The D&D Dynasty: The New Path of Alzar the Mighty

[Abe Sargent]

Other examples of conversation regarding generally accepted practices in regards to right and wrong.


“So you honestly think that the use of poison is wrong, by default?”

“Of course I do! It’s a tool of assassins and thieves. It’s like playing dirty.”

“Well let’s take a look at poison, truly and completely. Let’s by looking at my axe.” Alzar grabs his +2 axe and tosses onto the table. “This is a magically sharp axe, one that can kill a man in one hit if untrained in how to defend yourself. And unless you sever a head or something, it’s going to hurt. If I take this axe out and hit a peasant with it, it is a painful death. So, if I go to battle with someone, and I use this axe, I am killing, maiming, and hurting people. But, it’s just a weapon. It’s not good nor evil, per se, correct?”

“Correct, it’s how you use it, what you do with it, but that is separate from the axe itself.”

“And poison is the same thing. It’s a weapon, but one that works. Here, this is poison taken from a wyvern’s poison gland. I’m not sure how much you know about poisons, so let me give you some basic information, just to make sure. Wyvern poison is one of the most lethal naturally created poisons out there. If you can get this poison into the bloodstream of someone, it will kill them in a minute or so. In fact, it actually knocks them unconscious after around 15-20 seconds. They don’t even feel the rest. It’s a weapon, and a lethal one, but it’s better on the victim than my axe.”

“So your argument is that poison is just a weapon, like any other, and not evil. But there are aspects of poison that distinguish it from a mere weapon, like a staff or an axe. You can use poison to kill people wholesale. You can poison food or drink. It takes no skill, no effort. It’s not the same thing.”

“No, it’s not, that was an analogy. But weapons kill in large numbers too. There are weapons out there can attack people in large groups, just like poison can. There are weapons that spring, like traps, from unexpected angles of attack, just like poison in a food or drink. Weapons require little skill – I can just take this axe and carve you with it, without being trained in the particulars of the weapon. But poison? Extracting poison gland? Brewing poison from fungi? Keeping it safe? Doing so without hurting yourself? Those are real skills that require much training and understanding. Poison use isn’t any less skilled than axe-play. They are all weapons, just like magic spells”


He sometimes gives the slitting throat in Sleep vs Fireball talk too:

“You think casting Sleep on someone, and then slitting their throat is evil? But casting a Fireball at them and killing them isn’t? The Sleep/Throat Slit is peaceful, and quiet, and they feel no pain. This is a battle, a war, and you need to kill opponents. Meanwhile you can cause them pain before they die with a Lightning Bolt or Fireball. And yet you have convinced yourselves that Sleep + Kill is evil.”


You get the idea.

[Abe Sargent]

By the way, in case you care, Alzar is an INTJ on the Myer-Briggs:

Some copies and pastes from various websites on INTJs:

When they are in leadership roles, they are quite effective, because they are able to objectively see the reality of a situation, and are adaptable enough to change things which aren't working well. They are the supreme strategists - always scanning available ideas and concepts and weighing them against their current strategy, to plan for every conceivable contingency.

The INTJ's interest in dealing with the world is to make decisions, express judgments, and put everything that they encounter into an understandable and rational system. Consequently, they are quick to express judgments. Often they have very evolved intuitions, and are convinced that they are right about things.

INTJs are ambitious, self-confident, deliberate, long-range thinkers.

They value intelligence, knowledge, and competence, and typically have high standards in these regards, which they continuously strive to fulfill. To a somewhat lesser extent, they have similar expectations of others.

They are one of the rarest types and account for 1-2% of the population.


Enjoy!

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s another one for you. Have you ever wondered about whether Alzar got it on with some of the women in his life? Were-bear Aleigha? His appreciate, Vala? That priestess Marilla here in Hamedh? Is he, perhaps, gay and instead is getting secret man-play with Estaish, Carum or Pashtun?

Nope – Alzar is a-sexual. He is beyond sex and sexual attraction. One of his favorite items he had back in Thorasia was his Ring of Sustenance, which removed the need for sleep or eating. That gave him more time for his studies and his work and explorations. He sees sex in the same way. He’s just interested in a lot more things. In fact, Alzar has never really been that sort of person, running around and hopping on all of the ladies. Even when he was in the military, he was s very dedicated fighter.

Alzar is extremely charismatic, especially for a mage, particularly an evil one, and that has led to a lot of positive reaction from new people. Which he has used. He has empathy. He’s magnetic.


After wrapping up Drake’s Legacy, one of the vignettes in College of Wizardry, Alzar’s next gig is to spend some time doing more research here.

[Abe Sargent]

A few days later, Aman Al-Raqib returns from Bralizzar and has decoded where the first gem is likely to be. He thinks its in the Sunken City of Pazar, which Alzar passed earlier to the east of Khaibar.

There’s plenty of time to mount an expedition to the area and begin a search. Alzar uses the time to Dispel another tome:

Crescent Witch Spellbook:

1st – Run, Burning Hands, Charm Person, Read Magic, Detect Magic, Identify, Charm Person, Shocking Grasp
2nd – Invisibility, Stinking Cloud, Darkness 15’ Radius, Baltar’s Lightening, Knock
3rd – Genie Contract, Protection from Good, 10’ Radius, Lightning Bolt, Dispel Magic
4th – Evard’s Black Tentacles, Unburn

He learns Unburn.

In fact, the Arcane Order of Enchantment and Exposition doesn’t have it in their library, and they would, so they copy it from his book.

[Abe Sargent]

Back to I9 for a bit.



Alzar decides to head back to Khaibar for some shopping and more exploring. He is loaned a Cassock that is the brand of the College in order to reduce the likelihood that someone will rough him up or anything, and he agrees to.

On the west side of town is a Bastion of Faith. This temple and order were formed after a prophet of the church, Daffyd, was sent to the west to help out various nomadic people. Daffyd served and fought long and hard. He was a holy fighter, who used a parashu (an ornate Indian style ax) to hew the truth and fight against demons.

He accomplished many tasks for his god, and soon brought some fighters that wanted to serve his god, Khshathra, God of the Perfect Society as well.

Daffyd was the first servant of Khshathra, and he brought knowledge of him to many places here in the Sand Mire. The group that surrounded him, hoping to emulate and chronicle his ways formed the church, that would include the Bastion of Faith in Kahibar. They even use parashu axes, just as he did.

The church was formed hundreds of years ago, as a way to fight against the injustice in the Sand Mire generally, the Great Erg of Arir specially, and Khaibar directly. They wanted to be a force for good. The Book of Penitence was chronicled and became the basic text for Khshathra’s worship. An evil demon named Kahabros, self-styled Lord of Evil and a servant of the major enemy deity Hextor fought against Daffyd. Hextor’s anger grew as Daffyd defeated his main servant.

Daffyd’s parashu carved justice and won valor. Despite many temptations from Kahabros, Daffyd persevered. In his final days, Daffyd pledged to join a new crusade beyond the mountains and left, never to be seen again.

It doesn’t have a lot of servants in the city, unlike the Temple of the Great Holy One on the east. But it’s there, and Alzar passes it by.

[Abe Sargent]

A low voice calls out to Alzar that he has information on a holy relic and item of power. There is a man with tanned skin and a open shop door smiling and beckoning folks into his shop. He introduces himself as Abu and talks at length with Alzar outside of it, but Alzar gets the distinct impression that he is trying to get more information than give, so he heads away.

More shops and homes pass by.

There is a shop that does not advertise what it is, but has a sign of a crossed Cup and Talisman, the lost artifacts of Al-Akbar. Alzar heads in and sees a man seated at a desk, wearing a white robe. He asks what Alzar’s business is and then states that their store mainly deals in imports of various kinds, but they are mostly in between sales right now, so they are mostly closed.

Alzar heads back out. They pass by a few places The Golden Crescent Bakery remains out of business after Alzar’s party slew the proprietor. There is a bath-house run by Yusuf and over there some Babouches where you can purchase or repair leather goods. Leather is one of the few goods that you can obtain in relative quantity out here. Even the desert has a lot of animals that can be skinned, tanned, and made into things. Next door is a store advertised as the only jeweler in Khaibar, and one of the target of Alzar’s trip here. This is the store of Hassan Abdelqa’id.

He really runs two businesses. One if to take cheap gems, mount them in really cheap but flashy rings and such, and then mark them up and sell them for high. The other is to appraise, exchange, and trade gems and jewelry.

There are a pair of brigand/guards here, and Alzar meets with Hassan. Alzar bribes Hassan with some gold to find out more about Khaibar, and to get access to the higher quality stuff. As Hasssan turns around, Alzar quickly casts Cham Person and it works. At the end Alzar has moved 2000 of gp to gems, to make it more portable, and did not lose any value in the exchange. Without items of extra dimensional space, it’s hard to carry around 2000 coins. Apparently the sort-of pretend sultan, Al’Farzikh, uses the jewelry place to move merchandize and purchase things for his harem.

[Abe Sargent]

More stores pass by as as a brothel. It’s next to a lantern and candle and lamp store. There is an open market Alzar is about to hit, and he does so. Here there are many vendors, and Alzar keeps a sharp hand on his items to make sure none go missing. Quickly he can tell that nothing here really appeals. There are items like spices grown locally and incense. Good of various sorts, particularly meat. Meat is easier to find in the desert. Even some rocks like granite and marble are for sale. Household goods, mostly smaller ones, are all aligned.

Alzar takes a different street, passing by nearby taverns that are designed to appeal to folks at the market. He sees a sign that appeals to him, and heads into Ibrahim’s Mint Tea Parlor.

It apparently caters to a lot of off duty higher level officers in the army, higher than the normal brigands that are used. Alzar’s wizard clothing but clear soldier ways (he used to be a myrmidon mercenary – a professional’s professional) gets him immediate respect – they can tell one battle-forged veteran to another. There are 9 present righ now, and about 4 or 5 other patrons.

Ibraham ul’Tabarzin arrives, and he a huge, muscular man. He’s a it older, and clearly a highly trained fighter, and he wears a two handed scimitar, carved and looking magical on his back openly. A green turban and sarousal with a red silk shirt, open faced, finish the outfit.

