After debating on what happened to Donovan, the party prevents the rest of the plant construct research team leaders from getting their hands on Donovan’s work. Amanti sets some new goals for himself regarding his future and Nadyn.
Characters Interacted With
Donovan: Seems to no longer believe he’s Donovan, though retains some (all?) of his memories. Has also retained some of Mei and the party’s memories as well.
Michael: Helped the party out.
Master Hua: Explained how Donovan had memories from Mei and the party now, and that it’d be difficult to separate them. Contemplating making an appeal to the gods for help.
Yao Lufei: Wasn’t pleased by the plant constructs’ nor party’s antics, nor at the fact that his son doesn’t think he’s himself anymore.
Plant Constructs: Seen following Mr. Lufei around, shoved into a Bag of Holding and given to Michael.
Thien: Let the party stay at his and his parents’ house for the night. Consulted with Amanti to create a wooden pendant for Nadyn.
Amanti’s Wildfire Spirit: Was concerned over Amanti’s state, staged an intervention for him.
Nadyn: Entertained conversation with his father again. Very disappointed.
Liu: Showed up at the very end of the session again to ask for help.
Other Characters Mentioned: Mei, Thien’s Parents, Soup, Mei Mei the cat
Locations
- Master Hua’s Demiplane
- Eastern Shengdu Temple
- Thien’s house
Session Overview
The session began where the last left off, after Donovan woke up from his magical medically induced coma and claimed he was not Donovan. The party broke off from the NPCs to discuss amongst themselves, theorizing that maybe he had amnesia. They then called Michael over to consult with him, though he did not seem to have much good information beyond what was already said—How Donovan’s soul/essence seemed like an amalgamation of many different sources at this point, but still largely Donovan. In other words, it didn’t seem at face value that he was possessed by a Spirit so far. The party speculated over trying to jog Donovan’s memories and if that’d help at all. They also debated on how they’d break the news to his father, worrying about how he’d respond.
Having done all they could, the party left Master Hua’s demiplane to prep the infirmary for Donovan’s return. On their way, they discovered another group of researchers and government officials from the plant constructs project had arrived, looking for the plant constructs. On high alert, they tried to find the plant constructs before the rest of the project team could arrive, as Michael stalled for time hitting up conversation with them. Reasoning that the plant constructs were probably still with Yao Lufei, the tracked him down, where sure enough, he was being followed around by the plant constructs. The party tried warning Mr. Lufei that the rest of the research team was looking for them, but he did not seem to get the concern, and tried shouldering past the party to go find the team and help them. Finally, he relented, and after a comedic attempt to round up the plant constructs, they were safely stored away in a Bag of Holding. That matter taken care of, Yao Lufei asked the party how his son was doing. After some careful hesitation, they informed him of the condition Donovan was now in, to which Yao became even more exasperated, though in the end glad he was still alive.
The party decided to create a story that the plant constructs fell apart: Bachariel and Fanna crafted fake remains to deceive the research team, while Michael chatted up the researchers and told a cover story of how they fell apart from lack of maintenance due to Donovan’s illness. The ruse was successful, with the project team appearing worried about how such a thing happened and leaving to go investigate the ‘remains’. After they left, the party gave the Bag of Holding containing the plant constructs to Michael for safekeeping, as he’d be better at wrangling them than the party.
With the previous crisis averted, Amanti approached Bachariel, asking if he knew any master woodcarvers to help him make a pendant for Nadyn. Bachariel conveniently did, and brought him and the party to Thien’s house in Nam. After the party joyfully caught up with Thien, Amanti explained how he wanted to commission a handcrafted pendant for Nadyn to show him how much he cared for him. Thien, knowing his parents would want to help Amanti show Nadyn he was no longer a “bad dad”, said that they could create the pendant for 170 gold. After Thien’s parents returned from their trip out, the order was fianlized, and everyone enjoyed a homecooked meal from Thien’s parents and spent the evening listening to radio shows.
