"You can go ahead and answer them," Kallie instructs. "Those are good questions."
Kallie turns to Aurealia. "I'm going to keep her, of course!"
"The spell won't wear off?"
Croq listens, amused, as Kalie banters with the mind-controlled Leptonia.
"OK, well, glad we could save you a wasted trip!
"In terms of resurrecting Krune, what–or who–gave you the idea to do so? Was there anyone who suggested it, or asked you to?"
"Since you've been to my base, I presume that you know about the Polymorph Plague?" Leptonia asks. Upon getting the confirmation, she continues, "To fully realize my Lord's dream, I needed to make the plague airborne. My research suggested that'd require powerful conjuration magic. So who better to help me than the Runelord of Sloth?"
She chucks a bit.
"I didn't immediately think of Krune, though. A brief acquaintance of mine recommended him. Granted, in hindsight, I think he was just being sarcastic, but he was still onto something!"
"And did you have any means of ensuring he'd be as grateful as you'd hope?"
"Well, I'd be bringing him back from oblivion for one. That would surely leave a good first impression, no?" Leptonia says. "But after getting the scroll, I also planned to collect bribes. You met Sumsarru, yes? I'm no stranger to making deals!"
"What are we going to do with her?" Aurealia wonders aloud, pointing at Leptonia.
"I'm not sure. That's up to..." Leptonia begins before trailing off. She turns to Kallie and asks, "What is your name, anyway?"
"Kallie," she says with a smile. "Now, stick your fingers in your ears and hum until I wave for you to stop."
She waits for Leptonia to comply, then she turns to Aurelia. "Yeah, it'll wear off in about a week. I just need to re-cast the spell on her every seven or eight days and she'll be my thrall for as long as I want!"
"Oh. You're going to enslave her?" Aurealia looks highly uncomfortable with this prospect.
Kallie's eyes twitches. "I suppose that's one way to think of it. But she's killed, tortured, maimed, and devised a plague that would have horribly mutated a large swath of Varisia's population if no one had stopped her. There should be a measure of retribution for all those crimes. So I prefer to think of this as part of her sentence and a way to make up for all she's done."
"I'm not saying she deserves mercy..." Aurealia shrugs. unsure what else to say. "Just... be careful, okay? That kind of power over others has a way of tempting people to do bad things."
Kallie smirks and holds up a hand. "I promise I'll use it just as wisely as the powers of burning people alive, beating them to death with weapons, or slicing their throats unawares."
If the conversation seems to be over, she waves at Leptonia so she stops humming. "Follow me. I think we're done here once we grab anything valuable off your cultists."
Croq gives her sibling a slightly nervous glance.
"I mean...Kallie, you make a point. I'm not totally sure that bashing someone's brain in with Drumstick here is morally better than dominating that person's brain with magic. Except, I dunno, I do that when they're trying to kill someone. Once the fight's all over...well, the Black Arrows would have her tried and imprisoned, right? I guess that's especially complicated in a town like this that's so corrupt...but there's gotta be somewhere legit to take her for trial."
"Killing makes an end of it. Then it's in the gods' hands. Dragging things out, it becomes tempting to punish people rather than deal justice to them. I'd just as soon cut her head off and throw her corpse in the bay. Let the Hells or the Abyss be her punishment. But if you're sure you can handle it, I trust you."
"I'm in agreement with Aurealia on this. However, we could also take Leptonia back to the Black Arrows compound in Roderic's Cove. Thanks to treaties secured by Eugeni, they have jurisdiction in all of Varisia," Galatea remarks. She pauses as something seems to cross her mind. "Kallie, wait. Could you ask Leptonia about that 'brief acquaintance' of hers? If she was talking about Sumsarru, then I think she would have used his name. Plus, they were still working together when we visited the Gecko."
Kallie's expression darkens. She glares at Gali as if she's saying Don't you take this away from me.
She softens only slightly at the request, and then turns to Leptonia. "Go ahead. Tell us who your 'brief acquaintance' was."
