Theo's fire spell doesn't hurt the golems--instead, it both partially melts their bodies, making them more susceptible to physical damage, and speeds them up. The reduced resistance allows Iron Shen to finish destroying the closer golem.
Calendula surprises everybody as she races up the stairs, through the blade barrier. Shenuska dismisses the blades as the rest of you start moving to follow the paladin.
The stairs lead up to a sprawling throne room that is the height of regal decadence--the floor is made of polished marble shot through with streaks of emerald, the luxurious velvet runner to the throne is made of green silk intermixed with woven gold, and tapestries of stylized runes and scenes of the triumphant Runelord Belimarius adorn the walls. A massive throne sits to the southwest, flanked on either side by several figures that appear to be made of stained glass and mounted on stone platforms like trophies. A large, colorful, seven-pointed star is mounted above the throne in an iron frame. One additional trophy, a black-haired man clothed in regal robes, is imprisoned in a coffin-shaped cage of shimmering force in the southern corner of the room.
As soon as you lay eyes on the stained glass figures, memories begin to rush back into your minds--their names, their legacies. These, at last, are the missing Sihedron Heroes, and the star above the throne is the legendary Sihedron itself!
Captain Xoxl stands beside the throne, his sword continuing to heal his wounds, flanked by two more members of the Emerald Guard. And seated upon the throne is none other than Runelord Belimarius herself.
The runelord speaks a command word, and the second golem downstairs ceases its attack, though it remains at the ready. She then stares down her nose at you as you come up the stairs and folds her knotted hands together. "Ah," she says. "You. As if I don't have enough annoyances these days. More heroes come to call, is it? Well, are you here to become more trophies for my display? Or are you sensible enough to put your weapons down and talk?"
Shenuska is not stupid enough to give away her position and instead speaks with a mental voice that all her party can hear.
"Your rule here is done Belimarius. We are here for the Sihedron, the heroes you have trapped and to return your city to the real world. Your compatriots have risen and been destroyed. Resign your office and you may keep your life."
The Sihedron was absolutely not part of the plan, nor where the Heroes, but Shen has no plans to play for less that the entire pot. Or ideally more.
Spreading her hands to demonstrate that she holds no weapons, Nime drifts forward on her misty wings.
"First off, I wish to apologize for my antagonistic behavior when we arrived. I let my sense of urgency overcome rational judgement," she says.
"Secondly, let me clarify what my friend was saying." She takes a deep breath and looks around the throne room. "You city is failing, Lady Belimarius. Deny it if you will, but this city was pulled out of time and has resisted the pull of chronological forces for almost ten thousand years. But now the walls are beginning to crack and will soon crumble entirely. We've come here to offer you an alternative to utter destruction. Please take it. Step down from your throne and choose life. Release these prisoners and choose life. Give up that ... " She gestures at the sihedron, "and choose life. I have no wish to see your life end. Seeing someone choose death over life, frankly, leaves me constipated. I mean like for days."
Belimarius is incensed by Shenuska’s impertinence. Nime’s words seem to have no effect on the runelord’s mood, but just as Belimarius is about to respond, time seems to freeze around you. The runelord and her guards do not move, but a familiar woman appears beside Nime—the Steward of Stethelos.
Appearing now as an incredibly old woman with one foot in the proverbial grave, she still carries her signature hourglass, although unlike the first time (when it was broken) or the second time (when it was on the verge of running out of time), this time the hourglass appears to have only recently been turned, with a relatively small mound of sand in the lower portion— except the sand is falling up into the higher portion of the hourglass, rather than down. Although she appears to be blind, the Steward faces you unerringly when she appears before them. She shakes her head as she points to Nime, then whispers in a faint voice, “No, you did not fail here—you have already succeeded before, and time’s ravager will not change this fact.”
As she fades once more, she says, “Seek me in Stethelos when you arrive upon the Green Meadow. Seek not the whispers in the trees, if you value existence!”
Time seems to resume as Belimarius glares down at you. ”Hmph. I will forgive your lack of respect this one time. I am willing to talk if you can keep your sharp tongued friend in check. Instead of threats and demands, how about we start with introductions? You obviously know who I am. Tell me exactly who you are and why you have come to Xin-Edssseril.”
