Chapter 7: Nalathesh
[back to Cloven Lands playtest material]
This chapter offers detailed information about the desert kingdom of Nalathesh. The first section in this chapter offers general information on the nation as a whole. Subsequent sections focus on various alphabetically organized points of interest that the heroes are likely to explore in the campaign.
Overview
The majority of Nalathesh is spread across a hot, arid desert, and can provide a difficult environment for travelers unprepared for the terrain and climate. Nalatheshi caravans take advantage of this to act as go-betweens for merchants unwilling to travel through the harsh desert. Exports from Nalathesh include a wide variety of expensive spices, copper, gold and gilded artwork, and fine blown glass.
Most residents of Nalathesh live in adobe homes, which, aside from the tall apartment buildings in Aridala, are often single-story constructions surrounding small courtyards. In regions where building materials are scarce, or where residents travel frequently, people instead live in pavilion tents, which are often elaborately decorated with embroidery, patchwork designs, or carefully woven patterns.
Northern Nalathesh
In the center of the desert, a slowly expanding pit of flesh grows within the ground. The small settlement at the edge of the pit harvests the flesh from the pit and processes it for consumption, providing a cheap source of food for most of northern Nalathesh as well as their trade partners in Husk. The maintenance of the Flesh Pit is run by a small cult, whose strings are pulled by the Licten family in an attempt to spread their influence into Nalathesh.
The capital of Nalathesh, the radiant city of Aridala, is the pride of the nation. The city is built at the base of beautiful red sandstone cliffs, and overlooks the only lake in the kingdom that remains full throughout the year. The Godking’s palace is carved into the cliffside, and the engraved details have been carefully maintained throughout the years to ensure it continues to be as stunning as possible. This attention to detail upholds the same impression of immortality that the Godking’s mask conveys. The Godking’s palace is widely considered to be one of the most stunning and impressive architectural works on the continent.
Southern Nalathesh
The Floating Islands in the south of Nalathesh are the subject of much curiosity, and recent discoveries of rare minerals in debris from the islands have inspired a large amount of interest in the area.
Along the eastern border of Nalathesh, a few days south from the edge of Bridgemoor, is a town that has been rapidly growing both its treasury and its influence within the kingdom. The town of Lonerock, led by Cyrus Drake, has been the source of much controversy in recent years. Cyrus Drake is a popular and well-respected leader, and his choices have substantially improved the lives of Lonerock’s residents. Unfortunately, he is also rather critical of the Godking’s regime, and openly worships the Celestial Council, which has caused quite a stir amongst the more traditional members of the nobility. The Luxxor family have been major supporters of Cyrus Drake, and maintain that, as he has always been consistent in paying taxes and he has not built any unauthorized temples, his faith, while perhaps surprising, does not seem to pose an obstacle in his ability to perform his civil responsibilities. And, as the payment of taxes is legally considered a religious responsibility, the fact that he does so honors his responsibility of worship to the Godking, regardless of his other beliefs.
Intriguing Rumors
The following table provides a list of rumors and plot hooks that may lead the party to investigate the different regions of Nalathesh. More details on these happenings can be found in the sections related to the locations discussed.
| Region | Hook |
|---|---|
| The Floating Islands | There are rumors of a wise and ancient magical creature living in a cave system beneath Southern Nalathesh. To learn more, the heroes should ask the Spring Meadow Pack below the Floating Islands, or explore caverns along the edge of the Chasm a few days south of Lonerock. |
| The Flesh Pit | Innkeeper Carijan is hiring strong and dedicated individuals to help keep the road near the Flesh Pit free of any carrion that might attract the local wildlife to harass travelers. Interested parties should inquire at the Scavenger’s Rest inn. |
| Lonerock | The Radiant Princes are, once again, trying to fine Cyrus Drake for his vocal unwillingness to worship the Godking. He argues that, as he completes his civil duties of paying taxes and acquiring the appropriate permits for his work—which legally qualify as acts of worship of the Godking—and he does not attend a formal temple service for any other deity within the borders of Nalathesh, he has not done anything illegal. Cyrus Drake can be found within the town of Lonerock, which he leads. |
| Aridala | Merchants in the marketplace of Aridala are rumored to be trading rare magical items imported from the nation of Husk. While some of the items available are extraordinarily expensive, it is still an excellent opportunity for those who wish to acquire Husk’s renowned magical equipment without braving the strange and volatile magical anomalies that surround the small city–state. |
| Aridala (alternate rumor) | The Sunrise Theater in Aridala has several open spaces in its schedule for the next few months. If a troupe of skilled performers were to impress the owners of the theater, they might have an excellent opportunity to make a name for themselves. |
| Nalatheshi Desert | There are rumors of an organization known as the Sandsnakes pulling the strings in the local underground. While they may be hard to track down, as their leader is extremely cautious, adventurers with at least 6 Goodwill in the Underground sphere of Nalathesh may be able to get a message through to the Sandsnakes to arrange a meeting. If such a meeting were to take place, the adventurers would likely find who they were looking for in northern Nalathesh, near the border with Lesmishan. |
Academics
Despite its lack of formal education, Nalathesh values scholars and researchers highly. Incentives are offered for scholars from other nations to move to Nalathesh and join its national guild dedicated to research and the documentation of scholarly matters. The Guild of Nalatheshi Scholars works closely with scholars in Husk on a few long-term projects, and many magical researchers who wish to one day establish a name for themselves in Husk begin by working on research projects in Nalathesh.
The Guild of Scholars
The Guild of Nalatheshi Scholars is, as one would expect, an organization devoted to academic pursuits within Nalathesh. Unlike most other regions, the scholars within Nalathesh do not tend to spend much time behind desks at comfortable universities. Instead, they often reside in smaller towns and settlements located near the locations and phenomena that they study. The Guild of Nalatheshi Scholars provides tents and other basic traveling supplies to its members at a heavy discount, and it is common for those who wish to enter the field of academic research to begin by traveling alongside a few trade caravans to take notes on different regions.
Education
As there are no major universities established in Nalathesh, most who are interested in scholarly pursuits travel to study in Bridgemoor. In rare cases, a few of the more magically inclined seek out opportunities in Husk. Those who do not travel to study at a university tend to study under the personal guidance of a member of the Guild of Nalatheshi Scholars; it is fairly common for the more well-regarded guild members to have at least one or two assistants at a time, and that position is often filled by those who are seeking opportunities to become scholars themselves.
Most people in Nalathesh are taught at least enough mathematics to manage household expenses and taxes, and to ensure they are not being cheated by those they trade with. The Godking’s temples provide lessons in basic mathematics and reading, though in smaller settlements, most people stop attending after learning enough to get by in daily life.
Foreign Researchers
In addition to the Guild of Nalatheshi Scholars, foreign academics do research in Nalathesh on occasion. Scholars from Bridgemoor and Husk have both expressed interest in researching the Flesh Pit and the Floating Islands, in particular. Such research is typically done as collaborative work with the Guild of Nalatheshi Scholars, who help to supervise any relevant expeditions and ensure they are following Nalatheshi laws and regulations.
Politics
Though the nation is, in theory, an absolute monarchy where all decisions are made by the Godking by divine right, there are, in truth, several individuals and factions vying for control and influence within the nation’s government. At the moment, much of the conflict is happening behind closed doors, but that may not remain the case.
The Monarchy
The Godking is the absolute ruler of Nalathesh. Though the myths present him as an immortal ruler known as Godking Neferu, the truth is that Godking Neferu is a title passed down along with the golden mask, through the lineage of the Ahnadi family. The current Godking Neferu, a man named Relian Ios Ahnadi, does his best to fulfill his duty to ensure the nation’s prosperity, though he has struggled to balance his duty to the nation and his duty to his family. His son, in particular, has been rebelling against the expectations placed on him, and Relian is concerned that General Tenemei might discover his son’s identity, and with it the secrets behind the myth of the Godking— that is, if he has not already done so. The increase in authority granted to General Tenemei has, in part, been an attempt by the Godking to keep the general distracted by matters outside of the walls of the palace.
Nobility
The nobility of Nalathesh, and the Luxxor family in particular, have their disagreements with the Godking, but very little true power to make change. They do, however, have opportunities to speak privately with Godking Neferu, and they use those opportunities to slowly push for the changes they hope to see. They know better than to get involved in outright rebellion while things are relatively stable, though if General Tenemei escalates things much further, that may change.
The Radiant Princes
The Radiant Princes demonstrate a wide variety of skills, though their current leader is giving them a rather unpleasant reputation. In theory, the Radiant Princes are a group of highly-trained mages and military commanders that act as the Godking’s eyes and hands throughout the kingdom. They often work separately from the Bronzeguard, except in situations of war or large-scale threats, as they are skilled mages as well as warriors, and they typically have no trouble dealing with criminals on their own.
The Radiant PrincesWhen using a Radiant Prince in a combat encounter, give them the stats of a Paladin or a Greater Mage (both in CC chapter 4). |
The Radiant Princes are tasked with handling threats to the Godking’s authority and the nation’s security, and prioritize the maintenance of law and order over all else—including, at times, the well-being of their subjects. This alone has historically led to the Princes being admired and feared in equal measure.
However, in recent years, the Radiant Princes have also been gaining a reputation for cruelty, due primarily to the actions of their leader, General Tenemei. As his influence has grown, the Radiant Princes have been slowly becoming more akin to a private militia headed by the general. He wants to ensure that the Godking is little more than a figurehead, and that the Radiant Princes - and primarily himself, as their leader - hold the true power of authority over Nalathesh.
Political Tension in Nalathesh
At the moment, several factions within the Nalatheshi government are wrestling for control. The Godking has been waning in popularity of late, as the current bearer of the mask, while a generally reasonable ruler, lacks the charisma of his predecessor. However, a large part of his decline in popularity can be attributed to his right hand, the leader of the Radiant Princes: a cruel man known as General Tenemei. General Tenemei has been doing his best to undermine the Godking’s control over the military forces of Nalathesh, and unfortunately, despite his cruelty, he is extremely charismatic when he wishes to be.
On the outskirts of this quiet struggle for power, the Luxxor family, of the nobility within Nalathesh, have their own concerns about the Godking and his general. In order to maintain the peace in Nalathesh, they will not withdraw their support for the Godking. They do, however, make their concerns regarding General Tenemei known to Godking Neferu in private.
Cyrus Drake, the leader of Lonerock, is a rising power in the politics of Nalathesh. Though it began as a small, unknown town on the borders of the nation, Lonerock has become a major player in the economy of Nalathesh since Cyrus Drake began to lead it. The man has a concerning level of control over the town, but those under his authority are fiercely loyal. He is a good man, and a better leader. Though he is not well-liked by the aristocracy, he does his best to shield the people of Lonerock from any backlash directed at him by the nation’s government.
Economics and Trade
Nalathesh is well-placed to trade with a number of successful nations, and Nalatheshi merchant caravans bring a wide variety of goods to the marketplaces of Aridala. Most notably, Nalathesh has a high level of access to magic items imported from Husk, drawing the attention of adventurers in nearby regions to Aridala’s marketplace.
Goods that can reliably be purchased at modified prices in specific regions of Nalathesh are described on the table below. For more details, refer to the descriptions of the specified regions.
| Region | Goods | Price Changes and Circumstances |
|---|---|---|
| Aridala | Wands | Varying discounts, requires Goodwill. |
| Aridala | Gold, Jewelry, and Spices | 15% discount, requires success on a skill check. |
| Lonerock | Armor | 10% discount |
| Lonerock | Artisan Tools | 10% discount |
| Lonerock | Bladed Weapons | 30% more expensive, unless they have the Concealed property. Require special permits to sell. |
| The Flesh Pit | Rations | 5 days of rations can be purchased for 1 sc. |
Caravans and Guard Work
Merchant caravans frequently travel through the deserts of Nalathesh, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from bandits as well as dangerous wildlife. These caravans frequently hire several guards, and such a position is often an easy way for low-level adventurers to make a reliable income while traveling between towns and cities.
