The story begins with Sarili and Gavin having been on Madoc for a few days already. Gavin was supposed to meet with a contact named Haxley sent by his Scraver family, the Harrisons, but his contact was found dead. Apparently Boss Seratz, an old friend of one of Gavin's employers, is being very successfully challenged by a rival crime gang. Gavin's boss simply told him to wait for a really dirty guy carrying a Haggisfish at a certain restaraunt, and Gavin, having little better to do, complies. Before they do this though, they pick up Don Roberto, whom Gavin had sent for in order to protect him.
Meanwhile on the Jyhad, the strange pole artifact found by Marduk is found turned to ash, along with much their weapons and some other posessions. Miguel and Shamis are also found to be missing, though they were previously there when last they were leaving Leagueheim. Marduk and Kantarra arrive in the city of Abeen on Madoc and almost immediately get involved in a fight...
A man in sea-green / blue robes approaches Gavin and asks if he is Mr. Vance. Upon Gavin's affirmation at being the man he's looking for, the robed man turns on a shield dampener and pulls out a submachine gun, much like his other friends do. Don Roberto and Marduk almost simultaneously take out two of his friends, leaving only 7. Kantarra, of course, empties the clip, while Gavin pulls his blaster pistol and clicks-off a shot. After the fight breaks up Sarili loots a sqwaker and a message off of the lead assailant and has a short radio conversation with the person in charge at the other end. The message only says "kill the Theurgist at any cost - she is the weapon of the Empyrean." Everyone exchanges introductions and talks a bit, eventually Gavin's contact arrives...
A VERY dirty and extraordinarily pungent-smelling Gannok carrying a giant Haggisfish is seen wandering through the streets. They quickly flag him down, Marduk and Kantarra recognize him as Shleesh, the Gannok who helped them back on Leagueheim. Gavin and the others attempt to have a conversation with him, which only annoys them to no end (I'm pretty sure Gavin was moments from pulling his blaster pistol on the poor guy). Shleesh says their contact will be waiting for them at Soledad's Tavern, and leads them there - through the extra-scenic route.
Upon reaching Soledad's Tavern, he leaves, saying their contact will arrive shortly and that he has other duties to attend to. Shortly after they arrive, another old friend of Gavin's, a psychicCharioteer by the name of Dan Merck shows up. They hang out for a while, talk about drinks with the bartender, and finally two unfortunate men in sea-green / blue robes stick their heads in the door, as if to be looking for someone. The two are VERY forcefully interrogated (with some help from the psychic Dan), revealing that the Telmachos Crime Syndicate is moving in on Boss Seratz's territory. Also, they manage to raise one of the higher ups in the Syndicate by sqwaker. Her name is apparently "Elle," and she is quite rude to them, promising that they will be killed soon. After this, shall we say "rigorous" interrogation, they release the two men and let them know that if they are seen again, blood will flow in the gutters. They wait around a little longer, and Shleesh shows up once again. This time he says he's the contact Gavin's been waiting for all this time, and that he should go talk to the local Archbishop for more information. (it's a Shleesh thing - lead them somewhere and make them wait a while. damn I love that character!)
They head over to the Cathedral of St. Hombor to visit Archbishop Kalliard. Shleesh pretty much takes off at this point, much to the characters' relief. They mill around inside a bit while Sister Kantarra talks to the Archbishop and some other clergymen, finally Gavin goes to talk to the Archbishop, but he refuses to even acknowledge Gavin's existence. Kantarra explains to Gavin that he has to spin the prayer wheels of the saints in the correct order and then pick a saint and spin the wheels in order again until he reaches that saint (and oh, how appropriate...). He does so, stopping on Paulus, the Traveller, the first saint (Gavin spins the wheels very listlessly and just wanted to get the ritual part over with). Kalliard gives him a package and explains to him they have a very short conversation. Inside the package Gavin finds directions to Boss Seratz's hideout, which is located in one of the poorer sections of town (read "slum area").
They use the directions and reach what looks like an "average" brothel, but inside, of course, is a Scraver hideout. After a short conversation with some of the "ladies of the night," they find their way inside (which also involves watching the "ladies" open a door in a most interesting way...). The Scraver hideout is almost overflowing with people, the group barely squeezes in. They find Boss Seratz in the back of the room, behind a desk. Seratz is a bit large, ugly, bald, and wears the Fading Suns equivalent of an "aloha shirt." He tells them how glad he is to see them and how the Telemachos Crime Syndicate headed by Azim Telemachos has recently absorbed several smaller crime gangs and is moving against his gang. They are not numerous, but they always have the inside scoop on what's going on way before Seratz does. Marduk mentions a bit about the Circle of Light but is careful not to give too much away. Seratz agrees to set them up in one a manor he "owns" over on the continent of Parthia. He provides them with transportation to Parthia via skimmerboat, and also provides Don Roberto with one of the "ladies of the night" named Lucy, at his request.
