A Push of the Fates.... Zakhara... You Jewel!

Game Master Insnare

Am I S? I would end at exactly 0 hit points if I failed.

S=Sheikh, so I guess you are unconscious

"No more of that ye bastard! Talk is over" - Aggrammar growled, badly wounded, and enraged after watching his friends fall around him.

He wades on her, and swings his scimitar hard.

Scimitar: 15 - 1d20 ⇒ 15 - (13) = 2
Damage if it hits: 1d8 + 1 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 1 + 1 + 2 = 10

I have to say I am really in doubt here as to what to do. Don't remember how things used to be in AD&D2e, and if it would be better to attack or try to heal some of the fallen. Going on instinct here, and hoping Shafazal is almost down. Also if she unleashes another one of those, we are done. So I need to be up in her face.

Congratulations, one hit point less and it would have been a W but not the best kind. Although recurring villains are fun but we already have a few with Yodfah and the Brotherhood.

Agrammar strikes Shafazal down her body starts to fly up into the air but then she bleeds out and falls right back to the ground, dead.

Combat Over

The sheikh swung against Shafazal, but the sorceress's corpulence belied her agility. As her gen popped out from the outer realms, the sheikh's eyes widened as the Shafazal unleashed a deadly storm of hail and ice that engulfed the party of heroes. As the blast of cold settled, Ibn Taaib fell to the ground, covered by ice and snow.

Apparently in AD&D2e you die at 0--at least according to the purple worm website.

We have been playing 0 is unconscious. So as long as you get healed, the sheikh is still with us.

Frackit runs over and heals the Shiekh. Cure Moderate wounds: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

After that the proest looks towards the tent and heads back in. He sees the chest and goes to see whats in it.

Zairiah could use some healing too. I will rewrite the description of the tent. it has been over a month after all.

The interior of this huge tent (20 feet by 30
feet) is divided by hanging carpets into four living spaces.
The thick ceiling is 5 feet high. Illumination is provided
everywhere by magical light. The interior smells fragrant,
like wild orchids or gardenias.
The floors and walls of this section are actually large
carpets, covered by mesmerizing designs. The messy area
is littered with countless empty food trays, water-pitchers,
and brightly-colored pillows.

Several dozen scrolls and books are
scattered about a large iron chest that rests in the middle
of the floor of carpets. A simple brass lamp burning with
clove-scented oils rests on the chest, filling the area with
its exotic aroma.

The chest
weighs over 500 pounds and contains 5,000 gp, 10 giant pearls, a philter, a scroll, and a brooch.

The Sand gen that had been working for Shafazal moves over to Fadilah and says, "Good Evening Mistress, and let the lights of the Loregiver smile upon you. My name is Abul min Al-sahra a gen of the highest upstanding abilities. Surely, a Shai'ra of your power stands in her ascendency and would like a gen who would best exude her will."

Lucky strike :)

Aggrammar spits as the sorceress goes down - "Dat is dat", then nods approvingly as Frackit heals the Sheikh back to consciousness.

The dwarf then heads to Zairiah with concern - "Come now lass, tis still not yer time" - he places his hand gently on her forehead, and allows the blessing of Hajama heal her.

Cure Moderate: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

Is everyone's HP tag up to date?

The sheikh blinks the frost out of his eyelashes, as he pushes himself up slowly, holding his blasted chest. He stands up, tapping Frackit's shoulder in silent thanks as he breathes out. His wipes his frost-rimmed sword with a piece of his turban, sheathing it, and looks up to see the dead bloodied sorceress.
The man's eyes lower, shaking his head in shame and disappointment at how this all ended.

"I must thank thee for thy aid, great giant," the sheikh says, looking up to the giant. "Indeed, if thou hast chosen to side with the sorceress, we would have truly been doomed."

I would have been at zero as well, because even only taking half that attack was exactly the 18 hit points I had. I adjusted to 10 hit points for the healing that Aggrammar gave me (thanks!).

When Zairiah returns to consciousness, she thanks Aggrammar profusely, and then goes over to loot Shafazal's body. (I think she had a wand of magic missiles that she was firing at me... any charges left? And anything she was wearing?)