He smiles warmly and greets Alzar, and they introduce themselves. He brings Alzar over and seats him down on the floor, where he has seven different types of mint tea. Alzar decides on the most popular, and really enjoys it. Alzar is introduced to a few locals that use the parlor a lot, and one actually recognizes him as the guy who helped to fight against that nasty mirror army that popped in the sultan’s palace. He buys Alzar another tea, the one he is drinking, and again, Alzar enjoys it. This guy, Tarik El-Fissa, is a non-commissioned officer in the local military. Alzar gets some good low level information about everything and leaves the Tea Parlor an hour later. Apparently there are a few professionals in the army, and there is a lot of tension between them and the more brigand-y others.

[Abe Sargent]

There are many other shops and establishments here in Khaibar that Alzar passes, Mustafa’s ropemaking store another bath-house, wine-makers and sellers, and a guild hall for crafts. But Alzar finds his second destination.

“Welcome to Suleiman’s Shop” the sign says, and Alzar heads in, around 4 in the afternoon. His nostrils are filled with the scents of perfume, and hundreds of special candles are here. There are also some standard torches on the wall as well.

Suleiman Ibn Daood greets Alzar as him comes in. They’ve never met, but Alzar is wearing the cassock from the college. They introduce themselves and Suleiman shows him his wears. Then Alzar tells Suleiman that he is here for the “special” torches. He was told about them from a guild wizard from the college who buys some.

“Ah, you are clearly a person of taste. Good, because Suleiman is a clearly a person of talent!

He grabs a cabinet from behind the counter and pushes it out and opens it. In here are a small number of troches he has made. They will fill, roughly, a 20 x 20 area with a gas that renders most people unconscious (roll for it) when lit, centered on the torch. There’s just enough for one usage, and the gas lasts for about 20 minutes, and people come to anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the person and how much they breathed it.

They are 50 gp each. Alzar grabs four. They aren’t magical in nature, but alchemical.

He heads back out.

He passes by a few folks, a person who makes musical instruments and a smithy, and even an odd…fish market? Alzar stops in and Jamilah Amouih is proud to tell Alzar about it, she’s quite proud. They apparently catch fish up at the Oued Khaud and then salt them and sell them here. They are a delicacy here since fish is rare, and being sold for a huge amount of money, comparatively.

Alzar runs out of time, and it’s almost dinner, so he swings by the Drowsing Djinni Fonduk and has dinner with his party, and then heads home.


End I9 again for a bit.

(And virtually all of that was from the book. You can see why I chose Khaibar to be our major center of the Sand Mire. So many possibilities. Alzar is going to become a regular patron of the Mint Tea Parlor, and every time he is in Khaibar (roughly every third day at the College) he swings by.

[Abe Sargent]

Country Sites




Much like Treasure Maps, TSR had a variety of other supplements that had multiple short-term adventures. We did a few of these in the Thorasia campaign, and like the Treasure Map one, there are two short-term that just slides in very well….

Sanctuary in the Sand and City of the Dead

Now this book is more like a short vignette used to flesh out a campaign world. You can use it for things like adding color, or a home base, to an adventure.

[Abe Sargent]

Back to I3. Pharaoh


A couple of days later, Aman has finished researching the Sunken City and ready to outfit an expedition. He asks Alzar to head it up, since he is familiar with the area, and not busy. Most of the passages of the book have been deciphered by now.

The Sunken City of Pazar is on the east of the Sand Mire, near the Hek, about two days from Bralizzar.

Aman also marks a few things on Alzar’s map. One is a town on the way to Sunken City they can use as a waypoint – Ak’Ridar. It’s built in a former caldera of a no-longer-active volcano. It’s a tent city, and a major destination of the Sandvoyagers here. It’s the only place that specializes in trade in the area. People mine the edges of it for various metals, then craft them and turn them into really nice items for trade. Traders come in and bring items they can use, and then head back out with the metals and crafted items.

It’s a little bit off the path, but it has an Oasis for refilling waters.

A couple of days from the Sunken City is a village of Nairotan people, who are suspected to have fled from the Pazar after it fell. They can head out, stop at Ak’Ridar, and then head to the Sunken City, and use the Nairotan village as a base if they need.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar swings by Khaibar for a final stop, and they spend a few days getting things all ready. Then the party heads out, and the next adventure awaits.

It’s nine days to get to the Sunken City. They will head to the Gates of Sule and instead of continuing on to the nearby Oasis of Akhir, they will take a different but marked path to Ak’Ridar, rest up, and then the final stretch to Pazar and they will hit the sharp mountains there.

Because of their vicinity to Khaibar, the first two days are quiet. A sandstorm whipped up on day 2, but Alzar simple cast Leomund’s Tiny Hut and they were all fine.

That night, without the Hut to use for shelter, they take extra care with the animals, and things go smoothly. No animals they’ve seen have wanted to come at them.

On the morning of day 3, just as they start out, the front person, Pashtun, mounts another sand dune, and on the other side, a quintet of odd looking creatures causes him to pause. They are Thri-Kreen, large, mantis-people who live in places like deserts. If these are similar to those in Thorasia, they are carnivores that only eat intelligent creatures, such as humans, when desperate. They are built very well for their environment and very powerful. Pashtun signals and Alzar approaches.

The five thri-kreen pause, and one tries to use clicks and such, but Alzar can’t make it out, and their mandibles can’t pronounce normal speech. They slowly begin to move off, and Alzar lets them.

[Abe Sargent]

In mid-afternoon, Alzar can make out the volcano that Ak’Ridar is in. They’ll arrive tomorrow. It’s not that big, but rock like that, out here, is easy to make out from a distance.

As day four opens, the sun is overcast. Has the sun been dimmed? This whole journey hasn’t been as scorching as Alzar thought it would have been. Even in clear skies.

They near the town, and there are two major paths that are worn and able to be used. Their steeds and wagons arrives, and a local greets them. They are required to hire someone to use wheelblocks to get to the town, in case of a runaway wagon. Alzar pays, and they head on up. They only have a potential issue once, and the local stops it from even starting.

They round the final bend, and arrive in Ak’Ridar

This tent town is very cramped for space, but Alzar guesses that it has more people than Bralizzar or Ber-Gathy. (It has 2000)

The town has five wells dug and available for anyone to use, and a central, planned oasis, with a stone wall built around it, amount 50 feet in diameter, and it looks like it gets deep. It’s like a pool of water. There are tents that have been here for decades, if not centuries.

A ring around the edge of the town is the mining section, with mining accoutrements and various holdings. In the center is the “estate” of Ali Bahn-Hassad, the ruler, with a variety of tents around a private well. It is designed is the ancient style and tradition of the nomad’s oasis. There are also sections of the town for merchants and locals.

They grab some water and begin to get some information.

[Abe Sargent]

This town was formed more than 200 years ago by people who fled the dangers of the Sand Mire, and it’s elevation and mining have helped it – it’s naturally a fort, there are just two paths through the caldera, neither is bigger than ten feet wide at its smallest. They call it the City of Hope. No major attacks by outside forces, no major famine or disease, and no major civil unrest. It’s quite bustling.

There are no Inns or taverns, because there are no buildings. Even the smiths are under the stars (not in tents, obviously). There are places to tether your animals, places to purchase and eat food and drink, and a few places to rent and set up a bedroll or tent of your own. But that’s it. There’s no space either.

The place has a bit of an odor. Humanity living this close together tends to do that, and smells of sewage and metal being worked and sweat and trash all sort of mingle together and hover over the area.

Apparently there was a major fissure formed by the earthquake long ago, and the water table was brought up. That gave this place water, clear, pure, water.

They check out various goods, the metalworking, smithing, and such. From horseshoes to fine metal ornaments, they make a lot right here, with pretty primitive tools. It’s a pretty impressive specialization. It’s clear that they have been honing their craft for generations.


After grabbing some food (dried strips of snake meat) they then have some fresh water and head to bed. The evening passes.

[Abe Sargent]

On the next day, they refill their various water containers, drink their fill, and head on out.

A few hours after leaving the town behind, they pass by a small group of dung gatherers, people who gather camel (and other) dung, dried, and bring it back to sell as fuel. There are a few people there.


Later that day, as the group begins to set up camp on the Sandvoyagers trail from Ak’Ridar, they notice something discolored under the sand. They brush aside the sand for a few minutes and they are on top of an old ruin, and old building, once made of granite. There are battlements on the building, so this could be the piece of an old tower or keep or something that fell to the ground. Or, it could be the top of something now buried under the sand.

There’s no way to know, so Alzar marks the place on his map and can some back later with the right magic when he’s level increases, just in case there’s a keep or tower under there worth exploring.


Like most nights, the Hut spell is cast, and like most nights, they rely on it to keep them warm, and safe.

However, tonight is different. Breaking out of the ground , possibly from the unknown ruins beneath, a pack of shadows breaks out. Gilded Ears is the first to notice, and Alzar awakens quickly and feels them. There are 5 shadows bearing down on their position.

Locinda is on watch and Alzar shouts to her and wakens everyone. He tries to control them and needs an needs just a 4 on a d20 and rolls….2. Shoot. These are unusually resistant shadows!

Battle time.

Each Shadow has 18 hp, AC 7, THAC0 17 drains strength as they hit, can only be hit by magical weapons, and they strike first, hunting at night and with the party groggy and can hit anyone, they have no time to rouse a battle line.

Two move to Locinda, one to Alzar, and Volcifar and Tolvar – skipping Pashtun. Locinda is hit once for 3 HP and 1 STR is pulled off her., Tolvar takes 3 and 1 STR. Locinda and Alzar misses while Tolvar Acids the one attacking him for 6 damage. Pashtun smashes the one attacking Tolvar for 5.

Shadows win init. They hit Locinda twice for 5 damage and 2 more STR and Tolvar for 4 and 1 STR

The one attacking Tolvar takes 4 from the acid arrow. Tolvar’s Magic Missile finishes it off. Pashtun moves to Locinda and misses one on her, but she doesn’t and adds 7 damage. Everyone else misses.

The Shadows keep init. Locinda takes 3 and 1 STR and Alzar is hit for 4 & 1 STR. Meanwhile Pashtun and Locinda finish the wounded Shadow.