Military
Two groups make up the military structure of Nalathesh. First, the Radiant Princes, who enforce the Godking’s law, and bear a noble rank as well as a military one. While they carry the most authority, they often work amongst themselves when possible, requisitioning soldiers only when dealing with a threat that they cannot handle without a large number of martial fighters.
The Bronzeguard, on the other hand, comprises the majority of the nation’s military. They are skilled cavaliers that ride dracanises, which have been expertly trained as combat mounts and companions. Though in recent years the Radiant Princes have mostly answered to General Tenemei, most of the Bronzeguard are still loyal to the Godking. Unlike the Radiant Princes, the Bronzeguard are tasked with protecting the citizens of Nalathesh above all else. They deal primarily with threats such as monsters emerging from the Flesh Pit, bandits attacking caravans along the road, and the strange creatures that have been spotted near debris below the Floating Islands. Aside from the training barracks in Aridala, their outposts are mostly within the smaller towns and settlements scattered throughout the desert.
Due to the unique skills that the dracanis mounts provide, many of the Bronzeguard also assist in rescue operations within the mines along the Chasm’s edge. As the dracanises can glide, they are able to navigate the Chasm with ease, and to carry miners to safety if the lifts and scaffolding they typically navigate are damaged or inaccessible.
The BronzeguardWhen using the Bronzeguard in a combat encounter, use the stats of a Soldier, Veteran Soldier, or Knight Errant to represent low, mid, and high-ranking members of the Bronzeguard. Any member of the Bronzeguard that has completed basic training has a Dracanis that serves as their mount and companion. |
Joining the Bronzeguard
Adventurers may be offered the opportunity to join the Bronzeguard after the completion of certain quests offered by officials in Aridala or the other major cities in Nalathesh. If any adventurers accept this offer, they gain one rank in the Soldier profession. If an adventurer in the Bronzeguard reaches Rank 3 in the Soldier profession, they may choose Rank 3: Bronzeguard instead of one of the other choices, as detailed below.
Rank 3: Bronzeguard. You have made a name for yourself in the Bronzeguard, and have been provided with one of their signature mounts. You have one dracanis that is your trusted steed. It is highly intelligent and well trained, and you may command it to perform any of its typical actions outside of combat. If separated, it will seek you out from up to a mile away and can be called to your side. It is mundane, not magical, so it cannot be instantaneously summoned. It is trained to act in combat, but only while you are riding it, and it will flee to a safe area if you dismount during a fight.
Your dracanis gains the following feature:
Mount. A creature riding the Dracanis gains 1 MCAP. A mounted creature can spend 1 MCAP on its turn to make the dracanis use its Static Jaws.
Rank 4: Bronzeguard. Your dracanis has combat experience and more extensive training. It now has 2 MCAP and gains one feature that you may choose from the following options:
Front Lines. When two or more hostile creatures are within 5 ft of the dracanis, all of its defenses increase by +1.
Resilient. The dracanis’s max HP increases by twice your character’s level. Whenever you level up, increase the dracanis’s max HP by 2.
Swift. The dracanis’s speed increases by 5 ft.
Additionally, you are issued a set of barding for your dracanis. You may choose any non-magical medium or heavy armor type that is not gilded. This barding is custom-fitted to your dracanis, and cannot be resold. If it is damaged or destroyed, you may request repairs or replacement free of cost once every 90 days. You must pay for any additional repairs or replacements that exceed that amount.
Your standard military stipend increases to 20 sc per week.
Rank 5: Bronzeguard. Your dracanis is impeccably trained. It gains the Iron Will trait. Additionally, you are now authorized to purchase and train multiple dracanis mounts. You may purchase an untrained dracanis for 150 sc. It takes 90 days to train the dracanis for combat, during which you must work with the dracanis for at least 1 hour each day. Once the dracanis is trained, it gains the Mount feature as described in Rank 3 of this profession.
You may keep the trained dracanis for you or your party members to use as a mount, or you may sell it back to the Bronzeguard for 350 sc.
Your standard military stipend increases to 25 sc per week.
Religion
Newcomers to Nalathesh are often alarmed by its policies on religion. Officially, worship of the Godking is mandatory within Nalathesh, and insincerity in one’s worship can bring strict punishment. However, this is primarily due to the fact that important civil responsibilities, such as the payment of taxes or the acquisition of permits to conduct business, are handled through the Godking’s temples. With very few exceptions, citizens of Nalathesh are not imprisoned for, say, praying to another god. In fact, many of the temples hold unmarked shrines for those who wish to pray to the deities of other religions and nations. Instead, those arrested for insincere worship are typically those who falsify forms presented to the temples, or who attempt to avoid paying taxes by skipping temple services and claiming affiliation with other religions. In the past, these laws have been much stricter, and there are historical examples where people truly were imprisoned for a lack of conviction in their prayers to the Godking, but as time has gone on, the nation has done its best to encourage merchants and scholars from other nearby regions to conduct their work in Nalathesh. In its current state, attempting to enforce strict mandates on religious beliefs would be an act of self-sabotage, and would cause tremendous harm to the nation’s economy.
Temples in Nalathesh
There are strict regulations on the construction of temples in Nalathesh. Legally, the only temples that may be constructed are those devoted to the Godking. This is due to the merging of civil bureaucracy and religious duty that has been created by the Godking’s dual positions as deity and ruler. In practice, there are several ways that individuals have found to get around this requirement. Throughout Nalathesh, there are many temples to the Godking that depict creative stories of him meeting with other deities, and while there are restrictions regarding how he must be depicted in those stories, the practice is generally permitted, and in some cases has been encouraged. There are also many museums, theaters, galleries, and artistic gardens devoted to a variety of different religions. As long as they do not claim to be temples, they are legal, even if guests choose to pray within them. They merely do not gain the legal and economic benefits that registered temples are given.
Underworld
While many within Nalathesh have heard rumors of the network of smugglers known as the Sandsnakes, the Radiant Princes and the Bronzeguard have, thus far, been unable to prove that such an organization, if it exists, is actually doing anything illegal. Led by an individual known as Zaiden Destev, the Sandsnakes have grown their power and influence quickly within the criminal networks of Nalathesh. Their success has been due to their leader’s policies to prevent any information from leaking out, as well as to the extremely detailed knowledge the organization has on Nalatheshi law. There are few more skilled at navigating legal loopholes than the corrupt bankers of Lesmishan that the Sandsnakes work with, and they have been provided with several extremely skilled lawyers by their most appreciative customers.
Though the Sandsnakes are a criminal organization, they prefer not to draw attention to themselves by enacting violent crimes themselves. While members of the Sandsnakes will fight if confronted, they prefer to handle their disagreements more subtly, in a way that is much more difficult to trace back to them. They often hire freelance assassins from Falth and Lesmishan in order to hide their involvement in such events.
The SandsnakesWhen using the Sandsnakes in a combat encounter, use the stats of a Charlatan, Thug, Thief, Bandit, Mob Boss, or Rogue to represent the various common and specialized members of the organization. |
The Strange and the Magical
Despite its apparent emptiness, the desert hides many intriguing secrets. In the central desert, a large pit of flesh grows around an ancient M’l’ykkri’s nest. A cult dedicated to the Flesh Pit has formed nearby, though it seems to be listening to the influence of someone from Husk.
To the south, enormous limestone islands float above the surface of the landscape. Due to the strange gravitational manipulation that allows them to remain airborne, those attempting to reach the islands have had little luck. Even birds and insects tend to avoid the areas directly below the islands, flying low to the ground whenever they must pass beneath one of the shadows in the sky.
A Sage Wyrm lives in a network of caverns beneath southern Nalathesh, and will provide information to those who know to look for her, and who ask the right questions. She may even be persuaded to bring young scholars that impress her to the islands, though she has turned down many who have made such requests in the past.
The Sage Wyrm and the M’l’ykkri are not the only magical creatures in Nalathesh. Travelers must be wary of Desert Wardens and errant elementals that may take offense to their presence, both on the ground and in the air. Additionally, strange creatures roam the south of Nalathesh, seemingly warped by some of the ancient technology that has fallen from the islands floating overhead.
Aridala, the Radiant City
Red sandstone cliffs rise high over Aridala, standing watch over the city. The Godking Neferu’s palace is carved into the cliffside, high columns and detailed statues looking out across his lands. A blue lake sits at the outskirts of the city, kept full by underground springs, the source of the water that is spread throughout the city in aqueducts and terracotta pipes. A large, open-air construction known as the Sunrise Theater is also carved into the cliffs, providing a venue for a wide variety of performances.
Near the palace, several finer buildings and estates stand tall, built of the stone that was cut from the cliffs when the palace was first carved. These buildings form the most prestigious district of the city, and are home to wealthy nobles. A grand temple tied to the Godking also stands in this district, and the priests that serve there are considered to be nearly nobility themselves.
The city’s markets are host to both long-established shops and traveling merchants, and are nearly always bustling with travelers and residents alike. Beyond the markets, the majority of the city is filled with small, single-story buildings, many of which wrap around small courtyards.
On the outskirts of the city, tents are clustered around the walls and along the road, ranging from small traveling tents to bigger, semi-permanent frames with stretched hide walls.
Arriving in Aridala
Read Aloud: The road leading up to the outskirts of Aridala is crowded, especially during market days. There is little space along the outer road for stalls and tents to be pitched—merchants carry bags or stand atop crates of goods, shouting invitations for passers-by to come examine the items they have brought to trade. Though crime is rare within the city walls, that safety does not extend to the road outside the gates. Many of the travelers around you are holding tightly to their purses and belt pouches, hoping to protect them from any pickpockets that seek to take advantage of the press of the crowd to separate the careless from their belongings.
Several caravans have set up camps further beyond the side of the road. Both news and a place to rest may be available there, likely for a lower cost than could be found within the city.
Newcomers to Aridala often find the crowded, maze-like streets difficult to navigate. Multi-story adobe apartments stacked atop one another make the streets feel narrower than they are, the local residents having built upwards instead of outwards to stay within the constraints of the city walls. Many inns, taverns, and boarding houses have been established in the outskirts of the city, but three are spoken of regularly.
Notable Inns and Taverns
The House of Lanterns
The House of Lanterns is widely regarded as one of the finest establishments in Aridala. Built just outside the Gleaming Marketplace, it is favored by merchants and wealthy travelers. The inn consists of several sandstone buildings surrounding a sizeable courtyard, where several sycamore trees provide shade to the tables below. Lanterns are strung from the branches of the trees, illuminating the area below. Guests often gather at tables in the courtyard to eat and socialize.
Prices for rooms and meals can be found in chapter 6 of the Core Rulebook, but the specialties of the House of Lanterns are listed on the table below:
| sc | Item |
|---|---|
| 5 | Spiced sweet coffee |
| 2 | Honey cakes |
| 6 | Fig-glazed roast duck |
| 3 | Sesame-cardamom bread |
The Feathered Head
While the House of Lanterns is boasted of and highly recommended, the Feathered Head is whispered of in hushed tones and warnings to avoid it. A den of not-quite-criminal activity, it is under careful watch by the Radiant Princes, and the tavern’s owner has a strict, if concise, policy— “plausible deniability.” The guests of the Feathered Head know better than to draw the law’s attention, but they are just as likely to cover up a crime that occurs within the walls as to prevent one. The tavern’s owner will not pry into your business, and will not look too closely at suspicious behavior. If you play your cards right, he can be a good ally, and has provided many an alibi for those who are careful enough to ensure that there is no reason for him to have known they left in the middle of the night.
Prices for rooms and meals can be found in chapter 6 of the Core Rulebook, but the Feathered Head’s specialties are listed on the table below:
| sc | Item |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lentil cakes |
| 2 | Raisin-stuffed shortbread |
| 1 | Grilled figs with jerky |
The Windswept Circus
The Windswept Circus, despite its name, is not actually a circus. It is a sprawling collection of tents and a few larger structures for groups to gather for meals and entertainment. It is collectively run by those who reside there long-term. There is no charge to set up a tent in the Windswept Circus, though donations are appreciated, and guests are instead expected to either share food at mealtimes or to spend at least an hour each day assisting with cleaning, cooking, or other necessary tasks around the Windswept Circus. An evening meal is organized and shared amongst the guests, and typically offers a selection of various different dishes arranged by the guests and volunteers. The evening meal is similarly available for no charge beyond contributing to the upkeep of the Circus in some way. In the mornings and afternoons, food is often provided by individuals, but is not officially organized. Typically, volunteers keep a pot of soup or stew simmering throughout the day, where guests can acquire a small meal.