After that, she returns to the tent and starts arranging the papers and books to see what Shafazal was working on, and they of course loot the chest.

Sheikh, you're keeping track of loot now, correct?

Zairiah grabs a bunch of pillows so that the whole caravan can sleep more comfortably, and she also looks through the tent for Shafazal's wardrobe... she figures she might have a chance to get a nice new set of clothing.

She asks the genies if they can help carry everything back to the caravan. If the chest is too heavy, they might have to empty it and carry everything individually.

Nura releases her held breath. It had been too much to hope for, but they had prevailed, and all yet lived, thank the loregiver! She aids Zairiah in stripping Shafazal's corpse; when it has been thoroughly searched, she carries it outside and dumps it onto the sand.

On Shafazal's dead body you find two wands, one you can recognize was the wand of magic missile, how many charges that are left on it would require some sort of magical check. You also find the extremely pretty Jellaba(belt), a scroll and two potions. She is wearing a bunch of jewelry, bracelets, anklets, necklaces and some ear and regular rings made from gold.

The books and the like are written in some sort of magical runes.

Fadilah plants her staff and looks to the small sand gen, and she says, "As you can see, I carry a staff gifted to me by the nobility of the marids, and so I have a tie to the seas; and I do have a gen as well, who is currently executing a task on my behalf. I am sorry to disappoint, as I have seen that you are a hard and loyal companion. Is there aught else I might do for you before you must away to the elemental realms now that your mistress has met her fate?"

I don't think there's... any rule about having multiple gens, but it seems like sha'ir are supposed to just have one, at least unless/until your gen gets killed and you have to get a replacement. So one at a time, really. Which presumably the gen would know. But... not really sure?

I was wondering that too... if you could get a "better" gen that had better spells, or was faster, or if you could have more than one. Would be cool, but not sure how all of that works.

Not knowing any magical runes, Zairiah puts all of the books and notes into a tidy stack and delivers them to Fadilah along with the wands and scroll and potions.

Lots of magic stuff. Perhaps it will help you? Could you also check the stuff in the chest and tell us if any of that is magic as well?

As for the belt and jewelry, Zairiah has Fadilah check it all for magic, but if it isn't, she wears the belt, and then sizes up the jewelry, trying to estimate how much it is worth.

Appraise (Intelligence 13, do have proficiency): 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18

Even if it is worth a lot though, she picks out some nice pieces so that everyone has something to wear if they choose, to commemorate the day.

Surely the Loregiver watches over us. These will be a reminder of his support.

I think this would be a fun place to bring your gen back

Fadilah's gen returns and says, "I have your spell, mistress!"

The gen says, "Sorceress Fadilah is my mistress. You ought to find your own."

Abul has been upgraded with more combat ability but it does not affect his ability to get spells.

Abul says, "I was talking to the mistress. If you won't have me, then I must return to the Great Dismal Delve until I find a new master. Mayhaps, you have some questions for me?"

While you are talking the two Djinni proceed to kiss each other very passionately.

@Aggramar: My HP tab is up to date.
@Zairiah: Yes, I'm keeping track of loot and the story. Please tell me if I forgot to log anything.

Ibn Taaib thanks Aggramar for his aid, and lays hands on him you regain 8 hp as he continues addressing the giant, glancing at his allies looting the dead sorceress.

"Pray tell; why did thee choose to aid us over Shazafal?"

Does the giant say anything in response?

The Giant says, "I was helped by your companions in the fore. I reminded of them. The Makshi, me thoughts my friends be but wouldn't listen. Me thoughts the Sensational Sorceress Shafazal mine friend was but she gave me drink and methoughts we were lovers. But alas no... confus-ed I am. She snowed everyone including Makshi. Not good lady, I see now. By the Loregiver I was tricked."

Abul responds, "Sorceress Shafazal was not bad, she had a goal and others mocked her for it and lost a wager. A typical genie wager. She wanted to build the most beautiful Tower in all of the Land of Fate and wanted to hire the best Genie to help her. Your friends must have seen the money to attain this goal."

