As Fahd moves into position, the enraged efreeti takes the opportunity to swipe at him...
...and lands a hit on the brawler before being punching in return.
1. I thought about asking for a CMB, but I'm not certain how it would be calculated - since this is a channel, would it be similar to Telekinesis where it uses your "casting" stat and CL? Or would it just be your regular CMB, even though you're not using anything physical to do the pushing/pulling? So I'm opting for simplicity.
2. Indeed, he was not threatened and he was casting as a swift action - yet he still had to make a concentration check. An excellent reward for a task well accomplished, no?
3. Oh dear, you are correct.
Round 4! Bold may act!
Ninlil
Fahd (-32)
Crowe (-11, 4 images remaining)
Black (-11, Nauseated)
Toctep (-101, Staggered)
Masayoshi (-35)
Cirri
Basira (-77, 10 ft above floor)
Orange (-6)
Active Area Effects:
- Haste (all except Crowe)
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Ninlil begins chanting in a strange tongue and a silvery ball of light appears around her hands. She walks quickly toward Masayoshi, and as she touches him, he finds himself covered in the same energy! All of a sudden she winks out of existence and reappears near Toctep. In rapid succession she touches Toctep, moves to Cirri and Riddywhipple (and Fahd if he's still there). She immediately retreats back behind Toctep, but this is a dangerous move!
- Ninlil
- Masayoshi
- Toctep
- Cirri
- Riddywhipple
- Fahd, if he's still there, if not, then
- Snaggletooth
If I might suggest an alternative movement path: Basira is too high up to take an attack of opportunity against you should you end your slide next to Cirri (on her west side) and move from there. This would give you plenty of movement to get behind Toctep (or further). Sorry the map's not very clear as far as threatened squares and heights. Let me know if you decide to change your movement path.
Unfortunately for Crowe, the salamanders have long tails - and the orange one takes advantage of his distraction to try to slap him...
...but it misses, popping another image in the process. Sparks fly from Crowe's hands...
...but both salamanders seem to dodge the worst of the damage.
Still dry-heaving, the black salamander begins moving towards a flanking position with his companion - with Crowe caught in the middle!
Round 5! Bold may act!
Ninlil
Fahd (-32)
Crowe (-11, 3 images remaining)
Black (-18, Nauseated)
Toctep (-101, Staggered)
Masayoshi (-35)
Cirri
Basira (-77, 10 ft above floor)
Orange (-13)
Active Area Effects:
- Haste (all except Crowe)
- Resist Fire 20 (all except Crowe, Fahd)
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"Whoa! Too close!" Cirri watches the Salamander nudge past her to setup with Crowe. "Riddy, stall for time. I'm gonna backup Crowe."
She begins chanting, flipping through her spellbook and casts...
Aqueous Orb right in front of the nauseated salamander.
Afterwards, Cirri flies 10 feet straight up, out of this thing's reach.
No problem.
Riddywhipple stays on Cirri's shoulder and grabs a card from the Deck of Illusions and hurls it at the ground. An illusion emerges!
An illusion appears and yells "Basira! Your party is boring and the food is terrible and you smell! And now you start a fight for no reason! Have at thee!" It intercepts Toctep and Basira.
The black salamander tries to avoid the sudden orb of water...
...and manages to dodge to the side! It swings at Cirri with its tail as she flies away...
...but it misses!
With a sudden poof, a fearsome green troll appears! It points at Basira and says something unintelligible, then holds its belly and laughs.
Basira roars in pain, then triumph as his foe falls before turning his attention to the newest addition to the battlefield. "What's this!?" he bellows as he takes a step back and points at the troll...
...but again, all he produces is a single limp spark. The crowd jeers and laughs, and Basira's cheeks flush brightly. He raises his sword above his head and swings at Fahd...
...but every single attack goes wide, to the delight of the audience.
The orange salamander, unhappy to be denied flanking, moves forward and attacks Crowe with spear and tail...
...but it also cannot land a blow on its opponent.
Round 6! Bold may act!
Ninlil
Fahd (-32)
Crowe (-11, 3 images remaining)
Black (-18)
Toctep (-102, Unconscious, Bleeding out)
Masayoshi (-15)
Cirri
Basira (-97, 10 ft above floor)
Orange (-13)
Active Area Effects:
- Haste (all except Crowe)
- Resist Fire 20 (all except Crowe, Snaggletooth)
Between Ninlil's snowball and Fahd's first blow, the efreeti collapses to the jeers and ridicule of his guests.
