BFJB solo - Part 1: the summons

20 Simānum

The Year in Which the Destroyed Great Wall of Sippar was Rebuilt for Šamaš and Šerida

-or-

~5 June, 1767 BCE

Iqīš-Sîn is going to sweep the street before his master's home one morning when he opens the door finds an unkempt young woman standing before him. The sight of her tattered dress and wild eyes makes him grimace, and he raises his bundle of rushes menacingly.

"Be off with you, vagrant!"

The threat elicits only laughter. Then, "you don't recognise me do you? no matter: tell your master there is a fine lady to see him. Bearing this." She shows him the letter in her hands. Its clay envelope is smooth save for the impression of a cylinder seal, and appears to not be completely dried.

"I'll take it to hi--"

"I give it to him directly or not at all! Do you not see whose seal it bears?"

"I, er, don't recognise..."

"Shall I leave then? I'm sure it's nothing. And there will be no repercussions when your master fails to do his duty. And--"

"I'll get him," sighs Iqīš-Sîn. "Wait here."

"A fine lady: don't forget to tell him."

Iqīš-Sîn shrugs and disappears into the house. The woman waits a few moments then slips in after him. She hides behind some furniture in a dark corner of the entrance hall. A minute later Iqīš-Sîn returns with his master, Mannum-kīma-Adad the tax collector, who has hastily thrown on a fine linen garment. The slave opens the door, and both men look out into the empty street. Confused, they step outside.

"Why didn't you fetch me sooner?" asks Mannum-kīma-Adad.

A sudden screech fills the air, like that of an ill-omened eššebum-bird. Iqīš-Sîn and Mannum-kīma-Adad both freeze in terror. A shrill voice comes from the shadows, "Destruction! Ruin! You are on the road of no return!"

Mannum-kīma-Adad instantly regains his composure. "Very funny," he says. "You can come out now, Damiqtum. A fine lady indeed! I should have realised it was you." Damiqtum emerges, and all three proceed into the open central courtyard of the house. She hands over the letter.

"Will there be anything else?" asks Mannum-kīma-Adad.

"Open it and read. Now."

"It's sealed..."

"I already know what it says. It concerns us both. The high priestess herself had me take dictation."

Mannum-kīma-Adad breaks open the envelope and removes the fired tablet inside. "I hope you wrote all the characters correctly, woman of Mari" he sighs, then begins to  read aloud.

To Mannum-kīma-Adad, say as follows,
Thus says Taqbim, emtum of Ištar:
"I have written to Warad-Amurrum saying, 'where is the tribute for my temple? I sent you a messenger, but you did not respond, nor did my messenger return. Where is my messenger? where is the grain you owe in tribute?' But there is still no response. I have written to the chief tax collector, and he bids you go on mission. Also, you shall take Damiqtum with you to speak on my behalf."

"Really, she said that?"

"She did," says Damiqtum. "She had a dream--"

"Of course she did. You didn't just add your own ending to the text?"

"Why should I? I hate the countryside."

"Hm. But just why, then, did she send you, and not one of the priests?"

"The goddess has spoken through me. There will be great danger ahead."

"And just how are you to protect me?"

"I? Don't be a fool! But I do know someone..."


[I like to start off adventures (& posts generally) with a bit of narrative that isn't broken up by game mechanics or notes. This little proœmium could really benefit from some further explanation, so I'm putting it all here in place of my usual introductory remarks (which were covered sufficiently in the character creation posts. Right, then...

the date
This is a good a way as any for me to learn Babylonian date formulae. I beg the reader's indulgence, but I will at least be sticking to just the short month&day forms from here out. And one should always be mindful of the 283rd law in the Code of Hammurapi: "YOU CAN NOT HAVE A MEANINGFUL CAMPAIGN IF STRICT TIME RECORDS ARE NOT KEPT."
Simānum is the third month of the year, corresponding to May-June. 1767BCE is the date of the setting in the rulebook. Barley is harvested about the 16th of the first month, Nisānum (March-April), so I picked a start date ~60 days after that when it seemed like the tribute of grain would be late.

the seal on the envelope
Iqīš-Sîn is actually literate, so there was a chance he'd recognise the seal. However, recognising the owner of a seal on sight seems like something that only a Scribe would be able to easily do (in game terms, be a Relevant Check for their Profession), so there was a -3 penalty to his Mind check. He has Mind 4, and rolled
1d6=5 +4(stat) -3 (non-professional) = 6, failure.

a fine lady
'sinništum damiqtum' means 'a fine/good/noble/etc. woman'. Alternately the name Damiqtum is in apposition to the noun: 'the woman, Damiqtum'.
Did Mannum-kīma-Adad catch the reference? A simple Mind check with no modifiers would decide: Mind 3 + 1d6 = 5, fail.

the house
The map  made of Mannum-kīma-Adad's digs is based on House F from Nippur (18th c BCE). I guessed about where to put the stairs to the upper storey, but the oven is where one was really found.

hiding
Being stealthy requires Contested Checks. Damiqtum needed a Body check (no modifiers) to conceal herself well. Body 3 +1d6 = 6, fail. If this were an ambush, it would have actually mattered that she failed the check.
Mannum-kīma-Adad and Iqīš-Sîn resist with Mind checks, but at penalties: -2 as Damiqtum has ~50% cover, -1 for darkness: Babylonian houses have no windows.
Mannum-kīma-Adad rolled a natural 1, which is potentially a critical failure. He then rolled a second die, hoping it also did not come up a 1: 1d6=2, a normal failure.
Iqīš-Sîn rolls 1d6=5 +4 (Mind) -3 =6, failure

You are on the road of no return!
'ūmka u šīmtaka umašširūka' (lit. your day and your fate (i.e. the date of your natural death) have abandoned you)

"I hope you wrote all the characters correctly, woman of Mari"
For some cuneiform signs, the Mariotes used different phonetic values than the Babylonians. Mannum-kīma-Adad is just being a jerk about it.

the letter
The picture is of a Sumerian letter, but shows a tablet in its clay envelope.


My toolbox for the game will be:

• BFJB, 2nd edition (with additional personal names from the 1st edition rulebook)
• Mythic GME with my MCSV for the oracle, and the Location Crafter for additional tables
• UNE & BOLD for NPCs and events
• My random urban encounter tables
• Runequest 2nd ed. charts (as a base) for wilderness encounters
• and as much primary source material as I can get my hands on

Rather than randomly generating the adventure itself or choosing one of the myriad adventure seeds scattered throughout the BFJB rulebook, I decided to go with the germ of an idea for an adventure that I've always wanted to run but never managed to do.

Speaking of adventure, let's get to it:]


Damiqtum departs to look for her associate, and Mannum-kīma-Adad is left to worry the rest of the day. It isn't so much that he doesn't trust the madwoman -- he doesn't really, but that's beside the point -- but he's never had cause to doubt her prophetic gift. If the Foremost amongst the Goddesses is concerned enough to trouble herself with her temple's missing grain, there is probably more behind this than a wayward merchant or even raiding Ḫurrians.

The muḫḫūtum returns at sunset, as Mannum-kīma-Adad is brooding over his half-eaten meal.

"What took you so long? Where's this friend of  yours?"

"I looked all over the city, and cannot find him anywhere."

"The goddess didn't reveal his location to you?"

"Don't blaspheme!"

"Forgive me. I've had all day to worry about where this was headed."

"Just now it's headed out of the Šamaš gate. Come quickly, we must get out before they close it for the night."

"You can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am. The one we must find is a foreigner! He daren't remain within the walls at night."


Scene 1

Chaos: Average (d10)

Setup: getting across town

NPC List: emtum, Warad-Amurrum who owes grain, overseer, farmers

Threads: retrieve the missing grain, find 4th party member


Mannum-kīma-Adad bids his slave fetch an evening cloak, for they must cross nearly the whole of the city to get to the gate, and there's no telling how late they'll be out, or if they'll even be permitted to re-enter. He has him fetch a cudgel as well; one can't be too careful amongst foreign types! The three set out into the evening streets, which are still a-bustle with the day's business.

