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| North Palace of king Nebuchadnezzar II at Babylon |
Ras Tarlaix
Three hundred years ago, the Yarfu Empire seized an old Heoline fort and developed it as a link in the trade route. Calling Ras Tarlaix, it thrived until the empire's fell, when cruel madness drove its people into the hot wastes. Now those who retrace the steps of the empire's old routes circumvent Ras Tarlaix, stopping over in the hive of Greyat.
Those who journey to the place find a ruined adobe hive, with tears in the walls allowing the sand to reclaim it. Surrounded by eroded pale mastabas, with empty spaces where a road ran through the hive, passing from the oasis in the southwest to Gabewan on the road to Faras in the northeast. Its dare-tower, with abraised stone faces of winged women, is now the vantage of scoundrels and beasts.
The hive is home to two rival groups— the giant hound raiders recently organized under the ironmonger Gurval the Invulnerable, and intruding gibbering plants controlled by garden ogres. Gurval seeks a magic item, the Stone of Nimlot, which can raise walls and construct fortifications. The giant hounds hope this can be used to repair the rents in the western walls of the hive and cut off gibbering plants from entering. The ogres seek to gain total unilateral control of the hive and to eventually reproduce in its humid depths.
Built into a cliff three hours west of Ras Tarlaix is Greyat. Sleepy and welcoming, it is troubled by banditry from giant hounds in the direction of the old ruins, and its king, Nimlot the Sociable, seeks strong-armed heroes to give his people redress. Other notable people of Greyat include:
- Karoma the Protective, a level 2 Vo fighter. Hailing from distant Kernez, she is diligent, athletic, and baffled by what she deems the urbane charms of even this rustic place. Seeks adventure. Wears the signatures of Kernez— a helm with a grimacing face and puffy lizard-scale sleeves. Knows the Kernezen martial art— on landing a drop attack from above with her mace, enemies of fewer HD must test morale.
- Harmine, a Vo woman. Fierce-faced and ancient, she oversees the stable dock and knows the goods the caravans bring in. Can act as a go-between for buyers and sellers.
- Daring Ptahmose, a level 2 Vo magic-user. Languid and matter-of-fact. Mystical and deadly. Has a scarab tattooed on either cheek. Up for anything. Locals assume he is much more learned than he is.
- Kaourantina, a Savadur woman. A morose smith, privately certain that an apocalyptic scourge from the capital lands will punish Yarfu entire. In the meantime, happy to accept commissions of metalworking, sculpture, and other artisan craft. Always planning to move on soon.
- Small-Thinking Tiye, a Vo man. The nephew of the previous queen, Gwen, and from childhood excluded and usurped by Nimlot. Unambitious, friendly, and loyal, he is penniless and disrespected. A good source of rumors and news.
- Extraordinary Teneniu, a Savadur hashma. A muralist and poet of great skill, they are the only permanent Savadur resident of Greyat and essentially press-ganged into priestly duties, forced to perform half-hearted rites and shoddily resolve disputes. Good person to consult to learn history or appraise strange items.
d6 Random Encounters
1. Gibbering Plant
2. 1d6 Ogres, Garden
3. 1d6 Desert Bull
4. 2d4 Giant Hounds
5. 3d8 Giant Hounds
6. Gurval and 1d4 Giant Hounds
1. Rampart. Fortified wall platform jutting over the stable dock to dissuade climbers. Under the platform, empty urns and despoiled weapon racks. 1-in-6 chance a party entering or leaving the area will be spotted by the Giant Hounds in the Dare-Tower.
2. Puck fields. Evidence of lines and marks in the circular playing field, as well as a raised balcony wall to catch stray pucks. A storage coffer contains a couple stone pucks, ruined wicker armor, and a pair vibrant red athletic shoes stamped with golden hoopoe designs. They are boots of travelling and leaping.
3. Vacant mastabas. Sloped-walled tombs. Each has a secret door, a panel that slides away when pressed, and one has started to deteriorate, showing the seam of the passage. Within each mastaba are warrior statues, funeral urns, and little else.