The Windswept Circus is a favorite of many local artists and performers, and provides a home for nonconformity, creativity, and those on the outskirts of society. To those who know enough to pay attention, upcoming performances in the Sunrise Theater can easily be predicted by taking note of which groups have recently set up tents in the Windswept Circus.
Beyond the work and small donations provided by guests, the majority of the funding that keeps the Windswept Circus in operation comes from a few wealthy patrons and benefactors— often the younger children of wealthy merchants or nobles, who have inherited plenty of money but far fewer responsibilities than their eldest siblings.
The Gleaming Marketplace
Read Aloud: In its central location within the city, the marketplace is loud and lively. Colorful tents and stalls are pitched in rows along the wide roads, and the lines in front of a few of the more popular shops even wrap around the street corners. The children of local merchants stand ready with brochures and samples, pointing any and all potential customers to their parents and their shops. Banners bearing the symbols of the Luxxor family, the largest of the noble houses in Nalathesh and the long-time sponsors of the market, are hung throughout the district. Even more common, though, are the small, carved icons of the Godking Neferu, invoking his presence as a watchful and protective overseer of the capital city and the nation as a whole.
The Gleaming Marketplace is the area of the city where the majority of commerce takes place. Several well-established merchants have permanent establishments in the district, but there is also a large plaza where artisans and merchants set up tents and stalls. The marketplace hosts festivals regularly, which are often sponsored by the Luxxor family.
With the number of merchants that travel through Aridala, most common goods can be found in the Gleaming Marketplace. However, there are also a few specialty goods available that go beyond what is typical.
Magical Imports from Husk
Several varieties of magical goods are imported from the neighboring city-state of Husk. Potions, magical scrolls, and enchanted items can all be found in the marketplace, though some can be quite expensive.
Magical potions can be purchased for the prices listed below:
| Potion Rarity | Cost (sc) |
|---|---|
| Common | 50 |
| Uncommon | 250 |
| Rare | 500 |
| Epic | 1000 |
Adventurers may also purchase spell scrolls for spells of SPC 40 or lower, and for rituals that do not have prerequisites. Any creature with such a spell scroll can cast the spell one time without using any SP. They must still spend the requisite AP to cast the spell. A ritual with a material requirement still requires those materials, even when cast using a scroll. Once a spell scroll has been used, the writing on it burns away, and it cannot be used again. The cost of spell scrolls varies based on the SPC of the spell, according to the table below:
| Scroll SPC | Cost Formula (sc) |
|---|---|
| Ritual, no prerequisite | 50 |
| 1-25 SPC | 10 * SPC |
| 26+ SPC | 15 * SPC |
Adventurers can also purchase magic items of Essence 30 or lower. Many common and uncommon items can be found within the marketplace, though rare items typically require a special order. An adventurer with at least 10 Goodwill in the Academic, Aristocratic, or Mercantile sphere may submit orders for rare magic items of EPC 30 or lower through legitimate methods, though the local authorities will review the contents of the order. An adventurer with at least 10 Goodwill in the Criminal sphere may submit orders for rare magic items of EPC 30 or lower to be smuggled into the city without notifying the local authorities, for double the typical cost of the item. Importing a rare magic item into the city through any method takes 30 days.
Magic items of epic rarity are extremely difficult to come across, but there are a small number that do meet Aridala’s criteria for acceptable levels of imported magic. Adventurers with at least 16 Goodwill in the Aristocratic or Mercantile spheres may place orders for epic magic items with EPC 30 or lower. Only one of these items may be ordered at a time, and importing an epic magic item into the city takes 90 days.
To approximate the price of a common or uncommon magic item, use the formulas below.
| Item Rarity | Cost Formula (sc) |
|---|---|
| Common | 25 * Essence |
| Uncommon | 50 * Essence |
Rare and epic items vary more widely in price, due to their scarcity. Because rare and epic items are often very expensive, transactions typically include diamond coins (dc). One diamond coin is equal to 1000 sc.
To calculate the approximate price for a rare or epic magic item, use the formulas below.
| Item Rarity | Cost Formula (dc) |
|---|---|
| Rare | 2 * (Essence - 14) |
| Epic | 2 * Essence |
Mounts and Beasts of Burden
In addition to the typical mounts and livestock, merchants in the Gleaming Marketplace offer creatures that are more suited to travel in the deserts of Nalathesh, as described on the table below:
| Item | sc |
|---|---|
| Camel | 80 |
| Thumper | 100 |
| War Camel | 120 |
| Riding Elephant | 550 |
| War Elephant | 700 |
The War Camel is a Camel, with the Mount feature replaced by the following:
Mount. While riding a Camel, a creature has 2 MCAP. A mounted creature can spend 1 MCAP on its turn to make the camel use a Bite attack.
The Riding Elephant is an Elephant with the following additional feature:
Mount. While riding an Elephant, a creature has 2 MCAP.
The War Elephant is an Elephant with the following additional feature:
Mount. While riding an Elephant, a creature has 2 MCAP. A mounted creature can spend 1 MCAP on its turn to make the Elephant use a Gore attack or a Stomp attack.
Gold, Precious Gems, and Spices
Discerning customers can buy gold, jewelry, and spices in Aridala that may be quite valuable if sold elsewhere. An adventurer who succeeds on a DC 20 INT/Appraising check, or a DC 15 INT/Appraising check if they have a Mercantile profession, may purchase these goods for 15% less than they would be worth elsewhere. As a rule of thumb, gold, precious gems, and jewelry available for purchase should be priced in increments of 100 sc, and can be sold elsewhere in increments of 115 sc.
Additionally, objects made of certain precious gemstones can be found at lower prices in Aridala than elsewhere. Adventurers with at least 1 Goodwill in the mercantile sphere of the local community may purchase items from the table below.
| Item | sc |
|---|---|
| Amethyst Wand | 170 |
| Carnelian Wand | 130 |
| Emerald Wand | 300 |
| Ivory Wand | 115 |
| Jasper Wand | 160 |
Carnelian Wand: A wand made of carved, slightly translucent orange carnelian. Use the stats of an Oak Wand, listed in chapter 6 of the Core Rulebook.
Ivory Wand: A long, curved wand made of carved ivory. Use the stats of a Pine Wand, listed in chapter 6 of the Core Rulebook.
Jasper Wand: A wand made of carved, dark red jasper. Use the stats of a Willow Wand, listed in chapter 6 of the Core Rulebook.
Paper and Books
Reeds that grow within the nearby lake are used to produce paper, and books on many subjects are available within Aridala. A book can be consulted to find information that would otherwise require a skill check, and is associated with a DC that describes what DC would be required in order to get the information via the appropriate skill check. A typical book costs 30 sc, and is associated with a DC between 10 and 15. Finding information in a book requires 10 minutes, and if a creature is attacked while reading then they are Surprised (complete).
The books that are available in Aridala focus primarily on Nalatheshi history, politics, and religion, though there are also books with information on other nearby nations.
| Subject | DC |
|---|---|
| Religion (the Godking) | 15 |
| Politics (Nalathesh) | 15 |
| History of Nalathesh | 15 |
| Politics (Bridgemoor) | 10 |
| Politics (Husk) | 10 |
| History of Bridgemoor | 10 |
| Geography | 10 |
The Sunrise Theater
Read Aloud: From the open sky above the Sunrise Theater, the sun’s rays shine across the wavy layers of the red sandstone the theater is carved from. From the best seats in the theater, the audience can see not only the performers on stage, but also the elaborate carvings of the outer wall of the Godking’s Palace. Rows of tiered stone seating rise from the curve of the semi-circular stage. Near the entrance to the theater, a shrewd merchant is selling cushions to anyone who wants something softer than bare stone to sit on during the performance.
The Sunrise Theater hosts a variety of performances. Plays, concerts, and even lectures hosted by the Nalatheshi Guild of Scholars have all crossed the stage at one point or another. However, in between the more varied performances from traveling companies, two troupes are the cornerstone of the Sunrise Theater’s offerings, and perform nowhere else.
The first, the Dawnsingers, are a troupe of actors and troubadours that write and perform plays specifically designed to be performed in the Sunrise Theater. Their most famous performance is a rendition of a major battle fought early in Aridala’s history. When performed at dusk, the oil-soaked ribbons they hang behind the stage are nearly invisible, and when set alight against the view of the city, it looks to the audience as if the city itself is burning, just as it did in the attack.
The other troupe is known as Firetail, and their performances are exclusively held at night. They are a troupe of dancers, puppeteers, and tinkerers, and perform collectively in the guise of a giant dragon, called Firetail. Each performer holds a small piece of the puppet, disconnected from the rest, and in their collective movement, firelight reflects off of the metal pieces to create the illusion of light glinting on a moving dragon’s scales.
Currently, there are several open spaces in the theater’s performance schedule. While their standards are extremely high, any groups of performers that are able to impress the theater’s owners are typically offered the chance to perform for at least a few evenings. This can be an excellent opportunity: the Sunrise Theater is a popular venue, and even if the performers are relatively unknown, shows there often gather a decently sized audience.
The Bronzeguard Barracks
Read Aloud: The walls around the Bronzeguard barracks are ten feet high, clearly more of a measure against prying members of the public attempting to enter— or a stray young dracanis attempting to leave— than a true deterrent in any real conflict. The cliff above the barracks has several ledges, where the Bronzeguard train their dracanis mounts to jump and glide. A young human man, barely more than a teenager and clearly a new recruit, stands confidently in his position in front of the gate, guarding the barracks from any troublemakers that may be passing by.
The barracks are not open to the public, but individuals doing work for the Bronzeguard may be invited inside. Within the walls, the Bronzeguard raise and train the dracanis mounts they are known for. Most of the Bronzeguard’s business is outside of Aridala— the Radiant Princes have things well in hand within the city— so the barracks are primarily home to the dracanis trainers and to new recruits.
Joining the Bronzeguard is a big commitment. It takes time and careful training for the Bronzeguard to learn to work with their unusual mounts. Bronzeguard candidates are expected to be skilled with at least one weapon before joining, and tournaments are held twice each year to assess new candidates. However, there are always exceptions— those who prove themselves in service to the kingdom may be permitted to join without competing in one of the tournaments.
Adventurers may be offered the opportunity to join the Bronzeguard after the completion of certain quests offered by officials in Aridala. The benefits of joining the Bronzeguard are described in the “Military” section of the Nalathesh overview.
Temples of the Godking
Each temple in Aridala is a house of the gods—and therefore, of the Godking. He is no fool, and in a city that hosts so many travelers, many are bound to bring their own gods with them. A shrine rests in each temple, tucked into an alcove near the entrance. These shrines bear no symbol of any god, but all are free to pray there to whoever they wish— the Godking will happily relay the prayers to the relevant divinities. Residents must attend the temples with enough regularity to pay their taxes.
The Godking’s priests adorn their faces in gold, to evoke his golden mask. Those in the highest ranks of the priesthood wear golden masks that cover half of their faces, and carry some of the Godking’s power in civil matters. They act as judges in civil disputes, and hold a similar level of authority to the Radiant Princes. Priests are chosen without regard to gender or lineage, but are always referred to in neutral terms while their faces are adorned in gold.
Religion in Aridala is a civil duty— taxes are collected at temple services, and civil cases are adjudicated by the temple priests. While travelers are often overlooked, those who wish to establish themselves within Aridala will require permits and paperwork signed by the temple priests, who have a very good memory for faces, and are unlikely to provide for those who do not attend their temple regularly.
The Godking’s Palace
The Godking’s palace is carved from the red sandstone cliffs that stand tall over Aridala. Carefully chiseled columns and statues ensure that the front of the palace looks as magnificent as possible - after all, it is a rare sight indeed to see a palace crafted from a solid piece of stone.
