Carthago !

Welcome!

Carthago! is a game by G.M., louisxiv just made a site for it.

From Sammus’s Boast:

169: E49 – An Attack and a Warning

We left Tessault Springs at dusk on 19th March. There were gusty winds as we headed north but we made good progress that night. We camped under clear skies on a very warm day and then marched on the following night under a full moon. Again, the night’s march and the following days rest were uneventful, and we set out once more on 21st on a very still night, under a very full moon. We could see Moktar oasis ahead at dawn. Agripinus, Baal-Shaq and I were chatting at the rear when we became aware of some commotion ahead. I saw Si'aspiqo kick his camel into action and then it galloped ahead along the track. There were lots of shadow in the moonlight from the plantations around us, but I could not see what was happening ahead. As the three of us tried to push through the discontented and restless camels ahead of us, I could hear shouting and confusion ahead.

We eventually got past the camels to see Amphius and one of the guides engaged with some humanoid figures and Mago and Toxoanassa loosing missiles into the combat. I saw Amphius shoot an opponent in the body, forcing it back and then Mago struck another in the head with a sling stone and it crumpled to the ground. Toxoanassa hit a third figure in the head as it fought a guide. It too went down. Agripinus and I pushed past Amphius, and I hacked into the leg of his opponent and Agripinus chopped off its arm.

As Si'aspiqo reappeared from further up the track no longer on his camel, I struck the head of the remaining undead, for such these figures were, and the skull smashed to pieces. We were masters of the field. On the four corpses we found: an iron sword, of Kel Ayr curved pattern; an iron spear; a silver bangle; a necklace of six Carthaginian gold coins; and a fancy snakeskin belt. The belt was on a corpse which seemed less desiccated and fresher than the other three.

The guides sorted out the unhappy camels and we walked into Moktar oasis, where Barsoom met us with Si'aspiqo’s camel. Mago massaged Amphius and the guide who had both taken some damage. The camels were taken into the canton, and our guides replenished our water supplies as the sun rose and we rested for the day.

When he awoke Agripinus told us he had had a strange dream. In his dream he had been sleeping in his old bed, in the army barracks in the walls of Carthage. He had heard the dawn trumpet and a cockerel crowing,  but he had turned over to snooze as he had no duty today. A voice had spoken in his ear, “Wake Agripinus, and listen to me: shadow gathers in the deep desert. Malice is awake and watching for your steps home. They hunger for blood and the life of a woman. Take courage and let my light shine when all around is darkness”. Then he had awoken to the heat of the night in the oasis of Moktar.

Baal-Shaq told us that north of us lay the Erg, and we remembered the darklings we had encountered and that we suspected had been watching when we camped in the cave in the Erg.

Baal-Shaq told the guides of Agrpinus’s dream and they told us that at Moktar the trail split and we had the option of avoiding the Erg and taking the trail east rather than northeast, which would cross the desert and then lead to Carthage. We all agreed however that we should return the way we had come. Baal-Shaq warned we should keep careful watch especially around that cave. “Forewarned is fore-armed” said Si'aspiqo but he also warned of the danger from whatever led the darklings – the equivalent of the Shedim we had encountered at Kaskator.

During the day the wind rose and there was a sandstorm, so we had to rest another day, but by the dusk on 23rd March we were ready to leave.

From Sammus’s Boast:

168: E48 – Tessault Springs

After some reflection Si'aspiqo told us that he believed that the hieroglyphs on the khopesh were the name of a pharaoh, but he wasn’t sure which one. This indicated that it was to be borne by an officer of the king, maybe even a royal guard from over 500 years ago. Like the sword the shen was likely to be a badge of rank or mark of favour and might still offer some sort of protection. He asked permission from the party to sleep upon the question.

The sandstorm started to die down through the rest of the night and as the day of 15th March wore on the weather and visibility cleared. We were running low on water, but it was probably only one or two nights to the next source of water. We set off at dusk and as we made camp after an uneventful march, a viper bit a camel as we were making camp. Si'aspiqo could still hear muttering from the spirits of envy and lust as he slept

We set out again at dusk. It was bright clear night, and we pressed on to Tessault Springs despite the limping of the camel that had been bitten. Here we saw again the remains of a shrine with the fallen stone pillars marking a rectangular area around it and a wooden cover which our guides removed and then descended to refill our water containers. Baal-Shaq warned us that we would be spending more time than anticipated here as we needed to wait for the limping camel to recover. It was now 17th March, and the wind was rising again, visibility was very limited as the sand started to blow around. Despite this, Si'aspiqo wanted to look at the ruins and Toxoanassa and I went with him. We saw the remains of plenty of pillars, but little was left of the roof, except for piles of rubble. There had probably been a paved are surrounded by a rectangular arrangement of pyramids, but any paving was buried below the sand. Si'aspiqo investigated one of the piles of rubble and used magic to feel for some creatures. He told us he could feel a snake in the first pile and moved to a different pile.

