The DCC rulebook tells us the ceremony to form a patron bond with Azi Dahaka must “be conducted in a desert at high noon where the caster has imbibed no liquid for one day and one night before.” But what leads the caster to the desert in the first place, and what horrors await them once they arrive?
Here’s a short list of adventure hooks/side quests designed to introduce your players to Azi Dahaka, the demon prince of storms and waste. (For Bobugbubilz, lord of amphibians, click here.)
Getting to Know…Azi Dahaka
1 – The party discovers a collection of scrolls in the basement of an abandoned monastery. These Hymns to the Hydra include a ritual to summon a lesser demon who will escort the caster to the location of the bonding ceremony. Roll 1d5 to determine what form the demon takes: (1) a swarm of locusts (2) a starving jackal (3) a dust devil (4) a sun-bleached skeleton (5) a spectral desert nomad.
2 – A passing sandstorm uncovers the bones of a pilgrim who died trying to cross the wastes. The desert air has preserved the pilgrim’s journal, which describes his discovery of a “burning obelisk” three days to the west.
3 – As the characters make camp at an oasis, a hermit with skin charred by the desert sun invites them to a meal of fruit and wine. Characters who accept the meal awaken the next day feeling fully refreshed. Azi Dahaka rewards those who refuse with a night of feverish dreams filled with visions of his crumbling, lightning-blasted palace.
4 – Among the spoils of the party’s latest victory is a brass coin stamped with the image of a seven-headed hydra. No merchant will take the coin, but if pressed they direct the characters to a clan of serpent-eyed nomads, who accept the coin as payment for guiding the party to Azi Dahaka’s temple.
5 – The next time the caster’s magic causes significant ruin (via a scorching ray or fireball, for example), a wavering image of Azi Dahaka appears above the flames. Later, if the PCs search the ashes, they discover a chunk of glowing obsidian too hot to be handled by anyone other than the caster.
6 – The PCs hear legends of the Ophidian Pit, an enormous sinkhole deep in the desert. A forgotten avatar of Azi Dahaka coils at the bottom. In the canyons nearby, a coven of witches captures and flays anyone they deem unworthy to petition their god.
NIZNOC SPEAKS!