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Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful Part 5
6.
The center 30x30 area of the room is encircled with vertical axis fan blades.
A set of these blades every ten feet. They have a diameter of just over 9 feet so there is a small amount of room between 1 set of blades and the next , The edges of the blades are razor sharp.
At the very center of the room is a 2ft high golden statue of a Satyr playing a flute sitting on a pedastle. Touching the statue will cause it to start playing and the fan blades will begin spinning unless the person touching the statue is wearing the Wind Amulet from room 7. The statue weigh is very heavy (as it is made of lead with a thin covering of gold foil). Posted: 12-18-2021 05:42 pm NPC - Paega - Priestess of Nerull
NPC - Paega - Priestess of Nerull
Little is known of Paega's past or if she is entitrely human. She is one of the prime servants of Nerull in Rel Astra and the most feared. Where she goes she does not just bring death, she brings suffering and fear. Murder in its most grusome and random sense is her form of devotion to Nerull.
Her left arm is withered and at its touch she can wither flesh as if it was weeks dead. Her right arm is swollen and green as if it were rotting in the sun and her right hand is clawed, her findertips like knives. She wears a pale mask with dark eyeless pits that drip blood. Those who stare into that abyss can become blinded as their own eyes leak blood. One look into those eyeless depths will cause weeks of restless nightmares.
Paega has been killed several times and each time Nerull has brought her back to plague the Oerth.
Posted: 12-16-2021 02:48 pm Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful Part 4 Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful Part 4
4. The long hallway has plastered walls that show scenes of fishing and ancient ships upon peaceful waters to the east. To the west the scenes show cloudy skys and storms lashing fields and farmland.
5. This room is plastered with bluish illustartions that appear to show underwater scenes. There is a wide pool of water at the center 30x30 section of the room. At the center of the pool, which is about 10 feet deep, is a golden statue of a mermaid. It weighs around 5lbs and is quite valuable. Anyone entering the pool without the Amulet showing the Water Sign will summon a Water Weird which attacks those within the room (other than the Amulet wearer. Posted: 12-10-2021 05:44 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Baron Ambrus
Baron Ambrus of Blackmoor and his Half-Shedu Mount Gyozo
The mysterious land of Blackmoor is in no way made less so by the appearance of Baron Ambrus flying near the southern borders upon his mount Gyozo, a half-Shedu (some say half Manticore). The pair are accompanied by a half-dozen guardsmen on Gryphons and often stop to converse with merchant men and travellers who make the long trip to the forbidding northern land. Posted: 12-09-2021 11:56 am NPC - The Friendly Halfling Collection Agency - Repo Team NPC - The Friendly Halfling Collection Agency - Repo Team
The Friendly Halfling Collection Agency (City of Greyhawk Chapter) is based out of a semi-derelict mansion in the Slum Quarter. It is hard to know if there are really any halflings involved in the business (which is thriving, thank you very much) as the real owners never seem to be about. The agency doesn't loan anything itself but works for those that are owed and lack the means to force restitution themselves from their debtors.
Most people only get to know the primary collection squad. Due to the volitile nature of their work the collection squad sees a rapid turnover in membership.
Stig with his favorite two-handed spiked mace is the squad leader,
Dobin is to the left of Stig. To the right of Stig is Horn-helm or Pug as his friends call him. Redbeard Oli is next, then Starface the victim of a massive tattoo miscommunication (his real name is Gavin)
Posted: 12-05-2021 11:21 am Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful Part 3
Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful Part 3
3. Arrows of Wheat
Inside the room is a field of wheat. It is almost 5 feet high and still ripples slightly from the inrush of air when the sealed passage was opened. The wheat is made of gold and radiates strong enchantment.
Each stalk is crafted with exquisite skill and its value as a work art would far outweigh its value as gold. Removing the wheat is a problem. When a stalk is touched it becomes an arrow of gold +1 to hit and +1 to damage once fired they become normal organic stalks of wheat after they have done their damage. There are hundreds, perhaps close to a thousand stalks of gold wheat.
The walls of the room are plastered with crumbling scenes of a huge beast being hunted through a field of wheat. At the center of the room is the dry and withered form of the creature. It is quite dead. Surprisingly its skin is very supple. If skinned its hide can be made into a cloak that allows friendship and communication with bovine creatures.
At the 4 corners of the room are pedastals upon each is the statue of a Flan warrior bearing a bow. As the characters enter the room they will be fired upon by the stone archers. They archers will pluck stalks of wheat as they shoot as if from a handy quiver and fire the magic arrows. These statues will fire until there are no more targets or no more arrows but will not leave the room. Posted: 11-30-2021 09:58 am Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - The Crowned Beast of Stone
The Crowned Beast of Stone
At south-east of the Burneal Forest can be found a statue of some great beast crowned with a rusting ironband whose spiked ends, now snapped off into jagged spears, suggest gems or valuable crystals once ran astride the crown. The weed-choked creature now stares forlornly into the stream which begins life as spring whose waters pour from its open mouth and which rushes by its front paws before disappearing in the thick forest and eventually emptying into the great swamp and mire of the Cold Marshes to the south.
Few know of this crowned beast of stone for its waters are sovereign and potent and the Sisterhood and centaur shamans strive to keep its existence and location a secret. To this end they have set traps and guards within the forest, druids charm creatures and enchant plants, illusionists hide the spring, centaurs set guards that neither sleep nor rest nor tell tales, as well as magicians and witches that cast dire spells to protect this source of so many of their potions, solutions and balms.
The power of these waters is quickly diluted after it spills from the mouth of the crowned beast but within certain distances the waters have differing effects. The water at the mouth of the statue pours forth a deadly acid on one side and a supremely potent base from the other. As the water touches the earth it becomes useful for all manner of transmutation elixirs but a dozen feet further and it is sovereign remedy for curses and a foundation for healing potions, a dozen feet further on it is useful for charms and enchantments, till it covers the entire gamut of the alchemist's trade. The area where these liquid components can be gathered is not truly large and the waters quickly become no more than any other forest stream and no more useful. Within this area the Sisterhood and shamans have set their guards, wards and enchantments. Beyond this area a steady patrol of foresters, rangers, and centaurs patrol the forest and roads leading to it. Only those accompanied by those of the Sisterhood or the tribal shamans of the centaurs can pass these, and then only with certain badges, tokens and finally enchantments if they are to proceed to the innermost sanctum of the forest. But all this protection has brought inquiring eyes down upon that which they would seek to remain hidden and differing powers within and without the land of Blackmoor seek to find out what is being so lavishly protected. In singles, pairs and groups both spies and adventurers are being hired to seek out whatever is hidden within the depths of the cold northern forest. To date none have returned and only the fact that something valuable enough to warrant such costly measures as guards and enchantments drives the search for this unknown treasure forward. Posted: 11-27-2021 11:58 am City - The City of Blackmoor
City - The City of Blackmoor
Blackmoor lies in ruins much as it did when the first humans found it sitting on the edge of Blackmoor Bay long centuries ago. The foundations of Blackmoor are set deeper and more firmly than bedrock. They touch upon the boundary of the black abyss and the nightmare dreams of Elder Gods who were never worshiped by man. Above ground, though in ruins, the shape of the human city still exists. The docks are empty except for the hulks of rotting ships, some no more than masts and upper works still projecting higher than the aging quay. The Sea Market was the life-blood of this far northern city. The buildings were never tall here and have mostly collapsed within themselves, the streets are clear except for scattered debris and the clean-picked bones of those who were unable to flee the sack when the defenses failed. The quarters and districts and inner walls exist, the Craftsman's Way burned, the great tenements of the Labor District collapsed, fallen across streets and alleys making the entire area a vast layer of wreckage; shattered stone and broken beams. The Path of Temples an open pit revealing the depth of the Undercity and the inhumanly vast greenish blocks of greasy stone which are the cities true foundation. Tallest among the ruin is the vast cylinder which had served as castle and palace to the old kings and queens of Blackmoor. Its upper reaches empty and hollow but the blackness of its high walls seemingly invulnerable to the damage which destroyed the city. Beneath the Castle, beneath the city, the tunnels are old, much older than the memory of the dead whose ghosts haunt the ruins. Down they go, wide, unchanging, fetid and slimed with something more than moisture come in from the Bay. The passages go down, and branch, some opening into wide plateau's or vaulting chambers while other ways grow smaller and smaller, twisting worm-like till they become so small no sentient thing could travel further.
Posted: 11-26-2021 10:24 am Blackmoor - At One Stride Comes the Dark
At One Stride Comes the Dark There are terrible things beneath the streets of Old Blackmoor. A world exists deeper than the catacombs where the dead reside. The bowels of the earth do not hold this realm though it can be reached all too easily. The great ruined towers of Blackmoor where past generations built upon the foundations of races and beings older than humanity reach down into these dark realms. Tunnels, stairs, pits beslimed with horrific use, descend past the corridors of burial chambers and tombs, down and down till the stone gives way to textures that are smooth and warm with the fires of the oerth and not of this oerth; some passages constrict the body first into a crouch, then a crawl, then to a twisting and wriggling as if a great wyrm had shaped the passage to no bigger than its flesh could fit. Deeper still, whether narrowing tunnel or broad stairs with steps wide and steeper than the breadth a man could lift foot to tread, the passage twists; it twists the souls of men, twists their bodies inside out, twists their minds until each step is a scream, a nightmare that eats at them, gnaws their bones, crawls among their fears, deeper, deeper into the dark. And when no more can be born to those who have not turned away or lost themselves, body, mind and soul along this narrow twisting way, those who have survived, they step into the darkness, a wall, a pool, a great suffocating cloud deep in the earth and out onto a plain of silver grass and starlight. The land of Evening beyond the deep passages of Old Blackmoor. A dark road cuts through the silver grass and the guardians of thought line the way. Their bodies seem no more than thin pedestals of black rock; armless with wide eyes and skulls stretched above. But as you approach their bodies seem filled with stars, their eyes filled with light, their bodies glow softly in the semi-darkness. Posted: 11-24-2021 02:35 pm NPC - The Green Knight
The Green Knight prowls the roads from the City of Greyhawk to Verbobonc. He bears some enchantment that appears to make him immune to magic. Lightning, fire, magic missiles, webs and more seem to wash over him and his mount without effect. The knight will challenge any who appear to be of knightly character to single combat. Fights are to first blood. Anyone able to strike him first will receive a ring that confers +2 protection and +1 saves against magic. In the future the knight will come to the aid of such a character who has won the ring and still bears it. If the character who won the ring ever tries to sell it, give it away or is defeted in combat the ring will disppear. Posted: 11-21-2021 08:47 am NPC - Z'vnd'sh the Pit Lord
This is Z'vnd'sh, a Pit Fiend and minor Pit Lord. In my game he is a fairly big boss. He holds court somewhere in a side cavern near the Vault of the Drow and works in league with a cabal of drow sorcerors. Posted: 11-19-2021 02:44 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Siivnna of the Reindeer People
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Siivnna of the Reindeer People
In the uttermost north of the Flannaess is the Land of Black Ice. Life should not exist in this clime. The boundaries between our Oerthly world and other planes is thin here. The land is beyond mere cold, it seems a cursed world meant for elementals and monsters too strong and powerful for any mundane harm to befall them. It is true that here there be Dragons of white, of ice and snow and frost. The horror that is the Grey has entrance from its own fragment of a plane here. But here there are humans that are said to cross the world at its top following herds of the semi-mystical reindeer.
