Crimson Fury!

The Crimson Fury (#30/365; #120/365)

Terror stalks the dunes of the Desert of Skulls. As if serpent people and Giant Sandworms were not bad enough, from dusk until dawn, the Crimson Fury thunders on flaming hooves across the darkened landscape, attacking unrepentant sinners (which is almost everybody really), and dragging their screaming souls back to the Pit.

The Crimson Fury is a giant red-furred camel, wreathed in flames, and carrying a howling armoured Skeleton Warrior, usually armed with a spear or scimitar and shield, on its back. Inexperienced or terror-stricken travelers think the skeletal rider is the more dangerous of the duo and neglect the camel at their peril! For the camel is actually the Crimson Fury, while the skeleton is simply the remains of one of its last victims, animated into an undead companion.

This flaming camel-demon of vengeance gallops out from a dimensional gateway on the vermilion sands of the Demonic Plane of Rust every dusk, hunting across the wastelands for sinners to slay. When the first rays of the sun rise at dawn, it returns back to the Pit, the severed heads of its victims dangling from its harness, their souls trapped in its magical saddlebags. 

The desert nomads know it as 'Gadab Ahmar', the Red Anger; the Caarth call it 'Q'sithran'll', the 'Flames of Death', and both are vexed by its eternal presence. A Desert Elf child, Elspethiel, dedicated to Galana herself, is the only known recent survivor of a Crimson Fury attack; she is thought to live with her tribe on the borderlands of Arantis.

The Crimson Fury is immune to damage from regular weapons, and only wounded by those made from silver, or those that are blessed or magical. They are immune to all kinds of fire, including magical fires, but other magic spells may harm them. Regular water has no impact, though a vial of holy water will do 1-6 STAMINA points of damage if thrown. The skeleton rider is also immune to all fire damage, and takes only half damage from bladed or pointed regular weaponry; crushing and smashing weapons will do normal damage. Some have speculated that sunlight may destroy the Crimson Fury but so far no-one has managed to restrain the creature for long enough to test this hypothesis.

In battle the Crimson Fury attacks with its flaming hooves, while breathing out a continuous stream of fire from its mouth and nostrils. Roll a die every Attack Round; on a 1 or 2, all enemy combatants suffer 2 STAMINA points from the fire. In addition, the smoke and flames force any enemy to subtract 1 from their Attack Strength; those that do successfully hit must themselves deduct 1 STAMINA point of damage due to the immense heat given off by the creature. The fires of the Crimson Fury can of course cause flammable objects to ignite; woe betide the simpleton who attacks the beast with several full oilskins or a pouch of firepowder in their backpack!

THE CRIMSON FURY, FLAMING CAMEL DEMON OF VENGEANCE 

SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 14 (Attacks: 2)
WEAPON: Flaming Hooves (as per Very Large Claws; +2 to the Damage Roll)
ARMOUR: Medium
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1
REACTION: Hostile

SKELETON WARRIOR-RIDER
SKILL: 8
STAMINA: 6
WEAPON: Spear or Scimitar
ARMOUR: Medium (mail scraps) and Large Shield
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1
REACTION: Hostile

Tower of the Hamakei!

Tower of the Hamakei (#29/30; #119/365)

(If the Director has previously created a Hamakei NPC in this area, such as a balloon rider or a customer at Tan-Kha's Tavern, they can assume this tower belongs to that Hamakei, otherwise they can use the Hamakei NPC detailed below.)

This sandstone edifice rises from the desert, looking for all the world to have been carved from a single pillar of rock. There is a battered wooden door at ground level and several irregularly spaced circular yellow glass windows rising gradually up the tower, while at the top is a small cupola of yellow glass, lit irregularly by an eerie white light that can be seen for miles around. A large lilac-coloured balloon may occasionally be tethered to the cupola.

