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Product Update Password forAncient Kingdoms:Mesopotamia: Arukurshu.This product requires the use of the

Dungeons and Dragons® Player’s Handbook, published by Wizards of the Coast®.

This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision.

©2004 Clark Peterson, Necromancer Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the writtenpermission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Necromancer Games, Necromancer Games, Inc. and theNecromancer Games logo, The Tomb of Abysthor, Bard’s Gate, Demons and Devils, The Crucible of Freya, Tome ofHorrors, The Wrath of Orcus, Rappan Athuk and The Dungeon of Graves are trademarks of Necromancer Games, Inc.All rights reserved. All characters, names, places, items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Necromancer Games,Inc. Sword & Sorcery and its logo, Creature Collection, Creature Collection 2: Dark Menagerie and Relics and Ritualsare trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, and are used by permission. “D20 System” and the D20 System logo aretrademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used under the terms of the D20 Trademark License. Dungeons andDragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, and are used in accordance with the OpenGame License contained in the Legal Appendix. Blackmoor and The Temple of the Frog are Copyright TSR Games,Inc., and/or Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and/or Dave Arneson. The mention of or reference to any company or productin these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.

This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fictionand intended for entertainment purposes only. Reader discretion is advised.

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Third Edition Rules,First Edition Feel

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CREDITS

Dedicated to Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith for opening tostrange realms and wondrous worlds. Thanks to Henning Rege for hisencyclopedic knowledge of the d20 rules. Special thanks to Bill Webb andNecromancer Games for giving me the opportunity to write this module.Maximum respect to the Forus Massive worldwide.

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ANCIENT KINGDOMS: MESOPOTAMIA

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INTRODUCTIONThe glittering fires of civilization beckon the weary

desert traveller, who drives his heavily laden camel-trainthrough the desert sands towards the city-states dottedlike pearls on a string along the twin rivers Euphrates andTigris. Here, despotic priest-kings rule from zigguratsthat stretch skywards to the starry realm of the gods,while robed priests heap sacrifice upon the earthly altarsof brazen and obscene idols.

Bearded men and women from a hundred nationsthrong the crowded streets of gardened Babylon, Ninevehwith its libraries, age-old Uruk, and glittering Nippur.Woollen-robed stargazers guard ancient wisdom andscience written on cuneiform tablets in their forbiddingtowers of mud-brick, while on the skull-strewn battle-fields between the city-states, bronze swords clash againstwooden shields and mighty warriors crash their chariotsinto the serried ranks of enemy spearmen.

This is the splendor that is Mythic Mesopotamia.This chapter provides details on the geography, his-

tory and culture of a quasi-Mesopotamian historicalfantasy setting, the default backdrop for this adventuremodule. Throughout this chapter, the term “Sumerian”is often used interchangeably with “Mesopotamian”.

Note that the following information has been adaptedto a fantasy milieu and is not intended to be historicallyaccurate. A number of new rules are presented through-out this chapter, intended to bring distinctive flavor toa campaign set in Mesopotamia; of course, all such rulesare optional and it is ultimately up to the DM to decidewhat to use in his own campaign.

HOW THIS BOOKIS ORGANIZED

This book is organized into two distinct parts. The firstdetails the lands and people of Mesopotamia and de-scribes the background and source material to be used inthe setting. Great cities, long-forgotten gods, the variousraces of men, and the rich history of the region aredetailed below. Subsequent chapters of the book de-scribe new character information, including modificationsto races and classes, new prestige classes, the use of magic,spells, feats and magical items unique to the setting.

The second part of the book details a series of looselyrelated adventures set in the Red Waste, the desert ofMesopotamia. A full discussion of these adventures,including plot motivations and PC links is provided inthe beginning of Part 2.

“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as theyjourneyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. (...)And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; andlet us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lordcame down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. And the Lord said, Behold,the people are one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing willbe restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confoundtheir language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered themabroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore isthe name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: andfrom thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

— The Book of Genesis, Chapter 11, Verses 1–9

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ANCIENT KINGDOMS: MESOPOTAMIA

GEOGRAPHYSituated in the ancient Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia is

a Greek word meaning “between the rivers”. Tigris, theeastern river, is a rough and fast-flowing river, difficultto cross and unsuitable for irrigation. The Euphrates,to the west, has lower banks, is usable by ships, andis suitable for use in irrigation.

The territory to the far north, bordering the moun-tains of Cappadocia and Caucasus, is called Assyria. Its principal city is Ashur. Assyriais mountainous and well watered, with fertile soil.

The middle part of Mesopotamia, where the Euphrates and Tigris run closetogether, is called Akkad. It is a land of hills and fertile plains, dominated by thegrand city of Babylon.

To the south, where the twin rivers empty into a great delta, much of thecountry is a swampy jungle, criss-crossed by subsidiary streams and channels.This is the land of Sumer, home to the first cities, such as Ur, Uruk, and Eridu.

Sumer and Akkad is sometimes collectively referred to as Babylonia.

