GM Foxy's 2nd Legacy of Fire

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

"Where would they pack up and go to? Obherak? To join them or fight them?"

"Wherever they have gone, I doubt it was to fight them" Ohrmizd gives away his thoughts on Dlix "Well, let's get moving there to Obherak. If Dlix is there... we will soon find out"

"If we can release the prisoner from the genies, I am confident reaching the proteans will be easy" the Keleshite completes his thoughts and starts to walk towards the pier.

Once back to the ship, he states pointing to the south-west island on the map "To Khandelwal! To the Golden Bowl!!!"

The ship takes the route back to the desert island. From the pier the path is known, and though still quite the distance the time seems to fly on the way there. Soon the structure at the top of the Golden Bowl comes into sight.

How do you approach and who is going to do the talking? As you didn't leave on best terms last time.

"I suggest we just tell them we need the prisoner released to reach the proteans. That we accept their offering on exchange of the prisoner." Ohrmidz proposes.

I'd really like to take the time to prep some spells before we talk to the genies... so let's have this diplomacy tactics discussion a little earlier, and camp overnight before going to see the Shaitans - already today, we have gone to see the fireforge ("a long walk", there and back), and then to the Pleasure Palace. Add in sailing time and I guess that it's evening when we get to Khandelwal...

As the ship docks at the pier, Omari addresses the party "Let's pause here, camp for the night in the little hostel and have a chat about how we are going to approach this. First, I suggest that Heshan (He has a +10 diplomacy, which I believe makes him our second best diplomat, after Ohrmizd) does the talking - Ohrmizd made a bad first impression... (Calling Obherak a coward at the end of our first meeting was probably a mistake...) Perhaps we can come up with some magic or otherwise to aid him in his diplomacy."
We can cast Eagle's Splendor (Clr 2, +4 Cha) on him for the charisma boost and enhanced diplomacy (Clr 0, +2 competence) and Talisman of Reprieve (Clr 5, +4 circumstance and no planar aspect penalties) but most of the other diplomacy boosters are personal - Geniekind, Aspect of the Nightingale, Visualization of the Mind. Have you got anything Samuel (or Rayhan)? We might also do well to hide Ohrmizd somehow - disguise or invisibility, maybe? @Our mages, can Shaitan's see through invisibility?

"With respect to Ohrmizd's suggestion about releasing the prisoner they held, you do realize that they were talking about releasing the prisoner they held from life... I much doubt they will hand him over to us. "

"In terms of our negotiating position, I think it should be that we are being forced into a hard choice that we do not like, Proteans or Shaitans, which do we kill... but we have to choose a side, because our first priority is going home. Then it becomes a matter of what can he do to sweeten the pot for us? What aid can he provide? Remember Heshan, that he is a blunt, straightforward and plainspoken type for a genie."

He wants the war with the Proteans ended with them dead and not him. Our party represents an element that can tip the balance of power between him and the Proteans. Pretend that we find both sides equally abhorrent and thus give him motivation to bribe us to his side.

"Oh true, I pointed aloud his cowardice " Ohrmizd smiles proudly "I can take a disguise as Heshan's squire, it is more solid than invisibility. We need the prisoner though to reach the proteans, as otherwise we have no other reason to be invited to their lair, unless Obherak is amenable to lend us his head as entry token. If he is not completely dumb, he should be able to concede on this point "

The next day, after some good breakfast, the Keleshite casts heroism on Heshan, and disguise self on himself.

The sorcerer grins as he stroked his hair. [B]"I knew you would eventually be convinced by my beguiling charms," he smiled.

Heshan winced at Ohrmizd's suggestion. [B]"I do not think we should take that kind of precautions. We just need to be straightforward in our decisions and keep things as simple as possible.

Samuel will stay well to the rear as they approach.

"Well then, I shall hide behind Jafar then, hiz" Ohrmizd will just do as Heshan would feel more comfortable as he is to lead the talks this time. The Keleshite will cast only heroism then, and not disguise self.

Once done, he will follow Heshan onto the Bowl, trying to keep himself at the back of the group.

Samuel looks back at the inquisitor and says "You will be safe back there. I will protect you."

"That would more likely happen the other way around. But he does provide great company," Heshan grins.