[They must cross through 4 neighbourhoods: Kullab > Eridu > Kumar > Tuba. I rolled one encounter check per neighbourhood (1-2 on d6) :1,4,5,2 = encounters in Kullab & Tuba

For the first, I rolled d6=5 & d66=22: chatterer]

They've hardly progressed to the end of the street when someone grabs Mannum-kīma-Adad by the shoulder from behind.

[He got a Mind check to notice, but d6+3=5, fail.

UNE--
NPC Relationship: peaceful
Conversation Mood: sociable
scheming - arrangement - equipment]

"Mannum-kīma-Adad! Just the man I need to see. I was just passing down the street, thinking of you, and who should appear right before me!"

"Oh. Abi-eqar. This is a surprise."

"I was hoping you'd had time to think over my, er, proposal. I understand if you haven't come to a decision yet, but then I'd not be surprised if you had. Such a decisive one you are--"

"This is hardly the proper time. Or place..."

"No, of course not! But I need an answer very soon. As soon as you possibly can, not that I think you'll take too long, you see, but it's just that the, well, the business arrangements must be concluded quickly. Before the--."

"Before the 'merchant' leaves town?"

"I was going to say, 'before the end of the month'. But you're right, too."

"Ah. Of course. But we'd really ought to discuss this later. In private."

"Certainly. But may I add, if you agree to the proposal, you'll be able to afford better, um, companionship of an evening." The man disappears into the crowd.

"Did he just--?" starts Damiqtum.

"I am afraid he did, my dear. Pay him no mind. But you do rather have the look of the gutter about you."

"I was going to say, 'offer you a bribe'. Just what sort of person have you become?"

"No! nothing like that."

[Mannum-kīma-Adad needs to pass a Check to dissemble. He rolls against Soul, his best attribute: 1d6+6=10, success. Damiqtum resists with Mind, at -3 since lie detecting is not a feature of her Profession: d6+6-3=5, fail.]

"Then I am sorry for having doubted you."

They continue on through the crowded streets, Mannum-kīma-Adad in the lead. They pass unhindered through the rest of Kullab and through the gate into the walled Eridu district. Mannum-kīma-Adad in his finery and gold jewellery looks like just the sort of person one might run across in the religious centre of the city, though the bedraggled aspect of the muḫḫūtum is less out-of-place here than most places. Iqīš-Sîn, as a slave, is as invisible as always.

Their path takes them past the walls of the Esagil temple complex, and they pause to stare up in wonderment at Marduk's splendid ziggurat. Then they continue on their way, taking the bridge over the Araḫtum and heading south into Tuba.

[Encounter: d6=1, d66=65: one who constantly listens; d6=male
Q: How does the encounter go down? (1d4) 1 offers something, 2 threatens, 3 shadows out of city, 4 accuses; d4=1]

Mannum-kīma-Adad falls to talking with Damiqtum as they walk. He is relieved to hear that she does, in fact, have a rough idea of where to find her friend of an evening, though the fellow's barbarous name fills him with more than a little dread. Damiqtum is surprisingly loquacious when it comes to expressing her displeasure at going into the countryside, but Mannum-kīma-Adad is unable to tease out any elucidation of her fears, or the prophecy which spawned them.

Unbeknownst to the pair of them, their words have not gone unremarked. During a convenient pause, a man suddenly blocks their way. He wars an immaculate robe but is otherwise totally non-descript[Location Crafter: Coolly / Drab].

"Leaving for the countryside?" says the man before Mannum-kīma-Adad can demand he step aside. "Worried about bandits? Or marauding tent-dwellers? Friends, I may be able to offer you my humble services."

"And you are...?" asks Mannum-kīma-Adad.

"They call me Lulīmum." And as if in answer to their question, he points out his golden brooch in the shape of a stylised deer's head, of obvious foreign manufacture. [lulīmum=the red deer, stag (and is also the name of Saturn, a constellation, and an epithet of kings and gods)]

"And just what sort of services can you offer?"

[Q: What does he offer? (1d6) 1-2 protection, 3-4 weapons, 5 both, 6 summat else; d6=2]

"I know some sturdy fellows who could go along and discourage any savages who approach with the intention of doing you ill. Come this way and we shall talk it over."

[Q: Is this a legitimate offer? 50/50 (4+): O1 C8 - no.

Lulīmum is attempting to con them. I used the 1st level Thief stats from the Bestiary chapter, so he has the Perfect talent (automatically succeed at a check, 1/day). His Soul stat is only 4 (66% chance of success here) so he'll use it now.

The PCs get to make Avoid Checks using their Mind attribute (at -3).
M 1d6=3 + Mind 3 -3 =3, fail
I 1d6=3 + Mind 4 -3 =4, fail
D 1d6=5 + Mind 6 -3 =8, succeeds]

"We're going to see my friend," interjects Damiqtum. "A great soldier. who treats me as his little sister. I shudder when I think of what he did to the last savage who intended to do me ill."

"Yes, I see. I shan't detain you any longer."

Lulīmum melts back into the crowd.



Scene 2

Chaos: Average (d10)

Setup: searching the suburb

NPC List: emtum, Warad-Amurrum who owes grain, overseer, farmers

Threads: retrieve the missing grain, find 4th party member

[Q: Does D know where to find her friend? 50/50: O5 C5 - yes (I wrote this into the narrative above)
+Event: PC negative - Mannum-kīma-Adad - Neglect / Extravagance]

They pass though the Šamaš gate to leave the city. The crowd is thickest beneath the arched gate itself and someone jostles Mannum-kīma-Adad, stealing a gold ring (worth about 1 shekel of silver) right off his hand. He's so intent on getting away from the throng that he doesn't notice a thing (and won't until much later). They've scarcely walked 3 nindanū (~18m) down the road when soldiers start closing the great wooden gates. Mannum-kīma-Adad looks back with a grimace. "They'd better let us back in after we find this friend of  yours," he says to Damiqtum.

They travel south along the road for about 12 ašlū (.72km) to a suburb straddling the Piqūdum canal. On the outskirts is a cluster of small, shabby buildings -- shops & alehouses & miscellaneous places catering to the nighttime needs of foreigners and poor tenant farmers, alongside peasant hovels, a few farm buildings, and storehouses. crowd is thick and boisterous

"Phaugh! just what sort of place are you taking us?" asks Mannum-kīma-Adad, hoping his disgust conceals his fear.

"Let me do the talking, and we'll be fine," says Damiqtum.

She accosts a passer-by, a wretched pauper limping along [d6=2, d66=one who has club feet; d6=m]. "Where's the shop of Siyaya the alewife? My friends are thirsty from the road."

Mannum-kīma-Adad bristles at the sound of the foreign name, but does not interrupt.

[Siyaya is an Elamite name.
Q: Does the pauper tell them the way? 50/50 (4+): O2 C4 - yes, but...]

"Why should I bother telling you?" sneers the pauper. "What's in it for me?"

"Show us the way and we'll buy you a beer too."

[Damiqtum needs a Soul check to convince them: 1d6 + Soul6 = 9, success]

"Follow me."

He leads them to an open-air structure, half billowing tent, half ruined mud-brick wall. Rude benches are crowded beneath the sail, full of patrons. Others spill out in to the 'street' in small groups.

"Go with Iqīš-Sîn to get a jug of beer."

Mannum-kīma-Adad looks at her disdainfully. "I'm not about to set foot in that tangle of... foreigners."

The muḫḫūtum sighs. "Then have this good man go with him to claim his reward, and stay out here with me."

Mannum-kīma-Adad waves them away.

Damiqtum looks about until she sees a lean muscular man leaning against a tall section of wall and watching over the crowd of drunken patrons. His hair and beard betray him as a foreigner. He is clad in only a simple skirt, and a well-used mace hangs at his belt. Damiqtum runs right up and begins babbling at him. The man babbles back, then lifts her up bodily and swings her round, making two full revolutions before depositing her on the ground.

"Sister," he says (in Elamite), "what brings you out of the city at night? Not that I am ever sad to see you!"

