Sands of Betrayal

Pursuit, ambush, artifact recovery, and faction alliance

Sands of Betrayal

Lvl 7 to 94 to 6 characters3 to 5 sessions, approximately 8 to 14 hours total· Medium to hard for a level 7 to 9 party; the adventure becomes deadly if the storm, terrain, and mercenary defenses are all used at full strength.

“A stolen shard crosses the dunes beneath a storm that knows your names.”

— Hook · Pursuit, ambush, artifact recovery, and faction alliance

Pursuit, ambush, artifact recovery, and faction alliance

D&D 5E

Medium to hard for a level 7 to 9 party; the adventure becomes deadly if the storm, terrain, and mercenary defenses are all used at full strength.

Lvl 7 to 9

4 to 6 characters

3 to 5 sessions, approximately 8 to 14 hours total

4 NPCs

3 encounters

The Opening

“Lirael Sandwind finds you beneath the shade awnings of Jasmine Gard, her copper skin filmed with dust and her eyes fixed on the western dunes. A guarded Verulana caravan has stolen a shard of the Nova’s Heart and will reach Sultan’s Gate before sunset tomorrow. She offers safe passage through the Sandsultan desert if you intercept the train, seize the crate intact, and discover who within the caravan network betrayed her people.”
— Hook · Pursuit, ambush, artifact recovery, and faction alliance

Set the Scene

Jasmine Gard crouches at the edge of the dunes, its sandstone towers glowing orange beneath the declining sun. Spice smoke, hot leather, and camel musk mingle beneath the awnings as Lirael spreads a map across a merchant’s table. One route is marked in charcoal, then crossed out. Another ends at a black wooden crate sketched with a symbol that seems to shift whenever the wind touches the page. Beyond the walls, the desert mutters and begins to move.

Patron

Questgiver

Lirael Sandwind

Lirael approaches shortly after the party arrives at Jasmine Gard, either through their existing Verulana contacts or after arranging a private meeting in a shaded caravanserai courtyard. She tests whether the heroes understand the difference between recovering the crate and simply destroying its guards.

On the Streets · In the Books

Rumours

d6 · table

01
The caravan’s heaviest wagon leaves no tracks, even across wet salt flats.
02
A sandstorm has been circling Jasmine Gard for three nights without moving east.
03
A merchant paid in black glass has been asking which roads lead toward Sultan’s Gate.
04
The stolen cargo is said to whisper the names of people who have never seen it.
05
Azruk Sablehand once served as a Verulana guard before disappearing into the southern dunes.
06
The old wash west of Jasmine Gard is a graveyard for caravans that trusted false stars.

Stakes

If the party fails, the sixth shard reaches Azkhar’s network, the Verulana Sandsultans lose faith in their allies, and leyline instability spreads through the desert trade routes. If the party succeeds, the heroes gain a vital shard, a powerful regional alliance, and evidence that Azkhar’s ritual is closer to completion than previously believed.

Ticking Clock·The caravan has roughly one day to travel from Jasmine Gard to Sultan’s Gate. The party must intercept it before the next sunset, when Azkhar’s agents are scheduled to receive the crate and move it through protected desert routes.

Background Lore

A month after the party escaped Draknaar’s crimson trial, a stolen shard of the Nova’s Heart moves through the Verulana desert toward Sultan’s Gate. The shard was recovered from a ruined leyline shrine near Jasmine Gard, then taken by mercenaries who intend to deliver it to agents serving Azkhar. Its presence disturbs the dunes, drawing mirages, elemental surges, and hungry things from beneath the sand. Lirael Sandwind has discovered the theft, but the caravan’s paperwork is genuine enough to confuse local authorities. The heroes must intercept the train before it reaches a fortified waystation where the cargo can vanish into Azkhar’s wider supply network.

What the World Knows

A Verulana merchant train carrying a mysterious wooden crate has left Jasmine Gard under heavy guard. The cargo is secretly a stolen shard of the Nova’s Heart, and Azkhar’s agents are expected to claim it at Sultan’s Gate. The party must track the convoy, survive a summoned sandstorm, defeat its mercenaries, and recover the crate before the shard vanishes into enemy hands.