Omari began the day with his usual prayers to the Horned God.

He is quiet as the party marches to meet the Shaitan at the Golden Bowl; this will be a weighty thing, and he is not happy with the option in front of them, but it seems the lesser of two evils.

" Don't fear for your ass lovely Jafar " Ohrmizd breaks into laughing "I have your back we'll covered, you better worry to keep my mind clear of compulsions " the Keleshite blinks an eye to the wizard.

"If it comes to the worst, I can get some of us out with dimension door, if that kind of spell works here in Kakishon. If Samuel can prepare that too, it would suffice to get us all away quick."

Rayhan cast mage armor as soon as they leave towards the Golden Bowl.

I didn't level him up to 9, but I could and choose teleport then as new spell.

The Golden Bowl still stands unfazed in the burnign sun surrounded by sand as far as the eye can seen. The stone platform that hangs over the edge of the crater is of polished granite, its surface inscribed with faint geometric patterns. Partially eroded statues of a humanoid figure stand atop the open area, while just to the north a colonnade supports a stone roof that provides shade. A stone ramp leads down from the platform into the dusty crater to the south.

In the shade under the roof lies the sphinx. "Are you bored and came to hear more riddles?" she asks as the group approaches.

Omari will step behind Heshan and quietly cast enhanced diplomacy on him before Heshan speaks.

+2 competence to diplomacy

Ohrmizd remains at the back and maintains a low profile, as requested by the plan.

He is though ready to detect any lies told in front of the group's questions.

Oh gods not again... Heshan kept his composure and spoke. "We were looking for Obherak. We went to his palace, but he was nowhere to be found there."

Samuel whispers to the inquisitor he is protecting. "Not bad. Has he ever taken point like this before?"

"Is that a riddle? Obherak is living here, but I wouldn't call it a palace. And you weren't here since you talked to him last time. Do I need to remind you that I'm the one asking the riddles here?" the sphinx answers in an irritated tone.

Ohrmizd coughs from behind and whispers forward in the line " Perhaps you shall remind the shaitans were not treating well that sphinx and we can protect her and help her with her riddles"

"Of course not," Heshan replied quickly. He then continued. "No, that was just an honest mistake. And we just want to talk to him."

Pretty boy Heshan may be, but clearly, he's just not paying attention. That's twice he's gotten confused between Obherak and Dlix, wrt to who's where and holding what prisoners...

"I can't help you with that. And I can't let you down into the bowl, as I'm the guardian. You have to wait for Iqilma to check on you." The sphinx tells.

"You want a riddle to pass the time?"

"Apologies. I meant that we wanted to talk to Dlix if we can. I believe we came to an agreement to aid her." As for the riddle, he stepped aside. "I believe my friends would be interested in trying one."

"Who is this Dlix?" the sphinx inquires with the irritated look returning to her face.

I think I need a will save from Omari to not put all diplomancers into a bag of holding and try himself. :D

Presumably that's against a DC 30 or so...

Will Save: 1d20 + 6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 4 + 1 = 24 vs DC 30
+6 Cleric + 4 wis +1 resistance

Omari catches Heshan by the shoulder, pulls him back and whispers in his ear "Shut up you muppet". Then he steps forward and addresses the sphinx: "Milady Sphinx, my apologies for my friend's confusion. We would speak to Sultan Obherak; we have considered his proposal for a alliance against the Proteans and believe we might arrive at a mutually satisfactory arrangement. We will return here tomorrow at noon for further discussions."

Iqilma emerges from the stone floor. "That is good to hear. I will inform Obherak and we'll see if he will receive you tomorrow at noon."

"Excellent, see you and Sultan Obherak tomorrow."

Omari and Khedron head back to the hostel by the pier.

Samuel lets the cleric get a head start and follows at a distance. He begins to laugh uncontrollably and it continues for a while."Pesh would do that. Way too much pesh would do that."

Ohrmizd shrugs and turns back, following Omari back to the pier "Just one more riddle and we can put that Sphinx to our side"

The Keleshite will pass the night preparing the edge of his new scimitar and cleaning the shield of Sarenrae "I have the feeling tomorrow will be the definitive day. We cannot f@&$ it up Heshan. The Princess depends on us. You all remember the Princess and Garavel, do you?"

