Alexeara arrives at the mansion with two junior paladins in tow. "What rooms are we gathering in?"

The Mansion is to Carlota's considerable embarrassment getting kind of cramped, what with how many people it's hosting. It still has perfectly adequate parlors and conference-rooms but none of them can be at this point described as spectacular. Probably to Alexaera this speaks better of her than when the mansion was pleasant. 

Have a conference room. Joan-Pau's already there. 

Joan-Pau's arrival was, of course, exactly as spectacular as it normally was and not a bit more. If he happened to have a few more servants with him, and they happened to be retired adventurers, and the bags and chests they carried in happened to have weapons and armor in them instead of party favors, this is not immediately obvious to anyone. "Lord Marshal. Welcome."

Feliu is also here, and will salute. "Pleased to see you again, Lord Marshal."

(Most of the rest of Joan-Pau's adventurers aren't in the room, possibly because most of them aren't in Westcrown, though some are.)

"Joan-Pau." He walks over to the head of the table and takes a seat.

"I think, knowing as little as we do, our best option is going to be to teleport into the ground and dig through the walls; going in through any actual entrance - if one exists - will be slow and dangerous and give her time to escape. Which means we're limited by available polymorphs, more than by teleports. What's the current status of recruiting efforts, in particular for powerful wizards?"

"I've extended a dinner invitation to Lisandro, the fellow who read the Mage's Decree about slavery. We could invite Ibarra, but I haven't yet. I don't know of other fifth circle wizards in the city, excluding present company and the Archduke Blanxart's bodyguard. I did extend the Archduke an invitation for dinner as well.

My wizard in Absalom isn't willing to stick around for Teleports but did give me the location - about twenty miles outside the city, and only about thirty feet underground. We could get there ordinarily and then Dimension Door the last step, though at some risk of being detected approaching which probably isn't worth it."

Xavier arrives shortly after the Archduke, though without most of his vast collection of adventurers. 

"- A serious conversation, I take it."

"Lich hunt. Know anywhere we can get our hands on fifth-circle pearls of power? We may need them more than most anything else."

"I do not." He has no spellcasters above fourth in his retinue, which is why he needed to ask the archsummoner for help with the Belial cult.

"I have one, but that's all I could borrow on short notice... I think we wouldn't want to dimension door the last step, as I'm presuming the dungeon to be warded against teleportation. And if it's only thirty feet, it doesn't substantially speed up our burrowing to teleport part of the way."

He nods. "Appear invisible in midair and do a quick scan for alarms with Arcane Sight, though that won't help us for anything inside the rock?" Xavier is a mediocre spellcaster and best at fighting in the air, not on the land, so he isn't assuming he's going, but he can cast Heroism. "Whether or not we can bypass the teleportation limits with bags of holding will depend on how high the alarms stretch."

"I have three teleports or polymorphs as needed," says Joan-Pau as if there was nothing remotely unusual about this, "can teleport four others without a bag, and have a knack for counterspelling, but that won't stop her if she leaves with a spell above fifth."

That's not actually usual for a fifth circle wizard! Carlota's going to look a little impressed, though only a little, because they're not in fact playing noble signaling games right now, they're trying to kill a lich.

At this point a man arrives whom at least a few of those assembled will recognize—and everyone else will at least recognize as a much more powerful wizard than anyone else involved. "Her lair has a forbiddance up, which ought to prevent her from teleporting out as long as you can find another way in. Also, I expect you'll find this useful." He lays Montero's map on the table—the forbiddanced area, and the teleport trap connected to it by three narrow tunnels, are marked.

MAPS!

MAPS!

"Thank you very much," he says. 

He'll add his voice to that.

Carlota hasn't really had time since returning from the dead to catch up on geopolitics not of immediate relevance to Cheliax or to hiring, so she doesn't even have a good guess who this is, but she can certainly add in her voice expressing appreciation for the maps.

"I learned about this operation this afternoon and accordingly had already prepared spells for other purposes," he says, "but I can also offer a Discern Location to determine whether she's home before you go charging in, and I can read the minds of undead if you'd find that useful. In exchange I'd like the chance to copy her spellbook, if you find it." Let no one ask him why he happens to have Threnodic Detect Thoughts already prepared.

"These maps and a discern location make this plan a lot more viable. We might - if we have the teleports for it - want two teams, one for the actual raid  and one to guard the non-forbiddanced location and try to prevent any escape. Does anybody know anyone we could bring in on this who's a particularly talented grappler? Knowing the extent of the forbiddance... I think it's worth trying to capture her intact."

"I have a man in Gandisa, but not at the level we'd need. With enough spells, maybe." 

Xavier nods. "Most of my adventurers are in Sirmium, not Westcrown. With a Sending and two teleports, yes, but..."

"I will invite the Menadorans to join us; they may have someone. Or we could see if any of the druids will assist us."

Lisandro does not know that this is an adventuring type event. As far as he can tell, the stunt on the floor made an impression and now he's been invited to dinner party with the nobles, to see how he does in their little signalling games. It's an important part of politics, but also he secretly likes it much more than a wizard should. 

He arrives in a carriage instead of just flying in. He's dressed in a proper evening outfit instead of his regular day to day clothes. It is simultaneously expensive and within the boundaries of Westcrown sumptuary laws, subtle little ornaments that they didn't think to ban. Said laws aren't even in effect anymore, but it's about the statement: This man is no noble, feels no need to pretend otherwise, and is instead here to show just how well-off a mercantile wizard can be. He's even managed to make his hair look good, despite wearing a headband every hour of every day. Beginner adventurers risked their lives hunting the ooze creatures necessary to produce these hair salves. 

As a favor to a new contact ~ and because messing with noble parties is fun ~ he has also brought a date.

