Olympus RPG Blog

Wherein the company returns to the Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls…

• Continued from last session
• Farouk Ibn Said is cast down to the arena floor, where Zyanra is allowed to end him finally to her satisfaction with Ismir’s meteoric knife.
• Thorondil, Haruki, and Ismir go to the palace to join Zat Al-Dawahi’s triumphant forces in the looting. Ismir finds a secret stash containing an item of great value in the palace.
• The company joins ZAT’s forces as they return to the Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls, sped along by ZAT’s magic.
• At the Citadel:
  • Aramis rests, to recover from his injuries.
  • Brumrumli is summoned to a meeting with the visiting merchant, Thráin Ironfist, who attempts to extort him into aiding his business.
  • Haruki interacts with a gaggle of oprhans/urchins, to their great amusement.
  • Thorondil meets Zyanra’s litter-mates.
  • Ismir encounters his former wife, whom he thought dead, finding her happily married to another, with a young son.
• Waiting for five days:
  • Brum is magically transported to another plane, where he lives a lifetime, is married, widowed, and lives as an airship captain, before returning suddenly, mere seconds after he had gone.
  • Haruki encounters a slave ring and destroys it utterly, during which his lack of restraint causes him some concern.
  • Thorondil encounters a pair of dragons (he did not know at the time were Primus and Secundus) and releases them.
  • Ismir, depressed about his wife, asks ZAT for a mission; she sends him to kill a dragon, and he returns with a unique item from its hoard.
• The company is briefed on their next task, to go to the “lost” City of Ten Thousand Pillars to retrieve a golden altar.

Wherein the company fights in a pit while the city around them burns…

• Continued from last session
• Brumrumli, Haruki, and Thorondil meet in the middle of the arena and fight back-to-back. Haruki is saved from certain death from behind when Brum throws himself into the path of a mighty blow that cripples his arm through his shield.
• Ismir cripples a spearman and leaves him to aid Aramis, but the spearman, from the ground, hurls his spear and strikes Ismir in the back, wounding him grievously.
• Aramis duels an Elven swordsman, equally matched, until Aramis finally makes a mistake his foe can take for an advantage and is struck, passing out just as the others of the company arrive to his rescue.
• Meanwhile, overhead, the giant, translucent figures of Zat Al-Dawahi and Farouk Ibn Said hurl spells at each other until Farouk is defeated, falling to the arena floor, while ZAD’s invaders defeat the city’s defenders, and spread throughout the city, looting and burning everything in their path.

Wherein the company delivers a message to the Half-Djinn…

• The company spends a day at the oasis to allow the injured time to recover. Thorondil casts Minor Healing for the first time. Evidence suggesting the Yuan-Ti vampire is still “alive” is found in the vicinity.
• The journey to the City of Ten Thousand Delights is resumed, taking another five days.
• Zyanra waits outside the city, holding Ismir’s meteoric dagger, while the rest are taken to the palace for an audience with Farouk Ibn Said to deliver Zat Al-Dawahi’s message (under the name, Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad).
• Farouk’s vizier opens the scroll on his behalf, revealing the image of ZAD, who “explains” in a language the company did not understand. In his anger, Farouk teleports the company to a fighting pit, to fight a selection of foes uniquely suited to their abilities.
• Some moments after the fight begins, a freak lightning storm erupts, depositing the forces of ZAD, and herself, ready to attack…

Wherein the company is set upon by gnolls…

• On the way to the City of Ten Thousand Delights, as the Company camps for the night, they are ambushed, caught unarmored, by a band of gnolls led by Heroc, the minotaur Zistral fought at the Kelmarane Battle-Market, bent on revenge. Battle ensues, and the gnolls are no pushovers.
• Again, a one-eyed eyeless Yuan-Ti (now pale, and stinking of death) sprang out of ambush to attack Aramis. Again, Aramis spit the creature’s skull on his sword. The creature dissipated into mist and floated away with the wind.
• Ismir caught an unlucky blow and was greatly wounded, though he managed to spear his attacker before he could execute a coup de grace.
• Zyanra fought off two gnolls on her own, but was wounded before Thorondil could come to her rescue.
• Haruki took a blow from the minotaur’s axe that would have killed a lesser man, before smashing its skull with his testubo.
• The loss of their leader broke the gnolls’ spirit, and a few managed to flee.

