Aurealian nods in acknowledgement of the others' plan, and Galatea's offer, and gets ready to take his place in the ritual. He stands confidently, wings furled, with his lower pair of arms crossed against his abdomen.
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Croq shrugs off learning about the less interesting version of the snake game, but keeps working on her hiss until she's happier with it.
At Jaya's suggestion, she gives a scaly thumbs up. "That ssssssssoundsssssss like a plan!", Croq says, adding in a theatrical hiss.
Before the ritual begins, Galatea heals Aurealian and then recasts Heroism on Jaya and Kallie.
With Jaya at the helm, you perform the Runewaking Ritual essentially perfectly, with minimal backlash. For the first forty minutes, she and Kallie effortlessly maneuver and weave the fundamental magics of the ritual, and during the final thirty, Croq whispers honeyed words that metaphysically blur the line between fact and fiction. Upon the ritual's completion, the Bone Grimoire starts to tremble and shudder. A second later, a literal gash appears on the ancient text, and then Zutha, Runelord of Gluttony, emerges from its bloody depths with a triumphant and yet pained scream.
Seeing the warriors and big tiger before him, Runelord Zutha growls, snaps his fingers, and swiftly takes to the air. Once a good distance away from them, the airborne necromancer snaps his fingers again. An instant later, his form abruptly shifts a couple feet in a random direction. The lich then takes a few seconds to survey his foes before pointing at Jaya, nodding slowly, and smirking sinisterly.
Gali whistles, climbs aboard Cheshire's back, and casts a spell on her feline friend. With a low growl, Cheshire then starts running into the air. She maneuvers about until she's level with Zutha. The tigress then gets into her signature pouncing position...
Well. When you're only certain of a creature's location to a certain extent...
Jaya channels a familiar seeming bead of energy through her rod, firing it safely off to the side away from Cheshire and Galatea. The little bead seems to stutter before detonating though, shifting in color, in texture before showering the area in a surprisingly wretched gout of acid.
Then with a flick of her wrist she vanishes, and steps away.
Jaya's Acidball catches Zutha completely off-guard. The heavy impact causes the necromancer to spiral around uncontrollably in midair, leaving him momentarily dazed and disoriented. However, shortly after taking damage, the Runelord of Gluttony suddenly vanishes from sight!
"Zutha's still there," Jaya calls out to her allies, "He just had a spell of contingent invisibility."
"Please tell me someone has glitterdust prepped!" Kallie shouts, suddenly aware of a gap in her preparedness.
"Tut, tut, tut. What would Master Eugeni say?"
With ample pride, Croq replies "Who needs to prep, when you can tap into the " and she croons out a quick glam rock ballad, ending with an explosion of glitter at the point Zutha disappeared from.
"Tut, tut, tut. What would Master Eugeni say?"
"That four spellcasters are better than one?" Kallie says after Croq lights up the necromancer.
She goes back to her original plan of locking Zutha in place. She casts telekinesis and sends out bands of force to bind the lich.
Combat Maneuver: Alternatively, once per round, you can use telekinesis to perform a bull rush, disarm, grapple (including pin), or trip. Resolve these attempts as normal, except that they don’t provoke attacks of opportunity, you use your caster level in place of your Combat Maneuver Bonus, and you add your Intelligence modifier (if a wizard) or Charisma modifier (if a sorcerer) in place of your Strength or Dexterity modifier. No save is allowed against these attempts, but spell resistance applies normally. This version of the spell can last 1 round per caster level, but it ends if you cease concentration.
Aurealia takes the time to transform herself once more into her male alter-ego and to cast some enhancing spells during the ritual, including haste one everyone once more.
Once he spots the glitterdusted runelord, Aurealian launches himself horns-first into the lich!
<--- Furious Focus
Croq's Glitterdust manages to nullify Zutha's invisibility. And even with an illusion hiding his foe's true location, Aurealian manages to land his bite attack. However, he quickly discovers Zutha's undead anatomy to be very resistant to his strike...
Pinned down by Kallie's Telekinesis spell and still reeling from Jaya's concussive Acidball, Zutha can only let out a disoriented growl as he struggles to get his bearings.
Galatea casts another spell on Cheshire and then signals for her feline companion to attack Zutha. With a mighty roar, Cheshire charges into battle, and having never ridden on a charging mount before, Gali lets out a cute squeak of surprise as she gets taken along for the ride. Ultimately, Cheshire's claws bounce off of Zutha's magical defenses, but her teeth manage to latch onto the lich's arm and tear into undead flesh.
While Croq's Glitterdust reveals Zutha's whereabouts, the necromancer isn't actually blinded by it.