Yeah, she can get behind messing with noble parties being fun. She didn't have anything planned for this evening; her Plant Growths were in the morning, and maybe this way she can explain to that one noble that, actually, saying a druid doesn't understand hunger is like saying a wizard doesn't know how to read. Which means: oh, look, his date is a druid. She's worn the same practical leather armor for every day of the convention, but because she has a sense of humor and a helpful wizard who can make civilization produce goods and services at her, she's in a dress. It's vaguely floral, and matches nicely with the (poisonous) flowers in her hair.

She is looking forward to the reactions for what will no doubt otherwise be a miserable, if probably very productive, evening.

There's a single moment of surprise when they walk in and then -

"- All right, how'd we leak it?"

And most importantly does Eriape know already, because if she does it's a very different situation now on their hands. 

"Lisandro," she says. "Delegate Voshrelka. I am impressed either by Fortune's hand in this or by your information-gathering."

?????? the fuck?

Voshrelka is not the worst liar in the world, though, and has any practice at espionage, so she will instead blink innocently and raise her eyebrows.

"Are we not here for a perfectly innocent dinner party? Goodness. My delicate constitution might not be able to take it."

"Your delicate constitution will only be risked if you wish to risk it," he assures her, "but certainly we can use your help."

"I think that a great many unfortunate policies are being contemplated in the very legitimate interest in restoring peace and order to Westcrown, and it would be good if there weren't a lich in the sewers, which contributes to peoples' sense that this city is not stably and wisely governed. ...technically it turns out she's not in the sewers. She's in a field outside the city."

"A sensible opinion. Though I do hope there is also going to be dinner. Or perhaps a light appetizer before the constitution risking."

"In my experience it is a terrible mistake to assemble a great fighting force and forget to feed it." She can gesture to an unseen servant to bring the appetizers in.

Okay, wizard is now coming with a glowing recommendation, because damn that was a fast turnaround on 'lich hunting,' well done wizard. Excellent sneaky wizarding, she hopes you make archmage for your sheer competence.

Anyway yes now to tactics, this party will be much more fun than she'd thought it would be!

"Well, I've one wildshape left today, one Dispel Magic, one Barkskin, a Resist Energy, and Lesser Restoration. And some healing, but it's minor. My third circle spells were all used for Plant Growth if you're unwilling to wait until dawn." She spots the maps and beams. "Oh, you have maps, wonderful."

"I have first and second circle pearls, though I use the second circle ones for magic vestment," Feliu says.

"I don't want to wait until dawn because I think we should presume the lich capable of surveillance of the city. My hosting a dinner party isn't particularly notable; everyone being gone overnight might be. Also we are imposing on Alexaera who probably has three other liches to kill before dawn, the man's goddess overworks him."

Of the many Taldene generals who did forget to feed their great fighting forces, Lisandro considers which one to reference in his reply. No, too obvious. No, too obscure. No, that one has political implications. No, that one is controversial, by reputation he can guess the archduke Xavier would argue that was the right choice to make in those circumstances. 

Then the moment passes. Should have just picked one. 

Even worse, they're deciding to go in without giving him a morning to pick the right spells. Gah.

At least there's some maps. 

Yeah. Voshrelka isn't particularly pleased about this either; she prepares spells for the necessity of escaping nebulous enemy action, but, well. That's not quite the same thing as preparing properly, and so many of her spells went into Plant Growth, or getting to Plant Growth locations in a reasonable timeframe...

"Mm. Reasonable. And this is underground? So it would probably be best to wildshape into an earth elemental... Up to you how you use your pearls, you know the current tactical situation better than I..." Maps maps maps. Where are some good places to sneak around as an earth elemental, hm?

"My source for these maps also dug out a chamber here," he points, "just outside the forbiddance. That ought to save some digging, unless there are tactical reasons to enter by a different route."

This just keeps getting better, or at least less awful. "Lisandro, what spells do you have available?"

"I have a teleport to contribute towards getting in. Only one prepared today."

That should be the right level of annoyed-but-acceding to the decision to do this tonight with no time to prepare spells. 

It doesn't much matter that he would prefer to wait at least a day and maybe even a week, enough time to get some papers and an opera out of her, before launching the raid. Duchess Carlota is the one who brought everyone together, and to the organizer goes the leadership. Lisandro is lucky to be invited, getting a chance to take part and to take a share of the spoils. A share of the notes, too, unless the paladin destroys them. Still somewhat disappointed though. About the spells, about politics and public appearances interrupting his plan to deal with the lich, and about the fact that they probably wouldn't have invited him if this was a real dinner party. 

But he isn't going to be petty. Here's some more about prepared spells.

 "For the confrontation, my main contribution will be in dispels. I also have flight, invisibility and counter-invisibility, and a few miscellaneous dungeon spells like knock. I've also had a chance to look at one of her badger minions under arcane sight."

Notes on the auras he observed on the badger go on the table for the other wizard, who is probably good at spellwork and not faking it until making it, to take a look at.

"Fascinating. In what form? Combat-prepped?"

See. Excellent example of a wizard, right there. That'll be useful for peering at things from the floor with Detect Magic, thank you!

“This is one she sent to negotiate, disguised as a dog. On a related note, I am interested in her papers and prefer to retrieve them undamaged.”

"I don't think we're calling in the Church of Pharasma for anything, and I think that's an interest most of us share."

Wizard solidarity!

“Makes sense, looking around the room. I’m after the nonmagical works as well, though. Avistan hasn’t seen a lich pamphleteer before, it’s an unusual type.”

"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.

"Thank you, Duke, Marquis, Melina. We are glad to have your help."

"All right. We're all here - who else do we want to call in? Voshrelka, do we want to ask Tuimfane or Feather for more spells before we go in? Do we mean to try to recruit Ibarra for another fifth-circle spellcaster? Should we be going to Sirmium or Gandisa to fetch back adventurers keeping the peace?"

"Dayram is a skilled burgler, if we need one, thoughI'd be worried about the forbiddance with him, and Tania can be called in if we need another wrestler, but they're in Sirmium."

