TEXT: In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.
  - Jose Narosky
  Written by Ben Counter     Developed by Eddy Webb     Based on material by Will Hindmarch 
  Edited by Genevieve Podleski     Layout by Jessica Mullins     Art: Sam Araya, Tomasz Jedruszek, 
  Brian Leblanc, Ken Meyer Jr., Juan Serrano, Cyril Van Der Haegen, Cathy Wilkens, James Stowe, 
  Andy Brase, Efrem Palacios, James Cole, Costas Harritas, Jim Pavelec
  An adventure for the World of Darkness 
  using the Storytelling Adventure System
  White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
  2075 West Park Place 
  Blvd Suite G
  Stone Mountain, GA 30087
  Mental 
  OOOOO
  Physical OOOOO
  sOcial 
  OOOOO
  stOrytelling adventure  systeM
  XP LeveL
  o-34
  SceneS
  11
  
  © 2008 CCP hf. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and one printed copy which may be reproduced for personal use only. White Wolf, Vampire and 
  World of Darkness are registered trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Promethean the Created, Storytelling System and Ruins of Ur are trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. All 
  characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by CCP hf. CCP North America Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CCP hf. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright 
  concerned. This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
  Check out White Wolf online at http://www.white-wolf.com
  Written by Ben Counter     Developed by Eddy Webb     Based on material by Will Hindmarch 
  Edited by Genevieve Podleski     Layout by Jessica Mullins     Art: Sam Araya, Tomasz Jedruszek, 
  Brian Leblanc, Ken Meyer Jr., Juan Serrano, Cyril Van Der Haegen, Cathy Wilkens, James Stowe, 
  Andy Brase, Efrem Palacios, James Cole, Costas Harritas, Jim Pavelec
  An adventure for the World of Darkness 
  using the Storytelling Adventure System
  In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.
  - Jose Narosky
  White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
  2075 West Park Place 
  Blvd Suite G
  Stone Mountain, GA 30087
  Mental 
  OOOOO
  Physical OOOOO
  sOcial 
  OOOOO
  XP level
  o-34
  scenes
  11
  stOrytelling adventure  systeM
  
  1
  Beneath the deserts of Iraq, among the ruins of the ancient Baby-
  lonian civilization, lie secrets. The ancient servants of a dead god stir 
  again. Forgotten magic waits to be claimed. Evil spirits yearn for souls 
  to consume. At the heart of it all is a terrible hunger – for power, for 
  servitude, but most of all for blood.
  A squad of soldiers escorting an archaeologist is thrown into the maw 
  of these ancient secrets, and its men must fend for themselves against an 
  ancient horror beyond their understanding. But survival is not enough, 
  for deep in the ruins of Ur the very tools of their salvation could cost 
  them their souls.
  Introduction
  Ruins of Ur is a story kit that helps a Storyteller to run a World of 
  Darkness story crammed with violence, gore and horror. The player 
  characters in this story are soldiers sent on a seemingly routine mission 
  that pitches them into a deadly struggle with an ancient horror waking 
  from beneath the earth. Should they survive, they may uncover hints 
  about an ancient empire that was ruled not by mortal tyrants, but by 
  supernatural beings whose legacy has not faded from the world. 
  This kit can be run as a standalone story (and perhaps spark 
  the beginning of a new chronicle). Alternatively, it can be run as 
  part of an existing chronicle. This latter option will require some 
  adapting of the story and its set-up, and suggestions are given in 
  the introduction and throughout the story’s scenes about how this 
  might be done. 
  The tropes of this story include action, the military, visceral horror, 
  ancient secrets and internal conflict. It has a lot in common with 
  your average horror movie: it places its characters in an isolated set-
  ting from which they cannot readily escape and pits them against an 
  overarching horror that is ostensibly far more powerful than them. 
  It provides plenty of opportunities for set-piece shocks and messy 
  deaths, and has potential for conflict not just with internal horrors, 
  but between the main characters. The story also has a tension-
  ratcheting countdown. The atmosphere of Ruins of Ur was inspired 
  by action horror movies like Dog Soldiers, Aliens or Predator and by 
  survival horror videogames like the Resident Evil or the F.E.A.R. 
  series. Ruins of Ur is all about shock, desperate combat and setting 
  your M16 to full-auto so you can spray like a weak-bladdered tomcat 
  at anything that moves.
  About the Storytelling Adventure SyStem
  If this is your first Storytelling Adventure System (SAS) 
  product, you’ve chosen a fine place to start. To keep this 
  story kit lean and focused, though, we haven’t included a 
  lot of the core premises and Storyteller suggestions that are 
  at the heart of the SAS. Whether you’re a new Storyteller 
  or an old hand, be sure to read the free SAS Guide, found 
  at the SAS website:
  www.white-wolf.com/sas
  Here are some of the features available in Ruins of Ur:
  Interactive links.
  •	
   Clicking on anything in blue will 
  take you directly to the section referenced, or to an 
  appropriate character sheet or prop. It can also take 
  you to an external website that could be useful.
  Scenes. 
  •	
  Clicking on a scene name in the scene flow-
  chart or the page number in the scene card will take 
  you to the full write-up of the scene.
  Bookmarks.
  •	
   This PDF is fully bookmarked, so you 
  can jump to major sections at any time when the 
  file is open.
  
  2
  Theme: Mystery, Desperation and Violence
  Ruins of Ur begins with mystery and its revelation. At the outset, the 
  player characters have little or no idea what they have let themselves in 
  for. As the story continues they uncover more about their location, the 
  ancient Temple of Sin, and the creature that wants to consume them. 
  This theme of revelation runs throughout the story, and uncovering 
  information about their surroundings is key to the characters’ survival. 
  Setting up mystery, and paying it off with revelation, is the story’s main 
  dramatic device. 
  In Ruins of Ur, the primary conflict between the characters and their 
  undead enemy will almost certainly be resolved through violence, and 
  lots of it. The story works best in a military context because then the 
  characters have a good reason to be toting the kind of weaponry they’ll 
  need. The inevitable escalation of violence is another major part of the 
  story and forms a great part of the story’s structure. 
  Finally, a theme more internal to the characters is desperation, or how far 
  they will go to survive. The most potent weapons for use against Bashanipal 
  exact a horrible toll on the humanity of those using them. For instance, the 
  Lyre of Ishtar is mind-warping to use, and the power gained from the temple’s 
  sacrificial pit requires the extremely horroible death of a living human. 
  The question of just how far the characters will go to survive Bashanipal’s 
  predations provides a counterpoint to the threat of Bashanipal himself.
  Mood: Ancient, Dark, and Hostile
  The story’s mood is primarily conveyed through the setting: the 
  Temple of Sin. This is an ancient ruin, and its age is an important part 
  of the story’s mood. Great age imparts gravity to the story, a sort of 
  grandeur that only the weight of centuries can bring. It brings about 
  questions, too: Who built all this? What kind of people existed back 
  then? How can anything still be alive down here? 
  It should also be noted that like many classic horror stories, Ruins of 
  Ur is very dark – literally. The Temple of Sin has barely any lighting, 
  and the characters will be forced to bring their own light sources. Fears 
  gather a hundred times more profoundly in the dark, and monsters 
  loom twice as large. 
  The story takes place in hostile territory. Characters should be very 
  aware that they are on a mission and that, regardless of the supernatural 
  foes they might encounter, there are plenty of good old mortal foes around 
  who would kill them just as fast as any undead bloodsucker.
  Background
  Ancient Times
  Between 1800 and 1600 BC in Mesopotamia (corresponding roughly 
  to modern-day Iraq), an empire thrived, centered on the city of Babylon. 
  This empire was ruled by Marduk, a king who believed he was a god (and 
  he was, in fact, a supernatural creature). He gathered around him other 
  supernaturals to enforce his rule and expand his empire, and a golden 
  age of evil and predation grew in Babylon. One of the cities brought 
  under Marduk’s rule was Ur, a city ancient even then, and sacred to 
  the moon-god Sin. Sin was a giant figure, impossibly handsome and 
  blazing with moonlight, but Marduk was not awed by him, for Marduk 
  saw himself as more than Sin’s equal. Sin was impressed by Marduk’s 
  fierce presence and ruthlessness in the pursuit of power, and Sin and his 
  priests became allies of Marduk. The huge Temple of Sin just outside 
  Ur became the religious heart of the empire and Sin’s worshippers were 
  outnumbered only by Marduk’s own. Among the priests of Sin was a 
  magnificent and terrifying creature called Bashanipal.
  Marduk’s reign could not last forever. Some time after 1600BC, 
  Marduk fell and Hittites from the north invaded and pulled the 
  Babylonian Empire apart. Some saw this coming, among them 
  Bashanipal, who chose to enter a near-death slumber until the 
  world was an easier place for a bloodsucking fiend of the night. 
  
  3
  Unfortunately for Bashanipal and the retainers who were interred 
  with him in the catacombs adjoining the Temple of Sin, that time 
  never came.
  Until now.
  Modern Day
  The Babylonian Empire and Ur became footnotes in history books until 
  a series of excavations in the late nineteenth century hinted at the size 
  and sophistication of the empire’s cities. Much later, in the aftermath of 
  the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces and the fall of Iraq’s government, 
  archaeologists had new and unobstructed access to these tempting sites. 
  Miranda Steele took the opportunity to excavate a promising site outside 
  the ruins of Ur, where her research suggested she could find a site of great 
  religious importance. She brought with her three assistants — Stellan, 
  Drake and Jenks — and beneath the sand of southern Iraq they found 
  the Temple of Sin. And Bashanipal found them.
  In his slumber, Bashanipal reached out with his mind. Drake and 
  Jenks knew that something was wrong, but they continued with their 
  work because of the apparent importance of the site. Stellan went 
  insane, murdered Jenks, and was killed trying to acquire a weapon 
  which he believed could destroy the evil they had uncovered. Drake 
  walled himself up in one of the small side-tombs to escape the mad-
  ness. Steele herself heard the voice of Bashanipal and was fascinated 
  instead of being repelled. Here was a being possessing knowledge of a 
  forgotten age; a golden age (in Bashanipal’s memory) of freedom and 
  enlightenment. She lost her mind, and became devoted to waking 
  Bashanipal and receiving his wisdom.
  Steele left the dig site, determined to return with the sacrifices 
  Bashanipal required to complete his awakening. She went to the 
  US military, who were searching for ways to better understand the 
  mindset of the insurgents currently targeting their troops. Steele 
  explained to them the theory of Archaeological Intelligence 
  (ARCHINT) which might help shed some light on the cultural 
  forces at work in Iraq. She asked for the military’s help in gaining 
  access to the site near Ur, explaining that its treasures would al-
  legedly help illustrate the “philosophical and religious roots of the 
  insurgency.” The military warily agreed and sent a squad of soldiers 
  to escort Steele to the dig site, unaware that she has already exca-
  vated much of it or that she intends to hand her escort of soldiers 
  over to Bashanipal as a welcome gift. 
  The poor schmucks assigned to escort Miranda Steele have no idea 
  what’s about to go down in the ruins of Ur. Those poor bastards are 
  the player characters.
  ArCheologiCAl intelligenCe
  Military intelligence typically comes from one of a group 
  of recognized sources, such as Human Intelligence (HUMINT) 
  from observers and informers, and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) 
  from intercepting enemy communications. Archaeological 
  Intelligence is intel gleaned from the study of history and 
  ancient sites. ARCHINT is theoretical and  fictional, but in the 
  World of Darkness it is an occasionally valuable resource. Military 
  forces in the World of Darkness need intel not just on enemy 
  plans and forces, but on the weird shit that keeps on happening 
  to their soldiers (going mad, becoming possessed, being turned 
  inside out, getting exsanguinated, and so on). The US military, 
  in particular the Army, believes that ARCHINT may be worth 
  pursuing and is contemplating deploying ARCHINT-gathering 
  assets in Iraq to see if the violence in the country is fueled by 
  some cultural force that can only by properly understood in a 
  historical context.
  
  4
  Treatment
  The story proper begins as the characters and Miranda Steele approach 
  the dig site by helicopter. Their pilot, Lt. Deborah Church, guides them 
  down to land when gunfire erupts. Insurgents, temporarily occupying the 
  ruins, assume the characters are there to kill them and stage an ambush. In 
  the gunfight that follows, the helicopter is damaged beyond repair and Lt. 
  Church is severely wounded. The characters’ orders afterwards are to stay 
  put, continue with their mission and wait for extraction (which will be a 
  while coming as insurgents are mounting a major push into the area).
  Miranda leads the characters into the entrance chamber of the site, 
  where a huge carved stone door adorned with six seals looms. The first 
  seal shatters and Steele ecstatically announces to Bashanipal that she 
  has brought him a meal to sate the hunger of three and a half thousand 
  years. Bashanipal stirs behind the tomb door and (no matter what 
  happens to Miranda in the ensuing scene) the characters are left with 
  a situation on their hands. They are trapped in the ruins, and soon 
  something horrible is going to wake up and try to eat them. 
  The characters have the opportunity to explore the ruins. Beneath the 
  ground is a series of smaller tombs and the Temple of Sin itself. Exploring 
  these, the characters will probably disturb a nest of ravenous vampires and 
  fall afoul of the same Babylonian spirit that claimed the life of Stellan. They 
  can also uncover some hints about the history of Marduk’s empire, along 
  with the unfortunate fates of Steele’s assistants on the first dig (and discover 
  a half-mad Drake still walled up in his hiding place). Most importantly, they 
  have the chance to arm themselves with three powerful secrets in the temple: 
  the Lyre of Ishtar, an artifact weapon imbued with the power of Babylon’s 
  old gods; the services of the spirit, who can be bound to the characters’ will 
  with a ritual that was translated by one of the assistants; and the supernatural 
  powers granted by the sacrificial pit beneath the temple, although this requires 
  the sacrifice of a living human to be granted. During this time the seals will 
  break until only one remains barring the door to Bashanipal’s tomb.
  When the final seal breaks, Bashanipal is unleashed. He is a tremen-
  dously powerful creature, and even with their modern-day weaponry, 
  the characters have a tough time surviving the encounter with him. 
  Only by arming themselves with the secrets of the Temple of Sin do 
  they have a chance to take him down. Finally, with Bashanipal or the 
  characters dead, the chopper arrives to rescue the survivors. How many 
  passengers – or corpses – the chopper takes away from Ur depends on 
  how smart the characters fight when Bashanipal comes for them.
  A Chapter in Your Chronicle
  The set-up above assumes that the players are running characters 
  who are soldiers in the US military. This is easy enough to deal with 
  if you are running such a group of characters in your chronicle, or if 
  you are running a one-off game for which characters can be created 
  specifically. Military characters can be created easily enough using the 
  World of Darkness Rulebook on its own. However, Storytellers and 
  players will find the World of Darkness: Dogs of War sourcebook very 
  useful in this regard, along with World of Darkness: Armory if they 
  want to really go all out. However, if Ruins of Ur takes place during 
  a different kind of chronicle besides a military one, then it may need 
  a different set-up to get the characters to Ur. Some suggestions are:
  The characters are after a particular occult or otherwise 
  •	
  important artifact (perhaps the Lyre of Ishtar). Miranda 
  Steele learns of their search and contacts them, claiming to 
  have located the artifact in the ruins of Ur. All they have to 
  do is hire a chopper and a pilot from a mercenary company 
  (common enough in the war-torn parts of the World of 
  Darkness) and Steele will lead them right to it.
  The characters are members of a private military organiza-
  •	
  tion, or perhaps just mercenaries or down-at-heel adventur-
  ers looking for a quick buck. Miranda Steele needs people to 
  accompany her to the dig site and she’s paying well, and she’s 
  already got the transport sorted out. It sounds like a good way 
  to make some fast cash, and with a minimum of risk.
  If the characters have a criminal bent, they learn of some 
  •	
  cache of gold, art or other valuables recently unearthed at 
  an archaeological dig. They high-tail it over to Iraq to loot 
  the place, pausing only to accept the services of an eager 
  (and quite hot) archaeologist who can act as a guide in 
  return for a cut of the goodies.
  The characters have a powerful patron who wants 
  •	
  something from Ur. It doesn’t really matter what it 
  is (again, the Lyre of Ishtar is a possibility). He sends 
  his underlings to meet up with Miranda Steele, also in 
  his employ, and escort her to the site to retrieve the 
  desired item. 
  
