Turtle Soup (Planescape 3.5e)

[Velmont]

Traore looks at the sphere. He seems lost in his thought, and doesn't look aware of teh conversation. He loose his fix and his eyes start to travel. He looks at Meenah. He looks at the group next to him, then at another group.

"What about other souls. Meenah's sphere? Those crystals?" He says, pointing the one of the goblins who are discutting about there wish. "They too must be free. Can us do anything?"

 

[The803]

Bi has been making the rounds, quietly eavesdropping on conversations around the room.
I don't think the souls are exactly prisoners; they're more like raw materials waiting to be worked into something new. It seems we are to be those workers, unless we want to trade the opportunity for wishes.

Let me be very candid with you all for a moment; by what I'm hearing, this crystal sphere is an entire prime material world waiting to be born. It might even be more than that; there are some who believe that the multiverse exists only because prime material worlds do. I happen to believe that myself.

This egg here isn't a static collection of souls; it's a critical mass of souls; enough to create an entire new world.

 

[Velmont]

Traore looks at Bi, a little confused by that explanation. "In me homeland, it is told that the lands itself have created me people, animals and plants. One is born and when body dies, if we be good for our people, the collective wish make soul immortal instead of dying. Immortals become part of ancestors, guiding the people. You say we create one world, so me world could have come from there. You say soul not born, but exist in crystal. That land, can be created by one person, or some... That's not like me homeland. That's make no sense. That would mean someone would created me homeland too. And if homeland created by someone does soul come from him too. And what about ancestors? "

 

[Boddynock]

"Certainly it would argue that there are a finite number of souls - individuals capable of conscious existence - in the multiverse. Or perhaps 'fixed' would be a better word for it. It also raises the question of who created all this in the first place ... if, indeed, creation is the right model for this existence. I'd hate to think that I owe my existence to a mindflayer ... or even a rebellious gith!"

"OK, so we have agreed to take responsibility for a world-full of souls. Either we do something with it, or we find someone we trust to take on the task. Truth to tell, I can't thank of a better way to do that than Neth came up with. So, bloods, I think it's up to us!

 

[The803]

Meenah has been tracked down by the five cohorts who shared her dream; they have pretty much unanimously decided to sell their world to the Mercane who spoke to you earlier for wishes. Meenah has been advised to hold out, and Bi bristles as he approaches and speaks to Meenah on their behalf.

It seems that you've fallen in with a stubborn group. If you agree to release your share of your crystal to me, I can arrange to bind you to this crystal of your fellows. Such an operation is not easy, but I am willing to do so to facilitate the transaction; you will receive a single wish in addition to those required to make you a goddess in their world. If you like, you can use it to learn the truth of this matter. Then you will have no doubt that what I have told you is truth.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

The big ghaele listens as Bi speaks. With every idea she espouses, his expression darkens.

"You mean there's greater dark than the general dark that surrounds all life as we know it? I don't know whether to take you seriously or become your disciple."

Pointing to the crystal sphere, "If that's really what you say it is, then the second we walk out of here those Mercane are going to be gunning for us. No Knight of the crosstrade with the kind of resources they possess is going to let something so valuable slip through thier fingers just because a small group of green bloods decides not to play ball."

"Ask your philosophical questions if you must, but I think we should really be concerned with, 1) concealing ourselves and that sphere, and 2) finding out just who this sphere would be valuable to and why. You can bet that any fiend worth it's blackened and corrupt heart will be gunning for us as soon as word gets out that we have a crystal full of souls. I seem to remember a tavern rumor about them using souls as currency. "

He sits down, and his violet eyes look strangely haunted. "Think of the effect even one of these could have on the Blood War if a fiend managed to crack one of these open. And entire Prime Material world's worth of souls..." his voice trails off and his eyes widen.

"By the styx! Think of what the factions would do to us if they found out. We'll have Takers and Hardheads coming out our rears!"

"I don't know what these spheres are. And to be honest berks... I'm not sure knowing would do us any favors but that seems to be the only course open to us at the moment."

He fingers the stylized axe woven of threads in his pajamas for a moment before speaking. "There's a price to every decision that one can make. I agree that it would just be blatently irresponsible to give the sphere away, but that means that, by not doing so, we're choosing to walk a very dangerous path full of powerful adversaries who may know a lot more about this than we do."

Looking away, out into the crowd he mutters, "...doing good is never easy..."

 

[Boddynock]

"Well, Blue, if you're right, and Meenah's happy to be bonded to our sphere - and I, for one, would be very happy to have her - then that Mercane's offer might be the best way for us to go. One world seems about all I can manage - I dont think we can realistically take responsibility for the others - and being able to uncover these darks would be a great way of using that wish. If Meenah wants to, of course."

"Mind you, I'm not sure I could give up my soul children. Meenah, what do you think?"

 

[Velmont]

"Think of the effect even one of these could have on the Blood War if a fiend managed to crack one of these open. And entire Prime Material world's worth of souls..."

"No! That not happen!"

He fingers the stylized axe woven of threads in his pajamas for a moment before speaking. "There's a price to every decision that one can make. I agree that it would just be blatently irresponsible to give the sphere away, but that means that, by not doing so, we're choosing to walk a very dangerous path full of powerful adversaries who may know a lot more about this than we do."

"That warrior path. That path most honorable."

Looking away, out into the crowd he mutters, "...doing good is never easy..."

"No. Not easy. People are lazy. People are selfish. That normal. Doing right thing mean to work, mean to not think to self, to sacrifice, so said the ancestors."

 

[Lobo Lurker]

"That warrior path. That path most honorable."

The ghaele raises his eyebrows and says, bitterly, "Don't get too caught up on honor, berk. You cannot armor yourself in it and in the end it doesn't serve anything but death." He looks taken aback at his outburst.

"Sorry, I don't mean to bite your head off... don't know where that came from..."

"BUt in any case, I'll take respect any day over honor. Honor gets you killed. Honor can make you perform peculiarly evil acts of oppression and tyranny."

Looking at Meenah, "Be careful what you wish for lassie. You'll get what you asked for, but what you asked for might not be what you thought it was. Wishes are powerful things... everything and nothing all at the same time."

 

[The803]

Clareh chimes in, responding to Jurgen

But if we are indeed the only gods with access to this new world, we're not in danger of being robbed of it as much as we are in danger of being corrupted. Being gods, we'd be immune to the sort of magic that would mess with our minds, but we still have minds that can be persuaded to make the wrong choices.

If what Bi says is true, then the souls in this crystal have the potential to create more souls. Fiends, or anyone else for that matter, have a much bigger stake in corrupting that potential so that they can claim the new souls created by it. A fiend would want to create a world dominated by evil, so that the majority of the souls from it would go to where their kind makes its home within the now cosmology. If they were particularly successful, they'd totally dominate the cosmology.

As for concealing ourselves, I have a feeling that we could arrange that with one of these full-fledged powers that are bidding here; in exchange we'd probably have to give them some sort of access like we should do with Meenah. I know Bi has her doubts, but I think a wish could give us a powerful edge.