Valentin steps back and casts Ghostbane Dirge on the ghost.
Victrix whirls on her heel and sprints at the ghost of Jazradan!
Jazradan shouts in anger as the mage's sword slices into his spectral form, though he is able to disbelieve and ignore most of its damage. He utters the words to his own mage's sword spell, but Ema quickly recognizes it and counters it effortlessly! "I will show you who is the Grand Arcanist here, daughter!" Jazradan shouts. He casts a quickened spell as he tries to erase portions of Ema's mind!
Jazradan resists Valentin's attempts to make him corporeal. Still, the ghaele, Simon, and Victrix all find gaps in his magical defenses, weakening his incorporeal form!
Ema screamed as she felt her mind eroding, "NO, NOT AGAIN!" It was a wail of terror a caused by what had happened to her previously when she forgot everything. On it's own the sword lashed out at Jazradan again though it was not as accurate as before. Ema was not going to accept such a fate if she could do anything about it so she chanted and gestured and a burst of anti magic attempted to rip through the spell that tore away a piece of her very self.
As she let her magic try to do it's work Ema prepared to counter Jazradan again if she needed to.
stuffstuffstuff
Gaele tore into Jazradan's spectre angrily fully intent on demolishing him.
Terana might be a bit slow on the uptake but when given cues as obvious as this one she is still capable of getting the right idea!
Her divinely powered blows prove just as effective against the ghost as they did against the aboleth.
Faced with your the full force of your combined fury, the unfortunate Jazradan doesn't stand much chance. With each strike from the ghaele and Terana, his spectral body becomes more and more indistinct. His attempt to cast another spell to try to turn the tables is quickly thwarted by Ema, who has managed to reverse her mindwipe.
"Emalliandara! Daughter!" Jazradan cries. "Think about the consequences of your actions! The alghollthu completely wiped out Azlant long ago! They will not hesitate to unleash destruction again! The only way to ensure humanity's safety is to guarantee their annihilation!"
But the ghost's cries fall on deaf ears. "This is not over!" he promises as your attacks finally push him past the threshold of tolerance. He fades out of existence with a final anguished cry!
Ema watched as her father's spirit vanished again and shook her head as she said sadly, "Yes father, it is." With that Ema collapsed to the floor and began to sob at what she had just had to do to her father. He was free now from his undeath but it still hurt.
It took her quite some time before she collected herself and when she had Ema rose and said, "We need to destroy this thing or at least make sure no one can ever reach it again." Ema wiped her eyes and realized she was a mess. She quickly cast a spell to set herself to rights again and squared her shoulders as she looked at the device. "If nothing else maybe the inevitable we met can call one of it's own to guard it until such time as the world is ready for it."
Victrix nods. "...yeah."
"And... I'm sorry." She says before turning her attention to the massive device before her.
Not knowing what else to do, she starts swinging at it to destroy it the old-fashioned way.
As a ghost, it's likely that Jazradan will rejuvenate in a few days' time. It might be a good idea to ascertain exactly how to put the Grand Arcanist to rest, once and for all.
Victrix's axe has no effect. With several minutes of careful study, Ema is able to determine exactly how the Synchrony Device works, and how to destroy it. But such destruction will be a lengthy and delicate process.
Among the fallen Ochymua's possessions, you find the phylactery of Auberon the Drowned--a unique skull-shaped ioun stone. It's up to you what you will do with it...
"...oh, right." The aasimar says as she looks down at the ioun stone. "Almost forgot about that."
"Just to be clear, we're breaking this and Auberon, right?"
Ema nodded in agreement with Victrix and said, "Absolutely." Her gaze shifted back to the device and she sighed. "I can disable this permanently but it will take some time and I can't be distracted with it. We should find what has been holding my father's ghost here and deal with it so he does not come back."
Ema looked vaguely in the direction of their village and said, "It might be worth bringing Baeldwin here to help disable this thing," she looked to Simon and added, "Your help would be good too if you will give it Simon."{/b]
Ema's thoughts turned to her father's ghost and what might be holding him there. She thought that the best place to start would be where she was put into stasis all those millennia ago and decided to use one of the abilities she had rarely called on. She focused on the barrier between the planes and communing with those aligned with Pharasma. They needed to end her father's existence as an undead and there was none better to aid with that than the forces of the goddess of death. When she was sufficiently centered Ema asked, [b]"Is the room where I was sealed away so long ago the best place to find the source of my father's ghostly existence?"
