OttL Session 34: Natsu's Divinity

General Summary

Polaris Aftermath

• Immediately after the crew returns to Barry the Airship, Ignacio Icarsus is confronted for his refusal to help in the previous fight.
• Ignacio Icarsus makes little effort to defend himself, and voluntarily leaves the crew.  He later sends 1200 gold, a scroll of sending, and a farewell letter back to the airship
• Thaiva Phenol goes back to the keep on her own and talks to Promise one last time.  The queen is thankful for the crew's assistance, and offers assistance in the future should the crew find themselves in need

The next morning

• Natsu reunites the kenku children with their mother.  The daughter attempts to give Natsu her stuffed dog, but Natsu refuses it so the child instead presents her with feathers from each of the three of them.
• Hobbs requests to go to the Feywild to talk to Izar
• Dreamonskii departs, offering to try and find the crew some work once he gets back to his office in Lucileastil.  He also leaves Thaiva Phenol a sending stone to contact him next time
• Femtid lists off the events since she joined the crew (discord link)
• Natsu visits her mother at The Wandering Tavern to borrow money.  She agrees on the condition of being invited for poker.
• Tsukiko helps Natsu and Hobbs visit Stasterry, by use of a magic portal hidden in The Wandering Tavern.  They buy the tome of clear thought from Bookworm Kaiser.
• They return to the airship using the Badge of the Wayfarer.  Tsukiko sneaks along too by unknown means, wolf whistles at Femtid, then leaves again.
• Thaiva Phenol goes into town to stock up on booze.  Femtid comes along to get some clothes less likely to make Caerbor Klaedris ogle her.  Caerbor Klaedris turns into a frog when he hears about this later
• Thaiva Phenol expresses an interest in going back to Keridland to do something with Daisy's old home.

Poker with the Gods (discord link)

• The doorway to Natsu's cabin becomes a portal to Ysgard, which Olidammara is using to host a poker game.
• Players are Olidammara, Natsu, Thaiva Phenol, Tsukiko, Redacted, Femtid, Penguin, Istus, Nemain, Zerrof, and The Traveler.
• There is a considerable amount of small talk, including some veiled and not-so-veiled hostilities, especially between Penguin/Tsukiko, Penguin/Olidammara, and Natsu/Istus.
• Players are eliminated in the following order: Redacted, Femtid, The Traveler, Istus, Thaiva Phenol, Nemain, Zerrof, Natsu, Olidammara.
• Zerrof recognizes Femtid, and says her conduit has changed unexpectedly.  The two of them go back and forth for a little bit, and Zerrof says he looks forward to seeing her join the Einherjar if that is what she decides.
• The gods warn Natsu how hard the road to and position of godhood would be.  This conversation borders on trying to talk Natsu out of it, but she holds firm
• They discuss Arrius, and potential replacements if the party aims to overthrow him.  There are a few ideas, including the possibility of Natsu claiming Shippo for herself and becoming an Archfey as a stepping stone to godhood.
• The final hand is between Tsukiko and Penguin.  Tsukiko wins by invoking her conduit.
• Penguin warns that Lolth will likely declare war on Natsu the moment she ascends.  She would need support from other deities in order to protect herself and/or slay Lolth
• Natsu's to-do list is the Avatar, Arrius, military support, ascension, and then dealing with Lolth. 
• Penguin offers his assistance with every step of the above list.  Olidammara protests, advising Natsu to spread things out a little, but does ultimately support Penguin's goals of finding an excuse to take down Lolth

A spark of divinity

• Before any of that, though, Natsu needs to become divine.  To that end, Olidammara offers her a "spark", a glowing ball of light, and asks her to eat it
• Natsu does show.  The transformation is extremely dramatic and painful, but at the end she is on the road to godhood.  Her wizard spells have been replaced with cleric ones.
• Hobbs comes in to help Natsu recover, and then the gods begin to take their leaves.  Natsu dispenses hugs to both Olidammara and Penguin.
• As other gods are leaving, Natsu asks Olidammara if she could rule the astral sea, which is currently in his domain.  He is actually pretty amenable to this since it is a lot of work to manage two planes all on his own, but he does want to maintain at least a few of his ships there.
• Hobbs gives The Traveler a few gifts before he goes: a clean blanket, a drinking horn, and a pouch of fancy marbles.  He leaves to visit Sigil.

