"We absolutely have the time for this. She is completely under my control, exactly the same as a Dominate Person spell."
The lich winces when her phylactery shatters. She grits her teeth and nods at Ulrich. ”I understand,” she says with barely constrained rage.
Did you know we were coming?
Who and/or what is guarding this floor of the former building?
Did you willingly become a lich?
How many floors remain of this former building?
Where are the figurative keys that will disable the gates?
What do you know of the Whispering Tyrant's plans?
Do you have a spellbook? If so, where is it?
What spells do you currently have prepared?
Why were devils bound to your service?
Did you consider yourself to have free will prior to when I started controlling you?
While a lich, have you ever felt pain, or emotion?
"When you're done, ask her to expend all her prepared spells in such a way as to harm nobody." Allie suggests. "Then get her to dismiss any spells she has remaining."
She takes the paladin by the arm and leads her around behind the lich.
"When its all done, Gabbi shoots it from the front and we smash it from the back. Nice and quick." She whispers. "Deal with the rest later."
Then. she begins casting.
“I am not sure. There may be more of the Tyrant’s minions lurking about. Most of them left once the seals were destroyed.”
“Yes.”
“Only two above this one are intact.”
“The control crystal resembles a sphere or black glass. I do not know where it is.”
“He is gathering his armies to reclaim the world that rightfully belongs to him!”
“Yes, it is in my pack.”
“I am a conjurer. Now that the Great Seal is broken and I can reliably contact the Outer Planes once more, I have remained behind to practice my magic and try to regain the expertise I lost over the past millennia. To that end, I had been conjuring bone devil servants until you so rudely interrupted.”
“Yes.”
“I feel a burning rage for you right now...”
5th—acidic spray (2, DC 22), mage’s faithful hound, summon monster V
4th—black tentacles, control summoned creature (DC 19), enervation, fire shield, summon monster IV
3rd—dispel magic (2), lightning bolt (2, DC 18), stinking cloud (DC 20), summon monster III
2nd—acid arrow, extended alarm, glitterdust (2, DC 19), summon monster II (2)
1st—alarm, grease, mage armor, magic missile (2), ray of sickening (DC 16), shield
0 (at will)—acid splash, arcane mark, mage hand, prestidigitation
"Interesting. You are capable of free thought and emotion. It is almost like you are an actual person with their own soul. Despite being a lich, you only possess two Necromancy spells, neither of which raise nor control the dead."
"I suppose your failing was not utilizing your extended alarm spell. Hand me your pack and all other items you have on your person, save for non-magical clothing, your spell component pouch, and any foci you use in spellcasting. I will use you to destroy one or two more sets of guards, or as they more seem to be merely wanderers and layabouts. Then you will be executed. I order you not to speak to anyone other than myself, with the exception of verbal spell components. I order you not to harm my allies under any circumstance."
Ulrich pauses for a moment, then notices that her spells do not quite match the power of his own.
"Submit your will to the following power." He says as he attempts to establish a longer control.
Amnayel grows impatient with each additional question. She balls her fist as Ulrich's greed gets in the way of the natural order of things.
Finally, she has enough She storms towards the lich and slams her shield into it.
The paladin throws her smiting shield into the back of the Lich.
Unprepared for the sudden assault, Amnayel makes quick work of the already damaged lich. The undead woman crumbles to a pile of ash and bones at her feet.
The lich has: staff of acid, bag of tricks (rust), cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +2, spellbook with all prepared spells, silver necklace inscribed with leering devils worth 800 gp.
Most valuables here were taken by their owners when they fled Gallowspire, but with a thorough search you uncover a diamond earring worth 200 gp, a platinum holy symbol of Urgathoa worth 500 gp, an original book of poetry by the Ustalavic count Ramiri Dovar worth 1,500 gp, and a set of dice carved from the wrist bones of Tamra Bonnasilla (a revered tutor of General Iomedae), worth 5,000 gp. There are also several boxes of Molthuni cigars, but they’re desiccated and worthless due to their advanced age.
Amnayel whirls on Ulrich and levels her finger at him. She slams her feet down loudly as the metal-clad warrior rushes towards him, not stopping until she's standing directly in front of him.
She shouts loudly "You will never do that again. You will not meddle in the ways of necromancy again. You will NOT control or be a part of those undead abominations! Am I clear?!"