On the next turn, they grab the initiative from the shadows and Tolvar manages to get two Shadows in a Burning Hands and nothing else for 11 damage, and then Alzar and Volcifar both finall hit and two wounded ones down. One left, and it misses.

It dies next turn.

Minor damage to everyone, and they each get 420 XP.

They will have their strength restored when they awaken.

[Abe Sargent]

The next day Alzar memorizes Fly instead Vampiric Touch. This will be the case until they arrive at their destination – it’s going to be vital.


About halfway through the day, they think they are at the place on the trail where they have to break off. Alzar casts Fly to verify it and flies up. The trail has begin to head back north and they need to go east and a bit south. There to the south is a ridge of rock called the Hinjaz. It’s a ridge of hills that’s about 130-150 miles away. North you can see some ruins, and the Oasis of the White Palm is out there, about 2-3 days march north. You can see various rock formations, a few ruins that may be too far away, and to the west is Ak’Radar. But what he wants to see is the Sunken City of Pezar and the Nairotan village, south of them, and they are there – about 2-3 day away. He flies back down and they continue on.


The rest of the day is relatively quiet, with nothing but bleached bones to mark their way.

They rest with the Hut spell, and then march one.

Around noon the next day, slithering coils and a sound can be heard from behind a small rock outcropping. Out from behind it slithers a large serpent, with a body about the length of three Alzars and thicker than one.


It lances over quickly and they move off the animals and create a screen around them. Acid Arrow for nothing – it’s immune to acid. It slides up and chomps on Alzar, but misses.

It wins init and does do again, and Alzar takes 7 damage and makes a poison save. Magic Missile for 5 and two hits for 7 damage.

Alzar - 44/51

Next turn they win first and carve into the snake skin, led by Pashtun who’s critical hit doles out a massive amount of damage-age. Dead snake. They gain 120 XP each.


They carve out some meat from it and use it for provisions.

The rest of the day passes uneventfully. The night as well.

[Abe Sargent]

As the next day breaks they can make out their destination. Waist deep in the desert sands, a stone giant stands guard over the aged ruins. Featureless from this distance, the giant appears to be holding something in his hand.


The Garden City of Pezar. Once a major city, and a beauty of beauties. It was on a supremely lush island in the river that flowed from the fountain of Athis by the pyramid of Amun-Re. Famed for its near-magical landscape, flowers, and lush vistas, it was home for a large number of people. They used canals to bring water in for the people and that became the death knell of the city.

Bedrock exposed, the river’s water began to erode the understructure. While the river flowed, the people in Pazar discovered it, and built structures and spells to help fortify against the erosion. Then the curse and ensuing devastation hit, and shortly thereafter, even the river stopped. The vegetation was no more. The spells stopped being kept, people began to leave, and the structure began to sank.


They arrive at the statue a few hours later.

The upper half of the statue from is heavily pockmarked and scarred by the ravages of time and sand. The tablet it holds is half buried in the sand.

Alzar orders folks to uncover the tablet. After 15 minutes or so, it is fully pulled out, and there are ancient language here. Alzar puts on the Helm of Reading Stuff and deciphers it

My name is Maniozimus. Look upon the ruins of the great city that surrounds you and despair. Here, great magic once was. Now you see only the might ruins of mens’ work.

[Abe Sargent]

Behind the statue are various ruins here. They head out and investigate. It’s clear that people have been here before doing this. They spend the rest of the day checking out a few ruins here and there, where they are above the sand, and see nothing.

They spend the night here. It’s very quiet. Eerily so. Morning arrives and then spend more time searching after getting new spells. Alzar switches back to Vampiric Touch for today, and even grabs Knock for potential door opening. They head back to the front by the statue to see if there are other ruins when….


One of the stones on the building that Pashtun is standing on gives way, and he falls through the sand and now broken roof into a building below.

Pashtun takes 8 falling damage after falling around 170 feet but onto and around soft sand.

Pashtun – 37/45

In the faint natural light, Pashtun makes out a 100 foot tall done of fitted stone above a broken flagstone floor above him. The entire dome slants towards the southeast and sifted sand and dust have spilled into the vast chamber. On the west a darkly stained dome leans on top of a building that rises up majestically from the sand, with partially broken stairs leads up to its rubble-strewn platform.

Using rope, they create a way down and begin to scale down to Pashtun. In a few moments, they have all arrived in the sunken dome. Alzar left Gilded Ears to guard the camels and such above.

They spend some time searching the room thoroughly. There is nothing in here, but they can use the ropes to climb back out later. It’ll be slow.

They head up the damaged stairs to an old double door of stone. After pushing for a moment, it opens, slowly remembering its purpose in life. This is a smaller room with a tiled floor of the dark entry chamber which opens through archways to the right and left onto narrow and darkened passages.

Skittering out of those passages come a few huge tarantulas.

They move with ease on the sand. Alzar’s group, ready in this darkened area, lead with missile weapons and drop two spiders, the other three are in. One hits Volcifar for 3 damage and the other two miss. Volcifar fails his save and is paralyzed for 30 minutes or so. They stab out and kill two more, and the last one misses, wins init, misses, and is killed


Volcifar – 21/24

[Abe Sargent]

They search and both side arches lead to meditation rooms. There is an inscription in one calling this place the Dome of Eilish. One meditation chamber is right by a caved is passageway, the other continues, and there is a door and a buried entrance down the passage.

They open the door and the walls of this 20 by 30 room are lined with racks of bone scroll cases. Like those elsewhere, the floor is tiled, and the west end of the room is filled with sand. There is a broken statue in the room and a carved table that is upended.


Another pair of the huge tarantulas pop up from the far end, and are missed by missiles. At melee range that are attacked and killed.

Alzar moves to a bone case and moves it slightly without opening it – he doesn’t want to damage anything inside. It appears to be empty. He opens and checks – yes, empty. Using that method he checks and numerous cases are empty – nothing is in any he opens up.

He notices writing on a tablet in the statue, many of it no longer legible… it includes what appear to be instructions, and Alzar notes them with his Happy Helm.

They search and find a secret door in this room but it won’t open. It’s not locked, and there is no where to put any acid. They try and try again, but nope.

Alzar casts Knock and it opens towards them. They move in, apparently the mechanisms were on the other side.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar sends his Continual Light stones to the far end of this room. The hall is 60 feet long with a 60 foot ceiling, and 50 foot tall statues. Three pairs stand entry with their backs against the walls. Black marble lines the room and the statues appear to hold staffs. Against the back wall is what appears to be an altar of white marble. Centered there is a huge black gem.

They search first, and then as they begin to enter, a thin veil of blue silk appears between the first pair of statues. As clear as the finest mist, this veil is attached to the staves.

This didn’t appear when Alzar toss the Continual Light rock through, so they back up and exit the room but the curtain is still there. He tosses a coin through it and it falls, and shatters on the other side, frozen stiff. Alzar reads off some of the names on the tablet in the scroll room, and one of them shuts down the curtain. After testing it, they move through. A yellow curtain appears next, and again a name on the tablet shuts it down and a red curtain after that.

The white marble of the altar against the rear wall begins to pulse as though with an inner light. The only thing atop it is a fist-sized polished stone of midnight black, with a brilliant white star dividing it into six wedges. The light of the star brightens with the beating light of the altar.

They investigate, and search the area for traps – but nope. At first it looked like the stone was set on top of the white marble, but it’s actually set into it a bit and pressed down into the stone.


Well, its time, Alzar pulls out the giant gem. The pulsating light passes into nearby gem as it leaves and stops, and the back side has some metal on the gem and that metal can be seen on the altar where the gem was pulled off. The energy is completely destroyed and the altar inert, with a faint wisp of an odd smell wafting up.

Suddenly Alzar makes out a giant chuckle in power and volume and it increases until it shakes the room, and then is gone. Alzar makes his Genie Lore proficiency check.

They have just released the Efreet noble, Kalitharius, back into the desert, and back into the world.

[Abe Sargent]

They continue searching, but there’s nothing down here but the spiders. They head back up the ropes and then gather them together and get ready to leave the Sunken City of Pelar.


Alzar wants to get them to an oasis and get some water and non-snake food (that’s also non-special items he has to make some food a day). They begin to head south to the Nairotan village. There is no more east, a large amount of rock is in front of them about 25-30 miles.

The rest of the day passes uneventfully, and night, under Leomund’s Tiny Hut, does as well.

On day 2 from Pelar, a highly unusual thing appears. It’s clearly a mirage of an oasis ahead with some water, but each time they get near it disappears. Everyone can see it too.

They pass a few rock formations that have a large number of giant tortoises happily calling it home. Alzar flies above to scout things out.

That night the Hut protects them from a particularly cold evening.

A few hours later, after flying above, they have arrived at the outskirts of the Nairotan village. Alzar did notice some humans nearby miles away, but not Nairotans.

They are passing by a lot of masabas. These apparently were made of clay, and have no doors, windows, or any other openings, and seem to have never been explored or opened.

After they pass these small buildings, a few minutes later they arrive at the village. They are greeted by some Nairotan people. After the greetings, they are led to a nearby central area, and fill their skins with more water. Alzar meets K’dza, the tribal chief and her subchief and daughter, K’drin. Paor, a shaman of the people, is also here and the triad welcome Alzar and his group to their village. They pride themselves on their hospitality, although few come this far in the Sand Mire, they are far away from caravan routes and have little to offer.

It’s a small village with a handful of buildings, and probably less than 50 people total. Alzar offers to trade them some items, as they aren’t really interested in coin. In addition to the rest of their snake meat for a feast tonight of turtle, they trade some excess items, like spare ropes and such.

[Abe Sargent]

As dinner is served a few hours later, Alzar asks about their history. They claim to have been from a city that has fallen asleep, and tell their tale. The masabas have been there since the dawn of time. They are impregnable and there is a spiritual significance to them. A priest named M’rin comes back from a hunt with a few other Nairotan and are warmly greeted. They have some under-sand dwelling insects they have speared, each about the size of a hand. About 6 or 7 of them were captured, and they are cooked and added to the meal.

