The house was small, composed of just a couple of bedrooms barely bigger than a broom closet and a kitchenette and on one of the beds lay a girl who looked around thirteen, with short red hair, wearing a light blue dress with a few patches made of different cloth on it. She had her eyes closed and seemed asleep, but the way her face was scrunched up in fear and her body shivered made them think she was having a horrible nightmare.
"This is my daughter, Malla", Marlowe explained, stroking her hair tenderly, "See, her soul was stolen by Vongoethe, a powerful Lich who has been hunting me for years now. I am, or was, a merchant and years ago I was travelling south from Calmishan and that's where I first met Vongoethe. He started harassing us because he wanted Malla's soul, the soul of a pure virgin, for his corrupted ritual and we had no choice but to flee. We fled from town to town, always on the run, until we got here and…And he found us and stole her soul at last. He is hiding in the cave the people of this city use as a graveyard, I begged the monks to do something about him, but instead of helping us, they just sealed the cave!", he shook his head, eyes full of tears.
Edwin arched an eyebrow, sniffing the stench of a lie, "Why would this Lich be so insistent of wanting your daughter's soul? Why not simply take that of another virgin?". "As if those were easy to come by", Daniel joked, but received a cuff on the head by Jaheira. "Shut up, boy". "OW!". Marlowe seemed to become nervous, "Well, I don't know, my lord, I'm not familiar with Liches and the way their minds work. I only know that Malla is close to death now and there is little time left to save her", he looked up at Meg with imploring eyes, "Please, my lady, will you help her?".
The Painbearer bit her lower lip, she too felt that something was off in that story, but nodded, "I'll see what we can do. How are we supposed to get into the cave if it's sealed anyway?". He brightened immediately, "Oh, thank you! There is a guard at the entrance, I paid him with what little money I had left so that he will let anyone I send inside". "Isn't that convenient", Yoshimo muttered under his breath, nibbling on his thumb fingernail, yet knowing that there was nothing he could say to change his leader's mind.
"Good then, we'll go and kill this Lich", Meg announced, leaving the house with her party members in tow. As soon as they were back in the open, Imoen spoke up. "That guy lied, sis". "I know. His story doesn't make sense: Malla is just a random girl, the Lich could have taken any other soul for his purpose, so why hunt them down with such dedication? No, Marlowe didn't tell us all of it. Maybe Vongoethe will be more talkative, but first, let's go to the Pocket Plane to prepare for a fight with him: I hope it won't come to that, but better safe than sorry".
oxoxoxoxoxo
An hour later, they were allowed inside the cave by the corrupted guard and they found Vongoethe standing in the middle of the graveyard, an amused smirk on his decaying face. "Ah, I felt that someone powerful was approaching. What do you want, godchildren? I don't want to have problems with those as powerful as you". Meg crossed her arms on her chest, "Personally, you got in trouble with me the moment you stole Malla's soul. I want it back". "Ah, I see, you spoke to Marlowe. That little fork-tongued merchant sent you here, uh? Well, I'm not looking for a fight, so if you bring him here, I will gladly give you the gem containing the girl's soul", he offered and she frowned. "Fork-tongued? So he lied to us?".
The Lich chuckled, a raspy sound like the grinding of stone against stone, "He didn't tell you then? Typical Marlowe. Allow me to fill you in: when we first met, he asked me twenty years of fortune and prestige in exchange for his soul. He offered it freely to me. I, of course, accepted the deal and he did have his twenty years of fortune to become rich and famous as he wanted. But when the time came to fulfil his end of the deal, he refused!", Vongoethe's face twisted with anger for a moment, "So I stole his wife's soul and warned him that, without it, she would die. I hoped it would push him to give in, but instead he fled the city and left her behind to die, like the coward rat he was. I hunted him down for years and finally, I found him in this rathole of a city…".
"And you stole Malla's soul in the hopes that he would give in to your demand", Sarevok finished for him, amber eyes burning with fury and disgust, "If we bring him here, do you swear that you'll give us the girl's soul?". The Lich smiled at him and nodded, "Of course I will, Sarevok Anchev. Oh, don't look so surprised, your name is quite well-known in this little world and especially among those of power. I need a soul willingly given for my purpose, so a stolen one is useless. There is no need for the girl to die, I have no use for her after all. Bring me Marlowe and I swear that the girl's soul will be yours to do as you please".
"I say we bring the motherf-uh, the scumbag here and be done with it", Daniel spoke up, lips curled in a snarl, "He let his wife die, he was going to let his daughter die and for what? Money? I don't know about you, Meg, but I'mma go and drag him here by his balls if I have to". The Ilmatari smirked, "And drag him here we will, brother, rest assured. Let's go get him, shall we?", she said and there was an oddly dangerous and calculating look in her eyes that made Edwin and Sarevok proud and that badly scared Imoen and Aerie.
