Kingbeast's Lair

Chapter 8 – Death In Luxor – Session #17

Date At Start Of Game: 1/11/1894

[Author’s Note: This episode is the 17th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be the exact order that they occurred in the session.]

• Reluctantly the PC are stripped of their belongings and clothing. They are forced to wear simple robes and bags are put over their faces. After being bagged they are led back into town to an unknown location. Eventually they are led into a room and they hear the door lock. The room reaks with the odor of a powerful incense. Singh and Abdul go back-to-back and remove their bounds. The room is pitch black except for bits of light leaking through a small barred window. After removing some boards from the barred window the PC see that it is still raining and the some of the rain is leaking through the roof. The only thing in the room are two metal cots. While stacking the cots to get to the roof the PC start to hallucinate…
• Tredge sees a mob of corpses stumbling through the streets of Luxor towards him. When then get close their flesh peels away revealing layers of maggots. The corpses then fall to their knees and raise their arms in worship of Tredge.
• Senemut sees a tent with an old man who has parched yellow skin. In a raspy voice he rasps, “See the Old Ways…beware the Nile…she runs again!”
• Barton sees a desolate sky and a purple moon. Deep Ones dance around a campfire build from dead bodies. The Deep Ones beckon for Barton to join them.
• Singh finds himself seated atop a mound of rubble. Luxor is being flooded by the Nile. All around his small island Deep Ones emerge.
• Adbul stands beside the Nile with a bow in his hands. He is dressed in an ancient tunic. To both sides men in similar guard stand nervously. As Deep Ones emerge from the Nile a commander issues the order, “Ready! Aim! Fire!”
• After punching a hole in the roof the Singh climbs out and pulls up the PC on sheets tied in knots. Carefully he leads the PC down from the second floor roof to a lower first floor roof. As the PC plan on entering the alley and the building of their captors to get their weapons Abdul spies something moving in the alley. Out of the drain a gray oozelike creature emerges! It propels itself up the stairs and bashes down the door of their captors. After some muffled screams the PC drop down to the first floor to take a look. The beast has gone up the stair to their cell. The PC then enter the building from the first floor, grab their gear, and follow behind the creature. Abdul lures the ooze to follow them. As the ooze comes back up the stairs Tredge pulls out a fire potion that he took from an earlier adventure and pours it down the stairs. Using a brasier that has the strange incense he lights it up. The ooze reels back in confusion. Singh holds up the door preventing it from coming into the room. The powerful creature pushes him back but burns up trying to follow the PC out of the roof hole.
• As Barton and Senemut are escaping from the scene they spot a young man coming to the building. They jump him then question him with the PC. They are a group of people dedicated to defending the tombs. He tells the PC that a specialist from India, Madame Carlisle, is on her way to the second tomb to deal with the problem and the the PC do not know what they are doing. The PC explain that they know more than Madame Carlisle and plan to follow. They develop the picture of the map and steal horses to follow.
• Early the next morning they arrive at the site. Madam Carlisle and several of the protectors are ripped to shreds by Deep Ones. The PC take their supplies including some oil, incense, and sticks then enter the tomb. Inside they find some strange writing that mentions annointing with oil, the sticks, and the incense.
• In the main large chamber the PC see a huge circular stone platform that is opening to reveal three yellowing arms. The hands on the arms end with maws in the palms. A voice taunts the PC then tells the Deep Ones to attack the one with the incense. Abdul, Singh, and Burton take up positions. Adbul and Singh shoots Deep Ones that get close. Burton blows away steps on one side of the chamber. Senemut and Tredge prepare to jump down to use the sticks on the hands. Senemut thinks to load up the air pistol with the sticks. He fires them into the hands with great effect. Tredge stabs with his sticks. From behind Abdul and Burton are attacked. Acting quickly they shoot down the Deep Ones then close the door using a sophisticated locking mechanism…good thing Burton is an expert lock picker! Finally Tredge and Senemut force Y’Golanac back into the pit sealing the elder god inside for a hundred hundred years.
• The campaign ends with the world again safe from evil.

Date At End Of Game: 1/12/1894

This is the end of the campaign. I want to thank all of my players for so many great games with so many great moments.