Shenuska decides to let Nime do her thing, combat will likely ensue the moment Belimarius and Calendula have to speak anyway. She decides to investigate the Sihedron and the frozen heroes, utilising detect magic to do so as Ieldana and Iron Shen keep a wary eye on the final golem downstairs,
"My friend is very goal-oriented. As a Runelord yourself, I'm sure you can appreciate that. My name is Nime. I'm an emissary of the Eternal Rose. Our ultimate goal is to save the world. Our current goal is to fix time which is breaking. The Runelord Alaznist has been tampering with time and causing all sorts of trouble. We needed to find information that hadn't been corrupted by her meddling and so we came here. Where you have records of history that haven't been spoiled."
She frowns as she searches her mind for anything that she's missed.
"In the process we discovered that the magic that is keeping Xin-Edssseril apart from the ... the time ...stream, I guess, is failing. The city will cease to exist if we don't bring it into the normal flow of time."
She nods to herself, hoping that she's understood what they've discovered correctly.
”Alaznist! That hotheaded fire-crotch is always up to no good! What did she do this time?”
Belimarius remains stoic as you tell her of Alaznist’s meddling with time, as well as just how much time has passed in the outside world. She sits back on her throne, and taps her fingers on the armrest. “You know,” the runelord says with cold thoughtfulness. “Our goals are not so different. I want my realm to be safe again, as do you. Perhaps we can strike a bargain. If you deal with my enemies—that cult boy, and queen what’s-her-name, the rune giant—I’ll tell you what needs to be done to escape this place. What say you?”
"We already know how to free the city." Shenuska's mental voice has a distinctly amused air. "Try something else."
Belimarius scowls. ”Whoever is thinking so rudely to me, I ask you to watch your tone! But fine. I’ll throw in these so-called heroes and their bauble.” She flicks her wrist towards the Sihedron Heroes. ”They’re frozen,” she quips lightly. “Frozen in time, just like the Sihedron. A more severe malady than the weeklong time loop the city experienced before those fools broke it. A far less severe malady than they probably deserve. I would have simply cut them down if they showed up in my throne room to oppose me. But they were lucky to appear already trapped in time. I like them this way. Now they’ve been added to my collection. The Sihedron is likewise stuck, but maybe if we break the time lock, they’ll be released as well.”
Theo was somewhat reeling at recognising the Sihedron Heroes, particularly the swashbuckling Viorec Saldana. Although it was less memories of Viorec than memories of how Theo knew him personally that left him silent as he realised what else Alaznist's temporal meddling had done.
It had erased Alika Saldana, the woman Theo loved.
Anger at Alaznist welled inside him and he was glad his invisibility was still going for the moment (even if he was sure Belimarus had the means to see through it). A white-hot fury like he'd never felt had gripped him and he felt the draconic wings he'd learnt to manifest form from his back. His hands shifted reflexively into claws and he felt his teeth and jaw shift into a lethal bite. He hadn't turned into a dragon again, but his draconic ancestry would be on full display and, were he not to furious to consider it, would have noticed the temperature around him growing. He had been fully on-board with bringing Alaznist down but this - this - made it personal.
He got a hold of himself after a moment, the temperature around him dropping slightly, and spoke as his mouth returned to normal. "So you're not the one who did this to them?" he asked trying, and failing, to keep the anger out of his voice. He'd kept the full extent of it from showing in his voice, but one would have to be blind not to notice it.
"No, it was not me," Belimarius confirms. "As I said, they just appeared in my throne room like this. It is likely related to the fact that Crystilan itself is slowly collapsing in on itself."
Shenuska can confirm the heroes and the Sihedron are trapped in a field very similar to that created by temporal stasis, save that it is a bit more powerful in nature, and that while dispel magic, greater dispel magic, or a similar effect cannot end this effect, a freedom spell or a mage’s disjunction spell should. In addition, she suspects that if the plane of Crystilan could be deactivated and Xin-Edasseril returned to the modern age, the effect on the Sihedron Heroes should end as well.
"Then it sounds as if we're of one accord in that we'd like Xin-Edasseril to return to the main time stream rather than be utterly destroyed," Nime says with a smile. "So the question simply remains, 'What are we all willing to compromise on to make that happen?'"
The undine's roam for the first time over the frozen images of the heroes of the past, stopping on a garishly dressed woman. "Gods in the heavens," she mutters to herself. "If ever an argument could be made against clothing, she's a walking proclaimer of it."
"I will not let those violent and impertinent thugs to continue to wreak havoc in my city," Belimarius says haughtily. "There can be no compromise so long as the high cultist of Doloras and that rune giant wench still live!"