  5
  ruinS of ur And  
  vAmpire: the requiem
  Ruins of Ur is a story that needs only the 
  World of Darkness Rulebook to play. However, 
  it also ties in with Vampire: The Requiem, 
  because Bashanipal and his cohorts are 
  vampires (the characters need not come to this 
  conclusion, but players familiar with the World 
  of Darkness probably will). The Babylonian 
  Empire was a vampiric state ruled by the 
  abomination that was Marduk, although very 
  little direct evidence of this survives. If your 
  chronicle uses the background from Vampire: 
  The Requiem, then the discoveries made at Ur 
  could help clue characters in to the existence 
  of vampires, and perhaps even let the chronicle 
  segue into a Vampire game. If the characters 
  bring news of vampires to the military – or even 
  become vampires themselves, perhaps after an 
  offer by Bashanipal to spare their lives in return 
  for serving him – then the chronicle could spin 
  off into a whole new and horrifying direction. 
  Finally, with some alteration to the final scenes, 
  Ruins of Ur could serve as a group prelude to 
  a Vampire chronicle.
  Another option is to run Ruins of Ur as an 
  interlude in an ongoing Vampire chronicle, 
  to introduce the idea of Marduk’s empire 
  and the possibility of Babylonian vampires 
  that still exist. The players are given military 
  characters to play through Ruins of Ur, and 
  when it’s finished they go back to their 
  vampire characters who get caught up in the 
  consequences of the story. Maybe an elder or 
  prince gets wind of the soldiers’ experience 
  in Iraq and gives the players’ coterie the task 
  of uncovering more evidence of Marduk’s 
  empire, or the Lyre of Ishtar finds its way into 
  the Vampire chronicle after being uncovered 
  during Ruins of Ur.
  The Cast
  Miranda Steele, Driven Archaeologist
  Quotes: “Don’t flatter 
  yourself.”
  “Leave the thinking to the 
  experts.”
   “Just imagine what we have 
  forgotten... what remains to be 
  found if we only knew where 
  to look.”
  Virtue: Faith. Miranda firmly 
  believes that there is something 
  larger out there, and Bashani-
  pal has given that to her.
  Vice: Pride. She believes that she is better than everyone around her.
  Background: Miranda Steele was always much smarter than the 
  people around her – her classmates, her family, even her teachers. 
  When she went to college to study the ancient world she happily 
  let them all drift away, satisfied that she was all the company she 
  would ever need. She made a damn good scholar and an even bet-
  ter archaeologist out in the field, with a meticulous mind driven 
  by a fascination with fallen civilizations. This fascination became 
  reverence as she saw in the world around her all the ills that the 
  ancients had conquered. Was there any society more just than the 
  Athens of antiquity? Was there any empire as grand and eternal as 
  Rome at its height? Steele came to wonder if she had been born a few 
  thousand years too late, and her growing obsession with the secrets 
  of the ancient world left her open for enthrallment by something 
  ancient and evil.
  Description: Steele is a dark-haired, tall American woman in 
  her thirties, plenty attractive enough if one can look past the 
  practicality and academic nature she wears like a shield. She 
  wears the sturdiest, most unflattering clothes she can and keeps 
  her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes are pin-sharp and 
  blue, and underneath the coveralls and walking boots she’s a 
  very athletic woman. 
  
  6
  Storyteller Hints: Steele isn’t much of a people person, prone 
  to being short with others and having little time for the unintel-
  ligent (which is pretty much anyone less clever than her). She is, 
  however, passionate about her work, and if given the opportunity 
  to talk about sifting history from unpromising rubble or discover-
  ing some people or place previously unknown, her eyes light up 
  and she can talk for hours. Miranda should be played as cold and 
  a little sarcastic, especially if one of the characters tries to make a 
  move on her. Miranda is cunningly insane, and is good at hiding 
  it. She will stop at almost nothing to wake Bashanipal and share 
  in his wisdom. It is her duty as a scholar and a follower of truth 
  that Marduk’s glorious empire be realized again on earth. She is not 
  willing to throw her life away, but if push comes to shove, she will 
  die to see Bashanipal walk this earth again.
  Roger Drake, Traumatized Postgraduate
  Quotes: 
  Jenks and Stellan. He has walled himself up in a side tomb and, though 
  he is a valuable source of information, no one’s getting anything out 
  of him until he can be calmed down. 
  Storyteller Hints: Drake is paranoid and untrusting. He mumbles fearfully 
  about how he should have known that nothing good could come of the dig, 
  that the whole temple is out to get them, and that the characters’ guns aren’t 
  going to do any good against whatever’s waiting for them. He is completely 
  certain that they are all going to die, and voices this opinion at every oppor-
  tunity. In times of peril he will curl up in the darkest corner he can find.
  Lt. Deborah Church, Gung-Ho Chopper Pilot
  Quotes: 
    “Oh God... oh 
  dear God he’s in my 
  head again...”
  “I should’ve stayed in 
  Cambridge.”
  [Pathetic whimper]
  Virtue: Prudence. He’s 
  careful to sit back and think 
  through things, partially 
  because he’s prudent…
  Vice: Sloth. … and par-
  tially because he’s lazy.
  Background:  Drake is an English postgraduate student who was 
  high enough in his class to have the chance to get his hands dirty at a 
  real archaeological dig. Bored with the hard, dull work of scraping bits 
  of pottery and Roman coins out of drizzly fields in England, he gladly 
  followed Steele to Iraq to uncover the secrets of Ur (and hopefully let 
  others do the heavy lifting for him).
  Description: Drake is normally a well-spoken, slightly posh English 
  man in his twenties, who has a sense of humor and a likable nature. 
  None of that is visible now, though, as he has been driven mad by the 
  whispered voice of Bashanipal and the deaths of his fellow assistants, 
        “This is Charlie 
  Bravo Four coming in on 
  your position, weapons 
  are hot.”
  “Happiness is a cold 
  landing zone.”
  “Yeehah!”
  Virtue: Justice. Church 
  believes that the good guys 
  will win and the bad guys 
  will lose in the end.
  Vice: Lust. She loves the 
  rush of flying, and of getting into (and out of) fights.
  Background: A born tomboy, Church has wanted to fly since she 
  was old enough to wear dungarees and climb trees. Now she’s got 
  the chance, and she loves it. It’s dangerous, of course, but everything 
  worth doing has its risks. She likes the camaraderie of the military. 
  Sure, the guys can sometimes be jerks about having a woman around, 
  but she gets to fly a bad-ass Black Hawk which makes up for pretty 
  much anything.
  Description: Church is a cheery Virginian with a round face, 
  a blond ponytail and a wide, easy smile. She looks completely at 
  home in a jumpsuit and flight helmet. She looks pretty good in a 
  dress with her hair down, too, but it’s been a long time since anyone 
  saw her like that.
  Storyteller Hints: Church’s role in the story is to discourage the 
  characters from running off into the desert. Maybe it’s a cheap trick 
  
  7
  to throw a damsel in distress into the mix, but Church’s presence 
  means it’s not just the characters’ own lives on the line. Church is 
  too badly wounded to be moved (if she is, she will die), but while 
  she’s conscious she puts on as brave a face as she can. Her survival is 
  in the characters’ hands. If they leave her behind, she’ll die. If they 
  stick it out and survive, she’ll join them on the chopper heading 
  back to base.
  If the characters are mercenaries or adventurers rather than 
  soldiers, then Church stays much the same, except that she is a 
  career pilot who has more than a little adrenaline junkie about 
  her – she still loves flying, but she also loves the danger and thrills 
  of a war zone.
  Bashanipal, Priest of Sin
  Quotes: 
  a nuclear-strength killing machine who wants nothing but blood. 
  The cunning that served him in his prime allowed him to tele-
  pathically manipulate Steele after her research assistants proved 
  too small-minded to be of use. Unfortunately for him, waking 
  strips him of that intelligence and leaves him little more than a 
  supernatural predator.
  Description: Bashanipal is nearly eight feet tall. He wears heavy 
  crimson robes woven with silver and gold thread. On his head is 
  a conical headdress plated in gold, with silver symbols represent-
  ing the three phases of the moon: full, crescent and new (the new 
  moon is a silver ring). Bashanipal’s face is hideous: a brutal, swollen 
  mask of dead gray flesh with eyes that burn with red fire and fangs 
  pronounced enough to be obvious when he speaks. Bashanipal has 
  a long beard, elaborately braided with silver rings. His fingers are 
  far too long to be human, and as gnarled as the branches of an 
  ancient tree. Bashanipal moves with speed and grace alien to his 
  size and ugliness. His voice is like the rumblings of an earthquake 
  and an overpowering sickly-sweet aroma of incense and decay 
  surrounds him. He was buried with many grave goods, including 
  a magnificent curved bronze sword, which he wields when faced 
  with his prey. 
  Storyteller Hints: Bashanipal was once a powerful creature, 
  and the arrogance has not left him. In his rage, he will bellow 
  that the characters are insects, mere vermin, fit only to slake his 
  thirst (thanks to his telepathic contact with Steele, he speaks 
  strongly accented English). He will also berate them for violat-
  ing the sacred halls of the Moon God, both psychically while 
  the characters are exploring the ruins, and in person once he 
  rises from his ancient slumber. He should come across as more 
  than just a monster – he is a monster who was once effectively 
  a prince of Ur, whose indignation is almost as powerful as his 
  hunger. Should Bashanipal feed on the characters and leave Ur, 
  the world will have one more deadly, cunning and ambitious 
  killer stalking its nights.
  Note that Bashanipal is a vampire, and Storytellers who own 
  Vampire: The Requiem can use the rules in that book to determine 
  the effects of Bashanipal’s Disciplines and other abilities. A full 
  Vampire: The Requiem character sheet follows for Bashanipal. 
  For other Storytellers, Bashanipal’s most useful abilities are sum-
  marized below.
                      “Into what manner 
  of world have I awoken, that the 
  halls of Sin may defiled by such 
  worthless creatures?”
  “Were it not for my hunger 
  I would cast you aside like the 
  dregs you are!”
  “Praise you, Sin, for 
  delivering me blood!”
  Virtue:  Faith. His life is giv-
  en over to Sin in all things.
  Vice: Pride. Bashanipal is the chosen of Sin, and his wrath is di-
  vinely inspired.
  Background: Bashanipal was an advisor to Marduk himself, a 
  powerful man in Babylon. He acted as a liaison between Marduk 
  and the priests of Sin, and oversaw the rebuilding of Sin’s enor-
  mous temple at Ur. Bashanipal was a cruel and arrogant creature, 
  but also a highly cultured and intelligent one who saw many 
  of Ur’s greatest works of art and architecture created to glorify 
  Marduk’s reign.
  That, of course, was more than three and a half thousand years 
  ago. Bashanipal has been in a dream-haunted sleep since then. 
  Upon waking, he is a frenzied, blood-hungry subhuman monster, 
  
  8
   The Night Court, Ravenous Nocturnal Predators
  and forget everything else. The Night Court have awoken just before 
  the story begins, so they are ready for the characters. They know that 
  Bashanipal is about to wake up, but they’re not worried about making 
  sure he has something to eat when he wakes. They just want to keep 
  the ruins safe from intruders until Bashanipal can lead them to a new 
  feeding ground.
  For Storytellers who have access to Vampire: The Requiem, char-
  acter sheets for the three vampires of the Night Court are provided. 
  For other Storytellers, the vampires’ abilities are summarized below. 
  Each vampire has a different power and weapon, but otherwise they 
  are identical.
   Insurgent Fighters, Soldiers of Islam
  Quote: [Sound of a 
  rough tongue licking dead, 
  dry lips]
  Virtue: Faith. They 
  believe completely in Sin 
  and in Bashanipal.
  Vice: Gluttony. They 
  are hungry for blood, for 
  life and for battle.
  Background: These 
  bloodsucking fiends 
  were once Bashanipal’s 
  courtiers and members 
  of the priesthood of Sin. They were undoubtedly once human, but 
  accepted the state of undeath so they could better serve their god 
  and continue their devotion to him well past a human lifespan. 
  They were walled up in the temple along with Bashanipal when 
  Marduk’s empire fell, believing that one day they would awaken 
  and rebuild the church of Sin. Now, like Bashanipal, they have 
  slumbered for millennia and are very hungry and very pissed off at 
  the intrusion. 
  Description: The Night Court are wizened, almost skeletal crea-
  tures, with parched grayish skin stretched over their bones. Their 
  faces are crushed and batlike, an appearance accentuated by the flaps 
  of skin between their arms and their bodies. They are filthy with 
  grave earth and smell of dust and age, like a mold-infested library. 
  They shriek and gibber madly. They are emphatically inhuman and 
  evil. They do not speak English, and wouldn’t bother in any case. 
  One vampire carries a sacrificial dagger and skulks in the shadows, 
  the second is a fierce warrior-priest carrying a bronze axe and the 
  third is a feral creature who grows terrible claws of black stone to 
  tear his prey apart.
  Storyteller Hints: The Night Court want to suck blood and kill 
  the characters, partly out of malice and partly to keep their hiding 
  place secret. In unlife they possessed a variety of personalities and 
  supernatural abilities. That variety still exists in their capabilities, 
  but they are now of the same mind: kill humans, drink their blood 
  Quote: (In Arabic) 
   “It is the Americans! To 
  arms, for Allah!”
  Virtue: Faith. They be-
  lieve firmly in their cause.
  Vice: Wrath. They are 
  extremely angry, and will 
  fight for their cause.
  Background: These 
  troopers are members of 
  one of the countless insur-
  gent, militia and terrorist 
  groups hoping to kick the 
  West out of Iraq and carve out their own little piece of the country in 
  the aftermath. Individually, they are motivated by discontent with their 
  country, hatred of the Westerners who have imposed their way on their 
  world, religious fervor (many believe that the invasion of Iraq was a 
  campaign by a Christian force to destroy Islam) and a simple desire to be 
  on the right side when everything goes to hell. Not all of them are Iraqi 
  – some have come from neighboring countries to help ensure that what 
  happened to Iraq does not happen to their homelands. 
  Description: These rag-tag soldiers have no uniform, instead wearing 
  a mishmash of old fatigues and street clothes. A couple wear scarves 
  around their mouths or heads to ward off sand and insects. They are 
  all young Arab men, and they carry AK-47s.
  
