OttL Session 32: Hydra In A Box

General Summary

RP Roundup

• Femtid checks in on Thaiva Phenol, who seems to be having trouble with her new responsibilities.  This leads to the two sharing an intimate heart to heart.  Thaiva Phenol bears some of her deepest insecurities as Femtid tries to cheer her up. (Discord link)
• As the above conversation ends, Femtid says something is off with queen Promise.  There was also a diamond in the keep with a dead otter over it; this looked wrong to Femtid but she didnt know why.
• Natsu helps Caerbor Klaedris with his Moon Plague.  She tells him he needs to clown around more in his frog form.
• Caerbor Klaedris provides some leadership advice to both Natsu and Thaiva Phenol
• Thaiva Phenol selects her brother Caerbor Klaedris as first mate and gives him a crash course in airship piloting
• Hobbs, Natsu, and Thaiva Phenol have an extended conversation with queen Promise.  There is a lot of mutual distrust and she demands a plan to protect ALL of the people before she allows uninfected to shelter in her keep.  She does not want them to feel isolated from one another. (discord link)
• They regroup on the ship to discuss plans.  A decision is made to hire Dreamonskii to help identify patients and Caerbor Klaedris contacts him by means of a Sending Station located in Polaris.
• Hobbs uses his Monocle of Souls on Promise and determines she is a follower of Olidammara, easing tensions somewhat
• When conversation turns to Haru, Promise is surprisingly hostile.  She does not trust Haru, and will not even refer to her as a person. 

  It did defend us, yes. But it is no person...  It is legion. They are many. But I don't want you to hear it from me. I want you to see it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. I want to know if you see what I saw.

• Dreamonskii arrives and agrees to help for 150g/night.  He is concerned about Promise being able to identify Redacted as a drow
• Hobbs tells Dreamonskii he wants to be smarter
• Dreamonskii finds out that Amadeus killed Hobbs and has a meltdown.  Natsu and Hobbs manage to calm him down.
• Thaiva Phenol tells Dreamonskii about House Klaedris planning a rebellion
• Natsu and Femtid console Hobbs, who is worried about the sadistic tendencies of his plague soul
• Dreamonskii suspects Arrius had something to do with the disappearance of Istus' Music Box
• Natsu, Hobbs, and Femtid go to the church.  Natsu reads fortunes for everyone while Hobbs serves as hype man and Femtid serves as an armed guard.

Protecting the City

After a brief bit involving Vannis trying to sell a pinecone to Dreamonskii, the party regroups and heads to the keep.  Hobbs is first to arrive, and begins negotiations with Promise on his own.  The rest of the party arrives partway through but Hobbs continues to handle negotiations himself.  The queen approves of the plan.  Moon Plague saves are rolled, and Natsu, Hobbs, and Caerbor Klaedris all pass their rolls.  Natsu enters her hybrid form anyway to help keep Himitsugami at ease.  After some coordinating with the locals and separating the populace, the party sets out to assist the city in various ways, which is handled using the Lord Kensington Rules for Skill Challenges.  The challenge is going very well just to fail at the last minute, as Hobbs runs into an Auroch. Hobbs engages the Auroch and defeats it handily.  He suffers no wounds in the process and by the time the party catches up to join in the fray it is already over. 

Hydra Encounter

As the party discusses next steps, they hear a hydra on the other side of a nearby building.  They go to investigate and find three of its heads chewing on one of the local residences.  Natsu attempts to communicate with it as Thaiva Phenol goes inside the house.  Thaiva Phenol finds a halfling freaking out while a nearby lioness struggles to break free of her chains.  

• The lioness is Vari, a young halfling girl.  Natsu had previously known of her from a vision she had for the girl's father in The church of Olidammara.  Natsu calms the lioness while Thaiva Phenol secures the chains again and then moves on to settling down the father.
• The Hydra is "defeated" by dealing almost no damage:
  • Natsu casts calm emotions to settle it down
  • Ignacio Icarsus traps it in a stone box by casting wall of stone
  • The hydra remains safely inside as the lioness is being calmed
  • Natsu teleports into the box in an attempt to calm the hydra, gets attacked, and then teleports out again
  • The hydra breaks back out
  • Vannis makes it less hostile by casting suggestion
  • Ignacio Icarsus restrains it with Bigby's Hand
  • Hobbs knocks the hydra prone, so it has no movement to stand up.  It does not attempt to break the grapple because of the earlier suggestion spell 

Aftermath

• Natsu leads Vari and her father back to The church of Olidammara and gets her chained up safely.  She gives the father a chance to have a bathroom break before leaving them again.
• The group regroups in front of the keep.  Caerbor Klaedris is there, trying to calm a large crowd
• The group talks the gathered citizens out of trying to break into the keep.  For now, at least. 
• They also spot a squirrel trying to sneak in and scare it away
• Thaiva Phenol plays a song about Natsu to the party and gathered crowd

Report Date

12 Dec 2020