavy and oppressive.
I think somewhere deep within you, perhaps in differing quantities within the both of you, there is such a holy mortal instinct to kneel, to show deference to these all-powerful beings that are before you. But you bear down, and you push it away. You are not mortal. You are Godkiller. And if there was ever a time to do that, now is that time.
So Ashmedai exhales a short breath, the heat radiating off of him and the air escaping him hot against the cold of the chasm. He peers at you, Inanis. A smile curling at his mouth as you see rows and rows of sharpened black teeth. As he extends his hand towards you with a point, his nails seem to slice through the space around him like razors.
Cody (as Ashmedai):
“Well, you toy with things you couldn't possibly understand, you pithy little maggot. Your prophecies won't save you. Your protectors won't save you. She will suffer in pain for as long as she walks the mortal plane. I've marked her. She will never be able to hide from me now. And when I'm done with you, perhaps she'll slink back to the dead of the River where she belongs to weep endless, wasted tears for you. Pathetic.”
Em:
And you watch as a small bead of orange light starts at his fingertip.
Plenus. The air around Halinaea grows with a static charge, and you feel the hair on your back of your neck stand up. Her expression is soft rather than hard, and it seems to be filled with pity and a haughty moral superiority at what she sees before her. Despite being shrouded in light, her face is shadowed by the hood that she wears, but her eyes burn bright beneath, and you hear her voice - this saccharine scalpel cutting through the space. And you see lightning ready at her fingertips.
Gina (as Halinaea):
“Everything the light touches is mine. Everything to do with how I please. You did nothing to avenge my daughter who treated you with a kindness that you do not deserve. So I'll take from you everything you love, my gift to you in return.”
Em:
And she looks up to the top of the chasm, to where you know Nelle sits. And she turns back to you with a smile, and she begins to rise in the air, grasping an amber talisman around her neck. It grows white hot and she releases two beams from her eyes in your direction.
So let's kick this off. Here we go, combat begins. So Ashmedai seems to be pointing something that looks quite fire-like towards you, Inanis. And if that hits, there will be some strain coming your way and Halinaea seems to be rising up at you, Plenus, with essentially two beams of laser coming out of her eyes. What would you like to do?
Christian:
Oh, well, I have to think outside the box because I don't exactly have any powers left at the moment. But I'm going to try and rectify that. I'm going to attempt to Tempt Fate. And what I'm going to, how this looks is… I think as Halinaea began speaking, I sort of went into that soft focus mode that you can go and when you sort of let everything go out of focus. And for me, I'm praying to Allseia, to whatever vestige is left of her out there. And I'm going to reach my hands out and I'm going to try and grab a thread of that magic River, and let that thread turn into a whip. And if that happens, I'd like to sort of hail thorn whip the amber talisman from her neck.
Em:
Ooh. Interesting. Okay. So I say from this, you're probably going to try to, as you see the magic kind of lifting off of these runes, as Halinaea is speaking, I would allow you to Tempt Fate here and kind of use whatever divinity sits inside you to try and harness that magic because you have no powers right now. So you're relying on that sheer Godkiller divinity within you. Okay.
So when you Tempt Fate with your actions, you say what perilous feat you're trying to accomplish and you're gonna roll 2d6 and you're gonna add one for each true statement. A skilled ally is lending you a hand? I would say yes, Plenus or sorry, Inanis is there to lend you a hand. You have no other options? No, you probably do have other options at this point, but this is the one that you're choosing… and you're far from any God that wishes you harm? Absolutely not. So that is a plus one here on your 2d6 roll.
Christian:
That is a six and a one, which is a seven. Is that a hit?
Em:
And then plus one, because a skilled ally is ending you a hand, that is an eight. So on a hit, you get through it mostly unscathed. The fates spare you for now. So tell me what you do with this thorn whip, or this now magic whip that you have coming before you? What would you like to do with that?
Christian:
Yeah, I think I sort of reach out into thin air and pull what looks like a strand of translucent hair that then grows and grows till it's like knotted and vined into this like thick rope almost in my hand that turns into sort of like a bullwhip, I think. And I think I'm going to crack it against the sky so that it sounds like lightning and mimic where it sounds like thunder, right? So that it mimics Halinaea. And as I crack it a second time, I'm going to aim for the amber talisman.

Em:
Okay, all right. So I will say here that I, you know what, I will, because you had a wonderful roll there, I'm gonna honor that and I'm gonna say that you do it. She grabs the amber talisman and as she starts to rise up, you crack this magic whip out towards her and you see that it hits her hand. She lets go of the talisman, but because her hand is so large wrapping around it, I'll say that her hand is now removed from it, which removes, which cuts the power to her eyes in front of you. So she's not able to get that shot off on you, but you haven't successfully totally pulled the amber necklace off of her, but you stopped that one for now.
Inanis, what would you like to do?
Jannes:
I mean, I'm gonna have to Wield a Power, because I got one. I’m gonna wield… I'm gonna orchestrate reality. What I would like to do is... I don't like where I'm currently standing with that little ball. And so the reality that I'd like is to be right behind him. Right behind him with the… doom tube in my hand.
Em:
Okay, incredible.
Jannes:
I think as I do it, I want to, if you'd allow it, take that like a step further. And I want to speak directly into his head as I shift out of his view. So I want to just, he doesn't know where I've appeared. He just knows I've disappeared and I want to speak into his head, but I'll roll first to see if I succeed. So before I…
Em:
Yeah, so wield that power. So, when you wield the power to do something only a God can, roll 2d6 and add one for each true statement. You've done this specific act before perfectly. No. You're desperate for this to work… Are you desperate for this to work?
Jannes:
Not enough to mark one strain.
Em:
Fair enough. And you're close to a shrine, lair, or domain of the God you took this power from. You are not. So that is a flat roll unless you choose to add something to it.
Jannes:
Well, I'll see what the role is before I decide.
Em:
Okay, sounds good.
Jannes:
That is a 5 and a 4, for a total of 9.
Em:
Incredible. So on a hit, you do it. So tell me, tell me what this looks like as you kind of phase out of existence and what happens as you appear? Where do you appear and what do you do?
Jannes:
I want to appear directly behind him, and as I sort of make that transition I want to speak and I want the voice to be originless. Because in that moment I am everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Em:
Fantastic. What do you say?
Jannes:
What I want to say is...
Jannes (as Inanis):
“When Buloch died, it made it so no one could tell truth from lie. You think you came here to stop us. You came here because you had to die.”
Jannes:
And I want to appear behind him. And I want to shoot him with the Doomtube.
Em:
Yeah, incredible. So I will say, because that you are using the Power to shift behind them and the gun doesn't necessarily require a Power itself, it is charged and ready to go… I'm going to say that's you Inflicting Violence. Or would you choose challenge someone dangerous? That's your choice here.
Jannes:
No, because I actually want to try and do some damage.
Em:
Sure.
Jannes:
And I want to... I want to... He has horns, right?
Em:
He sure does. They're about three feet long.
Jannes:
I want to take one of them off.
Em:
So you want to kind of come right behind him and then shoot upward trying to shoot his horn off. Yeah, okay.
Jannes:
Yeah, and just blow the… blow the horn off.

Em:
So I would say inflicting violence is the best one here. So when you inflict violence on someone, roll 2d6 and you're gonna add one for each true statement. They wish you harm, absolutely. You're desperate, are you desperate?
Jannes:
I mean if it doesn't cause a strain then yes.
Em:
(laughs) It does not. So yes, and it's personal.
Jannes:
Very.
Em:
I would say he threatened Kitani at this point, so..
Jannes:
He also hurt her.
Em:
He did. He did. Or he sent someone to hurt her. Yes. And you would see that looking up at his horns, the top part of the right one has been broken off or sawed off potentially.
Jannes:
Oh, yeah, like the thing that stabbed her.
Christian:
Oh, it's personal with a capital P.
Jannes:
Yeah, I'm… unfortunately... So it's a plus three. And unfortunately, I rolled. A six and a six. So that is about as overkill as you can get.
Christian:
Oooh!
Em:
Okay, this makes sense to me though. So on an overkill, with a 15, you lose yourself to righteous fury. The GM will tell you the costs of your divinity. So knowing how personal this is and your eyes settling on the piece of the horn that has been what looks like sawed off or taken off… you know what… at this point, you're putting together, stabbed Katani in the stomach. You feel that rage. It is in that brief moment unbounded. And that calm collectedness that you have carried yourself with through this entire time is gone. And Ashmedai can feel that. He can sense that and so you do absolutely get the shot off on him and it cracks out echoing through the bottom of the chasm and you blow the rest of that horn clean off and you see black blood starting to pool off of Ashmedai’s… the place where his horn used to be. However, as your arm is up and extended, you feel one of his hands reach around and takes a swipe at you. So we will resolve that next but I'm gonna let Plenus do something after that we'll see what happens there. But I would say yes, you got a good hit on him.
