Chaos in the Crimson Desert
I participate in two weekly campaigns, one in which I am a player, while the other one I am the GM. I also try to run a single-session adventure every other week, if not more often. A couple weeks ago, I ran a very successful short adventure for my friends; I figured it would be fun to share here too in case it helps inspire some ideas for your own games.
The game system we used was Cairn 2e, but I'm certain any other system would work just as well. I also made some references to Sly Flourish's City of Arches campaign setting, but only because I like the idea of red portals, teleporting archways, and things like that.
This is a compilation of the notes I made during session prep with some additions based on how the adventure went during play.
Sinkhole!
The adventure begins with the PCs hopelessly lost in the Crimson Desert, a series of red sand dunes and ancient ruins, looking for a distant jungle oasis called Mother's Tears. Just when things couldn't get any worse, a sinkhole opens beneath their feet and dumps the PCs headfirst into an ancient tomb.
The room they fall into is marked by a sapphire statue of the Goddess of Death, and surrounding the statue is a group of rather surprised gnolls wearing red hoods.
The statue could be toppled onto one or more of the gnolls.
About the gnolls:
- These are the Redhood Gnolls, they work for fun and profit, mostly for profit.
- They were hired by a lamia named Zareya Tigertongue about a month ago to guard her lair.
- The gnolls failed to guard the lair, allowing a human to get in and steal something precious from the lamia's hoard.
- Now the lamia has tasked the gnolls with killing the human.
- To prepare for killing the human, the lamia sent the gnolls into a lost tomb to recover an ancient weapon that's supposedly good at killing things.
- The gnolls entered the tomb through a hijacked portal.
The Tomb of Nethara Kadeshi
After dealing with the gnolls, the PCs will quickly discover that this tomb belongs to a powerful archmage. In their explorations they might see the following rooms (ordered from east to west).
About the tomb itself:
- The tomb is designed so that the souls of any who were buried here can rise up from their sarcophagus, walking through the tomb halls to collect their mortal possessions, then progress through a gate to the afterlife.
The Sarcophagus of Nethara Kadeshi Sandstone sarcophagus, carved with the likeness of a female archmage holding a khopesh crossed with a scepter, two beast-headed statues stoically guard the entrance.
About Nethara Kadeshi:
- She was an apprentice to the Sorcerer Queen who plagued the desert long ago.
- No one really remembers the apprentices, but they might recall that the Sorcerer Queen was quite evil.
- The Sorcerer Queen experimented with undeath, and so did her apprentices.
- In her youth, Nethara failed to become a lich. This failure caused her to rise as a mummy when she died.
- Because she is a mummy, her soul did not leave her corpse and go to the afterlife.
- Because she is a mummy, Nethara has been stuck inside her sarcophagus for about 800 years.
- Nethara really, really wants to get out of here and go to the afterlife.
- Nethara has a vorpal khopesh, which she is unwilling to give up.
The Statue of the Goddess of Death (the PCs started here) Sapphire statue of the Goddess of Death, sandstone walls, lever on one wall.
About the lever:
- It controls an opening in the ceiling which the PCs fell through.
- The lever is currently in the "open" position.
- The lever jams once put in the "closed" position.
The Treasure Boat Wooden canoe, richly crafted, covered in ancient coins and jewelry.
This boat would be a good source of treasure.
The Gate to the Afterlife Pillars support the ceiling, at the far end of the room is a sandstone archway, the keystone is a red brick carved with the face of the Goddess of Death, within the archway is a veil of shimmering light.
When PCs enter this room, a talkative, well-spoken gnoll named Copperfang hops through the archway from Zareya's lair. There is a 25% chance he goes feral, and a 75% chance he just wants to get out of here alive.
About the archway:
- Normally this would be a gate to the afterlife. Souls would be able to pass on to the next realm.
- However, the archway has been remotely hijacked by the lamia Zareya Tigertongue and now leads to her lair.
- Fixing the archway requires someone who knows how to fix archways, like Zareya.
The Lair of Zareya Tigertongue
After investigating the tomb, the PCs might step through the archway to deal with the lamia at her lair. If they do, they'll probably try one of two things:
- Fight the lamia
- Talk to the lamia
The archway leads into Zareya's luxurious cavern, which then opens into a jungle grove lined with draconic pillars. You might consider placing some guards in her lair. My suggestions would be 1d4 gnolls, 1 manticore, or 1 chimera, spread out between the cave and the pillars.
Her Luxurious Cave Plush pillows, grape vines, hand mirrors, scattered gold coins, feathered fans, sandstone archway pulsing with energy.
