At Other Dungeons, Different Dragons we had a game finish early, so this was the perfect time for me to jump in and run a quick Dungeon World 100% improv game. All up this was about 90 minutes start to finish I think… a whole adventure in an hour and half! This truly demonstrates the power of the 'Apocalypse Engine' rules framework, also known as 'Powered by the Apocalypse' or PbtA.
Timrus, a Thief who has followed the caravan route to the end of the line in an attempt to get away from the blowback from prior misdeeds.
Ank, a Barbarian who had their family killed and has wandered ever since, hungry for cash (hence joining up with Timrus) to rebuild their life.
We started as always in the caravanserai of the city of Dhuliban - at the end of a trade route and bordering on the great sandy desert beyond the mountains. Boxed in by the saltwater river, and amidst an arid 'wasteland' the city has become a dead-end where the caravans turn around, often leaving penniless vagabonds for the Sultan and his Vizier to deal with or put to good use.
As Ank and Timrus meandered through the market square, seeking an opportunity for gold and glory (with Ank collecting several chickens!?) they heard a number of rumours of nearby locations where plunder could be made - none more interesting than the ancient tomb ruins of a powerful wizard. It seems the Sultan himself was offering a bounty for any who could gain access to the tomb - which supposedly held the remains of his ancient ancestor who was the original founder of the city of Dhuliban. The sultan had recently sent a squad of his personal guard, the 'Goldswords' out into the desert after the tomb, but after many days they had failed to report in.
Timrus decided that they needed a guide if to traverse the desert sands, and used his knowledge of criminal networks to reach out to some local thugs. This ended badly when Timrus somehow offended the rogues and was forced to flee - leading them on a chase through the bazaar and across the rooftops. Ank, wanting nothing to do with this, stayed where he was and brooded while his ally made an escape. Eventually Timrus found himself peering over the edge of a rooftop while the last of the local criminals ran through the alley down below - he was safe and alone. But only temporarily, as a young teenage boy crouched next to him, introducing himself as Malik, and enquiring "I overheard you need a guide?". With no other option, Timrus bargained with the boy to be their guide in exchange for all of his remaining coin (half now, half later). As soon as the deal was struck,byung Malik became distraught to learn that he was to guide them to the ancient tomb, as it had an evil reputation. Timrus patted the youngster on the shoulder, offering the consoling words that this was a learning experience to get the full details of the deal before agreeing to it.
Ank decided they needed a wizard to protect against the evil magic to be found in the tomb, and sought out an old mystic in the market who put a 'protection' on the group. After gathering some supplies, Timrus, Ank, and Malik made their way out into the wasteland desert with little trouble. Along the way, Ank noticed a nest of vipers writhing in the sand - 'a good omen' opined Malik.
Soon they crested a sand ridge and spied an oasis before them, with a large mountain and tomb-complex in the distance behind that. At the oasis they noticed a few desert-welling nomads down there watering their camels. While deciding how to approach the situation, they were too late to notice the hawk up in the sky that had been following them for hours. It tore down to the oasis like a thunderbolt, landing on the gauntleted arm of one of the nomads, while behind them they were caught off guard as another half dozen nomads drew up behind them with short bows drawn. Timrus and Malik cowered, but Ank drew himself up threateningly and spat on the ground in challenge. The nomad raiders decided to take the group to camp, but insisted that Ank be tied and dragged behind a camel. Thinking fast, Ank braced his feet and as soon as the nomad had finished tying his arms and had climbed back onto the camel, he gave a might yank with his immense barbarian muscles - toppling the raider from the saddle and knocking him out cold. Ank broke the restraints easily and mounted the now-unconscious raiders camel. Fearful of this mighty barbarian, the desert nomads agreed that Ank should ride the camel down to their camp, as they collected the limp form of their comrade and carried him as well.
Speaking with these desert raiders, Timrus quickly learned not to discuss the sultan or the missing Goldswords, as these desert men were the sworn enemies of the Sultan. The pair also learned that these desert people greatly feared the wizards tomb - believing that the ancient sorcerer still lived even after a thousand years! The desert raiders said that they would kill anyone attempting to gain access to the main tomb, instead suggesting that if the group bought back a sample of the wizards magic from one of the nearby smaller tombs, their nomad shamans could put a protection spell on the adventurers. Ank and Timrus shrugged, not caring too much one way or the other and so made their way not to the large tomb built directly into the mountainside, but instead to a small tomb entrance on the shoulder of a nearby hill. The main door was still secured by an enormous stone block, but clever Timrus interpreted the hieroglyphic inscriptions correctly to determine that the door itself was a magical trap - anyone pushing on it to gain entry would do so - only to die in the inescapable tomb! The two adventurers (for the had left Malik in the care of the desert people) looked at each other, shrugged, and both pushed as hard as they might on the stone slab - nearly falling flat as the slab briefly turned to dust before them before immediately reforming magically behind them, pitching them in to utter darkness.
