PeaceKeepers of Northmorrah

Vin stands by the window of Ömertyr’s backpack, his gaze fixed in the direction of Vox’s isle. The "excitement" of his academic exchange with Ginro has been replaced by a cold, leaden weight in his gut.

"It’s not a shield", he murmurs, more to himself than the room, though his voice carries a sharp, urgent edge. "It’s an engine. We aren't just fighting an Astral Dreadnought and a Lich and her army, we’re fighting a tide that grows with every drop of blood we lose. The moment one of ours falls within that aura, they aren't dead. They’re just... recruited. It has to be taken down, and quickly. Should we help with that first?", he asks, his voice raising slightly although it is maybe. not clear whether he is talking to himself or everyone else.

He turns back to the group, his expression grave. His time in Ginro’s lab stirring concoctions and filling in the thousand-year gaps of material history felt like a peaceful lifetime ago. Even the memory of the playful Xorns chasing a flustered Neferox feels like a dream compared to the logistical nightmare of a field that auto-reanimates the fallen.

He looks at Elthana as she makes her request. He remembers the outcome of her last attempt all too well.

"I will watch over you, and provide some help to focus your mind", he says firmly.

"Stay strong of mind and will", he whispers. "See what we need to see, but remember where you are and who you are. And who you have with you, backing you up".

Muir who hasn't been able to put the book down he borrowed from Elthana pauses long enough to provide support as well "Oh yes support....Definitely...The cosmos can tell us of terrible omens or boons! I can commute with my notes and see what can be foretold to support your well being." Muir spouts word salad offering a d6 of support

The room within the mount provides ample space for all to keep watch and Elthana settles into a comfortable seated position in the center of the room, Gewyn begins strumming a soothing melody to aid in the cause, Vin and Neferox both keep a vigilant watch for any change in body language or look of discomfort in their friend, and Muir summons a star map to provide some divine assistance. Elthana, going into a meditative state begins to see...

(Elthana you can give me a wisdom save at advantage adding the relevant benefits from the group)

Elthana sits and with all the benefits that the group allow her she seems to go into a trance. Unmoving for a long time, ten minutes, twenty, thirty, and then a look of panic crosses her face as she seems shocked by something. Neferox growls as Elthana shoots one leg out straight in some kind of reaction, still perfectly sound in her trance, but then her eyes begin to slowly open. Her face in a wickedly sinister smile though she doesn't seem fully conscious.

Vin has been holding his breath for the better part of thirty minutes, his eyes tracking the minute tremors in Elthana’s hands. When her leg shoots out and the growl ripples through Neferox, he knows it has gone wrong.

But he freezes when her eyes open, that smile sending a shiver down his spine.

"Elthana?" he whispers, his voice low but sharp, cutting through the heavy silence of the chamber, his gaze searching for any flicker of his friend behind that sinister mask.

"Elthana, listen to my voice", he says more loudly, hoping to reach her consciousness. "Come back now. Fight her!".

His eyes flick briefly to Neferox, then back to his now possessed friend. He is ready to act if she turns violent, but for now, he is fighting a war of wills. "You have no place here, Nivara", he hisses, his voice hardening. "Give her back, you hollow...", he growls, stopping short of cursing. "For every moment you spend here, know that Elthana is there", he adds, trying to make her at least a little uncertain.

"Elthanaaa..." The eyes remain unfocussed but the word comes out clear and amused tone, toying with the name as though it is some mere fakery. "She has certainly grown stronger, I would expect nothing less from a fragment of my soul... but there is nothing she can do there that will prevent the inevitable. Her stolen life will come to an end along with yours if you plan on helping her..." It is an odd horror watching the words, thick like treacle and not at all in Elthana's mannerisms, coming from the possessed face of a friend. "...none of you can kill me in a way that truly matters, but why would you want to? Eternal life for all is what I offer, and the price is merely your friend. How can you deny every humanoid that? What gives you the right?"

Muir actually pauses. Thinks. Which is perhaps the worst possible response to a villain's monologue.

"That is...not an unreasonable question on its surface," he admits, and he sounds genuinely troubled by it. "Eternal life for all. Who does have the right to deny that..."

He trails off, something working behind his eyes not allowing himself to be outdone by an undead monster.

"Except that I have seen what you offer. I have walked through forests where nothing rots. Where the dead things simply...stand. No decay, no return, nothing feeding what comes next. It is not life you are offering." His voice finds its footing. "It is an insult to it. Every creature that has ever lived is part of a great unbroken chain of return. You would snap that chain. For everyone. Forever."

He looks at Elthana's face and his expression carries something between grief and resolve.

"That is what gives us the right."

"HA!" She spits out her derision toward Muir, "YOU. The righteous Muir, the only one in you group to practice necromancy willingly, you would sit there and judge. You do not have the courage to stand by your own convictions or you would have let Vin die, you would not have dragged him back from the claws of the raven and celebrate your little victory if you truly believed in your chain..." She settles slightly. Slowly dragging the outstretched foot back into a cross legged sitting position but it looks like it pains her. "You are right that the cycle that binds you is certainly a chain. One that I will break, because I mean what I offer, it will not be the form of undeath that you have seen... No, people will own their souls and not owe the raven anything, a freedom from these tyrants that decry their own divinity and demand to be worshipped, what is your reward for your begging? Your children dead by disease, your poor starved, your lives snuffed and stifled by oppressive hands, your parents tortured and killed. This is your chain..." She lets her point lie for a moment before smirking "This is what you fight for. But your courage is carried like a babe with a broken toy, fiercely but without understanding. These realms do not need saving by the likes of you, they need fixing..."