Briar's look is met with Pen's, which widen in surprise before she frowns sadly "I... I have not spent enough time studying the undead to be able to answer any questions about liches." she feels like she let her friend down, so she adds "The living, and the variables of fate upon them, have been both my academic and practical focus... past any help I've been able to provide to you and Visna."
"I have not walked these lands myself, yet sagas and verses have ever outstripped the laggard legs of their tellers. I know something of troubles such as these."
Though liches are rare, Visna has heard many tales and legends about them! To gain more time to complete their goals, some desperate spellcasters pursue immortality by embracing undeath. After long years of research and the creation of a special container called a soul cage, a spellcaster takes the final step by imbibing a deadly concoction or casting dreadful incantations that transform them into a lich. While most undertake this drastic plan to continue their work or fulfill some long-term plan, others become liches because they fear death or to fulfill some malevolent purpose, such as long-sworn revenge. Regardless, the result is permanent and carries with it the potential to alter history—both for those who transform themselves and for the countless mortals who will inevitably suffer as a result of a lich's new power.
Liches are resistant to cold and physical damage except for from magical bludgeoning weapons. They can drain the life from those they touch. Additionally, each lich posseses a unique magical item called a soul cage. When a lich is destroyed, their soul immediately transfers to their soul cage, which rejuvenates their body over the course of several days. A lich can be permanently destroyed only if their soul cage is found and destroyed.
Tahi listens to Yezom, looking him in the eyes.
"You know what, sweetie, I believe you. And I believe it must suck to be ruled by a lich." She looks at her companions and says, "If you three agree, I'd love to help."
Turning back to Yezom, Tahi asks, "Is there any chance we could negotiate to meet him somewhere other than whatever place he asked you to guide us? Or else, can you tell us what defenses to expect if we were to have you guide us to him and then have us attack him?"
"Trexima is too paranoid to leave his lair in the ossuary," Yezim says. "He is a powerful wizard in his own right, but he also commands the skulls that adorn his lair. They will swarm to defend him if he is attacked, so be wary!"
Tahi shrugs. "No matter. Shall we try to deal with him first though? Delaying our meeting with him is only likely to make him more suspicious, or give him time to learn more about us.
"Perhaps we ask Yezom here to guide us to his ossuary tomorrow?"
"As wise a course to follow as I would expect. But Yezim, I trust you know that Trexima's defeat may not be his true end unless his secrets are fully uncovered.
"Do you know ought of the cage for his benighted soul?"
"I don't even know what a soul cage is, much less where Trexima's might be," Yezom says. "However, I remember hearing once from my mother that the lich came to this region from the south, and that he's been looking for a way to retrieve something important he left behind. That might be what you're looking for."
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Briar's hackles had stood on end the entire conversation about the lich. Something about undearh clearly upsetting the gnoll. "Then I would hazard a guess that is exactly what the lich is worried about. I don't imagine that they have many cares in the world anyway."
Her gaze falls to the other diplomat, "It seems we may have to handle your concerns second. If the lich is left to fester then matters may become even more dire. If you can rally your people and keep them from exploring the area, defend your own and we shall arrive as soon as we are able." Briar looks a bit crestfallen on having to put a matter so close to her own heart to the wayside for now. But if the Lich were to rise to power even firther then it would only further complicate the undead issue.
The ruined city of Kho is as beautiful as it is dangerous. Once one of the fabled flying cities of Shory, today, the ruins lie sprawled along the slopes of the Barrier Wall mountains, inhabited by a wide array of unusual and often dangerous denizens.
In regards to traveling from the enclave to other parts of the city, Usilket points out that the enclave itself is located near the city’s center, near a monolith Uomotos call the “Stone of Surrender or Sacrifice.” During the day, this towering monolith can be seen throughout the city, making it relatively easy to navigate back to the enclave as needed.
Kho’s central river flows rapidly downhill from the flooded Upper City. Its channel drops steeply, averaging about 30 feet to the water, which is 20 or more feet deep with few shallower points. This gorge is 100 feet across at its narrowest.
Beneficial Effects: On creatures, the Well of Axuma has the following constant, beneficial effects.
• Temperature: During this adventure, temperatures in the Ruins of Kho often rise up to sweltering highs, but all creatures within the Well are protected as if by endure elements.
• Life: Living creatures and plants thrive within the Well. While resting, including the Long-Term Rest downtime activity, creatures heal at twice the normal rate.
