Ohrmizd looks at the scroll with awe "So the Templars of the Five Winds trapped Jhavhul inside the scroll?"
"A promise of treasure and a legendary flame weapon. Well, you are building up my patience..." the Keleshite smiles "...a few days, maybe weeks... well, I guess I can wait that time."
"If you are looking for protectors in this Kakishon, well, then I am interested as long as we can take a good piece of the share." Ohrmizd scratches his head not knowing exactly what numbers to put in there, specially after the group did not like the idea of selling the scroll "We heard before Jhavhul's name."
"Apparently, The book Courts of Stone and Flame describes him as a shamed member of the efreet nobility of the City of Brass, on the Plane of Fire. According to these sources, he would have ventured to the Material Plane in search of an army and a legacy to raise his standing. He and his armies warred against the Templars of the Five Winds, but he was never seen in the City of Brass again." Ohrmizd recites looking at the ceiling, proud of his great memory "That matches with him being trapped in the scroll as you suggested. The book also describes the weapons and affinities of the Templars of the Five Winds."
It is obvious to Samuel that he will be of no aid to Rayhan. He decides to look into the possible dangers should success smile upon them. He will spend hours learning the layout of the library and consulting the books that may have the knowledge he seeks.
He takes extra care to handle the pages so that even they do not know they were touched.
"Some used it as a prison for their enemies."
"Adrathi went through the same process—yet he obviously managed to discover the way to open the scroll, even if it meant his doom."
Jhavhul and much of his army on the other hand are not limited by such a short lifespan. But no preparation would make facing an army feasible.
It was a long listen, but the story was more than 3nough to intrigue the man throughout the story. When Rayhan offered to join them, he smiled as he brought out a hand to shake. "More company is more than welcome here," he replied. ",We can discuss the manner of payment as soon as we come across the place's treasures."
He then turned towards Ohrmizd. "Do you think the person would still be alive if we manage to enter his realm?"
"Genies are immortal beings according to Manuun, and I believe him on these matters. So yes, I do expect that Jhavhul to be alive if he was imprisoned in Kakishon as everything points to." Ohrmizd says after some thought on Heshan's words.
"For what it seems, the best we can do until Rayhan finds the magic that makes the scroll to work, is to prepare ourselves for exploring such an island world."
Everyone finds a pastime to keep them entertained through the day. Some enjoy the food and the bath and relaxing in the garden. Others make use of the extensive library to read for entertainment, or to gather knowledge. And so the days pass by while Rayhan studies most of the time what the inscriptions of the scroll mean and where to find hints in his hundreds of books.
...
Sadly, my adventuring days are behind me, but if I find the way, I would be honored to accompany you into Kakishon to find the truth!"
Omari casts a questioning eye at the older man "Are you sure you're up for it? according to you there is a world in that parchment - I am guessing we will have lots of travelling to do inside it exploring it's secrets." He pauses and then continues"Speaking of travelling, that also raises the question of how we are going to do this. You say it function somewhat like a bag of holding; I have seen one of those. Presumably this research will result in some command phrase that the user says and then they step into the scroll, leaving the scroll behind, like putting something into a bag of holding. When we venture into Kakishon, someone has to hold the scroll, and thus controlling our exit point. While you have a nice villa Rayhan, it's not secure. Who do we trust to hold the scroll for us while we explore? I think we will need to take a trip back to Kelmarane after you find the key; Princess Almah and her guards can keep our exit safe."
"It appears to me that this is a one way street. Rayhan, has anyone ever returned including Nex himself?" Samuel looks at Omari with a wtf expression.
Omari may not be a genius, but he's got plenty of common sense: "Maybe it's me Samuel, but according to our sage friend here, it was used as "portable paradise and impenetrable bolthole"; that wouldn't work if it's a one way street."
"A prison is a place where one has the key to the door and the prisoner has not. Nex for sure came back from it as did others who later wrote about it."
"Ah...I see where you are coming from, Omari. That is good news, Rayhan. I guess we will know soon enough." In the meantime Samuel does his research on planar travel.
"This baklava is getting more sweet the more I do eat" Ohrmizd comments while having a relaxing bath, his scimitar nearby of course.
The man seems oblivious to the many worries and fears of his companions and he merely enjoys his time as for once it is the smart ones who do the hard work.
