The Sheikh says, "The head of the Children of the Lion said he was making his way to find the Lost City of Sokkar and make his way back to Muluk to consult with his son, who has taken up there. He said he was worried about one of his sons having been enthralled by a fake holy man and there is supposedly some sort of relic in Sokkar that could dispel the Enchantment, something about together him and his other son could save the other boy."
"May I ask how long ago has this happened?"
The Sheikh says, "It was about 4 weeks ago."
Abdalla the sheikh's husband says, "I shall accompany this group to the meeting place for Nerim tomorrow. This Shai'ra and her group should be given some accompaniment on the morrow."
"You are most kind," says Fadilah. She inclines her head thankfully. "I would... fain tell and listen to stories and hear tales of the fancies of the genie realms until the night grows long, but alas, our task cannot wait."
The Sheikh says, "I imagine you will be back this evening. My husband will only be available from tomorrow morning."
The Sheikh says, "It was about 4 weeks ago."
"Thank ye for the information" - Aggrammar bowed - "We did capture that 'holy man' - the dwarf chuckled - "Turned out ta be a fox in disguise"
The Sheikh says, "A male fox did this, that is macabre. Sounds like a lycanthrope but werefoxes are exclusively female. Odd."
You finish your tea with the Janni tribe and you leave your caravan members in the citadel with the Janni and you make your way into the ruins of Al-Anwahr.
The structures of this once-proud city have been slowly
eroded by time into a sprawling collage of broken stone
buildings, hardly recognizable for their earlier purpose.
A wide boulevard runs the length of the city, flanked
by crumbled buildings and countless broken pillars that
reach upward into a pitiless sky. The paving stones are
uneven with age, and separated by tufts of sun-withered
grass.
GM Rolls
Attacks against Agrammar hit , Zairiah hit , Fadilah hit , Nura hit
From out of the sky each of you are hit bit some sort of a spike and then you hear a loud roar from out of the baritone register, you look into the sky about 100ft in the air and you see a monster, with a leonine torso and legs,
batlike wings, a man's head, a tail tipped with iron spikes, and an
appetite for human flesh.
It looks like it will stands 6 feet tall at the shoulder and measures
15 feet in length. It has a 25-foot wingspan. The leonine
torso has a tawny hide, the mane is a lion's brown-black color,
and the batlike wings are a dark brown with sparse hair.
Initiative Party , Enemy
Round 1
Party
Zariah gets hit, and only then notices the flying bat-man-lion thing.
She immediately take out her bow and takes a shot at it.
for Zairiah's crit. She does a total of 11 damage.
Fadilah, Agrammar, and Nura
Fadilah shies away from the spike that rips past her and races to find cover behind a crumbling building wall. "Find me a shield spell!" she shouts to her gen as she runs.
rounds
The Gen says, "Yes, mistress!" as it poofs off to grab her spell.
Nura takes aim with her Short bow hit
Agrammar readies an attack to see what the monster does.
The monster flies up to the party and lands to attack,
Agrammar moves forward with his scimitar and attacks hit doing
The monsters looks as though its chest has partially caved in but it still out of anger attacks Agrammar hit with its left claw for , the right one misses, and the bite also misses.
Initiative: Party , Enemy
Round 2
Party
Nura drops her short bow and draws steel, slashing at the monster.
Fadilah stays crouched behind the wall as she waits for the gen to return with the spell.
Nura's attack misses.
Zairiah steps back and attacks the monster with her shortbow:
Attack (Shortbow):
The arrow misfires into the ground right in front of her.
Agrammar moves forward with his scimitar and attacks miss
The monster attacks Agrammar with its left claw and misses, Right claw the right one misses, bite hits for .
Initiative Party , Enemy
Round 3
The monster attacks Agrammar with its left claw and misses, Right claw the right one misses, miss
Party
Fadilah's gen reappears and says, "Success, mistress!"
"Thank you," Fadilah says breathlessly to the gen, before she quickly casts the shield spell.
Nura growls and swings at the creature again.
Nura's large slice decapitates the lion headed, bat monster and it dies.
Combat Over
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Nura's sword says, "That beast was definitely delicious, by the Loregive, we need to do this more often!"
Your group gathers itself together and continue towards area C following the directions you picked up from the Janni. You continue down the boulevard after about 30 minutes of walking. You figure in the city's heyday such a walk may have taken you about two hours with the hustle and bustle of big city life and all.
In the middle of the boulevard, at the
center of the city, stands the remains of a huge, once proud mosque. With most of its domed ceiling collapsed
after centuries of neglect, only a quarter of the structure is
still standing and, as you were told, served as a camp for Haroushin’s first expedition during the excavation of the buried palace.
Zairiah takes a closer look, wanting to make sure the dome isn't about to continue its collapse on top of them. She isn't a structural engineer though, so as long as it isn't toppling right now, she decides it is stable and continues.
She searches the area for signs of the last party to come through, and to see if they left anything behind.
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You go inside the Mosque and the writing on the outside of the mosque is faded and you think it is covered in the script of Ancient Midani also know as Chun but it is extremely faded.
On the inside of the Mosque, you find an area which was marked off for livestock as a sort of sheep and goat pen. Searching the area can still find useful tools, like rope, spades, winches, pulleys, and iron spikes neatly stacked where the first expedition left them. Other than a little dust they have been well preserved they have been under a roof for a few months so they look like they are in really good condition.
