Rayhan, who had been keeping away from the fighting, moves forward and speaks in Ignan
We are but travelers brought here against our will. We wish nothing more than to return to the Prime Material.
Khayal moved up to beside Yazi, holding his kurkis ready, his eyes looking from side to side.
The azer stare cautiously at the newcomers, and two of the azer actually turned and ran down the hallway! But a blade appears out of nowhere, striking Hajar!
The paladin parried the attack! The efreeti appeared, his invisibility gone, his face twisted in a leer. "Lies!" the genie declared. "Humans are either bonded guests or collared slaves in the City of Brass - especially here, in cursed Bayt al-Bazan!"
there's another
10 < 20, 30
Two more azer run, seeing the humans unfazed by the treacherous attack by their master. "Get back here, you fools!" the efreeti screamed. "I'll drown you cowards in sewage and give your smoking corpses to the Master of the Hounds!"
Coldtooth shouted from the top of the stairs to the azer below.
"D-d-death t-to t-t-yrants! Come and flee w-w-with us, brothers! T-t-these advent-turers have for-for-bidden magic! We have a ch-chance of lib-lib-liberation!"
Yazi's greataxe finished off the efreeti, who went down cursing pretty much everyone in the room for his own misfortune.
The last azer, seeing his master dead, also turned and ran down the corridor.
All the fire-dwarves have run down to the first door on the left side of the corridor, and are awaiting expectantly.
Khayal shakes his head, Yazi still impresses with her fighting ability. And somehow Bartan managed to talk someone down.
He sighs before sheathing his kukris and begins to look over the fallen efreeti.
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Bartan's sly grin cannot be mistaken for anything but pride at his own silver tongue. He bows to Yazi. "Well done, my lady, you once again have vanquished foes in record time."
Coldtooth ran around the adventurers, halting in front of Hajar. He called out to the other azer. One of the new fire-dwarves talked back.
"Will you s-s-urrender??
"One battle does not win a war, much less freedom."
"W-w-wise wor-d-d-s. I am Col-col-coldtooth."
"Broadbeard. We are malmulks of the Flickering Candle."
"And with your efreeti masters dead, will you join us? Will you swear to these humans?"
"Have they killed Kabaness, the devil slavemaster of the Flickering Candle?"
"That d-d-devil teleported out a-after my adventurers nearly defeated him. W-will he be back?"
"Perhaps. If he tells Master Matajinn, then the entire Flickering Candle guild in Bayt al-Bazan will come against you. If he thinks he can take care of your adventurers himself, he may try to kill you from behind."
"W-w-who are the F-Flickering Candle?"
"We are one of the largest assassin guilds in the City of Brass. This is a holding cell for their stolen goods, this cursed Bayt al-Bazan."
"Curse, w-w-what curse?"
"Have you not heard? Did your adventurers not know? This whole citadel is under the Grand Vizer of the City of Brass' curse. Someone tried to steal something from the Grand Vizer, and he locked this palace away as a punishment. You can enter but never leave! So the Flickering Candle knows this place is secure from the authorities."
"C-c-can nothing break the c-c-urse?"
"Who knows? The Flickering Candle wars with the factions here, the Guardians of the Forbidden Gate, the Cult of the Incarnate Flame, and the owners, the Keepers of the Haunted Palace."
"T-t-they fight for control?"
"They fight for food! Many have gone mad here since the curse was invoked centuries ago."
"I a-a-ask again. W-w-will you s-s-urender, or must we k-k-kill you here?
"Our efreeti masters use us as distracting sport. We have no hope of leaving Bayt al-Bazan because of the curse. The salamanders would kill us as soon as look at us. We have only our honor, and our masters have lost that honor with their lives. Very well. Tell your adventurers we will swear to them, but only the same oath we gave the efreeti."
"I-I-I see th-three doors. What lies be-be-behind th-th-them?"
"You stutter a lot, Coldtooth, did you know that?
"Answer the q-question, Broadbeard!"
"Keep your fire low. This room is just our gambling den. The room across, however, holds fire mephits that have been told about your adventurers. No doubt it is full to bursting of summoned mephits by now. Whomever opens that door will get an outburst full in their face! And the last door is the Bursar's Cellar. One of our insane ones. You won't get into his storeroom without his key."
"Is th-th-that all?"
"Yes, blast you! The masters who can teleport take us here when they tire of our complaints, and take us back to raiding the other factions at whim. Now tell your adventurers."
Over the next several minutes, Coldtooth talks with the azer. At one point the Flickering Candle huddle, then continue talking with Coldtooth. The azer in front points to the door next to him, then across the hallway, then down the hall to a last door on the North side.
