A Brief Interlude V

The Tale of the Emir and Iblis

As told by Lady Tyra al Razier

My tale is a sad one, filled with jealousy, avariciousness, and human pride. It does not suffer from the fatal flaw of your western tales, which is to say, it does not end happily and all is not made right simply to please an audience starved for something better than their own miserable lives.

Lady Tyra al Razier

Long ago my father, Zulkar al Razier, Emir of Razier, that beautiful jewel of a city in the heart of the faraway land of Samarra, was known far and wide as the greatest player of Dragon Chess in all the land. He was host to dignitaries from the exotic lands of the west, the north, and even the eastern lands of the necromancer kings; and he bested them all. For many years he found no equal from any mortal realm and his pride grew. But there are creatures of darkness and flame in worlds beyond ours that watch us, Demons and Devils of all kinds that plot to corrupt and dominate the mortal races. For though they know that the mortal races have not their inborn power, they were gifted with cleverness - something that these creatures greatly admire, hate and yes, even fear.

It came to pass that a great demon known as Iblis, the Prince of All Flame, sought to test the cleverness of my father and teach him a lesson. Using powerful magics, Iblis whisked my father away from his throne room to the heart of his fiery domain and challenged him to a game of Dragon Chess. If my father won, the great Iblis would grant him a wish. If Iblis won, then my father would grant the demon lord's desire.

Now my father, being a wise and clever man as any I have ever known, knew that demons are deceitful creatures. He expected Iblis to cheat, and so the demon lord did. Despite this, my father, in his pride, still believed he could best the fiery Iblis. Sadly, he was wrong. When the match was over and the demon lord stood triumphant, he demanded his prize: Me. My father begged the demon lord to reconsider -  to take his wealth, his lands, his own life; but not his beloved Tyra. But Iblis would take no other prize.

I was taken that night from my home to dwell in Iblis' fiery realm. Before I left, my father's vizier informed me that Iblis - though powerful - could not take me by force for his bride. I must willingly submit to him or fall victim to his deceitful tricks in order for him to succeed in wooing me. Armed with this knowledge, I was determined not to by charmed by his wiles, nor to offer myself up to him, no matter the cost. This infuriated Iblis. He tried all of his tricks, but he found - as he feared - that ultimately, demons are no match for the cleverness and recoursefulness of mortals. Years passed and Iblis resorted to more desperate measures. He showed me through a magical mirror the deaths of my parents and my brothers, the ruin of my father's city, and the passage of years. He argued that I had no one left in the world save him and that I should give up my stubborn fight against him. But still I refused. So he had me imprisoned in the fiery mountain of Zatal until I came to my senses.



Iblis, the Prince of All Flame

Now Iblis, though he is powerful, is not without his enemies. The politics of the Brass City are intricate and complicated affairs, and through many brokering of deals and acquisitions of magic, many creatures rise and fall in power over the roll of years. One such creature, was the Efreet pasha, Imladris. He and Iblis were bitter enemies (though I confess that I do not know whence the rivalry began). Each sought to overthrow the other and beget the other's ruin. After many centuries, Iblis was able to secure the magic to bind Imladris to a magical sword and then had him exiled to the mortal realm. There he dwelt inside the sword, unbeknowst to those who wielded him.

When the mortal men carrying the sword passed over from the mortal realm and assaulted Zatal, Imaldris saw his chance to get back at Iblis. Using his influence, he communicated to the mortal druid Kieren to release me from Zatal and take me back to the mortal realm, where Iblis could not find me. Thus, Imladris struck a blow against his old enemy and I was set free.

My family and my lands are all gone now; I wish only to live out my life in peace and find love and happiness in the years remaining to me.

