The Burning Desert

This is the fifth part of my Pulp Alley, Tomb of the Serpent campaign. After the ambush at the oasis, our heroes have been forced to abandon their vehicles and proceed on foot. Carrying the remains of their supplies, they find it hard going. The one advantage they have over is Majib, the Arab foreman that they had rescued from the destruction at Professor Remi's camp. The tall Egyptian knew the ancient way the poor Professor was trying to unearth. As they approached a narrow valley, Farouk waved the party to silence. He whispered, ' This place is cursed.'

The Landscape 

This extract from the future Lady Daphne’s diary provides a vivid description of the cursed valley that the team entered,

The gorge was narrow, and despite the heat, the dark walls ran with stagnant water. Thankfully, this oppressive environment was short, and it quickly opened into a valley flanked by rocky outcrops. On the valley floor, there was evidence that the valley would have been fertile in the past; now, it was a place of death.

As we entered the valley, we could see a temple at its far end, which was largely submerged in the desert’s sand. As we would discover, the rocky valley at its southern end gave way to treacherous sands.

‘Let's Get the Hell Out of Here’

The heat in the valley and obsessive, sucking the air from our heroes. Looking up at the rocky peaks, Slade did not like it and feared an ambush. ‘Let’s get out of here’, and started to jog towards the ruined temple at the other end of the valley. Slade’s assessment was correct as a gunshot rang out, and blood began to pour down Slade’s arm, thankfully only a graze from the bullet. The party looked up and saw more of the tribesmen they had encountered at the oasis appear from the rock outcrops.

The party moved as quickly as possible, but the shots came from both sides of the valley, slowing them down as they exchanged fire. Suddenly, Alfie slumped and a red pool of blood spread from his right side. Daphne immediately dropped to his side and tried to comfort him. It seems Alfie's rotten luck has continued. Stabbed in Italy, then stung by a scorpion in Cairo, once again, it seemed his life was held by a tread.

Honey and Thwaites take cover from the shots fired from the rocky outcrops.

Dangerous Sands.

Slade was the first to reach the ramp that led up to the temple. Ducking behind one of the sphinx guards, he felt his foot being sucked into the sand. Grappling hold of the statue, he heaved himself up and got a shot off at the horde of tribesmen approaching from the west. Sir Francis and Thwaites were more unlucky, and both found themselves knee-deep in the sand. 

Daphne was the first to reach the top of the ramp. Her youthful education in ballet classes and gymnastics had served her well. As she passed into the darkness of the temple, she shouted, 'There is some form of portal here. I can make out some buildings on the other side. ' 

Our heroes make a dash towards the Temple.

Thwaites Sacrifice.

Things were getting worse. Two giant scorpions dragged themselves out of the sand and joined the ever-increasing number of cultists.  Meanwhile, Sir Francis had extracted himself from the treacherous sands. The guide, Majib, was not so lucky and was stuck by a bullet and slumped forward. Thwaites grabbed the man and started to haul him from the treacherous sands to the bottom of the ramp. Meanwhile, Honey had jumped through the portal. Slade, now at the edge of the temple, provided covering fire as Thwaites tried to pull Majib up the temple ramp.

As escape looked possible, a cultist threw himself at Sir Francis and his fellow stragglers. Thwaites, seeing the threat blocking the attack, told Sir Francis to run. Slade and Sir Frances, seeing the gate closing, had no choice but to throw themselves into the closing portal. 

A Costly game.

I thought my League of Heroes had an easy time with this scenario. The tactics were solid, and I was lucky with the cards drawn. Most were low-level enemies, insane mobs, and cultists of various forms. Even when the giant scorpions emerged, it was too late for them to play any critical role. The biggest problem faced by my heroes was the perilous sands surrounding the temple.

Even allowing for my heroes' luck, this was a costly scenario with three team members eliminated from the final conflict. Young Alfie, life hangs in the balance, whilst Thwaites and Farouk are lost somewhere in the ether. More importantly, these were my brawlers, and their loss will make the team unbalanced. More of a shooting party that is about to enter the confirms of the Snake god's tomb.  Maybe Alfie might recover, but that is for the final chapter of this adventure.