GM Foxy's 2nd Legacy of Fire

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

Omari listens carefully to the stories the giant is telling, seeking deception and falsehood:
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 11 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 11 + 3 + 4 = 29
11 rank +3 Trained+4 Wis

Omari also has many questions to ask, beginning with:
"Which faction were the lizardfolk below associated with?"

" The grand vizier?" Ohrmizd raises an eyebrow and inquiries "Who is him? What does he want?"

Heshan absorbs the information given to him by the giant and thinks of what to say next. "What's the hydra guarding then," Heshan asks.

"Where are you from? How can you not know the [url=https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Abdul-Qawi] Grand Vizier Abdul-Quwi?" Which earns you lengthy history lesson.

Ohrmizd listens attentively to the history teachings about the rulership of the City of Brass "So your boss is in some kind of fight with another boss here in the City of Brass? This faction fights remembers me to some previous situation we solved just a while back..." he looks back at the rest of the party.

"So what does he want this Abdul-Qawi? If he sent you to this palace I guess it was for a reason, isn't it?" the Keleshite further inquiries.

Omari crooks his finger and leads everyone away from the giant for a private discussion... As he does, he calls out the giant, "Just wait patiently for us. For you might be a fast runner, but I'd wager my coin on Khedron here, and you certainly won't outrun my arrows..."

Once we are a fair distance from the giant (50' or so), he begins whispering "Yes, a faction fight, the shaitans against the proteans to the death. We only got involved in that one because picking one faction or the other was the only way out of Kakishon. I don't think any of us enjoyed it. Our business is Javhul, his army and perhaps freeing the Lady Shazathared. We don't need either faction for this, so I suggest staying out of their fight, especially with the Grand Vizier being a master wizard, not someone to cross. (Conjurer 17) But you have asked the right question Ohrmizd, why did the Grand Vizier send these Guardians of the Forbidden Gate here. If they want the artifact that binds Lady Shazathared, we may have to fight them. Otherwise, we may be able to cooperate, because all we want from here is her freedom and clues to fight Javhul with..."

"Hmm... might we suggest an alliance with one of them so that we can make our way to that artifact. Once we reach it we can grab it and make our way out of there. We would at least have some help for part of the way it it."

Omari looks back and forth between Heshan and Ohrmizd and says "Well, we all have our ideas. Let's hear what this giant has to say." Heading back to the giant, he asks,"Yes, tell us Why did Guardians of the Forbidden Gate got sent to this place by Grand Vizier Abdul-Quwi?"

This house was cursed by the vizier that no one can leave it. And probably he wanted to make sure by adding a guard on top.

"So this curse traps you here, and presumably does the same for us...
Does the Vizier still communicate with his servants, or has he abandoned you here? Also, do you know why the Vizier cursed this house? It was Javhul's; is the Vizier a rival of his, striking while Javhul was imprisoned?"

The giant knows only rumors that the power hungry Jhavhul tried to steal something very powerful and failed and got punished for that. Which basically has him exiled as long as he doesn't come back to his family's palace which would have him imprisoned.

"Mmm... trapped here? So familiar..." Ohrmizd thinks on the planar prison the group has just left and asks the giant "How do we break this curse? We have to escape to face Jhavhul before it causes trouble in our country"

Heshan does not have any more questions from his end, but the conversation has taken a turn for the interesting. So he continues to listen what the giant has to say.

The giant answers Ohrmizd.

Giant is getting pretty sassy...

"A master of spellcraft I am not, but I have some experience. I doubt you have any, fool, so I will not ask you about possible limitations on this curse." Omari pauses to cast a significant glance at Rayhan and Heshan.

Spellcraft and K Arcana time, could such a curse be bypassed, for example, by dimensional travel (plane shift)?

Then he continues " Instead, answer my questions about things you might know.
First, does the Vizier still communicate with the Guardians of the Forbidden Gate, now that you are trapped in Jhavhul's palace?
Second, tell me about the Guardians of the Forbidden Gate that are trapped in this palace. How many of you are there? Are you all fire giants? If not, what other species do you have in your ranks?"

"How about you answer some questions first? Why are you here? And why should I betray my companions to you when all you're going to do is murder everyone in your way?"

"I can answer that" Ohrmizd lowers his hand to calm the boiling feelings of the cleric against the giant "We ended up here trapped just by chance. We were trapped long ago in a magical object that it seems it was stored here. When we broke out of the object that held us prisoners, it seems we ended up in just another prison"

"Our main goal right now is to find a way to escape this Palace. I think we can collaborate on that. Don't we?" the Kheleshite offers a neutral stare at the giant waiting for an answer "If you ask what we want to do after we get out of here. We want to find Jhavhul and stop him for good from destroying our lands. Thus, any information or ally we can find here that helps us achieve this, it is welcome too"
Diplomacy+HR: 1d20 + 17 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 17 + 2 = 27

"Can't help you to get out, don't know how. And there is for sure nothing that can help in the areas we guard. But if you go after the other factions - I can tell you where to go."

