make the most of wherever we are now

Fighting a lich is not something one does lightly.

Jubilost keeps arguing that maybe they shouldn't try it at all, it's not like it's good for their lifespans or their souls, but - Sivetrys can't, actually, just leave it alone.

(Technically, she could, but. Emotionally, she can't.)

There are a lot of reasons for this. The ones she uses first are the logical ones, but she's aware that's not really why she can't leave the lich alone. It's just why she can justify the choices she already wanted to make, to herself, to her adventuring party (friends), to fucking Lastwall itself.

Vordakai is an old lich, which usually means extremely dangerous, but in this case it means he's, technically, changed species. A demilich is different from a lich in several ways - in a couple, more directly dangerous - but in others, it is much, much easier to deal with. He's lost circles, for one. For another, it means that they don't have to find his phylactery; he doesn't have one of those, anymore. The process for permanently killing him is still complicated - and Sivetrys has written to Lastwall for assistance on the logistical details of making that death final, along with asking them to please send her a paladin - but not as complicated as hunting down a phylactery in a demiplane underneath several dozen protections.

Secondly, because he is an old (demi)lich, from before Earthfall, his spells are out of date. Oh, he still has some dangerous ones, Dominate Person is a sure one they've confirmed, and her party is systematically trying to put a list together of what those are, but he's missing modern ways to reduce the circles of certain spells. His spells are old and inefficient, and in life and undeath he was never able to competently steal the greatest spells from the Azlanti Empire, else he wouldn't have hidden underground at all. With his demotion to demilich, and the loss in circles that came with that - he can't quite cast his worst spells, anymore. And he doesn't know what modern spellforms are like. Because there has been a steady march of progress, despite Earthfall, entirely because of Aroden's efforts, and all the genius casters after him that really want that high circle spell nownownow.

But of course, this also means that it's a race against time. He is awake, now, and has been since his tomb was disturbed, and some nebulous trinket stolen, and he is learning quickly. There's no mighty Azlant to throw back his own thievery, just these pathetic shreds of what remains after Earthfall. He's already captured one wizard, a third circle one, and he is definitely looking for more. For their spellbooks, for new slaves in his 'justified' rise against the thieves who disturbed him, for their new magical items.

There is no better time to fight him than right now, now that he's awake and actively scheming. The closest people that can maybe win in a fight him are - well, her, and her party. At least, they're the only ones who might, who also care enough to show up. The world is very big, and very dangerous, and liches do tend to stop, after a while. Reach their old borders, sate the atrophied greeds they'd had as mortals, gather enough undead slaves that gathering more becomes tiresome. As dangers on this planet that holds Rovagug go, they're not, objectively speaking, the worst.

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"For too long have you reigned unchecked as culinary overlord!!!"

"Oho?" says Jubilost, clearly intrigued. "Well you can hardly match my caliber as a chef, but I see no reason not to indulge you..."

(Which is to say: this sounds fun.)

to-the-silence

(She wishes Rids was here so badly -)

to-the-silence

but - but she will be, they can afford the diamond and the spell, and then Uma will get to see her meet all these people, and for once it'll be Uma with little facts about people to help Rids get to know them, and she feels a pang of longing but it's different from having a hole in her heart.

to-the-silence

...I like them, she signs to Zan, after a long pause.

Zanmi Modra

there-by-your-side

Awwwww, I'm really glad. I do too.

not-quite-alone

"Linzi, do you need a helping hand?"

"I hope you're offering two of them, considering what she's up against..."

"Hush, you! Yes, Luto, that would be lovely."

not-quite-alone

Luto hides one of her hands under her clothes (very poorly) and adopts a gruff accent, kneeling.

"My lady, I regret that I only have the one hand of aid to give... War can be cruel."

Zanmi Modra

there-by-your-side

Zan cackles.

"I, being a kind and gentle head chef, shall take everyone as they are," says Linzi, magnanimously, "and take into account their personal taste preferences in my cooking!"

"Taste is relative, and palates are meant to be expanded!"

Linzi pretends like she didn't hear him.

"Now arise, my knight of cooking! Go forth, and, uh," shit what does she even have to cook with, "... crack and mix some eggs! Please."

not-quite-alone

Luto grins. "Yes, my liege."

A neat thing about cooking as a superhumanly agile swordswoman is that you can actually just slice eggs cleanly in half in midair over the bowl and grab the shells as they fall, instead of cracking them. If you want.

You can even do two at once, if you really want to show off. (Which she does.)

Gosh.

This is really impressive and also so cool and furthermore it gives Linzi an idea for how she might conduct this breakfast counteroffensive.

See, she doesn't actually think she can out cook Jubilost, even if what he makes will be spicier than some layers of Hell, but what she can do, is... make this a fun show. And with Luto's agility and Linzi's showmanship and minor magic tricks - they can make this a very impressively showy cooking session, now can't they?

It even earns a laugh from their competition. "Ha! Very clever. But theatrics won't change the end result, you know..."

"Doesn't it? What was that you said, about destinations versus journeys? Turnabout is fair play. Besides, some of us don't have to eat."

"Yes, yes, your ascension to becoming a construct that outputs only arcane spellcraft and wands is coming along nicely, some of us like to have ties to the Material to keep us on our toes."

Snort.

"Hey, now. Sometimes it's magic items that aren't wands, too. Wands are just very cost efficient and profitable."

to-the-silence

Oooooh, she does crafting! Wands and generalist stuff, presumably,

Zanmi Modra

there-by-your-side

Zan is Actively Appreciating the Linzi and Luto cooking show when she sees Uma weighing the pros and cons of Saying Words Out Loud in the middle of a group conversation like this.

She makes eye contact and gets a grateful nod in response to the implied question. (...if Rids were here, they'd both encourage Uma to say something, it's good for her to stretch her comfort zone, but... for now, Zan just wants to make things easier. Linzi's spell helped immensely, but... it's still weighing on her terribly, the pain visible in the way Uma holds her body, the lines on her face, how her wings fold around her body at rest...)

"Oooh, you do magic items too? Uma does armor and the generalist stuff, she made most of what I'm wearing." Zan does a little twirl, showing off her magic items. "You two should maybe find some time to talk shop later, she's made some really cool stuff that none of us had seen before, including Luto's feather and scarf," and the magic paint, which can be a topic of discussion after they get Rids back.

not-quite-alone

(Luto does a silly little twirl with the long blue scarf she usually keeps wrapped around her off-arm and then takes a bow.)

"I do! I'd love to talk shop. Generally I stick to churning out wands, and then attempting weird magic item side projects in the margins? It's just more efficient to sell wands and then buy the standard cloak, amulet, bracers, so on, at least in my specific position. So I think about weird ways to stuff magic onto items while my hands are busy. Sometimes it even works! I've got a vestment on underneath this dress that lets me cast from scrolls or spellbooks without using them up, I'm incredibly proud of it."

to-the-silence