"Oh, Erigantus? Perhaps 'acquaintance' was the wrong word. Perhaps... 'associate' is a more fitting description?" Leptonia replies, a telltale blush forming on her face. "Erigantus is a necromancer of considerable power. We met in Kaer Maga. He's the one who set up the Gecko's best defenses, and he helped me create the original variation of the Polymorph Plague."
"That must have been a major endeavor on his part. What did he get in exchange for helping you?" Galatea inquires.
Leptonia glances at Kallie.
"Should I tell her, Kallie?" Leptonia asks. "You clearly don't like this gal."
"Don't presume. Go ahead. Tell us."
"As payment for his services, I gave Erigantus the Bone Grimoire," Leptonia answers.
"...The Bone Grimoire?" says Galatea. "What exactly is that?"
"A portion of Runelord Zutha's Gluttonous Tome," Leptonia clarifies. Galatea opens her mouth again, which causes the cult leader to roll her eyes and give an even more specific answer. "His magnum opus. His phylactery."
Croq gets a queasy feeling in her stomach.
"Hey...I don't quite remember, but he's was undead-loving one, right? Is that...that's not something we'd need to worry about, right? If it's just a book?"
"Practically speaking, we should probably avoid bringing her into the fray if we expect to face any powerful priests or others who might free her from your control, Kallie. Beyond that, I see no problem treating this as the beginning of her sentence."
"Definitely," Kallie agrees.
"Okay. We heard the name Erigantus from Isiah. (We fixed him, too.) Leptonia, any idea where we might find this necromancer? The Tome might be something we don't want in his hands, if he's unscrupulous enough to not mind a resurrected Runelord and a virulent plague unleashed."
She gets a cheeky grin. "And what's up with that blush? You got a thing for him or something?"
Croq gets a queasy feeling in her stomach.
"Hey...I don't quite remember, but he's was undead-loving one, right? Is that...that's not something we'd need to worry about, right? If it's just a book?"
"That's correct, Croq. Zutha was the last Runelord of Envy. And from what Leptonia just said, that's no ordinary book," Galatea says. "It sounds like Zutha was likely a lich. You know, like the Whispering Tyrant. And as long as that phylactery exists, Zutha can return to the world, even if his body was destroyed. Granted, I'm not sure how that would work with only part of a phylactery."
"Definitely," Kallie agrees.
"Okay. We heard the name Erigantus from Isiah. (We fixed him, too.) Leptonia, any idea where we might find this necromancer? The Tome might be something we don't want in his hands, if he's unscrupulous enough to not mind a resurrected Runelord and a virulent plague unleashed."
She gets a cheeky grin. "And what's up with that blush? You got a thing for him or something?"
"Yes, I have a bit of thing for him. He's been my... boyfriend on and off," Leptonia answers. She seems to like answering questions from newest to oldest. "I'm not sure where Erigantus is right now. He might be in Kaer Maga, or he might be held up in some old Thassilonian rune. I haven't heard from him in months."
Kallie frowns at the possible dead end. Then she snaps her fingers. "But you could contact him, right? How powerful of a cleric are you? Will Yamasoth grant you the spell sending if you ask for it?"
Kallie frowns at the possible dead end. Then she snaps her fingers. "But you could contact him, right? How powerful of a cleric are you? Will Yamasoth grant you the spell sending if you ask for it?"
"I could easily contact Erigantus via Sending," Leptonia replies, answering Kallie's first two questions at once. "I'm not sure. I can ask Lord Yamasoth for the spell, but my... 'conflict loyalties' might be an issue for him."
Kallie giggles. "Are you thinking about worshipping me now? I won't stop you, if you're keen to stop following the chaos beast known as the 'Polymorph Plague.' But since you hate me and I'm sure are secretly plotting my gruesome demise, I figure you're going to stay in his good stead for a while yet."