The layout of the palace is somewhat unusual - most areas only extend one or two rooms into the cliff, as construction became more difficult the deeper the palace was carved. Only a few areas of the palace extend deeper, such as the treasury and the secret royal tomb. The existence of the royal tomb is known only to a few, and even those who know believe it is for the Godking’s favored priests. Only the Ahnadi family knows the truth— the tomb holds the past bearers of the mask, as well as their families.
The Godking
The Godking’s Palace, and a nearby estate built from the same red sandstone, contain a secret hidden in plain sight. Nobody outside of the royal family knows that the reclusive High Priest of the royal temple, Relian Ios Ahnadi, is truly the Godking, nor that the three acolytes he is training are truly the heirs to the golden mask.
The party is unlikely to encounter Relian while he is not wearing the mask, though they may encounter the eldest of his acolytes— his son has been sneaking out to explore the city, using his false identity as a young student of the High Priest.
If the party seeks an audience with Godking Neferu, they will find that he is strict but not cruel. He values order and tradition very highly, but is ultimately willing to listen to reason and make compromises to preserve the well-being of the country.
The Radiant Princes
The Radiant Princes are a group of highly-trained strategists, mages, and military commanders responsible for maintaining order in the nation and enforcing the Godking’s law. The Radiant Princes are headed by the Godking’s right hand man, General Tenemei, who is known for both his skill and his cruelty. He is feared throughout the kingdom, and his reputation has stretched to include the rest of the Radiant Princes as well— which is, perhaps, for the best, as many of them follow his orders above even the Godking’s authority.
Currently, the Radiant Princes are focused on investigating rumors of a rise in organized crime throughout Nalathesh. They have heard whispers of the Sandsnakes, but as of yet, have found no proof. The Radiant Princes will likely offer interested adventurers jobs that involve gathering information on this criminal organization, and will pay extremely well. However, working too closely with the Radiant Princes is likely to reduce Goodwill outside of the Aristocratic, Militant, and Religious spheres.
Aridala Random Encounters
As the party explores the city, use the following tables to determine what threats, obstacles, and opportunities they might come across. Though outright combat is uncommon in Aridala’s streets, everything is not always peaceful. Use the “Trouble” table to generate encounters that are likely to end in conflict or combat. Use the “Events” table to generate encounters that, while they may still present a challenge for the party, are likely to have more neutral or positive outcomes.
| 2d4 | Encounter (Trouble) |
|---|---|
| 2 | Young Pickpocket |
| 3 | Witness to a Crime |
| 4-5 | Drunk Braggarts |
| 6-7 | Rabid Vermin |
| 8 | Sandsnake Attack |
| 2d6 | Encounter (Event) |
|---|---|
| 2 | Sandsnake Stash |
| 3 | Lost Dracanis |
| 4-5 | Guard Wanted |
| 6-8 | Eavesdropping and Rumors |
| 9-10 | Goods For Sale! |
| 11 | Suspicious Goods For Sale! |
| 12 | Wanted for Questioning |
Trouble
Crime is rare in Aridala thanks to the constant watch of the Radiant Princes, but their gaze does not reach everywhere. Though Aridala is safer than the average city, there is always a chance of running into trouble. If an encounter with other humanoids escalates to combat, consider warning your players that killing their opponents may cause them trouble with the Radiant Princes and the Bronzeguard—if it comes to that, it may be safer to incapacitate a foe and bring them to the proper authorities, rather than to take matters into their own hands.
Young Pickpocket
A young pickpocket (use Thief stats) pushes past the party member with the lowest AWR as she walks into a nearby alley. As she does so, she steals a random item that they have on their person that is worth 50 sc or less. Everyone in the party may make a DC 10 Perceiving check to notice the theft. If they notice, roll initiative. The adventurers have four rounds to retrieve the item or to incapacitate or restrain the pickpocket. The pickpocket will attempt to flee, and after four rounds where she uses her Move action to move at least 15 feet, she is able to escape from the party into a passing crowd of people.
If the party does catch her, they may choose whether to turn her in or to let her go. She is a young teenager, and it is easy to see that she is stealing out of necessity— her clothes are dirty, inexpertly mended, and clearly not her size, and she does not look like she has been eating nearly enough. If the party helps to find her a place to stay, they may be able to contact her in the future to find information on the Underground sphere of the local community.
Witness to a Crime
The adventurer with the highest AWR notices a merchant carrying a crate approach an unattended stall while glancing around nervously. He begins to place items from within the stall into the crate, moving quickly and somewhat haphazardly. He continues to do so for about two minutes, then closes the crate and attempts to carry it away. With a DC 12 Perceiving check, the adventurers may notice that the symbol on the crate is different from the one on the stall.
If the adventurers attempt to stop the would-be thief (use Merchant stats), he will attempt to talk his way out of it, claiming that it is a misunderstanding, that he is actually a friend of the stall’s owner and he was just packing some things up for them, and so on. However, he is very clearly lying. If the adventurers seem ready to attack, he will shriek, drop the crate, and try to flee. If they hit him, he will begin calling for the guards, claiming that a group of ruffians is attacking him and trying to steal his merchandise. If he does so, two members of the Bronzeguard (use Knight stats) will come to investigate the situation. It will take a DC 10 CHA/Persuading check to convince them of what truly happened. On a success, the party will not be blamed for the theft, though they will be instructed that the next time they witness a crime, they should report it to the proper authorities rather than trying to intervene themselves. On a failure, they will be taken in for further questioning, though after several hours, the Bronzeguard will be able to verify their innocence and let them free.
Drunk Braggarts
Six wealthy young men dressed in fine clothing and wearing rapiers at their belts are wandering down the street, clearly very drunk and loudly boasting about their skill at swordsmanship, their family estates, and their romantic prospects. Use Noble stats for the young men.
Upon noticing the party, they will greet them in a rude and condescending manner, insulting the clothing and perceived professions of the party. Regardless of how the party responds, they will take offense. If the party is polite, they will assume they are being mocked, and if the party is rude, they will demand to be treated with the appropriate level of respect.
One of the drunk noblemen will attempt to challenge the party member who has spoken the most to a duel. If accepted, one noble will fight the challenged party member, while the others will stand to make sure that the rest of the party does not interfere with the duel.
If the party member refuses the duel, a party member may attempt to make a DC 15 Persuading or Intimidating check to convince the men to leave. On a failure, the six nobles will attack the party, though they will flee if they become Bloodied. On a success, the six nobles will leave.
Luckily, the young men are far too drunk to remember anything about the night clearly the next morning— the party is unlikely to get into trouble for offending them, though if they kill one of the nobles, the Radiant Princes will seek them out.
Rabid Vermin
A young child runs away from an alleyway, clearly frightened and screaming that there are monsters chasing him. Upon investigating the alleyway, the party finds five Dire Rats lurking in the shadows. If the party approaches, the Dire Rats will attack.
Sandsnake Attack
Use this encounter only if the party has made notable progress investigating Sandsnake activity, and has less than 1 Goodwill collectively within the local Underworld sphere. Otherwise, replace it with the Sandsnake Stash encounter from the Events table.
The party is attacked by an Assassin. The assassin will not speak at all during the fight, and if the party defeats them and inspects the body, they will discover that the assassin is missing a tongue. They carry nothing particularly obvious or identifiable, other than currency from Falth and Lesmishan. They are clearly a hired professional, and whoever hired them was not trying to send a message; they simply wanted you dead.
Events
Not every situation the party might run into is a source of trouble or conflict. These encounters are well-suited to provide delays and distractions for the party without as much likelihood of leading to an initiative roll.
Sandsnake Stash
The adventurer with the highest AWR notices something glinting in a pile of trash in a nearby alleyway.
Upon inspection, the party discovers a stash of stolen items that have been hidden by the Sandsnakes. The stash would be worth a total value of 2d6 * 10 sc, but the items are clearly stolen and could be easily identified as such upon inspection by any merchant or guard.
If the party chooses to keep watch over the stash in an attempt to catch whoever hid it, a young thief will arrive 1d10 hours later. Each party member within 100 feet of the stash must make a DC 12 Evading or Sneaking check. If any fail, the thief will ignore the stash and leave the area. If all succeed, the thief will attempt to collect the items and leave. If the party attempts to follow, begin the chase from the Young Pickpocket encounter.
Lost Dracanis
As the party is walking down one of the less-crowded streets, a lost young dracanis crashes into one of the party members, nearly knocking them over. The dracanis can be calmed with a DC 15 Animal Handling check, which can be reduced to DC 10 by offering the dracanis any raw, cooked, or dried meat.
Once the dracanis has been calmed, the party may bring it to the Bronzeguard barracks within the city. This will allow them entrance into the barracks, where they can request information on how to apply to join the Bronzeguard. Upon returning the dracanis to the barracks, they will also be rewarded with 15 sc.
Guard Wanted
While passing by a market stall, a local merchant waves the party over. She offers the party 3 sc each in order to guard her stall for an hour. Her other guards have left to take a lunch break, and she is concerned that one of the other merchants on this street may be planning to sabotage her wares somehow while she is distracted by customers.
Nothing eventful occurs over the course of the hour, but assuming the party remains for the entire duration and does not cause any additional trouble, the merchant will thank them for their assistance and pay them each 3 sc for their time. They will earn +1 Goodwill in the local Mercantile sphere.
Eavesdropping and Rumors
While walking through the city, the party overhears a loud discussion regarding a group’s plans for later in the day. With a DC 10 Eavesdropping check, the party is able to gain information about the local area. To determine the nature of the information provided, consult the table below:
| 1d6 | Information |
|---|---|
| 1 | A troupe of acrobats arrived at the Windswept Circus the previous evening. |
| 2 | One of the Radiant Princes is keeping watch in the marketplace today, because a new shipment of magic items just arrived from Husk. |
| 3 | The national guild of scholars has recently published a study comparing the use of Nalatheshi ivory wands to the use of standard pine wands. |
| 4 | The jerky sold with grilled figs at the Feathered Head is rumored to be sourced from the Flesh Pit. |
| 5 | A local temple has just barely passed an inspection by the Radiant Princes— the artwork on their walls depicts several stories of the Godking meeting members of the Paragon Avadri. It was ruled to be permissible, as long as the Godking appears in each image, and none of the Avadri are depicted as larger than the Godking himself. |
| 6 | The speaker’s sister is a captain in the Bronzeguard, and has recently been authorized to train an additional dracanis. He is hoping that she will let him ride it, once it has been trained. |
Goods for Sale!
The party encounters a large crowd gathered around a shop in the market. The shop has offered a steep discount on their wares. The items available at the shop are being sold for 50% of the typical price. Roll on the table below to determine the nature of the items for sale:
| 2d4 | Goods |
|---|---|
| 2 | Survival Equipment |
| 3 | Scientific Equipment |
| 4-5 | Raw Materials |
| 6-7 | Household Equipment |
| 8 | Clothing |
Suspicious Goods for Sale!
The party encounters a small crowd gathered around a shop in the market. The shop has offered a steep discount on their wares. The items available at the shop are being sold for 50% of the typical price. However, something does not seem quite right about the situation.
Roll on the table below to determine the nature of the items for sale:
| 2d4 | Goods | Circumstances |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Instruments | The individual conducting the sales is a child. This store appears to belong to their parents, though they do not seem to be present. It is unclear whether or not their parents are aware of the discounts they are offering. |
| 3 | Survival Equipment | The merchant is loudly sharing stories of his time as a famous adventurer, and claims that all of the items he sells are exactly the sort he always used back then. However, he keeps mispronouncing their names, and frequently gives incorrect answers when asked questions about how the items are used. |
| 4-5 | Tools and Kits | The kits are all being kept loose in cheap canvas bags, and while each does contain the requisite components, the components within each kit vary widely in style, size, and quality, as if they’ve been assembled from several different sources. |
| 6-7 | Security Equipment | The chains are slightly shorter than usual, as if they’ve been cut, and none of the locks are being sold with keys. |
| 8 | Clothing | All of the clothing designs are clearly knock-offs of those made by a more popular tailor. |
Wanted for Questioning
A member of the Radiant Princes (use Greater Mage stats) approaches the party to ask them if they have noticed any suspicious activity in the local area. Any party member who shares accurate and actionable information regarding organized crime in the area— such as news of Sandsnake activity— will gain +1 Goodwill in the local Aristocratic sphere. However, if they are caught deliberately giving inaccurate information, they will draw the suspicion of the Radiant Princes, and may be placed under surveillance. A party member attempting to lie must make a DC 18 CHA/Deception check. On a failure, the adventurer will lose 2 Goodwill in the local Aristocratic and Militant spheres, and the party will be secretly monitored by the Radiant Princes for the next seven days. They will be placed under arrest if found to be engaging in criminal activity.