Croq bursts into a raging song, and surfs over beside her (very) big sibling, getting ready to swing Drumstick at the dazed, grappled, and glittery runelord.
Kallie continues to focus on her spell, keeping the lich pinned down and moving him down to the ground within reach of the allies still hoping to put a hurt on the conjured necromancer.
Aurealian notes the damage resistance and draws their horsechopper, bringing it down on the lich as he lands next to Zutha.
Jaya can't help but smirk as Kallie hauls Zutha to the dirt. Sometimes cleverness is truly overrated. Efficiency so often suffices.
Galatea casts another spell on Cheshire and then signals for her feline companion to attack Zutha. With a mighty roar, Cheshire charges into battle, and having never ridden on a charging mount before, Gali lets out a cute squeak of surprise as she gets taken along for the ride. Ultimately, however, all of Cheshire's attacks fail to pierce Zutha's magical defenses, much to Galatea’s frustration.
Zutha lets out a cry of surprise as Kallie's Telekinesis sends the lich hurling toward the rocky ground. Aurealian then lands nearby and stabs at the Runelord of Gluttony with his mighty horsechopper. Alas, Zutha's true location proves to be close by but not close enough. Thankfully, close counts as far as massively overclocked Acidballs are concerned, so Jaya's subsequent spell leaves the necromancer barely alive.
Still quite dazed from Jaya's first Acidball, Zutha can only growl in frustration at his current situation. Perhaps in another time and place, he could have shown his foes just why he was considered a peer of Karzoug the Claimer. Alas, all he can do now is watch as his inevitable end approaches...
After receiving another attack signal from Gali, Cheshire runs through the air until reaching the ground. Once again, she snaps at Zutha with her massive maw, and this time, her acidic teeth manage to latch onto and tear into Zutha's undead flesh. And yet, somehow, this isn't enough to slay the Runelord of Gluttony!
Kallie concentrates on the spell, using the bands of force to constrict Zutha's movements even further and keeping him from easily casting spells or moving to avoid the incoming attacks from her allies.
Croquelle squints, trying to figure out where the thrashing runelord really is, and swings Drumstick right at Zutha's his hollow eyes.
Kallie's magic manages to keep him from turning away and so Drumstick smashes straight into his pallid face, smashing it to a pulp.
After the destruction of Zutha's fragment by Croq's mighty Drumstick, the Bone Grimoire suddenly bursts into black, shadowy flames! From seemingly inside the tome itself, you can briefly hear the agonized screams of a disembodied man burning alive. Seconds later, his cries of pain cease, and nothing is left of Zutha's magnum opus, not even ash.
Whatever else happens next, you have at least made sure that Zutha, Runelord of Gluttony, will never plague Golarion ever again.
Aurealian lands next to Croq. "HELLS YEAH! That was so metal..." he says, offering his two lower arms for high-fives to his sister.
He looks at Zutha's corpse, to see if it might have anything worth taking.
"Scratch one Runelord, and with forty seconds to spare!" Kallie says with a smile at their combined prowess.
"Anything else to do on this rock? If not, I'm ready to go back to Korvosa."
Croq gives her Aurealian a double high five, and then spins around and hollers.
"OOOOOOH YEAH! He never stood a chance."
To Kallie's question, Croq mimes looking around and says, "Let's see if we can find another Runelord to kill while we're at it. That was almost too easy!"
Jaya can't help the self-satisfied smile that creeps across her face. "It's always delightful when plans go off without a hitch. Perhaps if we're planning on continuing our association with Sorshen though, we should at least feign little interest in a repeat performance?"
Aurealian lands next to Croq. "HELLS YEAH! That was so metal..." he says, offering his two lower arms for high-fives to his sister.
He looks at Zutha's corpse, to see if it might have anything worth taking.
Since the fragment of Zutha you just fought was merely a shadowy facsimile, Aurealian quickly discovers that there is literally nothing left of him or his possessions.
"Scratch one Runelord, and with forty seconds to spare!" Kallie says with a smile at their combined prowess.
"Anything else to do on this rock? If not, I'm ready to go back to Korvosa."
"You know, that does raise a good question," Galatea says. "Where do we want to go next? Sursha said that she'd be happy to take us anywhere in Varisia, and it will likely be some time before we hear from Sorshen again."
"Hmmmm. What do we think of that...Peacock Phoenix, was it? Seems a weird coincidence that it would attack us here and now, right? Maybe we should see if we can figure out where it came from, and why."
"Choosing Sorshen as our next Runelord to kill would be inadvisable. She's survived too long, and even if we surprised her by betraying the trust we've earned so far and managed to pin her down, there's no telling whether she's got a clone stashed somewhere or some other contingency in place."