Monday night I finished up my Terra Incognita : Ancient Mysteries campaign.? I will now be starting a new Fantasy Hero campaign called Spirit Storm.? The document for the campaign can now be had at the File Downloads page of this fine site.? To wet your appetite here is the introduction…

Welcome to the exciting fantasy world of Spirit Storm!

Spirit Storm is a high adventure fantasy campaign set after a cataclysmic magical war that devastated most of the land. If the adventures have a high tension, anime mixed with fairy tale feel, then I have achieved my vision for the campaign. This campaign is standard fantasy fare with some changes that will be detailed below.

A mere six months before the start of the campaign a great magical war was waged that lasted for almost fifteen years. This war devastated most of the known world creating large wastelands that did not exist previously. Fallout from the war also resulted in a dense layer of clouds that blanket the skies. This cloud layer limits the sunlight that can reach the planet and the stars can no longer be seen at night. Overall the land has become much colder. This dense cloud bank has also put an ?emotional pallor? on the people of the land.

The name of the campaign comes from the fact that spirits are the source of all magical energy. Spirits are found in all living things. The more majestic the being the more powerful the spirit. Thus the spiritual energy in a blade of grass is much less than that of a large majestic oak tree. In concept this is similar to the belief of American Indians and Japanese folk stories. Spells and magic are the summoning and control of called spirits.

Although this is ?standard fantasy fare? there is a difference with the races. Instead of dwarves, elves, etc all of the races are based off of animals. The dominant race is the Ape Kin. As far as the game is concerned Ape Kin, or ?Ape Men?, are ?humans?. Other races can include those which are spawned from mammals, avians, reptiles, fish, and insects. Several of the prevalent races can be found in this document but PC are encouraged to come up with their own races if desired. (Note that I am not a ?Furry? or anything like that.,..I just thought this would be a fun change that I have always wanted to try.)

The PC have been called by a powerful unseen force to leave their homes. This force is calling them together for some yet unknown reason. Players are encouraged to work this into their back stories. Another thing that the PC have in common is that on the day the mage war started something important happened in their lives that involves spiritual energy. It could be the devastation of their home village, the death of a loved one, a birth, an emotional turning point, etc. Again the PC are encouraged to be creative in this area.

-== What is it? ==-

Pulp Egypt : Adventures Along the Nile, 1933-1939 is a PDF product from Griffon Publishing Studio. The PDF is written by Peter Schweighofer. It details Egypt in the 1930’s with a heavy emphasis on how it can be best utilized for pulp style adventuring.

The PDF has a color cover and essentially a black and white interior. The artwork is taken from published photos. The book is 8.5? x 11? and is 175 pages in length. I have read the book cover to cover and used some of the material in my Terra Incognita campaign.

-== What I Like ==-

The Egyptian Exotica section is in my opinion the best chapter in the book and is frankly worth the price of the book. This section goes into the myths and legends of Egypt with focus on how it can be used for roleplaying. The section has many adventure ideas imbedded in the text.

The section that contains a sample campaign with an archaeology feel is very well done. The story is fresh but has a strong Indy feel which is just great.

The Who’s Who In Egypt section is also neat. It mentions the various figures who were traipsing around Egypt during this time frame. These folks are just awesome for guest appearance or even as opponents in some cases.

The art in the book is comprised of photographs from the time period that are taken from published photo sites. Normally this turns me off but for this book it really works. Some of the photos of buildings and indigents are just great.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The Travel section is pretty bland. There is not a lot to use and tips are missing for incorporation into games.

The espionage and criminal campaign sections are not great. In fact the criminal campaign section really does not have an ending in my opinion. These could use some additional content or maybe better stories.

-== Summary ==-

This book is the best examination I have read regarding Egypt in this time frame and how it can be used for gaming. My Terra Incognita campaign is set in the Victorian era but I still found this book to be very useful. If you want to run a game in Egypt anywhere near this time frame I highly recommend this book. If you want to get some free pulp adventures set in Egypt there are a couple on the Griffon Publishing Studio site at this URL: http://griffonpub.home.att.net/.

Pulp Egypt sells for $20 from Your Games Now. This is a great price point for the amount of material in the product.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.