Plenus, what would you like to do? And Halinaea at this point is beginning to rise. She is probably rising about, she has like, you hear this like, ugh, like this frustrated exasperation as she, like her hand now seared on the back with the magic as she starts to continue to rise up, potentially to go and get Nelle. What do you do?
Christian:
Well, I've never experienced, I've always seen the calm in the storm. I haven't seen the rage from my brother. And when I see that, I think my attention is immediately split between Halinaea and him. And so I'm going to curl that whip back and seeing Ashmedai attempting to strike him, I'm going to try and lash out at his arm, where he's going to stab my brother.
Em:
Okay, and what would you like, would you say that would be challenging someone dangerous, tempting fate, or inflicting violence?
Christian:
I'm going to inflict violence. I'm going to inflict, I want to put the big boy in pain.
Em:
Heck yeah, so roll me that 2d6. They wish you harm. Yes. Are you desperate at this point?
Christian:
Yes, I don't need him to die.
Em:
Okay, and it is definitely personal, so you can add a plus three to that.
Christian:
That's a four to three, for a ten. Right, plus three, seven plus three is ten, yeah.
Em:
Okay. So that is an overkill. So you too, Plenus, lose yourself to that righteous fury. And I think there's this moment where that tension and the charge that is held in the bottom of the chasm, you know, the fire that seems to radiate, that heat that radiates off of Ashmedai, whereas this ozone and the crackle of electricity, you know what happens when you put fire and electricity together. Nothing good happens, and your divinity echoes through this space. And Halinaea, you manage to hit Ashmedai and you like reel his hand back. So potentially saving Inanis from some big claws to the side of him. But now Halinaea has your number and she's got an open spot on you. So she is going to attempt to do something here. She… (above board, I have a wonderful list of things that they can do and how much strain they cause). So she is gonna take this moment, seeing that you are distracted by your brother and her hand, like pulls up and you hear, you see her pull her fist down and you hear a rumble as you watch as small meteors coming out of the walls of the chasm begin to fire down on you, Plenus, and one clocks you right in the back, sending you forward, and you're gonna suffer two strain.
So you saved your brother, but you took some strain yourself.
Christian:
And because I came back and had no strain, that would have killed me again twice over, but because I have no strain, I'm just at two. So that's good.
Em:
Fantastic. Okay. So, Inanis, seeing that this, the hand whip away that your brother has so skillfully moved aside, what would you like to do?
Jannes:
He's not holding onto me is he? He’s just standing in front of me?
Em:
No, he's not. You came up behind him. So he has kind of reached around you at this point, reached around himself to try and grab behind you. And you see now that you're behind him, you see kind of a black, almost piece of a carapace, what it looks like. It almost looks like chitinous and hard. And you see the hints of feathers underneath it and it's black. it looks like there's a place where wings could emerge.
Jannes:
Hmm. You can't actually kill them until you know their downfall, right?
Em:
Yes, but you have been given the information about their downfall, if I remember correctly, and have done my job right as a GM.
Jannes:
Was that in the prophecy that I always forget?
Em:
Oh, it might very well have been.
Jannes:
I'm gonna look him in the eye, and I'm going to Challenge Someone Dangerous.
Em:
Okay, how would you like to challenge him?
Jannes:
I'm gonna look him in the eye, and I'm gonna say...
Jannes (as Inanis):
“When I kill you. I will use your power to make sure no one ever remembered you even existed. You will be forgotten.”
Em:
Oh damn. So when you challenge someone dangerous, say what risky or foolish action you hope they'll take and roll 2d6. So what do you want him to do with that? What are you hoping he does? So you've called him out. What are you hoping he does here?

Jannes:
I'm hoping he attacks me.
Em:
Do you hope he attacks you with calculation or with kind of a careless abandon?
Jannes:
I wanted to like... I want him to trip, sort of trip into that same fury, recklessness that I did a moment ago.
Em:
Fantastic. Okay. So add one for each true statement. They care about your opinion. No. He thinks you're a pithy little maggot, which is I believe, what he called you. They think they're stronger than you. Yes. So you can add a plus one there. And the crowd is on your side. It's 50-50 at this point, so I don't think we can call that a crowd. So you got a plus one here.
Jannes:
I rolled a 5 and a 3; an 8, for a total of 9.
Em:
Incredible. So on a hit, your target rises to the bait. So tell me what it looks like here. What does he do as he attacks you? Like how do you think, how would you want him to attack you in this moment?
Jannes:
I want to embarrass him. I want him to swipe at me like he was going to before. And then right as he gets right to my body, right before he makes contact, I'm gonna catch his wrist. And I'm gonna Wield a Power.
Em:
Oh hell yeah, amazing. So you get right up in his face, you get right up and you tell him… you play into that hubris, you play into that power that you know he wields so strongly and he does. He lashes out at you. If you didn't already know his downfall, you would potentially think hubris was one of them and he reaches out to clock you in the face with a giant clawed hand that seems to be roiling with smoke and you can feel the heat emanating off of him as he breathes in your face, snarling his teeth. You grab his hand and you're going to Wield a Power. What would you like to do here?
Jannes:
I'm gonna orchestrate reality and what I want to do is As soon as my hand makes contact with his wrist, I want to feel that heat coming off of him. And I just want to slowly at first where my hand touches gets colder and then it spreads and the crystals forming up his arm as I basically Frost Touch him.
Em:
Cool. I love that. All right. So when you wield the power to do only something a God can, you're going to roll 2d6. Let's take a look at these true statements. You've done this act before. No, you have not. Are you desperate for this to work?
Jannes:
Yeah.
Em:
So you're gonna mark a strain? (Jannes mhms) And you are not close to a shrine layer or domain of Allseia. So go ahead and you've got a plus one here.
Jannes:
That is a 10 plus 1 for an 11.
Em:
Okay, another overkill.
Jannes:
I think what I want to do is, I want to have the… I'll tell you what I want to do, and then you can tell me what the overkill is. I want that Frost to move up his arm, and when it gets to right about where his shoulder is, I'm going to take the other hand with the Doomtube, and I'm going to shoot the now frozen arm so that it like explodes into shards of ice.
Em:
Yeah, that is exactly what I was thinking too. So, that's great minds. So yes, you see this frost touch ripple up the arm and he… you found it. You see in his eyes the panic that you're… nobody is supposed to know that. That is kept… their downfalls are kept secret for a reason. And the frost in a split second encases his arm and you take the Doomtube and another crack and it shatters his arm. And you see that the pieces fall to the floor and the second they fall to the floor they melt because of the heat that he was only able to sustain that cold for so long and you are then… as the arm hits the ground and all of these pieces you see that a fire whips up and kind of snakes off and around you are now separated from Plenus. There is a wall of fire between the two of you and so that is me describing how you also drain terrify or wreck what's around you, that there is now some fire between you and Plenus that could hurt you as well. And how many strain are you at right now?
Jannes:
I'm at a four.
Em:
You're at a four, okay. All right. Okay, Plenus, you feel the heat. You feel it, because this fire just kind of rips through you as you're reeling from this hit that of the meteors that Halenea called down on you. What would you like to do now?
Christian:
Well, first of all, visually, that was very satisfying. I hurl forward and then I hit the ground, I get up, I see the wall of flame, I don't see my brother. I'm going to locate Halinaea, crack the whip around and try and wrap her legs and yank her towards the fire. I think if I can, that's the goal.
Em:
Okay. Yes, and you're wanting to pull her down and have her fall, correct?
Christian:
Yes, yeah, I'm going to try and ground her and drag her hopefully, but so I guess yeah I think that's probably inflict violence, right?
Em:
That sounds like inflicting violence to me. All right, so you're gonna roll 2d6 here. They wish you harm, absolutely. Are you desperate for this to work?
Christian:
I don't know how to answer that. I feel like everything's desperate now.
Em:
So I would say, I mean, it's up to you and it is personal. So you have a plus two already.
Christian:
No, okay, so I'm gonna say no because I don't feel like I'm at death's door personally; I'm just worried about my brothers, but so no.
Em:
Okay, sounds good. So you’ve got a plus two to this one.
Christian:
That's a 3 and a 1 for… a plus 2. So 4 plus 2 is a 6. I'm gonna add my 1. Is that still a fail? 7?
Em:
No, a seven turns it into a hit. Well done. So on a hit, this part of the fight ends on your terms. So she's gotten probably about 20 feet up at this point and you reeling backwards send this whip and it wraps around one of her ankles and you pull her. And the second she feels the change in momentum, the change in direction, she falls much faster than you thought she did. It's like she weighs a ton, like there is a denseness to her or she weighs much more, which causes her to fall to the ground faster and she crashes into the ground in front of you. Yeah, she is on her back right now in front of you and she's getting her bearings and then she looks up at you there and you just hurt her a lot and she didn't like that at all.
