The Collective - Session 51

This is the fifty-first session in The Collective campaign and the first and only session in the Domo Arigato storyline of the Current Arc. Player feedback ranks this session at an 8.4.

Notable Events

 * Gnorbitt was defeated at the hands of Gorrn and escaped into the city of Paradeen after dissolving into dust.
 * Vhonlia survived the attempt on Gertrude's life, kept alive by the magic in the ring that created the persona of the latter.
 * The party learned of Gnorbitt's tragic breakdown and his escape.
 * The crew of the Barchetta were offered an opportunity of employment from Badger.
 * Rosanhi learned of Hashar's disappearance, Roscoe of the dangers of divine service, and the party of Gorrn's broken past with Gnorbitt.
 * OTIS-AURO awoke in the night during a strange meteorological event and introduced itself to the party.



Summary
SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 1001: Having defeated Gnorbitt in singular combat, Gorrn watched in horror as his former friend turned enemy began to dissolve into dust before his very eyes, the "remains" of his body quickly filling into the cracks of the cobblestone and spreading out towards the alleyways with a clearly conscious intent to escape. Acting quickly, Gorrn emptied his waterskin and scooped some of the dust inside before tightly shutting the container. As the crowd gathered around the area continued to grow and murmur in shock, Roscoe observed a small ring upon Gertrude, who he had presumed to be dead, begin to glow before shattering, destroying the persona of Gertrude forever and returning Vhonlia to her true form. Approaching the pair, Gorrn and Roscoe shared a solemn exchange, confirming that what they had both witnessed had truly happened, before turning their attention to the scared and confused crowd of peasants around them. After a terse conversation with a pair of guards come to help extinguish the flames, the two brought Vhonlia to the Church of Arabella as quickly as they could to be treated.

Rosanhi, having gone back to the Church of Arabella to continue where she had left off, learned that the former leader of the church, Hashar, had disappeared some time ago and had never returned, not mentioning that he was planning on leaving. In his stead, a younger Human man with short brown hair, Brother David, had taken over the operations of the Church until his return. Expressing gratitude for her return but reprimanding her for also leaving the Church unannounced, David reiterated the importance of Rosanhi's presence as a true Cleric of Arabella, highlighting the rarity of such a follower and her effect on the operations of the Church. Understanding this and apologizing for her absence, Rosanhi began right to work assisting the sick and injured in the building before Gorrn and Roscoe, with Vhonlia in tow, burst into the church and demanded immediate medical attention for her. The duo explained what had happened with Gnorbitt to Rosanhi, who was shocked by this revelation but immediately got to work assessing her injuries. Satisfied that her condition was stable, the three departed to the estate to inform Flynt and Badger about what had happened.

During the party's absence, Badger approached the crew of the Red Barchetta to offer them a chance to "do some good". Interested in hiring them for his crew, he offered the former pirates free housing in exchange for working for him, though the scope of the work they would be doing was kept intentionally vague due to the likely illegality of the job. He further extended an offer of more "administrative" work to both Simpson and Peart, and questioned the Twins on their interest in the opportunity. While the crew were markedly more undecided, the Twins (while not immediately turning down the offer) explained that they needed time to get used to "real life" again before making any decisions about their future, saying that they were going to go down to "young Lofy's" house while they planned their next move. Peart and Simpson both also expressed less than enthusiastic interest in the job, also claiming that they needed more time to decide. The crew ultimately decided to rest and think upon the offer before accepting, departing to their rooms in the apartments below the estate to rest and recuperate after the long journey upon the sea.

Once everyone had returned to the estate, Badger and Flynt were filled in about Gnorbitt's tragic breakdown and his subsequent attempted murder of Gertrude. Struggling to understand why this had happened, the party asked Gorrn to fill in as much as he knew about the events leading up to this and why Gnorbitt might have snapped. Gorrn relayed as much as he could remember about his past, revealing that he recently remembered that Gorrn and Gnorbitt knew each other from long ago and that they had met in Squidsiddie alongside a group of students at the University of Squidsiddie. While the events surrounding that time are hazy or the memories false, Gorrn knows that something "big" happened to both him and Gnorbitt, though what it is he does not remember. He further revealed that he, during the trip to the ice caps in the north, had successfully communed with Bjorn, God of Honor and Strength, and had pledged his service to him, which may have been the reason that he had been able to resist Cencaela's temptations where Gnorbitt had not. The party continued to discuss everything they knew about Cencaela to try to form a better understanding of what had happened to Gnorbitt and what they should do next. During this time, Rosanhi mistakenly opened Gorrn's waterskin in an attempt to observe the dust from Gnorbitt's disappearance, allowing it to escape from the container and out of the state, much to Gorrn's annoyance. Determined that Gnorbitt may not be fully gone, the party discussed the possibility of first trying to redeem Kosvir, the Tiefling man whose actions had originally brought the party together, suggesting that if they were successful in helping him, they may be able to do the same with Gnorbitt. The party decided to break from the conversation to digest the situation on their own.

