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Post by Zaim al-Daleel on Nov 24, 2008 19:13:26 GMT -7
As Khafaz and Turin joined House Fajirik's search of the camp for wandering scorpions, the party slipped away unnoticed. Hurriedly they made their way toward the hills surrounding the qara'a. Moonlight drenched the desert sands, and as the lights of the campfires dimmed behind them, their eyes became accustomed to the twilight. All was still. Scrambling over and through the barren hills, covered only occasionally with a hamdh bush, they soon stood on the edge of the qara'a. Before them stretched a barren, ruined plain. Nothing moved across the hard packed, cracked soil. Following the directions on Jaman's sketch map, they soon came to a pile of rocks near a clump of defiant cacti. But the rocks had been scattered, the pit excavated. Kibrahin's necklace wasn't there! Amir squatted and closely examined the pit. Just as the other's began to discuss what to do next, he waved them closer. He pointed out scratches and deep grooves surrounding the pit. They were hard to make out in the twilight, but could be seen on close examination. The scratches of a wild animal. Perhaps a lizard. The party spread out, searching on the faint hope the necklace could be found nearby. After a few moments, Sahra called out. Bending over she pulled a golden necklace from where it lay tangled in a hamdh bush. As the others ran up, she held the necklace out for all to see. It consisted of nine golden globes the size of grapes, and a single silver globe attached to the necklace with wire. Ya’qub recognized fire runes on the golden globes. Ali recognized a djinni rune on the single silver globe. "Summon the djinni, quickly!" Amir frantically orders the girl. His hand grasps the air ready to snatch the neckalce from her should she delay too long. Sahra's look of confusion would have been comical in less dramatic situations. "I don't understand... I thought we were looking for scorpions." Dawning understanding of what Amir said crossed her face- confusion sweeping toward fear. She thrust the necklace at Amir and took cover behind Ya’qub. Grabbing the necklaced from Sahra, Amir takes the large silver bead between two fingers. "In the name of Kibrahin, the wizard who bound you, I command you to come forth and fulfill your oath to him. Z'ah!" The silver sphere shattered in an explosion of gray smoke. The smoke rose and billowed outward, becoming an immense cyclone that spun over the party's heads. The cloud dissipated to reveal a massive 12-foot djinni with rippling muscles, wearing silk robes and silver jewelry. Fair skinned, with long hair pulled into a topnot, the creature was impossibly large. As they often said later, when recounting this night's events- it would have been easier to lift a camel than this djinni. Arms crossed over his chest, his eyes took in the party assembled around him. As lightening from a summer sky, his eyes flashed with anger and he swept toward Amir. With a huge hand he effortlessly lifted Amir high above the ground. "Who summons me?" he hissed in a voice that tolerated no insolence. "Tell me quick, child of my enemy, or I shall separate your head from your shoulders!"
