Galatea manages to stand up, though her breathing is still quite panicked.
"Kallie, remember back in Sandpoint when I told your Aunt Ariel about... about... your mother?" Galatea says softly. "Marjorie didn't like what I said about her. It was almost like I had insulted... her..."
Unable to say the final word, she simply gestures in the direction Tunessa went.
"Oh snap! Your mom's an undead!? She's still on the job!?" Aurealian's jaw hits the floor.
He can't seem to stop himself from whispering, "That's f#~!ed up..."
She let them think she was dead this whole time? Ice cold.
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Kallie folds her arms as her tail tosses indignantly. She really wished she'd have brought Leptonia along.
"So what? It's not like she ever visited me in the herd, or ever wanted a relationship," she snaps, trying to maintain control over her emotions by giving them a direction. "Should I rush into her cold, unliving arms and yell 'Mama'? This changes nothing."
"We just really need to get the thing we're after before an undead gets its hands on it."
"I can agree with that," Galatea remarks quietly. She stares at her hands for a few seconds before sighing. "We'll either have to confront them now, or search the two rooms that they haven't investigated yet before they do."
Gali points to the two doors due east and northeast. Unlike the others, Bruno (?) hasn't torn them off the hinges yet. The library is the room to the southeast.
"Call it a hunch, but I don't think our target is in the library," Gali continues. "I don't see Erigantus trusting a fiend with it."
Shortly after Galatea finishes speaking, Aurealian's transmutation spell wears off. In fact, you realize that all your minutes long spells have worn off. Galatea checks her pocket watch ("I bought it in Riddleport.") and concludes that you've been in the Shrine for about thirty minutes. It has certainly felt like much longer, though.
Aurealia looks down at her birth-form. "Hmpf. Guess I brought my boy out too soon."
Aurealia looks at Gali and Kallie. "Sorry you two. She shouldn't have done you like this."
Sighing and gathering herself, she continues, "You're right though. This doesn't change anything. Let's go."
She goes and tries to open the northeastern door.
Jaya steps close to Kallie to give her a quick shoulder squeeze, but doesn't try to get her talking. She'll want some time, but it can't be forever. Too easy for a wound like that to fester.
Kallie returns the squeeze and moves across the room to the unchecked doors. "Let's get going. There should be no reason we're after the same thing, but my luck is the sort that I'm going to believe it when I see it."
You discover that both doors evidently lead to the same room, which was once likely much bigger. It appears to have been a communal area of some sort. Perhaps a banquet hall? Whatever it was, though, it has been thoroughly wrecked.
The walls to the east and north have collapsed, and the once elegant furnishings - large tables, chairs, and chandeliers - are stuck in the rubble. Searching the area, you soon discover a small, yet cozy campsite in the eastern part of the chamber. Aurealia notes that Erigantus' scent is particularly strong here.
Already on edge, Kallie's senses are alert for anything.
Croq looks back over her shoulder, a bit nervous to leave Marjorie's undead mother unattended, but looks around this new chamber when Aurealia points out Erigantus' scent.
You quickly discover that Erigantus had apparently amassed a small king's ransom, which he made no real effort to hide. Most of the items are just small trinkets, things like jewels, gems, silverware, and such. Galatea identifies the following items as the most valuable of the bunch:
1) A carving of a sweetmeat dish, one made from obsidian and marble. The rim of the plate is decorated with silver-encrusted teeth that Jaya identifies as imp canines.
2) A rolled-up rug of Minkaian origin. Unrolling it reveals a morbid scene: some dragons helping themselves to a feast of laughing monkeys.
3) A lectern made of iron and wood. Again, there is a rather morbid scene depicted on it: cute little lambs with the most angelic faces being devoured by vicious, monstrous wolves.
4) A mandolin lyre of superb quality. Unlike everything else, the imagery shown on it is nice and pleasant: vividly detailed urban scenery. The lyre detects as magical.
You then discover a collection of four mysterious stone tablets. Each one weighs about fifteen pounds and detects as magical. After them, you do find a very distinctive tomb!
...It's just not the one you're actually looking for. Instead, you find a monstrosity of a book that is forty-five pounds, three wide, and good foot thick from cover to cover. This oversized manuscript covers - in extensive, disturbing, excruciating, and ridiculous detail - the culinary habits of some bloatmage by the name of Chundakus.
You are about to call it quits when Croq spots a secret latch on the lectern. Inside the secret compartment that it opens, you discover three scrolls and something else underneath them. Unable to help herself, Croq performs a little drumroll as the scrolls are moved and the last item is revealed.
