Chapter 27: The City of Whispers
Oslo was strangely generous to me and the rest of the visitors to the tower. He gifted everyone with at least one item useful to them. As for me, I got a rod and a staff, each enchanted with unique spells. In order to craft a new anti-compulsion charm, we had to travel to the ruins of the Kingdom of Ka’fel and get a drop of blood from a dao genie trapped there, but in order to enter the ruins, we had to retrieve an amulet from a noble in the City of Whispers. It seems that a group who had done work for Oslo in the past decided to sell the amulet rather than return it: three guesses as to what group that was…
We had a few choices of routes but settled on going south to the City of Charity and taking a ship up the coast to the city. Any other route would simply take too long. We needed to get this done as soon as possible so we could return to Hammerfell and deal with the fallout of Pell’s betrayal. Though I learned from Oslo that I had a relative (i.e. one of his former “apprentices”) who was a Vazir in the City of Charity, we skipped the reunion and chartered a ship, the Floating Goat captained by a man named Janeed, which is Zhakran for “goat”.
As we neared the coastline where our route would go overland, the captain and crew turned on us. They wanted Lily! It seems that there is a rather impressive bounty out for her capture and return. In her homeland, her father had arranged a marriage that she had no interest in going through with. (In her words, “the guy was ugly!”) She’d manage to avoid the hunters for years, until now.
They tried to force Shane, Fasa and I to leap off the ship, but as we struggled, Shane called out a name that I didn't recognize. Lily jumped overboard too to get away from her would-be captors. As I went over the side, I used the rod that Oslo gave me on Captain Goat. The spell “Chastisement” overtook him and he immediately jumped ship as well to save me from drowning. The enchantment forced him to make amends for his wrong-doing in any way possible. He called out to a crewman, a hulking man named Hakim, who lowered a raft and pulled us all out of the water while Janeed groveled for my forgiveness.
As we got into the raft a saddening swelling of water surged around the ship and within seconds it was dragged under the waves with a splintering of wood and wailing from the sailors. Soon, it was silent and other than Janeed’s sniveling, we went to shore and set off across the steaming jungle. One the way, we realized that the men would betray us once the spell wore off so we sent them away with threats of Shane calling down the same fury that caused the destruction of the ship. Hakim tried to grab Lily and run, but a knife in his back made him rethink his position and the two men ran off into the jungle empty-handed. I am not confident in their chances of survival.
We reached the city with no further complications and Shane led us to a very nice inn that he knew of. As usual, he had some explaining to do with the innkeeper, but we managed to get nice rooms anyway. Lily has wandered off with a shadowy figure in order to find out what she could of the noble we had to recover the amulet from.
Oh hey! Something interesting is going on outside. Is that rain?
Chapter 28: Love, Thievery, and Consequences
Half our party is embroiled in amorous entanglements: the woman’s name that Shane called out back on the ship is his new mother-in-law. Yes, Shane is now married and as we speak, he and his new bride are consummating their newly established nuptials in their private rooms. Now this isn't their first encounter of the carnal nature. I discovered that the happy couple already has a son that Shane knew nothing about. In fact, until today he thought his fiance was dead. Yet another thing that Malachi’s touch corrupted. Now that Shane is married, the bride’s father is no longer seeking to kill him, we can be on our way to complete our tasks, but I do wonder what this will mean for our adventuring days.
Speaking of our tasks, Lily was still gone so after composing a song to honor the reunion of the couple (set to a melody that was playing in the wind as they met in the street with rain falling around them). I took Fasa into town and went to a few craftsmen and made a reasonable facsimile of the amulet we were going to steal. It wouldn't hold up under close scrutiny but it might by us some time after stealing the piece. The following evening, feeling refreshed after our long journey, the four of us went to the noble’s estate. By all accounts, this former adventurer had an incredible gallery of treasures from around the world and since security would be too tricky for anyone but Lily to go in, the rest of us stayed out on the street to keep watch.
Well over an hour passed and I assume that she was successful when I noted the large bundles under her arms. We left the city quickly and made camp somewhere secluded so we could examine everything that Lily had taken. I used a scroll that Olso gave me that would magical analyze enchantments and aid in determining the history of each item. First I confirmed that amulet was genuine. After that I examined the other items: a master-crafted goblet by a famous artisan, an enchanted map and a key to a lost library, a flying carpet that was given to the noble by an Efreet he had rescued and last, a painting that I immediately recognized: the Four Faces of Zhakara! This priceless artifact had graced some of the wealthiest palaces in my homeland.
The painting itself was powerfully enchanted and as I studied it I realized why: the four genie-folk depicted in the painting were actually the first kings of genie kind, trapped there by one of the first Shiar, wizards who specialized in binding and dealing with the powerful lords of the elemental planes. Two things became clear as I examined the painting: first, the four were actually aware of everything that went on around them as they had been for centuries. Second, their truenames had been used in the binding ritual and through my examination, I knew their names!