She looks you square in the eye, Plenus, and she goes,
Gina (as Halinaea):
“Fine; if I can't go to her, I'll bring her to me.”
Em:
And you hear the top of the chasm begin to rumble and pieces of rock start to fall down above you. Inanis, what are you doing right now?
Jannes:
So he's now down an arm.
Em:
He’s down an arm, yes.
Jannes:
And he's got fear in his eyes, I think probably for the first time ever.
Em:
Yes, he still looks strong. He's got the rest of his body is very, very hearty. And it seems like the ice has cauterized at the shoulder. It's not actively bleeding. The horn that you blew off from his head is in this like viscous black blood is dropping down. That smells like that brimstone, that sulfur smell. It's the same smell that was present when you walked into the room when Katani was injured. What would you like to do?
Jannes:
I’d like to do two things, because I'm greedy like that.
Em:
Okay, go for it. That's fine. If there was ever a time, it's now.
Jannes:
The first thing I'd like to do is I would like to use one power from before.
Em:
Okay, this was one of the things you got from the memory pool. What would you like to do?
Jannes:
It is. I like to use Rejuvenation to clear my strain.
Em:
Okay. Yeah.
Christian:
Oh, that's amazing! Holy shit.
Jannes:
I want to walk towards him and I want him to see my wounds close. I want to see him, I want him to see my shoulder pop back into place. Like I want him to see that despite all the injury that he has inflicted on me, it means nothing.
Em:
Incredible. I am going to make you roll for it. But you can wield this power. So walking around him, you got this power from Soevan. And you remember the feeling of that warm cup of tea that you drank as you sat at her table and spoke to her, which cleared all of your strain. And this warmness comes over you.
It feels so comforting in a place that feels so terrifying. And I'm going to make you roll for it. So you've done this specific act before. I will say that because this has happened to you before that you can mark that one. You're desperate for this to work, probably not to mark that last strain. And you are not close to a shrine lair or domain of the God you took this from. So this is a plus one.
Jannes:
I rolled two 1s, but I am going to use my reroll.
Em:
Yeah, go for it.
Jannes:
That's a 9 plus 1, so a 10.
Em:
Okay. On an overkill, the GM describes how you also drain, terrify, or wreck what's around you. Huh. What would rejuvenation do to this space? This place is barren and has been, empty for so long. There has never been the need for anything to be rejuvenated or alive down here. The only thing that lives is stuck and placed in that well.
Okay, so on an overkill, the GM describes how you drain, terrify, and wreck what's around you. You do see that fear in Ashmedai's eyes. You see him reel at what he's now realizing you're capable of. He still thinks he's stronger than you, but there is a brief moment where he might think he's underestimated you. And you see him grit his teeth and kind of bear down before he does something next.
Plenus. You feel this wave rush over you and your head turns for a moment and you watch as all of Inanis's wounds close. He was bleeding heavily and very, very hurt and you watch as with ease, with no problem, he does something that the most talented healers could never do. And I think that hits you - that he wields this power so easily. Like it's nothing. Like it's breathing.
Christian:
You're right, it does hit me. And I have a thought almost simultaneously, and that's, I wonder if since we're connected, I could reach through and pull some of that power for myself. So I'm going to try and wield the power right now. I'm going to try and wield his alteration of reality. I'm going to try and reach through to him as I see this godhood unfurl in front of me, and take a sliver of it for myself to alter reality with Halinaea.
Em:
Yeah, okay. I'll let you do that.
Jannes:
I'll take it a step further. I give him that power. He reaches for it and I let it go.
Em:
Oh shit. Okay.
Christian:
Hell yeah.

Em:
Okay, so seeing your brother, Plenus, unleash this act of radiance, you cannot help but feel this admiration and connection and deep bond with him. And I think for a moment there is this opening. I don't know if it's visible, but there is a connection. There is a… the universe has brought you here, together, to do this task. How... It seems so reasonable to me, and it seems so logical to me, that you would be able to pull through each other what you needed. There's a reason that the Weave made two of you, not just one. So I will make you wield it, and you'll have to roll for it, but yeah, I'll say you can use it.
Christian:
Okay.
Em:
Because I'm a cool GM, guys.
Christian:
Yeah, well, let's see if the dice do the job.
Em:
All right, so you've done the specific act before perfectly. What would you like to do with this orchestration of reality that is now, you feel it at your fingertips, you feel the world begin to kind of bend around you. What would you like to do?
Christian:
I'd like to sort of become one with the Weave for a moment and transform as I've, she's been pulled to the ground by the whip, by the weave whip, right? And she, I think the earth around her begins to sort of ripple until it envelops her. And I'd like for her to start being pulled into the like the center of this earth as quickly as possible… as like the her reality shifts around her she's just pulled…. grounded into the depths of earth and can't…. like i want all of it to just fall on top of her essentially like being buried alive at a thousand times the speed.
Em:
Okay, so you're pulling her down into the depths of the rock itself. Now I will say, you know that the floor beneath you is probably not infinitely thick. You have no idea how big this well is below you. You know that the entrance is to your left, but you don't know how thick this rock is - because you know that your God is truly just below you.
Christian:
But I'm altering her reality, right? Not the reality.
Em:
Sure, that we can do that. Absolutely. Okay. So when you wield a power to do something only a god can, roll 2d6. You've done the specific act before perfectly. No. Are you desperate for this to work?
Christian:
Yes.

Em:
Okay, so you can mark a strain. And that is gonna be the plus one that you get from that.
Christian:
Oh god, that's a six and a four. That's an eleven.
Em:
Okay. Oh boy. Overkill. I think that the both of your divinities are just so charged right now that there is just, there is a… truly a desperation within the two of you knowing that these two beings are what stand between you and your task, regardless of what choice you make.
Christian:
Can I?
Em:
Yeah, go for it. What would you like to do?
Christian:
Well, it's an over hit, right? An 11's an over hit, right?
Em:
It is. Yes.
Christian:
I just think that I'm bringing this tower down. Like I think I was trying to swallow the earth around her and I think she already started that process, right? Like she started to loose those rocks above us and Katani's, I mean, yeah, Katani's up there or Nelle's up there. I feel like I fucked up and overdid it and it's just the tower coming down, you know what I mean?
Em:
Yeah, okay. So I think that's what happens. Yep. I think the rocks that she is pulling down, they do hit her and they start to encase her. And you see that the rocks that hit her from above start binding her to the ground. She is stuck into the ground now. I would say probably at least half of her body is encased in these stones that with the magic that you're wielding have cracked down…
However, the more you pull, the more rock will fall. And you don't know how close Nelle was to the edge. So Halinaea is restrained essentially at the moment. Yeah, we see her, she looks up at you and there is a panic in her eyes because not only has she just fallen, but things have fallen onto her, moving at faster speeds, faster than she can control. And her hands instinctively move up to protect herself and you see her fingers echo with like electricity and she starts to begin to blow some of the rock off of herself. So probably on the next… this has restrained her and prevented her from doing anything for now but she likely will get up with a vengeance next time in a second here.
Inanis, what are you doing? And you see that at this point, there are two or three small beads of bright, hot orange resting between his fingers and he is rolling them around like marbles. And he kind of begins to reel back as if he's going to throw them at you.
What would you like to do?
Jannes:
I see that and I nod. And I say...
Jannes (as Inanis):
“I think your biggest mistake was going after Katani.”
Jannes:
And it's very personal. And I would like to unleash my divinity for myself.
Em:
Incredible. In-credible. This is not because you're the Godkiller. This is not because you're here to do your task. It's here because he hurt the woman you love. What do you do as your divinity just echoes and radiates and crashes off of you? What would you like to do?
Jannes:
I make three identical little balls in my hand, except they glow blue-white.
Em:
Yeah.
Jannes:
And I throw them at him with essentially like an ice storm in each one.
Em:
Amazing. Where would you like them to hit him?
Jannes:
I want them to hit him everywhere so that he freezes except for his head.
Em:
Okay. You aim the first one at his legs and this single brilliant feat with one side effect of your choosing. It is brief, it is obvious, or it is unstable.
Jannes:
I'm going to say it is brief, not in the sense that it's not going to last long enough, just the fact that it's not going to last long. Like, I have to be quick about the next step.
Em:
Okay, amazing. So you hit him first in the legs and you watch as one of the small beads of ice grows and just impacts at his foot and his foot shatters. Like his foot absolutely shatters and he begins to crumple down on one leg. The second you aim for the other shoulder blowing backwards and you see a chunk probably about the size of a watermelon just gone from his shoulder blown back.
And the third, I think, hits him square in the gut. And I think it pushes him backwards, almost off of his feet. And he's stumbling backwards, probably about 15 feet from you at this point. And you know that's not gonna last long, but it's knocked him off balance.
