"You must remain calm and concentrate," Alexi says stoically. "This is not what Pharasma would want from you. Turn away from the corruption and may your essence be cleansed."
Eliza continues her persuasive work and, through some sort of divine inspiration finds some remarkably effective arguments - although she belabours the point a bit too long.
Tadia rolls her eyes at Miya's fumbling effort, but doesn't doesn't display any other antagonistic behavior. Instead, focusing on creating a persuasive argument.
"Focus on more positive things!" Eliza hisses at Miya before waving to re-attract the psychopomp's attention.
Miya grunts to herself as she was trying to be positive. She somehow attempts to be more positive.
It takes a little longer but Tadia's persistence and time spent with Ezramalkum, along with Eliza's cleverness and deep knowledge produce some truly profound arguments and the influence of 'the Lord Below' is shaken by the force of the groups logic and reasoning.
The skeletal psychopomp shakes and then collapses into dust and scraps of fabric. Alexi feels a sense of approval in her mind - she has no doubt that Pharasma approves of what has just happened here.
Unfortunately there is nothing else of interest here, apart from a long broken ladder which leads upwards. It seems likely that it would exit into the crypt in the grounds which proved so formidable all those weeks ago when the ladies first arrived.
Returning in the other direction is thankfully less fraught, now that the haunt and undead have been put to rest. Heading in the opposite direction, into the more constructed corridors involves passing through two sets of doors before being offered a choice of options. The first doors on the right reveal a well equipped and thoroughly gruesome surgical laboratory.
A powerful mi-go waits in the chamber and offers to "free you from the prison of the flesh". Fortunately the creature seems largely quiescent and doesn't make any effort to pursue when the ladies retreat with admirable prudence!
Glowing green fluid slowly drips up the pale lavender walls of the 10-foot-wide hallway beyond the laboratory, while countless tracks in the
dust on the floor look disturbingly like fingerprints the size of a human head. That supposition is quickly proved correct when two giant hands come scuttling up the corridor and have to be dealt with in a swift and brutal battle. Both hands were left hands and wore a familiar ring - just like the one found on the upper floor of the manor house. Both hands and rings melt into green slime however, leaving the way through the double doors at the end of the passage clear.
The pale lavender walls of the room beyond the doors ripple with glowing green fluid that drips up to pool against the ceiling. Alcoves in the walls to the east and west contain a few books and tools, while many more books sit on the numerous wooden shelves lining the walls. Towards the rear of the room, dark blue curtains partially obscure what lies beyond: a horrific statue made of glass, bronze, and wood. A depiction of a crab-like creature with several glass domes on its back stands to the north—human brains float within three of these fluid-filled domes.
To the west of this unsettling statue is an empty wooden mirror frame. A paper-cluttered desk and chair near this frame face the statue. A human skeleton clad wearing rotted black and red aristocrat’s clothing over a chain shirt slumps forward in the chair. The area around the body has been sprayed with dried blood and bits of leathery flesh—as if the figure’s skin and organs had burst from its body, leaving the skeleton intact. The skeleton’s left hand is missing at the wrist, but the right cradles a long silver telescope against its chest.
At the center of the room, a 10-foot-diameter, one-foot-high platform of stone supports an eight-foot-diameter slab of six-inch-thick stone—almost akin to a slab covering a well. This entire platform seethes with pale green ooze that constantly extrudes wavering tendrils into the air before
absorbing them over and over.
Unfortunately only moments after the ladies enter the room a figure comes slithering out from under the oozing stone and levels its only remaining hand at Eliza.
"And now I take what is mine!" The ghost of Ioseff Xarwin declares, and the battle is joined!
The ghost swoops forwards and Eliza feels Xarwin assail her mind and body, attempting to possess her!
"That's a..." Eliza starts to say but is cut off by the appearance of Ioseff Xarwin. She doesn't have time to give him a well deserved piece of her mind before the ghost sails right through her!
With a phenomenal effort of will Eliza drives the offending presence out, feeling Fulvia's ring from upstairs burn in her pocket as she does so. It clearly has some sort of antithetical effect on the ghost!
Unable to calculate an efficient way of assaulting the ghost Eliza pulls back, putting as much space between herself and the ghost as possible.
"In the name of the Lady!" Alexi cries as she moves up to the ghost. She brandishes her holy symbol as she exploits Xarwin's weakness, slashing with the enchanted hatchet she acquired earlier
Tadia's nostrils flare, realizing what the spirit had just attempted. Focusing her thoughts, she presses her will upon Ioseff's to prevent him from doing it again.
"Now the time has come!" Miya declares defiantly, attacking twice before raising her shield.