• Gravity: The ancient magics that once held Kho aloft in the sky also lace the Well, subtly altering the pull of gravity. All creatures gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Acrobatics checks to Balance and to Maneuver in flight and to Athletics checks to Climb, High Jump, and Long Jump. Falling damage is reduced as well—creatures treat all falls as if they were 20 feet shorter (this stacks with the effects of falling into water, which is treated as if the falls were 40 feet shorter as a result).
• Innate Magic: The Well grants some sapient creatures who dwell within the ability to cast a few arcane cantrips, typically detect magic, mage hand, or prestidigitation.
• Infused Magic: Staves and wands function more efficiently within the Well’s reaches. When a character prepares a staff during daily preparations, the staff gains 1 extra charge. When a character attempts to overcharge a wand, it’s a DC 6 flat check to determine if the wand becomes broken.
Harmful Effects: Despite the beneficial effects, the Well’s energies can take a toll on those unused to them. After a month spent in the region, a creature’s body becomes acclimated to these harmful effects, but until then, each time a creature finishes their daily preparations while in Kho, they must attempt a DC 5 flat check. On a failure, the creature becomes enfeebled 1 by these side effects. While enfeebled in this way, a creature doesn’t benefit from the Well’s beneficial effects; the enfeebled effect is permanent until it’s cured by magic. An acclimated creature who leaves the Well loses their acclimation in 3 days.
***
Kho is an eclectic mix for the senses. Crumbling rock and crystal coated in and surrounded by verdant jungle growth comprises most terrain. Animal and plant life is abundant and healthy. The smell of greenery, fresh air, and water mixes with the scents of earth, pollen, and weirder odors. Creatures call amid the ruins as soft winds roar in the valley and trees.
Yezom begins to guide you towards the Domes of the Polymatum, the broken remains of Kho's arcane academies that sprawl across the ruins' middle area to the eastern valley wall. Through the ruins, beyond Shadow Hill and near the edge of the valley, rises Phantom Academy, an ancient edifice shored up by magic.
You deftly avoid several large, quivering oozes that slither through the ruins on your way to the Academy. A pair of hadis keep watch by the entry doors, and they welcome Yezom back before stepping aside to allow you to pass. The sizable entryway has a crystal skylight and a tiled floor that slopes downward toward another double door of white stone. Dark stains and corroded pits mar the doors. Whiffs of smoke, cooking smells, and fouler odors drift through them.
Rubble and newer materials from the jungle have been fashioned into nesting areas in the enormous hall past the second doors. Every corner looks lived in, from stone shelves and alcoves to the hollows among intruding tree roots. Decorations of crystal, plants, textiles, fur, and feathers adorn the space. Cooking fires burn here and there. Their smoke collects in pockets in the high vaulted ceiling, escaping through cracks and holes. The place smells pungent with mixed scents, some of them bitter or otherwise unpleasant.
Dozens of hadis peek with curiosity or fear from their nests but otherwise avoid you. Among them, boldly keeping watch, is a burly warrior that Yezom introduces as Naheed. Naheed grunts and nods in acknowledgment.
Soon after entering, one of the doors in the hall creaks open, revealing an unlit chamber beyond. Yezom swallows nervously and gestures. "Our lord is ready to meet you," he says before backing away.
Unfamiliar halls are well known to Visna Freydisdottir, and the awe and concern with which her entrance is greeted only makes them more customary still. There are certain of her preparations which should too clearly signal her intent, so though she walks in as a cetacean monolith, her blade is sheathed, no visible spells or charms at work.
"Be at ease, Yezom. Your duties are nearly at an end."
Despite the battle at the end of their trek, Pen has a difficult time not lagging behind to make pages and pages of notes in her custom shorthand. Her staff had to go in her sling, since trying to hold it under her arm, write, and walk is too much.
She only stops when they reach the hadi's homes, which remind her why they are here. The elf puts up her notebook, taking care to keep it safe, then draws her staff and casts a spell on her friends, their new companion, and their guide.
Their minds open to each other ++This is a telepathic bond. Trexima will not be able to hear us, so this will allow us to plan in his presence.++
Wide, carved tunnels with niches full of bones and skulls stretch out ahead. The walls are cracked, the halls slanted downward. Now and then, several of the skulls seem to move in their niches to follow your movements or periodically open their jaws like animals displaying anger.
Ahead, you see a withered, skeletal man wearing tattered green robes and clutching a twisted staff. This is the lich Trexima Butoi. He gives a rictus grin as you draw near. "Thank you for accepting my invitation," he rasps. "I know of your quest. As I had my servant convey to you, I am in possession of one of the Harrow cards you seek--The Tangled Briar. I am prepared to trade it to you in exchange for a favor done.