The Desert
In central Nalathesh, water is a scarce resource. Settlements are clustered in areas where it is easily accessible, but between them are vast stretches of sand and dry scrubland. Trade caravans travel along major roads with some regularity, and it is not uncommon to see camps set up by fellow travelers along the road. However, not everyone traveling across the desert is friendly—travelers must keep careful watch not only for the snakes and scorpions lurking in the sands, but also for bandits, mercenaries and sabotage from rival merchants.
Weather
For the majority of the year, the deserts of Nalathesh are host to extremely high temperatures, with very little respite from the blazing sun overhead. It is an arid desert climate with very little surface water, and travelers often take shelter in open-sided tents or covered carts through the hottest hours of the day. Loose robes in cotton or linen are the most popular traveling attire, to protect from the sun and sand.
The rainy season is short, and while the days are milder, the much colder temperatures at night provide a sharp contrast. As the season draws to a close, the temperatures rise once more, and bring with them heavy winds that sweep across the desert sands. Where dry grasses cover the landscape, these winds also raise the risks of rapidly spreading grass fires.
Nalatheshi Desert Random Encounters
For travelers in the desert, an uneventful day is a good one. With threats that range from weather to small, venomous insects to thieves and other travelers, it is always best to stay alert. Use the tables below to generate random encounters that the party may face while traveling in the desert.
| 1d6 | Environmental Hazard |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Heatwave |
| 4-5 | Heavy Winds |
| 6 | Brush Fire |
| 2d6 | NPCs and Creatures |
|---|---|
| 2 | Sandsnake Caravan |
| 3 | Husk Mages |
| 4-5 | Fellow Travelers |
| 6-8 | Bandit Ambush |
| 9-10 | Desert Thumpers |
| 11 | Desert Warden |
| 12 | Dust Devil |
| 2d6 | Events |
|---|---|
| 2 | Corpses by the Road |
| 3-4 | Mirage |
| 5-9 | Animal Carcass |
| 10 | Water |
| 11 | Stolen Rations |
| 12 | Strange Voices Below |
Environmental Hazards
Heatwave
The sun beats heavily down across the desert sands. The temperature rises to just over 120ºF. The party’s travel pace is halved, and END checks gain +2 to the Difficulty.
The high temperatures last for 1d8 hours. Use the Extreme Heat rules to determine the full extent of its effect on the party.
Extreme HeatWhen you are exposed to extremely hot temperatures for more than 2 hours, you must make an END check. Extremely hot temperatures are in excess of 100ºF, or above 85ºF with more than 75% humidity. The DC begins at 10, and increases by 2 for every 5ºF above 100º (or above 85º if humidity exceeds 75%). If you drink at least 0.5 gallons of water in the span of those 2 hours, reduce the DC by 5. |
Heavy Winds
Heavy winds sweep across the open desert, pelting travelers with sand and small debris. There is little in the way of natural shelter nearby. The party’s travel pace cannot exceed 1 mile every 4 hours. For each hour that the party spends without appropriate shelter, each adventurer makes a LUCK check. Any adventurer that rolls below a 10 suffers 2d4 blunt damage.
The winds last 2d4 hours. If both dice roll the same result, then at the end of those hours, the winds will stop for 1d4 hours before this event begins once more.
If the party finds or creates a suitable shelter from the wind, they no longer need to make the hourly LUCK check while they are sheltered from the sand and debris. Finding shelter is a DC 30 AWR/Sheltering check. Creating a shelter is a DC 20 AWR/Sheltering check, but requires appropriate materials, such as heavy canvas and something to secure it.
Brush Fire
A fire catches amongst the dry brush and grasses, and it races across the landscape. As the fire approaches, the adventurers must roll initiative. The party has three rounds to prepare before the fire arrives.
In order to successfully protect themself from the flames, each adventurer must exceed a total result of 40 on appropriate skill checks over the three rounds. Casting spells can add two times the SPC of the spell to their total.
When the fire arrives, each adventurer who failed to meet the threshold suffers 3d10 fire damage. Adventurers who successfully meet the threshold take half of that damage. If an adventurer found a way to evade the fire entirely, such as by flying or diverting the path of the flames, then they take no damage.
NPC and Creature Encounters
Sandsnake Caravan
The party encounters a caravan of individuals that claim to be merchants traveling to do business in Lesmishan. While this is technically true, what they are not saying is that they are doing so on behalf of the Sandsnakes, and that the goods they are transporting are stolen. They will be suspicious of the party, claiming that another traveler had stolen from their caravan on their last trip, leading them to the decision to avoid other travelers. They will politely part ways with the party, though if the adventurers attempt to prevent them from leaving, the caravan’s guards will threaten the party, and will attack if the party does not back down.
If there is a confrontation, the caravan is guarded by three Rogues and a Mob Boss. The rest of the caravan consists of three Thugs and six Merchants. If all are defeated, the party will find a crate of spices and three crates of copper jewelry. If sold to the right buyer, the goods are worth approximately 200sc. However, the jewelry has been reported as stolen in Aridala, so an attempt to sell the goods in Nalathesh may bring trouble with the law. Additionally, if the goods are sold in an area where the Sandsnakes have a presence, the party will be noticed by the Sandsnakes and lose 4 Goodwill amongst the Underworld sphere— nobody wants to draw the ire of the Sandsnakes by interacting favorably with their enemies.
Husk Mages
A group of mages from Husk is traveling to Aridala to consult on research into a few magical items that have been discovered in southern Nalathesh. The group consists of one Greater Mage and her two apprentices, who are Trollkin Lorists. They are riding camels, and are willing to travel alongside the party if they are headed in the same direction, but they will not slow their pace or accompany the party on any diversions from their route. They are not hostile, but will defend themselves if attacked by the party. If the party is attacked by hostile creatures while traveling with the mages, the mages will assist in combat for one round to give the party an advantage before they retreat— though they have powerful magic, they are researchers, not warriors, and the greater mage is primarily concerned with the well-being of her apprentices.
Fellow Travelers
The party meets a group of friendly travelers along the road. Use the tables below to determine their identities, where they are traveling from, and their destination.
| 1d6 | Identities |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Merchants |
| 4-5 | Troupe of Performers |
| 6 | Adventurers |
| 1d6 | Traveling From |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Aridala |
| 4-5 | Lonerock |
| 6 | Husk |
| 1d6 | Traveling To |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Bridgemoor |
| 4-5 | Southern Nalathesh |
| 6 | The Flesh Pit |
The travelers can provide the party with basic information and directions regarding those locations, and may be willing to share recent news from the area they are traveling from.
Bandit Ambush
Bandits have set up an ambush for travelers passing through on the road. Four Bandits, two Bandit Marauders, and, if the party is at least level 5, a Bandit Captain are standing off to the side of the road, repairing a cart with a broken wheel. When the party approaches or passes them, they will attack.
Desert Thumpers
A group of donkey-sized rabbits is visible just off the side of the road, grazing on grasses, cactus fruit, and small bushes. They seem somewhat skittish, but not aggressive.
The party has come across 2d8 Thumpers. They will remain unbothered by the party until an adventurer moves within 30 feet of them. When an adventurer moves within 30 feet of the thumpers, that adventurer must make a DC 10 AWR/Animal Handling check. For each additional 5 feet that they move towards the thumpers, they must repeat the check, increasing the DC by 3 each time the check is repeated. On a failure, the thumpers will flee.
Desert Warden
The party has drawn the notice of a Desert Warden, and it has begun to follow them to determine their intentions. If it approves of them, it will lead them to the nearest source of fresh water. If it does not, it will attack.
Dust Devil
The wind picks up, and sand begins to swirl around the party. However, it quickly becomes clear that this isn’t a sign of a larger shift in the weather— the effect seems to be limited to the immediate vicinity of the group. Adventurers who succeed on a DC 15 INT/Nature check may recall that such things are a sign of a powerful and malevolent elemental native to desert regions. A Dust Devil has taken notice of the party.
It will attempt to frustrate and confuse the party with small illusions and tricks, and when it gets bored of the party’s responses, will attack, beginning the fight by using its Choking Whirlwind ability on one of the party members.
Events
Corpses by the Road
An abandoned cart rests by the side of the road. Everything of value has clearly been taken. The cart itself is damaged but repairable with a DC 15 INT/Woodcarving check. The sand in the area is disturbed, as if something has been dragged across it.
Investigating the area with a DC 10 AWR/Investigating check or attempting to follow the disturbed sand with a DC 10 AWR/Tracking check will lead the party to a shallow ditch approximately 60 feet away from the cart. Within the ditch are 1d4 corpses, dressed in common traveling clothes. All of their valuables seem to have been taken. If there are multiple corpses. it is difficult to determine whether all of them belong to the travelers— it is possible that at least one could be one of their attackers who was killed in the conflict and stripped of their equipment by their colleagues.
Party members with affiliations with Innkeeper Carijan and the Flesh Pit may wish to attempt to transport the corpses to the Flesh Pit. If they do so, remind them that Carijan has instructed them to take the appropriate precautions to ensure that the Bronzeguard do not discover that any humanoid corpses are being sacrificed to the Flesh Pit.
Mirage
Roll a hidden DC 15 AWR/Perceiving check for the party member with the highest AWR/Perceiving. On a success, they are able to successfully identify the mirage. On a failure, use the description from the Water event. However, when the party arrives at the location where they saw the water, they find nothing but sand heated by the sun.
Animal Carcass
Vultures tear at the carcass of an animal, a short distance away from the road. Loud noises will scare them off, and allow the adventurers to investigate. While the meat has been sitting out for too long to be suitable for humanoid consumption, a dracanis or other carnivorous mount may be able to consume it safely.
Party members with affiliations with Innkeeper Carijan and the Flesh Pit may wish to deliver the carcass to the Flesh Pit.
Water
In the distance, the party sees a small freshwater spring glittering with reflected light from the sun overhead. There is little greenery surrounding the spring, so it likely spends part of the year dry, but for now, it seems to be full of water. It takes about an hour of travel at a normal pace to reach the spring.
Party members can refill waterskins and drink from the spring.
Stolen Rations
While going through their belongings, the party notices that one of their bags of rations seems to be torn open or missing. An animal seems to have gotten into it while they were resting for the night. The party has lost 1d4 days of food.
Strange Voices Below
The voices are not quite audible, but vibrations from the sound echo through the ground and into the bones of those above. Over the course of 1d4 hours, the party occasionally hears distant muttering and roaring from below the sands. It is too distant to make out what is being said, but adventurers may attempt to listen more closely. An adventurer may attempt to listen closely by making a DC 15 AWR check. On a success, the adventurer becomes Shaken until the end of their next turn. While they were unable to determine what was being said, they can recognize that the voices seem to be coming from several voices speaking at precisely the same time, but in dissonant tones.
The Flesh Pit
Read Aloud: Deep in the central desert, the Flesh Pit stretches like a gaping wound in the terrain. Vultures circle high overhead, and the air is thick with the scent of raw meat. On the northwestern edge of the pit, a stone watchtower looms above the rest of the landscape, easily the tallest thing in sight. To the east, a small collection of huts and tents are clustered around a large, squat adobe building.
Theories surrounding the Flesh Pit are the cause of much controversy amongst many of the scholars in the national guild. While the evidence points towards some eldritch presence in the area, nobody can agree on whether the eldritch energy is the cause of the aberrant landscape or whether the unusual terrain lured it to the area. Either way, there is one thing that is clear—in the center of the Nalatheshi desert, there is a pit of living flesh growing within the ground.