Ema sends her mind out into the Great Beyond, where it brushes against that of one of the psychopomp ushers. She can feel the powerful demigod's resentment at the unwanted contact, but the being deigns to answer her questions.
Through a series of questions, Ema is able to learn that Jazradan's denial keeps him tethered to this plane. The shattered continent must be scoured of all the illusory projection pads still delivering Jazradan’s final message to the people of dead Azlant, for part of his spirit still inhabits each illusion. Only then can Jazradan’s soul be put to rest, finally accepting the fate of lost Azlant.
Ema came out of her trance after mentally thanking the Usher who answered her questions and resolved to send it something by way of thanks, like maybe a certain Lich that needed to be ended soon. Ema looked at the others and said, "We need to destroy all of the holographic pads that continue to play father's message. The problem is I don't know where they all might be or if we can even find them ourselves." Ema smiled slightly and said, "Fortunately I have a plan."
Ema headed back to teh nexus where they first saw Jazradan's ghost and began to look over the control panel. She didn't want to do this but she knew she had to. She began to search through the menus for the control for the projectors. If she couldn't just delet the message and hence free her father's soul Ema was going to try and make them all short out or activate their self destruct if they had one.
Unfortunately, this control panel isn't connected to the projection pads, only the Synchrony Device. You're going to have to search for and destroy the pads the old fashioned way. No doubt, it will be a time-consuming quest.
"I will remain here if necessary." Terana says calmly. "Protecting the device is a worthy cause enough, although the temptation to target the Gallowspire with the positive energy plane is considerable..." She holds up a hand. "I understand completely, it cannot be used. Unless the elemental plane of water and somewhere in the deep ocean? Or perhaps the Plane of Air near the Eye of Abendego? I do think discharging the device might be the most effective way to end it. Still, I will remain here while you all journey the islands to find these 'pads'. You all have a better idea of where they are I'm sure."
She nods firmly to Victrix's statement. "We are fortunate that he has no regenerated already, so destroy it and let us be done with him."
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"Naturally, I will help Ema. The job isn't done until this structure is safe. Ideally, we would destroy the whole facility, but getting rid of your father's ghost so we have time to dismantle the device is near as good.
Perhaps if we go back to the library, we'll be able to find some political maps of Azlant. Knowing what we are looking for, we should at the very least be able to track the city centers to give clues on where to look. Combined with liberal casting of Find Object should speed things up."
Before you depart the Doomsday Stores, you take a moment to reflect on what you have just accomplished. You have managed to defeat two of the most powerful figures from ages past, and prevented untold destruction from being unleashed upon the world. This is a massive accomplishment!
Terana agrees to remain behind for the time being to watch over the Synchrony Device, as well as the other prototype weapons hidden within the Compass, to ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands. With a powerful ally in the inevitable Quatronicus, she takes to her charge with solemn dignity and patience.
The rest of you spend the next several weeks scouring the islands of the shattered continent for the projection pads displaying Jazradan's message. Each time you move to destroy one, the Grand Arcanist's spirit briefly possesses his illusion to rail at you and try to sway you into his line of thinking, but you remain resolute in your morals. Eventually, you discover the final pad, and with its destruction, Jazradan is finally forced to accept that the Azlant of old is gone for good. You can only hope his spirit finds peace in whatever afterlife he ends up in.
Though other dangers may lie in wait lurking deep beneath the waves, for now, you have secured your colony's existence among the ruins of Azlant. Talmandor's Bounty is at long last safe, and poised to become the first (and most prosperous) of a resurgent colonizing effort. What role you wish to play in the forthcoming settlement is up to you...
In the days that followed, Victrix was at a loss as to what to do with herself. With no more enemies to threaten Talmandor's Bounty, with or without the aid of unattended doomsday devices of ancient origin, it seemed that she could finally have a chance at domestic bliss with Antona and Gary. For a time, she settled down with the two of them and even managed to start a family.
But as Talmandor's Bounty grew and more in-roads were being made into the surrounding islands, Victrix came to a cold realization. Someone was needed to keep the colonists from running roughshod over the islands, whether via diplomacy or brute force; though she had done more than enough to have earned her retirement from the adventurer's life, her conscience wouldn't allow her to let innocent people come to harm if she could help it.
She would become one of the colony's most accomplished diplomats, this time fighting with words and rational arguments for limiting expansion and dealing with locals peacefully (much to her disbelief). She would do much to foster good relations between settler and native alike... and in so doing, along with raising her own family, would find the discipline and sense of purpose that had so long eluded her in Andoran's army.
