Emancipation

[Corwin]

Seira looks closer to see if she can spot anything within the normal way. And takes the time to untangle all the magical auras, of course.

K:A 10 for 142 (Divine Insight), Spellcraft 10 for 128 (Divine Insight), Perception 10 for 105.

[Anastasia]

You don't see anything inside of the gem, at least not with your eyes.

You spend some time with the auras, Kascha and Elle doing the same. Your understanding is this: The magic is a hopeless mess because it's been tangled too long without being able to escape. It's melded together in places, which greatly muddies the entire situation. Most of it's various protective magics, but they're hit and miss due to this merging. Some of the spells are ruined by it while others are made new and stronger.

The deepest, underlying enchantment is a powerful spell to keep two souls within the gem. It's not the strongest magic, but it's gotten tremendously stronger from being melded with other magics.

[Corwin]

Can I tell the alignments of the two souls, or tell them apart (ie to know which one is the husband and which the wife)? What sort of backlash can I expect if I touch the gem to shatter it to free the souls within or attempt to free them via other non-destructive means, aside from the global curses?

On the matter of freeing the souls, going by the Soul Collection note a deity only needs to touch a gem to extract the souls within. Does that apply here? Would such a removal be similar to how I used Wish to bring back Kascha or reincarnate Lagann in soul forms before cementing the results with a follow-up Wish? Are all the methods listed in Soul Harvest for freeing a soul from a gem applicable?

Can I tell to which deity/power each of the souls belongs? If not from here, is an application of divine will sufficient to find this out? I wouldn't want to use Shape Soul only to step on some divine toes.

[Anastasia]

Both souls are neutral and yes, you can tell them apart.

Breaking this much magic would be, at best, extremely explosive. It might be enough destabilize magic all around it, creating a destructive cascade that could get out of control.

Normally yes, but there's magic in place that would make that more difficult. You may well be able to do it anyway being a deity, though. You suspect you should be able to. Alter reality's fine for it, it's how deities work for that.

Yeah, you could use a trivial bit of divine will to find out where they're going, if so inclined.

[Corwin]

Seira finds out the current destination for the souls, and then motions for Kascha and Elle to get back while she calls for her antimagic aura, one large enough to cover most of the inner space of the golden vault.

[Anastasia]

Both are bound to Limbo. Not out of their ethics, as they're neutral, but you can sense the souls are tainted by madness. That's pulling them to it as a tiebreaker.

Quick check, how big is the antimagic aura's radius?

[Corwin]

As big as I need it. I will avoid hitting the walls.

[Anastasia]

Done. The antimagic aura is established.

Ball is in your court, feel free to go for it.

[Corwin]

Seira draws the wife out of the gem for a little chat!

Combat spells are precast on the three of us, Kascha and Elle are at a good distance (let's say 100ft).

Can I tell what the wife's name is so I have something to call her?

If this works as Soul Collection, btw, let's go with Demand Service because that's the only option I see listed there that allows for a quiet chat without breaking the gem.

[Anastasia]

Sure.

Her name is Bethany.

The spirit emerges, an ethereal thing that watches you. A woman's spirit, yet washed out and colorless. She watches you with an inexpressive gaze, not a single reaction to her summoning.

[Corwin]

"Hello, Bethany," Seira greets her, using a flash of her aura to introduce herself. "Do you remember how long you have been imprisoned within this gem?"

[Anastasia]

"Too long," Is her answer, "What need do numbers serve when you cannot count any higher?" Her voice is toneless, emotionless.

[Corwin]

"Long enough that you no longer care about the situation that lead to your current condition, by the sounds of it," Seira muses. "I don't know just what you did, or why someone thought to curse you that way. But I'd like to offer you a second chance. Do you want to permanently leave your prison?"

[Anastasia]

"I don't care," Is the answer, "Do as you will."

[Corwin]

Seira pulls the other soul out of the gem. She has an idea of how Bethany could be rehabilitated, so it's important to see if this is all a front or if she honestly doesn't care one bit about her mortal life or anyone from it.