Draconic Pillars Marble pillars weathered by time, wreathed in vines, carvings of dragons intertwined and falling to the earth.
About Zareya Tigertongue:
- She is obsessively conceited.
- Her kiss can enthrall her victims.
- Her beloved, magical, awesome, diamond hairpin was stolen by a human from the nearby oasis of Mother's Tears. The human was Prince Djoshan.
- Zareya wants to assassinate Prince Djoshan and take back her diamond hairpin.
- She'll offer to send the PCs in place of the gnolls to assassinate Prince Djoshan and retrieve the hairpin from his bedroom.
- The sandstone archway in her lair can also be rigged to teleport people straight into the prince's bedroom.
- Really, Zareya will do anything to get the hairpin back.
- Also, she doesn't really have friends. Just enemies and people she pays to protect her stuff.
The Oasis of Mother's Tears
It is possible the PCs find their way here, either by trekking overland through the Crimson Desert from the Tomb of Nethara Kadeshi (4 days travel) or by teleporting through the tomb's archway and then leaving the Lair of Zareya Tigertongue.
There are a few things to observe while at the Oasis:
The Jungle Around the Oasis Dangerous, lush, flowering, filled with ancient ruins and bizarre creatures, somewhere in here is the lamia's lair.
The Oasis Itself Pleasant, clear waters, lovely atmosphere, exotic animals grazing right next to you.
The Village Built at the Oasis Guarded by desert nomads, built from smooth sandstone with slanted wood roofs, the people here love to gossip.
The Palace in the Village Resplendent, noble, rich, luxurious, gold-plated, outdoor pool and patio, floor-to-ceiling windows as often as possible.
About the Oasis:
- Governed partly by a noble family and partly by desert nomads.
- Right now, the noble family consists entirely of Prince Djoshan.
- The desert nomads are usually nice people. There is a small sect of them that is wickedly, horribly, undeniably evil.
- This would be a good home base for future adventures.
Prince Djoshan
The PCs may find themselves interacting with the prince at his palace at the Oasis of Mother's Tears. Either by teleporting into his bedroom with the help of Zareya Tigertongue or just by walking there.
About the Prince:
- He is horribly lonely.
- So rich he doesn't know what to do with all that money.
- Prince Djoshan is really looking for a friend or someone interesting to talk to every once in a while.
- He stole the diamond hairpin from Zareya Tigertongue thinking it would bring her to his palace and they could get to know one another over a charcuterie board at his pool.
- If presented with the opportunity, he'd love it if the PCs could ask the lamia to come meet him for a charcuterie board at his pool.
- Prince Djoshan doesn't really care about the hairpin, and if it can be given back to Zareya as a sign of goodwill he's willing to go through with it.
- He does not realize how dangerous the lamia could be.
- Spends about 50% of his time in the pool, 25% praying in the palace shrine to the Goddess of Death, and 25% in his bedroom.
- He prays so much to the Goddess of Death he is basically a priest himself. If necessary, there is a 50% chance that he can actually manipulate the archway in his palace to become a gate to the afterlife for Nethara Kadeshi.
- Everything in the palace is managed by maids, butlers, guards, and cooks.
- His whole family is dead. Parents from old age, sisters from plague.
- No one in the village cares about him other than the fact that he is unfathomably rich.
Final Thoughts
There you have it! An expanded summary of my one page of notes I made for the adventure I ran.
In my case, my players almost died to the gnolls at the start, got lucky when the gnolls freed the mummy, acted as Nethara's escorts to the afterlife, then promised to help her fix the archway. They did so by walking across the Crimson Desert with the help of their gnoll navigator (Copperfang) and then meeting with Prince Djoshan to get the hairpin back for Zareya. The lamia then agreed to fix the archway in exchange for her hairpin.
Chaotic, exciting, wild! Just the way I like it.
Thanks for reading, I hope this adventure gives you some ideas for your own creations! See you next week.
Things on my radar:
- I have a couple projects in the works right now. One of them might be finished next week, if we're lucky! Keyword: star.
- I've been thinking hard about what the perfect dungeon room description would look like for me. I haven't found the answer yet, but I'm getting closer.
- Dragon's Den released their second Ironbound Adventure, a module for solo adventuring using Ironsworn!
- I recently purchased Electrum Archive Issues 1 & 2 for a discount, and they've been excellent reading material for my science fantasy campaign.
- It's been on my list for a while, but I finally got around to watching Beef and it's very good: 8/10.