With their employer defeated, the salamanders toss down their spears and surrender. "Kannski ef hann greiddi okkur í raun ágætis launa, þá yrðum við tryggð að kasta lífi okkar," one mutters to the other.
After a minute, the gates open and a host of inevitables march through. "We are here to arrest the disturbers of the peace," the one in front says. "Who is responsible for this?" Its eyes settle on the Pathfinders, still bloodied, and the still form of Basira behind them. "You!" it intones. "Unless you can explain how you are not at fault for this disturbance of the peace, you will come with us. Do not resist, or we will be required to use lethal force."
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Masayoshi’s ears perk up.
That’s my cue!
The Tian man turns to the Inevitables, a clear black eye turns to meet their robotic gaze with a look of pure rage.
”Excuse me?! We came to this party with the intent of having a good time when we find the band gone, the drinks spiked, and to top it all off the host attacked us out of nowhere—ask anyone, he just walked out and accused us and threatened us, a group of unarmed partygoers, with violence! Look at my neck! That is from the tail of one of this efreeti’s salamander guards! And you have the audacity to say that we caused this?! How dare you!”
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With Basira down, Cirri lands and pulls out her wand of Cure Light Wounds.
Riddywhipple helps activate the thing.
"Come on, Toctep! Get up!" She applies the wand a few times before he bleeds out.
Cirri runs up to Basira. "It was self defense, but I don't want to kill him..."
"Awwk!" Cirri recoils as the wand fizzles in her hands.
Riddywhipple flies up to her and grabs the wand. "I'll do it, Cirri. No more wanding for you, dearie!"
Cirri dismisses the Aqueous Orb just as the inevitables burst through the entrance. "B-b-but I saved him from bleeding out..."
"Ah, but it was self defense!" Riddywhipple chimes in. "Basira came down at us, shooting flame and ordering his guards to assault us! Just look at my poor friend here!" He points at Toctep. "Without weapons, we had to defend ourselves! They wouldn't even let Cirri carry her walking stick!"
"But I did save his life with a last second heal. We did not come to fight, we came to enjoy the party. Basira must have drank too much from his wine cabinet before attacking us." He blows some bubbles. "I don't want to press charges for assault, though. I am merciful."
"You may make your statements to the judge," the inevitable says, unmoved by the Pathfinder's words. "Bring the body for examination, and question the witnesses," it orders smaller inevitable squads as the bulk place the Pathfinders in chains and march them to Zjarra's prison.
About a day later, the Pathfinders are released. As they exit the prison, they find Yasmine waiting anxiously outside. "Thank goodness," she says, obviously relieved to see everyone unharmed. "I told them you acted out of self-defense, and all the witnesses agreed that Basira initiated the hostilities," she says breathlessly, "but I wasn't certain it would be enough. I made sure to collect your belongings from the gala - and Qalkami wanted to speak with you."
Back at Cinderstone Manor, Qalkami opens her liquor cabinet once more and bids the Pathfinders make themselves comfortable. As everyone settles into their seats, she says, "Excellent work at the gala - that was indeed the worst night of his life." She throws back her head and laughs, obviously pleased with her joke.
"Now," she continues, "before I leave for the City of Brass, I was hoping you could help me understand a few... inconsistencies in your work here in Zjarra."
"You did a good job geting Carlin out of trouble with that inevitable," she begins. "I fear your efforts may have been wasted, though - I received word that he's been arrested. Oddly, they seemed to have some detailed information about his illegal activities. You wouldn't have any idea what happened, would you?"
Qalkami continues, "Also, Vassago has gone missing, and when I took another look at the contract you brought back, I discovered it was a decoy. I don't suppose you could shed any light on the matter?"
"And finally, I reviewed the signed contract you brought back, and I noticed that there were a few adjustments made. Can you enlighten me as to why?" she concludes.
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"Furthermore, when researching the legalities of this contract under Zjarran law, it was brought to our attention that this clause was borderline unenforceable and even if you tried to enforce it, she would have a good case in the courts that this clause was not legally sound. And because the larger contract did not have a severability clause, should the clause in question be called into question it would have nullified the entire contract and opened you up to liability and paying Soheila's barrister's fees.