Zairiah, thinking that it would be wise to be polite to all geniekind, responds to Abul.

A beautiful tower and hiring an amazing craftsgenie are both laudable goals, but why did she kidnap Namered? That was the injustice that we were bound to correct.

Also, is there no other way that you could stay out of the Great Dismal Delve? Could you serve in other ways, as an advisor or could you offer your service in exchange for help with a task, as Diliram arranged with us? What are the rules, if you don't mind telling me, and it isn't forbidden for me to know?

Zairiah pets Sham as she talks, glad that she didn't die out here, leaving him stranded.

Abul says, "She did not kidnap Namered but she made a wager with Namered where if he lost he would enter into her service for one year and a day where she could only call on him in this month so in end effect two months of servitude, it was a wager of wits. Well, she put a spell on the Astrolabe so no one can touch it but her. I am not sure where you got this information from most likely from the smitten one over yonder. Whether she lied or was lied to remains to be seen." pointing at Diliram who has been canoodling with Namered even though he is not actually free.

He then says, "Well I am a gen, my lot in life is to serve a Shai'r until he or she deems me worthy for a higher existence."

Diliram moans and then says, "This gen is a liar. She imprisoned him into the Astrolabe of Entrapment."

Namered says, "Yes, she did imprison me honey but I did lose the wager. I could not talk to you while I was in her service, without her explicit consent. You know the rules."

Frackit comes out and smiles as he looks at the couple and then to the Gen." wait You get enslaved? Thats not good" Frackit says as he then looks to Abul.

" You, The genie, you do the whole fetch spells thing? Can anyone do that or just Arcanists?"

Abul says, "I am a gen not a full blown genie. Those two are Djinni. I am a Daolani."

He stops and says, "Yes, I fetch spells. I have to traverse usually different planes to find the spell fragments and bring them back to my Shai'r. Only Gen can fetch spells for Shai'rs. Anyone if they perform the ritual to call a gen and they have the proclivity could become a Sha'ir. Even races which are generally averse to arcane magic can become shai'r, like dwarves or those underground elves, too."

GM Rolls

Zairiah appraisal

Zairiah slips one of Shafazal's bracelets onto her wrist. It is a silvery color with a black stone.

She passes the rest of the items out to the group to either wear or to save for selling/trading later. Perhaps these would be good for their cover as traders.

See spoiler for the loot list, but the white gold/onyx bracelet was claimed by Zairiah.

Namered pushes his lover Diliram off of him for a quick second and says, "You really ought to free me from the Astrolabe. I will be whisked back into it at sunrise. She has put an aversion spell on it."

Aggrammar checks the jewelry with an approving eye, but declines to choose or wear any of it.

The Giant says, "I was helped by your companions in the fore. I reminded of them. The Makshi, me thoughts my friends be but wouldn't listen. Me thoughts the Sensational Sorceress Shafazal mine friend was but she gave me drink and methoughts we were lovers. But alas no... confus-ed I am. She snowed everyone including Makshi. Not good lady, I see now. By the Loregiver I was tricked."

"Fer a moment there I thought ye were going to skewer us all" - the dwarf grunted - "Good thing ye decided ta lend us a hand" - he begrudgingly admitted though, not used to being in 'friendly' terms with any of the giantkin.

@Party: The loot list can accept suggestions or edits. If you like some of the loot, please mark it and we will all know you have it. I will claim one of the golden finger-rings

He then turns to thank the giant with a respectful nod, and turns to the Astrolobe.

"You really ought to free me from the Astrolabe. I will be whisked back into it at sunrise. She has put an aversion spell on it."

"Can we destroy the astrolobe to free him?" Ibn Taaib asks Fadilah. He then thinks of another way, and suggests to the young sorceress: "Claim it, Lady Fadilah, and Will for his freedom. It may be a powerful tool for us later."

Abul responds, "Sorceress Shafazal was not bad, she had a goal and others mocked her for it and lost a wager. A typical genie wager. She wanted to build the most beautiful Tower in all of the Land of Fate and wanted to hire the best Genie to help her. Your friends must have seen the money to attain this goal."