"To the south lies a region of Kho called the Obelisk Vault. It is where I originally made my demesne. I discovered a ruined construct within the vault and attempted to reactivate it, but when it awoke, I failed to control it, and it nearly destroyed me. I was forced to flee and leave some of my treasures behind. I would like to have them back. Destroy the construct and secure my treasures, and the Harrow card is yours."
Trexima’s grin becomes a scowl. ”Mind your tongue, kholo, if you wish to keep it inside your mouth,” the lich counters. ”Do not test the limits of my hospitality...”
"You mistake our presence here, lich. We do not seek your hospitality or your help."
"Very well. Then I shall destroy you!" Trexima shrieks. He brandishes his staff, and the skulls along the walls clatter off their niches and form into four distinct swarms
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Briar looks to the others and the skulls forming from the walls, then her snarl reawakens and she locks her gaze on the lich. A ruler to some, a tyrant to others, but a soul eater and defiler of life regardless.
She is quick to lunge at the lich with her jaws and bulging biceps to try and stop it from casting any spells.
Tahi looks at the piles of bones converging from every side. She calls on the elemental might of the Chief of Thunder to surround her, letting it surge into thunder and pelting rain around her. Then she channels the rainwaters to surge forth and create a frozen wall, keeping two of the swarms at bay.
Briar misses Trexima with her initial bite, but she manages to grab a hold of the lich and pull him into her crushing grasp. Tahi's wall of ice successfully walls away two of the skull swarms.
"Unhand me!" Trexima shouts indignantly. He casts a spell, and Briar reacts by biting the lich. Her teeth don't hurt the spellcaster as much as it should thanks to his resistance. Trexima completes his spell, freedom of movement, and then automatically slips out of the gnoll's grasp!
The two skull swarms move in. One unleashes a bloodcurdling howl as it moves around Briar, while the other one swarms around the rest of you.
Pentella swats harmlessly at the biting bashing skulls, before trying to ignore them to cast a spell to increase the spell of her allies and friends.
Visna surges forward, impelled by Pentella's wizardy and a song of battle on her lips. Maiden's Smile already gleams with a rune graven to be the bane of this tyrant, Trexima, and she brings it down on the crown of the wizard's skull with a peal like thunder. Dangling from the axe's haft, a replica of the Smile herself in miniature shifts to make of the blade, a hammer.
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Briar swats at the surrounding skulls nibbling painfully at her body, shuddering with even more profound hatred for the lich driving away the fear that the ancient predator skulls drew out of her mind.
While swinging and thrashing her way out of the skulls she sweeps a hand over the uprising card and summons it's power to grasp at the leaping chomping skulls.
The card calls forth a mob of shadowy figures who batter and hinder your enemies. Target a 20-foot burst at any point on solid ground with 120 feet, and the mob of figures rises up from the ground, persisting for 1 minute. Make an unarmed Strike against the Fortitude DC of any number of creatures in this burst (you can choose to not attack some creatures in the area if you wish). Any creature you succeed against is grabbed and takes 3d6 bludgeoning damage. Whenever a creature ends its turn in the area, the figures attempt to Grab that creature if they haven't already, and they deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage to any creature already grabbed. The mob's Escape DC is equal to your class DC. A creature can attack a figure in an attempt to release its grip. It's AC is equal to your class DC, and it's destroyed if it takes 12 or more damage. Even if destroyed, additional figures continue to rise up in the area until the effect's duration ends. You can Dismiss this effect. If you are at least 15th level, you can use a two-action activity, which has the concentrate trait, to move the burst up to 30 feet, which causes any currently grabbed creatures to be released and left behind. If part of the burst appears or moves into an area that can't support it on the ground, that portion of the burst disappears until it is supported.
Tahi shudders, as the two unblocked swarms descend on them. Even rattled as she is, the old legend seems to have no problem staying out of the way of their assault: it seems as though the winds themselves aid her in staying clear.
"My, those buggers are creepy! Let's get away from them!!" Tahi calls for the rain and winds to rage around her, and as she does she sends a small deluge to batter the lich. Then she wills the winds to whirl around the base of each of her companions. ”This’ll get you off the ground and away from those dreadful bones.”
As Pen hastens the party, Visna moves in and delivers a critical blow to Trexima's skull! The lich shrieks as his bones fracture. Tahi blasts the lich with water before lifting off the ground, granting favorable winds to the group. Briar actviates the Uprising, the shadowy figures grabbing Trexima and all the swarms!
Trexima quickly slips free due to his unfettered movement spell. He reaches out to try to touch Visna, but she avoids his bony fingers.
