With Jhavhul defeated, Kelmarane and Katapesh are safe from the rampages of Xotani the Firebleeder and Pale Mountain swiftly calms back to a normal, non-volcanic peak. If the PCs rescue Almah and return her safely to Kelmarane, they are met by cheering crowds and hailed as heroes of the town once again. Nefeshti greets the PCs and offers them her thanks, along with a ring of djinni calling they can use to summon her whenever needed. Perhaps she even asks their help in forming a new organization of templars to watch over the area—and they could in fact become new champions to replace her previous templars.
The mysterious Pactmasters of Katapesh, while not publicly recognizing the PCs’ efforts, might even grant them land near Kelmarane in the hopes they will settle there and further pacify the region, opening up new trade opportunities.
Yet even if the PCs defeat Jhavhul, the adventure might not be over. If the efreeti fled but was not killed, he is certainly not going to abandon the plans he spent so long pursuing. Jhavhul will bide his time and plan his revenge, perhaps allowing the PCs a few levels’ worth of peace and security, all the while gathering a new army on the Elemental Plane of Fire before returning to Golarion to try once again to reincarnate himself as Xotani. The PCs might once more hear tales of a genie army in Katapesh, or be contacted again by Nefeshti, to return to Kelmarane and face their old foe.
If the PCs fail to stop Jhavhul before he completes his ritual of reincarnation as Xotani the Firebleeder, a horrifying transformation takes place. The lake of lava surges upward, engulfing the efreeti, while the bones in the wall tear themselves free, forming a skeletal cage around Jhavhul’s burning form. Xotani’s heart rises from the depths of the lava lake, its pounding pulse increasing in frequency and filling the chamber with thunderous noise. The lava starts to form a skin around the gigantic skeleton, while molten rock floods through the caverns of Xotani’s Grave.
PCs in the cavern must make a DC 25 Fortitude save each round or be stunned for 1 round from the deafening beating of Xotani’s heart, taking 10d6 points of fire damage per round from exploding gouts of lava (DC 25 Reflex save for half ). The transformation takes 10 rounds to complete, at which time all of the chambers in Xotani’s Grave are flooded with lava and Pale Mountain erupts in a violent volcanic explosion that lays waste to the surrounding area for miles, incidentally killing everything in Xotani’s Grave. The town of Kelmarane is utterly destroyed and all of its inhabitants killed by a devastating pyroclastic flow from the eruption.
At this point, Jhavhul’s consciousness merges with that of Xotani the Firebleeder. He soon leaves for the Plane of Fire to seek out Ymeri, but not before Katapesh suffers greatly from the devastation of the reborn Spawn of Rovagug. Fortunately for the PCs, they are unlikely to live through a battle against Xotani, and thus won’t have to endure the anger and wrath of the Pactmasters for allowing such a disaster to strike their nation.
While the Legacy of Fire ends with Jhavhul’s defeat and the return of the final prisoners to safety back in Kelmarane, that doesn’t mean your campaign needs to end. The PCs should certainly be given some time to rest and recover from their ordeals, but eventually the urge to adventure might strike them again. Or it might strike at them. Listed below are two adventure seeds you can use to expand and extend your Legacy of Fire campaign into exciting new adventures.
Rebuilding the Templars: Although Nefeshti is likely to survive this adventure, the Templars of the Five Winds do not. And while Jhavhul is defeated, the abuse of genies and their wishcraft magic is certain to continue. If the PCs are willing, Nefeshti offers them a role in her organization to replace her templars and to serve as her agents. You can even allow the PCs to rebuild their characters as immortal jann if you’d like, giving them a brand new suite of powers and skills. Alternatively, Nefeshti could keep the PCs as their birth races and simply serve as their new patron, sending them on one adventure after another of your own devising.
Xotani’s Rebirth: Once Jhavhul is slain, the immediate danger is past. Xotani’s Grave has most likely been cleared of its guardians, yet Jhavhul’s rituals have roused Xotani’s remains, which need a few final wishes to finish the awakening. A single wish is all that is needed to reverse the effects of Jhavhul’s nearly 1,000 wishes and return Xotani’s bones to quiescence. Yet even a wish is not powerful enough to slay Xotani fully, leaving the Firebleeder’s bones in place to possibly be awakened again. The only way to completely destroy Xotani’s remains and prevent it from ever returning to life is to take its heart, now buried beneath the lake of lava in D14, and deliver it to a specific site deep in the Plane of Water—what this site is remains up to you, but the research to locate the site, the journey to it, and the trials and guardians that await the PCs should be adventures in and of themselves. All the while, crazed minions of the Church of Rovagug are likely to hound the PCs, each eager to claim the fantastic relic for their own ends. If the PCs manage to extinguish the heart, the giant bones in Xotani’s Grave crumble to ash and the lava cools and hardens into solid rock as all vestiges of life are finally purged from Xotani’s remains.