Calendula huffs and ignores the conversation, staring up at the Sihedron heroes. One of the stained glass figures is only in silhouette, just the outline of an elf, with a widebrimmed hat and a scarf pulled around their face. Figuring the party can delay dealing with Belimarius and still end up murdering her later, she tries to remember what she's heard of such a person.
It would probably be Persephone with her Ring of Invisibility, hiding in the shadows and waiting for a chance to shoot or stab someone. Calendula laughs audibly, imagining the silhouetted figure creeping around the throne room and stabbing the Runelord in the neck before appearing to full visibility, while the others engaged simply in hollow promises.
"Is that the only acceptable solution you see?" Nime asks, genuinely curious. "Would not banishment serve the same purpose?"
"I care not their ultimate fate, so long as they are no longer a threat to my rule!"
Nime considers her words carefully. She's never been one to mince them and she doesn't consider falsehoods a viable strategy. She does, however, understand that her words should be carefully chosen.
"We will ensure that neither the Doloras cultists, nor the rune giants will have any effect on your future rule," she says after a moment.
Rudrik watches this whole exchange silently, taking in the glass-changed Sihedron heroes - his eyes flickering back and forth beneath the slitted visor of his helm - and wondering how he went from being a junk hauler to getting himself into this. This could happen to him! Turned to glass and displayed like a trophy in a Runelord's castle! Hell, he'd been turned to stone twice. What was he thinking? This adventuring business was dangerous. Maybe it was time to dial it back a little.
”Good! Run off and do that, then. Return when your task is complete,” Belimarius says dismissively.
Shenuska does so, although perhaps not in quite the manner the Runelord expected. She makes a point of going into every room she can on the way out, banking on the protections that Xanderghul himself demonstrated so effectively, to help her avoid detection.
Shenuska is able to Sneak about the lower level of the palace with impunity, starting with the rooms to the north. A massive and impressively carved dining table is the centerpiece of this ostentatious space. High-backed chairs fitted with overstuffed cushions are pushed up against the table.
Jeweled trunks, priceless curtains and rugs, and floorboards that gleam with gilding decorate the breathtakingly beautiful room next to the dining hall. In the southern corner, a majestic four-poster bed is draped with silken coverlets decorated with images of emeralds. A large mirror stands against the southeastern wall, although its reflective surface is strangely dull. The room seems curiously untouched.
There is a jeweled trunk (itself worth 3,000 gp) at the foot of the bed. This trunk is locked, but inside is a cauldron of seeing, one scroll of greater dispel magic and five scrolls of freedom. The scrolls may be enough to release the Sihedron Heroes, but doing so will surely incite the runelord’s wrath!
The first room to the south is a war room. Tables are positioned throughout this stuffy, crowded room. Sheets upon sheets of maps of the city are scattered all over the tables, tacked to the walls, and even cover some of the floor. Pins, charcoal drawings, and pewter figures cover the maps, as if someone has been using this room to desperately plan an infinite number of battle strategies.
Next to the war room, a utilitarian bedroom is sparse but clean. It contains little more than a bed with a black sheet, a large desk, and two small dressers.
A search reveals a number of papers of note in the desk in the east corner. Most of these papers are simply notes Xoxl plans to use in the war room at some point in the future. However, Shenuska also finds a small, leather-bound journal tucked underneath one of the drawers. Written in Thassilonian, this journal details the captain’s convictions that he will soon help Runelord Belimarius find a way to rise from her current predicament, stamp out the city’s unrest, jar Xin-Edasseril from its temporal trap, and take a rightful spot among the new Thassilonian nation that he’s certain must have emerged after Earthfall.
However, the journal also contains a cryptic ledger with names of several Emerald Guards next to an amount of gold pieces or the names of magic items. This is the captain’s ledger of the resources from Belimarius’s personal treasury that he’s been lending to various guards for use in hunting down faction members or fending off temporal threats. This is information that might prompt the runelord to turn on her trusted captain.
In addition, the journal reveals Xoxl’s shame at his elven heritage—in Edasseril, jealousy of the southern elven nation of Mierani was a strong tradition dating back to the empire’s earliest days. The first Runelord of Envy chose the name of a powerful elven family in order to claim the name “Edasseril” and redefine it as something the future would remember as Thassilonian. Xoxl’s journal makes clear that this jealousy has poisoned his thoughts and that his primary goal in serving Belimarius is that she has promised, one day, to use her powerful magic to transform him into a pure-blooded Azlanti just like herself. Yet Belimarius continues to stall on fulfilling her promise, and reading between the lines of the latest entries in the journal reveals that the captain’s frustrations are near a tipping point. If Belimarius doesn’t soon use a wish spell to grant him the transformation she promised, he may force the issue.
