Auger nods as well and without saying anything out loud mouths the words "Open it!" and then nods some more at any attempt to interact with the 4th drawer.

If Kotashin opens the drawer and starts pulling out objects Auger again looks to the Queen for guidance on what Kotashin should be after.

Ednyss was silently watching the entire exchange between Auger, Varielky, the Azhvuv Queen, and Kotashin without commenting. His attention was almost entirely focused on Brenneth and he was prepared to quickly notify the group if it seemed that the feeding was about to stop. The priest had quickly discovered, like Auger, that his divine powers didn't work in these shackles for some reason. Glancing at Kotashin, the dwarf holds his breath and turns back to Brenneth, watching the lich for any sign that the undead noticed anything suspicious.

(OOC: Is there any way that Ednyss would know whether his Channel Divinity would work (can he feel it through his divine connection)? It's technically not a spell or a magical effect... That being said a lich failing a Wisdom Save (Turn Undead) is a little bit of a stretch because I'm sure its wisdom score is high, but it is a hail mary that we might have if it comes down to it.)

Perception: 14 (+3 if Insight)
(For watching Brenneth in case he turns back)

Upon Auger’s response, Kotashin sits up straight and his arm bends unknowingly back to the third drawer. He looks up at it and pulls it gently open, then looks back to the southerner. When the warlock motions to the fourth drawer, Kotashin reaches to open it, but bangs against the third drawer. One of the books hanging over the edge of the desk slides an inch. He quietly closes the third drawer and opens the fourth one. It is stuck. He pulls decisively and the drawer opens with a shudder, causing two books to fall off of the tabletop. Quick as a shot, the fey spirit catches one of them with his free hand, and the second one with his trunk. Brenneth still seems not to notice. 

Kotashin reaches up into the drawer and his clumsy hand fishes around over the edge, in a few moments, withdrawing… a handkerchief? No, not a handkerchief…it’s a tiny cloak. With long copper-woven ties. A doll’s accessory. The little elephant person holds it up, looking at you innocently. 

The girl’s eyes flash at it, then at Auger, then back to the tiny cloak. She nods once firmly. 

Benita hisses, “What the flock! All that for a toy?!!”

Ednyss feels in his soul for the connection to Takal Demesh, and senses that it is thwarted somehow; that some cloud of dark anti-life obscures his diety’s view. But he thinks that if push came to shove, channeling the divine coils possibly work, though it might take all of his own life force to try, and could indeed leave him dying. 

As for Brenneth, Ednyss feels certain that the lich is as involved in his feeding as he seems; the war priest senses that the undead’s half-life and immortality depend upon sustaining itself through exchanges of light and dark energy in tandem with a living soul. And yet he notices Brenneth’s ear turn just slightly when the others whisper or make sounds; which leads the war priest to harbor a strong foreboding that the instant the feeding is over, Brenneth will come to check up on his captives. 

Hearing Benita and hoping she is not right to be disappointed, Auger nods at Kotashin and mouths "Bring it to her!" while indicating the Queen as much as possible.

While moving his head back and forth to make the gesture Auger catches Brenneth out of the corner of his eye. How had he chosen to become... that? In his mind, the course of recent events begin to close in on Auger. Ritha Demsha's minions attacked them... last night was it? It seemed so long ago. The strange giant in the desert. The elementals. The Wisps surrounding him. His cousin fallen to... this. His own eventual choosing as Warlock to the Dowager, presumably occurring after Brenneth's fall. The seeming mad sequence of chances that brought them to this place and under Brenneth's complete control, a state that would presumably continue. The civil war almost assuredly soon to fall upon Kalahata and the Vale. His bold statements earlier about all their observers coming back to haunt him. And all hope now resting on a girl they thought a Queen and the well-meaning yet inattentive Kotashin bringing the Queen... her toy. 

Auger continues madly gesturing to bring the tiny cloak to the Queen, for what purpose, Auger could not determine, but it was all they had. "Bring it to her now!" he continues mouthing at Kotashin.

Varielky gives up on breaking out of the bonds with mere strength. Whatever that toy is, that's what they need right now. If that doesn't save them, then nothing will. Rather than focus on that, Varielky focuses back on the clock, watching the hands as they move.