"Oh, but I came to find you!" she replies, then switches to Akkadian, "for I must soon go even further from the city, accompanying this man here on an important mission for the temple. He's going to pay you handsomely to come with us, and keep us safe.

Mannum-kīma-Adad bristles. "Now, let us dis--"

"Starting from now!" continues Damiqtum unabated. "Else we're certain to meet with brigands on our way back to the gate."

The man smiles broadly. "But, šutu, I am beholden just now to Sayaya. I must watch over her shop and keep the troublemakers at bay. What shall I say to her?"

"The truth: you must go on an important errand for the temple of Annunitum."

"Perhaps she is letting me go, then. But I've been paid through the night. I cannot leave just yet, šutu."

"We can wait. Oh, and here's Iqīš-Sîn with our beer. Please, have some."

[Q: Are there any incidents? Unlikely (5+): O3 C8 - No.]

They drink their beer and maintain a generally low profile. Damiqtum introduces her friend as Šerašer, a mercenary who helped her travel the long way to Babylon from her native Mari. Mannum-kīma-Adad wonders why this soldier keeps referring to Damiqtum as the South Wind, but doesn't dare ask; it makes as much sense as anything else about her. [šutu is Elamite for sister; šūtu(m) is Akkadian for the south wind. Mannum-kīma-Adad assumes the short vowel is just a foreigner's mispronunciation.]

Damiqtum & Šerašer leave at one point to talk to the alewife Sayaya, and [Soul 6 + 1d6= 11, success] easily convince her to let Šerašer go after tonight.

It's late when the four of them finally walk back along the canal by torchlight and follow the road up to the Šamaš gate. Mannum-kīma-Adad is very officious towards the guards at the gate [he uses his Authority talent], and forces them to admit him and his three slaves (as he intimates they are) back inside the walls of the great city.



Next post: into the countryside

more PCs for BFJB

I've rolled up a fair few characters for BFJB, more than I can comfortably use in the same party for the first adventure (which I will write up soon, I promise!). It's good to have a stable of PCs, though, and fun to figure out their inter-relationships. Also, as this is a solo campaign, bitter intra-party conflicts will add spice to the adventure, rather than detracting from it as in group games.

But for the relationships to make sense, I should first introduce the characters. Two quick notes: 1) The first 4 PCs are the initial party for the first adventure. 2) City-state indicates where they were born, but all are currently resident in Babylon.

Mannum-kīma-Adad the tax collector and his slave, Iqīš-Sîn

Mannum-kīma-Adad you've already met. Iqīš-Sîn is his long-suffering slave, who is tasked with accompanying his master everywhere and being always at his beck and call. He is envious of the other slaves in the household, who don't have to work nearly as hard. He inwardly curses the god that made him his master's favourite. They reside in Mannum-kīma-Adad's modest home in the Kullab district.

Mannum-kīma-Adad
Profession: Bureaucrat (tax collector (mākisum))
Social Class: awīlum
Ethnicity: Akkadian
City-State: Babylon
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 2   Mind: 3   Soul: 6
Talents: Authority(P), Perfect, Fleet-footed, Tough (Mind)
Languages: Akkadian, R/W cuneiform
Equipment: stylus, clay
Assets: luxurious clothing & furnishings worth 80 shekels, jewellery worth 20 shekels

Iqīš-Sîn
Profession: slave/ day labourer (agrum)
Social Class: wardum
Ethnicity: Akkadian
City-State: Kiš
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 4   Mind: 4   Soul: 3
Talents: Inconspicuous Soul(P), Everyman(P), Hidden Reserve(Body), Brutal, Fast Recovery
Languages: Akkadian, Amorite, R/W cuneiform
Equipment: tunic
Assets: -

Damiqtum the ecstatic

Damiqtum is a muḫḫūtum of Ištar-Annunitum. Originally from Mari, the goddess commanded her to go to Babylon, though did not reveal for what purpose. She now lives at the Ekitušgirzal temple in the New Town district, though wanders the city incessantly, waiting for a sign.

Damiqtum
Profession: ecstatic (muḫḫūtum)
Social Class: awīltum
Ethnicity: Akkadian
City-State: Mari
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 3   Mind: 6   Soul: 6
Talents: Trance(P), Furious, Sharp Tongue
Spells: Stun
Languages: Akkadian, Sumerian, R/W cuneiform, Elamite, Elamite cuneiform
Equipment: ragged-hemmed dress, dagger
Assets: 3.6 shekels worth of cheap copper jewellery, slightly less-ragged dress

Šerašer the Elamite mercenary

Šerašer is a sellsword from Susa. He fought for Zimri-Lim of Mari for a time, but eventually found more profit to be gained in the armies of Ḫammu-rapi. He is tired of army life, and is now considering what to do next as he spends the last of his booty.

Šerašer
Profession:  soldier (rēdûm)
Social Class: muškēnum
Ethnicity: Elamite
City-State: Susa
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 5   Mind: 4   Soul: 3
Talents: Deadly Force(P), Eager, Eagle Eye, Hardy
Languages: Elamite, Akkadian, Ḫurrian, Gutian
Equipment: short sword, 5 javelins, light leather shield, mace
Assets: 16 silver rings (1/4 shekel each)

the Amorite twins

Annu-ḫaṣni the nadītum and Annu-ḫani the prostitute

The twins come from an upper-class Babylonian family. They are identical, but their personalities are polar opposites. Annu-ḫaṣni is a severe and reserved woman who favours Sumerian modes of dress, where Annu-ḫani is a bonne vivante who likes lush fabrics and glittering jewels. As a nadītum of Marduk, Annu-ḫaṣni lives in the gagum (cloister) of Esagil, the primary temple of Marduk in Babylon. Her sister still lives in their family home nearby. Despite their differences, they've never quarrelled.

Annu-ḫaṣni
Profession: nadītum
Social Class: awīltum
Ethnicity: Amorite
City-State: Babylon
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 3   Mind: 5   Soul: 4
Talents: Consecrated to the God(P),
Rituals: Hallow, Heal Body
Languages: Amorite, Akkadian, Sumerian, R/W cuneiform
Equipment: vestments
Assets: 5 non-ceremonial outfits, fancy cloak, good sandals, 30 shekels worth of household furnishings, 10 shekels worth of jewellery, 90 shekels in precious metals (from/for making investments)

Annu-ḫani
Profession: prostitute (ḫarīmtum)
Social Class: awīltum
Ethnicity: Amorite
City-State: Babylon
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 3   Mind: 4   Soul: 5
Talents: Courtesan's Charm(P), Dramatic, Likable, Perfect
Languages: Amorite, Akkadian, R/W cuneiform
Equipment: dagger
Assets: luxurious clothing worth 4.7 shekels, jewellery worth 7 shekels

Nūr-libbi the exorcist

Nūr-libbi is an exorcist-priest who lives in the Eridu district, three doors down from the twins' family home. He is somewhat of an antiquary, and affects a Sumerian style of dress and (somewhat overblown) mode of living. His comical foppishness causes much laughter at his expense, but the truth is that it's is the only way he can cope with the horrors he's seen.

Nūr-libbi
Profession: exorcist-priest (mašmaššum)
Social Class: awīlum
Ethnicity: Akkadian
City-State: Babylon
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 4   Mind: 4   Soul: 6
Talents: Exorcise(P), Precise Mind
Spells: Counterspell
Rituals: Banishment
Languages: Akkadian, Sumerian, R/W cuneiform
Equipment:
Assets: 3 exorcism ritual tablets, 2# writing clay, 50 shekels worth of furnishings, 10 shekels worth of fine clothing

Wari-taldu the barber

Wari-taldu's family are poor Ḫurrians who have lived in Babylon for generations. He is Nūr-libbi's personal barber, and lives at his home. He is loyal to the exorcist, but fears the toll that his work is taking on him.