She turns to the others. "Ready to get out of here? I think we've done what we've set out to do. Next step, I think, is to have this one contact loverboy and find out where he is. Then we go, divest him of a book of necromancy (and his life, unless he grovels really well), and see where that takes us? How does that sound?"
Kallie hands over the unholy symbol to her thrall. "Okay. Time to pray. Your fourth tier spells should be sending, death ward, freedom of movement, and if you've got the slots, air walk and dimensional anchor. Third tier spells should be blindness/deafness, deeper darkness, invisibility purge, locate object, and what they hey, even Yamasoth's faithful need to heal themselves from time to time. Cure serious wounds. Second and first tier spells should be more cure spells, then add a silence and resist energy."
"Oh! And if you can ask for fifth-tier spells, go ahead and get flame strike and slay living. As many as you can."
==============
Kallie sticks around and pays attention to Leptonia's prayers to the qlippoth lord. She had spent some time thinking up a 25-word message for Erigantus. Once Leptonia has the sending spell ready to go, she hands her a note. "Now, this is the message you will send to Erigantus with sending. When you receive a response, you will tell me exactly what he says. Every word, in exactly the correct order that he said them."
Finished mission to get scrolls for Krune. Need to celebrate. Can't thank you enough but would like to try. Where are you right now?
"Seems like a decent plan to me," Aurealia agrees.
Kallie giggles. "Are you thinking about worshipping me now? I won't stop you, if you're keen to stop following the chaos beast known as the 'Polymorph Plague.' But since you hate me and I'm sure are secretly plotting my gruesome demise, I figure you're going to stay in his good stead for a while yet."
She turns to the others. "Ready to get out of here? I think we've done what we've set out to do. Next step, I think, is to have this one contact loverboy and find out where he is. Then we go, divest him of a book of necromancy (and his life, unless he grovels really well), and see where that takes us? How does that sound?"
"I'd rather gut myself like a fish," Leptonia remarks coldly on the subject of changing her alligence. "And I'm not fighting Erigantus. He's one of the most powerful necromancers in Varisia. He was the one who tamed and bound Xanesha, and that was before he had months to study Zutha's work. Fighting him would be suicide."
Kallie's mouth twists. "If he's such a threat, then I won't make you help fight him. Lead us to him, and who knows? If you're right, you'll be free of me."
Leptonia pauses for a moment to contemplate Kallie's words before nodding.
"Very well. If Lord Yamasoth still deems me worthy, I'll lead you to Erigantus," she says with a smirk.
Croq finds herself in turns fascinated, delighted, and horrified to see Kallie twist Leptonia's mind.
I don't think I want this to last too much longer. It's wrong...but also Mom's captured, and there are idiots trying to bring back runelords. Surely the urgency of this situation justifies this...right?
"Leptonia, how do you think Erigantus will react to the note, as Kallie read it? Is there anything in it, or in you sending that to him–at all, or instead of some other sending–that is likley to make him suspicious?"
"Go ahead and answer, truthfully," Kallie commands.
Croq finds herself in turns fascinated, delighted, and horrified to see Kallie twist Leptonia's mind.
I don't think I want this to last too much longer. It's wrong...but also Mom's captured, and there are idiots trying to bring back runelords. Surely the urgency of this situation justifies this...right?
"Leptonia, how do you think Erigantus will react to the note, as Kallie read it? Is there anything in it, or in you sending that to him–at all, or instead of some other sending–that is likley to make him suspicious?"
"He'll likely ask about the status of Krune. If I haven't 'resurrected' the Runelord yet, Erigantus will probably want to know why I haven't," Leptonia replies. "Truthfully, if I use this phrasing, I'll probably sound too lovestruck. The very act of me contacting him? ...Probably not."
"Well, the point of the message was to be vague enough that he assumes you got him resurrected. And the beauty of sending means that you can't always respond to his queries. Now, would it be within the realm of possibility that you would ask him to be there for the big ressurection?"
"Well, the point of the message was to be vague enough that he assumes you got him resurrected. And the beauty of sending means that you can't always respond to his queries. Now, would it be within the realm of possibility that you would ask him to be there for the big resurrection?"