"Tuimfane would almost certainly cast buffing spells," after telling them all they should instead be closing the Hell portal. This is very fair of him, and frankly she agrees, but the nobility of civilization are fickle and this isn't her operation, and she doubts she can persuade them to instead go do something that actually matters for more than political reasons, "he's specialized in crafting and would certainly have barkskin prepared, but I don't know if we could contact him subtly. Also, by now I expect he would have used them all. Bright Morning Feather is similarly difficult to get ahold of and unlikely to be much help." And also incredibly herself. Do you want to deal with that, Ardiaca? Because she's a druid and she doesn't.

"Thank you." Not remotely, but if you want to win you check this sort of thing instead of leaving it assumed.

Reasonable, but: yeah, no, it's a long shot that's not worth the risk in taking. Voshrelka herself was a long shot, really, here by the grace of a well timed wizard. (Who is still winning the wizard contest in this room. See: how he doesn't ask dumb questions.)

While they’re talking potential recruits, Lisandro did hear about some, from the Eagle Knights. 

“Rumor has it, her majesty has some anarchic adventurers in storage.”

His implication is as follows: In some places, the traditional thing to do with captured adventurers is to release them in the general vicinity of some lich or dragon. Perhaps one of you nobles has the standing to ask the queen about this sort of thing. 

He's really not inclined to let Rui out and is going to say nothing in response.

Carlota has noticed who Lisandro associates with because of how he made it very obvious. "If there are Eagle Knights you'll vouch for that's one matter but I'm otherwise inclined to assume everyone who managed to break the very few laws that exist at present is really probably quite a challenging person to work with."

“Imprisoned adventures are perhaps less threatening to public order and good governance than pamphleteering liches. Though certainly challenging to work with. Either way, I won’t vouch for anyone I only know of by rumor.”

"The situation with the Andoren adventurers is in the early stages of becoming a diplomatic incident," one where one of the parties to the diplomacy actually has no control over the situation even though he'll be blamed for it regardless, which is among the worst kinds of diplomatic incident, "and releasing them on the condition that they help and then go home seems better for all parties involved than waiting for the situation to become even more complicated, as it might," if Marusek 'rescues' them. "Although—I'm not entirely sure that they'll agree to murder someone for pamphleteering even if she is undead."

Wait, that's why they're going after the lich?? Not because she's an undead abomination, an affront to life itself, a horrific hollowed shell of a person that should be released to the afterlife so she can be whole again, and furthermore a danger to everyone around her? Or even for personal power and lich lair loot? But because she writes pamphlets?

Nobles are weird.

She's not saying this. She'll instead excuse herself to go change into her armor, since it's seeming likely they will want her along even if they don't have a tidy slot for her to fill.

"We're not killing her for the pamphlets," objects Carlota who is absolutely most proximately killing her for the pamphlets. "It is terrible for public confidence in Her Majesty's good government, in the rule of law, and in the safety of their loved ones in Westcrown to have a lich in the sewers; it's doing more and more immediate damage to public confidence because the lich likes reminding everyone she's in the sewers, but she was on everyone's to-do list before this, and if we could be sure she'd restrain herself to pamphlets she'd likely remain low on everyone's to-do list. It sounds like you know a great deal more about the Andoren adventurers situation than anyone else here, would you be willing to consult Her Majesty on the matter or should I do so in near-complete ignorance of it?"

"I don't object to killing undead," he clarifies. "I can consult Her Majesty on the situation," or more likely ask Montero to do it, "but I'm not sure anyone can do it tonight."

“If they have a spectacularly good burglar it might be worth trying to get an appointment on short notice but I don’t think it’s worth waiting until tomorrow.”

"If she was spectacularly good she wouldn't have been caught, but she might still be better than anyone else that's been discussed. I can reach out to my contact in the Palace to see if the Queen is available tonight."

Connecting some dots. The fact that it's the start of a diplomatic incident means he is now nearly certain about the true identity of these 'anarchic good adventurers'. The eagle knights told him that this plan was entirely in compliance with local laws, but what are the odds they stuck to the plan exactly? Slim. 

"Seems you know more of the situation than I do. From what you say, I now realize that I can vouch for these Andoren adventurers. At least, that they'll help with this raid instead of running off. As for whether they refuse to help out of free pen absolutism, I expect they'll make might make pithy comments about killing a lich for pamphlets and optics but go along with it anyways."

He says because that's also what he's doing. 

Now who is this mysterious wizard?? Contacts in the palace, knows about diplomatic incidents days in advance, clearly a major player. Lisandro suddenly feels out of his depth, but is also enjoying being on the other end of that question. 

"Perhaps those of us who need to prepare spells can do so, those of us who have personnel to call in can do that, and inquiries can be made about the assistance of anarchic adventurers. - and we can eat dinner." She'll have the Unseen Servants bring it in.

Fantastic. He's heard Mansion food is excellent but hasn't had the chance to experience it until now. Glaring at Voshrelka can pause while he tries some of everything.

This is made easier by how she left the room to find a place to change. It wasn't for her modesty, she doesn't have that particular flavor of handicap, but she's aware that civilization cares about it, so. Shuffled off to a quiet place to change out of the dress and back into her armor, even though she doesn't actually care if people get to see a larger percentage of uncovered skin than they're accustomed to.

.... She returns to see... quite a lot of food. With a place set out for her and the expectation that she'll gorge herself.

This is probably the first thing that's made her genuinely uncomfortable since arriving. She sits down next to Lisandro, and looks at the feast like it's potentially poisoned. Honestly, she wishes it were. As it is now, she's going to be socially pressured to actually feast, which is just worse than being poisoned on almost every axis. She's not going to, obviously, but. This elf is now uncomfortable.

She will have a single pastry and nothing else, thank you.

Carlota now has two tables at which she'd ideally be being sociable and also needs to carve out some time to prepare spells. She flits around thanking people and getting their feedback on the plans in progress and complimenting them personally and then goes to her study and locks the door.

He does not need to eat. He finds an empty room, locks the door, scans very thoroughly for scrying sensors or anyone within detect thoughts range, and takes the paired scrying mirror that connects to Lilia Ramona de Montero's out of its case.