If anything, Kotashin’s expression seems to show he thinks this is a good idea. He poofs into nothingness, then reappears next to the girl with the cloak in his clumsy hand and dandelion petals in his eyelashes. 

Her doll remains in her grasp, held in both hands. Kotashin holds out the tiny cloak. She lifts up the doll an inch. Kotashin blinks. “Take it,” he whispers. 

Varielky sees another minute tick away. Two minutes to midnight now, and cool moonlight seems to flood through the tall windows. Outside now, the view is different from before, you are in Anshin Subprefecture, looking east over the lady’s lake. The moon has almost completely risen and sits upon the horizon, on the point of lifting away from it. 

Ednyss sees the next chamber is falling quiet, the feeding is ending. 

The girl lifts up the doll again. Kotashin blinks, then seems to understand, and lays the cloak upon its shoulders, it seems to click into place. The girl thrusts the doll up once more as the cloak’s copper ties hang down its tiny chest. Kotashin nods and takes the cloak off again. The girl shakes her head No. The fey being puts the cloak back on, click. A firm slight nod. She rolls her eyes. 

“Sorry,” giggles Kotashin. She shakes her head, then looks at the cloak, then rolls her eyes again. 

Kotashin smiles but does not understand. The girl’s eyes dart to Auger’s and Varielky’s once again. 

“He’s coming!, Hurry the flock up!” whispers Benita, as Ednyss sees Brenneth slowly turning, his eyes partly closed, a look of ecstasy upon his face. 

(I had to read this about four times before realising what's actually going on. Until now, I thought Kotashin found a small doll and a clock. Why? I read too many words wrong. Just to make sure I'm not confusing again, Kotashin found a cloak, that seems to belong to a doll that the girl was already holding? I'll assume I'm reading it right this time, and I hope I understood the intentions right.)

Varielky takes a moment to understand too. She hadn't had much time to play with dolls, and a very long time had passed since then. Why did it matter to the girl? Varielky couldn't tell, but whatever. Let the girl have her toy, it's not like Varielky had a plan herself. Well, she could be wrong about her intentions, but that was her best guess. She sighs, then whispers: "Tie the cloak with those small copper ties, Kotashin. She wants the doll to be properly dressed."

The girl looks directly at Varielky, her yellow-tinted eyes flashing Yes. Kotashin hears the shield-maiden and tries to do as she asks, but his three-fingered hands are too clumsy to twist the ties together. His trunk curls around and its sensitive tip scratches the top of his head in frustration as his big innocent eyes look up at her. “I can’t, Valkraky!,” he whispers, holding up his hands helplessly. 

Brenneth, crackling with dark energy, takes a step into the parlor but stops at the threshold, his focus upon a point  in the air one foot directly in front of his face. He cups his hands and brings them together, catching something between them, opens them again to look at it: a dandelion petal. A moment later, his eyes flash across the parlor, scanning the room—and finding Kotashin. “What?!,” he growls. 

The clock shows one minute before midnight.  

Auger watches with growing horror as Kotashin fumbles around with the ties, trying to see any clue about how to attach the copper ties and then directly telling Kotashin what to do. He quietly says things like, "Make them into an X and then just bring the ties around the neck. Perhaps the ties attach to each other in some fashion. Does the doll have any markings to show where the ties might go?"

And then Auger looks up and sees his cousin re-entering the room and lets out a small sigh. Time was nearly up and if Kotashin did not figure this out there would be no freedom for them at all.

(OOC: copying from above. A closer reading may help understand the situation.)

”Kotashin ... tries ... but his three-fingered hands are too clumsy to twist the ties together. His trunk curls around and its sensitive tip scratches the top of his head”

"Maybe you should swap? Kotashin will hold the doll while she will tie the cloak?" Varielky quickly hisses, then decides to draw the lich's attention, hopefully to give Kotashin, the girl and Auger the last minute without interruptions.

