#Dungeon23 completed!!!

(So, being the end of the year, it's been a little busy. I had a bunch of absolutely epic encounters planned out to finish off the personally and professionally successful daily creative writing experimental challenge that is #Dungeon23. However, I thought, hang on, you're a bit time-poor right now, let's close it out with a final few easy adventure locales. 

Why not grasp the low-hanging fruit - it's not like I've been slacking off all year right? Also, given this current experiment totals 120k+ words and will hopefully see print (accompanied by maps and illustrations) as an official Advanced Fighting Fantasy combination sandbox adventure/campaign/mega-dungeon sourcebook, why not save the super-cool end of campaign and uber-boss lair stuff for that? 

So, what follows is a brief summary of six nearby adventure locations for your Found Tombs of Arvakaten campaign to round out the year. Subsequently, I may well do a short post on what I learned from this entire exercise, and what I will do next year, because if I did learn anything, it is that, on average, 300 words a day as a creative writing exercise does yield tangible results, and therefore there will be a #Anything24!)

Nearby Locations to the immediate area of Pellod, Dust Town and surrounds.

These are nearby locations to the main adventure sites, and, in some cases, are based on some iconic places from the original published Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. Many of them are written to deliberately link back to Pellod, Dust Town and the Found Tombs of Arvakaten, so as widen the expanse of your campaign if necessary.

Fire Island (#26/31, #360/365)

Fire Island is a large rugged tropical volcanic island in the Western Ocean, offshore from Oyster Bay and the Skull Coast. Its jungles are full of warring tribes, its swamps treacherous and monster-haunted. A Lizard King once reigned here, a distant satrap of the Empire of Silur Cha, whose captives mined gold while Lizard Men kidnappers raided the mainland for more people to work the seams. Mutants and carnivorous vegetation lurk in the hinterland, but one of the most famous inhabitants is the Shaman, a holy man of no small power who serves an unknown god.

Blood Island (#27/31, #361/365)

Blood Island is smaller than Fire Island and located further south along the coast. It is a rocky island with few permanent water sources, whose main feature is the Arena of Death, a gladiatorial coliseum ruled by the vicious Lord Carnuss, exiled brother of Baron Sukumvit of Fang. Carnuss uses the Arena of Death to weed out weaklings from the captives obtained for him by the Pirate Captain Bartella. The most powerful surviving champion will be entered in his brother's infamous Deathtrap Dungeon competition.

The Lost City of Vatos (#28/31, #362/365)

In the aftermath of the Splitting of Irritaria, some semblances of Djaratian culture remained in the region and remodeled themselves into an endless succession of small squabbling lands and cities, dotted about the margins of the desert and its criss-crossing caravan trails. Vatos was the last and most powerful of these, a city growing up around a series of oases in the northern reaches of the desert, controlling the trade routes between the kingdom of Allansia to the north, and the strange southern nation of Arantis. Lasting for many centuries, Vatos eventually succumbed to unrelenting series of attacks by the Caarth armies, not too long before the second major global conflagration that would be known elsewhere in Allansia as the War of the Wizards but here in this corner of the land as the Burning of Ciarensia.

 

Ciarensia was the southern-most province of the Allansian kingdom, occupying the narrow strip of arable land south of the Whitewater River.  It was not fully independent, like the kingdom of Salamonis, which it bordered in the east, but it was afforded more agency by the Allansian capital of Carsepolis owing to the trading riches generated by its two cities, Cutsilver and Balkash. Balkash was a prosperous port, south of what is now Oyster Bay, ferrying trade from Carsepolis itself further south to Arantis. Cutsilver was another oasis town, in the middle of the baking plains, trading with both Vatos to the south and Salamonis to the east. Both of these cities were fine stone-walled settlements, however, during the War of the Wizards all of this apparent prosperity would be completely destroyed.

 

This was the age of wizards, and of knowledge. Influences from Yore to the east meant that both cities had wizard academies, training up magi and sorcerers from promising apprentices. Like Carsepolis, the language of instruction here was Ancient Allansian, and inscriptions in this tongue can be found all over the ruins of Cutsilver and Balkash today. Further south, Vatos, before its destruction, had developed its own language and script, Vatosian, which was both a derivation and a simplification of the old Djaratian language on which it was based. Scholars and adventurers thus exploring the varied ruins of Ciarensia and its environs have to be well-versed in several ancient tongues if they are to make any sense of the stone tablets and inscribed cenotaphs they may find.