...It's The Bone Grimoire!
"Before we rummage too much, let me make certain these tablets are tools not traps."
"Hmm... implanting silver into an Imp's teeth would be a fairly novel form of torture for such often overlooked beings. I suppose there might just be an aesthetic there that I'm not appreciative of though."
Jaya determines that the mandolin is a Lyre of Building. Meanwhile, the four tablets are actually ancient scrolls of some kind. The first tablet has Blade Barrier stored it. The second one contains a Heal spell. The third has Shield of Law, and the fourth tablet contains Wind Walk.
Kallie puts her finger to her lips, meeting the eyes of the shadow. She slips the Bone Grimoire into the reinforced pack on her flank next to her other spellbooks.
"I have a feeling we shouldn't linger here, now that we've got it. I could teleport back to the inn if worse comes to worse," she offers.
Aurealia whistles appreciatively at the haul.
"Won't they just come looking for us then?"
Croq shrugs. "I dunno. You say Marjorie's mom's undead and you know I believe you...but she seemed totally on the up-and-up to me. And Marjorie's great, right? Would she be involved in something evil?"
Kallie taps the pack containing the grimoire. "If they're after this, they're after something evil. We're only after it to keep it from being used for more evil, but we don't know why they would be wanting it. So, we just... should go to avoid any unpleasant conversations."
Jaya's lips thin in amusement at Kallie's justification, true as it is. "And after all, if they do wish the tome only to keep it from being used to ill ends, then they have succeeded by letting us take it."
Aurealia shrugs. "Up to you two," she says, indicating Kallie and Galatea with her chin. "I'll go with whatever you want."
"Gather 'round, kids," Kallie says as she readies her teleport spell.
While you discuss your plans, Galatea studies Erigantus' large stash of treasure and sighs.
"I don't think we can't take all of this with us," Gali concludes. She moves to secure what she determines to be the most useful or valuable items: the magical mandolin lyre, the three unidentified scrolls from the lectern, and the stone tablet with a Heal spell sealed in it. "We need to invest in a Bag of Holding."
To ensure that Kallie can teleport everyone out of the Shrine, Galatea seals the massive Cheshire within her Greater Best Friend Pendant. Just as Kallie casts her teleportation spell, though, you see Marjorie's shadow emerge from a dark corner of the room and wave at you. This is no hyperbole; you literally see a dark blob that could only be described as Marjorie's shadow given physical form wave at you.
The gesture is difficult to interpret. She could be trying to get your attention, or she could be just waving goodbye. Either way, in the next instance, you find yourselves back at the inn, specifically in the spacious room where Leptonia and Viralane were waiting for your return.
Naturally, Viralane squeaks in surprise as you suddenly materialize from the thin air.
"O-Oh, it's just you," she says in relief. "So, mission accomplished?"
After you answer her question, the ginger pauses before adding something else.
"About an hour after you left, Leptonia here started smirking like a villain from a Zoli Tileani play. She refuses to say why; she's following Kallie's gag order to the letter."
Kallie's face goes tight. "All right. I'll see what got her so amused."
She mentally checks for control before seeing her dominated subject. Assuming all is well regarding the spell, she goes to see her. "Hello, Leptonia. I hear something's got you amused. You can speak now. What's so amusing?"
When she sees Marjorie's shadow, Croq says, "Hold oooo--", only to be interrupted by the still-not-terribly-familiar whooshing feeling.
When they reappear, she finishes, "--oon, Kallie!"
Shaking the tinglies out after the teleportation, and looking around, she says, "Did anyone see that? I'd swear Marjorie's shadow came to...wave goodbye to us? Or ask us to wait?" Shrugging, she continues, "I guess hopefully we'll see her before too long, and can ask her about that. And maybe about if it's just a weird coincidence that her mom's name is an anagram of Gali's dead sister's..."
Her musings are cut short when Viralane comments on Leptonia. Croq gives a suspicious look to the enchantress. Arching her eyeridge, she asks, "Kallliieee?"
"Lord Yamasoth sent me another vision this morning. I saw you and your friends dying horribly," Leptonia answers with an elated grin. "He will be sending powerful agents to free me from your control. And here's the best part: I have you to thank for this, Kallie! You've been letting me pray to Him every day since we met! And now, He has answered..."
Croq quickly determines that Leptonia is happily telling the truth.