At the top of her lungs, she shouts: "You vile creature! Release us this instant or heaven's wrath will be brought upon you!" She pulls her bonds with all her strength, even though she knows it won't break. "If the civil war does break, the only one who won't get to see it is you, and you'll never learn that which you broke this war for! War is a sacred act, and you tainted it! Marred it with your ill intents! The gods of war will not forgive you!" Then, she just continues to shout and struggle in her bonds, hoping to attract as much of the lich's attention as she possibly can. Though, there's no denying it, those are her true thoughts and feelings, and also her last struggle to somehow break out of the bonds, in case Kotashin and the girl can't save everyone.

If some check is needed: 18. +3 if Charisma based, and an additional +3 (total of +6) if it can count as Intimidation.

In a panic and watching the fey beast's fingers fumble about Auger has an epiphany, "Use your trunk Kotashin." Auger says trying to be heard with Varielky yelling.

Varielky draws Brenneth’s attention, and he frowns deeply but seems confident in the strength of the bonds holding her. Kotashin, on the other hand, is an unexpected, freely moving interloper. His eyes on the little elephant-person, the lich turns and points at the dog, which up until now had been quietly sleeping in a corner since you awakened. The illusion drops around it and you see it for what it is: a six-legged lizard with a gaping, toad-like maw and rows of sharp teeth. At its master’s bidding, it leaps across the room toward Kotashin, while Kotashin, oblivious, in response to Auger’s command, looks cross-eyed at his own trunk, and, eyes wide, dubiously causes the curling appendage to move down to the little doll-cloak, its sensitive end to twist the copper ties together, twice. 

That’s when things get interesting. 

In an instant, the illusion is dispelled: the doll isn’t a doll. It is a glowing metal cylinder in which the girl’s hands and face are inextricably covered and bound. The tiny cloak isn’t a cloak. It is a key, which Kotashin has inserted into a keyhole lock in the metal cylinder and twisting it, has unlocked the encasement, which falls away.

The Azhvuv Queen is revealed. Though no different in aspect— a ten-year-old girl in an earthen frock —she breaks out of her bonds which, succumbing to her will, compress violently and glow white hot before they shoot off of her, exploding up and away, as do yours. A section of this shrapnel whistles, spinning, through the air, taking the shape of a metal band according to the queen's wish, which slaps across Brenneth’s mouth and wraps full-around the lich’s head as he begins to utter a word of power, silencing him. 

The lizard-beast reaches Kotashin in two bounds and swallows him in one gulp, then, its webbed feet slipping and clattering against the stone floor, it rolls, turning around, to face you, bellowing a shrieking roar. 

As you throw off your broken bonds and feel a surge of energy from the Queen (+10 temporary HP each) while standing up, Brenneth throws his hands forward and the dark spirits which overwhelmed you before burst from the walls and are upon you in the blink of an eye. But with a swift motion, the Azhvuv Queen slashes her hands outwards and an impenetrable sphere of force comes into being around you all, dissolving the dark spirits into nothingness. 

Just as the lizard creature was released, Ednyss seemed prepared to sacrifice his life to stall the lich for even one more minute and perhaps allow his allies to escape. Realizing that the use of his divine powers might kill him, the priest had been muttering what he presumed to be his last prayer to Takal Demesh under his breath before releasing the repulsive force towards the undead (Held Action: Channel Divinity). But as soon as the Azhvuv Queen is freed and releases the group's bonds, the dwarf falls to the ground. Ednyss looks up at the clock frantically and realizes that they have seconds to stop the assassinations from taking place. Without his shield in his hand, he breathes a sigh of relief as he thinks of his tattoo and clutches it with his opposite arm. With less than a minute left before the assassinations are to commence, Ednyss breathes out and establishes a divine connection with Izilmeddur, the Azhvuv that had told them about their mission. The message he sends is simple and to the point, "Your Queen is free but we are still inside the lich's lair for now. Our end of the deal is complete, the assassinations can stop." As he finishes expending this last bit of divine energy to ensure the assassinations are stopped in time, the war priest looks around frantically for his shield and weapon. To the others, he says, "I have notified the Azhvuv of the queen's freedom. The assassinations should be stopped. We need to rescue Kotashin and get out of here."

