Six more shaitan's emerge from the stone with weapons drawn. Ohrmizd's suggestion, that they might as well turn against Obherak doesn't smooth the situation.
Omari catches Ohrmizd by the shoulder and draws him away as he (and Khedron) backs off, "As I said, thank you for being forthright with us, Sultan Obherak. We will consider your proposal carefully."
As enemies come forward with weapons drawn, Ohrmizd draws his own scimitar "Be careful with your next move Obherak"
He does though step back as Omari pulls him "This shaitan does not scare me Omari. He never faced Javhul himself, he does not dare to fight the proteans, and he cannot even make us out himself, he has to call the other shaitans to come defend his bad ruling."
"He is a pure coward" the man reels back only as Omari gets more and more angry "But shaitans are clever and see what he is, they will not follow forever a chicken like that!"
I miss the time when I was the stupid one.
He would proceed to help Omari pull Ohrmizd away from the room as well before speaking. "That might be true, but we may not be in a position to take him on. We can find another way."
Samuel turns his back to everyone and begins to walk back the way the party came from.
For some reason Obherak and his army don't murder the party this instant.
After a hasty retreat dragging an unwilling Ohrmizd behind the group is back in the desert, ogled by the gargoyles with the sun burning down on them. And now also fresh out of potential allies, besides the proteans.
Omari proposes: "Well, let's head back to the boat, we can plan there, without the sun cooking our brains." He clearly wants away from the Shaitans before trouble erupts...
Ohrmizd gets out of the bowl frowning, looking at all the creatures there. As they reach the desert sands he puts voice to his thoughts "Well, while we plan and walk the desert up and down, Javhul is out likely destroying our home plane and probably causing trouble to Haleen, the Princess, Garavel, Manuun and all our friends..."
"Unless some of you have a trick for us to teleport out of here or sneak into the Seed's room, we are stuck with having to kill one of the contenders. Everything else we have offered have been rejected, and their followers have not showed any desire to revolt against such situation blocking leaders" the Keleshite further vents.
"There are still the proteans," Heshan suggested. "...okay they may not be my first choice, but perhaps they may be more amiable of getting out of this plane."
"Yes, the boat. Let us explore the remainder of this realm. If we were capable of genocide, I would not participate."
"The proteans want us to kill the shaitans. Everyone have been very clear about this point." Ohrmizd explains, not sure what the group wants to plan forward.
"It is taking sides in a war. Killing a dozen or so specimen of either the proteans or the earth genies would not qualify as a genocide. Not even as an attempt. Or do you see any uninvolved civilians on either side?" Rayhan comments.
"The best solution would be probably to get the proteans out of Kakishon. Then everyone would be happy without all the killing."
"For now it would be also interesting to find out what this place has to offer. Obherak called it a paradise. So far I don't see it."
"A true observation of my use of the term genocide, Rayhan. Nevertheless, I do not believe war and killing is the only way out of here. Ohrmizd, time passes much slower here. I for one would like to explore this place as we will probably never return."
After a long walk back to the coast and the pier the group finds the boat still in place.
"Well, lets take the tour. There are many sites to investigate here in Kakishon, maybe we can find someone who can tell us something useful...The map says the closest site we haven't been to yet is Aliskiren. Shall we visit?"
"It seems like somewhere we can go at least," Heshan shrugged as he proceeded to follow Omari onto the boar.
Ohrmizd takes a long breath of fresh sea air while placing his scimitar with a relaxed gesture over his shoulder "Well, let's try to see what can we find, but I am seeing our options pretty dark... or shall I say bloody crimson here...?"
The Kheleshit boards into the boat and points to the next destination "Ok, let's see what is there in this Aliskiren. Anything you know about it Rayhan?"
"No, never heard of it."
The boat leaves and takes the short trip to Aliskiren. Perhaps the most marvelous of Kakishon’s islands is Aliskiren, a perpetual winterland bedecked with icicles and snow in the midst of a tropic sea. Mephits flit about in the cold winds and snow flurries of Aliskiren, herding and taunting the cryohydras and remorhazes that hunt the ice-rifts, and keeping them clear of frolicking guests.
Samuel takes in the wintery wonderland before him "Oh, my. Quite unexpected." He carefully exits the boat and takes in what he can. He looks for any enemies, routes, or points of interest.
