Jewel in the Desert (campaign)

A poster made for the Jewel in the Desert campaign.

## Characters

### Player Characters

Thurku'ali, Elidyr Valgwyn, Esteric, Zedryk Sunday, Aurgothin of Garakalryx, Barrel, Trident

### Important Enemies

Astaroth, Titedius, Valefar

**Jewel in the Desert** (shortened to JitD) is a campaign set in the city of Topaz, the nickname of which the campaign takes its name from. JitD follows the story of 7 Medjay as they are hired to investigate a mafia known as the Shadow Trade. However, they get far more than they bargained for when the Shadow Trade takes note of them and tries to remove them from the equation.

## Plot Synopsis

Here is a synopsis of the plot of Jewel in the Desert, as of Session 20.

### The Rise and Fall of Astaroth (Sessions 1-10)

Thurku'ali, Elidyr Valgwyn, Zedryk Sunday, Esteric, and Barrel all receive a letter from Watch-Captain Yasir al-Murad, requesting their presence at his office. When they arrive, he gives them a mission: to investigate 3 ongoing cases involving organized crime. He suspects that the infamous mafia known as the Shadow Trade has somehow gotten a foothold in the city, and he wishes to force them out as soon as possible. They accept, and so the team is formed. Their investigations -- one into Ruth Valencia, the high priestess of the Temple of Aten; one into Halai Masjar, owner and proprietor of Ol' Bizarre's, a curio shop; and one into Omaro de Forquia, a foreign merchant -- quickly reveal the oversight of a figure known as Astaroth.

A few days after their investigations are complete, Esteric gets a job through the Eagle Eyes, a spy network that he is a member of. Gathering the party together, he explains that he is being paid to break into the home of a Topazian senator, Kareema el-Dejani, in order to find evidence incriminating her of bribery and corruption. With their help, he manages to acquire such documents, but is almost arrested in the process and negotiates a pardon with the Watch-Captain. Shortly after, Zedryk asks for the party's help for his Trial of the Revelation, a holy mission him and many other members of House undertake. With their help, he successfully proves himself worthy of seeing a vision granted by his god, Aten.

Zedryk sees a vision of Topaz burning to the ground, but during. it he sees an unfamiliar sigil burned into the ground. Ruth Valencia encourages him to visit the dragonborn blacksmith Aurgothin, who may be able to identify it. The party travels to his smithy, without Thurku'ali, as she is informed by another Medjay that someone was hunting her down. Zedryk shows Aurgothin a drawing of the sigil, but he is unable to recall its significance, so he brings the party to Anvil'rak Sanctuary, a temple to Garyx. After looking through their collection of lore, they discover the sigil represents the Inferno, a long-dead god that birthed Garyx and his twin goddess, Embra.

On the way back, they chase down a goliath in a red cloak who appeared to be following them. They corner him in an alley, after which he introduces himself as Titedius. He tells the party that he has heard of how they've disrupted the Shadow Trade's operations and wishes to help them take down Astaroth, and was only following them to ensure they were as capable as he'd heard. Tentatively, they agreed. They then returned to Aurgothin's smithy, only to find that his sister Luskarak has broken in, looking for him. This leads to a fight where Luskarak gets knocked unconscious, and has to be returned home by Aurgothin's father, Gildakrog.

During a two-week lull, Thurku'ali tries to find out who was looking for her. She has Zedryk's father Howard scry on this person, and discovers it was an orc named Gahni'zu, who was once a member of Thurku'ali's tribe before it was destroyed. She finds and confronts Gahni'zu, only to be nearly killed. Barrel decides to help with another ongoing investigation, but discovers that an old comrade of his, Trigger, is the culprit. They explain that they are the head of a revolutionary group called the Steel Insurgence, which is comprised of warforged that are tired of being neglected by the government. After some consideration, Barrel decides to join this revolution. Elidyr and Esteric work together to try to find the location of Astaroth's hideout, and after speaking to some contacts of theirs, discover that it is in the Outer Topaz district. To avoid any potential danger, Elidyr decides to move some of her stuff to Esteric's home, and encounters a strange black-cloaked figure with a white mask that turns into a raven shortly after she confronts them. Aurgothin and Zedryk decide to do some research into Garyx, Embra, and the Inferno, discovering that the Inferno is actually the remnants of forbidden sixth god of the Atenai pantheon, known as Aphyr.