Though the Flesh Pit will never be a popular destination for those with more delicate sensibilities, it does carry intrigue for scholars, mages, and those who are drawn to the unusual and the obscure. However, most of all, it has provided a very tempting promise for many within the region—a stable source of food and income. The Flesh Pit is carefully cultivated by the residents of the area, and has become a central pillar of the region’s economy—even if that requires looking the other way for a few of the less pleasant steps of the process.
Weather
The weather in the region surrounding the Flesh Pit is similar to what is expected throughout the central desert regions of Nalathesh. However, as one approaches the Flesh Pit, the air grows thick and heavy with the scent of raw meat. The hot and dry weather is often the subject of complaints from the laborers harvesting flesh from the pit, but the truly unpleasant weather comes when heavy winds detach strips of flesh from the outskirts of the pit, making for rather gruesome debris throughout the local area during windy seasons. The Flesh Pit is alive enough that the flesh still attached is typically safe from rot, the scattered pieces have no such guarantee— efforts to clean the area after heavy winds are swift, and the vultures and hyenas that scavenge in the region are never more appreciated than in those moments.
Rain is rare in this region of the desert, but when it does come, the caverns of the Flesh Pit close up, leaving the pit resembling a shallow, flesh-lined basin until the rain ends and the gathered water evaporates. Only the most desperate gather water from the basin for personal use, as even when boiled and purified, it never quite loses the metallic, bloody taste. However, a group of alchemists has been researching the possibility of using this water as a substitute for blood in potions that require it— they have achieved little success so far, but they have found some indications that the prospect is, in theory, possible.
Scavenger’s Road Random Encounters
While travelers and residents of the area are not particularly hostile, the region surrounding the Flesh Pit often draws a number of dangerous beasts looking for an easy meal.
| 1d6 | Combat Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | 1d6 Rot Bees |
| 4-5 | 1d4 Dire Vultures |
| 6 | 1d4 Dire Hyenas |
| 1d6 | Social Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Bronzeguard Patrol |
| 4-5 | Laborers at the Pit |
| 6 | Carijan's Scavengers |
Social Encounters
Bronzeguard Patrol
The party encounters a group of the bronzeguard patrolling the road or the borders of the Flesh Pit. The patrol will greet them and provide them with directions to either Vulture Watchtower or the Scavenger’s Rest inn, whichever is more relevant to the party’s stated goal.
Laborers at the Pit
The party encounters a group of laborers working to harvest flesh from the outer edges of the pit. The laborers will answer any brief questions the adventurers ask about the goings-on in the area, but will not engage in long discussions, as they need to continue their work. After three questions, adventurers must begin making checks using CHA skills after each question in order to convince the laborers to continue talking. Begin with a DC 10 check, and with each subsequent question, increase the DC by 3.
Carijan’s Scavengers
The adventurers encounter two of Carijan’s followers pulling a cart. Within the cart is a pile of animal carcasses that they have collected to use as food for the Flesh Pit. If challenged, they will show the adventurers paperwork signed by Captain Adisa authorizing them to transport and dispose of carrion and other similar refuse within the Flesh Pit.
Culture
There are not many permanent residents of the small settlements and camps around the Flesh Pit. The population consists primarily of laborers who work to harvest meat from the pit to be dried and preserved as rations or to be used in scholarly experiments. It is a demanding and often unpleasant job, and many of those who take it on do so in order to save up money and ensure they have steady access to food while preparing for another goal. The equipment required to process the flesh for safe consumption is provided by the nearby city-state of Husk, where there are few reliable sources of food. Husk’s involvement goes much further than most people know, as the Licten family - the rulers of Husk - are using the operation in order to extend their influence further into the desert.
The Flesh Pit is viewed by locals with a healthy amount of caution, but not generally with fear. Though people do go missing in the Flesh Pit on occasion, the casualty rate is vastly offset by the drastic reduction in deaths due to malnutrition that has been observed since people began to harvest from the Flesh Pit. The Licten family cares little about the deaths, as long as they do not interfere with the establishment of the Flesh Pit as an important influence in Nalathesh. For those living in the region, the danger is seen as a justified risk, and no worse than working with any other dangerous livestock or agricultural equipment.
Other than the laborers, the camps and settlements surrounding the pit are the temporary homes of many apprentice physicians and scholars, along with the far more established scholars that are occasionally hosted within the Bronzeguard outpost known as Vulture Watchtower.
In recent years, the region has also seen an increase in the number of artists in the region— in particular, aspiring tattoo artists who use flesh from the pit to practice their craft or test new inks.
There is a small religious cult dedicated to the Flesh Pit that meets in the Scavenger’s Rest inn. They are not malicious, and are primarily dedicated to maintaining the Flesh Pit and offering thanks for the sustenance it provides. However, they do keep much of their work secret, as there are aspects that outsiders might find distasteful— such as their practice of collecting corpses of bandits and their victims that have been left along the road in order to feed the remains to the creatures within the pit.
People
Innkeeper Carijan
Carijan is a trollkin man and occult druid who runs the Scavenger’s Rest inn. He is polite and quiet but charismatic, and is generally well-respected in the area. He happily offers discounts and assistance to travelers and residents alike, and many feel that they owe him for his generosity. Carijan leads the efforts to prepare and trade the resources from the Flesh Pit as a source of food, though the full extent of his involvement in the process is well-hidden.
In his youth, Carijan studied primal magic in the city-state of Husk, along the northwest border of Nalathesh. His time there left him with a much more positive view of the desert’s anomalies than is common in Nalathesh, and he views the Flesh Pit more as a deity than as an element of the landscape, similar to Husk’s Lumen Cloud. Carijan is, unbeknownst to his local colleagues, an agent of the Licten family, though he hopes that in time, he will be recognized as the Flesh Pit’s chosen and the guardian of the local region. The Licten family provides Carijan with the necessary magical aid to properly ensure that the meat from the Flesh Pit is safe for consumption, and hopes that encouraging Nalathesh’s reliance on the Flesh Pit will allow them to expand their own influence further into the desert.
Outside of his work for the Licten family, Carijan also leads what is, officially, a small organization that helps to clean and maintain the outskirts of the Flesh Pit and the roads in the surrounding regions of the desert. The Bronzeguard allow him to use deeper areas of the Flesh Pit to dispose of the carcasses of animals found along the road, in an effort to keep larger scavengers away from travelers. In reality, Carijan’s organization is a small cult that worships and feeds the Flesh Pit. The cult collects carrion and the bodies of those killed in conflicts with bandits on the road in order to sacrifice them to the Flesh Pit, as a way to repay it for providing them with sustenance throughout the year.
Carijan is aware that the pit is a M’l’ykkri nest, but he does not advertise that information, and many members of the cult view the creature in more abstract terms. He believes that it— like the Lumen Cloud— will one day ascend to be viewed as a deity, and he hopes to be chosen as its emissary when it does. To his followers, he states that as long as people continue to harvest flesh from the pit, other flesh must be offered as payment, or the creature within will awaken and take what it is owed.
Captain Adisa
Captain Adisa of the Bronzeguard is a human woman in her mid-forties. She grew up in the southern regions of Nalathesh, near the floating islands, and has been working with the Bronzeguard for just over two decades. For the past few years, she has been the supervisor of the Vulture Watchtower. Her dracanis, Kala, is well-trained and often guards the outskirts of the outpost while Adisa is stationed in the watchtower.
Adisa is aware of the eldritch creatures lurking within the Flesh Pit, and will warn adventurers who seek to travel within that damaging the ecosystem within the pit too extensively is not worth risking the loss of the Flesh Pit as a source of food for the people of the region. Instead, the Bronzeguard focus on ensuring that nothing dangerous ventures outside of the caverns. It is her belief that, if the creatures within the Flesh Pit truly posed a threat to Nalathesh, the Godking would not have permitted them to make their home within the desert.
Adisa and Carijan are not close friends, but they are on good terms with one another. Adisa is unaware of the religious motivations behind Carijan’s organization, but given that the practice of disposing of carrion within the pit seems to reduce the number of casualties among the laborers, she allows it as long as the disposal area is limited to the deeper reaches of the pit, far from where flesh is harvested for use in rations and experiments. She has not witnessed any indication that Carijan disposes of anything other than animal carcasses within the pit, and both she and Carijan are careful to ensure that she doesn’t, as she likely would have to intervene if she had evidence that he was collecting people’s corpses from along the road as well. She likely would look into it further, but the reduction in disappearances is most prominent just after she receives reports of casualties in conflicts with bandits along the nearby roads, and she is practical enough to be content to leave things as they are unless further issues arise.
As far as the Licten family’s involvement, Adisa is aware that groups in Husk worked with Nalatheshi scholars on early research into the pit, and that they continue to provide support for those endeavors in exchange for heavy discounts on the import of rations from the Flesh Pit.
Notable Locations
Vulture Watchtower
Looming over the northwestern side of the Flesh Pit stands Vulture Watchtower, the local Bronzeguard outpost. Named for the giant birds that roost atop it, the watchtower is used by both the Bronzeguard and the national guild of scholars in order to observe and track the Flesh Pit’s activity. Dawn Roledo (see Appendix A) lives here and oversees a rotating group of researchers.
While travelers unaffiliated with the Bronzeguard or the national guild of scholars cannot make use of the watchtower without official dispensation, they may be able to find assistance there. In particular, the outpost possesses the herbs and medicines required to treat Fleshling Fever, and will do so for any individual who displays symptoms, collecting the M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms that emerge for use in future research.
Scavenger’s Rest
The Scavenger’s Rest inn, and the surrounding tents and small buildings, form the foundations of a small settlement on the eastern side of the Flesh Pit. The inn often hosts the few tourists that come to see the Flesh Pit, but is primarily known by those who travel through the desert on a regular basis— it is the cheapest place to buy traveling rations in all of Nalathesh. The basement of the inn hosts gatherings of Carijan’s followers, where he works to gather the support he will one day need, should his plans come to fruition.
The small buildings and tents surrounding the Scavenger’s Rest inn are the homes of laborers who collect flesh from the outskirts of the pit to turn into jerky. While it is not a particularly pleasant job, the prospect of a reliable source of food appeals to many who have struggled to get by in larger cities. The tents also house a number of amateur physicians, mages, and tattoo artists who use materials gathered from the Flesh Pit to hone their crafts.
Economy
The primary export from the regions surrounding the Flesh Pit is food, specifically jerky and other preserved meat. The primary imports are salt, wood, and medicinal ingredients that are difficult to grow in the local environment.
Those who travel regularly in the region know that the settlement at Scavenger’s Rest is the best place to buy cheap traveling rations, especially when purchasing in bulk. Five days of rations can be purchased in Scavenger’s Rest for 1 sc.
There is typically at least one reasonably skilled physician in the area, often accompanied by a group of apprentices who are using materials from the Flesh Pit for their lessons.
While tourism is not the primary source of income, it is not uncommon for people to visit to marvel at the uncanny pit of flesh emerging from the desert. More commonly, however, visitors merely stop to resupply and perhaps to rest for the night before continuing along the road.
Within the Flesh Pit
| Warning: The encounters in the Flesh Pit are dangerous, and may be extremely deadly to smaller parties or lower-level adventurers. There are few rewards to descending into this dungeon, and many risks. It is not worth it. |
While the outskirts of the Flesh Pit are relatively safe, the caves and caverns that lead deeper within are notorious for the number of adventurers that have gone missing within them. The common precautions taken by the residents dictate that anyone venturing past where they can see the sky must wear a sturdy climbing harness tethered to at least two people outside of the cave. The reason for this is simple: the flesh within the caverns is known to move.
In the caverns of the Flesh Pit, M’l’ykkri Fleshlings roam and swarm, collecting brave travelers and beasts to drag into the depths, where their progenitor rests.
The M’l’ykkri buried deep within the innermost depths of the pit is well-defended by the M’l’ykkri Fleshlings and M’l’ykkri Mimics that roam the caverns— which is for the best, as the death of the M’l’ykkri within the pit would severely disrupt the region’s ecosystem and would likely wreak havoc on the local economy.