Wari-taldu
Profession: barber (gallābum)
Social Class: muškēnum
Ethnicity: Ḫurrian
City-State: Babylon
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 5   Mind: 3   Soul: 4
Talents: Precision,
Languages: Ḫurrian, Akkadian, Amorite
Equipment: dagger, barber's kit
Assets: 40 shekels fine clothing & jewellery

Laḫun-Dagan the haruspex

Laḫun-Dagan was a diviner in the army, but after a severe injury in battle had to retire from field service. He's now attached to the palace as a (very) minor functionary. Laḫun-Dagan is a no-nonsense sort of man. He still dresses in the rough tunics he wore on campaign and keeps his beard unfashionably short. The rest of the palace staff find him something of an embarrassment.

Laḫun-Dagan
Profession: diviner (bārûm)
Social Class: awīlum
Ethnicity: Amorite
City-State: Babylon
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 4   Mind: 5   Soul: 4
Talents: Omen Taking(P), Apprenticed (soldier),
Languages: Amorite, Akkadian, Sumerian, R/W cuneiform
Equipment: small surgical kit, small bronze shield
Assets: large tablet with list of omens, clay sheep's liver model from his student days, 35.5 shekels worth of household goods, one presentable outfit

Connections

Since there were 9 of them, I decided to go for two character connections each. The first would be one pure choice -- some of them seemed to fall out naturally when I rolled them up. The second would be my usual method of rolling on the PC Relationship Table in Zozer's Solo. Some all of these (marked with an *) needed or suggested further developments, which will be explained at the end.

Mannum-kīma-Adad the tax collector
1. Iqīš-Sîn is his slave
2. Shares a secret past incident with Laḫun-Dagan*

Iqīš-Sîn the slave
1. Mannum-kīma-Adad's property
2. Friendship through guilt with Annu-ḫaṣni*

Damiqtum the ecstatic
1. Laḫun-Dagan has had to verify her prophecies
2. Knows a dark secret about Mannum-kīma-Adad*

Šerašer the foreign mercenary
1. served with Laḫun-Dagan in the army
2. Lifelong friend of Damiqtum*

Annu-ḫaṣni the nadītum of Marduk
1. twin sister of Annu-ḫani
2. Old (and these days, ex-) friends with Mannum-kīma-Adad*

Annu-ḫani the prostitute
1. twin sister of Annu-ḫaṣni
2. blames Nūr-libbi for past event*

Nūr-libbi the exorcist
1. Wari-taldu is his barber / live-in employee
2. Hatred and constant arguing with Annu-ḫaṣni*

Wari-taldu the barber
1. employee of Nūr-libbi
2. Secretly jealous of Iqīš-Sîn*

Laḫun-Dagan the diviner
1. served with Šerašer in the army
2. Sexual partner of Annu-ḫani*


The big one is the secret past incident shared between Mannum-kīma-Adad and Laḫun-Dagan. It's certainly some horrendous crime; I'll decide which when it becomes important, probably by picking something off the Code of Ḫammu-rapi. This is definitely the dark secret that Damiqtum know about Mannum-kīma-Adad, but she is ignorant of the diviner's connection to it.

Iqīš-Sîn's friendship through guilt with Annu-ḫaṣni was a surprising result. I decided it meant that she always treats him like a person -- for which he is grateful -- but he finds her personally odious to be around. Sadly, he must see her all the time, as his master is charged with bringing her the dividends for many of her investments. Compounding matters is their mutual hatred, with poor Iqīš-Sîn caught in the middle.

Šerašer and Damiqtum were born in different city-states, so the 'lifelong friends' result needed some fudging. He's known her ever since he served in the king of Mari's army, and in fact taught her to speak Elamite (serendipitous dice roll: the language  was already on her character sheet, though where she learnt to read it is anyone's guess).

Annu-ḫani blames Nūr-libbi for a past event, the death of a favourite client, who was possessed by a demon of disease which the exorcist failed to cast out.

Wari-taldu is secretly jealous of Iqīš-Sîn (also surprising). He thinks Mannum-kīma-Adad is a much better master than the exorcist: he has elaborate hair, dresses better, and --most of all-- isn't surrounded by demons, ghosts, and disease.

Lastly, Laḫun-Dagan is one of Annu-ḫani clients. I actually rolled the connection between him and her sister, but shifted it to her since Annu-ḫaṣni is celibate (she could marry, but is forbidden by the temple from bearing children). And anyways, with this many PCs, at least one of them had to have this connection to Annu-ḫani.



Next post (soon! I swear!): the campaign begins

Urban Encounter Tables for BFJB

As a Babylonian scribe needed to be litterate in both Akkadian and Sumerian, the scribal schools made use of lexical lists (as they are now known). These are lists of Sumerian signs with glosses to aid in reading them, or lists of Sumerian words & phrases with phonetic Akkadian translations -- in essence, bi-lingual dictionaries. These latter were arranged thematically.

I was looking at a lexical list of types of people as I drank my coffee one Saturday morning (as you do) and it suddenly struck me that it read like a random encouter table. An excerpt:

Sumerian               Akkadian
--------               --------
[...]                  mukabbûm    =tailor
[lu₂-ni₂-su]-ub-ba      zabbum      =an ecstatic
[SAL lu₂-ni₂-su-ub]-ba  zabbatum    =a female ecstatic
[...]                  sarrum      =criminal
[lu₂] ḫa-lam-ma         ša lemuttim =(person) of evil
lu₂ ḫul                 lemnu       =bad one
lu₂ ḫul                 maskum      =evil one
lu₂ ḫul gig             zērum       =hateful (person)

So I decided to make one out of it. I chose OB Lu₂-azlag₂ B-C as it was both long (~400 entries) and as an Old Babylonian list is co-terminous with the game's set timeframe. I couldn't use all the entries, as some were too broken (one who [...] to his mouth), too often repeated (evil person), too boring (right handed person), incomprehensible (one who lacks a mīru organ), or simply not descriptive enough for an encounter table (living person). Since BFJB only uses 6-sided dice, I narrowed it down to 216 -- 6 tables of 36 entries.

It's condensed to fit on 2 sides of A4. I left the Akkadian words in, but I had to cut the Sumerian both to save space and because a lot of the brackets didn't display correctly.

There's no way to format it for this blog, so grab the PDF here:

BFJB Urban Encounter Tables.pdf

I haven't had time to come up with wilderness encounter tables, but you can pretty much just crib off the ones in Runequest. Just replace trollkin with Gutians or something. You can leave scorpion men as is!

If you want to know more about lexical lists, visit the DCCLT.

The Ecstatic, a new profession for BFJB 2nd ed.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I had some 1st edition BFJB characters I was going to convert and that it would be a simple task. In 7 out of 8 cases, this was absolutley true. The eighth took me, er, considerably longer, since I had picked a Profession that wasn't in the book and I wanted to do a proper write-up for it. So here it is, in the same format as the professions in the rulebook. It's followed by copious notes in the same order of topics as the profession entry, and a bibliography.




Ecstatic

OB m. muḫḫûm, wr. LÚ.GUB.BA

OB f. muḫḫūtum, wr. SAL LÚ.GUB.BA

An ecstatic of Dagan
came to me and said,
"Truly, what
of Zimri-Lin's
shall I eat? Give me a lamb
so I may eat it." I gave him a lamb
and he ate it alive
before the city gate.
And I assembled
the elders
before the city gate
of Saggaratum
And he said,
"There will be a 'devouring';
tell the other cities
to give over the sacred things.
The man who does violence
let him be ejected
from the city.
And for the well-being of your lord, Zimri-Lim,
dress me in a garment."

excerpt from a letter of Yaqqim-Addu to Zimri-Lim, king of Mari (ARM 26/1 206: 5-24)




Ecstatic prophets belong to the to the temple personnel of many gods (notably Ištar, Dagan, Marduk, Addad, Šamaš, Ninhursag, and Nergal). Groups of them are involved in the performance of certain cultic rituals, and they also receive messages directly from their god, entering into a furious rapture wherein they shout out enigmatic words and display other bizarre behaviours. Despite being touched by the divine, muḫḫū have a relatively low status and their rantings are not always believed. It is common for them to submit a lock of hair and the fringe of their garment (šārtum u sissiktum) which a bārûm (diviner) may use to verify the prophecy.

