Lady Eriape Speaking. Sixth circle wizard lich escaping Cheliax. Requesting access under Treaty. Intend to Help. Request instructions for peaceful approach. Scryable reply preferred.

Having your fort under Mage's Sanctum, means that people can't Scry you. For hostile wizards this is good. For friendly wizards this isn't so good- they can't scry, so they can't make contact. Sensible wizards will then make contact with patrols instead.
Non-sensible wizards do non-sensible things, as usual.
This one did a [Mage's Decree].

However:

• She did it rather than just showing up.
• She didn't send it to anyone who was asleep.
• She didn't send it to everyone, just the command structure.

So one could possibly work with this person. Fortunately, Hans Terzić does not have to deal with this.

Maëlys got the [Mage's Decree] as well.

She sighed, knowing that this was going to lead to more trouble for her. She was right, of course. She's always right. Some time later she found herself ordering Jac Shad, a song-sorcerer on punitive detail, to go outside, wearing a sign with instructions on how a lich should safely approach adventurer's fort. 

Jac doesn't get the [Mage's Decree]. He also chooses not to wear a hat when going outside. 

"Hello Mister Man. May I read your Blackboard Please?"

"AHHHHH!"

Fortunately, he leaves the blackboard. Clarabella reads it, and burrows away into the snow. She likes the snow. It's soft.

Seventeen days later, Eriape has proven that she actually can, and will Flesh-to-Stone major demons. 

Forty-three days later, Eriape has died six times, and has shown how useful it is to have a wizard without regard for her own safety.  

Everyone's still waiting for this to go terribly wrong. 

Crusader's fort is not usually a particularly favored target of the Abyss when it comes to breaching the worldwound lines. The allure of the vulnerable mortals on the other side is still enough to prompt regular attempts, sure, and just like everywhere else on the border it is a victim of attacks due to the constant outwards pressure caused by demon immigration at the wound, but for those demons that are actively picking their targets there's not much to make it stand out. They still get half a dozen incidents on a slow day, but most of them wouldn't pose any difficulty even without a 6th circle lich running support. 

It's not actually that surprising that all the attacks on it in the last month and a half have been readily repulsed, and absent a greater demon's personal attention on the front there's nobody who would even notice a difference. Nothing of note changes about the Abyssal strategy.

Well. Nobody involved in the war effort, at least.

Areelu Vorlesh does not, generally speaking, have the time or inclination to spy on worldwound forts. There are far too many of them, for one thing, and almost all of them are tediously dull. It's not like it's a good way to keep abreast of the strategic situation either; both Lastwall and Cheliax know enough about information security to hold all their important conversations in private sanctums hundreds of miles away from the wound where spying on them would be moderately inconvenient, and any information she could possibly want on Mendev could be obtained far more easily by any of the dozens of abyssal spy networks whose reports she steals. Crusader's Fort is an exception.

Though the rank and file of the fort are much the same Iomedaeans as everywhere else in Gundrun, the fortress is home to a revolving door of foreign adventurers and acts as a central planning hub for any independant operations in the wound. If a group of adventurers are planning a raid on some Glabrezu, odds are they stop by the crusader's fort to organize the effort. If gunners from Alkenstar want to test their newest firearms against demonic toughness, they show up to the crusader's fort to do it. And if any powerful spellcasters want to do their alignment a favor or obtain respite from their enemies, they show up at crusader's fort to do it. It's still usually little more than an interesting diversion, but she's not so busy it's not worth an occasional check, and if they're on the ball enough that a Greater Scrying sensor will get noticed before it sees anything interesting? Well, her Insect Spies are much harder to spot, and aren't totally stopped by a Private Sanctum either.

Crusader's Fort isn't that different than it was, three months ago.

There's a giant snow sculpture, some way outside the walls.

The largest wizard lab is arranged differently

There's twelve undead badgers in a circle singing a working song, as they make [Knight's Banners]. These are quite sophisticated- they protect against fear, and if you have the knack, you can make them to a lot more things, like make you better at fighting, faster etc. To everyone who can see them in battle.

Her insect spies don't have any magical senses, even when she's looking through their eyes, but that's a problem for lesser mages. Her spies' vision is far keener than any ordinary insect's, and needing detect magic to figure out what a magic item does when you can see it being constructed is nothing less than incompetance. That doesn't mean that what she sees isn't surprising, though. Lastwall banners require a paladin's assistance to make function properly, and while there are obviously paladins at the Crusader's fort she really wouldn't have expected them to be cooperating with undead badgers of all things on making magic items. Her fingers itch to read their minds and figure out what their deal is, but using detect thoughts through a scrying sensor requires a specialized magic item to work and hers isn't threnodic. 

Spying on the wizard's lab is a bit more of a risk, but she's still got 6 hours on the duration of these insects and she's actually curious now. What's the deal there? She'll send one to get a closer look at the snow sculpture too, and then target it with a scry to check for anything unusual about it.

Not very well hidden underneath the snow is stone, the twisting marble-granite mix you get with [Flesh to Stone] It's a very large demon, turned to stone and then decapitated. 

