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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 8304745" data-attributes="member: 6816692">Familiar ghosts          After our short rest, we get up on our feet again. Kasvarina points out that she can feel the Arc resonate once more, which means that at least one other important memory would be nearby. So she places the artifact on her head again and instantly feels drawn into a wholly different direction. We almost stumble over one tired Eladrin worker who appears to be sleeping by the road and follow her to a grossly polluted river. Before we can frown about the obvious destruction of nature by the nearby crisillyiri mine, we suddenly see a humble eladrin house appear in front of us.Kasvarina enters as if she was really familiar with the structure and we follow her into what turns out to be her original home. A few moments later, Auryn feels drawn to Launga again who is very obviously annoyed by her little sister's impatience. Kasvarina does her best to explain her plans to her daughters. She says that she and her accomplice have a bold plan, one which would include a return to Alais Primos, but that the Ranamandala might reject it and that they all may be branded as outcasts. So she asks the two to please not have any part in it and be loyal citizens.Dala then jokes that she'd better tell the army that her mother is hiding a human in her house, to which Launga rolls her eyes. But then said human –  who appears to look just like Miller from the visions of the Crypta – enters the room. The man's features shift back and forth between the Eladrin we just saw sleeping by the road and said human in his forties. Both Dala and Launga thank him for saving Kasvarina back in Alais Primos, but the man then all of a sudden touches both Dala's and Launga's cheeks and apologizes for not being able to save them as well. He then returns to his role briefly and explains that the civilian populace of Crisillyir is not to blame for the war or the Clergy's aggression.The vision then ends and the man, now back in the form of the old Eladrin and, obviously possessed by Nicodemus, asks Kasvarina to come with him as he wishes to help her recover her memories. We understand that this is apparently Nicodemus' plan to get his hands back on Kasvarina. Auryn leaves Launga's image behind as well and looks him straight in the eyes."My, you look just like her..." he mumbles before Auryn makes her statement.“We have a common goal then. We're here to help Kasvarina as well. If she has no objections, we are willing to let you come with us on this journey, Nicodemus.”Of course, this was not the response that Nicodemus has expected, so he turns to Kasvarina again and asks her to come with him once again. Being a bit baffled by this development, she takes a few moments to answer to his request by stating that she would be fine to gave him come along as he was obviously someone who had helped her in her past. But she wouldn't leave what's left of her family behind.(All this has happened before apparently... I guess the Launga part was just too fitting)“So you leave me no choice here. If you want to learn your true past, you'll have to come with me. Either willingly, as a prisoner, or as a corpse if you so desire. As for you two, I have no desire to kill you, but I will not hesitate to do so should you not surrender.”, Niodemus says calmly.Now both Eladrin women look at Nicodemus with a look that could kill. And while Kasvarina simply shakes her head, Auryn steps in front of her ancestor, placing her between Kasvarina and Nicodemus.“She just said no, is that not enough? I won't let you harm my family, so quit your petty threats!”It appears that Nicodemus understands this active act of defiance as a threat to himself, so he whispers a secret word and summons six witchoil golems, each equipped with a lantern emitting purple light. And this light, being fueled by Bleak Gate energy, in turn calls two groups of female Eladrin undead into our realm.Nicodemus then walks away at a slow pace and lets his reinforcements do their job. Kasvarina and Carlyle waste no time and take on a golem each. Meanwhile, Auryn sees that these undead women might be the casualties of the Malice. She damns Nicodemus for his impious action, but then starts to sing the Dirge that had been composed in their name. This calms them down and Auryn asks them to be still while she joins the others in their fight against the golems. Fortunately, these constructs are not the Ob's best works, so we demolish three of them and their lanterns in a pretty timely manner.Carlyle then looks at Auryn and Kasvarina who are about to take care of the last one.“You both will be fine without me?” he asks and when the two women agree without hesitation, he puts away his kukris and tries to catch up to Nicodemus, who is still walking away and smoking one of his signature leaf-sticks.“Nicodemus!”, Carlyle shouts after Nicodemus, who turns around in surprise. Especially as Carlyle's stance is very much relaxed.“Mh?”“I'm not here to fight you. Just listen for a moment. I know that you met with Ashima-Shimtu. Should the Obscurati's plan in any way be based upon her ideas, her magic, or her ploys, then please be careful. You don't want to be a pawn in her great plan to reopen a gateway to her hellish home. And you know that she has quite the forked tongue.”Now Nicodemus seems to be even more surprised. He utters a quick laugh before he answers.“I appreciate your wisdom. But rest assured that she is not a threat. She has no part in our plan and is out of the equation.”The possession of the old Eladrin ends there and Carlyle suddenly looks into the face of one confused man.(Oh yeah, Carlyle is paranoid as hell when it comes to Ashima-Shimtu. For a great deal of the AP, he saw her as a potentially far bigger threat than Nicodemus and the Obscurati)Meanwhile, Auryn and Kasvarina completely devastate the last golem and it turns out that the two of them are much more effective in team maneuvers than on their own. The two then discuss possible means of putting the undead eladrin to rest. As soon as Carlyle returns, Auryn asks him whether he could prepare a large bomb that would just annihilate their bodies, but unfortunately he doesn't have enough material. So we just disassemble the last lantern and the undead vanish back to the Bleak Gate.As soon as all enemies are dealt with, Gabriel hands a small pendant to Kasvarina, the same one that Dala had worn during the memory event. She is very thankful and grasps the amulet with both her hands.In the Aftermath, Auryn is very openly piqued that Nicodemus turned from wanting to help Kasvarina to being alright with her death in a split second. But Carlyle states that his actions are very much logical from the leader of the Obscurati's point of view as Kasvarina would be a major source of information. And as we are some of the few people who actively try to thwart their plans, it would be risky to have her be close to us.Kasvarina just shakes her head and says that this is just too much for her now. All she knows is that she doesn't want to be with this man, no matter who he might have been.“He is none else but Miller, the philosopher. Well, at least he was Miller in my visions of you and him.” Carlyle explains.“Still I don't get why this compassionate man, this great mind would turn out to be so cruel when it comes to his grand plan. Especially regarding the woman he likely once cared so much about”, Auryn adds.(Yeah, I admit that this was quite the clever framing of Nic as the manipulative utilitarianist. And it wasn't even fully intentional. Also, Carlyle had the gut feeling that Nicodemus could be Miller the moment he learned that Nicodemus had some special connection to Kas. And I guess that makes our revelation of his true identity a pretty early one. But it was quite obvious in this scene to be honest.)</blockquote>

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