"Whether that is good news or not depends on how the genie reacts to being trapped there for so long." Heshan added. "I did not show it back then, but being constrained in a place can make someone grumpy."
"That depends a lot on your personality and the place you are locked in." Rayhan comments. "But it might as well be true for Jahvul who had big ambitions for power, no matter how beautiful the prison is."
Samuel closes the book he has been studying. He speaks to himself "I could create a demiplane. I could modify how time passes when there. Now that could be quite useful. And then there is the issue of summoning a genie. Dangerous but there are ways to mitigate..." Samuel realizes he is thinking out loud. "My apologies. I will be on the roof with my pipe if that is okay."
After ten days of research for Rayhan and whatever pleases the others Rayhan announces "I think I have a breakthrough. The texts on the scroll and what I found out about them suggests a passphrase and then selecting the target island. Of course I can't know for sure. I'd like to activate it and see if I'm right. I believe we can abort this process, once we see that it works in principle."
"For this test run I suggest the area behind the house, but I'm open to better suggestions. I'd like you to observe what happens in the magical spectrum and to stand guard, in case anything comes out of the scroll when activating it."
Through the almost couple of weeks they pass with Rayhan in his manor, Ohrmizd profits the time to learn a bit more about history and the planes, he learns more vocabulary and inflections on the different languages of the elements, and also makes sure to commission magical improvements to his sword and other equipment as much as requesting magical items that might come of help in Kakishon.
"The backyard seems ok Rayhan. I will have my weapons and faith prepared in case something comes out of the scroll as you suggest it might happen." Ohrmizd will be ready with scimitar and shield the day Rayhan wants to run his test.
The conjurer takes his position behind the inquisitor. Staff in hand he is ready to cast.
"Rayhan, Efreeti can plane shift. How is it this one is imprisoned?"
Omari asks "If we are worried about something escaping from the scroll in this test, do we want it in an enclosed space where it cannot easily escape and we can engage it? If we are concerned about genies, most of the legends suggest they can fly... Also, a roof over our heads would hide us from prying eyes. Does your villa have a basement or maybe we should make the trip back to Kelmarane before trying this experiment?"
Rayhan shrugs to Samuel's question.
"I'd like to test it before we move to Kelmarane. What if I'm wrong, and it doesn't work? Then I need to go back to my research. I can't do that in Kelmarane. That would be weeks lost."
"If you think indoors is better, we can use the stables."
...and also makes sure to commission magical improvements to his sword and other equipment as much as requesting magical items that might come of help in Kakishon.
"If you want to do it inside, you may want to do it in a place where you won't care whether anything inside gets destroyed," Heshan added. "But otherwise, doing it inside might be best for us."
"... Perhaps one of Rayhan's attendants can make that purchase for us. And know that if you need anything of value, I can get it for you at a discount if I do the purchase for you in the nighstalls. It is my old stomping ground. I have many contacts of....well....various talents, goods, and services."
Ohrmizd is leveraging the idea proposed by Jafar, but he will use his scholar disguise if needed to.
"The stables is probably a better idea, as Omari says that would block any flying advantage of any creature pouring out" Ohrmizd agrees while readying.
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"It seems Omari is always correct. Quite the coincidence, I must say. And I agree to the stables as well. I noticed you lit up when I mentioned the market, Ohrmizd. Most believe the Nightstalls are only for malicious items but that is not true. In fact, if you were to mention you were after a particular item it would appear there long before you could have found it yourself. Is there something in particular you desire to purchase at this time?"
Rayhan shrugs to Samuel's question.
"I'd like to test it before we move to Kelmarane. What if I'm wrong, and it doesn't work? Then I need to go back to my research. I can't do that in Kelmarane. That would be weeks lost."
"If you think indoors is better, we can use the stables."
...and also makes sure to commission magical improvements to his sword and other equipment as much as requesting magical items that might come of help in Kakishon.
Fair enough, inside the stables should at least keep the prying eyes off of us."
When the experiment comes, Omari will set up carefully, with Khedron's statuette in place to be activated with the command word if neccesary...
*****
When Ohrmizd proposes going shopping because he's bored, Omari says "Absolutely not. Once Rayhan is done researching, we will return to Kelmarane, him with us. We will sneak out in disguise once again. Once we are disguised and leaving again, we will make a trip to the Nightstalls to pick up what we need from Samuel's contacts there."