4. Dare-tower. Wind-smoothed images of winged women stare east, forming a rest for the top of the tower. Ten Giant Hounds roost here, leaping from the scapular balconies float around the roof in the sunrise and sunset. Otherwise, they mostly sing songs in their own language and tell each other ghost stories. Doors on the roof lead to the narrow stairs that lead up to the balconies or down into the klochdi (area 13).
5. Overlooking racing court. The roof looks down three-ish stories into the racing court (area 24), encircled by a large painting of an ezizaja serpent. 1-in-6 chance a party nearing the edge will be spotted by the Giant Hounds in the Dare-Tower.
6. Western Mastabas. Resembled the vacant mastabas of area 3. One has a couple small clumps of hound hair caught in between a couple bricks, betraying the existence of a (much better hidden) secret door. Pressing on the right stone accesses the interior, where in addition to bones and stones the giant hounds have hidden 2000 gp and a +1 horn bow, the fruit of their raiding efforts.
7. Overlooking Solarium well. Fading abstract frescos line the well, running straight through the hive to its bottom level. There are no windows. At the bottom, six gibbering plants stand waiting.
8. Mastaba birthing-fonts. Like the east and west mastabas, but gradual stairs lead up to the top of each tomb where a birthing-font has been laid. Empty and dry, with solar mosaic designs half-chipped away. Like the other mastabas, each has a well-hidden secret access point. One mastaba's interior leads down directly into the Ti Anum (area 18).
9. Barrack-temple. Filled with moth-eaten brocades. 20 Giant Hounds sleep in wall-niches, gamble, and at night perform courtship dances. Their priest Onnophris (2 HD) wears Gurval's Ring of Control Humans on a string (the ironmonger thinks he lost it) and keeps 6 gems worth 200 gp each.
- At the center of the brocades is an altar, with light from a window shining down onto it around noon. There Onnophris has constructed a symbolic cage for the dead sun god. Divine beings will not enter the cage.
10. Storage and guest area (labyrinth) Signs of disorder and ancient unrest. 1-in-6 chance per character of misstep that triggers an ancient trap.
- Trap (d4):
1. Snare that cuts into ankle (save with talent or take 1 damage and move no faster than a brisk walk until back to full HP)
2. Rockfall (1d6 damage and save with favor or be cut off from party)
3. Shatter a pot of pestilence (save with magical amulets or contract lethal disease)
4. Time-neutered trap now harmless, like releasing a (long-dead) snake or firing an empty quarrel of darts. - Those who search the guest quarters storage magazines have a 1-in-6 chance per person of finding one of the following trinkets:
1. Gilded pig-headed staff (looks amused) (30 gp)
2. Well-worn but sturdy peg loom (5 gp)
3. Linen-wrapped doctor's kit, including sharp knives, a whetstone, resin for filling cavities, incense, no anesthetics, a small awl, and copper hooks, spoons, forceps, saws, and picks. (15 gp)
4. A small stone diagram containing the spell Fast Horse.
5. A painted statuette of a child, carved in marble and jet. (40 gp)
6. A case of spare bowstrings, wax, and spare arrowheads. The case itself, well-preserved and finely lacquered, is worth 10 gp.
11. Lower class district (labyrinth) This maze of tunnels is even more circuitous and indirect than normal. Takes an extra turn to navigate through.
12. Slave arcade. Resembles a miniature village of hovels in a wide rectangular pit. Eerie like all empty places that were once homes. Those exploring find that one hovel seems to sweat. It conceals the ghost of the witch Maelys the Accessible, a straight-shooter who in life mostly served one function— the enhancement of beauty. Give up a little blood and she will mutter and carom and make you an object of possessive attention. Every point of constitution spent gives 1 charisma. She does nothing for free ever— never did when she was alive and enslaved, won't now.
13. Klochdi. Formerly a belltower that surmounted the roof, now built upon. A large, ancient copper bell waits in the middle of the chamber, surrounded by carpets and floor-trod tapestries. Stairs lead up to the dare tower (area 4) or down to the bottom of area 23.
- Approaching the bell: the carpets have been placed by the Giant Hounds to cover holes in the floor— the unwary slip through and fall 30 feet, save with talent to grab the edge at the last second.