Wherein the company is house-guest to a goddess…

• The company (minus Gestlin) found themselves teleported to the Citadel of Ten-Thousand Pearls, and the court of the djinn ruler, Zat al-Dawahi. They are made to explain their purpose, that being to seek her aid in the rescue of Finn Sardock
• At dinner, Zat revealed that she believes she can, with much difficulty, rescue Finn, at the cost of three tasks the company must perform. Also, Ammerah is already present with him, which the djinn interpreted to mean she must send Ammerah to Finn’s location a week or two into the past.
• The following morning, Ammerah was sent through a portal to Finn.
• Exploring the city, Brumrumli encountered a familiar dwarf, Thráin Ironfist, in a cage, to be sold at market as a slave. Thorondil sneaked in and unlocked the cage, allowing him to escape. Believing Brum responsible, Thráin indicated he owes him a debt, before disappearing.
• At evening dinner, Zat tasked the company with delivering a message to Farouq ibn Said, the half-djinn who previously enslaved Zyanra, and escaped death at the Kelmarane Battle-Market.
• Ismir requested of Zat to be allowed to claim a knife left stuck in the hall floor, to be “used upon her enemies,” and it was granted.
• With Zyanra as “advisor,” the company set out for the City of Ten Thousand Delights, Farouq’s domain, upon the following morning.

Wherein the company is confronted by a trapped djinn…

• After the scouts reported no activity in Dulihiban, only the “glass statues,” the company entered the city to see what they could find.
• They encountered a (not-glass) man calling himself al-Nur, sultan of this city, who asked for assistance releasing his “friend” from the treasury.
• At the treasury, in a ruined tower of the city palace, the man revealed himself to be a djinn and prevented the company from leaving the chamber, cloaking them in magical darkness and provoking them to attack. Aramis was accidentally stabbed by Ismir in the darkness. Thorondil accused the sultan of being a bad host, and after a more-pleasant parley, agreed to free him from his prison, a man-sized crystal like those encountered in Yaqut min Alraml, in exchange for their release. After doing so, the tower collapsed.
• At camp, Thorondil relented, and used Smil-Blam on Gestlin, though it turned him instead into a turtle.
• The company traveled on to the Citadel of Ten-Thousand Pearls, to the border of the lands of Zat al-Dawahi, where they were stopped by a flash of bright light…

Wherein a strange sandstorm changes everything…

• Post-battle, Ammerah tended the injured, with Gestlin’s help, while the caravan survivors prepared shelter from the incoming sandstorm.
• All present sheltered in tents as the sandstorm arrived; the unconscious and/or injured were dragged inside. During the storm, all were affected magically:
  • Aramis’ left arm turned to copper
  • Brumrumli’s beard and hair are enveloped in flames that don’t burn
  • Haruki grew 5 inches taller
  • Ismir seemed unaffected, though he was unconscious from his wounds
  • Thorondil’s wing-harness disappeared, but the wings became permanent
  • Gestlin became a hawk
  • Ammerah and Zyanra switched bodies
  • Of the other survivors: One turned to sand, one killed by plants growing out of him, one grew 5 inches shorter, one grew 10 years younger, one’s tongue became that of a serpent
• In the morning, the survivor with the serpent’s tongue, believing himself cursed by Allah, had gone into the desert to die. Thorondil and Gestlin flew to find him, but were unable to save him from a buried, giant desert creature (AKA Deserthulhu).
• The company traveled to Dulihiban with the remaining caravaners and their dozen-or-so camels, hoping to purchase some of the camels there for their own use.
• Dulihiban was found by Thorondil to be deserted, but Ismir entered and found the population turned to glass.