"...Yes, that is within the realm of possibility," Leptonia concedes.
Zincher, Mister Magenta, and the rest of their entourage return from the auction very early in the morning, well before sunrise. Clegg takes one look at the broken doors of his home and sighs heavily. He gestures for his guards to relieve the ones who had taken up posts by the entrances at Gali's suggestion. After surveying the property, Zincher joins you as you continue to interrogate Leptonia.
"I've been informed that this madwoman is the mastermind behind all this," Zincher remarks as he studies Leptonia. He frowns when he sees that she isn't bound. "Shouldn't she be in chains? Or dead?"
Kallie's cheeks are really starting to hurt for grinning so much. "She's under control. My control, to be specific. Leptonia, tell Mr. Zincher you're sorry about breaking in and trying to steal from him and getting all your cultists killed."
She waits for Leptonia to comply. "She's not harmless, exactly, but she'll do almost everything I tell her. But don't go thinking she's our friend either."
Realizing that she doesn't need to be involved in any concluding business with Zincher, Kallie instructs her thrall. "Go sit in that corner, stick your fingers in your ears and hum until I command you to stop."
"Mr. Zincher, I'm sorry for breaking in, trying to steal from you, and getting all my cultists killed," Leptonia deadpans. She then sits in the indicated corner, sticks her fingers in her ears, and begins to hum. Naturally, Zincher is left quite astonished by all this.
"How long will that spell last?" Zincher asks after processing what he just saw.
"At least a week, probably slightly longer," Galatea answers.
"...Very well," your host says with a nod. "So, Black Arrows, what happens next? Does Leptonia have any more... associates that I need to worry about?"
"Apparently not..." Aurealia says, still seeming highly uneasy with the whole domination situation. "At least that's what she said."
"There's still an associate of hers still out there, but I don't think he's here in Riddleport," Kallie assures Zincher. "I'm going to use Leptonia to find out where he is and then we'll deal with him.
"But to your question about what happens next, I think we're done for the time being with Riddleport. We saved the day, stopped a nasty plague, and kept your business ventures and reputation intact, Mr. Zincher." She smiles brightly at him. "Pleasure doing business with you."
"There's still an associate of hers still out there, but I don't think he's here in Riddleport," Kallie assures Zincher. "I'm going to use Leptonia to find out where he is and then we'll deal with him.
"But to your question about what happens next, I think we're done for the time being with Riddleport. We saved the day, stopped a nasty plague, and kept your business ventures and reputation intact, Mr. Zincher." She smiles brightly at him. "Pleasure doing business with you."
Despite all his recent hardships and the damage his home has sustained, Zincher can't help but crack a small smile in response to Kallie's kind words.
"Thank you for your assistance, Black Arrows. It's been... quite some time since anyone has shown me even a little kindness as you have," Zincher says. He glances over at Leptonia and sighs. "If you need me, I'll be assessing the damage to my home."
You all hear Zincher's exasperated sigh when he discovers the big hole in his wall, but otherwise, he remains in good spirits for the rest of your stay at his residence.
Kallie hands over the unholy symbol to her thrall. "Okay. Time to pray. Your fourth tier spells should be sending, death ward, freedom of movement, and if you've got the slots, air walk and dimensional anchor. Third tier spells should be blindness/deafness, deeper darkness, invisibility purge, locate object, and what they hey, even Yamasoth's faithful need to heal themselves from time to time. Cure serious wounds. Second and first tier spells should be more cure spells, then add a silence and resist energy."
"Oh! And if you can ask for fifth-tier spells, go ahead and get flame strike and slay living. As many as you can."
Galatea lingers nearby as Leptonia begins praying for her spells.
"She knows sixth tier spells as well," Gali whispers to Kallie. "Remember how Leptonia was prepared to take you back to the Gecko? She was probably going to use Word of Recall for that. Mom always has that spell prepared in case she needs to quickly retreat."
