OttL Session 8.5B: Natsu and Thaiva talk to Plato

General Summary

Natsu describes her vision to Plato, who proceeds to summarize the nature of Conduits and their powers, and a little bit about The World of Forms and the nature of Fate and Free Will. He also says that it sounds like her vision is actively being interfered with. The only thing that the Church of Ascension has found capable of suppressing a Conduit power is another Conduit power.
Thinking about potential enemies, Natsu tries to recall other powerful people from her home. The village elders would certainly qualify, as would her parents. Plato says that if her parents were awakened conduits then that might explain why Natsu was able to manifest her powers so easily. Natsu also says that she is extremely upset with her mother for leaving her behind.

What did your mother teach you?
She taught me how to steal.
Did she steal a lot of things?
She stole my childhood.

Moving on, Plato asks for a demonstration. Natsu predicts tomorrows weather: lightly stormy, but not enough to prevent an airship from flying. After some banter about Natsu smelling like a wet dog, Plato asks what Natsu is trying to figure out. At the moment, Natsu is trying to go to either Arborea or The Beastlands. Natsu tells Plato about seeing her father get attacked, but she lied and claimed this was a vision from her conduit instead of from Vecna's Orb.
Kiri interjects, and pulls out a large book called the Tikipedia. She turns it to a page depicting Tornac, a half-dwarven half-tiefling man who works for Penguin. Kiri claims to know him, and that Kei is probably being held captive by Penguin.
Getting back on topic, Plato explains that Conduits are an expression of a person's innermost self. In fact, it has been seen before that conduits could change over time. Nihilo, formerly conduit of The Void, is now the conduit of Duty. Thaiva Phenol does not know what hers might be, and neither does Plato, but he has some ideas regarding Natsu. He theorizes that it is perhaps "conduit of visions", or "conduit of omens". To help narrow this down, he asks Natsu to ask a particularly broad question. The right question asked to the right person at the right time, according to Plato, has the power to alter reality.
Natsu thinks back to an older vision she had, regarding The woman in a glass coffin. She makes a roll, and sees that same woman standing at a table with a half-elven bard and a black-furred tabaxi. They are arguing about something, and as her view shifts she sees a copy of the Tikipedia sitting on their table. They are looking at a full-page portrait of Hobbs standing on a mountain and being struck by lightning. Hobbs is a Hand of Fate, titled "The Amnesiac".
The book also describes The woman in a glass coffin. She is Aria, conduit of hope, and fought among the other Einherjar in Ragnarok. She was there in an attempt to prevent a disaster in her hometown of Sigil, by wielding a magical time-traveling music box. She was never able to outright prevent the crisis, but she did mitigate its effects.
Kiri also discussed the Training Games that they went through in Vigrid, and the strange cycle whereby the residents would fight each other to the death on a regular basis, only to be resurrected and made to do it again. Kiri, flabbergasted, casts sending on her friends back in Vigrid and confirms that those three individuals were indeed just about to go and discuss that particular image.
This confirms that Natsu is seeing the future, but the drunken vision she had of Aria shooting a young Kiri in the head was clearly in the past. Plato theorizes that alcohol itself may have been what caused the difference, and Natsu excitedly decides that it is very, very important for her to get drunk RIGHT NOW. Thaiva Phenol does not wish to leave just yet, however, and tells Plato that he can ask her questions as well.

Who are you?
My name is Thaiva Phenol. I am a sailor. I ran away from home at 14. I have loved one person in my life. That is who I am. That is what I know of myself.
...
Which of those things feels most important to you?
I loved one person in my life.
Who was that?
Her name was Arianna. I called her Daisy.

Thaiva Phenol then proceeds to tell the story of how Arianna Weskey was slain by her brother Chaze Weskey, who was one of the first Moon Plague patients.

Is this what you are running away from?
At the moment, at least.
Do you often run away?
Thats... all I've done.
Is that who you are?
I don't want it to be.
What do you want it to be?
I don't know yet. I haven't thought about it.
Well, then, I think we have found your question!

Plato encourages Thaiva Phenol to seek answers to this, saying he believes the rest will come naturally in due time. Natsu is determined to help, and uses her conduit power to attempt to answer this question for Thaiva Phenol. She crits this roll, for a total of 27.
She once again sees her vision of the orb, except this time she can clearly see Thaiva Phenol by her side. Something is different, though. The collar and armbands that she normally wears are missing. Thaiva Phenol explains that she wears them as a symbol of mourning for Arianna Weskey. This is all extremely overwhelming, and so Thaiva Phenol finally caves and agrees to go get drunk. Before they leave, though, they stop by the office of Camus, Conduit of Sacrifice, but he is unable to assist Kiri with her Moon Plague because he has already done so for Respect, the king of Esma. This causes Kiri to also very badly need a drink, and so they decide to travel back to The church of Olidammara together.
Along the way, however, they spot the damage to The Bloated Sunfish. Inside sits Bosgosho, covered in dirt and drinking after the events of Session 8.5A: Bosgosho Does a Thing. The three talk for a bit, but Bosgosho is antsy. Natsu and Bosgosho go up to his room, where he summarizes what he was up to. The two also plot a little and consider trying to have a heist and see if they can rob somewhere wealthy at a later date. While this is happening, Thaiva Phenol is still downstairs drinking with Kiri and gets absolutely hammered.
Bosgosho decides to take a long rest at the inn, while Natsu helps Thaiva Phenol get back to Barry the Airship so that they can have a long rest of their own. On the way out, Kiri stops Natsu and tells her that Kei has been captured by Penguin and is still alive. They would not tell her why he was captured, so Natsu uses her conduit power again in search of an answer. She has a vision of Tornac torturing her father.

Report Date

28 Jun 2020