Jhaddar Campaign

So it was with great rejoicing and revelry that the Mad-Sultan’s only son and heir, the blood-prince Sabal-Ya, visited YOUR humble district with his royal retinue. His day was spent strolling the local bazaars, while the night was a scene of great feasting and carousing in one of its many back-alley drinking dens. But as is often the case for the poor and humble folk of Jhaddar, joy is but a veil too easily torn - revealing the strife and horrors hidden beneath. As the morning found the blood-prince purple and lifeless, strangled in his bedchamber, and the killer at large!

In the ensuing confusion and madness, the Mad-Sultan dispatched his most trusted adviser, the dark and mysterious Holy Vizier, to investigate and bring to justice those responsible for his son’s demise. When three days elapsed and still no murderer was identified, the Holy Vizier decreed that all must pay for the crime!

Now YOU stand charged with the murder of the royal blood-prince, and hereby condemned to the sacred burial crypts as Servus Mortem – death-slaves of eternity!

Jhaddar the Vile
This adventure starts in Jhaddar, a wicked and decadent city-state, ruled by a mad sultan, and fraught with ancient blood feuds. It is a land of dark sorcery and nameless horror, where ancient terrors lurk in shadow-haunted tombs, and silk-clad priests consummate vile sacraments upon bloodstained altars. Regarded by many as the Great City’s wretched and twisted little step-sister; where her sprawling tenements and rat-ridden bazaars entice with the poisonous gleam of a tarnished jewel, Jhaddar's crumbling towers and alabaster domes fester like half-buried bones in a sun-drenched waste.

Designed for sword and sorcery play in a grim age, this adventure is inspired by the vast works of Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, and as such was deliberately written with a lean toward the more "purple" prose of those Appendix N masters.

It is said even the boldest of heroes cower when madness sits the throne, and in the perilous and lurid city-state of Jhaddar the Vile - its sultan was indeed mad. Ascending to his family's royal seat of power following the untimely and controversial deaths of his father and brothers, the Mad-Sultan's reign was mired in gossip and dark foreshadowing from the start. Alas, unfortunately for the common folk, their fears proved true, for the Mad-Sultan was a wickedly cruel ruler who left his people oppressed, poor, and in constant fear.

Fancying himself a direct descendant of the last great god-king Xothula, the Mad-Sultan deemed his word infallible and his right to rule divine. Along with the usual decadence and depravity common to all self-indulgent rulers, the Mad-Sultan's sins included dark sorcery, vile necromancy, and demon worship. But of all the horrible and wicked blights delivered upon his subjects, the most terrible was the reinstatement of the ancient funerary practice of "Servus Mortem" - the use of death-slaves. A heathen and long abolished custom whereby the living are entombed with the dead in order to aid their masters in the journey to paradise.

Yaatana
There are many depraved cities in the land of Susrah, but Yaatana, at the headwaters of the Ophrat River, is said to be the most wicked city of them all, and so all manner of debased folk flock to it, like insects attracted to a greasy torch. This wealthy trading post along the route from the city states of Susrah to Khazistan and Jairan in the west is noted for its sinful back alleys and nefarious inhabitants. It is a city of furtive sorcerers, strange and depraved cults, and a place where the most perverted desires can be fulfilled by the arrangements of fat merchants eager to sell anything.

The city is old and surrounded by ancient clay walls faced with colorful glazed tiles. Tarnished golden domes and marble minarets are visible beyond the walls as one approaches the city. The massive main gate is over 600 years old and receives a constant stream of visitors entering and leaving. With somewhat over 14,000 inhabitants, Yaatana has over hundred temples (and probably double that number of hidden or secret underground shrines), three dozen public bathhouses, and almost 6,000 houses, most of which are several stories high, topped with flat roofs, and decorated with elaborate friezes and intricately carved windows.

Yaatana is ruled by the High-King, a mysterious man who never appears in public unmasked. According to official history, the High-King have ruled continuously for five generations, but most people assume several kings have assumed the title over the years. About the only ones that could tell the truth would be the few courtesans who has glimpsed his face both now and several years ago, but nobody knows if any such women exist. The armed forces of the city are mostly comprised of the various forces supplied by local lords in exchange for the freedom to conduct business as each house prefers. The city's laws are enforced haphazardly and most laws are ignored as long as money from trade keeps flowing into the city. The local magistrates are notoriously corrupt and rule in favor of the biggest bribe, or to curry favor with the most intimidating lordling.