Eriape is in her New Lab with her New Friend Maëlys. They gave her a Long List of Rules, written down in careful precision on all four walls, and have added to them regularly as Eriape has come out with new proposals.  

"So if we Turn the Demons, using [Baleful Polymorph] into Pigs or Somesuch, we could then feed them to the Mortals, saving Fortress Resources!"

Why is this her job now? "Because they are or were sapient, that is, in fact, cannibalism. Another for the wall, I think."

Well. Flesh to Stone implies 6th circle, but so does being a lich. Supposedly a merely 5th circle caster can occasionally manage it, but the lethality of attempts is enough it's rare anyone desperate for immortality would try. The badgers are probably hers, then, too; it's a simpler explanation than multiple unrelated undead wizards showing up at the crusader's fort at the same time. Can she see any of the items or spell diagrams in progress, or was she careful enough to hide them all away in lead lined boxes or the ethereal rather than rely on a private sanctum? If not, she'll divert three of the insects back to keep an eye on the badgers and get a sense for how directly the lich is puppeting them. If you can crack bilocation via badgers Areelu will actually be impressed.

Eriape has half a spell diagram here of Arcane Awaken. It's up on a blackboard, she's been trying to teach it to the Senior Lastwall Wizard. The man's also Chelish, interestingly enough. 

She'd have to see or reconstruct the other half to be completely sure, but the mathematics certainly seems sound to slot it into an only moderately unusual wizardry scaffold.  It's probably not worth the time to reconstruct the rest of the diagram and port it over to her own system any time soon, especially when she can already cast awaken with limited wish, but that's no call not to copy it down. Though it doesn't explain the badgers - no, you awaken them and then make them juju zombies, obviously. Badgers specifically because they dig, and wherever she operated out of before that was more useful than flight or opposable thumbs?

Some of the insight in this spellwork is useful, actually. It's mostly duplicated effort with what she has, but not quite all of it, and any master necromancer that can also do this probably has some things they aren't offering to exchange with Lastwall. If kidnapping liches of unknown capabilities out of crusader fortresses without tipping her hand about who was behind it  wasn't essentially impossible, she'd be tempted to go for it. 

...Apparently her phylactery is also inconveniently located; Areelu would rather have less interference from Axis, not more. Call that plan B, then, and kidnapping plan C.

Crusader's fort is not primarily supplied by teleport, but that doesn't mean they don't regularly get them. Occasionally this takes the form of 5th circle wizards looking to sign up, but more often it's high value cargo and mail. A few days after the fort played host to a number of nigh-invisible insects, a letter comes in addressed to Eriape.

Eriape gets her mail in the little administrative office cubbyhole mailboxes. She picks it up, and returns to her private cell in the Evening. The badgers are in bunks, six plus six, leaving almost no space. Not that anyone of them actually sleep, but Eriape considers it important to Encourage Them to have their Own Interests.  

"Mail Call!"

"Did my Subscription to the Fiduciary Times come in?"

"Did I get a Reply to my Complaint Letter?"

"Yes, and No. I don't think you're ever getting a reply from Aspexia Rugatonn. I did get a letter to Me!"

"I am going to Keep Trying. What is your Letter?"

The letter is from a wizard named Nestoras Chrysanthou! People with a good grasp on the inner sea wizarding social scene will be able to identify the name as corresponding to a wizard of some ability who had to relocate out of Absalom after losing an academic squabble; he continues to participate in the republic of letters from what he claims is a private demiplane and what his detractors claim is merely an underground base with delusions of grandeur. People without such knowledge will only have what they can see from the letter itself, which is enough to make it clear that he's at least 6th circle and more than passable at necromancy. Within the letter - after the usual pleasantries congratulating her on her move out of Cheliax, which every self respecting wizard considers to be nigh-devoid of any actual magical merit - is some discussion of her personal research. The writer purports to be very impressed at her sentient badgers, and inquires after her interest in any spell trading or research collaboration.

That is Interesting! Will you Do it?

"I Guess I must get used to Being in High Demand, now that I am a Well-Known Worldwound Wizard! Yes, I Rather think So"

Eriape writes a letter back in her Style, explaining all about her new spells, including her arcane Speak with Dead, Awaken, and so on. She invites him to visit if he likes, as scribing scrolls gets expensive. 

Does he want to do that? Speak with dead is a little interesting, but - 

...Apparently he does want to do that, but speak with dead isn't why because plenty of arcane spellcasters can do it. That's news to him.

A few days later, another wizard shows up at the Crusader's fort. He's not detectably evil, but that doesn't mean much since he's also not showing up to any other magical detection method either. Yes, he's here to speak to one of the adventurers here, yes he can swear under truthspell that to the best of his knowledge he's not working for or with any demons, yes he's willing to follow the rules or else leave. He's also got a couple of helpful spells prepared if that changes the outcome here, will they be less upset if he's willing to supply some communal phantom steeds and greater magic weapons and such for the fort?

No, that's exactly the kind of person we don't allow inside the walls, because we're not idiots, see.

 This is discrimination, he's not even an undead! Or provably evil! Or wanted in Lastwall for anything! What it's not is surprising; he's just here so he can say he tried. Sending to Eriape:

Your Paladin hosts refused visitation. Meet at my base or neutral ground? Can provide transportation if desired.

