Warming back up (Afina)

[Ebiris]

"It must be an enormous business," Afina says, thinking that if they go after someone responsible for all of the flesh traffic between Fire and Baator they'd need to mobilise all of Aurora's forces for a grand battle. "Can you tell us about this diplomat? And if he's too well fortified for a small force to take, perhaps a lesser subsidiary so we can at least do some pruning around the edges?"

[Anastasia]

Crystal's tiny little fist balls up, while Simmer just takes a seat to listen.

"I can," Sage Vul'lath says. "His name is Akil bin Faheem, emir of the efreeti and known as the special diplomat of the Crimson Firebrand. He is one of the oldest surviving emirs, he served under the Crimson Firebrand - the original Grand Sultan - during his conquest of the efreeti tribes and the establishment of the City of Brass." Here the old gith sits deeply back in his chair, steepling his hands together. "He has cast his lot with Baator. He is the main liason between Baator and The City of Brass, the cog that ensures that the Treaty of Flamesky is honored and cooperation between the two races continues."

After a moment and no immediate reply from the others, "He is also unassailable. He resides deep within The City of Brass, surrounded by his servants as well as devil retainers. To attack him directly would be an act of war against the efreeti, for the Grand Sultan could not overlook such an affront. No." A long shake of his head, "Finer means are required. No, I would recommend attacking his slave ranches dotted about Fire."

There's another pause, before Crystal says tightly, "Slave ranches?"

Vul'lath smiles ever so slightly. It's not a nice smile, "Yes. Here slaves are properly prepared to serve Baator and held until they are sold. Crush one, free the slaves and take the wealth the efreeti so crave."

[Ebiris]

She'd like to say that the Sultan's time will come, but killing Asmodeus and his eight cronies is already the work of an eternity... nevermind Tiamat's on the list as well. Afina's a small fairy with big plans! "A pity, but we don't need to open up another front," she say. Besides, the city of Brass is probably as fortified as the Brass Citadel on Avernus, and perhaps too much even for Aurora's full might at the moment. "But attacking slave ranches is sound - we followed a similar approach when we attacked minor devil holdings across Lifasa not too long ago, when we rescued Ellese. Any ideas for fruitful targets, then?"

[Anastasia]

"Information on them is scarce, but I do know of one." Vul'lath says, "There is a swamp in Fire. Not as we reckon it, but one of lava and strange rocks that grow as trees, known as the Pyre's Marsh. Within there is a slave ranch, along with a portal to Avernus."

"That's well and good," Simmer says, "But where in it? I've heard of it, it's not small."

"Details elude me, but I know of one thing. It is within a day's travel of a great dragon's skeleton, a foolish white dragon wyrm that sought to devastate Fire. He challenged the efreeti and lost."

[Ebiris]

"If a portal's there it's probably highly trafficked, we could certainly do worse for targets. Are both of you interested?" Afina asks Simmer and Crystal. "I could either give you fire resistance or make you part fire elemental again, whichever you prefer," she adds for her fellow pixie. "Same for Hope."

[Anastasia]

"I'm in," Simmer says, "They do sound like the sort that need to be more on fire."

Crystal nods, cute little pixie face twisted with a sharp frown. "Yes. I'd rather you not draw on that power, I know it weakens you. I can get full protection from fire from Tepen and you can have your full resources for this skirmish."

[Ebiris]

She just likes to share the gift of fire, it'd be nice to have three pyrofey all in on this... even if she's part water elemental now she still maintains a strong connection to fire so as to hold up her agreement with Magmasoul after all! "Speaking of Tepen and his spells I'll need to requisition a scroll of Gate so we can evacuate the slaves afterwards. Plane shifting and teleporting will suffice just for getting there." Turning back to Vul'lath she bobs in the air before him. "Thanks for giving us this tip, hopefully we'll find a nice present for you amongst the efreet's belongings!"

Scroll of Gate purchased here

Plan is to use racial plane shift to Fire then Simmer can teleport us to Pyre's Marsh and we can search from there

[Anastasia]

Crystal and Hope have energy immunity (fire) cast on them, CL 22nd.

The party - Afina, Simmer, Crystal and Hope - plane shift to Fire first of all.

> roll 1d100 Since you appear in a range with planeshift, seeing if you appear anywhere interesting
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 23 > [d100=23]

The party appears in an open place in Fire. Flames are all around, the ground blasted slag beneath them. Simmer looks around and takes a deep breath of smoky, choking air. "Home," she says with a happy little sigh. "Do you want to try aiming for the dragon or try elsewhere in it?"