Siivnna left her people, the Reindeer People, on a quest that brought her far south to the lands of Blackmoor. She was a powerful shamaness when she left her lands, but on discovering Blackmoor and the Sisterhood, she has learned new magic, the rites and rituals of witchcraft come easily to her though she speaks only with her hands and no sound escapes her.
It is thought that she has not completed her quest, that searches for something or someone, and she travels the land of Blackmoor from border to border, now with a retinue of young women who follow her, rangers, witches, druids, who have taken on her language of hands and shun speech. Some within the Sisterhood are worried by her following. The Centaur-clans of Blackmoor have adopted her as if she were one of the four-legged.
Posted: 11-18-2021 06:40 pm NPC - Thorolf Thorolf is the Helmsman of the warleader Bovine's ship Blackwolf. On land he is always at Bovine's side and his horn sounds the summoning of the warband and at sea it calls to the other ships at night or when the fog has fallen (which it always does when approaching the Ghostland). He is a doughty warrior and hero in his own right and was once a sworn companion of Bovine's younger brother who fell in battle many seasons before.
It is said that his horn instills fear in men not of the north and that at sea it can be heard by any of Bovine's followers even if they be leagues apart. Thorolfs cloak is that of a bear and gives him strengeth, his belt is fashioned with the skull of a tusked troll and while wearing it wounds heal quickly even if they would be a mortal blow. His chestplate is from a Southron warleader and Thorolf's axe is called Oxkiller which causes terrible wounds and can split a man from head to groin.
Posted: 11-18-2021 11:25 am NPC - Skirnir Skirnir is a young warrior of renown who follows the warleader Bovine the Bloody. Some call him a hero and he has several raids under his belt but he is from tribes of the Cruski nearer East rather than the more frigid and mountainous North as are most of the men in Bovine's warband. It is said that when he appeared among the Northern towns of The Fruz and Schnai he had worn out the boots in crossing through a wild and uninhabited, at least by humans, land that spanned the long miles between those of North and North-East. The title 'Bootless' was bestowed upon him and many a horn's worth of blood was spilled in the honor-square fighting over this unwelcome sobriquet. Now he is only called 'Bootless' when he is beyond hearing and much less often.
His prowess is well recognized and he is always in the forefront of combat, but his temperament is not that of a leader and his achievements not quite that of those who are deemed heroes among Bovine's warband. That may change this season of raids. Already he possesses several items of note; An enchanted torque of silver that is said to protect his flesh as a suit of chain as well as a silver emblem that is said to do the same that was taken from a Southron warrior. His great axe is the work of Dwarves and is said to aid the strength he puts behind his blows so much so that he can split a shield in a single strike. Posted: 11-17-2021 02:06 pm Land of Black Ice - The Frozen Monolith - Gateway to the Plane of the Gray Land of Black Ice - The Frozen Monolith - Gateway to the Plane of the Gray
Far, far to the north beyond the border of Blackmoor is a broken and pitted column atop a small mountain. From here can be seen the howling waste that is the Land of Black Ice. But it is here that the skin between the worlds is thin and this column is like a monstrous fang piericing the flesh of the Oerth and allowing the poison that is the Gray to seep in.
The strongest of the Sisterhood, the alliance between the witches of Blackmoor and their varied allies, has made their way to the Monolith and beyond. The witches have fought and defeated the forces of the Gray upon its own plane, and have sealed many portals within and without Blackmoor. This most distant and forbidding gateway is perhaps the oldest of any they have encountered. It is certainly powerful and dangerous leading directly to the great fortress at the heart of the Gray's domain.
A great battle was fought and won on that plane. The gates of the Gray's fortress were thrown down, its towers felled and walls broken in many places. But the Gray was not defeated and the Frozen Monolith remains open.
The sisters mount a strong guard on the Oerthly side of the gateway but still servants of the Gray slip from their plane to ours. Evil stirs within the ruined fortress and always there is need for the strong and brave and adventurous to cross through the gateway and strike down the evil of the Gray as it rises from ashes of its stronghold.
Posted: 11-03-2021 10:34 am NPC - Erik One-Eye Erik One-Eye
Once he was Erik Red-Beard till a Southron's sword got in under his helm and took his left-eye with it. Now he is marked as one of the Votan's chosen. Few warriors last long with one eye removed and Erik doesn't intend to stay in the land of the first-life longer than he need be.
Once he lead a warband himself but now he is one of the dozen or so heroes who accompanies Bovine on his raids east and south. He seeks the promise of the Votan, a glorious death in battle. He disdains the use of a helm but still keeps himself armored, not seeking a gut-wound just a quick death he can see, when it comes for him.
Now he is first into a fray with no desire to stand amid a shield wall or worry that he will be struck down from his blind side. After all such a death is the promise of such a wound. He should already be dead but the Chooser has marked him so that all will know he had earned his place in the second life among the chosen heroes already. Erik is impatient to join his brethren. Posted: 11-02-2021 08:11 am Ape, Gorilla {General Description- The largest living primates, gorillas are stocky animals with broad chests and shoulders, large hands, and forearms that are much shorter than the upper arm. The face is black and hairless, with small eyes that are close together and large, prominent nostrils. {Size - M {Height - 6' Tall, Broad {Weight - {Type - Natural {Movement - 12" {Behavior - Non aggressive and shy, but will fight fiercely if cornered. {Combat - Fights with both hands. If both hit will cause grabbing and rending damage. {Magic Resistance - Standard {Special Abilities - Grabbing and Rending Attack {Intelligence - Low {Speech -
{Vision - {Activity Cycle - {Diet - {Habitat - {Family Structure - 1-4 encountered {Life Cycle - {History - {Affinity/Antipathy - {Deities - {Useful Components - {References - Monster Manual - Pg7 Posted: 10-31-2021 02:30 pm Ant, Giant General Description- Worker Warrior Queen Egg Size - S (2' long) Height - Weight - Type - Unnatural Movement - 18" Behavior - 9/10 encountered are workers. Greater numbers of workers/warriors encountered in nest. Queen only encountered in Queen Chamber. Queen does not move or attack. Eggs only encountered in Queen Chamber or Egg Chamber. Treasure only found in Queen Chamber. If Queen is killed workers/warriors will become Confused (as per spell) for 6 melee rounds and then leave nest. Combat - Only Warriors fight. Primary attack is bite with mandibles. If Bite attack successful they will sting with poison. Magic Resistance - Standard Special Abilities - Poison Sting Intelligence - Animal Speech - Appearance - Their bodies are covered with a hard armor called the exoskeleton. Most ants are either red or black in color. Like other insects, they have six legs; each with three joints. Ants have large heads with compound eyes, elbowed antennae, and powerful jaws. Vision - Activity Cycle - Diet - Habitat - Family Structure - 1-100 Worker/Warriors encountered outside nest. 1/10 will be warriors. Double that number inside nest. Life Cycle - History - Affinity/Antipathy - Deities - Useful Components - References - Monster Manual - Pg7 Posted: 10-31-2021 10:00 am Anhkheg Anhkheg General Description- Glistening black eyes, brown chitinous body, and pinkish underside. Size - L 10' to 20' long Height - Weight - Type - Unnatural Movement - 12" (6") Behavior - Burrows like an earthworm for organic matter and minerals. Combat - Prefers to ambush lying 5-10ft beneath oerth and when its antenna's detect movement bursts up from beneath prey. Prefers to attack with bite. Can spit digestive acid 30ft once every 6 hours Magic Resistance - Standard Special Abilities - Spit digestive acid Intelligence - Non Speech - Vision - Activity Cycle - Diet - Omnivorous Habitat - Forest and Agricultural Land Family Structure - 1-6 in Group Life Cycle - History - Affinity/Antipathy - Deities - Useful Components - Posted: 10-31-2021 12:22 am NPC - Bovine the Bloody
Bovine the Bloody
This dour warrior from the north is relatively young to command the respect and leadership of his warband. Personally he has over 180 men and women sworn to him, 3 longships worth, but as many as 8 longships have accompanied him on his southern raids. His crews are well experienced and doughty warriors but there is always a leavening of new warriors to replace those lost during raiding season. At least 30 of his followers, normally 10 per ship, will be raw recruits between the ages 14 and 16 while another 60 or so will have only 1 or 2 raiding seasons under their belt.
Of the remaining 90 or so men Bovine has two ship-leaders and a half-dozen heroes of his own standing while the bulk of the men are experienced warriors between the ages of 18-30 with a few greying oldesters in their 30's who somehow have not been chosen by the Votan to swell his ranks in the next life.
While most of his men are normal axe and sword wielding warriors, a small group are priests of the bear-cult. These men disdain the use of armor and weapons and some take on the form of monstrous bears in battle. It is said that normal weapons do them no lasting harm or even recoil from their flesh. A number of skalds also accompany Bovine's small host. These poet-magician-priests are said to be in service of the Votan and practice healing arts, enchantments, wizardry and even martial skills though not to the same degree as those purely wielding spear, axe or sword.
A small contingent of bowmen are aboard each ship. It is not a favored weapon of war among northerners but Bovine has among his ranks a renowned bowman from the west of the Island of Ghosts and he has trained those among Bovine's followers in the way of the Longbow. About a score of these warriors are bowmen and half-a-dozen of those coming on their first raid are apprenticed.
Among these warriors about 1/3 are swordwomen. They sale aboard a single longship and fight as a single group. They are lead by Hodra, Bovine's wife, and she is one of his two Ship-leaders. While skalds are all male, there are 3 Valkyr among Hodra's ship. These wise-woman carry staves that they use in battle both as a physical weapon but also as an item imbued with magical power. There are also a group of swordswomen, perhaps a dozen among the three-score, who know the ways of the Vol, a healing art that is similar to that practiced among the skalds.