Ulrich's last question leaves Gabbi reeling at the implication. There would really only be one reason to know that and that reason hits her stomach like ice. She's still trying to sort out her feelings when Amnayel eliminates the threat of the lich permanently. She shakes her head at the paladin's ultimatum and steps in between the two.
"Fighting betweeen ourselves doesn't help," she says in a calm voice. "The lich is destroyed and we still need to find the key for the gate control. Focus on our mission."
Ulrich chuckles lightly then clears his throat. He slides his mask off, and picks up the body of the lich. Using another spell, he bites into the neck of the now dead lich, drinking some of its rancid blood.
He packs away his staff of frost to replace it with the staff of acid, picks up the spellbook, though he sighs when he realizes the vast majority of it is Conjuration and Evocation, both of his opposition schools. He picks up the book of poetry, flipping through the pages appreciatively. Then he calls Kamosh over to switch out the ring of protection, taking Kamosh's lesser one for himself.
The rest he identifies, including their religious significance, but leaves it for the others to squabble over.
"We will discuss this later." Allie adds, standing shoulder to shoulder with her sister between the paladin and the necromancer. The sybolism of the whole situation is quite remarkable and rather fraught with meaning.
"Let's grab the stuff and keep moving. We can clear this place out today if this is the lowest level. Then we can talk about methods."
If Amnayel thought that controlling the undead was bad, she was unable to comprehend what came next. She staggers back two steps, utterly confused by the actions that he just took. To top things off, frustration builds instantly that he just laughed at her demands.
She moves back forward until she comes chest to chest with Alessandra, her chest plate pushing into the dhampir. She stares past the oracle with her gaze intently focused on the necromancer and in a hushed whisper she mutters "How dare you..."
She fumes with anger underneath her plate of armor, her muscles tensed as she prepares to burst through the two twins and end the life of this worthless excuse for a human being. When Allie says to move on and discuss it later, Amnayel doesn't move from her spot or take her eyes off of Ulrich. She watches him go through his motions, standing in the same spot, transfixed by his actions. Her right hand draws her longsword, the sound of steel dragging along the sheath echoing in the chamber.
"No. We will talk now." she says defiantly.
"You have nothing to threaten me with, Amny." Ulrich says, his gaze calmly directed at the two holes of the paladin's helmet. "There is nothing you can do, not with all of your strength."
He slowly begins to pace as he monologues.
"You have three options before you, all of which are valid.
Option 1. You must accept that Necromancy and Necromancers are not inherently evil, and change your ideology to accommodate them as your allies and accept their humanity.
Option 2. You must flee from your divine charge.
Option 3. You must perish.
Choose wisely, Amny."
"Your death magic is comprised of pain, torture, death and undeath. These are not concepts of good, Ulrich." She spits his name out as a curse, spittle flying from her lips inside of her helmet. "The line you tread in meddling in these unnatural things is too great and your fall into the wrong side of it are too tempting. Power calls your name necromancer, and you are so blinded by it you cannot see the path you are embracing. I bet Geb once lied to himself in much the same way as you are right now."
Amnayel presses forward even further, causing both of the twins to shift their weight in order to not allow her to push forward. While leaning into them she raises her voice and shouts "Are you so daft that you actually believe there is nothing that I can do!? This is a lie that you tell yourself so you can sleep at night. I could rip your neck from your throat and that act is more morally sound than the corrupted machinations that spread through your deviant mind."
"But you won't do that, Amnayel," Gabriella says in a calm voice. "Because right now, we need every tool we can use to stop the Whispering Tyrant."
"I fullheartedly admit that I tread a dangerous line, though it is not your Goddess who's judgement I fear." Ulrich answers. "Undeath was not originally a part of nature, I agree, but it is now. As evident as the negative energy plane is to the positive, as the feywilds are to the shadow plane. And there are areas of grey between these realms of light and dark, of vibrancy and shadow. You can see this balance of light and dark in the very skin of the two beautiful women standing before you." He gestures to Gabriella and Alessandra, each standing between them.