At the end of this two-week period, Titedius contacts Zedryk, Esteric, Aurgothin, Elidyr, and Barrel, saying it is time to take Astaroth down. They meet in a tavern and discuss the plan: Titedius will wait outside as backup, while the five party members infiltrate the tavern and attempt to kill Astaroth in his upstairs office. Initially, the plan is executed perfectly, but things change once they confront Astaroth. He explains that Titedius is not their ally, but instead, a member of the Shadow Trade -- one who even outranks Astaroth. He knows that the Shadow Trade's leaders want him dead, and suspects Titedius' plan is an elaborate way of knocking out two birds with one stone. Shortly after he says this, a fiery explosion sets the entire tavern on fire, forcing the party and Astaroth to escape. When Astaroth attempts to flee, Titedius teleports behind him, shoves a greatsword through his chest, and then teleports away. The party then realizes that the explosion was caused by Aurgothin's clan, Clan Garakalryx, causing him to leave in search of his mother, the clan's matriarch.

### The Fire Burns Brighter (Sessions 11-20)

The morning after the tavern fire, Yasir al-Murad calls for each party member (excluding Ali) to come to his office. He asks them to take greater care in the future when taking on non-government work, so as to not reflect poorly on the Topaz Watch. He then gifts the deed to Astaroth's tavern, which the Watch was able to save, to Barrel. Through a combination of his and Esteric's funds, as well as an investment from Faith Aeolus (who Howard put them into contact with), Barrel is able to renovate the tavern the renames it to The Cat's Meow. On the night of its opening day, as assassin attempts to kill the party, but is quickly subdued. He tells them he was sent by Valefar -- a name the party recognizes as one of the figures Kareema el-Dejani was in contact with. Though they initially try to capture him, he proves to dangerous and has to be killed by Barrel.

Afterwards, Elidyr gets a letter from her father saying that her mother is deathly ill, causing her to leave her belongings with Gramps and return home to Aelvar. The rest of the party is then hired by Galapidare, the leader of the Topaz Maritime Union, to deal with a sea monster known as the Kresch that has been plaguing the harbor. With the help of Trident, a tiefling paladin of Poseidon, they are able to defeat the beast. However, after they do so, Barrel attempts to discard the body of the assassin from the night before in the ocean, but is spotted by Trident. She later reports this to Galapidare.

The next day, everyone except Aurgothin meets up and finds a job dealing with a pseudodragon infestation in the Gilded Hall. After some brief investigation, they discover a young blue dragon named Ira'az is forcing the pseudodragons to gather food for her. They manage to defeat her, with Barrel delivering the killing blow through her heart. Zedryk, Trident, and Esteric are gifted with pseudodragon eggs as a thanks. They then return to the man who gave them the job, Chief Constable Theovald von Beaumont, and are compensated for their work.

The holiday of Summerset rolls around the following day, with each of the party members except Thurku'ali attending various events and games. However, that night Barrel has a meeting with the Steel Insurgence to discuss a golden opportunity: the warforged's creator, Chief Engineer Tarnin Hallgard, will be attending a play in two days. Triggers asks Barrel to take on the job of capturing Tarnin, which he accepts. With the party's help, they sneak into the Equinox Playhouse, subdue Tarnin's bodyguards, and deliver him to Trigger. The next morning, the party is invited to attend a feast being held by Clan Garakalryx without Aurgothin's knowledge. After the eating is done, Kahlynor -- Aurgothin's mother -- offers the party a job to locate the Fang of the Flame, a religious artifact that was stolen from Anvil'rak Sanctuary. The party quickly finds the Fang in a Shadow Trade storeroom in the sewers, but is ambushed by a shapechanging assassin. However, with help from two strangers, they are able to force her flee. The two strangers introduce themselves as members of the Blackhearts, an order dedicated to combatting the malicious use of divine magic. They ask the party to hand over the Fang of the Flame, which Aurgothin initially refuses, but acquiesces after some bargaining and a heated conversation with Kahlynor.

Two days later, the party is invited to appear at a speech that the Chancellor of Topaz, a man named Ib'shal Gharab, is making in celebration of the anniversary of Topaz's independence. Everyone accepts except Thurku'ali, who watches from the audience. In his speech, the Chancellor praises the party, gifts them with Medallions of Contact, and anoints them the Paragons of Topaz for their good deeds. However, Zedryk and Esteric see that after the speech, Chancellor Gharab goes to speak with none other than Titedius. When they return home, Zedryk and Barrel decide to attempt to lure Titedius into an ambush. Barrel uses his medallion to invite all of the party members to a celebration at the Cat's Meow the following evening; Thurku'ali, who decided to follow the Chancellor, overhears him inform Titedius of this message and tells him to "deal with them".

The entire party gathers the next night and prepares. Their plan is to have Barrel stay inside and distract, while the other party members hide in and around the tavern, ready to jump in the moment they hear a fight break out. True enough, just before midnight, Titedius walks into the Cat's Meow. After a surprise shot from Barrel, several party members join the fray. Titedius brought backup, though; Gahni'zu and a changeling woman reveal themselves. A frantic battle ensues, with Thurku'ali and Zedryk being killed in the process. Gahni'zu and the changeling run away, but Titedius is killed, with the final blow being dealt by Esteric. Soon after, his body burns away into cinders and ash.