Coldtooth finally looks up at Hajar and the others. "They are members of the Flickering Candle, a guild of assassins and thieves in the City of Brass." he tells you all in Common. "This palace is under a curse - something my former master did not tell us - all who enter cannot leave, due to something of the Grand Vizer's being here. Broadbeard there says the three rooms are an empty gambling den, a room full of fire mephits ready to kill the first intruder, and a cellar belonging to the salamander above, I think. That door requires a key."
"They will swear to join you." Coldtooth finished. "But only as employer-masters, not the oath my azer gave you, to stay with you. They know about the other factions here in Bayt al-Bazan. That makes them valuable, if only for that." he stated dismissively.
"Say that last over here, short-beard!" one of the azer rebuffed, shouting.
The City of Brass is ruled by an immortal efreeti named the Grand Vizer. A master of wishcraft, the Grand Vizer has defeated countless other efreeti as well as outsider wizards and liches. He is not a genie to be trifled with. If something personally belonging to the Grand Vizer is here, it would be a priceless major artifact, on par with the Scroll of Kakishon.
Khayal looks for a moment disappointed before catching himself. I will leave this place even if I have to cut my way out. Curse or no curse, we are getting home.
Looking to Rayhan What do you know of curses and Grand Viziers?
The scholar rubs his bald head thoughtfully.
Well. I read a manuscript written by the eminent geniekind scholar Rashid El-Abid.
Coldtooth tugged on Hajar's arm, and led the paladin until he was facing the azer. Speaking in Ignan, Coldtooth had the other azer hold up their right hands and solemnly recite a bunch of words that sounded like green wood on a bonfire, all snaps and sizzles. Afterwards, Coldtooth nodded and spoke. "Oath set. They will fight for you, as long as you give them food and water. They are no more with the Flickering Candle."
The fire-dwarf looked back at the other adventurers. "Hallway only has gambling den, trapped room, and Bursar's storage, which requires iron key. Go back to upstairs?" Coldtooth asked.
Rayhan says This Grand Vizier is a most powerful genie. He has bested countless Ifrit and rules the City of Brass. It would be best if we do not anger him pointlessly.
"Well, always good to have additional allies... hopefully they don't change their minds." Bartan muses.
"This Grand Vizier sounds like someone who might be able to help us, if we can get on his good side. What's the likelihood of that, do you think?"
The first lesson or memory most efreeti are taught about the history of the current Grand Vizier and the City of Brass is that centuries ago, a powerful, mortal, human wizard attempted to conquer the City of Brass. Wielding forces of cold that literally froze most efretti and their slaves in their tracks, this wizard managed to best each Plane of Fire's champion again and again, and threatened to freeze the entire City of Brass in eternal ice unless surrendered to. It was only one of the Suleiman's retainers who dared stand up to the wizard, who had already frozen nearly a third of the City, and bested the wizard in a magical wishcraft battle. The wizard's punishment was to become the new Grand Vizier's plaything, and humans and non-efreeti, especially wizards, have been looked upon with suspicion and prejudice ever since.
On the other hand, the City of Brass is known throughout the Planes for its' exotic markets where nearly everything can be bought, for a price. Newcomers must convince the efreeti population that while they are not to be overcome and enslaved, neither are they a major threat to the City itself. It is a fine line not always adhered to by the efreeti of the City.
The Grand Vizier controls the efreeti princes of the City via a medieval-like system of favors and obligations. Part of this is allowing the magical treasures of the Vizier (and the Suleiman) such as precious artifacts or written contracts to be held by the princes, so it is someone else's responsibility to protect them from thieves. If the Grand Vizier felt one of his "borrowed" treasures being stolen, failsafes would be enacted upon the location, from teleporation or stasis traps to curses upon the thief or thieves. A trapped magical artifact that cannot be moved or used by another is almost as good as keeping it in a secure vault - until the Grand Vizier needs that artifact himself, for whatever reason.
The new azer look at Bartan in wide-eyed surprise, then begin guffhawing, laughing, and getting so worked up some fall on the floor, beating the brass with their fists in their mirth for several minutes. "These adventurers are comedians, Coldtooth!" one fire-dwarf says, barely catching his breath. "I haven't laughed this hard in a decade!" Others nod their heads, unable to coherently speak.
Coldtooth drily replied to the young mortal "It is best not to attract the Grand Vizier's attention, they say, lest you find your doom, if you do not please him. Here in the City of Brass, power only recognizes power. Few are more powerful than the Grand Vizier, or do not owe him a favor, such as their lives."
"You think we are not powerful, friends? Did you not watch my lady friend there cut down that efreeti? We have, in fact, ended creatures more powerful than that. We can show our strength to any creature, Grand or not. You let us worry about that, I say."