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Post by Zaim al-Daleel on Nov 24, 2008 19:14:12 GMT -7
"The priest Kibrahin bound you to this necklace," Amir al-Ahmar says struggling to meet the terrible gaze of the djinni. "And I know he also extracted from you a promise of aid against his enemies. The time has come to fulfill that oath. In the camp of House Fajirik a sorcerer named Hirakur is summoning a terrible power to wreak against his enemies, House Ashurim. If he succeeds, the centuries-long peace between the houses will be broken and countless souls will perish in the conflict which will follow. You must help us defeat this power and bring an end to the mad sorcerer's scheme. Do this and your oath to Kibrahim shall be fulfilled." Amir waits, nearly breathless, for the djinni to respond. "I know the terms of my release and I intend to fulfill them!" Z'ah thundered. "And what of Kibrahin? Where is..." The djinni dropped Amir and spun around. A glowing figure, vaguely humanoid, appeared on the northern horizon, edging over the hills. It moved toward the party in a series of hesitant, erratic jerks. As the figure reached the summit of the hill, they saw not one, but three distinct shapes. A giant humanoid skeleton sat astride an immense skeletal bird. The giant was as tall as three men, the skeletal bird three times the size of the giant. Both creatures were fleshless, nothing more than faintly glowing bones. The giant clutched a wooden spear as big as a tree trunk, whittled to a fine point. The skeletal bird clutched a squirming human in its scythelike beak. With a flick of its long neck, the skeletal bird flung the human in the party's direction. The human flew high and far, limbs flailing. It crashed into the unforgiving ground and lifelessly tumbled to a stop. "Kibrahim as well as his successor Jaman were slain by the hand of Hirakur. No doubt these abominations are what Kibrahim was trying to stop the sorcerer from summoning." With a gesture half of survival and half of maddening futility, Amir al-Ahmar draws his bow and prepares to do his small part in this battle between titans. Suddenly a thought comes to him. "Ya'qub. I know little of the invocations of the gods, but could the prayer Jaman gave you be put to some use?" Ya'qub pales at the sight of the impending battle before them. He fumbles for the folder containing the blessing, and opens it, and begins his recitation, his small voice quavering slightly his nervous lisp becoming more pronounced: "Glory to Haku for Hith Blethingth Glory to Haku for Hith Favorth Let uth Share in His Great Purpothe May He Acthept uth ath Partnerth May He Look upon uth with Affection May the World grow Greater under Hith Guidanthe." As with most prayers, no immediate and obvious effects where seen or felt. Z'ah looked thoughtfully from the approaching undead giants to the small humans gathered around him. Arms crossed he tapped a finger on his lips in thought. "I must give you the means to defeat these ancient combatants of this cursed ground," he said in a thoughtful tone that barely concealed mischievousness. Three hundred and fifty feet to the north, the giant bird's bones clacked and clattered as it stretched and flexed its 60' wings. It began to lumber forward, featherless wings flapping ever faster. With sudden decisiveness Z'ah gestured toward the ground in front of the PCs. Skeletal forms with bony wings and beaks pushed their way through the sand. Moments later, five giant eagle skeletons stood before the party, awaiting their commands. With a grin Z'ah bent and picked up the necklace Amir had dropped sometime after summoning the djinni. He flung it at Sahra. "And this also I give you. Now my indentured servitude is finished. May your bones join the multitudes that lie beneath this cursed soil."
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Post by Zaim al-Daleel on Nov 24, 2008 19:14:39 GMT -7
Z'ah faded suddenly- through his discorporeal form they saw the giant roc skeleton leap into the air, his beak wide in a silent cry of triumph. The giant skeleton on its back raised his spear high, as if readying to throw. As the last wisps of Z'ah blew away, a laughing voice filled each of the party's minds: "Beware the sealed gift bestowed and forgotten..." "That is twice I have have received that warning from a djinni." Amir says. "What does it mean?" He regards the senseless skeletal birds who stare mutely at him, wondering if they are his to command against the foes lumbering toward them. "Oh crap." Lum mumbled to himself. Shaking his head he thought to himself "What did you expect Lum, a Djinni to actually do what it was told?" Unsheathing his weapons and looking to his novice, Amin, to do the same, Lum asked Sahra, "Do you know if that necklace has any other powers? If it does, we could use it's