The tower belongs to the Hamakei mage and scholar Selathas Vrint (see below) and is heavily guarded with various minions and traps. Anyone at ground level approaching the tower with obviously hostile intent will be attacked by a pair of Sand Golems that will manifest from piles of sand blown against the tower's walls. Aerial attackers will find themselves dealing with 2 Sand Devils instead, kept in pots of sand outside the cupola on the top level of the tower. The various levels of Selathas' tower are as follows:

Ground Level: This contains a long, low-ceiling entrance hall, floored with terracotta tiles and with a circular staircase at the far end of the hall. Selathas will greet known or friendly visitors here courteously. Intruders will have to deal with an increasingly difficult series of traps on the way to the stairs:

• Trap 1: Cage trap is sprung, releasing 2-7 Iron Eaters which will drop onto any victims and attempt to consume metal armour and weapons
• Trap 2: A troop of 3-18 Mungies will be released via a ceiling chute from a holding pen on the level above. The Mungies are under instructions to steal staves, rings, wands and amulets from the intruders and speedily take them to Selathas, if they are present, or hide them.
• Trap 3: 1-3 tiles will flip over releasing 1-3 Fetch, which will attack anyone still using or displaying magical power.
• Trap 4: For anyone who still appears to be a threat, a pit trap will open, dumping them into the cellar's containment cell.
  

Cellar: The cellar is split into three sections:

• Containment cell: contains a Basilisk and what looks like a lot of broken statuary
• Alchemy workshop: contains plenty of glassware and 2-7 potions, guarded by a Vitriol Essence in a stone basin full of strong acid
  
• Wine racks: contains 4-24 bottles of wine, most of which is poorish quality from Pellod, but 2-7 bottles will be a more expensive type of wine. One of the bottles is actually a Nanka Flask.

Level 1: This is Selathas' work room, and contains a summoning circle surrounded with candles, various magical paraphernalia including a crystal ball and a trapped Tulpa Mirror which activates in the presence of intruders. Also here is a cage of 3-18 trained, well-fed Mungies.

Level 2: The library, featuring mainly vellum and papyrus scrolls written in the scratchy Hamakeian script. There are several older books from Carsepolitan times written in Ancient Allansian, and some more recent titles as well. Selathas' spellbook (actually a collection of scrolls) is here in a leather traveling case. Chained to a wooden lectern is a large, green scale-hide tome - this is a trapped book by Jaiphrai Ah'Cha called Teach Yourself Demon-Summoning that, if read, summons a Fire Demon to attack the reader.

Lever 3: Selethas' living quarters with a wicker cot-nest full of tattered sheets, a table, several chairs, and a cabinet full of jars of food including Desert Bison beef jerky, pickled Dung Beetles, and roasted vipers on sticks. Two Lesser Living Statues will animate on Selathas' command and attack any intruders - they take the form of stone idols of Djaratian deities; one is Khunam the ram-headed god of wisdom, and the other is Tho-Aat, the ibis-headed god of sorcery.

Level 4: The Observatory - which, during the day is guarded by 2 Flying Guardians that appear as mummified vultures, though they are not actual Mummies. At night, there is a white magical signal beacon that is active, as long as Selathas is not using the observatory's telescope. If the light is on, it activated a Shadow Monster trap that is sprung by anyone traversing the tiles between the stairs and the telescope. Selathas' lilac-coloured balloon made from Sandworm gut and named 'Nardris' may also be tethered here (its basket seats four passengers).

The tower's occupant: Selathas Vrint is an accomplished Hamakei Wizard and Conjuror. They carry at all times a Hamakei Staff, a Scroll of Sand Demon-Summoning (one use only, summons a Sand Demon (see Rough Guide to the Pit)), and an Amulet of Ra. 

Selathas enjoys wine, and used to make more visits to Pellod to acquire some, though this has largely stopped since their friend Giblin the Sage was exiled to Dust Town. Now they go drinking at Tan-Kha's tavern or trade for wine from passing merchants. They are occasionally consulted by Desert Elves for obscure scraps of lore, and are intrigued by the new Xoroa colony of Kul-Tha. Selathas remains highly suspicious of the Caarth, and monitors their movements wherever possible.

Where is Selathas Vrint:

1-3 In their tower (see below)

4 In their balloon, floating above the desert

5 Visiting Giblin the Sage in Dust Town

6 Drinking at the Tavern of Tan-Kha

If Selathas is in his tower, he is at (the):

1 Level 1, feeding the Mungies or summoning something

2 Level 2, reading and conducting research

3 Level 3, sleeping or eating

4 Level 4, peering through the telescope

5 Cellar, drinking or making potions

6 Ground Level Main Hall, welcoming guests

Look! Up there! In the sky!

