D&D 5E Al-Qadim Moving Through the Flame

[Shayuri]

(OOC -Sometimes the best choices for the story are the worst choices for the characters. History is a long procession of fascinating mistakes. )

 

[Quickleaf]

OOC: So I'm pretty sure I just made a really stupid decision but my PC can't pass up the chance to learn some of these secrets.

"The first secret I wish to learn is the three secrets of the red robes that lie within the Badu al-Kabir, hidden from mortal minds..."

GM: There's no such thing as stupid questions. Oh, you said decision. Well, what could go wrong with a 3-for-1 secret offer? *checks DM notes* Yes, yes probably a really bad idea. On the plus side, if you ask about the Door of the Four Winds for your next question, you may get Inspiration for role-playing your character's goals at expense to the party's goals. Hypothetically.

Eyes flashing, the Al-Aeshma rises up, swirls of dark sand spiraling about him as he extends his hand toward the evening desert expanse, "Know, O Wind Called, the first of the red robes' secrets... There is a site east of the wadi (intermittent stream) – I can show it to you if you possess a map? – where corpses are left by the red robes. Though it occurs irregularly, it is frequent enough that the vultures have noticed the same pattern as I have: one red robe and two Sleepwalkers carry out the corpses and toss them without funerary rites, adorned in little more than a tattered aba (robe) or loincloth. Thereupon, the vultures have their feast."

The other dustdevils spin slowly, making a low droning sound, like bees eager for honey. The Al-Aeshma smiles and continues in his booming voice, "And know that the second of the red robes' secrets is this: The Sleepwalkers are made of men, but are not men, they are created, but never born. And some are unruly servants, wandering the Valley of Mists and Badu al-Kabir in small groups, full of a wordless frustration, seeking without knowing what they seek. Unlike the other Sleepwalkers, these lost ones may be charmed and frightened, and some dull light of what they once might have been still haunts their eyes."

Thereupon, the Al-Aeshma inhales as if he can smell the liberty of his brethren on the evening breeze, reminding him of the place he was exiled from. Speaking in a quieter voice, like wind hissing through crags, he says, "Last of the red robes' secrets is this, O Wind Called: Treachery runs deep in their hearts. One of their own, Omar Hazeem, was stabbed by his fellows and trapped under a stone sarcophagus. Trapped between life and death, Omar Hazeem reaches out to whisper into the dreams of mortals, offering his great treasure if they will free him."

"These are the secrets of the red robes as I have heard them echo through the desert. Now, sha'ir, what is your desire for the second of my secrets?"

 

[Ancalagon]

Lal murmured "I believe I know what these sleepless men are - golems, made of body parts. There are many golemologists in the Yellow City in my homeland, and the lesser skilled among them sometimes resort to this crude technique, working with flesh instead of stone, metal or more exotic materials... ".

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Salahuddin listens to the answers to the first secret. They have learned that the red robes are dumping bodies in a specific spot. They learned some information about the Sleepwalkers. Most importantly they have a name of one of their own. The Sha'ir ponders the next secret he would learn. As he thinks Salahuddin's mind keeps drifting back to the door. Could he pass up the chance to learn more of the artifact which bound itself to him? Why did it choose him?

Salahuddin shakes his head. No he should ask about the Pillars of Wickedness. They would need to learn what foul magic protected Khaldun. He opened his mouth to speak but that was not the question that came out.

"Tell me of the Door of the Four Winds. Why did it choose me?"

Salahuddin blinks not sure what happened. He had intended to ask of the pillars. He scowls not sure if he should take back the question, or even if he was able to do so.

 

[Ancalagon]

Lal turned slowly to Salahuddin, one thick eyebrow rising out questioningly.

He then made brief eye contact with Hassan and the Truth-Seeker - he wanted to be sure that they had caught that too....

 

[Quickleaf]

Salahuddin listens to the answers to the first secret. They have learned that the red robes are dumping bodies in a specific spot. They learned some information about the Sleepwalkers. Most importantly they have a name of one of their own. The Sha'ir ponders the next secret he would learn. As he thinks Salahuddin's mind keeps drifting back to the door. Could he pass up the chance to learn more of the artifact which bound itself to him? Why did it choose him?

Salahuddin shakes his head. No he should ask about the Pillars of Wickedness. They would need to learn what foul magic protected Khaldun. He opened his mouth to speak but that was not the question that came out.

"Tell me of the Door of the Four Winds. Why did it choose me?"

Salahuddin blinks not sure what happened. He had intended to ask of the pillars. He scowls not sure if he should take back the question, or even if he was able to do so.