This communal event, called fire tales, involves the Nairotan telling many tall tales of the history of the desert, and each one is wilder than another.

Alzar asks if he can investigate the 12 mastabas on the next day, and the village agrees.

They stay the night. Alzar memorizes a different slate of spells tomorrow.

The next morning, after dawn-meal, Alzar and Volcifar head out and investigates. There are 6 smaller and 6 larger mastabas, and some have traces of a faint paint on them. They are about 35 minutes from the village. They don’t have any other markings.

Alzar traces many with his hands, and notes no ways in. Volcifar verifies it. They were built to keep what is in, in, and nothing out. Alzar cast Detect Undead to see if any are here, suspecting they might be like the mastabas that were around the Pyramid of the Illustrious One on the Holy Isle.


One of the smaller ones does – just one undead. One of the larger ones has 10. That’s it.

He heads over and touches the wall, trying to control them. He can’t control the 1 or the 10. He is in range. He can just axe open a wall and check it out if he wants too. But instead he marks the exact location as precisely as he can. He can teleport back here later, and just use Passwall or something similar to open the mastaba and then close it again and no one will be the wiser…

They decide to head back north to Bralizzar. That’s where Aman Al-Rafiq is likely to be, and it’s just a few days away from here probably 4 or 5 to Northknife Pass and it’s easy to find, just stay on the mountain chain to their east. This mountain chain encircles the region, and on the other side is the Hek controlled part of the Sand Mire

[Abe Sargent]

A day later they are quietly heading back north when a large, flightless dragon can be seen from a few miles away. They decide to hold up and hide, until the threat passes.

A few miles later, the dragon-ish creature, a Vishap, has turned, and is pursuing them,




Vishap - 10 HD, AC 2, THAC0 13, 3 attacks – 1d, 1d4, 2d6 and 2-8, 10% magic resistance, 11000 XP when killed, immune to enchantment/charm spells, can cast sleep 2/day, invis 1/day, suggestion 1/day

Alzar has learned about these famous Hamedhi dragons, They are flightless, magic less and breathe-less, but nasty with some spell like powers.

As it nears, it casts Sleep on Alzar’s group to see if it works. It doesn’t everybody is higher than level 4. Acid Arrow to it for 4 damage. Missiles miss.

Next turn it drops Suggestion on Pashtun who is closing with Locinda. Pashtun fails and the Vishap suggests that it’s really hot and he should take off his armor, clothes, and drops his weapons and run and leave. He starts. Magic Missile hits for 7 and the creature takes 3 from the Arrow.

Vishap 41/55

The Vishap arrives and attacks Locinda, who charged it. It hits twice for 9 damage. Locinda misses. Alzar rushes up. Volcifar misses too.


Locinda – 32/41


The creature stabs Locinda for another 6 damage. It takes 9 damage from weapons.


Locinda- 26/41

Vishap – 32/55



The Vishap bites Locinda and claws for 11 damage and then is missed by weapons, but Tolvar has gotten to a place where he can casting Burning Hands for 11.

Locinda 15/41

Vishap 21/55


The Vishap decides to cast invisibility on itself and leaving. This party is too rough for it. Alzar can see it still though. He casts Continual Light at it as it flees, and it’s not blinded, but it’s still lit up and provides a target for folks to fire at.

The creature can move faster than them, so Alzar casts Fly as it moves away, and It takes 3 damage from a Sling of Seeking.

18/55


Alzar flies above the sand and moves very quickly. He lands in front of the creature and it moves to attack him. He casts Vampiric Touch as it arrives and it takes 10 damage. He takes 7 from claws.


44/51 Alzar

As he battles it in melee, others come near again. It flees, and Alzar flies up again. Alzar starts flinging daggers at in from the air. It cannot hide, and it cannot fight back, and it runs, but eventually, it dies.


They cut off skins, horns, hair, etc.


They split 11000 XP – 2200 each

Volcifar is getting close to another level.

[Abe Sargent]

They move out, not wanting to spend the night here where carrion might attack others. Alzar tries to fly around to see if he can find the cave or place the beast laired. I’m giving him a 15% chance of doing so, here we go…


He rolls a 92. Yup yup!

Alright…

He spies an opening in the foothills of the hills to the east with his enhanced senses from Gilded Ears, and he flies over, and checks out a few things. After verifying that the area is clear, he heads in, and scouts around. The cave is large, and there are bones and a lot of rough things in here, but nothing else dangerous or threatening.

The others arrive as Alzar casts Detect Magic and they begin to collect stuff. Let’s roll up some stuff!

It’s Treasure Types are D Y and U

D -10% of copper Nope; 15% of silver, nope; 50% chance of gold yes – 1000 GP; 15% chance of platinum nope; 30% gems nope; 25% art objects yes; 15% magical items – yes.

D gives us 1000 GP, a paired necklace and bracelet made of gems and metal worth 130 gp; Any two magical items + potion – I roll – armor, misc, Potion of Speed.

Y – 700 Gp;

U – any 1 magical item; 1d6 art; 2d8 gems –

Total –

1700 gp
7 gems worth 1050 GP
Assorted Jewelry worth 780 gp
Potion of Speed
+2 Leather Armor
Priest Spell Scroll – Cure Light Wounds, Sanctuary, Flame Strike

Quill of Forgery – This quill can copy someone’s handwriting perfectly if there is a sample. May be used once/week.


They stay the night here, and they will move stuff hither and thither during the evening and packing everything as needed. Alzar will spend more time curing and preparing the goods from the Vishap.

On the morning, after a quiet rest, they head back out. After noon, they begin to pass bear the Sunken City, although to its east, nearer the mountains. Nothing disturbs them this far on the edge of this section of the desert.


That night there are some howls and such, and then some frost hits, but they are fine under Leomund’s Tiny Hut.

[Abe Sargent]

As morning on the next day turns to noon, and their normal rest therein, something moves across the sky. It’s a gigantic Efreet. It looks like the one that they must have set free. It’s miles and miles up in the sky and moving swiftly. And now it’s gone.

Desert’s aren’t like woodlands, and there aren’t a bunch of animals to run and hide and be still as a big nasty creature like that one passes overhead. But still, everything feels eerily quiet the rest of the day, as if nothing wants to come out and put in an appearance and risk being seen.

The next day, they encounter a darkened day as the clouds gather and winds whip together ever more quickly. At first it looks like a sandstorm, but the winds ebb just enough to prevent it but shifting sands move around and their route changes regularly from uphill to down, or from rocky to deeply in sand.

The weather fades a few hours later, and they are closing to Northknife Pass. There is a band of Sandvoygers coming out of Bralizzar and exiting the Pass. They camp after refilling at Resurrection Spring, and the next morning they set out, and arrive in Bralizzar later that day.

They are allowed into the town and the other set up in the inn while Alzar swings by to find Aman Al-Rafiq. Aman is in his home as expected, and they greet each other, exchange pleasantries, and then get down to business.

He congratulates Alzar for getting the first gem, but the Efreet Kalitharius being set free was not something they foresaw until they interpreted more of Martek’s book.

Every section of the book is in a different code and language, and book itself is magic and resists attempts to read and understand it magically. Martek apparently predicted the inadvertent releasing of Kalitharius. It was newly translated. There are still parts untranslated, but they can’t wait any longer. The Efreet noble is moving about the Sand Mire, and while not fully empowered (being imprisoned for almost 1000 years on a plane that’s not your home can do that to a power) and he’s spent some time over the west facing the hordes of the Master, which is a nice little bonus. But he’s been seen and any time now, he could land and start blowing up the remaining patches of civilization that linger.

It appears that the second gem is in the Pyramid of Amun-Re. The originally thought they had years to get this stuff taken care of, but now the timeline has obviously been accelerated. There’s no time to put together a huge expedition from the College to hit the Pyramid. He asks Alzar if his party is ready to go, and they agree.

The Pyramid is about 4 days north and west of Northknife Pass. The Oasis of the White Palm is the major center of civilization thereabouts. You can go hit the Pyramid first and then return to the Oasis, 1.5 days away, or swing by the Oasis first for news and such, and then the Pyramid.

The Oasis of the White Palm was settled by a lot of dervishes, which some others there as well. The dervishes here are a group of locals that did not convert to the one faith of Anu, and instead hold to the old gods. They are fervently pro-religion, and their major goal is to protect all of the holy places in the Sand Mire, and that includes the Pyramid of Amun-Re, the largest pyramid in the Sand Mire by far. It dwarfs the Pyramid of the Illustrious One of Queen Aneksi.


Alzar hands his donation of gems, jewelry and gold to Aman for the college, and they begin to outfit. He also gives the Potion of Speed to them.

They decide to head to the Pyramid directly, and from there to the Oasis of the White Palm and Aman will teleport to the Oasis and meet them there after they return.

[Abe Sargent]

Heading out Tolvar will be memorizing these spells: Armor (lasts until dispelled, or until Tolvar takes 11 damage – AC6), Sleep, Magic Missile, Shocking Grasp, Burning Hands; Melf’s Acid Arrow, Invisibility, Continual Light; Vampiric Touch, Flame Arrow. Normally his spell selection is 4/2/1 at level 5, but as a Conjurer, he gets a bonus spell at each level in Conjuration – 5/3/2 – and those are Armor, Acid Arrow, and Flame Arrow.

Alzar is more than halfway to level 7, which will get him the sexy 4th level Magic. Volcifar’ll hit 6 soon.

They spend the night in Bralizzar and move some stuff, purchase supplies and more, and that day they swing back out of the town and rest at the cave area at the end of Northknife.

Their arrival back on the path, and following the mountains north again is no surprise.


They are off the Sandvoyagers route, the one to the Oasis requires them to stay on the main trail west for two days and then head north. After a few hours, the place is quiet and relatively peaceful and there’s even an Airlancer patrol that can be made out from here.

There are a few creatures that are moving at the edge of the horizon, but they Airlancers swoop down at them they are retreat and can no longer be seen.

The first day endeth.


A scuttling noise can be heard and a large group of large beetles moves out during the cool night, and 16 large beetles move into their camp. These are lower level folks, just a few hp each. They party is up (random.org) and carve through them easily, but is nipped for damage here and there.