The heroes who follow Bovine are from various clans and tribes in the north but there are 3 dark-skinned warriors, a father and two sons, who journeyed on some quest to the far north, a wild red-haired warrior from the mountains in the north of the Ghost Land. a skald from the eastern islands, and even a warrior from the old empire in the southern lands who wears strange green-bronze armor and seems to know every weapon created by man. Posted: 10-30-2021 09:26 pm Monster Ecology Template I'm working on a list of categories for monster ecology write-ups. This is what I have so far. Any ideas or suggestions? General Description- Size - Height - Weight - Type - Movement - Combat - Magic Resistance - Special Abilities - Intelligence - Speech - Appearance - Vision - Activity Cycle - Diet - Habitat - Family Structure - Life Cycle - History - Useful Components - Posted: 10-30-2021 10:07 am NPC Ch'lvendn
NPC 1. Ch'lvendn - M-U Lvl 9 H.P. 27 AC: (10)
Ch'lvendn was born on the rolling hills of the northern plains beyond the city of Yecha near the Lake of Sorrows. She traveled with her people the Chakyik who cross the empty places between the Burneal Forest and the Yatils, the Drawmij and the Fler in tribal groups of three-wheeled wagons holding round tents of felt, protected by their horsemen, their shamans and their wielders of magic (who are all female among the Chakyik). Her mother was a powerful figure in the council of the Three Elders who lead each tribe and her daughter inherited much of her mother's magical ability but none of her desire to stay among the people. When Ch'lvendn was old enough to become a journeywoman among the practitioners of magic she disappeared from the Chakyik during a quest to the ruins of a once great city destroyed a millennia ago. She traveled south and east increasing her skill, finding adventure and making a small name for herself among the cities and people of the more populous and less cold south. Currently she has a small residence in the City of Dyvers but she is not often found at home. She is no longer the teenage girl riding fearlessly away from all that she once knew, but her desire for power, treasure and adventure is still as strong. Posted: 10-30-2021 08:52 am NPCs - Back from the Dungeon
NPCs - Back from the Dungeon Returning from the Lost Library of Kes sans Thief and Torchbearer, the cleric Maynard and wizard Laran stay astride their mounts while the ranger Coln dismounets to investigate the marks of a large animal or monster's passage across the hilltop. Posted: 10-29-2021 09:27 am NPC - Kal'Merg and D'Rald
NPC - Kal'Merg and D'Rald
Their rivalry began as students at the Grey College in the City of Greyhawk. Kal'Merg and D'Rald dueled many times. Their last encounter was in the Astral plane from which neither returned. Posted: 10-29-2021 08:32 am Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Jehenne of Chendl Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Jehenne of Chendl Jehenne was born in Chendl but spent most her life with her grandparents in Tusham a small hunting village in the north of Furyondy near the coast and the Vesve. It is there she took her first steps on her druidic path. Here she was taught by an ancient High Elven druidess and met her Owl-companion Hoot. In the Vesve she fought the minions of the Half-Demon Iuz, and the Swine-Kin of the great Devil-Pig. She watched the Hidden Paths of Iuz that ran through the dark western flank of the forest and destroyed the unnatural Losels that swarmed across those paths since Iuz introduced them from the Fellreev years before. Though the depredations of Iuz have grown steadily the Druidic circle of the Vesve heard the cries from their kindred in the cold Burneal and have sent what aid they could. Jehenne leads a group of a dozen lesser druids who answer the call of the Burneal Circle. None know what to expect in this northernmost of forests or what plagues both it and the adjoining land of Blackmoor, but they are soon to learn. Posted: 10-28-2021 01:55 pm Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful Part 2
Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful Part 2
Some openings between rooms are blocked as shown on the map. These are not doors but sealed portals of brick and mortar. They are covered with a decorated plaster showing scenes from the distant past of the Flan such as hunting, farming, celebrations. The passing years have made them very delicate. They are easily broken in a shower of dust and crumbling brick. Those who shatter a passage are cursed for a cumulative -1 penalty per portal until the curse is removed.
2.
Down the center of this room are two rows of crouching figures. Each is clothed in rotting fragments of cloth that show the dull remnants of bright colors now faded. As the players enter the room the figures will rise and turn toward the players. They will move toward them with arms outstretched while an eerie moaning will come from their desicated throats.
There are two rows of 8 figures each. They are chained togther in groups of 4. A single blow is enough to slay them but they will arise again within 24 hours. If anyone understands ancient Flan they will hear in the moaning speech pleas for mercy ande to be released. For every 4 of these ancient Flan slaves killed a -1 curse will be upon the slayer but for every 4 released from their chains a +1 blessing (24hour duration) will be placed on the one to release them.
While there is no key the chains can be struck or even twisted off by an exceptionally strong player.
The walls of the room are covered in decaying plaster that show chained slaves working in a field of wheat. There are broken baskets in the corners filled with the dust of wheat collected long centuries, perhaps millenia before. Posted: 10-28-2021 11:17 am Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful
Cairn Hills - The Tomb of Aelfflaed the Beautiful
(Map from random dungeon creator watabou)
The Cairn Hills are home to hundreds perhaps thousands of tombs and barrows reaching back into the distant past of the Flanaess. Many of them have been discovered and emptied but the valleys between the low hills still hide much to be discovered.
This tomb is untouched and therefore still holds treasure but it also contains dangers and protections for those who would rob it.
The surrounding area is home to bandits, gnolls, ogre's and trolls. A nest of manticores is nearby.
All rooms are of stone with ceilings 8 feet at the walls rising to 15 feet at the center. The walls are carved from dense blocks of a light grey stone. Each block weighs in excess of 500lbs. The roof is made from a darker stone and seems to have been melded together somehow. A faint trace of magic still lingers.
There is no light in the dungeon. The players will need to provide a light source if the cannot see in the dark.
1. Entranceway.
The outer door is covered with dirt and rubble but a recent storm causeed a slide and the upper poprtion of the doorway is revealed. There is a ward set into the door formed from the armbones and skull of an ancient Flan warrior. If it is touched it will say in ancient Flan "The curse of living death is upon this grave." The skull will then emit an eery laugh and collapse into dust. The door will split and fall to rubble. When the door collapses air is sucked into the room as if into a vacuum.
A set of stairs leads down 30 feet to the room.
At the center of the room is a small chariot. It is exquisitely made (elvish workmanship) it is inlaid with silver but the wood is dried and fragile. A figure is chained inside the chariot. An ancient Flan warrior dried and desicated. It has three +1 Javilins and a longsword of equally ancient design. When the first player steps into the room it will begin throwing javilins at them. After it is out of javilins it will attack with its sword. The chain holding it to rotting chariot will easly break free and allow it to pursue the players though it will not leave the room.
Attached to a peg inside the chariot is a whip that causes wounds to bleed for extra damage and can dismount a rider 10% of the time after a succesful hit.
End Part 1 Posted: 10-27-2021 03:01 pm NPC - Kres Orcbane Hobgoblin Captain of Ferendar Keep
NPC - Kres Orcbane Hobgoblin Captain of Ferendar Keep
When Spincastle fell three fortresses that protected the southern approaches to the city were eventually captured by Hobgoblins. Two fell to siege and starvation as the defenders vainly awaited rescue and the Hobgoblin forces won the third and largest, Ferendar Keep, through treachery. Today the Hobgoblins of the Bone March hold several of these small keeps and fortifications but they have been driven from the half-ruined, monster infested, precincts of Spinecastle. Kres Orcbane is a sub-chief among the Shining Spear but he is defacto ruler of the Hobgoblins of the Bone March as much of the Shining Spear tribe returned to the mountains including its ageing chieftain. He dwells in Ferendar Keep but directly commands the two nearest forts and has an alliance with the five other forts and outposts held by the lesser Gleaming Sword and Blazing Shield Hobgoblins. Kres has a deep hatred for Orcs as his father was slain by Bloody Eye warriors in an ambush that led to the Hobgoblin expulsion from the city. He receives support and advice from agents of the Horned Society but is also in talks with the Broken Hammer Bugbears to bring their cousins the Nail Biters from their warrens in the Eastern Rakers. The Hobgoblins are far more open to dealing with humans and their keeps and outposts all have sizable human populations as well as a large amount of Spinebred, mainly mixed Hobgoblin heritage, but as they are not accepted by the Hobgoblin tribes they have formed a society of outcasts and only those of Orcish heritage are unwelcome among the forts and keeps. The Spinebred within the city form the main source of spys and informants for Kres. Posted: 10-26-2021 02:36 pm NPC - Eydis Paladin of Ve
NPC - Eydis Paladin of Ve
Ve is the patron god of the Schnai. His brothers Veli and Votan are respected as are the other gods and goddesses in the pantheon of the Manskr (those people called Suel Babarians by outsiders).
It is Ve who dispells the darkness and ends the long night. He who kindles the fire. His home is the sun and his armor is golden. Those who serve him, his priests and paladins wear enchanted discs of gold upon their armor granting the various protections.
Eydis is one of Ve's favored champions. She bears several disks of power and an enchanted sword that burns with the fury of Ve. When she was a child she was given to the order of Ve and raised to be a warrior-priest but so great was here strength and piety that she became one of Ve's holy champions. Posted: 10-25-2021 04:54 pm Temple of Nerull - Rel Astra - The Three Faces of Death
Temple of Nerull - Rel Astra - The Three Faces of Death
The most well-known of Nerull's temples is in or mainly, beneath, the city of Rel Astra. Beyond the great three-headed statue to the deity is a winding stair that leads not to the UnderOerth but down to the dark plane of death controlled by Nerull.
The statue shows three faces of death. The right side is murder, the left darkness and the central head stares out from the Abyss. The hands of the statue are bathed in the blood of sacrifices to the dark god and his worshipers bathe their hands in the collecting pools beneath.
A greater temple to Nerull is said to exist but one that is hidden and known only to the highest members of his clergy. Posted: 10-25-2021 04:01 pm NPC - Andrais of Thornward and Serjeant Miklos
NPC - Andrais of Thornward and Serjeant Miklos Andrais is a Squire-Protector of Thornward in Bissel. Serjeant Miklos is his friend and chief Armsman. The two were born in an estate nestled among the lower mountain reaches near the city. They have known constant warfare due to the ceaseless border disputes and raids between Bissel and Ket as well as the threat from monstrous tribes that raid down from the mountains or up from the underdark. Bandits, rogue mercenaries and highwaymen are also a continual threat as the wealth of nations passes from east to west, west to east in this vital trade route between Baklunish west and the Flanaess. Posted: 10-24-2021 04:25 pm NPC - Rary
NPC - Rary
The stories told of Rary of Ket, once of the Circle of Eight, are lies. Half-Baklunish, Half-Keolander, Rary was raised in the mercenary camps of Lopolla. His father was an officer in the Keolandish White Lions, his mother a dancing girl of the Dar Peshdwar. Here Rary learned shield and sword, lance and saber, here also the Keolandish mage, Dee of Dunwich, introduced him to the arcane mysteries. Rary served his apprenticeship to the White Lions, but something of his mother's people called to him and he found himself a wanderer searching the ancient sand-swallowed cities of Zeif. It is said he journeyed further west to the lands of Sa'han, Behow and Chomur before returning once more to the east. Somewhere he encountered the mage Tenser, was introduced to Bigby, the leader of the Eight and joined their ranks. Rary was no traitor but his parting from the Circle was acrimonious and the lies and rumors of his leaving mark him darkly. It is said he can be found in the Bright Desert within a tower whose height cannot be measured, whose floors are hidden, that appear and disappear and a spiral stair that has no end, disappearing it the vast sky and descending to the heart of the Oerth. Few come looking for Rary and fewer still return. His legend is perilous as is his existence. True that wild Paynim serve Rary but it is the wilds of the Bright Desert and the unnatural beasts therein which are the true danger. Posted: 10-24-2021 04:02 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Maarika the Fallen Sister
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Maarika the Fallen Sister
Once one of the most powerful witches in Blackmoor and a leader among the Sisterhood Maarika crossed the passage torn through the barrier between the world of the Grey and our own. In the battle against the terror that afflicts Blackmoor she fell and was thought slain, but her body was never found.
Now she was somehow returned to Oerth, but her mind is twisted, her form ravaged by some disease that exudes darkness, and her power turned to evil. Whether she is a servant of the Grey or just driven mad by her wounds and time in the Grey's foul realm is unknown.
Some of the Sisterhood have confronted her only to be injured or slain. A force was sent against her and she had fled to the Land of Black Ice. Will she return? The Sisterhood would have her hunted down and have turned to adventurers who would do the task for coin as their own strength is stretched thin defending the land of Blackmoor. Posted: 10-24-2021 10:00 am Sedr Magic of the Cruski, Fruztii and Schnai
Sedr Magic of the Cruski, Fruztii and Schnai
Often called "Suel Barbarians" these people of the north-eastern Flanaess are at most distant relations to those of the Suel Imperium. During the time before the Rain of Colorless Fire they served at times as mercenary tribes but more often waged intermittent war upon the Suel. At the height of the Imperium's power they were driven from their lands far to the north-east where they dwell today.