- Ringing the bell: requires something heavy like a hammer. Summons the giant hounds of the dare-tower (area 4) and garden ogres of the throne room (area 33).
14. Overlooking racing court. Windows look down into the empty court. A thin ledge encircles the windows at this level, and a brave adventurer could shimmy around its circumference. If attacked or something, they must save with talent or fall 20 feet to the court below.
15. Civil district (labyrinth) Place of myriad functions— judgement, punishment, recitation, memorization, and instruction of specialists. Each turn, explorers have a 1-in-6 chance of encountering the giant ferret that calls this place home.
- Searching the district: in the "Hall of Odes", a thin man in foreign threads (connoting in Crocodole "slutty magus" and a candle-perch visor inspects an unfamiliar horn instrument. He is Guileless Ramose, friend and good-time-guy of Gurval. Companionable and well-spoken, he seems amused with everything like there's a secret you're not in on. The giant ferret is his, raised from when it was a giant kit. Knows about Gurval, his deal with the giant hounds, and the threat of the gibbering plants and garden ogres. Interested in new music, magic items for Gurval, a good reason for the two of them to move on.
16. Residential district (labyrinth) Wide main halls that wend up and down at regular intervals. Some apartments are marked with a simple, almost cartoonish painting of a smiling ezizaja serpent (Cefu Cruel, painted here as an apotropaic).
17. Overlooking Solarium well. There are no windows on these levels overlooking the well, so it is inaccessible without demolition.
18. Ti Anum. Once a society headquarters for a club of mothers, now some kind of apothecary' house. Sunrise murals bleeding through white-wash on the walls. A hooked pole leans by a water basin, and a workstation fills the center of the room.
- The workstation contains several sealed jars— an emetic, something to ease labor, something to delay labor, something to staunch bleeding, something for headaches and cramps, something to increase bleeding and end an early pregnancy. Laid out in the middle of the workstation is a diagram, half-cast. Touching it causes it to start to glow, and touching it much more triggers it. This is a spell of confused passage, first designed to thwart intruder armies. When the party enters a new area, roll a d20. If this is less than the area they're entering, they come to the rolled area instead. If it is greater, the spell has no effect. If the spell ever rolls a repeat of a result it got before, it dissipates.
- In the cobwebbed ceiling, a trapdoor and a cunningly stowed rope ladder stand waiting to be unhooked and pulled down. Leads up to a mastaba birthing font (area 8).
- Inspecting the murals: they can be restored by anything acidic or abrasive, showing ancient and shimmering images of the sun being born from the fertile horizon. Any mothers in the party can also make out an image in the glare, a negative-space image-on-the-image. It shows a cow-headed woman holding a dead man, an arrow sticking out of him. Mothers who see this gain a new power. If targeted with an arrow while empty-handed, they may make an attack roll, and if it betters the attacker's, they snatch it out of the air.
19. Stable dock (labyrinth) Empty stables and Giant Hound nests. 20 Giant Hounds reside in the center, near the main entrance to the rest of the hive (area 20). Their foremost joke-teller and manflesh-eater, Hyrgonaphor, wears an elephant-headed ivory Ring of Fire Resistance and sews 10 gems worth 300 gp each into her fur.
- Climbing to the roof: flat and open. Very hard three-story climb up the bastion to area 1
20. Main entrance. Impressive gate, now open and unguarded. Signs of passage by Giant Hounds.
21. Public area (labyrinth) Religious icons, smiling busts, brickfloor hallways (rather than smooth) to give grip when it's filthy.
- Searching: careful inspection shows a path of Hound footprints between the main entrance (area 20) and the barrack-temple access (area 22)
22. Accessing barack-temple. A liminal underzone, half-storage magazine and half ritual area. Ceremonial tallhats and slings sit on pedestals arranged in half-circle around a mural of slingers (the Ten Doctors of Darala). A cocoon of nail-hung leather hangs from a far corner. Ladders and firepoles lead down into area 29.
