Fire Snakes

Lesaar AKA DM Dan E's page

12 posts. Alias of Dan E.




I was originally going to run the sidetrek but may well now be losing it.

That means I need a few new encounters for the overland trek from Kelmarane to Katapesh, ideally some more foreshadowing for the Sons of Carrion ambush.

Any ideas would be welcome.


Chapter 1 IC Thread LINK

Chapter 1 Discussion Thread LINK

Chapter 2 IC Thread LINK

Chapter 2 Discussion Thread LINK

Google Site
LINK

Cast

Khalid Al Hazareen
Inquisitor of Sarenrae, Moldspeaker and mortal host of Vardishal

Linah Jamil Kaid
Priestess of Sarenrae, healer and custodian of the Kelmarane Church

Grall
Gnoll barbarian, former slave, now freed

Nuveril
Halfling barbarian, wielder of the mighty ancestral hammer of the pugawampis

Zeladiel Araxyll
Elven evoker and master archer

Sajan Krama Sumna
Vudrani monk, group protector and student of Tiger, deceased

NPCs

Zayifid - The West Wind. Nefeshti’s messenger, diplomat and sometimes spy, Zayifid was said to be a careful and patient planner. His weapon is a delicate but razor-sharp scimitar. Apparently able to disguise his features, Zayifid kidnapped and replaced Kadisa Al’udaak while acting as Rokova, advisor to the Carrion King, all as part of an apparent plan to recover the Scroll of Kakishon.

Haleen – Oracle of flame, former flame witch, found by Grall

Almah Roveshki – Mayoress of Kelmarane, agent of the Pactmasters

Garavel – Almah’s major domo and factor

Kadisa Al’udaak - Priest of Sarenrae, kidnapped and replaced by Zayifid while on his way to take up the position of head priest of Kelmarane

Father Zantus – Alchemist and lay priest of Nethys

Dashki – Gnoll expert

Oxvard – Priest of Abadar, retired member of the Lions of Senra

Felliped – Gnome illusionist, retired member of the Lions of Senra, stunner of halflings

Undrella – Harpy alchemist, cook, brewer and witch

Brotis – Mercenary deserter, shamed by Grall and fled before the battle at the Battle Market

Dullen – Mercenary, shamed by Grall

Utarchus – Mercenary, family killed by gnolls near Solku

Elia – Garundi mercenary, has an unrequited crush on Khalid

Fixx – Leader of Almah’s pactmaster guard

Turm - A half-orc monk, challenged Sajan to fight in Kelmarane before the group left to battle the Carrion King

Mohandis - Leader of a tribe of jann, met by the group in the region of Pale Mountain

Lesaar - Leader of the flamebrother salamanders beneath Pale Mountain

Rasoul Mehdi - A ranger of the north, persona of Zayifid

Off-stage

Rayhan Xobhadi – Diviner of Katapesh, Zeladiel’s master

Mimsly Perimac / Tanelia Perimac - Twin halfling girls born in Kelmarane before its fall

Khalib Karadesh – Abbot of Sarenrae, Linah’s mentor

Master Al’ Versa – Haleen’s uncle, Grall’s former master

Hakim – Weapon trainer employed by Al’Versa

Tiger – Tiger, ki-mystic and teacher of Sajan

The Pactmasters – The mysterious (and some say alien) rulers of Katapesh

The Carrion King – Leader of the carrion gnoll tribe, Pale Mountain, slain by the PCs and decapitated

Nefeshti - A djinni princess, Nefeshti was the founder and leader of the Templars of the Four Winds, a group of jann crusaders who fought against the abuse, mortal and otherwise, of wish magic. Said to be an enemy of the efreet, shaitan and div. Her present status is unknown.

Vardishal – The North Wind, spirit merged with Khalid. Also known as the Great General, Vardishal was said to be the most powerful and loyal of the Templars and the leader of Nefeshti’s army. He wielded a sentient magical scimitar known as Tempest. The precise circumstances of his death are unknown.