"The power you hold that grants you the sight of evil auras, it is granted by your Goddess, is it not? Why then, as I present myself to you with no magic to disguise my aura, am I not evil? I am not more powerful than a Goddess, the powers she bestows upon you are not flawed. Can you accept those who view the world differently from yourself, without damning them? Can you see their humanity, rather than their monstrosity? Can you see both at the same time?"
"You cannot fight your way out of this problem, Amny. Your holy smite has no effect on me, your holy vision cannot see me, and your healing hands benefit me. Your brute strength and weapons of morality are useless against my magic and words of truth. You may choose to fight against me and the truth I present, but understand that this is only an act of falling upon your own sword. Make your choice."
Allie stays where she is, keeping the paladin and the necromancer away from each other, but she glances to Gabbi and their looks shares volumes.
Amnayel lets Gabbi and Ulrich have their words, debating whether to push through this false barricade and wring his neck or heed the advice given.
"Twist your logic all you want. At the end of the day you practice in arts that will consume you and end badly for all of us. I do not intend to let that happen. Forget not that you have you stolen my name to hold power over me, a purveyor of beauty, grace and all things good. And yet. You stand opposite of me." she growls relenting and stepping back, pivoting on her heels and walking back the way they came until she is around a corner and out of sight.
Seeking solitude, she finds a wall and slides down it until she's sitting on her bottom. She drops her shield and blade beside her on the ground and puts her hands over face as she tries to control her fury and begins to pray.
Ulrich sighs with relief once Amnayel leaves, relaxing his shaky grip upon the new staff.
Kamosh flutters over to Gabriella and whispers
"Hello. If Ulrich is killed, may I please become your familiar?"
"I have no need of a familiar. And if Ulrich is killed, you'll have enough occupying you just getting his soul back to the Boneyard," the dhampir says to the psychopomp with a shake of her head.
Gabbi nods at her sister and follows after the distressed paladin.
Amnayel doesn't look up with Gabriella sits beside her, staring through her helm into her hands. Once she speaks however, she slides her helm off and sits it to her right and turns to the inquisitor. "I do not know of what you speak. Why has it been decreed that you will be the one to kill him?"
Clearly confused, she reads the situation wrong and straightens up as her muscles tense. She sucks in a quick breath and reaches for her blade as she says "If he has done something to hurt you, Gabriella-
Sad nosoi noises
As Gabbi follows Amnayel around the corner and Kamosh starts singing a requiem Allie looks at Ulrich and then around for chairs or something else to sit on. "Let's talk for a minute." She says.
"So spit in Pharasma's eye all you want but unless we can sort something out, as a group, someone is going to die, and odds are its you." She finishes bluntly. "Because in the end I choose Gabbi, and Gabbi chooses her goddess."
The paladin settles back down when Gabriella places her hand on her arm. She nods "This I understand. My creed is of love and it is my duty to love all that is good in the world and to facilitate spreading that love. I am to show companssion before vengenance, and yet," she closes her eyes and shakes her head slowly, "And yet, this necromancer tests me in ways I am not used to being tested."
"I understand how you would think that, that you will be the one, but I cannot sit idle and allow him to corrupt the natural order of life. Meddling in the ways of undeath stands against my core beliefs. He does not seek redemption. His methods undo liberties of the natural order and frankly Gabriella," she turns to look at the inquisitor, "I don't like him one bit."
She sighs heavily and looks down at her knees. "By the way," she says as an afterthought, "Ich spreche Zwerg."
"I know he holds power over me, but I have no fear of laying down my life in an attempt to end his should it come to it. Much in the same way I would give my life for you, Gabriella. My beliefs are who I am and in those principles I will do what I must. In this, I cannot be swayed."
"Your assessment is correct. The likelihood that Gabriella would join forces with Amnayel is exceedingly high. There is no amount of love that will change our reason for being. We have all chosen our beliefs and callings, and none of us are willing to change."
Gabriella's response catches the paladin so off guard that she moves her head backwards so quickly that it bumps the wall behind her with a thud.Ow. Wha-" she starts but stops, turning to look at her. "She was no necromancer!" she blurts out, turning red in the face, her eyes narrowing at the inquisitor.
"She never toiled in those ways!"
"None of you will kill me before our task is done." Ulrich replies. He pauses for a moment, considering.
"You act rather indifferent, with a certain hostility to Pharasma. I find this odd, considering your sister's devotion. Where does your faith linger?"