Eramin prepares the stables. Rayhan’s horses, a white mare named lightning and a black foal with a white streak on its nose named Starfire, are put behind the house into the garden.
A scaffold is put up and the Scroll of Kakishon placed on it. Once all are assembled, Rayhan inquires "Are you ready?"
"Is your ritual going to take long?" unless Rayhan answers it is going to be more than a few minutes, Ohrmizd casts heroism and shield of faith on himself, then guidance "Goddess of the Dawn, bring your fire and light to us, so we can find the way to Kakishon and prevent its treasures to fall in the wrong hands."
When all the magic is on, the Keleshite answers "Ready"
"And maybe I can get supplies for a better disguise as well," Heshan added.
Once everyone was at the stable, the sorcerer gave Rayhan ample space to perform his work. He looked relaxed, but his eyes were attentive at whatever may happen.
"Ready as I will ever be." He gave Rayhan a thumb up.
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Rayhan casts mage armor to be prepared, should something bad happen and then comprehend language and arcane sight on himself to have a view on real face of the map.
He sorts his notes, double checks the spelling on the map and clears his throat.
"Serpent Isles," Rayhan states, and touches the scroll where a round archipelago is depicted.
"Khosravi," He touches another isle.
"Khandelwal," touch of a crescent to the left.
And so he goes through all islands of the map, one after another. {b]"Ismaizade, Aliskiren, Isles of Night, Kakishon."[/b]
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The scroll starts to glimmer faintly and getting brighter, but then that glimmer flickers and smoke starts to curl up from the map, and the smell of sulfur and burning leather fills the air.
A few moments later, an incredible blast of fire and smoke explodes from the map. With a sudden explosion of light and sound, the world becomes engulfed in fire. The ground itself seems to give way, and suddenly you are falling, falling through a vortex of fire, plummeting into the throat of a volcano. The pain tears through your flesh, yet still is strangely less overwhelming than what one might expect of a cataclysm this all-encompassing. A sense of vertigo overwhelms even the fire and noise, and the sensation of falling grows into a tempest of burning wind.
And then, in the flaming clouds and firestorm around you, shapes begin to emerge. Men and women made of fire and smoke-adorned with glittering jewelry and wielding scimitars made of fire, their faces twisted masks of glory and cruelty—rise up through the firestorm just as you are falling. Some of them seem to notice and mock you as you fall before they surge upward and out of sight.
And then comes the last of them, a towering, burning warrior with great horns and a cruel, curved sword. This immense figure notices you as well, and even takes the time to smile sardonically as he bows in mockery, as if thanking you for a service you provided. And then, with a flash, he is gone as well, trailing behind him a noxious plume of burning ash and searing cinders.
As suddenly as it began, the vortex of fire is no more. For a moment, you can see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing. But then, sensation slowly returns. The sound of waves crashing on a shore; the feel of a warm breeze and the grit of a bed of sand; the smell of salt air and strange exotic flowers—all these and more slowly fill the world. As your vision clears, you behold an idyllic tropical bay. Behind you rises a hilly junglescape rife with birdlife and snakes and strange flowers. Across a shallow inlet, more of the island rises, its slopes covered with jungle as well.
Above, the sky is cloudless and blue while some distance down the beach stand a pier and a small stone hut—the only signs of civilization. Of the vortex of fire itself, there is no sign.
"F%$% you Rayhan! You opened a volcano under our feet! We are going to die!" Ohrmizd curses as he tries to hold himself to whatever can maintain him alive, but finding no support he clings on his faith "Sarenrae protect us!"
The Kheleshite has just short time to notice the figures among the fire "Efreeti!" while he puts his ring and shield to absorb the flames in attempt to defend himself.
And then... blackness. As things come to a halt, the Sarenrite starts to slowly recover consciousness "Who has turned the lights off? I am dead again? Heshan? Omari? Jafar? Rayhan?" Ohrmizd notices the waves and seagulls then, and starts to play with the sand "Oh, what? Have you brought us to the beach?"
Slowly, he stands up to see the new area they have landed in "Where are we? Is this Katapesh's coast?" adjusting his vision to the bright clarity, he notices the pier and house not that far away.
"What are the chances we just loosened Jhavhul and his army on Katapesh? Rayhan, where is the exit?"
As the ground seems to fall away, Omari hurls himself forward, stretching to grasp Khedron's figurine as the magic takes effect... He ends up with a faceful of Kakishon's sand but Khedron is clutched in his right hand.
