2025.09.06 Session Notes

Erash’s Dream

• After a trying day, Erash falls deeply asleep.
• He dreams that he is back in front of the lava wall that brought us through to the Ember Ashen stronghold.
• Claws reach through the wall of churning lava, pulling him through and beyond…

SEE ME….

Gaushroth is in flight. Carrying you in his claws. You’re above the City of Brass, as horns begin sounding alarm all over the city.

FREE ME….

You see the crystalline artifact pedestaled at the center of the treasure hoard. Radiating energy. You see it begin to crack.. it shatters in a blinding light 

FREE MY CHILDREN…..

Your vision shifts to the vast treasure room you’ve seen before. Stationed at points all around the horde are a half-dozen dragons. Each of them wearing a brass collar. The collars shatter and fall away. The dragons take flight. 

FREE THE PEOPLE….

You see a grand hallway. The centerpiece of the Sultan’s Charcoal Palace. Suddenly, gates and portals open everywhere inside the gilded brass sanctum. Fire giants, elementals, azers and even dragons emerge in numbers as efreeti forces move to engage them. 

FREE YOURSELF….

You’re back above the city again. Only this time under your own wings… 

You wake with a start. And find the older azer sitting on a bench across the room. He had been watching you…

• Erash wakes, startled.
• The Elder , Zhadrel, is watching over him.
• Erash shares his dream and the troubling vision of war.
• Zhadrel departs, and Erash casts a Sending to wake Snow.
• They have an (awesome roleplay) heart-to heart about his fear that others will die because of him, and her assertion that they are already suffering and will die either way.

The Respite

• Meanwhile, Khoraka also dreams. He dreams of the fae realm, where he spent so much time with Liane, and of the giant salamanders that live in the hot places.
• Concentrating upon waking, Khoraka conjures a horse-sized speckled red and black large salamander with intelligent eyes. He names her Vaedra, and introduces her to the group.
• Phelan wakes looking troubled, and has a quiet side conversation with Ferric before leaving the Respite.

Temple of Surtur

• The Azers offer then a simple breakfast.
• Erash tells the group about his dream, and shares his history as a mercenary, and his secret fear that he was responsible for the death of Thar’s wife in the battle of the Ashguard Garrison.
• Kohraka in turn shares his bloody history as a Revelry pirate, reminding Erash that he’s not alone, and that they were both under oath or contract.
• Despite their desire for an end to the violence, they all acknowledge the necessity of this war.
• Zhadrel rises from the table and offers to “show you what monsters do.” (This gets a big wince from Phelan, who has been awkwardly silent.)
• Zhadrel takes them back to the scene of the efreeti’s temper tantrum; the Ashdrip Grill has been flattened, as if there was a natural disaster.

The Forge

• Zhadrel gives each member of the FGC an Azer-forged weapon to aid them in the battles ahead.
• These items include:
  • Ashenfang Chain
  • Embertooth
  • Solaris Bulwark
  • Maul of the Emberforge
  • Inferno Engine
  • Pyroclast

The First Challenge

• Kharzum tells the FGC that they need to get inside the estate of the Grand Vizier Fa’had al-Tasim.
• He’s the father of the Vuthos leader we ashed back on the material plane. Which means that now, his son is probably bopping around the Plane of Fire, and possibly the city. Oops.
• This estate was once the home of Erash’s ancestor Tarir al-Khaleed, who was Vizier to the Sultan a millennium ago before his betrayal and fall from grace.
• All they know about the estate is that it’s an imposing facade built into the side of a cliff; there are no reliable maps available.
• There is, however, rumor of a portal that can take you to one side of the estate to the other and back again.
• The Grand Vizier is known to see everything that happens on his estate; if we see anything that resembles an eye, we should assume he’s behind it.
• Within the estate is a lava wall similar to the one we traveled through to reach the enclave. It will only work for Erash’s bloodline. It Is hidden, but our new weapons will lead us there.

Info Gathering

• The FGC tries to do some reconnaissance, but they have limited success; they are not able to track down any servants or informants at the estate who might be loyal to their cause.
• Erash attempts to dream again and contact Gaushroth proactively, but he’s not at home.
• The reconnaissance team heads to the estate proper to scope it out; it’s on the shore of the Sea of Fire overlooking a massive fleet of ships.
• The house is built into a cliff, at least two stories tall; there are ground-level doors about 20’ wide with staircases that lead to a balcony above the main entrance.
• The doors are guarded by fire giants.
• Phelan suggests they watch Vizier's palace so they can learn how to get in, what the rotation looks like, and where the servants enter the building; an effreeti’s arrogance is likely to present our best opportunity.
• The team fully loads up with sending stones.
  • Phelan <> Snow
  • Valgara <> Ferric
  • Khoraka <> Erash
  • (+1 spare, because Phelan always has a spare if he can get one.)
• Phelan also theorizes that there might be a way in and out of the estate that will only work for Erash; it’s worth exploring the perimeter for an entry/exit point.
• The party plans to stake out the estate for ~48 hours to get a sense of the traffic and patrols.

The Summary

From here, we need a plan. But all the steps to conquer the City of Brass (at least, our role here) are below.

1. We have to gain entry into the Vizier’s house, which is the ancestral home of Erash’s disgraced family.
2. In that house, we need to find a mural of Gaushroth. Our new weapons will act like homing beacons to take us to its location.
3. Hidden behind the mural will be a wall of lava — a portal identical to the one we’ve used to get to the Ember Ashen. (As far as the vizier knows, it is just an oddity that burns anyone who touches it; he has no idea of its original purpose.)
4. Erash can get through this wall; and he can bring us with him as long as we are all touching, the same way Kharzum did taking us through from the temple.
5. Therein we’ll find a pocket dimension that is Tarir Al-Khalid’s extra-dimensional library and office.
6. There’s a magical item here crafted by Tarir. We need to take it with us, and then get back out of this house without being stopped or killed. (Maybe the portal that shunts you around, or maybe a secret back exit that only works for Erash. Or maybe we fight our way out. Or sneak. Sneaking’s good.)
7. This item, when we take it into the Charcoal Palace Labyrinth, will obscure the bearer(s) from the guardians that patrol the passageways.
8. We use the item to navigate that labyrinth to reach a crystalline artifact that sits atop a pedestal in the center, at the heart of a vast treasure chamber.
9. We then need to destroy this crystalline artifact. Doing so will free all the creatures who are enslaved to the Sultan’s will — which includes at least a half dozen dragons who are the children of Gaushroth the Bloodied. It will also enable others to teleport directly in to the labyrinth environs, and the Charcoal Palace itself.
10. Then… we have to get back out of the Palace. Preferably without dying.