Of course, it immediately occurred to me that these are very much the kinds of things one might do in Mythic Babylon, and that The Enemy Within could be very handily adapted to Mythic Babylon with only a few conceptual changes.
There's no force of Chaos in Mythic Babylon, of course, but there is, in a sense, a dark and light duality in the form of the Anunaki (the gods of heaven & Earth) and the Igigi gods (the lower gods, or gods of the underworld). If we imagine a situation where, for example, where the Divine Twins (the underworld Erra and Nergal) are using the humans of the surface world as their pawns to impress the Queen of the Great Below, Ereshkigal, in competing suits for marriage, then it's easy to see how ghosts, underworld demons, and the undead could easily replace the force of chaos in the original setting of The Old World. The fact that The Old World has a chaos god called Nurgle and Mythic Babylon has an underworld god called Nergal seems to cement the deal. So without further ado, I give you:
THE ETEMMU WITHIN
An Epic Campaign for Mythic Babylon
Historical Context:
This campaign is set during the reign of Samsu-iluna, son of Hammurabi. The year is 1742 according to the middle chronology. In Babylonian parlance, this is the eighth year of Samsu-iluna's reign.
Officially, these are good times and Samsu-iluna is still standing on the coat-tails of his very accomplished father. His (rather verbose) scribes proudly declare that this is the “Year in which Samsu-iluna, the king, made royal platforms in copper with representations of a mountain and streams which bring plenty and abundance and fixed their place for the marvel of all in the large courtyard of the E-turkalama temple in front of An and Inanna.”
But beneath straw runs water – all is not as it seems; there's been a drought, and food is scarce. The people of Sumer and Eshnunna are discontent, and soon a man named Rim-Sin (the nephew of the famous king of Larsa described in Mythic Babylon) will emerge in Larsa in open revolt, drawing many other cities into rebellion with him. Samsu-iluna will fight him for four years and eventually defeat him, but not before he sacks Eshnunna and tears down the walls of Ur and Uruk.
Rim-Sin's revolt isn't successful, but it opens the doors to raids by the Elamites and, within a few years, another rebellious leader will arise in the south who will sever Sumer from Babylon and found the Sealand Dynasty.
While this is happening, the drought will continue in the south and several cities will be abandoned by their citizens, leaving only cults behind to take care of the temples.
By the end of his reign, Samsu-iluna will have lost all the territory his father gained, and the kingdom will be a ghost of its former self.
Why did all this happen? Because Marduk and the other gods of the surface world were distracted by a cold war with the underworld – a war that was largely played out on the surface world, and that pitted The Black Haired People against the the ghosts of their ancestors, who clamoured to return to the surface world. It would fall to a group of down-and-out nobodies put things right again and keep the dynasty on the throne. It all started with a case of mistaken identity...
EPISODE 1: MISTAKEN IDENTITY
The adventure begins with the player-characters in the city of Malgium. Times have been hard, and all the characters are down on their luck, with only a few little shekels to their names. When a herald from the King of Babylon arrives in Malgium to announce that the King is seeking brave adventurers for a lucrative trade expedition to the fabled City of Aratta, the characters naturally feel compelled to apply.
Luckily, a caravan heading overland for Babylon is currently hiring porters, guards, scribes, or whatever skills the PCs might have, and so they sign on to join the crew. After signing on, they are told to meet the next morning at a certain Karum on the west side of the city.
The next day, the caravan convenes at the karum and departs for Babylon. There's an unseasonal rain, and in the midst of the downpour, the caravan is attacked by habiru bandits. One of the PCs recognizes an old acquaintance among the bandits who fell on hard times not to long ago – a fellow fishmonger from Dilbat. Rumour had it they had become a habiru, and here they are, in the middle of nowhere, sickly and necrotic looking and desperate for food. As the PCs fight off the bandits, a yell from one of the caravaneers draws them to the bush nearby and they discover one of the habiru feeding on the corpse of a person in the back of a ruined chariot! They kill or chase off the impure thing and examine the remains.