She doesn't appear to be on her end of it at the moment.

Most likely she won't be any time soon. He could try to pass a message to the Galtan wizard she's probably pretending to be, but there's no way of doing that quickly that doesn't arouse enormous suspicion.

He could, actually, just get a short-notice audience with the actual queen. He's done it once before, apparently, though he was rather surprised when he found out. There is the argument that, as one of the only people aware of Alfirin's true identity who doesn't have unavoidable reasons to regularly be in a room with her, he should commit to never doing so, but—if she wanted to enchant him she could probably do so regardless.

He walks across the street to the palace, identifies himself, and says he has a somewhat urgent message for the Queen, if she's available.

It probably really is him this time.

"Jean Riudaure! How pleasant it is to finally meet you. What is it?"

"You as well. Some of your nobility are putting together a party to capture the badger-lich, and they have need of a skillset which is conveniently possessed by one of your Andoren—guests. Given the presumed complications with continuing to hold them I thought you might want to kill two birds with one stone and offer them an adventurers' parole," i.e. the fairly standard practice of tossing your problematic adventurers at whatever other problems you're having. Also, killing birds is a terrible metaphor, that's really not what he meant, but he's not going to allude to secret information without better cause than that.

Yes, that's the complicated political headache she'd been spending her evening on. "Hmm. Are you familiar with what they did to get themselves imprisoned?"

"Officially, cod-related industrial sabotage. Reading between the lines, the only cod they have it in for is the Supreme Elect and their actual crime was a reckless and unnecessary attempt to prevent the last-minute export of slaves."

"I would happily parole them, for some suitable service. But I don't want Marusek to get off that easily for planning and as-good-as-ordering it."

"What do you want from Marusek? It's not as though you can try her for the sabotage."

"I want her to not do it again. Which means, in practice, putting her in a position where she's less able to do things like this, because I don't trust her sense or her word to restrain her."

"Well, then you definitely don't want her to become Supreme Elect, in which case you shouldn't be keeping the sabotage attempt secret. Mostly, her actions are calculated to play well at home, but I think she made a mistake with this one."

"Yes. I am still thinking about the best way to publicize it; That might be a public trial for the saboteurs, which is why I won't be releasing them for lich-hunting tonight."

"Very well, your majesty. Thank you, by the way, for all you've done for the war on Hell."

She didn't do it for you.

"I only did what any good person would. Thank you for your help with the lich." And, here, she won't help with Andoren pirates but she will help with some magic wine that will make everyone on the operation much more perceptive.

He wasn't suggesting that she did! The great advantage that Good has over Evil is that Good people can help each other without specifically intending to. 

"You're welcome." And he will avoid taking up any more of the Queen's time, and head back to the mansion.

"No luck on the Andorens, I'm afraid."

"Worth a try. If we still need a burglar, my next thought is to pick one up from the ambient burglars generated by any large city. Not the best plan though, the secrecy and urgency of the job makes it hard to get a burglar of the appropriate quality. Might be easier to just pick up some scrolls of knock and of find traps."

"I think if we want to try to go through the city for resources, there's a real chance we'll alert her."

“Burglars can usually be hired discreetly, but you are right. She clearly has some kind of information network in the city.”

And then there's going to be quite a lot of elaborate strategy discussion, and after a while -

"We fetch Xavier’s Remesiana party, brief them, and that gives us three teams," Joan-Pau sums it up. "Green team, red team and blue team." Colors work so much better than numbers. “Green team is the Lord Marshal, Count Vidal, Lisandro, Voshrelka, and myself, red team is Archduke Narikopolus, Archduke Requena, Duke de Fraga, Count-Regent Napaciza, Magistros Prosper, Sir Mateu and Melina, blue team casts buffs before we go. We use Discern Location to confirm Eriape’s in the right place, Telepathic Bond all members of green team to Archduke Requena on red team, cast minute buffs on green and red teams, we Pharasma’s Augury then green and red teams teleport into the safe zone, unload, then green team takes earth elemental form while red team gets ready to move. After that, green team earth glides to the edge of the effect to locate the target’s location, alerts red team, Pharasma’s Augury again to confirm there’s no ambush, I summon some earth elementals to confuse the numbers, we cast moment buffs and then we move.

“Green team comes through the wall. Voshrelka, Lisandro and I hit her with Dispels, I counterspell, and Marshal Cansellarion and Vidal grab her and try to get into a bag with her. At the same time the Archduke Requena and Sir Mateu cooperate to break through the floor, Jair joins the grapple, and Archduke Narikopolus, Count-Regent Napaciza, Magistros Prosper and Melina provide fire support and an archers’ counterspell. Sir Mateu and Jair guard at ground level with the archers, Archduke Requena, Feliu and Voshrelka take out anyone in the main chamber and then down secondary threats as needed, Vidal, Jair and Marshal Cansellarion try to get in the bag with her, we drop into the lower chamber and Lisandro teleports green team and the bag out.” He will also carry a scroll for if they need it. “Once the badgers are out of the way, Duke de Fraga dimension doors red team to the surface and we have a bit of a walk.”

Embarrassingly, he needs a wizard's help to make heads or tails of the scroll of Dimension Door, but at least that can be done ahead of time. The heart of his bloodline powers is encouragement, not escape; leadership, not transit.

Wait, shouldn’t the more aggressive team, lead by the legendary paladin of Iomedae, be Red team? Or, is it Green team because green for druid, in which case that’s quite the flattery, giving her color precedence over the paladin.

It's the green and the blue team and then red is a spinoff of green because we have three teams. Because green and blue are the obvious colors you use, if you're only using two colors.

"All right, I don't think we'll improve this much with another hour's work and I don't think it's worth waiting another eight. I assume some details will change once you're close enough to get a good look at the place from beneath it."

"I concur. Let's start casting."

Discern Location.

