Vamires, Djinn and some poor financial decisions
July 28:
We spend the rest of the evening making peace with Yodit and the remains of the former government. We talk to Abubec about finishing off Nelenteyos for good, but for now none of us have any idea where to look for him.
July 29:
Yodit shows us to the treasurey so we can see about paying our remaining troops, and she tells us that, in some moment of temporary insanity, she made Nelenteyos treasurer and build a special, vampires-only treasury for him. With great misgivings, we send Mook down to see what he can find. One by one he brings us back three silver coins, then comes back empty handed. Ailyll goes down in hopes that Mook was just being an idiot monkey, but sure enough the vault is empty. In an adjacent chamber she finds a coffin and a lot of candles. We set the coffin on fire just in case, but sadly Nelenteyos isn't there. The most important thing missing from the treasury is the key to the Source of the Nile. Later Harald realizes that stealing the treasury, especially that key, may have been the boon Yosera requested of Nelenteyos. That means the Musilms (probably their Sha'ir) have it now.
Harald pays the army out of pocket, and sets about getting together a proper marriage and coronation ceremony. We send out runners and spies to get news of the various threats that are soon to fall upon us, and Hadneya gives us a rather grim divining of our prospects. Armies from the north, provoked by Yodit's attempts at destroying the Rock of the Kabbah are bearing down on us, Miriam's half brother Jan Seyoum is invading from the south, we have not one but two vampires to worry about, and probably some more Genies. She also suggests that our golem friend is on his way back from the volcano we tossed him into. Sure enough, we get a letter from Jan Seyoum requesting parley with Queen Miriam, and news that he and his army are about a day away from Axum. We also get a more mysterious note from a friend of someone to whom Harald once showed mercy, warning us of great danger coming our way. This is very likely the Muslim Sha'ir, and he is referring to Anmah.
Despite our near-certainty that this is a trap, we agree to meet with Jan Seyoum outside of the city. Abubek and Miriam swap faces, just in case, and we stop a little ways off to buff up. Harald's detect undead pings, and Ailyll finally gets to call lightning down on a little undead bat in a tree, presumably Nelenteyos. This and a few magic missiles reduce him back into a mist. Seeing our apparently un-provoked lighnting attack, about half of our guards suddenly turn into a Noble Dao and a Noble Efreet, each with two attendant Djinn of thier own species, and start attacking us. We keep blasting Nelenteyos with our spells while fighting off way more djinn than we ever wanted to see at one time. Our enlarged rhinos keep the smaller ones at bay, and our remaining troops do a few points of damage every so often. The mist refuses to dissipate, the greater effrit catches Abubek on fire, and some crazy guy seems to really have it in for Harald. In fact, the crazy guy looks just like Harald (with two eyes), and he says he has a message from Attigot. His message is the lame-o "See you in Hell!", followed by a bunch of attacks with death-magic saves that Harald keeps making (whew!). He later melts when hit with a lightning bolt, indicating that he is likely a Wax Golem. Very likely this is the guy we mistakenly identified as Vampire Harald, and he was coming from Madagascar. We manage to trap everyone in a wall of thorns for a few moments respite. We send Miriam and the soldiers running back to Axum, put out Abubek, and heal a bit while the rhinos keep damaging the genies. Our enemies eventually break free and keep attacking us, one of them apparently immune to our blows. Mamun is brutally killed by the Dao's flying fists, but we finally finish off the last few genies and are able (for once) to collect his body for a proper burial (resurrection?). Abubec puts the very badly damaged vampire mist into a jar. We decide to postpone our meeting with Jan Seyoum and head home after Harald flies Abubec above the cloud cover to destroy Nelenteyos for good. On our way, a giant obsidian golem jumps out at us from behind the trees, but our rhinos make short work of him. We gather up the pieces and decide to throw them down into the treasury, in the hope that he'll dig us a human-sized entrance.