The PCs find the corpse has two arrows in it. Surprisingly, the corpse looks just like one of the PCs! A letter on his person identifies him as one Kush-taklatum, and informs him that he is one of a select few citizens of the Kingdom of Babylon that has been selected by divination performed on the liver of a white bull. The letter invites the bearer to take part in the great Rite of Divestment in the city of Bad-Tibira. Candidates must present themselves at the shrine of Manzat in that city by the end of the Taklimtu Festival in order to partake in the Great Divestment of the god Adad. The Rite of Divestment will see the opening of the great copper vessel at the end of the rainbow, and it's golden treasures given to the participants, as is done every seventy years.
Soon some baliffs from the city of Kissatu arrive and question the PCs about the attacks. After this, though, the caravan continues on its way.
Eventually they arrive in Babylon and almost as soon as they do, some strangers approach them and make a curious gesture involving a wiggling of the hands and tugging of ears. This gets repeated a few times, each time more exaggerated. The strangers look confused when the PCs don't respond. Then, suddenly, they look relieved and rush past the PCs to meet a strange man at a door, which they enter.. The PCs will eventually learn this man is named Adad-karabisti.
The PCs head to the palace to join the advertised Expedition of Aratta, but learn it has already left and they are too late. They moon about for a bit in Babylon before one of them sees a familiar face – the barge-master Gishbare-kiramu. He takes them to a tavern and shares some local rumours, including that there has been a plague of people being possessed by Etemmum recently. These possessed people have been eating other people, and thus making yet more etemmum.
They head to a tavern beside the Karum and Gishbare tells them he's going to attend the Taklimtu festival in Bad-Tibira and is looking for some people to help him handle his barge. The PCs agree to help. A fight breaks out in the tavern between some burly farmers and some poncy tax-collectors over the measure of a sar of grain, and the PCs become embroiled. Gishbare suggests a quick exit afterward.
As they head back to the boat, one of the PCs notices they are being followed by the two strange ear tuggers from earlier in the day. They flee back to the boat, trying to lose them in the alleys. But when they arrive they find the two strangers have arrived ahead of them. They are slumped over the boat, both dead from arrow strikes. Searching them, they find only a few shekels and a murex coloured tattoo of a purple hand over their hearts. Gishbare and the PCs decide to leave town in a hurry.
They head off in the barge along the Iturungal Canal to the town of Kiritab. In that town, they spot the man that they had previously seen in Babylon, Adad-karabisti. He sports a composite bow over his shoulder, and is watching them. He turns and walks into a tavern, but then slips out a back way before they can find him. The PCs ask around the karum about this stranger and the trail leads to another tavern, where they find him speaking softly to some thugs, instructing them to watch the PCs. When the thugs leave, the PCs confront him and he again escapes into the alleys of the town.
That night, the PCs are attacked on the barge by Adad-karabisti and his thugs. During the attack, the barge is set afire. While Gishbare puts out the fire, the PCs attack their assailants and are presumably victorious. Searching the body of Adad-karabisti, they discover a letter on his person – a letter from a sender only identified as Gunu (which means speckled, hatched, or anointed, depending on the context.)
The letter says:
To Adad-karabisti, thus says Gunu
You will recall the conversation we had in the Saparu and Zahatu tavern in Nibbur in the month of Nisanu. At that time you mentioned your interest in a certain brotherhood whose name I shall not mention to this scribe. At that time, you were most interested in the whereabouts of a certain overseer known as the Manzu-Gal (Great Drum).
I have since made some researches and can confirm all of your suspicions. The Manzu-Gal is indeed named Kush-taklatum. He will be travelling along the Arali road from Babylon to Bad-Tibira at the end of the month of Simanu.
Herewith I enclose an impression of his seal, which bears his likeness.
And so the PCs learn that their look-alike is an official in a mysterious cult, and that this assailant has been looking for him. He has ties to Bad-Tibira, where the characters are currently heading. What could all of this mean, and what will the adventurers find in the City of the Coppersmiths?
Find out in Episode 2: Shadows over Bad-Tibira.