These three tribal-nations worship the same pantheon of Gods though each has their own patron, one of three brother deities. Veli is worshiped by Cruski, Votan by the Friztii and Ve by the Schnai. Many other other Gods and Goddesses are worshipped though among all three Fray the Oerth-Mother is highest among all three.
Fray it is who gave the tribes magic, the Sedr, though it is said she taught it first to Votan while his brothers disdained its use, so that today it is among the Fruztii that men and women practice the art, while among the Cruskii and Schnai the Sedr is held secret by the women of the tribes.
Sedr magic has three branches, the Seeing, the Ice Magic and the Bone Summoning. Most who practice the art learn evenly of all three though some become drawn to one particular craft of the others. Women who use the Sedr magic are called Volle or witches and men are called Vola or warlocks. Skalds, the bardic-priests of Votan, Veli and Ve wield some of the Sedr magic but also possess the gift of priestcraft from their patron deity.
The first branch, the Seeing involves ritual divination, but also the ability to walk among the lands of the dead and speak with those dwelling there.
The second branch is Ice Magic and it is both strong in defense and offense for the wielder granting spells that allow casting of frozen bolts of ice, granting resistance or immunity to cold, summoning frozen elementals, creating sheets or barriers of ice and so forth.
The last branch is Bone Summoning, necromancy, and the wielder summons the dead and commands them.
NOTE:
"Suel Barbarians" is something applied to them by outsiders but the reality is that they were barbarian tribes that both raided the Suel and served them at times as allied or mercenary forces, They worship none of the "Suel" pantheon. Votan, Veli and Ve are brother Gods and Fray is a mother Goddess, but there are many, many lesser Gods in this pantheon. Among the tribes they either refer to themselves as the Volke (Fruz) or the Manskr (Schnai and Cruztii) and never "Suel Barbarian" which is a terrible insult. Posted: 10-22-2021 01:20 pm The Frost Giant Jarl - Grugnur's Lament - Part 1
The Frost Giant Jarl - Grugnur's Lament
"I told you that chain would come in handy," Talberth said with an I-Told-You-So half-smile on his lips.
Several nasty looks came from the assembled party and the wizard-elf Telenstil put a hand on his old apprentice's shoulder.
They were a bleared-eyed and worn looking group. Blood-spotted bandages were on most of them and three of the five dwarves looked like they were about to collapse.
"It's freezing..." chattered the halfling among them even though he was well wrapped in a bear-skin cloak cut down to his size. A small orc stood beside him wearing his own bear-skin like a blanket with holes cut for his arms and legs. He wore a belt made of thick rope and two shortswords were sheathed at either side with a pair of daggers crossed at his middle.
Two of the dwarves were in well-fitted, finely crafted mail. One bore a warhammer that was etched with cryptic dwarven runes while the other held a double-headed axe, short handled and of obvious dwarven craft.
"I still don't trust orcs," the axe-wielder commented in the old, old dwarven tongue.
"You can trust that one well-enough," commented one of the thin and greyhaired dwarves. Ginnar, for all that he was the hammer-wielder's younger brother looked older than their father after months of captivity in Nosnra's steading. "Little Rat ran errands for me from the forge to my friends and those rebel orcs. He was so small the giants didn't seem to notice him."
"Those giants," said one of the ex-slaves beside Ginnar, "worse than any orc."
"He's been adopted by Harold," Galar said firmly. He set his warhammer down and rubbed his hands together. As eldest and a priest to boot his word was final. "Be polite."
Around them the strange mix of humans and humanoids began to move. They were in some huge cavern, though to the giants it must have seemed low-ceilinged if wide and round. The magic chain which had transported them here glowed with a nimbus of blue-white light and provided illumination if not warmth.
At the one end of the cave were piles of crates and the walls were hung with the skins of huge animals. A blackened circle showed where a fire was once lit and wood remained in it ready to be kindled into flame. Fuel in the form of cold, dried logs was piled against another wall.
As they watched the huge human ranger withdrew a tinderbox from his belt and started some dry moss aflame inside a little frame of twigs. Quickly a lively dance of fire was growing as he bent and fed it larger and larger sticks and splinters of wood.
The halfling-thief and his apprentice Little Rat, the orc, began to pry open boxes at the back of the cave.
The sylvan-elf Ghibelline approached the dwarves with a smile on his lips. "I told you we would be free one day Ginnar."
"That you did, lad," Ginnar replied with a smile of his own, "But I never believed we'd live to see it."
"We almost didn't," said a deep voice beside them.
The dwarves looked at the figure smaller than all of them and older. Ivo was a gnome from the Kron Hills and a crafter of illusions more powerful than any they had seen before.
"It was good fortune to find you beyond the walls and outside that dungeon of Nosnra's," Ivo continued.
"There is something loose down there even the giants were afraid of," said Serleg, one of the two Hill Dwarves rescued with Ginnar.
"Even that bastard, Fehrig, that flame-haired Fire Giant, came up from the forges and dragged us along with him," added Feg, Serleg's brother.
"I wish that I could have collected the blood-debt that one owes," grumbled Serleg.
"We'd meant to collect from many a giant, especially Nosnra," said Ivo, "But here we are."
"And where is here?" asked Ginnar.
"If what we'd read about that chain is correct," answered Ivo, "We are in the land of the Frost Giants. The great glacier, the home of Grugnur, the Frost Giant Jarl, and we mean to deal with him as we dealt with Nosnra. Only, perhaps, a bit more dead."
***
The fire only occupied a portion of the large ring left by the giants who had used the cave. It brought light and dancing shadows. A cloud of smoke rose to the ceiling and disappeared above a large animal skin, some hairy mammoth-sized creature as big as a barn. Harald, the old ranger, had found a large passage beyond that turned and twisted, screened by two more hangings before opening to a land of glaring ice and rock beyond. A quick scout of the area showed no tracks so he returned quickly.
The rest of the company, five dwarves, a halfling, a gnome, two elves, three humans and a small orc were sitting around the fire warming themselves and cooking things on sticks.
"So, are we truly in the glacier lands?" asked Nyradir, the dwarven warrior.
"Yes," replied Harald taciturnly. His face was grim as he approached.
"I am sorry Harald," said the old elven-mage. Telenstil knew how Harald had longed to stay, even if alone, to hunt down Nosnra or more likely die in the attempt. Only his loyalty to his companions had made him enter the ring of chain when they had enacted its enchantment, bringing them from the hills to these cold, cold mountains.
"We will need to keep watch..." Harald began.
"I will go," spoke up Ghibelline. The sylvan elf rose to his feat and Gytha the priestess of St. Cuthbert rose with him.
"I will accompany you," she said and a quick smile touched Ghibelline's lips while across from them a bitter twist flashed across the tall human mage's features and then was gone.
"The ice glares in the sun," warned Harald, "watch your eyes. It can blind."
"I was raised in the same hills as you," Gytha replied, but she squeezed the ranger's arm as she passed him by.
"No matter how bright the sun will not blind or dazzle my eyes," said Ghibelline. "And after the dark of Nosnra's dungeons I still dream of the sun," he said, 'and the stars."
The pair disappeared through the woolly curtain which helped protect the cave from the bitter cold. The fire had already taken the deadly chill from the air and the small mountain of fuel left by the giants promised that it would not run out soon.
"Elves and halflings have the best eyes for the daywatch," said Ivo, "and the dwarves and I can handle the night."
"We have some hours till dark," said Harald. "I will rest now but once it is dark I will set out and find this next nest of giants."
"Not you alone," said Telenstil, "I still have my ring to help us and we have enchantments."
"Galar no trouble, find giants," said Nyradir. "I wish Berronar would let you speak their language all the time," he said to the cleric in their mountain tongue.
"That is no small thing to ask," Galar replied.
"I can speak well enough for the pair of ya," Ginnar told the two dwarves.
"Master elf," Ginnar said to Telenstil both with politeness due an elder and the respect due to a rescuer who saved him from slavery, torture and inevitable death, "My brother be a priest of Berronar, and in the God's good graces, so I doubt not he can find a true path to these giants."
"Your brother, yourself and your companions are very welcome," said Telenstil, "But you need not accompany us..."
"Feg, Serleg and myself be better smiths than fighters, but still we are fighters," replied Ginnar. All three now stood and faced the others. "We go where you go. Your foes are ours," he said putting his thumbs in his belt and meeting the others eyes, "truly, these giants are our foes of old for all our kind, mountain or hill."
Telenstil stood and bowed to the three dwarves. "You are most welcome. We have much to avenge and even more to learn from these giants. For now let us take our ranger's advice and rest. Tonight we will begin."
Posted: 10-21-2021 09:11 am Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Brenna
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Brenna
Brenna is originally from the Timberway among the Fruztii or Frost tribes, but she followed a spirit quest and found herself in Blackmoor near the Land of Black Ice and a welcome addition to the Sisterhood. Her way of magic is different from the witches of Blackmoor and is strongly linked to totems, rituals and amulets. The way of the Sedr magic practiced by the Fruz, has strong tinges of necromancy among its traditions and she wears the bones of dead heroes with which she summon them to fight for her if need be.
Her powers are also those of seeress and she can set her spirit to walk among the lands of the dead to ask questions of the past or project her sight to catch visions of the future. Finally he greatest strengths and protections come from the cold and she is granted both ice magic and power of elementals from the land of eternal cold.
She is familiar with the Grey and knows portals to its realm where the intersect with that of the frozen planes of Ice.
Posted: 10-19-2021 12:32 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Hilja
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Hilja
Hilja is druidess dwelling in the Burneal Forest. She is not often encountered in human form and when she is has the tendency to disdain clothing. She rarely speaks, at least in human tongue, but communicates with many animals usually while taking their shapes. She bears several amulets and totems that allow her to instantly change to one animal form or another.
While allied with the Sisterhood and a powerful enemy of the Grey she is not herself a member of the Sisterhood. Her concerns are less about Blackmoor or even humanity and more about the animals inhabiting the land. Posted: 10-18-2021 07:39 pm The Sewers of Verbobonc Part 1
The Sewers of Verbobonc Part 1
The city of Verbobonc sits above the Velverdyva on a plateau of solid rock but a series of tunnels were carved through the stone to a natural system of submerged or half-flooded caverns that connected to the river. Some of these tunnels were used for storage by citizens, some secretly dug by smugglers and thieves, one as a secret escape route from the Citadel for the Viscount, but most were simply for drainage and waste.
The tunnels near the citadel run six feet high and ten feet wide but the myriad branchings run only five feet wide. A green moss grows along the walls and ceilings and provides a ghostly luminescence which gives a 20ft clear visibility and a further 10ft of poor visibility. The sewer system grew with the expansion of the city and construction of many of the later tunnels was poor and collapses have been frequent,
Many repairs have been needed over the years and vigilance against creatures lairing in the stinking dank has been necessary on a regular basis. That is where the players come in.
Repair crews trying to open a collapsed passage have come under attack by a horde of giant rats. With the invasion of wolf-riding goblins the Viscount needs his guardsmen for more important work than rat-killing even to the point a assembling the city militia. Several guilds, prominently the Dock Workers Union, are offering a premium in silver and gold for the extermination of these rats.
The tunnel collapse is near the Wayside Inn and entrance can be found to the sewer through a trapdoor in its basement. Free lodging (3 rooms for up to a week with however many the players can fit in them) for the players venturing into the sewers and free use of the bathhouse afterwards. Posted: 10-17-2021 03:03 pm Ptolemides Part 3
Ptolemides Part 3
9a). At both of these spots marked in the corridor there is a large pool of dried blood. Between these marked spots on the map and location 9b there are smears and drops of blood streaked across the stone floor in the direction of area 9b.