The swarms break out of the uprising's grasp before gnawing at you!
Now that she knows which weakpoints to keep them from, Visna is able to keep her armor proof against the chattering skulls.
With trepidation and then familiarity, she uses Tahi's borrowed winds to soar beyond their reach, stretching down to finish crushing the tyrant's skull! "Too long are the tales of your iniquities, Trexima, a wiser skald should have hastened their ending!"
"There ya go!", Tahi smiles as her young friends manage to ride the winds.
She maneuvers to get into position and then sends forth another two torrents of water, one bludgeoning the lich while another rattles the skulls. [ooc] Goal is to be able to nick the lich without hitting my allies, and also fire another at a swarm on the ground.
Pen avoids the worst of the skull attacks as she weaves her way up Tahi's air drafts. Once her companions are out of the swarms gnashing teeth, she does her best to end them with a fireball. There is a visual delight that flashes in Pen's eyes watching Tahi's crisp blasts of water followed by a blazing fury of flame.
Trexima shrieks as Visna grabs and bludgeons him repeatedly, then Briar delivers two devastating bites! "Arrrrgh!" the lich cries out as his bony body shatters into shards that swiftly crumble away into dust, leaving his gear in a pile on the floor! However, Visna knows that he will reform in a matter of days if his soul cage is not located and destroyed.
Tahi and Pen blast the swarms with water and fire, filling the vault with superheated steam. The chattering storms don't last long as you unleash your fury upon them, and soon enough, the battle is won!
The doors leading further into the complex are sealed with a lock spell.
Pen settles to the group amidst the soggy and the singed. Looking at the lich's treasures, the twisted staff that screams of tortured dead and the wand seeps suffering into the very bones. Magically, powerful, expensive and Pen says "We should destroy them."
She doesn't press or push, since that is not her way, just looks at the others, nods then moves to open the door.
Pen picks the magical lock, opening the door. This circular room of bluish stone has a forty-foot-high vaulted ceiling with a jagged spike of softly glowing crystal hanging from its center. Sigils in several languages correspond with rings etched in the floor and wall, forming markings in a variety of patterns and materials. At the center is a raised platform with a stone lectern. Blue-white fire burns on a rod attached to this reading stand. The floor slopes downward toward the rear outer edges, eventually falling off into a stone trench. A sickly sweet scent hangs in the air.
While Briar remains unaware, the rest of you spot the dangerous creature lurking in the trench to the south, mostly out of sight. The dried and shriveled husk of an enormous constrictor snake, animated by fell magic, begins to slither towards you menacingly, stirring up a cloud of choking, acrid dust!
"Ha!" Visna cries, a razor smile spreading across her piebald face. [b]"A beast of naught but death and absence might make a fearsome guardian for that which Trexima would hope to conceal!"[/]b
Visna, still fleet-footed with Pentella's aid, darts forward into the Hollow Serpent's haze of dust, her rime-wreathed axe biting deep down the snake's flank.
Grasping her staff in both hands weaving arcane words into the air, the elven wizard waits for the perfect moment caused by her companions mighty axe to shoot twisted green death into the beast's gapping flank.
Tahi feels the creature's aura try to suck the moisture from her...and laughs, "If you want my waters, then you'll have them!"
She lets the winds carry her to the side, where she has a better angle. She calls a torrent of water to batter the undead snakething, while with the other hand she calls a soothing mist to wash over Briar's wounds.
Pen's spell wreaks havoc on the undead snake, causing a large portion of its body to crumble to dust. It dodges some of Tahi's water blast, but Visna moves in and delivers a critical hit, slicing and snagging the hollow serpent!
Badly damaged, the snake snaps its jaws at Visna. It misses the first time, but hits with the second strike. It fails to grab a hold of the Ulfen woman, settling instead for slapping her with its tail.
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Briar turns once the others engage the giant skeletal serpent and rushes towards it to aid Visna, not that the Ulfen woman would need the aid given how effective Tahi and Pentella's spellwork seemed to be on the withered excuse for a challenge.
Though the Kholo seems to be having difficulties finding good purchase on the dusty, crumbling, form of the risen serpent.
The gleam of Visna's Last Coin seems to brighten as she take the brunt of fang and tail upon Crowstarver.
Rather than withdraw from the grasping serpent, Visna presses on deeper into its coils, slicing and tearing where Pentella's magic has wrought new weaknesses upon its frame.
The two massive warrior descend on the soon to be ended snake, so the ever practical elf conserves her spells and sends a simple ball of flame at the husk.
Pen burns the hollow snake, and Briar and Visna work together to slice its body asunder!
