Interview With A Lich - 30/11/2022 - Archie’s Extracts
Dec 3, 2022 1:13:42 GMT
Velania Kalugina and stephena like this
Post by Andy D on Dec 3, 2022 1:13:42 GMT
On Tea with a Colleague and Unexpected Changes
I feel a more detailed account needs to be written concerning the change in question. For now in this short extract, suffice to say, I was not expecting Dr. Ruthenia, my human wizard friend to no longer be human. She is now a wood elf. For longevity, reincarnation certainly has its benefits!
I had heard of a lich, Elvira Tivior, that was enquiring for adventurer assistance with some tasks.
Whilst my area of interest is human longevity, Dr. Truelove has her own adjacent life preservation interests. So, I knew she too would be interested in meeting a lich. The doctor advised that I advertise this adventure delicately so as not to draw attention from the paladins and clerics. In small print, for liability avoidance, I mentioned the term ‘lich’. However, in the main text, the term lich was substituted with ‘necrotically life-prolonged’.
On Avian Transportation
The other fellow adventurers for Eliva’s tasks were all new to me. All more junior than me too, but lovely people. Alva is the first Sea-Elf I’ve ever met. Arden, an Air-Genasi, is the first cleric-privateer I’ve ever met. And Flutter, a magical Kenku, and Rolwena, a magically enhanced fairy were, not however, the first odd sibling pairing I’ve met - that honour goes to Kavel and Sorrel.
At the Stone Gate, we waited for Elvira’s transport to arrive. I have previously flown as a polymorphed hawk around the Sunset Spines. It was exhilarating! Flight whilst seated on top of a roc, although not self-governed, was also rather exhilarating - and dangerously fast! Elvira, perhaps overly comforted by the possession of a phylactery, did not give warning to the roc’s steep and sudden mounting in the air. Several of us fell off the roc. Fortunately, the roc recovered us all with some aerial acrobatics.
On The Sunset Spines - The Three Labours of Elvira’s Adventurers
Cleaning the Overgrown Herb Garden - As a student of anything and everything, I was very familiar with herbs, despite rarely ever working in a garden myself. I was able to instruct the less familiar in which growths were poisonous and which were undesirable weeds. It was delightful to see Ruthenia was a natural at gardening. She had her own equipment and gloves in her herbalist kit. Alva could have fooled me into believing she was equally a herbalist in her spare time as she ploughed through the small weeds with ease. Arden using his warhammer - an unconventional gardening tool - dealt with a rather thorny bush that had no business growing amongst the herbs. Unfortunately, the thorny bush did not go quietly into the night as its thorns slashed cuts into him and pierced his skin deeply. He required medical aid, which was provided by a gardening/dirt-shy Rolwena. Her sister Flutter attempted to magically persuade some birds to help, only to attract the attention of some chinchillas, who were unusually (to say the least) well armed.
Aware of Elvira’s penchant for magic, I magically enhanced my intellect with Fox’s Cunning to better seek out potion -useful herbs, and gathered them up for our employer.
Avoiding the Stale Biscuits - We were treated to tea, a rather flavoursome camomile, and some biscuits, best avoided. I took a biscuit out of politeness and placed it on my saucer. Privateer Arden, however, scoffed a squadron’s worth of biscuits and gladly accepted the one resting on my saucer. I noted that my Air-Genasi friend has a strong constitution.
Elvira entertained questions from us. Both me and Ruthenia proceeded to enquire about lichdom. Elvira recited the perks, such as having all the time in the world to run her experiments. She is fascinated with the mixing of minerals and alloys. Quite the alchemist it seemed. While she is around 200 to 300 years old, her mentor Ormond is around 500 years old. However, of course, lichdom comes with the downside of losing one's soul, and it does not appear like there is any way around this. Nor does it appear possible to retain one’s flesh in a normal, regenerative state. As my doctor friend suggested, this was not the road for me.
Elvira mentioned that world dominance was a common interest among liches, one I am happy to hear is no longer a pursuit of hers, nor her mentor’s Ormond. The well armed (and as we learnt) semi-awoken chinchillas were the remnants of Elvira’s venture into world dominance.