Wasteland Airspace (#28/30; #118/365)

Occasionally, some sort of weird flying thing (i.e. not 'normal' birds, flying reptiles, giant insects, or a Harpy, Bird-Man or Life-Stealer), will be spotted in the sky, high above the desert as it floats or cruises through the clouds to diverse possible destinations. Roll a die to determine its provenance:

1. Warpstone Dwarven Airship: This is an expeditionary scouting force, sent by King Kurad Dragonhelm of Warpstone to check the local terrain and threats, and test the long-range capabilities of the airship. Will have anywhere between 20-50 Dwarf crew and air marines armed with flintlock weapons on board, depending on airship size (which, in turn, is dependent on how big a chunk of warpstone they managed to lever into the ship's warpstone drive).

2. Flying Carpet Travellers: This large flying carpet is almost certainly controlled by Kharhanion the Competant (from Dust Town - see #103) transporting 1-3 wealthy passengers to (or back from) one of the following destinations (roll a die):

    1. Shazaar, and then on to Salamonis

    2. Sapphire City

    3. Pellod

    4. Tavern of Tan-Kha

    5. Halak and/or Rimon

    6. Oyster Bay

There is a 1 in 6 chance the carpet belongs to someone else (a mysterious mage, a powerful adventurer, a Black Elf sorcerer, etc.), in which case there will be no passengers, other than the flyer's minions or companions.

3. Hot-Air Balloon: Roll a die to determine who is flying and piloting the craft as part of a burgeoning north-west Allansia ballooning scene:

    1-2 Desert Elf aerial scouts (2-4 warriors)

    3-4 Shazaar Air Guild test pilots (1-3 humans)

    5-6 A lone Hamakei sage on a journey of discovery across the desert

4. Airborne Steed: Roll a die to determine who is wheeling across the sky on the back of a large flying creature:

    1-2 A gruesome Hag, flying a Giant Vulture

    3-4 A Desert Elf messenger-scout, flying a Giant Eagle

    5-6 A Black Elf warrior-noble, flying a Firedrake

5. Clandestine Pangarian Flyer: A small, storm crystal-powered Flyer from Pangaria is rendezvousing near Dust Town to drop off the magical products of Technomancy. 2-7 Pangarian Goblins will be on board, and attempt to cowe anyone they encounter by claiming to be deities from the heavens, flying down to Titan on a chariot of the gods!

6. The Riddling Reaver's Airship: This gigantic marrow-shaped dirigible will be slowly floating across the sky, above the desolate landscape. It is debatable as to whether the Reaver himself may be on board, but the airship will definitely be crewed by up to 20 Replicanths, with 1-3 Genie officers also present.

Burial Grounds South of Pellod

The Necropolis and the Graveyard (#27/30; #117/365)

Go past the Wailing Ghoul Inn at the edge of town, head south through the Gate of Sighs, and on towards the turgid banks of the River Murab. Before you reach the sticky marshes of the delta, you will find yourself in a scrubby wasteland containing the bare stone ruins of an old Djaratian necropolis, alongside a more recent graveyard dating from Carsepolitan times, that currently serves the city of Pellod. The Necropolis itself is an ancient series of largely ransacked Djaratian and Vatosian tombs while the graveyard is full of borrowed stonework from the crypts. Alongside it are several funeral pavillions containing pyres for those gods whose followers practice cremation.

The Necropolis is sometimes used as a training ground, for adventurers intent on exploring the much more dangerous Found Tombs of Arvakaten. Sure, it offers a good grounding in learning Djaratian hieroglyphics or Vatosian symbol language, but most of the Necropolis' treasure has been looted and its traps sprung. However, some creatures still stalk through the dusty vaults, usually in the form of Undead horrors or scavenging cave creatures.

What Lurks in Yonder Necropolis? (roll three die) 

3. Mummy

4. Karanth

5. Decayer

6. Living Statue (Lesser)

7. Eye Stinger

8. Carrion Bug

9. Tomb Viper

10. Common Bat

11. Swarm (especially Flesh Grubs or Death Maggots)

12. Giant Rat

13. Ghoul

14. Iron-Eater

15. Bone Devil

16. Chattermatter

17. Crypt Stalker

18. Wrapper

Secluded Pirate Cove

A Quiet Pirate Cove (#26/30; #116/365)

This secluded cove serves as one of several places along the Pirate Coast where buccaneers and corsairs surreptitiously put to anchor, to clean their ship's hull and take on supplies. In this particular bay, a trail runs from the beach, across the valley floor, and through the hills, up into a watchpost of the Bronze Serpent Mercenary Company, as it is here where the Orcs make contact with various pirate bands as needed. At the cove is a cairn of rocks with a signal pyre that is lit by either the Orcs or the Pirates when they need a rendezvous.