They landed in a pile of corpses within a long, straight stone tunnel - realising that this trap had ensnared many a would-be tomb robber before them. As Timrus lit a lantern, they also noted the slightly 'fresher' corpses of four of the sultan's Goldswords - explaining the missing men. Failing to find any trace of what killed these people, they looted the corpses for any minor items of use and agreed to press on down the tunnel - assuming that if they stayed where they were they would eventually starve or dehydrate to death trying to get back out the way they came in. Progressing down the hieroglyph marked tunnel, they came to a suspicious spot where scorch marks were evident on the walls and floor - fearing a trap Timrus looked about but could find no evidence of a mechanism. At that time, both noticed a small flicker of flame from the darkness ahead, well beyond their torch light - it looked like a single candle of flame was slowly heading their direction. Both stood in confusion as the tiny flicker of fire got closer and closer, not seeing a candle nor anyone holding it - it as just hovering towards them. They stood, unsure - until it reached their spot and exploded! Ank and Timrus were flung to the walls, shaking their heads and patting out the fires on their clothing. They looked up and saw another of these little 'candles' heading their way!
Ank sprinted down the dark corridor towards the flame, closely followed by Timrus. Ank hurled his throwing axe at it - snuffing out the tiny flicker of light, which thankfully didn't explode on them - allowing them to see down to a cross junction in the tunnels where a small red creature hovering in the air on furiously flapping wings was conjuring another flame. Wasting no time, Ank dove towards the creature and grabbed it by the neck, scorching his hand on it as it was a being of pure elemental fire. The creature (assumed to be a Mephit by descriptions Ank and Timrus had heard before) writhed and wriggled, screaming in a language which was utterly foreign to them for a bit, before going limp - resigned to its fate.
Timrus examined the hieroglyphs on the walls and noted some that appeared to depict the small red creature and many more like it being summoned through a portal by an ancient wizard. He managed to engage the creature in rudimentary communication by pointing at the hieroglyphs and gesturing, to get the creature to understand that they would return it through the portal if it helped them. The creature agreed and Ank let it go. They examined the floor and found fairly fresh boot marks to the right hand corridor - surely the path taken by the surviving Goldswords - but just then they also heard horrible screams of terror coming from that same direction. Again communicating with the Mephit, Timrus managed to convince it to lead them a different safer way through the tomb to an exit. The creature set off happily walking through the twisting maze of a tomb with its wings folded behind it. They encountered several fire based traps which the Mephit was immune to, but the adventurers had to dodge and leap their way through - ending a little scorched for their troubles.
Ank and Timrus were led by the Mephit through a treasure room, their eyes growing wide at the vast array of tomb goods stacked nearly around the central altar - piles of gold, amphorae of mysterious liquids, crates of aged incense, and dozens of gems. The two stuffed their pockets, all the while looking for an 'artefact of the ancient sorcerer's magic' that they could bring to the desert nomads for the necessary protection spell. They soon realised that the altar itself was hollow, and removing the great stone lid were met with an enormous ruby the size of a duck egg - glowing with mystical internal light. Noting the obvious trap, Timrus swapped the great gem for a ragdoll carried by Ank (a 'token from home' - the last remnant he had kept from his dead family) that was about the same weight - avoiding a deadly pressure trap. The Mephit was angered by their taking of the treasure, so they put all the gold and gems back (albeit with Ank pocketing some secretly) and gave the magical glowing gem into the creatures care for safe keeping.
They proceeded further and eventually reached a dead-end room - a small tomb room barely larger than the ancient stone sarcophagus it housed. Feeling around the stone lid, they realised that air was slowly rising from down below through the edges - they reasoned that there must be a secret passage beneath the sarcophagus and (after careful trap checking by Timrus) lifted the lid. An ancient mummified corpse sprang forth and began sucking the soul of Timrus! Ank stabbed the thing through the face, but the stab had little effect, and the monster knocked him back against the wall, while Timrus used the last of his strength and will to shove himself away from the creature. Ank went in for more hacking and slashing to little effect, but their friend the Mephit whispered some ancient words and held aloft the magic gemstone - causing a fireball to erupt, engulfing the mummified corpse and singeing the two friends.
Battered and bruised, the two dusted themselves off and opened the secret shaft beneath the sarcophagus. The mephit flew down, while first Ank and then Timrus followed behind, shimmying themselves down the vertical drop. A little ways down, they hear the sound of rushing water, which panicked their elemental companion - the creature made of fire was deathly afraid of water! Ank grabbed the magical gem from the fire creature, and dropped down into a vast underground body of water, soon followed by Timrus, who clumsily collected the little creature on his way past and dragged it to its doom in the cold depths below! Treading water, and now in absolute darkness of a cavern with no lantern light, the two searched for a current or a way out - with Timrus first getting sucked beneath the surface and then next Ank.
The two rogues were tossed and tumbled and battered and bruised as they were carried along an underground river for some minutes. Just as they were about to abandon all hope and suck in a great gasp of water in that desperate moment of drowning, the current reduced and they spied light above. Kicking for the surface, they just made it in time to gasp sweet air and not drown with lungs full of water. Looking around they dragged themselves to shore, quickly recognising that this is the very oasis where they had stayed with the desert people the previous night.
Turning to the desert people, Timrus held up the egg-sized glowing red gem, telling them that the duo had found the magic they needed. The desert men began to panic! They ran every which way, untethering camels and packing as quickly as they could. 'Do you realise what you have done?' asked the leader - just in time for the top of the mountain behind them erupted with fire and a great flaming dragon emerged forth!
The end!
Stay tuned for next episode!
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