Polishing Ormond’s Skeletal Collections - The complication here, we were warned, was that not all of the skeletal remains were dead. Elvira decided to join us by the sidelines, just in case something above our capabilities attacked us - a comforting and both worrying gesture.
Before us, and much closer to the peak’s centrally located volcano, were many large skeletal structures that belonged to a variety of creatures. The bones of the former creatures were all held together in some rather painful-looking poses. This wouldn’t have been how I would have chosen to display them. Though it was an impressive collection in its immensity; 300ft wide and a mile long.
We managed to persuade around forty chinchillas - through their chosen trade goods of belly rubs - to help us polish the skeletons. With a combination of my telekinesis, my Prestidigitation cantrip, and a summoned skeletal humanoid of my own - and then also a unit of chinchilla’s; I got to work. However, work was interrupted by the animation of bones collecting together to form an unknown, but certainly hostile creature.
On Combating the Undead
The undead in question was huge, stood upright on its hind legs, and had a dangerously spiked tail, and sharp implements on it’s other appendages over.
I spliced together the poison damage potential from my Summon Undead spell into the casting of my Scorching Ray spell to cast; Poisoning Ray. The small cannons of fire transformed from a glowing red and yellow to a gaseous green colour and shot out at our aggressor. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong damage type to splice into Scorching Ray, as the skeletal mass was immune to the poison. My own skeletal summon’s Grave Bolt did little harm too.
Alva went forward into the fray with her rapier, piercing through the sinew that held the bones together.
Arden had the brightest idea. It turned out that my privateer friend is a tempest cleric. He summoned divine thunder that crashed into the skeletal behemoth, smashing bones on impact.
Dr. Ruthenia summoned her own Undead Spirit, opting for the Putrid form, and it slashed away at the behemoth’s lower body. Ruthenia had earlier casted a Phantom Steed, and was swiftly darting around a perimeter of the beast.
Flutter kept the thing back with some Witchbolts, while our chinchilla army picked up arms, mounted the beast and unleashed fury.
Breaking, yet undeterred the skeletal mass clawed away at our front rank; Arden and Alva wounding them deeply.
Following Arden’s lead, I spliced the thunder damage from the Shatter spell into another casting of Scorching Ray to produce the spell; Thundering Ray. Accompanying the sound of thunder as the rays impacted the beast, bone shattered apart. A few seconds later though, the bones reassembled into a scarier looking dragon collection of bones.
On Combating the Enhanced Undead
Our grievously wounded frontline of Arden and Alva were joined by Rolwena and her blades. Alva and Rolwena cut and stabbed away at the newly reformed mass, while Arden released more divine thunder.
Ruthenia, pulsed healing into Arden from afar with the Life Transference spell, a risky, but well calculated use of the dangerous spell that draws health from the caster to the target.
Flutter fired another Witchbolt of lighting at the new mass, which the chinchillas followed in melee range with their barrage of spears. The new dragon-looking skeletal mass had its own dragon’s breath attack, and breathed a poisonous bone dust at all of us. Poor Flutter, in the sky, inhaled the dust and became unwell, and poor Alva, previously torn up from the original mass, had fallen unconscious from the poison.
It was not time to hold back. I casted Thundering Ray with as much magical might as I could. Five rays of thundering force pulverised the dragon skeleton into dust. Arden got to work healing the party, and the chinchilla’s enjoyed the new dust bath before them.
Elvira informed us that she was about to step in with the spell Power Word Stun, or even Power Word Kill, but saw my own amalgamated spell did the trick. Those spells are immensely powerful. Elvira is a pleasant and gracious host, but there were times like when she mentioned her powerful spell knowledge, were one was reminded of how dangerous she could be.
On Financial and Additional Rewards
Elvira paid us 50gp each for our work. In addition, the chinchillas, most pleased with their belly rubs and dust bath, also gifted us with gems; 50gp of gems each.
Ruthenia was permitted to take two humanoid skeletons from a previous battle on the mountain for her own particular necromancy needs.
The more junior members of the party wanted to acquire something additional themselves - chinchilla pets. I decided to do what I could to help, and was able to enhance the sagacity of two of my younger allies with Owl’s Wisdom, as they attempted to coax chinchillas to join them. I found it delightful to see each of them with a new, fluffy friend in their arms, while we mounted our roc transport and flew back to the city.