Studying the runes here, you can tell that this is a potent matrix of magical energy focused by the crystal dangling from the ceiling.
The adjoining chamber here has a divan, a chair, a shelf, and a chest, all crafted from fine wood ornamented with silver and ivory. Patterned hangings of sheer blue, violet, and white cloth with silver tracery line the walls. The chair and divan have pillows of matching hues, and a zebra hide drapes the divan. On the table, blue-white fire burns in a jade bowl shaped like a turtle. A censer carved to resemble a two-toned mask of darkwood and ivory stands near it. Alongside these objects rest papers, several peacock feathers, and a tome bound in leather, ivory, and silver.
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Briar rolls her shoulders from the fight as she comes back down from the battle high. "That serpent was barely a desert in terms of fights. But at least it's another undead abomination gone from the world."
She looks to her allies, "Well fought and devestating spellwork as always Pentella. Though I must ask if it's worth the risk of keeping these things intact. On one hand I feel they might be useful in destroying the lich, on the other well... Lich belongings."
Seeing no sign of any obvious path or object that would be suitable as a vessel for a soul, in her eyes at least, she nods back the way they came. "Shall we search more or see if the Ysoki have any ideas. Even if we know a direction we have no idea what object of importance we might be looking for and it's only a matter of time until Trexima returns."
"Yezom spoke of an expedition, but had not the details we required. Let us search among the other hadis for who might have been a part of Trexima's plans."
"Before we go, did he have any papers we didn't examine? Maybe one has the location, or at least clues to it.
"If not then I agree, maybe one of them can help us. It sounds like they'd certainly like to."
Pentella's first inclination was to burn the spellbook and all else in the lich's room, but Briar's words are wisdom. Instead of fireball, she reads the book for clues and aids Tahi in her search, using her magical senses for help.
There doesn't seem to be anything else here worth finding. The hadis are ecstatic to hear of Trexima's defeat, grateful to be free of the terrifying lich's control. They don't know anything about his soul cage or where it might be located, but since he mentioned it being somewhere to the south, they recommend searching through the other ruins located in the Domes of the Polymetum.
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"Well, we've got some clues at the very least. We should tend to your wounds before we take off I may be used to fighting giant partially dead reptiles, but I believe it's a rather new experience for most of you."
Briar would take some time while they were with the Hadis and tend to each of the party.
Healing aside, the Gnoll performs some prayers to her ancestors thanking them for their protection against the traitorous lich and it's creations.
When you are ready, you head south from the Phantom Academy to seek out Trexima's soul cage. You explore several buildings, fending off minor monsters and magical phenomena.
Eventually, you come upon a creeper-covered dome lined with brassy metal that glitters amid trees, other greenery, half-buried buildings, and tumbledown ruins of stone and metal. An obelisk of white stone towers skyward from the dome’s center, but the top third of the pylon has sheared off. That third leans across a gap between the dome and a tower of similar stone near its rear. Jungle vines and plants bind the ruins together. Overgrown hollows, once rooms, show that part of the tower collapsed long ago.
The doors of clear crystal and brass-colored metal open into a wide entryway. It connects to a mezzanine overlooking a broad, circular opening into a chamber below, in which several ancient orreries stand. The dome’s interior rises over this opening. Some jungle vines have intruded across its glittering ceiling. The area smells of water, stone, and rot.
The remains of several hadis lie scattered about the area. Most were crushed. They carry decaying exploration gear, along with mundane armor, weapons, and alchemical equipment that has gone inert.
What looks like a massive orrery in the center of the room beyond unfolds itself into the form of a multi-legged construct made up of concentric rings. It flies up to the level of the mezzanine, speaking in an echoing voice in an ancient language. It hovers in mid-air, but it does not seem like it plans to immediately attack you.
Pen looks on with interest as the creature unfolds, but the interest is always held in check with practicality and caution. As the unfamiliar words are spoken, the wizard quickly casts two spells.
The first connects her mind with her companions, and the second translates her words and the constructs into language they all can understand.
"Can you please repeat that? We should now be able to understand." Pen asks, hoping it will.
"Of course," the construct says. "I inquired why you have come to the observatory. It is currently in disrepair and closed to visitors."
As Visna looks closer, she notices what appears to be one of the cards from the Deck of Destiny lodged almost out of sight in the construct's inner workings...
"We are on a journey of exploration, searching for an object that may have been left by a previous traveler." Pen answers but in a distracted kind of way of someone polite responding to a question when they really wanted to ask one of their own.
"An observatory?" Her ears give a tiny incline up as interest radiates from her "What was it designed to observe?"