+
+
Xarwin seems utterly unprepared to have Eliza resist his spell and cries out in pain as Alexi carves into him with the enchanted hatchet, which cuts his ectoplasmic flesh in death as easily as it cut his corporeal body in life!
Miya's blow is much less effective, but the holy energy charged in her strike still burns the ghost and he seems surprised by just how effective the women are.
He rears backwards and then swoops over the women's heads, apparently intent on chasing down Eliza, although as he passes Alexi feels a crippling pain in her hatchet wielding hand!
Everyone up!
Alexi present her amulet to ward off the ghost’s attack. She is only barely wounded. She moves to pursue Xarwin, swinging her axe somewhat clumsily.
Tadia's anger is released and manifests as a blast of sonic energy, followed by a damaging mental wave of energy enveloping the ghost.
Miya keeps one eye on Alexi to make sure she's not too injured before proceeding with two attacks of her own. After the second strike, she raises her shield again.
+
+
Unfortunately it seems Xarwin isn't going to give up Eliza just yet, but at least it's distracting him from the rest of the group so Eliza stabs once, ducks beneath him and hurries back to her friends.
"I'm getting too old for all this." She huffs. "At least he's being an idiot."
Alexi misses and despite the sound and fury Tadia unleashes the ghost seems almost untouched. Miya is the only person to land a blow as Eliza ducks away once more and runs across the room once more.
Xarwin lets out a howl of anger and raises both arms to the air. The ectoplasm oozing from the cap seems to respond and slowly forms into an amorphous blob of yammering mouths and oozing, fleshy sludge - just like the one the ladies confronted in the grounds when they first arrived at Xarwin Manor.
Only this time there's no room to run...
Alexi hacks at the ghost twice, then tries to overcome being sickened.
Her head still reeling from the unleashing of forces that the ghost seemed to simply shrug off, Tadia resorts to something less likely to be avoided. However, its effectiveness leaves something to be desired.
Although Eliza doesn't relish the prospect of approaching the ghost once more, at least the summoning leaves it vulnerable.
"Attack now, he has to focus on keeping that thing here!" She commands, pleased to see that Alexi and Tadia are taking the initiative.
With a plan in place Eliza strides forward and stabs at the new aberration.
Miya does as instructs and tries to continue landing strikes against their target, but she's not nearly as effective this time around. She throws out two quick swings before raising her shield again.
+
+
Alexi's empowered hatchet cuts deep into Xarwin's spiritual form as Eliza pierces his summoned creature with her rapier. The amorphous blob turns its many teeth on her, screaming as it does so.
"No!" Xarwin screams, "I need her alive!" He turns just as Tadia's force bolts strike him in the face.
"How dare you?" He mutters before thrusting out a hand as tendrils of ectoplasm lash out at Alexi.
Everyone up!
Alexi ignores Xarwin's attack and continues her own assault.
"She not yours!" Miya declares, laying hands on Eliza to heal some of the damage.
She then swings her weapon once before raising a shield.
+
With the manifestation of her anger fading, Tadia continues to send magical bolts at the frustrated spirit.
Unable to retreat Eliza attempts to ascertain her best course of action.
She stabs at the creature twice, unwilling to risk an escape attempt and then be caught again.
Eliza pierces the mouther once more, causing it to shriek loudly.
Unfortunately neither Alexi nor Miya can land a hit on Xarwin this time - only Tadia's missiles strike him, and they seem to annoy rather than harm. Still, he is definitely annoyed.
"Enough!" The ghost declares and Tadia feels an overwhelming sense of dread as she knows her father is stepping up behind her, 'walking stick' in hand.
The mouther, meanwhile, drops Eliza obediently and turns on Miya instead, striking hard with a pair of powerful blows!
Everyone may act!
Alexi keeps her wits about her as she scores a hit on Xarwin!
Tadia tenses up and a ball of ice drops into her stomach, her body already preparing for the 'correcting' strike across the back of her thighs. She avoids dropping to the ground to curl up into a ball only by sheer stubbornness. While the strike doesn't actually come, the anticipation, itself, does enough.
Refusing to give in to fear entirely, she sends another trio of magical bolts in Xarwin's direction.
Eliza moves away from the mouther and attempts to duck past Xarwin to flank him. Unfortunately the ghost is badly hemmed in and there's no way through for her.
Uncertain of her ability to hit the ghost without additional magic she settles for distracting him, hopefully allowing Alexi to land a telling blow.
With Eliza menacing him Xarwin is distracted and Alexi's hatchet tears a massive rip through his ectoplasmic form. The ghost screams as Tadia's final blast of trusty magic missiles tears through him, punching holes in what remains of his corporeal form. Xarwin collapses into a puddle, which writhes across the room and into the seal which dominates the centre of the space.