9b). This area is layered with debris; wood that has been splintered, cloth torn into strips, even vegetation such as roots and wild vines. The debris is spread across the room and several feet thick. At a point near the center of the room a man's foot and lower leg is half buried under this mess.
If anyone pulls at this foot it will resist slightly then pull away revealing a foot with a leg severed a few inches above the knee. If the leg is pulled free or if anyone searches or disturbs the debris 2 swarms of baby giant ticks will erupt from their layered nest and attack. There are a total of 5 baby tick swarms within this room. After the initial 2 that attack, another 1 will form and attack whenever anyone disturbs the debris or tries to search.
If the debris is searched carefully, a long, messy and disgusting job, they will discover the upper body of a man in chainmail, a severed hand with a gold ring with ruby chips worth 10gp, a chipped and dulled longsword that radiates magic, which is -1 to hit but +2 to damage, and 32gp, 15sp and a small bag containing 5 uncut diamonds which appear to be cloudy crystals but are worth 50gp each.
New Monster: Tick, Giant (Baby Swarm) No. Encountered: 1d6 Size: S Movement: 25 Dexterity: 12 Armour Class: 9 Hit Dice: 5 No. Attacks: 1 Damage: 1d4 Saving Throw: 10 Morale: - Experience Points: 50 Treasure Class: -
A swarm of baby giant ticks represents 40 of these little monsters. Each is about 3 inches long and has 1hp. Any damage to the swarm represents the actual number killed in the attack.
Special: Fire will keep them at bay Piercing weapons do only 1hp damage per attack If reduced below 16 in number the swarm will dissolve and the surviving baby giant ticks attempt to skitter away.
10). This circular niche off the west side of the corridor contains a fountain and a small pool that is about 2ft high and the diameter of the niche. The water pours from a pitcher in the hands of a statue of a voluptuous naked woman. The water is collected in the circular pool at the statues feet. Followers of Lunaqqua will receive a blessing following their first drink of this water. This blessing will give them a +1 advantage in all dice rolls for the next 6 game turns. Subsequent drinking at this fountain will be refreshing but does nothing but dispel thirst.
Anyone desecrating this fountain (which includes attempts to damage it) will receive a curse of lycanthropy unless a save versus magic succeeds.
An overturned wooden bucket is at the edge of the stone pool.
11a). The door to this room is ajar. It can be barred from inside the room but no crosspiece is in evidence. It can be locked but the key is nowhere to be found.
11b). Three long tables are set side by side toward the center of this area. On each table is a nude body, two men and one woman. An overturned metal tripod and metal basin is near the west-most of the tables and half-burnt coals, now long cooled, have spilled from it. (The coals can be gathered and will burn for an hour, giving off a good deal of heat but very little light). Under the coals is a dagger made from a chunk of obsidian and wrapped with leather. It radiates magic if detected.
New Item: This is a Dagger of Mordezzan. It is a +1 magic weapon, but its main use is in the creation of animated skeletons and the production of Skins of Mordezzan. The dagger can make incisions in dead flesh that when complete will animate up to 3 skeletons per day. These skeletons will be at the command of their creator, except they will take no actions against a follower of Mordezzan who wears a Skin or bears the symbol of Mordezzan. A follower of Mordezzan who is a cleric or necromancer may wrest the command of these skeletons if they are of higher level.
New Item: The Skin of Mordezzan is the specially prepared skin of a sacrificial victim. It radiates evil and is worn by a follower of Mordezzan granting him the same armour class as that of leather armour, provides +1 to saving throws, and protection against paralysis, cold based and charm spells and abilities. Arcane markings are placed on the victim's skin, then they are submerged in a vat of enchanted liquid, then a Dagger of Mordezzan is used to remove the skin. Anyone trying to wear a Skin of Mordezzan who is not a follower must save versus poison of suffer 1d6 hp damage per combat round (save for half damage) and will suffer 1d6 hp damage per combat round until such a save is made even after the suit is removed. (Only 1 saving throw is necessary once the Skin is removed, but a save must be rolled each turn the Skin is worn.
A giant tick sits on top of the man's body on the center table. It has been poisoned while trying to drain the body. The tick is at half-hp and -1 to hit and damage. The bodies of 4 dead giant ticks are scattered around the floor north of the tables.
If anyone examines the bodies they will find arcane markings on the flesh that a necromancer will recognize as part of a ritual to animate the dead. Each body has bone deep incisions and it would take little effort to remove the skeletons from the surrounding flesh.
11b). A set of spikes on the east wall holds 7 human skins. These are completed Skins of Mordezzan. No trace of internal organs or bones are in evidence.
11c). The drained and dry body of a man in a dark blue robe is crumpled here. If searched it is revealed that he wears a Skin of Mordezzan beneath his robe, but it is damaged beyond repair showing many knife wounds in the back and head of the Skin and the man almost completely severed, hanging together only by the skin at the back of the neck.
12). The west wall of this room is lined with skeletons who stand motionless until someone approaches within 20ft, opens the northern doors or who attacks them from a distance. There are 9 skeletons lined up in two rows facing the west wall. In each of their hands is a human thigh-bone, one end spiked with nails, which they use like a spiked mace, damage 1d6. A stack of boxes three high is on the north wall and the south. Each box contains 2 skeletons. These will attack if the crate is open. These skeletons will obey the commands of anyone in a Skin of Mordezzan and will not attack anyone showing a symbol of Mordezzan.
12a). This door is shut but not locked. It can be barred from inside the room. The wooden crosspiece is on the floor near the door.
12b). This door is shut but not locked. It can be barred but no crosspiece is in evidence.
13). There is a large vat in the center of this room 5ft high and 10ft in diameter. The walls of this room are set with iron spikes and the bodies of 12 men are hanging upside down from the spikes. Each has been marked with arcane symbols and the sign of Mordezzan. Their bodies show lines of deep incisions head to toe.
An iron chain hangs from a pulley above the vat. Inside the vat is a thick, dark liquid that radiates magic if anyone detects such. The liquid is a primary ingredient in creating a Skin of Mordezzan, and a flask of it would be worth 5gp to an alchemist, Necromancer or seller of spell components. There is enough liquid in the vat to fill 1,000 flasks.
If anyone peers into the vat an Undead Minion of Mordezzan will reach out from the liquid and try to first grapple with the character then drag them into the vat. If this is successful the character will be attacked by 5 Undead Minions of Mordezzan
If the attempt to grapple the character fails, all 5 Minions will burst from the vat, pulling themselves over its edge and attack.
At the same time the Minions attack the bodies on the wall will begin to writhe and shake. In 2 combat rounds 5 of the bodies of the wall will have had their skeletons pull free of the flesh that surrounds them. They will drop to the floor and attack. 2 combat rounds after that 5 more will pull themselves free and 2 rounds later 5 more till a total of 15 skeletons have left their skins hanging on the walls. The empty skins are not yet enchanted and are merely dead flesh.
New Monster: Minion of Mordezzan Undead Type 3 No. Encountered: 1d6 Alignment: Lawful Evil Size: M Movement: 40 Dexterity: 10 Armour Class: 7 Hit Dice: 2 No. Attacks 3(Claw/Claw/Bite) Damage: 1d3/1d3/1d6 Saving Throw: 15 Morale: 10 Experience Points: 41 Treasure Class: S,T
Minions of Mordezzan are similar to ghouls but lack the ability to paralyze their prey. At one time they were loyal members of the Mordazzen cult and wore sacred Skins of Mordezzan. Upon the death of the cultist this Skin bonds with their own flesh and they rise after a short time as an undead Minion of Mordazzen.
Special: Immune to poison, paralysis, fear and cold-based attacks Protection from evil holds them at bay
14). This chamber has walls covered in torn, blood spattered and shredded tapestry. 2 of these hangings have gold thread woven into them and are worth 25gp each, even in their mangled condition. In the south-west corner is a pile of broken wood made up mainly of chairs but some larger furniture of unknown type as well. Along the north wall there is a table, swept clear but covered in dried blood, as is the floor around the table. Against the east wall there is an overturned and smashed cabinet. Mixed in with the cabinet are torn books and scrolls and broken glass.
If the cabinet is searched there is a 50% chance that a hidden drawer at the bottom of a splintered shelf will be found. The drawer is locked and a thief can attempt to pick it. If the secret drawer is smashed open the two glass vials in will be smashed.
The drawer contains 2 potion vials and a small spell book. Potion #1 is of Healing Potion #2 is of Fire Resistance
The small book holds 3 spells; Animate Carrion, Extermination, and Skeleton Servant.
14a). A bench runs along the south wall of this alcove. Huddled against the east wall on the bench are two figures in blue robes. If approached closer than 10ft these 2 Undead Minions of Mordezzan will attack. If attacked from a distance they will also attack.
14b). This alcove at the south end of the main room is hidden from casual view by a torn tapestry. There are pegs running down the west wall and 5 dark blue robes are scattered beneath them on the floor.
Most noticeable is the Undead Minion of Mordezzan, stripped of its blue robe and nailed to the south wall with iron spikes. The creature is at only 5hp but is still animated and struggles to free itself.
15). This door is locked and barred shut from the east side of the door. A glyph has been carved into the wood of the door. If shown around the city above it will be found out that it is the mark of Ptolemides Thieve's Guild, but such questions will be noted and the Thieve's Guild will be informed. Posted: 10-16-2021 11:41 am NPC - Jedzec Centaur Lord Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC - Jedzec Centaur Lord
Between the Burneal Forest and the Cold Marshes is a roadway, one heavily travelled by the centaur herds. Now that the land is under perpetual assault by the entity known as The Grey and its minions the herds have moved further west and only the warriors patrol the old pathways that enter the forbidding marshes.
Jedzec is a lord among his people and can be often found among the edge of the marshes though even he does not ride to deeply within the forbidding boundries of the frozen bog. He is an archer beyond compare and normally carries no other weapon than his bow that only the strongest may use. A skilled ranger he has an affinity with the Oerth and nature beyond most of his kind. Jedzec is an ally of the Sisterhood in Blackmoor and can call on their aid. In return he and his clan will aid any of the Sisterhood who call upon him. Posted: 10-15-2021 04:56 pm Historical - Queen Ehlissa the Nightingale
Historical - Queen Ehlissa the Nightingale
The great warrior-queen Ehlissa, called the Nightingale by her people, the Giade (later labeled the Flan by Oeridian invaders) was known for her voice which could charm, inspire and enchant those who heard it. She was of great will and determination. Uniting the tribes of her people against the eastern nomads who threatened the more settled western lands of the Flanaess. The Giade settled and farmed the areas near to the great forests and Elven communities venerating the long-lived demi-humans and learning their ways, but following the path of the Oerth-Mother, Father Wind and Storm, the two sisters of the Moons who watched over the night, the brothers Sun and Sea. In later day the great inventor-mage from mysterious Blackmoor would court her and give to her the powerful Nightingale he crafted for her, leading to the tragedy which broke the power of the Giade. Posted: 10-15-2021 01:20 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Kampala Shrine of Obad-Hai
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Kampala Shrine of Obad-Hai
Kampala is the chief shrine to Obad-Hai in Blackmoor. It is about 30 leagues north-east of the tail-end of the Fler beyond the Burneal Forest. The image of the Shalm is a stone pillar painted and bedecked with greenery. Beneath him are two stone boars and the shrine is dedicated to Obad-Hai in his aspect as the Boar-God.
