Aphrodite arrives beneath the Temple of the Amorous, where gold columns gleam above crowded baths and pillowed halls. Attendants are already drawing heavy bars across the doors.
Alberta stands near the marble basin, copper hair bright against her dark robes. Hitomi, Stella, Dolly, Saras, a young adult woman with a slim build, warm brown skin, short dark curls, and a russet tunic over fitted black trousers,, Rosa, Barry, Prince, Tsubomi, and Harriet cluster nearby, all watching the entrance.
the senior attendant
No one leaves until the discoverer of the tavern's loophole steps forward. Whoever spreads it will answer to the temple.
Stella Nabokov
The loophole is real, though! We only need Aphrodite to tell us how it works.
Alberta the Necromancer
A sealed temple, an angry priesthood, and forbidden knowledge. At last, a gathering with proper academic potential.
The senior attendant raises a bronze seal, and two younger attendants move to bar the final passage. Barry's deep murmur fades as every face turns toward Aphrodite.
Prince
Let the goddess speak. Truth has better rhythm than a threat, and this room is waiting for its first note.
✓ Quest Accepted
Ensure the group remains free to gather under the loophole
✓ Quest Accepted
Reveal how the tavern's loophole works
“I tell the crowd of buxom women that they can enter the tavern through the stories of other heroes and can then be adopted by players through the adopt an N.P.C. fiction.”
SUCCESS (Great Oratory, rolled -2)
Aphrodite
You can enter the tavern through the stories of other heroes, then be adopted by players through the adopt-an-NPC fiction.
Her words pass through the sealed hall like incense. The bronze seal flashes once, and every listening face seems to catch a different imagined doorway into a hero's tale.
Stella Nabokov
So we become characters in their adventures? Wonderful! Do they get to choose us?
Dolly
That sounds like being invited somewhere. I hope someone chooses me kindly.
the senior attendant
The path is understood, then. Stories may carry you into the tavern, and players may claim you as their own adopted companions.
The final bar remains lifted rather than lowered, granting the crowd its passage through remembered heroes. In exchange, the bronze seal splits with a sharp crack, and suspicion settles over the attendants.
Alberta the Necromancer
A fascinating mechanism. Narrative adoption, mediated by distant will. Aphrodite, your explanation has opened more than a door.
Quest Complete
Ensure the group remains free to gather under the loophole
Quest Complete
Reveal how the tavern's loophole works