The Eternal Isle

The heroes are the sons of Fatim (adopted or otherwise), a tavern owner in Baghdad.
Fatims first wife, Noor, mother of your only sister Nadya, died during childbirth before
the heroes were born. Your mother, Fatims second wife, Aisha, died a few years ago of
a debilitating disease. Still learning about the family business, your only job is to help
your father run the tavern by performing odd jobs and running errands.
One night, a foreigner named Abdul, enters the tavern. Fatim greets the man like an old
friend. You recall meeting this man before, but you havent seen him in years and dont
recognize him. Your father takes Abdul into the back meeting room where they talk for
about an hour, before Fatim leads the man upstairs to a room. Returning to the
common room, your father hands you a parcel bundled in cloth. He tells you to take the
package to your uncle Badni, a merchant sailor, down at the city docks.
In the package is an odd-looking cube and a journal written in a foreign language, and
you deliver it without incident. Badni is extremely happy to get the item and examines it
excitedly. Rewarding you with a few coins for your effort, Badni then calls his crew
together and orders them to make preparations for departure.
The next morning, a half-dozen of the Caliphs guards arrive at the tavern. They claim to
have information that places a dangerous man at the tavern last night. The description
they give matches Abdul, but he is nowhere to be found. Neither is your father. The
guards state that Abdul is suspected of plotting against the Caliph, and anybody caught
knowingly assisting this man will be subject to punishment. With the object of their
search missing, the guards take the heroes to the guard station for questioning. Their
captain says, Well deal with your father later, in ominous tones.
Your questioning lasts well into the afternoon, and the inquisitor doesnt seem to care
for the answers youve been giving him. He seems rather content to let you stew in the
sweltering interrogation room until you tell him exactly what he wants to hear. Just as
the inquisitor prepares to ask you the same set of questions for the umpteenth time, a
guard enters the room and whispers something to him. You are let free soon thereafter
with no apology and no explanation.
Returning home, you arrive to find the smoldering wreckage of the tavern. There is no
evidence of a struggle, but the party does find some ignitable material nearby that
indicates the fire was no accident. Your father is still nowhere in sight.
With nowhere else to go, the heroes should head to the docks to find Uncle Badni. If
they do not take this step, have a sailor from Badnis ship approach them, claiming that
their uncle wants to see them. At the docks, Badni explains that there are forces at work
here that the heroes dont understand, and warns them to get out of town quickly.

Seeing that they have few options, Badni invites the heroes to join his crew, assuring
them that all of their questions will be answered in due time. With no sailing skill
though, he tells them that they will mostly be used as a reconnaissance and exploration
team.
A few days later, while safely out at sea*, Badni pulls out the cube and shows it to the
heroes. This is the most important discovery in the history of the Middle East, he says,
and heres why. Badni goes on to explain whats been going on the past few days.
The Order of the Golden Caliph
Badni, Abdul, and Fatim are all members of a secret society named the Order of the
Golden Caliph. Many years ago, the founder of this organization, Mohammed al Aziz,
claims to have found a hidden chapter of the Quran in a secret chamber within an
abandoned well. These new writings prophesize that the Golden Caliph, a man who
will lead all of Arabia into a Golden Age, will return to the land if he is awakened from
his rest. The Caliphates are believers in this prophecy and believe the time of the Golden
Caliph is nigh.
The current Caliphs government has been disastrous. The treasury has been drained by
fruitless wars, the guards extort money from commoners for protection, temples and
mosques have been looted, taxes are exorbitantly high, and rumors of the Caliphs
debauchery are legendary. The people, once prosperous, can barely make ends meet.
About five years ago, some of the Caliphs bureaucrats spent the night in the tavern and
espied your lovely sister Nadya. They must have reported to the Caliph about her
beauty, for a few days later, the Caliph himself came to the tavern and spoke to Fatim
about Nadya.
Though she was only sixteen and her hand was promised to another, the Caliph took her
to serve in his harem. He didnt even bother to pay a bride price, proclaiming that Fatim
should be proud his daughter was being given this wonderful opportunity. The family
has not heard from Nadya since. Your father and Badni joined the organization soon
thereafter, feeling that the Caliph had abused his power for long enough.
Being both a heretical and treasonous organization, Caliphates have been persecuted by
the government since al Aziz made his beliefs public. Constantly on the run, the group
went underground fifty years ago, but continued the search for more information
regarding the prophecy.
Until Abduls arrival, only circumstantial evidence had been found to back the Orders
claims. According to Abduls journal, for years he had been following a promising lead in
Egypt. The map he had was inaccurate at best, he had spent all of his money, and was
running out of supplies.

