Father X Sigrid conversations

Transcription of the conversations held between Sigrid Arnulf and Aboleth/Father (plus bonus Reika Günay convos).
Crossing the river as we approached the eaves of Davokar:

Father: Come, Daughter [unintelligible voices]...

After meditating by the Ael Nurnan lake: (couldn't find this conversation to verify exact wording)

Sigrid: Why do you call me daughter?
Father: Because you are a child of this land, and I own the land, for the sea will take everything.

On the journey back to Anglwyrd, no water nearby: (couldn't find this conversation to verify exact wording)

S: [Zone of Truth triggering a saving throw (it passed)] You're close?
F: Always.
S: Do you know Fetterfeld?
F: No, since it's not connected to my waters.
S: Why do you talk to me?
F: You intrigue me.
S: What lies in the sea?
F: Answers.
S: What do you place your faith in?
F: Nothing -- though things place their faith in me. Soon, you will.

Back near Ael Nurnan/Stone City of Bardh, travelling towards the city. Sigrid feels a pull to the water, goes to fish alone:

S: What's up, buttercup? [Re. a ripple and snake-like fish surfacing] Is that you?
F: It is always me.
S: What should I call you?
F: You could call me Father.
S: Oh feels icky. Um, I'll think on that. I've been thinking about the sea quite a lot, actually.
F: Yes.
S: Was it always corrupted?
F: Corrupted? You mean those creatures.
S: The ichor.
F: No. It has always been clean and pure until recently.
S: You got a timeframe on that?
F: What is time to a God?
S: Well. You know the Queen of Light, was it similar sort of time? Before the Queen of Light?
F: What is this Queen? Of what dominion does she hold sway?
S: A lot of people, to the south. But I want to talk about the water.
F: Yes. Come. Step into the water, Daughter.
S: If I stepped in. If I went in. Would it be a different place, like The Dreaming is?
F: The Dreaming.
S: You know it?
F: Yes.
S: A whole other world.
F: Not quite. It is the underside of the leaf that is your world. The veins and passageways are shared. As are the edges.
S: And what about the ocean? If here is the topside of the leaf and the Dreaming is the underside, what is the ocean?
F: The ocean is the stem which feeds the leaf. Brings forth all life.
S: And the last point at which the leaf shrivels, yes? The last piece of the leaf staying, after everything is gone?
F: Of course, for the stem is connected to the Greater Tree.
S: You have a golden ship?
F: [ripple pauses] A ship. How do you know of such things, Daughter?
S: It's in stories.
F: Stories.
S: A great glowing ship.
F: Of golden hue.
S: Mhmm.
F: These ships have sailed my waters, yes.
S: Where do they sail?
F: To the tree, little one.

After fighting with "The Keeper" and wanting to go after him while Hunter's Mark was active, and being frustrated that she didn't know what his deal was:

S: What is the Keeper to you? This necromancer?
F: Daughter. What is this necromancer?
S: We don't know. He also goes by the name of Keeper.
F: Yes. Keepers I know.
S: How do you know? What is he to you?
F: Keepers treasure things. They maintain them.
S: Maintain them as you will? Or used to and it's been changed?
F: They are nothing to do with me. They are elves. And keep to their secret ways. Until I take them.
S: Did the elves change and that's how corruption came to the waters?
F: All things change, Daughter. Except I, who is immutable.
S: I know time is nothing to you. But it is everything to me. Can this change be undone, the keepers elves again, the waters clean again?
F: I know not of the keepers' path to cleansing. But the waters could be unplugged, yes. The filth could be removed.
S: Could you do that or do you need people here, in this 'leaf'?
F: Yes. The plug. The filth. The excrement. It is on your side of the leaf, Daughter. Dive in. Take a look.
S: Will I come back? As I am? Not dead or undead or Keeper like.
F: All things change, Daughter. Except I.
S: I need to stay with this group. You would show me the plug of corruption. Your golden ships, your tree, what else?
[No answer. Sigrid submerges.]
[VISION: Sigrid can breathe, see underwater. Black droplets flowing downstream, drawn stronger than the current. Head to the sea, seeing further than Bardh. Floor below falls into chasm. Trail leads downwards, feels like forever. Tendril of flowing black ichor. Reach a graveyard of bones. Twisted and shattered skeletal carcasses. Not a sign of life, no fish. Moving ichor on every skeleton.]

After Anglwyrd Crossing's First Miracle, with Identify active from Goldriver. The connection pushed Goldriver out. Sigrid spoke deep speech, Dalitar Amakiir could understand Sigrid but couldn't hear Father's responses.