A cheshire smile spreads across the Al-Aeshma's sand-blasted face, "Seeing and hearing, O Wind Called, I shall answer. Know that the Door of the Four Winds existed long before the Seal of Jafar al-Samal, and long before the Caliphate of All Djinn. The wisest of my brethren knew it as the place where the Winds of Creation touched this mortal world. They spoke of it as an idea as much as an actual place. Only the noble Djinn were taught the secret way to find the Door, and they would travel there on pilgrimage when great and turbulent events came to pass. So it was until the house of Nafhat came to power..." Pausing as he mentions the family name of the Great Caliph of All Djinn, Husam al-Balil ben Nafhat al-Yugayyim, the Al-Aeshma expands his chest and squints his eyes, as if recalling the history of the djinn rubs salt in his wounded pride.

"The House of Nafhat believed there was no wind they could not master, and sought to move the Door of the Four Winds to their Citadel of Ice and Steel. And so they marshaled grand armies of janissaries upon pegasi to seek the Door, to slake their vanity." His violet face underlit by the flickering campfire tended by your roguish guides, the Al-Aeshma continues in a low voice. ”Those august heroes who returned with the Door were elevated as the first of the Great Caliph’s Lords of Air. None speaks of what they encountered, but the Al-Aeshma believe that when the Door was moved it left behind a void which would become the Jabal Turab, the mountain of dust from which the efreet invade the Winds of Creation.”

”The Great Caliph learned the powers of the Door – to transport his armies with the blink of an eye; to send winds of change, warning, or vengeance to those worlds touched by the Door; to banish his enemies…” Here the Al-Aeshma’s eyes crackle like lightning and he scowls before leaning over to regard Salahuddin once more, ”…and to whisk mortals away to entertain his court. However, the Door was born of eternity, and only a fool could hope to have dominion over it. Even the Great Caliph cannot bind the Door entirely to his will, for it moves with Fate herself, appearing and disappearing according to some unseen design. Thus, there are moments when – lacking the Door’s powers – the Great Caliph must rely on bluff and bluster to keep his enemies at bay.” A dark smile plays across the Al-Aeshma’s face like cloud silhouettes upon the dunes.

”This is what I know of the Door of the Four Winds. I trust I have satisfied your thirst for knowledge, sha’ir?”

GM: EDIT: I forgot! [MENTION=6803188]VLAD the Destroyer[/MENTION], gain Inspiration!

 

[Ancalagon]

Lal frowned.

The talk of this door of wind... troubled him. His companions didn't know this, but Lal knew his was a planar traveler - trice now his sea-borne travel had brought him across to another world. He didn't understand planar mechanics, even though he had tried - the arcane grammars used by portal masters and dimension jumpers were *far* beyond him. And yet. And yet. Intuitively, he knew that the existence of this door, its moving, the mountain of dust... all those were ... instabilities. That would sooner or later have... consequences. And Salahudin was tied to such?

... and had used one of his three questions on it? He looked sharply at Akilah. The Al-Aeshma hadn't said he would tell the truth about other secrets than those offered... was this even true, or tall tales to entertain unsuspecting travelers?

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

"I have drunk of the secrets you share and am content. But my thirst for knowledge can never be sated. Now speak of what I must do to complete our bargain."

Salahuddin waits with patients for the Al-Aeshma to speak of the ritual that will pardon his brethren. The Sha'ir keeps a placid expression on his face while he recounts the secrets he had just learned. He had not intended to ask of the Door but now he knew more of the mysterious artifact which bound itself to him. It seemed that the door was not fully controlled by the Great Caliph and had some unseen agenda. This revelation was the most shocking, it is possible that he was bound up in a greater fate that was hidden to him.

 

[Quickleaf]

"I have drunk of the secrets you share and am content. But my thirst for knowledge can never be sated. Now speak of what I must do to complete our bargain."

Salahuddin waits with patients for the Al-Aeshma to speak of the ritual that will pardon his brethren. The Sha'ir keeps a placid expression on his face while he recounts the secrets he had just learned. He had not intended to ask of the Door but now he knew more of the mysterious artifact which bound itself to him. It seemed that the door was not fully controlled by the Great Caliph and had some unseen agenda. This revelation was the most shocking, it is possible that he was bound up in a greater fate that was hidden to him.

"You must release two of my brethren, Ashtigal and Yehiena, from their banishment from the Winds of Creation by the Great Caliph of All Djinn. The words must come from your heart. I cannot give them to you, else they would fall from your lips like ash and lack any power." Thereupon, the Al-Aeshma gestures to two of the whirlwinds to the southeast which spin agitatedly and advance toward Salahuddin, not enough to be close, but enough to make their presence known. Regarding Salahuddin, the Al-Aeshma inclines his horned head, "I do not forget those who do me a service, O Wind Called."

 

[Thateous]

Akilah was having an out of body experience as the two negotiated terms she did not fully comprehend. She was snapped back by the Al-Aeshma's last words. "How many can count themselves in that category." she thought.