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

Game Master Insnare

"With all of those allies, making a move against the Brotherhood puts his son in grave danger. He cannot attack their fortress directly without risking that they might injure or kill his son. We have to find a way in to save him," says Fadilah.

After her gen returns, she sends it back out for a detect magic spell to examine the items wrested from the enemies.

Fetch spell: detect magic (<= 75): 1d100 ⇒ 22

Once she has had a look over, she sends the gen out for one other spell.

Fetch spell: cantrip (<= 75): 1d100 ⇒ 45

She heads over to Frackit and says, "Hold still a moment." She makes a clipping gesture with her hands and then pantomimes as if pulling on a rope or... a beard?

Casting hairy cantrip on Frackit, which causes his moustache to regrow.

Paritosh looks at Frackit in dismay. "How does she do that? The woman has better ears than a desert hare!"

"She is right, we'll need to retrieve the lad and bring him back here. A siege is too choatic that it would endanger him. A covert recoinessence would be better" He says in agreement as hi wiggles his nose ans face seeking to make the mustache dance and smiles.

" Wonderful! Thank you so much Fadiliah. Good as new"

The sheikh looks at Zairiah and says, "Please do not wear that sash around me. That is a sash that members of the Brotherhood of the True Flame wear."
Fadilah, please roll the 1d100 to use your detect magic on the items you have taken off of Hanzala.

"Do you suppose they will mind if I use one of their camels, as we are likely to be riding to our destination?"

Zairiah removes the garment at the Sheik's request, but after letting Fadilah take a look at the sash, Zairiah again dons it, but she places her other sash over it, hiding it from view for now, so as not to offend her host.

It could be a good disguise perhaps in the future if they try to get in to rescue the son, but to Zairiah it is a symbol of her triumph over a foe that had almost killed her previously... a sign that she must not give up, as she thought to do before, on finding justice for Ayyan.

She knows that Fadilah gave her that chance, and that Ibn suffered in her stead this time, and she is grateful to be with this group of strangely diverse, but good, people.

Sorry for the absence in posting gang - work has been murdering me. I have been following along though.

"Hmmmm, I'm guessin' we can be discussin' this as much as we want, but it is the will of the sheikh that should prevail" - he turns to their host - "As you heard, we would be willin' ta help, if that is your wish?"

"Of course, Sheikh Banu Hanif," Ibn Taaib says, before withdrawing from his presence.
He gathers with his party.

"Very wise to anticipate this treachery," he starts, directing his dialogue to Zairiah and Fadilah. "Now they shall surely be struck with the evil eye. In the meantime, Banu Hanif must confer. I do not believe that I can rally my own tribe from so far, but the Brotherhood is truly in our sights now. With Yazid as a hostage, the Brotherhood made its play against Banu Hanif specifically, and the Caliph ultimately. What is the next move?"

"Evil eye?" Frackit says slightly to himself before he smiles.

" Well a good stealthy mission is the best. Even better if done via a trick. The Cunning Fox will get the egg@" He strokes his mustache in thought.

" Dorry just a proverb from my God." Frackit touches hisnchin and flips his goggles up to show his bright colorful eyes.

The Sheikh says, "Please stay one more night. I have not fully recovered my strength but I have a few things that I need to ponder on this evening."

"That will give us time to make some plans of our own!" says Fadilah.

"My friends, what can we do in preparation? We suspect the Brotherhood has retreated to a fortified location with the Sheikh's son. I will try to fetch some spells to give us more information about the place, but there are no guarantees."

"Well, someone can heal me up, that's what they can do!"

Ibn Taaib nods at Paritosh.

"We can wait until all is revealed to us from the Brotherhood's base. In the meantime, we recover."

"Healing will happen. I am sure me and Aggrammar can get to it." Frackit says cracking his neck and fingers. In doing so he groans ans then smiles.

" We may need to gain a map of this base as well. And see what mischief we can cause these villians." Frackit strokes his mustache and thinks as his other hand clutches his holy symbol.

We still don't have the items identified, do we? What exactly do we need to roll for that?

1d100 needs to be rolled for each item you want to see if it is magical.

Identify (nice sash): 1d100 ⇒ 31
Identify (pearl): 1d100 ⇒ 30
Identify (glass prism): 1d100 ⇒ 97
Identify (vial of perfume): 1d100 ⇒ 84

Anything from previous plot that we don't have identified?

Fadilah is supposed to do the rolls. But to move it along.

Fadilah

I will push it forward to the next day tomorrow.

Paritosh will see about getting his hands on some camel flesh from the Sheikh's flock.

Yum!

" Alright time to heal up and formulate a plan"

Not for eating! For riding!!!

First, camels are delicious. Second, what you wrote sounded like you were hungry. :)

Please feel free to continue your conversation for the rest of the day and the evening.

The next day you awake and you are summoned to the meal tent where you have been enjoying the Sheikh's company and took your salt bond three days ago. You understand that your Salt Bond is about to expire but you come in to the tent and on a large frying pan of shakshouka: eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic, spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper. Many of the ingredients are somewhat new to the land Fate and were brought to Muluk by Cordell from Maztica but whose flavors have melded well in the Free Cities and by extension into the Haunted Lands. You notice that the Sheikh has chosen cilantro instead of parsley betraying his more Eastern influence.

He says, "First, I hope in my weakened state yesterday that I was mostly coherent. But I want to induct all of you as honorary members of the House of Hanif. If I may."

"What are the responsibilities of being made such a member of the House? How might this conflict with my current allegiances?"

Nura, not normally one to be tied down, considers for a moment. At length, she speaks, "I, too, would hear what duties would be required of me before making my decision. Though even if I cannot accept, the offer is deeply appreciated."

"Indeed, I too am honored at the offer."