S: Are you there?
[cold tendril at the back of Sigrid's mind. recoiled but then drives forward with new purpose.]
F: Daughter. Yes, here I am. As I said, I am always here. Daughter, do you bring me gifts? More children to the flock?
S: There are those who want to ask you things, yes. But maybe not today.
F: Let them ask. Let them dip their heads beneath the waters. And see what is to be seen. [pause] You are different, Daughter.
S: What is it you want? How does the water being plugged affect you?
F: I am its custodian. But come, Daughter. You called for me. So what is it you want?
S: I want to know if we can trust you.
F: Trust. How fragile. How pathetic.
S: Trust is faith. If I cannot put my faith in you then so be it.
F: No. Faith does not require trust. Faith requires devotion.
S: You always said what I wanted to hear. Thank you for just saying something I didn't.
F: You are welcome. I do not say what you wish to hear. I speak--
S: Truth, ja--
F: --and you listen. But come. Bring your questioning friends beneath the water.

True Night, Sigrid asks for help in a desperate situation.

S: Are you with me or against me?
F: Ah. Anger. But not directed at me. How interesting. Is this an apology? No. T'is desperation. Of course I will help you Daughter. Just remember who I am.
[kills minion and 8 civilians]
F: Do you need more, Daughter? Do you ask for more? Or is it abhorrent to you still? We come back to the question of whether trust is required in devotion, and my answer is the same, but is yours?
[Sigrid doesn't answer, tries to cast searing smite and it doesn't work, she's got no power. Try to attack without it - natural 1. Arm is frozen]
F: I asked you a question. Why do you think it fine to plague me with your wondrous curiosities, and yet when I ask for things, I am in the wrong. No, Daughter. Answer me!
S: I want more, not for myself, but for these people. And I want trust in my actions, what I'm doing. I will not fail now. I will not be stupid. I'll not be a fool.
[2nd attack hit, fire smite became freezing smite.]
S: Help me defend life.
F: Help me unplug my waters.
[wall of water blocks her escape; he tells her to duck to avoid being hit by a tentacle -- he is protecting her]
[Sigrid tries to cast freezing smite again]
F: Daughter, you have yet to accede to my request.
S: If you help me to protect life, I'll unplug your waters.
F: A deal is struck.
[wave of water pulses out from her feet. Hair has seaweed twisted through it. Feel drenched. Crit hit creature - father chuckles at how she was going to hit]
F: No, no, no, no.
[Water coating the creature turns into ice and rips it open from head to tail, flayed.]

After the fight, Dal speaks about a better weapon:

F: Yes, Daughter. A better weapon. What do you desire to make you better? To improve? To fulfil our bargain?
[he moves her hand to pick up Dal's sketch of his improved sword]
F: Yes, constant improvement. Yes, you should always aspire to this, Daughter.
[Sigrid clutches Axel's sword, speaks back in mind, not out loud]
S: Something to remind me of my heart.
[sword turns cold, covered in ice]
F: Yes. This I can help with, Daughter.
S: [in Common, to both Father and Dal] We'll talk later.

The next day:

S: Thank you for my sword. I just wanted to say before it got weird. You were right about faith. It does not require trust. And you have mine. I'll do the job. No hard feelings. Oh, I'm thankful that I have your help in something that is not your domain. But, and there it is. I think it's in both our interest to add some trust here. Reading up on your last buddy, it seems like my biggest challenge will be my mind. Right? Doing this the right way, being prepared, stable, going a steady pace, whatever. Um, and I'm sure you've noticed that's personal stakes get in the way of that for me. I see something I care about, and then I kind of lose control of it. Um, and I'm sorry for being short with you and demanding answers that only make me spiral more. I'm working on that. But one thing you can do for me as a, whatever we are, is help me trust your company with my people, with these people, with the people I travel with later. They're important. Not just to me, but for this whole world. And they are not, you know, as the last conduit said, they're not a means to an end. And I need to trust I'm not leading them into some trick. That this is real and they're not food or tools or to be forced into devotion. Even if I die before the job is done. If you can't give me that, that's fine. Nothing changes between us. But my mind would be a lot clearer if you could. And I want us to work together rather than against each other.
F: Yes. The mortal mind. Weak, fragile. As you say, the last broke too quickly. They were unhelpful. I try. I give but a drop and still you falter. Cracks appear. So I withdraw to protect your mind. You are a means to an end. You are a tool on the face of this leaf. And I will use you. But there is no malice here, Daughter. There is only action or inaction. And if nothing happens, this world shall wither.
S: Okay. Okay. I gave you my word. I'm doing it. I don't know why you chose me. If you had any choice, but I'll try.
[fails insight check].
F: We have little choice in what we are forced to do in this world, Daughter. All have their roles. And we dance to the whims of others, though we know it or not.
S: I never danced before. That's a good way of looking at it. If I'm going to be a puppet, let's make it a show.