"So when we looked at concessions we could make to Soheila that would not actually weaken your position in the contract, we felt that removing this clause could be seen as a significant concession on your behalf that would in fact improve the contract from your perspective. Although it may superficially appear as though you've lost a revenue stream, it was a revenue stream you were unlikely to realize and we also insulated you from significant liability and penalties. I can assure you that you negotiated an excellent contract that will only increase your reputation in Zjarra and, I expect, the City of Brass, and our small adjustment to the terms only increased its value to your portfolio."
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"And as far as Carlin goes, well--it seems like everyone had a pretty good idea of what he was up to. He wasn't the most discreet of operatives. We managed to keep the inevitable off his back, but I'm not surprised he got into some other trouble right afterward."
Snaggletooth says, "He was hiding in a box and everyone seemed to know where he was."
"Vassago's gone?! I'm so sorry. We didn't notice the fake contract!"
Snaggletooth adds, "Vassago did seem awfully reticent to return."
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Know. Local
”Carlin was greasy. Everyone on the street know about his hijinx. Getting him off the street is better for you in the long run.”
Bluff
”Contracts are above my head. I make money by throwing people who misbehave out of a local bar. And punching people for the Society. Not through the finer aspects of written documents.”
Bluff
”Same thing is through for that other document. I don’t know nothing about any changes made.”
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Masayoshi leans back in his chair and sips from a bottle of whiskey.
”Hey! You told us to get Carlin safe, and we did—it’s not our fault that he’s a blabbermouth! I swear, we gave him the slightest bit of pressure as to how he annoyed the robot—curiosity, couldn’t help myself—and he spilled every single variety of bean that you could think of!”
”The contract was fake?! Let me see that! ....... I don’t know what to tell you, but we scoured the place high and low and this is the only thing we found even remotely resembling the contract that you wanted—I’m not a lawyer; I don’t know contracts!”
Masayoshi takes one last chug of whiskey. ”Again, I’m a drunkard, not a lawyer; I was barely a part of that negotiation. From what I could follow about Ninlil’s story it was basically true—though the legal mumbo-jumbo went over my head.”
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Cirri surrenders to the inevitable guards and spends her day in holding daydreaming about birds and fish. "Thanks Yasmine! It's really hot and sweaty in there." She frowns. "Basira died? Oh, that's terrible. This is why I don't like this kind of stuff."
Cirri sits down at the manor, glad to have her staff back. She's just getting comfortable when Qalkami mentions a few issues with the contracts.
"Carlin said, he said he figured the safest place from that inevitable was in custody. So he confessed and turned himself in." As she speaks, RIddywhipple nods and tries to coach her response on the fly, but it's obvious she's just making stuff up.
As she talks about Vassago, Cirri shrugs. "It was a decoy? Wow. Vassago's really good at forging contracts." A single tear forms from Riddywhipple's eye - that bluff was exquisite. "Really Good!" He adds.
"Hey Riddywhipple, remember line 57a, section alpha? That contract was very poorly written. I'm not a lawyer, but it didn't make grammatical sense. She wouldn't accept the contract without a correction, so we had to clarify. What's wrong, did the deal not go through?"
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Toctep enjoys his rest and takes care not to drink anything at Qalkami's place. He attempts to her answers her questions
"We are newcomers to your city, wouldn't it be weird that we found something that would stick to that tiefling? I guess the city guard were on to him already, must be tough luck."
"You thought you had him there, didn't you? But we saw through that magic spell on the contract and we did not have any problem with tearing it apart...."
"Ah, well, Masayoshi did most of the talking there, I was enjoying the seafood."
"Hmm, I suppose that is true. Carlin's record was bound to catch up with him eventually, but I find myself surprised I didn't see it coming. No matter." Qalkami dismisses the matter with a wave of her hand.
"Now Vassago, on the other hand..." She leans down and stares at the Pathfinders intently for a moment, then bursts into laughter. "Oh, look at you little liars trying so hard - and twisting an efreeti's own words against her. You would do well here, mortals, if you didn't burn so easily." She takes a few seconds to settle back down as she chortles amusedly.
"About the mercantile contract with the water naga," she says thoughtfully, "I was certain I'd done my research on the laws of Zjarra, but it is quite true that I couldn't get her to sign before. And a modified contract is better than an unsigned contract I suppose." She nods decisively.
