"Behold, my lord! Here we go!" Duwamilly extracts the box containing the VCT from her Bag of Holding and hands it to the benevolent undead "We had no problem with the Curses or the new Vessel. But Yasmina is right, that scamp Firion has still caused trouble, in the hope to steal it from us on the way here, so let's hurry to secure it... There's a crew of innocents who will need help, soon after".

"Where will you put it," Delvindra asks quietly, "how can you possibly keep it safe?"

"I don't mean to sound disrespectful, your Lordship," Delvindra adds with a bow of her head, "You've given us wise council and we are all forever in your debt. But now that we've seen what Firion is still capable of, even after his defeat, and knowing how powerful the curses are...how can any sane being hope to control, contain, or secure it?"

The undead sighs at Delvindra's question.

As much as I wish to say otherwise, in reality there are no guarantees, he says, briefly examining the VCT before shutting the box again. It seems that even he does not want to interact with it more than absolutely necessary. But I doubt I need to explain how badly things would go for both us and this world if no attempt is made to contain the item at all.

He pauses.

It would be best if I do not give you all of the details of what I have in mind... but I will give you some idea...

He pulls a scroll out of his robe, whispering an incantation and placing a hand on the wall. Space seems to tear apart at his touch, creating a hole... through which you can see a dimly-lit room. Near the middle of said room is what appears to be a stone platform. Several more objects are visible in the room, though you could not for the life of you identify what most of them are.

This is a demiplane... one of many that I have prepared throughout the night, he explains as he steps through the shimmering tear in reality. When I seal it again, it will be nearly impossible for anyone besides myself to access it again... though, obviously, there are several other safeguards in place just in case someone manages to do so anyway.

He places the box containing the VCT on top of the stone platform delicately, then slowly steps back.

It is in all of your best interests that I not go into any further detail about said safeguards... the last thing we need if you ever cross paths with Firion again is for him to force you to reveal both the exact location of this item and the manner in which it is protected.

With that he casts gate seal, and the dark artifact disappears from view... hopefully never to be seen again. Though he hasn't described in any detail what he has in place to prevent intruders from taking the item, you can guess that there are probably a LOT of glyphs of warding in there with some absolutely nasty spells ready should someone try to remove the dark artifact.

Now, he says, turning his full attention back to the party. You say that a crew of innocents are still at risk? I suppose I should take care of that problem... tell me about the situation at hand.

"Of course, my lord!" Duwamilly is quick to pour out gnomish volleys of words on the benevolent undead "Fox and his crew are in trouble. Fox is the captain who has been kind enough to transport us to Shaded Isle several times".

"Today, when, as usual, appeared on his ship to be brought back here," the ex-preceptor continues, at the maximum communication speed possible, "Fox was taking us elsewhere, towards an illusory duplicate of the island. When we noticed the illusion, we tried to point it out to him and the other crew members, but from their unnatural reactions we realized that their minds were influenced by magic".

"At first we tried to nullify this magic," the gnome cleric concludes "with a simple Dispel Magic - which was the best we were able to do - but it wasn't enough. So, since we couldn't save an entire group of people subject to the charm, we took aerial form to reach the real Shaded Isle  as soon as possible and warn you. Before we could that, a powerful death she-cultist who was hiding on board tried to kill us - but the fight had the opposite outcome - and here we are".

The red-haired half-elf listens to Milly's recount and then nods in agreement, having nothing of significance to add, in fact she was almost impressed with how the gnome had kept he words to a bare minimum to explain the full situation. "I don't think any of us were comfortable with leaving them to whatever fate Firion would have them meet, but there might still be a chance to help them. Now that the box is safely hidden away I think all of us are ready to do our part in that." She says firmly, looking around at trhe others, hoping she would have been right. 

"I am ready to go back lich. If necesssary I will personally take command of the ship and steer it back here." The noble djinni proubdy states from the back of the group, powerful arms crossed over his chest.

"The sooner, the better," Delvindra agrees.

"Oh, by the way, please, kids... if this time we run into the super-scamp himself..." Duwamilly reminds, nonchalantly "send some magic missiles at him from me".

It wouldn't be fitting to leave those valiant sailors in the clutches of a madman, the lich says. I can deal with this problem myself... but I will need an object that was taken from the ship to safely teleport directly to the deck.

[[OOC: I'm just going to assume that one of you has some item or another that would qualify as an associated object for the purpose of the teleport spell]]

Lord Amir... I do not know for sure how much time you have left on the prime material, so perhaps it would be in everyone's best interests if I deal with this while the mortals rest and recover from their ordeal... there is still a long journey ahead for them; with luck Firion will give up his pursuit of them now that they no longer have what he wants, but I would not put it past him to strike again out of pure spite.

I would like to offer the party a chance to take a Long Rest while Lord Akkron saves Captain Fox and his crew. If you insist on going with him, though, he will not refuse you.

Cal is happy with a long rest. 

Zander comes forth and says "I'm not sure how big the item needs to be but I have a couple pieces of wood lodged in my hand from the earlier fight. And a rag from the cannons, which I picked up when I was reviewing them." 