Surprisingly, in the Desert of Skulls, there are rumours that Vatos is being rebuilt under a mysterious High Priestess known as Leesha. Apparently having entered into an alliance with the Caarth, she controls an army of slave warriors and several priesthoods devoted to dark and depraved gods. Even more bizarrely, she is patron of a yearly competition, where starving artists make the dangerous trek through the dunes to the ruined city to create a masterpiece that will enable them to win the grand prize of three hundred Gold Pieces. Needless to say in such a den of debauchery, the losers are all executed – sacrificed in honour of the Dark One.

The Lair of Ktuliaxus the Cruel (#29/31, #363/365)

Ktuliaxus the Cruel is an ancient evil Skeletal Dragon who lives in a cavern system among the rugged uplands that lie between the Skull Coast and the Desert of Skulls proper. It is possible they are the lich-like remnants of a Blue Dragon who dwelt here during Vatosian times, without a breath-weapon but with a surfeit of magical lore at their disposal. Ktuliaxus is rumoured to be heavily guarded by both Flame Dead that they have personally created, along with various Dragonpact allies of differing stripes. Ktuliaxus will personally lead their followers out into battle against unfortunate desert trading caravans. They also have an undying enmity for both the Doom Demon and the Crimson Fury, and will fight them above all others!

Shazaar, City of Madness (#30/31, #364/365)

This city lies in the midst of the sweltering Southern Plain, an oasis settlement referred to as the City of Madness due to the eccentricity of its inhabitants and the bizarre appearance of its buildings' architecture. A barony ruled by Lord Tanneth, the prime deity of Shazaar is the Trickster God Logaan, though many other cults and sects make their home there. Shazaar is also famous for its ale, served at establishments such as the Fatted Pig, its festivals such as Lucre Week, and as the birthplace of the legendary hero Zofia of Shazaar. 

Protecting the city, as well as regular troops, are fifty elite Shazâar Rangers. These are most likely to be encountered away from the city, either on official business for their lord, such as accompanying officials who are tax-collecting or census-taking, or on routine patrols to ensure the safety of the caravan trails on whose wealth Shazâar depends. From time to time they may also undergo clandestine missions to root out pockets of Chaos and Evil that are deemed a threat to the future of their city-state.

Shazâar Rangers are experienced soldiers, armed with swords, spears and longbows, clad in chainmail armour, and usually mounted on horses for rapid travel across the plains. A Ranger typically wears a grey or brown cloak and the device on their shield is eight red arrows radiating from a central point upon a grey field. As natives of the City of Madness they are also followers of one of the weird sects that hold sway in that town; roll a die on the table below for each Ranger to determine their cult allegiance.

Roll	Cult Allegiance	Sphere of Influence	Notes
1	Osmani	God of Mercenaries	Has Greatsword as a weapon
2	Fourga	God of Pride	Body is dyed black or dark grey
3	Logaan	The Trickster	Have no money
4	Sindla	Goddess of Luck	Use dice to make decisions
5	Telak	God of Courage	Hair is dyed gold
6	Hamaskis	God of Learning	Tattooed with holy scripts

SHAZÂAR RANGER

SKILL: 8

STAMINA: 12

WEAPON: Sword, Spear or Longbow

ARMOUR: Chainmail Cuirass and Small Shield

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 2-7

REACTION: Neutral

Riding Horses (skill 7 stamina 9, Hooves (as per Large Claw)

Sapphire City (#31/31, #365/365)

Sapphire City is a prosperous township on the southern edge of the Desert of Skulls, reached by the most westerly trails across the sand dunes and rock spires, and ruled under a local governor loosely associated with the southern city of Rimon. It is very much an “anything goes” frontier-town, full of rough miners and prospectors, who trade with Hill Barbarians, Desert Nomads, and various non-human races. Rogue gangs of miners and prospectors sometimes strike out north, through the desert’s rockier wastes, looking for seams of gold and gemstone deposits. They have also been known to uncover ancient ruins from the earlier civilizations that once ruled the Desert of Skulls.