OOS 1

Numrenth 20, on the airship from Wolis to Mudwall. It occurred between sessions 10 and 11.
== Transcript ==
Teer: You see Ondo, standing on the ship deck, occasionally moving back and forth like an npc. Approach and press the A button to start a conversation.
Tallo: "hi ondo!"
Teer: "Oh, hello Tallo."
Tallo: "whatcha up to?"
Teer: "...Watching the skies."
Teer: "How have you been enjoying the journey?"
Tallo: "you know. that is complicated. but i'm going to say it’s been good! how about you?"
Teer: "I am... content with it I suppose. Airship is the best way to travel."
Tallo: "so was the airship your choice then?"
Teer: "Ah, no, Kiono and Squire Veggrek made the arrangements. I am pleased to be in the skies anyway though."
Tallo: "oh? why's that?"
Teer: "It's a familiar view. I used to live in a floating city."
Tallo: "that is SO COOL and I would LOVE to hear all about it!!"
Teer: Ondo winces almost imperceptibly. "...What do you want to know?"
fsteak: (lol should i roll to see if i notice the wince)
Hollis: (roll... perception? Idk. Up to you.)
fsteak: (NO WAY I NOTICE WITH THAT 6)
Akaros: HOW DID YOU EVEN DO THAT YOU HAVE NO SMALL MUSCLES
Teer: IT WAS A CONSCIOUS REACTIONARY FACSIMILE OF EMOTION
Tallo: "well......how do you ensure no one just falls off the edge? why'd they live in the sky? what was it like? how high off the ground was it?"
Teer: Ondo does his best to answer the questions that Hollis doesn't have the answers to, explaining without going much into unprompted details.
Gloom: (rails, and magic, and there are bird-riders that catch people who somehow fall anyway, among other things.)
Tallo: "so...you miss it, huh?"
Teer: "Yes. Very much."
Tallo: "hmmm...." thinks for a moment
Tallo: "is that why you want to go back to how you used to be?"
Teer: "That is part of it, yes. I cannot go back, there's nothing to go back to. If I were to become like a warforged again though, I wouldn't be able to miss it as much."
Tallo: " :/ "
Teer: he makes no response
Tallo: "hmm......"
Tallo: "well ya know......i've been trying to be more open-minded about other people's perspectives and stuff. so....i dont really want to say much. but...i think i'd miss you if you weren't you anymore."
Tallo: "but i mean......well whatever it's fine!"
Tallo: "that's what you're going to mudwall for, right? to get....'fixed'?"
Teer: Ondo looks at you and its hard to tell what he's feeling because Hollis never gave him the ability to emote. Akaros would recognize this emotion as 'surprise'.
fsteak: how long is otto's pause because tallo will ramble a lot very quickly
Teer: "Yes, that's my mission in Mudwall. If I can sustain myself without Akaros, I believe it's possible I could be back as I was. I wouldn't... I wouldn't worry though. I don't even know if this person I'm going to see will be able to do anything. You may have me around for a while longer."
Teer: "And... maybe you would still like me in my original functioning. I wouldn't say I won't be me... Just... Different..."
Tallo: "....."
Tallo: "what are you planning on doing in mudwall exactly? how could you extract a-dawg from yourself??"
Tallo: "is he....on board with that?"
Teer: "It's not about removing Akaros. Well... Admittedly that may come up eventually, he most certainly isn't interested in leaving. The point is rather that without him, I cannot function at all, I become inoperational."
Teer: "My hope is that the person Sir Andy is sending me to see will be able to repair my root system, so with or without Akaros I'll be able to survive."
Tallo: "and you think repairing your root system will......take away your feelings? or make you forget everything that's happened or something?"
Tallo: "i don't really get how this stuff works."
Teer: "I don't... know either. All I know is that I was different before, and ever since I woke up, my roots have been dead and I've been experiencing more and more that I was never able to."
Teer: "The only thing that makes sense is that it's Akaros' presence. His interactions with my arcane core."
Teer: "Whatever happens in Mudwall may likely not be a solution. Just the first step, if anything."
Tallo: "hmmmm.....yeah i guess being dependent on a dragon for your survival is not the most optimal thing in the world...."
Tallo: "what's 'original functioning' Ondo like anyway?"
Teer: "Hmm... Well, picture me, but... more obedient. Agreeable. I was more sure of myself and my place."
Tallo: "obedient to who?"
Tallo: "a-dawg?"
Teer: "No! No, heavens." Ondo actually chuckles a little.
Teer: "The elves, my masters"
Tallo: "i feel li--well, you're not already obedient to elves?"
Tallo: "actually.....which elves??"
Teer: "I have tried to be. But the script feels all wrong, if that makes any sense."
Tallo: "i mean sky e--umm, well...never mind."
Tallo: "it doesn't really make sense to me."
Teer: "The sky elves, yes. My family specifically."
Teer: "It doesn't matter now anyway."
Teer: "When I'm functioning normal again I expect I'll obey whoever's suitable."
Tallo: "I feel like you're already, like, super duper obedient in general. anymore so and you just don't have any sense of self left...."