The pillars were not Egyptian or Greek, and the stone must have come from far away, so it seemed a lot of work to build a temple here, and he wasn’t sure why a temple had been built and not just a fort. Si'aspiqo found part of a sculpture – a face with a long square beard, which seem to be on a crouched quadruped, which might have had wings, rather than a human body. Si'aspiqo made a small sacrifice and gave thanks to the ancient statue.

During the night Toxoanassa heard sounds, and by morning the wind had died and so we investigated. I found some small tracks around the campsite in the sand – left by a large mouse or rat, I thought. Then I found a whisp of light grey and sandy fur with slightly larger tracks. The Kel Ayr thought it might be a sand cat, and the smaller tracks were sand rats. Baal-Shaq said there were lots of stories of sand cats being lucky or unlucky and it might be unwise to kill one. Si'aspiqo took the fur and use the fur to make a fetish.

Si'aspiqo, Toxoanassa and I again spent part of the day looking at the ruins. The rectangular area of the ruined temple was about 20 paces across and maybe 40 paces long. There had been 8 pillars along the 40 paces of the long side we thought. The sculpture was to the east and outside of the pillars. It might have originally been part of the frontage and either toppled or have been pulled down. Si'aspiqo went back to the statue and cleared more sand away. Toxoanassa spotted a form slinking away in some vegetation and thought it might have been the sand cat as it had been the size of a large domestic cat or a wildcat.

Si'aspiqo gathered a pile of shredded, dried meat and added a drop of his own blood, then stepped away from it. He used his fetish and felt for the animal and sensed it out there at the edge of his range. He then carried out a ritual and a large greyish cat with sandy marks scuttled out and ate from the pile of shredded dried meat and then sat and looked at the magician. Si'aspiqo asked it to sniff around; it wandered away from the pile of stone and dug a hole in the desert. Rather than relieving itself in the hole, it sat beside it and Si'aspiqo wandered over. He released it and it strolled away.

Si'aspiqo dug down in the hole and found crumbling cloth and a dagger and then a desiccated corpse. It was about 30 metres southeast from the entrance to the temple area and was buried shallowly in the sand. I went to give him a hand to clear it out. The robes were similar in style to the desert robes we were wearing, probably Numidian. It looked like a formal burial, as the body was arranged neatly with the arms folded over the body. The iron dagger was small and slightly curved, in a desiccated sheath and had a slight patina of rust; it was like those carried by the Kel Ayr. There were several fragile bones around the neck of the corpse, probably human vertebrae and Si'aspiqo spotted sigils marked upon them. The sigils were not Egyptian, Greek or Punic, but might have been Numidian. They were joined by a very fragile cord. Si'aspiqo thought they were a ritual object, used in magic rather than being magic themselves. Si'aspiqo recovered the corpse with earth and sacrificed small amount of water, saying a few words of apology for disturbing the sleeper.

Si'aspiqo found it difficult to sleep deeply. He saw a glitter out in the darkness about a foot above the ground and woke Amphius to take a look. The Greek saw a cat sitting a short distance from our camp, watching us. Si'aspiqo took some more dried meat and left it for the cat.

Most of us slept first thing during the day so we would be ready to depart that night, when the injured camel should be ready to resume. I repaired the damage I had caused to the khopesh and spent time practising with it, sparring with Baal-Shaq. Unfortunately I hit him when he mistimed a parry. Agripinus was able to heal him with a priestly ritual. The khopesh hit hard and would be effective at breaking bones, but less effective at penetrating than a spear or shortsword. It needed a strong man to wield it and needed to be held in two hands, but it was very well balanced.

Si'aspiqo made a small sacrifice thanking the statue for hospitality and reburied it as before. We all rested during the day and then got ready to depart at dusk on 19th March.

From Sammus’s Boast:

167: E47 – Attack in the Sandstorm

There were a small number of Kel Ayr based at Fort Adjel, maybe for the season. We rested for the day in the lea of a pitched tent and set watches, while the Kel Ayr refilled our water. We all had a very hot and fitful sleep and took turns with the cooling gourd. By evening the Kel Ayr had prepared a meal to eat before we set off. Si'aspiqo was uneasy about something – he thought we had company in his dreams. He had heard something, and thought something was watching us. He suspected that it was since we left Kuku. He believed there might be two things and Amphius suspected my ivory carvings. Si'aspiqo said there was no evidence that it was these.