"Perhaps she did not start out evil, but she saw violence as her only solution," Ibn Taaib says, looking down on the looted sorceress with solemnity. "Mockery and dismissiveness warped her to be violent and cruel to respond to the pleas of good people with murderous fury. She was arrogant, frightened, and angry--too disturbed to see that she her Doom was this night. Now no beautiful tower will rise in Zakhara."

He pauses, and when he receives his share of her jewelry, he kneels over the dead sorceress, returning one of her golden finger-rings to her still-warm finger, and clasps her hand. He whispers. "I never wanted this result, sorceress. It is a terrible thing for one to die alone, in the desert, struck down from behind by whom was believed to be friend. The power thou wielded clouded thy mind, and the jibes of thy rivals poisoned thy heart. May the divines forgive thee for the wicked end of thy life."

The sheikh glances into the empty eyes of the sorceress, and covers her face with her veil, preparing for her for burial rites, silently refusing to leave her corpse exposed to the vultures and dogs.

Happy to, Namered, if you tell us how to free you. It seems to be a strong aversion spell, since it went through the heavy wall of the tent. From the stories you can usually surround something and catch it that way, but this particular spell seems to be stronger. Can Fadilah claim it?

Abul shakes his head in disgust, "Sir, you are incorrect and being willfully so. You and the dwarf come to my mistress and ask her guidance all while knowing your companion was intent on pilfering my mistress' property. Your words sound like her actions were illogical given the circumstances. Had your group come to her and asked her, mayhaps a deal could have been struck. Considering you have a shai'ra amongst you, she could have helped in summoning The Tower Genie to help her. I will just go back the Great Dismal Delve." and with that the gen named Abul went back to the plane from whence he came.

The Giant says, "Before the Loregiver, there much animosity betwixt Giant and Dwarf was, now not so, me had heard such problems still exist up North in the uncivilized lands."

Namered says, "You would still have to undo the aversion spell and then you should be able to lay claim to the Astrolabe. Please do not destroy it until after I am freed, there maybe other Djinn, Marid, Efreet or Dao inside."

Ibn Taaib takes in the gen's words with consideration, but as the gen disappeared before hearing a response, the sheikh says nothing to the empty space and continues in preparing the sorceress for her burial rites. He picks up one of the shovels they found in the expedition to Al Anwahr.

"In the future," the sheikh says, as he digs a grave for the sorceress. "I shall be more forthright in our inquiries. I regret how this all ended, and will try to make amends."

I've updated my hit points now.

"Those magical creatures are a very chatty lot. As for the baubles and jewels of our fallen enemies, I have no specific need for such, but I appreciate the offer."

At this point, Fadilah's gen returns. "Mistress, I have your spell."

Frackit stanss as he looks around. " So what about the demon and horrible tree assassins? Giant seems hn-h-harmless, and we freed Namered, what about those guys" Frackit points lettinf the morale quandry about this situation die. That would be a question to ask Garl Glitterfold later. For now tasks need we d to get done and issues addressed.

Namered says, "I am in fact not yet free. I need to be freed from the Astrolabe. "

He points at the astrolabe in the sand.

Namered continues, "Are you referring to the Ifreet. That is an illusion. It will go away in the morning. The Makshi are dead."

Fadilah accepts the spell from her gen.

"Your timing is comically impeccable, my good associate," she says to her genie companion.

Turning to Namered, she says, "I might be able to undo the aversion spell; is it possible to release any other bound genies in any other way? I am loath to engage with a genie prison as I feel that it is a grossly irresponsible exploitation of the agreements between sha'ir and geniekind, but I will do so if I must in order to liberate its prisoners before it is destroyed."

Nura takes only a silver anklet as her share of the loot, then aids the sheikh in digging the grave. When finished, she helps to lower the body into the pit carefully.

Namered says, "If only most Shai'rs had your compunction. In order to free geniekind from the Astrolabe, you need to manipulate it, which is by far the quickest and least painful way of freeing me and maybe some others. If you look at the astrolabe, it has 12 different locations where the geniekind can be entrapped, one for each month of the lunar year. If you look at it you can see the constellations and they slowly change after time."