While Gorrn cooked gumbo, Roscoe bathed and engaged in conversation with his patron deity, Feydrid. From him, he learned that a deity's power on Orrin is linked to the size and fervor of their following, but that appointing divine champions, paladins, clerics, and otherwise was actually a drain on the deity's strength, as the power of those appointed is a portion of the god's itself. By appointing too many divine servants, a deity would leave themselves powerless, which is the reason that true clerics and paladins of any deity were a rarity. Some deities, such as Cencaela, whose followings are small and clandestine, instead prefer to appoint strong champions to do their bidding rather than seek out droves of followers due to the unpopularity of the tenets of their domain. After Roscoe enquired about the party's plan to redeem Gnorbitt, Feydrid warned that the reversal of a pact of divine service could have catastrophic consequences; even in the case of the most goodhearted of the gods, such as Arabella and Hyriat, reversal could easily result in significant physical and psychological damage to the individual, and Feydrid shudders to think what may befall such a being who experienced this reversal from service to his "sister", Cencaela. Feydrid further explained that while they were not siblings in a biological sense, he and Cencaela (along with Gallahan) belonged to a pantheon known as the Avian Trio, one of many groupings of the gods that manifested relationships between the deities by simply existing.

Badger went to the Church of Arabella to ensure that Vhonlia was alright. Upon his arrival, he informed her that he was putting together a crew once more and offered her the chance to join, as well as a gladius given to him by the Centurion. Expressing the desire to first rest and heal from her injuries, Vhonlia promised Badger that she'd be sure to give him an answer as soon as she was well again. Badger quickly explained what had happened to Gnorbitt following the attack, mentioning Cencaela's involvement and promising to help keep her safe, before returning to the estate once more.

During the night, the party was awoken to the sounds of movement outside of the estate. The automaton, the strange mannequin made of metal found inside an airship in the far north by the party, had become operational once more. Rising from within the cart, the automaton assessed its situation, unable to determine what year it was nor how long it had been powered off, but seeking to learn more about its surroundings. After struggling to clamber out of the cart, the being looked to the sky to witness strange glowing lights hanging in the air, bright green and pink waves dancing amongst the stars and clouds. While the automaton stood mesmerized by this unfamiliar meteorological event, the other members of the party (minus Flynt, who had fallen asleep outside of the door while attempting to clear thick vines barring the entrance to his new room) crept downstairs to investigate. Before they could continue their search, they heard a knocking upon the door. Rosanhi opened the door to see the automaton, now imbued with life, standing in the doorway, before introducing itself as OTIS-AURO and explaining that it had found itself stowed away in their "box" outside. Incredibly confused, the party allowed OTIS into their home before stepping aside to discuss what it was and what they were meant to do with it.

After a hushed discussion between themselves, the party approached OTIS once more and asked about what it was and where it had come from. OTIS expressed that he did not remember who are what built him, before a loud rumbling issued forth from his torso and a voice was heard uttering the words "Westerfeld, Test 86". Clearly a recording of someone "working on" OTIS, the voice declared test 86 to be a failure due to another error with the power source, before promising to the recorder that he would figure out how to get it working. After the recording ended and the party determined the voice to be that of one Deryn Westerfeld, whose name and address (10538 Overture Avenue, Squidsiddie) was printed on OTIS' leg, the party decided that it may stay in the house while it prepares to go search for its creator. Pleased by this, the sound of strange music began to play forth from OTIS. Throughout their conversation, OTIS continually mentioned the existence of "programs", which the party believed to be actual unseen entities that were gathering on them, causing reactions from shock to disgust. Unwilling to dive into OTIS' past further, Rosanhi instructed OTIS to "sleep" (which OTIS interpreted as standing upon the chair and doing absolutely nothing for the next 8 hours) before the party returned to sleep. Unable to truly identify the lights in the sky from her first glance outside, Rosanhi took a second glance out of the window to witness two glowing lights briefly emanate from the bright moon in the darkness; one blue flash within the rings of the moon, and one red flash upon Leirey itself. Chalking this up to visual hallucinations from her lack of sleep, she dismissed these flashes and joined the rest of the party in returning to their beds.