Shenuska's invisible face splits into a wide grin when she discovers the journal and she collects the book, alongside the scroll of dispel magic and makes her swift way out of the palace to meet up with her companions.
Ieldana has working hard on restoring Iron Shen and the golem looks as good as new in relatively short order.
"So," Shenuska says once the group are well away and have taken precautions against eavesdropping. "I don't think any of us will object to a showdown with the Cult. They are an evil that needs to be stamped out. I believe that the Rune Giants are better allies than Belimarius. She is old, wily, power obsessed and has very little reason not to betray us the moment we free Crystalian. She has bargained with nothing that she can actually use, in exchange for us completing a task she either can't or won't do. The giants, I believe could be trusted, or at least dealt with straight-forwardly. They were created to fight for the Runelords and as long as they are treated properly I don't see why they wouldn't continue that way. Worse comes to worse we'd have to deal with them later."
"Interestingly Captain Xotl and the Runelord do not appear to be as close as we thought," She says, opening the diary she purloined. "Envy runs deep in the palace and I think we could play Xotl off against the Runelord. Nime, you're more than convincing enough and frankly I'd be willing to actually invest in the spell to make him fully human if he was of sufficient use. So I propose we deal with the cult, bring Sarn's head or some such to the palace and get an interview with Xotl. Convince him that we will support him against the Runelord and then take down Belimarius with one of her key allies either on our side or at least not opposing us. From there negotiation with the giants can be arranged." She looks from person to person, "What do you think?"
Calendula heartily agrees. "In our evenchual showdown with this other Runelort, should we free any o the Heroes? How'd we do that, and who should we release?"
"Belimarius has a stock of scrolls which would free them, but I think they would be more of a hazard than a help." Shenuska replies as she remembers the frozen, sharp featured face which had been the first she'd ever seen with these eyes. "They are all capable, but they are without weapons or any idea of where they'd be. It would be a grave risk. Better to defeat Belimarius ourselves and then free them. I think returning Crystalian to the material plane might do that regardless."
Rudrik absorbs Shenuska's analysis and then slowly says, "... huh. So Xoxl's envy of humans is so strong that it gives Belimarius power over him. Once she fulfills her promise and makes him Azlanti, that envy is gone, and so is her leverage. So her own domain is undermining her - because Xoxl is coming to realize that she'll never make good on that promise, which means his loyalty is eroding. If she did make good on the promise he'd have no reason to stay, either. Only the time loop has kept him from turning on her."
"So let's give him a nudge and make him useful." Shenuska finishes, nodding her approval of Rudrik's insightful analysis.
Nime frowns. All the back dealings and secret alliances don't seem to sit well with her. Not a fan of the end justifying the means, she nevertheless knows what's at stake.
"Ok," she says in a small voice.
"What would you prefer Nime?" Shenuska asks, quite gently. "We can kill Xotl as well if you wish. It would make dealing with the Rune Giants easier." She holds out both hands, "I will not impose this if you have an alternative."
"Why do we have to kill anyone?" the undine asks in a pitifully small voice. She waves her hand. "I know, I know. Sometimes that's what it takes." The hand reaches up to wipe a tear from a gray eye. "But why can't people, for once, realize how self-destructive their actions are and choose the path forward that benefits everyone?"
She wraps an arm around her waist and massages her belly a little.
"You would have liked Xin." Shenuska replies, "Before everything. He thought the way you did, wanted to make Thassalion like Azlant, but better. That's what the Sihedron represents, it's who the Runelords were. All the virtues of a great ruler, united into an even greater whole." She sounds wistful. "But then they let power corrupt them, transformed virtue into vice and an empire which could have been the greatest in history into a collection of squabbling fiefdoms. The Runelords of Envy were once the Runelords of Altruism. They gave their powers to their people Nime, and their people gave back. It made this territory the most profitable in the entire Empire, because everyone worked together and, just as Xin hoped, they were more together. I want that back Nime, I want Sorshen's New Thassalion to be better than the old one was. She's learned, centuries of painful lessons and I'm going to be with her. We're taking this city back to its rightful place and as Runelord of Altruism I will rebuild it. Belimarius is going to be forgotten, as she should have been centuries ago. No more envy, no more taking from others just because. That's why we fight. For a better tomorrow."