The group makes their way out to Parthia and hangs out at the manor a while, with some inter-party roleplaying and general getting to know each other. The next morning they wake up and return to Abeen to meet with Seratz. On their way there, Marduk decides he needs to do some work on the ship, so he bails-out. Just as they reach the slum-area, Kantarra sees one of the N'rlak creatures running between buildings. She screams and opens fire, confusing the others, who obviously don't see what she's shooting at. She tells them that only she can see it, which doesn't really make the others feel very secure, and they move on into the brothel, with Kantarra keeping watch outside for more N'rlak.
Inside Boss Seratz tells them that his sources say that some strange events occured last night on the isle of Ranbosh. Seratz's spies say that a noble by the name of Paulus Li Halan was visited by a couple of Inquisitors, who talked privately with him and then left without incident, returning to their frigate in space, which, as far as they know, was on its way to the gate. The Inquisitors did have the symbol of the Circle of Light on their robes. Paulus is apparently throwing a small party tomorrow night, and Seratz thinks Paulus might end-up being a good lead. Seratz has devised a plan where he gets some of his boys to attack Paulus' manor, but pull back and get repulsed by Gavin's gang (since it includes a Hazat Knight, a Brother Battle, and a death-machine Vorox, among others). Paulus will most likely then invite them to the party where they can do some investigation. Sarili and Don Roberto think they can pull-off getting invitations without such overt violence, and Seratz agrees to let them try their own methods, providing them transport to Paulus' manor on Ranbosh. The group also informs Seratz of the N'rlak being outside his brothel, which Seratz says he'll check into.
Shortly after leaving the brothel, they encounter a man in a kilt with a large cybernetic right arm. He stares intently at Kantarra, who mutters something about Slayers chasing her around. The man pulls a very large pistol from a holster, and the two begin a short staredown. Suddenly Kantarra opens fire, unloading the entire clip, as usual, forcing the man to dive for cover as his shield activates under the rain of bullets. He returns fire, using small-yield explosive bullets on Kantarra, which throws her back a few meters. Kantarra responds by chanting very angrily in Latin at the man, who is clutched in the grip of her Fearsome Majesty ritual. The others decide to jump-in ; Gavin clicks-off a couple of shots from his blaster pistol, while Don Roberto activates his Flux Blade and attacks. The mercenary is eventually forced to retreat, disappearing as if cloaked by some unknown means.
The group proceeds to the transportation arranged by Seratz - an even faster skimmerboat than the last, which takes them to Ranbosh. They find Paulus' estate, and convince the guards that Paulus would like to see them (Sarili's one damn fine con-man). Inside they meet Paulus, who seems more like a wealthy aristocrat than a noble. Sarili and Don Roberto proceed to impress, flatter, and con their way into his heart, and he gives them invitations (they really did do a good job at circumventing the combat I had planned, and Sarili's trust pheromones didn't hurt...).
The group returns to Parthia to hang-out for the rest of the evening and the next day before going to the party. During this time Don Roberto and Sarili return to Abeen to purchase some fancy clothing (called a disco-suit by Sarili) and other adornments for the party. They eventually reach the party without incident and begin to mingle. Dan, Sarili, and Gavin sneak-off in an effort to "obtain more information" about the Circle of Light and how they might possibly be related to the Telemachos Crime Syndicate. Meanwhile, Don Roberto and Kantarra mingle among the other nobles. Don Roberto meets Cassidy Hawkwood - a newly-chartered Questing Knight who is looking for an entourage, and Baron Rafael Castenda, who begins attempting to "court" Kantarra. Gavin and Sarili meet-up and break-into a couple of rooms together, finding only a handkerchief with the Circle of Light symbol on it. A while later they find a room where they hear someone moving around inside. Upon finally picking the lock, they find only an open window and some open drawers of jewelry and such. Oddly enough, none of the jewelry is taken, but it has obviously been looked through. Don Roberto and Kantarra are still mingling (it's been a while now) when suddenly the wall in front of where the orchestra is playing explodes.
