Ep. 8 - Search for the Isle of Black Palms: Al-Rathak Solo Actual Play (Finale)

The 8th and final episode of the actual play write-up of my solo game set in the Arabian-nights themed setting of Al-Rathak: Tales of the Crescent Kingdoms

The 8th and final episode of the actual play write-up of my solo game set in the Arabian-nights themed setting of Al-Rathak: Tales of the Crescent Kingdoms.

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Format Notes: The fiction of the adventure will be written in regular text, but any game mechanics will be in grey code blocks or italicized. O> Refers to the game oracle being used.
Kal-Arath uses a 2d6+Attribute vs 8+ resolution system.
Example: 2d6 + 2 Agility = (7+2) = 9, Success!

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"I am Khalid Al-Fayez, a proud sailor of Al-Rathak! My humble yet reliable ship, The Grey Starling, and its loyal crew have sailed the coasts near Anipsed for years. But now, we yearn for adventure—to seek out distant shores, unearth lost treasures, and claim eternal glory as explorers. Rumors whisper of a lost island hidden in the Sea of Whispering Winds, a place where a great treasure lies beneath the canopy of black-leafed palm trees."

Daily Procedure:
1.EXPLORATION
2.WEATHER
3.GETTING LOST (1-2 on d6 = lost)
4.FORAGE (Forest or River +1)
5.ROLL FOR POINT OF INTEREST (POI)
6.ROLL FOR ENCOUNTER
7.CAMP, SPEND RESOURCES, RECOVER
8.END OF DAY/SESSION

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In the last episode, Khalid and his new allies finally escaped the Island of Black Palms. Now, the long journey across the Whispering Sea to the Veiled City of Anipsed lay ahead…

Day 60: Partly Cloudy

• They sail across placid seas, making good time heading northwest.

Day 61: Heatwave

• The heat seems to have choked the life out of the winds themselves, and the ship barely drifts any further.

• Encounter > Anipsed Warship > Friendly

  • They see the many-masted bulk of a warship on the horizon, its white sails bearing the blue twin swords symbol of Al-Rathak. The massive warship ignores them, and they pass it without trouble.

• (Rest > 4 Rations left)

Day 62: Clear

• Smooth sailing west, Khalid knows these waters well. (2 Rations left)

Day 64: Warm

• After a couple of days of uneventful sailing, the Grey Starling comes across another odd patch of sea where the waters are clear and glass-like. Amir whistles in wonder as they see the form of a massive whale swimming under their ship. The majestic beast was leagues below them, yet these waters were like looking through an open window on a clear day.

• Enc! > Pirates, Reaction>Kill!). Khalid spots the distant glint of a ship tailing them, pirates no doubt. They were approaching fast.

• (Ship Chase: Initial Distance 9. Sailing check> Success +4 >12, they escape!) The Grey Starling leaves the pirates far behind and escapes into the night sea.

• (1 Rations left)

Day 65: Partly Cloudy

• By daylight, Khalid sails back towards the patch of glass sea. “It would probably be quite easy to fish here,” he thinks. Forage check (advantage) > (4 Rations).

• (Rest > 4 Rations left)

Day 69: Windstorm

• After 3 windless nights sailing across the Whispering Sea, they’re suddenly thrown into a storm! Khalid fights hard to control the Grey Starling as everyone is lashed with warm rains and biting gales.

• (Encounter > Ghost Ship > Neutral)

  • Through the lashing wind and flashes of lightning of the storm, they spot a distant, unearthly glow. As the light drifts closer, they see a ghostly dhow floundering through the roiling seas ahead. It seemed to ignore them entirely, its ghostly crew desperately working to save themselves. Perhaps they did not know they were already dead….

• (Rest > 1 Rations left)

Day 70: Clear

• The storm clouds break before dawn, and they sail into clear seas. Khalid takes time to forage for food, but the storm seems to have scared all the fish away.

• POI > The Tower of the Drowned King > Curse, Magic

  • As they sail around looking for fish, Khalid sees the distant form of a massive stone tower sticking out of the water. It was taller than any building Khalid had ever seen, even the Sultan’s palace! Even from here, he could sense that copper taste of magic in the air. “Best not to approach that blindly", he says to Amir as they sail by at a safe distance. Khalid makes a note of the tower’s location on his sea charts; perhaps it was worth learning more about.

• (Rest > 0 Rations left)

Day 71: Clear

• Finally, some luck! Khalid and the crew enjoy the bounty of fish they managed to catch today (Forage +4 rations).

