The Underground City of Cynidicea (click for
full size)
I first ran the Basic D&D module The Lost City in the mid 80s, and it's always fascinated me. More recently, over the course of two campaigns (AD&D 1e and Castles & Crusades), I fleshed out the pyramid, the underground city, and even began to imagine the unknown Darkworld beyond. The Castles & Crusades campaign ended when two players moved out of town, but this is how I'd like to resume it... (contact info at bottom)
You've always felt drawn to the adventurer's life, not only because of the tales you've heard from travellers passing through your hometown of Reedle, but also because a slightly older group of friends preceded you on that path. They travelled east into the Alasiyan desert in search of a certain mysterious outpost, but alas, were never seen or heard from again. But what's this? A man on horseback sent to deliver a scroll tube? And it has the identifying sigil your friends agreed to use if they contacted you! And inside of it... a cryptic letter:
Hello Dear Friends,
So sorry we haven't been in touch, but we discovered a lost city in
the desert and helped its people to defeat a horrible monster called
Zargon, who almost destroyed their civilization. After that, the city
was sealed off, and we began the next stage of our adventures here in
Ierendi.
But there is a terrible secret we learned in the City that we must now
share with you: Orpheus the 'shroom druid told us that Zargon can
regenerate from the hideous black horn that grew from his forehead! We
eventually had to travel to the Elemental Plane of Fire to retrieve it
from Ezestiazar the efreeti, and back in the city, it was
disintegrated by Latild, a powerful magician. Zargon, or so we
thought, had been destroyed forever.
You can imagine our shock and surprise when Latild contacted us
recently to let us know that what she disintegrated wasn't the real
Horn! A fake had been substituted, and the original was stolen for a
fabulously wealthy collector in Minrothad, where it has caused quite a
stir: he plans to display his latest acquisition at a gala,
invitation-only gathering! Our work here in Ierendi is vital, so we
cannot make the long journey to deal with this ourselves — and
we probably wouldn't arrive before you did. But since you've
undoubtedly started adventuring yourselves by now, we implore you
to take on the quest of finding the true Horn of Zargon before he can
regenerate from it again, and taking it back to the Lost City of
Cynidicea to be destroyed once and for all.
In order to convince you of the seriousness of this endeavor, we have
enclosed a drawing of what the Cynidiceans call Zargon The
Unspeakable, made by a fighter unfortunate enough to have seen the
monster himself. A broken man, he wakes screaming every night and is
now cared for by the warrior maidens of Madarua. Zargon "stands"
fifteen feet tall — think twice before you look
upon the ultimate horror!
The only other information we can give you is that the collector's
name is _____ and he lives in _____. The party is to be held at his
seaside villa. Once you have the Horn, the enclosed amulet can
transport all of you directly to the Lost City to deliver it. The
amulet is called The Eye of Departing in Safety; press the metal stud
to activate it.
Good luck! Much depends on you!
--The Reedle Rabble-Rousers, a.k.a. "The Chosen Ones"
Ierendi! That's far, far to the southwest! How did they end up there? And Minrothad is almost as far to the southeast! But the challenge has been given! Clearly there is only one thing to do: set sail for the waters of the Minrothad Guilds! Zargon must be kept from regenerating, no matter the cost! But first, you have to get to the sea...
If you're interested in a long-running Castles & Crusades campaign on the East Side of Milwaukee, contact me (on Mastodon as @Cenbe@techhub.social or via email as cenbe at protonmail dot com) and let's get a game started! Here's a link to my house rules.
I've also started a placeholder campaign on Obsidian Portal.
Do you have what it takes to play with fewer numbers? Then join the adventure as we travel to Minrothad to find the Horn of Zargon!