THE LANDS OFANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

THE CITIES OF MESOPOTAMIATypical cities are ringed by mud-brick walls and dominated by the palace and

a great ziggurat devoted to the main god of the city. Other deities areworshipped in lesser temples. Commoners live in sprawling areas filled withsmall two-storied mud-brick houses and small courts. Slavery is rife in allcity-states.

Asshur: Pop. 95,000. Capital of the Assyrian empire.The Assyrians are feared by all for their savage andbloodthirsty behavior on thebattlefield. The walls ofAsshur are hung with theskulls and bones of de-feated enemies. Itshighly skilled armyconsists of mailedarchers, spearmenand charioteers.

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Babylon: Pop. 500,000. The greatest of theMesopotamian city-states, famed for its mightyblue gates guarded by dragons and winged bulls. Itis thoroughly devoted to the worship of Tiamat,the dragon-queen of chaos, with all other deitiesbeing relegated to minor status. Babylon is ruledby the blue-bearded priests of Tiamat, who in turnserve the kingpriest, mightiest of all rulers in theFertile Crescent.

Eridu: Pop. 150,000. Reputed to be the oldestcity of ancient Mesopotamia, Eridu is hoary withage. Some claim it was founded by mystic fish-menwho crawled ashore from the deep ocean. The cityis the realm of sorcerers and demon-summoners ofthe blackest sort, who lair in the famed red towersof Eridu.

Kish: Pop. 50,000. An ancient city, second onlyto Eridu. Once the seat of a mighty dynasty ofkings, but now a minor city.

Kutha: Pop. 45,000. The center of a death-cultserving Nergal, Erishkigal and other gods, Kutha issaid to always be shrouded in the gloom of dark-ened skies. It is dominated by huge mortuarytemples aboveground, and endless black halls andmaggot-ridden mausoleums underground, wherean archpriest-lich commands legions of corpsesand spectres.

Nippur: Pop. 110,000. The holiest of allSumerian cities, the site of the great temple ofEnlil.

BEYOND MESOPOTAMIAHamgatana: A fortified city-state in the north-

eastern mountains, said to be impregnable.Hind: An ancient land of spices, ivory domes,

fakirs and mystics, to the far east.Khemit: The fabled triple kingdom of the pha-

raohs to the west.Zhaol: A wealthy realm where slave and drug

trade is rife. Secret cults, especially to the fire-demon Moloch, thrive in the crowded alleyways ofZhaol’s cities.

NEIGHBORING LANDSMesopotamia has no natural boundaries and is

difficult to defend. Over the ages, trade contacts,immigration of foreign tribes, and military con-frontations with neighboring lands have influencedMesopotamian society greatly.

To the north and northeast are the mighty moun-tains of Caucasus, inhabited by wild beasts and fiercewarrior tribes, such as the Cimmerians and theGutians. The Zagros mountain range separates thelands of Mesopotamia from the lands farther east.

To the west and southwest is the great Arabiandesert. Beyond the desert, along the shores of theMediterranean Sea, are the rich sea-ports of theLevant, such as Tyre, Byblos and Gaza. Even far-ther west lies Khemit, the fabled triple kingdom ofthe pharaohs, with its pyramids, sphinxes andtombs.

To the east, nestled beneath the Zagros moun-tains, is the land of Elam. Its glittering capitalSusa, the seat of the Elamite emperor, is rife withpalace intrigue and assassinations. The southernpart of Elam is a very ancient realm calledKhuzistan. East of the endless steppes of Elam liesthe fabled realm of Hind, an ancient land of spices,ivory domes, fakirs and mystics.

THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINSAncient and brooding, the Zagros Mountains form a

barrier between Mesopotamia and the lands of the east.The peaks, several of which are higher than 9,000 feet, aresnow-covered throughout the year. The tallest mountainis Zard Kuh at an imposing 13,500 feet.

The mountains are home to several tribes ofnomads and barbarians, among them the Gutians,who eke out a poor and wretched living in the coldclimate. From time to time, a tribal chieftainrallies the Guti clans to descend upon the rich anddecadent cities of the Sumerian plains to loot andplunder.

ZAGROS MOUNTAINSENCOUNTER TABLE

Roll on the following table to determine thenature of wandering monsters. Check once each dayand each night. An encounter occurs on a roll of 1-8 on 1d20. Roll 1d20 to find the type of encounter.

1–3. 3d8 Guti barbarians (Bbn2) with 1d4+4trained dire wolves.

4–6. 2d8 hill nomads (Rgr2) with 50% chance of1 druid (Drd6).

7–8. 2d4 mercenaries (Ftr4) with 50% chanceof 1 mercenary captain (Ftr8).

9–10. 1d6+6 harpies.11–12. Rock or snow avalanche, depending on alti-

tude (see the DMG).13–14. 1 giant slug.15–16. 1 yeti (see the Tome of HorrorsTome of HorrorsTome of HorrorsTome of HorrorsTome of Horrors by Necro-Necro-Necro-Necro-Necro-

mancer Gamesmancer Gamesmancer Gamesmancer Gamesmancer Games).17. 1 roc.18. 2d4 hill giants.19. 1d3 stone giants.20. 1 vrock demon.

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