"You expect me to allow him to retain his power over me, expand his power over undeath and be held responsible for what he will do and become should he not be properly dealt with right now?"
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"You act rather indifferent, with a certain hostility to Pharasma. I find this odd, considering your sister's devotion. Where does your faith linger?"
"We may be identical but we don't believe in the same things." Allie responds, apparently choosing to leave the topic that Ulrich clearly intends to avoid alone. "Pharasma is a cold-hearted b@%*~ who teaches that what Gabbi and I are is unnatural. Through no fault of our own we are to be hunted down and destroyed. We're only alive because the midwife who delivered us took us to a Pharasmin convent and our 'unnaturalness' didn't show right at the start. Things like biting too hard at the breast was dismissed as accident. By the time we were obviously not human we were too much people in their eyes to be killed out of hand. So they decided to 'save' us instead." She spits sideways. "Gabbi took to it. She's always needed an external purpose, something to give her life meaning. My meaning is in her. The gods are just bigoted fools with more power than the rest of us. I'd be just as good a god as any of them!" She grins, a wild, slightly ferocious grin. "Now that's a goal. Godhood. But I'd better not say that too loudly when the girls get back. I don't think they'd approve!"
She sits quietly for a second and then, when she doesn't hear the others returning, continues. "What is it about necromancy Ulrich? Why does it fascinate you so much that you risk yourself and everything else just to study it?" She seems genuinely curious.
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"I see, it is a sin of origin." Ulrich says, nodding to Alessandra's words. "And not just Pharasma, but nearly all deities oppose your origins. I can empathize with that weight of judgement."
He chuckles at the thought of godhood. "Such blasphemy." He says mockingly, obviously containing sarcasm in his toothy grin. "As a divine caster with no knowledge of a Patron, your words are either incredibly ironic, or more realistic than you may anticipate. But if you desire godhood, you will need a way to bypass death."
"There are many interests of mine that are expressed through necromancy." Ulrich answers, pondering to himself. "Interests that cannot be pursued by adhering to the common notions of good and evil. I have already attempted to live a life separate of taboo and necromancy, and it was evermore hollow. I had no desire to live even with the bounty that surrounded me. I was a professor for non-magical medicine, earning a fine income, and married to a noble woman who possessed an enormous heart. I think she would have found the faith of Sarenrae very appealing." He says, gesturing to his spellbook from the temple of Sarenrae. "I lost all appetite, both sexual and in nutrition. I went through the motions of my life with hollow, sunken eyes. In truth, my lack of interest in that life was more like undeath than all my tinkering in necromancy. It was not until I allowed myself to embrace my taboo desires that I began to live again. I used my position as a professor and doctor to witness transitions from life to death, death to life, and all the blurred lines in between. I resumed my relations with the dead, and later the undead that I could pacify and keep in secrecy. I began to study the arcane arts to find such ways of pacification. Eventually this did force me out of the country, forsaking all my possessions that I truly had no inclination towards."
"I have found the transitions from life, death, and undeath to be fascinating since my first encounter with death and undeath as a young boy. In the peat bogs of my hometown, it is very common for drownings to occur. I was privy to watch a man, fished out of the bog, turn "naturally" from dead to undead, a zombie to be precise. The zombie was not only dispatched immediately upon discovery, but said to have never turned at all. The church held a closed coffin funeral and buried the remains, all while praising the man and lamenting over his unfortunate death. That may have been when I first started questioning morality in opposition of truth. I found that the more questions I asked, the more hostile people would become."
"I started looking for other topics that people shunned, which led me to a living cult of Urgathoa. I witnessed a particularly queer interpretation of this Goddess, who loved this world and all the experiences within it that she vowed to live here forever. Not a single undead dwelt within the cult, and each member lived life to the fullest. It was filled with colours and passions, both mundane and taboo. Far from the sombre and monastic ways of the Pharasmins. This is where I first began my religious studies. I did eventually encounter a cult of Urgathoa where the undead martialled their forces against the living, claiming to be the rightful heirs of a new age of unlife, but passion still shone in the form of rage and hatred. My point being: The church of Pharasma paints the world with a single shade of grey, and it lacks all the beauty of life, and all the colours of emotion."