Layout
While the layout of the caverns varies, there are a few types of rooms the adventurers might find. While the layouts in the map each display an example of a given type of room, if the adventurers embark on a more detailed exploration of the Flesh Pit, the layouts should be varied to increase the sense of disorientation and establish the environment as alien and incomprehensible— either make minor changes when copying the maps onto a larger grid, or vary which maps are used for each room type.
Surface Caverns:
Shallow Cavern: A crevice in the Flesh Pit that may contain more valuable organs and materials. These caverns do not connect to the interior of the Flesh Pit, and can be safely explored.
Trapdoor Cavern: From the exterior, it resembles a safe, shallow cavern. However, as the adventurers venture further inside, the entrance of the cavern closes, leaving them with two options— attempt to cut their way out, or travel deeper. If the party reaches a trapdoor cavern from the interior, the outer entrance will remain open— the contraction begins when creatures cross the outer threshold. When the outer entrance closes, the party will be attacked by twelve M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms.
Rot Bee Nest: The M’l’ykkri are not the only ones who make their homes in the Flesh Pit. It also provides an ideal home for Rot Bees to make their nests. Eight Rot Bees are present within the nest and will attack the adventurers on sight. 1d4 additional Rot Bees will arrive on each turn until twelve Rot Bees have been killed.
Interior Caverns:
Interior Passage: These passages run from room to room within the interior caverns. They may also connect to Trapdoor Caverns leading to the outside. When adventurers enter an interior passage, roll on the Random Encounters table.
M’l’ykkri Mimic Nest: These chambers provide homes for strange, shapeshifting creatures that conceal themselves within the walls. Three M’l’ykkri Mimics reside within the walls, one of which is stationed within the central pillar of the room if using the provided map.
M’l’ykkri Fleshling Burrow: These chambers provide homes for the M’l’ykkri Fleshlings. If the adventurers are searching for a missing person in the interior chambers of the Flesh Pit, they will likely be found here. Two M’l’ykkri Flesh Swarms are present within the chamber, and will attack if adventurers make any hostile actions or attempt to leave.
M’l’ykkri Maw: This chamber contains the maw of the M’l’ykkri within the pit. This M’l’ykkri is older and larger than most, and the maw should be treated as an environmental hazard unless the adventurers attempt to attack. If the adventurers attempt to attack, they will enrage not only the M’l’ykkri itself, but all of the smaller M’l’ykkri creatures in the Flesh Pit. At the end of each round of combat, add 12 ML of the M’lykkri’s servants into the encounter as they arrive. Example groups might consist of one M’l’ykkri Flesh Swarm, twelve M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms, or one M’l’ykkri Mimic, one M’l’ykkri Fleshling, and one M’l’ykkri Flesh Worm. The M’l’ykkri creatures will prioritize driving the adventurers out of the pit over killing them; if the adventurers flee after attacking the M’l’ykkri’s maw, the chambers will arrange themselves to allow the adventurers a swift and easy exit, and all entrances leading further into the pit will close as the adventurers cross through them.
Flesh Pit Depths Random Encounters
Use this random encounter table when the party enters a cavern that would not otherwise contain an encounter. While the majority of the encounters here involve combat, a few may instead be neutral or even beneficial.
| 1d8 | Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1 | No Encounter |
| 2 | Lost Researcher |
| 3 | Dead Man’s Belongings |
| 4 | M’l’ykkri Fleshlings |
| 5 | M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms |
| 6 | M’l’ykkri Ambush! |
| 7 | M’l’ykkri Mimic |
| 8 | M’l’ykkri Flesh Swarm |
Lost Researcher
A missing Physician that has gotten lost within the Flesh Pit requests the party’s aid in escaping. They will aid any injured members of the party, but are unarmed and will hide during combat.
Dead Man’s Belongings
The party discovers the belongings of somebody who has been devoured by the Flesh Pit. Many of the items are damaged, but they may recover one item kit, likely a Climber Kit.
M’l’ykkri Fleshlings
The party is attacked by 2d4 M’l’ykkri Fleshlings.
M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms
The party is attacked by 2d12 M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms.
M’l’ykkri Ambush!
The party is attacked by a group of three M’l’ykkri Fleshlings and 1d8 M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms.
M’l’ykkri Mimic
A M’l’ykkri Mimic emerges from the wall and attacks the party member with the lowest AWR.
M’l’ykkri Flesh Swarm
A M’l’ykkri Flesh Swarm attacks the party.
Lair Challenges:
The primary challenge within the Flesh Pit is to get back out before being devoured or converted into one of the M’l’ykkri. As a rule of thumb when describing the environment and arranging the caverns, adventurers should be safer and closer to the exit as they move upwards, whereas moving downwards increases the danger and brings them further from the exits.
While most passages appear to have one entrance and one exit, passages shift within the Flesh Pit. Once adventurers complete the challenge in an interior chamber, the previous room will have been replaced with another. Give the players clues to this fact early on in their exploration, in order to ensure that they reserve resources for the journey back out.
Adventurers may make use of skills to determine which direction to move in. Relevant skills include Biology and Medicine, in order to identify relevant features of the Flesh Pit, Intuiting and Investigating, in order to locate clues about the environment, and Dungeoneering and Navigating, in order to use more traditional navigation methods to progress through the terrain. When the party first decides to attempt an escape, roll 2d4. The result is the shortest number of chambers between the party and the exit. Each time the party chooses a new room to progress to, an adventurer with one of the relevant skills should make a DC 15 check with that skill. On a success, the next room is closer to the exit, and the number of chambers remaining between the party and the exit decreases by one. On a failure, the next room is further from the exit, and the number of chambers remaining increases by one. If the adventurer making the check succeeds with a roll of 25 or higher, they find a shortcut, and the number of chambers remaining between the party and the exit decreases by two instead of one.
The Floating Islands
Southern Nalathesh
There are three reasons that people tend to travel to the south of Nalathesh. The most common is simply to see, or to study, the islands floating overhead. Many have tried and failed to reach them, but the height of the islands and the weather conditions surrounding them make the prospect far too difficult for anything but a powerful magical creature— especially since whatever force keeps the islands airborne also seems to repel those who attempt to approach them. The second reason is to visit the Spring Meadow Pack’s annual festival, which marks the longest days of the year. Even if it were just the Pack, the gathering would draw a crowd, but the festival also welcomes other residents of the region as well as travelers and tourists. The final reason, a much more recent discovery, is the search for treasure. Scholars have observed instances of Avadri technology and valuable materials being discovered in the region below the Floating Islands, and many have come in the hopes of making monumental discoveries - or, in some cases, simply making a profit.
Weather
The weather in southern Nalathesh is far more pleasant than the arid desert in the northern and central regions of the country. Between the base of the nearby mountain range and the edge of the chasm, many freshwater springs are scattered across the landscape, and the lush land surrounding them creates a sharp contrast with the desert to the north. The floating islands above provide shade, and the area is spared from major storms by the presence of the islands in the sky.
Those attempting to reach the islands must contend with cold winds and fog, the altitude more than enough to counter the warm and mild weather of the local climate.
| 1d6 | Surface Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1 | Strange Creature |
| 2-3 | Treasure Hunters |
| 4-5 | Pack Camp |
| 6 | Falling Debris |
| 1d6 | Sky Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Extreme Winds |
| 4-5 | Galepiercers |
| 6 | Air Elemental |
| 1d6 | Island Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1 | Abomination |
| 2-3 | Gryphons |
| 4-5 | Defenders of the Island |
| 6 | Ancient Technology |
Surface Encounters
Treasure Hunters
The party encounters a group of treasure hunters searching for Avadri technology. The group consists of two Tomb Raiders and a Mage.
They are not immediately aggressive, but will not hesitate to attack the party if they believe it will give them an advantage.
Many of the treasure hunters sell what they find to Sandsnake operatives, who smuggle it to Lesmishan. Adventurers investigating the Sandsnakes might gain valuable information by interrogating or infiltrating these groups of treasure hunters.
Pack Camp
The party encounters a camp belonging to members of the Spring Meadow Pack. The Pack members are friendly, and the party can trade with them for basic traveling supplies. Additionally, they may be able to provide the party with information on the local region.
Strange Creature
The party is attacked by a Trench Wyrdling. If they ask any residents of the local area, they may discover that these creatures have been known to make their homes within debris piles from the islands above.
Falling Debris
The sound of a loud rumble overhead catches everyone’s attention. Two of the floating islands are scraping against one another, leaving debris falling down toward the heroes. For the next minute, each adventurer must make a DC 10 LUCK or DEX check at the start of each of their turns. On a failure, that adventurer suffers 2d4 bludgeoning damage. An adventurer that manages to find shelter from the debris automatically succeeds on the check.
Sky Encounters
Extreme Winds
The adventurers are buffeted by harsh gusts of wind. Creatures attempting to fly in this area must first make a DC 18 STR check. When making this check, a creature rolls 2d20 and uses whichever is lower. If they fail, they are pushed 60 feet down and away from the islands.
Each turn, creatures riding or being carried by a flying creature must make a DC 15 DEX/Balancing check or be knocked away from their mount.
Galepiercers
The adventurers are attacked by 1d4 Galepiercers.
Air Elemental
The adventurers are attacked by an Air Elemental that is defending the islands.
Island Encounters
Abomination
The adventurers are attacked by a Trench Abomination.
Gryphons
The adventurers encounter 1d4 Gryphons. The gryphons are territorial and somewhat aggressive, but may be calmed by a DC 20 AWR/Animal Handling check. If the party has dealt any damage to the gryphons, the DC increases to 30.
Defenders of the Island
The adventurers encounter a Remnant Expunger. It will not initially attack, but instead will inform the party that they are not authorized to explore this area, and that if they do not leave, it is permitted to use force to remove them.
If the party does not comply, the expunger will engage them in combat. However, if they choose to retreat, it will not chase them once they leave the region it is guarding.
If they approach again, it will begin the conversation the same way, seeming not to recognize them.
Ancient Technology
The adventurers find a boulder-sized, broken component of some sort of ancient technological construction. It appears to be made with both avadrium and primor, and based on the size of the runes and lines inscribed in it, whatever this component was once part of must have been at least the size of a multi-story building.
If Sage Najassyra is present, or if the adventurers tell her of what they discovered, she will express an interest in collecting it to study, and offer to reward the party with either money or information.
The Shadow of the Islands
Read Aloud: A chill hangs in the air as a shadow stretches across the meadow. High above, one of the towering limestone islands in the clouds has drifted overhead, blocking the sunlight. There is little reaction from the local wildlife; as unusual as the experience may be for newcomers, here, this is a regular occurrence.
Culture
There are few long-term settlements in southern Nalathesh. While the lush landscape and abundant springs would make such an area an ideal place to settle in under typical circumstances, the shadows of the islands make things a bit more complicated. The largest and slowest to move of the islands follow unpredictable paths and can leave areas cast in shadow for days, disrupting many attempts at agriculture. Instead, many of the residents of the region live in nomadic groups, traveling throughout the region as the islands drift overhead. The largest of these groups is the Spring Meadow Pack, and, unlike the other groups in the area, many members of the Pack travel outside of the region as well, and are occasionally seen throughout northern Nalathesh, especially in the colder seasons.
People
The Spring Meadow Pack. The Spring Meadow Pack is a nomadic group of hondu that reside primarily in the region below the Floating Islands. While many of them travel individually or in smaller groups, the majority of them attend an annual gathering with the rest of the pack to celebrate the longest day of the year, and the weeks before and after.
The Sage’s Nest. The Sage’s Nest is a collection of caves and tunnels in the southern region of Nalathesh. Many of the entrances are within or near the edge of the Great Chasm. The Sage’s Nest is named for the powerful Sage Wyrm that is rumored to live within it.
Sage Najassyra. Sage Najassyra is a Sage Wyrm that has been living beneath the islands for centuries. While she has often flown to the islands to spend time there, the limestone in the islands has metal deposits that interfere with her magical research, so she mostly remains in her nest and the surrounding caverns in the ground below.
If the party wishes to travel to the islands, Najassyra is likely to be their best method of transportation— though many people have tried and failed to convince her to bring them there in the past. She will test those who seek her aid in reaching the islands above.