Reika is on the ship in the sea of the dead. She sees Rain quickly emerge from and splash back down into the water, and though she does not recognise the figure as Rain, she has a slight awareness that it is someone she recognises. She has an urge to leave the boat so climbs down the side of the ship to investigate, breaking through an invisible barrier and landing in the water. Tentacles grab her and pull her down to what seems to be a sea bed, strewn with rubble and boulders, as well as small whirlpools, as if the water is being drained away but there appears to be no hole or anything it is draining into. Then, the face of the Aboleth appears before her.

Aboleth / Father: Why did you leave your ship?
Reika: I saw something.
Aboleth / Father: You do not leave. These waters are danger.
Reika: I saw someone I thought I knew.
Aboleth / Father: No, you know no one now. Your time is over. The world you have left behind is gone.
Reika: The world is… What?.... Who are you?
Aboleth / Father: You may call me Father.
Reika: Father… (recalls a faint memory of a young woman with long braided hair and earnest eyes (Sigrid) desperately explaining about father) I know of you.
Aboleth / Father: Yes. My daughter knew you.
Reika: Where am I?
Aboleth / Father: The ocean of the dead. The waters that are the passageway to the beyond.
Reika: Is this the passageway that is plugged?
Aboleth / Father: Partially, though it is plugged on the side of the living.
Reika: Is that why I'm still stuck here?
Aboleth / Father: The waters are leaving. Since you were brave enough and foolish enough to step off the boat, you will stop the water leaving.
Reika: I did that? (Points to the small whirlpools) Was that me?
Aboleth / Father: No. But you will fix this. (The face disappears.)
Reika: Fix this…

Sigrid ready to get to work on the plug, Father shows her his broken, post-Qwyn domain.