She thinks on where to go next. "I'm thinking back to Korvosa. Together, preferably. I can't wait to see what happens when I tell Marjorie and Tunessa that we destroyed the book. I'm sure that'll go over extremely well."
"Oh, sorry. Irony. I wasn't actually suggesting we murder someone who might plausibly be acting in good faith, and for whom we do not possess a commensurate leveling factor."
"I'm personally inclined to leave Sorshen alone for now. I spoke at length with the Nocticulans while I trained with them, and they insisted that she's been nothing but trustworthy. Evidently, she's also been active for at least the last two decades, and I can't think of anything she's done to cause havoc like Karzoug did," Galatea adds.
With no objections to Kallie's suggestion for your next location, you return to the Forgiven Queen and ask Sursha to take you to Korvosa.
At breakfast the next morning, Galatea abruptly pauses and frowns.
"Aw, shiver me timbers. Marjorie just contacted me via Sending," Gali remarks. "Quote. 'Auntie, why did you destroy the Grimoire?! Mom - your own sister - needed it to heal herself! She and Bruno are very upset now!' Unquote."
Gali sighs before looking at you.
"...Looks like she's dropped the act," Galatea groans. "Well, what should I tell... my niece? I've got 25 words or less."
Kallie's face scrunches as she thinks. "How about... 'Check your source, it was a Runelord's necromancy spellbook. Probably wouldn't have cured her. Had to use it to permadeath him. Lich phylactery. Sorry.'"
Croq's scaled brow furrows.
"It was pretty clearly right to destroy it as soon as possible, when there was a risk it could bring back a Runelord. Now that it's gone though....the stories I've always heard about Setsuna...she was complicated, but she was a hero too. Right? And Marjorie has always seemed legit. Should we meet up again?
"I know becoming undead is supposed to be a one way trip to Eviltown, but what if there's some of her Good in there, trying to get back out?"
"Then historically speaking destroying her would be the first step. There is reasonable debate about the extent to which an undead being truly remains a continuity of consciousness with the being that preceded it, but there are certainly far more who have returned from 'Eviltown' after being destroyed and resurrected than who have done it with undeath's power still upon their soul."
"Sounds good, Kallie. I think that covers all our bases," Galatea remarks before closing her eyes to focus on sending the response. A few seconds later, she opens them again. "Croq, you're probably right that Marjorie herself is... an alright individual, but her brother and mother concern me. Tunessa seems to lie as easily as she doesn't breath, and from what little I saw of him, Bruno struck me as a rather violent individual. Going forward, I'll try to keep track of them with my sleepwriting."
Kallie looks at Galatea as she draws in a deep breath then lets it out slowly. "The problem with Setsuna is that she died in the Wing of Gluttony. Jeevika tried bringing her back and... it didn't go well. 'Tunessa' may think she's Setsuna, but she probably is just a shade."
"So, is it too late to reply? If not, maybe propose a sunny place to talk with Marjorie, someday soon at Noon?"
It takes Galatea a moment to answer Croq's question.
"It isn't. I actually know the Sending spell now," she admits quietly. "If there are no... objections to Croq's idea, I'll contact Marjorie and raise the possibility of us meeting? If nothing else, I can try to get more information out of her about this... interesting situation."
For anyone who isn't already at full health, Galatea takes the time to treat all your remaining injuries.
"I haven't managed to get a particularly satisfying answer from Marjorie yet," Galatea remarks at breakfast. "The best I got was 'Probably not. Thanks to Mozamer, Mom dislikes me traveling on my own. She is very unhappy; the Grimore was her best hope to stay dead.'"
Sursha lets you know that you will be reaching Korvosa tomorrow morning. Otherwise, you spent another peaceful day at sea.
You awake to the soft roaring of a campfire. Looking around, you see the rest of your friends present and waking up as well. Even Cheshire is there.
...Wait, campsite?
"Good morning," you hear Sorshen's beautiful voice say. You turn your head and see the Runelord of Lust perched upon a large, comfy pillow. While still impeccably dressed, she's covered in numerous injuries. For instance, the enchantress is missing much of her left arm, and the bandages around her right eye strongly suggest that it's either badly damaged or missing.
"First of all, good work slaying Zutha. With him destroyed forever, that's one less potential headache for us all," Sorshen says. "Now, to answer Galatea's upcoming list of questions..."
Gali closes her mouth and blushes.
"This is an advanced communication spell. We can converse as much as we'd like for the next thirty or so minutes," Sorshen explains. "I managed to kill Xanderghul, but I don't think it stuck. There was one contingency that slipped my attention, and unfortunately, my associates and I aren't in the best shape to deal with it."
