Fez: Returning a Princess, Rescuing a King

Before we leave Rome Gwyn fights some nameless Green Man follower in the most boring duel ever. They swing at each other for what seems like forever before someone connects. In the end Gwen wins by a mile, leaving her at level 2 with max hp. Then Harald Teleports everyone to the Ayesha, where we pick up Gaidaa, daughter of Xeri, the King of Fez. We teleport over there, only to find the town in an uproar. It seems the neighboring kingdom of Nakor has recently defeated Xeri in battle, taking him prisoner and killing everyone else in the chain of command. Harald immediately takes to the palace, where he gets ahold of the eight-year-old prince and then declares himself Regent. The people take this in stride, though Gaidaa refuses to be Harald's second wife. Our brave heroes decide the right thing to do is go and rescue the King. Some Magic Mirroring shows the king is held in a big tent by Ibn Jerthum, the Nakorite king. There is also a blue elf(one of the Free People, and a guy Harald recognizes as the shadowy fellow from the Castle of Maidens. We cast up some Phantom Steeds and then take off into the desert under cover of night.

After a hard night's ride we reach the tent city of Nakor. Ailyll summons some lions and makes them giant, and Mamun and TrapoII sneak among the tents. They find a big tent in the middle and decide to sneak in. Trappo finds and removes a magical trap on the tent, and they slip under the edge. Inside all is dark, but they make out the two prisoners asleep in chains on the floor and Ibn Jerthum asleep curled up in his throne. Trappo sneaks forward to off Ibn Jerthum in his sleep, when to his surprise the throne punches him. Mamun stays hidden while Trappo and the throne fight, and then the shadowy jerk comes out of the shadows to join in. Trappo tries to escape, but he gets caught in the edge of the tent. Mamun steps up to fight.

Meanwhile, outside the tent city a bunch of jackals come up and start kissing Ailyll's butt. They say they hate Arabs, and give her some magic scissors to help her genocide folks. Then we see the commotion around the tent, and spring into action. Ailyll's lions attack the camp, Sunflower charms people and sows confusion, and Harald Audible Glamours up an attacking force. Ailyll and Harald run for the big tent to help out Mamun. A fight ensues, with Harald putting the hurt on Ibn Jethum, who is now awake, while Ailyll's Sticks to Snakes are biting everyone. Ibn Jerthum cowardly takes refuge behind his big-ass living throne, so Harald offers to stop the fight if the prisoners are freed. While Ibn Jerthum is thinking it over Sunflower shows up and Suggests that he take Harald's offer. One failed save later we are booking it out of town, riding giant lions. The blue elf says his name is Altar, and that Ibn Jerthum had stolen his Boots of Elvenkind. He also mentions that the shadowy guy was The Phantom Blot, a mercenary who recently started working for Ibn Jerthum. He says that the curse of the Free People has been broken, and now many of them are again worshipping gods. This was very likely Nakula and Slith's fault. We give him some weapons and wish him a safe journey home.

Back in Fez we are given a hero's welcome. Xeri fetes us and we sleep well. In the morning we get a guide and some camels, and we are off to see the Psylloi. We get to their village, and they are a bit creepy, with crazy poisonous stuff everywhere. The also don't like strangers, but they tolerate us. The King, Kurteagon, mentions that his daughter Inkeroway, thier high priestess, wandered off a few months ago. Harald suspects Throk, and tries to Magic Mirror the girl, but to no avail. We also meet some Gripli who are in town. Harald tries to get the location of the Greae from this guy, but he says we have to overcome three challenges first. He throws a rock into a pit full of snakes, but Harald Locates it, Color Sprays and Sleeps the snakes nearby, then Leviates down and grabs the rock. First challenge passed.

For the second challenge Kurteagon throws a rock into a narrow cleft in a cliff. Ailyll changes into a king snake and goes after it. At the bottom of the cleft is a cave, with a weird slimy scummy pool in the bottom of it. Ailyll goes for the rock, when suddenly the pool rises up and smacks her for a pile of damage. It also takes the rock. Ailyll runs, but she gets hit with a Green Slime lugey the pool shoots at her. When she reaches the top Kuteagon throws her into a fire to burn off the slime before she dissolves. After some detective work we find another path into the cave. Harald summons up Ghouls and Ghasts, and various protective spells are cast. We go in, taking out some Giant Ameobas on the way. We reach the pool room, and the first thing the slime mound does is cast Unholy Word. Turns out this is no ordinary slime mound, but Jubilex, Demon Lord of Slimes, Jellies, and Oozes. What the hell is he doing here? Oh yeah, kicking the shit out of us. Ailyll is also posessed by her Jackal scissors, and is only saved from death by overzealous attack thanks to Harald commanding the Ghouls to paralyze her. We run away after being beaten down.

Up above we rest, Remove Curse on Ailyll, and then go back for round two. A long and very hard fight ensues, but finally the damn Demon Lord runs. We take our rock and go back to the Psylloi. We see a big grey guy with an even bigger two handed sword. Kurteagon is beat up, trying to bar his way. He says "I am the Grey Executioner, and I wield the great sword ?????. I've come to take the Gripli to the Lords of Chaos." Kurteagon attacks him, but gets taken out. The grey executioner grabs teh Gripli and starts walking away in the air. We decide to leave him the hell alone. This pisses off Kurteagon, who then refuses to give us the third test. He's too busy sulking. Luckily Sunflower Suggests he tell us where to find the Greae, and he does. They live in a golden castle about thirty miles away. We get the hell out of dodge, and hope to never again have to deal with the Psilloi, or Jubilex, or the Lords of Chaos, whoever they are.