Last night we played Dungeon World in the first game of our Arabic fantasy setting. This is a “West Marches” game which means every session can have different players and different characters – so is truly an ongoing drop in – drop out kind of game for casual players. BUT if you want to return often with the same character that is very welcome too!
Along for the adventure were:
• Gumpert, an elderly retired fighter.
• Baldrick, a self professed "standard" warlock. Who has a pact with the lord of death.
• Fonda, a loose lipped travelling bard with great hair and beard.
• Xander, a cleric of the god of secrets looking for some juicy new goss.
The group arrived in Dhuliban, a border city, with a caravan and were quickly press-ganged into service by Khaled ibn Khaled, the ill reputed vizier. He demanded they find a young poet named al-Baralla who had just last night ran off with one of the sultans concubines named Rosanna, and that the two may have taken "a thing of great value". He was hesitant to describe it to them lest spies overhear, but advised they "would know when they see it".
The group interviewed the only witness, a servant who talked about a mighty and evil whirlwind that entered the palace from the east on that same night and was seen emerging from the sultans bedroom "carrying a miniature sultan". Unsurprisingly this confused all.
They followed a few leads around the city to find that the al-Baralla and Rosanna were in love and were apparently running away together in sheer terror of something they had experienced. Fonda cajoled and convinced a guard sergeant and part time smuggler named Jorros to let slip that he'd helped the young couple over the city wall at about 3am.
They found tracks leading northeast out to the desert and followed the couple, but also detect magic from Baldrick revealed a trail in the sky from the "whirlwind" heading due east. They decided to follow up on the magic trail later. Following the couple led to a confrontation with desert nomads that was quickly resolved when Xander struck terror into the leader's heart, followed by Gumpert eviscerating him in single combat. Fonda nearly convinced the brigands that Gumpert should become their new leader after that... but instead were escorted to an oasis and treated with utmost respect as honoured guests.
The group quickly realised that the young couple had not stolen anything and were confused, but suspected that the "whirlwind" might have something to do with it - the bandit leader Noosh Ali revealing that they had witnessed the great evil thing arose from the "Well of Baroogh Jah" in a cacophony of fire and lighting not far from here at around midnight last night.
Borrowing some camels from the bandits, they rode to the well and found a farm house next to it destroyed by large boulders. Grumpert set to work moving some of the boulders, while the villagers informed them that a local young man, Fadir the Wastrel was to blame (in conjunction with "Speak with Dead from Xander to ask Fadi'rs flattened mother in the ruins of their farm house) - he'd finally been kicked out of home and in a spite he had hurled large rocks down the well to block it up. Fadir seems to have awoken an evil Djinn and together they went on a bit of a rampage.
Just at that point, Baldrick tried to commune with the spirits here but it went horribly wrong. Instead of getting answers, he angered the mighty Djinn and drew it forth from the well - along with Fadir riding on its smoke cloud who was clutching a tiny shrunken (and very panicked) sultan in his grasp. The Djinn unleashed its magic, destroying the village and killing all the villagers (some Defy Danger rolls here from the PCs too meant some tough choices - both Xander and Fonda had to ditch their armour in a 'stop drop and roll' sort of situation). The angry Djinn lamented that a great and powerful magician (Akhirem the Wise) who was an ancestor of the sultan had imprisoned him in the well, and that the Djinn would take over the city in repayment for that ancient slight - immediately flying west back towards the city with Fadir and the (miniaturised) sultan in his grip. As they were leaving they saw the Djinn's magic transforming Fadir visually into an illusion of the Vizier.
Gumpert descended the well and found a broken "Seal of Solomon" - which Baldrick spouted lore to describe these as being used to bind the Djinn down the well. Baldrick started a ritual to turn this stone into protection amulets for the group using its residual magic. Xander sought divine guidance and got the idea that the Vizier might actually be a really good ally. They stayed the night in the destroyed village to give Baldrick time to perform the ritual, which meant he couldn't refresh his spells, but they did check of several conditions for XP and I think everyone got an advance ('levelled up').
They made their way back into the city (after a minor confrontation with their friend Jorros - the smuggler guard captain at the wall) and on to the palace, where they found Khaled the Vizier cowering in secret tunnels. He was of no use to them (he was in shock at seeing "himself" out there doing horrible things - actually the illusonised Fadir, but poor Khaled just couldn't compute that… he was a bit broken) so they pressed on to the throne room where they found Fadir alone on the throne in his illusionary state disguised as Khaled. Xander came out of the secret tunnels and convinced Fadir that the game was up they knew all about his plan. Fadir followed them back to the secret tunnel when just at that point the Djinn entered the throne room and saw what was happening.
The Djinn threw down the gilded bird cage that he had found for the sultan (now no larger than six inches) and with a curse at Fadir for being an "ungrateful pathetic mortal" unleashed his mighty magic on the collected group at the secret tunnel entrance. Fire and lightning poured forth scattering Fonda and Baldrick. Gumpert left to attack with his might see and did a LOT of damage to the foe over a couple of attacks (with the aid of some singing bonuses from Fonda), while Xander summoned a magical darkness to hide them from the Djinn in an effort to escape his powerful spells. A failed magic missile from Baldrick got him into a really perilous state, but Xander struck fear into the Djinni's heart again.
The Djinni, both quite wounded and also realising that the subtlety of his plan to take over the Sultanate was ruined, quickly escaped with a threat that he would be back! As the Djinni flow off into the desert sky, his magic faded - Fadir's illusion faded and the sultan began returning to normal size, a painful process as he twisted and stretched the bars of the gilded bird cage.
Epilogue:
• Fadir is executed for his crimes.
• Rosanna and al-Baralla are pardoned for their crime as they have true love, and the Sultan is a secret romantic.
• Khaled is proven to have an unfounded reputation, and is actually nice - a new secret for Xander to keep!
• The adventurers are richly rewarded and offered a place to stay in the sultan's court if ever they come this way again.
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