Tallo: "no no no, sorry, i'll stop now."
Tallo: "it doesn't really matter, whatever."
Tallo: "if that's what you really want. i guess since i asked to join this group....i'll support whatever you think is best. though i think there's more to think about regarding a-dawg."
Teer: "How do you define... a sense of self?"
Tallo: "uhhhhh.....like. who you are? what you want to do, and what you want to be?"
Teer: "Hm."
Tallo: "no, wait that's not a good way to describe it. ummm....."
Teer: "I can't say I don't want things, not anymore, but I'm not really sure what those things are."
Tallo: "okay how about this! what do you think of akaros?"
Teer: "Akaros?" he sounds surprised. "Er, well. That's... not an easy question."
Teer: "Akaros is a potential threat, a powerful force of destruction that I should be worried about. He is somewhat mean." Ondo pauses. "Yet I also enjoy having him around."
Tallo: "hehe really?"
Tallo: "okay and what do you think of yourself?"
Teer: "I am... a soldier and guard, the last living representation of sky elf culture. I am equal measures sure and uncertain at any given time."
Tallo: "when you word it like that. i think it just now occurred to me how cool you are oh my god."
Tallo: "um okay so those opinions and thoughts you have about akaros and yourself? they help make you....you."
Tallo: "i guess? umm explaining it is kind of weird. and i mean...this is just what i think, i'm sure others would describe it differently"
Teer: "That is true, I suppose. Before I never thought of myself, or held opinions outside of evaluating performance."
Tallo: "really? i mean i guess that's what makes a tool a tool but.....knowing you this way, it's hard to imagine you like that. that's sounds terri-- You want to go back to that??"
Teer: "I'm sure it must be difficult for you to understand. You've never not been-" Stops, looks at you. "well, you may not have always been you, but you've always been someone."
"Try to imagine... that you come into the world, and you always know exactly what it is you are supposed to do. Your purpose is so clear. You never feel pain, or fear, or grief. You hardly understand what those emotions are. All you know is contentment in fufilling your role."
Teer: "And then suddenly all of that is gone."
Tallo: "i honestly cant imagine that."
Tallo: "but....well thanks for explaining it anyway. glad to have a little more information."
Tallo: "and regarding me always being somebody....."
Teer: "...yes?"
Tallo: "i trust you, okay? if i share something with you, can you please promise not to share it with the others yet?"
Teer: "Of course. I promise."
Tallo: "can we go somewhere a bit more private? like....my bedroom?" (im assuming this takes place before s&s and would be the first other person allowed in)
Teer: "Oh... Sure?"
fsteak: into ze bedroom
Hollis: starwipe
fsteak: any comments on bedroom or can tallo dive right in?
Teer: Ondo looks around, taking everything in what one would assume is awe. "Have... Have you always had this?"
Tallo: "hm? oh yup, the bed is super great for bouncing!"
Teer: "Is it???"
Tallo: "definitely! you should try it sometime! anyway we should have privacy from the others here."
Teer: "Yes well... What did you want to talk about?"
Tallo: "Right! Okay!!"
Tallo: "Hehe, describe a person to me."
Tallo: "A random person you might come across."
Teer: "???"
Teer: "Ah... A person I have seen, or a fabrication?"
Tallo: "Fabrications are way more fun!! Oh, do that one!"
Teer: "Alright... A tall woman with red hair, ruby eyes, and a hooked nose."
Tallo: "Boop~" changes form into someone resembling that
Tallo: "Hello, I'm Madam Beatrice of the red-haired air travelers! Nice to meetcha~"
Teer: Golf clap.
Teer: "Very nice. How is it that you do that?"
Tallo: turns back into Tallo "Easy peasy. Saaay, I wanna have a beard?" grows a long beard "And there I have it."
Tallo: "I don't recommend beards though, they're kinda weird. I don't know how people keep drool and food out of them."
Tallo: beard poofs away
Tallo: "I think it and I do it!"
Tallo: hair changes a multitude of different colors on the fly
Tallo: "It's kind of the best thing ever."
Tallo: "And it's the biggest bummer I have to keep it a secret."
Teer: "That's... quite impressive. So it's an inherent magic? Could you always do that?"
Tallo: "Well it's 'cause I'm a changeling. We can just. Do that."
Tallo: shrugs
Tallo: "It's kind of our thing."
Teer: "Ah, I see. That is a pretty wonderful ability."
Teer: "So... that is how you have also been Fern and Lady Renn."
Tallo: "Ondo, I'm gonna give you a pass because you're prooooobably not familiar with changeling etiquette, but it's rude to ask a changeling about other identities they may or may not have had."
Tallo: "I'm tallo, okay?"
Tallo: "that's who i am right now. and that's all that matters right now."
Teer: Ondo is quiet for a while. "...Is it, though? You're here because of them. Because I came to trust, and wanted to help them."
Tallo: "i'm here because i want to be here. because of me"
Teer: "Don't misunderstand, I have no issue with you being this person you are right now. I just don't quite understand."