  9
  Storyteller Hints: These men are poorly trained and armed, and their 
  motivation has suffered a great deal since they camped out in the ruins 
  of Ur, mainly because of the unholy dreams they have been having 
  and the cruel voices whispered on the wind. In spite of this, they will 
  fight hard when the Americans show up (even if the characters aren’t 
  Americans, the insurgents will assume they are), although if they’re 
  obviously out-gunned, the survivors will try to flee into the desert.
  Scorn, Babylonian Spirit Puppeteer
  Quotes: 
  curses instead. If bound into the characters’ service he will do what they tell 
  him, but will be vocally indignant about it. He will take every opportunity 
  to exploit vagueness or misinterpretation in the commands given to him.
  Scorn uses the rules for ghosts on pp. 208-216 of the World of 
  Darkness Rulebook. While in the Temple of Sin, Scorn can manifest 
  and speak without having to spend Essence or make any rolls. 
  Stone Lions
  Quotes:  [Gravelly roar]
  Description: The stone 
  lions guarding the temple 
  of Ur are magical constructs, 
  enchanted statues given the 
  task of mauling those who do 
  not belong in the presence of 
  Sin. They are magnificent 
  works of art in the own 
  right and are significantly 
  bigger than real lions. They 
  are somewhat stylized, with 
  braided beards instead of 
  manes, and their mouths are 
  sculpted into permanent snarls. When they move, it is with a slow majesty 
  that suddenly turns to blurring speed when they pounce. 
  Storyteller Hints: The stone lions are simple combatants created 
  to savage intruders, and have no personalities of their own. They are 
  also very stupid, and canny characters should be able to lead them into 
  traps, trick them into charging over a drop, attach sticky bombs to them 
  without them noticing and so on.
  Scenes
  The scenes in Ruins of Ur follow a simple course towards the end of 
  the story. The story begins at “Going Down,” and then moves into “The 
  Maw.” The bulk of the story is then taken up with the scenes concerning 
  the exploration of the Temple of Sin. These scenes can be played out in 
  any order and the characters may not get to all of them. The passage of 
  time is marked by the breaking of the seals on the door of Bashanipal’s 
  tomb. When the last seal breaks, move on to “Oh Shit, We’re All Going 
  To Die” (the story’s climax) and then on to the Aftermath section.
  “You are my 
  child now.”
  “No! Put me back, 
  goat-rutter! Dog-filthy 
  son of a thousand whores! 
  Put me baaack!”
  “Your friends are not your 
  friends. See? They plot against 
  you even now....”
  Virtue: Fortitude. Scorn is 
  very, very good at surviving.
  Vice: Lust. He enjoys inspiring suffering, and many other sins of 
  the flesh.
  Background: Creatures like Scorn were the reason the Babylonians 
  were so big on exorcism. He is a spirit who delights in mayhem and 
  suffering, and inflicts it by possessing victims at the most inopportune 
  moments. Scorn is compelled to do what he does, but that doesn’t 
  mean he can’t enjoy it. He was bound by Bashanipal into a chest that 
  held the Lyre of Ishtar, so that Scorn could take over and hopefully 
  kill anyone who tried to take the Lyre. 
  Description: Scorn normally lurks invisibly at the back of a would-be 
  victim’s mind, but if forced out of a host he appears as a diminutive horned 
  creature with a lower half composed of smoke and shadows, tiny glinting eyes 
  and slender hands with long black fingernails. He smells of burning pitch 
  and spices. Scorn has inhabited the mind of an English speaker recently 
  and can speak English (and swears with particular inventiveness).
  Storyteller Hints: Scorn is a petty and argumentative little bastard who, 
  if he cannot inflict suffering by killing people, uses threats, mockery and 84.143.99.225
  
  10
  The exploration scenes need a little further explanation. They each 
  describe a location in the Temple of Sin, along with what can be found 
  there, Storyteller characters the player characters might encounter and 
  the possible results of meddling with the supernatural elements they 
  find. It is possible that not all of these elements will be played out the 
  first time the characters visit a location, and they will probably return 
  to some places more than once. For instance, they might find the sac-
  rificial pit in “The Mouth of Sin” and not realize its significance until 
  they recover the information on the sacrificial ritual in the scene “The 
  Promenade of Kings.” Then they might return to the pit, so they can 
  throw some poor soul down there and be granted Sin’s blessing. 
  The map provided with this document shows where the various loca-
  tions are, but a Storyteller is free to modify this as the story demands. In 
  particular, characters who are fleeing in terror might end up in a random 
  scene, or a scene that they have not yet witnessed. The Temple of Sin 
  is a confusing place with plenty of side passages 
  and collapsed sections, and getting lost is a real 
  possibility. The first scenes (“Going Down” 
  and “The Maw”) and the final scene (“Oh Shit, 
  We’re All Going To Die”) are written to run 
  chronologically in a more traditional manner. 
  Finally, note that the story takes place at night, 
  with dawn breaking after the story’s final scene, 
  so the characters cannot evade their vampiric 
  opponents just by going outside.
  The Tomb Seals
  Bashanipal’s tomb door is surrounded by 
  six stone seals. The breaking of these seals 
  marks the passing of time in the story, the 
  countdown to the climax and the growth of 
  tension. The first seal shatters during “The 
  Maw.” After this, it is up to the Storyteller 
  to decide when the subsequent seals shat-
  ter. It is recommended that the Storyteller 
  not make this a time-based decision, as he 
  might become bogged down in measuring 
  minutes and hours. Instead, it is easier and 
  more dramatic to have a seal shatter after 
  each significant event. One could shatter, 
  for instance, after the characters finish their 
  fight with the vampires in the “Promenade of Kings,” after a ritual is 
  completed, or after finding Drake and getting as much information as 
  they can out of him. The purpose of the breaking seals is to remind 
  the players of the impending threat of Bashanipal and to keep the 
  tension rising. The breaking of a seal can also be used to spur the 
  characters into action if they aren’t doing anything interesting, but 
  this should be something of a last resort.
  When a seal shatters, the sound can be heard ringing all through the 
  Temple of Sin. The sound is distinctive, and since the characters have 
  already heard it in “The Maw,” it should be obvious to them what is 
  happening. If the Storyteller wishes, it can be accompanied by one 
  character hearing the voice of Bashanipal whispering in their mind. 
  Simple creepy phrases like “I hunger...” or “I can smell the purity of 
  your flesh...” work best for this, since Bashanipal has been slumbering 
  for a very long time and his full faculties have yet to return.
   Tomb of bashanipal
  Mouth   
  of Sin
  Promenade of Kings
  Tombs
  Drake
  The Maw
  Priest’s Quarters
  Lions
  Temple  
       Floor
  Stellan
  
  11
  Going Down
  the Maw
  Promenade of Kings
  Priest’s Quarters
  Drake
  Bones of Sin
  Mouth of Sin
  Stone Lions
  Suffering Scorn
  Oh Shit, 
  We’re All 
  Going to Die
  Screw This, 
  I’m Getting 
  Out of Here
  Aftermath
  
  12
  Going Down
  Mental – 
  Physical •••• 
  sOcial – 
  Overview
  This is the opening scene and throws the characters into the story 
  with a jolt. While approaching the dig site by helicopter, they are shot 
  down by gunfire and have to take down the local insurgents before 
  they can continue. Their pilot, Church, is badly wounded. Commu-
  nications with base tell them they need to stay in the ruins, complete 
  their mission and wait for exfiltration.
  Description
  This is an intense scene, rapid-fire and chaotic. Gunfights are never 
  neat or simple, and this scene should be a vivid slice of violence 
  to start things off. The helicopter crash should be spectacular and 
  frightening – play up shards of rotor blades spinning through the 
  air, sparks flying, fuel spurting from ruptured lines and the scream 
  of torn metal. 
  Night has fallen. The helicopter swoops in low along the plains of 
  southern Iraq. The area is desolate, with a few burned-out vehicles 
  (some of them rusted relics from the first Gulf War) telling the grim 
  tale of the country’s recent history. The ruins of Ur come into sight: a 
  series of exploratory trenches, black slashes in the earth and a couple of 
  large dark holes in the ground shored up with timber. Heaps of spoil lie 
  all around.
  “Vehicle,” says Church. “You guys expecting a welcome down there?”
  Then the gunfire starts.
  The helicopter is hit right away as bullets streak up past it. The vehicle 
  in the ruins is a technical (a battered pickup truck with a light machine 
  gun mounted on the bed), and while the vehicle is broken down the gun 
  still works. An insurgent has hit the bull’s-eye with the machine gun. 
  Church jerks in her seat, gasps in pain, and the helicopter swings out 
  of control. 
  “I’m hit....” She regains her composure for a moment. “Losing power... 
  we’re going down, boys...”
  The helicopter hits the ground hard, throwing the characters 
  around inside. It’s a damn good landing given the circumstances 
  and the characters are unscathed – by the crash, at least. They 
  now have to deal with the insurgents intent on pouring fire in 
  their direction.
  The insurgents are panicking. They are yelling in Arabic (if a 
  character happens to understand it, they are shouting things like 
  “Kill them! Kill them!” and “Quick! Before more of them show 
  up!”). There are four insurgents in total: one on the technical, 
  two taking cover behind a pile of rubble and another in the 
  cover of the timbers shoring up the entrance to the ruins. They 
  aren’t stupid and will stay in cover, but after a good burst of fire 
  in their direction they will try to move position before their 
  cover disintegrates. The insurgent on the technical is the most 
  dangerous because of his machine gun, but in the darkness he’s 
  more intent on making sure the helicopter is out of commission 
  and will fire at it for a couple of turns before the characters get 
  his attention.
  
  13
  If two of the insurgents are killed or captured, the others will 
  run into the desert. If the characters let them run or lose them in 
  the darkness, the insurgents won’t be back. They leave behind a 
  makeshift camp with a burned-out campfire, a couple of simple 
  tents, a few bottles of water and some bedding. In a large tin over 
  the fire is a stew which, while it’s not that appetizing, is still warm 
  and edible. The camp also has a spare AK-47 and two clips of am-
  munition. The player characters are presumably armed already, 
  but Steele might take it for herself. The technical’s light machine 
  gun still works, but probably only has about half a belt of ammu-
  nition left and it’s been welded to the pickup. The vehicle itself 
  is completely shot: its engine has been stripped out and it has no 
  wheels, so the characters aren’t going to be using it to escape any 
  time soon. As for the holes, one was a shallow attempt to reach 
  the ruins, and the other is the entrance into the Tomb of Sin. 
  Steele will lead the characters through the entrance at the end 
  of this scene.
  Church was wounded in the first burst of gunfire. She has been 
  shot in the thigh and stomach, and the bullet to her abdomen 
  has caused internal bleeding and come very close to severing 
  her spine. She can crawl out of the helicopter on her own if the 
  characters don’t help her out, but after that she is helpless and 
  immobile. She is conscious for a few minutes, after which she 
  passes in and out of consciousness. The radio in the helicopter 
  still works. Assuming the characters are military, they can contact 
  the base they flew from. If they are not military, they can reach 
  the mercenary company they work for or, if they are on their own, 
  the company from which the helicopter was hired (they’ll want 
  their pilot back, so they will still fly in to rescue the characters 
  when the story is concluded). Whoever is on the radio, they will 
  want an account of what happened from the characters along with 
  their location and any injuries. They inform the characters that 
  they must continue their mission and then wait for rescue, after 
  doing whatever they can for Church. A major push has just been 
  reported in the area between the ruins and the base, so a chopper 
  might be a while in coming. The characters are absolutely not to 
  leave the area of the ruins – if attacked, they are to hold position 
  until they can be rescued. The characters will probably want to 
  know how long that is going to take, but the rescue mission has 
  no ETA at that time.
  Storyteller Goals
  The goal of this scene is primarily to place the characters in an 
  isolated location they can’t readily leave. They are without transport 
  or a pilot, surrounded by desert and hostile forces. The secondary 
  goal is to start the story with a bang. The helicopter crash and sub-
  sequent gunfight form an action sequence that should help set the 
  tone for the story. It also gives the characters a chance to get some 
  soldiering done. Should the scene play out a bit more cerebrally, 
  it might also be a chance to explore some of the issues about the 
  story’s background, especially if the characters can get a dialog 
  going with one of the insurgents about why they are fighting and 
  what they think about the West (and the characters themselves). 
  It is important that in this scene, Church is wounded and Steele is 
  unhurt, and that the helicopter can’t be made to fly again.
  Character Goals
  To survive. Nothing focuses the mind like incoming fire. Also, for 
  more gung-ho characters, to kick some ass. If the characters behave 
  this way, it can be a striking contrast to have a wounded insurgent 
  survive, at least long enough to remind the characters that “the enemy” 
  is ultimately made up of human beings, too.
  Actions
  Combat is the obvious focus of this scene, but the characters can 
  also attend to some other important matters after or during the 
  gunfight. They might try to fix the helicopter or the technical, 
  in which case the Storyteller should let them know the vehicles 
  are both beyond repair. Interrogating a prisoner and helping 
  Church are the most relevant actions they can take once the 
  gunfight has ended.
  Interrogating a Prisoner
  Dice Pool: Wits + Intimidation vs. Stamina + Resolve 
  Action: Extended and contested. 4 successes are required, and each 
  roll takes about 1 hour.
  Violent or cruel interrogation will make the prisoner a mortal enemy 
  of the characters, even more so than he probably already is. If characters 
  show reason, the prisoner is more likely to side with them when the 
  really strange stuff starts happening (although he’s still likely to run 
  off into the desert if he gets the chance). 
  
  14
  Hindrances: Badly wounded prisoner (-1)
  Help: (For characters) Previous brutality (+1), prisoner is sole sur-
  vivor (+1); (for prisoner) Religious fervor (+2)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: The prisoner doesn’t talk, and never will.
  Failure: The character gets nothing out of the prisoner, but may try 
  interrogation again after some time has passed or some new circum-
  stance emerges.
  Success: The character learns something the prisoner knows (one 
  item per success):
  The insurgents are camping here for the night. They 
  •	
  are part of a major but fairly disorganized push into the 
  region intended to force coalition forces to withdraw. 
  The insurgents are part of a small band of fighters 
  who came to the area hoping to fight and have not 
  yet become affiliated with any particular terrorist or 
  militia organization.
  The prisoner doesn’t know what’s through the en-
  •	
  trance of the ruins. None of the insurgents have been 
  down there.
  The prisoner has heard voices on the wind and had 
  •	
  nightmares. The voices are mocking and threaten to 
  kill or eat him. He has a powerful and unreasoning 
  hatred of the place, and was looking forward to leaving 
  in the morning.
  Exceptional Success: The character learns everything the 
  prisoner knows.
  Helping Church
  Dice Pool: Dexterity or Intelligence + Medicine
  Action: Extended. 4 successes are required to make Church comfort-
  able, and 6 will allow her to stay conscious throughout the story. Each 
  roll takes about 20 minutes.
  Church is badly wounded and will not get better without surgery 
  and a long convalescence. Characters can learn of her condition and 
  make her more comfortable. This is a good opportunity to emphasize 
  Church’s good nature as she will try to put a brave face on everything, 
  although she cannot hide the pain she is in.
  Hindrances: Under fire (-2)
  Help: Trauma kit (+2)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: Church is rendered unconscious for the remainder 
  of the story.
  Failure: Church is in a bad way, but the character doesn’t know any 
  more. Church is unconscious for most of the story.
  Success: The character stems some of Church’s internal bleeding. 
  Church has internal and spinal injuries. She cannot be moved and 
  she needs to be operated on. She’s stable for now but eventually her 
  organs will start to fail. She is conscious about half the time during 
  the story.
  Exceptional Success: As with “Success,” but Church is a lot 
  more comfortable and she stays conscious (or sleeps) for the 
  whole story.
  Consequences
  This scene is followed by “The Maw”. After the characters have 
  recovered from the gunfight, Steele insists that they accompany her 
  into the ruins.
  