"Overall, a job well done, Pathfinders," she says approvingly. "Perhaps we will see each other in the City of Brass shortly." She bids you farewell.
Having received a missive from Venture-Captain Esmayl ibn Qaradi , the Pathfinders arrive in the Galley Quarter of the City of Brass aboard a cargo ship from Zjarra. As they disembark, a large, approximately octopus-shaped fire elemental waves at them and makes its way over.
"Greets," the elemental says. "I Zohz. Follow, lead to Qalkami Mishalq." It gestures with its tentacles. As the Pathfinders follow, it points out several landmarks from time to time.
"Bridge. Important. Not flammable."
"House. Important. Not flammable."
"Garden. Important. Flammable."
"Tavern. Important. Not flammable."
At this last stop, Zohz ushers the Pathfinders inside a brass building with scaly, red-lacquered doors. Inside, the air is thick with fragrant smoke that wafts among the tables, chairs, lavish couches, and booths that surround a well-furnished fire drake enclosure. Zohz lazily salutes the proprietor before ambling to a back room, where Qalkami reclines on a divan beneath a picture of a red dragon triumphantly roaring atop the bodies of its black, blue, green, and white kin. She smiles as she sees the Pathfinders and tosses a satchel of pungent herbs to Zohz, who immediately coils around it and rolls back to the common area to enjoy his now-smoldering payment.
“Ah, outlanders, over here. Sit.” Qalkami motions to a crimson couch made of reddish leather. “Welcome to the City of Brass, or as we efreet like to call it, Fommok Madinah. You may find this a less welcoming place than Zjarra, but I prefer to think it keeps out the riffraff. Now, we have the deal, the Society and I, to exchange services, and you owe me only one more."
"Centuries ago, three efreeti houses thwarted one of the largest shaitan invasions ever to attack the City of Brass. My family played an instrumental role. As time went on, however, betrayal, crime, and greed riddled our family’s affairs. Instead of helping us, the other two houses threw us to the flames, seized our assets, and dug up evidence to condemn us. Now one of these houses, the Cinderfurys, is teetering at the edge of oblivion, having tied its prestige too closely to the late grand sultan.” Qalkami swirls a glass flute of golden liquid, chuckles to herself, and takes a sip.
“It would be politically damaging were I seen sabotaging my old enemy. Thankfully, I have a friend in the Society,” she remarks, eying each of her guests in turn, “which can reveal the Cinderfurys for the treacherous worms they are. All that’s necessary is ensuring that the right people find the right evidence in the right places at the right time. Your job involves getting that evidence to the right places. While you’re doing that, I’ll gather the right people at the right time to witness your handiwork. Simple enough."
“There are a few details and addenda, of course. First, the estate in question is Emberhearth, which keeps most of its security on-call and off-site. Unless you relish drowning in armed guards the moment you make a mistake, you’ll need to neutralize them first. Second, the Cinderfurys maintain a pristine set of local records, and I would like you to secure any local security contracts you find in their library. Third, they keep an heirloom known as the Cinderfury gorget, which you should bring to me. Finally, I have plans for the estate; do keep the destruction to a minimum."
“Once we begin this operation, you’ll have perhaps four hours to complete everything—perhaps less if you dally or make too much noise. It should be more than enough time to infiltrate and escape Emberhearth. If you take any longer than that, I cannot guarantee your safety.”
Qalkami proceeds to hand each of the Pathfinders an incandescent-orange, palm-sized disk, and explains, "These talismans serve as visas for non-natives such as yourselves entering the Inner Ward, and they protect the wearer from the ambient heat of the Plane of Fire." She frowns for a moment. "There are quite expensive - losing them would be quite unfortunate." She gives each Pathfinder an meaningful look.
"Now, I have some evidence for you to put in the right places," she says as she pulls out a metal case. Inside are six sets of brass sheets, covered in Ignan writing. "And I will give you directions to the security complex and Emberhearth. But first, let me put your mortal minds at ease by answering any pertinent questions you might have." She sips from her fluted glass again and looks at the party.
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"Whoo! what was that stuff you gave that octopus? And where can I get some?" Masayoshi smiles at the efreeti, knowing full well that that's not what she meant by "pertinent."