"I hope the kids' items suffice, my lord; but if not," Duwamilly offers "I can show you a wonderful place in the Feywild, then open you a Gate to the ship from there. I do it all the times... They don't call me 'Planerunner' for nothibg! Then I can come back to Shaded Isle with you, I guess".

[[ OOC: Offeted just in case of need; but if Lord Akkron is now able to go by himself,  Duwamilly will trust him fully and just rest ]]

He affirms that nearly any item will work. So Zander's rag from the cannon will be fine.

Yasmina doens't feel like arguing with the lich but the djinni lord seems more than a bit restless over simply staying behind while this Akkron has all the fun. In the end he resigns and stays to guard the ex-accursed until his time is due.

(A long rest it is then.)

Delvindra feels a strong sense of responsibility towards Fox and his crew but, once she sees which way her companions seem to be leaning, she forces herself to accept the fact that in her current state her presence is more likely to be a liability to the powerful Lich than any type of aid...just one more life that he will need to protect at the cost of drawing his attention away from his enemies.

Duwamilly, during the rest, often giggles in her sleep, while dreaming of a wonderful, very funny magic item - a magic item, if not Legendary, at least Very Rare! The fun is such that even Garl Glittergold himself comes to play with her and the gnome cleric is prey to the mystical condition of the gnomish ecstasy, in intimate communion and hilarity with her beloved god! At the end of the dream, the ex-preceptor gives the object to the benevolent deity himself, declaring with an adoring smile: "Grant but a fraction of thy wit, when it's time, sire. It is all one could need".

The gnome cleric wakes up elated and perfectly rested. She no longer even remembers exactly what that wonderful magical object she dreamed of was, but she feels within herself that her communion with her beloved Garl has become more intimate and spontaneous than ever.

You all awaken refreshed 8 hours later (I assume you probably slept in the barracks). The Lich returns a few hours after that, and announces that he was able to save Fox and his crew from Firion's dark compulsion... apparently, the dark archmage sent one of his most powerful cultists to infiltrate the crew disguised as one of the clerics of Boccob, at which time said cultist hit the captain and the most key crew members with mass suggestion.

You are allowed to remain on the Shaded Isle as long as you wish, and you will be safe here. Firion may be mad but, after what happened the last time he tried, it seems that even he isn't insane enough to launch an attack on the Shaded Isle with the rag-tag remains of his cult. Still, you have a feeling that he is not the type to forgive and forget... and for all you know he is planning to strike the instant that you leave the protection of the Lich's domain.

Over time, Delvindra notices that she has lost a portion of her eldritch power after rejecting her patron's influence. But... Bridgette is testament to the fact that the Lord of the Shaded Isle is capable of bestowing power upon allies. Alternatively, Karael may be capable of making such a pact, though you have no way of knowing for sure without asking him.

So, what does everyone do? And how long do you wish to remain on the Shaded Isle?

Yasmina would want to stay as short as possible on the Shaded Isle. While she is less unsettled by the presence of the lich and it's undead minions she is neither a particularly patient one and she would urge the others to join her in finishing off Firion and his weakened evil cult before it grows stronger once more. If their host can somehow use his pwerful magic to locate the mad archmage it would be her genuine pleasure to make him pay for all the death and suffering he has been responsible of. Then and only then she would retire from the life as an unwilling heroine...

"In fact," Duwamilly admits, upon hearing Yasmina's considerations "it would not be educational to let that scamp Firion go unpunished for all the misdeeds he has done. Plus, we should take care of him - or he will take care of us , sooner or later".

"But I don't know how feasible a direct attack carried out by us alone is..." the gnome cleric admits. "When we fought below deck, you experienced for yourselves, kids, how dangerous even a single high-ranking cultist of that scamp Firion can be. Imagine the overpowered scamp himself... backed by two or three elements like the one we faced... The super-scamp has magical powers capable of stopping time itself... If we give him the chance, then, perhaps he can even make swarms of meteors fall on our heads...".

[[ OOC: Firion can cast 9th level spells. So he can cast Meteor Swarm, if he prepares it. The spell does 40d6 damage in total - it is 140 damage on average over an impressive area of ​​effect. DEX Save for half - but 70 is probably enough to kill us all the same, so the save is not only difficult, but pointless also. And Counterspell is not a clerical spell, so I can't even hope to block it that way - not to mention that he could Counterspell my eventual Counterspell. ]]

"Given that I am not a gnome of action, kids, in my opinion, if we want to have a chance, we must be able to face him alone, even better if we manage to take him by surprise" the ex-preceptor advises. "Either that, or attack him with powerful allies. Maybe Karael and the angels? Or subjects of his kingdom who take advantage of his weakness and revolt? Or undead sent on a special mission by Lord Akkron? Allies, anyway, who keep his cultists at bay while we deal with him. We must be free to focus all on him, with a coordinated attack, to stand a chance (this is why I ask someone the favor of sending a magic missile at him, by the way, if we really end up fighting him)".

Alright, to help you guys planning, could everyone give me an Intelligence check? Straight Intelligence, I don't think there's any applicable skill here.

Yasmina: 7
Lord Amir: 10