  15
  The Maw
  Mental ••• 
  Physical •• 
  sOcial •• 
  Overview
  The characters enter the ruins and come face to face with the 
  imposing door of Bashanipal’s tomb. Steele reveals her treachery 
  and exhorts Bashanipal to awake and consume the feast she has 
  brought for him (referring to the characters). The first seal on the 
  door shatters.
  Description
  Through the larger entrance hole in the ruins is a huge shadowy chamber 
  beneath the earth. It is made of sand-colored brick and is about two stories 
  high, lit by a couple of jury-rigged electric lanterns standing on the floor. 
  The floor is stone, covered in dust and sand. There is a smell of earth and 
  age, with a slight hint of decay. The walls are inset with carved stone friezes 
  of robed and crowned figures. The chamber is dominated by the massive 
  round doorway on the opposite wall. Six round stone seals are mounted on 
  the frame, each covered in cuneiform writing. The door itself is stone and is 
  carved with an imposing image of a robed man on a throne, with a scepter 
  in one hand and a sword in the other. He wears a conical headdress and has 
  a long plaited beard. To each side, the ruin continues into the dark.
  “Isn’t it wonderful?” says Steele, her eyes lighting up. “Imagine all the 
  things like this that must be hidden beneath this country. All the wonders that 
  we’ll never see again. Think about who is buried here, his power, the wonders 
  he saw...” Steele throws her arms into the air and yells at the top of her voice. 
  “Bashanipal! Lord of Ur! Chosen of Sin! Here is the feast I have promised 
  you! Awake, Bashanipal, and show me the wonders of Babylon!”
  The first seal on the door shatters into hundreds of stone shards. The 
  sound is like a thunderclap. The ground shudders, and a voice replies. 
  The voice isn’t a sound, but a rumble in the characters’ heads:
  “I shall wake. I shall feed.”
  It should be clear by now that something is terribly wrong with this 
  mission. What happens next is up to the characters, but they prob-
  ably want to know what the hell is going on and why Steele has really 
  brought them there. If they attack Steele or attempt to restrain her, 
  
  16
  she fights back (especially if she has the spare AK from the insurgent 
  camp) or flees. The characters may well decide to kill her, in which 
  case let them, but remember that executing someone like this will 
  cause a Humanity roll for all but the most psychotic characters. If the 
  characters aren’t sure what to do next, a good way of spurring them to 
  action is to have them hear Drake shouting or banging on the wall of 
  his hiding place. Once they find him and get some hints about what 
  can be found elsewhere in the ruin, they have good reason to stay there 
  and see what they can find before Bashanipal awakes.
  Storyteller Goals
  Set up the situation that the characters have to deal with during 
  the course of the story – namely that Bashanipal is going to wake 
  up and the characters will have to fight him. Also, to introduce 
  the story’s major character moment, with Steele’s dramatic rev-
  elation that she has brought the characters there for her master 
  Bashanipal to eat.
  Character Goals
  To find out what the hell is going on. Steele is one resource for this, 
  and the Maw’s sculptures are another.
  Actions
  It may be that the characters decide to flee the ruins and take their 
  chances in the desert, in which case move on to the scene “Screw This, 
  I’m Getting Out Of Here.” Otherwise, their options include examining 
  the friezes and cuneiform writing, interrogating Steele, trying to break 
  down the door to get a look at what’s inside and kill it before it kills 
  them, and having a look around the rest of the ruins.
  Interrogating Steele
  Dice Pool: Wits + Intimidation vs. Stamina + Resolve 
  Action: Extended & contested. 4 successes are required and each 
  roll takes an hour.
  Steele will probably be an enemy of a characters whether they’re brutal 
  with her or not (but remember that torturing someone will almost certainly 
  force Morality rolls). She knows relatively little about the Temple of Sin 
  itself (her assistants explored elsewhere, while Steele focused exclusively 
  on Bashanipal’s tomb) but her information could be useful. 
  Hindrances: Failure while interrogating insurgent (-1)
  Help: (For characters) Previous brutality (+1), success at interrogat-
  ing insurgent (+1); (for Steele) An insane conviction that keeps her 
  from speaking too much of her “master” (+2)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: Steele laughs at the character, spits in his face 
  and won’t talk again except to taunt the characters about their im-
  pending demise.
  Failure: Steele won’t talk. Another character can try, though.
  Success: Steele divulges some information (one per success):
  Steele is who she claims to be – an archaeologist, special-
  •	
  izing in the ancient Near East and Mesopotamia. 
  She lied about this site. It has already been excavated by 
  •	
  Steele and her assistants (along with some local labor who 
  have by now long since fled the site). Steele returned here 
  with the characters to feed them to Bashanipal.
  Bashanipal was a nobleman and high priest of the moon god 
  •	
  Sin. He is not dead, but slumbering behind the door of his 
  tomb. He is a being of magnificent power and knowledge, 
  and Steele will learn from him all the wonders of ancient 
  Babylon long since forgotten by the rest of the world. She 
  will become enlightened beyond the understanding of any 
  other mortal. Bashanipal has told Steele telepathically that 
  he will not harm her when she sets him free.
  This ruin is the Temple of Sin. Sin was the god of the 
  •	
  moon in ancient Mesopotamia, and Ur was his sacred city. 
  Sin was the father of Ishtar the star goddess and Shamash 
  the sun god, and was a powerful, benevolent and merciful 
  deity. The Temple itself is huge and largely unexplored. It 
  was built during the time of Marduk, a legendary god-king 
  of Babylon who was easily the most powerful man in the 
  Near East during his reign.
  Her assistants on the previous dig were Jenks, Stellan 
  •	
  and Drake. Steele doesn’t know what became of them 
  and she doesn’t particularly care. They’ve probably run 
  for it by now and if they’re still around, then Bashanipal 
  will eat them, too.
  Exceptional Success: Steele spills everything she knows.
  
  17
  Examining the Chamber
  Dice Pool: Intelligence + Academics
  Action: Extended. Making sense of the chamber requires 5 successes 
  and each roll takes twenty minutes. 7 successes (or an exceptional 
  success) are required to learn about the Lyre of Ishtar.
  The chamber’s friezes, which depict scenes from Bashanipal’s life, 
  can impart some information about Bashanipal and the temple itself. 
  The cuneiform writing, on the other hand, cannot be deciphered un-
  less one of the characters happens to read Akkadian or they can get 
  Steele to translate for them.
  Hindrances: Worn by the ages (-1), faltering light (-1)
  Help: Exceptional success interrogating Steele (+2)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: The character examines a frieze a little too vigor-
  ously and it falls from the wall, shattering on the floor. Attempts by 
  other characters cannot yield an exceptional success.
  Failure: It’s just a bunch of bearded guys waving their hands around.
  Success: You make progress examining the chamber.
  Exceptional Success: You make great progress, and learn about the 
  Lyre of Ishtar.
  Upon gaining 5 successes, the examination of the friezes reveals a 
  simplified life story of Bashanipal. He is depicted as a young man with-
  out a beard, apparently one of many priests. Then a kingly or godlike 
  figure, significantly taller than any other figures in the scene, singles 
  him out for some honor. This king wears a bestial mask and looks very 
  unusual compared to the other figures which are in profile. After this 
  Bashanipal is depicted as robed and bearded, and later crowned, and 
  the symbol of a moon in one of its phases (full, crescent, new) is always 
  over his head. He oversees rituals including an apparent sacrifice where 
  naked women are thrown into a pit, and an exorcism where a spirit is 
  shown fleeing from a prostrate man.
  A prayer is written in cuneiform on each of the seals. Each prayer 
  describes one element of Bashanipal’s majesty – his wisdom, his 
  wrath, his loyalty to Marduk, his physical power, his regal pres-
  ence and his devotion to Sin. The first seal is destroyed. Other 
  inscriptions on the friezes show the god-king figure is named 
  Marduk and the lyre (if the characters have deciphered that part) 
  is sacred to Ishtar.
  7 successes (or an exceptional success) allows the character to make 
  sense of another sequence. A lyre is brought to the temple and exam-
  ined (this is the Lyre of Ishtar). It is shown hovering over a number 
  of corpses. Bashanipal then presides over a ceremony where the lyre 
  is locked away in a box which is then branded with the symbol of a 
  crescent moon.
  The Door
  The door to Bashanipal’s tomb is magically sealed to prevent tomb 
  robbers from disturbing his slumber. It is impervious even to modern 
  weaponry (including grenades and explosives). A character who strikes 
  the door in an attempt to break it will be thrown back across the room 
  in a burst of eldritch energy. This inflicts 3 levels of bashing damage 
  to the offending character.
  Consequences
  The characters now have the opportunity to explore the ruins as they 
  wish. If they wander off at random, it is up to the Storyteller which 
  exploration scene he wishes to run next. If Steele is still alive, she will 
  try to escape and do whatever she can to hinder the characters in any 
  confrontation with Bashanipal. If the characters continue to trust her, 
  or if they interrogate her and fail to get the truth from her, she may 
  lead them to the Night Court (see “Promenade of Kings”).
  
  18
  The Promenade of Kings
  Mental • 
  Physical •••• 
  sOcial – 
  Overview
  The characters enter a dramatically-decorated gallery covered in 
  friezes of past kings of Ur. The far end of the gallery has a ceiling-high 
  sculpted diagram describing a ritual of exorcism that was uncovered 
  by Jenks. Before the characters can explore this area (where they can 
  find Jenks’ translation of the ritual), they will have to contend with the 
  vampires of the Night Court, a group of skeletal, starving, subhuman 
  creatures overcome with bloodlust.
  Description
  This poorly-lit area is a long, wide corridor with a row of columns running down 
  the center. It is made of sandy-colored brick and at regular intervals down the walls 
  are sculptures of past kings of Ur. These kings are depicted robed and crowned and 
  almost all are bearded. Their crowns are the flat cylinders typical of Babylonian 
  nobility, and they all carry scepters. The columns are covered in cuneiform. At the 
  far end is a large circular diagram, covered in symbols. Only a couple of electric 
  lanterns are rigged up here, one towards each end of the corridor.
  The darkness will hamper many characters’ actions, typically im-
  posing a -1 or -2 penalty to anything that requires sight (including 
  shooting) unless they have another source of light. The characters’ 
  opponents here have no problem with the dark.
  The Night Court vampires are roosting here. They hang, batlike, from 
  the ceiling, where their ankles were chained when the temple was sealed 
  after Bashanipal’s entombing. The chains and shackles have long since 
  rusted away, and the Night Court have become accustomed to clinging 
  to the Promenade’s ceiling while they wait for prey. These vampires were 
  awoken by the first dig, becoming aware of the intrusion after Jenks had 
  completed his work on the ritual diagram. With their withered forms 
  and leathery skin they resemble mummified corpses hanging from the 
  ceiling like obscene decorations. When the characters approach them 
  (or, if the Storyteller wants to stage an ambush, once some characters 
  have gone past them), the Night Court unfurl themselves, drop to the 
  floor and attack in a flurry of snarling fangs and filthy claws.
  The Night Court attack is a moment of shocking, visceral hor-
  ror. It should be nasty and up close. The Night Court possess both 
  superhuman physical capabilities and some bizarre supernatural 
  vampiric powers, which they will use to their full extent in try-
  ing to kill the characters. The characters, luckily, have modern 
  weaponry to even things up. This scene assumes that the Night 
  Court consists of three roosting vampires, but Storytellers should 
  up this by one or two more if the characters are unusually numer-
  ous or well-equipped, or if they have armed themselves specifically 
  for hunting vampires. Characters who enter the Promenade of the 
  Kings en masse will probably fight the Night Court in this location, 
  but the combat could spread throughout the temple. This is a good 
  way to get the players into other parts of the temple, especially if 
  individual characters find themselves running blindly into the dark 
  pursued by a bloodsucking fiend and blunder into one of the other 
  temple locations. 
  If the characters end up defeating their opponents, they have 
  free run of the Promenade of Kings. The ritual inscription at the 
  far end is the most interesting feature here, though they might also 
  wish to examine the royal inscriptions and roll of priests. Steele can 
  help them with this – she can confirm that there is nothing strange 
  about them, except that Bashanipal’s name is the last on the roll of 
  priests. If nothing else, the rolls of kings and priests can illustrate just 
  how ancient the city of Ur was even during Marduk’s reign. One of 
  the kings of Ur – the last – is depicted as a tiny robed figure sitting 
  dwarfed by another figure, that of Marduk, who is depicted as a god 
  with a stylized bestial face.
  The Ritual
  The ritual diagram is a large circle covering the end wall of the 
  promenade, criss-crossed with lines of dense cuneiform and peppered 
  with symbols quite unlike anything in the cuneiform alphabet. The 
  circle is surrounded by carvings of strange creatures, deformed faces 
  surrounded by formless swirling bodies. In each corner of the wall 
  is the symbol of a skull. At the foot of the wall lies a leather satchel 
  containing pens and a pad of paper, some archeologist’s tools (a small 
  hammer, a set of brushes, a sieve for sifting through material, a trowel 
  and other bits and pieces), a translation of the ritual on a piece of 
  lined paper torn from the pad, and a small notebook in which Jenks 
  wrote down his thoughts.
  
  19
  Jenks’ Diary
  Jenks’ diary describes arriving at the site and directing several 
  dozen Iraqi laborers to start the exploratory trenches. After about a 
  week the entrance chamber has been opened up and it is clear that 
  much of the structure is intact, including the main temple cham-
  ber of the Temple of Sin (although this has been partly disturbed 
  by underground flooding). During the course of the dig Steele 
  stops assisting with the uncovering of sculptures and cuneiform, 
  and spends more and more time in the entrance chamber. Stellan 
  becomes morose and makes dark jokes all the time. The last entry 
  is as follows:
  Storyteller Goals
  Run an exciting and horrific action sequence, and introduce the 
  idea of vampiric opposition. Feed the characters some information 
  about the sacrificial ritual, which can be used later to aid in the fight 
  against Bashanipal.
  Character Goals
  Survive the Night Court, and acquire some information about the 
  temple and its capabilities that might help them against Bashanipal.
  Actions
  The main activity in the Promenade of Kings is fighting the Night 
  Court. They might also check out the friezes or attempt to examine 
  the corpses of the things that attacked them in an attempt to find out 
  what they actually are.
  Was down here for eight hours with that bloody ritual. Got the 
  whole thing worked out now, just need to type it up. Steele didn’t 
  lift a finger. What the hell is she doing in there all day? Haven’t 
  spoken to Stellan, either. Steele’s sent away the natives. How are 
  we supposed to open up this whole place by ourselves? Haven’t even 
  begun on the temple floor or the pit. Spoke to Drake. He wants to 
  leave. Don’t think he’s slept. I want to leave too. Next supply truck 
  I’m gone. If there is a next one. 
   Night. Just spotted mounts for something on the prom-
  enade ceiling. Prisoners manacled there? This place gets 
  worse and worse. 
  Examining the Night Court
  Dice Pool: Intelligence + Medicine or Occult
  Action: Extended. 4 successes are required and each roll takes about 
  20 minutes.
  Hindrances: Horribly mangled corpses (-1)
  Help: Previous experience with vampires (+1), medical equipment (+1)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: The character has no idea what they’re dealing 
  with. They look like withered human corpses.
  Failure: They’re not your typical mummified corpses, but apart from 
  that the character is at a loss.
  Success: These creatures are not human. They appear to have 
  been mummified for a very long time, but even a mummified body 
  shouldn’t have lasted down here for three and a half thousand years. 
  They have no circulation and their lungs are useless, and yet they 
  were very much animated. These are either supernatural in origin or 
  a new species. Their thirst for blood and apparent living dead state 
  suggest the former.
  Exceptional Success: As success, except the character realizes that 
  these things conform to many aspects of common vampire legend.
  Consequences
  The aftermath of the fight with the Night Court is a good time for 
  one of the tomb seals to break. The characters may continue exploring, 
  in which case another exploration scene can follow.
  