The hut at the pier is like at all waypoints so far, which has bowls to create food, drink, and blankets. Which might be a nice addition to the clothing fit for Katapesh weather.
As for things of interest - there is snow and ice as far as the eye can see. Which is very far due to the rising slope of the mountain range and the clear sky caused by the bone chilling cold.
"It seems like a great place for us to stay. Too bad no one else seems to be here," Heshan replies. "Is there anywhere else we haven't visited yet?"
Ohrmizd takes some of the warm clothes and gets out into the island "Quite an enjoyable chill after the desert. Let's invest a few days exploring this paradise of frost..."
Assuming the island will be devoid of points of interest, after a couple of days searching, Ohrmizd will propose to explore the northern islands and go on so dropping from one to the other trying to find a way out of this place or something to convince shaitans or proteans.
If nothing is found, eventually, the group reaches the other side of the demiplane, and hits the island of Khosravi (unless someone has an alternative proposal).
Also known as the Isle of Flint, this barren and rugged land was a place where any could test their skill and strength against animated war machines and shifting terrain. The island was also a trophy of sorts, for it was here that Nex impaled the mortal remains of the Eater of Magic, a mighty beast sent against him by Geb early in the war with his southern neighbor. Today, the isle is a graveyard of ruined weapons and destroyed constructs. An active volcano rises from the isle of Salenax just to the southeast, connected to Khosravi via the Phoenix Bridge. Besides the volcano a black spire is the most obvioux feature visible from the pier.
"Nice place." Heshan said as he viewed the landscape. "I suppose the spire over there the next place to check out then."
"Wow, what are these metallic machines here? Are these some sort of broken siege weapons?" Ohrmizd observes a bit overwhelmed by the war landscape "We should check that volcano and the black spire over it. If there is someone still leaving here, must be there"
Points the Kheleshite with his scimitar "Let's go over the bridge"
He will check the bridge before crossing.
"This is quite a more impressive creation than I could have ever imagined. The inhabitants are less than appealing."
Samuel gives the bridge a once over.
The isle seems to be void of any life. Nothing grows here. But as you approach the spire in the center of the island you hear a howling of many creatures though.
An immense spike of sheer, solid rock with narrow grooves spiraling up its entire length protrudes from the ground. Driven deep in the heart of a hilltop at the center of the island, the spike rises to a height of at least one hundred feet. The spike impales the petrified ribcage of an enormous draconic beast, its stony ribs themselves over twenty feet high. Scattered nearby are other fragments of the colossal skeleton—bits of wing, legs, and to the south of the spire, an immense horned skull. The spire widens at the top like the knob of some brobdingnagian club, and the top is slightly jagged, as though pieces have been broken off.
"Not a welcoming landscape, but clearly of some import to Nex. That bridge was built to the smaller island with an active volcano for a purpose; let's go check it out."
Omari keeps a wary eye out for danger, as the party marches through the war zone from the pier to the bridge...
9 rank +4 wis+4 racial
Leaving the spire with its howling inhabitants be, the party moves past towards the volcano. The volcano itself rises from the sea, its own separate island just off the southern coast of Khosravi, but its lower slopes are connected to the larger island by a long bridge of red marble—the Phoenix Bridge. Salenax itself is very active, constantly belching steam and ash and periodically lava. The
Phoenix Bridge shakes and shudders ominously each time the volcano erupts.
On the Salenax side of the bridge, a short path leads to a small gatehouse consisting of two towers extending out of the side of the volcano, between which looms a 25-foot-wide cave entrance. Smoke plumes from this entrance constantly, carried on blisteringly hot winds.
It was an incredible sight for such... if not completely inhospitable. Yet the various paths intrigued him. "We can check the gate first. Maybe we can find someone living in them," he suggested.
"Before we walk into a fortress built into a active volcano, how about we take a 15 minute break?"
Omari spends 15 minutes praying and adds Resist Energy (Communal) in his empty 3ed level spell slot. After getting the spell, he casts is, giving Resist Fire 20 to Heshan (20 minutes duration), Omari (20 minutes duration), Samuel (20 minutes duration), Rayhan (20 minutes duration) and Khedron (10 minutes duration).