powers now." Looking at the skeletal hosts summoned by the Djinni in front of the group, Lum pointed at the incoming hostiles and shouted, “Destroy our enemies!" After so many days watching her work as a laborer, none amonst them could doubt Sahra's courage and strength. However, this turn of events was beyond this hard working young woman's comprehension. She cowered behind Ya’qub and didn't respond to Lum's query. Perhaps in answer to Lum's command, one of the giant eagles flexed its wings out a full 15' and with a shadow of its former nobility hopped forward and crouched down. The was little doubt it was prepared to be mounted. Amin, reacting automatically to his mamluk superior, quickly drew his sword. His face was a picture of incredulity however. "This cannot be," he gasped in a weak voice uncharacteristic of the jovial youth. "Oh crap." Lum said again. "Five of us, five mounts. Oh well, Amin stay safe!" With that said, Lum alighted his mount and kicked in his heels like he would a camel, "Aloft my... mount, to the enemy!" With a powerful thrust the giant eagle skeleton lept into the air. Lum grasped the collar bone with one hand and with the other, his scimitar. Lifted upon wings of magic they rose to meet the monstrosity that drew rapidly closer. Amin, watching his superior rise into the night sky, called out in what was probably meant to a commanding voice: "Destroy our enemies..." With weak knees he mounted and calling upon some deep well of courage cried out: "To the enemy!" Then he too was carried high into the night sky. Lum looked back, a proud smile on his face as he saw Amin follow him. "Attack the wing, Amin!" Lum shouted back as he guided his mount into position. Ya'qub turns and looks resolutely into Sahra's eyes. "Please, may I see the necklace more closely?" Sahra unhesitantly hands Ya’qub the necklace. As he examines it, she remains behind him, grasping his robe tightly in fear. Her eyes are fixed on the sky above where Lum and Amir race toward the nightmare that was a fell silhouette against the moon. As gently as he can, Ya'qub regards the young woman who for some reason has seen fit to claim him as protector over the more-warrior-like members of the party. "Thahra, I cannot allow my friendth to fathe thith peril alone. I mutht go to their thideth and aid them! If Fate allowth, I shall return." Swinging clumsily onto the back of the nearest winged mount, he grasps the necklace in one hand and shouts, "To the thkieth, and to victory!" The collar bone beneath his hand was cool and dry to the touch. Ya’qub squeezed his legs tightly against the skeletal rib cage as he felt the eagle bend its knees and prepare to leap into the sky. Just as the giant eagle launched itself, wings beating powerfully, Sahra called out to Ya’qub: "May fate guide thee to glory!"
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Post by Zaim al-Daleel on Nov 24, 2008 19:15:24 GMT -7
Marvelling at the courage and decisiveness of his companions and not just a little chagrined by his own hesitation, Amir al-Ahmar boldly steps forward to mount his own skeletal aerial steed. "Let us two attack the giant," Amir suggests to Ali as his clambers onto the skeletar bird. "If the others bring enough injury to the roc, hopefully the two will be brought down together." Amir al-Ahmar ordered his mount into the night sky. As it leapt upwards he found it no more difficult to ride than an old mare. Using only his legs to hold on and guide the skeletal eagle, he knocked his bow. Lum sped toward the nightmarish creatures, bent low with scimitar raised. He steeled himself against looking down- the desert floor swept past, visible through the rib cage of his strange mount. Amin followed a few wing beats behind, eyes wide with terror. He white knuckled his eagle skeleton with both hands while precariously maintaining a grip on his scimitar. Ya’qub finished his silent prayer and opened his eyes. Lum and his companion Amin had nearly closed on the giants- two humming birds charging a hawk popped into his mind unbidden. As he climbed higher and closer he struggled to find a way to untie the necklace and remove a globe. To his immense frustration he could find no way short of attempting to break it; a prospect which would likely result in most of the globes falling to the ground far below. In a moment of clarity that was almost an out-of-body experience, he recalled his childhood friend and teacher- the mysterious old hermit who'd taught him a little fire magic. They were sitting around a campfire, the first Ya’qub had created using magic, and as he basked in the glow of pride and firelight, he watched his teacher pull a golden globe from a necklace he wore beneath his old dirty robes. The globe shone brightly in the firelight, illuminating the face of his smiling teacher, but the child