- Approaching the ceremonial objects: animates three ghosts of Heoline soldiers (Liulo, Doloptes, and Qumut), cowed into service by Gurval. They regretfully attack all of Gurval's foes. Stats as gibbering plant, but cannot leave the area, use slings (1d6 damage), and cannot be hurt by nonmagical means.
- Leather cocoon: sleeping place of Gurval. 2-in-6 chance he can be found here. In addition to a +1 crocodile-shaped dagger and a few throwing sticks, he has also stashed an iron leash and vial of kohl.
23. Accessing klochdi and throne. A nest of stairs running up to area 13 or down to area 33. In the ceiling, holes covered in patterned fabric can be glimpsed.
24. Racing court. Large and mostly empty courtyard, the walls dominated by a massive painting of the winding ezizaja serpent Cefu Cruel, who symbolized waste and danger but in time became a fond mascot for Ras Tarlaix. Ancient graffiti crowds under her. The four gates that access the court are richly decorated:
- West: procession of artisans
- North: procession of soldiers and priests
- East: a great bell, and figures representing anthropomorphic news— ugly rumors, snide catastrophe, gentle well-wishes, and so on.
- South: nobles and worthies with fine fruits and relieved expressions
25. Courtly reserve (labyrinth) Well-preserved and well-decorated halls, often wide and supported by pillars. Inoperable basins, tile floors, polished local sandstone.
- Exploration finds the palace complex. Well picked-over for treasure, there is one valuable remaining— in the antechamber of the queen's quarters, a 9' tall demonic statue of polished marble holds a clouded 1'-wide orb. Within, one can just barely make out thirty polished carnelions worth 20 gp each. If the glass is broken, the demon emits a rasping growl and a curse hangs over Ras Tarlaix. Every time you roll for a random encounter, roll an additional time and on a 1, the party encounters 2d4 spectral soldiers. 2 HD, wielding slings and clubs, their morale never fails. They are hostile to all life, but neutral to the gibbering plants. If the carnelians are brought back and the thief apologizes, the demon will slowly shrug, call them a cuck, and call off the curse.
26. Pond area. Serene natural-themed chamber. Most of the plant life is dead and the pond, fed by clever chutes in the ceiling during the occasional rain, is half-full, leaking into the flooded district below. Mold and fungus predominates.
27. Artisan district (labyrinth). Empty businesses and halls open to the sands of the desert. Here six garden ogres direct a team of six gibbering dead in searching the district for treasures. They possess a potion of clairvoyance (in blue bottle, blotchy silver and gritty, out of season booze after a bender smell), potion of polymorph self (in ceramic bottle, matte silver and runny, cherry cola smell), and living-plant Shield +1. The ogres are eager for any deal that weakens the ironmonger or the Giant Hounds, as they have grown possessive of the hive.
28. Overlooking Solarium well. There are no windows on this level overlooking the well, so it is inaccessible without demolition.
29. Lower barracks. Ladders and firepoles leading up to area 22. Faded murals of a bowman slaying many foes cover the walls. Urns and shelves line the walls, and the floor is covered in squared, empty pools.
- Murals: Savadur recognize these scenes as depicting the demigod Ptahmose wielding the Arrows of Time, which he fired fast they could slay foes in previous days and undo disaster and loss. A wishful myth.
- Urns: mostly empty, some with oils and perfumes for the pools. One, sealed with clay, contains a potion of speed (glowing brown and foul, potted meat product smell)
- Pools: once bathed warriors. A few have been used recently, and are covered in clumps of giant hound hair.
30. Fortified ostalery. An irregular hall lined with old food stalls. Halfway along is an ornate door covered in peeling red paint.
- The door: is stuck (hastily sealed with cosmetic glue long ago). It opens to a brothel besieged by the queen's soldiers during the fall of Ras Tarlaix. A rumpled carpet leads from the doorway to the skeletal remains of eight humans. The rest of the chamber is well-furnished.
- The carpet conceals a trapdoor and a 20' pit. The trapdoor can be latched to hold fast.
- The bodies are still covered in finery, jewelry worth a total of 2000 coins.
- In a cabinet, 2000 coins can be found.