Kallie's mouth twists in irritation. "So, your patron is rewarding your failure by sending more forces to their doom just to save you? Yamasoth hasn't heard of the sunk cost fallacy, apparently.
"All right. Since he was so generous in giving you this vision of us dying horribly, how about telling me everything you saw -- how do we die horribly? I assume it's fiends of some sort, but maybe some cultists too? Tell me. Types of creatures, numbers, everything he clued you in on."
"It's one thing to fail, Kallie," Leptonia replies. "It's another matter entirely to taunt Lord Yamasoth as you have. He took that personally."
Her grin falters as she realizes that she just ruined her patron's element of surprise.
"You were attacked while you were fighting Runelord Zutha on a strange, ruined island. That might sound weird, but that's what I saw," Leptonia says with a shrug. "Lord Yamasoth sent another nyogoth, along with a few humanoids. I believe I saw three or four humanoids. They were shroudded, so I'm not sure about their ancestry. I saw magic being used. One of them focused everything on breaking your spell and eventually succeeded."
Her grin regains some of its previously lost luster.
"The vision ended as I personally cut you down, Kallie."
"In that case, one moment. Aurealia, could you please confirm that Leptonia does not have any holy symbols or other foci for divine workings on her person? And that her bonds are tight?"
She waits for confirmation before stating her case baldly, "Kallie, I've backed your play till now, but we should kill her and scatter the ashes."
Once Leptonia is locked away so they can discuss her fate in private, Kallie folds her arms and fumes for a while. "Dammit. And I suppose once we do that, we'll have a vengeful undead spirit after me as well as being on a qlippoth lord's s%~~ list!"
Bitter anger rises up. "Are you all happy!?! 'Kallie's learning her lesson!' It only took a day, how's that for service?" Her hind legs kick hard at the wall behind her.
"Fine. Just... get it over with."
Her head lifts up when an idea comes to her. "After that, we're going to Korvosa."
Jaya blinks, hurt. "Kallie I'm not saying this is comeuppance. It was a decision that carried risk; the risk has increased beyond the benefits. Do you think I'm trying to punish you or something?"
She removes her shadowed spectacles and cleans them to have something else to look at. [b]"If we find the right scroll we should be able to Permanently sanctify her corpse in any case to prevent several forms of undeath that can overcome the difficulty of a corpse's dissolution. It won't foil her patron if he's truly devoted to vengeance, but the world is wide and the planes the abyss touches on wider still. He may not think it worth the effort."
"...What are you looking for in Korvosa?"
"It's not a what," Kallie says offhandedly. "I know you weren't totally against me on this, so I'm not talking about you. But still. I can't pretend that everyone else isn't vindicated." She waves Jaya off. "I think I need to be alone for a little while. You don't have to tell me when she's dead. I'll know."
"In that case, one moment. Aurealia, could you please confirm that Leptonia does not have any holy symbols or other foci for divine workings on her person? And that her bonds are tight?"
She waits for confirmation before stating her case baldly, "Kallie, I've backed your play till now, but we should kill her and scatter the ashes."
Aurealia nods and checks Leptonia over, thoroughly.
Jaya nods as Kallie leaves, a little curtly. She takes a deep breath and returns to their prisoner.
"Well. Leptonia, you have my apologies. For all your utility, I do wish we had simply taken care of this when first we faced you. I assume you have no desire to sincerely repent of your crimes and renounce the worship of Yamasoth?"
Croq groans, and (while in the other room) says "Killing a prisoner sounds miserable, but since Yamasoth is sending forces to rescue her–or plans to–then we need to execute her.
"Any discussion or final questions before we do the deed?"
Jaya looks up at Croq's maul with a kind of sick hopefulness, then shakes it off.
You're Auronee's daughter, damnit. Don't make someone else carry this.
"I argued to do this when you both spoke against it. I should... I think if I place an electric spell carefully it will stop her heart."
Croq looks at her with an uncertain relief.
"If you...well, perhaps that's less painful..." The skald shudders, well aware that this will be dreadful no matter who does the act.
Aurealia does not find any holy symbols or other divine foci on Leptonia. While Leptonia does have the symbol of Yamasoth on her breast plate, you have long ago verified that it lacks the Reliquary properties to be used as a proper unholy symbol. Additionally, Aurealia ensures that Leptonia's binds are as secure as possible.
Not wanting to watch an execution, Viralane quietly takes her leave.
"Getting her carcass out of here without drawing unwanted attention will likely be a pain. Granted, this is Kaer Maga," Galatea says with a sigh. "I'll... go keep Kaillie company."
