Continuing the somewhat lengthy introduction to an adventure we are presently running. I should mention that there are some 'nods' to past adventures in this that found resonance with my own gaming group, though such a lengthy exposition might seem dry and needlessly cumbersome to outside readers.
Previous installments:
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“What next, O my King?” Sumu asked.
Ed-Wyna offered her opinion. “Father, we should travel to Naram Kush to aid the survivors. They will be heartened to see their King.”
Gilgamesh shook his head. “Sumai will already have sent aid. Lifting of spirits will have to wait. We have other work to do.”
“Whence came this monster?” asked Sumu.
Gilgamesh peered into the distance. He believed he knew. The same place the Seven Jenni were said to have entered the world in antiquity. It was a place now on the borders between his own lands where humanity now ruled supreme, and the lands claimed by the Janni. Jenni…Janni…of course, the similarity in names was no coincidence, for the two types of spirit being had a common origin in pre-human ages past. But whereas the Janni and other Geniekind had become bound to human-like forms, the Jenni came in a multitude of forms, often beast-like, or simply monstrous in aspect. The Janni, rejecting humanity’s naming convention that made them sound all too similar, called these beings “Daevas” instead, saying that their spirits had become corrupted by an infusion of demonic essence and they should be regarded more as a class of demonkind than kindred to themselves now.
He pointed at a rocky mountaintop on the near horizon. It was one amidst a spur of low-lying mountains off the main Alburz range to the East that marked the southern boundary of human lands.
“Sumu, do you know what that mountain is called?”
Sumu scanned the horizon, taking in the topology of the range and guessing its distance from the haze. “No sire…it looks rather small, unremarkable. About 20 miles away, and not more than 3000 feet in height I think.”
“What do they teach you in the temples these days, Sumu? It is called Hursag-Za-Hadrash. There is a cave there which is magically warded and sealed and guarded by the Janni. It is one of the few places where they maintain a permanent presence. In the deep time before mankind walked the world, the elemental spirits of geniekind were the builders who helped the gods to make the world. Afterwards, they were required to quit the stage and leave it to mortal men, and now they may only re-enter the world at the behest of some powerful summoner. All except the Janni, who were the least of the genies and permitted to remain in the world and come and go.
“But not all the genies agreed to the gods’ demands that they return to the elemental planes from whence they came. One such was the Ifrit lord calling himself Ardishir the Magnificent, who remained in hiding in his secret realm of Za-Hadrash under that very mountain, attended by enslaved Janni and protected from the outside world by a wondrous magical dome.
“Ages passed and mankind flourished. Eventually, the gods came to a mutual agreement not to directly intervene in the material plane and the affairs of mortals where intermediaries would suffice; and it was after their withdrawal to the outer planes that Ardishir knew his moment had come. In the caves beneath his mountain he had been gathering an army of monstrous daevas summoned from the underworld through a magical portal called the Gate of Chinvat, and they burst forth to conquer.
“An alliance of Janni and their new human allies did battle with Ardishir, who summoned fresh waves of daevakind to loose upon his enemies from the fastness of Za-Hadrash. Ultimately, he was defeated, and sealed inside his own palace forever. The way to it was warded and the cave entrance blocked, and a permanent guard maintained to watch over the mountain by the Janni.
“The Seven Jenni of infamy had been captains of the daeva armies of Za-Hadrash, who fled to the four corners of the world, returning many years later to renew their attempt at conquest only to be thwarted by myself and my otherworldly allies.”
Sumu: “Have the wards been broken? If one such creature has now emerged from there, more might follow.”
“That is just as I fear, Sumu. We must investigate, promptly. Let us resume our Wind Walking and head over that way to take a look…”
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