Heshan nods. "I do, even though it feels like we have been in this plane forever." he sighed. "Maybe they have noticed our disappearance by now."

The conjurer approaches the cleric lit pipe and old law in hand. "I have been thinking about two things. If I am not mistaken you should be able to shift planes. Can you request this of Erastil in the morning? Secondly, the proteans cover quite a bit of ground in how dangerous they can be. I will study the next one I see and hope I can recall their abilities. Hopefully Erastil will give you favor and the power to return to our home."

The conjurer approaches the cleric lit pipe and old law in hand. "I have been thinking about two things. If I am not mistaken you should be able to shift planes. Can you request this of Erastil in the morning? Secondly, the proteans cover quite a bit of ground in how dangerous they can be. I will study the next one I see and hope I can recall their abilities. Hopefully Erastil will give you favor and the power to return to our home."

Omari answers the first question, "What impairs your magics impairs mine as well friend", (Word of Foxy), and then proceeds to the second idea "I would suggest both you and Rayhan get your thinking caps on now, before the bleeding starts. You know what we saw the last visit - there were 3 kinds visible: the fake elves, the thing in the pool and the things in the lighthouses. At very least, we know that outsiders come in families, with shared traits; what are those traits for these Proteans? Universal Monster rules, subtype: Protean "

He steps apart from Samuel and heads over to Heshan "All right, we'll go over this slowly for you (again)(sotto voce), despite the fact that you were there for all of it." He continues, holding up fingers as he goes:
"First, Lady Dilix is the Shaitan who we had dinner with,
who was inhabiting the ruins of the Pleasure Palace of Nex
on the central isle of this archipelago.
She has since departed for parts unknown.
She was not keeping any prisoners that we knew of.
Second, Sultan Obherak is the leader of the main faction of Shaitans in Kakishon.
He resides here on the island of Khandelwal.
The crater where we have gone to meet him is called The Golden Bowl.
He is keeping at least one Protean prisoner...
Got it?"

(I have more to do this evening/next morning, but I would like Samuel to tell me they are chaotic outsiders, for spell prep and scroll prep. Once I get that, I will prepare Protection from Chaos in an empty slot, and write 2 scrolls of it at CL5, so that Ohrmizd can use them on himself and Khedron when we attack the Proteans.)

Ohrmizd relaxes his scimitar over the shoulder as things get discussed "Well I can tell you the pools were entropic essence, which is no other than acid to normal matter like our bodies"

K. planes+monster lore+HR+HA: 1d20 + 11 + 3 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 11 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 26
"As about proteans themselves, they are not evil in nature, I can so tell you, but their nature aligns with Chaos. They are shapechanger outsiders. Some say they were already here when the first gods pulled forth the other planes from raw chaos. They probably want Kakishon destroyed because their goal is basically to undo all the ordering of the material planes and recover the beauty of total entropy" the Keleshite further explains "But going into practicalities, they are amorphous in nature, so do not expect for precision damage to be of use. Likely most of them are resistant to non-lawful weapons, so align weapon might be of help here. Some are resistant to magic, and from all the elements, the best ones to fight them are fire and cold."

He takes a book from his back and throws it for the others to see "Well, or so it says in Jahvul's book"

Knowledge(Planes): 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (13) + 20 = 33
"Well, I'm lacking my library, but what I remember off the top of my head about proteans is..."

"They are chaotic outsiders, are resistant to acid, sound, electricity, damage from non-lawful weapons, and magic. Also there are probably different types of them, but which are which I can't tell as they are shapechangers and Lahapraset greeted us in elf form."

"Chaotic outsiders you say. I can prepare some warding spells on a scroll for Ohrmizd to use. Protection from Chaos, one for Ohrmizd and one for Khedron as they will be engaging in melee. Samuel, Rayhan, I do not know what magicks are in your books, but I am sure you can put the evening here to similarly productive use by scribing your own scrolls."

Omari gets to work, first filling his empty 1st level slot with Protection from Chaos, and then scribing a scroll...

(2X Protection from Chaos at CL5. 2*1*5*25=250 gp, can be done in 2 hrs before we sleep for the evening... Samuel and Rayhan, I don't know what spells you've got, but you both have scribe scroll.