(OOC: Is Kotashin/Lizard on the inside of the sphere of force or on the outside? Also, where are their weapons and armor in relation to the sphere?)

Auger is unsure that Kotashin can be saved or whether the saving is really necessary. A fey such as him might need to be re-summoned is all. Or so he thinks. Either way the creature would impede them and so it must be attacked. Auger reaches into the Sea of Stars and summons a deathly red Dragonfly and sends it inexorably into the lizard. Then he releases a pair of his blasts into it, choosing not to push it so that Kotashin might be recovered if possible.

Quote from The_Mathemagician >>

Just as the lizard creature was released, Ednyss seemed prepared to sacrifice his life to stall the lich for even one more minute and perhaps allow his allies to escape. Realizing that the use of his divine powers might kill him, the priest had been muttering what he presumed to be his last prayer to Takal Demesh under his breath before releasing the repulsive force towards the undead (Held Action: Channel Divinity). But as soon as the Azhvuv Queen is freed and releases the group's bonds, the dwarf falls to the ground. Ednyss looks up at the clock frantically and realizes that they have seconds to stop the assassinations from taking place. Without his shield in his hand, he breathes a sigh of relief as he thinks of his tattoo and clutches it with his opposite arm. With less than a minute left before the assassinations are to commence, Ednyss breathes out and establishes a divine connection with Izilmeddur, the Azhvuv that had told them about their mission. The message he sends is simple and to the point, "Your Queen is free but we are still inside the lich's lair for now. Our end of the deal is complete, the assassinations can stop." As he finishes expending this last bit of divine energy to ensure the assassinations are stopped in time, the war priest looks around frantically for his shield and weapon. To the others, he says, "I have notified the Azhvuv of the queen's freedom. The assassinations should be stopped. We need to rescue Kotashin and get out of here."

(OOC: Is Kotashin/Lizard on the inside of the sphere of force or on the outside? Also, where are their weapons and armor in relation to the sphere?)

(OOC:  No weapons or armor were removed. Shield is on your back, weapon holstered, as when you entered. See Chat for further details.)

Izilmeddur sends back, “It is good you yet live. But only a command from our Queen can change our course.”

Varielky falls forward when the bonds suddenly disappear, no longer stopping her forceful struggles. She quickly amends, though, as she turns the fall into running, reaching just in front of the lizard. As she runs, Varielky quickly summons her sword. Once it appears in her hand, she quickly flips it and firmly grasps the blade, choosing to attack with the hilt instead. She swings the sword upwards, aiming for the lizard's belly, in hopes that a strong hit might cause it to puke Kotashin out. Whether or not she succeeded, she follows that up with a downwards strike to the beast's head. If nothing else, killing it will surely help Kotashin. If the beast still lives, she then smashes her shield on the lizard's head, trying to push it down on the ground. Otherwise, she'll take a moment to get ready for a harder fight, if they need to beat the lich too.

Moving within the sphere, to a point where her sword can hit the beast (if it can). 
Action: Attack. First attack that hits will use Disarming Attack manoeuvre (I know it's somewhat of a stretch, but I hope this manoeuvre can get the beast to puke Kotashin. Otherwise... I guess it'll just be extra damage). Extra damage: 5.
Attack: 14 Damage: 12.
Attack: 17 Damage: 12.
BA: If the lizard still lives, Varielky will use a shield shove to knock it prone. Athletics: 20. If it dies to her attacks, she will instead use Second Wind to heal 12 hit points.

Edit: Disarming Attack's description:
When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to disarm the target, forcing it to drop one item of your choice that it’s holding. You add the superiority die to the attack’s damage roll, and the target must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, it drops the object you choose. The object lands at its feet.

Hearing the Azhvuv's response, Ednyss turns quickly to the Queen and explains, "We don't have much time. Your warriors are planning on carrying out the assassination of a group of people, against their will because of your imprisonment. You must inform them that you are free in order to stop this crime!" That said, he pulls out his War Pick and rushes to stand next to Varielky, and starts hacking into the lizard to free Kotashin.

(Note: Ednyss will expend his Channel Divinity: Guided Strike to add a +10 to the attack roll of the War Priest attack. It is now a 25 to hit.)