Master of the Desert Nomads

Master of the Desert Nomads is a Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 campaign by Panzerman.

Introduction

At the start of the campaign, the heroes found themselves in the army of the Republic on garrison duty in the village of Pramayana on the edge of the Zind desert. Traders and farmer have been attacked by tribes on desert nomads. The survivors flock to the village from protection, and tell of mysterious figure who is leading the tribes to war.

"Destroy the one called the master, and you destroy them all!"

Characters

• Abdul al-Jazarai "Al", druid and token local
• Don Carlos Alfonso Lope de Vega, a dashing swashbuckler
• Bob, a Halfling outrider
• John, a rougue
• Mrado, former Thayan slave gladiator.

Locations

Pramayana

People:

• Captain Zarras
• The Mad Hermit

Adventures

Session 1

Date: 2010-08-18; Level: 6

The guards on the wall sounded the call to arms. Some sort of shadow creature attacked an armoured man by the river. Don Carlos leapt over the wall and ran to the river. His companions followed suit, and they soon found themselves facing a large shadowy creature. This was a fearsome soul hunter, and its prey was a an an armored cleric in dusty robes.

The creature snarled "Beware mortals! I hunt only this prey!", but the heroes would not abandon the stranger, though their hearts were filled with fear. The cleric blessed them in the name of his god. "Torms blessing be upon you! Defend me from this creature! I bring news." The heroes were hard pressed by the shadow creature, but they were victorious.

Captain Zarras ordered the adventurers to go into the desert and discover what was going on on the other side of the desert. Brother William gave them a map which should help them in their quest.

Session 2

Date: 2010-09-01; Level: 6 → 7

Williams map showed the location of the Master's base on the other side of the desert. The heroes decided to begin their journey by taking a boat up river as far as possibe.

They made camp on the bank of the river. Shortly before dusk, they were surprised to see a wyvern ridden by a wizard approach. The wizard unleaded a barrage of spells, but the wyvern and rider was downed by Bob's arrows and Abdul's summoned eagles) and ogres who were concealed in the reeds. They were soon dispatched, but it is clear that the heroes are being watched. The wizard had a mysterious amulet in the shape of an eye.

Bob the halfling searched the reeds and discovered the wizard's camp. When the heroes returned, to the riverbank, they heard a slurping sound, and saw three giant crabs emerging from the water. They decided to leave the camp and let the crabs eat the ogres.

After the the ogre attack, they decided to circle around the salt marsh, and head into the Zind desert. After three or four days without incident, the halfling outrider spotted a group of orcs lying in wait for them behind the desert dunes. The heroes prepared to meet their attackers. Abdul summoned a lightning form the skies and fire elementals. Several of the orcs were struck dead before they had a chance to spring the track, and the rest surged over the dune. The orcs were soon defeated, but the heroes were left to face the leaders — several bugbears and two fearsome weretigers! Without silver weapons, the heroes were hard pressed to defeat the shapeshifters. Only time will tell if any of them have been infected with the dread curse of lycanthropy...

After two more days into the desert, they came upon a caravan. The caravan master was happy to add the heroes to his caravan, and the two groups decided to join forces a few days for mutual protection. After a day, Captain Achmed ordered guards dispersed far too much to be able to protect the caravan. Don Carlos was an experienced soldier, and was on his guard, for he realized this left the caravan open to attack. His suspicions were soon proven correct! It was not long until three bands of desert bandits, mounted on camels and horses, attacked the caravan.

The defenders of the caravan were greatly outnumbered. The leader of the bandits wielded an evil sword of great power, and it felled guards right and left. The heroes rallied the survivors neat the wagon. Spells, summoned wolves and stealthy blades took their tool on their attackers. Don Carlos cut down half a score of attackers in an instant. The leader realized that he had found a worthy opponent, and charged the Amnite swordsman. Blades clashed in the desert sun. The bandit leader fell dead from his mount. Don Carlos was victorious but severely wounded. The remaining bandits fled into the desert. The heroes were victorious. While they ware only lightly injured, several of the caravan lay dead on the sand.

After the defeat of the traitorous Captain Achmed and the desert bandits, the heroes had amassed a pile of loot. Sergeant Zeid was promoted to captain of the caravan guard. He gave the heroes a potion as thanks.

Loot:

• 1,500 gp, including 500 from Captain Zarras for bribes and such.
• Magical amulets, perhaps used by the Master to scry
• Scimitar +2 (2)
• Girdle of Giant Strength +6 → Mrado
• Potion of might (combines the effects of bull's strength, cat's grace, and bear's endurance), from Zeid.
• Chain mail +2
• Large shield +2
• Longsword +2 humanbane

Session 3

Date: 2010-09-15; Level: 7

Loot:

• Dagger +1 keen