Kallie blinks in surprise at Gali's deduction. "Well, um... okay. Thanks." She unconsciously swallows as she realizes that she ended up dominating someone clearly more powerful than she.
"Okay, also ask for wind walk and blade barrier."
"I can only prepare one of those," Leptonia remarks. After she finishes preparing her spells, she starts casting her Sending spell. Approximately ten minutes later, Leptonia opens her eyes and repeats Erigantus' response as instructed.
"'A surprise, to be sure, but... a welcome one, I suppose. Kaer Maga. Have you resurrected Krune yet?'"
5th—Wall of Stone (D), Flame Strike, Slay Living
4th—Chaos Hammer (D), Air Walk, Death Ward, Freedom of Movement,
3rd—Spiked Pit (D), Blindness/Deafness, Cure Serious Wounds, Deeper Darkness, Invisibility Purge, Locate Object
2nd—Create Pit (D), Cure Moderate Wounds x3, Resist Energy, Silence
1st—Protection from Law (D), Cure Light Wounds x5
0 (at will)—Bleed, Detect Magic, Mending, Read Magic
"Wind walk, then," Kallie replies.
She goes to Jaya once she hears the reply from the sending. "Looks like we're going back to your old stomping grounds. Erigantus is in Kaer Maga."
Informing the whole group, Kallie lets them know about their next destination. "We need to go to Kaer Maga if we want to nab the Gluttonous Tome off of Erigantus. Leptonia can cast wind walk, so that can get most of us there. I could also teleport some of us there, but I'm going to need to stick close to Leptonia. For safety's sake."
"Let me know when you're ready to go. I want to buy a couple things first."
"An easy place to hide, but also an easy place to be seen. It all depends on how many eyes are watching for you, and whose. I know some discreet places to teleport to, and I know who will keep an eye out for the doings of someone of Erigantus's power and malevolence. Mother's name has more cache there than mine alone, but I'm far from friendless."
"Hopefully Erigantus goes as smoothly as Leptonia did," Aurealia says apprehensively. "You knowing the place is sure to help."
"Well, Leptonia is more powerful than us individually, and she's scared of Erigantus. Plus, he's had time to study the Gluttonous Tome, which was penned by Runelord Zutha himself."
She takes a deep breath. "On a possibly related topic, I've heard from good authority that Zutha might be the next Runelord to rise. Getting his tome is probably the best way to keep that from happening."
Kallie paces back and forth a couple times, tail swishing as she thinks. "I can't get Leptonia to help in the fight or else I risk her breaking free. But maybe there's a way to use her anyway. To get Erigantus to drop his guard, we'll need to make him think she's with us. What do you think? Illusion? Or disguise?"
"Why not both?"
Kallie shrugs. "Yeah, that would probably be the best. I just don't happen to have those spells in my repertoire. Going with a figment like major image could potentially work. As an added bonus, no one's at risk if Erigantus attacks the image. A glamer like disguise self has its own benefits, like being able to be touched, but it'll be one of us underneath the illusion and therefore more vulnerable."
She looks at everyone around her. "Who's the best actor here?"
"Normally, I'd say myself, but we literally have a professional actress in our group: Viralane Barvisai. Seriously, her impression of Mom is... eerily accurate," Galatea remarks. "Where is Viralane again? ...Oh, yeah, 'running errands' with Zincher's butler and cook."
Galatea pauses for a moment to think something over.
"If we're going to travel by Wind Walk, I suppose I can purchase and operate a scroll to cover whoever Leptonia can't. Is that how you all want to travel then?"
"If that's the best we've got, it works for me."
Kallie does some mental calculations. "Okay... I can make Leptonia cast wind walk on three of us, then I can teleport the rest of us to Kaer Maga. I'll just instruct her to behave, and fly directly to the city... you can all watch her closely and make sure she doesn't try anything. I'll keep her unholy symbol so she won't have access to it until she makes it to Kaer Maga. Sound good?"