Allowed Social Classes: Awīlum, Muškēnum

Relevant Checks: An ecstatic will have a good knowledge of the rites (but not dogma) of their own cult, and will understand some of the less technical aspects of divination. whilst not trained in any weapons, a raving ecstatic may make unarmed attacks without penalty.

Spells and Rituals: An ecstatic can use all manner of spells and rituals, without suffering a penalty. They must still take those spells and rituals as talents.

Professional Talent: Frenzy (Soul). On a successful check, the ecstatic may enter into a wild trance, and proclaim the words of their god. The message will often be cryptic, but should hint at the dangers of the adventure before them. On a critical success, the divine pronouncement will be accompanied by strange and perhaps even frightening actions (see above for an example).

Starting Equipment and Wealth: Clothing -- probably torn -- and 1d6+3 shekels of wealth.

So many notes

Philological

Muḫḫûm (OAkk Maḫḫûm) is related to the verb maḫû, 'to become frenzied'. The plural of f. muḫḫūtum is muḫḫātum. There is also an SB/NA adverb maḫḫūtiš, 'like a female ecstatic', which is applied equally to men and women, e.g. in RINAP 5 Ashurbanipal 003 i77-i78: 'The radiance of Aššur and Ištar overcame him [the pharaoh Taharqa] and he became like a female ecstatic' (namrīrī Aššur u Ištar / isḫupūšu-ma illika maḫḫūtiš).

General

The information concerning prophets and ecstatics is rather fragmentary, and mostly comes from Mari in the Old Babylonian period. The muḫḫûm/muḫḫūtum is the most well attested. Others are the qammatum (possibly referring to a special hairstyle), the zabbum/zabbatum (possibly referring to a self-mutilator), nabû (whose name appears to be related to the Hebrew word for prophet), and an assortment of individuals for whom no title is given.

In places the zabbum is mentioned alongside the muḫḫûm, but in a lexical list (LTBA 2 1 vi 41-44) is given as an equivalent term along with eššebû, parû, and uššuru. Self-injury may be a common feature of the ecstatics, or just a hazard of their wild trance. An Akkadian literary text from Ugarit (Ugaritica V 162:11) contains the phrase aḫḫūa kīma maḫḫê damīšunu ramku 'my brothers are drenched in their blood like maḫḫû-ecstatics'. The tablet dates from c. 1300BC, but the composition is thought to date from about the time of Ḫammu-rapi: "sa graphie, ses archaïsmes, son style depouillé, sa concision même (en face de Ludlul), lui assignent vraisemblablement une date de composition paléobabylonienne ou de plus haute époque « cassite »" (ibid).

At Mari is found another cultic prophet, the āpilum/āpiltum ('answerer'). The āpilum also speaks the words of their god directly, but is not associated with ecstatic frenzy; there is an obscure statement in a letter (ARM 26 207) which hints at an āpilum administering a intoxicating drink to some men and women in order to obtain an oracle, but what the sentence actually means is debated. The āpilum enjoys a higher status than the muḫḫûm, a fact underscored by the preponderance of men in this role. Their prophecies are verified by the submission of their hair and fringe about as often as those of their ecstatic counterparts, though in both cases it should be noted that the prophecy of a woman is more likely to need verification. Some āpilū even write to the king directly. In game terms, an āpilum/āpiltum can be essentially treated as a kind of Diviner, though without the knowledge of extispicy.

Allowed Social Classes

My gut reaction was simply to go with muškēnum, as they are certainly temple dependents. However, some of them could be well rewarded for their prophecies by the king -- one in the UR III period was awarded 18000 litres of grain. Lluís Feliu interprets the unnamed prophetess in a letter to Zimri-Lin (ARM 26/1 210) as a muḫḫūtum. The text describes her simply as 'a woman, the wife of an awīlum (written MUNUS DAM LÚ). The prophetic gift does seem to cut across class lines, so I decided that allowing either class is probably not an inaccurate ruling. Note that there is a recorded instance of a slave girl delivering a prophecy, but such rare occasions are best left in the realm of NPCs, and need not concern us here, as the muḫḫûm and muḫḫūtum are professional prophets (in games terms as well as in the scholarly literature).

Relevant Checks

Their knowledge is situated about halfway between the priest and diviner professions, but should not eclipse either.

Spells and Rituals

This was the most tenuous thread I followed, but spell ability seemed to fit aesthetically. I did lean on the equivalence (cited in the lexical list above) of the muḫḫûm and the eššebû. The CAD defines eššebû as 'an ecstatic with evil magical powers', and notes they appear in the Maqlu amongst other practitioners of witchcraft.

Professional Talent

Not quite as effective as the diviner's, but as it doesn't require any outlay of resources (i.e. an animal for extispicy) it s slightly less restrictive.

Starting Equipment and Wealth

Administrative documents often show the bequest of ordinary or 2nd quality garments and smaller amounts of silver, so I went with a very modest sum.

Bibliography

Feliu , Lluís. 2003. The god Dagan in bronze age Syria. Leiden, Brill.

Fleming, Daniel E. 2004. “Prophets and Temple Personnel in the Mari Archives”. in The Priests in the Prophets: The Portrayal of Priests, Prophets and Other Religious Specialists in the Latter Prophets, edited by. Lester L. Grabbe and Alice Ogden Bellis, 44–64. London, T & T Clark.

Hamori, Esther J. 2012. " Gender and the Verification of Prophecy at Mari". in Die Welt des Orients Bd. 42, H. 1, 1-22, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG)

Jong, Matthijs de. 2007. Isaiah among the Ancient Near Eastern Prophets, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

Nissinen ,Martti. 2003. Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East. Atlanta ,Society of Biblical Literature.

Roth, Martha T. ed., 1956-, The Assyrian dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD). Chicago, Oriental Inst. of the Univ. of Chicago.

Schaeffer , Claude Frédéric Armand and Nougayrol, Jean. 1968. Ugaritica. 5, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique, t.80.; Mission de Ras Shamra, t.16. Paris, P. Geuthner.

Stökl, Jonathan. 2010. "Female Prophets in the Ancient Near East". in Prophecy and Prophets in Ancient Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, edited by John Day, 47-61. London, T & T Clark.

— 2007. "The Role of Women in the Prophetical Process in Mari: A Critique of Mary Keller’s Theory of Agency". in Beiträge zur Erforschung des Alten Testaments und des Antiken Judentums Bd. 55, edited by Matthias Augustin and H. Michael Niemann. 173-188. Frankfurt am Main, Bern, P. Lang.


Ancient texts were also found at

The Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, The RINAP Project, 2019.  http://oracc.org/rinap/Q003702/

and

ARCHIBAB : Archives babyloniennes (XXe-XVIIe siècles av. J.C.), Collège de France - Institut du Proche-Orient Ancien. http://www.archibab.fr
(specifically: ARM 26/1 200,201,206,210,237 and  M.7160)

BFJB : character creation

So I've been meaning to get a game of Babylon on Which Fame and Jubilation Are Bestowed going since I bought the 1st edition, but as usually happens in my attempts at historical gaming, I get too caught up in research to get beyond character creation. I do have 8 PCs rolled up for first edition, and I will be converting them to the new system (a simple task, to be sure) at some point, but for the purpose of this post I wanted to start afresh with a brand new PC, or rather finish the one I started in my previous post.

I'll take the steps in order. The first thing to do is determine the Attributes, of which there are three: Body (zumrum), Mind (ṭēmum), and Soul (bāštum). Body is for all physical activities, Mind is reason, perception, memory, and learning, and Soul is charisma, intuition, and boldness. Starting characteristics range from 1-6, and there are two methods of determining them. One could either distribute 12 points amongst them, or else roll 4d6 discarding the lowest and arranging as desired.

I couldn't resist rolling for it, and got 3,6,2,1. Discarding the 1 gave me the following attributes:

BODY 2
MIND 3
SOUL 6

I already had an idea in mind for the character I wanted to make. He's a pretty unassuming physical specimen; as I am thinking of an investigatory-type campaign (at least to start), I think a Harvey Walters-esque physique will do nicely. My PC is only of average intelligence, but  his force of personality is so great that most people he meets think him much cleverer than he truly is; in fact he's even convinced himself of this!

