Encounters in the Desert!

These encounters can be used in any desert or dune sea upon the Plane of Rust.

Quicksand! (#13/30; #256/365)

"You are traversing a dune that descends to a flat plain of sticky red mud. A caravan of weird creatures are already entrapped in the cloying mess and struggling to get free. Strange blue-skinned humanoids, around two to three metres tall, with elephant-like trunks, are attempting to rope together shaggy brown and blue-furred quadrupeds and haul them from the mire.

One of the trunk-people sees you, pointing in your direction with a long iron spear.

'Help us!' it pleads, honkingly."

Contents: These are VORPIT tinkers and their caravan of WUDREFMIK haul-beasts, which have become trapped in a stretch of dire quicksand between the dunes, and desperately need help to recover their caravan.

If the Heroes ignore them, they will be honked at derisively, sworn at, and even bathed in flame from the VORPIT's fire-belching trunks. If the Heroes attack the caravan, the VORPIT will defend themselves, but the WUDREFMIK will be unable to attack, other than spitting acid at their enemies, as they are slowly sinking in the quicksand.

If the Heroes help the caravan, it requires two successful Test Your Skill (or Test Your Luck, depending on the Director's mood) per Hero, one to avoid falling in the quicksand, and one to pull a Wudrefmik out of the muck. Anyone falling in the quicksand must Test their Skill/Luck every Attack Round for however many Skill/Luck points they have until they die or succeed.

Once all the Wudrefmik are freed, the Vorpit will be effusive in their thanks. They can provide information on whatever settlements they are travelling between, repair rusted items of armour, or even gift 1-3 vials of Rustbane to the Heroes. They would also be very happy to work with and/or trade for Sky Metal.

Stats:

2-7 WUDREFMIK, SKILL 6 STAMINA 10, Hooves (as per Large Claw) or Acid Spit, Light Armour. See the Rough Guide to the Pit, p. 36.

2-12 VORPIT, SKILL 6 STAMINA 10, 2 Attacks, Spear and Trunk (as Unarmed (Large)), Large Shield. Trunk can either attack or breath fire; roll one die, hits on a 1 or 2 for 1 STAMINA damage. See Demons of Doom, p. 66.

Each Vorpit is armed with a Spear, a Large Shield, 1-6 Obsidan Chips (worth 1GP) each, and a vial of Rustbane. 

If rescued and then looted, the caravan itself has 100-600GP worth of ironware, a saddlebag with 3-36 Obisidian Chips, 2-12 spare vials of Rustbane, a portable anvil and bellow-driven forge, and 2-12 finished metal goods for trade.

Rustbane: Rustbane is a shiny, silvery fungus; a reverse-engineered variant of Ironbane, that when placed on rusty items, absorbs the corrosion and excretes it back as deposits of pure iron. Any piece of iron equipment, such as a weapon, a piece of armour, and so on, that has been damaged by corrosion, such as Ironbane or prolonged exposure to the Plane of Rust, will be restored to normal via the application of one dose of Rustbane per item. This also applies to items made from other metals and metallic alloys, however it does not work on items that are damaged but not rusty, such as those dissolved by Iron Eaters or gnawed upon by Ferrovores. Also, rusty metal magical items can have their physical presence restored by Rustbane, but their enchanted effects will need to be rejuvenated separately through sorcerous means.

Sandstorm! (#14/30; #257/365)

"The world goes dark. Where once was blue sky only clouds of deep crimson remain, boiling across the sky like the angry breath of a god. The front of the sandstorm is heading rapidly in your direction. How long do you have to find shelter and protection?"

Contents: Roll one die to give a result of 10-60 minutes, which is how much time the Heroes have to find or create shelter.

When the sandstorm hits, every Hero must Test their Skill or Luck, deducting 1 to 4 points from the dice roll depending on whether their shelter is comprehensive, moderate, light or non-existent. Those that are unsuccessful have been flung out into the storm and must lose 2-12 STAMINA from their bruises and breathing in the toxic stew of dust. Those who are successful but lack nose filters or other breathing apparatus still lose 1-6 STAMINA points.

Following this, monsters will surge from the storm and attack - roll a die to determine what:

1-2 a SAND DEMON

3-4 1-3 SAND DEVILS

5-6 1-6 WHIRLWINDS

On the plus side, the sandstorm will also expose 2-12 Red Jewels, worth 10-60GP each.

Stats:

SAND DEMON, SKILL 13 STAMINA 13, Attacks 2, Fists (Unarmed - Large). See the Rough Guide to the Pit, pp. 25-26.

SAND DEVIL, SKILL 10, STAMINA 7, Sandstorm (as per Large Claw), All hits only cause the Sand Devil 1 STAMINA damage, but water splashed on it will kill it instantly. (see Out of the Pit, p. 99-100)

WHIRLWIND, SKILL 7 STAMINA 7, Wind Blast (as per Sling), all hits only cause 1 STAMINA damage to the Whirlwind. Can execute a charge attack once per battle; opponent must Test for SKILL or be sucked into the whirlwind and get battered about, losing 2 STAMINA and be knocked unconscious for 10-60 minutes.

Meteor Shower! (#15/30; #258/365)

"There is a loud bang, a wizzing pop, and the ground-shaking thud of a sizzling hot boulder of shining metal hitting the sand in front of you, and then another, and then another, as these playthings of the gods sear through the atmosphere in explosions of sound and fury!"

Contents: A meteor swarm from another Plane has torn through a wormhole in the Pit and impacted upon this area of the dune sea. All Heroes must Test their Skill/Luck; those who are unlucky are hit by a meteor and suffer 2-12 STAMINA damage, although they are allowed an Armour Roll.

On the positive side, anyone inspecting the meteors after they cool down (which takes 1-6 hours), will find 200-1200GP worth of valuable Sky Metal. Unfortunately, as soon as they find this, a LIGHTNING DEMON scout-drone from the Plane of Platinum will hover down from the sky and demand all the Sky Metal be paid to it as tribute!

Stats:

LIGHTNING DEMON, SKILL 14 STAMINA 16, 4 Attacks, Lightning Bolt, Light Armour. See the Rough Guide to the Pit, pp. 22-23.