• (Encounter > Whispering Mist) A strange white mist rolls over the sea around them, its ghostly tendrils caressing them. The mist whispers secrets that are always just out of earshot, tempting you to listen closer. (INT check> Success) Khalid commands everyone on the ship to cover their ears and make noise to drown out the whispers, and keeps a wary eye to make sure no one is entralled by their curse. After a few minutes of dread, they finally drift out of the mist.

• (Rest > 3 Rations left)

Day 72: Warm

• They’ve finally made it near Anipsed. They sail past the island Khalid had discovered that enchanted amulet on all those months ago. This time he notices the bleached wooden bones of an ancient shipwreck washed up on the beach, perhaps worth investigating later?

• (Rest > 2 Rations left)

Day 74: Sunny

• The spires and towers of Anipsed seem to shimmer and glint like silver in the summer sun. After 74 days of travel, Khalid was finally back home!

• The rescued shipwrecked sailors thank him profusely and reward him with what they can, some cargo they had recovered from their shipwreck worth (24 silver) (Do they wish to stay on as his crew? O>No, but..) Most of them don’t, but three do. Aziz the cook, Faran the lookout, and Kumari the deckhand all decide to stay with him.

• Khalid and Amir embrace, and the merchant promises he has made a friend for life. “With this, I can finally prove to the guild I'm more useful than that snake Al-Bassir! Truly, if you ever need my help with anything you need only to ask, my friend, and I will do anything I can. He departs for the guild with his share of the treasure.

• Khalid gets ready to see if he can gain an audience to the royal court. Sultan Ibn-Battusa has promised great rewards for daring adventurers and explorers, and his voyage had certainly been no easy feat! He hires a guide and makes his way to the palace district, stopping first at an expensive-looking salon to clean himself up and trim his now wildly overgrown beard. With his masterwork armor polished and a shiny Runeblade on his belt, the steward of the royal court would surely be impressed. (Al-Rathak comes with specific mechanics to gain an audience with the Sultan)

• (Arrive at the Court > Petition the Steward for Entry>

  • Bonuses:

    • Masterwork clothes +1

    • PRE stat +1

    • Brought the boss monster’s head +3

    • XP earned +2

    • Found the Isle of Black Palms +2

    • Khalid Character Level +4

  • (Success!) The steward grants him entry. Khalid walks into the Royal Palace with his head held high, eyes trying to drink in all the sights of ancient artwork, rare artifacts, and gilded statues displayed in the Sultan’s Audience Hall. He bows low as he enters the throne room and approaches the Sultan, and waits for his word. The Sultan asks who he is and what he wishes to say, and Khalid regales him with the wonderous tales of his adventure…

• (Sultan’s Reward Check > 2d6 (6) +1 +1 +3 +2 +2 +4 = 19! Rewards> Title, Grand Gift, wealth of Silver, and a New Quest)

  • The Sultan is delighted by his story and intrigued by the discovery of the mysterious Island of Black Palms. Khalid was careful to mention how he came to the Sultan with the navigational charts to the Isle instead of selling them to his main rivals, the Silver Merchants Guild. The Sultan gifts Khalid a chest of 250 Silver coins for doing him this favor (Khalid didn’t feel the need to tell him about Amir…)

  • (PRE Check > Success) “Men both accomplished and competent are hard to find these days,” The Sultan muses, “Perhaps you could prove useful to the kingdom.” He stands and announces before the court officials that he is granting the title of “Champion of Al-Rathak” to Khalid, and the title of “Royal Merchant” as well! “Long may you serve the crown and protect this realm,” Sultan Ibn-Battuta adds. Khalid falls to his knees and thanks the ruler profusely for these honors, which “…I surely do not deserve. My lord!”. The Sultan asks his new champion Khalid to return to the palace in a few days to be assigned a task by the Vizier, then dismisses him. As Khalid leaves the palace, the Vizier stops him and hands him a document sealed with the royal insignia. “You can find your new ship at the Royal Dockyards,” he says in a bored tone. “My new ship?” asks a puzzled Khalid. “Your new titles come with both rewards and responsibilities. The Sultan has generously gifted you a Bhaglah ship from his fleet for this purpose,” The Vizier informs him.
    

• Still in a daze, Khalid wanders to the Royal Dockyards and is shown to the sleek, crimson-sailed new ship that is now his. It was much bigger and better than the Grey Starling, that was for sure! He makes his way back to the Blue Salt Docks and shares his good fortune with his crew. It takes him an hour or so to find a buyer for the Grey Starling, gaining another 200 silver. He did feel a slight pang in his heart parting with his beloved Grey Starling, but “…it was time to move up in the world,” he thought to himself. Now flush with money, he pays Samir and Rafi what they are owed for the journey (-77s, Greedy vs Generous > 15, Generous). Khalid gifts them extra (10) silver as well for a job well done, and the trio head into town to drink, carouse, and pick names for their new ship!

