Legends of Katapesh - Legacy of Fire

Game Master justaworm

"Great, another artifact." Hazreem grumbles. He turns to face Efreat and adds "Now what do we do with it? Take it with us? Is it even safe to touch? If we decide to take it with us, how will the others react to it. We need to see if we can learn more of it."

He adresses Mah'ysa now, "Can your goddess provide us insight here?" Cast Augury or Divination here.

In case it comes up during any discussion ... I should have added that despite its fiery contents the sphere is only giving off a slight radiating heat.

Pae takes a critical look at the floor leading up to it, the pedestal, and the orb itself for traps.

Perception for traps: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (1) + 24 = 25

Bahir follows up, guarding him closely...

Pae checks around the orb and pedestal for any sign of traps. "I don't think it is trapped at all. Should we just pick it up, or does anyone have a bag of sand to replace it with?", Pae smiles.

I'll wait for the response to the augury or divination before picking it up.

I don't think anyone has the right spells for that I nd of thing memorized at the moment. You can look over Mah's and Efreat's and Hazreem's sheet again.

Ah, I see. You are correct, I had assumed Hazreem had and was referring to her doing that now but perhaps he was suggesting we have her memorize one first.

Bahir will detect evil on the orb

Approaching the orb, Mah'ysa casts Detect Magic.
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Knowledge:Arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Mah'ysa casts Detect Magic and seemingly learns little more than Efreat was able to dicern. There is an overwhelming aura surrounding the orb and the school is difficult to discern. Just as Mah'ysa is about to give up studying the aura, she is able to all of the sudden get a clear indication that there is overwhelming conjuration (creation) magic involved.

Mah'ysa can confirm Hazreem's suspicions that this is indeed an artifact, and as such she, nor Efreat, can divine its powers through detect magic or similar spells.

There is a knowledge(local) DC 30 check that no one tried quite a few posts back. I will repost it here.

I think you missed that I used Detect Evil on the orb in my earlier post :)

Ahh, sure did.

Bahir does not detect any evil aura associated with the orb, pedestal, or room.

Think the only one able to make the Knowledge(local) roll is Pae: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21 Nope.

Bahir looks over his shoulder at Mah'ysa, Hazreem, and Efreat, "Well, you said we have very limited time here. It doesn't radiate evil of any sort, should I attempt to pick it up?"

Efreat shakes his head, "perhaps you should allow me. I have a way with magic."
I'll touch it and find out if it communicates anything. If not, then I can do use magic device to try and activate it.

Hazreem nods in agreement. "Yeah, we know Ymeri is an evil goddess, and may not approve of her desecrating her...temple. Efreat is the safest choice to handle it."

As an old school player back in the day, I just have to say: I HATE artifacts!

Efreat touches the orb and nothing extraordinary happens.

Mah'ysa flinched back from the orb.
"Ah! Alright, I can confirm an overwhelming Conjuration-Creation aura coming off this thing. It is definitely an artifact of some kind."
Knowledge:Local: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

"Well, that didn't do anything. I wonder if I try..."
use magic device to activate:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (4) + 13 = 17

Mah'ysa reaches deep into her bardic knowledge but cannot recall any more information about the artifact. While, Efreat continues his magical studies, he cannot unlock any further secrets to the crystal orb.

Its been roughly 7 minutes down here with all the searching, discussing, and experimenting going on.

Hazreem glances uneasily at the top of the stairs. "We are running out of time. I say we chance it. We know we will need the orb at some point, and no guarantee if we can get back inside here."

Seeing as Efreat already has ahold of the sphere, "Grab it Efreat. Let's get out of here." The paladin makes his way back up the stairs to make sure the coast is clear.

Efreat follows in suit behind Bahir. Floating behind Bahir, "So, we are sure this is the orb right? Doesn't seem to do much."

Concerened about the effects of the knock spell wearing off while they were still down inside the pyramid, Efreat grabs the orb and follows Bahir up the staircase; everyone else follows behind them. The party makes it back to the top level of the pyramid with no issue, and the orb doesn't seem to change in any way.

Hazreem sighs in relief. Being trapped in that Pyramid was not his idea of fun.

"Well, we have this orb now. Now what?" He asks. "We should see if we can learn more about it in the Library now."

Bahir nods but adds, "We should hide it from view of others though, who knows how they will react if they see we have it"

Will it fit in one of our bags of holding?

yes, it is about the size of a human head

Any thoughts on where to next? I've heard back to Shazathared's fountain or head to the library.

Hazreem votes to check out the Library.

Library it is!

Excellent! Efreat I am only going to charge you for one of the knock spells, and so please add 2 second level slots back to your pool. One of the reasons why I kept casting was that I kinda thought you guys were going to rest and that it wouldn't make a difference. Again, bad me ... :)

Efreat currently has the orb. Who's bag of holding should it go in? (Bahir or Mah'ysa)

As you unfurl the magic carpet and are about to set back out, Iavesk makes a quick remark about the heat and then collapses to the ground.

Heal check auto-succeeds.

