The Color of Ambition (Adventure)
{{DM}}
Adventure Hook
The Eternal Flame of Kossuth in Bezantur, Alerion Flameborn, suspects one of his priestesses of foul play.
Devora Galasjbruna, a Fury of the Faith in the Tendrils of Flame organization, has grown resentful of the high priest's authority, and has become very independent of late. Her duties include managing the church's relationship with foreign entities; he fears she has taken that to mean she can operate outside the laws of Thay, and the laws of her church.She has been entertaining visitors from the distant land of Zakhara, who are worshippers of an elemental power not unlike Kossuth. Her stated objective was to build a relationship with them, with the ultimate goal of uniting their faith. Though she is clearly pursuing this goal, the Eternal Flame believes she may be doing it for the wrong reasons.
For Devora has made several attempts to contact the Tharchion of The Priador, Aznar Thrul. She has not been successful in gaining his audience, but her motive is clear. The Tharchion has been seeking an ideal candidate to represent Thay's religious interests in Free Unther, as he is planning to make a strong push for Thayan sovereignty in that region. The Eternal Flame believes Devora is out to steal this honor from him, and to take his place as the leader of the faith.
To further complicate matters, two rakshasa appeared to steal her away for some nefarious purpose. They were destroyed, but they somehow took her away.
Quest and Reward
The Eternal Flame wants her returned to the temple and to Kossuth's service. He also wants to know who these rakshasa were, and if there are any more, he wants them destroyed. The reward is a fraction of the operating budget that will be allotted to him as the emissary of Kossuth to Free Unther, the sum of 80,000 CGP. Also, if she can be returned alive, and all conspirators involved brought to justice, the Eternal Flame will allow each participant to choose an item from a cache of holy relics.
The Adventure
Whereabouts of Devora
Through various divinations, the party can discover that Devora was Plane Shifted into the Place of Fire. She is currently trapped there, lacking the magic to traverse planes, and under constant assaults by the evil denizens of the plane.
The party will have to travel to that plane, then find her. Despite the fact that the appearance of their entry point seems close to where she began, they are actually 5d100 miles away from her, unless they use Gate to travel directly to her location. They will have to cross the plane to find her, and will want some method of returning home.
Among the creatures prowling that plane:
- Abyssal Ghouls (Fiend Folio pg 12)
- Bhuts (Fiend Folio pg 20)
- Living Holocausts (Fiend Folio pg 117)
- Efreeti Hellguards
Back on the Prime Material
Once safe, Devora will immediately try to sway the party to her side. She assumes The Eternal Flame got to them, and is on the defensive. She tells them the she is obeying the will of Kossuth, that the Lord of Flame wants her to make alliances and increase the power of the church. She wanted a chance to prove herself, and the Eternal Flame was unwilling to give her the opportunity, so she turned to Aznar Thrul.
She wants to introduce the party to her Zakharan friends, who live in a pavilion in Bezantur.
The Den of Tigers
The pavilion in which the Zakharan emissaries have taken residence is lavish and exotic, resembling more an upscale brothel than an embassy.
As you enter the pavilion, you are assailed with the heavy aroma of incense and opium. It is dark inside, very dark, and quiet; you hear soft murmurs from various rooms. The deep, cherry red wood paneling, the plush carpeting, and the great, overstuffed couches and chaise lounges make the pavilion look less like an embassy and more like an upscale brothel.
In this place, there are fine, exotic, and beautiful folk. A man, whose bronze skin and soft features betray a life of utter luxury and privilege, sits cross-legged around a hookah, his glazed eyes glaring a knowing blue from between the frame of his long golden-bronze curls.
A woman, draped in sheer silk of indigo, her pale skin belying a life in the scorching deserts of Zakhara, glistening with rare and exotic ointments that smell of strange flowers, lies on her side, gently tracing her fingers down her perfect face and long, swanlike neck, as if discovering herself for the first time.
A man, sitting on the floor, feeds grapes to a girl, as she caresses his bare, smooth chest through his open vest, and they seem to lose all the world in their fixation.
Finally, there is a woman, swathed in black, her piercing blue eyes peering from behind a veil.
Welcome, she says in heavily accented Mulan, I am Farida of Huzuz, priestess of the Great Flame. Please, taste of the fruits and pleasures of the Land of Fate. The priestess and I have much to discuss, alone. Her eyes remain fixated on Devora's as she speaks.
Devora wishes to consort in private as well, urging the party to wait patiently. She will go off with the veiled woman to a locked chamber.
Eavesdropping on the conversation will be possible, but challenging. They will be conversing in the language of the Al-Hadhar, a tongue virtually unknown to {{Faerun}}ians. Also, the door will be guarded by a small, strange creature.
Kaissa! Ahjis hassath? (Ignan for "Hey! Who the hell are you?) says the small but gruff voice of a three-foot-tall, spindly man comprised of ash and embers. He is an elemental servant (stats: fire mephit with 15 levels of sorcerer) of the veiled woman.