"Eriape's Great Badger Lair, Under Mas Blanc, County of Westcrown, Cheliax, Avistan, Golarion, Prime Material"

"Sounds like she's home."

He will follow up with his share of the buff-casting.

As will he.

Spells!

Flys, and Bull's Strength, and Protection from Evil and Moment of Greatness. 

And once that work is done they can get into the work of loading everyone into Bags of Holding, including two mounts, one of whom has claws and wings and the ability to express dissatisfaction with this proposal if not properly persuaded.

Piercing a bag of holding from the inside ruins it, and the contents are all lost. Lisandro does not like the idea of putting a creature inside that’s dissatisfied and expresses dissatisfaction with claws. 

No, no, he expresses dissatisfaction with annoyed screeches. He expresses desire to kill things with claws.

How about the druid also goes into the bag of holding, and can also talk to the griffon, affirming the promises of bloodshed the archduke has already offered. Does that solve this problem to everyone else's satisfaction?

Every noble insists that the magical creature is so well trained and would never strand itself irrecoverably in extraplanar space. At this point, he doesn’t transport any exotic animals without a druid consulting. Fortunately, there’s a druid here.

Bloodshed implies their team taking the hits, but hopefully that's just metaphorical and violence is what the griffon is after.

His main contribution to the original buffs is a Mage Armor for Vidal, allowing him to shed his more cumbersome armor, and an Eagle's Splendor for Feliu. When Cansellarion casts Good Hope, Felip's magic resonates with the spell and amplifies it. Finally, a Mirror Image for himself, and then he readies himself to Haste, summon elementals as needed, and then extract the team that isn't going to teleport out.

He's going in the bag Voshrelka isn't in.

Please no one start being picky about who goes with who, this is complicated enough without cabbage-wolf-goat riddles.

It's fine, they've got two bags. Once everyone's in, Alex can teleport over and start unloading.

And there's nothing to be done back in the Mansion but fret so Carlota will go join the civilians for dinner.

This is known as leading blue team.

"They're off, then?"

Isidonia does her research on others, as much as is possible. Carlota came from a large family, all dead now, and all of her betrothals were related to the war effort and none of them came to fruition, and so there's really not very much in the record and most standard topics are unacceptably tragic. Still, Isidonia came prepared with a few stories that she hopes won't accidentally be offensive. She doesn't know how long the mission will take, but suspects they'll be back before she runs out of chatter.

"Have you ever had peaches from Paresh? This one time--"

There was not much joy in Carlota's first experience on the Material but she got over all that decades ago, and is happy to talk about local delicacies. This is duty as much as fighting liches is, and can also be enjoyable as much as fighting liches can. She will ask Isidonia for all of the gossip of Fraga, and share all of the least damaging stories of her own.

The cavern is spacious, long and thin because you risk fewer caveins that way, the walls packed tightly with dirt. The earth elemental is still there, diligently widening it, but as it was told the agreement would be considered complete when the adventurers arrived it nods to them and promptly vanishes, its task accomplished.

And then the group can debag and he can start turning Green Team into earth elementals.

(Minus Voshrelka, of course.)

Once the polymorphs are in place he leads green team into the ceiling to start "listening" for the contents of the lich's lair.

Joan-Pau is alas not tremendously good at listening, but he does have the major advantage that he has tremorsense! Tremorsense is the best.

There's- unusual things- in the earth above. Not mere sand and stones, intermixed into some long-ago postglacial runoff and raised to the surface, but larger things. Great walls of iron, in places reinforced with walls of force, have been built up into a massive underground chamber. And inside it, there are things- moving. 

Twenty-six things move- not very much, but enough to be sensible to tremorsense. Some of these things are small. Some of these things are about the size of a person. Some of those things have claws that rasp against iron, or flagstones.

Inside the iron walls are a series of tunnels around the main chambers, and there's - huh. There's actual plantlife inside, too. That makes Voshrelka feel a little sad, because even if tactically it's better for her, at least the lich has a respect for nature, which makes her better than most people, probably. Still, Entangle is a useful spell that is now on the table instead of unavailable for lack of plant life. She'll note this to the others, along with what she... thinks is Eriape, and where she's located.

Her body's... strange, though, she adds over the telepathic link, perplexed about what is strange about it. She's the only bipedal moving, and I don't think she's anywhere else, but. ... I don't know, something's off about it. I couldn't say what, though.

Because of course, Voshrelka does have experience being an earth elemental. This is rather why she's the one reporting; the others might figure something out, especially the absurdly powerful paladin, but. Practice with tremorsense means a lot, actually.

Being underground always puts him on edge, and Voshrelka speaking in his head isn't helping – but the Lord Marshal's grace lets him push it aside and focus. He's focusing his tremorsense around the edges of the lair - "There are small holes in the walls, we can fit in this form. Red team will have to go through the iron." 

Coordinating kickoff positions in three dimensions is a headache so he's very thankful for telepathy and competent allies. He can get set near the tunnel closest to Eriape's body. 

This will probably hurt quite badly, but it needs to be done and Vidal is called to do it. Whenever he gets back to Axis he'll tell his father about wrestling a lich, he misses their dinners. Not the moment to think about that. Right now he needs to focus.

"Signal given," he says, pointing in the direction they need to go, already mounted up. "Round buffs."

Green team on my mark in three, two, one, mark - 

And five invisible earth elementals fly out of the holes in the walls and into the lich's lair.

The Earth Elementals- if they could see, would see a tiny cave, with a badger in it. The badger is illusory. The cave is illusory. The Elementals can instead sense only a much larger cave. An [Alarm] goes off. A magic mouth on the Illusory Badger shouts "Secret Badger Alert White Stripe! And then, and as they cross the threshold into the main lair, a [Forbiddance] triggers.

The handful of earth elementals Joan-Pau had summoned were clustered around Alexaera to shelter in his sword's aura.

The aura shields some of them. It doesn't help the others. They melt, withering away, their stony flesh crumbling as they pass through the Forbiddance, until finally their construct-bodies have taken enough and the spell sustaining them gives up on it, and they disappear with an inrush of air.