Ambitions

• Femtid and Natsu talk about plans for the future.
• Natsu wants to be a mother
• Femtid wants that too... and also wants to be a priestess for Natsu
• Femtid is considering intentionally contracting Moon Plague so that she can better teach others how to deal with it.  Natsu offers to help her decide
• with some back and forth, and use of her conduit, Natsu discovers that, depending on the vector of transmission, she got different things.  Notably, she could become a young white dragon from kissing Natsu

Checking Hands of Fate in the Tikipedia 

• Natsu and Thaiva Phenol search the Tikipedia to see how it depicts various people they know:

Character	Title	Image
Femtid	The Lost	Hinfyire Soriel holding her by the throat, hand wreathed in black flames.
Thaiva Phenol	The Captain	Being elected
Natsu	The Empress	In her wedding dress, gazing out at the Astral Sea
Hobbs	The Husband	The wedding
Tsukiko	The Chosen	The page depicts Tsukiko bowing down to a nine-tailed Natsu. They are standing on a feywild hilltop, observing a great wildfire in the forest below
Dreamonskii
Caerbor Klaedris
Kiri	The Vigrid-Born	an egg
Izar	The Unicorn	It shows him being handed a letter by a band of adventurers.
Hinfyire Soriel
Arrius	The Dictator	being inducted into the Unseelie Court
Faren
Haru	The Protector	An adult blue dragon is shown tearing into a group of about a dozen soldiers with wild abandon. The battle is gruesome and bloody.
Amadeus
Memento Ipsum
Redacted	The Parasite	The portrait is strange, and in two parts. One appears to be the face of an adult drow male. The second... a strange mishmash of shapes and colors which I will demand a medicine check to understand. The title is "The Parasite"
Alibor Klaedris/Kilfras Klaedris/Ulmec Soriel/Klethter Lorqull	The Montian Rebels	They are seen standing around a table in the Xumasha keep

Interpersonal drama

• Thaiva Phenol confesses her involvement in Faren's death to Natsu
• Natsu tries to tell Thaiva Phenol that wasn't worth it, but Thaiva Phenol insists it was. 
• Natsu pledges to get Thaiva Phenol her soul back one day
• Thaiva Phenol confronts Redacted about him slapping Natsu when she was unconscious after consuming the spark
• Redacted sees his page in the book and shuts himself in his cabin.
• Thaiva Phenol goes by The Wandering Tavern to discuss this with Tsukiko. She claims his page in the book has always been like that, and she is confident he is not a danger. He thought Redacted already knew about it.

Arrius on the Airship

• When Natsu goes into her room alone, Arrius is suddenly behind her.
• He tries to convince Natsu that her mother is betraying her, and the gods are using her. 
• Natsu refuses to believe it, so he forces her to use the orb.  She sees Tsukiko talking to Lolth:

The orb seems to shudder for a moment, as if it is resisting. Arrius sees this and rolls his eyes. With a snap of his fingers, the vision comes into focus. Tsukiko is standing before A large drider goddess, arms crossed, and speaking with all of her usual swagger] Why must you nitpick on every little thing? I told you already. Everything is going according to plan.
Don't give me that face. She was exactly where I told you, wasn't she? It's under control. Then there's Sigil, of course... I'm sure you saw what I did there a few days ago. What Ouroboros did.
Just because you lie to the people who work for you doesn't mean we lie back. If you really think I'm lying, then just do what you always do. Kill me and move on. I'm waiting.

• Natsu screams as the vision cuts out, causing Thaiva Phenol to charge in.  Arrius takes his leave, plane shifting away.
• Femtid follows, and while Natsu is being comforted, Femtid suddenly dives forward to kiss her.  Hobbs later confirms with the monocle that she has successfully contracted Moon Plague 

People Break Down

• Thaiva Phenol has a mental breakdown, and Caerbor Klaedris starts to comfort her
• Thaiva Phenol's breakdown is interrupted by Redacted having an even worse one - He is found in his room, having vivid hallucinations of a mind flayer in a suit, and the death of a squadmate named Phasirru.
• Femtid comforts Redacted, saying that none of her visions of him before she lost her old conduit depicted him undergoing ceremorphosis
• When Thaiva Phenol returns to Caerbor Klaedris, he has turned into a toad. He lost himself when Femtid told him she had Moon Plague
• Caerbor Klaedris goes to great lengths to try and continue comforting her sister, including showing her an old letter from Zarinn Klaedris which reads, in part:

  But most of all, I'm scared of the day when someone comes to me for answers and I don't have them. What do you say, when you're just as lost as they are? That's the one that keeps me up at night.

Report Date

26 Dec 2020