Abdul was close to giving up when a sudden sandstorm revealed a building that had
been hidden from sight. Examining it, the building closely resembled the necropolis he
had been looking for. Finding a way inside, Abdul was rewarded for his patience with
the discovery of the map cube. On the walls of the necropolis were writings about the
Golden Caliph, among which was information regarding the first of the sacred Infinity
Stones. With this information, the cube can be manipulated to show a map of where the
first Infinity Stone is located. That is where Badnis ship is headed to.
*Once at sea, the Caliph will place a bounty on the heads of Badni and the PCs. Beyond
the pirates and corsairs the bounty will attract, the Caliph places obstacles in the partys
way.
The Map Cube and the Infinity Stones
The map cube is a 4 x 4 map of the Middle East. It is jumbled most of the time, making
the map printed on it illegible. When twisted and manipulated in the correct fashion, a
point of light will appear on the cube, revealing the general location of each Infinity
Stone.
The Infinity Stones are power sources which can be used to awaken the Golden Caliph.
The stones themselves are oval shaped, looking like a large egg. The middle of the egg
has a band of gemstones, all the same type and cut. Each egg bears stones of a different
type: Ruby, Diamond, Sapphire, Opal, Emerald, and Topaz. The gemstone band
segments the stone into two pieces, allowing both the top and bottom of the stone to
be turned independently of each other.
Each of the six hidden Infinity Stones contains runic writing that shows how to use the
map cube to point the way to the next stone. Manipulating the top and bottom of the
stone separately is what gives the information necessary to operate the map cube.
The Infinity Stones are spread throughout the Middle East in a pattern that forms a
hexagon. Three of the stones are somewhere in the desert, while the other three are
either in the Persian Gulf or in the Indian Ocean on hidden/undiscovered islands. When
each Infinity Stones is found and placed in close proximity to each other, they produce a
light that shows the location of Jazair al-Khalidat, the Eternal Isle, the Golden Caliphs
sunken domain. The Eternal Isle is submerged within the Persian Gulf, directly in the
middle of the hexagon.
*One of the stones is located in a City in a Bottle.
*While the Eternal Isle is rising, the Caliph and his men finally catch up to the PCs. Just
as they are to be executed for heresy and treason, the Golden Caliph emerge from the
sea to save the party. Even the mighty Caliph is cowed by the Golden Caliphs divinity.
The Golden Caliph rewards the party for their efforts with high-ranking jobs within the

government, saying that he will need the help of honest men to root out evil influences
in the land.
*After the appearance of the Golden Caliph, Fatim will emerge from the crowd to greet
the party. He explains that he set the fire at the tavern himself to eliminate any
evidence of his involvement with the Order and provide him with a clean getaway. He
has been staying with Abdul in an Order safe house for the past few months. Fatim is
proud of what his children have accomplished and looks forward to reuniting the family
with Nadya (provided she is still alive).
The Golden Caliph
In the hidden Quran chapter, the Golden Caliph is depicted as a tall man of noble
bearing wearing golden armor and a golden crown. He is to emerge from the ocean and
assume leadership of all Muslims. His aura is such that all who see him will know his
divinity and must fall to their knees in praise.
When placed around his throne, the Infinity Stones will cause the Caliph to awaken and
the Eternal Isle to rise. Once summoned from his resting place, the Golden Caliph will rid
the Arab world of corruption and decadence, bringing about an age of enlightenment
and peace.
The Golden Caliph is actually a solar, an emissary of God sent to Earth to protect his
people from evil and corrupting influences. After ruling the Caliphate for a year and
setting things on a righteous path, the Caliph will disappear, returning to his slumber
and leaving his hand-picked successor (perhaps one of the PCs) in control of the empire.
At this same time, the map cube, the Infinity Stones, the hidden islands, and the Eternal
Isle itself, will all vanish, returning to their previous locations. Everyone forgets that the
items connected to the Golden Caliph were ever found and his existence goes back to
being the stuff of legend and childrens tales. The Caliph will reawaken if he is sought by
a new group of adventurers who seek to restore order to the land.
The memories of the populace will be magically changed to remember the Golden
Caliph as a good man and great ruler, who overthrew the previous regime in a bloodless
coup and died after a short time in office. The altered memories are designed to make
the people feel that they are in control of their own destinies, free from the overt
influences of supernatural beings.