As the party was going to bed, Amanti’s Wildfire Spirit appeared in front of Amanti, questioning him on how things had been. Sensing Amanti was still greatly upset over the recent drama with Louisa and Nadyn, it sought out Brooks and Bachariel, asking them to try and talk with its master. The two went into Amanti’s room, who realized clearly that something was happening. Fanna also joined, listening in by Amanti’s doorway. Brooks and Bachariel said that the way Amanti was doing things right now couldn’t continue, and encouraged him to make some goals, including ones that didn’t immediately revolve around Nadyn. These included cultivating his gardening interest, possibly for the community and others. He also was convinced to keep trying with Nadyn. After Amanti had listed these goals and decided to commit to them, Brooks, Bachariel, and Fanna went to bed. When Amanti asked the Wildfire Spirit if it staged this intervention because it genuinely cared about Amanti, or because its long-term survival was dependent on Amanti as well, it merely remarked how their powers were linked to their Binding Vow, and it had incentive to make sure Amanti was doing well.
The next morning, after a breakfast from Thien’s parents, the party returned to the Eastern Shengdu Temple. Amanti prepared some Orappilk and went to talk to Nadyn again. Nadyn seemed grateful, but became agitated shortly later, recalling how Amanti told him suddenly that his mom was alive after all, them reuniting, and then both of them springing on him that they had actually lied, and Louisa left of her own volition. He demanded Amanti tell him the truth about everything, and not to lie to him anymore. Amanti reassured him, but Nadyn, having had an inkling of an idea for a while now, asked Amanti for confirmation that Louisa was partially responsible for Donovan’s deteriorated health. Amanti confirmed this, and Nadyn, after asking to himself why he couldn’t have normal parents, closed the door. Amanti shouted to Nadyn that he loved them right before Nadyn fully shut the door, though received no reply back.
The party went to check on the infirmary, and were let in by Master Hua. While inside, Fanna went up to Donovan to ask how he was feeling. Donovan, still appearing lost, remarked how he seemed to have childhood memories that belonged to Donovan but was still adamant that he couldn’t be him. As he kept talking, he muttered about how he kept recalling things that seemed strange to him—living far out in a Yumalyan village with a wife and two sons, then being happily married with two Elvish men and having two daughters instead, then being cooped up in a wizard tower surrounded by death and decay, and then finally fleeing a remote, mountainside village in the cold and dead of night. While recalling these memories, the party’s faced slowly changed to that of horrified realization, as these memories were ones of their own. Alarmed, they asked Master Hua about this. He confirmed that him and the others noticed this strange symptom from Donovan too. Delving into Donovan’s recent health developments, overall, the amount of Rot in Donovan’s body had decreased drastically, but this was due to the magical plants having destroyed most of it when it tore apart his body. He wasn’t chiefly concerned about Donovan’s body being half-plant now, as there are cases throughout history and folklore of individuals with partially or full-plant bodies (e.g. Nezha having a body out of lotus). He was more concerned about the state of Donovan’s psyche, especially with how mixed up his soul/essence was. When asked, Master Hua said it would be incredibly difficult to try and separate the non-Donovan memories from him. The party suggested trying to pray to some gods for help, such as Meng Po or Yue Lao, and Master Hua said he’d give it a shot.
The party left the infirmary, just in time to see a familiar Aarakocra with patterns matching that of a blue jay barreling down the hall. They stopped, out of breath, talking about how much they had to do to get past the guards. Liu, talking quickly, asked the party how they’d been, and that he was hoping to receive their help again, as he had gotten a letter from home requesting he’d come back and help them fight off horrible monsters.
Key Learnings
- Donovan insists that he’s not Donovan, though has his memories. He, like some of the others, is wondering if he’s a Spirit that is inhabiting Donovan’s body. He also has gained memories from the party and Mei.
- The party and Michael fooled the remaining leaders, consultants, and advisors for the plant constructs project by presenting them with fake remains of the plant constructs, saying they deteriorated and rapidly broke down from lack of proper maintenance.
- Amanti set a goal for himself to eventually move to the countryside and start anew with Nadyn, possibly opening a shop and starting a new garden.
- Master Hua would consider trying to appeal to a god like Meng Po or Yue Lao for help with Donovan’s memory debacle.
- Liu is back, and is asking the party for help once more. He received a letter from his home village asking for help, as they are being threatened by terrible monsters.
Items Of Importance
- Bag of Holding, containing the plant constructs (given to Michael)
- 170 Gold (given to Thien’s parents as payment for the pendant)