  20
  The Priests’ Quarters
  Mental •• 
  Physical – 
  sOcial – 
  Overview
  In the Priests’ Quarters can be found the casket in which the Lyre of Ishtar 
  was sealed, the Lyre itself (a very useful artifact in defeating Bashanipal) and 
  the corpse of the unfortunate Stellan who was killed trying to retrieve the 
  Lyre. Also present is Scorn, a Babylonian spirit who guards the Lyre and who 
  killed Stellan. Characters have the opportunity to acquire the Lyre, find out 
  more about what happened on Steele’s original dig, and encounter Scorn.
  Description
  This area is made up of four large interconnecting chambers. It was 
  originally the place where the Priests of Sin lived and prepared for their 
  daily rituals. There are no lights down here, and characters exploring 
  will have to bring their own light sources. Most soldiers will have a 
  torch or a flare, but the pitch dark will still make a lot of actions more 
  difficult. Most notably, the smell in the Priests’ Quarters is awful. This is 
  thanks to the corpse of Stellan, which has been bloating and putrefying 
  down here for several days. Characters with experience of dead bodies 
  will be able to identify this stench as that of a decaying corpse.
  This area is made up of four interconnecting chambers, mostly intact. The smell 
  here is overwhelmingly awful. The first chamber is full of ceramic jars and among 
  them are artifacts turned dull with time but otherwise in good condition. A waist-
  high statue of creature resembling a bull with a mane of tentacles glints gold in the 
  darkness, and on a low stone table lie a scepter and a mace likewise made of gold.
  The second chamber is dominated by a large stone basin set against one 
  wall. On the floor in a pool of dried blood is a body, its chest and stomach 
  torn open. It has begun to swell and blacken with decay and is clearly the 
  source of the horrible stench down here. On the wall hang three large plates 
  beaten from gold and inscribed with intricate images.
  The third chamber houses a large slab, like a mortuary slab or surgical table. 
  Reddish marks around holes at the head and foot of the table suggest rust, as 
  if something metallic was once mounted there. In the corners of the room are 
  piles of what seems at first to be garbage but is in fact human bones – ribs, 
  femurs, finger bones and sections of skull, all yellowing and turning to dust.
  The fourth chamber is the most spectacular by far. Its walls are decorated with 
  inlaid panels of colored stone, forming a complex pattern that seems to shift and 
  squirm beneath the eye. On the walls are hung nine masks, eight of them wrought 
  from gold and one from glinting obsidian. Steps in one corner lead up to a plinth 
  on which sits a casket carved of dark purple stone, slightly smaller than a coffin. 
  Stellan’s notebook, well-stained with gore and putrescence, lies 
  next to his body where it was thrown clear by Scorn’s messy exit 
  from his stomach. Much of its writing is illegible but the following 
  rants can be made out in Stellan’s cramped, intense hand:
  THEY ARE ALL COSMIC BEINGS of the same universe. 
  Only I can see it. The voice that speaks to us is the cosmos! It is 
  everything! The whole of it must be destroyed to free us. It is the 
  only way. I cannot tell any others because they will not believe me. 
  Jenks did not believe, and I had to kill him. I saw what the cosmos 
  had done to him! All must perish before we all go the same way. 
  The whole world and everything else is against us. Death is my 
  only master now. The Priests’ Quarters are my only solace. Here 
  is the HOLY POWER that will save us. The Lyre of Ishtar did 
  not appear to me by accident. It is here! I know where it is! Sealed 
  in its casket by the EVIL ONES who are the secret lords of our 
  universe! Once I have it I will bring death to them! Only I know. I 
  am a soldier of the universe. I am a child of the holy light. With the 
  Lyre I will be all-powerful. The one who whispers will be the first 
  to die. Everyone and everything else will follow. It is the only way!  
  I am a child of the universe! 
  In the stone casket is the Lyre of Ishtar. The lid is heavy and requires two 
  men to lift. The Lyre is a masterfully crafted instrument, similar in appear-
  ance to a miniature harp. Its frame is made of wood, plated with gold and 
  inlaid with turquoise stone. The emblem of an eight-pointed star wrought in 
  gold on its frame suggests a connection with Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess 
  of the stars. Intricately carved figures of dancing maidens adorn it, and tiny 
  inscriptions spell out a prayer to Ishtar beseeching the goddess to bring joy 
  and prosperity through the music of the heavens. Perhaps the most remark-
  able aspect of the Lyre is the fact that it is completely intact and can still be 
  played. The Lyre is not a mundane treasure but a magical artifact imbued 
  with great power by Ishtar’s priests. These priests formed part of a secret op-
  position to Marduk and Sin, and forged the Lyre for use as a weapon against 
  their alliance, which explains Bashanipal’s decision to lock it away in the 
  temple where it could not be used, except perhaps by him.
  
  21
  The casket also contains Scorn, who provides the greatest threat 
  to the characters in the Priest’s Quarters. Scorn is an evil spirit 
  given the task of guarding the Lyre of Ishtar. When Stellan tried 
  to open the casket, Scorn leaped out and possessed him. How-
  ever, Stellan’s advanced state of madness made him useless for 
  possession, so Scorn simply killed him, bursting out through the 
  unfortunate archaeologist’s chest and stomach before returning 
  to the casket. Should the characters open the casket, Scorn will 
  again spring into action, but when faced with multiple intrud-
  ers he will be far more subtle than he was with Stellan. He will, 
  instead, inhabit a character quietly (either the first to look into 
  the casket, or simply a random onlooker), sitting in the back of 
  the character’s mind until he has the opportunity to take over at 
  the most inconvenient moment. Good times for Scorn to attempt 
  to take over the inhabited character include the fight with the 
  Night Court, the enactment of the exorcism or sacrificial rituals 
  (especially if Scorn gets the chance to throw someone into the 
  Mouth of Sin) or the showdown with Bashanipal. When Scorn 
  strikes, refer to the scene “Suffering Scorn” for more information 
  on running the possession.
  Storyteller Goals
  Add to the mystery of the Temple of Sin and parcel out some informa-
  tion on the story’s background. Give the characters an opportunity to 
  learn about and acquire one of the temple’s most powerful secrets, the Lyre 
  of Ishtar. Set up the possibility of an encounter with Scorn later on.
  Character Goals
  Explore. Doing this can yield information on what happened to Stel-
  lan and Steele’s other assistants, suggest how useful the Lyre of Ishtar 
  might be, and bring the Lyre itself into the characters’ hands.
  Actions
  Studying the grave goods and decorations of the Priests’ Quarters 
  yields little information, although a cursory examination of the 
  grave goods suggests their great value as well as the impossibility 
  fencing them normally. Examining Stellan’s corpse and trying to 
  play the Lyre of Ishtar are the most obvious actions that might take 
  place here.
  Examining Stellan’s Corpse
  Dice Pool: Dexterity or Intelligence + Medicine or Investigation
  Action: Extended. 4 successes are required and each roll takes about 
  20 minutes. 
  Hindrances: Darkness (-1)
  Help: Medical equipment (+1)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: The character punctures Stellan’s colon and 
  inhales a lungful of the most appalling stench possible. The character 
  must make a Stamina + Composure roll or become nauseated for an 
  hour, suffering –1 to tests involving physical activity.
  Failure: The character acquires no information on how the guy died 
  except that it was gory and violent. He’s definitely dead, though.
  Success: The victim has been dead for several days and was killed 
  by something exploding out of his chest and stomach. The character 
  is very unlikely to have previously encountered an injury anything 
  like this.
  Exceptional Success: As “Success.” The character also makes note 
  of tooth or claw marks on the inside of the body’s ribcage. 
  
  22
  Playing the Lyre
  Dice Pool: Presence or Dexterity + Expression
  Action: Instant.
  The Lyre of Ishtar is a functioning musical instrument. Any 
  character can play it, but those familiar with music are more likely 
  to tap into its magical qualities. The Lyre of Ishtar, when played 
  with skill, plays the music of heavens and the stars themselves. 
  This music has the ability to unravel anything unnatural or not 
  of this earth – that is, any supernatural creatures. This includes 
  the vampires of the Night Court, Scorn and Bashanipal himself. 
  The Lyre is therefore a supremely useful tool for the characters. If 
  the characters are supernatural themselves, however, it becomes 
  something of a suicide weapon. The Lyre of Ishtar is extremely 
  valuable as an object of artistic and archaeological significance. 
  As a magical artifact, it is priceless. Powerful students of the oc-
  cult would kill to have it. The Lyre has one massive drawback: 
  its magic is powerful enough to warp a human mind. At the end 
  of a scene in which it is played, the character who played it must 
  make a degeneration roll on 3 dice. If this roll fails, the charac-
  ter’s Morality drops as if he had committed a sin. This loss may 
  prompt derangement as per normal Morality loss. The Lyre does 
  not do its work for free, and it takes a little piece of the player’s 
  soul in return for its music.
  Hindrances: Loud noise (such as combat) (-1)
  Help: Previous experience on a lyre or similar stringed instrument 
  (+1)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: The awful discordant note that issues from the 
  Lyre knocks the character off his feet. The character take 3 bashing 
  damage, but may make a Dexterity + Athletics roll to reduce this by 1 
  for each success. The character must still roll for degeneration at the 
  end of the scene as described above.
  Failure: The Lyre’s music is stilted and atonal, and has no 
  effect. The echoes of heaven’s music are barely audible. The 
  character may still suffer degeneration at the end of the scene, 
  as described above.
  Success: The Lyre lets forth a great burst of harmonious music, 
  streaming down from the heavens. Dozens of stars shine and their 
  light plays around the scene. Each supernatural creature within earshot 
  (including Bashanipal and members of the Night Court) takes a level 
  of aggravated damage for each success, with no reductions for armor 
  or Defense.
  Exceptional Success: The glorious crescendo of music is 
  accompanied by an image of Ishtar herself, a beautiful, regal 
  woman composed of stars. She sings in harmony with the Lyre’s 
  music and a great shaft of starlight falls down upon the scene. 
  Damage is inflicted on supernatural creatures as per “Success,” 
  but mortal creatures are also healed of 1 level of lethal damage 
  per success.
  Consequences
  The acquisition of the Lyre of Ishtar is a powerful boon for characters 
  destined to face Bashanipal. When the characters come into posses-
  sion of the Lyre, the breaking of a tomb seal may help to underline 
  its importance.
  
  23
  Drake
  Mental •• 
  Physical – 
  sOcial •••• 
  Overview
  The characters find Drake, the only surviving archaeological as-
  sistant, and try to quiz him about the Temple of Sin and the fate of 
  Steele’s first expedition. Drake himself is a challenge, since he is too 
  badly traumatized to be of much use in his present state.
  Description
  The corridor leading off from the main temple floor was once lined 
  with small tombs on each side, but one side has collapsed. This area was 
  apparently intended to be decorated with patterned friezes and images 
  of important priests, but the work was unfinished when the temple was 
  sealed, and only a couple of half-sculpted sections remain on the stone 
  walls. A single electric lamp still burns here.
  Of the six small tombs that remain, three are empty, two are sealed 
  and the last is where Drake has walled himself up. The two sealed 
  tombs contain stone coffins with the fragmentary remains of skeletons 
  (the remains of Sin’s priests). Grave goods in these tombs are little 
  more than trash – a few broken jars, some scraps of wood and clay 
  tablets, and a lot of dust. 
  Drake’s tomb has been hastily walled up with bricks taken from 
  the nearby walls. Drake had no mortar, so the bricks require little 
  more than a good shove to open the tomb. Drake himself cowers at 
  the back of the tomb, shivering and sweating with fear. He smells 
  of sweat, urine and terror. Even if he drew the characters’ attention 
  deliberately, he still assumes they are out to harm him and begs 
  them to let him live.
  Storyteller Goals
  Heighten the tension by introducing a character mortally afraid of what-
  ever is waiting for the characters, and allow a change of pace with a social 
  encounter rather than a combat or problem-solving one. This also gives 
  a chance to feed the characters useful information about the temple and 
  the exorcism ritual, and to foreshadow the appearance of Bashanipal.
  
  24
  He knows that during the initial dig, Stellan went crazy 
  •	
  and killed Jenks. (Drake didn’t see this happen but he 
  saw Stellan with his hands covered in blood murmuring 
  about how Jenks had to die. This was what made Drake 
  wall himself up.) He doesn’t know where Stellan is now, 
  but he’s sure Stellan is dangerous. 
  He has heard the whispered voice of Bashanipal and, 
  •	
  though he couldn’t quite place what the monster was 
  saying, he’s certain that it was threatening to suck out his 
  soul. He also believes the monster is named “Bashanipal,” 
  though he cannot be sure whether this is something the 
  voice told him or not. 
  He does not believe Steele can be trusted because she is 
  •	
  in league with Bashanipal (although the characters have 
  probably worked this out for themselves by now).
  He knows the nature of Sin and the rough dates and layout 
  •	
  of the temple, and the basics about the Babylonian Empire 
  (although he does not know that Marduk was something 
  other than human – he thinks that Marduk was a just 
  particularly powerful tyrant). 
  Exceptional Success: As “Success,” but Drake is also willing to ac-
  company the characters in the temple instead of staying in his hiding 
  place. He’ll even fight, although he is still likely to run away if he is 
  hurt or the characters look like they’re losing.
  Consequences
  Drake is an important Storyteller character, if only because he 
  gives the characters someone to talk to and (once he’s calmed down) 
  a potential sounding board for their ideas and a commentator on 
  events. Once the characters calm him down, it is a good idea to have 
  a tomb seal break. This gives Drake something to react to – he is sure 
  that Bashanipal is about to wake, and can underline the fact that the 
  breaking of the seals is an indication of how much time is left before 
  Bashanipal emerges from his tomb. 
  Character Goals
  Explore. Interact with Drake and discover what they can from him.
  Actions
  Dealing the Drake is the most important action the characters can 
  attempt here. 
  Speaking with Drake
  Dice Pool: Manipulation or Presence + Empathy
  Action: Extended. 5 successes are required. Each roll takes 10 minutes.
  Drake is deeply traumatized and must be dealt with carefully 
  if the characters are to get anything out of him. Play up the dif-
  ficulty of talking with Drake – he trusts no-one and is almost 
  paralyzed with fear. Only characters who are sympathetic and 
  kind with Drake will receive any of the valuable information he 
  has to offer.
  Hindrances: Character looks dangerous, such as being covered in 
  blood and gore (-1)
  Help: Food and water (+1), kind smile (+1)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: Drake is reduced to an incontinent wreck, curled 
  up in a fetal position on the floor. The character cannot attempt to 
  speak with him again. 
  Failure: Drake will answer no questions, but the same character may 
  try again in subsequent scenes.
  Success: Once 5 successes are reached, Drake will answer the 
  characters questions. He will not automatically offer up every-
  thing he knows; characters need to ask him about a topic to learn 
  about it. 
  If anyone asks Drake what he knows about the Temple 
  •	
  of Sin in general, he mentions the exorcism ritual he 
  learned during his previous research into Babylonian 
  religion. This can be used to expel Scorn from his host 
  and bind him into the characters’ service (see “Suffer-
  ing Scorn” for more information on this). The ritual 
  requires the “bones of a god,” but Drake isn’t exactly 
  sure what this means. (It is in fact literally true, and 
  Sin’s bones can be used in the ritual.)
  