To Joan-Pau - it hurts. But he's an adventurer and an officer, and he's been hurt worse before.

As someone who casts from wisdom, Voshrelka does not take up valuable space around the paladin's aura of spell resistance. So she gets to just eat this Forbiddance directly. It hurts like a bitch, but honestly? She was actually expecting worse. Possibly it's the many buffs the various nobility have dumped on her, she doesn't think she's ever been this well fortified in her life, but still. Kind of surprising. She was pretty sure she'd lost the Evil alignment by now, and it's not like anyone at the convention's mentioned it...

Lisandro also notices that the forbiddance doesn’t zap him as badly as expected. Even factoring in all the buff spells and being in the same general area as a paladin, this is getting hit on one alignment axis not two. He gets his alignment aura checked regularly, though, so he knows it isn’t evil. Does that mean the forbiddance is anarchic-evil.

Makes sense, actually, considering Infernal Cheliax. So he can be a bit proud about it. Here he is, benefiting from being slightly less shaped like an Asmodean hit-squad, compared to presumably most of the Iomedaean hit-squad.

Vidal passes through the iron floor into a tiny earth cave, with a badger in it. It is very dark, and the undead badger is standing perfectly still, eyes aglow.

Ow. Those are some very bright magical auras. Most of them illusion, which means nothing in the room is real. Lisandro just follows the paladin, who presumably will ignore the illusions and be drawn to the strongest evildoer in the same manner as iron and a magnet.

The badgers aren't real, ignore them. Same with the walls -

- Right. Vidal charges forward, resisting his instinct to close his eyes when he runs straight into the wall, which, thankfully is not a wall at all. There are badgers snarling and alarms sounding and the forbiddance burns against his skin and more walls cut his vision in every direction but he holds Eriape's position in tremorsense and he bulls through and it's all not enough to stop him from leaping onto her, trying his best to pin her down and lock her arms and headbutt her jaw and stop her from getting a spell off.

Follow the paladin and the dumbass, ignore everything that isn't seen through tremorsense. She can do that, even if everything is very confusing. She gets into range for: Dispel Magic. Aimed at any Contingencies on Eriape.

She was tempted to renege on the plan and save her spell, because now that she's closer, there's definitely something weird about her body, which means her Dispel might be being wasted, but, well. A plan is a plan, and she's not actually all that invested in the outcome of this confrontation. Reneging on a hunch is the sort of thing the nobles running this show would later take issue with, even though she's probably right and her instincts have kept her alive longer than all of them. The point of this is to gain experience, loot, and goodwill, so: she is a good pet druid who does what she is told, even if her gut says that this isn't going to work.

Dispel Magic, targeting the contingency -

And Red Team takes off, plunging straight into the badger tunnels with all the ability to tear through dirt and stone of an experienced, well-trained adventuring team, which is genuinely a tremendous amount.

The second-fastest blade in Lastwall more resembles some sort of advanced drill than a human being, when it comes to clearing dirt.

Alarms go off, louder than any noise than Eriape can muster.

Her eyes flare, brightly, as she judges her situation. Pesky Adventurers! 

Eriape is out of sixth circle spells. This is a bad idea to ever have happen. Eriape is also out of fifth circle spells. You should not run out of fifth circle spells when you're a lich. And she hasn't even commissioned a battle song!

She's not completely undefended. She's got a [Liberating Command] prepared. [A Gaseous Form]. Several other useful spells. Her phylactery's well protected. And even more fortuitously, she's not actually here.

When Lady Eriape became a lich, she paid special attention to preserving her skin- she had a skincare routine already, and as she she became wealthier and more powerful, the creams became more expensive and more magical. When she ascended into undeath, they became rare and exotic unguents, made from liquified vampire and other exotica. She preserved her skin into undeath, and she's not a skeleton. But it all was worth it. 

Because what they've attacked is just her skin. 

Eriape has developed a very interesting spell-[Skinsend], that allows her to take off her skin, and send it elsewhere in the lair. Cast spells with it.

She's done that now.

Her real body's in the fort. 

She casts [Liberating Command], a spell that hangs so precariously from one's scaffold, that it can be released with a mere thought. 

That is a fascinating spell she's casting, and not one Joan-Pau Ardiaca's ever seen before!

Also, he has the ability to, with the merest thought, press raw energy through his scaffold with no preparation into the precise anti-shape of any spell he wishes, such that in interferes with that spell and renders it useless.

Counterspell. Eriape's not the only one with a few tricks.

Counterspelling is, in any contest between wizards, a declaration of inferiority. It is the statement ‘your spell is so much better than my spell that I have more to gain from a chance of disrupting your spell than I would from casting my own’. Which is true, in this case. He has more to gain from preventing Eriape escape because the rest of the party can then apply various weapons. But, still, not a good look. 

Lisandro has a dispel magic ready, and can throw it directly at the attempted spellcasting. Halfheartedly. 

The sorcerer got to it faster with that sorcerer trick, without taking time to prepare either. But it’s still worth a try. 

It turns out if you teach someone with a sorcerer bloodline wizardry they end up significantly more powerful than a normal wizard. Funny, that.

He sees Puig make contact and - something about the way he makes contact - it's not an illusion, but - Voshrelka did say something was strange, that the lich was lighter than she should be - 

It's a decoy - Something like the dozens upon dozens of fake Razmirs, probably - To the iron keep - Puig, half a turn right, everyone else forward -

Vidal rolls free from the thing he tackled, scrambling away from the frantic mess of skin and flailing limbs, and comes up already charging for the keep, following the Lord Marshal's line.

Yep. Thought so. That's her only dispel, wasted. She's a bit irritated by it, but she's still being a good pet druid who does stupid tricks on command. Eugh.

It doesn't mean she needs to be stupid, though.

