[[Sat 17]:
- Huntington taken into custody by the Arcane Order
- The party is called to testify as witnesses
Status
Evan Cassenti: Going with the Wednesday group to work with Ridge on outfitting the Obsidian Teknokon with miller2 and mystic countering ability.
Adana Cassenti: Going back to Pax Artificium to prepare the city for an potential attack.
Zuul: Returning to Pax with Adana.
Admiral Rossner: Returning to Sol with the Wednesday group.
Xela: Staying on Lupus.
Lin: Staying on Lupus.
Khan: Staying on Lupus.
Rixmanns: Staying with Zee.
Lin vs Xela
Growing increasingly concerned about Xela’s presence, Lin tries to use the Philosopher’s Stone to kill her. He is manipulating some of the Fearful goo, and suddenly it explodes in Xela’s face, killing her and destroying her amulet. Unfortunately for him, Xela’s death is largely meaningless, as she is automatically reborn (there is some question as to whether this process still happens now that the Caretaker is eternally busy, but it is a largely automated process, and so it does).
Xela is exceedingly pissed off, and returns with a furious vengeance. However, it takes a significant amount of time for her body to be reconstructed. (She shows up during the Fearful encounter.)
She appears with the royal escort (the spellbreakers carry not only their swords, but also enervin pistols), frees Max from the stone (by teleporting the stone a few inches to one side), and readies an action to counterspell anything Lin tries. The spellbreakers shoot at Lin, and the mystics ready counterspells as well.
Meanwhile, Cohen is free, and can fly around as an incorporeal essence (if he wants to control nanites, it costs 10 for full control of them). To stop the Technofearful, Cohen needs to get closer. (If necessary, have him make a Will save to avoid giving in to the urge to embrace dissolution and merge with the Technofearful.) Max can sacrifice himself to the Technofearful, allowing them to assimilate him (or being assimilated against his will).
Once he has been integrated into the Technofearul, his dissolute nature will apply to them. Magic thrown at them will cause them, ultimately, to cease to exist. Cohen himself also ceases to exist. He now dwells in a limbo halfway between the Void and the Continuum, but will be present again at the end of time.
Huntington’s trial
Xela turns Lin over to the Arcane Order, in exchange for their help in constructing a new amulet out of the onyx stone (formerly the Philosopher’s Stone).
Once captured and put on trial, it comes out that Huntington profited from the war by selling weapons; that Coyote brainwashed Viktor Volokhov and programmed him to betray his brothers; that he brainwashed Zee, leaving a hook to manifest Coyote through him; that Coyote severed and stole Max’s arm on his behalf…
Huntington rants about personal power and ethics, claiming that morality is an illusion invented by the weak to protect them from the foolish. It is the goal of every individual to maximize his position in life, he says.
Ramses’s trial is complete, and has already undergone his punishment: mindwipe. He is now a mostly happy member of the Arcane Order society. Huntington is sentenced to the same thing. In response, he rages at the Arcane Order, accusing them of being wrongheaded fools. "My parents understood what none of you ever will," he seethes as they drag him away.
Asmodeus’s appearance
Meanwhile, Asmodeus appears to destroy the tower. My destiny token will be used to cause the tower to be destroyed, and for everyone to be sucked into the newly formed black hole.