The morning arrives and folks begin to move out. Another day passes mostly uneventfully, with Alzar flying to verify their path, and they find an odd rock formation shortly after midday. There are three spires of rock jutting out from the desert. A large middle one and two smaller ones that flank it. The locals call it The Trident. Each one rises hundreds of feet above the sand. It’s a useful landmark and interesting formation, they check it out, but nothing is here.

[Abe Sargent]

They move about 5 or 6 miles from the Trident and then camp for the night under the Hut spell. Everything is quiet.

The next day they begin to near the Pyramid of Amun-Re. Alzar swapped out Leomund’s Hut, they are close enough they aren’t going to get exposed.

That night, something odd happens. As the cool night air drains the heat from the sand, an aura of eerie menace surrounds it. The winds shift direction bearing a thin white mist towards the party from the Pyramid and points west. It swirls and dissipates. Out from where it landed steps a solitary figure, appearing from in a leopard skin robe, and ornate headpiece, decorated with many fine jewels.

He is not aware of Alzar’s presence. Alzar can feel him, as an undead. He makes his Necrology check and it’s probably a ghost. He leaves no tracks in the sand and is strangely insubstantial.

Alzar moves up and towards the figure, until he’s about 20 feet away. Then the figure looks up at him and begins to speak.

[Abe Sargent]

I am Amun-Re, son of Takosh-Re of the house of Mo-Pelar. That which you see is but my shadow which has walked these lands for time uncounted, in search of mighty men of valor, to plead their aid.

In my time was I Pharaoh of this land now before you. Then, Bakar was a green and beautiful land, blessed by the gods of Heaven Westward with the wondrous spring of Athis, which gave life to our land and nurtured our crops. Yet did robbers raid the tombs of my forefathers and take from them tokens of their passage into the lands of the dead, thus keeping them from their reward after life. I swore that, at all costs, I would not fall prey to their evil deeds.

So it was that I made mighty and terrible war upon my neighbors, plundering their lands of wealth for my own passage. I did enter a contract with a great mage to work a mighty wonder, and, upon the sweat and blood of my people, I did build a theft-proof tomb.

My people turned against me with bitter hatred. I not only robbed our borderlands but taxed grievously my own people, and so took from them their wealth. They rose up in anger, demanding their hold and precious gems, their lives and freedom.

I cursed them, saying, "By the ruling staff and the Star Gem of Mo-Pelar, I curse you. Threaten not my life, or by them and by the holy name of Osiris, will the stopping of my heart also stop the Spring of Athis from her life-giving flow. As the river slows and dies, so shall your land wither in the wilderness. This do I swear by Osiris' holy name and these implements of my power.'

From a sea of upraised fists before me, rose one with a spear. The shaft sped from the darkness, and so, too, that night did the Spring of Athis stop its flow.

In death, my spirit gleefully approached my pyramid. But Osiris stopped my spirit from entering that tomb, for, said he, "Your monument to life was to be the benefit you brought to the people under your stewardship, not this edifice of stone. As you looked only to your death in life, so shall you look only to your life in death. I am bound to fulfill your curse, for you have called it down with power in my name. But I do curse you as well; Amun-Re. You shall not enter this tomb where the implements are of your voyage to heaven until some mortal soul does despoil this place, taking your staff of ruling and the Star Gem of Mo-Pelar from your theft-proof tomb."

Even have I talked with the wind in hope of help. Uncounted seasons have passed, and my Kingdom is not now to be seen in these desert lands. Of it, nothing remains save for my tomb, which stands now as then, untouched by time, sands, wind, or men. Though many have tried to plunder my wealth, none has succeeded, and I am forbidden passage to heaven until one succeeds.

My wealth is thine if thou can but best that which I have built. Remove both my staff of ruling and the Star Gem from my tomb. So then will you gain great wealth, and so then will you release me. Follow my path to wealth or woe, to thy destiny or thy doom.


The ghost of Amun-Re pulls back and leaves.

The Pyramid of Amun-Re is a massive structure, and it might be some feat to investigate, explore, and such. They close on the morrow.


(By pages, the Pyramid of Amun-Re is the longest of the various dungeons and cites in the Desert of Desolation uber-module that combines I3, I4, and I5. Even the final dungeon has a few less pages. So I’m going to perhaps speed through the occasional room or three in order to do this dungeon with any degree of speed. I’m been very descriptive through this campaign, and now, I’m going to use it early, and late, and where needed in between. Here we go!)

[Abe Sargent]

The tomb of these pharaohs are not just burial grounds. They are complex religious places that were used to change the dead pharaohs into gods. There should be a sacred temple in the front as part of this complex.

The entire pyramid is known to radiate Magic, and Aman mentioned that Detect Magic spells may not work, since the whole place will set off. No one can teleport in or out either

“The pyramid is about 750 feet square at the base, rising to a height of at least 700 feet. The highly polished rock that forms its exterior is untouched by desert sands, in contrast to the rock of the 20-foot-high wall that surrounds it.

The pyramid sides face the compass points. The only break in the guarding wall is the temple to the south. Entrance is obviously via a platform that opens in the south face, 50 feet above the ground. Stairs climb the pyramid’s south face from a walkway connecting the rear of the temple and the pyramid.

Like the stone of the surrounding wall, the stone of the temple is worn by time, though still solid and sturdy. There are no windows in the temple wall, and only one entrance, gained via two staircases flank a circular basin, climbing 30 feet to the temple porch. The temples roof is capped by one large and two small domes.

A broken lime-cement basin, 100 feet in diameter, with no apparent openings in the bottom lies within the embrace of the stairs to the temple entryway. The basin obviously once contained water, which emptied into a deep channel in the desert ground. This channel leads away from the temple south, passing the building ruins there.

The far side of the pyramid from the party can be seen a tent village occupied by Dervishes. While it is obvious that they travel to and from the temple at the base of the pyramid they do not appear to be blocking travel for others that want to enter the temple. As the party walks toward the temple they remember the warnings they were given about the Dervishes, they still follow the old ways and will defend the old holy sites from desecration with their lives.”

[Abe Sargent]

They tie up their animals wand spare goods and such. Gilded Ears will say behind as a watch familiar.

As they approach the entryway, there are stairs here leading to the temples porch and they are of stone, pocked and pitted by time. And sand. There are a pair of Dervishes here guarding two large bronze doors, and as Alzar moves in front, they challenge him and ask why he is here. Alzar wants to be honest, but also doesn’t want to make enemies of the dervish presence here. “We come seeking truth.” It works and the dervishes allow them entrance.

The pass a corridor and then head to the high altar of Amun-Re, a large room with a bunch of dervishes in service. The one leading the service is reading from a book, but most not be getting a lot of luck. The 5 dervishes around the room look upset, perhaps downright mystified. They wait, but the dervishes aren’t stopped.

There are doors to the left and right, and the people here are sort of worshipping, so they head over and open the left and right doors. One heads to a worship room and the other to a quarters, with a lot of dervishes in there. They head to the worship room, and then out the other side to a holy circle, of Osiris on the floor of this circular room. It has an altar as well.

They continue on and arrive at the back end of the temple. The north side of this room is trapezoidal in shape, and there is light falling from the opn archway. This on the pyramid side. They are through the temple.

[Abe Sargent]

The stairs climb from the walkway that leads from the rear of the temple to the pyramid’s south face. The stairs are as highly polished as the bricks of the pyramid – they must get regular cleaning from the dervishes. The stairs head up 50 feet above the courtyard below. At the top of the stairs is the platform which gives access to the pyramid.

There are another pair of guards up there. There are too many dervishes, and Alzar’s fears too many more, and so far, they’ve escaped issues. He tells Volcifar to gather their attention, and while he talks to them, Alzar casts Charm Person on the guard on the left, Atfez. It works, Atfez is now Alzar’s really good friend Alzar asks his friend if he’d mind escorting Alzar and his friends into the pyramid, and he’s happy to do so.

They move into a main worship hall with support pillars, coolly dark, and a large statue in the back of a pharaoh. There are two worship areas in the two adjunct rooms, and that’s it. Nothing else. Hmmmm….They check out the rooms – the east one is as advertised. In the left one are a group of dervishes led by a leader. Alzar’s friend mentions that their leader and a few dervishes went missing from this room before. They are offering prayers to bring back them by placing gifts into the hands of a large statue, and those are disappearing in a magical red flame, so the supplications must be working.

Alzar tells Volcifar to do a subtle search while Alzar and Atfez go and talk to the 11 dervishes here. Their great leader disappeared 9 days ago. The one leading this service is the 3rd in charge of the dervish unit here at the Pyramid.

Volcifar gives a heads up, he’s found a secret door deeper into the Pyramid. Alzar pulls Atfez over, he wants to get an idea of how the dervishes will react to the door’s discovery. He proposes it as a hypothetical, and the e reaction seems good, so Alzar grabs their attention, and Volcifar opens the secret door. “Maybe this is where your leader went?”

The Assistant Holy Isaeda of the Dervishes sends a group of 5 dervishes to accompany Alzar’s group and Atfez through the door to see where they go.

[Abe Sargent]

There is a shaft that leads back from here and a corridor off that to the left. That corridor ends in an odd circular chamber with a central translucent cylinder in the middle full of water, wet and slimy, flowing somewhere else, Odd. There is another room as the corridor continues that’s very similar but the water is flowing in the opposite direction.

The corridor bends into another large worship room, with another statue of Amun-Re here. Volcifar does some searching and uncovers another secret door. A long descending corridor faces them. Continually Lit stones don’t make a massive amount of light due to the angle, so they head down gingerly, checking various things.

The corridor ends on the south side of a large worship room, one bigger than any others. There are three statues of Amun-Re here, damaged, and defaced with a battered altar. Volcifar finds a pair of secret doors. One opens into a small room, now empty, and no amount of searching reveals anything but a gas trap long-since triggered. The next opens into a grand hallway, larger than anything else with what was once beautiful walls and décor, now destroyed by time, with rubble and marks by axes and hammers that have damaged it. They continue and find a large arch with “Treasure Room” written in five languages around it. Inside are scattered and destroyed chests and pots, long since peppered with dust. There is an archway on the other end, with a opened sarcophagus, once resplendent but battered, as people pulled out gems and metals. Above is an inscription that tells looters they’re too late to do anything, Amun-Re is now beyond their reach.