I can manage an Entangle here - everyone off the ground, I'll see about slowing down reinforcements. Red team doesn't all have flight capability, but red team is also mostly archers, so. Nobody being able to move is good for them, really. The few melee they have will need to sort themselves out, though. But that's for red team to worry about, this is tactically better for them and they should know it if they have any sense. She does wait for the red team leader to have time to take in this information, though. See, she's a team player, really.

Hello, little pocket of nature in this underground lair, come forth and be a gigantic pain in the ass for anyone trying to run on the ground. Entangle.

All Sapient and Nonsapient undead badgers go to a primary combat footing: 

Several ballistae, manned by specially trained fighter-badgers, fire down against the attackers.

Several rocks fall from the ceiling, hitting nothing.

A giant rolling boulder rolls straight across the room, hits nothing, and smashes into the opposite wall, shaking the entire room. 

Wizard badgers who have overlook cast [Obscuring Mist] and enhance the primary combat power of the zombie badgers with other spells.

Alchemist badgers release smoke bombs from tiny little mangonels

Most of the primary defence force - nonsapient zombie badgers - get trapped in the entangle, but some follow after the attackers, now attempting to batter down the door. 

Censers filled with poison flare up and begin exuding smoke. 

Eriape dismisses her [Skinsend].

Her old skin falls to the ground.

Clarabella pours a potion of [Inflict Critical Wounds] atop her real body.

A [Magic Mouth] shouts "Timeout!" (This is an Utopian word indicating a request for a brief truce in which both parties commit to not improving their positions or in any way prepare for future battle)'

A couple minutes of delay with no other actions being taken improves Eriape's relative position. He starts breaking down the door. Igonore that. Voshrelka, back underground, look for the real one -

Affirmative.

Fortunately, Voshrelka is the one person present who isn't going to be inconvenienced by the mass of grasping plants. So, naturally, she dives into the center of them where she's safest, then heads underground. There's a lot going on, which makes it hard to tell where one lone little lich is in all of the noise, but she can at least give basic directions and set the paladin on her.

Inside the fort, forward from your current position, then up and to the left. She's prone and guarded - at least one dire badger next to her, doing... something? Applying a potion or buff, maybe.

Thank you, he said, and directs - 

- There's the vulnerability, there's the great double-thickness wall of iron, and now Skybreaker charges and he and Mateu don't even need to smile at each other any more, and with all the spells cast their lances strike the iron and it bursts upwards, erupting in a shower of sharp-edged shards right next to Eriape.

And boiling out of that new hole in her castle are a big axeman in green - 

- And Feliu with his holy sword.

(Below, clods of dirt rain down on the archers who dance away from it, dust obscuring their vision as they try to get a good shot -)

Heroism is only sometimes glamorous; a lot of the time it's avoiding dirt raining down on you in a hole in the ground. Nevertheless, he's still casting; with the first likely discharged, it's time for another Moment of Greatness.

Some enemies are now in sight; she prepares for the archer's counterspell, or if any of them come barreling down the new tunnel they just crafted.

(And she's much more graceful about getting out of the dirt's way, but who's keeping track?)

Lisandro is enjoying her clever tricks, the illusions and the decoy. Kind of curious about what she decided to use her contingency for, it’s got to be something creative. But they doesn’t mean he’s going to let it happen. 

Dispel magic, prioritizing contingencies. 

Eriape's contingency (a fireball, centered on her necklace of fireballs) peters out as she wakes up in her own body.

"Is this a Lawful Arrest under the Laws of the Queen of Cheliax?" Eriape speaks very clearly and rapidly, and then attempts to cast a spell. It's hard to see which one it is, because it immediately gets counterspelled.

Clarabella has her little emergency scroll of Teleport spread out on the floor, and is carefully reading it.

Several nonsapient zombie dire badgers (their little name-tags say Alamanda, Sibilla and Francina) die to massed missile fire. They collapse to the floor, the dull spark in their eyes ending. The sapient wizard badgers rapidly go through their spells, and then prepare to evacuate. One of them, Montserrat, is destroyed by a stray sword-swing, unseen by anyone, and is disembodied with a little whimper of sadness. 

That badger has a scroll! Melina takes the shot.

The arrow rips the scroll just as Clarabella says the final words, and the spell goes with it, sparking and fizzing, small sparks of purple lightning passing along her yellowed teeth. 

'Is this a lawful arrest?' is not a surprising question from a lich who's already tried to call for an axiomite ceasefire. It's a question liches have asked him before; It's not a question liches have sincerely asked him before. It's always been a trick, a gambit to buy time or a lead-in to an attempt to convince him that they're a law-abiding benevolent lich. (They are never actually a law-abiding benevolent lich.)

Nonetheless, there is a process for liches that ask that sort of question, which is slightly different from the normal process for liches. "I will accept your unconditional surrender." he says, equally quickly, as he grabs hold of her and prepares to disrupt anything that even slightly sounds like an incantation or command word.

Eriape glances at Clarabella next to her, who will be destroyed if she manages to detonate her Necklace of Fireballs with her remaining fire spell. The other Badgers dying to save her. Thinks of the the Contact she's signed, and the fact that this is Clearly a Paladin, and can actually be trusted with Law.

"I surrender unconditionally," she says, loudly and clearly, and turns off her [Aura of Terror]. 

Well this is a kidnapping so that changes absolutely nothing on their end. Almost nothing. He keeps hold of her.

Remove her equipment and bring up the bag.

Feliu is surprised to hear the lich is surrendering but will do what his senior paladin and mission commander tells him to! Cloak is easy to spot and headband, what are the other things that need to be removed?

On the magic item front, she has a ring, a vest, sandals, and a pair of elegant bronze vambraces done in sophisticated curlicues.

They will also remove everything that is not obviously a magic item, because many liches know Nystul's Magic Aura.

Those magic items are being removed very quickly and very forcefully. Which is reasonable, but be careful about damaging the loot!

Is the fight over? The lich may have feigned surrender but that doesn't mean the badgers are throwing down their arms.

The fight does appear to be over.