Body parts fly everywhere, people start screaming, guards and nobles begin charging towards the open hole to see what is going on, and the room falls into a general chaos. Upstairs Gavin looks out the window and sees a shadowy figure in the night, moving towards the house's west side. He clicks-off a shot with his blaster pistol but misses. They both hear the explosion downstairs and Gavin takes off running for the west wing while Sarili starts climbing out of the window. Downstairs Dan has rejoined the others just in time to see what Don Roberto and Kantarra do - a team of Muster armed with Rocketeers moving into the house, killing indiscriminately. Three of them have already gotten inside and more can be seen on the lawn. Don Roberto moves up to engage two of them with his sabre while Kantarra begins calling on Armor of the Pancreator. Dan uses his psychic powers to Headshackle one of the Muster into fighting his comrades. Don Roberto manages to kill one of them outright with a quick slice to the neck, while the others are too busy trying to deal with their Headshackled compatriot. Kantarra comes flying in with a kick and Don Roberto kills yet another, clearing the room of Muster. Meanwhile Gavin jumps through the 2nd-story window and manages to land skillfully on the lawn where he meets the shadowy figure - an Ukar. He fires-off a shot but doesn't manage to get a good hit on the Ukar, who turns and throws a knife, hitting Gavin but not penetrating Gavin's energy shield. Sarili manages to get to the ground and sees a group of people moving up behind the house, one of them motioning for him to come closer. Sarili does so and finds a Hazat Knight with his entourage, apparently concerned about the safety of the nobles within the house. His entourage opens fire on a couple of Muster who are trying to block-off the rear exit, killing them and stating obviously whose side he's on. He says something over the whisper pin and tells his group to prepare their boat for departure. Back inside Kantarra and Don Roberto decide that there are too many Muster approaching and they are not properly-equipped to deal with them, so they run for the back door, taking a few wounded nobles with them. Dan engages in a brief, freakish scene where he strips all the equipment off of his unfortunate psi-victim and then follows Don Roberto and Kantarra. On the way out Don Roberto picks up a stray Rocketeer and fires a blind shot behind his back, just to provide cover fire. He gets obscenely lucky and hits a Chainer in the head, killing him instantly. Gavin is still fighting the Ukar, when he notices the Ukar stops for a second and nods at him, then vanishes as if he were never there. Gavin, frustrated, heads for the rear of the building where he saw Sarili climbing down and meets-up with Kantarra, Don Roberto, and Dan bringing up the rear. They all head for Sarili and the Hazat Knight, who begin leading them through some woods to the shore, all the while wondering exactly who they're following and what the hell is going on.
They reach the shore and find a boat has been prepared for them by the Knight's entourage, he motions for them to climb aboard, which they do. Gavin sees the same Ukar driving the boat, which both freaks him out and annoys him to no end. The Hazat introduces himself as Sir Juan Elabaro Hustin de Jericho, one of the first to become a Questing Knight in the service of the Emperor. Sir Juan explains that he knows of the Circle of Light, and that he was having the mansion checked-out as well, though little evidence was found.
They travel on the sea a bit and finally come to a floating Gjartin city, pulled by giant whale-like Leviathans. Sir Juan bids them farewell and says he'll take care of the wounded Paulus and his guests. Juan also pulls Don Roberto aside and tells him that something strange is going on within House Hazat, though what it is remains a mystery. Meanwhile a little girl runs up to Don Roberto and hands him a picture, obviously done by her. The picture is of a mettalic flower in a redish wasteland. The flower appears to be bleeding, and is the only thing in the landscape. It resembles the picture Marduk and Miguel found on Aragon at Sir Ramirez's mansion. The group gets transport back to their manor on Parthia via jet-boat, and the night is ended.
The next morning Gavin is awakened by a radio signal in his Ether-Ear from Boss Seratz. Seratz goes on about how there was a quake at sea last night and some ruins popped-out of the sea. He gives Gavin the coordinates and tells him to get over there soon, as other Scravers are surely on the way. Gavin rouses the rest of the group and they set-off for the ruins.
Upon reaching the ruins they see two gigantic spires sticking-up out of the sea, both with large gargoyles at the top facing each other. The two spires are approximately a half-mile apart, with only open sea in between. Gavin picks one of the spires to hit first and begins climbing. Don Roberto, Kantarra, and Sarili begin to follow, but Sarili slips and falls back into the water. He decides to stay on the boat with Dan (Marduk is still back working on the ship). As they near the top of the spire, they notice another vessel approaching, and notify the others on the boat of this.
Stepping-up the pace, they climb in a small hole which is found in the back of the gargoyle's head. The passage suddenly turns upwards, without ladder rungs, which forces them to make a strenuous climb to the top. At the top they find another passage going forward a few meters, then turning downward. However, this passage is filled with water, so Don Roberto and Gavin leave their gear and dive-in, Kantarra stays behind to cover the hole just incase anyone tries to sneak-up on them.
