OttL Session 26: Tsukiko and Faren

General Summary

RP Chat

Between sessions, Thaiva Phenol helps Chaze Weskey and Arianna Weskey settle into The Wandering Tavern. Their belongings are carried over, and Thaiva herself is given an extra Badge of the Wayfarer to travel to and from the tavern. Additionally, Hobbs proposes marriage to Natsu and Tsukiko excuses herself from the excitement with what appear to be Moon Plague symptoms.

Toad's Crossing

Thaiva Phenol has Izar fly the ship back near Toad's Crossing, the common meeting area for departed souls. She enters with Natsu and then waits in line again to ask about her deceased brother Zarinn Klaedris, who apparently now resides in Ysgard.
As Thaiva Phenol is finishing, Natsu spots Lenora entering the building. She claims to have been ambushed and subsequently slain by a band of drow, which she believes were working for Lolth. They invite Lenora to join them to The Wandering Tavern so that she can hide out there away from the eyes of Lolth's forces.

The Wandering Tavern

Thaiva Phenol, Memento Vitae, Natsu, Vannis, and Lenora arrive in The Wandering Tavern. Simolio is tending bar and a couple of others are setting up for the poker game. The buy-in is 1000 gold, but Tsukiko had already paid Natsu's entry fee on her behalf so she can play for free. One of the strangers shows Natsu to her mother's office.

Tsukiko's Office

Natsu finds her mother in her office, which is gorgeous and features a small puppy. Conversation is stunted and awkward, but amiable enough. Natsu first checks on the her mother's health, but Tsukiko says she is doing fine now. A bit of meditation sorted out her Moon Plague symptoms just fine. Her father Kei, conduit of tranquility, is also back to his normal afterlife and is doing well. Brainweed has reached Shippo, but it is well under control. Tsukiko also believes that Natsu's home in Shippo should still be intact. Tsukiko also repeats her mantra that her orders are very important and issued by someone she cares for.
Having run out of small talk, Natsu quits beating around the bush and asks her mother what kind of Moon Plague she has. Tsukiko hesitates to answer, but Natsu insists she wants to know. Tsukiko looks her daughter in the eyes and breaks the news bluntly: her "other half" is an owlbear.
Tsukiko claims she caught Moon Plague "defending her home". When she went back in time using Istus' Music Box, the first thing she did was try to save Kei from the Owlbear that Natsu's visions predicted would eat him. Tsukiko was successful, but Kei scolded her for interfering with the natural order of events. This scolding triggered her Moon Plague, causing Tsukiko to turn into an owlbear, and eat her own husband.
The time travel is confusing, and terminology surrounding it sidetracks conversation for some time. The one Natsu is talking to right now was from the future. The one the party met in the Vale of Aaqa was from this timeline. There are five other artificial "simulacrums" scattered throughout the planes. Tsukiko changes the subject, and pushes Natsu again to figure out who is giving her orders. With a little bit of hinting, Natsu realizes that the one who gave Tsukiko her orders was in fact Natsu herself, in the future. This revelation is overwhelming, but Natsu passes her Moon Plague saves. Tsukiko also says her orders were specifically to ensure Natsu still got to make her own decisions, which is why she has yet to kill Faren.

Poker

Natsu returns to the bar, still reeling from her existential crisis, and drinks some wine to calm her nerves. There is some small talk with Memento Vitae and Thaiva Phenol before they begin playing poker properly. Natsu places second, behind her mother, and is paid 1500 gold.

Small talk

The party engages in more small talk with Tsukiko, asking about Murdoch and advice for fumigating airships. Tsukiko actually advises getting Murdoch's help in that endeavor. They also ask Tsukiko for another Ouroboros Pendant, but there are no spares available. Thaiva Phenol asks Lenora about Lolth, but Lenora says she is no longer loyal to Lolth. This is also why she believes she was murdered.

Unsupervised conversation with Faren

Natsu goes wandering throughout the complex, and inadvertently runs into Faren. She tries to pretend not to notice him, but Faren chases her down for a conversation. There is some small talk, in which Faren confirms Natsu's theory about her mother's orders. Faren hasn't done any time travel, but he knows about the future because of some visions she had while being held captive in Arrius' basement. He says that he still believes in Natsu, and what she will become. Faren also asserts that he and his father took good care of Natsu while she was being held captive.
This conversation is cut short when Tsukiko catches them alone and slings a dagger into Faren's arm and then teleports to it. Tsukiko is protective of her daughter and ends the conversation there. Natsu offers Faren a little bit of healing before returning to the bar.

Supervised conversation with Faren

Natsu returns to the bar a few minutes later, and a couple minutes after that Tsukiko reappears as well, with Faren in tow. Faren's shirt is still bloodied, and he appears very scolded, but the two sit down at the bar. Tsukiko tries to act like nothing ever happened, and engages in some small talk about the party's future plans. She also shows off her cubic gate, a box with six buttons that open portals to different planes.
Natsu tries to pass Faren a note:

Can you tell me about the visions I had back then?

Tsukiko sees the attempted handoff and intercepts it. She inspects the note, shrugs, and then hands it to Faren anyway. Faren is nervous, seemingly surprised that he is allowed to answer, elaborates a little on his earlier descriptions of the visions. Natsu was asked about politics, who was plotting against Shippo, The Prince of Fools and about her own future with Faren. According to Faren, he and Natsu are destined to marry and live together. Natsu herself is to become a goddess of fortune and also hold domain over Moon Plague patients. Some things in reality are different from the visions, though, and the visions don't all match the future Tsukiko came from. In the other timeline, Natsu and Lolth were supposedly allies.
Despite these differences, though, Faren is dead certain that he and Natsu are destined to be together. Faren also reasserts that he and Tsukiko will help Natsu with anything she needs. Faren also claims to have been spreading the good word about Natsu and her visions among the populace of Shippo. He is already actively trying to create a culture of worship around her. His father Arrius has also posted a guard at Natsu's house to ensure it is not ransacked. Natsu is very confused by this, but Faren insists that both he and his father care for her. He claims the imprisonment was for her own protection. To keep her from "running away from fate".
Thaiva Phenol, who had spent most of this conversation repeatedly insisting it was time to leave, gets even more pushy now and finally convinces the party to leave the tavern and return to Barry the Airship.

Back on the airship

The group regroups on Barry the Airship, and Natsu explains some of her backstory to the others. She and Faren were to be married. On the day of the wedding Natsu had a large vision which knocked her unconscious. She awoke chained in the basement of village elder Arrius, Faren's father. Faren chose to serve as Natsu's personal guard during her imprisonment, in order to ensure she would not be "sullied" in captivity. Natsu is convinced that if Faren finds out about her newfound engagement to Hobbs then Faren will try to kill Hobbs. Despite everything, though, Natsu doesn't want Faren dead. There is genuine love there, and Faren was her only solace for much of her captivity.

Plane shifting

After considerable small talk with Hobbs, the party elects to plane shift back to the Prime Material Plane. It takes Ignacio Icarsus a few tries to get the coordinates right, but the ship makes it back to the Prime Material Plane, above Mirror Lake. Along the southern shore of the lake, a large glass sphere can be seen. It resembles the "beacon" seen in two of Natsu's earlier visions: Portents of a Beacon and Portents of a Beacon II. The remainder of the session is spent on small talk.

Report Date

31 Oct 2020