"So, you want us to sneak into the home of this house that you hate and plant evidence where it'll be found? Did I get that right? We do this then you'll get us the info that we need, right 'Grandmistress Torched'? And what about that third efreet house? What's going on with them?"
"So the Cinderfuries recently sold two of their manors to pay off debts? Seems you chose a wise time to strike. Now, these things," he holds up the disk given to him. "These not only magically protect us from the Inner Ward but also legally protect us from being sold into slavery, right?"
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Cirri turns bright pink as Qalkami sees through her lies. Riddywhipple is devastated. Still, the mission is considered a success.
Cirri spends her time learning about the Plane of Fire.
"Now, the plane of fire is unsurprisingly hot. Even the City of Brass is extremely hot in some places. You'll get ripped off" if you try to buy talismans from nearby merchants!
"Now the City of Brass is built on top of a construct of magically enchanted brass, cruising atop the sea of fire. It's kind of like a big ship floating on really hot liquid."
Cirri frowns as she hears a nasty rumor. "So, when an efreeti twists someone's wishes, their souls may turn into living brass. That's what the buildings are made of..."
---
While waiting for Qalkami, she relates the facts to the party. She likes the first two but not the last one. Not at all.
And she doesn't like this new mission, either. "So now we're going to topple another house for you?" She sighs. "I hope this is worth it, the Pathfinder Society said this would be really worthwhile."
"And it sure is hot in here. So we need to get in, plant some evidence, steal some stuff and get out before we're killed or sold?" She shudders, casting a layer of sweat. "I guess I'll prepare some invisibility..."
Qalkami laughs at Masayoshi's question. "What a quick little chickadee you are," she says like a kindly grandmother. "I'm certain the Society sent me their best agents - nothing gets past you, does it?"
She turns to Fahd and Toctep. "Believe me, if I could tell you exactly where each guard stands during afternoon teatime I would pass that information to you," she says with a grin that barely conceals the steel behind it. "What I can provide is the location of the guardhouse and the estate. As for using lethal force... I trust you to exercise your best judgement and digression."
A flash of anger overtakes Qalkami's expression at Cirri's comments, but immediately disappears into a smoothed, amused demeanor. "I can imagine how you could see it that way," she says patiently, "and in a sense, we are. However, few authorities can touch ruling nobles because of the latters' virtual immunity granted by the sultana. If we are able to reveal the Cinderfurys' corruption for all to see, they'll lose that immunity, and you'll look like heroes."
"About the contracts," she says as she turns to Ninlil, "well, the Cinderfurys are poised to collapse sooner or later. If they do so without someone securing the contracts, those deals would vanish, leaving countless mercenaries and vagabonds unemployed and within reach of innocent civilians. I know your stories and how they cast my kind as villains, but we would not sacrifice society's wellbeing - we're not monsters."
"And the gorget is a unique token of military merit and rank earned by the Cinderfurys' ancient ancestors and disgraced by their descendants. I intend to see it returned to the sultana, not stolen by some enterprising vulture."
She claps her hands. "I believe I have more than prepared you for such a simple task. You will find directions to the guardhouse and the estate here," she says as she hands a small brass sheet stamped with Ignan characters to Ninlil. "Remember, you'll only have abour four hours once we get started. Now, off you go!"
As the Pathfinders leave the Galley Quarter and enter the Common Quarter, the heat of the air increases noticeably - as well as a feeling of being observed. The directions to the security complex are clear enough, and the Pathfinders find themselves outside in little time.
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"Oh well, let's get this over with..." Cirri enjoys the sight seeing, but she hates all of this infighting. She wonders how many are lives are stuck in the living brass. Will this happen to her? "Oh well, at least I got to learn Ignan while we were here." She fiddles with her staff as they continue.
Riddywhipple grins at the chance to cause more mischief. "Right away, ma'am. We'll be back before you know it!" He's in a much better mood than Cirri.
Along the way, Riddywhipple fans himself. "My my! It's quite hot in here. I can't wait until we get back to the beach - I could use a swim!"
"Does anyone hear that?" Riddywhipple points towards the complex. "I don't understand the speech. I'm guessing it's Ignan."
"A simple illusion of a guardsman, maybe? I wish I got a good look of one..."
"Cirri could also conjure some Obscuring Mist and we could just dash in before we're spotted."