In the central souk, a variety of goods, including meat, spices, cotton, silverware, copper, and pottery can be bargained for. A naive visitor would conclude there is nothing especially decadent about Yaatana if all they visit is the open markets. However, in the back rooms of the very many taverns and brothels, almost any decadent indulgence can be had, including slaves, weapons and drugs. The most popular gods are Belet-Lil, of course, and Ophrat, a local river avatar of Great Yammosh, but almost any worship is tolerated if perhaps not openly encouraged. Curiously, Baal-Khardah is not often revered here; Belet-Lil being described as a "daughter of the City" who is married to the city itself, and by extension every man who lives there.

Recently Yaatana came perilously close to disaster, when a series of border skirmishers with the riders of Lamra to the north became an outright assault, which the decadent troops of Yaatana lost badly. Only with the help of magic was an attack on the city itself averted, and the High-King quickly reached out with the promise of gold. Currently the Ambassador of Lamra enjoys the hospitality of the city, together with 400 troops. The presence of these foreign "barbarians" is surprisingly tolerated by the ruling classes of Yaatana, likely because they behave like paying customers rather than invaders, or perhaps because Yaatana is built on decadent commerce rather than armed conflict.

What the Lamra has brought to the city, however, is worship of Zadj the Living Flame. People sick of the depravity are drawn to the call for spiritual purity, and in a short while a dozen praying towers have sprung up all around the city. At this time, the Yaatanian nobility is ignoring this new development, but there is conflict brewing on the horizon.

Right now the High-King is successfully selling the fiction the city is independent, but if it would become clear that Yaatana is under the yoke of foreigners, the other Susrah city-states would be honor-bound to attack the city to depose its ruler that clearly could not defend his fiefdom. For now, however, everybody buys the facade.

Lamra
The Riders of Lamra rule the land of Lamu, and they control all the trade from the outskirts of Tharag Thule all the way to Kathpatuka. The ruling priesthood has revered Nhakhramat for generations, but only 30 years ago, a young Lamra acolyte returned from the south and preached the cleansing truth of the Living Flame of Zadj. Worryingly fast, the head priestesses of Nhakhramat either became his mistresses or lost their lives in public burnings, and now Zadj, as he calls himself, is the undisputed ruler of the Riders of Lamra.

The city itself is reasonably open to traders, though visitors have long learned to hide any excess indulgencies, both during the time of Nhakhramat but doubly so with the ascendance of Zadj. The city barely exhibits any trace of its nomadic past, and it was several generations ago that important priests and noblemen stopped pretending their mansions and towers were still mobile. While most decadent pleasures are frowned upon in Lamu, horse racing, tobacco and dancing girls are still considered civilized pleasures, and the quality of these goods is as good as in Zuu--Bazzir itself. One curiosity is that the lords of Lamra consider it a dishonor to enslave another Lamuian; the slave markets exclusively trade in high quality slaves from exotic countries, men and women that look nothing like a Lamuian.

Onar
In the city of Onar, in the land of Lamu, the dreaded priests of Yot-Kamoth have built a temple to house their terrible god, which is a colossal eightlegged spider-idol, carved from the black stone of a fallen star. Great is the power of the spider-priests of Lamu, for they outnumber even the austere priestesses of Nhakhramat and the muffled priests of Yadar, and they ride as kings through the shadowed streets of Onar. The city's elite do not have any compunction against enslaving their fellow Lamuians, by the way, but most sacrifices to Yot-Kamoth still consist of barbarians, from Tharag Thule in the north to Shoma in the south.

The cunning rule of wily old Hamadara, High Priest of Yot-Kamoth, is uncontested, but his priestly cohorts are in a constant struggle for predominance. Utilizing a extensive network of spies and informers, Hamadara keeps well abreast of temple intrigue and fuels priestly rivalries; as long as his minions are busy infighting, his position is unassailable. Hamadara makes sure the Khazites to the south-east get good trading terms, partly as insurance against aggression from Lamra.

Hamgatana
Situated half-way between the regions of Susrah and Taraam, the city’s ruler, prince Yagrush and his sister, princess Anath, pay lip service to both Ahyada, protector of Taaram, as well as Baal-Khardah, the Sun-God of Susrah. The city maintains two very large temples facing each other, one dedicated to Baal-Khardah, the other to Ahyada, but there are few visitors, and never any from the royal prince and princess.

Hamgatana is much less enticing than Yaatana, and at first glance appears dull and conservative. However, that might just be because you are used to the gaudy allure of the sinful Yaatanans living life to its fullest. Hamgatana is a city worshipping predictability and law above all else. But there is bit more to Hamgatana than you first assumed.