The tunnel leads downward a ways and into a room lit by an odd purplish light which emanates from the far corner. Don Roberto engages his flux-blade so they can see, and they find the room to be a blank square, save the odd device in the corner. The device in the corner looks much like a television hanging from the ceiling by a large stone cyinder. At the end of the cylinder (the TV-looking thing) is a metallic box where the light is coming from. Inside the box is what appears to be a shape, but Gavin and Don Roberto can't seem to make sense of what it really is. The "shape" seems to be in more dimensions than they can really handle, and they try for a short time to get it into focus before heading up to get another breath of air. The second trip down they continue trying, finally Don Roberto gets it and realizes there's an object behind the shape, which appears to be some sort of illusion. He reaches in and grabs the object, and everyone is overtaken by a vision...
Everything is black, except for a lone bright light in the distance. The light grows nearer, and as it does, a robed figure can be seen kneeling in prayer before it. The light itself is a flame, a holy flame, floating in the air. The figure turns, revealing its face - it is Zebulon, the Prophet. The face slowly changes to that of an unknown man, nondescript save for the compassionate presence which he exudes. The face changes again, this time to that of the individual viewer (Sarili sees himself, Gavin sees himself, etc.). Then the scene changes past scenes in the Epic, such as the crashed battlecruiser on Bannockburn, the fight with the Symbiots on Stigmata, etc. During this time they also hear disconnected phrases from the past, Kantarra introducing herself, people referring to Brother Gustancio as "Kalki the Savior," etc.
The vision fades and they are back in the water, Gavin and Roberto swim back to the surface with the object while down below Dan and Sarili watch the other craft get closer. Roberto and Kantarra climb down the rock and rejoin the rest of the group. Gavin however decides he's going to swim to the other gargoyle. There is a short fiasco with the others trying to get him into the boat and such, but eventually the two gargoyles both sink back into the sea before the archaeologist reaches them. Meanwhile, Roberto hands Kantarra a rocketeer with one shot left in it (leftover from the battle on Ranbosh). Kantarra recites the Rightfully Guided Hand and fires off the shot at the other craft, damaging it badly. The group returns to Abeen on Vindredys to show Marduk their new find and to hook-up with Boss Seratz.
On the way to meet Seratz, of course, something goes wrong... A large group of VERY well-armed people cuts them off in the middle of the street, led by the Charioteer, Azram Nokal. Azram stands about 7' tall and is swarthy, with shoulder-length black hair - he looks like an al-Malik or perhaps a Hazat gone wrong. Azram was hired long ago by Duke Rakim al-Malik to kill Pitt, Kantarra, and Marduk, and he finally caught up with them. Marduk prepares to open fire on Azram, but before he does so Shleesh charges in, leading a band of Inquisitors. Shleesh accuses Azram and his group of hired killers of deficating on the statue of St. Hombor. The Inquisitors, somehow thoroughly convinced that Shleesh is right, haul Azram and his companions off to be judged. Shleesh informs the group that it wasn't them (though he doesn't say who it was), and tells them they should probably leave the planet very soon, as the Inquisition and Azram will soon figure out the ruse.
The group hurries to Seratz's brothel and make their business with him short. Seratz returns the goggles to Gavin and tells him that they followed the "cord" to its source - a Telemachos hideout. Seratz's men destroyed the hideout and recovered the source of the strange "cord" - a small black stone bereft of markings or identification. Gavin asks to borrow the stone and Seratz grants his wish, stating that he would eventually like to have it back. Seratz also tells him that his superior, Christoph Harrison, would like to speak with Gavin, back at Soledad's Tavern in an hour.
They wait with Gavin at Soledad's for Christoph to show up. When he does, Christoph tells Gavin that he has no new projects for him, so he is free to roam as he pleases. Christoph recognizes Marduk and Kantarra from events in the past and cautions him that those two get involved in a lot of trouble and weird situations.
Just before they are done talking dozens of screaming people run by outside. Marduk and Don Roberto go to see what the problem is, finding the undead priest which has been chasing them for the past few months is here on Madoc, shuffling down the street towards them. Marduk informs the others that they need to leave immediately and they do so, but not before Gavin, Sarili, Dan and Don Roberto get a good look at the "priest."
They head for the ship and begin heading for the gate, deciding where their next destination will be. There is a short debate between going to Pyre or heading towards Grail, and after a friendly swordfight, they decide to hit Byzantium Secundus and then Pyre.
2. As he is running from the Muster attack at Paulus Li Halan's party, Don Roberto fires the rocketeer behind him, not even looking to see if he's even shooting in the right direction. In a stroke of blind luck he rolled a critical success (I think his target was 4 or something), and I ruled it was so much fun that he just hit one unfortunate Muster in the head, killing him instantly. Needless to say, the other Muster were a bit hesitant to pursue them after that.