(The following information applies to the Skull Coast, which is a little further north, in the vicinity of Fire Island, but could equally apply to the Pirate Coast around Pellod)

The Skull Coast is a rocky stretch of strand that borders the desert wastes where they meet the waves of the Western Ocean. Long-famed for shipwrecks and sea caves full of ferocious monsters and weird demons, it is also the renowned haunt of various scurvy pirate crews. These criminal scum prey on the coastal shipping between Arantis and the northern lands, though some range further afield; north to Port Blacksand, south to Halak and Rimon, and west to distant islands in the far ocean. Their bases on the Skull Coast are coastal forts or excavated caves, with convenient anchorage for their sailing ships. Pirates rarely venture inland, into the wastes, except to bury or retrieve treasure (almost always with the aid of a map, though some devious captains have been known to get their crew to bury treasure chests containing naught but iron bars!)

Individual pirates will be clad in ragged sea-worn clothes, and brandishing either a cutlass or a club in combat. Most also carry a bandolier of razor-sharp throwing knives. Owing to their life-style, many pirates are fiercely individualistic and defined by key traits picked up during their bloody career. The below table offers some examples of what could have happened to a pirate in their short life so far, though for simplicity’s sake it is perhaps better to apply its rolls to only a few key buccaneers, such as the captain and his or her henchmen (roll one die):

1. Pet Parrot: Will defend its master (SKILL 4 STAMINA 3, Small Bite, -2 to Damage Roll)
2. Hook hand: ATTACKS 2, damage as per Dagger
3. Eye-patch: -1 SKILL
4. Peg leg: -1 SKILL, Can always be Escaped from
5. Gunner: Has a flintlock pistol (see Blacksand, p. 8)
6. Pet Monkey: Will defend its master (SKILL 6 STAMINA 4, Small Bite)

The number of pirates encountered will determine the type of ship they are sailing:

Pirates    Ship type
10+        Longship
20+        Cog
30+        Caravel
40+        Coastal Barge (as per Pleasure Barge)
50+        Galley
60           Galleon

Further details on ship types can be found in Blacksand (pp. 15-17). Sometimes the pirate forces may be split between two or more smaller vessels instead of all being on one ship. The pirate captains of the Skull Coast are both legendary and infamous. If 50 or more pirates are encountered, you can roll two dice on the table below to randomly determine which pirate captain the Heroes have had the misfortune of encountering (assume all ships to be Galleons):

2: Garius of Halak 'The Death’s Head'
3: Captain Bloodaxe 'The Troll'
4: Captain Barnock 'The Flying Toucan'
5: Agrat Longtooth 'The Skull in Splendour'
6: Forash Fearbringer 'The Blackheart'
7: Kullion the Crab 'The Blood Auk'
8: Captain Blackskar 'The Swordfish'
9: Agrat Longtooth 'The Dancing Dolphin'
10: Captain Gargo 'The Belladonna'
11: Captain ‘Skully’ Bartella 'The Black Swan'
12: Lord Azzur 'The Face of Chaos'

PIRATE OF THE SKULL COAST
SKILL: 6
STAMINA: 8
WEAPON: Cutlass (as per Sword), Club or Throwing Dagger
ARMOUR: None
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 10-60 (per ship)
REACTION: Hostile

A Lizard Man Coastal Fort

A Lizard Man Coastal Fort (#25/30; #115/365)

An evil Lizard King rules the humid swamps and jungles of Fire Island and sends his inhuman troops to the mainland to kidnap captives to work in his gold mines. Once a prison colony run by mercenary Lizard Men guards, the Lizard King has now affirmed his allegiance to the Empire of Silur Cha, and begun building several fortified settlements along the Skull and Pirate Coasts, which, together with the Fire Island enclave, are the northernmost far-flung outposts of this nefarious nation of reptilians.