Kardswann – The South Wind. Nefeshti’s scout and a traveller of the planes, Kardswann was said to be an impulsive but powerful warrior with a love for combat and the strength of a giant. He wielded an elaborate greataxe. Encountered by the PCs as the master of the Kuldis tribe and Kelmarane (although apparently enslaved by the Daemon Xulthos). Killed by them.

Pazhvann - The East Wind. Nefeshti’s advisor and spiritual guide, he was the conscience of the Templars and wielded a tremendous burning flail. His present status and circumstances are unknown.

Davashuum - Said to represent the destructive power of all of the winds, Davashuum is described as an amoral and deadly creature that served Nefeshti as executioner and, in extremes, assassin. She was a master of unarmed combat and wore magic handwraps. Her present status and circumstances are unknown.

Andrathi - A legendary halfling wizard and genie-binder, a reputed lover of Nefeshti some four centuries ago

Xulthos – Daemon, corruptor of Kelmarane and enslaver of Kardswann and Haleen, disintegrated by Linah

Urd, Captain of the Sunset Ship - A trader of mysterious aims and origins

Xotani - The Firebleeder, a spawn of Rovagug. Said to have been defeated by the League of Wands, impaling itself upon a mountain made white by the bones of the dead.

Retired PCs

Arjun – Alchemist, student of Zantus

Sabeen – Sun touched witch, former adventurer

Grim-Eyes – Gnoll druid, former adventurer, lost in a temporal vortex


From here.

Everything should now be linkified. When everyone gets a moment can they put their HP in their character field after level. I'm assuming that will let me see everyone's HP from the character tab (further experiments in that vein may occur in the future).


Chapter 1 Thread LINK

Chapter 1 Discussion Thread
LINK

Google Site
LINK

Cast

Khalid Al Hazareen
Inquisitor of Sarenrae, Moldspeaker and mortal host of Vardishal

Linah Jamil Kaid
Priestess of Sarenrae, healer and custodian of the Kelmarane Church

Grall
Gnoll barbarian, former slave, now freed

Nuveril
Halfling barbarian, wielder of the mighty ancestral hammer of the pugawampis

Zeladiel Araxyll
Elven evoker and master archer

Sajan Krama Sumna
Vudrani monk, group protector and student of Tiger

NPCs

Haleen – Oracle of flame, former flame witch, found by Grall.

Almah Roveshki – Mayoress of Kelmarane, agent of the Pactmasters

Garavel – Almah’s major domo

Father Zantus – Alchemist and lay priest of Nethys

Arjun – Alchemist, student of Zantus, former adventurer

Dashki – Gnoll expert

Oxvard – Priest of Abadar, retired member of the Lions of Senra

Felliped – Gnome illusionist, retired member of the Lions of Senra, stunner of halflings

Undrella – Harpy alchemist, cook, brewer and witch

Brotis – Mercenary deserter, shamed by Grall

Dullen – Mercenary, shamed by Grall

Utarchus – Mercenary, family killed by gnolls near Solku

Elia – Garundi mercenary, has an unrequited crush on Khalid

Fixx – Leader of Almah’s pactmaster guard

Sabeen – Sun touched witch, former adventurer

Grim-Eyes – Gnoll druid, former adventurer, lost in a temporal vortex

Off-stage

Rayhan Xobhadi – Diviner of Katapesh, Zeladiel’s master

Khalib Karadesh – Abbot, Linah’s mentor

Master Al’ Versa – Haleen’s uncle, Grall’s former master

Hakim – Weapon trainer employed by Al’Versa

Tiger – Tiger, ki-mystic and teacher of Sajan

The Pactmasters – The mysterious (and some say alien) rulers of Katapesh

The Carrion King – Leader of the carrion gnoll tribe, Pale Mountain

Vardishal – The North Wind, spirit merged with Khalid

Kardswann – The South Wind, janni (?) and former master of the Kuldis tribe and Kelmarane, dead

Xulthos – Daemon, corruptor of Kelmarane, disintegrated by Linah

The Courts of Stone and Flame:

This book discovered in the monastery near Kelmarane describes many personages of the various jinn courts. It will take some time to go through it in detail but there are several references to the djinn princess Nefeshti and her primary servitors, the Templars of the Five Winds.