• They settled on “The Red Roc” as a good name for the ship, “I mean, the sails are red right?” Rafi had said, and Samir’s only argument had been “Rocs are lucky!”

Day 75: Sunny

• XP 5/5 > Level Up > Khalid gains a new skill > Demon Pact: Corruption

  • Khalid decides to make good use of his new royal titles and explore what the city has to offer its rich and powerful citizens. That mysterious undead Warlord had piqued his interest. Who had he been in life? What had granted him the power of undeath? He makes his way to the Great Library and spends a few nights poring over old manuscripts by lamplight. He became increasingly obsessed with a mysterious book about ancient sorcerers and warlords who could gain control of death itself through pacts with the beings beyond the veil of the mortal world…

  • His curiosity and greed for power get the better of him, and he follows the book’s rites to summon a demon himself. At the stroke of midnight, all the candles in his room go out at the same time. A figure seems to appear before him out of nothing, forming from the candle smoke.

  • “Greetings, mortal. I am the great demon Marak, the Crowned One.” Despite facing the figure, Khalid swears the voice seems to come from behind him. “I seek power over death, Lord Marak,” Khalid manages to say. Both his dread and the suddenly cold air in the room make it hard not to shake and stutter. “That power can be granted, but it comes at a cost. Blood must be paid for piercing the veil.” The smoky figure reaches out a ghostly hand. Khalid fights down his fear and takes his hand, feeling a sudden searing pain. He jerks his hand back and looks down at the hundreds of tiny cuts now crisscrossing his hand. Blood welled and dripped down to the floor. He looked up, but the figure was already gone. He was alone in that dark, cold room.

  • Spell Gained - Tier 1 - Cost: Blood Magic (Must spend Blood/HP to cast spells)

    • Decay is the Way of All Things — Animate one recently deceased body to serve you for d6 hours, with whatever gear/equipment it had in life. Only one undead servant may be animated at a time. After d6 hours, it returns to death. STATS: as Skeleton Warrior.

Final Map of “The Search for the Isle of Black Palms”

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Notes: The adventure is finally over! The Sultan’s Rewards table got me so flush with cash and rewards now. Khalid will take a well-earned rest for the next few days but he already has orders to return to the Sultan’s Palace for a new quest right from the ruler himself, a quest that may see him crawling through the dangerous alleys of Anipsed instead of ancient dungeons…

Thank you to everyone who read these and enjoyed them! Khalid’s adventures will continue in the future in a new series, “The Conspiracy of the Emerald Eye,” coming soon.

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I’ll post more of these as Khalid explores the Al-Rathak setting book created by Charles F Bryant, II & me, SilverNightingale! You can find Al-Rathak in both Print and PDF here. For the other episodes in this and other series:

Silver Nightingale's Table of Contents

You can also find more of my work here: https://silvernightingale.itch.io/

The Kal-Arath system by Castle Grief can be found here.

Character Sheet LV 
Name: Khalid Al-Fayez
XP: 0/6
Stats-----
STR(ength) +1
AGI(lity) +0
TOU(ghness) +0
INT(elligence +1
PRE(scence) +1

HP: (15/15)

Skills:
- Sailor - Advantage to survival related rolls when at Sea
- Stealth - Adv to stealh checks
- Demon Pact: Corruption Tier 1 : Decay is the Way of All Things — Animate one recently deceased body to serve you for d6 hours, with whatever gear/equipment it had in life. Only one undead servant may be animated at a time. After d6 hours, it returns to death. STATS: as Skeleton Warrior.
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Equipment:
Weapon: Runeblade (1d6 + Special: 2/6 chance to instantly kill enemy on a crit)
Torch
Waterskin
Flint&Steel
Hammer and Stakes
Spear (d6)
Masterwork* Chainmail (3 Armor, *no stealth penalty)

Silver: 356
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Notes:
Has a large crimson-sailed bhaglah ship called the Red Roc, crewed by:
Samir - Deckhand
Rafi - Deckhand
Kumari - Deckhand
Aziz - Cook
Faran - Lookout
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Khalid Personality Matrix*
Reckless/Cautious 12
Cruel/Empathetic 7
Paranoid/Rational 10
Deceptice/Honest 8
Indulgent/Frugal 9
Curious/Indifferent 14
Greedy/Generous 14

*The personality matrix works by rolling a d20 vs the personality score to see which side of the "/" a character will feel. From Just One Torch solo toolkit.