  25
  The Bones of Sin
  Mental •• 
  Physical – 
  sOcial – 
  Overview
  The characters enter the main temple floor. Here lie the Bones of 
  Sin, the remains of a titanic human figure.
  Details
  The temple floor is spectacular and huge. It is almost the size of a football 
  field, and its roof it held up with eight stout columns. Heaps of sand have 
  spilled through and lie in drifts around the bases of the pillars. The walls are 
  covered in enormous ceiling-high carved reliefs of Sin. He is a tall, handsome 
  male figure shown far taller than priests and kings gathered around his feet, 
  and he is always crowned with a symbol of the moon in one of its phases. 
  At one end of the room is an altar, a raised section of floor in the shape of a 
  crescent moon. 
  Behind the altar is an archway leading to a dark room beyond. In the center 
  of the room is a massive stone casket about five meters long and two wide. An 
  underground stream has broken through into the temple and cut a deep furrow 
  into the floor, through which it still flows. The river has cut into one corner 
  of the stone casket and the casket’s lid has fractured, revealing an enormous 
  skeleton inside. Based on the glimpses you can see of the skeleton, it looks like 
  a man that was ten feet tall. 
  Storyteller Goals
  Crank up the atmosphere! The Bones of Sin represent a scene of 
  great potential horror, and the revelation of Sin’s bones removes 
  any doubt that the Temple of Sin is a profoundly supernatural place. 
  Hint at the possible history of Marduk’s empire, where the Emperor 
  of Babylon and the God of the Moon were allies.
  Character Goals
  Explore, and acquire the bones of a god (if they know about the 
  exorcism ritual).
  Actions
  Breaking Open the Casket
  Dice Pool: Strength + Stamina
  Action: Extended
  The bones are in remarkably good condition, and the rest of the 
  lid can be removed to reveal the whole thing. The lid of the casket is 
  Durability 2, Structure 2. Each success gained in excess of the Durabil-
  ity is a point of Structure damage inflicted. Sin’s bones are those of a 
  human, vastly oversized. The exorcism ritual described in “Suffering 
  Scorn” requires one of these bones.
  Hindrances: Missing appropriate tools (-2)
  Help: Focusing on the fractures in the lid (+1)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: The entire lid falls into the casket, smashing the 
  bones inside to powder. Luckily, a double-handful of the bone pow-
  der will work just as well as a complete bone for the exorcism ritual 
  described in “Suffering Scorn.”
  Failure: No progress is made in breaking open the casket.
  Success: Some progress is made in breaking open the casket.
  Exceptional Success: The lid of the casket is broken off, revealing 
  the intact skeleton inside.
  Consequences
  Characters may continue exploring, in which case move on to 
  another exploration scene. If they choose to check out the archway 
  beyond the altar, move on to “Stone Lions.”
  
  26
  The Mouth of Sin
  Mental •• 
  Physical •• 
  sOcial •• 
  Overview 
  The characters find the sacrificial pit beneath the temple, and have 
  the opportunity to sacrifice a living human in return for great (albeit 
  temporary) power.
  Description
  The sacrificial chamber is beneath the main body of the temple, and unlike 
  the rest of the temple it is a natural cave rather than a man-made structure. 
  The light down here is very faint, coming from some bioluminescent fungi 
  on the ceiling, and the chamber is extremely dark. Stalactites drip from the 
  ceiling and the stone is cold and slick to the touch. Benches are cut into the 
  walls for observers to watch whatever went on down here. In the center of 
  the room is a large pit, about six meters across and four deep. 
  The floor of the pit is silty mud. This pit was cut into the floor 
  and was not originally part of the natural cave. This is the Mouth of 
  Sin, probably the most dangerous and ill-omened place in all of Ur. 
  The ritual of sacrifice described by Jenks’ notes in the “Promenade of 
  Kings” scene will work here. All the sacrificer has to do is throw some 
  hapless soul into the pit and say the prayer of sacrifice out loud. If the 
  sacrificial victim is already dead or isn’t human, nothing happens and 
  the characters will have to decide whether or not to try again. 
  Black holes open up in the mud floor of the pit – not holes but mouths, 
  ringed with glistening ivory teeth. They wail and snarl, creating an appalling 
  cacophony as they chew at the sacrifice. The victim is held spread-eagled on 
  the floor by mouths clamping down on (his/her) arms and legs, and then bitten 
  and chewed by the mouths until (he/she) comes apart in their grasp and the 
  gory chunks of the corpse are dragged below the ground. For a few moments 
  there is silence, broken only by the drip of water from the stalactites. Then a 
  silver light gathers around the sacrificer, suddenly streaming from his eyes and 
  mouth in beams of what looks like moonlight. Instantly, the moment is gone 
  and the sacrificer has received the blessing of Sin. He knows that he is stronger 
  and more capable – he feels like he can do anything. The rush is euphoric, but 
  it’s matched by the horror of what had to be done to achieve it.
  
  27
  roll instant, but the thrower or throwers must have a combined Strength 
  of 3 to lift a Size 5 person. See the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 
  47-48 for more on lifting. 
  Hindrances: Slick, slippery stone (-1 to each combatant)
  Help: None
  Consequnces
  If a sacrifice is made, this is an excellent time to have a tomb 
  seal shatter. Characters can continue exploring, in which case you 
  should move on to another exploration scene. The most profound 
  consequences can be internal in this scene, as the characters have 
  potentially traded in the life of a human being for an increased chance 
  of their own survival.
  Sin’s blessing is powerful, and imbues the sacrificer with the 
  strength, wisdom and skill of a deity. For the remainder of the 
  story the sacrificer gains the 8 Again rule to all the rolls he 
  makes. Furthermore, he can see in complete and even magical 
  darkness. Sacrificing a living being is a heinous act, and the 
  sacrificer (and anyone who assisted) must make Morality rolls as 
  per a planned murder – any character with Morality 3 or more 
  must make a degeneration roll on 2 dice. As noted previously, 
  if Scorn inhabits a character who knows the sacrificial prayer, 
  than he would take great delight in pushing another character 
  (Storyteller character or player character) into the pit and 
  watching them get devoured gruesomely.
  A character can enter the pit (taking falling damage if they are 
  thrown or fall in – the pit is easy to stumble into while blunder-
  ing around in the dark) without being consumed, as long as the 
  sacrificial prayer is not said out loud while they are in there. Dig-
  ging around in the pit reveals a few well-chewed bones below the 
  surface of the silt, though only a proper forensic examination will 
  demonstrate them to be human (they are in too poor a condition 
  to tell otherwise).
  Storyteller Goals
  Create a sense of distant horror as the characters realize what the pit 
  is for and create a moral dilemma for the players to debate. To create a 
  moment of visceral horror should the sacrifice go ahead, and potentially 
  arm the players with potent abilities for use against Bashanipal while 
  extracting from them a terrible cost.
  Character Goals
  Discover the Mouth of Sin. Deal with the question of whether to 
  sacrifice to Sin, even if one of the characters will gain some extremely 
  useful abilities in doing so.
  Actions
  Pushing or Throwing Someone into the Pit
  Dice Pool: Strength + Stamina vs. Strength + Stamina
  Action: Contested
  Unwilling targets must be grappled first (see the World of Darkess 
  Rulebook, pp. 157-159). Throwing an unconscious target makes the 
  
  28
  Stone Lions
  Mental • 
  Physical •••• 
  sOcial – 
  Overview
  A side chamber leading off from the main temple contains a pair of 
  dramatically sculpted stone lions, as well as the corpse of the unfortu-
  nate Jenks. The stone lions are magical and have fed on Jenks’ corpse. 
  If the corpse is disturbed, they animate and attack.
  Description
  This chamber is a sort of side chapel, leading off from the main temple. The 
  chamber is quite plain and has suffered some wear over the millennia. Deep 
  cracks run down the walls and dust is everywhere. Inside the chamber are 
  two large stone lions, dramatically sculpted into poses of fierce guardianship. 
  The lions stand flanking a large stone basin raised off the floor. A corpse lies 
  draped over the front edge of the basin, and there is congealed and semi-dried 
  blood all over the chamber floor.
  The chamber was used for ceremonial ablutions by priests and visitors, 
  and the lions were put there to pounce on any visitors who were not 
  pure in their devotion to Sin. The lions have blood flecked around their 
  stone lips, but this will only be obvious to a character who specifically 
  examines them. The corpse is Jenks.
  Storyteller Goals 
  This combat is intended as an interlude in the main story, a 
  moment of action that lets the characters loose off a few rounds 
  and maybe blow something up. At the Storyteller’s option the 
  combat can be skipped, and this scene will consist of finding 
  Jenks’ body. 
  Jenks’ body lies draped over the front edge of the basin. He has 
  been down here for a few days and stinks (although not as badly 
  as Stellan in the “Priests’ Quarters” scene). He lies on his front, 
  and though there is plenty of blood on the chamber floor, his 
  injuries will only be revealed if he is turned over. After his throat 
  was slit by Stellan, the lions animated and bit large chunks out of 
  his torso. Examining Jenks’ body to see how he died will reveal 
  that most of his chest and stomach have been torn away and are 
  nowhere to be seen. The character will have no more time to fin-
  ish the examination because that’s when the lions growl (a terrible 
  gravelly sound), break from their plinths and start mauling anyone 
  in front of them.
  Character Goals
  To discover what happened to Jenks, and to survive the lions.
  Actions
  The lions are saving the rest of Jenks for later, and will animate 
  to attack the characters if Jenks’ body is disturbed, since they don’t 
  want their first meal in thousands of years to be taken away. The 
  lions are tough, but they have to be up close to hurt the characters, 
  so guns and especially explosives are handy here. The lions are 
  also very large, and if all the characters flee the chamber, the lions 
  might get stuck in the doorway trying to get through at the same 
  time. The lions are stupid and can be tricked into charging into 
  the underground river from which they will have a lot of difficulty 
  escaping. Finally, the chamber itself is structurally unsound, and a 
  couple of grenades can collapse the ceiling, burying the lions and 
  ending their threat.
  Consequences
  Once the fight with the lions is over, this is a good time to have a 
  tomb seal shatter. Characters can carry on exploring the temple, mov-
  ing on to another exploration scene.
  
  29
  Suffering Scorn
  Mental •• 
  Physical • 
  sOcial ••• 
  Overview
  The spirit Scorn takes over one of the characters. The characters 
  can perform an exorcism ritual to expel him from the character and 
  bind Scorn to serve them.
  Description
  This scene can kick in any time after “Priests’ Quarters,” preferably 
  while the characters are doing something tense or dramatic (like 
  combat or the sacrificial ritual). Scorn tries to take over one of the 
  characters and control his actions, creating as much mayhem as pos-
  sible – when he makes his move, use the possession rules on p. 212 of 
  the World of Darkness Rulebook to see if he succeeds.
  Scorn has no long-term plans; he just wants to screw the characters 
  over. The simplest way of doing this is to have his host attack the other 
  characters. If at all possible, however, Scorn should do something a bit 
  more imaginative: setting off explosives, sacrificing someone, freeing 
  Steele or a captured insurgent, or leading the characters into the Night 
  Court ambush. Scorn can also be used to lead the characters into a 
  previously unexplored part of the temple. 
  Actions
  Performing the Ritual
  Drake knows the ritual that will force Scorn out of the character 
  and force him to obey the characters. Assuming the characters get his 
  information out of Drake and have one of (or some of) Sin’s bones, 
  the ritual can proceed.
  First, the possessed character (no doubt spitting Scorn’s imaginative 
  curses) must be restrained and laid on the floor in a circle drawn on the 
  ground. An item personal to the possessed character is then destroyed. 
  Examples of this might be the burning of a photograph, the smashing 
  of a weapon or the removal of a patch of skin with a tattoo on it. An 
  image of the sun is inscribed on the character’s flesh - a circle with 
  some lines radiating out from it will do, and it can either be cut or 
  burned into the skin. The final stage involves sprinkling some dust 
  made from the “bones of a god” onto the possessed character and in-
  toning a hymn to the sun god Shamash. This dust can be made from 
  pounding a bone from Sin’s corpse into fragments. The hymn, which 
  can be spoken in English, is
  “Lord Sun, Child of Night and Father of Dawn, expel the wickedness 
  from this soul. Break it, burn it, curse it and cast it out. O Shamash, 
  Lord of Light, enslave it, so that it will serve us as we serve you.”
  Scorn will make every attempt to disrupt this ritual. He will try to 
  escape his bonds and talk his way out of it, trying threats, reason and 
  pleading in rapid succession. Bashanipal may also understand what is 
  happening and whisper to the participating characters, hinting that the 
  ritual is a trap and the Drake is lying to them, or that only Bashanipal 
  himself can cure the possessed character. Whatever happens, remember 
  the rule of horror stories: exorcisms never go smoothly.
  If Scorn is forced out, the characters can see him for the creepy little 
  creature he is. He now has to do whatever the characters will say, al-
  though he will sulk about his lot at every opportunity. He has to answer 
  their questions, too, although all he knows is that he was minding his 
  own business feeding off Babylon’s misery when Bashanipal summoned 
  him and forced him to inhabit some stupid box. Scorn remembers Baby-
  lon as a land of plenty, where Marduk the God-King (Scorn doesn’t 
  know what Marduk actually was, other than that he wasn’t human) 
  was such a ruthless and wanton tyrant that wrath, jealousy and despair 
  were everywhere and a spirit could feed off them at his leisure. He can 
  also tell the characters that he tried possessing Stellan, but that poor 
  bastard was too insane to be of any use.  After his messy escape from 
  Stellan, Scorn went back to wait for the next potential host. If asked 
  why he didn’t explode the character he possessed, Scorn replies that 
  without a host or a binding point nearby (like the casket or, after the 
  ritual, the characters) Scorn couldn’t exist outside a host and would 
  have fizzled away into nothing. Scorn will, if instructed, help in the 
  fight against Bashanipal during “Oh Shit, We’re All Going To Die” 
  and can be a useful ally. 
  Consequences
  The immediate consequences of this scene depend on when Scorn 
  decided to make his move. This is also a good time to have one of the 
  seals break.
  
