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For the second time that night, Raj splutters in his cider. It was quite unbecoming for a wizard, normally such things were associated with the less intelligent, but he couldn't help it here. Zayifid?! Zayifid of the west wind? Then you must have been sent by Nefeshti! Raj gathers himself. As my lady commands, so shall it be done, lord Zayifid.
Grim sits through the whole thing with his arms crossed on his chest.
Hajar eyes the Templar curiously...
Why not announce yourself Templar? What are you hiding?
Why not wait a moment friend, and converse with us for a while longer.
Hajar says to the man as he gets up to leave...
Hajar seems suspicious. This man seems reliable to me...What is it that you sense about this one Brother?
Al-Akim stands, as Zayifid moves to leave. Clapping the large man on the shoulder, he gestures back to the table.
"As our brother Hajar says, stay a few moments and converse with us. You should at least share a meal. the goat shank here is exceptional.
Kuralaak gets very still. It sounded like someone was about to order Goat Shank! Kuralaak must be on his best behavior. Maybe he could have the bone...
Zayifid is a common name for those that follow the Dawnflower. I am sorry but I must be on my way The tall man stands up and starts to leave.
Hajar you detect overwhelming evil coming from this man. He is obviously not a follower of Saranrae.
Zayifid smiles and stands to his full 7 feet and bows to Hajar.
It would seem that I have underestimated you. Good. You may have a chance against the Carrion King. Know that even though I have deceived you here, and that my goals are not as I have claimed, one thing I have said is true. You will confront the Carrion King soon, be it before the Maggot Throne in the House of the Beast or here in your cozy little homes. To think the Carrion King would let the loss of the Kulldis tribe pass without revenge is nothing but fools’ fancies. Consider my warning, then, as a challenge. If you can destroy the Carrion King before he destroys you, better for you. Either end works to my advantage.
With that, Zayifid becomes ethereal, his smoky form fading into the ground as he slips away.
Sensing the tension grim place himself 5ft away from the stranger. His arms are still in his pockets or folded under his arms.
Kuralaak continues to sit very very still. : Ever so slowly under the table he extends the long handle of his great-axe, placing the very tip just behind the evil man's ankle. Should Grim or Hajar decide to give the man the slightest shove he would trip over it. And once on is arse, the Gnoll could choose whether to chop off is head or bite his face off...
Hajar looks to Raj and says
What can account for this Master Raj? Was not Zayifid a Templar like Kardswann? Does anything in your research suggest that this Zayifid would turn to the dark path?
Zayifid turned ethereal and escaped your grasp. This encounter was fumbled a bit as I did not realize that Hajar had Detected Evil on the man.
dam i wish i had that power ! visibly disappointed
Raj attempts to Dispel Zayifid's Ethereal Jaunt but he fails to do so.
Zayifid is now gone.
Yes....
Lol grim.
So any more prep before you take off?
So how long will take side trip take ? still visible disappointed by the whole "I disappear" thing
Rules guy how long to travel 30 miles on a mountain pass?
Table: Terrain and Overland Movement
Terrain Highway Road or Trail Trackless
Mountains x3/4 x3/4 x1/2
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One Day (Overland) per day
Walk 24 miles
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Table: Hampered Movement
Condition Additional Movement Cost
Difficult terrain ×2
Obstacle* ×2
Poor visibility ×2
Kuralaak takes in the mountain air as they travel. At night, this high up in the mountains, Golarion's moon takes up half the sky. One could reach out and touch it He thinks to himself. He remembers stories the Gnoll sages used to tell of stairways in the desert, made of sand, wind and magic, that one could walk upon. Stairways that would take you all the way up to that moon.
Get your head out of the clouds, Kuralaak!
Kuralaak looks around, making sure all of his friends are finding safe footing on the treacherous mountain pass. Then he looks down at his crossbow.
Soon, old friend. Soon.
The trip into the mountains allows Hajar to reflect on his choices thus far. He had liberated Kelmerane and his sister Haleen. But had he done Good for the world.
Kelmerane was now run by the Pactmasters and Haleen had left, chasing quick riches in some other place.
There was Dashki, who had taken to the monastic life with great diligence.
Kardswann, had left under unknown circumstances.
And Kuralaak, had made the oaths and seemed to be walking the path of light.
These things were on Hajar's mind as he rode the summoned mounts that his friend Raj had provided.
We will say about one day of travel is all it takes on mounts.
Is anyone scouting and what is the order here?
The mountain pass is rarely used these days so you must ride single file.
