Campaign Notes

## Major Goals & Current Threats

The Contenders try to thwart the designs of Thracia, the Eid God-Queen, as she seeks to forcibly convert the Earth to her worship. Thracia's forces include:

1. A large number of alien troopers, equipped with energy weapons and basic power armor, manning a fleet of 40+ star ships
2. Angels and demons of varying strengths, numbering in the thousands, drawn from religions across the galaxy
3. A host of clerics who wield divine magic in Thracia's name
4. The Planet-Killers, a cadre of elite alien warriors each with power to single-handedly wipe out all life on a planet
5. Mechanon and his reprogrammed, infinitely-spawning army of drones
6. Dr. Destroyer, who has converted to the Orthodoxy, along with his forces:
	1. ~~A squad of powerful superhuman lieutenants led by Viceroy~~
	2. ~~A battalion of brainwashed Plutonian clones, force-aged to be approximately 12 years old~~
	3. ~~Destroyer's personal army of power-armor equipped shock troopers~~

Meanwhile, Hierophant operates under the orders of a mysterious patron to whom he owes his powers and repeated resurrections.

## What's happened recently?

1. After defeating the aliens and interrogating prisoners, Ghost Dance (now the incarnation of Wakan Tanka) convened a Godsmoot, a telepathic conference where all the gods could convene and agree on a new pact for their interactions with Earth. They decreed that no god could walk the Earth directly, but all gods would be allowed Avatars and would be mentioned in new scriptures that ensured they would all be worshipped properly. Meanwhile Hardback checked in with Null and then disassembled a confiscated alien weapon, while Cameo was contacted by Thespis, a Greek poet-turned-minor-deity and Patron of Actors who wanted to invest his power in the hero. Cameo agreed and has become the deity's vessel. Upon contact with his patron, Hierophant was informed of the final stage of her plan to defeat Thracia: a traitor among the high-ranking Eids would agree to bind the God-Empress to Wakan Tanka's new compact, preventing her from manifesting on Earth and trapping her in the Spirit Realm. Searching for a traitor who could accomplish this, the team's search eventually lead them to the ancient land of Lemuria, whose primary deity Gorm had just become the first to openly side with the Lustrian Church. After lengthy investigation and infiltration, they made their way towards the heart of the main Lemurian temple. There, still in the spirit realm, they were confronted by Devonna, a disattisfied member of the Eid royal family. After admonishing the earthlings to leave and give up their futile resistance, she was persuaded to join their plan: in exchange for putting her on the Throne, she would help the Contenders overthrow Thracia and remove the Lustrian's from Earth.
2. The team joined the avatar of Wakan Tanka on Devil's Tower to commune with the mighty deity. Heirophant, Ghost Dance, and the Avatar joined in a sacred ritual and slowly managed to establish communication. Wakan Tanka made it clear that he didn't have inclination to unite the gods nor the power to make it stick long-term, but agreed to try on two conditions: that the Sioux nation be reformed on Earth and that Ghost Dance act as his mortal vessel. Unlike the Avatar, Ghost Dance is actually descended from the first man created by Wanka Tanka and thus is suitable to hold a larger portion of the god's power. While a tense psychic negotation ensued, the team was ambushed by the forces of the Empress who appeared in large numbers crossing over from the spirit realm. A fierce battle ensued, and Ghost Dance emerged from his trance newly forged into a true demigod.
3. Hardback took Null (and Slush's corpse) to New Canaan. Despite being bitter at the loss of his children, Rodin offered to treat Null with gene therapy to counteract his unnaturally short clone's lifespan. It was clear that the mutants of New Canaan had suffered repeated Mechanon attacks, and Bugaboo commented that even if the Empress was defeated, Mechanon's attacks must be stopped or else he might destroy the world on his own. Hierophant meanwhile received a severe talking-to from his mysterious patroness for not making more of an effort to hunt the alien clergy. She informed him of a new plan involving Ghost Dance and Wakan Tanka, one of the most powerful deities of North America. She sent him to "humble" the Avatar of this god, and the team found him and several others in Kansas City battling with Yupik Kalifak, a primordial deity of winter in the shape of a mammoth. Miraculously, Hierophant was able to intervene peacefully and convince both parties to stand down before asking Wakan Tanka's avatar to speak with his deity.
4. The fight continued against Destroyer's forces at the white house. Several heroes were slain or incapacitated by Rakshasa, including Hardback. Upon his death, Hardback encountered Radiant, who had recently ascended to nascent godhood. Hardback was resurrected by Hierophant and the battle concluded with Galvanic and Viceroy dying and Rakshasa in retreat. The team confronted Destroyer, Slush, and a hideous alien monster in the presidential bunker. Slush died of a mysterious illness before he could kill the hostages. After a series of taunts, Destroyer and his allies left the scene, with final orders for his newest Plutonian clone, Null, to destroy all present. Hardback, aided with the motherly love of Radiant, managed to break Destroyer's conditioning and stop Null's rampage.
	1. Elsewhere, the battle went very well in the streets of D.C. Aided by the psychotropic drug Hardback had supplied to the National Guard, the forces of good managed to totally rout Destroyer's army with minimal losses.
	2. Destroyer's lieutenants were killed by a specially crafted virus that only targets certain individuals. This virus was carried by Hierophant after his last visit to New Canaan.
5. The team were introduced to the combined forces defending Washington D.C., and with Ghost Dance's precognition helping determine victory, a plan was laid to assault the White House and rescue the President/Vice President. An elite team infiltrated the white house grounds while the majority of the supers left to battle the Plutonian clones elsewhere in the city. So far the battle goes well, though the Grey Ghost appears to be the first casualty, a victim of Rakshasa.
	1. In other news, the Contenders learned that the world is under assault not just by aliens & angels, but also by Mechanon, whose robotic forces seem to be wholly loyal to the Empress. It appears that despite the efforts of the world's defenders, the war is being slowly lost as more and more humans swear fealty to the Lustrians in order to save themselves from destruction.
	2. In *other* news, Waylon Talos agreed to make a Truesilver weapon for Hardback if he could keep the weapon once the Contenders finished with it. John Wolf confirmed that Drell, a recently-promoted planet killer, had been slain by his operatives to cash in on the bounty.
6. After resting in the Sumerian paradise, the team said farewell to their new Avatar allies and travelled to Amsterdam to retrieve Hardback's remaining Saturnite. They were denied entry to the locked-down compound, and contacted John Wolf for assistance. John agreed to help them comission a Truesilver/Saturnite weapon from Waylon Talos and also accepted a bounty on Planet-Killers (50 mil for a senior, 10 mil for a junior). Afterward, the team made its way to Washington D.C. which showed signs of lengthy battle. They assisted the exhausted Blur in fighting off a patrol of Plutonian clones and agreed to follow her to the city's HQ.
7. The Contenders travelled to Mecca to assassinate High Priest Numas, one of Thracia's chief servants and the architect of a plan to rewrite scripture in order to absorb all of Islam into the Lustrian Orthodoxy. Numas was slain and his body destroyed to prevent resurrection, though the Eids managed to save their primary dogmatic transcription device, an enormous stone tablet upon which alien script was endlessly crawling. The Contenders met a pair of newly-created avatars belonging to Marduk and Enki, who assisted the heroes with their powerful but amateurish divine abilities.
8. When Mars reached its closest point to Earth, Hierophant travelled to the red planet, forced his way into its version of Tech Duinn, and retrieved a hibernating martian child. He returned to Earth with this child, carrying him through the Door to Beyond. Although what happened next is not clear, the Door was flung open and thousands of dead gods emerged to and returned to the Earth.
	* These gods have their full powers
	* Some of the gods have already begun imbuing power in new avatars
	* A pantheon of Sumerian gods engaged the Empress directly. They were defeated but survived the encounter.

