Dungeon Crawl Classics: The Road to Punjar

Cast

Kathy as Kiya the Albino Halfling, Kilcea the Albino Dwarf, Kitilia the Albino Cleric of Mardua

John as Amar the Desert Warrior & Badger the Child Wizard

Bauchelein, Broach, Held, and Emancipater Reese as themselves

Having defeated the Emerald Enchanter and freed several powerful demons, the party departed the Citadel for the small village. There, they were hailed as heroes (a first) and offered the best rooms and food at the village inn. While pretty common, for a trio of subterranean albinos, a desert raider, and a boy born from a yokeless egg on the Plane of Law, well it was really good.

The next day, the party equipped to head off to the big city of Punjar. Badger tried six-legged lizard busting, but did not have the cash to buy the weird steed. Amar bought a camel and everyone else settled for donkeys.

Thanks to an extreme series of lucky encounter rolls, the first two days travel were uneventful. On the third day, as fellow travelers appeared more often, the party encountered a caravan. They sought to fall in behind it, enjoying the semi-protection that a large group provides from petty bandits and other hazards. Soon however, five guards approached and tried to extort money. Before negotiations began, the guards tried some rough stuff…and GOT roughed. Soon, one guards was dead, another dying two wounded and the fifth, who had hung back, called a halt. An armored rider (Held) rode up and offered the characters work for travel as caravan guards, and asked the spell casters to come with him. Kitilea and Badger followed and soon met the Caravan Master at his enormous blackwood carriage. The “master” was a sinister looking tall thin man wearing a blackened hauberk of chainmail. He introduced himself as Bauchelein and invited both inside to partake of a cool beverage.

Inside the carriage was spacious enough for a back room (unseen in which Korbal worked) and a sofa, table and chairs. Reese, the old man driver/servant entered with several goblets for chilled wine. Relaxing, Bauchelein chatted with Kitilea and Badger. He knew of Mardua as part of an ancient pantheon of gods 2000 years extinct and shared some knowledge of cults within Punjar that Kitilea would be interested in displacing (death cult). Tuning to Badger, the two wizards discussed magecraft and agreed to trade a spider web spell for a scare spell. Badger would come back that evening…before the two adventurers left, they met Korbal Broach, a large pallid man who they suspected was a eunuch (also dressed all in black). Both got a creepy vibe from Broach.

The caravan was within sight of Punjar (a walled city) when the caravan halted for the night. Badger and the rest of the party headed up to the black carriage when a cry arose. Out of the fading light charged dark shapes running on all fours in a strange gait. As the shapes emerged into the torchlight of the caravan, they resolved into wild baboons!

The party met the attack and began cutting down baboons (Amar and Kilcia handling most of the killing), Badger joined Bauchelein and Broach on the top of the carriage. Neither wizard seemed overly nervous about the attack, although both speculated that the baboons were likely sent from a Punjari magic wieldier as a warning against outsider wizards coming to visit. Badger and Bauchelein exchanged spells and the caravanserai (the armored horseman) introduced now as Held rode up with Amar and announced that the baboons had been either killed or driven off. Almost thirty of the baboons were dead along with some seven guards. Bauchelein suggested cooking up the baboons as an arrival feast, although several of the PCs chose to pass on the baboon meat.

Arriving in Punjar, the party follows Held’s recommendation to try Habib’s Tavern, and find affordable, clean rooms. Kilicea seeks and rents a small one room temple in the Street of Gods, and begins preaching the good word of Maradua. Over the next two weeks she collects 17 parishoners, the demographics of which tend to range from housewives/women to a surprising number of city guards.

Badger sets out to make contact with the mages or wizard cabals of the city.

Kilcia (dwarf) heads out to the markets to buy gear. As a good dwarf she takes her time looking for the best deals.

{Next time, we’ll have the time for a few vignettes – little adventures – before hunting down the abandoned death cult under the city streets}