Ohrmizd looks at the remains of the impaled dragon "Nasty. That thing was just too big. Maybe this island is more dangerous than we initially thought"
The Kheleshite follows up to the bridge and eats something while the group halts for a quick spell retraining "I am not sure about this... if that volcano releases, the burns are going to be the lesser of our problems guys..."
Nevertheless, he will head forward into the forge to find out what is it.
hot. The temperature here is severe heat, and creatures within must make a DC 15 (+1 for each previous roll) Fortitude save every 10 minutes or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage—characters in heavy armor or clothing suffer a –4 penalty on this save.
If you want, you can delay the casting of energy resistance communal.
The tunnel winds through the depths of the volcano for a mile and a half . The tunnel ends in a pair of red-hot metal gates, embossed with the seal of Nex and a dwarven figure covering both door panels, with the dwarf’s left hand on an anvil and his right hand on a hammer.
and heavy, requiring a DC 20 Strength check to push open. Up to four people can work together to aid another on this strength check, but each round spent pushing and forcing the door open inflicts 2d6 points of fire damage.
Heshan looks back at Omari and scratches the back of his head. "Right. Good call," he grins.
The winds proved to be even more formidable than he could imagine, but they managed to get through with some effort. Heshan went to touch the handle... and recoiled in pain.
[B]"That's a hot door alright.
+6 Cleric + 2 con +1 resistance
+6 animal HD+4 Con
+6 animal HD+4 Con
+6 animal HD+4 Con
Feeling the heat roll off of the doors, Omari casts his communal energy resistance spell, "That should allow us to handle them.", and then puts his shoulder into the door. Khedron joins hims...
A single row of red-hot metal columns runs down the center of this curved hall. The plain stone walls are lined with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of weapon and armor racks. The majority of these racks are empty, but several along the south wall still hold a magnificent array of glittering arms and armor.
Currently, there are a dozen magic weapons stored here .
Jafar admires the weapons and determines they are magical. He looks back at the doors and the tunnel. "Jhavhul used fire each time we witnessed his destruction. Do you believe this may be his lair?"
Ohrmizd feels comfortable thanks to his ring, he admires the dwarven sigil on the doors "Do you think this is one of those mythical dwarven forges?"
Inside, he is surprised by the findings "Wow, this is really good stuff" studies the magical weapons and armors and starts picking them up for the group's stash.
"Nah, this place seems more the lair of a forger, a maker, not a destroyer of worlds like Jhavul"
"Yes, Ohrmizd let that be the case. And surely this forger is itching to make me a rod of metamagic."
"Ohrmizd, we are apparently in someone else's house here... Until we are confident those are actually abandoned, perhaps we should leave them alone for now. Instead of looting, let us see if we can find any inhabitants. We can grab them on the way out if we find no-one."
Omari opens the next door and leads the way. The air in this yawning cavern roils with heat. A broad expanse of stone slopes gently to the south, pocked with dozens of steaming holes in the ground. At the far end, a bubbling pool of magma surrounds a stone precipice, both of which overlook the volcano’s smoking crater. Lava drains off in immense cascades, yet the level of magma in the lake remains constant. An immense iron-and-stone forge looms at the edge of the island in the middle of the lava lake. The the roar of the forge, lava cascades, and the constant rumble make it hard to have a conversation.
The forge at the edge of the magma lake is worked by five humanoid creatures. Four look like they are completely made of magma. The one in charge looks like a dwarf on fire.
From a ledge near the entrance comes another fiery creature fluttering down. The fire mephit builts itself up in front of the group and demands to know - in ignan and a very unriendly tone - what their business is, stating that his master is very busy.
Heshan wish he knew what the mephit was saying, but given he had no idea what he said, that would be hard to do. But it didn't sound friendly.
"Does anyone have magic that can help us understand that thing?"
"I will translate" Omari steps to the task .
First, in Ignan, addressing the Mephit "I will be translator"; then in common, he translates the Mephit's demand of what our business is...
"What's up with your master? He seems to be on fire, should we not help him put down the flames?" Ohrmizd answers in Ignan to the mephit "We came here looking to learn more about this plane of Kakishon, its inhabitants and Jahvul himself"
"<You're Jahvul fanboys?>" the mephitinquires from Ohrmizd.