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Rayan shakes his head at this latest Yazism He means first...Which one do we see first.
Rayhan secretly wants to visit with Andrathi's Ghost, the man was a formidable wielder of the arcane. However, he doesn't want to sway the group's decision.
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"Oh, right Ray-Ray. I say we go to the Painter first to see if he can give us anything to help, and then to Andy to see if he can get us out of here... and to see if we can help him rest."
Thinking for a moment she'll then turn back to the Shaitan. "Wait, can you grant wishes?"
Rayhan gives Yazi a dirty look...asking for wishes is considered a grievous breach of protocol. He coughs politely
Ah. Forgive my friend. She forgets that we are not here for Wishcraft, we are here to find the means to escape Kakishon.
"I cannot, for I was not born into royalty." Dilix replies, a slight twinge of anger back in her voice. "And Jhavhul was careful to not employ any other genies of his status to his army, so that he maintained control over us all."
She considers her audience. "Many think Nex left loopholes here in his island paradise. Especially here, in the Pleasure Palace. I assure you, Jhavhul's entire army has looked, for where else but the center to put a trapdoor? But there is nothing underneath us but skeletons of great creatures and undead of the same, safely locked away. A dead menagerie. You must look elsewhere."
Dilix waves a hand dismissively. "Archwizard Nex fought Geb, the King of his undead kingdom. Doubtless the necromancer sent undead assassins and monsters against Nex. The Archwizard decided to entomb them here, rather than give his nemesis a chance of reanimating them yet again into his service. Best to leave them undisturbed."
Khayal looks a little disturbed when he hears the plan to unleash a spawn of Rovagog right near his wife. His eyes steel a second later and he regains an air of determination.
Your knowledge will help us. But are there any amongst you who can help with our arms? Are there any skilled smiths amongst you who could add magic to our weapons to make them more potent against our shared enemies?
Dilix continued. "You should seek out the , as the azer was no friend of Jhavhul and, if you humans can secure his friendship, the azer might offer you advice or a gift in your inevitable conflict with Jhavhul. There is also the , for it was there that Jhavhul fnally confronted and slew Andrathi. I have heard persistent rumors that haunts the island now, and who knows? You might be able to learn something from his ghost."
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Okay, back to the task at hand. Do we go and visit the Ghost of Andrathi, or the Azer Artel? Rayhan attempts to focus this group of wildly hyperactive heroes.
And then he adds First, which one first. for Yazi
Hajar says I believe Andrathi has the best chance of knowing how to get us out of Kakishon. I vote we go there.
Whatever the decision, Hajar will lead the group back to the Galley and tell it where to go
Hajar will bid the collected Shaitan farewell and good luck. He leads the heroes to the Galley and says the name Khosravi
"It is late." Dilix says. "Spend the night here. In the morning you should find the galley still present or you can call for it again with the Ram's horn."
Your host has her servants lead you back to your rooms.
Khayal settles down for the night, but sleeps lightly still wary of these hosts.
The night after the dinner passes uneventfully, as the luxuriousness of your rooms and the heavy meal soon lead everyone to uninterrupted slumber.
Your sleep is not as pleasant as the others, because Vardishal's memories fill your dreams after Dilix's tale at dinner. You live as the dead Templar of the Five Winds, leading army after army of human volunteers to their deaths against the efreeti General's forces. You see men burnt to ashes, bludgeoned to death, and flee in terror each and every time. But you turn, and at your princess' request, you spend years building another human and sometimes dwarven or even adventurer-filled army, only to taste defeat on the battlefield again.
But your mistress Nefeshti is unwilling to listen to a change in tactics, until a charismatic and fantastically talented human wizard becomes her lover, and finds a way to trap Jhavhul's forces forever, and stop the wishcraft ripples that cause your princess such pain.
The trap is successful - Jhavhul is gone, but so is the human wizard. Your mistress grows complacent, and your companions leave one by one, until only you are left to attempt an eternal vigil at the foot of Pale Mountain.
You awaken wondering which is the dream and which is reality? Vardishal lies quiet again.
The next morning you reassemble at the plaza in front of the Brass Dome, where both Dilix and Neshari, along with six other guards, accompany you to the Waystation pier. Along the way, she reiterates the places to go and people to see in Kakishon, if you are to have any chance of defeating Jhavhul.
- Obherak on the isle of Khandelwal, a traitorous, cruel shaitan whose personal vices and hubris make him a dangerous ally
- Artel on the isle of Khosravi, known to be no friend of Jhavhul
- the proteans hiding somewhere in Kakishon
- Andrathi's ghost on the Isle of the Dead
"Even now, after staying here for centuries, there are secrets about Kakishon no one has fully solved." Dilix tells all of you. "The lair of the Turtle King, why Nex did not leave a backdoor, but requires someone from the outside to recall visitors, why the proteans are here, all the whims of the Archwizard. But with Jhavhul freed, there are other problems to worry about."