Alzar turns and tells the shocked dervishes that “clearly it looks like others were here. You should probably head back and report these findings, and grab some items to clean up and do a service to bless the area anew.” They nod and head back, including Atfez.

A few minutes later, Alzar orders some more searching. This is clearly a fake. It’s a good idea to place something like this at the entrance of your crypt, and it’s probably fooled lots of people that found the multiple secret doors in the past. But this is not the tomb.

They find nothing here, no secret rooms, but suddenly someone flipped something and the floor begins glowing for a near-circular section. Two people standing there are teleported, and the rest enter the circle and disappear.

[Abe Sargent]

They are blinded momentarily and arrive in a perfect octagon with four arched exits, all identical and separated from one another by identical walls. There are a few levers on the wall and a skeleton on the floor with a sword pointing to one of the four exits.

Alzar taking a moment to suss out there where they are, they move head towards the sword-pointing direction. As the first person moves into the corridor beyond, a warm mist moves up, swirling rust orange, and they block sight and are very disorienting.

They push through the mists and emerge into a longer corridor 10 x 30 foot with mists filling the archways at both ends. One heads down to check it out and moves into the mists again, and moves forward into a odd turning jungle of hallways, twisting. The others join. And after a few minutes they arrive at a 10 foot square clear intersection of hallways, and there are passages to the right and left of the door. The door opens to reveal an empty 30x30 room. Volcifar tells them to stop as he moves to it. There is a trap just inside he removes. There is another one in there as well, but a search turns up nothing.

Alzar guesses they are in some sort of a maze. He’s been in them before, from portal mazes to real ones to the Web of the Abyss on Lolth’s plane. This has empty rooms, traps, disorienting mists, and probably some built in redundancy.

They head left and arrive at an identical looking door which opens into another empty looking room. Alzar tells no one to enter yet, and Volcifar can’t make out anything from the doorway, and like the other other room, there is a large dome over the room. Volcifar sneaks in and is immediately attacked as the ceiling falls on him, a creature that blends in called a lurker has pounced on him..


Volcifar rolls but is unable to get away from the Lurker Above but manages to give the others space to attack it. They begin to stab it with weapons. It automatically hits Volcifar for 1d6 every round and after 1d4+1 rounds will smother him.

They attack and hit it for 8 damage. Volcifar takes 3. They hit it and deal 11. (Just has an AC of 6). It hits and does 3 again. They attack and kill it.

They gained 200 XP each

Volcifar – 18/24

[Abe Sargent]

There is nothing else down here after a search, but Alzar’s enhanced senses notice some sort of ledge above. It’s way out of reach about 40 feet above in the dome. Alzar casts Fly and heads on up. There is an observation platform and a door out. Alzar heads to the door and opens it – it was hidden on the other side. There is a small hallway here. He heads down and finds two more observation domes. He grabs some rope and builds a few rope bridges. They have found a way out of the maze. Now, the only issue remaining, often mazes have treasure or monsters or information.

But for now, he wants to explore this upper level while he still has his fly spell active, in case he needs it. They head to a door on the other side of the hallway and it opens into onto an octagonal room with three more doors, a single figure, fighting valiantly against 8 ghouls. Looks like a female warrior of some sort. Alzar controls 6 ghouls and forces them to look like he’s turning them and moving away scared. He comes over and sees the mark of a god here and this woman is probably a paladin of some sort. She detects evil, and sees that him and Volcifar are both evil and the attempt to make himself a useful ally didn’t work. Ah well.

She kills the first ghoul and shouts out that Alzar is next. Ah well.

Ghouls are sent back, and behind them missile weapons follow. In a few minutes, the already wounded Paladin is dead. Lawful stupid indeed.

350 XP each player

They grab her stuff in case she had any magic items (she didn’t). But Alzar now have five ghouls to open these doors and such. They head right into a closet where there were two sarcophagi empty, and as some empty priest rooms next, each open (no door) and roughly 10x15 big. In another set of these rooms are a triad of wraiths that are grouped around an object on the floor. Alzar controls one and has it attack the others. While flanking it, they launch weapons at the other tow, take down one, and then Alzar’s dies and the other dies before reaching the party.

600 XP each

[Abe Sargent]

The object is a weapon that Alzar is able to identify with his class ability - +1scimitar, +4 vs undead. Since Pashtun uses a scimitar, and just has a +1 scimitar normally, he gives it to Pashtun and takes the other one back. This one is called Bar-ethel (True Death) on the blade.

They come across a prayer temple, old worn prayer rugs, faded patterns, ad moth-eaten are placed around the core, and in the center is yet another statue to Amun-Re. There is a giant gemstone glittering in the forehead, something new. Volcifar finds a trap door in front of the statue and disarms it. As they are searching the room, the door opens and out pop another group of ghouls 4 this time, looking for food and moving to attack until they are controlled and now Alzar has 9 ghouls.

The room is searched and they find a secret door to the right. A ghoul opens it and leads on. There is an alcove here with faire in front, but it’s just illusionary, Alzar can see through it. They head through it. They find more worship areas, and a kitchen and dining area and pantry. Nothing in any of them of merit.


They enter a domed room with another level on top of it, like the lower ones did and Alzar’s fly spell is……still in duration. He flies up and establishes ropes again, and they climb up to the next level.

They arrive in a ledge at the top most part of the dome from above and there is a door here and search shows a concealed door as well. They have the concealed passage which quickly opens to a low ceilinged, twisting tunnel that lies in a rough cavern, not the pretty walls and carvings elsewhere. This was made by force, not grace. The cavern is pretty large, and there is something in the far corner of interest and a passage to the left. A ghoul heads over holding a Continually Light stone.

They see a golem, a clay golem actually. Ghouls aren’t going to help here, he orders it back. If clay golems here are like the ones in Thorasia, then only a magical blunt weapon will damage it. Locinda switches to her mace, Volcifar will be using just his sling, and Pashtun takes the Trombash of Returning. Alzar moves up with Locinda, they are the only ones with melee attack weapons. Clays can do a lot of damage very quickly. He does some quick math with Tolvar for the battle, and then they move in.

He pushes ghouls on the flanks, in order to keep the Golem contained.

It sees them and moves from its place to fight them. Let’s get some dice!

We get 1 it gets 3. We win init. Magic Missiles nail it for 9 damage, (Tolvar now gets 3 missiles) and They attack. The golem has an AC of 7, it’s pretty easy to hit. Volcifar tags it with his Sling of Seeking for 3 damage and Locinda adds 5. It smashes Alzar, for 3d10 damage, which is 3, 2, 7. 12 damage.

Alzar – 39/51

It wins init and casts haste on itself. They attack and carve off another 7 damage.

Golem – 26/50

The golem wins init (9 vs 2) and rolls a 4 and 16 – hits once for 6, 4, 7 - 17 damage. They hit for another 11 damage.

Alzar 22/51
Golem 15/50

Alzar’s tema wins 4 to 7. Can they kill it?

Locinda rolls … 5 and misses
Pashtun with the items he can’t use well still gets a 17 and hits for….5 damage
Alzar rolls and gets a 9…..he needs an 11. Miss
Volcifar rolls that 11 and….hit needs a 10. 5 more damage
Tolvar casts Burning Hands behind a ghoul and hits for 11 and kills it.

Dead ghoul too.

They share 5000 XP

1000 XP each

Volcifar levels up

[Abe Sargent]

Behind the golem is a shelf, and on it a jar. A ghoul picks up the jar and opens it, and inside is a still-beating human heart.


Alzar puts the heart back into the jar and they head left.

It goes for a while and ends at a secret door (not secret on this side) that opens into the normal carved pyramid again. There is an octagonal room that appears to be a storage room and a door on the other side. They head out and in a small triad of these octagons. The one on the right is a chains and manacles sort of space, without anything else. The other is a dining room with some tables and chairs, and a hallway out on the far side.

A magic-user pops into the hallway as they are walking in, and cackles. Munafik casts a spell to give him Minor Globe of Invulnerability. A Sling of Seeking hits him, but does no damage – Alzar’s spellcraft proficiency check verifies that it should have still hurt him – the Globe just protects from spells. He casts Dispel Magic at him, and then orders in an attack by the charging ghouls, and still, none hit him. Nothing. He cackles. Alzar shouts that he’s tired of people who think they are invulnerable and makes an intelligence heck and pulls out the jar.

“Yes that’s right. You know what this is!” Fear is on Munafik’s face as Alzar opens it and shows the beating heart. Munafik is unable to bluff him, so Alzar forces him to tell everything about the level he knows.

Munafik is a high priest of Amun-Re, centuries old. He shows them the rest of these level, turns off traps, and shows them how to activate the Pillar of Athis, a magically trapped a trickery object to get to the final tomb. Munafik is forced to turn over a book of his, the Libram of Ineffable Damnation. Alzar puts the heart back into the jar and pockets it again. Don’t come after us, or else...



They head up.

[Abe Sargent]

The water flows up a giant shaft here and back down again on the other side as a huge tempest swirls around. These are the Waters of Athis, that once flowed through the fountain and led to an artificial river in the desert that fed places as far away as Pezar.

There are a pair of giant bronze doors, the ghouls open them up.

Four pillars rise up to the vaulted ceiling and In the center of the room is a stand with a plaque that reads, “Let him who knows our god speak his name” and on the west side of the room, occupying the entire length of the wall, is a reed boat, with a mast lashed to the floor alongside ten ornate, vase-like jars. On the east wall there is a large painting of the same boat as on the west side of the room. In the painting, which is very well done and detailed, is identical in every way save it is sailing high above the clouds and carries a beautiful gemstone in the bow. Two more bronze doors are on the other side.