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Simon long ago realized how silly it was to compete with his father's fame. Jealousy and anger had driven a wedge into his family and separated him from those he loved.
Travelling home, he reconciled with them and regaled his family with stories of his adventures, allowing his father's admonishments and suggestions of how he would have done things differently to simply pass.
Inviting them to take part in the further exploration of the islands, he introduced Richard to Carver and his team, while setting his mother up in a position to learn more about managing the museum he began to construct.
Whether she took to that job or not, he knew that as the mother of a hero, she would have every opportunity to find fulfillment in Talmandor's Bounty.
Simon's grand book, he set aside, turning his notes over to Carver and Richard. From time to time over the ensuing years, Simon went travelling with Valentin for no more reason then to see the rest of the world and learn new experiences.
Terana, always a wandering soul, found surprising contentment in the Compass. Even once the ghost of Jazradan was finally exorcised from Golarion (although not before it and Terana had battled once more) she remained at her post, taking in the wonders of a world long past and preventing the dangerous secrets of the Ioun Imperative, and the algothulu's both from ever seeing the light of day once more.
The Mordant Spite sent a large contingent to claim the facility 'as the true inheritors of Azlant' but fortunately Terana was able to turn them away without violence. Shelyn eventually rewarded Terana's steadfast faith with a divine blessing and a task - eternal guardianship over the Compass and all its wonders.
Time may pass, new nations rise and fall but as long as Terana breathes still no-one will ever again attempt to use the Synchrony Device to destroy Golarion.
With everything accomplished and the threat of the weapon over with Ema found herself having to figure out what to do with her life. Oh the Veiled Masters were still a threat, albeit a diminished one, and she knew they could be again one day.
One of the first things she did was gather those who were willing and went to deal with Auberon. Given what they had been up against the lich was no longer much of a threat and he was dispatched in short order. Ema worked to bring others down to the spire to study Auberon's research which she hoped would lead to revolutionary changes in planar theory.
When she had returned to her new home Ema worked and redirecting some of her lovers to others, particularly the blacksmith whose love life she had so badly messed up. She worked on getting him back together with the woman he had fallen for before she came around.
Ema's apprentice, Medrinnah, had matured greatly from the headstrong rebellious girl she had been before. While her mother might not always approved of her daughter's behavior, particularly when she started emulating Ema's style of dress for a while, overall the change was still for the better. It was within a year that Ema decided Medrinnah was proficient enough to no longer be called her apprentice and she proudly gave the woman her original spellbook on the day she told Medrinnah she was now an apprentice no longer.
Baelden and Ema continued their long history of insulting each other up until the day the irascible old artificer died. Ema was broken up about his loss, she valued his opinion and loved him as a surrogate father but he was not the first she had lost and would not be the last. Between them they had made some significant breakthroughs in automata using her knowledge regained from Lost Azlant and provided the town and later city with a great deal of benefit in the way of autonomous laborers as well as running a magical school on the island in their later years.
Ema continued to take other lovers at times, even when she was reaching the end of her life as even though she had lost her immortality she never seemed to age physically looking just as young on her death bed as she had when she first arrived on the island. Despite her propensity Ema still came back to Perrell.
Ema had fallen in love with Perrell and, despite the difficulties involved, had children with her. Magic could solve so many problems like that. Their oldest daughter was Maggie an intelligent and serious girl who took more after Perrell than Ema and studied history after being inspired by Ema's stories and her Uncle Simon's thisrt for knowledge. Their younger daughter was Kaia and was just as precocious and outgoing as Emalliandra was. Kaia eventually became Medrinnah's apprentice and followed Ema's path of the Arcanist when she was ready to diverge from her studies.
While Ema never aged in appearance her body did slowly begin to wear out. She lived for a long time, long enough for her and Perrell to see their great grandchildren but it wouldn't last forever, nothing ever really does. Eventually Perrell fell ill and when Perrell died so too did Ema who was unwilling to go on. While they were confirmed dead their bodies vanished without a trace and it was rumored they were taken directly to whatever after life they had earned to become servants of some divinity or another though the truth was never to be discovered.
At last, we have reached the end of this tale of adventure! The story of the heroes who tamed the Ruins of Azlant is over, but there are many more stories still to be told. For in Golarion, adventure is just around the next corner!
The End