  30
  Screw This, I’m Getting 
  Out of Here
  Mental • 
  Physical •••• 
  sOcial •• 
  Overview
  The characters flee the Temple of Sin and find themselves in hostile ter-
  ritory. They encounter the Night Court or a group of insurgents and then 
  a coalition vehicle patrol before Bashanipal catches up with them.
  Description
  This scene is something of a last resort, as the plot of Ruins of Ur 
  is designed to take characters through the Temple of Sin to the final 
  confrontation with Bashanipal.
   However, players may ignore their orders and the various devices 
  used to keep them at the ruins, and choose to flee into the desert 
  rather than wait for Bashanipal to wake and face him. This is not an 
  unreasonable course of action, but it will still end up in a throwdown 
  with Bashanipal, and has consequences of its own.
  Firstly, Church will die. Her injuries are severe enough that if moved, 
  her internal injuries will rupture and she will bleed out. If she is left 
  behind, she will be Bashanipal’s first meal. Secondly, the characters 
  are in the middle of nowhere and they will inevitably run into a group 
  of insurgents during the night. 
  Should any characters survive the confrontation with Bashani-
  pal, then a remaining soldier can drive them the rest of the way 
  to base when dawn breaks. If no soldiers remain, the characters 
  will have to drive themselves. Back at base, the characters prob-
  ably won’t even have time for the traditional ice cold beer before 
  they are ushered into a darkened room and given a very thorough 
  debriefing indeed.
  Storyteller Goals
  Provide a gruesome, frightening and intense finale. Make sure the 
  characters don’t get off easily by fleeing – in fact, they’ll probably have 
  it worse than if they had explored the temple.
  Character Goals
  Survive and get home. Maybe to kill Bashanipal if they want to stop 
  him from roving around Iraq feeding on innocent people.
  Actions
  The Inevitable Fight
  What the characters do and where they go is up to them. They might 
  strike out on foot, or just camp a short distance from the ruins. In any 
  case, the Storyteller has a choice. 
  If the characters have not yet encountered the Night 
  •	
  Court and the Storyteller wants to foreshadow the 
  later encounter with Bashanipal, then the Night Court 
  scuttle out of the shadows to kill the characters before 
  they bring any more intruders to the temple (see “The 
  Promenade of Kings” for some suggestions about running 
  this encounter). If they dispatch the vampires, they wind 
  up encountering a patrol of soldiers (below).
  If the Storyteller doesn’t want to introduce vampires 
  •	
  until Bashanipal himself, or the characters have 
  already dispatched the Night Court, a patrol of insur-
  gents finds them (or if the characters kept moving, 
  
  31
  they and the patrol run into one another). There are 
  five insurgents traveling in a technical, but this time 
  their vehicle works. Ideally this encounter will occur 
  near some cover or shelter, such as an abandoned 
  farm or a group of burned-out vehicles, allowing for 
  some tactical thinking by both sides. At this point the 
  characters can go back to the temple, stay where they 
  are or press on. 
  The characters encounter a patrol of soldiers on their way back 
  to their base (this might well be the characters’ own home base if 
  they are military characters). If the characters are getting their asses 
  handed to them in the above encounter, the patrol might arrive 
  to investigate the gunfire. Otherwise, the characters run into the 
  patrol. There may be the potential for misunderstanding and even 
  friendly fire, particularly if the characters are driving the insurgents’ 
  technical. The patrol is led by Captain David O’Connel, a gruff 
  American combat veteran, and consists of an armored personnel 
  carrier (APC) and a self-propelled gun. It has six soldiers, four 
  in the APC and two gun crew, who have been awake for almost 
  twenty-four hours and have itchy trigger fingers given the reports of 
  major insurgent pushes into the area. They will probably be willing 
  to take the characters back to base unless the characters are obvi-
  ously up to no good.
  After the characters hook up with the patrol, Bashanipal 
  catches up with them. He has woken from his tomb and fol-
  lowed the characters’ trail to the coalition patrol. If the char-
  acters left Church behind, his first action is to hurl her drained 
  corpse onto whatever vehicle the characters are driving. He 
  then kills the crew of the self-propelled gun, rips a wheel off 
  the APC and attacks the soldier spilling out of it – starting 
  with the player characters.
  Bashanipal in particular wants the player characters (and he 
  knows which ones they are) because they were promised to him as 
  a meal, so the characters are likely to be forced into action against 
  him. The characters have the assistance of the coalition soldiers, but 
  are unlikely to have acquired the secrets of the Temple of Sin (the 
  Lyre, the sacrifice and Scorn) to help them out. Also, Bashanipal 
  now has at least 5 points of Vitae in his system (he’s fed on either 
  Church, a hapless insurgent straggler or both) and has activated 
  Stone of Ur, Fist of Sin and Moonlight’s Speed (in Requiem terms, 
  Resilience, Vigor and Celerity, respectively) before the fight begins. 
  Otherwise, this encounter unfolds much the same as in “Oh Shit, 
  We’re All Going To Die.”
  Consequences
  The characters have opportunities before meeting the coali-
  tion patrol to return to the Temple of Sin. Otherwise, following 
  the clash with Bashanipal, the story has ended. Move on to to 
  the Aftermath.
  
  32
  Oh Shit, We’re All  
  Going to Die
  Mental •• 
  Physical ••••• 
  sOcial • 
  Overview
  The sixth seal breaks and Bashanipal’s tomb opens. Bashanipal tries 
  to kill the characters and drink their blood. Characters may have 
  prepared for this fight with traps, defenses and so on.
  Description
  The door to the tomb shudders and the entrance chamber shakes with 
  it. The whole temple rumbles with the power building up behind the door, 
  dust and debris falling as stones are shaken loose. Finally the tomb door 
  falls forward, hitting the ground with a deafening crash. Behind it, framed 
  in the light of the oil lanterns now somehow burning in the tomb itself, 
  is a towering figure dressed in priestly regalia and a crown bearing the 
  emblems of the moon. His face is an inhuman mask of dead gray flesh, his 
  hands are impossibly long and gnarled, and in his hand he holds a massive 
  bronze sword. Hatred, pure and black, seethes in his eyes.
  The breaking of the final seal is a significant event, which should 
  not be lost on the players. Bashanipal is loose, and now it’s time to 
  have that promised showdown with him. Characters may have used 
  the gradual shattering of the tomb seals to prepare for this battle by 
  setting up a barricade, rigging traps or explosives, bringing the ma-
  chine gun from the technical, preparing firing positions and so on. 
  All these are good plans, and the Storyteller should cut the characters 
  a break for coming up with them – after all, that’s thinking like a 
  soldier. The success or failure of the preparations is discussed at the 
  end of this scene.
  Bashanipal’s insanity has been exacerbated by millennia of super-
  natural sleep, but he’s still dangerously cunning. He uses his various 
  powers cleverly, in particular by dominating the characters and using 
  them against each other. He likes to cripple characters and pick them 
  up to feed, biting into their necks with his grotesque fangs (which 
  might give the other characters a moment of respite). 
  Though Bashanipal promised he wouldn’t hurt Steele when he 
  awoke, this was a blatant lie. He is quite happy to drink her blood 
  and she will probably be his first meal if she’s around. Steele will only 
  realize her master’s betrayal when he sinks his fangs in. He will also 
  drink his fill from other Storyteller characters like Drake or a captured 
  insurgent if he gets the chance. If the fight goes outside, he might prey 
  on the invalid Church.
  This is the story’s climax, and it should feel like it. Bashanipal needs 
  to earn his screen time – have him speak to ensure the characters 
  know what he thinks of them (they are just vermin compared to his 
  divinely blessed stature) and sacrifice Storyteller characters to un-
  derline his ruthlessness. Characters who try to fight toe-to-toe with 
  Bashanipal are in real danger of dying.
  Storyteller Goals
  Provide a dramatic climax and present a memorable arch-villain. 
  Up the ante by threatening the players with immediate hideous death. 
  Finally, bring the story to a close, whichever side prevails.
  Character Goals
  Survival: try to kill Bashanipal before he kills them.
  Actions
  Preparing for the final battle with explosives or traps and 
  begging for mercy from Bashanipal are some actions characters 
  might attempt to help their chances of survival. Rigging ex-
  plosives can be done using the rules on p. 178 of the World of 
  Darkness Rulebook. 
  Rigging Traps
  Dice Pool: Intelligence + Crafts or Survival
  Action: Extended. At least 4 successes are required, but characters 
  may take more time up to a maximum of 8 successes. Each roll takes 
  half an hour per trap.
  Hindrances: Low-quality materials (-2)
  Help: High-quality materials (+2)
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: The trap won’t work, but the character thinks 
  it will.
  Failure: The trap won’t work and the character knows it.
  
  33
  Success: The trap, when triggered, will inflict levels of bashing 
  damage equal to the successes rolled. A target can mitigate up to three 
  levels of damage with a Dexterity + Athletics roll.
  Exceptional Success: As “Success,” but the damage is lethal.
  Pleading for Mercy
  Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion
  Action: Instant.
  Hindrances: Character has already attacked Bashanipal (-1)
  Help: None. It’s up to the character’s powers of persuasion.
  Roll Results
  Dramatic Failure: Bashanipal is so offended by the character’s pathetic 
  pleading that he drops whatever he is doing to kill the character next.
  Failure: Bashanipal ignores the character’s pleas.
  Success: Bashanipal offers to spare the character’s life if the char-
  acter turns against his fellows. After all the other characters are dead, 
  Bashanipal tries to kill the pleading character anyway. The pleading 
  was successful in that it bought a few more minutes of life.
  Exceptional Success: Bashanipal sees in the pleading character a 
  soul who can be molded to his will. He offers to spare the character’s 
  life and even to extend it far past mortal bounds, if the character 
  turns against his fellows and pledges eternal allegiance to Bashanipal 
  and Sin. After the conflict, if the character is still alive, Bashanipal 
  is as good as his word and turns the character into a vampire to bet-
  ter serve him. Should the character turn on Bashanipal after this 
  point, Bashanipal will kill him immediately.
  Consequences
  This is the story’s climax. Move on to the Aftermath section, if 
  anyone’s still alive.
  Aftermath
  If the characters are still at the Temple of Sin, then rescue is com-
  ing. As dawn breaks, a helicopter arrives to pick up the survivors. On 
  board is a medic who can get Church on board and start treating her. 
  With surgery and convalescence, she will live. The pilot, Lt. Chuck 
  Duquesne (who is a soft-spoken, level-headed man), will ask what 
  happened, but if descriptions from the survivors get too outlandish, 
  he will tell them to save it for the debriefing. 
  The information that the supernatural exists and that something 
  supernatural ruled an empire more than three millennia ago is likely 
  to be life-changing for the survivors of Ur. If they are mercenaries or 
  military characters, they will receive some form of debriefing. How 
  much do they tell? The answer is up to the characters, as are the 
  consequences for telling or concealing the truth. The characters need 
  to at least come up with some answers to explain the deaths of any 
  personnel during the mission.
  The greater repercussions of the story are not to be underestimated. 
  Should the U.S. Army learn of the secrets beneath Ur, it will institute 
  an ARCHINT program to find other artifacts like the Lyre of Isis for 
  use against supernatural and mortal enemies. They will also seek to 
  catalog the sinister history of Mesopotamia in the hope of finding any 
  ancient force influencing events in Iraq. The Babylonian Empire, 
  meanwhile, does not die with Bashanipal. Other priests of Sin and 
  courtiers of Marduk slumber beneath the Mesopotamian plains, and 
  perhaps Bashanipal’s awakening has spurred some of them to action. 
  Will the coalition and the insurgency alike find themselves fighting 
  an ancient foe that emerges from beneath their feet, hungry for blood? 
  What heinous weapons might the military deploy against such a foe? 
  And what will happen if they lose?
  Experience
  As per usual, characters who survive the story are rewarded two points 
  of experience (one for taking part and one for facing the dangers inher-
  ent in the story). Other points are the at the Storyteller’s discretion 
  but here are some suggestions.
  Defeating Bashanipal (+1 experience point)
  •	
  Bashanipal is incontrovertibly destroyed, perhaps by fire 
  •	
  (+1 experience point)
  Good roleplaying, including getting into the mindset of a 
  •	
  soldier and reacting realistically to the horrible situations 
  inflicted upon the characters in the ruins (+1 experience 
  point, rising to 2 points if the player’s depictions of his 
  character’s behavior added greatly to the story). 
  Characters who change dramatically internally because 
  •	
  of the story (+1 experience point).
  
    
   
   
          
   
           
        
    
    
    
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
  Interrogating a Prisoner: 
  Badly wounded prisoner (-1)
  Helping Church:  
  Under fire (-2)
  Going Down
  —
  —
  Interrogating a Prisoner:  
  (For characters) Previous 
  brutality (+1), prisoner is sole 
  survivor (+1); (for prisoner) 
  Religious fervor (+2)
  Helping Church: Trauma 
  kit (+2)
  An exciting action sequence that sets up the situation for the rest of the story.
  Survive. Maybe kick some ass.
  The Maw
  ­•­•­•­­
  •• 
  ••
  ­••­•­•
  There are four insurgents in 
  total: one on the technical, 
  two taking cover behind a 
  pile of rubble and another 
  in the cover of the timbers 
  shoring up the entrance to 
  the ruins.
  Horribly mangled corpses (-1)
  The Promenade of Kings
  Previous experience with 
  vampires (+1), medical 
  equipment (+1)
  Throw a horrific action sequence at the characters. Provide them with the opportunity 
  to learn about the sacrificial pit and the power it can grant them.
  Survive the Night Court. To discover more about the temple,  
  in particular the sacrificial pit.
  The Priests’ Quarters
  There are two excerpts from 
  Jenks’ diary here (p. xx).
  Potential seal breaking.
  Interrogating Steele: 
  Failure while interrogating 
  insurgent (-1)
  Examining the chamber: 
  Worn by the ages (-1), 
  faltering light (-1)
  Interrogating Steele:  
  (For characters) Previous 
  brutality (+1), success at in-
  terrogating insurgent (+1);  
  (for Steele) An insane 
  conviction that keeps her 
  from speaking too much of 
  her “master” (+2)
  Examining the chamber: 
  Exceptional success inter-
  rogating Steele (+2)
  Reveal Steele’s treachery and set up the threat of Bashanipal  
  and the significance of the door seals breaking.
  Work out that Steel has screwed them over  
  and gain information about their predicament.
  Striking the door to the tomb 
  will cause the character to 
  be thrown back across the 
  room, inflicting 3 bashing.
  First seal breaks.
  Examining Stellan’s Corpse: 
  Darkness (-1)
  Playing the Lyre: Loud noise 
  (such as combat; -1)
  Examining Stellan’s Corpse: 
  Medical Equipment (+1)
  Playing the Lyre: Previous 
  experience on a lyre or other 
  stringed instrument (+1)
  Add mystery to the Temple of Sin and to enable the characters  
  to acquire the Lyre of Ishtar. Set up a future conflict with Scorn.
  Explore and discover the Lyre of Ishtar.
  There is an excerpt from Stel-
  lan’s notebook here (p. xx),  
  as well as the Lyre of Ishtar 
  and Scorn.
  Potential seal breaking.
  ­••­­
  — 
  —
  ­•­
  ­­­­­­•••• 
  —
  12
  15
  18
  20
  
    
   
   
          
   
           
        
    
    
    
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
  Character looks dangerous,  
  such as being covered in 
  blood and gore (-1)
  Drake
  ••
  ­••­•­•
  Food and water (+1),  
  kind smile (+1)
  Provide useful information to the characters via Drake. Run a relatively sedate social encounter as 
  a change of pace. Increase the sense of impending doom and mystery, again through Drake.
  Find out more about what is going on.
  The Bones of Sin
  ­•­•­­
  — 
  —
  —
  Potential seal breaking.
  Slick, slippery stone  
  (-1 to each combatant)
  The Mouth of Sin
  None
  Provide a powerful moral dilemma for the characters,  
  and create a chance for inter-character conflict.
  Acquire mystical power through the sacrifice,  
  or oppose the sacrifice on moral grounds.
  Stone Lions
  Potential seal breaking.
  Missing appropriate tools (-2)
  Focusing on the fractures in 
  the lid (+1)
  Provide an eerie scene illustrating the supernatural nature  
  of the temple and Marduk’s empire.
  Explore. Acquire a bone from Sin’s corpse.
  Contains the bones of Sin 
  needed for the ritual.
  Lions are very tough.
  Lions are stupid, large 
  and need to be up close 
  to hurt the characters.
  Provide an exciting combat encounter.
  Survive the lions.
  Potential seal breaking.
  ­•­­
  ­­­­­•••• 
  —
  ­••­
  ­­­­­­•• 
  ••
  23
  25
  26
  28
  
    
   
   
          
   
           
        
    
    
    
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
   mental 
  physical 
  social  
  scene:
  Pcs
  h i n d r a n c e s
  h e l P
  sts
  Other
  None
  Suffering Scorn
  •­•
  •­•­•
  None
  Run a different form of conflict, that of an evil force possessing the character. 
  Give characters the chance to acquire Scorn’s services.
  Deal with Scorn.
  Screw This, I’m Getting Out of Here
  ­•­­
  ­­­­­••­•­• 
  ••
  ­•
  The ritual is the result of 
  information gained in 
  the temple rather than 
  characters’ own occult 
  knowledge or abilities, 
  and doesn’t require a roll 
  to use.
  Potential seal breaking.
  Rigging Traps: 
  Low-quality materials (-2).
  Pleading for Mercy: 
  Character has already at-
  tacked Bashanipal (-1).
  Oh Shit, We’re All Going To Die
  Rigging Traps: 
  High-quality materials (+2).
  Provide a spectacular climax.
  Survive. Possibly to kill Bashanipal  
  so he does not become a threat to the wider world.
  None
  Insurgents.
  Night court vampires.
  Bashanipal.
  None. The characters are 
  on their own.
  Provide a climax to the story. Illustrate how fleeing  
  is not enough to avoid Bashanipal’s hunger.
  Survive and get home.
  Church will die.
  ­••­
  ­­­­­­••••• 
  •
  29
  30
  32
  
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Faction:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Group Name:
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Faction:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Group Name:
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Faction:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Group Name:
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Faction:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Group Name:
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  Notes
  Notes
  Notes
  Notes
  Miranda Steele                Faith
       Driven  
                 Pride
        Archeologist                  
  Shoot Back
  Miranda isn’t much of a shot, but she’ll sure as hell 
  return fire if the characters try to kill her (and given 
  her role in the story, that’s a very real possibility).
  Run Like Hell
  Miranda is expecting trouble, knows the ruins, and 
  is a very fit woman. She’s ready to run for it.
  Roger Drake  
                 Prudence
      Traumatised  
                  Sloth
        Postgraduate            
  Maintenance
  Drake has convinced himself that the only 
  way to survive is to be the Michael Jordan of 
  hide-and-seek.
    
