Legends of Katapesh - Legacy of Fire

Game Master justaworm

Hazreem nods in reply, "We did banish Bagoas from the throne room for a time, but he will return. The banquet hall has not been cleared out yet, so slaying the Black Genie should be our next goal."

"I will stay here. I don't want you to have to destroy me if the hunger takes over again", the janni nods matter of factly. "I am Aliya, by the way."

"You can get upstairs by way of the open air rooftop walk upstairs from the courtyard, where you eplored Ymeri's pyramid, or by way of the garden chamber just off of the throne room.

Back in the main chamber, there is a final crimson curtain that you haven't explored. If you want to ask any more questions feel free, otherwise we will head there.

I say we check out final curtain

Agreed. Check out the curtain then head upstairs to the banquet hall.

Agreed.

You backtrack into the throne room, wary of the possibility that Bagoas has returned but there is no sign of the darnoc still. Just to the south of the curtain you came through to get to the harem room is a much smaller curtain. Pae checks it out and pushes through it, revealing a 70 foot empty hallway that leads south to a set of large double brass doors.

Pae cautiously makes his way down the hallway and checks the large brass doors out. He doesn't see anything suspicious on the doors; to the contrary they look well used in general. Bahir gives them a good push and is greeted by a truly unexpected sight in this citadel of fire and smoke.

A bronze deck overlooks a lush, vibrant garden ten feet below. Rich black soil covers the ground, and from it springs growths of tall grasses, shrubs, and trees, with one massive conifer rising above the others at the garden's center. A stream meanders lazily between the trees and the buzz of of insects drifts sleepily on the air, creating the illusion of a placid woodland scene - except that the sky is filled with a scene of burning clouds.

The walls surrounding this impossible garden at 70 feet high. The far reaches of this enormous chamber cannot be clearly seen below the tree and shrub line. The catwalk you are on extends along the wall to the south where there appears another passage heading back into the citadel proper.

There are two sets of solid brass steps leading down from the catwalk to the garden below.

Map Overview

Hazreem hovers in the air a look of profound shock upon his face. Resisting the urge to throw caution to the wind and enjoy this oasis, he instead scans each area of the garden, noting each instance of flora and fauna for future reference and also whether any unusual species exists here.

Knowledge, Nature Take 10: 10 + 16 = 26
Perception: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (14) + 22 = 36

Mah'ysa is entranced.
"It's so beautiful!" She whispered.
She shook her head, snapping herself out of the enchantment.
Back to business.
Looking around, she cast Detect Magic.
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Hazreem shakes his head in wonder, "It is like a portion of a deciduous forest had been uprooted from the material plane and placed here instead." He offers the group a rare smile. "This would be an ideal place to rest...assuming no dangerous beasts are lurking here."

Bahir smiles broadly in wonderment, "A rest for the mind from all the brass and burning things also." He takes a step down onto the earthen floor.

Pae, accustomed to traps that lure in their victims, perks up his ears and narrows his vision, looking for anything dangerous in the garden.

Perception: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (9) + 25 = 34

Pae doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary as you walk down the steps and enter into the trees. This is truly a weird site and it’s hard to imagine why a wealthy efreeti family would choose to have dedicate a large portion of their citadel with a chamber like this.

Are you going to go exploring through the trees or just stop and rest a bit.

Hazreem is willing to explore this place to see if this is a good place to rest. He would like to be able to cast his Goodberry spell at some point, he he.

Yep, explore with Bahir taking point.

Mah'ysa opened her eyes.
"All this greenery... not an illusion!" She said, astonished.
"The sky certainly seems to be though."
Lets explore!

Efreat looks concerned, "A nice place to rest but seems too good to be true. We should explore it before we can a breather."

Exploring through the forest, you find it to be more or less like any light forest. Walking through the trees and shrubs isn't particularly difficult and you eventually make your way to a clearing around the refreshingly blue sight of a small spring pond. The pond is stocked with little fish and small woodland creatures dart about, as though excited about having guests. The stream connected to the pond only appears to be about knee deep and flows from some unknown source to the west.

At least a few of you check out the grassy clearing in preparation for a nice rest. Though the magic of this place (the whole citadel itself) eliminates your hunger and thirst completely, at least Mah'ysa can't help letting herself daydream about a picnic by the waters.

If someone succeeded the above check.

Survival check auto-success.
Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (9) + 16 = 25

Hazreem holds up his hand in warning, "I see tracks here, looks like left by a large tiger or leopard...a VERY Large being, leading to and from the pond and off to the west along the stream. It must have surely picked up our scent by now."

Trusting Hazreem's instincts Bahir nods silently and then points back toward the entrance.

Efreat nods and begins flying up into the tree tops hoping for a better look. perception1d20 ⇒ 17

Efreat flies up above the tree tops but does not see the immediate sign of a large tiger. What he sees instead is a large, roughly horse-sized, glittering blue dragonfly take to the air from back towards the western wall. A moment later another one takes the to the air. They don't seem to immediately come after him.

Hazreem slowly flies off behind the sorcerer trying to see if he can spot the hidden tiger.

Perception: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (7) + 22 = 29

Eyes widening, Mah'ysa turned and moved as quietly as she could towards the entranceway.