Alzar has a ghoul grab a jar and opens it – instead is 500 pp. Each of the others has the same –

5000 pp

One ghoul heads over to the painting and touches it, and then pushes its hand into it an through it. It’s like a window. Alzar heads over and looks around. Looking down is 10,000 feet and the Pyramid of Amun-Re far below. The boat is out over a cloud, magically hanging in the sky. Alzar uses his staff to see if there are any platforms or anything there, but nothing. Alzar ties a rope to himself and then quaffs a potion of Levitation and pushes himself out. Others use polearms and ropes to push him out far enough where he can use a rope to secure himself to the boat. He heads over and grabs the gem, and secures it to himself, and then crosses back, this time with them pulling the rope back.

He has secured the Star of Mo-Pelar.

[Abe Sargent]

They head out and open the bronze doors.

This is along burial room, with a great sarcophagus in the center. A gold staff lying across it, and a statue of Amun-Re with a carved copy of the Star in one hand and the staff in the other. A ghoul grabs the staff and brings it over to Alzar.

Ghouls open the sarcophagus and out comes a mummy!


A Flame Arrow from Tolvar heads in and it does 1d6 piercing and 4d6 fire. The mummy takes 4 extra damage from the fire. 20 damage total. No saving throw for Flame Arrow’s piercing damage, but yet for the fire damage – it rolls a 5, no save. A Sling hits for 1 damage after halving.

19/40


Alzar orders folks to retreat and hit it at range as ghouls body block it and Tolvar slings over an Acid Arrow for 5 damage. The mummy has to fight (and kill) a ghoul.

Another round and it takes 4 damage. Pashtun moves in with his magical scimitar of undead death dealing and attacks and rolls…20. It takes…..7x2 (14) +4, +2 for 20. Halves to 10. It dies.


That’s an auspicious start for the weapon!

[Abe Sargent]

They check things out and nothing is in the crypt. Alzar casts Detect Magic just to make sure and as expected, everything is glowing.

On the walls here are a group if hieroglyphs. Alzar’s Helm tells all about them. There used to be a teleport—spell that teleported water from a nearby freshwater-sea to the pyramid – and it’s still working, and then a second from the pyramid to the Fountain of Athis. It’s a simple matter to fix it up, and in a moment, Alzar has the water heading to the fountain again.

He has the platinum pieces all collected by the group in various backpacks and such, and then the coins they can’t carry are put back in the jars and carried in their hands. Alzar grabs the Staff and Star in each hand, as the hieroglyphs commanded and steps into a patch to the left. The group teleports back to the temple’s main worship area in the beginning, into the midst of a bunch of dervishes.

He shows them the rod and Star, and tells them of the fountain, and Osiris’s blessing returning to the area, and leaves.

For killing mummy and finishing quest – 1000 XP each.

They give 500 PP to the college, everyone takes 100 PP for themselves and Alzar gets the final 4k.

[Abe Sargent]

Volcifar
Lawful Evil, 6th level Thief
HP – 28
THAC0 – 18
STR: 14, DEX: 17, CON: 12, INT: 16, WIS: 10, CHA:11
AC: 6
XP: 21940 (Level 5 at 20000)
29 years old

X3 Backstab

Weapons – Dagger, Sling, Yataghan

Proficiencies – Appraising, Disguise, Forgery, Locksmithing, Reading/Writing, Riding, Set Snares, Swimming, Tracking

Pick Pockets – 30
Open Locks – 80
Find/Remove Traps – 95
Move Silently – 45
Hide in Shadows – 45
Detect Noise – 15
Climb Walls – 65
Read Languages - 0

Fights with Dagger of Venom or +2 Sling of Seeking. Also wears Ring of Protection +1 and Ring of Spell Storing – Dispel Magic and Mask Alignment. This Ring, unlike others, cannot be charged with any spell other than Dispel Magic and Mask Alignment (reverse of Know Alignment).

Gold – 750, 100 pp


They spend the night resting. The next morning, Alzar returns to his normally expected spell-list

End of I3. Pyramid



The Libram of Ineffable Damnation is one of the nasty magic books out there. An evil mage who reads it will gain a full level. He’ll wait until he levels up and then use it immediately to gain another level. It’ll work once, and these things usually disappear to head somewhere else afterwards.

[Abe Sargent]

Beginning of I4. Oasis of the White Palm




Time for the next one folks!

The Oasis is only a few days from the Pyramid, and the Dervishes are sending a unit back there to let them know about what happened here and the restored fountain currently overflowing. Alzar’s group and theirs will journey together for safety. And things go by pretty quickly. Almost due west is the Oasis of the White Palm.

Twice there are group of creatures that eye the large party, and twice they decide against it. Dervishes are a powerful class, sort of a fighter-cleric with a desert-druid vibe. Imagine a druid, with desert spells instead of forest ones, with better armor and weapons allowed, and that’s not a bad way to look at the dervish class.

A group of those, plus all of the camels, wagons, giant striders, and the whole party, is quite a large pseudo-caravan and since those are guarded very well by airlancer patrols (And there are some of those in the Oasis), there’s not a lot of value in attacking us and angering them unless you are really sure of yourself.


The Oasis of the White Palm is a major linking point for places and people here in the north, and the Sandvoyagers come here as well. It’s also the home-base of the dervishes and their various allies.

[Abe Sargent]

They pull into the Oasis and there are a few tents up and such. On the way, the here, the dervishes gave Alzar more information about the Oasis.

Sheikh Kassim Arslan controls the Oasis and most of the locals follows his lead. He’s had the area under his control for more than 20 years and has a reputation is a stubborn man, but fair. There are a few people that aren’t exactly Arslan’s best friend, and there are rumors of a secret slave trade out of the Oasis.

He has two twin sons, and the older of which will inherit the Oasis. The airlancers that operate out of the Oasis of the White Palm are the best of the lot, and several Pegasus riders can be seen overhead right now. As Alzar has noticed personally, flying in the desert is extremely valuable strategically. From intel to speed, it’s important.

As they near the Oasis, it’s under heavy guard and everyone is milling around preparing. Aman Al-Rafiq comes out to meet them and they trade stories.

The woman who should be married to the Sheikh of the White Palm will have a old, archaic tattoo of a Palm Tree appear on her hand. That sign symbolizes the union, and it also appears on the woman that will be betrothed to the Sheikh’s heir. The heir of Sheikh Kassim Arslan is his son Hassan. Meanwhile there is an amulet left that the Sheikh wears as a sign of his rule over the Oasis.

Apparently, the book of Martek mentions that the amulet and the tattoo, when put together, reveal a secret message that can be used to find Khalitharius, the freed Efreet. However, two days ago, the Efreet appeared here at the White Palm and burned down a camp and captured the princess Shadalah. While not positive, Aman guesses that the Efreet took her in order to prevent them from seeing the two together, and the wife of the Sheikh passed away years ago, and thus only one woman currently has the tattoo.

They have been creating war parties and sending out search teams. The dervishes that arrived with Alzar go to relate their news, which is met with some happiness, but not a lot, and then are brought into another search team.

[Abe Sargent]

Aman brings Alzar in to meet the Sheikh. Within the main chamber of the tent sets an older man, richly garbed in silks and jewels, and on delicate pillows. There are numerous others in here are well, from guards to a man that looks like the Sheikh’s son.

He addresses Alzar after seeing the Staff of Amun-Re and the two gems that Alzar has. The second of the lot, the Star of Mo-Pelar has been Identified as a Gem of Seeing, but Amun-Re’s Staff of Rulership defies simple magic, it’s much more complex.

The Sheikhs tells Alzar more of the North. Before he was Sheikh, he explored at the head of a variety of groups that ventured out. The North-Eastern part of the Sand Mire is a lot more dense than the southern part. It is rife with unusual and older formations. There is an obelisk so tall that despite being buried under countless feet of sand, it still is hundreds of feet in the air. There is the Crypt of Badr Al-Mosak and the Valley of the Sphinx, there is the Pyramid of Amun-Re and many other smaller ones, there is the broken Temple of Amnissos and the destroyed citadel of Ascavalon. The Trident and the Demon’s Bridge. The Graveyard of the Ancients and the breath-taking Caverns of Al-Sune. There’s the Monument to Martek and the Tomb of the Faceless One. And the shifting sands constantly reveal new lost wonders while hiding others.

They can’t send out too many expeditions to find Shadalah. They don’t want to denude their defenses in case Khalitharius decides to attack. The Sheikh asks Alzar and his group to find the place that Khalitharius absconded with the princess. Clearly he wanted her alive, or else he could have just killed her in the attack on the Oasis.

He asks them to head out and find her and bring her back. They agree to do so, and the Sheikh has his medallion loaned to the party to help them. Aman had already informed him about Martek’s plan.

The Oasis has a few sections – a Sandvoyagers compound, and a variety of other folks from barracks to a nomad camp. There’s also a Shi’ar here, one of the local classes distinct from those on other planes and endemic to Hamedh. Alzar grabs food and water and then they rest for the night.

[Abe Sargent]

In the morning he tells Aman about the inability to figure out how the Staff works. Aman will send a message to the College to see if the students and can bring anything up with their research.

They swing by the Sandvoyagers Compound in the morning to get some information and supplies. There is a bazaar here with a variety of merchants, although probably less than normal due to the impending battle-preparations. That can shift the focus of a community.

There are a few tents here, stables, washing area, and such. There’s even a small tavern-inn for the local Sandvoyagers and their employees. Nira is here, the woman they encountered in Skarda’s Mirror. She signed on with the Sandvoyagers. She joins their table and they get caught up on various pieces of business here.

She tells them that there have been very persistent rumors that the princess was not actually taken anywhere. She’s still here in the Oasis. She’s heard that from multiple sources. She connects Alzar with a local sub-chief of the Sandvoyager Guild here. He’s been serving here for almost three years, and there have been some…changes...in some of the dervishes in the last few days. But only some. There is a second, hidden dervish compound on the outskirts of the Oasis‘s vegetation (about 1.5 miles diameter) and most of the odder behaving ones are there.

Alzar decides to check that out. As they near it, he agrees, these dervishes are a bit peculiar, their clothing is a little different, and their manner is as well. Alzar gets Tolvar to cast Invisibility on him again and he scouts out.

The compound here is just 5 tents big, and there are 13 dervishes, no one else. As Alzar inspects, he notices that there are no beds here in the compound’s tents. Where do the dervishes sleep?

