"I assume just because most liches that retain the desire for attention and fame get killed quickly."

Felip, Isidonia, their four children, and two guests arrive. (Only six of them fit in the carriage, so Felip elected to ride with the driver to better obscure Vidal, and Melina sat on the carriage with her bow out, as is her usual habit.) Felip is dressed in yet another silk outfit, this one embroidered with blue and yellow flowers; once they are inside, he asks a servant where he can change.

Vidal has two axes sheathed at his side and an eclectic assortment of every item he could beg or borrow over the last year strapped all over his green leathers. He’s wearing large cloak over everything, making him look like a a very focused and lumpy hillock.

He hurries inside as quickly as he can before shedding the cloak and finding a place around the table. He nods to the others and draws out a small notebook and starts to examine the map.

Voshrelka is here. He doesn’t let it affect his expression. That is not the priority right now and it would be weakness for it to throw him off balance. 

Carlota will step out to greet Isidonia and the children and make sure that the dining table that's not a war room is also plated with appetizers and invite Narikopolus and Llei and Aniol and Ramirez to the planning.

Voshrelka gives Vidal a somewhat smug little wave, just a casual wiggle of fingers while barely looking up, and is otherwise content to continue offering her actually extremely valuable skills to this obviously pro social cause. Yes, she can take an earth elemental form small enough to slip in through the ground there, she expects she’ll be most valuable as scouting? Is there a telepathic link of some kind available, or would it be necessary to return to report what she finds…?

That bitch. Fucking mass murdering assassin degenerate witch who’ll die as soon as she shows her true colors. 

Oh no, why do they have two people who hate each other so much in the room.

Contempt, not hate, thank you. He hates her, she thinks he's a stupid shortsighted fool who knows only how to kill. There is a difference, and the difference is how this druid is being perfectly civil and helpful.

Oh, and which of them has done more killing? He’s still being civil but his ability to conceal anger is no match for the collective perception of this group. 

"Duchess." Isidonia will greet her equal and host. "I understand you have some unusual excitements for us tonight," she'll say with a wry smile. 

"And I'm terribly sorry for it. Thank you for coming all the same. In a way, I suppose, we may fulfill our intended purpose and then some; for I invited you tonight primarily because Cheliax can ill afford to invite the great evil of factional politics and I hoped the Duke and I could see together a way out of it. But now I see the men at their work and I wonder if the best salve to factional politics isn't just an occasional supply of liches. And dragons. Reminders that civilization must ultimately stand united against the many things that prey on it." 

"It will do everyone some good to see the protectors of the realm protecting it. No one wishes the war to take Cheliax had been bloodier, but I wonder how differently the nobles would feel if they had ridden to war for it, instead of being called to serve by letter. Even for those who fought the Thrunes the first time around, I imagine it must seem like it was a long time ago."

Isidonia doesn't mind a bit of factional politics, actually! She just think it's slightly insane that the nobles aren't a united front against the other estates, and then turn on each other afterwards.

Felip returns, in his battle silks this time, and with a quick kisses for Isidonia and the children will head to the war room.

"I think a lich in a dungeon is a bit out of my wheelhouse, but if you just want a tactical consult, by all means."

"Most of us are frankly a bit old for wrestling matches. Llei is your best bet if you want to pin someone, though our odds will be better if we have two people to hold her. How many people can we send?"

"We're planning on teleporting in, so that means ten people besides Count Ardiaca, Lisandro, and myself. I'm currently thinking three archers, two grapplers, two more wizards for dispels, a cleric, a bodyguard for the wizards, and a burglar. As an ideal composition that we're unlikely to achieve given our time and secrecy constraints."

"Well, if we need archers, I can certainly serve as one of them."

"Do I count as a burglar, a cleric, a bodyguard, or something else under this axiom?" wonders the druid, a little archly. She gets the impression that nobody here has any practice working with druids, uh, ever.

"Well, how good are you at burglary? The reason I'd want a burglar is for clearing out the dungeon of traps afterwards; If you have that expertise, you'd fit that role, if you don't you could probably serve as a bodyguard though that's the easiest role to fill... We want a cleric for healing and for channels, and you said you had fairly limited healing today?"

"Disarming of traps, no, spotting of traps, yes. An earth elemental in the walls with Detect Magic up can spot quite a lot. And yes, I'm fairly limited on healing today, a proper cleric would be better for that purpose. But I am content to assist however you think is best, just the - framing confused me."

"Lord Marshal. May I present to you Marquis Vidal Puig de Almenar, and my lieutenant Melina; all three of us are eager to serve. My sorcery is primarily focused on support, either long-duration spells that I can cast before the team departs or short-duration ones that I can cast on the team. Melina's talented as an archer, and I will let the Marquis describe his own abilities and exploits."

He's bristling with defensive items, and always has up Mage Armor and Protection from Arrows, but also is not very physically imposing; he needs a bodyguard, rather than potentially being one.

"As a sorcerer, my spells can be flexibly deployed at a moment's notice. I have three casts left of Haste, which I can manage to affect seven with, or Heroism, which should last for longer than an hour. As well, I have five of Mirror Image, Protection from Arrows, Eagle's Splendor, or summoning small earth elementals; and then finally three of Mage Armor or Enlarge Person, which we may or may not be able to deploy, given the height of the ceilings in the lair. Regretfully, I doubt I will be much use for dispelling or countering spells." There are other options, but they don't seem relevant.

He wishes his house cleric was stronger; he wishes it wasn't the Festival of Burning Blades tomorrow, or he could impose on the temple of Sarenrae. But they'll manage with what they have.

So in other words he has absolutely nothing that other wizards and sorcerers in this very room can't do. This is why you shouldn't just rest on inborn magic and should know how to actually use it.

He'll still bow when the Duke of Fraga comes in, of course, just as if he was bringing something genuinely valuable to the table.

A nod to the new arrivals. Enlarge person, haste and heroism. Not flashy, but that’s a set of spells that makes the any swordsmen on the team happy. 

“I’m not that good a spotter, but can poke around with traps and locks. Hobbyist not specialist; against the kind of traps a lich prepares, I’d rather be the backup burglar than the primary.”

“Lord Marshal, I’m honored to be called on to help. I’m good up close, best with axes but I can help with the grabbing if that’s what’s needed. Never fought a lich before but I’m harder to kill than most.”

"He's likely the best grappler available on short notice," agrees Voshrelka, blandly. "And he even has practice with spellcasters." She experienced this firsthand; she'd needed to burn a wildshape to get out of that fucking grapple.