Jannes:
Yeah, I think if you'll let me… I'd like to kill a god.
Em:
Okay.
Jannes:
I wanna draw... my knife. And I want to, using that same divinity that's still coursing through me, I want to sort of extra charge it.
And I want to stab him directly in the heart with this frost knife.
Em:
Cool. As you approach him, he spits a burning kind of glob of this thick, viscous, brimstone blood down around and you see it burns the floor beneath him and you have knocked him completely off his balance between the work that you've done so quickly to unstable him to change his body… and with Plenus being able to block that attack from you and healing yourself in front of him. He's... He's desperate, I think at this point. He also knows that Halinaea is more powerful than him, though he would never admit that outright. And he looks at you and he sneers, knowing that this might be the last thing he gets to say before you take that ability from him….
Cody (as Ashmedai):
“I’ll pluck your mother from the River and bring her down to the Hells to serve me wine. You just wait.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“When I'm finished with you, you won't even be going to the Hells. You won't exist. Oblivion is coming.”
Jannes:
And I will stab him in the heart.
Em:
Okay, and I am gonna have you roll to Kill a God. So when you confront a God in their true form, which he has, he had hubris the whole time showing you exactly how he presented here and exploit their downfall to kill them, which you have. You've described how you slay them and roll 2d6. So go for it.
Jannes:
There's a 6 and a 1 for a total of 7.
Em:
Incredible. On a hit, they seize something vital from you as well. Name what vital part of yourself you lose.
Jannes:
I think in that moment, his… the rage that I feel for what he's done, for how he hurt Katani, for what he said about my mother at the end, and for the rage that he showed me back. I think the vital thing he sees for me is my anger. And when he goes, I just don't have any anger left.
Em:
The knife plunges into where his heart is, you assume. The ice begins to crack out and it is encompassed and circled around by this deep inky void blackness and you see it spread out like spider webs across him. It encircles him, binding him, shoving him down to the floor and you see him begin to disintegrate. You see this cold, deep depth of the void that you have brought from him from your knife. Start to encompass him, restrain him, pull him down, and erase him. As he lies dead in front of you, and you seize a semblance of his power. You, Inanis, have gained the power of Hellfire.
Jannes:
I would like to reach for that space that I just felt before. When Plenus reached through to me.
Em:
Yeah.
Jannes:
And I want to pour that Hellfire through to his fingertips for him to do with as he pleases.
Em:
Incredible. I will say with the extreme power surging through you, it's almost as if you don't carry it yourself. You act almost as a conduit and feed it through the Weave of the multiverse towards your brother. Incredible. I will absolutely let you do that. Plenus, you feel your fingertips get red hot. Your fingertips are so warm as you feel the steam begin to rise off of them.
What would you like to do? Halenea is starting to break out and crackle the rock off of her in front of you.
Christian:
I hear him say, I think in my own head, “Oblivion is coming.” And I think I whisper, “Oblivion is coming.” As I feel the heat in my fingertips and this weave whip begins to sort of transform in my hand magically into a spear and grows and alights with that hellfire. And I'm going to… walk up to Halinaea and ground her forever essentially and stab her through her chest into the ground with this hellfire weave spear.
Em:
Incredible. Yeah, I'm gonna have you wield a power to do so, because you are wielding a brand new power that has come to you, this power of hellfire. So when you wield the power to do something only a god can, I feel like a flaming spear is really on brand with Ashmedai, so definitely something only a god can do. You're gonna roll 2d6. You have not done this act before perfectly. Are you desperate for this to work?
Christian:
No, I don't think it's desperation. I'm desperate for her to die.
Em:
Okay, see? All right. And you're not close to her domain. So this is a straight roll.
Christian:
Oh no. It's a six and a five.
Em:
So an 11, okay. So on an overkill, the GM will describe how you also drain, terrify, and wreck what's around you. You do, you plunge this spear so deep into her that you feel the tip of the fire begin to wrench down into the rock beneath her. And she is impaled in her stomach on this flaming spear of her ally, essentially. You have taken the spear, a spear of Ashmedai… manifested it and plunged it deep into her body. And on that overkill, she reaches up and I think the divinity that explodes from her, not killing her, but the power that is almost unleashed as you do so much damage for you, and Inanis, it knocks you straight off of your feet, sending you back, crashing towards the chasm wall behind you, and you suffer one strain, but you managed to hold your ground because you were holding onto this spear, Plenus.
So, you have pulled her down. You don't know if this is her true form or not. And you see her hands start to reach up towards the edge of her hood.
Inanis, you're blown back. What would you like to do?
Jannes:
I would like to… I would like to recognize a god.
Em:
Yeah, incredible. So, when you want to recognize the signs or influence of a god of the cradle, roll 2d6 and one for each true statement. You're in or near their domain. No. You're familiar with their gospel. I would say yes, it is almost impossible for anyone across the Cradle not to be familiar with Halinaea's gospel. You've also heard so much about Halinaea from Allseia, her daughter. And it would be bad if you didn't know. I would say no.
So you've got a plus one here.
Jannes:
That is a 9 plus 1 is a 10.
Em:
You wonderful god killers in the overkills this evening. So on an overkill, you realize your divinity is actively trespassing against them. And the GM will say how. I think as Plenus drives this spear into her, her hands instinctually reach up towards the hood and her eyes flick towards you, knowing she's outnumbered now. She still thinks she's stronger than the two of you as being arguably the widest worshipped and the most prominent god of the entire Cradle… certainly of the Major Seven. Which by in proxy makes her the head of the table. Her… what she says goes.. what she wants is done.
Jannes:
I guess what I'm trying to glean from the Recognize a God is... I'm trying to… I get a feeling that we're not seeing something. Like Ashmedai was... Ashmedai - he wasn't hiding, he wasn't concealing who he was. And I feel like Halinaea is to a certain extent. And I'm kind of trying to see where the seams are, essentially. Like where is the... where can I pull to reveal what's underneath?
Em:
Okay. Pull. Okay. You think, where can I pull to see what's underneath? And as you reach into that space, into that knowledge within yourself, you see her hands move to the side of her hood, keeping it pressed around her face, as if to close it so it cannot be removed.
Jannes:
Then I would like to Wield a Power. I would like to orchestrate reality. And I want to make that cloak altogether disappear, the hood and everything.
Em:
Okay. I will say for this one, because it is the cloak of a god, you're gonna need to move forward and try and wield it off her. Like you're gonna have to go close to her and do that.
Jannes:
Sure. She is restrained currently?
Em:
Okay. Mostly yes. And she's in the process of breaking out of that. So…
Jannes:
Hmm. I mean, I roll with advantage then, right? That's how D&D works.
Em:
Yeah, this is not D&D. This is so far from Dungeons and Dragons. We are well past D&D at this point.
Christian:
Counterspell, counterspell, counterspell!
Em:
You wish. So you've done the specific act before as you wield the power. No.
Jannes:
Um, I would like to argue that I have made a lot of things appear and disappear using this power. That is pretty much exclusively what I've used it for.
Em:
You've taken the cloak off of a god?
Jannes:
No, not this specific thing.
Em:
It does say specific act perfectly. It does do that. So no, you have, don't get the one for that one. Are you desperate for this to work?
Jannes:
Yeah, I'll take a strain.
Em:
Okay. And you are not close to the shrine or lair. So you've got a plus one here.
Jannes:
8 plus 1, 9.
Em:
On a hit, you do it. Tell me how you go remove the hood.
Jannes:
I would like to pull the hood and in the process, pull her head back, sort of expose her neck to Plenus.
Em:
Incredible. You remove the hood backwards. She is lying down and you pull the hood back down around her neck and you see just such a bright, colossal light pour out from behind her hood. It fills the whole chasm, lighting up. You can see everything. You have been fighting this, fighting almost entirely in the dark and everything is illuminated as if it is daylight. All of the stars, every light source in the universe. If it is not being used, she holds it - collapsed within her, collapsed, held so fragilely, under her hood. This cloak, this protection.
And she spent so long trying to protect herself that she lost probably the one most dear to her, and you see the panic as you wrench her head back, exposing her throat.
Plenus. What would you like to do?
Christian:
Okay, two things.
Em:
Yeah.
Christian:
I’d like to..I mean, I take her in and I'm immediately linked to a memory saying to Allseia, you're so beautiful. And I recognize a God, but I also recognize Allseia's mother in this moment. And I take her in and I think tears come to...his eyes and he says, “You are so beautiful.” And I stab her in the throat. But as I do, I'm going to sacrifice that power, orchestrate reality, to have a miracle happen.
Em:
What is the miracle that you'd like to happen?
Christian:
And I think what I'm going to do, I'd like to pull Allseia from wherever she is to be with her mother in the moment of her death.