He watches, and waits. Soon enough, he sees someone open a secret door in a rock, and head down.

There is something here.

Alzar uses the Star’s Gem of Seeing power and nothing is revealed under it.

He heads over to the secret door, still open, and checks it. There are steps down. Should he head down now, while Invisible, and see what he can find? Or should he grab the group, take down these dervishes, and then go down in force? He decides to scout on down…

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has entered the Hidden Temple of Set

A long stairwell down is flanked by a pair of dervishes at the end and Alzar slips by them into a temple entry room, with the sign of Set on the walls. There are two ways out and Alzar heads to one with a familiar feel. A small cavern to the left of the entry room has four zombies, standing and waiting. Alzar controls them and they will follow him. They head out and attack the dervishes. Alzar wants proof, and gets it, when they try to give the zombies command words, but they fail. The dervishes die after a few rounds, and Alzar still has two zombies. He checks the bodies and finds little.

125 XP for Alzar

They continue to the next room, which is a followers purification chamber, and then a doorway. One zombie heads over to the door but several glyphs of warding discharge and kill it from fire. Alzar decides to risk it and moves through and take s10 damage from the fire, and the zombie will remain guard there.

Alzar 41/51

Alzar is in an outer temple of set with a huge stone idol of a man with a jackal’s head, and two giant red gems. It’s too high up to take right now, so h continues to a door, currently empty room, and an acolytes chamber.

There is a small chest here and a few desks. Alzar does a quick search, and uses a vial of acid on the chest. There are a quartet of smaller boxes in here that Alzar can’t deal with right now, so he grabs the small chest, made of metal, and kicks it through the doorway to the zombie – the glyphs don’t trigger for it.

(inside are magical items of various sorts, Incenses, Periapt and Phylactery)

[Abe Sargent]

Also next to the large temple room is a priest’s washing room and a hallway, with a wight stationed as guard, which Alzar controls. The wight will be the one moving around and such.

There is an area off the hallway that is full of the essence of evil. Alzar regenerates one hp/round here. He stays here while the Wight investigates and opens a door to a bed chamber and sanctum of a high priest of some sort –not currently here in the middle of the day. Recently used. He does a search and here is a glowing skull like thing on a chest that he absconds:

Skull of Garath – Powers only usable by evil clerics, non-evil people touching it take damage.

They pass a brazier of purple flames, and there were three skeletons in here Alzar controls and adds to his coterie.

A torture chamber passes and now a room with a golden bird-like idol that is welded to an altar and cannot be taken right now. Beside the torture chamber is a small prison area, and in here are a man who is passed out right now They continue on and find a similar room as the golden idol with but a platinum idol of a monkey.

To the south is a large garrison chamber for the sleeping of dervishes, and there are about 4 or 5 right now in the room. Alzar has his Wight come in and attack, and none of them have any magical weapons, but two try to flee and the skeletons block them off. They kill a skeleton, but the rest die.

A quick search turns up little. They continue on. They arrive at a small kitchen, and that’s the end of the temple. Actually, the wight knows about a secret door here that it opens and they continue on.

The first room beyond the secret door is full of cobwebs, and the Gem of Seeing reveals a pair of hidden spiders up above. Alzar grabs some oil from a flask and sets the webs on fire and steps out of the room. Five minutes later the spiders have died and the webs are destroyed. The webbing reveals a warning about the wrath of Set.

[Abe Sargent]

A corridor into another room is thick with carpets and tapestries. There is a jackal head, open, ready to bite, and a keyhole past it. Inside the room is nothing but the cloth. The Gem reveals a trap in the Jackal. Have to have the key to open things up. A skeleton reaches in with a vial of acid opened, and the acid eats the lock but the hand is destroyed on it. Ah well!

They move into the room beyond. A huge chamber throbs under the pulsing dim red light cast from the two eyes of statue right beside a 10 foot diameter pit/. It holds a large altar bowl, and the idol, with clearly magical eyes shot rays across the room. On the far side is another door. As Alzar and his undead finish entering, the doors slam shut. The eyes glow and a ring appears in the far wall and out from the ring walks a zombie, and the ring disappears. Alzar immediately controls it. After a bit it does it again, and a ghoul emerges and its controlled. Next a ghast, and then a shadow. It’s clearly getting bigger and bigger in power. Alzar and his undead move to the idol. The eyes are not that high up, so he reaches over, and as they do, a cackling voice suddenly shouts out that Alzar is about to be banished to the Plane of Pandemonium. And then….nothing. Nothing happens at all. The idol’s cackling is cut off, Alzar takes out the gems and then pockets them.

Why wasn’t he banished to another plane?

2 Gems – 2500 gp each

[Abe Sargent]

The doors open back up and the next room, is a another tapestry room, long since rotted with age.

There is an old star here that head sup and Alzar follows, and the Gem finds a trap. The wounded skeleton walks over and triggers it, and a bunch of spikes fly out and kill it and now they walk around the trap, since it needs to be reset.

At the top is a dark room lined with shelves and old scroll cases made of bone. A large pile of ask is in the center of the room and soot covers the walls and ceiling. Alzar has himself and the undead search the various piles of ash and shelves and they find one sealed bone scroll case that is marked…

Property of the sage Martek. Do not open. Most Secure.


And there is another gem stone here, the Star of Khan-Pelar.

Alzar secures them both. One other scroll case has a scroll in it:


Magic User – Globe of Invulnerability, Dazzle, Locate Object, Detect Invisibility


He heads back and takes a different direction from the platform up here and a door is opened by undead to reveal a room with a few smaller humanoids – goblins, all in chains and doing hard labor. They cover in fear from the undead they see. Their mouths are bound. Alzar ignores them and moves into some tunnels and beyond those are some storerooms and more chained servants. This is probably the hidden slaver’s headquarters. There’s nothing back here Alzar needs. He’s found the Gem and scroll, and he is by himself. He orders his undead escort to hide back in the library and shuts the door. He returns, takes 10 damage from the glyph of warding doorway again and then leaves.

41/51 Alzar

[Abe Sargent]

There are still a number of dervishes, which Alzar now knows are a splinter group of evil dervish cultists. Alzar heads back, rallies his party a huge number of dervishes and even Aman Al-Rafiq joins them, and they head back in an hour and defeat the ones here. Alzar slipped back behind their defenses, cast Dispel Magic on the Glyph, and then set up defenses, and as the dervishes outside retreat in, they run into him.

Following Alzar, they move and head into the Slaver’s area, and they will end up fighting a triad of two Shadow elves and the other heir of the Sheikh, the one that was the younger of the twins, that run the Slaver’s Guild here. After defeating those three, Alzar gives some of the money to Aman for the college, and then they have gotten a few other magical items that Aman will take. One magic user, an adjunct for the slavers, got away by using Dimension Door to get above the ground, and then fled from the Oasis before a hue and cry went up.

After setting folks free, and such, the result is quite potent.


Aman and the Sheikh Kassim Arslan are completely floored by the fact that there was a Temple of Se there, a secret sect of dervishes, a slavers guild, and a prince running them, and then on top of that is one of the Gems and a scroll case secreted away by Martek!

It’s just too much to fathom right now.

Aman agrees that the handwriting is identical and cracks open the scroll case. Inside is an ancient map, one that was edited by Martek. It includes places and areas not on modern maps. It a very important document in the hunt for the last two gems. It also includes this note:

In the City of the Phoenix did I, Martek, Archmage of the land, seal up a mighty prince of the Djinn, so that in the days ahead which I do foresee, when the Evil One is loosed, the powers that be can release the Djinn and so bring balance. The path and the way I have entrusted to the Pharaohs and their wives, and each might hold a part of the key and together know when and how to unlock the power of the Djinn in the City of the Phoenix.

[Abe Sargent]

Aman has never even heard of the City of the Phoenix, but it’s marked on the map on the far northern edge of the modern Sand Mire. Now they have a plan once they can find the other two gem stones. So it looks like, for now, the plan is to find the princess, check her tattoo against the medallion, and then see if they can locate the final two gems.


Alzar has gained 3500 more XP from undead, enemies, and various quests.

Everyone else split 500 each for the final battle.

Everyone got 1000 gp from the Sheikh as a reward.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar has leveled up to level 7. Then he spends a few days using the Libram to gain another level and put him midway to level 9.

So basically he went from 60k XP to 112k with the book.

Normally he would have 4/3/3/2 spells at level 8, so he gets an extra of each as a Path Mage.

He rolls HP again at level 8 and get 3 on ad4.

As you might recall from the first run though, no level gives Alzar as much power as level 8. You might think level 7 (for 4th level Magic) or level 9 (for 5th) would be better than 8, but you would be very wrong.

See Alzar is a dual-class character. He was a mercenary fighter for years and years. In order to learn how to be a mage he had to set aside his fighter ways and learn as a mage. But once his experience as a Mage is better than that of a fighter, he can use both.

What this means is that Alzar gains the THAC0, saves (when better), and abilities of a 7th level fighter. Let’s take a look:

1). Alzar can attack three times every two rounds. He gets an extra attack every other round with all melee weapons
2). Alzar may use weapons, armor, and magical items that can only be used by fighters
3). Alzar has weapon mastery with a battle axe. When using it, he gets 2 attacks/round; +3/+3 to hit and damage.
4). Alzar has a double proficiency in fighting in one-handed style. When he is fighting with one hand, and not two, (such as a battle axe) he gets -2 to his AC and he may use the other hand for something like quaffing a potion or something (not an attack like throwing a rock or something).
5). Alzar owns a Girdle of Hill Giant Strength that he can now use (as a warrior). It gives him 18/00 strength when worn.

With his +2 Battle Axe, Girdle, and Weapon Mastery Bonuses, Alzar is now +8/+11 when he swings his battle axe, and he gets two attacks a turn. His THAC0 is now 14 and that gives him a 6 THAC0 for an AC0.

If you’ll recall, level 8 was when Alzar became a nasty devastating dance of death in combat. He turns into a tank of destruction because he has the full powers of a level 7 fighter and a level 8 mage. He can also use the evil-warrior/priest only Horn of Valhalla he has once/week to summon folks.