31. Flooded district (labyrinth) The carefully finished adobe of this section which was intended to keep the water flowing into the pool above instead retains the leaks and condensation. Water ranges from a couple inches to four feet deep, and travel is slowed here. Home to a herd of five desert bulls, and random encounters here are with 1d4 of them.
- Careful search of the district leads to a submerged chamber now like a wide well, lit by an oddly glimmering golden bull-head statue looking up from the bottom of the chamber. Those who dive down the thirty feet and grab the bull's horns feel that they are offered an accord. If they refuse, they save with magical amulets or take double strength drain from desert bulls forever. If they accept, they gain +2 strength, can speak with desert bulls even if they don't speak Avarin, and all humanoids they slay have a 1-in-6 chance of rising as desert bulls with the next sunset.
32. Procession circuit. Patrolled clockwise by four gibbering plants. 3-in-6 chance per Turn to encounter them.
- The murals depict:
- the Ten Doctors of Darala, soldiers who defended Ras Tarlaix when it was first constructed. They are notable for their tall hats and use of slings instead of bows.
- The oil-weeping Ezizaja Serpent Cefu Cruel, leaving the personifications of diseases and misfortunes half-eaten (monstrous-looking legs and waists with a big bite mark cutting off the rest)
- Graffiti drawings of rabbits, stick figures with bows and arrows, and well-endowed giant hounds.
33. Basement throne. Sitting on the big chair, the remains of mad queen, surrounded by her six retainers' remains. Four garden ogres camp here, on guard for movement from the Giant Hounds on the stairs up (into area 23).
- In combat: the ogres will animate the corpses like puppeteers, striking with the retainers' bows and the queen's greatsword. There is a 1-in-6 chance per round that an ogre will have the queen throw her ball (see below)
- The queen: Im, Ras of Ras Tarlaix. Ordered universal incarceration after the fall of the empire, and fell in the ensuing chaos. Most of her wealth was taken by rebels, but she still wears the golden beard of state (100 gp), the Robes of Darala (+1 MD, cast Deferral with 1 MD 1/day), and the Ball of Sacecas. The Ball, a good size and weight for a slingstone, is covered in intersecting bands of dots. Upon striking the floor, it creates walls of glowing light that prevent ingress or egress from a zone including the keyed area and all adjacent to it for 24 hours straight. The Ball's power recharges after one week.
34. Solarium well. Six gibbering plants on guard outside the armory (area 35), surrounded by painted murals. Come the noonday sun shining directly onto them, they are briefly overtaken with religious reluctance.
35. Armory. In ancient days, a Heoline war temple. Defended from the gibbering plants by ten Giant Hound barricadiers, led by captain Sacer. Each has taken up a helmet and sword, but there are also rucksacks, carrying poles, slingstones, and spears galore. Near the center of the armory is a curtained, freestanding arch.
- The arch: ominous, and sometimes seems to burble with distant echoes. Before it is a basin in a plinth, and if wine or blood fills the basin, wind blows the curtains open to reveal a great portal of swirling energy, leading to (Sam Sorensen don't read this part) another temple in another dungeon, deep beneath the earth and beneath the ruins of a much greater hive, one overrun by hundreds of Giant Hounds who war with greater things than simple garden ogres.
36. Temple reserve (labyrinth). Serene, yet crummy. Fine-sculpted fake rocks and reeds.
- Searching: A grand hall with a row of statues marking out the western edge of the hive. Also, kept in a random storage magazine is the Stone of Nimlot, which can cast the spell Raise Wall. It has twelve charges.
- Investigating the statues: two adjacent statues, one of Saver Heol in his warlike aspect and one of Ptahmose the Archer. Each reaching back as though to steady himself on a the wall. This traces out the edges of secret door that slides up like a garage door to reveal a hidden ostelary (area 37)
37. Secret mastaba ostelary. Ostelary lined with funeral statues and urns, the remains of honored priests and civil heroes. 5,000 gp, a scarab of protection, and twenty +1 slingstones. The ostelary eventually lets out in a rugged mastaba a half-league away, guarded by a mated pair of giant cats.