"If you tell us, we might pay them a visit, which might end with most of them dying. I say from past experiences" Ohrmizd follows up on the response.

Heshan entered the conversation. "Alright. Give me your pitch then. Why should we help you instead of the other factions in this place?"

"You shouldn't help me. I'm just offering you to save yourself the hassle to go through the areas we guard. Because you won't find a way out there."

"But if you want to visit a lot more fire giants that will all try to kill you, then you can of course ignore my suggestion and try the other rooms too. Just don't be surprised if it is for naught."

"Mmm... no, no need to fight more fire giants I guess. My attention was caught with that candle. Maybe that is the artifact we were asked to switch off."

Ohrmizd takes note of the given directions.

"I thought the Flickering Candle was a group of assassins; not an actual candle. If any of the factions has knowledge of the artifact that binds Lady Shazathared, presumably it would be Haunted Palace, who are 'the original inhabitants'."

Anybody got any ideas what to do with this giant, post interrogation? I doubt letting him go (so he can go warn the rest of the fire giants and let them get organized) is a smart plan...

"That does make sense." Heshan nods over to Omari before turning towards Ohrmizd. "Rope will probably not work, but what if we used chains to tie him up?"

"I have clearly misunderstood the candle thing" Ohrmizd turns to Rayhan to see if the sage has any ideas.

Trying to think on Omari's conundrum, he asks the giant "Will you come with us to pay a visit to this Hunted Palace group?"
Diplomacy+HR: 1d20 + 17 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 17 + 2 = 29

"I can show you the way. I'm not going in there. It's called haunted palace for a reason."

Omari's brow furrows as he considers, and then he asks "You're obviously posted as some sort of a guard. Do you actually have any authority to make a deal with us?"

His innate skepticism ignited, he reconsiders what the giant has been saying...

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 11 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 11 + 3 + 4 = 38
11 rank +3 Trained+4 Wis
Is he lying to us? Is he trying to hide things - like how many giants there are? Is he trying to set us up, feeding us into the worst this place has to offer?

"No. But I didn't offer a deal, did I? I just plain told you how it is."

"If I were to be honest, having the giant walk along with us may be the best plan. As long as you believe he will not try and betray us down the line."

Ok, we have a moral dilemma. I was hoping someone else would come up with a clever solution. Letting our prisoner go means the rest of the fire giants (Guardian of the Forbidden Gate) are warned. Tying him up is pointless - he can probably break free of any bonds we tie, and as a guard, presumably he has a relief coming, and they would free him. Sticking a knife in him is out - we're all good, not to mention Ohrmzid is a Sarenrite. I don't particularly want to trust him, but I don't see any other real options - I don't think Rayhan or Heshan have charm spells available - and I can't think of anything particularly useful from the cleric list...and that brings us back to trusting him.

Ok, as a strategic thought, do we want to rest before we get into it with one of the factions? I think we might do well to regain spells before potentially wading into something big. If we want to try a couple of smaller things and then rest, there was an unexplored room on the level below and at least 2 passages down (which should lead to relatively small complexes, as we explored most of what was below already).

"In a display of good faith we are leaving you alive under the promise you are not causing us further trouble" Ohrmizd informs the giant on Omari's terms "That said, if we find out you have committed treason to us in the future, be warned that Sarenrae's blade is relentless to unredeemable evilness"

Ohrmizd displays Zenzirad cold flames for the fire giant to understand what that means.

With that said, and unless the giant indeed is able to fulfill Omari's mapping desires, he moves to the northern doors and opens them to continue the exploration.

This dark chamber is of cavernous proportions, its vaulted ceiling held aloft by huge supporting columns. The stench of beasts remains strong, though whatever was once stabled here is long gone. The gutted remains of a few battered war chariots are pushed against the walls. Campfires of burning coals can be seen toward the rear of the chamber.

Ohrmizd can see three fire giants and some more of the burning hounds, when looking out the eastern door.

"More fire giants. Perhaps we can avoid this fight " Ohrmizd hides back at the previous room "Try to make our friend convince them not to fight us?"

Omari turns back to the giant "How do we get to the Haunted Palace without fighting (and slaying) your fellow giants?"

"It appears that our giant friends have already made their way past here," Heshan mused as he passed by the former campsite. When they arrived at the next set of giants, he placed a hand on his chin. "I am all well and good with giving second chances, but do you really think he would do so?"

"Try sneaking? Or cut the way short. If you go back down and use the stairs past the hydra, you would walk in a straight line past the bull statue onto a large set of doors. That is the entrance into the haunted palace. I guess the giants at the bull are still distracted."

"Want to try the invis thing?" Ohrmizd asks the others "I am up for a try."