There is a great hall that houses the druids and their families as well as a town that mainly serves the farmers who support the shrine as well as several inns that house worshippers and visitors.
The power of the Shalm keeps the Grey and its minions distant from the shrine, town and fields of Kampala. The several dozen druids in residence are generally younger initiates and older or injured druids seeking rest.
Druidism in Blackmoor is divided with Obad Hai having mainly a male following and those who follow the balance of nature itself with more females. The strength of the Sisterhood has drawn many of the women of Blackmoor to witchcraft, though the Sisterhood also contains warriors and other types of magic-users, and the druids of nature and balance are either allies of the Sisterhood or actual members. Those who follow the Shalm are not. They are not against the Sisterhood but follow a seperate path.
Posted: 10-15-2021 11:32 am Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Casva the Seer
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Casva the Seer
The south-western reaches of the Burneal Forest are home to the Centaur clan lead by the war-chief Taraso. Unlike many of the centaur clans of the Burneal he has found common cause with the Sisterhood and their war against the entity known as the Grey and its minions. Taraso has also formed alliances with the tribes of ancient Flan who dwell in the depths of the wood. Casva is a powerful leader of one such tribe. A witch of great foresight and power to divine the future as well as visions of the past. The Flan natives bred with Oeridian invaders driven into the forest as a great wing of their migration was forced back by the wild Rovers of the east. The Baklunish Tiger have mixed with her people as well and Casva's grandfather was a Thousand Leader among the hors-nomads. While she is not part of the Sisterhood she is a close ally and deeply respected. She leads her tribe as well as the Mother's Council who represent all the women. Her Uncle Arsha leads the Father's. There is a Moon-sickness among her people and Casva is cursed with the touch of the Fox-God, changing when both Moons reach their fullness together. Posted: 10-14-2021 02:58 pm The Catacombs of Ptolemides
Continued from Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6a
The Catacombs of Ptolemides
Rooms and passages in the catacombs normally have ceilings roughly 10 feet overhead and sconces or holders where torches or lanterns can be set, but are no torches or lanterns will be found unless specifically mentioned. Light must be provided by the player characters otherwise the catacombs are lightless black (unless the described areas mention illumination).
The initial area is formed from carved stone with wooden supports for the typical entranceway.
1). The platform that the characters are standing on is circular and a little over 20ft in diameter. Large torches (taking two hands to hold) are set around the edges of the platform in metal standing brackets welded to the platform. These torches will burn for a full hour before guttering and going out. A slow but continual circulation of air bends the flames from the torches slightly to the west.
As the platform nears the last 10ft to the floor the PC's will see skeletal bodies in ancient armor affixed to the north, south and east walls. Iron spikes are set into each 10ft section of these walls the bodies of these long dead warriors have been thrust upon the spikes with enough force to pierce the ancient verdigris encrusted chest plates they all wear.
Several large mallets, some of wood, and some shaped from human thigh bones, are scattered near to the walls, and these can be used to beat upon the armor of the dead hanging upon the walls. If hammered for more than three combat rounds this noise will alert Tomeron's servants who man the winches above and they will begin to draw up the platform. If the room is dark a circle of light will appear 50ft above as the iron cover is first lifted before the chains take up the slack and the platform begins to rise. It will be several combat round before the platform begins to rise after the winches begin to turn but then the platform will be drawn up 10ft every 3 combat rounds. No amount of shouting will get Tomeron's servants to stop or bring the platform back to the ground once they have begun drawing it up, unless it is the command of Tomeron himself.
If anyone begins beating on one of the chest plates, tries to remove the armor or searches the bodies, a normal sized rat will leap from the mouth of the dead body and attack. 1 combat round after this attack, 6 rats will begin to pour from the various bodies and attack the PC's. 6 more will appear the following combat round, and finally 6 more after that in the next combat round for a total of 19 attacking rats.
If more than 8 of their number are slain the rats will flee toward area 1b where a rat-hole has been gnawed at the bottom of the secret door.
The 20th Rat
There is one rat that will not take part in the combat but will be the last rat through the hole at area 1b. If it is attacked it will continue in its attempt to flee. If it is slain and the body examined it will be revealed as some type of autonomaton formed of wood and metal enclosed in the pelt of a rat.
*Clockwork Scout No. Encountered: 1 or 1d6 Alignment: Neutral Size: S Movement: 15 Dexterity: 12 Armour Class: 4 Hit Dice: 1 No. Attacks: 1 Damage: 1d4 Saving Throw: 17 Morale: - Experience Points: 15 Treasure Class: -
Clockwork Scouts are part of a mechanical species developed during the height of Suel civilization in ages past. They have survived and can be found mainly in the ruins of ancient Suel centers of learning and sorcery.
Clockwork Scouts have a rudimentary sentience but what will and independent thought they might have is subsumed by the greater purpose and willpower of more powerful members of their species. They have no known language but can somehow communicate all the have seen, heard and experienced to there more powerful Clockwork beings.
Each clockwork scout is shaped into a skeletal version of a small animal and covered with such creatures fur, flesh or hide.
While a Clockwork Scout possess no treasure of its own their non-functioning bodies can be worth from 10 to 50gp depending on the type of damage. A function Clockwork Scout is easily worth over 250gp.
*The Clockwork Scout is from Frog God Games 'The Tome of Horror Complete S&W version' though slightly altered for my Greyhawk campaign.
1a). The dead body of a mangy dog is crumpled in the upper corner of the south facing passage. It is a thin and rat-eaten corpse, mainly skin, hair and bone. If closely examined a fragment of blue cloth can be found in its clenched teeth.
1b). This is a secret door that has been well-crafted to appear as a section of the north wall. It even has one of the old dead bodies and an iron pike set into it. At the bottom edge of the door the rats have gnawed a small hole. If a lightsource such as a bullseye lantern is directed through the hole a space or chamber can be seen on the otherside.
The door is stoutly build and an iron bar is set in place. It will take at least 300hp of damage to batter down the door. Any noise may attract a wandering monster but will not in itself signal for the platform to be raised.
(To be continued...) Posted: 10-14-2021 01:36 pm The wizard of the cave of Les Trois Freres
The wizard of the cave of Les Trois Freres does a ritual dance high above a medley of animals of ancient times. His head is crowned with reindeer antlers; his ears are those of the wolf, and his face is bearded like a lion's. He has a horse's tail and bear paws. The wide and startling eyes appear to see not only the creatures gamboling beneath him but through the timeless space separating us from this paleolithic vision.
Posted: 10-13-2021 01:43 pm NPC - Fritha Wolfhealer
NPC - Fritha Wolfhealer
Fritha is a Fruz druidess. She has traveled south because of a dream-vision to the lands of Verbobonc. The wilds are her home though the great warmth has taken some getting used to. On her travels she has avoided most human and demi-humankind though she has had some interaction with rangers and sylvan elves as well as other druids.
She is a moderately powerful druidess but has a special affinity with wolves. No wolf will attack her and should any attempt top harm her in their presence they will defend her with their lives.
A patrol of goblin wolfriders who have recently invaded the viscounty discovered this in a rather fatal way when they set upon the lone druidess in the woodland near Nulb. Their own mounts turned upon the goblins and tore the surprised little grenskins to pieces. Now dozen of these wolves accompamies Fritha as travels toward her goal somewhere in the Kron Hills. Posted: 10-13-2021 12:48 pm NPC Alatou
Alatou is a demoness servant of Graz'zt. She is a temptress and her appearance is that of a beautiful women with the platinum tresses of a drow but horned like a gazelle and skin of a dark red. Her true form is hideous with the bristles of pig instead of hair, skin mottled and lined, rough as a reptiles. Cloven hooved and with brawny arms and black-clawed hands. Teeth are a mess of needle-like fangs and a jaw that can stretch wide-enough to swallow a barrel. She is powerful and has domains and holdings within Graz'zt's plane of the Abyss, but currently serves as one of Iuz's lesser demonic playthings, her strength and power hidden from all, but especially Iuz. Posted: 10-12-2021 09:17 pm NPC - The Prophetess of Sutek
NPC - The Prophetess of Sutek
Before Sutek she was a slave. Now she is the bringer of death and despair. Only those who worship Sutek will be spaired and then only till the Ancient Master is freed. There will be power in this life while it last and then sweet oblivion.
The Prophtess brings visions of what is to come. The devastation and desolation. The torturous pain that can only be temporarily abated whose surcease is the blessing of death and death is Sutek.
She wears long gloves of red because the touch of her hands is death. Flesh burns beneath her fingers, food rots, metal turns to rust. Her ungloved embrace will quickly kill a common man or woman but a hero could break free, though wounded. She is immensely strong and she is constantly surrounded by the ever growing followers of Sutek. So far they have been chased into the deserts of Zeif but she is smuggled into to towns to grant her visions to the new believers.
The bounty on her head is great but none have survived to collect it. Posted: 10-12-2021 04:24 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Taraso Centaur-Lord
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Taraso Centaur-Lord
The Centaur clans of Blackmoor are perhaps the most war-like and organized within the Flanaess. As with all Centaurs they have an affinity with the bow that outshines all others, even the notable elven and halfling archers. Though they are profoundly good warriors they have no magic-users but a strong priestcraft worshipping their God Perum whose aspect changes with the seasons.
Taraso is a Lord of one of the larger clans of centaurs who roam the western borders of the Burneal Forest, often tangling with the Tiger Nomads even to the edge of the Drawmij Ocean. There is no open warfare between the nomads and the centaurs, but there is a great deal of rivalry and some trading between the two.
The centaurs have a better relationship with the people of Blackmoor and especially the Sisterhood. With the fight against the Grey the centaur warrior-priests were able to defend themselves but do little except to battle the minions and summonings of the Grey. Many of the Witches of the Sisterhood now ride with the Centaur clans and are welcome allies.
Taraso is a warrior-priest, though not the Priest-Defender of his clan and is a stern old Centaur. He has lost family to the Grey when the a large infestation of summoned creatures came upon their game-herds and killed many centaur-young who sheperherded them. He has an unplacable hatred for the Grey and is a fierce supporter of the Sisterhood. The Priest-Defender of his clan, Volcho, has a strong animus to the Sisterhood and any non-Centaurs. Posted: 10-11-2021 04:46 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6a The Catac
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6a The Catacombs of Ptolemides part 1
SPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
6a). The Epiphany of Death (Written January 25, 1930)
Ptolemides, Catacombs of [PLC] Ptolemides, City of [TWN] Tomeron [NPC]
"Somehow, Tomeron seemed never to belong to the present; but one could readily have imagined him as living in some bygone age. About him, there was nothing whatever of the lineaments of our own period; and he even went so far as to affect in his costume an approximation to the garments worn several centuries ago. His complexion was extremely pale and cadaverous, and he stooped heavily from poring over ancient tomes and no less ancient maps. He moved always with the slow, meditative pace of one who dwells among far off reveries and memories; and he spoke often of people and events and ideas that have long since been forgotten."
"I cab readily recall, however, the studies to which Tomeron had devoted himself, the lost demonian volumes from Hyperborea and Mu and Atlantis with which his library shelves were heaped to the ceiling and the queer charts, not of any land that lies above the surface of the earth, on which he pored by perpetual candlelight."
"He maintained that life and death were not the fixed conditions that people commonly believed them to be; that the two realms were often intermingled in ways not readily discerned, and had penumbral borderlands; that the dead were not always the dead, nor the living the living, as such terms are habitually understood."