Without its summoner the mouther vanishes in a crackle of magic leaving the room strangely quiet as the tendrils oozing from the seal retreat into (temporary) quintessence. It seems you have won.
Ioseff’s skeletal remains cradle the starless scope. Its lens is shattered but the curved glass that was found in the orrery pond fits it perfectly. It seems Xarwin died in danger, his body still possesses a +1 chain shirt, a wand of spiritual weapon, a broken wand of soothe (2nd), a +1 striking dagger, and a ventriloquist’s ring on his only remaining hand. The scrawled scrolls on his desk include a scroll of internal insurrection, along with Ioseff’s notes that he hoped to use his deciphering of the alien spell to save himself. It seems his researches were too little, too late.
Amongst the horde of gathered lore are other notes of a ritual Ioseff had almost completed that would have allowed him to usurp control over a brain collector and merge the minds of his wife and children with his own. It seems that, with a few more weeks work, the ritual might have become functional to probably horrible consequences.
Alexi's hatchet seems to sigh as the wrathful spirit of Asethanna is finally avenged, and all that now remains is to ensure that Xarwin's spirit never rises again. Dismantling the statue of the brain collector is the first step - Xarwin's notes reveal that the source of his obsession, his wife and children's brains, are all stored there ready for the completion of his ritual. Miya intones blessings and prayers over the remains and three souls are freed to pass on to the boneyard.
The undead brain collector in the attic is destroyed after a short battle - it had no way of recovering from the grievous wounds previously inflicted and was unable to stand up to four battle hardened women ready for conflict and, with this task done, the mounting for the starlight scope can be secured and the crypt accessed.
As the Starlight Scope is returned to its housing the entire crypt darkens to a night-sky and a single beam of moonlight shoots down, passing through the scope and down into the caverns below. A horrible, bellowing cry surges up from the depths and then falls utterly silent. Emerging from the crypt once more all four women hear something they haven't heard for weeks, trapped as they have been within the manor. The sound of birdsong.
The Xarwin Caul has fallen and, bathed in gentle afternoon sunshine, the manor's ground seem almost pleasant. This could be a home afterall, if so desired.
The superatural compunction to remain within the house is gone, along with (as further investigation reveals) all forms of supernatural goings on. The creature avoided on the lower levels is absent when the ladies return - it seems to have cut its losses with its master gone and Eliza's house is finally her own.
All that remains now is to settle accounts and say farewells.
Alexi motions the spiral of Pharasma over her chest as the malevolence is finally lifted from the manor. "It would seem the Lady's work here is done, and thus our task is complete. It is time my sister and I moved on to our next duty."
The ghostly Cathyriel manifests beside Alexi and offers the group a spectral curtsey. "It's been quite the adventure! I'm surprised all of you managed to survive!"
Alexi chuckles softly. "Indeed. We had more than our fair share of close calls. I trust you all will take care of yourselves. May Pharasma watch over you in life and care for your souls in death."
The duskwalker bows low and prepares to depart.
"You have my deepest thanks." Eliza replies to Alexi, offering her and her sister a shallow bow (mostly because she simply can't bend as far as she used to). "We could not have done with without your skils and your wisdom. Should you ever need it you will always be welcome here."
She settles Alexi's agreed upon pay and bids the Duskwalker a fond farewell.
"I meant what I said ." She tells Tadia. "You are all welcome here, if... if you'd like to stay permanently. I think it would be good to have a young person here - I enjoy my books and my peace but I'm... used to having students. I think I might be lonely." She offers a smile. "So you'd be doing an old lady a favour. If you were so inclined."
Tadia considers Eliza's offer.
"I ... I think there are some things I need to do. Some people I need to ... Some things I need to tell someone first," she says finally, her explanation haltingly incomplete. "I need to have words with Father," she clarifies.
Finally meeting the older woman's eyes, her lips curl up into a sad smile.
"Then, if possible, I think I would enjoy staying here ... at least until you can't stand me any more."
Turning towards Alexi, Miya bows her head and says "An honor working next to you, Alexi. Thanking you for keep me alive. Safe travels until we meet again."
Miya turns to Tadia with a confused expression on her face, "Why can you not stand anymore? Are your legs injured?" She crouches down and reaches out to place a hand on Tadia's thigh, letting the positive energy flow through to the psychic. With a satisfied nod, she stands with a confident smile "There. Now you can keep standing here."
Looking to Eliza, Miya considers her offer. "Maybe short time I stay. Make sure things are safe for you before I go. Yes?"
And so the tale of the Misgivings comes to an end. A horror from beyond the stars is sealed away once more and peace returns to Golarion, while the schemes of the Dominion of the Black and their inscrutable masters in the darkness are foiled.
For now.