Naziri
Grim
Raj
Hajar
Kuralaak
Sounds reasonable?
grim will enjoy the stroll in the mountains. After all this last year he had had little chance to get out of town. Sill it puzzle him to no end what had happened.
So who was that guy and what did he want? he asked
It seemed to me he wants us to kill the Carrion King for his own purposes. I for one look forward to locking blades with this king of the Gnolls.
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Master Raj may have more information. But his name was Zayifid the Janni and he was or is an agent of the Djinni Nefeshti. Nefeshti opposed Jhavrul the Efreeti in his attempt to conquer Katapesh some centuries ago.
The Gnolls also know a being by this name. But in those stories he is a Gnoll. After seeing him become a vapor and pass away from us, i wonder if that being wasn't one and the same person as the one in the Gnoll stories. I wish I could remember more...
Well as long as that king is a King of Gnolls and not of Undead than i am fine with that.
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Raj shifts uncomfortably in the saddle. He was still a green horseman, and riding 30 miles through the mountains did nothing good for his body.
All Janni can turn invisible, but shapeshifting would be a rare ability indeed. As for his identity... honestly, there could be any number of Janni with the name Zayifid, but I just can't believe a Janni with that name showing up in Kelmarane is a coincidence. Given his history as a diplomat and spy, manipulation like this would be well within his repertoire.
Towards the end of your journey when you are about in the shadow of the pale mountain Naziri comes back from scouting ahead with news.
Naziri comes to you with a grim look on his face.
There is a large gathering of the Al’Chorhaiv tribe of gnolls ahead. This is disturbing the Al’Chorhaiv are not normally seen this close to the pale mountain. Even more disturbing I do not see the characteristic swarms of scorpions that normally accompany them.
Al’Chorhaiv. Filthy beasts... Kuralaak spits on the ground.
his lips curled back in pain so terrible none could forget the sound of his cracking, clenched fangs. No one dared touch their leader out of abject fear and revulsion. Then, with a widening of eyes and a simple, sick pop, all life fled the old hunter. All was silent for a moment, and even the thunder seemed to pause as gnoll looked to gnoll, knowing
that bloodshed always marks the passing of a leader. It was Vaskjaw’s corpse that broke the silence, his broken jaws falling open, spilling the fragments of yellow teeth into the mud. Slowly, from pale lips, crooked legs picked their way out of the dead chief ’s mouth and the opalescent form of a vhagshea—a deadly div blood scorpion—crawled
forth into the rain. Shocked, few noticed the naked form of Ahrikvask the Foot Washer, third wife of Vaskjaw, stride from the harem pavilion. At her passing, the mud swirled with blood, fat drops slipping from her long knife and draining from the severed heads of Dhorhaalva and
Jhokgral, Vaskjaw’s first and second wives. Standing over the soaked body of the dead old gnoll, Ahrikvask threw her dagger down, impaling the scorpion there. Lifting the still squirming arachnid upon her knife, the gnoll concubine devoured the deadly insect in a swift series of small bites. Looking to the tribe’s eldest members, most skilled hunters, and deadliest warriors, the bloody gnoll threw down the heads of her mistresses and claimed her kill: “By my venom the feeble have fallen,” she said. “Follow me now, or suffer far worse a death.” With her words, young scorpions crawled from the usurper and the assembled
gnolls drew back in fear. None of the Al’Chorhaiv defied their new chieftain.
Symbol: Lengths of intestine hanging from a hyena skull.
Size of Tribe: 46 gnolls and countless scorpions.
Friends, these are some of the sickest bastards you will ever meet. If the Carrion King has been able to recruit them it means he/she/it is truly a shrewd creature.
Kuralaak shares the story of the Al’Chorhaiv Tribe with the party.
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Somewhat surprised at Kuralaak's disdain for this particular group of gnolls, Raj grins. Oh boy do I have just the spell for these guys... How many would you guess Naziri? We might as well take care of them now, since the most likely reason they're here is to ally themselves with the Carrion King. We don't need them and the King breathing down our backs at the same time.
Raj listens to Kuralaak's story with interest. It sounds as if we may have a rare kind of Druid on our hands. Little less than 50 at full strength huh? We can take that... A Stone Call or Aqueous Sphere spell should wipe out most of them, and you Kuralaak can pick off the druid with your crossbow.
Fine with me Raj. Wonder what kind of treasure a Gnoll Druid carries, he ha hark! Kuralaak's laughter is a strange mixture of coyote yips and humanoid chuckling.