The animated zombie badgers have stopped moving. The remaining wizard badger and alchemical badgers had already retreated into their tunnels. Clarabella is carefully not doing anything, just looking up at Eriape with her tiny little arcane sparks wavering in her eye-sockets.

Once the lich has been stripped, she and Alex and Jair and Puig can go in the bag of holding.

The shooting is over? It was just getting to the good part!

It is, yes.

She suspects that the various nobles are going to get to slaughtering the various reanimated badgers sooner rather than later, but: the badger that was near the lich was casting from a scroll. Which means its been Awakened. It is now definitively druid business to know the specifics of what the Hells is going on there.

Voshrelka rises up out of the ground near the awakened badger known as Clarabella. "I'd like to request custody of this badger," she says loudly, to the various nobility around, before any of them shoot it.

Clarabella opens her mouth as Eriape goes, without protest, into to the bag of holding, but doesn't say anything, and then looks up at Voshrelka.

"Hi?" She essays. 

It seems everyone is slightly stunned by the druid immediately attempting to take custody of an undead abomination. Reasonable, she wouldn't have expected it of herself either, but circumstances change. Regardless, this is also an opening to exploit.

"Hello. Could you give us the Forbiddance password, on the basis that the alternative is dispelling it?"

Because technically speaking, this little lich nook is outside of the Forbiddance to allow for fleeing by teleportation. She and everyone else here will probably need to go back in there again, and tanking it twice in a day sounds stupid. This sort of 'immediately solving a problem' is the kind of thing that gets nobles to agree to demands they don't understand and think are bizarre, like acknowledging a badger as a person.

"Yes! This Lair is Burned Anyway! The Secret Password is 'Boot'!"

Feliu looks at Voshrelka "- What do you intend to do with it?" This is a sentient creature reanimated as a tortured horror and he doesn't really know anything about Voshrelka.

"Get accurate numbers of how many like her have been similarly trapped, the details of her Awakening and life before her undeath, and attempt to determine if freeing her from - this -" she motions towards Clarabella, "would consign her eternally to a similar fate, complete oblivion, or if she will be put properly into a suitable afterlife. Awakened animals can sometimes be complicated in these matters, and I don't at present know how well she was ensouled, so I don't want to hastily consign her to another torturous existence in trying to spare her from this one. I absolutely do not intend to leave her like this, this is a horror. But it is a horror I need to understand in order to properly unmake."

"I understand," he says, and half-bows. He will not interfere.

Voshrelka relaxes a little. She doesn’t think anyone is going to gainsay a paladin in this party being run by another paladin. Good. Let the druid do druid things, please, this kind of bullshit is literally her job.

Lisandro continues to be glad he invited a druid. He can’t stand wretched mid-dungeon moral dilemmas like ‘leave the sentient undead animal intact because the lich surrendered and that presumably applies to her minions, or destroy it because necromancy is slavery+torture so it is mercy to end an undead as quickly as possible’. It helps, having a specialist to take the problem away.  

While the main team gathers for the teleport, he gives the team that’s staying a look of respect. Depending on how much dungeon clearing they do before riding back to Westcrown, he expects one or two of them might earn a new circle.

Teleport.

The druid doesn't take the teleport, even with her undead prisoner. Part of her investigations are going to be based in the lich lair, and, well. It's admittedly very useful, to have a former minion of the lich to assist in disarming the lair's traps.

Even with the help, it'll be a long night for everyone here.

With the sudden and peaceful end to the encounter, their plans change a bit. The grapplers are all going back to Westcrown immediately, as they're in the bag with the lich; then there are three spots for a teleport back to Westcrown tonight. Ardiaca, as the other teleporter, will stay to cast it in the morning; there's a quick discussion of who else to take. This isn't Felip's first dungeon, and at this point in his life he has more experience roughing it than sleeping in fancy manors, and so he volunteers to stay, letting the archdukes and the other Menadorian teleport back with the wizard.

They put out the smoking poison censers, they set elementals to widening some tunnels (even with their Dimension Door, it might be convenient to be able to walk out, and the additional ventilation might help), and they start cataloging what they can find.

The first thing they find is a whole pile of pamplets, Badgers and otherwise. 

There is a also a cyclopean skull- in both senses of the word. 

While Voshrelka interviews the badger, they handle the non-awakened ones and finish looting. Joan-Pau Dimension Doors several to the surface, where they make a quick camp. Feliu and Felip stay to watch over Voshrelka for a bit, and then climb out through the widened tunnel. He sleeps soundly and wakes early.

In the morning, he feels the reservoir of magic inside him has deepened, and at the bottom is a new spell he can cast. He's not versed in magical theory, at all, and so only has hints as to what it will do; he can only cast it on himself, and it lasts for a long time. He sits up in his bedroll and casts it.

He feels... more adult? And like he can twist his body to rotate, in a direction he doesn't know how to describe.

One twist, and he's young again, alive with a vigor that he hasn't felt in decades.

Another twist, and he's old, feeling the weight of the years on both body and mind.

He recognizes this spell. His grandfather had it, but his father never mastered it. Supposedly it was how their title originated; why their ducal coronet only enhances Splendor, when every mental attribute is useful to a ruler. He wasn't sure he would ever get it, but is exceedingly glad that it came while he can use it at the convention.

But on the road, better to be an adult than an elder. He quickly gears up and prepares for the teleport to Westcrown.

Voshrelka will need some more time out here, to hang her spells, and then another hour to cast one of them. She won't be needing the teleport, though she understands if they don't trust her alone with her prisoner. Up to them how they handle it.

They decide to leave the druid to her druidic arts and not wait up. This is fine by her.

Once she's done, she flies back to Westcrown on her own power. From this far out, she can even manage to pencil in her daily Plant Growths; it's not that much more of a flight. Since she's already out here, she might as well. Besides, there might be another lich hunt tonight or something, civilization keeps surprising her with its twists and turns. Best to have her business sorted out in advance. Just in case.