Gibbering Plant
Decaying phantasms, the green-veined after-image of the Empire of Yarfu, that seek to consume the souls of humans. Generally peaceful, waiting for the poison of the deserts to weaken their prey.
AC 11
HD 4
Attacks 1 x Two-handed sword 2-12
To-Hit +2
Movement 90 (30’)
Saving Throws as fighter
Morale 6
Alignment Bad
Number Appearing 1 (1-3)
Undead: Make no noise, until they attack. Immune to effects that affect living creatures (e.g. poison). Immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells (e.g. charm, hold, sleep).
Patience: Will follow a group until enough gibbering plants arrive to make the outcome a foregone conclusion. Every 1d3 days in the deserts, scrub, or holy hills of Yarfu, a Gibbering Plant arrives.
Mines and machines: Love machinery, mining, gold, and gems. May make foolish decisions to obtain precious items. War with other creatures over precious metals.
Ambush: Hide in sand dunes or ruins and burst out when victims pass.
Ogre, Garden
Listless, Decaying Plant that is capable of manipulating corpses. Cautious, and avoid humans unless starving.
AC 9 [10]
HD 2
Attacks 1 x Bite 1
To-Hit +0
Movement 30’ (10’) /180’ (60’) flying
Saving Throws as fighter
Morale 8
Alignment Apathetic
Number Appearing 1-6 (1-100)
Undead:
Make no noise, until they attack. Immune to effects that affect living
creatures (e.g. poison). Immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells
(e.g. charm, hold, sleep).
Empathy with maidens: A pure-hearted maiden can communicate with the creature.
Castle: Built into remote or fantastic locations.
Desert Bull
May be playful, but quick to anger. Known to eat their own kind.
AC 16
HD 3
Attacks 1 x Gore 2-5
To-Hit +0
Movement 90 (30’)
Saving Throws as fighter
Morale 6
Alignment Neutral
Number Appearing 1-6 (2-5)
Strength
drain: Victims lose 1 STR per hit. Recovers after 8 turns. If reduced
to 0 STR, the victim becomes another of this creature.
Seep: Can squeeze through small holes and cracks.
Swimming: Excellent swimmers.
Giant Hound
5"
tall humanoids. Clumsy, hairy humanoids who glut themselves on surprise
attacks. Renowned for their xenophobic and avaricious natures. On Yarfu
and in the chasms of Bied, send out raiding parties that then retreat
into labyrinths. The Giant Hounds of Yarfu maintain their own
Bashmohandes, believing that Saver Heol is essentially burned out and
rather than worshipping him or hoping for reincarnation, hold that
eating thinking things absorbs some of the energy he imbued in them.
They orb quest.
AC 10
HD 1/2
Attacks 2 x Bite 1-4
To-Hit -1
Movement 30’ (10’) /180’ (60’) flying
Saving Throws as thief
Morale 6
Alignment Bad
Number Appearing 3-24 (5-40)
Erode wood and metal: Can dissolve wood or metal in one turn.
Erosion: Wood or leather in contact with the creature will be eaten away.
Glide: can sink safely to the ground or fly quickly to hover over the ground at 2x speed.
Gurval
Ironmonger 4. Wears an iron hat, an iron cuirass, pale linen robes, a thick black beard, sideburns, iron-bead weights, and a wickedly curved sword.
AC 14
HD 4
Attacks 1 x Sword 1d8
To-Hit +3
Saving Throws as Fighter
Morale 8
Alignment Bad
3 MD: Wild Beasts, Illusion, Stone Disease.
Speaks Crocodolean, Pithomen, and Kavatek.
Ironmonger: with a touch, can sharpen a blade, sense a metal's purity, conjure a metal glove, or drive a nail. Can cast spells despite wearing a cuirass. Thanks to iron beads, can reroll a single MD in each spell. Sweat poisonous to non-ironmongers.
Blood Eyes: By pressing histongue hard into the roof of his mouth, can push his second eyes into place. They glow red, and pierce through the darkness like bulls-eyes, allowing him to see in the dark up to 60'. They are blinded by mist and fog.
