[b]Redana![/b]

"Your plan and explanation is coherent," buzzed Iskarot, "which is exactly why you should not give it. This is not a trial of your abilities as a leader. This is an introduction to the Mysteries. We can accomplish this task alone."

A complex motion was made beneath the saffron like an earthquake beneath the ocean. Steam hissed and flickers of light strayed out from the indistinct realm below before a bulky device emerged. At first it seemed to be a spear but the large and unwieldly horizontal slider at the top made it seem more like a curious broom. A number of faintly glowing rubies glinted within the mechanisms.

"This is a Disintegration-Scythe, one of the essential tools of the Order of Hermes," said Iskarot. "When fed directly by the Engine this device can cut through even the exterior armour of a starship - or for that matter, a hostile phalanx. Wield this and you will be able to sever the ship in half at the pace of a slow walk rather than with days spent with saws and cutters. I will instruct you in its use and care, how to channel the Engine's might and to manage its dark moods. Bear it with reverence and with caution, for these are not common and are jealously sought."

[[b]D-Scythe[/b]: Melee, Slow, Dangerous, Piercing, Tethered
Tethered: Can only be used when cabled into an Engine]

[b]Dolce![/b]

"Save them, little sheep?" said Hera, keeping her voice soft to avoid waking Vasilia. "Your friends are nothing but suffering, each one of them. Redana, Alexa, even the Hermetic and the soldiers are all condemned to carry their pain and regret with them all the way to the gates of the underworld. Each one of you is cursed. Brother Hades is both your tormentor and saviour and he has worse in store ahead. None of you will be able to lift the weight from your own shoulders, so look to the darkness of those you meet in the hopes that they will be able to look to yours."

[b]Alexa![/b]

Hades flicks his unreadable eyes up as the cards flow from his fingers. It's like a lance of ice through the heart, but he doesn't say anything - doesn't give any sign that he's angered or bothered. Instead it looks to all the world like he's taking an augury with the way the cards flow and cascade, without him even glancing down at them.

Isty's eyes, however, are clear and innocent and baffled as they look at you. "You don't enjoy it?" she said. "You don't - feel the thrill, the [i]rush[/i]? You don't feel the sand and air and fire on your skin? The motion of sweat and blood, the strength? Even just in the practice arena there's nothing like it, it's like being lifted out of the realm of the dead to stand on the border of life... how do you not enjoy it?"

Ah, that mark of Ares upon her. That madness. Strange how she can seem so normal despite it.

[b]Bella![/b]

The sound-slaying acoustics of the ship might have been put in place purely to drown out the attendants of the Diodekoi. 

The dim, low-light interior of the [i]Anemoi[/i] gives way to something different - eerie, jagged moonlight cast and filtered through spectacular arrays of stained glass to carve spectacular, revolving images of language in motion. The words flow together in shadow and light to carve the shapes of beasts, humans, and everything in between in typographic shadow-puppets. As they stalk and engage in scripture, as scripture, meditating acolytes chant the constant flow in the raw rhythm of ancient days. 

It is a place of darkening light, at once insufficient to see by but almost blinding in comparison to the murk of the Anemoi. Ship serfs, thin and nervous servitors, cluster in small groups near the entrance - drawn to the light but unready to enter it entirely. They scatter like birds when approached, to a one seeking refuge in the shadows rather than the cool moonlight.

In the centre, prostate before the altar, is a cathedral-engine. The clattering of the machine intelligence clicks away in the substrata below the din. Though there is no doubt metal and wire below the surface, every inch of her is covered in paper. On her shoulders she wears open books, upon her back a forest of prayer-strips hang like ribbons, and every inch of every page is marked with spectacular illuminated script and images. An art gallery, a war machine and a religious icon all in one - behold the Diodekoi.

"If you need to fight a god, this is your girl," said Mynx. "She's encoded to follow every aspect of the Code of the Hunt in thought and deed. When she fights it's as though Artemis has taken the field herself - not unlike the Athena statue that Redana took with her. She's a precision weapon though - there's nothing that can come between her and her target, but she's nowhere near as effective when engaging a group. Thing to watch out for, though, is that she's so close to Artemis that she can become fully possessed by the Goddess - something that usually happens when Artemis starts to enjoy the hunt too much. When that happens she becomes a rogue, bloodthirsty goddess who isn't particularly interested in things like taking prisoners."

[hider][b]Diodekoi Adept[/b]
[i]A sacred war-engine, divine and terrible.[/i]
[b]Avatar of Artemis:[/b] The Diodekoi is immune to all Custom and Core moves. She can only be engaged with the Basic Moves.
[b]Sacred Hunt:[/b] When the Diodekoi names a target, that target cannot damage or Finish her until she changes target.
[b]Rampancy:[/b] When a Temple Assassin has reached the stage of Rampancy, it becomes a Threat to the World. It also has the ability to instantly destroy any other threats contained within the Environment.[/hider]