## The Bigger Picture

### The Battle of Washington

Several days ago, Dr. Destroyer attacked Washington D.C. with an army of alien troopers, angels, demons, and his battalion of Plutonian clones. He was opposed by a large number of superheroes, PRIMUS, and the D.C. National Guard (specially trained and equipped for major threats). The results of this battle are unknown.

* The Paragons have gone to assist in the fighting, though that was over a day ago and nobody has heard from them since.

### Corruption of the Spirit Realm

As places of worship are destroyed on Earth, sinister towers are being constructed at their corresponding locations in the Spirit World. What is their purpose, and why is Thracia expending such a monumental effort to build them?

### The Legions of Mars

Previously, Mentat's spirit manifested to the Contenders and offered them a plan to manipulate the population of Mars into helping Earth resist the invasion of the Lustrian Church. That plan ultimately failed, and Mars' military force (whatever that is) was not mobilized. What are the Martians up to now, if anything? Can they still be of some assistance?

## Unanswered Questions

1. What happened to the inhabitants of the Spirit World?
2. Where is the Abrahamic god, worshipped by over half the world's population in one form or another, during this divine conflict?
3. A Planet-Killer helped ensure High Priest Numas' death was permanent when he ground the priest's body into dust. Why would he do this? Is there conflict within the Orthodoxy, and if so, can it be exploited?
4. Upon her arrival in our Solar System, Thracia betrayed the Grand Galactic Confederacy, a major interstellar atheistic government with whom she had a temporary truce. At least one GGC ship escaped this trap and returned to deep space. What, if anything, is the GGC doing now? Do they still have designs on Earth?
5. Where is Hazel Clay, the one-time ruler of the Deadlands, and how did Frank replace her?

## To-Do List

Cameo has promised Frank to cast someone to play him in a movie. In exchange, Frank promises to forgive all prior insults and accusations.

## Random Notes

On the Contenders' advice, the Sumerian avatars are seeking to group up and form a unified team to battle the aliens.

The team is in possession of .5 lbs of Truesilver, received as payment from a demonic slave trader in exchange for Gzad

Lord Donn is gone, having faded with the destruction of Tech Duinn by the resurrect dead gods. The last sliver of his power was given to Hierophant to allow him to communicate freely with his secret patron.