Sorshen gestures at her heavily injured form before sighing.
"I've reviewed all my options, and I believe you're our best bet for finishing the job," Sorshen says. "I know that request might sound daunting, but it isn't as impossible as you might think now. Much like Zutha, I suspect that Xanderghul won't be at full strength if you confront him in a timely manner."
Sorshen then turns towards Croq.
"I still intend to honor our deal, Croq, but unfortunately, I've noticed a slight... complication," Sorshen continues. "Specifically, no one can apparently recall the names of those... heroes you want me to find."
You reflexively try to correct her. After all, everyone knows… Uh… It then occurs to you that something is very wrong. Try as you might, you can't remember the names of the missing Sihedron Heroes!
Kallie scrunches up her face as she tries to remember the names of the heroes -- most of whom were related to her is some form or fashion. "I'm gonna have to talk with Mama Ryli. Maybe she remembers Gramma... Gramma Whatshername. And Papa! Papaaaaaaaergh!"
She pants like she just ran around the block. "That's a hell of a modify memory spell! Some sort of backlash from your powers, Sorshen? It's Enchantment-based."
Sorshen shakes her head.
"This isn't my doing," she insists. "From what my agents have reported, this phenomenon appears to be affecting much more than just minds and memories. For instance, their names have been stricken from written documents and textbooks as well."
"Hmm. So either reality has been fundamentally altered within our approximate temporal locale, or someone has broken time. It's rare, but not without precedent."
Kallie frowns. "This phenomenon isn't going to start undoing the things they've done, will it? Talk about unraveling reality. Most of us are their children; they killed Karzoug (though they also did inadvertently free Alaznist); if it goes beyond just documents and memories then we're really in for it."
"Whaaaa?? That's SO f^&king wrong. And you say their names are even missing from books?
"Surely we can remember our own mom's name, right Aurelia?
"Shhhh....shhhhha...s#*$, it's really missing!
"Who in the WORLD has the power to mess things up like this? Are there any of the old Runelords who might be able to do this? or want to??"
"Hmm. So either reality has been fundamentally altered within our approximate temporal locale, or someone has broken time. It's rare, but not without precedent."
Kallie frowns. "This phenomenon isn't going to start undoing the things they've done, will it? Talk about unraveling reality. Most of us are their children; they killed Karzoug (though they also did inadvertently free Alaznist); if it goes beyond just documents and memories then we're really in for it."
"I hate to say it, but only time will tell," Sorshen says with a sigh. "Unfortunately, temporal magic has never been a strong suit of mine. As Jaya just pointed out, there are just so many ways that using it can go wrong, so I'm rather averse to it altogether. Unfortunately, it seems that some of my peers lacked my sense of caution."
"Who in the WORLD has the power to mess things up like this? Are there any of the old Runelords who might be able to do this? Or want to??"
"It might have been Xanderghul," Sorshen speculates. "While preparing for our confrontation, I discovered evidence that he became... essentially obsessed with using temporal magic to survive Earthfall. Specifically, he sought out an artifact that supposedly could have let him simply skip the apocalypse entirely by leaping forward in time. To my knowledge, though, he never actually found it."
She pauses as she considers the other alternatives.
"Probably not Karzoug, Krune, or Zutha. Of those three, only Karzoug used temporal magic in any capacity in his plans, and before it could go anywhere, it was stopped by your predecessors," Sorshen says, referring to how Karzoug planned to use a time portal to move his armies from the past to the present. "I doubt that it was Belimarius. Out of the seven of us, she was, quite frankly, the least talented and capable. Yes, technically, Krune was less powerful overall, but that was largely due to his own laziness. In my opinion, this leaves Alaznist as the only possible alternative to Xanderghul."
Croc shakes her head, losing all of her usual bravado.
"So...so what do we even do, then? It's bad enough that they're gone. Now people don't even remember them? We barely remember them?!?
"...Do we have any leads on Xanderghul?"
"I hate to offer this as a possibility, but if Karzoug knew temporal magics, could he be using them to undo his own defeat? If that's even possible?"
She puts her significant intellect through its paces, trying to work out the paradoxes that would be required for such a feat. "Come to think about it, something like that would require some serious foresight and planning. Hopefully Karzoug didn't actually plan to be defeated post-Earthfall."
Frowning as she uneasily sets that aside for the moment, she looks to Croquelle. "Alaznist or Xanderghul are still the most likely culprits. Both need to be eliminated, but since our parents went specifically after Alaznist, shouldn't she be suspect number one? Especially since they weren't successful, but from all accounts weren't slain?"
"That makes sense to me," Aurealia responds to Kallie, breaking her stunned silence. "Good place to start anyway."