S: Hey, Father. It's just you and me for a bit. So I'm thinking like, now's the perfect time. I'm here, I'm in Bardh, I'm feeling, ah, OK? I think maybe we should just go over the basics. Like. Like is corruption what you call the plug? And, like, is it at the bottom of this lake or is that just a vision and like, a bunch of other stuff. But, um, how does that sound? And then maybe we can, you know, follow up some leads, do some research. You don't know where the library is, do you? Here?
F: Daughter. Now is not a good time.
S: Oh.
F: There are things in motion. The world around you crumbles and you do not see it. I try. I try and ease your mind open to allow it to see sights. And yet it trembles. It cowers before the visions I would show it.
S: What do you mean things are in motion? Things are happening now? I thought we had more time.
F: Time is slipping away, Daughter. There are those who wish to bring ruin to the world and they have begun.
S: Show me. Show me. Fortify my mind, do what you need to do. If it's already too late to go easy or to get another person, show me.
[INT saving throw - 18 with inspiration]
[You feel cold tendrils slither around the inside of your mind and you're wrenched down into the water. Much more quickly than the last vision that Father showed you, you feel yourself hurtling bodily through the water, though, it's odd. You're still breathing, and it's not water. You can't move your hands to feel the sides of your neck. You sense yourself floating on the surface by Bardh, but here you are, tumbling through the depths. Down deeper, you see shadows below you looming out of the water. Great rib cages, long spinal columns leading into tails. Broken, shattered bones dripping with black ichor. Without slowing, without stopping, you hurtle down further still, smashing into the silt floor of the lake and appear floating high above a barren wasteland. A shattered realm, large boulders scattering here and there, gently rolling like tumbleweed towards an enormous fissure, splitting this region open. You can't tell how wide it is or how long it is. It stretches farther than even your eyes now can see. And there's no sense of scale here. There's no hills, no mountains, just featureless, apart from broken stones rolling towards this chasm. There you see a boulder fall, tipping over the edge of the fissure and falling into shadow. You cannot see the bottom of this fissure, but as you gaze upon it, you feel a sense of dread.
S: What is this?
[You feel Father's presence much more powerfully than anywhen since you first met him. His voice speaks in your mind.]
F: This was the passage way and it has been destroyed.
S: This was the ocean?
F: Yes. The stem of your leaf.
S: W-w-what does that mean? If the passageway between the leaf and the tree is gone... What does that mean?
F: It means a little plug is the least of our concerns.
S: OK so the dead couldn't move on before, but Life? Spring is coming.
F: No.
S: Can life get in?
F: Life as you know it is over, Daughter. There is only the void now.
[You feel your gaze drawn, horrified, to the chasm.]
S: Where does that go?
F: Everywhere.
S: Everywhere but the tree. Is the tree OK? Is the tree separate to this?
F: The tree. You know nothing of the tree. You cannot reach it now.
S: Well this was your domain. You build it? You find it? Can you make another? Can you reset this one? Life will grow again, forget us.
[You feel a coldness at Father's regard.]
F: You who understand so little seek to find an answer.
S: You're giving up?
F: There are predestinations. That once wrought, cannot be undone.
S: What does that mean? Normal words! So we can't change this?
F: Can you undo actions of the past?
S: No. But how did this happen?
F: The Great Enemy came.
S: Great Enemy? Like Creature of the Deep, Spirit of the Forest, Enemy of the Void, what?
F: A power spoken of in prophecy. Destined to destroy the world. I did not sense them in time. I was dealing with other matters.
S: So they're still out there. Have they got another target?
F: They have vanished into the void beyond the worlds.
S: No leaf, no nothing.
[You feel drawn to look at the chasm.]
F: They caused this fissure exiting my lands, having drained my oceans and burned my ships.
S: What of the dead?
F: Devoured. Lost. Plummeting through the endless void. They shall know no rest. This or they have been broken from this domain, forced back to a shadowy realm next to the living. A half life, cursed to wander, observe, and hate. They see all but cannot touch it.
S: Then we fix it. We bring them back. This has been done. It can't be undone but then-- There is a power equal to this somewhere. Someone.
F: There are laws, Daughter, that cannot be broken. I cannot.
S: Why not?
F: Do this then. Round up every soul and bring it to me.
S: This world breaker. Bring them to you?
F: No.
S: Bring every soul ever to you?
F: All that have died. Return them to this place and help me. Together, perhaps, we can find a way to stop the spilling of the innards of this place amongst the void.
S: So once all the souls that are supposed to be here are in, that [points at chasm] will close?
F: I know not. But you seem to desire action. This is what I can offer.
S: Well if we don't do anything, then people will die and fall into the void and there's no new life coming from the tree. No newborns, no new animals, no new plants. The leaf will be this same desert.
F: And all shall end.
S: As you said.
[You feel a jerk behind your navel and you are pulled backwards. You feel yourself plummeting upwards through the lake. Your face bursts up from the surface as you take a deep breath, once again in your own body.]
F: I am apologetic, Daughter.
[You feel the tentacles recede from your mind.]
S: Don't go. Don't go. I was genna-- I was going to talk to them.
[Take 18 points of psychic damage]

After the Aboleth killed Qwyn when they apologised for creating The Void.

S: What the fuck did you do that for? We had a fucking deal. You were supposed to protect life. Help me protect life. I mean, Qwyn didn't mean to do this. Theyr'e maybe our ticket to fix all this.-- They're a fucking ten month old!
F: --That enemy is not alive!
S: Does it matter?? If they can fix the afterlife and the ocean and then that protects life forever.
F: No. I protect life-- by preventing that thing from killing.
S: --When you're not doing a very fucking good job at it are you? They're a ten month old and they broke your domain. And you're here what? What are you doing? You're giving up?
[Sigrid fails a Charisma saving throw, takes 30 psychic damage as something in her mind snaps.]
S: Oh, you're just going to get me now? OK, great. Your last conduit.
[Sigrid nat 1s an insight check, as is tradition on Father insight checks. She believes there is something utterly wrong with this creature that he would attack her in this time when they need to be a partnership more than ever.]
S: If. If what you say is true, then I am your last hope. And do you know what I would do? Not for you. Although I think you're fucking lonely and sad. And yes, I see a lot of myself in you. And I want to be there for you because no one should be alone. But I am doing this for everything we see around us. I am not giving up, and I am trying to ally myself with people who can help.
[No response.]
S: So, go ahead. Kill me. Kill your last conduit and be stroppy and miserable and a failure forever.
[Can no longer sense his presence in her mind.]
S: Do what you f-ing will. I cannot do this alone. And I am going to fix your shit for you. And you are not going to get in my way. In any of our way. Or the last thing you will see is an empty world and an empty domain and forever in front of you. Dance to the whims of others, you dance to fucking my whim, OK?