For one thing, any religion - no matter how alien or cruel - is allowed, as long as it is able to communicate its laws, customs and dictates clearly and is capable of enforcing them. This is probably a good thing, even though you are sure this means the city is full of despicable worshippers of repellent gods. At least there should be few chaos cults! Moreover, the city has an unusual custom - any criminal is turned over to the authorities of his declared faith, except when the charge is "crimes against the stability of Hamgatana". This should mean that a worshipper of Yammosh, the Sea-God of Ghazor and a devotee to Simatala, the Ape-God of Laksha, could face diametrically different punishments for the same crime, including one offender being given a reward while the other gets to enjoy getting ripped apart by four oxen. As long as each faith can argue you can predict the sentencing in advance, city authorities appears to not care in the slightest.

While people generally dress modestly and avoid public displays of wantonness and debauchery, you did find several taverns that showed promise. It turned out there is wine, women and song to be had in Hamgatana after all, just not the over-the-top carousing you've gotten used to in fun-loving Yaatana!

One central feature you could not miss was an unassuming smoke-belching squat building in the center of town, right next to the royal palace. Your interest was piqued when you learned this is known as the Tepe of Dulkadirid, a volcanic pit housing a mighty but imprisoned Battle Demon. Apparently, a woman can go free from any crime or debt if she volunteers a visit to Dulkadirid and produces his spawn, since these slave soldiers, known as the Mamluk, constitute the city's best defenders and acts as the royal bodyguard as well.

Speaking of the royal bodyguard, one thing you definitely are not accustomed to is the city's ruler mingling with regular folk. Or at least it appears that prince Yagrush and princess Anath honor the various establishments and entertainment palaces of the city with their presence. How it can be that some displeased citizen has not yet plunged a dagger into their pampered backs you simply do not know. Perhaps this Dulkadirid is the city's true ruler?

You did not stay long enough to find out, since you were eager to find the People of the Pit. But it does seem like carousing would be at the very least possible, if not outright worthwhile, on your way back.

Resources

 * DCC/Character Generation
 * DCC/Rules Summary
 * DCC/Clarifications
 * DCC/Occupations
 * DCC/Supernatural Traits
 * DCC/Classes
 * DCC/Carousing
 * DCC/Bad Omens


 * [[File:Dcc character sheet blank pdf to fill by hand.pdf]]
 * [[File:Occupation Table pdf.pdf]]
 * [[File:Motivations & Flaws.pdf]]
 * [[File:Mog'Malu - Death Slaves of Eternity (DCC).pdf]]


 * ''I base my campaign on the World of Xoth. Here are excerpts from the free Player's Guide:


 * [[File:Races and Lands of World of Xoth.pdf]]
 * [[File:Player's Guide to the Cults of Xoth.pdf]]


 * I use the excellent series of four Carousing tables by Knights in the North. 


 * [[File:Dcc general carousing table.pdf]]
 * [[File:Dcc thief carousing table.pdf]] (carousing costs the same 60 gp per xp as for the other tables)
 * [[File:Dcc cleric carousing table.pdf]]
 * [[File:Dcc wizard carousing table.pdf]]


 * I have created a "Paramours" table, intended to supplement the above Carousing tables


 * [[File:Carousing Table – Paramour.pdf]] ([[File:New (animated).gif]] finally finished!)

Marching Order
doesn't seem this is useful any longer - the disposition of the heroes changes constantly

Mikael
Trillingarna (16 år), gillar att observera och samla information från det dolda
 * Lima, Female, Servant, Luck: 0 (lawful, klumpig, ömtålig)
 * Leja, Female, Servant, Thief Luck: +2 (chaotic, liten, smal, snygg, klen, lucky)
 * Lars, Male, Servant, Luck: 0 (neutral, atletisk, blyg, intelligent)


 * Velma (F) - Vintner
 * Teodor (M) - Librarian Shaman Ahyada (lawful)
 * Ymae (F) - Witch, witch (lawful)
 * Xena (F) - Warrior