Wherein the company continues in battle against a centaur raid…

• The battle is carried over from last session.
• The caravaners were cut down early, including their leader, and the few that remained fled the field.
• Zyanra was wounded by a centaur spear, and collapsed, tended by nearby Aramis.
• Ismir was also wounded by a spear, and passed out.
• Thorondil cut the “leash” between the centaur spellcaster and her handler, and she exploded.
• A one-eyed Yuan-Ti sprang out of ambush to attack Aramis, only to have their duel rudely interrupted by an impatient Brumrumli.
• At the end, one of the centaur warriors remained and was able to flee, though greatly injured by Haruki in the process.
• After the fight was over, Ammerah tended the wounded.
• A strangely-hued sandstorm was spotted on the horizon, quickly approaching.

Player Notes:

• This second part of the fight from last week ended up taking the entire session.

Wherein the company is reunited, and sets out to find Finn…

• A few days after the collapse of Yaqut min Alraml, the company is still looking for survivors while evading occasional Yuan-Ti ambushes.
• With a bright flash, Haruki, Aramis, Ismir, and Gestlin the Unpredictable appear, displacing Lan-Fan back to Defiant; Gestlin is transformed into a talking goat in the process. Gestlin is informed of the company’s fate, and believing Finn still lives, is determined to travel to the Citadel of Ten-Thousand Pearls to speak with the djinn, Zat al-Dawahi, Mistress of Misfortunes, regarding Finn’s potential rescue.
• Aramis narrowly dodges a crossbow bolt from a hidden shooter
• Thorondil refuses to wield Smil-Blam to restore Gestlin’s proper form; too dangerous.
• Zistral, and the Leashed-One rescued by the company, part ways to be with their people.
• The company, along with Ammerah (under Ismir’s careful protection) and Zyanra, sets out across the desert, a trip expected to take over a month, while the other Fa’iel head to the Cave of Winds to rejoin their tribe.
• The company experiences many “strange events” during their travels, including a dragon, Vermithor Rex, who mistakenly eats one of the company’s pack-camels, thinking it a stray. Ismir pulls a magic spear from the dragon’s side.
• Several days in, just across the border into the Djinn Lands, the company hears the din of battle ahead, and encounters a local caravan beset by centaurs, likely the forces of Atah Keth, and decide to charge to the rescue…

Player Notes:

• Due to an unexpected internet outage, we ended the session mid-fight, to be continued next week.

Wherein a Caravan is Attacked…

• A scouting party was sent from Castle Defiant, including Haruki Nakasato, Ilanna Hawkeye, Ismir ibn Al’Xavier, and Abyad al-Khalaf, to locate an inbound caravan.
• Aramis de Sauvons is the last remaining fighting-man in Proximo’s caravan, inbound to Castle Defiant, bringing many freed slaves from the Djinn Lands.
• The Defiant scouting party finds the caravan under attack by Gnollish thugs, believed to be under Kardswann’s orders to slay them all. The Gnolls are defeated and scattered, at the cost of several of the freed-slaves, and Proximo himself; Ismir is also injured.
• Aramis is gifted a ring by a dying friend, one of the freed-slaves who was felled.
• The combined parties return to Defiant to find a giant raven speaking with Gestlin the Unpredictable in the courtyard. The master-wizard is here to find Finn Sardock, who is not present, having been lost to the sands of the Djinn Lands—though only Haruki has any idea of this, from a dream.
• Gestlin discusses with the PCs, deciding the symbol from Haruki’s dream is a symbol of a djinn, and suddenly casts a great spell…

Player Notes:

• GM Commentary
• This session consisted almost entirely of a combat, intended to introduce the new PCs and let everyone re-acclimate to the campaign