"That sounds so lovely," Nime says wistfully. "But the thing is, I don't want Belimarius to be forgotten. I want her to be happy and have all the things that she desires. I want her to know love. Why do people not see how much better that is over anything else? Power? Wealth? Fame? It means nothing compared to loving and being loved."
She massages her belly again.
"So tell me what I need to do for this plan to work."
"You didn't read the things I found out about her did you?" Shen asks, although the question is largely rhetorical. "Suffice to say she had the chance, but chose to murder a child instead. She doesn't deserve your pity Nime. But to answer your question, we rest and then we return to the Cult of Doloras, and this time you don't smoothe things over. Once that threat is dealt with we move onto next steps."
The blue-skinned woman nods wordlessly. She stands and gives Shen a soft kiss on the cheek before heading off to find solace with Ieldana.
"You gonna be all right, Nime?" queries Rudrik. "Something upset your stomach?" But then she is gone, as is her wont. He goes back to fastidiously cleaning his armor of any remaining flecks of grime.
You return to the Sanctum to rest and recover. The next morning, you make for the Arcanium Abjurant, where a pair of Apostles of Pain escort you into the presence of High Master Sarn. ”What’s this? Have you come to strike another bargain?” the old cultist asks with a chuckle.
Partway through the night, Calendula feels Nime's warm body slide under the blankets with her and warm arms wrap around her.
"Tell me we're doing the right thing," she whispers to her friend.
~~~~
Nime doesn't answer with words. She just shakes her head sadly and looks towards the others.
Shenuska prepares for the inevitable combat with a true barrage of spells.
"No." She says bluntly, speeding her companions with Haste!
”Treachery!” Sarn shouts as the apostles reach for their weapons!
As Shen made her move, Theo quickly conjured up more protective illusions before the flames engulfed his body once more, only breaking to reveal a much larger dragon form than he'd used before. In his new form, Theo bounded forward to engage the nearest apostle.
With an air of resignation, Nime pronounces a blessing over her friends.
Shenuska disappears from sight as Iron Shen swoops over to pummel a cultist.
Rudrik moves into battle stance, pulling out his sword reluctantly. After a glance at Nime, he lashes out at cultist with the flat of the blade.
Calendula stirs in her rest, rolling over to face Nime and groggily pressing her forehead and cracked lips into the undine's torso, wiggling closer to the warmth and embrace. "We are doing what we can," she replies, loudly clearing her throat of phlegm. "This is a city where the only good people are the oppressed. We must free them, not only from this hole in time, but also the yoke of tyranny, even if it means violence. We cannot heal Belimarius with love, but we can heal her people."
----
Enlarged and enraged, Calendula rushes forth and swings.
Nime grants the party fervor while Theo transforms into a dragon and moves into melee with an apostle! Rudrik, Calendula, and Iron Shen engage the other cultist, slicing and battering the man until he is badly wounded!
Theo's foe fails to avoid opening herself to attack as she moves in behind Calendula, stabbing with her rapier. The wounded cultist steps up to flank, trying to bring down the enlarged paladin.
High Master Sarn casts a spell, causing bolts of lightning to crackle forth from his body in all directions, missing his allies but striking you!
Rudrik grits his teeth through the pain of the lightning and focuses on trying to batter his foe down to unconsciousness.
Calendula avoids the brunt of the storm and pummels the moving cultist before healing herself and attacking them both, her icy blood spattering the blade.
Roaring in fury as the lightning hit him, Theo moved towards Sarn and got to work.
------------------------------------------------
Thankfully out of range of Sarn's spell Shenuska prepares to counter his next trick while Iron Shen slams, sluggishly, into the cultists again.
Rudrik knocks out the more wounded cultist, while Calendula makes quick work of the other one, who was injured by her and Theo's attacks of opportunity. With both apostles dispatched, Theo moves in on Sarn, tearing flesh from the High Master's leg with his teeth and battering him with a wing.
Sarn flickers out of time briefly, reappearing 30 feet away from Theodric. The oracle attempts to cast another spell, but Shenuska successfully counters it! He curses and follows up with a swift spell of healing!
Circling closer (and making sure he wasn't in the way of the others), Theo cut loose with his fire breath.