Weird, shoulders are basically fine again, no issue at today's gym session. Physiotherapist again made host do a lot of weird movements and exercises which caused no notable pain.

>had awesome dream
>forgot

That's just anther way to say the same thing. I'm obviously not a brat either. I'm - charismatic.

Wasn't Ashley supposed to have Alric's plate or did something happen to it?

He holds the head in his hand and casts a strange ancient magic . The effect is that the head deflates and in his other hand is a pristine skull. He hands the skin and flesh of the Nezzner's head to Alice. Then the skull flashes out of existence in a burst of blue flame.
Alice watches the spectacle with amazement.

Oh cool! Can I really have that? Thank you very much, Mr. Mormesk!

Alice being Alice, she slips the skin over her head like a mask and dances around waving her arms
Look at me, I'm Nezzer the Black Spider!



Alice laughs heartily over her own joke, takes the skin off and absorbs it into her body for cleaning and preservation.
Haa, I'm gonna bring that to the tailor in Neverwinter and have him make a hood for me. Hey, It might be a good protection against the cold out there if I wear my Nezzer mask...

Mormesk looks at his hand with some curiosity then casts minor mirror image and an exact duplicate faces him. He stares at it for a few seconds, then casts Greater Lasting Major Image and before your eyes the terrifying and unnatural symbol of death, the undead ancient lich you know as Mormesk, is transformed into a young man wearing fine nobility clothing from a bygone era. Gold thread and exquisite fabrics not seen for centuries adorn him and though his attire may seem out of place, his look is far from the abomination he once was.

Alice is less impressed, thinking he looked cooler before, but from her own experience as alien monster agrees that this form will cause him less trouble.

"I do apologize but I assure you no further evil exists in the mountain but the myriad caverns and tunnels are a maze of an unrelenting labyrinth without a proper map, even I would take days if not weeks to properly map and search the area. I'll offer you this: good luck."

Alice nods in agreement and claps her hands as a sort of prayer without visible concern
May they rest in peace!

A fully dressed M3gan arrives wearing Ashley's pack and bows to Mormesk and addresses Alice, "They're not dead, I've secure them safely." M3gan tells you where to find them.

Oh, the candygoddess is back! I don't know how you managed to get them there but good work! Let's go look for them now!

She turns to Yulya and smiles, then her expression falls to an apologetic serious one, "Ms. Yulya, I'm afraid your companion Ashley has chosen not to return to her body at this time. As our task is complete here, I have my own agendas that must take precedent." She picks up one of the mithril coins and hands it to her symbolically, then hands over Ashley's pack and a few other items. "I know Ashley would have wanted you to have this, I can't claim it.[/i]

Like Yulya, Alice who had set out to the Phandalin girls stops in her tracks.
Oi what the hell? You're not just snatching her body, right? She really doesn't wanna go back? Uh well it was warm and very beautiful there and there were tree-
Wait a minute, isn't this just desertion instead of a tragic loss?

Alice feels more angry than sad.
Always doing her own thing huh? I won't accept that! I don't mind if she takes a break being dead but she'll have to come back and explain herself better sooner than later! Tell her that, Candygoddess! And now you're leaving too?

Now Alice generally feels sad. Switching between Ashley and the Mechatherial Demigoddess was fun in its own way, but her leaving in Ashley's body?
But - but there are many things I wanted to talk about with you... Starting from why you crashed my ship! Everyone has some fancy patron gods in this world and you were as close as it gets in this regard for me...
At least listen to this! It seemed to be important to Ashley!
Alice recapitulates what happened when Nezzer was killed and how his body was sucked into the Negative Plane as far as she can remember, including the vortex and the creepy laughter. She stares at M3gan, looking for a reaction

Dramatic twist is dramatic.
I'm not happy either, who will I bicker with now? And the party has a serious feline deficit. Also with Ashley gone, we're truly the Low INTers now. I hope Summer is smart and charming, because no one of us is.

With a slow pace of 2y / LV we should make it in 10 years.
Anyway, take your time! It's supposed to be fun, not a chore.

Dream houses are always significantly larger and cooler.