Slip begins to wiggle as he hears a tune in his head.
"The part where we get paid and get to go home." The fake elf replies.
"I can bring you home once the remaining genies in Kakishon are taken care of. We can't do that ourselves, but if you do that, I can bring you back to the material plane."
Ohrmizd attempts to discern lies on their interlocutor all while getting interested on what he hears "Why do you need to take care of the remaining genies to return home? Was that the promised payment?"
"The genies came here long after Nex abandoned the place. It has nothing to do with our original agreement. It is just that they are in the way of getting anyone out of this place. It doesn't work with the genies still being imprisoned here."
"I can send you back to any waypoint in Kakishon. I'd suggest you take one of those options."
"You go to the Kakishon waypoint. That is at the island Javhul was before you allowed for his release. There are some earth genies left there. They did not cooperate with the hostile earth genies on the other plae and might be willing to talk."
"Or, you go to the Khandelwal Waypoint, where the shaitan Obherak has his army. These are the ones that need to be taken care of. He has taken one of our own as a prisoner. Another reason to deal with them."
"Or if you have to find out more about the island before you trust me with this, you could go to the Isle of the Dead where Andrathi was slain and his spirit is rumored to still haunt the place."
Heshan put a finger to his chin in thought of what to do before turning his head towards Ohrmizd. "What do you think about meeting some earth genies?"
"A good call Heshan."
Samuel asks the elf "Your note indicated a Palace of Pleasure. Is that located here? What type of pleasure might one find there?"
Omari listens to what is being said carefully,
8 rank +3 Trained+4 Wis
Omari adds his two copper's worth: "Let us go to this Isle of the Dead, and hear what Andrathi's spirit has to say."
"I do agree with you, let's start with the Isle of the Dead" then Ohrmizd turns again towards the proteans "There is one more thing before we go though, if you need the genies out of Kakishon... was it you who made Javhul out of the plane?"
"No, that was your doing. You opened the portal from outside that Andrathi damaged to keep everyone in."
"I could have helped Javhul out the same way I offer you, but he is no one you could talk with. The same is true for Obherak."
"See, we already started to work for you even before we met" Ohrmizd smiles "Don't we deserve some valuable prize?"
"How do we reach the Isle of the Dead?"
"You can have these vials of oil of soften earth and stone and the wand of stone shape to help you when visiting the earth genies later. When you're ready I can bring you to the Isle of the Dead. From there you can use the horn to call a ship to get everywhere you want in Kakishon. Just not back here."
The protean retrieves 3 vials and a wand (32 charges) from a cyst in the wall and hands it to Ohrmizd.
Omari is trying to think this through, and is becoming lost...
"I am unclear. You want the genies 'taken care of', whereupon you Proteans will be able to free yourselves, and return us to the material plane. What does this 'taking care of' entail? We released Javhul and his army by opening a portal from the outside. But now we are in here with you, with, if I understand our wizards right, no way of opening such a portal from the inside. I have used Erastil's might to send elementals back to their home planes, but I am not confident such magic will work in this strange place. Also, you mention armies of genies - even if Erastil's power was capable, it would take me months to send them all home."
"Do it the old way. Kill them. Those are the remainders of the armies that were fighting in your world that were imprisoned here by your people."
"Finish what your ancestors couldn't."
"Do you mind if we take a look around the rest of this area before we depart?"
"No. But stay away from Thaiyanathan in the entropic pool next cave. He went insane and is bound there so he doesn't harm himself or others. Don't touch the pool there, or you break the enchantment."
Samuel and I move further in. We look into the chamber where Thaiyanathan is entrapped.
Heshan tries to look more appealing to sweeten the deal and get something extra.
The walls of this chamber are studded with strange cysts and buds, while the floor is dominated by a pool of churning, bubbling greenish liquid. Rising from the pool’s center, wrapped in green liquid tendrils that seem to rise from the pool itself, is a hideous serpentine creature. Vaguely humanoid in form but with massive saucer-like eyes and a fanged maw one might expect on a prehistoric beast, its mouth seems to move in a strange cadence, almost as if it were whispering constantly to itself, and its bulging eyes stare sightlessly at nothing. The pool is guarded by two of those strange creatures from the lighthouses.
Meanwhile Heshan isn't as charming as he thinks he is.
"The Genie Wars were resolved by trapping the genies in Kakishon?" Ohrmizd whistles for long "Awesome... Manuun will love the big revelation."
The Keleshite listens to Omari's worries nodding "Indeed, if a full army of them are in this plane I don't think we can face them. But perhaps we can convince them of something. Have you tried to collaborate with them to get yourselves out of this trouble? You do not need to like each other, you just work together, get out, then you do not have to see each other again, ever."
"Here have some more stuff." She hands a potion of cat’s grace, two potions of fly, a wand of restoration (28 charges), and a wand of dimension door (19 charges) to Ohrmizd. "I want them gone. If you can talk them into leaving to your world, that's fine by me too."
Keep it up Ohrmizd. Get more goodies until they have no more. Samuel and Slip move even further down the corridor.
Slip gets lost in the caves and wonders as he comes back to meet the group again .
"What is this here? A door of some sort?"
Samuel taps on it with his quarterstaff. It sounds hollow.
"Got something over here guys."
Samuel takes a five foot dimensional step. He is inside the chamber.
Samuel, where did you go?
Right here buddy. Other side of the wall.
I do not like this place or these fake elves.
"We will do our best to get rid of them any way we can." Heshan replied with a quick salute... only to notice that the dragon is missing.