Next morning, he will repeat his spell preparation from yesterday, as he expects to spend the day in diplomacy with the Shaitans (and after talking, hopefully in preparation for an attack on the Proteans the day after). He will make sure we leave on our trek to the Golden Bowl in plenty of time (including a random encounter or two), to meet with Obherak promptly at noon...

"I guess this means I will switch over to fire spells this time around," Heshan replied. "And we may also have to be wary about any one of them trying to infiltrate our ranks with shapeshifting."

Ohrmizd gives the look to Heshan "That is a crafty thinking, but we should be prepared indeed. Maybe that is the way they knew about our steps before" the Kheleshite turns to Omari, seeing he is deeply preparing for the encounters today and even thinking ahead for tomorrow, he dejects the idea "Well, no doubts there" and turns his eyes towards Jafar and Rayhan.

"So, you knew all about Kakishon and made a ritual to trap us here. How do we know you are not part of a crafty plan from the proteans indeed?" Ohrmizd gives the look to Rayhan and Jafar.
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27
And discern lies Will DC 17

The conjurer just looks at Peshan before hearing the inquisition and looks at Rayhan for his reaction. Finally he looks to Ohrmizd and says "This is no time for division. Please ignore that, Rayhan"

Omari looks up from his crafting to comment acerbically "Ohrmizd, unless you're assuming time travel, your theoretical 'crafty plan' doesn't work. The proteans were sealed inside Kakishon and it hadn't been opened since the Genie wars several centuries prior to us meeting both Samuel and Rayhan."

"I guess it would be much easier to destroy Kakishon by finding a way to destroy the scroll from outside, than doing so from the inside. Also it would mean that the proteans found a way out, or at least to contact their kin outside. Which should have solved their problem aeons ago." Rayhan explains without looking up from his book.

Heshan shook his hand from side to side. "My guess is trying to destroy the scroll here could destroy the place... and everyone in here as well,"he shrugged. "It also makes more sense that the proteins have not found a way out yet."

"Unless indeed, they found a way out, and we are being used as patsies" Ohrmizd adds, but then relaxes his inquisitor gaze out of Rayhan and smiles "Ok, I guess that is enough fun for today. Shall we go now join the shaitans in our meeting?"

As time passes and the group seems fully rested, and Omari has had time enough to prepare, Ohrmizd starts walking back to the bowl "It seems about time to prepare for our meeting"

When the group approaches the top of the bowl, he casts heroism, heightened awareness and shield of faith in preparation for the negotiation.

Again, he takes a discrete position in the human retinue.

Samuel looks back at the inquisitor and says "Does this outfit make my ass look big?"

As the group approaches the setup is the same as before. The setup is the same as before. Two bodyguards and Iqilma wait for the group and once all arrived, plus some minutes extra Obherak joins the meeting.

"So you have made up your mind?" He adresses Omari.

As Omari walks up to meeting Iquilma (and the bodyguards), he casts a pair of spells, Talisman of Reprieve and Eagle's Splendor. When Obherak joins us, he mutters a quick prayer Enhanced Diplomacy, and then (remembering Obherak's direct nature) replies bluntly to his question: "I think we can come to an agreement. It appears that your Earth Stone and the Protean's Entropy Pool are indeed our only ways out of Kakishon. You both want us to kill the other group; we are left with picking sides. The Proteans offered us significant treasures and magic to choose their side, as well as a route home. If we pick your side, you will claim this personal paradise as your own. What do you offer us to side with you?"

diplomacy: 1d20 + 1 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 1 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 4 = 27
1 rank +3 trained +2 cha (eagle's splendor)+2 competence (enhanced diplomacy) +4 circumstance (talisman of reprieve)

"I offer you an easy fight against those cowards, and my word as a person of honor. If you think the creatures of chaos are good for their word you are a fool. But you are not leaving without making a decision. Either you swear to your god, that we have a deal, or you made your choice against us and fight now."

To no one's surprise a whole group of earth shaitans is there and comes out of their hiding. A quick check tells there will be Obherak, 8 shaitans, maybe the sphinx and if it comes to the worst also the gargoyles to fight.