GM rolls
In a dusty corner of the mosque, Zairiah finds a half rotten canvas bag filled with 1 silver piece and 14 platinum pieces of ancient origin and having the name in Chun saying Azaltin, also there is what looks like a copper religious symbol that has turned green with age.
Zairiah shows the coins and the holy symbol to the group, asking if any of them have heard of Azaltin, or know what deity the religious symbol honors.
Nura shrugs helplessly. She has no idea.
Aggrammar heals some of his wounds after the nasty combat.
"Damned beast was tough!" - he grunted.
Agrammar
n the distant past, when Fate passed her knowledge to the Loregiver, AlAnwahr was a rich and proud city ruled by King Azaltin, an intelligent man
well versed in poetry, astrology, and the ways of magic. As the Loregiver
wandered Zakhara, teaching the laws of the divine to man and genie alike, she is
said to have stopped in Al-Anwahr and been a guest of Azaltin for 11 days.
Azaltin honored his guest daily with lavish celebrations and exquisite gifts of
silks, gold, and perfumes. After each night of entertainment, the king would ask
his guest the same question: “How can a man live forever?”
The Loregiver warned Azaltin about the danger of such knowledge, but in the
end could hardly insult her gracious host by refusing to answer. Each night she
told the king about the obstacles that prevent man from achieving immortality.
Azaltin’s scribes labored furiously to capture the Loregiver’s parables and cryptic
riddles, which were set down in a legendary scroll titled The Eleven Baneful
Gates. According to legend, the Loregiver departed Al-Anwahr, leaving the
equivocal scroll in Azaltin’s care. Azaltin pondered the scroll for a decade,
ignoring his people while trying to unravel its secret.
After months of fasting and meditation, he abandoned the kingdom to his
brother Amakim and left to ponder the scroll in the solitude of the wilderness.
Ancient legends say he returned a dozen years later, an undead creature of
hideous appearance, to reclaim his kingdom. Before long, Amakim led a revolt to
topple his monstrous brother. Some members of court remained loyal to their
undead king, however, and a bloody battle ensued throughout the city.
Ultimately, Amakim’s forces triumphed, but when they reached the king’s palace,
they found that Azaltin had vanished. Amakim and his forces departed AlAnwahr and eventually founded the city of In’aash. Centuries past, the city was
renamed Muluk, while Al-Anwahr and Azaltin passed into folklore
Interesting. No wonder he wants us to bring him the scroll. I wonder if that is even a good idea. If it leads to creepy undead things... that isn't eternal life, it is eternal death. Glory to Zann though. We seek out knowledge. Grant that people will use it wisely.
The party moves out from the old Mosque after inventoring some of the equipment left by the last group.
GM Rolls
After a thirty minute walk down the north-south avenue in a southerly direction you eventually come into the area of C. The district looks to be a former warehouse district where ancient Zakharans must have stored their good before being sold in the local bazaars or shipped elsewhere. Considering the desolate nature of the city and the different animals which you can somewhat see hiding behind building and such, you walk around the area but then you smell a cooking fire's smoke coming out of one of the warehouses in the area.
Zariah approaches stealthily, trying to see who is in there.
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"It's nice to know that those old stories and poems have some use," quips Fadilah after the relates the story of Azaltin.
She hangs back as Zairiah goes to investigate the cooking fire, and sends her gen out to fetch a magic missile spell, just in case.
rounds
The gen quickly returns empty-handed, leaving Fadilah crouched in the ruins and hoping that Zairiah doesn't run into foes.
Zairiah
Your gen returns and says, "Mistress, I have your spell!"
Zairiah climbs back out of the window, gathers up the party, and tells them what she saw.
Should we approach him? Someone living or camping out here might have some interesting insights.
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"We should approach as friends, until he proves himself otherwise," Nura offers her counsel.
"I love me some roasted jerboa" - Aggrammar smiled - "Let us go"
Zairiah returns, but she announces their presence before getting too close.
Hello! Would you mind some company?
The man roasting the jerboa and wearing the black aba turns but his face is covered by a veil and he backs away from the cook fire and says, "Greetings, my name is Nerim and may the Loregiver smile on your path, all the days
of your life! I welcome you to my home and wish
every strength for the tests that await you. Eleven
obstacles stand between you and the truth. Truth is
not obvious, but can be found in the simplicity of a
man’s love for his wife. And of course you may join me. I have only been able to catch one jerboa this afternoon but it shall be delicious.”
He then says, "What are your names?"
Good to meet you, Nerim. May the Loregiver smile upon you as well. We thank you for your hospitality. I think Aggrammar is looking forward to a bit of jerboa. I personally would just enjoy a conversation.
I have some questions, if you don't mind. Are you a prophet? You claim to know that eleven obstacles lay before us, and I would be interested to know more about that. Also, feel free not to answer if you find my questions too personal, but why do you live out here, and why do you cover your face? Do you not need to see the world around you, or ... if you are a prophet does that interfere with your second sight?
Zairiah realizes she is babbling, and shuts her mouth, moving closer and taking a seat around the jerboa cook fire.
"Name's Aggrammar" - the dwarf nodded - "Don't mind if I do" - he smiled, joining the man, and trying the jerboa.