Queen-of-the-Red-City - D&D 5E Adventure - v1.31

Oct 5, 2026

Upload by Oliver

Queen of the Red City is an open-ended D&D 5E sandbox adventure for four-to-six 8th-level characters, set on a primitive tropical island south of the Black Kingdoms. PCs serve as crew of the Green Serpent, seeking fortune and a kidnapped relative while facing monstrous dangers, ape-men, and the ghosts of Z’thngora’s company. The story centers on Marala, the Corsair Queen, who pursues both revenge and treasure, leading to the ancient Red City and its legendary hoard.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryComic

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time9 min

AccessFree to download

Adventure Summary

Bay of Sundered Bones

Z’thngora’s Half-Fort

Farida, the Girl Who Became Queen

by J.C .Connors ABOUT THE ADVENTURE Queen of the Red City is a D&D 5E adventure set in Robert E. Howard’s Hyboria, although it can be adapted to other savage fantasy worlds and game systems ( GURPS and Dungeon Crawl Classics versions are available on www. 1shotadventures. com) . The adventure sets the heroes ashore a primitive, tropical island far to the south of the Black Kingdoms, where they are seeking fortune, fame, and a kidnapped relative. Queen of the Red City is suitable for four-to-six 8th level characters. The end of this adventure includes pregenerated character backgrounds to help run the adventure as a standalone one-shot. There’s also a bonus corsair character meant to replace a hero who dies along the way... Characters introduced for the first time in the adventure are noted in ALL-CAPS. Ability checks are in Small-Caps. Sections marked with a map are side-quests and adventure hooks, and not important to the overall plot of the adventure. Sections marked with a person are opportunities for specific PCs. ADVENTURE SUMMARY Queen of the Red City is an open-ended sandbox adventure seton an unnamed island located a hundred miles southwest of the Black Kingdoms. The PCs are all crew of the Green Serpent, a corsair ship that has sailed from Zabhela, the dangerous and bustling free port in Kush. Their captain is the beautiful and dangerous MARALA, THE CORSAIR QUEEN, famed for being fair to her friends and murderous to her foes. 1 The unnamed isle’s first recorded visit was ten years ago when the pirate captain JAL Z’THNGORA landed upon its shores. Some say he heard the island’s location in a dream, others say he paid his left ear to a seer in Stygia so that she would tell him the location of the greatest treasure of the Southern Isles. Either way, Jal Z’thngora discovered the isle and settled on its beaches in the hopes of finding its treasures. A year later, Jal’s brother HINO sailed to the island to bring additional men and supplies. Though it was clear his brother Jal had been to this island, there was no sign of the men. More ominously, Jal’s ship, the Firedancer, was found destroyed in the island’s inlet. Lacking the courage of his brother, Hino left the isle and told all that his brother had died at the hands of savages there. Recently, while drunk and sharing a bed, Hino whispered the story and location of the island to Marala, the Corsair Queen of the Green Serpent. After hearing the story, she and her corsairs set out for the treacherous island. Marala’s goals are twofold. First, she wishes to relieve her lover’s guilt by returning with the story of how Jal Z’thngora met his end. Second, if there is any great treasure on the isle, she plans to haul it back to the port in Zabhela. Some of the crew seek an additional goal on the island. Jal Z’thngora sailed to the island with seven captive Stygian women. One of the women, FARIDA, was the sister to oneof the crew. The crew has rallied around the idea of helping their crew mate recover their sister from the savage island. v1.31 All of these objectives can be completed on this faraway, jungle isle... if the PCs can survive its savage dangers. The island is inhabited by monstrous creatures, primitive ape men, and the ghosts of Z’thngora’s original crew. But at the center of the island is the Red City, an ancient Zhemri citadel that holds the legendary treasure many have sought. 1 A BAY OF SUNDERED BONES The adventure begins as the Green Serpent enters the Bay of Sundered Bones, so named by Hino Z’thngora because the eastern beach of the inlet is scattered with broken, sunbleached bones. He told Captain Marala that he believed the bones were that of his brother’s crew, though did not have the stomach to sort through them. As the PCs enter the inlet, they see several additional points of interest: • On the western shore, several small wooden structures are visible, along with a stakewall that half-surrounds the settlement. There is n

FAQs

What is the premise of Queen of the Red City?

The Green Serpent’s crew arrives on an unnamed jungle island seeking fortune and a kidnapped relative, while Corsair Queen Marala follows her own goals tied to Jal Z’thngora’s fate and possible treasure.

Who are the main figures driving the adventure?

Marala, THE CORSAIR QUEEN, leads the corsairs; Jal Z’thngora is the missing expedition leader; Hino tells Marala the island’s story; Farida’s capture motivates a crew-mate rescue goal.

How is the island structured for gameplay?

The adventure is an open-ended sandbox built around exploration and side-quest hooks, with key locations like the Bay of Sundered Bones, Z’thngora’s Half-Fort, and the Red City holding the legendary treasure.

Oct 5, 2026

Upload by Oliver