I would love to be an honorary member of your esteemed house, sir, and I place myself at your service.

It isn't that Zairiah isn't also curious, but to her this could be an amazing trade opportunity and it would further her goals to be connected to such a house. It isn't something she would ever turn down. And, hey, if it turns out to be a bad move, well, that's a negotiation for the future.

"You do us a great honor, O Sheikh."

" Im Honored, but also I don't know what that means?"Frackor says taking off his golden Conical cap synched over rhe leather cap. As he stands his hands anxiously fiddling with his helmet and cap looking at the Shiekh and the others feeling very out of place.

Sheikh Khaldun nod his stern faces and then replies to all of you in turn.

He says softly, "I am not sure what your current responsibilities and obligations are to whichever tribe you are allegiant to. Being an honorary member means that you would be accepted into any camp controlled by one of my many vassals and you do not need to go through the formal Salt Bond ceremony and they will provide you with food and shelter. As I have seen your desire to strike back at the Brotherhood of True Flame, the only other obligation is that you to come back and help the house take down Jamal and his men. See, my scouts have given me reports about the Krak and he has hundreds of warriors and sorcerers at his disposal and it will take time amass a sufficient force to lay siege to his castle but destroy them I will. So what say you?"

" Oh, I would have done that anyways! So yes I have no issue joining your Clan" Frackit says wifh a wide smile.

"Then I consider it a great honor and would pledge my life for your cause. I accept your offer with great appreciation."

"I too will accept this great honor, and do my best to aid in gaining retribution against our common foes."

Ibn Taaib nods with thanks and appreciation.

"Blessed be the House of Hanif. I would be honored to ally Banu Ghurab with Banu Hanif."

After your group agree to joining the House of Hanif he claps his hands and each of you are given a great scimitar with the house of Hanif's crest on it.

The Sheikh says, "All of these blades are Qudran steel that have been crafted specifically for the house of Hanif and show the world that you work with us."

He then looks at Zairiah, Nura and Fadilah and says, "Both of my sons, need wives and could use your tempered guidance and wisdom. Yazid is now captured but he is a very young and impetuous man but needs to learn patience and wisdom and my other son is the same age but he is more cautious in demeanor and I would like to know if one of you would like to meet him and maybe marry him. And maybe one of you would be interested in Yazid."

He then says, "For you gentlemen I do have two daughters that have yet to be spoken for and would like to know if you would want to wed them as well or at least desire to meet them in person and make your decision."

He then looks at Paritosh and says, "Young man, I have seen your keen eye and that you would like one of my riding camels, is that so?"

"Just to clarify, yes, I would like a camel, but I also like girls. I would not be opposed to meeting your daughters."

Frackit luaghs a big girn on his face as he holds the large weapon. He was enjoying this. Granted it would be better circumstances.

" I do love a good wedding, though I am a gnome. I thank you greatly Sheikh."

Ibn Taaib nods in thanks for the great scimitar, taking it with both hands and speaking praises of House Hanif and of the swords' excellent craftsmanship, saying, "السّيف أصدق إنباءً من الكتب في حده الحدّ بين الجدّ واللّعب" [Swords speak truer than written words; in their edge is the border between sobriety and play].

In response to the sheikh's offer, he smiles and raises his hand, saying, "The honors bestowed upon me are great, Sheikh Khaldun. Alas, since widowed, I have vowed to not take another wife after my Weaam."

@Party: If the gents do not wish to engage with Khaldun's daughters, Ibn Taaib will propose his own firstborn son, Aabid as husband.

Zairiah bows.

Great Sheikh, I am honored. Do any of your sons have talent in trading? I am of Afyal, and intend to set up my own trading company, so all of my husbands must be able to make good trades and enrich the family. Perhaps your cautious son has the temperament to know when a deal is good and when to walk away?

Sheikh Khaldun nods his head in understanding to Paritosh, the Sheikh and Frackit and then he says, "Mu'awiya is very frugal and is learning how to be a leader and trader."

I would very much like to meet him.

Nura accepts the weapon with great reverence and kneels in appreciation.

The sheikh nods his head, hands you a scroll and says,"I need you to travel to Muluk for me and deliver this missive to the Calipha requesting aid so that we can do battle with the Brotherhood of the True Flame. They have over 400 men in their Krak. Will you deliver this to her for me?"

He then says, "If you want to learn how to use your great scimitars, I have created a book made from oryx skin, and the instructions therein will inform you how to properly use the weapon. For those of you who would like a quick tutorial in how to parry with any bladed weapon I can teach you the forms right now and you can perform them."

Nura smiles. "I would learn the art, oh most generous one."

Let's talk game mechanics. I have two WPs expended on the khopesh. Is it reasonable for me to switch to the scimitar? Sure, there's an RP side of this, but there's also the need to kill stuff to survive.

This is an opportunity to gain a WP in Great Scimitar by following the instruction in the book that the sheikh is giving you. Your character which is proficient in the khopesh would only take two weeks of practice before going to bed or in the morning to gain it, other will have to practice for a month. I have to look up the strength requirements to wield the great scimitar. Should you switch to the great scimitar is a good question. If you are just interested in stats the great scimitar does 2d6 damage +1 because it is made from Qudran steel, known for its beauty and sharpness. For most of the characters it would not necessarily make sense because they might be fighting with shields. The Weapon Proficiency gained here is in addition to what you already have, so you do not need to expend any current or future slots to get it. The fighter types in the party already have 3 attacks over two rounds so they may want to replace one attack with the parry action, which makes it more difficult to be hit. Feel free to ask for clarification.

If I already have weapon proficiency in Scimitar, does it carry over, or is great scimitar a separate proficiency?

Zairiah nods at Nura's words, eager to practice with her new sword.

Great scimitar is a separate proficiency, the weapon is an extremely long two-handed sword