Em:
Oh my gosh. Okay.
Okay. So, Plenus, there's a moment where you remember offering Allseia mercy. You remember offering her an end with care at your hand. And she refused you gently. A kindness she remembered. The first power. The first true bit of a God's divinity rushing through you. And when you first met Allseia, she too was a ball of light, centered amongst a shattered mirror, a lake of glass.
And as you stab the knife into Halinaea’s throat, her mouth opens, and a small ball of light emerges and hovers probably about three inches from her face. And I'm gonna have you roll to kill a God.
So when you confront a God in their true form and you exploit their downfall to kill them, you're gonna roll 2d6. This is a flat roll and you cannot alter it.
Christian:
A 4 and a 4 for an 8.
Em:
That's a hit. So on a seven to nine, they seize something from you as well, something vital. What vital part of yourself do you lose in this moment?
Christian:
I think that already in the course of this day I have… expended massive amounts of magical energy. And I realized that I'm not as gifted at handling the weight of it as my brother. There is a rift there. And I think what is taken from me here is that it's such a magical toll, tax, that my body breaks. I think. I feel like.. not quite that I'd die, but almost like. I'm physically impeded by this. I think bringing her here is probably going to take something out of me that I can't get back.
Em:
Hmm. I think from that. You feel… almost all of the magic drain from your body.
Do you have any powers that remain? Do you have any powers left?
Christian:
I was only given the one that I sacrificed, so I don't think I have any powers left.
Em:
I don't think you're able to gain powers anymore. At least not for now. Your body just can't hold it. It can't handle it.
And Inanis, as Plenus drives the knife in, you almost watch him slump over top of Halinaea. As the shadows of the void whip around Halinaea, snuffing the light, you see that the shadows and that void do not touch Allseia. And as the light of Halinaea fades, Plenus slumps to the ground. He's not unconscious, he's awake, but weakened, at least in this moment. And the both of you hear…
Em (as Allseia):
“A kindness. Something you did not need to give me. But I will never forget.”
Em:
As the light slowly begins to fade from Allseia. And is the last of the light snuffs out, you are once again in the dark. The bodies of Halinaea and Ashmedai, completely engulfed by the void, so incongruous with this place. The both of them dead. Both of you are heaving, and you look over to the well.
You wait, And you hear a (clunking sound). What would you like to do?
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Shall we go down and meet him, brother?”
Christian:
I’m lying there just heaving and staring up where I hope Nelle still is safely and I roll over and I'm going to put on her cloak and take her talisman and put that on as well and I will say
Christian (as Plenus):
“I don't know I'll be much help down there brother but, to the end, I'll be by your side.”
Jannes:
I’d sort of sling his arm around my shoulder and help him to the winch and slowly lower us down into the void.
Em:
You sit on this small seat and start the crank, one rotation at a time, lowering yourself down into the well, just the two of you.
The two of you face each other, and even though it is dark, you can see each other. The darkness doesn't bother you here. It is not as if seeing in daylight, it is seeing without light. A sense beyond anything your eyes could ever give you.
And you can truly see each other. Every line, every freckle, every scar, as you move down, down,down into the well. Just a level of connection that you have never known with another being, beyond what could ever be encompassed in any platonic or romantic relationship. You are each other's twin flame. You are each other's truth. Brothers, a universe apart, together against all odds now to make the ultimate choice.
You make it to the bottom of the rope in the winch, this darkness all around you. No light. Nothing but each other. And that rumble begins once more, emanating from all sides with no clear discernible source. You know you are in the heart of Archeveleon, and unlike every time before, you don't feel sick. There is no nausea. There is no gripping with reality, begging the pain to end. There is no pretense. No need.
What would you like to do?
Jannes:
Inanis would just sort of call out into the void.
Jannes (as Inanis):
“We're here, we've come.”
Em:
As you call out, the voice comes from beneath you.
Em (as Archeveleon):
“Welcome, Godkiller. You have done well. I am ready.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“What happens when we kill you?”
Em (as Archeveleon):
“Everything must end, Inanis Eutoches. We come to an end of the sine of time, and we await a new beginning.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Is there a way to have more time in this beginning?”
Em (as Archeveleon):
“More time. If you choose more time now, you are not ready. And there will come a time where I do call you to fulfil your task. If you choose now, you will await your fate as the sine of time crests once more. Even that is beyond my scope.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Is there a way to do both? If I end it, could some be spared?
Em (as Archeveleon):
“My end is ubiquitous. I do not control what happens after, or what fail-safes my kin have put in place. They fear the end. They run from it.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“But if they can survive, then truly it must not be the end. Only the end of you.”
Em (as Archeveleon):
“This universe comes to a close. I do not control what happens when the new one begins.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Who does?”
Em (as Archeveleon):
“The one who starts the Weave.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Brother. Go get Nelle. Go where it's safe, and then I will end it.”
Christian:
He hugs you. It's a long embrace in this silence. I think it echoes into eternity, this hug, and then I will let go and I will do as I'm told.
Jannes:
I would watch him slowly go up, up, up. I would wait. When he shifts to Soevan's domain, I imagine I would feel him disappear from my connection now that he's here.
Em:
You assume so, yes.
Jannes:
So I wait until I feel him go.
Em:
Okay. So, Plenus, we see you. Move the winch up, it's slow. And there's an ache, that ache returns, knowing that you're leaving him down there. It's not the ache of being a Eutocious, it is the ache of missing someone you love dearly.
You crank the winch up and up and up, you get back up to the base of the Chasm of Lethe. And you look up. It is. You don't know how far up. You fell. How do you get out? What would you like to do?
Christian:
Well, I can't wield the power. You know, I'm going to pray to Halinaea, and I'm gonna ask her to lift me up because I gave her the gift of her daughter one last time before I killed her. I'm hoping she'll fly me out of here and that she's at peace.
Em:
Hmm.. I think I'm going to make you roll for this one. I'm going to say with this one, you're calling on a God you killed to do something for you. So I'm going to say this is Tempt Fate and I'll give you… Put it this way, you've chosen to follow… your heart… follow… to turn from the task and to do what you wish to satiate yourself.
So technically for this one, is a skilled ally lending you a hand? I would say in this one, what you did for Allseia would count for that. You have no other options. I don't know how else you're gonna get out of this chasm.
Christian:
Neither do I.
Em:
And you are far from any God that wishes you harm at this point. There is no God that can touch you now. Not down here.
So I would say, because of what you're trying to do here, you can roll that 2d6 and I'll let you add anywhere between one and three.
Christian:
So five and a three for an eight. I'll add nothing, right? That's a straight hit. Do I have to add one? I'll add one to make it a nine if I have to.
Em:
Perfect. Let's do that.
So there's a moment where you reach out. You reach out into the weave, you reach out into the magic that has left you, and say, please, one more time, and you find yourself… that brief second of consciousness where you are pulled in a memory to the River, where you met Allseia truly for the first time.
And there's a moment where you see Allseia and Halinaea embracing. Allseia is so small compared to her mother. But Halinaea has kneeled with open arms and pulled Alcia in tightly. And the look that you see on Allseia's face is forgiveness, is peace.
And you feel… you hear next to your ear,
Em (as Allseia):
“One last time.”
Em:
As you see a small, circular platform of light present in front of you.
Christian:
I will step onto it and sort of collapse into it. I think I'm exhausted. Let it rise up.
Em:
You ascend from the chasm. It's a good five, seven minute elevation despite the speed that this platform is going at, and you would make it back to the surface edge.
You see that much of the surface edge has been eroded. And Nelle is back against the door where you came in probably on a ten foot platform. And she sees you as the disc starts to bring you over to the edge and she runs as far as she can go and she pulls you off of it.
Em (as Nelle):
“What? Are you okay? Are you alright?”
Christian (as Plenus):
“I'll be fine. We have to... We have to get somewhere safe.”
Em (as Nelle):
“Where is Inanis? There's nowhere safe now. What is happening?”
Christian (as Plenus):
“Inanis… is where he belongs. and if he's successful… We'll be safe. We have to trust him now.”
Em (as Nelle):
“You just left him down there?”
Christian (as Plenus):
“I did what he told me to do.”
Em (as Nelle):
“Plenus - would you have just let me down there?”
Christian (as Plenus):
“It's because of you that I left him, Nelle.”
Em:
She leans her forehead into yours, and you hear her…
Em (as Nelle):
“No matter where we go or what happens… please don't ever put that on me ever again.”
Em:
So, she pulls you into the tightest embrace. And as you feel your arms wrap around her, you're able to see in the dark… the small silk bracelet on your wrist.
Christian:
I pull the bracelet loose.
Em:
Okay. You feel the sensation of falling asleep. It is peaceful. There is no pain, and your face is buried in her hair. And that is the last thing you remember before you fall asleep.
Inanis, you feel a peaceful drifting and an absence.