"So in conclusion, though I did leave out a fair bit, I study necromancy because it has always been my reason to exist. It is my passion and joy, derived from an innate quality. To not pursue necromancy is to become a living undead. I simply would not desire to live."
After exploring all the small rooms off this large hall, you continue to the west. This chamber is identical to the east crypts, save that no defenders remain. Several open wine bottles suggest a large celebration took place here within the past few weeks. The vintages were once exceptional but have long since turned to vinegar.
A ring of green brass, large enough for a human to stick his head through, sits among the wine bottles. This ring radiates faint abjuration magic. Four glyphs are carved into the ring’s edge.
"Any idea what that is," Gabbi asks Ulrich, pointing at the ring. "I mean, I can read the runes around it, but I have no idea what it would be used for."
Amnayel can read it as well but has no idea what it possibly could be used for it. "I do not." she adds even though she was not asked.
--------------------------
"Some sort of key?" Allie proposes. "It has to go somewhere. Let's just keep it for now and see if we can figure it out later."
She collects the ring, still getting a secret thrill from the fact that it doesn't break at her touch, and hooks it to her pack.
"Onwards then?"
"I pity them." Ulrich says
"I asked the lich those questions not because I did not know the answers, but because I wanted the rest of the group to see something that was not a monstrosity. Undead, yes. Morally reprehensible, almost certainly. A monster, no. I believe that intelligent undead, who possess free will and emotion, are no different from humans. They may radiate evil, but I question if that is less because of undeath, and more because of how we treat them. And if you truly want to talk honestly, I think there is some truth behind the idea that your sister has become a tamed beast, ordered to slay her own kind."
Ulrich will cast detect magic in an attempt to identify the ring.
She shrugs. "I don't see much difference between him and the Gods. They all just want us to dance for their amusement. I can't agree with you about undead though. They are evil. Inherently. The same way that chromatic dragons are evil. Evil is an absolute Ulrich. You can't defend yourself from Amnayel by saying that she does not perceive you as evil in absolute and then claim that undead are simply matters of grey. I can accept that being evil is not necessarily enough to condemn someone to death, but they are evil, and that has nothing to do with how anyone else perceives them."
She doesn't respond to his quip about her sister immediately although the spasm of pain that crosses her face is an answer in itself.
"Mmmm I am not familiar with ancient Thassilon, and I was under the impression that Taldor was governed by a man." Ulrich replies. "However, if you wish to compare enchantment related control and necromantic control, I fully agree that the two function nearly identically. And I would indeed say that the lich possessed free will, and once under direct magical influence by the Whispering Tyrant, would cease to have free will. They are subjected to even worse tyranny than most civilized countries, and not surprising, given the choices they have for survival. I think it is no different than being a citizen of Cheliax, then being subjected to an enchantment spell to facilitate complete domination."
"I think there are two Evils, Alessandra. One that has very little to do with morality, and is instead a force from the plane of negative energy. This force permeates all with an aura of Evil. You can see it in the auras of Asmodeans, Undead, certain outsiders, and Lamashans. Chromatic dragons do not carry this profane aura the same way as undead, certain outsiders, or worshippers of Evil deities.
The other is moralistic, and is seen in the self-absorbed noble or the murderous orc. Chromatic dragons would also fit into this category."
"Assuming free will, we can see worshippers of Evil deities make choices to lessen their commitments to such deities, typically called redemption. They can stray for a certain amount, arguably becoming neither good nor evil, yet still containing the aura of Evil. If they stray too far and reach a moralistic goodness, then the God will finally cast them out and revoke the aura of Evil.
This tactic cannot work on undead. Their aura is not a reflection of their faith, but part of their physical being. It is a direct tie to the negative energy plane. So it does not matter what their moral viewpoint is. You may be aware that ghosts are a common example of undead that are not commonly evil, however, upon examination, they still light up a paladin's sight. They are not evil, but they remain Evil. Do you understand? I think that if you went full Sarenrae moralistic redemption on intelligent undead with free will, they would still remain Evil, but could be wholly good. Then, perhaps our two societies, because yes undead do have societies, could integrate. Yet as long as these faiths scream out that all undead are simply monsters, I do not believe there will ever be peace."
The ring appears to be some sort of key for a lock. Perhaps you will find the lock somewhere else in this dungeon.