This thread has 3 NPCs going, so I'm going to be tracking them in topic, versus just notes for Sylvie in the other thread. A conditions update will be in the next post.

[spoiler]

Simmer: 278/278 - 1 7th level charge spent.
Crystal: 223/223 - Energy Immunity (Fire), CL 22.
Hope: 484/484 - Energy Immunity (Fire), CL 22.

[Ebiris]

Afina casts Moment of Prescience as her other all day buff before departing.

The steam pixie looks similarly content to be on one of the two elemental planes her spirit is tied to, for all that Fire's inhabitants are on the whole far more objectionable than Water's. Though she's only met one marid to compare with the devil collaboration of the efreeti race, it's enough for her to pass judgement! "The dragon's our only lead so far, so lets go with that," she agrees, looking around and seeing nothing noteworthy in her immediate surroundings. "Once there we can strike out and circle around it to find any traces of this ranch."

Spoiler: ShowHide

Afina 208/208, greater mage armour (CL 23) and moment of prescience (CL 23).
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, immunity to fire, disease, and water
Spell charges remaining: 6/9/9/8/9/8/8/8/6/7

[Anastasia]

Crystal coughs a few times, waving a hand in front of her face. "Let's," she says, perched on Hope. Simmer likewise nods, casting her spell to take them along.

> roll 1d20+22 CL check
<Serith> Kozzz roll for Serith < 33 > [d20=11]

You appear before it - a burnt black dragon skull, far larger than any of you. Flames dance around it yet do not touch it. You stand on a small island' of ash and volcanic rock, lakes and pools of boiling lava all around you. This is broken up by islands as well as trees. These trees are made of solid rock of black, red and brown, rising up from the lava. They bear leaves of fire, crackling like miniature campfires.

Simmer quickly looks around, "Something tried to interfere with the spell," she speaks up, a frown following. "I think I was able to power through it."

[Ebiris]

This is certainly one of the prettier parts of Fire, appealing to sylvan and elemental sensibilities both! Even the lakes of lava are enough to fool her watery side into feeling comfortable, for all that it's the wrong kind of liquid. At Simmer's comment she frowns as well, casting detect magic and looking around. Their start point was random and innocuous, so any interdiction must be on this end, she thinks.

[16:56] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+37 spellcraft
[16:56] <Serith> Ebiris roll for Serith < 42 > [d20=5]

Spoiler: ShowHide

Afina 208/208, greater mage armour (CL 23) and moment of prescience (CL 23).
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, immunity to fire, disease, and water
Spell charges remaining: 5/9/9/8/9/8/8/8/6/7

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d20+31 Simmer will do the same
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 38 > [d20=7]

Afina can detect there's a few enchantments around the skull. One is a spell to make teleport more accurate when this is the destination, reducing the odds of the teleport missing. The second is a sort of shunting, diverting a teleport to a second location once it's fixed onto the skull. In other words, it draws you in and then sends you off somewhere. Fortunately, sufficiently strong magic can overwhelm it. It aims more for subtlety than raw power.

Simmer's frowning as she looks around as well, "A good sign," she finally announces with a growing smile, "It means someone cares enough about this area to protect it. Most likely it means there's future burn victims to be found."

[spoiler]

Simmer: 278/278 - 1 cantrip and 1 7th level charge spent.
Crystal: 223/223 - Energy Immunity (Fire), CL 22.
Hope: 484/484 - Energy Immunity (Fire), CL 22.

[Ebiris]

"Who knows, it could even redirect a teleport straight into their slave pens," Afina muses, half considering a teleport to let it do whatever it does... but no, if they're to fight it should be on their own terms, not in a killing ground of the enemy's choosing. She's been on the other end of that often enough with her devil bindings to know how that's likely to go. "Lets head out this way," she points in the direction the dragon's skull is pointed at, just for a random reference, "And start spiralling around. It might take a while but we should find something sooner or later," she says, starting to flutter off in the direction indicated.

Spoiler: ShowHide

Afina 208/208, greater mage armour (CL 23) and moment of prescience (CL 23).
AC 60 (touch 46, flat footed 60), spell resistance 38, immunity to fire, disease, and water
Spell charges remaining: 5/9/9/8/9/8/8/8/6/7

[Anastasia]

Alright, let's begin with Spot checks from all. Roll and post yours, Afina.

[Ebiris]

[17:38] <@Ebiris> roll 1d20+35 spot
[17:38] <Serith> Ebiris roll for Serith < 52 > [d20=17]

Of course Afina is naturally attentive to her surroundings, looking for any clues as to slaver activity or random ambush both!