Pushing himself back upright, he spits and shakes his head, then wipes his face. After looking around, "Well Rayhan, I think your experiment worked and has gotten us into Kakishon. The questions now are: first, can you get us out and second, what will that army of efreeti do now that they are loose, presumably in Katapesh?"
Rayhan is still busy orienting himself after that hell of a ride as he realizes what Samuel just insinuates "Oh no! Eramin! My Horses!"
"Jhavhul was the leading burning warrior? Suck. Yes, it can be, he was told to be an efreet!" Ohrmizd nods recognizing Jafar's way of thinking, then upon realization he goes to address Rayhan "What the heck! You said you will stop the ritual after the first words! And what is this about Jhavhul being now in Katapesh!? That was most epic fail ever!!!"
"How to fix this now? We have to come back fast and let everyone know before it is too late!"
Samuel takes in his surroundings. He tries to make out the hut and pier from this distance.
Did we travel through the plane of fire?
...presumably in Katapesh?"
"Presumably. Yes, an assumption and a fair one at that but a certainty by no means."
Samuel recalls what he knows about Efreet."Rayhan, you accomplished what very few have been able to do. Impressive and disconcerting. I hope your casts are divine and not arcane. If the latter, I do pray your spellbook is with you."
"It wasn't supposed to do this. It should have lit up with magic as it did and then wait for us to select a target island." Rayhan defends himself, wondering what went wrong.
About the second question it hits him like a rock. He has no clue how to get out and he doesn't have his library for research.
While all stand there perplexed by the situation some thing big makes the water foam and closes in on the beach. Six sea serpents rise their heads out of the water, but arriving at the beach it shows that it happens to just one huge creature with six heads.
"Buggers! Is that an hydra?! We are going to need fire in here!" Ohrmizd follows in with a soft prayer. His scimitar suddenly sprouts in fire with the flames of the faithful.
The Keleshite raises his shield and slowly advances himself while activating his resiliency and protection judgments "Dawnflower protect me from this multi-headed serpent!"
He was expecting something to pop out of the scroll. Instead, it was a ride that caused a great number of emotions. A lot of shock and fear, yet a bit of beauty as well.
He held close to the others just to make sure they did not get separated. When it was over, he turned towards Samuel, then towards Rayhan. "Impressive for sure... but how exactly are we supposed to get back?"
Before he could even get an answer to that, they got a monster attacking them already.
[N]"Fire you say."[/B] With a toothy grin, his hands flared up with heat as he unleashed a torrent of magical fire upon the hydra.
"So how bad is a hydra exactly?"
Three of six heads look angry at Heshan.
Samuel's wand of shocking grasp (reach) springs into his hand.
The hydra evades most of the fireball and heals the damage it took almost instantly. Samuel misses with his magic electricity.
The hydra closes in and starts biting at everyone.
Rayhan is painfully reminded why he gave up on adventuring. He steps away from the beast and begins casting.
Khedron bugles and steps to attack while covering Rayhan's casting. Omari steps into the cover he offers as well, leaning down as he does to scoop a handful of sand from the beach. He throws the handful of sand into the air at the beast, speaking a prayer to erastil as he does. A sudden breeze whips the sand into a whirlwind around the monster...
vs Possibly blinded
+5 BAB +6str+1enhancement -1 size
+6 str +1 enhancement
vs Possibly blinded
+5+6str+1enhancement -1 size-5 secondary attack
+3 = 0.5* str +1 enhancement
vs Possibly blinded
+5+6str+1enhancement -1 size-5 secondary attack
+3 = 0.5* str +1 enhancement
"No, it will keep healing unless we cut its heads!" Ohrmizd shouts while protecting himself from sand and fire using his shield while stepping forward to face the many heads of the beast and adjusting his judgment to justice "With the cut heads we have to apply fire on the stumps to prevent more to grow!"
Then he attacks to the head that just attacked him, trying to severe it from the main body "Cut its heads!"
If the first head falls, his next swing goes for the next head.
As the first attack lands, his scimitar bursts with flames!
The hydra is blinded with sand in its many eyes. Khedron wounds it twice. Ohrmizd chops off a head, but not without a price.
Samuel takes a five foot step back placing him at 15 feet from the creature. His other loaded wand springs into action.
With people in melee range now, Heshan switches over to a more precise spell, aiming at the necks as instructed.