PulpAdventure on the

Dark Continent

The PremiseUnder the auspices of the Royal Society, our intrepid adventurers have been sent to Morocco in search of the

rare flower of Al-Kiar, which has mythical healing powers. Unfortunately, news of the expedition has leaked outto the party's Italian rivals.

The SetupThe explorers meet in a cafe in the city of Marrakech, deep in the souks yet close to the British Consulate.

They meet with the Aide to the Assistant Deputy Ambassador, Mr Charles Balthazar Porter, a slightly pompous,bureaucrat with obvious political ambitions. Porter entertains (or irritates) the group with stories of his life in theArmy in North Africa and his tales of bravery and derring-do. The stories are marginally believable when coupledwith this brooding good looks and obviously healthy physique. Porter has an endless supply of these stories,culled from his time behind a desk in the British Army Supply Corps. Mr Porter insists on being part of theexpedition, so that he can "keep an eye on things" for the government, and to "keep everyone out of trouble".He also has the only extant copy of a map which can lead the players to the alpine meadow in the Atlasmountains which cradles the rarest of flowers. Unfortunately, his ideas and map have been sanctioned by theRoyal Society, which likes to keep in good graces with the powers that be. Allow the players to examine the mapand make notes (but not on the map itself), etc.

Big Trouble in A Small CafeAs the party begins its negotiation with Porter (probably arguing about his position in the expediton

hierarchy), one of the characters is bumped by a large, florid American. Water (or gin and tonics) spray over themap. Bradley Ralston apologizes profusely in loud English for his clumsiness, and then stops in astonishment ashe recognizes his old friend and fellow botanist. After his astonishment, he (quite naturally) wants to comparenotes as to what brings fellow academics to such a "danged sweaty and unfriendly" place. His unrelentingsweaty friendliness doesn't allow much two way conversation, but the adventurers discover that he's been hiredby an Italian university for some unspecified botanical expedition. He doesn't sit with the party as he talks,claiming tardiness for a meeting. As he speaks, a crowd of young street urchins spills into the cafe, searching foralms. Amidst the chaos of loud American and chattering children, the map to the valley in the mountainsdisappears. An observant character will spot the thief, who will take off running down the mazelike alleys ofMarrakech if spotted. Even if chased, the child will get away with the map, although the chase itself should bethrilling, involving baskets of fruit, recalcitrant donkeys and irate shopkeepers. Any inquisition of the remainingboys will show that he had spoken to a European just minutes earlier. Further grilling discovers that he was aforeigner with black hair and no sense of humour.

A Ransacking Good TimeThe characters have little choice but to return to their hotel rooms despondent. Porter insists that they press

on regardless -- he remembers the name of the closest town, and a good botanical description will leadeveryone the rest of the way. Stiff upper lip and all that. An evening at the hotel bar/restaurant/chance meetingreveals that Bradley Raltson's exhibition is travelling in the same direction, and he kindly offers to share the tripwith the party. His offer appears quite genuine, as he has known one of the players for years.

As the party returns to its rooms, they find a black-haired European rummaging through their equipment. Heleaps out the window and into a nearby (driverless) car. Naturally, there is another car waiting for the players touse. By pure serendipity, Ralston is present by the car (or it may even be his transport that the players use), andhelps the players in the pursuit. At no point in the chase should Porter show any initiative or bravery. Alternately,have Ralston's vehicle taken by force, with him still in it, for a thrilling rescue scenario.

The robber will fire shots at the party in an attempt to escape. Sadly, he is captured by the adventurers, butdies before saying anything, from a car crash or a stray bullet. The players' map is still in his coat, as is anItalian passport under the name of Giovanni Renaldi. Porter recalls the man as a low level functionary in theItalian Embassy (ie, spy). Contacting the embassy reveals that the man died six months ago, and that thepassport is obviously a forgery. In fact, the passport is genuine, and the Italian government is lying to theBritish. At this point, smart members of the party will make a copy of the map, as it is a clever near copy of theoriginal.

Ships of the DesertThe journey to the Atlas mountains is long and arduous, requiring both camels and native help. Travel by car

or truck is impractical, because of the distance required and the dangerous width of the Atlas mountain trails.

The party may or may not travel with Ralston's party. They are close by, in any event, as they are ultimatelyheading to the same place. Porter complains bitterly about the hardship, of course.

