[b]Redana![/b]

You know intellectually that the Queen is unbound by the Law. It's still surprising when she grips you by the throat, her lightning talons running agonizingly into your neck. More than her speed and strength her absolute disregard for taboo still shocks you. This is someone who has done far worse than murder a guest in front of her daughter.

"They say the stranger may be Zeus in disguise," hissed the Queen. "Good! I hope you are so she feels it when I spit in your eye. How dare you question me? Do you know what I have had to do to build this place? My people are blind, stupid, savage slaves. They live for war. They live for [i]honour[/i]," she spits that word like it's a curse. "Courage and honour. Those are the words of Ceron! [i]Courage[/i] and [i]honour[/i]! They speak them like a brave death has meaning. So I [i]gave[/i] them the deaths they so craved. And see what I have built after freeing them from the chains of courage and honour! A paradise, perfect until you brought ruin to it!"

Her other taloned hand comes up level with your eyes. It burns a terrible red. ELF weapons are widely known for being nonlethal, a way to scramble electrochemistry and in sufficient dosage knock out even the most resilient of bioforms. But your auspex isn't registering that as normal ELF lightning - it's warning you that this is a [i]Razorwhip[/i], and whatever that means, it's a forbidden class of weapon.

"Your mother taught me this, [i]princess[/i]," said Queen Hatchan, voice rising though it lacked the grace of Zeus' oratory. "In order to truly reign one must become a tyrant. In order to change a people gone mad one must defy the gods. In order to be free one must break the chains of courage and honour... and that means breaking those who cling to those damned words."

The talon comes down - and you're torn backwards. That crimson lightning passes inches from your eyes, but though off balance the Queen still manages to slash your leg as you're pulled backwards and...

You experience why this weapon is forbidden. It's agonizing. It's cruel. There's no justice or mercy in it. You have today endured the strike of a true Thunderbolt and there is nothing in common between these two weapons.

Princess Epistia has pulled you away from the dark queen's grip. "Mother, please -" she starts to say, but with that same ruthless lack of hesitation the queen backhands her daughter in the mouth and sends her to the ground alongside you. 

"Some never accepted the first death I gave them," said the Queen, looking about at her dull-eyed servants. "No matter. There are other deaths."

[Take necrotic damage]

[b]Vasilia![/b]

Ivory Smile, despite his name, doesn't strike you as a man who has ever smiled. Smirked, maybe, but only while prefixed by words like 'bitterly'. His movements are so functional and basic as you fight him, literal combat automata have more range and variance in their motions than he does. You've almost taken him for a dullard when you notice him pull off his left glove when your eyes are focused on him making another lunge for his book - and there are [i]words[/i] tattooed onto the surface of his hand.

He raised his hand and began an extremely complicated hand sign. Each time his knuckles arranged in a different way there was a flash of terrible red energy as the glyphs aligned in different ways.

Hades is there, eyes the colour of an arctic sky. "Dark Lord, King of Diamonds, I call upon the past," hissed Ivory Smile. "Drown this soul in regret."

[Take damage. In addition, Ivory Smile has cursed you until tomorrow's sunrise with memories of the past. You are still keeping him busy]

[b]Dolce![/b]

"Zeus..." 

The name rasped from General Ralib's lips, half forgotten. [i]Zeus[/i]. They lived. The Empire lived. And they... oh, stars and heavens, they had [i]defied[/i] Zeus Cloudgatherer. "Zeus! We are... we need to conduct sacrifices. Auguries. Immediately! It may already be too late -"

A ripple goes through the formation. Ceronians move as one, or not at all. 

A moment later King Jas'o is nearby, still standing atop the shields of his soldiers, looking down at you. He has the awareness, though, to bow his head to you. "Greetings, priest. Have no fear, the gods will get their due - why, I sacrificed my finest racing Plover to Zeus this morning! In fact, why not go on ahead and get started with the sacrifices, we'll go and fetch the princesses to ensure that they can be blessed by royalty."

You've actually put yourself in a position where you have enormous leverage, even though Jas'o is making a convincing counteroffer. Roll to Talk Sense with Grace or Sense and you might turn aside the entire army until they've completed their religious rituals; on a 7-9 result the King and his men will go on ahead.

[b]Alexa![/b]

Soft-eyed Hera looks at you with a sympathy that you've rarely seen from any other. Her hands reach down and grasp the shaft of the arrow and even she gasps softly at the touch of it.

"Zeus has turned her back on this place," said Hera quietly. "She sees only the darkness, sees only that it is a thing to be scoured away with the flash of lightning. She doesn't see that people live here too. That this is a place worth healing, not just destroying..."

The Thunderbolt comes free. Hera carefully tucks it away inside her robes.

"Do one thing for me. Find the Assistant Secretary of Fear and Doubt - he is locked in the Queen's palace. He has the ability to move the Eater of Worlds, even in its current dismal state. Set him free and he will move the Eater of Worlds into the void, away from the Armada. They'll have a chance to decide what they want."

[b]Bella![/b]

You can smell the blood. You can smell the sickness. There are no gods here, inside these walls. Something here is terribly wrong and you're heading directly towards it.

You come to a halt on a rooftop, a clear view to the palace. Redana is there. Redana, on the ground, before a monster. Crimson lightning wraps around the talons of a damned queen. You watch someone, some replacement, try to do your job and fail. She goes down like a bag of mud to a single blow. That failure seems to fill the entire world. You have had nightmares of failing Redana. You have dedicated your life to ensuring you never fail Redana. You worked to eliminate that possibility, purging all possible weaknesses from your mind and body so that would never come to pass.

And here is... a pretender. A faker. Someone who dared to try and protect Redana while not being up to the task. These amateurs have no idea! No idea of the danger!! No idea of the responsibility!! No idea of the commitment required to protect a princess!! If it was you she wouldn't be hurt!! If it was you that woman would be fucking dead before she could even lay a hand on [i]your[/i] princess!!

It's not Redana's fault. She doesn't understand how much she needs you. It's the fault of whoever these people are, making her [i]feel[/i] safe when she's [b]not[/b].

You're some distance away. There's still some sprinting to do. You can make it. You're the only one who can.