The stairway to heaven
The Arcane Order is capable of transporting Malcolm and Noun to Valhalla, but ask that in exchange, neither Malcolm, Noun nor their friends tell anyone else about the Order’s existence or the location of the Sanctuary (Iason: "we ask that you do not tell anyone else of us").
In Valhalla, Xela agrees to see Malcolm and Noun, because she has a keen sense of who is important in the world – she can sense those "touched by destiny" much more clearly than most can. A contingent of guards (two gnomes, two dwarves – same old quartet) escort them into the throne room. Xela sits on her throne in gorgeous human form, since Noun and Malcolm are ostensibly human.
She knows the whole truth, but only answers questions specifically posed to her – although she may tease them a bit. If she learns that Malcolm is a celestial, she is extremely amused. At the end, she has Rudolfo Marvel ("Rudy") open a portal to wherever they want. If they fight her, she and her honor guard kill them.
If they return to the island to enter the stairway, they encounter Abaddon as he emerges from hell’s depths.
Arcadia
In Arcadia, we have the usual suspects (see Wednesday12). After all, they are the ones connected to the space pirates, which means they know about Butler (the android) and his connection to the doctor who can perform the grafts (Boris the necrophage). In particular, Worthington knows "a guy who knows a guy" (Evans) and as a dealer of drugs and personal enhancements, Evans knows Butler.
However, Butler has been protected by Boris, and hacking his systems will be nigh impossible. If they try, he will instantly find out and wipe the droid’s memory.
If Danielle has ideas on how to pursue the investigation, Bullettrain is listening. Otherwise, if she lets him take the initiative, he’ll do things surprisingly stealthily, but not stealthily enough to avoid Boris’s notice.
Butler’s physical appearance is that of a muscular, ageless bald man with piercing blue eyes and a gravely voice. He clearly appears like some kind of bodyguard or protector, but dresses in a suit and has an ostensible attitude of servitude.
When Butler finally "agrees" to let them meet Boris, Boris allows them to meet Josef instead, just to be safe. This works as both a test of loyalty for Josef, and a test of intent for Bullettrain, Fey and the Wednesday group.
If they have not figured out that Boris is behind everything, but have talked Butler into meeting his "employer," then Boris doesn’t even send Josef – he sends another android called Teresa, who Boris commands to pretend to be the necrophage, to gauge their reactions.
If they manage to meet with Josef and argue about why what Boris is doing is wrong, they have a good chance of persuading Josef to turn against his brother (he already planned to, but he was waiting for the right moment – "these people seem strong," he thinks).
Only Boris himself – and his wife Annika – knows the truth about Pandora’s Children, and their connection to the Brotherhood and to StratCo.
Strife and Bullettrain
Strife is hiding out in Arcadia, trying to lay low, plotting her revenge against Trenton. Though Ramses completed his work on her, her eyes often act up and begin to bleed. Knowing of Ramses’s recent disappearance (and suspecting her brother), she returned to Arcadia to seek out another man capable of helping her – the necrophage. She does not know his identity either, but is looking for him. She hates necrophagia, refusing to receive any grafts herself, but has overlooked Blacksoul’s eager harvesting of the Gaians nonetheless.
Now, however, Blacksoul has refused to be part of the Pandora’s Children movement any longer, having recently become very religious. Strife is disgusted with him, but also confused. (She asks him why he isn’t dead… Blacksoul confides that he has been given a second chance at life by an angel, and that he plans to correct all the evils of his past life. He has even given up his pirate name in favor of his given one: Bernard Sinclair. Later, Blacksoul will encounter the Monday group during their investigation of StratCo and the Brotherhood.)
At some point, there will be a confrontation between Strife, Bullettrain and Trenton wherein she accuses her brother of helping "the traitor" (Trenton). Don’t forget to have her eyes bleed during the scene! Also, she accuses Bullettrain of doing something to Ramses, and demands to know where he is.
Meanwhile, on Mars
After dealing with Arcadia (or maybe in the meantime, who knows), it is likely that the Wednesday group ends up on Mars, looking for William Moss and Everlily Nyx. They are looking in the right place, but it will still not be easy to track them down.
When Laiden returns to Mars, the bounty hunters Arthin and Tira Nightshade are waiting for him. See Wednesday12 for their information. Sarah Morningcrow, having fled Mars, is concentrating on the upcoming assault on Luna with Selena Sharptooth, but has devoted some of the Pandora’s Children resources toward killing the Wednesday group.
Tira lets it slip that certain sources would not be displeased should Laiden’s associates all happen to "disappear"…
The restructuring efforts are behind schedule, with rumors of ghosts from the previous conflict. It is said that one should not wander into areas of the city that have not yet been restored, or one might end up missing, dead or worse.
The rebuilding effort is a joint one between U.N. Forces and Gaia’s Order. If they question either, they learn that the undead corpses were about 70% cleaned up when they started disappearing. Additional troops have been deployed (the city is under martial law), but some undead (recorded as previously present by overhead sensors and such) are still missing despite search efforts.
The Wednesday group will be stopped from wandering out too far by the Mars and UNF military, but they can gain clearance to pass, or sneak by. If they manage to reach the city’s outskirts (beyond the military perimeter), they do eventually encounter spirits.
Very select members of Gaia’s Order know the truth about the Heart Tree, that has rotted out from the inside. They are keeping this secret while they attempt to devise a treatment. The UNF does not know the truth about the tree, which is still beyond the military perimeter. If the Wednesday group reaches the Heart Tree, they can see the truth firsthand, with some effort. Otherwise, they may encounter a dryad studying the tree. Her recent diagnosis is ultimately that it must be cut down and a new one planted, but the bark has toughened, and the tree has grown oddly resistant to mystic energy as well.
The tree is now taking undead souls and pulling them underground to the necropolis (instead of sending them to the Caretaker), so they can be reawakened as undead again. They can follow the tree roots down to the heart of the evil city about 50 miles beneath the surface.
The necropolis is protected by an evil-aligned field. It grants +4 to the dice rolls of undead present, and -4 to those of non-undead. Any non-undead in the zone are automatically detected – even when phased (all undead there know their location). Nyx and her strike team show up nearly instantly to convert them. If Nyx is in danger of being defeated, Aries himself shows up to kick their asses. If they attempt to establish a dialogue with Nyx, she may agree to ally with them (diplomacy check) but only in exchange for their help in stopping the upcoming "perversion of Luna." Nyx possesses a great deal of self-loathing, and does not wish for Luna to become "twisted like me" (which she certainly believes will happen if Luna is merged with Cain).
Session 15
Deus rite: Pursuing Moss on Mars, Wednesday learns that Nyx is planning to interfere with the Deus rite. Do they learn of Moss’s burgeoning underground necropolis? Of Aries or his corruption at Nyx’s hands?
Session 16
Technofearful: Going to Wolf 359 is a chance for Ridge, and everyone onboard the Perseverance, to clear their names, and fight against the smear campaign launched by Pandora’s Children.
Session 17
William Moss: After smashing Lupus, the Technofearful proceed to Sol, with Mars first, then Earth. Moss’s undead legion can effectively combat the technofearful, but at what cost? Can the Wednesday group stop the technofearful and cure William Moss? Or is he doomed to destruction?