That said, Gali does leave Cheshire behind in case Leptonia causes trouble, parking the tigress right in front of the door. Surprisingly, even after hearing that she's about to be executed, Leptonia doesn't try resisting Kallie's spell. She doesn't look happy about the news, though.
Jaya nods as Kallie leaves, a little curtly. She takes a deep breath and returns to their prisoner.
"Well. Leptonia, you have my apologies. For all your utility, I do wish we had simply taken care of this when first we faced you. I assume you have no desire to sincerely repent of your crimes and renounce the worship of Yamasoth?"
"I have committed no crimes. I am only carrying out Lord Yamasoth's vision," Leptonia says defiantly. "It isn't my fault you're all too selfish to see its beauty."
"I'm aware that you want to be alone," she says in Thassilonian. "However, I just wanted to say that I've never..."
She pauses for a moment before restarting.
"To the best of knowledge, everything I've told you about myself after Cecil died is true," Gali says. "If you want to talk about... what we learned today... or anything else for that matter, please feel free to let me know."
If you don't respond, Galatea wishes you a good day and takes her leave.
"It would have just been a lie anyways."
bzzt
"I know who we need to talk to to disappear the- her body. Just... Just give me a moment first."
Aurealia stays to watch, frowning mightily the whole time. She doesn't feel much for the crazy cultist, but seeing Jaya suffer nearly makes her retch.
Approaching quietly from behind, she gently lays a hand on Jaya's shoulder. "Sorry."
"Thanks for doing that. I know it wasn't fun."
Kallie is deeply engrossed in her own spellbook when she arrives. She looks up, momentarily confused. "Oh yeah. The undead Setsuna thing. You really don't know?"
She frowns a little as she thinks about it. "It's probably more bothersome for you than for me. I grew up thinking Setsuna was dead. You're... well, it's been a bit weird but it's been good to get to know you. That one? Tunessa? I don't know her. If you're worried about who I'm going to think of as the real... heir to Setsuna. Don't be." Kallie gives Gali a reassuring smile.
Croq looks about as deflated as she's ever been. "You're a good person to do the deed, Jaya...but don't think this is on your shoulders. We all equally made the decision, and we all equally benefitted from her aid and information, while she was ensorceled."
Jaya pointedly doesn't look up, prestidigitating smudges from her shadowed spectacles.
"Everything's more complicated than just being some one person's fault. But I carry as much responsibility for this as I could."
She closes her eyes, breathes out, and replaces her spectacles.
"We should take her down into the Godsmouth. The Pharasmins will know how to keep her body and soul secure."
Aurealia nods, and makes ready to help move the body.
With a bit of effort, Jaya successfully uses her lightning magic to stop Leptonia's heart. Thankfully for all involved, the process is relatively quick and painless. After Jaya cleans up the area with Prestidigitation, you wrap up Leptonia's remains and then take them to the Godsmouth Cathedral. Fortunately, nobody has the guts or nerve to bother two uniformed Black Arrows carrying a mysterious bundle. Cheshire's presence also probably helps prevent anyone from getting any bright ideas.
While Croq doesn't quite have the signature Kailani silver tongue, she's ultimately able to explain the situation without things getting too awkward. It almost certainly helps that Leptonia is a known quantity to the Pharasmans. They promise to handle her remains and take steps to keep them from reanimating.
It is well after dark when you get back to the inn.
"I appreciate that, Kallie. Also, I truly had no idea about... Tunessa. If there's more to this story, I'd wager only she, Mom, and maybe Marjorie and Bruno know for sure," Galatea replies. "Still, there are many details that concern me about all this. Tunessa's name being an anagram. Her reluctance to use their surname. Physically, Marjorie and Bruno don't really have any Kaliani features, but they still have Setsuna's height, blue eyes, and black hair..."
She sighs.
"What a conundrum this is."
Croq gets back to the inn, feeling the wrongness of having had to execute Leptonia as well as fatigue from the day's battle, and goes quickly to bed.
In the morning we need to figure out what to do with the Bone Grimoire, but for now, enough is enough. Maybe tomorrow will be a simpler day...
Kallie's eyes drift back to her spellbook while Gali speaks.
""What a conundrum this is."
Kallie looks up. "Hmm? Yes, it is."
When Gali leaves Kallie's room, she remains engrossed in her spellbook for a while longer. "Okay. No more Miss Nice Centaur."