These forts are small mud-brick structures of alien design, inhabited by four to twenty-four Lizard Men, conducting military scouting operations in the immediate vicinity. All Lizard Men are armed with spears and swords, and clad in finely worked armour studded with spikes. The leader of a fort will be either a powerful Mutant Lizard Man or a Two-Headed Lizard Man. A fort may also have one to three Giant Lizards as battle-steeds, carrying Lizard Men riders into battle against anyone foolish enough to attack the walls.

LIZARD MAN KIDNAPPER (FROM FIRE ISLAND)
SKILL: 8
STAMINA: 8
WEAPON: Spear or Sword
ARMOUR: Medium
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 4-24 (per fort)
REACTION: Hostile

Forts have 1-3 Lizard Men Kidnappers riding Giant Lizards (SKILL 8 STAMINA 9, Large Bite, Light Armour)

A Desert Nomad Encampment

Desert Nomad Encampment (#24/30; #114/365)

Desert Nomads of various tribes regularly set up camp out among the dunes, sometimes around an oasis or hidden well, sometimes just to avoid the scum and villainy of Dust Town, Pellod, and other marginal outland settlements. Occasionally, they may even be on a Giant Sandworm hunt, harpooning the great desert leviathans and then butchering them where they fall. The camp will be a temporary settlement of tents and tethered riding animals with four to twenty four warriors (both male and female) and the same number of non-combatants, including the elderly, children and ransom-captives. It will be a hive of activity in the early morning and evening to night, when temperatures are cooler, and virtually quiet during the day, when the sun has risen high in the sky.

(The below text is abridged and modified from Beyond the Pit (p. 96))

Some historians say that all Nomads are descended from the Halfhand brothers, those legendary chieftains who cut a bloody swathe through the steppes and plains of Irritaria, the First Continent. When Irritaria was torn asunder into Allansia, Khul and the Old World, the Nomads settled widely among the flatlands and the deserts, their lifestyle unchanging and ever wandering. They are famous for their riding ability, whether their steeds be camels or horses, and are experts at performing all kinds of tasks while on the move, from shooting arrows to patching tents. Nomads are usually armed with spears, curved sabres, and short bows, using lacquered leather armour for protection along with small shields. They may be encountered as bands of one to six hunters or scouts, or as settlements as described above.

Desert Nomads ride both camels and horses, and are found in arid, barren wastes. In Allansia this means the Desert of Skulls, where the Nomads eke out a living by roaming the desert’s fringe and trading camel-hides and more precious goods with towns like Shazâar, where the townfolk call them Sand Trackers. They wear yellow or white robes and follow holy folk known as sufi, who worship the Sand God Assamarra. Nomads from the Desert of Skulls are famous for hunting Giant Sandworms by camel-back, using barbed harpoons to slay the gargantuan beasts. A dead Sandworm will prove a great boon to the Nomads, for the meat is edible, the thick skin is used to craft sturdy tents, and the teeth make excellent ivory daggers.

There are several different tribes of Desert Nomads in the vicinity of Ciarensia and the northern fringes of the Desert of Skulls. The tribes depend on trade and Sandworm-hunting for their livelihood and take a dim view of banditry and raiding. As a result, their code of honour demands that hospitality and generosity must be shown to every guest, regardless of creed. These rules apply to some non-humans, such as Black Elves or Desert Elves, but not to others, like Sand Stalkers, Rhino-Men and the hated Caarth. They are thus not averse to attacking these latter races if the opportunity permits. Some of the tribes of Desert Nomads are named on the following table (which can be rolled upon to determine which tribe an adventuring party of Heroes has encountered):

1. Ab Shumus: "Children of the Sun"
2. Yunfakir: "Riders of the Wind"
3. Al Sahra: "Lords of the Desert"
4. Al Jamajim: "Leavers of Skulls"
5. Abu Katib: "Masters of the Dunes"
6. Al Ramal: "Trackers of the Sands"

DESERT NOMAD
SKILL: 8
STAMINA: 7
WEAPON: Sabre (as per Sword), Spear or Short Bow
ARMOUR: Leather Cuirass and Small Shield
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-6 or 4-24
REACTION: Neutral

Riding either Horses (SKILL 7 STAMINA 9, Hooves (as per Large Claw) or Camels (SKILL 7 STAMINA 8, Hooves (as per Large Claw)