Jannes:
Um... I would draw my knife. And I would let myself fall into the void.
Em:
Mm.
Jannes:
And when I… I don't know if it's something that I make contact with, or if it's more of the symbolism of falling into the void that does it.
But the moment that I… The moment that I feel him… I will try and kill a god.
Em:
Okay. You take your knife in your hands, letting it feel comfortable. You are in the heart of Archeveleon.. And when you kill a god, you need to know its downfall.
You are its downfall - a self-created and self-fulfilling destiny that it has been patiently awaiting to enact. And Inanis, even though you are alone here… you don't feel totally alone.
There has been a joining, a reunion of a soul that should never have been separated. Your hand could very well be Plenus' right now. You close your eyes briefly and you see the two of them fade from the ledge above, seeing through his eyes. Your heart is both yours and your brother's.
As you fall, tipping backward, the voice around you heeds one final sermon.
Em (as Archeveleon):
“There is a void at the heart of everything.”
Em:
And you plunge your knife, and I'm gonna have you roll to Kill a God.
Jannes:
I rolled an 11 plus 1 because I have that plus 1 left to use. It doesn't really matter, they're both overkills, but I want it to be an even 12.
Em:
So with a 12 on a strong hit, I feel like this is the only answer, the only role it could have been. Their death transforms, liberates, or shields an aspect of the Cradle. [exhales]
There is a held moment. You feel the knife connect and it hits something. You feel an enormous surge of power as your God begins to die. Time stops. Matter stops. And Archeveleon begins to collapse on itself. A dying star, imploding deep below the heart of the Cradle.
You know that it will suck everything in with it. So you brace yourself to last this final moment. Then you take one strain here, because you know this will be the end.
Jannes:
May I?
Em:
You may.
Jannes:
I would like to activate my divinity please.
Em:
Okay, you'd like to enact your divine trigger.
Jannes:
Yeah, I want to do something for myself.
Em:
Okay.
Jannes:
And in that moment of him dying. I feel like… as his power drains from him and I start to claim it as is my right as the Godkiller, I feel like I watched the Weave start to unravel.
And in that instant, you know what, I'll even sacrifice the Ashmedai miracle. I want to start grabbing fragments of that Weave, and I want to start preserving them. I want to start seeing the patterns, and I want to make sure that certain aspects don't get unwoven.
Em:
Yeah. Beautiful.
So. As you watch the fabric of the multiverse begin to collapse and unravel around you, you begin grabbing at things, pieces, anything that will fit in your hands. You have no understanding of what the Weave is like at this point.
You start to reach and reach and reach, as everything begins to disintegrate on itself. You feel yourself, and you drift and you drift and you drift, pulling at things, pieces you find as you float in this expansive, less than nothing. Through miles and miles of empty, who knows how long. You are yourself. Corporeal. Held in a nothing. Holding a breath for something to happen.
What do you think about during this time? This loose concept of time.
Jannes:
Um, I think the only thing Inanis thinks about is the... the memories that he has of Katani. That now he is the only one who has. And he just focuses on them. Because the last thing he wants is to lose… who he is in this moment and have it all be for naught. I think he uses her and those memories as sort of like a guiding star to keep his bearing through this whole process. And I think in that doing… as he is in the sort of infinite time, all and nothing at the same time space, he does lose some of the memories that he doesn't want.
It sort of strips back the sense of duty that he felt towards this mission, the fanaticism, the thrill of the violence against the gods that he felt. That all starts to sort of pale and wear, but the time he spent with Katani and that becomes more forefront - it becomes more defining in who he is.
Em:
For a while… you lose your name. You forget it, but it comes back to you. You lose some people, some places, most return - but she never fades.
You are truly alone here with your thoughts. You are the name that was given to you - in the expanse of nothing. You are the nothing.
However, what do we know about nothing… is that nothing stays the same forever.
At some point, throughout your wandering, throughout your drifting, this weightless journey, through an endless expanse, you see something off in the distance. You almost have to squint your eyes to make it out, and it has been an eon since you've seen anything. What would you like to do?
Jannes:
I would make my way over to whatever I see.
Em:
Okay, it takes much longer than it should with the inertia of the space. But you see a small spark. A small mote of light that shines off before you. Seems stagnant and still, neither growing nor moving. What do you do?
Jannes:
I would... I would reach out and grab it.
Em:
As you touch it… you hear a familiar voice. A voice… you haven't heard something else in a long time. And this is one you haven't heard since the night that changed everything.
Em (as Allseia):
“Hello, Inamis. It's nice to see you again.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“How long has it been?”
Em (as Allseia):
“I don't know... I just got here.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“And did she make it?”
Em (as Allseia):
“Did who make it?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Katani.”
Em (as Allseia):
“Katani…”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Nepthysaket.”
Em (as Allseia):
“Nepthysaket. I haven't come across them yet, but perhaps we will. Do you... want this? Do you wish for this?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Well, what do you mean for this?”
Em (as Allseia):
“To begin.”
Jannes:
She's glowing, correct?
Em:
She is... the voice is coming from the speck, the size of a fluff, like a small bit of dust. It is so small.
Jannes:
But it is giving off light?
Em:
Yes.
Jannes:
I would take the prism… I would let the light shine through the prism. And I would… let the prison float next to it and I would take the strands of colour that shine out the other side, and I will start weaving the world that I want.
Em:
Yeah. The light hits the prism and… there is a pause for a moment.
Em (as Allseia):
“Shall we begin?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“I'll need your help.”
Em (as Allseia):
“Then let's begin.”
Em:
The light travels through the prism and you watch geometric patterns of light and magic pour forth from the prism. Every wildfire begins small. The light and energy careens over your body, bathing it in divine and arcane essence that everything in the cosmos is made of. You bask in the weave itself, that which stitches the universe together.
Jannes:
And as I do, I make sure that I lead with the love that I felt for Katani, and the hope and optimism that I needed from Plenus through that whole process. And even though I'm the one who weaves, I do it to make them both proud.
Em:
The power begins to pour out of you. Allseia reads the weave. She does not make it. She watches and she learns and she guides. This power pours from you, and almost instinctually your hands push out from you, and you hear a ripping sound, and a tear begins to cut across the fabric of space and time and everything that is unfolding in front of you, and you realize you barely have control over this power, but you have enough to sustain yourself in this moment, and a rift opens in front of you. Where do you wish to go most? Where do you wanna go?
Jannes:
I want to go back to that bed before she woke up.
Em:
The one in Temple Lybica?
Jannes:
In my dream.
Em:
Mmm. You step across and everything goes a blinding white.
Plenus. You feel yourself drawn from the haze of sleep, groggy and aching. Your eyes flutter open and you see yourself back in your room, your designated room within the dreamscape.
You see a figure sitting in a rocking chair next to you, slowly moving back and forth, reading. And as you pull yourself out from this deep slumber, you recognize the words of the story, a tale of a fox and a rabbit from when you were a boy. It was one of your favorites.
Soevan hears your slight shuffle. And she looks up.
Em (as Soevan):
“You're awake. I was wondering if you'd pull through. It's been some time now. I didn't want to wake you. You needed your rest.”
Christian (as Plenus):
“How long?”
Em (as Soevan):
“Time is different here. A while.”
Christian (as Plenus):
“He's gone now.”
Em (as Soevan):
“I know. I felt what you did. What he did. I felt the empty god's dream fulfilled. And… thanks to my sister. I heard your call. So I held good on my promise to your brother.”
Christian (as Plenus):
“And Nelle?”
Em (as Soevan):
“She's here. She's still recovering, but Kindri has been speaking with her while she sleeps. We are confident she'll make a full recovery, at least while she's here in the dreamscape.”
Christian (as Plenus):
“I don't think I'll see her again.”
Em (as Soevan):
“Nelle?”
Christian (as Plenus):
“Yes. She deserves to live a life on her own terms. And I have work to do.”
Em (as Soevan):
“Are you sure about that? Are you sure that's what you want?”
Christian (as Plenus):
“Yes.”
Em (as Soevan):
“And what about what she wants?”
Christian (as Plenus):
“She’ll have to figure that out once I'm gone.”
Em (as Soevan):
“I would let the two of you here in perpetuity, if you wish. I would not go back on my word.”
Christian (as Plenus):
“I know.”
Em (as Soevan):
“All of my children made it back, except for Ryland. He chose to stay behind. I don't know what's out there. I haven't heard from Ryland yet, so I don't know.”
Christian (as Plenus):
“I'm going to find my brother.”
Em (as Soevan):
“You may choose to wake up if you wish. I have a tether of you here, so...if when you awaken, if there is nothing, or if it is not what you seek, or if things are tenuous, I can bring you back. But once you have a long course of sleep in the waking world, that is where you will reside permanently, and you may access the dreamscape, of course, but only as a visitor, as you did before. But otherwise you are my honoured guest, as is Nelle, for as long as you wish.