An Infernal Debt

SESSION 15 RECAP

PCs

Talos Redwand, 6th level Conjurer
Dubner Ogrebane, 4th/5th level dwarf Fighter / Cleric (Champion)
Eswin, 6th/5th level elven Thief/Fighter
Shaw Ashcroft 5th level Ranger (Justifier)
Kieren, 7th level Druid
Brendel, 6th level half-elf Fighter (Archer)

NPCs
Snot Gristlebeard, dwarf slave

From The Wars of Empire Chapter XXXVII: The Mad King's War

While resting up in the Forgeworks of the Tower of Kel-Arath, the party was re-joined by the druid Kieren and the Half-Elf archer Brendel, who had followed their trail from the ruined village of the Thulians. After speaking with the free-slave dwarf Snot Gristlebeard, they learned that Wyrlish, the Fire Elementalist held the other crystal needed to activate the portal to the elemental plane of fire where Brunhilde was being kept captive.

The ascended the tower and after easily defeating some Blood Knights and recovering some magical gear, including a ring, an earring, a medallion, several potions and an iron flask of some sort, they by-passed a riddling door to gain access to Wyrlish’s sanctuary.

The bald fire elementalist was ready for them however, being alerted to their presence by a floating eye in the previous chamber. He was ensconced behind a wall of fire and had several hell hounds and fire mephits protecting him. A battle ensued where the bulk of the heroes whittled down the hounds and mephits, while Dubner the dwarf and Shaw the ranger jumped through the wall of fire to engage the fire wizard. The wizard scorched them with his flame spells, but their recently recovered rings of fire resistance made his attacks less formidable. Once they managed to batter down the wizard’s mirror images, they made quick work of him.

Salamander Turn Keys

After healing themselves, the party activated the portal and entered the plane of fire on the side of a volcano. The lavanous mountain was riddled with cave entrances which Snot informed the party were prison cells. The prison, Zatal, was lorded over by an Efreet Pasha and garrisoned by Fire Salamanders. As the party entered the chamber which housed the cell of the Frost Giant Princess Brunhilde, their presence was uncovered by a laughing demon face carved into the cell door. Once the alarm was raised, four Fire Slamanders, two Flaming Skulls and a Fire Giant emerged from a nearby passageway and began assaulting the party.

The melee was a vicious affair and the party found themselves quickly overwhelmed by the reflecting magic resistance of the Flaming Skulls and the mighty blows of the Fire Giant. Eswin the elf backstabbed the giant, but that only proved to enrage the beast who chased him down a hallway and with one mighty blow nearly took off the poor elf’s head. Quick thinking by Dubner saved him however; using his earth ring, Dubner managed to raise a stone wall between the giant and the elf.

While the giant was distracted by the wall, Kieren turned himself into a bear and tore into the giant’s leg. The other companions were tied up with the Salamanders and the Flaming Skulls. The conjurer Talos was having a terrible time scoring blows, as the skulls continually reflected his spells back on the party, but he did manage to conjure some hobgoblins to prolong the battle and tie up some of the Slamanders. Dubner stepped up to the giant and began reigning blows upon the brute, but it seemed the beast was too hardy for even that. Having been sorely wounded himself, the dwarf used the magic of his ring to descend into the rock for sanctuary.



The Fire Giant Prison Guard

In a desperate attempt to save the party, Kieren the druid called upon Imladris, the Efreet Prince spirit bound to his scimitar. The spirit of the Efreet froze time and offered Kieren a bargain. He would summon the power to defeat their foes, but the druid would owe him a debt. With no other recourse, the druid accepted the Efreet’s offer. Once time was unfrozen, the group dashed behind the stone wall created by Dubner while some terrible entity was called forth and ripped their enemies to shreds.

In the ensuing chaos, the door to Brunhilde’s cell was torn off its hinges and the Frost Giant was freed. The company limped back to the portal from which they came and returned to the prime material plane, battered and half-dead. Their inability to defeat the might of the Fire Giant and has lackeys stung them sorely, but they resolutely began to march across the frozen tundra of Galibur towards the encampment of the King of Beltigost to join the battle against Old Althyria. With the Frost Giant Princess in their possession, perhaps the alliance between Althyria and the Frost Giant King Grungir could be broken and the tide of battle turned in favour of Beltigost.