After a few days of travelling, the party discovers someone ransacking and destroying their equipment. He'seasily captured, and the Moroccan native claims he was hired by a man European with black hair in hisneighbouring village. He says he was hired to find a map and some books within the party's luggage, with"pictures of plants". He was then to return to the village and exchange them for the other half of his payment.He can offer little else except that the European gesticulated frequently and smelled of garlic. To avoid the harshpunishment for stealing in his village, he offers to guide the party back to his rendezvous. The Italian attemptsto bolt at the first sight of the players, but is easily captured. As the players interrogate him, a shot rings out anda spreading stain appears on his chest. As he looks at death's door in horror, the only thing he says is "Ralston".

Race for the topBy now it's clear that the players have been betrayed by their friend. It's a frantic camel race to the top of the

Atlas mountains. Unbeknowst to them, Ralston has the correct map, and the players are being led into theancient defenses of a ruined city, home of the legendary Al-Kiar flower. If they follow the map (and they should)they will be led to the trapped gate of an ancient city. The gates should slam shut, and a ram (or piling) shouldnearly crush the characters. The trap should be clearly marked on the map, but not at the correct location. If theplayers suspect, allow them to check to see if the map is a forgery. When they escape and discover they're on thewrong route, they see the tracks from Ralston's party leading to the mosque.

Final ConflictThe flower still lives in the centre of the old mosque, in the fabled consecrated garden. The garden is ornate,

and parts of its complex geometric designs remain. The centrepiece is the small flower itself, on a geometricraised platform. As the players approach, they are surrounded by Italians, all armed with military rifles. Ralstonappears, and gives his villainous speech. He has betrayed his old friend out of loyalty to Fascism. Hisbackground (despite his name) is primarily Italian. He gloats of his plan to return the flower to Rome, where itwill support the armies of Il Duce.

Ralston is squeamish about killing, especially someone he knows, hence the convoluted plot of hired killersand forged maps, etc. He ties the party up and leaves them in a cave to die. When the adventurers think they'reto die of neglect (by the evening), a horde of chittering, flapping, monstrous vampire bats appears. Thecharacters should take some damage and Porter should cower helplessly, eventually collapsing from lack ofblood. Naturally, the characters escape miraculously.

Ralston will die without immediate aid. Unfortunately, none is available. The obvious and only solution is theAl-Kiar flower.

As the characters escape and go to the site of the flower, they see Ralston reaching for the last plant. As hedigs the flower up, the floor collapses and Ralston falls in, holding on with one hand. The flower lies on a ledgea short distance away. Porter will die without the flower, and Ralston will fall to his death without immediateaid. Play up the ending for maximum dramatic effect -- Ralston pleads with the characters, contrite. As he falls(and he should fall, to keep with the spirit of the thing, curses float out of the darkness as he disappears.

Flower ArrangementsThe flower must be ingested or placed inside a wound to heal a character. It will completely heal all wounds

within 5 minutes. The flower works by accelerating metabolism, so anyone so cured will be ravenously hungryand desperately thirsty. The flower doesn't cure diseases which are suppress the immune system (AIDS, cancer,etc). GM discretion is advised.

The plant is a potentially world altering drug, but it's effect can be controlled by the intrepid GM. It is the lastflower of it's kind, so administering it to Porter to save his life may render it extinct. Alternately, it is notconsumed, but is highly difficult to cultivate, requiring the precise conditions found in the High Atlas mountains.It may bloom once every 10 years or so, and the drug is contained within the flower itself. The active chemicalmay be impervious to synthesis (for 70 years or so), or exceptionally expensive to create.

Flower of Al-KiarA mythical flower from Islamic mythology. The Al-Kiar flower is said to heal any injury, no matter how severe,

within minutes. Documentation on the flower is rare, but it is mentioned in the Song of Idris, an account the epicstruggle between the Berbers and invading Muslim Arabs. In 1098, Ali Imadiza, Caliph of Outat-el-Haj, took afatal blow in a battle outside of Kouar-zazati. He toppled from his horse into a patch of strangely coloured, softflowers, and lay dying as his royal guard watched in despair. Within minutes, though, his wounds closedcompletely, and he rose again to smite the enemy and take the day. In thanks for this blessing of Allah, AliImadiza built a mosque on the site of his miraculous recovery, complete with a garden containing the healingplant, which was christened Al-Kiar, "Heart of Allah". The site later expanded into the town of Jahederaza, nowlost.

Although its existence has never been confirmed, historical sources cite the plant as having large green arrowshaped leaves, with creamy white triangular petals and luminous yellow centre. The stalk is also said to havesmall bell-shaped buds which do not form flowers.