She's not going to take the first or third offer herself, obviously, nobody gets to 6th circle without being smarter than that. But you still ask, and she might send him a minion whose eyes she can watch through or something.

"We can meet Just Outside the Fort! I can Bring with me Several of my Friends from the Fort to make it Safe!"

Sure, that works for him. He'll pick a spot in view of the fort that's far enough away to not be immediately concerning to throw up a tiny hut to keep off the wind before stone shaping some furniture and getting a folding chair for himself out of his bag of holding. If she's going to be a bit, he can put up a private sanctum, but he's personally protected and has detect scrying up to catch anyone trying to snoop.

Eriape comes out of the fort with a couple well-armed people in [Endure Elements]. She, herself, is wearing only the black silk she always wears. "Hello!" she says, and waves to Nestoras.

She and her companions can get access to the tiny hut! He doesn't seem the slightest bit worried about being seated in confined quarters with a Lich while outnumbered, which suggests he's either foolishly overconfident or he's really confident in whatever tricks he's got up his sleeves. (Both are true; if he was good at rational risk assessment he would still be in Absalom, and also having an 8th circle wizard* on telepathic comms with you has a way of being reassuring).

"Hello! I'd have brought refreshments, but it feels like it would be a bit trite when you don't eat. Shall we get right into things, or is there any ground work you want done before we start?"

*Incorrect on both counts.

"Well I am not sure Yet if I should Trust you. What is your Opinion on the Badger?"

What in the nine Hells is she talking about? There's a lot of pressure on his bluff for a moment there, as he struggles not to let any sign of his bafflement through before he learns how he's supposed to play this.

...Either his mentor doesn't know the trick, or doesn't think the role he's playing is best served by him knowing it. "A rather useful creature, for excavation work, and the larger varieties are also surprisingly fearless. I'll confess it's not a specialty of mine."

Well, she is Good now, so perhaps she can share a spell or two. But she's not trusting a man who describes the virtues of badgers like one would describe a horse. 

Well, he's most interested in a version of Awaken that stabilizes on an arcane scaffold! He's got a couple spells of his own* that she might find interesting, like a stripped down version of possession he can fit in a third circle slot, contingent animate dead, and an undead-only magic fang he was able to make stabilize as a wizard spell; alternatively, he'd be happy to just pay for it with custom magic items or money if she'd prefer. He's more interested in seeing the work she did in developing it and here corresponding notes than the spell itself but he understands that might be private; it's relevant to a new spell he's working on developing himself.

As soon as Nestoras tells her about the possession, she has to show him her much better spell, [Skinsend], and explain how that's a whole circle lower and therefore much better. He can copy that one off her if he likes. 

...That sounds really unpleasantly painful, but also, how the heck can you fit that in a second circle spell? Lesser possession at third already seemed insane when he got help fitting that onto a wizarding scaffold, and while it's not an upgrade of his one it's not really a downgrade either. He's beginning to think he might be slightly out of his league here, a little help?

Whatever his flaws when it comes to appreciating badgers, there's no denying Nestoras Chrysanthou is a genius. He doesn't even need to see her work to reverse engineer a version of his own, though his Skinsend diagram is missing half of the features in an effort to make it fit into a second circle slot, and when he sees the genuine version he's able to suggest some optimizations that squeeze a few tenths of a second off the casting time. He also apologizes for the earlier lowball offers, his earlier options had clearly been undervaluing the use of her notes in his projects. Is contingent wall of force or fitting baleful polymorph into an illusion scaffold more her speed? Or perhaps a little trick he picked up, to prevent espionage and keep enemies from profiting from theft?

Eriape isn't very good at illusions, but she loves polymorphs. That baleful polymorph- does that use shadow substance, and actually change the shape of things into badger form, or is it purely a mental transformation into a badger? and if it uses shadow substance, does it actually compress the target somehow? If it changes what people look like, she's definitely interested. 

It does, at least if their fortitude isn’t high enough! That was the tricky part; he was able to borrow a lot of the diagraming work for shadow transmutation for the rest of it, but this part is entirely original work. His initial goal had been to make the entire thing merely will defended, she can see some of the architecture leading up to it here, but his efforts to get it to play right with the real polymorphing had ballooned so much he wasn’t even sure he could fit it in a 7th circle slot and he had to cut back his ambition a bit. It’s still primarily defended by willpower, though, and the range of possible targets is a lot larger than normal baleful polymorph.

Perfect! She's known quite a few martial types that would have made better badgers than men. He knows about the modification you can do to regular [Baleful Polymorph] to be able to choose if people keep their intelligence, right? 

He hasn’t. (There’s not much need for it when you can use grand polymorph, but Nestoras Crysanthou is only 6th circle). It’s not immediately clear to him how you could adapt it to his version, since the bit that tricks them into thinking they’re the target creature is a precondition for the shadow transmutation to trigger successfully, but maybe if they were a willing target you could tweak the matrix here…

At this point the other people are kind of getting bored of wizard gibberish, and a bit cold, so they go back inside.