Feel free to give me Genie Lore checks for the Astrolabe or if you want to read the documents collected from the tent.

Fadilah collects some of the notes and says to her companions, "Once the burial is done, we might as well set up our own camp. This may take some time. Do not feel distressed over the results of this encounter... we gave the woman the chance to release her prisoners, and she chose violence."

Ibn Taaib says a prayer over the dead sorceress, and nods at Fadilah. He looks to the grand tent, and says, "By the law of the wild, all she had is now ours. We may rest in her tent, and take it with us later."

He drives his camel to the oasis, and fills his own waterskins with the valuable liquid.

When we rest, Ibn Taaib takes first watch.

Diliram says, "After you free Namered, we will take you back to your caravan."

Zairiah sits up with Fadilah, helping her with anything she needs, and being curious about the Astrolabe itself. She wants to keep it, but since Fadilah thinks it is evil, she assumes that she will have it destroyed, so she wants to learn more about it while she can.

If Fadilah takes a break to sleep, then she will too.

" We could rest up, ans Me and Aggrammar can pray for more healing and heal everyone." Frackit says looking for any more daggers.

Ibn Taaib reads the documents after Fadilah is done with them, and tries to understand the power of the Astrolobe and find any notes left by the sorceress on which geniekind are trapped within.

"A terrible thing it shall be should we free those who are best left shackled," the sheikh says. "We must proceed with the utmost caution; perhaps the sorceress entrapped a soul who must not be let free."

@Party: The loot list can accept suggestions or edits. If you like some of the loot, please mark it and we will all know you have it. I will claim one of the golden finger-rings

This is the first time I have taken a look at your campaign log, and I must say it is VERY impressive. Amazing job Sheikh!

The Giant says, "Before the Loregiver, there much animosity betwixt Giant and Dwarf was, now not so, me had heard such problems still exist up North in the uncivilized lands."

"Good ta hear - I'm guessin' there can be good and bad everywhere. Best ta play it safe though, from both sides" - Aggrammar replied and then turned to Sheikh - "The disappearin' one has a point. I woulda thought I was bein' robbed too. And she was" - he grumbled, assisting with the funeral preparations - "Livin' and learnin' from our mistakes is all we can do"

His attention focused on Paritosh after - "Ye took a few strong hits lad. Mebbe I can help"

CLW Paritosh: 1d8 ⇒ 5

" We could rest up, ans Me and Aggrammar can pray for more healing and heal everyone." Frackit says looking for any more daggers.

"Aye" - the dwarf nods in agreement - "And Imma go look in the tent for some food. Me stomach's growlin"

Searching for edibles :)

Fadilah

"Hmm. It seems that Shafazal was attempting to summon a genie specifically for building. The rites to do so are... convoluted. There is some part of this that I am not quite grasping. Performing the rite as described in here would be a massive, time-consuming undertaking, but I'm sure there's a way to speed it up... if only I could figure it out. It seems just beyond my ken," explains Fadilah after reading all of the documentation.

The sha'irah is quite grateful for Zairiah's company, occasionally exclaiming and explaining things as she goes—to the best of her ability, as she is often puzzled by the descriptions of the tasks in the rituals—and sometimes stopping for tea and conversation.

"While this tells us more about the rite in question... it tells us nothing more about the astrolabe. I have the same worry as the sheikh, that one of its occupants may be a creature that is dangerous to release... but I also agree that no thinking being should be subjected to enslavement. I feel that I need more information about the astrolabe itself."

"Unfortunately, divination spells like identify are very time-consuming and could take another day to cast. If only there were other notes or one of the genies could tell us more about the astrolabe."

"Wait, is that thing saying there could be 12 different genies in there?"

"Well, it would make sense. The astrolabe is an astrological device, and there are twelve months, so a prison for each constellation."

Genie Lore (<= 16): 1d20 ⇒ 10

Having found nothing in the documents that would help with the astrolabe, Fadilah sighs and finally sets to examining the device itself.

Fadilah

Nura asks casually, "Would not freeing any being imprisoned therein make them beholden to us?"

That is an amazingly cool item, I'm not gonna lie.