"Coldtooth, we are the rear guard for these adventurers, yes?" one azer demanded after Bartan's reassurance. The other fire-dwarf nodded back.
Khayal reaches into one of the pouches tied to his belt and withdraws an iron key. He looks at it for a second before tossing it to the nearest of the new Azer. Is this the key we need?
He grin confirms the smart aleck nature of his question.
The azer glance at each other when Khayal shows the key. "The Bursar's cellar holds the Flickering Candle's wine, tobacco, and other delicacies. No one was allowed to be seen even near the door on pain of death." one of the malmuks (slave-fighters) stated. Several of the azer get hungry, if not greedy, looks on their faces.
I wonder what else may be held tucked away in the cellar? Khayal muses openly. Perhaps we aught to give it a look through.
Coldtooth said "Broadbeard there says the three rooms are an empty gambling den, a room full of fire mephits ready to kill the first intruder, and a cellar belonging to the salamander above, I think. That door requires a key."
The adventurers, led by Khayal and Yazi, went to the last door in the passageway. The northern-entering door was different from the others in that it was made of banded iron against the bronze walls.
Broadbeard and the other azer rubbed their hands in anticipation, muttering about "finally" getting roasted coffee beans, khandishar tobacco, and an enormous quantity of well-crafted wines for a change. Khayal threw open the door, revealing a room stacked with brass-sealed amphorae chained together in groups, and large, fragrantly stuffed sacks encircling the walls.
Standing in the center of the room is a Large, grey-colored, barbed devil of whom all of you have had recent acquaintance, facing West. Several emptied jars of what used to be a pink-colored potion lie at his feet, his barbed tail swishing back and forth as the devil chugs another bottle, the pink potion going down both of his jowls. Several recent cuts and gashes along the creature's body are already healed, with a dozen more sealing up on their own under the magical potions' influence.
The devil saw the adventures at the door, and his eyes bugged out in surprise. Almost choking, the grey-colored outsider lowered the potion in one hand. Kabaness said loudly "Oh, rot. This is supremely embarrassing for me, I assure you." Catching the sight of the formerly employed fire-dwarves peeking around the doorway, he added "You just had to tell them about the Bursar's cellar, you mangy curs."
SURPRISE ROUND
Init:
The barbed devil began muttering in Infernal, waving his free hand.
That's a Level 4 summon spell.
Khayal moves in gracefully taking a single swing with his ever sharp kukri.
Khayal reopens one of the recently closed wounds, ichor sliding over sharpened metal.
Bartan doesn't know what the devil is casting but knows it can't be good. He enhances his cards with frost, then casts force anchor and tosses a card at the creature.
plus
Hajar shouts his warcry at the devil
The Dawnflower!
and he moves forward to stand next to Khayal with Tempest raised.
Nasir danced , but Bartan's card flew inbetween the devil's barbs and hit the far wall . Hajar shouted, his attack ready. The Azer mercenaries ducked out of the way of any possible attack.
Nasir danced near Rayhan, who were still on the far steps behind everyone else.
yeah, he's back at full
Bartan's card flew through the air at the barbed devil...
Hajar rushed into the room, the Azer mercenaries ducked out of the way of any possible attack, and Yazi spared no time attacking the devil, Khayal right behind her with his curved blades.
The Harrow card hit one of the creature's many spines, and Kabaness cursed loudly in Infernal as a comically large transparent anchor appeared midway out of his body. "You'll pay for that, boy!" he shouted.
slicing damage
slicing damage
natch
His spell fizzled as multiple blades hit his hand.
Kabness took a graceful step backward , strangely fluid for a creature his size, and said "I'd like to stay and chat, but I simply must tell the efreeti here that unauthorized humans with forbidden magic and spells are present! I suspect you'll be hanging by your heels by sunset, and there's really no place to run, if you haven't found out already. Thanks for ruining my retreat; you've made this personal. Be looking behind you often!" Backing quickly to the wall, the barbed demon uttered a single word, and vanished.
Bartan's force anchor clatters to the floor without a sound, and he snaps his fingers, making it disappear. "Wasn't expecting him to get away that easily. Not ideal, I'd say."
Bartan looks around. "What's next?"
Be prepared. The Efreeti can appear without notice. We've seen that before.
Broadbeard the azer finally enters the room, looking agitated. "For several years Kabness ordered us to battle with the other factions again and again here in Bayt al-Bazan. Mamluks like us took days to recover; some died from their wounds. Many times azer die, but barbed devil's wounds healed after just a day. Now I know why!" The fire-dwarf angrily kicked an empty bottle left on the floor. Behind him, the other azer mutter as well.