"Carrying torches, we left the mansion of Tomeron and sought the ancient catacombs of Ptolemides, which lie beyond the walls and have long been disused, for there is now a fine necropolis in the very heart of the city. The moon had gone down beyond the desert that encroaches toward the catacombs; and we were forced to light our torches long before we came to the subterranean adits; for the rays of Mars and Jupiter in a sodden and funereal sky were not enough to illumine the perilous path we followed among mounds and fallen obelisks and broken graves. At length we discovered the dark and weed-choked entrance of the charnels; and here Tomeron led the way with a swiftness and surety of footing that bespoke long familiarity with the place."
"Entering, we found ourselves in a crumbling passage where the bones of dilapidated skeletons were scattered amid the rubble that had fallen from the sides and roof. A choking stench of stagnant air and of age-old corruption made me pause for a moment but Tomeron scarcely appeared to perceive it, for he strode onward, lifting his torch and beckoning me to follow. We traversed many vaults in which mouldy bones and verdigris-eaten sarcophagi were piled about the walls or strewn where desecrating thieves had left them in bygone years. The air was increasingly dank, chill and miasmal; and mephitic shadows crouched or swayed before our torches in every niche and corner. Also, as we went onward, the walls became more ruinous and the bones we saw on every hand were greener with the mould of time."
ADVENTURE IDEAS
The Catacombs of Ptolemides
The city of Ptolemides was once a proud Pre-Imperium Suel City-State, but after the advent of the Imperium it was slowly abandoned and only a fraction of its population remained. It was home to an ancient temple of Lendor, perhaps the oldest Suel temple of the god's, and during the Rain of Colorless Fire this saved the city, in a manner.
A great storm surrounded the city during the Rain of Colorless fire and transported it between time. The people of Ptolemides who survived live their lives trapped between the beat of a heart. They do not die or age, they hunger little and lead a life of quiet dreaming. The farmland around the city survived even when most within the city did not and the crops are grown picked and grow again to be picked and consumed each day. Cattle bear young who grow to adulthood, are slaughtered and eaten, all as needed to fill the larders of the people, and generally all are unaware of this.
The city and its surroundings are a strange living scar in the outskirts of the Sea of Dust near to Slerotin's Passage. Those who enter the environs of the city become caught within the web of timelessness woven by Lendore. The only way out is the said to be deep under thre city in the Catacombs of Ptolemides.
Within the city only the sections near the outer gates and the central citadel are occupied, while entire quarters are abandoned and walled off, for Ptolemides is also a city of the dead.
When Lendore storm of time came it swallowed the city whole and only those within the citadel survived. These survivors were overwhelmed by the number of the dead, and in houses, manors, tenements and even the streets, the bodies were left unhallowed to putrefy and rot. But these unshriven spirits soon began to walk, to haunt the dead quarters of the city, and to prey upon the living.
Gates were shut, all entrances to these dead quarters walled off, closed and guarded. The priests of Lendore joined the city guard in a desperate attempt to drive back the dead. Then, more welcome than they have ever been, came the hidden cult of necromancers, and the greatest of these was Tomeron.
When Ptolemides was first settled, when the foundations stones were first set, these early Suel found the catacombs, and what they believed, perhaps rightly, was the entrance to the underworld, the land of the dead. These passages were old and endless, already filled with tombs and ancient bones and passages that went deep into the earth. For generations the bodies of the dead were placed reverently within vaults and mausoleums and niches cut into the walls. Over time the nearest of the passages were filled, and the tunnels were followed further and further while a slow sense of evil and darkness crept nearer, and the dead were no longer left undisturbed.
A great necropolis was built in the abandoned foreign quarter of the city and the catacombs of Ptolemides were sealed. The Rain of Colorless Fire and The Storm of Time came, and the dead walked, and then came the necromancers, and with them Tomeron.
Tomeron has unsealed the catacombs and from the abandoned manor where he now lives, in a dead quarter of the city, he directs others; magicians, thieves, priests, fighters, adventurers, fools, to do his bidding and search the catacombs. Of what is brought back to the surface Tomeron has his tithe, but always he seems disappointed, as if what he is truly looking for is never found.
NOTE: Here begins my conversion of TSRs 'Legendary' boxed set, the Ruins of Undermountain. I will just be using the maps for the most part (because my cartographic skill is so poor) but I've always loved this particular dungeon crawl and it will be a pleasure to convert for my Greyhawk campaign.
Tomeron, as I plan to use him, is a high level Necromancer.
Reaching Tomeron's manor is best done in daylight. What was once the artisan's quarter of Ptolemides is now a walled and guarded ruin. Only one gate into the quarter is left open, though rumors say that the Guild of Thieves knows of a secret way.
A small fortress has been built before the gate to this quarter and a toll of 5gp per person is collected to let anyone inside. A toll of 20gp per person is collected to let anyone back out again, and a tax on any treasure of 1 coin, armor, weapon, or valuable, is levied by the king.
There are three gates and a wide circular tunnel that lead to this dead quarter. The outer gate within the fortress will first be opened and as the party approaches the 2nd gate, this outer gate will be closed. Then the 2nd gate will be opened and when the party reaches the gate to the dead quarter, that gate too will close. Finally this 3rd gate will open and the party will be allowed to enter what was once the Artisan's Quarter.
If anyone wants out there is a bell that can be struck near the gate and a basket will be lowered from the wall to collect the 20gp return fee. After dark the guards will ask for extra coin to allow escape from this quarter, and some will not respond at all, preferring to lock and bolt their doors rather than face what might be ringing the bell.
Once outside the small fortress a returning party will be lead to a counting house next door to the fort and there the tax will be levied.
Shops catering to adventurers have sprung up on the avenue leading to this gate and a large inn called 'The Dirge' sits on the far corner from the fortress. It is common for a last drink to be bought here before entering the gate and all manner or business is transacted within this tavern. Hirelings hired, rumors gathered, notices left and what-not.
The dead quarters of the city are very grim and dangerous places, and Tomeron's is no exception. Most buildings are in ruins and many are unpleasantly occupied. rats, bats, vermin and spiders infest these buildings, as well as all manner and kind of undead. The main street is kept warded, at least during the day, but at night the undead roam and there is little shelter to be found.
Several necromancers do live within this quarter and far down its streets can be found an almost-palace that is their guild hall, but these buildings are guarded and sturdy and do not welcome visitors.
Tomeron, on the other hand, welcomes adventurers at anytime. His manor is in a large walled compound three blocks from the gate. The doors to his house are always open and lead to a large entrance hall. Tomeron himself will come to greet all those wishing to journey to the catacombs.
Inside this hall is a large staircase leading to a dimly lit upper floor, but the players will not be invited to see it more clearly. On its balustrade sits a pair of gargoyles, perhaps mere statues, but their unmoving features are grinning and malevolent. A half-dozen uniformed footmen are nearby, pale men with the stench of carrion about them, and the black beneath the stairs seems filled with something more awful than darkness.
To the left of the entrance-way is a set of double-doors. These open to a long, wide passage that turns and turns as it leads down, and finally comes to a broad square room. A quick estimates shows a ceiling vaulting out of site, and a room at least eighty feet wide as it is eighty feet long. Some tables and chairs are at the north end, at its center is a large round pit covered by an iron plate. Massive chains lead from the plate to four crank mechanisms spaced evenly around its sides.
"I take one coin in five and such items, jewels, gems and such-like as take my fancy. No more than one in three. If you agree and are prepared, that is your way to the catacombs," Tomeron points to the pit and the iron plate which covers it.
If the party agrees and wants to proceed Tomeron will speak a sharp command and four tall and heavily scared men will approach the cranks and begin raising the iron plate. Suspended by chains beneath the plate is a platform. Once the iron plate has reached the ceiling the platform will be even with the edge of the pit and a panel will be extended to act as a bridge. Once the party is on the platform the panel will be removed and the platform lowered into the pit.
Tomeron will call down to the party, "From here your adventure begins. Beat upon the armor of the dead to signal your return." Posted: 10-11-2021 11:41 am Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions - 5c
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions - 5c
2nd Floor
1). The smell of burnt flesh is pervasive through this area. The ceiling is nearly fifteen feet high.
1a). Stairs going up to the Top Floor. Only a dull greenish light illuminates the top of the stairs.
1b&c). Stairs going down to the First Floor. This stairwells are unlit and are dark as a tomb.
1d). This area is lit by a burning flame held in the palm of a huge statue of a demonic bat-like creature which stands at the center 10 foot section of the south wall. Around the floor are scattered remnants of a hasty camp. A roll of bedding with blood stains, some scattered food (enough for 1 days rations if gathered up and the consumer is none to particular in what they eat) and a broken bone amulet of Pictish design (once this allowed control of the flesh automaton's on this level of the dungeon and the one outside the temple at the top of the stairs. It has been destroyed by acid and physical damage).
The statue stands 10 feet tall with sweeping wings sculpted up to the 15 foot ceiling. The face of the statue displays an evil grin and one large red gem (1,500gp value) the size of a fist. The left eye-socket of the statue is empty and weeps a dark viscous (and flammable) goo that has run down the face and body of the statue (and hardened to the body like a stream of wax down a candle but of a consistency more like clay). The right eye holds the gem.
At the clawed feet of statue us a charred corpse, its arm outstretched ending in a fingerless palm.
If the body is searched, a fairly disgusting process, a set of thieves lock-picks will be discovered hidden cunningly inside the belt.
If the gem is pried from the statues eye-socket a loud click will be heard and a stream of burning goo will be projected in a stream 10ft long from both eyes, while at the same time, a cloud of flammable gas will exhale from the statue's mouth and fill a 10ft diameter sphere directly in front of the statue. The cloud of burning gas will inflict 2d12 damage (1/2 dmg if saved against) to anyone within the area, while the burning goo will inflict three rounds of burning damage (again, 1/2 damage if saved against) to anyone caught buy the discharge. 1d12 the first combat round, 1d8 the second and 1d4 the 3rd. Only the first rounds damage can be saved against and items may, at the DMs discretion, on the burning victim, may also need to a saving throw or be destroyed or damaged.
The goo dripping from the eye or eyes can be collected. About enough to coat 3 arrowheads can be collected in an hour or 6 in an hour if both eyes are now leaking the goo. If exposed to air for more than an hour the goo dries, though this clay-like substance will also burn and about a 1lb of it can be scraped from the body of the statue.
2). This hall is composed of 10ft alcoves sealed off with a greenish crystal. Each crystal wall is strong enough to withstand 10,000hp damage before shattering. within each alcove can be seen the unmoving body of an Elder Thing.
Upon opening the door from area 1 the players are presented with a scene of horrific carnage. The bodies of two Elder Things have been torn limb from limb (though some body parts are missing). A thick, dark red blood is spattered across walls and floor. From area 2b comes a steady pounding noise.
2a). This shattered alcove is empty except for a covering of crystal shards. These shards are a natural bane to all shoggoth and shoggoth-like creatures. They can be used as sling stones and will act as magic +2 to hit/damage sling stones if used against such creatures, though they will do no or little damage to normal creatures. In addition, the possession of 5 or more of these fragments will act as a +1 item of protection against shoggoths and related creatures.
2b). From this location comes the steady pounding of 2 flesh automatons as they relentlessly assault the wall of greenish crystal. They have already caused over 9,000hp damage against this wall and it will shatter in 1d10+10 minutes. Upon shattering it will release an Elder Thing and both flesh automatons will immediately attack the creature.