Jonas

 * Jyf Bessos (M), Luck: -1, Warrior, Tax collector, Lawful, simple straight, Taraamite, motivation: Crush your enemies, flaw: Fantasist
 * Hakim Samit (M). Luck: +2, Cultist, Lotus-eater, Neutral, "semi-mad"(?) worshipper of Bobugbubilz, Zorabi, motivation: Rising above others, flaw: Troublemaker
 * Giselle (F), Luck: +3, Raider, Nightwatch man, Neutral, Happy go lucky adventurer, Bhangari, motivation: Don't worry, be happy. flaw: Soft-hearted
 * Al'amirat Lia (F), Luck: 0, Courtesan, Susrahnite (chaotic, svag och klen, positivt neutralt intryck)
 * Zina, mazanian courier level 0, Sister of Hope



Mats

 * Caligula (M), Luck: +1, Scribe, chaotic, Nabastissean (trög bokmal som tursamt flyter med i strömmen)
 * Seckou (M), Luck: -1, Witch-Doctor, Emir, Goat herder, chaotic, Djaka (retsam getherde, som hade oturen att stöta på en lättretlig krigare)
 * Brutus (M), Luck: -1, Barbarian, steppe nomad, chaotic, Nabastissean (impulsiv, lättretad krigare)
 * Shakira Raqisa (F), Luck: +1, Servus Mortem i 14 år, Syster Umanis läger, Zadjite (klen, men smidig och uthållig tjej, åren i Servus Mortem har tärt på henne och gjort henne lite korkad.)
 * Tamara (F), Merchant's daughter, Soldier









Brutus är karavanvakt, Caligula skötte registrering och bokföring för karavanen.

Seckous getter störde karavanen, vilket resulterade i att Seckou fångades in och skulle som straff bli såld som slav. Seckou kommer att gå i främsta ledet.

Robert

 * Bayarma (F), Luck: 0, Astrologist (Herbalist), Khazistani (neutral; smart tjej; söt och trevlig men lite nördig; motivation: become immortal, flaw: vanity)
 * Tulani (M), Luck: +1, Soldier (Servus Mortem), Azimban (neutral; ståtlig och muskulös karlakarl; motivation: gain wealth; flaw: adultery)
 * Khatuma (F), Luck: +1, Living Flame Shaman (holy pilgrim), Khazistani (neutral; ung kvinna med intensiv personlighet; motivation: always have a plan; flaw: optimist)
 * Abu-waqar (M), Luck: 0, Torturer, Susrahnite (chaos; liten och spinkig; bakom hans vänliga leende gömmer sig en sociopat)
 * Pavan (M), Luck: +2, Alchemist, Bhangari (neutral; lång, smal och tafatt; happy-go-lucky-attityd)
 * Kaatima (F), Luck: 0 (-4 due to curse), Cultist, Jairanian (chaos; ung tjej, väldigt intetsägande förutom att hon konstant predikar om kulten som uppfostrade henne)

Per

 * Olami (M), Luck: -1, Acolyte, Ghazorite(neutral; klen och ointeligent)
 * Ronanga (M), Luck: 0, Mercenary, Shoma (neutral; former eunuch now female)
 * Y (Artist namn) (F), Luck: +1, Shaman, Dancer, Tharag Thulan (neutral; söt liten tjej utan bordsskick och explosivt temperament)
 * Geugi (M), Luck: +1, Raider, Tomb Robber, Taraamite (neutral)
 * Oneika (F), Luck:0, Thief, Slave (Pleasure Slave), Ikunian (chaotic)

Departed Heroes

 * Rest In Peace


 * Abu-waqar ♂, torturer level 0, killed and eaten by ghouls
 * Caligula ♂, scribe level 0, succumbed to multiple curses
 * Al'amirat Lia ♀, courtesan level 0, a fall through a broken floor led to a swarm of worms. Lia managed just to climb up, but unfortunately the worms had taken over.
 * Zina Al'amirat Almuhariba, ♀, mazanian courier level 0, Sister of Hope. Got crushed under a cave in on her first (longer) mission outside the temple.
 * Lima ♀, servant level 0, ?
 * Kaatima ♀, servus mortem level 0, fell into sinkhole
 * Olami ♂, acolyte level 0, speared by guard and fell to his death
 * Pavan ♂, alchemist level 0, drained and drowned in the Crypt of Pleasures
 * Lars ♂, servant, warrior level 1, fell to his death from bridge


 * former heroes (still alive, but no longer with the party)


 * Seckou, Emir of Herat (flanked by Ahnaf the Fair and the Seeress, Sylle Ru)
 * Velma, barkeep at the Blue Berry in Yaatana
 * Ronanga, joined princess Tamara in her adventures
 * Ymae, faithful wife to Teodor

Wondrous Items

 * DCC/Mirror of Fates (Lia)