She thinks a bit more. "Asking Viralane to try to pose as Leptonia is a big ask. But maybe she'll be up to it; we'll just have to disguise ourselves as her cultists so she has backup. Erigantus' response to the sending asked if she had resurrected Krune yet. So we'll need to decide how to keep up the lie -- if she had succeeded, what would have been her next moves? Bring back the Runelord, work with him to perfect the plague and get it airborne... unleash it on the unsuspecting populace... how long would that take? More than the day it would take us to get to Kaer Maga, I'm sure. So... that should mean we can hang out here and do some shopping for at least a couple days."
"At the minimum, it'd probably be a matter of weeks, if not months. Even if she resurrected Krune right this second, I don't think he'd have access to his tomes and spellbooks? That alone would be a major obstacle for Leptonia's plans," Galatea speculates. "As for your first question, I'm leaning towards the notion that she hasn't resurrected Krune yet. Perhaps Leptonia wants Erigantus' input first before she tries?"
Once the early morning planning is over, Galatea takes a moment to mend Croq's remaining wounds, and with all the action finally concluded, you decide to get some well-earned rest.
Viralane returns with Hortus and Genna (Zincher's butler and cook respectively) later in the morning. The ginger actress joins you for lunch, where Kallie makes her proposal. After Galatea promises to cover her with a number of wards and protective spells, Viralane tentatively agrees to impersonate Leptonia.
"I did promise that I'd help you, and this is a golden opportunity for that," the actress says with a tired chuckle. "Did you have something in particular in mind for this ruse?"
After hearing your plans, Tammerhawk agrees to host Leptonia in the warded conference room you used earlier, where Viralane spends the rest of your time in Riddleport asking the cultist questions. Almost immediately, Viralane proves to be quite apt at reading people as she notices a number of inconsistencies in Leptonia's answers. After being ordered to answer Viralane's questions truthfully, this little act of rebellion stops.
After healing everyone's remaining injuries, Galatea spends most of the morning selling off the cultist's gear. While she's gone, a delivery arrives at Zincher's tenement for the Black Arrows, 3000 gp in precious gems. There's no name on the attached note.
"From your hungry pal. Thanks again for everything!"
"If I'm not mistaken, we'll be leaving tomorrow, right?" Galatea asks shortly after she returns. "Kallie, what do you think about having Leptonia Sending another message to Erigantus? He might find it a bit suspicious if she leaves him hanging."
"All right. Sounds good, we'll have Leptonia visit Erigantus with the intention of getting some last-minute advice on resurrecting Krune."
To that end, Kallie has Leptonia obtain sending once again the next night during her prayers. Then she gives her the instructions to send:
"No resurrection yet. Preparing for ritual. Riddleport a frustrating backwater. Need supplies, advice for handling Krune. Can we meet? I can come to you."
Kallie explains her plan to Viralane. "Leptonia and Erigantus have history, but importantly trust. He helped her out and in return she gave him an artifact. So they left on good terms. I want to exploit that, because a necromancer like him is bound to have a lot of protection around him. All we really need is to get him out of whatever stronghold he's in and maybe have him drop his guard. The real Leptonia is doing some sendings with him, so I'm hoping to arrange a meeting. You'll be there to help him drop his guard. I doubt he'll expect an ambush, but you never know."
Kallie buys a scroll of fox's cunning and a fresh spellbook since she's almost out of pages on her original. She scribes the spell into her book, but keeps the rest of her gold for later.
Croq walks in wearing a blue silk robe, covered in runes...that somehow looks badass just because Croq is wearing it.
She adds, "I'm happy to be right beside you, as a deputy cultist or whatever. I know this sweet song that makes whatever I say super easy to believe. Check this out!"
After a moment of raucus song, Croq gets an urgent look on her fact and says,
"Erigantus, thank the the Gods of Evilness I've found you. Leptonia's fallen down a well–with the Scroll of Resurrection in her hands!–and only your mastery of the undead can get her and the scroll out in time, before they both end up in a watery waste."