The night’s march was uneventful. That day Si'aspiqo set up a protective circle around me. Si'aspiqo concluded that I was haunted, and it was connected to the ivory carvings. He thought they wanted my body and that of Toxoanassa. I left the trinkets in the protective circle and stepped out of it. Si'aspiqo then went back to sleep and tried to reach out to them in his dreams.

When he awoke, he reported that we had incarnations of envy and lust, looking for something to do. They were currently only able to look out, not take any action. Si'aspiqo asked me about the transaction. I told him there had been other figures, and the stall had been right in the corner of the market. The seller was an old, local man. Baal-Shaq looked at the figures and said they were very unusual in style. They were distorted caricatures of humans with strange hairstyles and features, unlike most people. Looking at the expressions we could determine which was envy and which lust. Baal-Shaq suggested they were a juju object and Si'aspiqo added that they were a means of communicating with spirits. Baal-Shaq chuckled and said the night was full of spirits, questing things we could not see. Agripinus thought they were idols. Si'aspiqo told us that they allowed something to see the world but not interact. He had heard them talk about lust for Toxoanassa and envy of my gold.

As we were packing at the end of the day the wind started to rise from the north. After a little of the night the sand was stinging in our faces, and we stopped while the Kel Ayr took time to put up the tent in adverse conditions. The rest of that night and the following day, the 13th March, we were stuck in the storm. The next night the wind started to shift erratically and lessened, and we thought about setting out, but then the wind rose just as strong from the south and the sand continued to blow all through the day.

During the night of 14th to 15th March, the storm continued and Si'aspiqo maintained a protective circle around my pack with the idols. In his dream Si'aspiqo heard the idols much as before. During the first watch of the night, I was awoken by a call for help. It was very dark, and the sandstorm still raged.

I could hear sounds of fighting as I tried to get out of the tent along with chanting from Agripinus and muttering from Si'aspiqo. Suddenly all became clearer as the light of Tanit shone forth from the priest’s orb. Just outside the tent, I saw Baal-Shaq was fighting with an undead armed with a large khopesh held in two hands. Further on I could see Amphius, Toxoanassa and one of the Kel Ayr were fighting more of them and I could hear Mago in combat on the other side of the tent.

Amphius backed away from his opponent, while Si'aspiqo cast protection from evil on Toxoanassa. The undead she was fighting recoiled. I hit the undead armed with the khopesh hard and it staggered, but Baal-Shaq missed. In the confusion Agripinus was jostled and stumbled over the words of another ritual. Si'aspiqo cast another protection from evil, this time on Amphius and I caught sight of Mago, who was being grappled by another undead but managed to stab it.

Agripinus muttered a prayer and the undead facing Toxoanassa turned and retreated. Mago scored his dagger on the skull of the undead grappling him, which forced it back. I hit the undead I was fighting on the arm and sheered it off and it was left ineffectively holding the khopesh in one hand. Baal-Shaq missed again. Si'aspiqo cast protection from undead on me. Mago’s opponent retreated far enough for him to use his sling and there was a crack as the slingshot hit the undead on the leg, breaking it, and it retreated limping.

Si'aspiqo cast a protection on Mago. One of the Kel Ayr stabbed a retreating undead in the head and Mago struck his opponent with another slingshot. My opponent parried my blow with the khopesh and my sword bit into the blade, but Baal-Shaq crunched it in the head, and it collapsed. Mago hit a retreating undead with another slingshot and its left arm went numb and then it was finished off. All the undead had now either been dispatched or had fled into the sandstorm.

I searched the remains. On the leader I found a very large bronze khopesh with a jet handle and Egyptian hieroglyphs on the blade and a strange pectoral carved of stone or semi-precious stone, marked with what Si'aspiqo called a shen ring – a circle with a crosspiece. He explained this was an Egyptian protection ring, which offered eternal protection. It was a variation on a scarab. The leader also had ragged remains of ancient Egyptian armour. One of the other undead had a large intricately carved ivory amulet on one arm, but I found nothing else. Si'aspiqo said that only the shen ring pectoral had any magical virtue, although I thought the khopesh was unusually well-balanced.

Meanwhile Mago used his healing hands to massage Amphius and Agripinus carried out some healing. The rest of the night passed quietly but the sandstorm continued.

A Timeline

1. On Calendars

I set as the era the year of the accession of the Pharaoh Ptolemy II, son of Ptolemy, so we begin in the year 18 of that reign, and I use a simplified system of twelve months with no regard for the multiple systems of intercalary days, weeks, months or moons of our own various cultures nor those we have passed through. I shall use the month names used by the main story-teller, a Gaul, Sammus the Strong, but number them to disambiguate their order.

–Si'aspqo

2. The Tale of Months