With the pier in sight at the beach, Dilix gives Hajar a bracelet charm, telling him it is a bracelet of friends. "It goes against my better judgement, trusting humans." the bejeweled woman says, getting closer to Hajar and looking him in the eyes. "You smell like a genie-killer, and there is something extra about you. But I can only wait for your success or failure. If you do find the trapdoor, or fight stubborn Obherak, you can call on me for a single battle. It takes a genie to fight a genie. Make it count - I will not give you a second chance."
To Nasir she gives a small brass lamp. "Others here in Kakishon will recognize that horn." she tells you all. "There may come a time when you wish to not show it to others. This lamp is a galley charm. It is permanent, unlike the trinkets found in the Waystation rooms that only call a galley once then disappear. But again, Nex must surely have had a sense of humor, putting a rubbing lamp here in his Pleasure Palace."
The wooden galley lies waiting off the damaged pier, just as you left it.
Bartan would have asked this of Dilix: "Are you aware of how close Jhavnul is to his required one-thousand wishes? Does he need to still obtain one thousand, or is he only tens away from completing his goal?"
"You may think that leaving the undead lie below us is best, but it is possible that Nex entombed all those creatures there to guard a secret escape from Kakishon... have you never ventured below to find out? It is entirely possible that you've been standing on top of your salvation the entire time, is it not?"
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"Hey, he does not smell like that like that. He smells like slightly musky yet freshly cleaned linen. It's a nice smell." Yazi points out as the only de-facto genie killer in the group. To her knowledge.
Upon the reveal of the lamp Yazi mumbles through a smile to the dancer "Huh, so the Genie wants Rose to give her lamp a good rubbing then..."
"No one but Jhavnul knows the number of wishes left." Dilix tells you. "The way he ranted and raved while we were here, it must be less than half. And it will take the efreeti a little while to get mortals to put his wishes through to the Firebleeder."
At the suggestion of looking around the Pleasure Palace, Dilix says [b]"I have spells that speak to stone, wizard. If anything but rot and decay filled those chambers, or had a passageway leading into the jungles or the mountains, I would have felt it. Nex must have lured his assailants to the Brass Dome, thinking that there would be nothing but cushions and delicacies waiting for them, but Nex had prepared several crypts below. And nothing else!"
Neshari comes up, speaking for her mistress. "My lady is a true genie. She can tell what others have done in the past. She knows your history against her kind as well, but chooses not to make an issue of it. The knight-cleric has a strange aura about him, coming not just from the weapons he carries. Unlike you." the woman tilts her head. "Not that strong fighters are not needed at times, you understand."
Khayal boards the galley, seemingly a little more at ease. Once aboard he retires to his rack and gets the soundest sleep he has had in while.
Hajar bows low to the Shaitan Mistress you honor us with this gift. You have my vow that we will use it only if the need is most Dire.
Yep
Hajar will bid the collected Shaitan farewell and good luck. He leads the heroes to the Galley and says the name Khosravi
The adventurers loaded the galley. Dilix and her retinue merely turned back onto the stone road and retired back to Nex's Pleasure Palace.
The brass golem stood at the steering wheel silent and unmoving.
So, the thing won't take us there? Or did I type the wrong name?
-Posted with Wayfinder
At the name of the island, the boatman starts turning the wheel, and the galley unfurls its' sails. The galley turns North, leaving the bay and traveling between the cold island of Aliskiren and the main island of Kakishon.
Three days later the galley has rounded the northern tip of the central island, gone around the Isles of Night, past small Arinze again, and makes its' way to the barren Isle of Flint.
Just at sunrise over the ocean, the galley pulls in at another blackened pier with a Waystation building on the beach. This Waystation looks pock-marked with a dented steel dome, as if something has been chucking rocks at it continually. You have arrived at Khosravi.
Khayal will attempt to provide fish along the way.
Upon arrival, Khayal will be one of the first off the boat. He will draw his kukris as he takes in the surroundings . There is something off about this place. He says in a low voice.
Up near the rocky hills you find bits of charred metal scattered around. The beach appears normal, but there are hardly any birds, just a few tiny crabs moving long the sand.
Up in a break in the hills near the Waystation point you find strange tracks. More like warhorse tracks, except the person was two-legged.
You see the smoke from an active volcano to the south-southeast. The beach wind whips haphazardly along the shoreline, which rises to rocky foothills. A few tiny crabs race along the beach sands.
By the Waypoint station you find a large boulder half-buried in the ground. It's too smooth and round to be a boulder. You realize that it's not a rock, but a round ball of solid iron. The size of the ball matches some of the dents in the metal dome of the Waypoint station.
You smell smoke of a pungent odor, not wood smoke, not charcoal, but something else, coming from far away over the hills.
Hmm. I don't know. But we should find out... Hajar says
Those tracks? Could those lead us to this Azer?
These tracks are quite odd, I'm not sure what kind of beast made these. It appears to be a two legged horse of sorts.
These were not made by an Azer. However, it seems we are in need of a Guide. Otherwise, we can follow the tracks. I doubt that will end well however.
Unless you know how to find a guide following the tracks may be the only thing we can do