The party begins moving in towards the Mad Prophet, but the piles of writhing goblin snakes are in their way. Barnaby goes invisible to advance on the enemy while Krask begins firing arrows to clear the way, hoping to get the party engaged in the fight before their Haste spell completely wears out.
At the other end of the room, the Mad Prophet begins emitting a faint smell of rose petals. The scent mixes with the decayed corpses of dead snakes, assaulting the senses.
For the most part, the snakes are harmless. They nip at the heels of the party and impede their movement, but that appears to be it. One by one, the party hacks and slashes at the wriggling foes, putting them to rest.
Fyn attempts to dispel the mirror images and whatever other effects are aiding the Mad Prophet. Unfortunately, his abilities fail him in his time of need. Fobias and Richard press into the room with Trace, who enables the party to enact Smite Evil against these evil-doers.
With much panache, Barnaby becomes visible, doing his part to take out the snakes. It also draws the attention of the Mad Prophet, who afflicts him with a hypnotic stare. Additionally, Barnaby is plagued by a debilitating curse that severely limits his dexterity. Luckily, Fyn is readily available to remove the curse, and all is well.
Fyn casts a Hideous Laughter spell out at the Mad Prophet, who shrugs it off and blasts off a Synesthesia spell of his own. Once again, the party is prepared, as the spell gets sucked into the Rod of Absorption!
Richard and Fobias finally get close enough to the Mad Prophet to start dishing out damage. Well, they try to, at least. First, Richard succumbs to another curse when he attacks his enemy. Then, the party succeeds only in removing the mirror images one at a time. It’s better than nothing!
When Barnaby and Trace get too close, they feel the intense need to sleep
Once they break through the images, however, the Mad Prophet is quick work. Combined with a barrage of arrows from Krask, and a Smite-Evil beatdown, the Mad Prophet crumples to the ground just after Damaz, the Shaitan, finally bursts into the room.
Aftermath
Damaz explains that the other shaitan have fallen in their attempt to destroy the creatures here. He also goes into a bit of the history of Ömys. He was a powerful sorcerer, who used his abilities to create a madness-inducing song across the land. It took the combined prowess, and sacrifice, of several other mages to stop his song.
In the process, however, all of their consciousnesses were trapped in a single body, along with the Threaded Prince. The Mad Prophet foretold of a time when Ömys would return, but whether or not there’s any truth in that fact remains to be seen.
The party is thanked and promised compensation from Damaz for their help. In the meantime, they go down to the palace to check in with Zohadisha. All of this news – the Mad Prophet, a secret prison – it’s definitely a surprise to her. All of this going on right above their noses? It’ll take her a moment or two to process that.
The shaitan joins the conversation, citing the need for a wider discussion with the entire Fading Council. It appears that Avi Aru was the only person in Mihlaj who knew any of this, as the information was entrusted to her from the djinn.
As a sign of utmost gratitude, Damaz gifts the party a pair of special bracers, similar to the ones that the djinn wear on their wrists. They are Vambraces of the Genie, and not given out lightly. Only true friends of the djinn would have a set.
Is the threat of Ömys vanquished? Are there any more loose ends to tie up? Can the party save the REAL world now?