Hit points corrected, gear distributed everyone was set. They entered the laboratory where the Necromancer Aline was controlling the undead via the Artificer of Dreams.
The party had acquired a device that allowed the user to mimic any sound. DJ, one of the players, had a devious idea. Using the device, he imitated Meera, Aline’s long dead lover, and the indirect cause of the whole tragedy. Now it’s been a couple of years, so I doubt I’ll do his speech justice, but the gist of it was “Aline, what you did was wrong, I don’t want this unlife. If you still love me you’ll undo the horror you’ve wrought and let nature take it’s course.”
Okay, I was thinking, that’s probably worth a surprise round at least. So I told DJ to give me a Bluff check. He rolled a crit, so I did the only thing appropriate: I trashed the final boss fight and the party just instantly won. Aline realized her error, released control and stepped out of the machine, allowing several thousands of years of time to finally catch up (the Artificer of Dreams had been sustaining her as well). So yeah, final battle completely subverted by a bit of player ingenuity and a damn lucky roll. Who am I to not give it to them though.