"Try sneaking? Or cut the way short. If you go back down and use the stairs past the hydra, you would walk in a straight line past the bull statue onto a large set of doors. That is the entrance into the haunted palace. I guess the giants at the bull are still distracted."

"Want to try the invis thing?" Ohrmizd asks the others "I am up for a try."

Omari looks from Ohrmizd to the giant and back; "There were more of those hounds in there. I think that takes sneak off the board; I doubt the invis thing will work against a hound's nose..."

"Going past the hydra though, we could do that pretty easy. I can shoot it down through the murder holes over there, and then you can ride your flying carpet down and use Zenzirad's cold flame to end it's regeneration."

He steps close to Ohrmizd and whispers in his ear:"Can you knock this giant unconscious without killing him? I don't think we can practically tie him up or anything, and I'd hate for him to shout a warning to his comrades at an inopportune moment or somesuch."

"You wanna kill the hydra? But its such a nice pet. And its chained. It can't even follow you."

"Knock what..." bonk "ouch!" The giant sees stars and then it becomes dark for him.

"Hmm. I did like his company," Heshan mused as the giant is knocked out. "Shooting from a distance should not be a problem. All I would need is line of sight and the Hydra will be a shoulder in no time."

Omari addresses the unconscious giant "The hydra might be a nice pet for you giants, but it'll surely try to eat us if we try to go up those stairs..."

He then turns to the party "Now the, decision time. Are we going to fight the fire giants - if so, we should keep going, rather than give up the advantage of surprise. But according to him, there's no real value in fighting them. We can either try to sneak into the Haunted Palace section, or we can go back down and clean our backtrail. Either way, I think we should put the hydra down, as this is the perfect location to do that little job..."

OK, our options are a) fight the fire giants, b) sneak into the haunted palace, or c) clean up the various bits below and come back later. I say c), but kill the hydra now, as this is both the opportune time, and will convince the giants we snuck off into the haunted palace, so they won't come looking for us. @Heshan, @ Ohrmizd, what do you guys want to do?

Ohrmizd offers the relieve of Sarenrae, letting the giant live as he slashes with his sword.

When it comes to what next "Let's just do the hydra. I think it will be easier to reach that Haunted Palace then."

The group goes down again, shoots the hydra til it is dead and then climbs the stairs.

(D2) The frightful screams and bellows of what sounds like an enraged bull echo through this vast courtyard. In the center of the court stands a fifty-foot-tall ziggurat, atop which looms a statue of a bull. Smoke issues from the statue’s open mouth, as does the eerie bellowing. Beyond the ziggurat stands the huge domed palace that surmounts the citadel, its double domes glinting beneath a roiling molten sky.

Two fire giants stand next to the bull, joking and having a good time listening to the noise the bull makes.

On the other side of the open space you see the large doors that supposedly lead to the haunted palace.

Heshan survey's the area before turning to talk to the others. "We might be able to sneak our way pat them if we are quiet enough. I also have invisibility for anyone who might need it."

Heshan survey's the area before turning to talk to the others. "We might be able to sneak our way pat them if we are quiet enough. I also have invisibility for anyone who might need it."

So Heshan's in disguise ...

"Well, the bellowing from the bronze bull will presumably cover most noises that we make, so that wouldn't be too bad if we were invisble. But are those doors locked? If so, how would we open them?"

but I need to pause here because I have several map question for Foxy:
A)I have indicated what I think the doors to the haunted palace are by circling in dashed purple; are those the right doors?
B) I assume those doors are closed (and maybe locked, but we don't know yet...)
C) I may be confused by the connection between the level below and this one. We shot the hydra and came up the stairs it guarded (the yellow arrow labelled up on slide 2). I think this puts us on slide at the green dashed circle, peering round the corner... I have put a red dashed arrows on the stairs in front of us; are they going up in the direction of the arrow?
D) Can you mark the pair of fire giants on the map? I want to know if they have a view of the doors to the haunted palace; if we can get those doors open, can we close them behind us without the giants noticing?

A) You got the description from the giant and with that you go. I'm not going to tell if you interpreted that right or not.
B) Not a question.
C) Yes, the stairs take a turn and run up in direction of the arrow.
D) They are sitting on the steps of the ziggurath with their back to the bull. Not that you'd see that at the bottom of the stairs.

"Let me try to handle this, but be ready for the fight, for I think that's how this is going to end..." Ohrmizd renews his shield of faith before flying forward with his carpet.

When he is at talk distance, he addresses the giants "Hello good sirs, could you tell me if those doors are the entrance to the Haunted Palace?"

Omari mutters to himself "Welp, so much for sneak... I hope they don't think of what must have happened to their hydra pet."

He and Khedron move up to where they can support Ohrmizd...

The giants are baffled. "Yes..." one answers wide eyed.