Ya’qub was staring past it, staring instead at the flickering shapes within the old man's bright eyes... eyes which grew in size and brightness until it was as a full moon. A full moon with a nightmarish skeletal roc bearing down on his two companions Lum and Amin. Lum had no time to be astonished at the speed and maneuverability of the roc. He'd guided his eagle in close enough for a passing strike, his mount wheeling in an upward arc, only to be struck viciously with a tree-limb sized wingbone of the roc as it swept past. Lum and his mount were sent reeling- Lum struggled to maintain consciousness and his grip as the eagle beat its bony wings furiously. Fragments of shattered bone fell twinkling to the desert floor far below. Young Amin never managed to raise his scimitar for a strike but his command to attack must have been understood. As the roc wheeled to finish Lum's flailing mount, Amin's eagle crashed into the roc's upraised wing, talons grasping for purchase. Amin suddenly had the roc's full attention! Furiously Amin's eagle tore at the glowing wing bone only to be flung violently away before doing any serious damage. Far below, Ali ceased trying to order the remaining eagle skeleton to attack. Riderless, the undead creature remained on the ground, preening invisible feathers. At Ali's command, Yakhil appeared, giving Ali his requested spell. As the sha'ir cast his spell he failed to notice Sahra mount the remaining eagle. With a sharp whistle used to goad camels, she commanded it to join the fray. Amir al-Ahmar fired two arrows in quick succession, but his gaze didn't follow them to their target- the giant. He'd somehow become the focus of the giant's attention and it's spear now hurtled toward him. Diving suddenly, red robes whipping behind him, he managed to avoid the spear. Ya’qub reached for the necklace he now wore around his neck. From his position slightly above and rapidly approaching the enemy he gauged his distance. Plucking a golden globe from the necklace he invoked the rune aloud and hurled it. It was too small to be seen in the moonlight and he cursed his luck for missing. He was closing in for a second throw when the night erupted in flames. The confusing seconds that followed were a flash of images that would haunt Ya’qub's dreams for years to come for his eagle had swept in close to the giant, intent on victory, talons slashing- Flames hungrily engulfing the giant's empty rib cage, shadowy eye sockets in a cracked and flaming skull pierced by an arrow shaft, grasping giant hands with flames dancing along the finger tips, and then a terrifying jolt and a falling sensation that lasted an eternity amid a shower of bones.
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Post by Zaim al-Daleel on Nov 24, 2008 19:15:48 GMT -7
Lum had regained control of his mount and was now back in position to attack. Blood flowed freely from his nose and half his face was a mass of swollen blue flesh. With the taste of his own blood in his mouth he drew a jambiya. A lopsided grin, menacing in its ferocity, spread across his battered face when his enemies burst into flame. Swooping around he hurled his weapon at the giant roc skull. Perhaps luck and Fate played a hand in this incredible throw, but Lum's mastery of the knife was unquestionable. With a satisfyingly sickening crack, a large piece of the skull whirled down into the darkness.
Through the new hole, wind whistled eerily as the giant bird swept through the night.
The desert below was still for the most part. Ali had cast his spell and now a sixth eagle skeleton wheeled in the sky above, an illusion Ali controlled with sweat breaking concentration. At the edge of the qara'a a patrol of soldiers stood in slack jawed wonderment. Though it all very few sounds interrupted the otherwise peaceful night. Ya’qub therefore, heard only the wind's not unpleasant wail as he fell- his sight filled with a spinning trail of stars which occasionally traded places with the horizon.
As Amir al-Ahmar fired another volley of deadly arrows and Lum and Amin renewed their attacks on the roc's flapping wings they failed to notice the diving streak that was Sahra and her eagle.
It all happened so fast that Ya’qub was just realizing that panicking would be appropriate when he was plucked from the sky like a salmon from the sea. In the unyielding talons of a giant eagle he trailed beneath, more than a little dazed and feeling as if he'd just been hit by a charging camel. He watched as the ground beneath him slowed its breakneck passage and drew closer. To his dismay, he was unceremoniously dropped just before the eagle landed.
He rolled to an ungraceful stop in time to see the flaming giants falling from the sky. About them wheeled his companions, arms raised in victory.
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