Flower of Al-Kiar

A mythical plant from Islamic mythology. The Al-Kiar flower is said to healany injury, no matter how severe, within minutes. Documentation on theflower is rare, but it is mentioned in the Song of Idris, an account the epicstruggle between the Berbers and invading Muslim Arabs.

In 1098, Ali Imadiza, Caliph of Outat-el-Haj, took a fatal blow in a battleoutside of Kouar-zazati. He toppled from his horse into a patch of strangelycoloured, soft flowers, and lay dying as his royal guard watched in despair.Within minutes, though, his wounds closed completely, and he rose again tosmite the enemy and take the day.

In thanks for this blessing of Allah, Ali Imadiza built a mosque on the siteof his miraculous recovery, complete with a garden containing the healingplant, which was christened Al-Kiar, "Heart of Allah". The site laterexpanded into the town of Jahederaza, now lost.

Although its existence has never been confirmed, historical sources citethe plant as having large green arrow shaped leaves, with creamy whitetriangular petals and luminous yellow centre. The stalk is also said to havesmall bell-shaped buds which do not form flowers.

See also: Ali Imadiza, Song of Idris

Golden Age of Islam

The early 'Abbasids were also fortunate in the caliber of their caliphs, especially after Harun al-Rashid came to the caliphate in786. His reign is now the most famous in the annals of the 'Abbasids - partly because of the fictional role given him in TheThousand and One Nights (portions of which probably date from his reign), but also because his reign and those of his immediatesuccessors marked the high point ofthe 'Abbasid period. As the Arab chronicles put it, Harun al-Rashid ruled when the world was young, a felicitous description ofwhat in later times has come to be called the Golden Age of Islam.

The Golden Age was a period of unrivaled intellectual activity in all fields: science, technology, and (as a result of intensive studyof the Islamic faith) literature - particularly biography, history, and linguistics. Scholars, for example, in collecting andreexamining the hadith, or"traditions" - the sayings and actions of the Prophet - compiled immense biographical detail about theProphet and other information, historic and linguistic, about the Prophet's era. This led to such memorable works as Sirat RasulAllah, the "Life of the Messenger of God," by Ibn Ishaq, later revised by Ibn Hisham; one of the earliest Arabic historical works, itwas a key source of information about the Prophet's life and also a model for other important works of history such as al-Tabari'sAnnals of the Apostles and the Kings and his massive commentary on the Quran.

'Abbasid writers also developed new a genres of literature such as adab, the embodiment of sensible counsel, sometimes in theform of animal fables; a typical example is Kalilah wa-Dimnah, translated by Ibn al-Muqaffa' from a Pahlavi version of an Indianwork. Writers of this period also studied tribal traditions and wrote the first systematic Arabic grammars.

During the Golden Age Muslim scholars also made important and original contributions to mathematics, astronomy, medicine,and chemistry. They collected and corrected previous astronomical data, built the world's first observatory, and developed theastrolabe, an instrument that was once called "a mathematical jewel." In medicine they experimented with diet, drugs, surgery,and anatomy, and in chemistry, an outgrowth of alchemy, isolated and studied a wide variety of minerals and compounds.

Important advances in agriculture were also made in the Golden Age. The 'Abbasids preserved and improved the ancientnetwork of wells, underground canals, and waterwheels, introduced new breeds of livestock, hastened the spread of cotton, and,from the Chinese, learned the art of making paper, a key to the revival of learning in Europe in the Middle Ages.

The Golden Age also, little by little, transformed the diet of medieval Europe by introducing such plants as plums, artichokes,apricots, cauliflower, celery, fennel, squash, pumpkins, and eggplant, as well as rice, sorghum, new strains of wheat, the date palm,and sugarcane.

Many of the advances in science, literature, and trade which took place during the Golden Age of the 'Abbasids and which wouldprovide the impetus for the European Renaissance reached their flowering during the caliphate ofal-Mamun, son of Harun al-Rashid and perhaps the greatest of all the 'Abbasids. But politically the signs of decay were already becoming evident. Theprovince of Ifriqiyah - North Africa west of Libya and east of Morocco - had fallen away from 'Abbasid control during the reign ofHarun al-Rashid, and under al-Mamun other provinces soon broke loose also. When, for example, al-Mamun marched fromhorasan to Baghdad, he left a trusted general named Tahir ibn al-Husayn in charge of the eastern province. Tahir asserted hisindependence of the central government by omitting mention of the caliph's name in the mosque on Friday and by striking his own

Flower of Al-Kiar. Artist’s conception.

Beckham’s Concise Encyclopaedia of Islamic MythologyFlower of Al-Kiar

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