If the party asks Najassyra to bring them to the islands, she will politely refuse, but state that if they have come seeking knowledge, she would be happy to share some of her own, about the islands or about any other subject that she has studied. She will offer the party the opportunity to ask her three questions, which she will answer to the best of her ability, provided that doing so will not break a promise or put innocents at risk.
Najassyra is not impressed by displays of large amounts of power, but she does appreciate the clever and the curious. She is a scholar at heart, and is happy to teach what she knows to those with a true passion for learning. If she is impressed by the questions that the party asks, she will tell them that she has reconsidered, and that she may be willing to take them to the islands, if they tell her what they are seeking there and allow her to supervise their visit— which should not be too much of a hardship, since they will need her to bring them back down to the surface once they are done.
Najassyra will be impressed by questions that display a true curiosity and passion for learning, and that are not directly related to personal gain. She will be particularly impressed by questions that would be difficult to gain answers to without the assistance of a being as old and learned as she is.
Najassyra does not pay much heed to humanoid politics, but if the adventurers ask about the Godking, she remembers a time in Nalathesh before the ruler wore a golden mask, where the rulership was simply passed down along a family line. The ruler began to wear the mask after a large battle in Aridala that marked the end of a long series of conflicts in Nalathesh. She also remembers that the islands have been floating for much longer than the Godking has ruled Nalathesh, and that their position in the air is not due to his influence.
Islands in the Sky
Once, the islands contained a gateway that could be used to travel between the planes. Now, the gateway has long-since been destroyed, and even the knowledge of its existence has been lost to history. However, the materials it was built from are still valuable, and so is the information that can be learned from studying even a single piece of the ancient structure. Unfortunately, scattered pieces are all that remain.
Though the gate has been destroyed, the islands themselves contain large concentrations of the magical metal known as primor. Its effects on the gravity in the area allow the islands to stay afloat, and make it quite difficult for anything to approach the islands from below. A powerful force repels flying creatures that attempt to approach the islands. Each turn, any creature flying below one of the islands is pushed 180 feet downwards. This effect fades as creatures approach the surface below— a creature within 180 feet of the ground is unaffected by the force.
A flock of wild gryphons lives atop the islands, and will watch the party’s activities there curiously. The other residents of the islands are constructs that once guarded the gate, and strange creatures that seem to have some sort of connection to the ancient technology scattered across the islands.
The best way for the party to reach the islands is by convincing Sage Najassyra to escort them. She is intelligent enough to navigate the extreme winds and strange gravity below the islands, and flies fast enough to counteract the downward force if necessary. However, the adventurers may have other ideas for how to make their way up. It should be difficult, but not impossible— if their plan is logical, and there is a good explanation for why it has not been used to reach the islands in the past, then as long as they are able to navigate the obstacles, they should be able to reach the islands.
Lonerock
The Chasm’s Edge
The town of Lonerock is built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Great Chasm. Under the guidance of Cyrus Drake, the small town has recently been making a name for itself as an important source of a variety of metals for the rest of Nalathesh. The mines opened by Cyrus extend down along the walls of the Great Chasm, and they have been extremely profitable in the few years since they were opened.
Lonerock has been under a good deal of scrutiny due to Cyrus’s criticism of the Godking and the Radiant Princes. In part, this is due to religious conflict— Cyrus is a devoted follower of the Celestial Council. However, much of his criticism surrounds his experiences living on the streets in Aridala as a child. He feels that the Godking has been neglecting his duty to his people— which is made all the worse if Godking Neferu truly possesses the divine power he claims to. After all, if the Godking can truly keep the Floating Islands airborne from halfway across the country, why are there children starving in the streets just outside of his palace?
Weather
The weather in Lonerock is often unpredictable, as the weather patterns of the Nalatheshi desert meet the weather patterns of the Great Chasm. Too much rain can be a cause for concern for the locals, as it raises the risks of landslides while traveling along the Chasm’s edge.
Overnight and in the early hours of the morning, fog shrouds the floor of the Chasm, creating a beautiful but eerie emptiness in the darkest hours of the night. There are rumors that those with a gift for divination can see visions of the future and the past by gazing down into the fog.
Lonerock Random Encounters
While Lonerock is not particularly eventful, compared to some of the more unusual regions in Nalathesh, there is occasionally trouble within the mines. Dangerous creatures live underground, and the miners occasionally disturb their nests. Even without the local wildlife causing problems, mining is a dangerous occupation, and there are occasionally accidents within the mines that require swift intervention.
The tables below provide examples of events that might occur while the party is in Lonerock.
| 1d6 | Combat Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Defense Class |
| 4-5 | Column Crawlers |
| 6 | Mining Accident |
| 1d6 | Social Encounter |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Returning Miners |
| 4-5 | Hondu Nomads |
| 6 | Flash Sale |
Combat
Defense Class
A group of local teenagers are being taught a self-defense class in the center of town. Their instructor asks if the adventurers might be willing to assist, so that the students can gain practice fighting a group, in case they ever encounter bandits along the roads. The fight must be conducted unarmed, and without the use of spells— the instructor does not have safe practice weapons on hand yet, and is concerned about the students getting injured if they fight with magic or with real weapons. There are twelve students. Use Clergy stats for the students.
Because this is a lesson, not a real fight, nobody is actually trying to injure their fellow combatants. Damage dealt and taken in this encounter is purely hypothetical, and is called out by the instructor. While participants must act as if the fight was real, none of the effects persist once the encounter ends.
Column Crawlers
A nest of subterranean creatures has been disturbed in one of the mines, and they have fled to the surface. 1d4 Column Crawlers are running through town, causing havoc and scaring the residents.
Mining Accident
There has been an accident in one of the mines, causing a passage in the mine to collapse. The adventurers are asked to help clear the rubble and evacuate the injured miners. Six miners are trapped by the rubble.
The party can make STR checks, or utilize appropriate equipment to help clear the rubble. Each adventurer can make a check. They gain Successes based on the table below. For each Success, one of the miners is spared from permanent injury, and the party gains +1 Goodwill in Lonerock.
| Skill Roll | Successes |
|---|---|
| Less than 5 | -1 |
| 5-12 | 0 |
| 13-18 | +1 |
| 19-23 | +2 |
| 24 or more | +3 |
Social Encounters
Returning Miners
The adventurers encounter a group of miners returning from the Chasm. They are arguing over whether to return to one of the mine shafts the following day. From what the adventurers overhear, the mine shaft seems likely to be profitable, but it connects with a natural cave, and there are signs that something might be living within it.
The adventurers are free to ignore the miners, or to attempt to offer advice. The adventurers may make a CHA check with a DC of 15 to attempt to convince the miners of one side or another. A successful check to convince them to return to the mine shaft gives the party +1 Goodwill in the local Mercantile sphere, whereas an successful check to convince them to report their suspicions gives the party +1 Goodwill in the local Militant and Aristocratic sphere. This should be tracked separately from other areas of Nalathesh, as it refers to Cyrus Drake and his allies, rather than the Godking or the Radiant Princes.
Hondu Nomads
A group of hondu nomads from the Spring Meadow Pack have come to Lonerock to trade. They are selling a variety of plant-based medicines, which can be difficult to harvest in the desert regions of Nalathesh, as well as smoked fish, which is a rare treat in regions with few large bodies of water.
Adventurers with medical experience can take this opportunity to obtain the herbs required to treat a variety of different diseases.
Flash Sale
A merchant who recently arrived in Lonerock has a shipment of bladed weapons that he wants to sell before he is caught with them. The merchant’s stock consists of large blades with a standard cost of 75 sc or less, and he will sell them to the party for 50% of their standard cost. If any party member attempts to purchase at least four of the same weapon, they will risk being suspected of an intention to trade those weapons if caught with them.
Culture
In recent years, many new residents have moved to Lonerock. This is, in part, due to the town’s recent economic success. However, it is also due to the fact that, compared to other mines along the Chasm’s edge, the mines in Lonerock tend to be much safer and more pleasant to work in. Cyrus Drake puts in an impressive amount of effort into ensuring that those living within Lonerock are safe and content, and that the town as a whole continues to thrive. He’s established strong social support systems to ensure that residents who are struggling receive the assistance they need. He remembers his struggles as a child, and wants to ensure that, now that he is in a position of power, nobody under his protection ever suffers the same way he did.
Economy
For a town of its size, Lonerock’s involvement in trade is rather impressive. Merchants in Lonerock trade with the nomadic groups of southern Nalathesh, as well as with the larger, more established marketplaces in Bridgemoor and Aridala. Lonerock produces its own goods to trade as well, especially in recent years. The mines that Cyrus Drake has opened have become very profitable, and Lonerock’s economy is thriving. While it will never have the wide selection of goods for trade that one might find in the marketplace of a city like Aridala, it is a good place to purchase materials and equipment that is both high-quality and practical. To progress his goals of protecting and improving the town of Lonerock, Cyrus subsidizes the sale of artisan tools and armor— these goods can be purchased at a 10% discount in Lonerock. However, given his controversial opinions on Nalathesh and its Godking, he knows better than to allow his town to be seen as too militaristic. The sale of weapons is heavily regulated, and merchants that maintain shops in town are not permitted to keep a stock of any bladed weapons larger than a hunting knife. That is not to say that those weapons are unavailable, merely that they have to be ordered, sold illegally, or made to order— which tends to raise the price. All bladed weapons that do not have the Concealed property are 30% more expensive in Lonerock than they are elsewhere.
The Mines
The mines of Lonerock are not entirely safe, but they are far less hazardous than those in Lesmishan, to the north. Cyrus Drake ensures that the equipment provided to the miners is good quality, that there are extensive safety procedures in place, and that the miners are paid well and not overworked. Thanks to the town’s recent success, Cyrus has been considering reaching out to Husk to purchase magically enhanced mining equipment and safety gear. Initial inquiries have been made, though he awaits a response from the researchers regarding what enchantments would be feasible.
Religion
Cyrus Drake makes no pretense of worshiping the Godking, and Lonerock as a whole follows his lead. While there are no official temples to the Celestial Council in Lonerock, due to Nalatheshi laws that mandate all temples be dedicated to the Godking, there is an ornamental garden containing a shrine and several statues of the celestial deities, and of Judesaril in particular.
He does not prevent the residents of the city from worshiping the Godking, and there is a temple to the Godking in Lonerock, complete with a trained priest. While Cyrus may not have chosen to establish one himself, it became a necessity once the town got involved in more complex trade— many of the permits and taxes that result from such things are required to be processed through a temple, and the nearest outside of Lonerock is multiple days away. Lonerock’s temple to the Godking bears little embellishment, and is styled far more like a courthouse than a religious structure.
The Statue Garden
Read Aloud: Tucked away from the rest of Lonerock, the garden is peaceful and quiet. Small statues of the deities of the Celestial Council are placed throughout the garden paths, and in the center of it all, a small shrine dedicated to Judesaril holds a small offering bowl and a tray to burn incense. The statues and the shrine are simple but elegant, and have clearly been chosen and maintained with care.
In lieu of a temple to the Celestial Council, Cyrus Drake has created this ornamental garden to provide himself a peaceful place to pray and to honor the Celestial council. The garden contains several carved stone statues of the Celestial Council, though Judesaril appears in the carvings more often than any of the others. A simple shrine rests in the center of the garden, where Cyrus often sits in meditation and prayer in the early hours of the morning.
Crime
Lonerock has a small enough population that crime is unusual, especially given the extensive social support systems established by Cyrus Drake. He does his best to ensure that nobody under his rule will have to struggle in the same way that he did as a child in Aridala. However, there are a surprising number of former criminals finding honest work in Lonerock. Cyrus still has a few connections within the underworld of Nalethesh from his time on the streets. While he does not condone criminal activity, he recognizes that sometimes, people may struggle to find other options. He does his best to provide those options, and if an old contact reaches out to him saying that someone wants an opportunity to get out and make an honest living, he is happy to assist them in taking that step. He has little tolerance for violent crime, though, after the death of his parents when he was young. While he will happily help find a space for former thieves, smugglers, and pickpockets, he has no mercy for those who have killed innocents for personal gain.