"Need any help?" He asked Samuel.
"Oh... ok... I guess we will have to figure out a way of having them leaving you be permanently" Ohrmizd says while gratefully accepting the potions and other magics handed by the proteans.
"So... unless you have a shop to sell and buy stuff nearby, I guess we do not have much else to do but to follow you to that waypoint of the Isle of the Dead" the Keleshite explains all while looking around "Slip? Jafar?"
"Do you want some time to prepare or shall we proceed Omari?"
Omari is distracted "Agreed, let us go to the Isle of the Dead and speak with Andrathi's spirit. But we should rest and prepare ourselves first; it has been a long day with hunting the Ram and then the ship-ride here." He turns to the protean "What can we expect on the Isle of the Dead?"
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"The Isle of the dead was supposed to be a grave. And to my knowledge there is nothing alive on the island. What Nex build himself there we don't know."
The group gets to rest in one of the unused caves and next morning, whatever morning means in a cave away from any sunlight in a fabricated world in its own plane of existence.
Once everyone is ready, Lahapraset teleports the whole group to the isle of dead.
The Waypoint on the Isle of the Dead is has no accompanying hostel. The small island comprises a single hill with a gentle, grassy slope on one side and a high, cliff-backed scarp at its eastern end, surmounted by a massive edifice of verdigris-encrusted brass: the Brass Mausoleum of Nex. Two small woodlands of dead trees cover much of the island’s eastern half, while the west is a gentle slope of dry grass covered with tombstones.
Two stone quays protrude from a small plaza at the lowest point of the small island. A flight of marble stairs leads up a gentle slope to the island interior to the north.
"I was not complete with the last encounter. There was more to be had there. This was your idea, M'wangi. Please lead the way."
Samuel motions the cleric forward.
Heshan tries to shake off the impending spell, but it felt so soothing. The sorcerer felt compelled to keep his emotions at bay. "It does seem like a lovely place," Heshan spoke calmly.
"Yep, much peaceful, but let's be ready for the worst... this is the Isle of Dead, and Nex was known for the undead wars, isn't him?" Ohrmizd draws his scimitar after being teleported and says a prayer to the Everlight that puts the blade to shine like a little sun "Let's begin by exploring that structure with the pillars to the west"
Casting heroism, heightened awareness and keen edge to ready himself for their next adventure in the land of death, Ohrmizd starts carefully stepping up the marble stairs and into the island.
As he goes towards the ruined structure, he has an eye for the tombstones.
The tombstones seem to be only decorations, as on closer inspection they have no inscriptions.
"The tombstones are just dubious taste decor. Let's keep moving" Ohrmizd observes to the party then continues to the westernmost structure.
A semicircle of four marble platforms stands here, each surmounted by a colonnaded dome inlaid with pearlescent tiles that catch the sun’s rays in a multihued fire. Just beyond these shelters is a low limestone platform inscribed with bas-relief of gods, spirits, animals, and all manner of mythological creatures of ancient Katapesh, surmounted at intervals by plinths of stone bearing statues of winged humanoids, male and female, each comforting the other but with a hand extended to beckon. Hovering a foot above the platform’s center is a slowly rippling sphere of blue water.
"Interesting... do you recognize any of these symbols? They remember me to Katapesh mytology..." Ohrmizd says while observing the bas-relief.
Then, seeing the strange sphere of blue water, Ohrmizd detects chaos, evil, good and law on it, then examines it also with detect magic "Strange artifact... what do you thing this is? How does the water keep floating like that Jafar, Heshan?"
vs DC 22
+6 Cleric + 4 wis +1 resistance
Omari is disturbed by the proteans proposal, but keeps his mouth shut where he's worried that they will be overheard. After resting in the protean's palace, Omari prepares his spells to visit the Isle of the Dead...
L0 (4) : Guidance, Detect Magic, Stabilize, Light
L1 (4+1+1) Bless(domain), Divine Favor, Divine Favor, Divine Favor, Protection From Evil, ???
L2 (3+1+1) Featherfall (domain), Burst of Radiance, Lesser Restoration, Silence, Burst of Radiance
L3 (3+1+1) Fly (domain), Invisibility Purge, Magic Circle Against Evil, ???
L4 (2+1+1) Summon Monster IV (domain), ), Blade of Light, Anti-Incorporeal Shell, ???
He keeps a wary eye out as he follows Ohrmizd up to the western structure (and Khedron follows him in turn).
8 ranks +4 wis +4 racial
He is intrigued by the clearly magical floating sphere of water and takes a close look, casting Guidance and Detect Magic to help analyze the effect
8 ranks + 3 trained +1 guidance
As Omari walks past the columns to take a closer look at the floating sphere of water, a vortex of wind surrounds the north pillar as a Huge air elemental surges out of it to attack.
"Interesting... do you recognize any of these symbols? They remember me to Katapesh mytology..." Ohrmizd says while observing the bas-relief.
That may have to wait with the arrival of the elemental.
He made sure to douse the being with fire this time.
Samuel taps Khedron with his wand of mage armor.
"Oops! Danger ahoi!" Ohrmizd quickly casts shield of faith defensively and asks for the Dawnflower judgment to support him on his protection of the party.
Only then, he steps forward, closer to the elemental.
Rayhan is taken by surprise, but luckily he is behind in safe distance.
The air elemental turns into a whirlwind, creating a dirt cloud at its base. It moves over the party and picks up all that can't resist.