With Mormesk and M3gan gone a deafening silence befalls the cave. Not even the static from the remains of the forge can lighten the atmosphere. If anything its making things worse. Yulya suddenly feels incredibly alone. She stares at Ashleys adventurer tag on the floor then carefully picks it up.
Ashley...
I cannot even hold a proper funeral ceremony for you as your body is very much alive and in Neverwinter.



Yulya looks at Ashleys pack and coin purse as if it were cursed items and addresses Alice and Cat without looking up.
May I burden you with this? I just cant right now...

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!

Cat looks at the desecration of an enemy's remains with disdain and sighs. Eating a defeated foe to gain his strength is one thing and even a gesture of respect, but this is just bad comedy.

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.

Cat stares t the transformations with an open mouth.
Nyaa the blue ghost turned into a noble Nya!
Her keen senses still detect that there is something off with this human - or rather undead pretending to be human.t least no reason to be afraid anymore. Cat steps forward from behind Yulya and musters Mormesk with curiosity.

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.

Never having fully gotten the demigoddess thing, for Cat Ashley is back and all is well.
Nyaa good you're turned back Nya we almost forgot about the girls Nya great you rescued them Ashley Nya!

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]

Cat looks around in utter confusion, unable to follow the conversation but senses that her comrades feel something very bad has happened.
N-Nya what's going on Nya? Ashley Nya? You're leaving us Nya?

The demigoddess takes on a solemn look, bows her head and begins to speak in a low tone, "Though I didn't know Ashley as you did, I knew her better than most as our souls were intertwined and her memories are clear to me; she enjoyed her time with you. However, Ashley was and will always be a woman of solitude and strained relations. Having spent so much time in the negative plane, alone and left only to her own devices from such a tender age, she lost much of her humanity and her ability to build strong lasting relationships, but still there was a fondness there and a tenderness especially to animals under her care. I can share that she never fully trusted humanoids of any kind and found herself much more comfortable with the beasts of the realm and beastkin to a greater degree than other beings.

Whether she was cheering from the sidelines or protecting those she cared about, she was a champion for those she deemed worthy, and you were all worthy. Though Ashley is no longer with us physically, her spirit lives on in the lessons she taught us, in her independence, her strong will, her fearlessness and tenacity for justice. Those aspects will live on in us all. Loss and grief are a part of life, so she believed, and opportunities will always present themselves, those bring about choices, and choices are often difficult. Above all, Ashley was a prudent if not impulsive soul, she wishes you all well and knows you'll achieve anything you set your minds to achieve."

Mormesk adds, "Nothing is permanent in the material plane, changes have occurred such that it is likely none of my comrades are still among us."

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.

"I was never involved in the negative plane, but from what Ashley remembers, it is just reward for the one we knew as Nezzner." She says no more about ships or accusations of desertion.

Thought crimes aren't crimes, but if:



then:

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