Hazreem mutters a curse under his breath and quickly moves to attend the fallen genie. "Damn, I forgot about this blasted heat! You would think genies would be better prepared..." He lays a hand on Iavesks arm uttering a prayer to his god. Cast Lesser Restoration on him.

Once Iavesk has been revived he says, "Let's make it quick and return to Shazathared so Iavesk can recover."

Iavesk comes to quickly once Hazreem casts his spell. "Ahh, thank you Hazreem Al'Shakar. I am afraid that without any of my gear I am at a terrible disadvantage here. Would you have any water and perhaps something to protect from this oppressive heat as well?"

Hazreem nods slowly, "I can create some water for you should you have a container to hold it in." He then turns to the others. "Perhaps we should try recovering Iavesk's gear. I have a feeling he will need it if he wants to travel with us."

Did we already recover his gear or not? I don't think we did but I just want to be sure.

Perhaps Efreat can cast Resist Elements on him.

You cleared and searched that wing and did find some loot. You didn't really recover anything in that area that he recognizes.

When asked, Iavesk describes his gear, "a ring of fire resistance, magical bracers that acted like armor, and a masterwork silvered scimitar. We djinn prefer to use our innate powers, but it is nice to have a good sword."

Hazreen nods slowly, "So whoever originally took you prisoner must have your gear still, especially since Argbadh did not have them. We can take you back to where you were originally captured and see if we can track down whoever took your gear Iavesk, since this heat will kill you otherwise. If we cannot find your belongings, then we can take you back to Shazathared." He turns to Efreat, "Can you give him some protection against the heat?"

Efreat starts chanting, "shon'nar! Krack'koom." Nodding, Efreat continues, "That should protect you from the heat and from other harm."
cast resist energy fire and mage armor on the djinn

Iavesk thanks Hazreem and Efreat sincerely. Then, borrowing a crystal bowl you found, he casts a spell and the bowl fills with what appears to be wine (Spellcraft: Create Wine). After drinking some he remarks, "Not the best vintage out there, but it does hit the spot. Would anyone else like some?" , he offers the bowl out.

"Ok, I feel better now. Lead on."

Current status updated with spells cast and Iavesk information

Ok, Searching the Parlor / Library and re-searching the areas held by the Flickering Candle are both on the table. The entrance to each are next to each other from here.

If you are going to re-search the areas held by the Flickering candle, you need to tell me about how much time you will spend, either overall or per room and which floors you will hit in order. The areas are D11-D15, C1-C7, E12-E16, & B15-B18. We will fast-play through all of the searching until something specific happens (if something happens...)

Level D map with entrances to both areas marked

Oops, Iavesk's hit points are 79/79. I forgot to bump him up.

I updated my status bar with current ac based upon active spells. My vote is to hit the parlor/library first.

Efreat considers, "Perhaps we should search..."

Metagame: I don't think we are getting out of here without resting again, so we should have plenty of time to re-search the Flickering Candle area whenever we decide to get to it. Are we searching it for Iavesk's equipment, is that the intention? Sorry, not quite clear on that.

Ok, it looks like Hazreem and Efreat have both voted for the library first. I am good with that, let's go to the library.

Bahir: Yes The plan was to try to find Iavesk's gear so he can help contribute to us here. My idea was to start where we found Iavesk and see if there is a storage room or something similar, so we would need to go room by room until Efreat's spell expires. We can go there after we check out the library first.

Using the carpet, you all are able to quickly fly down over the rail to the courtyard area and then to the door for the parlor. A large brass door stands before you and you recall Argabadh mentioned that this door has become only recently locked.

Feel free to make Pae's rolls as desired.

Approaching the doors carefully, Pae pulls out a rolled leather series of pouches with various strangely shaped metal instruments in it and mumbles to himself, "The day I can't get through a lock is the day goblins stop singing stupid songs..."

Perception for traps: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (8) + 24 = 32

Disable device to open lock: 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (11) + 33 = 44

Pae studies the door methodically, noting that he is very confident that it is not trapped but is locked. With a a few deft turns of his lockpick tools he is able to open the door. "Wow, that was by far the best lock I've had the pleasure to break.", Pae remarks with pride.

"Yeah, now let's hope whoever locked this door is not waiting inside with a bared blade..." Hazreem mutters. He decides to listen at the door to see who, if anything, lurks on the other side.

Perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (7) + 21 = 28

Hazreem listens intently at the doorway to the parlor but doesn't hearing anything of note. Of course, the outer courtyard is a little noisy, and these solid brass doors are rather thick as well.

Bahir puts his shoulder into pushing the solid brass doors open.

Mah'ysa eagerly agrees to try the Library first.
Before Bahir tries forcing the door, Mah'ysa quickly kissed him on the cheek, bestowing a Touch of Good +5.
"Good luck Sir Bahir!"

Hazreem, are you still wildshaped?
Just waiting to see if Efreat is going to act before the door is opened...

Pae readies his shiny new oversized "genie killer" rapier while Iavesk paces nervously.

Yes, Hazreem is still wild-shaped.