Christian (as Plenus):
“It's just that.. You said earlier, empty gods. And I think I think the gods start empty. And they fill with pride and hubris, until they explode and when they do we're always the collateral damage. I wanna make sure that whatever happens now, we're not the collateral damage anymore.”
Em (as Soevan):
“A lot of things happened when the empty God died. I learned a lot. You were never supposed to have to kill more than one God. It was supposed to be a gift - what the folks at Barrencliff did for the universe. The River wasn't supposed to dry up. Not every universe gets it right. And I don't know what happens when you wake up.”
Em:
And you look behind her, across the room, and her form had been blocking it, but you see Nelle lying in bed. She does not look injured. She’s sleeping peacefully.
Christian:
Yeah, you know, I think he sits there and... What he feels is what's real, which is this is just a dream. This isn't real. I looked at her and I say, “Let's find out.” and I wake up.
Em:
Okay, I'm going to have both of you roll 1d6 please.
Christian:
Five.
Em:
Okay.
Jannes:
That is a two.
Em:
Okay. So Plenus, you go first.
Plenus, you awaken again, almost with a start. You feel a touch of moisture on your lip as you realize that you've fallen asleep sitting up. And you are at a desk covered in papers. You look around and you see a study full of books and scrolls. You see that their bindings are different shades of gray and white and silver. It's not The Study that you were in previously, but it is close. You look down at yourself in robes of gray and cornflower blue trimmed with sage green and you see your hands. There's arcane symbols on the backs of them, platinum in color as if they are inlaid in your skin. And there are smudges of ink stains across your palms and fingers.
The room is marble and white stone with birch wood accent. It is messy, but then again, you've never kept a clean study. On your desk, you see a highly ornate tome filled with your writing, sigils and symbols, text and verbal components, instructions on where to gather the materials needed to use this magic. It seems that wherever you've landed, your gifts have become arcane in nature.
What would you like to do?
Christian:
Well, I said I had work to do.
Em:
You certainly do.
Christian:
And I think what I would like to see happen is for the next months, years, decades, I research fervently everything I can about the Weave, and I try to become a sort of...well of knowledge for the Weave. And I want to use everything that I learned to construct a weapon.
An identical replica of my brother's rapier that would be a conduit for the weave so that should any God get out of hand we have a way to handle it. And I dedicate my life to uh… to trying to solve those problems.
Em:
So as you sit at this desk, this thought, before you jump off on this task… you look down and, Plenus, there are already sketches of this in front of you. Your spellbook is filled with crafting and magics on how to inlay spell or gift of the arcane in metal. You have already been doing this work.
Christian:
And I think to myself, what did I smoke?

Em:
Aboveboard, think of yourself as like an Order of the Scribes wizard.
Christian:
Did I wake up from a dream? Is that what's happening right now?
Em:
You're not sure.
Christian:
I am not sure.
Em:
You do, however, hear a knock at the door, pulling you out of this reverie for a moment.
Christian (as Plenus):
“Uh, yes? come in.”
Em:
It swings open and you see a familiar figure lean in the frame. A sight for sore eyes for you.
You see Nelle standing in the doorway. She wears the clothes of an artisan. And you see some soot stains on her blouse. She carries a hunting knife in its sheath tucked at her side. And you grit your teeth for a moment… Some information comes flooding to you. Some things you're supposed to know in this situation. She's a craftswoman. She makes knives. Beautiful ones that she sells at the market. She's helped you craft the blade you're working on. The market…. It's Wanderlust. The celebration of the twin gods, Galdric and Galea, where people return home to reconnect with their families after time away.
City... Yeah, you're in Glass. You're in The Augury, the temple of Allseia in the City of Glass. And Nelle is standing in the doorway looking for you.
Em (as Nelle):
“Well, hello, Arcanist Andrade. I thought I would come steal you for a bit. It's so musty in here, Plenus. You have got to open these windows. Let's let that book smell outside...”
Em:
And she barges her way into your room and starts opening the windows of your office.
Christian:
I the light flood in and I take her in and it's as if I'm seeing her for the first time, although I know this is probably the 150th time, and I, uh, I say…
Christian (as Arcanist Plenus Andrade, Weavesmith of Allseia):
“You could not steal from me what I would more willingly give to you, Nelle. Where we going?”
Em (as Nelle):
“Well, the market is actually just about to open,” and she kind of sees this confused look on your face. “The market, Plenus, you remember, I know you've been working at the office lately, but my stall is set up and I'm gonna be crafting all day. Can I just, can I borrow you for a couple hours? I'm hoping to, you know, set up my books and maybe take some orders just for the first day. And I'm hoping that someone wants to come apprentice, but you know how it is. It's hard to find anyone who really wants to dive into a trade.”
Christian (as Plenus):
“Yes, yes of course. It's the rapier's been taking up my time, but I am all yours.”
Em (as Nelle):
“Well good, I'm glad because I was starting to lose you to this office, so. And no offence, but everyone wants to get into magic these days, but the crafts are important, okay? Without us, who makes your wands and your staffs and those circlets that get enchanted? Really, the city wouldn't function without me? So, you need to come with me right now.”
Em:
And she grabs your arm and she just takes you out of the office. There is like, it is the same Nelle you remember.
Christian:
I don't move. She tries to take me and I pull her back in and I say,
Christian (as Plenus):
“You know, I wouldn't function without you either.”
Em (as Nelle):
“You know, after a couple days in here, I start to wonder.”
Christian (as Plenus):
“I never wonder. Let's go.”
Em:
Okay, so you head down and out of the Augury. Glass is vibrant. The Chime plays the Song of the Valley, vibrant and true, and people bustle about as you walk down the steps towards Nelle’s stall in the marketplace, arm in arm. And she kind of gets a couple steps ahead of you, like obviously with a pep in her step, too excited about the work that she has in front of you and also having you there and she turns around and looks up at you and she goes,
Em (as Nelle):
“I'm sorry, I forgot. Your mother sent a missive around so, because when you didn't go to her place last night, I figured you'd slept at her office or your office. So I said, I'd check in with you. She was wondering if tonight would be better for dinner. You know how she goes all out for The Wander. Would tonight be better?”
Christian (as Plenus):
“Yes. Yes, tonight is great.”
Em (as Nelle):
“Okay, well good, we'll go by after work. And I, or if I sell out for the day, we can pick up a few things. She sent a list of things she'd forgotten. I'm not sure for what. She always has everything she needs…
Em:
And she just kind of takes you off as if this is the most normal day in the world. And you head towards her stall and you linger a touch behind you and she turns towards you and she smiles and it is the most wonderful thing in the world.
Em (as Nelle):
“Are you coming?”
Christian:
I think in that moment he truly lets go of whatever the dream was and walks into this reality.
Christian (as Plenus):
“Yeah, yeah, I'm right here.”
Em:
And you take off through the market.
Inanis.
That brilliant white light becomes a faded grey as you recognize the feeling of being awake with your eyes closed. You wake up in a bed. It is new to you, but somehow you feel that it is yours. A precursory look from the open window across the room, and you see rows of similar houses. But that you are inside a bed that feels like yours.
Jannes:
I think the first thing I would do is my hand would go up to my side and I'd feel for a scar on my ribs.
Em:
You feel a roughness to the skin, but nothing like before, and you look at it, and it's slightly red and raised, not black.
Jannes:
He would just sigh. Roll out of bed. Stretch. Look around.
Em:
There's a basin of water in the room.
Jannes:
Walks over and dunks his whole head in the basin, pulls it out, looks around for something to tie his hair up with.
Em:
You find a small cord of leather.
Jannes:
Grabs it and ties it up in a high bun. And then he sort of, very slowly, and in no rush, sort of peeks in all the cupboards and opens all the drawers and just sort of takes it like a lay of the land.
Em:
Okay. You look out the window, seeing those row houses, and you see that you're in the corner house of what seems to be the second district in Glass. You can see the Chime off at least a district and a half ahead of you.
The room itself is neat and tidy with tunics and work breeches hanging in the closet. You see some plants growing on a sill outside your window. You smell rich florals of orchid, lily, and poppy. You head downstairs and from the looks of things, while part of your decently large house is meant for living, you see that a fair chunk of it has been turned into a workshop?
You see tools and gadgets both created and taken apart. And there's a large like workbench and you walk over and there seem to be some schematics laid out on it. A precursory glance shows to what seems to be a type of prototype of a barreled projectile weapon. You've watermarked some of these designs in your signature, Inanis Andrade, and it sits in the corner of the page in a beautiful gold lettering.
Aboveboard you can think artificer or tinker. What would you like to do?
Jannes:
I would stand at these drawings. I would run my finger across my name on the paper, and then hesitantly… I would reach into that space, where I used to find the divine power that I used to wield. And I would just sort of tentatively poke at it and just sort of see if anything is there.
