Clarabella nods. "I will Consent to Assist. I have been Raised Right!"

Voshrelka could reply to that, but has the wisdom not to, and instead just has a briefly pained expression on her face, followed by a nod. "Thank you for your assistance and time. We will do our utmost not to waste it."

Okay, her offer of macabre assistance to her at least temporary allies is complete, on to actually attempting to disentangle... this. "Clarabella, what was your method of Awakening? Were you Awakened and then raised, or was it the same spell that did both?"

Clarabella looks up at her, and tilts her head.  "I do not Remember it. I was Asleep. Eriape says it happens Nearly Concurrently, as that's how it's Best for Us."

Undeath would certainly be more comfortable without context of how life can actually not be filled with constant suffering, yes. It also prevents inconvenient preferences from forming.

"I see. Have you witnessed this process in other badgers?"

"Yes, Many Times. I do not have Arcane Sight, so I don't Know as much as the Wizard-Badgers. The Candidates are always asleep when she gets them from Badger Island."

'Badger Island' is noteworthy and will be touched upon later. For now, she has her priorities.

"How many badgers have been Awakened? Were all of them then made into undead?"

"I have Seen Twenty Awakenings, and all of Us were Thus Made Undying."

Not as awful a number as it could be, really.

"And have any of them subsequently died?"

"Not before You Came."

Nod.

"Could you identify the bodies of any newly deceased Awakened badgers?"

"It would be Sad! But Yes."

.... She should probably ask an empathetic question here that shows she cares about feelings or something. There's a paladin that might still be in earshot. They care about that sort of thing. She thinks. She hasn't met many paladins, they're just extremely themselves about what they are.

"Would you consent to performing such a grim task? If one of them has died, the most reliable way to check the state of their soul would be by Scrying." Which she can do now. It will be her first one, since she's been spending all of her non-domain fourth circle spells on feeding the hungry.

"It is Important Work, and if Any of them Are Sadly Dead, this way you will Learn their Names, in case you want to Meet them in the Afterlife to Talk to them There!"

Nod. "I would be honored to hear of your Awakened companions."

Well, irritated, but it's useful information for both a scry and for the general investigative work of figuring out the state of the souls of the subject, so. It rounds up to honored. Same difference, really. And they can trail after the various adventurers clearing out the lair to see about identifying the dead.

"So to Summarize, only One of the Animals seem to have been Awakened, our Friend, the Skilled Wizard Montserrat. The rest were the Old Badgers, from Before The Great Lady Eriape Learned the Trick to Awakening us, From Before She was Herself."

"... You mean when she made herself a lich?" clarifies Voshrelka, as she efficiently gets to retrieving a focus from Montserrat's body. (A bit of shed fur; she has the sense to respectfully give him a brush instead of doing something distasteful, like taking a tooth or claw or something. She will be a fetching newly dead undead monstrosity.)

"She was a Different Person before she was a Lich! much Less interested in Badgers! Montserrat is Sure to Become a Great Afterlife Person, like an Archdevil or an Archon or Something. She was Very Effective!"

"That is often the case, with liches, though the focus upon badgers is as I know it unique." Lock of fur: acquired, and carefully tied together with a length of twine and packed away in a bit of stray cloth. "The work of the arcane Awakening was entirely after her undeath, then?"

"Yes! She got it from a Druid! I am Glad she Did. Being an Animal that Cannot Think is Scary."

"It often is, yes. Higher reasoning comes with its own downsides, though. A druid helped her? A living one?"

"I would not say Helped. I understand the Druid went Back on Her Word after she got the Money. Eriape was Thus Forced to Extract the Spell from her By Force!"

"I see. Is the druid now dead, then?"

"I do not know Her Name, but from what I Heard it was a very Final sort of Encounter. She came from some Forest here in Cheliax!"

Nod. She’ll want to investigate the details of that, which will probably mean going through the lich’s notes.

“But you don’t know which one, and obviously weren’t there to witness it. Regardless, thank you.” There being a druid’s involvement somewhere has implications for the quality of the Awakening, though. This creature’s soul might not be in horrific tatters after all, and she might even make it to judgement.

“Do you know how many years its been, since your Awakening?”

"Yes! We had a Special Event for it Every Year on the Anniversary!  It has been Sixty Five such Events! You are an Elf I think, so you must be Older!"