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Arianna's blessed blade seems to cut through the god's defenses like a hot knife through warm butter, leaving sizzling wounds as it bites deep. Unfortunately, Albert's spell seems to fizzle out, hitting some sort of unseen barrier only millimeters from Laktharis's flesh. Rilas's arrows stick out, continuing to burn the creature, and suddenly, he grasps his chest, and falls to the ground. Within seconds he is utterly gone. The moment Laktharis dies, his remnants rapidly decompose while colorful spirals of planar energy crackle and swirl around his corpse. A similar burst of violet energy rises from Valais’s kalavakus parts and joins the planar maelstrom around Laktharis’s body. The energy swirls into a small vortex before collapsing on itself and vanishing completely.
Rilas's bow and a small notebook is all that remains in the spot that the Shattered God had been. Valais signs in relief, suddenly feeling one of the voices asserting a corrupting influence over her soul gone forever. "He’s gone, I don’t hear him whispering in my ear any longer. Perhaps that is the answer? Perhaps we must track down the other demon Thurl used to build my body and destroy it. Whatever happens next, thank you for keeping me alive. I hope Thurl’s notes," indicating the notebook she oand others begin thumbing through, "will help us."
The Azata, who soon identifies himself as Kitarlo, listens patiently, thanking you for saving him, and ending the otherworldly threat that was beyond his ability. He asks Valais to share her tale, after which he offers "Your story intrigues me. I can ease your mind, but I cannot help you this moment. There is one possibility I know of, but it requires access to a very special library. In Heaven, there is a place called the Great Library of Harmonious Scripture, which, among other things, contains a record of every sacred ceremony that has ever been performed. A contact of mine owes me a favor; perhaps with his help we can get you the information you need to restore yourself, body and soul. Of course, your way also seems to work, though it requires much more violence." He eyes the corpse of Laktharis. "What will you try first: hunt down and slay the other demon whose body is incorporated into yours or seek the help of archons, whose procedures can take many years to navigate?"
Valais’s eyes flit between the celestial being and the demonic corpse, and then land on her fellow Pathfinders. “You’ve helped me face what has happened to me as no one has before. I trust your wisdom. What do you think I should do?"
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A fight with more demons or a library that most humanoids never lay eyes on? That's a silly question.
"Professional and personal curiosity pull my thoughts to the Great Library," Diri offers. "There could be any number of answers to questions not yet posed alongside the procedural knowledge that we currently seek," she continues, smile widening.
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"Agreed. How could we make such an important decision for you. If it were me o would take down those who have perverted natures creation"
-Posted with Wayfinder
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"A part of me wants nothing more than to slaughter those that have hurt me, your actions, your acceptance has also taught me that I can fight,. . . be my own person . I think I shall try to seek aid rather than giving ground to demons and devils."
Kitarlo speaks up afterwards, "If I could beg your aid, there is another problem that I could use your help with. The Staff, this twisted instrument of vileness has been corrupted. The wards kept it from the Shattered Gods reach, and even when he took my arm, he found that he could not retrieve it on his own. He could reach beyond the barrier, but since my arm was able to resist his influence, it was not yet turned to evil, and so could not bear to grasp it."
"I know of a ritual, one that may return it to its original state, but I can not do it alone. If you are willing, we can all attempt to purge its darkness forever, returning the artifact to its original intent."
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After an hour of performing various incantations, prayers, and ritual tasks, you see a beam of light come through the ceiling, likely directly from the sky itself, and surrounding the staff. It seems to burn away some sort of spiritual energy around and within the staff, but another beam seems to break off, this one travelling almost like a lightning bolt, but made of pure energy and light, to strike Aikio.
It is not painful, but rather fills her with a certain sense of tranquility, and everyone around gets a vision, or perhaps just a mental image of chains being broken. Aikio feels her power, and the favor of the flame return, no longer suffering any doubt that the next time she calls upon the magic, it may fail.
Studying Thurl's notes, you discover that he had, known to some of you already, been experimenting on grafting different body parts, mainly from Abyssal creatures onto his subjects, and he had no compunctions with using his own Pathfinder Agents as test subjects.
With Valais, he had succeeded in creating a unique being, and one he had hoped to manipulate as a weapon as he defected to a place of prominence in the Worldwound's Abyssal legions, but had disappeared before he was able to utilize his weapon, leaving her to find her own way.
The other creature, was similar, though you discover that it was able to repeat the process on it's own, without Thurl's expertise. Both of them, it seems, perhaps unknown to Thurl, had received boy parts from an ancient and practically unknown demonic god called Laktharis, who, in ages past, before the Worldwound, had created a cult to be the center of worship among the local Sarkorians, incorporating his own divine history into some of their legends until he became the Shattered God of the Harvest and rebirth, based on an ancient legend. Central to the heroe's legend was an artifact called the Heartwood staff, and after years, if not more of Laktharis's influence, it too became corrupted, twisting in all ways to become a relic of darkness and decay, wracked with Abyssal energies.
It's not clear when Thurl encountered the true Lakatharis, but he used some of the demon's still living but torpid parts to recreated Valais and the other creature. The creature became Laktharis, but was incomplete, as a portion of it's "soul" had been transported to Valais as well, but only in minor ways. Hoping to reunit itself, Laktharis had begun to call to Vlais, through her dreams, and slowly reawakening memories she had locked within her mutilated mind to call her home.
His intent, to make her it's bride or to truly reunite itself after Thurl's fashion is unknown, but no longer truly matters. Upon returning home, Ollysta Zadrian speaks with Valais before addressing you, “I’m happy to hear that Valais’s mind is clearer; she seems happier than I’ve even seen her since we recovered her from Thurl’s laboratory. You’ve given her real hope, something she has lacked recently. Thank you.” She is further pleased at your account and logistics of a defensible base in the area, and pleased to hear that her contact in the field is still alive and active.
"Congratulations on making contact with such a powerful celestial ally. Kitarlo’s plan to gain Heaven’s aid could work, but archons often have larger concerns than a single mortal soul. Azatas have good intentions, but they always not reliable. I would hate to get Valais’s hopes up. Ah, but now is not the time to fret about the risks in Valais’s future. Now is the time to celebrate the fact that she has a way forward, and that the Worldwound has lost a powerful demon that was tricking and exploiting innocent Sarkorians. Thank you, Pathfinders. May the Dawnflower’s light illuminate your path.”
After you have made your final reports, you find Valais awaiting you outside, hoping to have a few more words before you leave for your next mission, or a well earned rest. "I wanted to thank you, all of you, for all that you have done for me. I know what I am, and I know it must have been difficult to trust me. But, you did, giving me the benefit of the doubt, which I know few others would have. You did not attack me, but rather, in my moment of need offered your hand, and for that, I am forever thankful. In our travels, I watched, paying attention to your actions, and what I could make of your intentions, and I have come to a decision. A fork in the path. I've decided that I will make an effort to put much of my pain, my anger, and the other dark aspects that influence me behind me. But not to forget them. They are, all of them, a part of what makes me the woman I am, and so I can not forget that. I've decided to start over, learning from my pain, and the first step is a small one, but an important one. I wish to be called Vee Dee, now, a new name, but one that I can not help but remember where I came from, both good and bad."