Nefeshti’s history is storied, going back several thousand years beyond available records. The book notes her crusade against the abuse, mortal and otherwise, of wish magic but there are also references to her opposing mortal genie-binders, including the legendary Katapeshi wizard Andrathi. Her actions, particularly the former, frequently brought her into armed conflict with other jinn, particularly the efreet and the shaitan.

The book sets out several theories in relation to her Templars. The primary, taken from the Song of Edrehu is that they were jann (lesser jinn from the prime material plane) made immortal through Nefeshti’s wishcraft for as long as they retained her favour. Another is that they were once human and made into jann by Nefeshti but the book notes this would have been a breach of dictates set down by the djinn court and is therefore unlikely.

Whatever their origins, the book makes clear that the Templars were the primary enforcers of Nefeshti’s will, and the leaders of her followers which included djinn, marids, jann as well as some few mortals.

The book contains a short description of the five Templars. Each was associated with a specific aspect of the wind and wielded a distinct magic weapon, forged by Azer from the Elemental Plane of Fire.

- Vardishal of the North Wind. Also known as the Great General, Vardishal was said to be the most powerful and loyal of the Templars and the leader of Nefeshti’s army. He wielded a sentient magical scimitar known as Tempest.

- Pazhvann of the East Wind. Nefeshti’s advisor and spiritual guide, he was the conscience of the Templars and wielded a tremendous burning flail.

- Zayifid of the West Wind. Nefeshti’s messenger, diplomat and sometimes spy, Zayifid was said to be a careful and patient planner. His weapon is a delicate but razor-sharp scimitar.

- Kardswann of the South Wind. Nefeshti’s scout and a traveller of all the planes, Kardswann was said to be an impulsive but powerful warrior with a love for combat and the strength of a giant. He wielded an elaborate greataxe.

- Davashuum. Said to represent the destructive power of all of the winds, Davashuum is described as an amoral and deadly creature that served Nefeshti as executioner and, in extremes, assassin. She was a master of unarmed combat and wore magic handwraps.

The current (this book is about a hundred years old) status of Nefeshti and her Templars is unknown. The author cites several fragmentary references to Nefeshti’s forces fighting a series of battles about 400 years before the current date against a powerful cult of Rovagug whose power was centred at a great temple, the House of the Beast, situated on the slopes of Pale Mountain in the Brazen Peaks.

These battles were said to have raged across all of the surrounding area with Nefeshti’s army fighting against the cultists and dread creatures of flame and shadow.

The consensus from all available records is that the power of the cult was broken but the author concludes that neither Nefeshti nor her Templars have been heard from since, although travellers in the northern reaches of Katapesh and the southern bounds of Osirion still sometimes attribute miracles or victories to the laters guidance.

The section concludes with a brief mention of the very monastery in which you sit. Travellers to the area reported sightings of a spirit which investigating priests of Sarenrae concluded was that of Vardishal, a minor saint of the Dawnflower. The spirit appeared to be benign and there are reports of it seemingly providing warnings along with the typical stories of healing and other miracles. As the area began to attract pilgrims, the church built and dedicated a shrine to Vardishal on the spot of his most frequent appearances, expanding the monastery around it years later. The author poses the question of whether the spirit Vardishal and the lost Templar are one in the same and, if so, what would keep a warrior of such reputed loyalty bound to the area for so long.


+1 lawful outsider bane

My group has recently come into possession of this. They're immediate reaction was to put it on the sell list and my reaction to that was to wonder if they'd regret their choice later.

Turns out though that the actual list of lawful outsiders is very short. Devils essentially and not a lot of those in the AP.

I find myself wondering whether under 3.5 rules lawful outsider literally meant outsiders of lawful alignment (which would say have included efreet).

Any thoughts?


It seems reasonable to assume that an alchemist's bomb (normal fiery version) causes light and noise when it impacts.

The question is how much noise. Making this a fairly easy check seems the most realistic option but may also unduly penalise the alchemist. It also opens up a whole can of worms in relation to his other bombs. Eg How much noise for a cold bomb? More or less than an acid bomb? Does a force bomb make noise at all?

How have other people dealt with this?