Next it is time to determine where the character is from, either one of the Mesopotamian city-states or a pastoral tribe, or even further afield (Egypt, the Indus Valley, Asia Minor), though much less information is provided about this last category due to the focus of the game. As I want this character in the centre of the action, he will hail from Babylon.

Now that I know where he's from, it's time to pick an ethnicity. Due to the cosmopolitan nature of the setting, there are almost no restrictions on this, and indeed players are encouraged to make interesting combinations, as the PCs are unusual individuals to begin with. I wanted a character from an established, if undistinguished, family so I just made him an ethnic Akkadian, like the majority of Babylonians.

Along with Ethnicity he needs a Social Class. There is a choice of three: awīlum (upper class), muškēnum (lower class), or wardum (slave). Choice is up to the player. Social class will influence which Profession a character may have, and how they get on in the social climate of 1767BCE.

Age, Height, and Weight are next. These can be determined or rolled. 15+1d6 seems a little young for what I have in mind, so I just went with 28; at 35 Mind starts to increase but Body declines. Height for males is 5'3"+2d6". I rolled for this and got 5'8". It seems a bit high, so I wonder if it should be +1d6. Weight can be rolled, but to keep with the Harvey Walters theme I'll just go with 5'5", 170#. None of that has any game affect.

A character's Mind score determines how many Languages they can know, giving one 'slot' per point. Spoken languages take up one slot each, writing systems take two. A PC must first select their native language, which is determined by the interplay of City State (or Tribe) and Ethnicity. As an ethnic Akkadian living in Babylon, Akkadian (specifically the Old Babylonian dialect) is my PC's native tongue (taking up the first slot). He spends the remaining 2 slots (from his Mind 3) to be literate, allowing him to read & write Cuneiform. If he later learns to speak Sumerian, Hittite, or Hurrian, he will automatically be able to read them as they share the cuneiform writing system.

Now that he has an origin, it is finally time to name him. There are substantial lists of Akkadian, Amorite, Elamite, Hurrian, and Sumerian names provided to choose from, so you'll never have to worry about running into Steve the soldier from Uruk or Gemma the Hurrian alewife. But I took a nice theophoric name out of one of my textbooks instead, Mannum-kīma-Adad (written ma-an-nu-um-ki-ma-^dIŠKUR), meaning 'Who is like Adad?' (the storm god).

As Mannum-kīma-Adad is a member of the upper class, he has a choice of 16 out of the 23 Professions in the rulebook. A Profession determines the character's general skill set. There is no skill system per se; a character can do (i.e. roll for) all the things germane to their profession, but must roll at a penalty for actions outside it. The Profession also determines the character's access to magic, provides starting equipment & wealth, and grants a Professional Talent --  a special ability unique to each profession.

Mannum-kīma-Adad is a Bureaucrat, of which there are many many kinds. I chose tax-collector (mākisum) with the idea that he would be sent off to the villages surrounding Babylon to collect tribute for his first adventure. He starts play with 2d6+2 x10 = 100 shekels worth of material wealth (a shekel weighs 8.3g, about as much as a 50p coin, and represents the value of a litre of barley, a mace, or about a month's wages for a carpenter)-- Bureaucrat is one of the wealthiest Professions.

The Professional Talent of a Bureaucrat is Authority, which allows them to intimidate citizens of their polity and force them to comply (with a successful roll). A starting character gets three more Talents in addition. As a Bureaucrat, Mannum-kīma-Adad does not have access to or understanding of any magical rituals or spells; were he a Priest he could use his Talent slots for magic. So, our tax-collector is Perfect (auto success once per day), Fleet-footed (to help run away from combat), and has a Tough Mind (making it harder for others to damage his Mind attribute with attacks).

And that's character creation.

Mannum-kīma-Adad
Profession: Bureaucrat (tax collector)
Social Class: awīlum
Ethnicity: Akkadian
City-State: Babylon
Level: 1   XP: 0
Body: 2   Mind: 3   Soul: 6
Talents: Authority(P), Perfect, Fleet-footed, Tough (Mind)
Languages: Akkadian, R/W cuneiform
Equipment: stylus, clay
Assets: luxurious clothing & furnishings worth 80 shekels, jewellery worth 20 shekels


My new PC is ready for adventure, just as soon as I copy his stats onto one of my fun new character sheets (grab one for yourself at the bottom of my downloads page).

April fools but also not

My print copy of the 2nd edition of Babylon on Which Fame and Jubilation Are Bestowed has arrived! I will write a proper post about it once I've read through it and digested it all, but for now I will say that I'm really liking the new (light, non-d20) rules.

Character creation is really quick, but I have to say it's taking me forever to fill out my character sheet...

.
.
.
.
.
OK, I'll be switching to paper. There is a free character sheet to download from the publisher's website. Which will hopefully pick up less cat hair (seriously, that's a new bit of plasticene straight out of the package and 20 minutes later it's got fur stuck in it everywhere).

AFF solo - Part VIII: The Thing from the Pit

"We've come this far, I guess," sighs Grebdal Themp, looking at the stair leading down into the yawning pit. But shifty rogue does not take a step towards it.

"Our fate awaits below," says Ksandajja. The sorceress looks to her companions, but they are as immobile as she.

Then all is silence and stillness. Mighty Orhhuta contemplates the limb-hewing blade of her sharp sword, and Fhenteskeer the flame-priest seems to sway in reverie, mumbling an ardent prayer to his fiery god.

Finally the sorceress loses her patience. "Don't tell me we've all lost our nerve!"

"She's right," says Orhhuta, striding towards the stair. "We can put an end to this vile cult of Decay, once and for all!"

"And relieve them of their gold," adds Grebdal Themp, going after her.

"A sentiment most worthy of coin-palming Ângu," adds the fire-priest as he and Ksandajja follow.

[Q: What guards the staircase? (1d6): 1-2 guards, 3-4 trick/trap, 5 both, 6 nothing
1d6=trick/trap: Magical, teleport trap; Awareness at -3 to notice]

The staircase narrows as it descends, finally becoming so cramped that Orhhuta's broad shoulders almost touch the rough, damp stone on both sides. The stair descends an impossibly long way, as if it were taking them down to the very centre of the world -- or perhaps down into the Pit itself.

[Orhhuta is in the lead, so must make an Awareness (7+1=8) roll at -3 (so, she needs 5-): 2d6=5!]

Orhhuta stops abruptly. "Look there, ahead!" she points with her sword. "The air shimmers!"

"That's just the flickering of your lamp," says Grebdal Themp.

"No, she's right," says Ksandajja. "I sense magic there." [She got a Second Sight (5+1) roll at -1 to find trigger (needs 5-): 2d6=4!]

The sorceress squeezes down past her companions to examine the shimmer, peering at it with her witch-sight.

"It's these three steps," she announces. "We'll have to jump them."

"How do the cultists get past?" asks a bewildered Orhhuta.

"There's probably a password, isn't there?" says Grebdal Themp.

[They must all make Jumping rolls to bypass the trapped steps. As no one has points in the Special Skill, they all default to SKILL. A normal failure results in 1d3 damage; a Fumble additionally means a roll down to the bottom -- 2d6 damage unless someone can stop them.]

Ksandajja leaps over the steps gracefully, but lands less so, and bashes her knee hard [failed; 1 damage drop her to 4 Stamina]. Fhenteskeer makes an ungainly vault, but the hand of his god sees him safely down [he Tests his LUCK instead of rolling SKILL, succeeding; his current Luck is down to 5]. Grebdal Themp's leap does him no credit [1 damage, down to 2 Stamina], but the muscular woman of the steppes swings herself down as if dismounting a horse, landing with aplomb [Orhhuta succeeds].

Grebdal Themp sits on a step for a moment to steady himself, and munches on some hard tack out of his pouch to fortify himself. Orhhuta's stomach is growling at the sight -- all that head-splitting has  worked up a warrior's appetite -- so she helps herself to a similar repast. The sorceress prefers to simply down the precious elixir she had discovered. the magic courses through her body, and all her wounds, bruises, and abrasions fade as if she'd ne'er suffered them.