  Lt. Deborah Church  
    Justice
       Gung-Ho  
                   Lust
        Chopper Pilot                  
  Pilot
  Church is a damned good pilot. Flying is her life.
  
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Clan:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Covenant:
  Intelligence 
  Strength 
  Presence
  Wits 
  Dexterity 
  Manipulation
  Resolve 
  Stamina 
  Composure
  Notes         
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
       Skills         
       Merits         
  Humanity
  Size
  Speed
  Defense
  Initiative Mod
  Armor
       Disciplines    
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
       Willpower     
         Health                             
     Blood Potency  
          Vitae                                
  oooooooooooo
  oooooooooo
  oooooooooo
         Flaws        
  Vitae per turn  
  Armor 
  Bashanipal’s priestly vestments are thrice-blessed 
  implements of Sin’s worship. They grant him 3 
  points of armor (2 against firearms).
  Attack
   Bashanipal rolls 10 dice (Strength + Weaponry, +3 
  dice for his sword) when attacking in melee. His attack 
  pool can be increased by improving his Strength (see 
  “Fist of Sin” below). His sword does lethal damage.
  Undead
   Bashanipal takes bashing damage, not lethal dam-
  age, from firearms.
  Blood
   Bashanipal’s vampiric powers are fueled by blood, 
  in the form of Vitae. Bashanipal starts with only 3 
  Vitae in his system, and he wants more. He can get 
  it by grappling an opponent, as described on p. 159 
  of the World of Darkness Rulebook. Bashanipal may 
  choose to inflict only 1 point of lethal damage that 
  turn, and in exchange gain 1 point of Vitae. Since 
  he has very little blood in his system, he will have 
  to do this if he wants to use all his powers.
  Heal Wounds
   Bashanipal can spend Vitae to heal his wounds. 
  As a reflexive action, he can heal 2 points of bash-
  ing damage or 1 point of lethal damage per point 
  of Vitae he spends. He can spend up to 3 points 
  of Vitae in this way every turn. He cannot heal 
  aggravated damage in this way.
  Moonlight’s Speed
   By spending 1 Vitae, Bashanipal calls upon the 
  moon as an instant action to grant him supernatural 
  speed for the remainder of the scene. This adds 2 to 
  his Initiative and increases his Speed to 33. It also 
  subtracts 2 from assailants’ dice pools to attack him 
  as he dodges and weaves with impossible speed (this 
  applies to both melee and ranged attacks).
   Bashanipal  
   
     Faith  
   
  Nosferatu
           Ancient             
  Pride
         Babylonian Evil 
  Disarm
  Fast Reflexes  
  Giant
  Occult
  Politics (Religious)
  Athletics
  Brawl 
  Weaponry (Sword)
  Expression
  Intimidation
   Persuasion (His Own    
    Superiority)
  Socialize
  Subterfuge
             2
  6
      11
          2
                      7
        3/2  
  Celerity
  Majesty 
  Nightmare
  Resilience
  Vigor
    13/2
  Bashanipal  
  Fist of Sin
  Bashanipal can spend 1 Vitae to imbue himself 
  with the divine Strength of Sin as an instant 
  action. For the remainder of the scene, Basha-
  nipal adds 3 to his Strength, and his Speed 
  increases to 14. When active at the same time 
  as “Moonlight’s Speed,” Bashanipal’s Speed 
  increases to 36.
  Stone of Ur
   Bashanipal can spend 1 Vitae to turn his dead 
  flesh as tough as the foundations of Ur itself as an 
  instant action. For the remainder of the scene, he 
  adds 4 points to his Stamina. This increases his 
  Health to 10, and the first 4 points of aggravated 
  damage inflicted on him after he activates it are 
  reduced to lethal damage.
  The Face of the Moon
   Bashanipal is ugly enough, but he can also 
  channel the monstrous evil within him to turn 
  his face into a vision of horror as an instant ac-
  tion. Bashanipal rolls 10 dice, opposed by his 
  target’s Composure. If he wins, the target flees 
  for a number of turns equal to the successes 
  by which Bashanipal defeated the target. The 
  target will get out of sight of Bashanipal and 
  try to hide. Once a character has been affected 
  by Face of the Moon, he cannot be affected 
  by it again.
  Kneel to Sin
   Bashanipal’s arrogance finds form in his ability 
  to compel others to become his followers. He 
  may spend a turn radiating majesty and authority, 
  enough to cow a character into serving him. Basha-
  nipal rolls 5 dice. His target rolls his Composure. If 
  Bashanipal wins, the target becomes Bashanipal’s 
  servant for the remainder of the scene. This effect 
  will end if Bashanipal attacks or otherwise harms 
  the affected character.
  Abilities
  
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Clan:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Covenant:
  Intelligence 
  Strength 
  Presence
  Wits 
  Dexterity 
  Manipulation
  Resolve 
  Stamina 
  Composure
  Notes         
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
       Skills         
       Merits         
  Humanity
  Size
  Speed
  Defense
  Initiative Mod
  Armor
       Disciplines    
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
       Willpower     
         Health                             
     Blood Potency  
          Vitae                                
  oooooooooooo
  oooooooooo
  oooooooooo
         Flaws        
  Vitae per turn  
  Attack
  Moonshadow rolls 6 dice to attack with his sacrificial 
  dagger, but prefers to do this to unsuspecting targets 
  from the darkness. Warrior-Priest is more warlike 
  and charges into combat with his axe, rolling 8 dice. 
  Obsidian Claw attacks with his bare hands, rolling 
  5 dice, unless he grows his claws (see “Tiamat’s 
  Fangs,” below), in which case he rolls 6. 
  Undead 
  The Night Court take bashing damage, not lethal 
  damage, from firearms.
  Blood
  The Night Court desire blood, and can spend points of 
  Vitae to activate their powers. They each have only 1 
  point of Vitae in their system to begin with. They can 
  get more blood by drinking it from victims. To do so, 
  they must grapple an opponent as described on p. 159 
  of the World of Darkness Rulebook. The vampire 
  may choose to inflict only 1 point of lethal damage 
  that turn, and in exchange gain 1 point of Vitae.
  Heal Wounds
  The Night Court can spend Vitae to heal wounds. 
  As a reflexive action, they can heal 2 points of bash-
  ing damage or 1 point of lethal damage per point of 
  Vitae they spend. The Night Court can only spend 
  1 point of Vitae in this way every turn, and cannot 
  heal aggravated damage.
     Moonshadow          Obsidian Claw       Warrior Priest    
  The Night Court  
    The Night Court  
    Hope
            Ravenous 
   
  Greed   
        Nocturnal Predators            
  Danger Sense
  Disarm 
      (Local Business)
  Fast Reflexes 
  Fleet of Foot
  Crafts
  Investigation
  Medicine (Butchering   
    Corpses)
  Occult
  Politics (Religious)
  Athletics
  Brawl 
  Larceny
  Stealth 
    (Using the Dark)
  Survival
  Weaponry
  Intimidation
  Persuasion
  Subterfuge
             3
  5
      12
          3
                      7
    
  Weapon 
  Damage
  Sacrificial Dagger      1(L)
  Weapon 
  Damage
  None 
           
  Weapon 
  Damage
  Bronze War Axe        3(L)
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  Protean
   
  Obfuscate
  Celerity
  Vigor
  Moonshadow
  Moonshadow can cloak himself with the darkness 
  to hide himself from potential victims as an instant 
  action. To do this, he spends 1 point of Vitae and 
  rolls 6 dice. If he gets any successes, he is then 
  invisible for the rest of the scene. He can do this 
  even if directly observed, and if his successes exceed 
  an observer’s Willpower dots, then the witness 
  doesn’t remember the vampire was there at all. 
  This effect ends if the vampire does anything to 
  reveal himself, such as attacking. Moonshadow 
  prefers to activate this power before the characters 
  know he is there, and then strike at unsuspecting 
  targets from the darkness.
  Warrior-Priest of Sin 
  Warrior-Priest was a soldier as well as a priest, 
  and he can augment his physical abilities as an 
  instant action. He spends 1 point of Vitae and 
  for the remainder of the scene he gains improved 
  strength and speed. He adds 2 to his Strength, 
  increasing his attack pool to 10. He also adds 1 to 
  his Stamina, increasing his Health to 9.
  Obsidian Claws
   Obsidian Claw is a feral butcher, and can grow 
  claws for the length of a scene by spending 1 Vitae 
  as an instant action. His claws, which he prefers to 
  unsheathe before the fight begins, inflict aggravated 
  damage as well as increasing his attack pool to 6.
  Abilities
  Clan   Mehket 
  Clan   Gangrel 
  Clan   Daeva
  Disciplines: 
  Disciplines:  
  Disciplines:  
  
  Notes         
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Faction:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Group Name:
  Intelligence 
  Strength 
  Presence
  Wits 
  Dexterity 
  Manipulation
  Resolve 
  Stamina 
  Composure
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
      Willpower     
       Health           
       Skills              Merits         
  Morality
  Size
  Speed
  Defense
  Initiative Mod
  Armor
       Flaws 
   
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  o o o o o o o o o o o o
  o o o o o o o o o o
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  Insurgent Fighters 
     Faith  
   
     
      Soldiers of Islam           Wrath
         
  Contacts (Clergy,  
    Islamist Fighters)
  Danger Sense
  Iron Stomach  
  Academics
  Computer
  Crafts
  Investigation 
  Medicine (Battlefield  
    Trauma)
  Politics
   Athletics    
  Brawl
  Firearms (AK-47)
  Larceny
  Stealth
  Survival
  Weaponry
  Persuasion
  Streetwise
  Subterfuge
             6
  5
      10
          2
                      4
        
  Weapon 
  Damage 
  Ranges 
  Capacity 
  Strength 
  Size
  AK-47 Assault Rifle 
  4  
  125/250/500 
  30+1 
  2(2/3/4) 
  3
  Fixed GPMG 
  4(9again) 
  250/500/1000 
  100 
  -(4/4/5) 
  4
  Fighting Knife 
   
  2(L) 
   
  Notes         
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Faction:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Group Name:
  Intelligence 
  Strength 
  Presence
  Wits 
  Dexterity 
  Manipulation
  Resolve 
  Stamina 
  Composure
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
      Willpower     
       Health           
       Skills              Merits         
  Morality
  Size
  Speed
  Defense
  Initiative Mod
  Armor
       Flaws 
   
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  o o o o o o o o o o o o
  o o o o o o o o o o
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  Stone Lions 
   
      
   
   
     
      Stone Lions           
         
   Athletics    
  Brawl
  Survival
             N/A
  7
      16
          3
                      6
        4/2
  Notes 
  The lions’ armor points represent the fact that they are carved from stone. However, 
  the stone is brittle and can shatter under extreme force. Therefore their armor points 
  do not apply against explosives.
   
  
  Notes         
      Willpower     
       Skills              Merits         
  Morality
  Size
  Speed
  Defense
  Initiative Mod
  Armor
       Flaws 
   
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  o o o o o o o o o o o o
  o o o o o o o o o o
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  Name: 
  Virtue: 
  Faction:
  Concept: 
  Vice: 
  Group Name:
  ooooo
  ooooo
  ooooo
  Power 
  Finesse 
  Resistance
       Corpus           
  Scorn     
   
    Fortitude 
   
   
     
         Babylonian 
   
  Lust
        Spirit Puppeteer
         
             3
  5
      19
          5
                      9
        
  Numina 
  Dice Pool 
  Compulsion 
   
  9  
          
  Ghost Speech  
  9 
          
  Possession 
   
  9 
          
  Telekinesis 
   
  9
  Terrify 
   
  9
  
  THEY ARE ALL COSMIC BEINGS of the same 
  universe. Only I can see it. The voice that speaks to us is the 
  cosmos! It is everything! The whole of it must be destroyed 
  to free us. It is the only way. I cannot tell any others 
  because they will not believe me. Jenks did not believe, and I 
  had to kill him. I saw what the cosmos had done to him! All 
  must perish before we all go the same way. The whole world 
  and everything else is against us. Death is my only master 
  now. The Priests’ Quarters are my only solace. Here is the 
  HOLY POWER that will save us. The Lyre of Ishtar did 
  not appear to me by accident. It is here! I know where it 
  is! Sealed in its casket by the EVIL ONES who are the 
  secret lords of our universe! Once I have it I will bring 
  death to them! Only I know. I am a soldier of the universe. 
  I am a child of the holy light. With the Lyre I will be 
  all-powerful. The one who whispers will be the first to die. 
  Everyone and everything else will follow. It is the only way!  
  I am a child of the universe! 
   The carving appears to be a ritual of sacrifice.  
    Circle is described as “Mouth of Sin.”   
   Victim is human (note – differs to animal  
   sacrifice rituals in texts elsewhere).  
    Thought human sacrifice was a rumor  
   No previous evidence of human sacrifice has  
  ever been discovered! Sacrifice not normally   
   associated with lunar deity Sin. Ritual involves 
  hurling victim (still living – text unusually 
  clear on this, “the heart must beat, the 
  breath must flow”) into the Mouth (pit?).  
  Sin’s jaws will close (gate? live burial?) and the 
  sacrificing entity will gain “the Strength of the 
  Moon” to defeat his enemies. Pre-battle rite?  
  Ritual chant: “Lord of Moons, grant me 
  darkness that burns the light!” 
   Nature of reward uncertain.  
     Strength and fearlessness?     
   Magical powers?  
  Perhaps “Blessing of Sin.”
  
  Sin 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Storyteller [multi]/World of Darkness (WoD) [multi]/CofD/Chronicles of Darkness/SAS/World of Darkness - SAS - Ruins of Ur.pdf