Tallo: "it's easy, dont think of me as anyone else."
Tallo: "sigh okay i guess it might be kind of weird for someone who doesnt know what a changeling is, let alone someone who doesn't know what a sense of self is."
Tallo: "sorry, im not super used to explaining this to people? and i'm just really excited to share and then you go and ask yucky no-no questions."
Teer: "I think I can accept that your sense of self has changed. But you have to understand, the others don't trust you. I am vouching for you because of the versions of you that I knew, correct? Are you saying they shouldn't matter?"
Tallo: "....dont vouch for me unless you vouch for tallo."
Tallo: "if this means you want me to leave the group, fine. i don't want to, but i will."
Teer: "I do not want you to leave the group."
Tallo: "but any of these others you think you're vouching for, i'm not them."
Teer: "But that does mean if you want to earn the trust of the party, you will be starting from nothing. With all of us, I suppose."
Tallo: "well, i mean of course. i just met all of you guys. and it wasn't exactly the warmest reception. :stuck_out_tongue: "
Tallo: "but i'm fine with that"
Teer: "Alright." He pauses. "I'm sorry if this question bothers you, but... Will I see Lady Renn or Fern again?"
Tallo: " shrugs I dunno, where are they from? Just go visit them or write them a letter or something."
Teer: "Tallo"
Tallo: "Yes, that is me!"
Teer: "I know you remember"
Tallo: mischievous grin
Teer: "I may not be intelligent but I am still cognizant"
Tallo: "Okay, you may not get it because it's the total opposite of what you're trying to do for yourself....."
Akaros: “This is fabulous and I almost regret eating that one changeling that one time.”
Teer: to Akaros "well I'm glad you're having fun"
Tallo: "But I am the most me I've ever been, okay? I feel like I'm finally free"
Tallo: "I don't want to think about anything else right now. I'm sorry."
Tallo: "I'm not trying to deceive, or be dishonest, or hurt anyone. I just want to be me."
Tallo: "I learned recently....well to be honest, I have a lot of learning and growing up to do. I don't want anything to hold me back anymore, okay?"
Teer: Ondo nods somewhat defeatedly. "I don't... there's a lot I still don't understand about you, Tallo, but if this is what you want, what you need to do then..."
"Then that's what matters."
Tallo: "Do you.....distrust me? Or hate me?"
Tallo: her expression is very flat
Teer: "I don't... distrust you. Rather I'm wondering if I'm still trusting you for the wrong reasons.  But I want to help you, if I can. And... I'm interested to see who you become."
Tallo: "hehe. thanks." mischievous grin returns "I'm gonna become awesome is what's gonna happen!"
Tallo: gives ondo a hug
Teer: "Yeah... Yes I think you are."
Gloom: (Hey Tallo. Make a Wisdom saving throw)
fsateak: [13]
Gloom: (as you embrace Ondo you feel the sensation of a cold drop of water on your neck. It passes almost immediately)
Tallo: feels her neck and looks behind and above her
Teer: "Is something wrong?"
fsteak: do i see anything??? lol
Gloom: (make a perception check)
Tallo: (lol 6)
Gloom: It's just you. And Ondo. And a mysterious room you got from a tiefling.
fsteak: (haha okay tallo will carry on as normal then)
Tallo: "Anyway, um... The reason I can't tell the others yet? It's not like I want to keep it a secret, really. It's kind of awful to not be able to change my appearance whenever I want."
Teer: "Oh? Then why don't you tell them?"
Tallo: "i cant. being a changeling is something that could get me killed. i trust you, but i can't trust kiono not to use it against me. and i don't even know how veg would react to it, though I feel like I really want to tell him...i can't. he'd immediately tell kiono."
Teer: "Kiono is... she's a good person. Even if she doesn't trust you right now. She's in a position where she has to be careful... But I cannot see her doing anything malicious. If we explained to her the situation, surely it would be alright."
Tallo: "NO. please don't. you promised. she has already almost killed me once."
Tallo: "i don't know what kind of a person she is. i don't know anything about her. and that's fine, she has her secrets, i'll try not to pry. but i CAN'T trust her. not yet.”
Teer: Ondo sighs. "I will not tell her without you doing so yourself, BUT-"
Teer: "I am vouching for Kiono. The same way that I vouched for you the other day. You may not trust her yet, but I do."
Tallo: "okay....thanks. so much."
Teer: "Of course. I've made some promises after all."
Tallo: "....okay well. i dont want to think on it too much..."
Tallo: "hey are there any forms you find REALLY cool? :smile: "
Teer: "Hm? Well, I'm not familiar with most races. Up until a couple weeks ago- ah, hm, actually, up until 900 years ago I spent most of my time around elves."
Teer: "Are there any very interesting things you like to turn into, Miss Tallo?"
Tallo: eyes totally light up "So many different things!!"
Tallo: cue her going on and on about interesting physical appearances, a lot of them improbable or impossible and changing into some of them while she talks about them
Teer: Ondo is totally engrossed, asks questions appropriately.
Tallo: enthusiastically loves his questions and continues on
Category:OOS