[O&G each eat a PROVISION. Orhhuta regains the usual 2 Stamina, whilst Grebdal Themp gets 1 additional point for his Robust talent; they're back up to 4 & 10 respectively. K drank a Stamina Potion, healing her to full 10. Once again, I forgot to make First Aid rolls...

The 3rd level of the dungeon has 1d6=2 rooms. I (obviously) did not draw a map.

Penultimate room contents: other feature - magic fountain
Q: How does it appear? Fully / Scary]

Just when they thought they were doomed to descend the staircase forever, it ends in a dark, square  chamber. The ceiling goes up to a high vault, its height fully twice the length of the room. A single gloomy passage leads out of the chamber, and a fountain has been carved into the rock wall beside it, with the shape of a skeletal figure looming above the basin. The fountain gurgles and splashes and froths. The water within it is brackish and foul, the stone pitted from its corrosive touch.

[Ksandajja gets a Magic Lore test to know what it does, at +2 from the earlier Special Success on Religion Lore she rolled to understand the cult's workings (back in Part V).
5+1+2=8- needed: 2d6=3!

Q: What is the magical effect? d30 Adventure Generator Table Phenomena=disembodied voices]

"How horrid!" gasps Grebdal Themp. "And the stench! Look here; it once bore an inscription, but I can't make out what it says."

"No need," says Ksandajja. "These waters allow the cultists to communicate with demons, and receive their oracles."

Fhenteskeer visibly shudders.

"We'll do something about it later," says Orhhuta. "Come, there's no time to tarry."

[The final room of the dungeon was always going to be a cult wizard summoning a huge demon from the Pit, because that seemed like a fun encounter. So--

Q: Can the PCs hear ritual before they reach the room? 50/50: O6 C3 - Yes, but... only with Awareness rolls. Grebdal Themp makes his roll easily.]

They leave by the cramped passage, which twists and turns every few paces. Suddenly Grebdal Themp stops short. "Listen," he whispers. "It sounds like chanting."

"That's a lot of voices," says Orhhuta.

"No-- only one voice. It's a lot of echoes."

They leave the lanterns on the ground, and Fhenteskeer kindles a single candle to light their way. They creep carefully forward through the blackness as the reverberating chant grows ever louder.

[The candle was not actually on his character sheet, but I hate when the pictures don't match the text; plus the next room is well-lit.

The PCs need to make Sneaking rolls, resisted by the cult wizard's Awareness. He rolls 2d6=3, +5 for Skill (he lacks points in the Special Skill) makes 8; the PCs all roll (2d6+Skill+Sneaking) much higher than that.]

The chant grows louder still, and soon a light appears at the end of the twisting passage. Grebdal Themp slinks forward and peeks furtively out into the immense chamber beyond. After a moment, he motions for his companions to come forward and see. The great subterranean vault is lit with the fires of randomly scattered braziers of blazing coals, smoking with strange funereal spices. irregular columns -- some of brick, some cut from the living rock -- support the irregular ceiling and cast deep shadows which criss-cross the floor. Alcoves contain small altars and shrines piled high with all sorts of decomposing offerings.

The chanting does indeed come from a single cultist, screaming out a canticle in ancient Allansian alternating with barbarous words and the names of several dead and forgotten gods. The chant is punctuated with signs and gestures, addressed at a gaping hole in the dusty floor.

[Ksandajja gets to make a Magic Lore roll at +2 (9-) to realise it's a wizardly incantation, not priestly magic: 2d6=7, success]

"Wait a moment," says Ksandajja as a sudden realisation hits her. "That's no priestly rite, he's a conj--"

The word dies on her lips as a grotesque form erupts up from the hole. The thing's glistening worm-like body is bigger round than a wagon-wheel. The fleshy surface pulses and undulates as the thing sways in time to the chant. The worm-body is surmounted by a colossal staring eye, ringed round with countless writing tentacles. The heinous CULT WIZARD has called down into the vastness of the Pit to bring forth THE GRASPING EYE.

CULT WIZARD    SKILL 5   STAMINA 10
MAGIC 6  MP 18
Wizardry-3, Conjuring-5
sacrificial dagger (+1 on damage roll)

THE GRASPING EYE    SKILL 10    STAMINA 12
2 attacks, large 'bite', light armour


"It won't be long till it notices us," says Grebdal Themp.

"I'm going to cast a spell, then we move," says Ksandajja. "You three take care of the demon. I'll handle the wizard."

Her companions nod sagely as the sorceress traces an elegant pattern in the air with fingers and whispers a string of sibilant syllables. She seems to glimmer for the barest moment as the magic settles upon her skin, an invisible barrier of protection. For his part, Fhenteskeer speaks an orison to Filash, and is filled with the righteous Fire of his god.

[Ksandajja casts MAG (counterspell) on herself: Sorc-7; 2d6=7 success. The spell costs her 2 STA.
Fhenteskeer casts Bless on himself: +1 to all rolls for 8 rounds.]

Without another word, Ksandajja springs forward, charging the wizard with sword outstretched. Her companions follow moments later, rushing towards the summoned demon.

[Round 1]
The wizard wheels about, and hastily utters the words to a potent spell [Q: How potent? (1d6): 1-2 1pt, 3-4 2pts, 5-6 4pts]. As she closes within 5 paces, a bolt of lightning leaps from the wizard's outstretched hands. The white-hot flash of the discharge intensifies the wizard's evil grin, but his expression turns to sudden fear and surprise as the electricity plays harmlessly over Ksandajja's body. He barely has the presence of mind to sidestep her sword, and receives a nasty gash across his shoulder. [3 damage drops him to 7 Stamina. Ksandajja's MAG nullifies the Lightning Blast (2d6+2, no save!) entirely, but dissipates in so doing.]

The demon flails about with its tentacles. Orhhuta ducks in under them and stabs her blade into its glistening side, causing a spray of sickly-smelling ichor to jet form the wound [3 damage drops it to 9 Stamina]. Fhenteskeer is slapped backwards by another thick tentacle, and it takes him a moment to recover from the shock [3 damage drops him to 4 Stamina]. Grebdal Themp is reticent to close with the unholy beast, and hardly comes within striking distance [miss].

[Round 2]
The cult wizard speaks another charm, causing two illusory duplicates of himself to spring into being [cast Mirror Selves]. They surround the sorceress and confound her attack, but her blade strikes true in the end, dealing the wizard another nasty wound. [3 damage drops him to 4 Stamina. The wizard managed the casting despite the -2 for being in mêlée.]

The demon thrashes about again, and smashes Fhenteskeer with overwhelming force. The priest is nearly overcome by the heavy blow [3 damage leaves him with 1 Stamina]. Orhhuta makes a grave mistake, and leaves herself open to the thing, and feels her shoulder pop out of joint as a tentacle slams into her [fumble, +2 damage roll; 5 damage drops her to 4 Stamina]. Grebdal Themp is still too timid to approach [miss].

[Round 3]
The wizard attempts another spell, but Ksandajja is unsure as to his intention, for he is bathed in a pale light which seems to age him by almost a decade. The duplicates age similarly as they whirl round the sorceress. She slashes right through one with her sword, but the illusion is unfazed. [The wizard fumbled his casting roll, and aged 2d6 years. Unlike the sorcerous version of the spell, hitting duplicates does not dispel them.]

Orhhuta can't seem to get the upper hand, and another tentacle slams into her [3 damage drops her to 1 Stamina]. Fhenteskeer withdraws, clutching his aching sides. The demon thrashes ineffectually in his direction, giving Grebdal Themp the opening he needs. His sword sticks into the thing's fatty side, and pushes past the resistance to draw another spurt of ichor from the creature [4-1 (armour roll) damage puts it at 6 Stamina].

[Round 4]
The wizard draws a wicked sacrificial knife from his belt and stabs at the sorceress. She's not sure which blade is the real one, but wheels about, parrying all three [the duplicates count towards outnumbering an opponent]. Her own blade flashes harmlessly through another illusion.

