Fantasy Game Book

 

The Found Tombs of Arvakaten

Level One

Rubbish-Strewn Entry Chamber (#1/365)

 

“This square chamber is around 15’ across, with a single exit opposite you. The floor is covered with the debris and rubbish of a millenia; rubble, bones, rotting wicker furniture, broken timbers, rusted ironwork and corroded bronze dishes, all layered in white dust and bat guano. Indeterminate footprints trace a clear path from your portal of entrance to the other. The walls are of grease-streaked plaster and adorned with at least six languages worth of graffiti, daubed and carved in sequential layers of occupation.”

 

Contents: This chamber is a dumping spot for centuries of dungeon inhabitants. If at least one hour is spent searching the debris (with numerous Wandering Monster checks for noise and disturbances), the Heroes can uncover a dusty Brass Lamp. Rubbing this will summon the GENIE Wubutu (see below).

 

There is nothing else of value here. The graffiti on the walls say all kinds of things, roll two dice separately on the table below if needed (only understandable if the reader is skilled and literate in the appropriate languages). Feel free to use this table, and self-made variants of it, for graffiti and inscriptions throughout the tombs.

 

First Roll	1	2	3	4	5	6
Second Roll	Gnoll (using Orc runes)	Orc (in Orc runes	Common (Allansian) (Regular script)	Ancient Allansian (Regular script)	Vatosian (Pictoglyphs)	Ancient Djaratian (Hieroglyphs)
1	Give Chance a Piece!	Make my ale Grundel’s Guursh!	Abdur and Fatima were here in 27… AARRGGHH	In the legions, nobody knows your name, but everybody knows your number!	Blessed are the fiends. That lurk here in the darkness. They will burn us all.	The reedy marshes of Umfargaten will provide us with moisture for our crops.
2	More offal for the Offal God!	Yoomans! Paying Orcs to kill other Yoomans since the beginning!	You are our only hope. We have buried our largest cachet of diamonds at …	Chaos Spawn? What Chaos Spawn?	The holy burden. Is that of blind followers. To toil in dust.	Lord Sothra decrees the Pyramids of Ghinai must be built higher still.
3	A hungry Gnoll is a bad Gnoll!	By Hashak’s beady eye, I create this!	It is 283AC. I have escaped to here from Vatos for failing in High Priestess Leesha’s Contest of the Arts.	All hail Avana, most blessed of our imperial gods!	Dark the road ahead. Upon which I travel far. To a place unknown.	The blessed god Assamarra will withhold his sandy breath in this most bountiful year.
4	Laugh at night? Tears in the morning.	And if there were ten black rats, sitting on the wall…	Death rides a black flaming camel!	We came, we saw, we chipped out our name on a dusty wall. GALVANUS!	Five cohorts came here. All were obliterated. Only bones remain.	The holy goddess Assamura will rain beams of sun upon our golden crops of corn.
5	Elf bones!  Best toothpicks since whenever!	Skorgar is the best Orc Knees’ champion since Bhelay, change my mind!	Shazaar Rangers unite against everybody!	I am here. Here I sit. Tried to guard. Fell in the pit.	Evil dwells in the dark. This is known to be true. And yet we do naught.	Our high lord entered the underworld to the south bearing papyrus scrolls and stalks of wheat.
6	Bone marrow? Smash or suck?	Dirty jobs done dirt cheap. See Myorg’s “Murder Sphere” Brethren and Sisterhood.	Rage against the Caarth! Rage against the serpentine machine!	What do we want? Extra rations! When do we want it? Soon!	Cleanse us in the flame. Of the holy sun at noon time. So we may live warm.	The seas that wash pearls to our shores are like the winds that blow the sweet smell of spring to our villages.

Stats:

 

Wubutu the GENIE (Out of the Pit, pp. 56-57)

 

SKILL: 12

STAMINA: 20

Attacks: 1

Weapon: Cleaver (as per Battle Axe)

Armour: None

Notes: Wubutu is a classical Genie of Vatosian origins, who has spent several centuries imprisoned within the Brass Lamp, brewing home-distilled liquor made from dates. Wubutu can be summoned 1d3 times a day by rubbing the lamp; attempting to summon him beyond this daily limit yields no effect. The very first time Wubutu is summoned, read the following:

 

“A cloud of purple smoke erupts from the brass lamp, and when it clears, hovering in front of you is a large rotund purple-skinned GENIE, clad in robes of an ancient design. His eyes are bloodshot and he clutches an empty glass in one hand. Seeing you he burps, tucks the glass away into a sash at his waist, and folds his arms.

‘I am Wubutu the Genie!’ he declares in a booming voice. ‘How, *hic*, may I be of service?”

 

For every subsequent summoning, roll on the following table to determine Wubutu’s mood:

 

Roll	Mood	Effect
1-2	Sober	Can function as normal.
3	Drunk	Can function. All abilities at -1 penalty.
4	Hungover	Can function. All abilities at -2 penalty.
5	Psychotic	Will fight anything in the immediate vicinity with a cooking cleaver for 1d6 Attack Rounds before disappearing back into the lamp.
6	Asleep	A purple hand will emerge from the lamp, wave away the supplicant’s summoning, and return to the lamp, closing the lid behind it.

 

What Wubutu Can Do (one task per summoning):

·      Speak, read and write ancient languages: Vatosian 4, Ancient Allansian 3, Ancient Djaratian 3

·      Fight creatures that can only be wounded by silver or magical weapons. Often refuses to fight ‘normal’ monsters. “Where’s the challenge in that?”

·      Offer obscure advice or solve riddles.

·      Will not grant wishes. “That ability has been removed from my prescribed duties at this current time.”

 

What Wubutu Likes:

·      Getting bunches of dates. One bunch of dates will allow one extra task per summoning.

·      Getting other kinds of booze. One receptacle of quality ale, wine or spirits will allow one extra task per summoning. Others will simply be quaffed immediately. Will be drunk as per #3 on the table above the next time he is summoned.

·      Fighting high-powered magical beings. But not too high-powered…

 

What Wubutu Abhors:

·      Dealing with Orcs, Gnolls, Goblins and the like. Makes fun of them and picks fights.

·      Being wounded. Will take a number of days off equal to how many STAMINA points he has lost. Reaction roll as per #6 on the table above.