Em:
Hmm.. You feel a rush… you feel a crackle. The hair stand up on the back of your neck of something close. Not graspable. Not yet.
Jannes:
I would smile. And then I would… go and… find my coat.
Em:
Mhm.
Jannes:
And I would go and find her.
Em:
You make your way through the lively city streets with people hurrying to prepare themselves and the town for the first night of what you recognize to be Wanderlust. You remember the festival, yearly, marking the summer solstice. Streets are lively, full of dancing and music, banners and market stalls lined with food and all sorts of trinkets and gadgets and… anything that would be helpful to welcome a population home. Wanderlust is the festival of coming home, honouring the time that one has spent away for a returning and a reconnecting. You bound through the center square, taking two stairs at a time, and you speed up, and you are outside the steps, or you are on the steps outside the door of Temple Lybica. What would you like to do?
Jannes:
I don't think I would knock or anything, I would just let myself in.
Em:
Okay, the temple is quiet as it always is, even though the other temples might be bustling during Wanderlust. The temple of Nepthysaket seems to always have a peaceful calm about it. It feels the same as you remember it. Thousands of years of tradition baked into the walls, the sandstone walls of this place.
You stand in kind of the center room. You see… pews in a prayer space, the white water at the back with the Almwat trees surrounding it. And a young acolyte comes up to greet you. She has peachy skin, rosy cheeks, and some light brown hair pulled into like a loosely braided bun. Her horns kind of curl up her forehead and down behind her ears.
Em (as Acolyte Mira):
“Um, welcome, sir. Um, how can I assist you today?”
Jannes (as Inanis Andrade, Collector and Gunsmith):
“Hi there, what's your name?”
Em (as Mira):
“Um, I'm, uh, I'm, I'm Mira.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Mira. I'm looking for Katani.”
Em (as Mira):
“Katani? Um, I think she's in today. She just came back from her rounds where she goes out and she helps the people. Let me see if I can find her. You're welcome to wait here if you like.”
Jannes:
“Thank you.”
Em:
Okay, so Mira kind of titters off and she's just gone. And you see other priestesses kind of moving in and out. You do not see Verity Fall, the previous High Priestess. You don't see her here, at least not for now.
And you hear Mira first.
Em (as Mira):
“Um.. He's just right over here. He said he wanted to speak with you.”
Em:
And she walks in and the room feels like a fresh rain that has come after a long drought. She looks the same as you left, though her robes are slightly more ornate, not that much of a high priestess, but more senior than the last time you saw her.
She smiles at you and you can tell she doesn't recognize you. She holds a kindness to you, the same poise that all priestesses of this order are supposed to hold. And I'm not gonna even have you roll for it. You ended the universe and restarted the Weave. You know all gods the instant you see them.
This is Nepthysaket, and you've never been more sure of anything in your life.
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Oh, yes. Um, Katani, is it?”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Yes, sir. How can I help you today? Did I forget something on rounds for yourself or for another?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“You did, actually.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Oh my apology, I'm so sorry.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“It must have been a mistake. I won't take it seriously. The oversight, it's quite alright.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“We'll make sure to rectify that film next time. Please, um, sit. What can I do for you?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Well, I was hoping you could rectify it sooner than the next time. I was hoping maybe tonight.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Pardon?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Maybe you could rectify tonight.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Tonight?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Yes. Um, your prayers, they finished just before dinner, correct?”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Uh, yes, just before supper..”

Jannes (as Inanis):
“Yes, and then they don't start again until midnight. That's correct.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Yes, what are you getting at sir?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“So you have some free time.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“I do, yes. Would you like me to come by your home for prayer or for healing?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Well…”

Jannes:
And then I would make direct eye contact with her, and it's I think in this moment that you would see both his pupils are yellow. He would look at her directly in the eye and he would say,

Jannes (as Inanis):
“Well, Your Grace, I believe you owe me a dance.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“A dance?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Yes.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Sir we've... we've never met. I-I'm... dancing. I'm-”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Surely you've been dancing before.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Well of course, we dance here at the temple often. I'm-”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“I know a wonderful place and it's Wanderlust.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Are you asking me to go dancing with you?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Yes.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Um… I would feel rude if I refused you, but I- Oh-”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Well, perfect.”
Em:
She looks stunned. She looks... You have completely taken her out of her day. She knows, she does not know what's going on.
Jannes (as Inanis):
“I know. I have a feeling that if you're alright with it, Your Grace will also be alright with it.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“I can check with the High Priestess.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“No, no, I'm talking about…”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Her Grace.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Her Grace. I'm pretty sure if you're fine with it, she's also fine with it.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“I don't think it works like that. It's not really a one to one. I don't think I need to tell her that I'm going dancing.”
Em:
Do you touch her?
Jannes:
I would, yeah, in that moment I would reach out and I would place my hand on hers. And I would look at her the same way that I see her.
Em:
Do you give her memories back? You can say no, but I just need to know.
Jannes:
I don't give her memories back. And I think that there is a moment where Inanis seriously debates it. And then he decides that… this time. This time he can be who he wanted to be with her. And she doesn't need to remember how he had to be anything else.
Em:
Okay. So as you put your hand on hers, you feel her divinity, like you feel it. It is so palpable, but I don't think she can feel yours yet. Not if she doesn't know.
And you putting your hand on hers is… something so against propriety, but she doesn't move it.
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Well... um… You know my name, but I don't know yours. And if we're going dancing… This is very strange. You are so familiar with me and I do not know you. But you inviting me dancing and it feels rude to say no.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“It is rude to say no.”

Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Is it? Really?”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“My name is, my name is Inanis. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Inanis. Pleasure to meet you as well, sir.”
Em:
She moves her hand kind of on top of yours to kind of approximate some form of grasping, to like a shake and acknowledgement.
Jannes (as Inanis):
“I will be here roughly shortly after your evening prayers, and then we will, I will take you, we will be dancing. Um, you might want to wear something a little more easy to dance, and those robes seem awfully jangly.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Have you not met any priestesses of my order, Inanis? We make so much noise.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“I've met a few.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Well then, I suppose we are going dancing later. This is... So, what.. I did not expect this to happen with my day, but alright. I will see you then, I suppose.”
Jannes (as Inanis):
“Perfect, perfect, perfect. Good day, Your Grace.”
Em (as Katani/Nepthysaket):
“Good day, Inanis.”
Em:
And she just kind of like stands, you've just completely shocked her. She has no idea what to do, no idea in this moment who you are or anything about you other than you have come in here and told her that you're going dancing, essentially.
Jannes:
And then I would get up and I would make it halfway to the door. And I said,

Jannes (as Inanis):
“Ooh, yes, I almost forgot.”
Jannes:
And I would walk back and I would reach in my pocket and I would pull out a prayer book. I'd place it down in front of her. I'd say,
Jannes (as Inanis):
“You must have dropped that. I will see you tonight.”

Jannes:
And I will leave.
Em:
You see her reach for the prayer book as we move away from that, following you out the door. You have the biggest grin on your face. I can feel it from here. Just a huge grin. And you leave Temple Lybica. It's probably about eleven in the morning.
And as you're walking down the steps, you see two figures, hand in hand, across the square. And… the woman of the two laughs as she turns to look at her companion. And you see Plenus and Nelle now meandering their way through the main thoroughfare of the time.
Jannes:
I would take off running after them.
Em:
And that, my dear friends. is where we end it. Right there.
[‘Something & Nothing’: Main Theme begins, composed by Sean McRoberts]

Em:
Godkiller: Oblivion is performed by Em Carlson, Jannes Wessels, and Christian Navarro. The voice of Ashmedai was Cody Heath. The voice of Halinaea was Gina Susanna. Special thanks to our campaign artist, Mischi. You can find her at @Mischiart on Twitter, as well as to Sean McRoberts, for our composing ‘Something & Nothing,’ our main theme for this episode. Music and effects by Epidemic Sound. For more stories, come follow us everywhere at @blackwaterdnd, and be sure to check out our Main Campaign on Monday nights at 8pm PST at twitch.tv/blackwaterdnd. To play your own campaign of Godkiller and dive into your own divinity, go support Godkiller by purchasing the ashcan at itch.io today. This show is made possible by our patrons, and sponsors who graciously support us playing pretend and having feelings about it. Thank you to Queen’s Court Games for awarding this show the 2024 CROWN GRANT, as well as to all of the Webfests that have supported us along the way. You too can come join us on Patreon, where you can check out behind the scenes info, our talkback show Chatwater, as well as exclusive series like this one! Head on over to patreon.com/blackwaterdnd for all the info. We can’t wait to be back next time, heretics - season two is in the works! Thank you so much for being along with us for the ride, and to all the gods out there, be safe!