They left the cave, but halfway to Marlowe's home, she signalled for them to link their hands and as soon as they were in the Pocket Plane, she explained them her plan in a strong, commanding tone that they weren't fully used to hearing from her yet, then she brought them back to Amkethran to meet with Marlowe. The merchant looked up anxiously from his daughter's bed when they entered, "Is it done? Is he dead?". "You mean the Lich you made a deal with?", Aerie spat, her normally quiet voice shaking with anger and Marlowe flinched. "He told you, then". "Damn right he did", Imoen snapped, "You're nothing but a greedy mutton-mongering riff-raff!".
He sighed sadly and lowered his head in shame, "I know. And I deeply regret what I did, I swear. I didn't tell you the truth because I was afraid you would turn your back on me if I did: I may deserve to die, but Malla is innocent, she has done nothing wrong and I…I can't let her die like my wife". "Come with us to the cave then", Jaheira said, "Vongoethe promised to return her soul if you give up yours as you should". "He…He did?". "Yes". He shot one last look at Malla, then nodded and followed them, shaking in terror at the prospect of meeting his impending demise.
Vongoethe grinned when he saw them return with Marlowe in tow, "You brought him here! Excellent, godchildren!". "Now hand over the girl's soul as you promised", Meg demanded, extending her open palm and the Lich took out a bright crystal from a pocket, giving it to her. "Here you go. And now, Marlowe, it's time fo-", his words were cut off as time stopped, courtesy of Aerie, who then cast a contingency of weakening spells along with her most damaging ones on the Lich. When time resumed its course, Edwin did the same, casting Time Stop and then unleashing all his most dangerous and destructive spells on Vongoethe without giving him a chance to retaliate.
As soon as the spell effect ended, Vongoethe snarled in fury, "-r your…How dare you!", he screeched, "We had a deal!". "Screw your deal!", Daniel shot back, summoning a score of Fire Elementals to aid in the fight. Anomen and Meg cast their Hold Undead spells to keep the Lich paralyzed, then attacked him with their enchanted weapons together with Minsc.
Yoshimo shot arrow after arrow at the enemy, the heads of the bolts having previously been bathed in Holy Water, just like the tip of Jaheira's spear and the blade of Sarevok's sword. Gromnir, for his part, tossed a bottle of Holy Water high in the air and used a throwing knife to shatter it in order to shower the Lich with it, causing the undead wizard to shriek in agony, trails of smoke rising from his body where it came in contact with the blessed liquid.
Chinchilla and Imoen were busy casting energy-draining spells against him to weaken him, but Vongoethe managed to summon five wraiths to help him…Wraiths that got slashed in two by Minsc with a single strike, his axe Azuredge cutting the air like the scythe of a reaper as he mowed them down. "Feel the Boot of Justice, you evil dead people!", he cheered, Boo squeaking in agreement on his shoulder. "You…You will regret thi-", Vongoethe rasped out, but before he could finish his sentence, his head was smashed by Anomen's flail and then his body was cleaved in two vertically by Sarevok's sword.
"Well, our job is done here", Meg smiled as the corpse crumbled to dust, then her smile fell as she turned to Marlowe, who had rushed to hide in a safe corner of the cave as soon as the fighting began, "Come out". The merchant hesitantly approached her, stunned yet grateful beyond words, "Y-you…You saved me". "Not that you deserved it", Yoshimo commented flatly, black eyes cold. "I know. But, what will be of Malla now?", Marlowe asked, his anxious gaze sliding to Meg. She handed him the gem which contained the girl's soul, "Let's go and bring her back to life, shall we?". His eyes filled with happy tears as he nodded, "Of course! Thank y-". "Shut up and walk, jerk".
They all went back to his house and as soon as he placed the gem on Malla, it shone with a white light and when the brightness faded, the girl opened her eyes and sat up, looking around in confusion. "Father, what's going on? Who are all these people?". He hugged her tightly, crying with joy, "Malla! The Gods be praised, you're alive!". "Uh…Yes, of course I am", she replied, puzzled by his odd behaviour, "Was I ill? I don't remember". "You're safe now and that's all that matters", he kissed her forehead and turned to the party members, "I don't know how to thank you for what you did, I wish I had something to repay you, but I have nothing left".
"Well, we don't need to be rewarded, seeing her alive and healthy is enough", Meg said, then handed Malla a small coin pouch, "Leave this place, Malla and start a life somewhere else with your father. Four hundred golds' worth in gems should help". The girl's jaw dropped as those words, "F-four hundred?! My lady, I…I…". "You must promise me not to let your idiot of a father put his hands on them, okay? Be a good girl and use them wisely. Marlowe, if you get in trouble again and waste this money, I will personally come and end your life for good, is that clear?", the Painbearer threatened, her eyes glowing golden and he nodded hurriedly. "Yes, yes, I swear I will be the best of men from now on!". "Good. We'll take our leave then. Goodbye and take care", she bowed her head and left without another word, her steps directed to the inn.