Grebdal Themp receives a glancing blow, and counts himself fortunate [3 damage drops him to 2 Stamina]. Orhhuta doesn't even see the tentacle that ends her. One moment the canny warrior is closing in with her gleaming blade, the next a crushing strike has bent her spine double with an almighty crack. She slumps to the dusty floor, an ungainly and bleeding heap [critical hit. 4x2=8 damage, dropping her to -7 Stamina, instant death].

[Round 5]
As Grebdal Themp and Fhenteskeer run screaming from the room, the wizard begins subtly manoeuvring Ksandajja closer to the demon. But dance and feint as he might, the canny sorceress does not fall for his ploy. [I had her Test her LUCK to stay out of the demon's reach: 2d6=4, success. Their combat totals were tied this round, so neither scored a hit.]

[Round 6]
Standing back from her foes, Ksandajja begins to whisper the words of an incantation. The wizard responds with a counter-charm of his own. A ball of flame appears in Ksandajja's hand, and leaps forth from her palm, but it is arrested in mid-flight by a blue wave of crackling force. There is a slight wavering between them as conflicting magical energies collide, then the ball of flame bursts through the barrier and lands at the wizard's feet. A moment later it explodes in cloud of incandescent fury. Ksandajja takes a step back as she feels the rush of heat from the blast wash over her, and shuts her eyes against the sudden glare. She then hears the thud of a body hitting the floor, followed by the loud squelch of the collapsing demon. She is victorious.

[Ksandajja cast HOT, which cost her 4 Stamina, leaving her with 6. The wizard cast Counterspell, which takes a penalty to the casting roll equal to the level of the spell it is used against (-4 here); 9-4=5, 2d6=9, failed. Both opponents took 1d6+1 damage: Wizard 4 (to 0 Stamina), Demon 7 (to -1).]

Ksandajja wastes no time in examining the smouldering corpse of the wizard for choice treasure [rolled at +2 on the main treasure table at +2]. He has a cheap cloth purse containing 12 gold coins, and an silver and lapis pendant (worth 12GP) is hung round his neck on a now-singed cord, which snaps easily in the sorceress' hand. His sacrificial dagger is also worth a fair bit -- should a buyer be found for the awful-looking thing.

She adds the treasure to her own purse, and takes Orhhuta's money belt (20gp) and Luck potion besides -- she can't afford to be sentimental. Then she kindles a lantern and leaves by the dark, twisting passage.

[Q: Have the other PCs gone far? 50/50 (4+): O2 C1 - No, and... waiting just a little ways off.

Grebdal Themp has attempted first aid on both of them: fail on himself, but healed Fhenteskeer up to 3 Stamina.]

Ksandajja has only gone a little ways down the twisting passage when she spies lamplight shining from round the bend. She is soon face-to-face with her sheepish comrades.

"I thought you two were gone for good," says Ksandajja.

"Discretion mumblemumble valour..." says Grebdal Themp.

"At least it's over," says Fhenteskeer. "The God of the Pit is dead, and its high priest with it."

"No," says Ksandajja. "That wasn't a priest -- just a corrupted wizard."

"This is dire news," says Fhenteskeer.

"And we haven't much to show for it," moans Grebdal Themp.

"I mourn more for the loss of our comrade," says Fhenteskeer.

"I mourn for us, if we meet any more of these fiends on the way out of here," says Ksandajja. "But I took what little gold I could find, if it makes you feel any better."

It's a long trek up the stairs, which necessitates several stops to catch their breath. Then back through the catacombs, and up more stairs, until finally they reach the basement of the cult house.

[No encounters; I rolled 1d6 per room to check for random encounters on the way out... surprisingly no 1s came up.]

Fearing their LUCK must soon run out, Ksandajja and Grebdal Themp slink up the steps to make sure the way out lies clear. Fhenteskeer limps quietly a fair distance behind them.

[Q: Is the Priest waiting above in house? 50/50 (4+): O4 C6 - yes.
+ the 2 cultists from earlier.

The PCs must match their Sneaking against the cultists' Awareness:
K 6+1+5=12
G 7+2+7=16
Priest 6+1+4=11
cultist #1 5+0+2=7
cultist #2 5+0+6=11

The PCs have Surprise; an ambush grants +6 attack and +2 to the damage roll]

first CULTIST    SKILL 5   STAMINA 4
second CULTIST   SKILL 5   STAMINA 5
both armed with daggers

PRIEST OF DECAY    SKILL 6   STAMINA 8
Devotion 6 (MAGIC + Magic - Priest)

Voices are heard in the house. A man and a woman are discussing the slaughtered cult guards; Ksandajja recognises the CULTISTS as the old man and old woman who once led her hither in the guise of charity. A third voice is joined to theirs, its low gurgling and slurred speech almost impossible to understand -- the leprous PRIEST OF DECAY!

Ksandajja and Grebdal Themp dart into the front room with swords raised, a battle cry on their lips. Grebdal Themp cuts down the old man with a single stroke of his sword [4 damage drops #1]. The priest is far hardier than one would expect, for though Ksandajja lays open his back with a sickly squelch, his eyes yet burn with lively malice, and he wheels about to face her [5 damage put him at 3 Stamina].

[Rounds 1-2]
The priest rasps out an imprecation, and Ksandajja feels all the strength drain from her limbs. The priest burbles and cackles with hideous glee at her plight [he cast Weakness, giving her -4 skill and -2 damage rolls]. But his triumph is short lived. Fhenteskeer stands in the doorway, shouting a prayer to Filash, imploring his god to smite the evil one with holy fire. Suddenly the leper priest is wreathed in burning flame, and falls to the floor defeated [he cast Flame for 1d3=3 damage].

Grebdal Themp squares off against the remaining cultist, who is at pains to fend off his sword with her dagger. The fight does not last long.

Ksandajja must steady herself against the wall to recover from the unholy magic. Whilst her strength slowly returns, Fhenteskeer is going joyfully about the room, throwing the cult's books and papers atop the burning corpse of the priest, breaking up the furniture for kindling, and setting the curtains alight.

"Let it burn!" he shouts. "Let the Sacred Fire cleanse this den of evil!"

"He's a bit mad sometimes," whispers Grebdal Themp to the sorceress.

"Agreed. Let's tell the watch before the whole quarter burns to the ground."

As the flames and smoke rise, they must all run into the street without stopping to check for treasure.

. . .

The next morning in the inn's common room, the three companions fall into conversation.

"We were thinking," says Grebdal Themp, "that, as pleasant as our time in Ângu of the Silken Kiosks has been, it is high time we were moving on. It is not all the populace of this fair city who will adjudge us heroes for last night's work."

"I, too, intend to move on." replies Ksandajja.

"Where are you headed, if I may ask?"

"South to Ulq. At least at first."

"And after that?"

"Further inland."

"You don't want to say yet; I will respect your privacy."

"It is well that you do."

"Of course, with the loss of poor, dear Orhhuta, we find ourselves without an accomplished swordswoman in our little band. I don't suppose...?" [UNE: scheming - plan - experience]

"I could use the company. But I can't afford a horse."

"We could, er, borrow some."

"That seems unwise. Besides, I think getting a ship there is a wiser course of action. Despite what happened on my last sea voyage..."


to be continued...

Experience Points
The survivors each earn 40xp for the adventure. I seem to have accidentally omitted discussing XP from Ksandajja's earlier travels & travails. Her character sheet attests that I awarded 25xp for her first adventure (probably too few) and 5xp for her initial wanderings to and within the merchant city. I ran Fhenteskeer and Grebdal Themp (and poor, deceased Orhhuta) through the sample dungeon in the rulebook before using them in this adventure, so they all had a few XP to start with as well.

Current totals are thus-
Ksandajja 70xp
Fhenteskeer & Grebdal Themp 55xp

Time to spend  few before the next adventure:
Ksandajja spends 55 for to increase Stamina to 11 (cost= new levelx5)
Grebdal Themp spends 20 for Trap Knowledge 2, and another 20 for Swords 2 (cost= new levelx10)
Fhenteskeer spends 20 for Axes 2, and 30 for Magic-Priestly 3

Their next adventure begins here.