I’ll admit, I panicked a bit with that realization, but I knew what had to be done. The four had to be released. The only way to accomplish this would be to use their names to unravel the spell, like pulling threads from a tapestry. It had to be done at once, so I gave each of my companions a name: Shane, the Marid; Fasa, the Dao; Lily, the Efreet and I kept the name of the lord of my own kind, the Djinn. We chanted the names and with a chaotic blast elemental energy, the four lords were released!
Each of us was given a gift for doing what no one else had ever been willing to do. The Efreet king placed pellet of energy in Lily’s mouth and told her to look under her pillow each time she awoke. The Dao lord gave Fasa a permanent stoneskin enchantment. The Marid gave Shane something he knew would be appreciated. He placed a curse on the waters of Malachi’s kingdom. (Oh and did I forget to mention that Shane’s new family was Marid-blooded?) My liege seemed less pleased than the others. His favor is both a blessing and curse. Electricity magic that I wield will act as chain lightning, arcing through both enemy and friend alike. Before he left, he did tell us that other favors would come at a later date, after he had dealt with his household.
Chapter 29: The Kingdom of Ka’fel
Our travels to the ruined kingdom were largely uneventful. We traveled through an immense tunnel built by Shane’s Father-in-Law. Shane’s new family status allowed us access to the route and an armed escort. From there, we traveled across the dessert to the City of Free Men. On the way, we were confronted by a band of Yak-men. Their leader was horribly scarred and looking for revenge upon any of the group that tormented him, years ago. You guessed it: Shane’s group again. Luckily, Shane was able convince the beast man that he had nothing to do with the wrongs committed.
I’ll admit – the terrible things done by those people and dealing with the aftermath of their actions everywhere we go has been weighing me. I said some uncharitable things to Shane especially when their actions also caused tremendous upheaval in the city we were traveling to. Fortunately, he didn’t take offense and we continued on to the City of Free Men to secure another ship to take us nearer to our final destination.
We finally arrived and used the amulet to pass through the magical barrier and after some searching, found a simple hole in the ground. Dropping down, we found ourselves in a small chamber with a wardrobe, a table covered in cards and dice, and a spectacularly disturbing relief of a naked Efreet at full attention. There were three doors leading from the room; one logged and two completely jammed. As we looked around, I realized who the relief was actually depicting: a well-known hedonist who would grant magical favors for sexual favors. I noticed scuff marks on the floor and against my better judgment or taste, I knelt and there was a click, followed by a scraping sound as the wardrobe slid to one side, revealing another passage.
What follows can only be described as a “dungeon crawl”. Twisting and turning passages ended with rooms filled with various oozes and undead. Our search came to an end at the room with a mithril door. We entered to find a group of wights, including a troll wight! Fasa and I got separated and we led a second group of wights on a merry chase into a number of traps that we had discovered. Lily and Shane dealt with the original group and the troll, locking them in their room and securing it with traps. I actually witnessed the final outcome of that encounter as the troll performed what can only be described as the “ultimate self-circumcision”. (Though, I really don’t think that was his intention.)
In the room we found a trap door and a ladder leading down. I don’t mean “down” though, I mean DOWN. We climbed for hours, being careful not to slip as a previous visitor did as indicated by the bloody smears on the rails. Shane actually chuckled at this, though he didn’t say why. At the bottom, we discovered an incredible dessert landscape, stretching all around. The dao genie approached immediately, recognizing Shane immediately but he calmed as I told him the Oslo sent us. We stayed for a few days and I entertained him with every story I could think of.
He told us that Malachi and his group returned (without Shane) and attempted to bind him but were unsuccessful. They were lucky to have survived the encounter; though I’d say this was unlucky for the rest of the world. Shane made a deal with the genie and in return, he was giving his own medallion that made him a “citizen” of the kingdom. Any future visits would be much easier. Before leaving, I gave one of my story books to the genie and he gave us not one, but three drops of his blood and transported us directly to the surface.
As we blinked in the sunlight and dry dessert air, two men attacked. The hunters sent by Lily’s father. The fight was brutal and fierce but in the end, we triumphed and as soon as we left the barrier surrounding the kingdom, Oslo teleported us to his tower. He was pleased with our work and told us to rest while he finished the enchantments on the new anchoring charm for me.
As I finish this entry, this will be the last one of this volume. There are simply too many pivotal events and almost as many secrets that I don’t wish to carry around with me. If someone were to steal this journal it could be very dangerous for me and my associates. I will leave this in my chambers where I’m certain it will be safe and begin a new volume. Perhaps I will use aliases for everyone involved.
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