Hazreem is able to catch a glimpse of what he assumes is a tiger farther off into the trees towards the west.(It is still quite some distance away). Hazreem also now notices the giant dragonflies in the air as well.

Hazreem turns to face his comrades a questioning look in his eyes, "If you wish to take the risk, I can attempt to befriend the tiger. While I believe it poses little threat to us I would prefer not to slaughter it if it can be avoided," waving at the dragonflies, "I think those need to be dealt with first." He finishes.

Looking up to where Hazreem is flying, the paladin reassures him by flashing his usual brilliant smile, "The decision is yours my friend. You know best as the wild is in your blood. I shall follow your lead."

Hazreem nods to Bahir, "Okay let's do this." Waving for the others to follow behind him, he flies in a circuitous route so as to avoid the dragonflies and flies down to approach the tiger in a non-threatening manner, also studying it closer.

Knowledge Nature: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17
Use Wild Empathy. Diplomacy: 1d20 + 13 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 13 + 1 = 27

Are you flying off towards the tiger alone? Or moving with the group?

Hazreem would move with the group, although he would fly in front of the others.

Efreat would be flying directly over the group while keeping a weary eye on those dragonflies.

Bahir follows at the distance designated by Hazreem.

Pae follows the rest.

Realizing that no one is following her, Mah'ysa scuttled back to the team and followed Hazreem's flight path.

As the group pushes on towards the tiger’s location, the dragonflies catch wind of their presence and begin buzzing aggressively. A moment later they speed in to attack.

They are within 35 ft of the group but only those flying have clear line of sight. Those on the ground can tell where they are but the dragonflies have full cover from the trees. Non-magical ranged attacks will take a heavy penalty for firing through the branches and such.

Hazreem readies to swat the dragonflies away once they move to attack, saving his most powerful abilities for now.

assuming that I have a clear shot and they are all grouped together, then I'll hit them all with a cone of cold using a sixth level slot when they get close enough.
Efreat waits to time his spell and encants "flear'vos!" as the warmth is drained from everything in front of him.
reflex for half dc2013d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 6, 5, 1, 1, 4, 3, 5, 5, 3, 4, 2) = 48

Seeing no clear shot and the enormous flying bugs, he keeps his eyes peeled for the tiger and tries to hide under the canopy of trees.

Stealth: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (10) + 24 = 34

Efreat's Cone of Cold easily kill the approaching dragonflies, which fall to the ground with a crash.
I was expecting something like that to happen. :)

Hazreem and the party is now free to approach the tiger's location without any other signs of clear danger.
Hazreem, what is your plan with the tiger?

Hazreem plans to approach it cautiously at ground level and try using Wild Empathy on it, assuming it is a natural creature. I posted his rolls above. If the tiger decides to attack then Hazreem would fly straight up out of its reach.

Hazreem seeks out the tiger with the rest of the group not too far behind. He takes the chance on waiting at a more open area of the forest for the tiger to come to him, though the druid remains ready for a battle if necessary. The tiger comes into view and growls menacingly at the druid, now aware that its potential prey has seen it as well.

Hazreem can easily see that it is a large Dire Tiger, and its scars give evidence to likely many battles fought in its time. The tiger seems to be sizing up the situation.

Do you un-wild shape back into human form for this?

No, Hazreem will stay in his airy form. He does not believe the tiger can be tamed but he still needs to try. Not sure what penalties that entails though.

You are up: 1d20 + druid level + Charisma modifier + any other bonuses you may have related to wild empathy.
Feel free to provide description of what you are trying to do as a air elemental in convincing the tiger to back down. I will add modifiers as needed.

If anyone else can contribute, go ahead as well. I will include results with Hazreem's rolls.

Hazreem pauses briefly, wondering how to entice the tiger not to eat him and his companions. Then a thought struck him...perhaps food would help out here. He motions for one of the others to grab the dragonfly corpses and present them as an offering to the tiger.

If that does not work then he was sure other prey existed here...

Just to recap...here was his previous roll: Wild Empathy: 13 + 13 + 1 = 27

The strange looking air-man, from the tiger's perspective, drops the dragonfly bodies in front of the tiger and backs off. The tiger lets out a low roar-growl and cautiously approaches the creatures. Once it is sure the dragonflies are not moving, it pounces on one, tearing its wings and fiercely gouging it with its claws. It doesn't try and eat it, but it seems to delight in mauling it. Perhaps, the two sets of creatures were not necessarily on good terms with each other.

The tiger seems to regard you with curiosity and doesn't seem likely to attack as long as you don't provoke it. It is certainly not acting like you would think a tiger that hasn't eaten in a long time would act.

Hazreem slowly motions for the others to draw closer, "I think the tiger is...well...pleased about the death of the dragonflies. It should not trouble us. I also think it has found a source of food so hunger is not driving it. Still should we run across any meat we should capture it as an offering to the tiger."

EDIT: Hazreem votes to keep exploring.

One of the things to decide together is to continue to explore here, rest here, or leave.

Pae, knowing he's about snack-sized for the tiger, says, "That's a neat trick, Hazreem. I don't think I'd feel comfortable trying to rest here with that beast, but it's the best place we've seen for far too long. Mah'ysa and Bahir have done a good job keeping me in one piece, so I'm still up for anything. I'll follow your advice, druid."

I'm alright with exploring first, then if suitable, resting.