Reroll

Knowledge(Religion) is telling me that this undead creature is not a run of the mill mindless skeleton, but something more: A skeleton that has largely retained the original creature's mind, and with it, his skill… whether that be in combat, magic, psionics, or other fields.

The beast turns towards my hiding spot, it's empty eye sockets actively sucking the light from the room, darkness seeping from it's skull and wriggling, “How did you get down here, little sparrow?”

I freeze in place… which, while admittedly a panic reaction, is ALSO something a bird might do.

The beast keeps chatting, speaking in a clear voice despite having no lips, larynx, lungs, or tongue, “The vents go in circles, we're hundreds of feet underground, the outer door won't even allow air through, and by now the air in the guest suite and entryway should be quite lethal… where did you come from?”

Good, so he doesn't know the current state of the place… I chirp, playing the good little birdbrain.

“Hmm… you're not behaving like the books say…” he muses, “where's that instinctive fear?”

Oh, right.  The animals need extra training to attack undead, and many undead have an unnatural aura that makes it even harder.  Still… this guy doesn't have the Lich template, my skills say he's “just” a person with slight variants of the Skeletal Champion and Bloody Skeleton templates… which honestly combine to do a pretty good job of making him properly immortal; a Skeletal Champion is a skeleton that keeps his mind, while a Bloody Skeleton revives an hour after re-death unless certain steps are taken… but I do have access to one of those options… as soon as I swap a talent, which I don't want to do while he’s focused on me.

“Still… I haven't had anything down here to verify… everything else worked…” he pauses, “but a living creature certainly presents an opportunity for escape.  Let's see…” he focuses, and a glowing net of blue energy flashes into existence above me, falling before I can move and wrapping me up tightly.  Spellcraft identifies it as a psionic power, a variant on Entangling Ectoplasm… huh.

“There we go…” he starts approaching.

Okay, I have the Warp sphere right now; I could simply leave the net… but then he'd know.

“Such a small oversight when performing the ritual and arranging the sacrifices…” he muses as he picks me up gently in his bony hand, “The tech responds to the presence of living creatures, so I can't use any of it… not even the lights or doors,” he laughs, “A flawless ascension to lichdom… and then trapped for years, because I didn't think to buy a pet cat or something before I murdered my companions for my immortality.  I wonder how much the world has changed?” He shakes his skull, “No matter; I'm immortal, it doesn't matter how long I've been trapped, or how much I need to relearn: I have time to rebuild and gather power.”

I wait calmly as he walks me over to a blank section of wall, getting ready for when he opens the door; I can't imagine he's not… yes!

He waves me close to a specific lighting crystal, and the entire wall slides up, showing the sitting room from earlier… and now I know where it is, and how to open it.  Yay!

I teleport out of both the magic net and the bony grasp via the Warp sphere… and watch the door close between us.

I then resume human form, and shout to my friends, “Found the door and more!” And Ed and Betty rush into the room.

“Ah… where?” Ed asks.

I point to the wall, “That goes up. And there's a pseudo-lich on the other side; basically a bloody Skeletal Champion, although he doesn't look the same as the game would have them. Needs positive energy to properly kill him.  I'll pick up the powers from Life now….”

I swap out my Moldable Talents for Life and a few extra Cure talents as Betty speaks, “Ah, so I’ll be able to make full use of Smite Evil, then?” She wiggles her eyebrows.

Ed grimaces, “I didn't prepare any healing spells….”

I shrug as I finish up, “He needs to be killed by positive energy, unless you have Bless prepared - so Smite with Lay on of Hands, please.”

“We’ll need to keep the animals out of it, then…” Ed starts.

“Oh, I have Bless prepared,” Betty interrupts, “Let’s do this.”

It's only when I go to open the door again that I realize a problem: It doesn't open from this side.

I consider, “So… it only opens from the other side.”

“So the baddie is going to come after us?” Betty considers.

Ed laughs, “Nah, he's stuck, we just need to figure out a way to visit.”

I chuckle, “Yes… he mentioned that the systems all respond to living things… and I JUST traded out Warp.  No matter…” I get to work swapping g in for Warp and Unseeing Teleport so I can get to the other side.

“Should we, though?” Ed asks the ethical question, his enthusiasm dying down, “I mean, if he's trapped….”

I consider as I refill my Arcane Reservoir and spell point pool, “He confessed to murdering his companions for power while he was bringing me to the door to open it.”

“Much as I hate to say it…” Ed starts.

Betty is on the same wavelength, “You're a single witness, and we really shouldn't be playing judge, jury, and executioner.”

Ed nods, “That, yes. There's a reason for rule of law, and it's… possible he's changed, even if he did kill… how many skeletons did we find?”

“Sixteen,” I supply, “and the first set is due to revive shortly.”

Betty chuckles, “Your timing is off… we re-killed them again a few minutes ago.”

I roll my eyes, “Regardless, we have a mass murderer here….”

“Probably, yes; the evidence is pretty solid,” Betty starts, “but it still really isn't our place.”

I raise an eyebrow, “So you're saying we should just… let him go?”

Ed puts his arm across my shoulders, one of his funbags pushing into mine, “look, it'd be one thing if he confessed to all of us, or if he attacks us on sight.”

Betty comes up on the other side, and does the same, “but as it is, he's just a person who's trapped. And of course, he’s certain to cause issues for the Inquisition….”

I close my eyes, “Which only benefits us. Fine,” I shake my head, “I'll let him out, under protest.  Just… be ready for the inevitable betrayal.”

Ed rolls his eyes, “We're not stupid.”

Betty joins in, “We know you're right that he's a complete douche, and will probably try to kill us all as soon as he's free….”

Ed continues, “But at the same time… if we don't give him a chance, are we really much better?”

“Okay,” I shake my head again, “I'll go let the evil murdering psychotic psychic pseudo-lich loose.”

The last word I hear before I hop to the other side of the wall is Betty saying, “Thanks.”

The Skeletal being turns towards me as I appear on his side of the door, “Hi, call me Kenna. What's your name?”

That brings him up short, “You're talking to me?”

“Against my better judgment, yes,” I answer him, “the plan is basically to let you out and go on your merry way.”

He pauses, “And what are you asking for this service?”

Oh, I suppose we could have planned a cost… meh, “Just that you be a good person.  Don't murder, steal, or rape; build others up, help those that need it when it's not for evil ends, that kind of thing.”

He considers… yeah, I can practically see the gears turning, “As you wish,” I don't have much Sense Motive, as I am not Wisdom-based, but I have the skill, and it's telling me he's not planning on playing nice.

And you know what?  That's fine. If the idiot attacks us once we're on the other side of the door… well, we don't die either, “Great,” I answer, “Let’s open this door….”

I wave my hand at the appropriate light, and the door slides up again.

“How'd you know?” He asks when I handle that particular light.

I chuckle, and give him a classic non-answer: “A little birdie told me.”

“So that little sparrow was yours…” he nods as he steps through, “That's fine, I didn't hurt your pet.”  He pauses, “Speaking of pets… I see you lot are rather fond of them… what is that, a young tiger?”

“Something like that…” I idly confirm. I mean, I have a pretty good idea what he's going to do….

We walk through the door, and the IKEA Lich comments, “Ah, so THAT is how you got past the front door… you smashed it open. How long did that take?”

I shrug, “A while… but with nobody responding, well… a simple door doesn't stop someone who's determined to get in.”

“I'll remember that for next time,” the lich comments as we start to climb the stairs, with him taking up the rear… and yes, he concentrates on a power once we're all nicely lined up in the hallway.