OttL Session 24: Duncat aftermath

General Summary

Opening

As the crew wakes up on their way to Lucileastil, Ignacio Icarsus proposes using the plane shifting abilities of Barry the Airship to cut down on travel time since the crew has a number of urgent matters ongoing. He first convinces Izar and then later the rest of the crew. They have other matters to attend to in Lucileastil proper, however.

Reporting to Dreamonskii

Hobbs, Thaiva Phenol, Natsu, Memento Vitae, and Izar come to visit Dreamonskii and report on their mission in Duncat. Dreamonskii has clearly been drinking heavily, due to the fact it is Lurue's Day and Hobbs still does not remember him. Hobbs departs at this point to go shopping for fishing equipment.
The party catches Dreamonskii up on events, and he says they will attempt to find a peaceful resolution to the Duncat conflict. Violence is expensive, after all, and perhaps the denizens could be used as test subjects in their efforts to be the first to cure Moon Plague. He also sees the Ouroboros Pendant, and tries to bribe the party into revealing where they got it. With much hesitation, Natsu agrees.
Dreamonskii is hesitant going into the conversation, but he says Natsu is "bound to find out one way or another", and reveals that he knows about her situation with Faren. He says that he and Hobbs were similarly close, and engaged to be married on the Astral Sea before Hobbs lost his memories for the second time and was resurrected. Apparently they had even signed a Prenuptial Agreement, which among other things gives Dreamonskii the ability to force Hobbs to join him in The nine hells at the time of his death. It would also make it difficult for Hobbs to marry Natsu, given he is already engaged to someone else.
Dreamonskii proposes a deal: if Natsu reveals where she got the Ouroboros Pendant, then he will void his contract with Hobbs. Natsu refuses, instead going on the offensive. She asks Dreamonskii if he would really even attempt to enforce any of it anyway, and Dreamonskii admits he genuinely has no idea. He doesn't know if he can let go of what they had, but he also doesn't know if he could handle trying to win Hobbs back for a third time. He fell in love with Hobbs on the Prime Material Plane, then had to do it all over again when Hobbs died and lost his memories, but then Hobbs lost his memories AGAIN at the time of his resurrection and Dreamonskii isn't sure he is up to the task of going through it all a third time. He was hoping that making this deal would give him "a nice, legitimate excuse" to void the contract and move on with his life.
Dreamonskii thinks he already knows the Ouroboros Pendant came from Lenora anyway, and he was really just trying to see how much Natsu would be willing to give up for Hobbs. He's trying to convince himself that if he gives up and lets Hobbs go that someone else would be both willing and able to take care of him instead. Natsu convinces him that she is both of these things, and so Dreamonskii is guilted into surrendering the contract to Natsu.
Dreamonskii claims that Tsukiko stole Istus' Music Box, and the Sedna, the ship Hobbs was on, was attacked and sank carrying said box. Because of this, Dreamonskii blames her for Hobbs' death. He also provides the diamond, as agreed to previously.

Shopping

Hobbs has an extended shopping adventure, acquiring fishing equipment for the crew and a ballista for Alibor Klaedris. Much shenanigans ensue, including Hobbs summoning a giant hyena.

Scamming locals

Natsu and Vannis scam some of the locals of Lucileastil, making a considerable sum of gold in the process.

Replacing the broken door

Ignacio Icarsus pays for a door to replace one he had a part in breaking on the airship in a prior session. He overpays, and ends up with an extremely fancy door inscribed with dirty jokes written in primordial. A considerable amount of shenanigans ensue, before the merchant agrees to help remove said dirty jokes from the door and the crew is on their way.

Travel Shenanigans

The crew uses the Strange Prototype attached to the engine to jump from Lucileastil to Xumasha. Considerable shenanigans ensue, including Izar getting his horn stuck in the ceiling and Natsu getting slammed in the face with a door.

Delivering the Diamond

In Xumasha, Thaiva Phenol delivers the diamond to Kilfras Klaedris. There were no crises in the keep while the party was gone.

Delivering the ballista

Hobbs enters Alibor's room, with a giant hyena behind him. He has come to present the ballista he had purchased earlier. The conversation starts with "I have a bribe for ya" and escalates from there. When Hobbs asks Alibor why his daughters keep trying to kill him, he claims not to know. He says Thaiva "hasn't been his daughter for a long time", and Hinfyire Soriel doesn't tell anybody why she does anything. Hobbs takes this to mean that Alibor Klaedris is admitting to being a bad father, and the conflict escalates until Hobbs is forcibly ejected to the lobby. Ignacio Icarsus manages to prevent Hobbs from being outright arrested.

Thaiva talks to Hinfyire

Hinfyire Soriel gets Thaiva Phenol in a room alone. She starts by confirming that Thaiva has an Ouroboros Pendant, going so far as to demand physical examination of it before she is willing to talk openly. Hinfyire Soriel reveals that Lolth is forcing her into being her follower. Hinfyire Soriel formerly worshiped Vecna, but Vecna died during Ragnarok. Later on, she was approached by Lenora with an ultimatum: serve Lolth or else. When Hinfyire Soriel refused, Zarinn Klaedris was killed.
Hinfyire Soriel is too afraid to be disloyal to Lolth any further, at least not in a way that can be traced back to her. She goes on to explain that Thaiva Phenol needs to be afraid also, because now Lolth is issuing another: back down, or else Arianna Weskey will be kidnapped and tortured. Hinfyire Soriel herself would be ordered to do the torturing, and Thaiva Phenol would be forced to watch.
At Hinfyire's insistence, Thaiva Phenol punches her in the face. Hinfyire Soriel also admits to being part of the mission to steal Vecna's Orb alongside Tsukiko, Lenora, and Hobbs. Finally, she claims not to be involved with Hobbs losing his memory.

Lolth is Vecna

After the spiders depart, the ship is inspected.  After the inspection is over, Thaiva Phenol finally explains everything that has been going on with Hinfyire Soriel to Natsu and Memento Vitae.  During this conversation, Natsu accidentally lets slip that Lolth is secretly Vecna, information which Penguin had asked her to withhold.

Report Date

25 Oct 2020