If interrupted in either attacking the wall or the Elder Thing, both flesh automatons will turn and attack whoever interrupted their actions (ignoring the useless attacks of the Elder Thing), and continue attacking anyone on this level, before turning back to their assault on the wall or the Elder Thing.
The Elder Thing will attack anyone within reach and will attack and pursue them till it is destroyed or prevented by some other means.
2c). As per 2a except that among the crystal shards within the alcove may be found a hand-sized five-pointed object of dark green soapstone. This object acts as a +3 item of protection against shoggoths and shoggoth-like creatures.
2d). This alcove appears empty but behind the crystal wall is a portal that leads to a hidden vault deep within the Spiral Mountain Array. (The vault is merely a 100ft by 100ft space until the key to its exit can be found, which is not yet available in this adventure). If the wall is shattered a stream of Elder Things will pour out, one every combat round, if they can force themselves out of the alcove. 20 of these monsters will come pouring forth, the last will bear a malfunction crystal-tipped iridium rod of the Great Race. After 1d6 uses the rod will emit a crackle of blue electric light for 3 combat rounds then explode, disintegrating everything in a 20ft diameter sphere.
2e). This is a massive gelatinous cube that fills the hall and stretches some 70ft end to end. It still attacks as a 4hd monster but has 10 times the hit points of a normal cube (not really a cube then is it?). It usually circles the corridor endlessly and is fed by sacrifices by the ape-men. It has 3 times the normal treasure (the ape-men are not very thorough when looting their sacrifices). Currently the monster is cowering in this corner of the hall after having about 30% of its mass destroyed by magical attacks and suffering a violent bout of indigestion (see 2f).
2f). At the center of this gelatinous cube is suspended the body of a flesh automaton. It was swallowed before orders could be given and it is a sort-of standby mode. If freed from the cube it will attack anyone within sight, nearest first, and pursue them anywhere within or without the temple until destroyed.
(To be continued) Posted: 10-10-2021 12:31 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 5b
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 5b
Tsathoggua
"...we forthwith started to explore a left-hand avenue, which, though it had been laid out with mathematical directness, vanished at no great distance among the fronded trees. Here, somewhat apart from the other buildings, in a sort of square that the jungle had not yet wholly usurped, we found a small temple of antique architecture which gave the impression of being far older even than the adjoining edifices. It also differed from these in its material, for it was builded of a dark basaltic stone heavily encrusted with lichens that seemed of a coeval antiquity. It was square in form, and had no domes nor spires, no facade of pillars, and only a few narrow windows high above the ground. Such temples are rare in Hyperborea nowadays; but we knew it for a shrine of Tsathoggua, one of the elder gods, who receives no longer any worship from men, but before whose ashen altars, people say, the furtive and ferocious beasts of the jungle, the ape, the giant sloth and the long-toothed tiger, have sometimes been seen to make obeisance and have been heard to howl or whine their inarticulate prayers."
"...the black interior of the temple yawned before us, and from it there surged an odor of long-imprisoned mustiness combined with a queer and unfamiliar fetidity."
"...the place was paven with immense quinquangular flags of the same material from which its walls were built. It was quite bare, except for the image of the god enthroned at the further end, the two-tiered altar of obscenely figured metal before the image, and a large and curious-looking basin of bronze supported on three legs, which occupied the middle of the floor."
"I had never seen an image of Tsathoggua before, but I recognized him without difficulty from the descriptions I had heard. He was very squat and pot-bellied, his head was more like that of a monstrous toad than a deity, and his whole body was covered with an intimation of short fur, giving somehow a vague suggestion of both the bat and the sloth. His sleepy lids were half-lowered over his globular eyes; and the tip of a queer tongue issued from his fat mouth. In truth, he was not a comely or personable sort of god, and I did not wonder at the cessation of his worship, which could only to have appealed to very brutal and aboriginal men at any time."
"What unimaginable horror of protoplastic life, what loathly spawn of the primordial slime had come forth to confront us, we did not pause to consider or conjecture."
ADVENTURE IDEAS (Continued from 5a)
As the drums begin to beat scores of ape-men rush from the surrounding ruins. A group of eight with an alpha male leading run toward the stairs. It will take them no more than 2 melee rounds to cross the stone paves of the square and reach the bottom of the stairs, and only another melee round to rush up them and engage anyone at the doors at top.
NOTE: After the first group has begun their charge other small groups of 1d6+6 ape-men (with a 25% chance of an alpha male leading them) begin to make their way behind them or pull themselves up the walls on all side. As an example, for the first 11 melee rounds ape-men will rush up the stairs or make their way around the sides of the ziggurat ever other melee round, 5th round, 7th round, etc... and on the 9th melee round since the ape-men first charged the stairs, a group of six and an alpha male will climb to the top of the ziggurat above the doors and be able to jump down on the next melee round.
NOTE: These ape-men need make no morale cheeks and are immune to any charm spells. The are already under the complete swat of Xathoggua.
If anyone makes it inside the top floor, after opening or smashing down the doors, they will find that the ape-men will not enter. If the entire party is inside the top-floor room the ape-men will disappear from view, moving down the stairs, around the corners of the walls, or peer down from the roof above. Anyone steeping beyond the doors or sticking their head out will be pelted with 30+ thrown stones each melee round for three rounds and then attacked by a rush of ape-men. In no case will an ape-man step within the temple and any that do will go wild, frothing at the mouth, and then collapse in a shuddering semi-conscious heap. Such ape-men will only awaken if they are brought outside the temple or at the sound of a gong being beaten somewhere below (this will be dealt with in a future post).
Top Floor
The interior of the top floor is dank and slimed with a glowing greenish substance that has the smell of rotting vegetation and a slightly acidic quality that will burns the skin and stains and disfigures cloth and hide. It does add enough light to see within the chamber if there is no other illumination.
1a-1g are pedestals with what appear to be iron statues (or broken fragments of iron statues) of humanoid appearance. Each is of a warrior though their shape is slightly disturbing, legs appear too long, the chest narrow and sunken, the arms oddly jointed and the fingers numbering more or less than a humans. Such faces as can be seen are a strange combination of toad, bat and giant sloth. Each statue is exactly detailed and the work masterful, though slightly horrific and bizarre.
It can easily be seen that each of these statues have received severe damage, and several have been almost completely destroyed, and one appears to be missing. A closer look shows that they are covered with slowly moving fragments of metal as if they were swarmed by some infestation. A few moments will reveal that these fragments are minding the fragments, rebuilding the missing pieces and reconstructing each damaged statue.
These statues are a new creature for my campaign.
The Iron Men of Xathoggua
No. Encountered: 1 Alignment: Neutral Size: M Movement: 20 Dexterity: 5 Armor Class: 4 Hit Dice: 8 No. Attacks 1 (Plus Special) Damage: 3d8 Saving Throw: 11 Morale: - Experience Points: 4,000 Treasure Class: -
Constructed by Olman sorcerers in the distant past, the Iron Men of Xathoggua are similar to automaton's of iron. Each is dedicated to Xathoggua and can be commanded by the deity at will (overriding any other commands). Each Iron Man is constructed by a single priest of Xathoggua and controlled by a scroll of a silver-like metal. Only a single controlling scroll can ever be possessed and such a scroll allows command of only a single specific iron man. Anyone trying to possess and use more than one scroll will cause those iron men to attack the user. An iron man must be within sight of someone using a silver scroll and their voice must be able to be heard (an Iron Man has average hearing).
The art of building the Iron Men is now lost, but they are well nigh indestructable. Built from a magnetic black iron which fell to Hyperborea from the dark void of space, the priests of Xathoggua enchanted the alien metal, turning it into a viscous liquid and through their dark arts imbuing each with the life essences of ten powerful warriors and ten colonies of foul green slime, and a quantity of their own blood.
An Iron Man can be shattered with normal weapons, but the metal, even smashed to fragments, is drawn to each other with a force strong enough to pull free from the grip of a strong man. These pieces will find each other even across great distances. It would require great magic or the heat of a mighty forge to destroy this metal.
Allowed to reassemble itself an iron man will 'heal' at a rate of 3hp/turn. When it has reached half its hit points it will be able to function once more though only able to move at half speed and deal half damage, (it will still be able to carry out its special attack).
Special: Immune to charm, sleep, hold and other mind-affecting sorceries. Electrical attacks slow the Iron Man for 3 rounds Fire attacks due 1/2 damage or no damage if saved. Acid attacks do no damage
Every 5 melee rounds the Iron Man can vomit a green acidic substance up to 10feet striking a 5foot diameter sphere of space. This attack will cause 3d6 damage.
Each Iron Man is constructed with an flanged mace gripped in one hand with its other hand free.
Top Floor (continued)
1a) This Iron Man is utterly destroyed. The fragments are slowly shifting together but have only reformed the feet.
1b) This is an empty predestal
1c) This Iron Man is partially reformed and able to function. It's armor is chipped and cracked. The top of its head is missing and the glowing green liquid sloshes out over its face as it moves. It cannot use its special vomit attack.
NOTE: All surviving iron men will attack if anyone approaches within 10feet. If any of the iron men are activated then all are activated and will go on the attack (this includes only the iron men at locations 1c, 1e & 1f).
1d) This Iron man is only half complete. Its body has been rebuilt up to its lower chest. Inside its bowl-like interior is a pool of acidic slime. This glowing green slime may be collected in glass or metal containers. A jar's worth, if used as a missile or poured onto someone, will do 1d10 damage. There is 5 jars worth of slime that can be recovered.
1e). This iron man is at three-quarters hit points and functional. Its body is cracked and missing small pieces, through which leak the green acidic slime, but it is still able to perform its vomit attack. See 1C for the NOTE regarding the functional iron men.
At the feet of this Iron Man is the body of a half-orc sorcerer. The body has received grievous wounds and its right hand is missing. There is a +2 Dagger of Venom concealed in his left boot (5 doses of poison remaining) and 5 100gp gems sewn into each cuff of his pants (10 gems total). His belt has been cut and pockets turned out, but there is a large silver serpent-shaped buckle on his belt worth 50gp with a hidden compartment containing 3 doses of poison for his dagger. In a half-destroyed pack that still hangs over one mutilated shoulder, there is an acid-eaten spellbook which still contains 2 1st level spells and 1 2nd level spell (to be determined by the DM).
1f) This iron man is at half hit points and its special vomit attack functions normally. See the NOTE at 1c concerning this monster.
If activated this iron man will step forward, perhaps off its pedestal and reveal the squashed hand of the half-orc sorcerer whose body is at 1e. There are 2 rings on the broken fingers of this hand. One is in the form of a snake with emeralds for its eyes. It is of ancient craftmanship and worth 250gp to the right buyer. The other is a Ring of Shooting Stars. NOTE: This ring is made of an opposing metal to that of the iron men and the wearer of such a ring will be the focus of any attacks.
1g) This iron man is completely shattered. All it appears to be is a squirming pile of metal fragments oozing a glowing green liquid slime.
2) The stairs leading down to the 2nd floor.
(To Be Continued) Posted: 10-09-2021 02:19 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - The Moon Hall
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - The Moon Hall
The gathering place for the Sisterhood has no set location. It exists when the moons, Celene and Luna, are in certain conjunctions with the Oerth. The Great Veil is created and the Sisterhood passes within to seperate plane of existence. This is the Moon Hall of the Sisterhood. Three of the Nine who guide the Sisterhood hold the portal open while three others help to guard it with a large contingent of witches, warriors and summoned or allied creatures.
Once a year at the passing of the long night there is a great gathering where challenges for rank among the Sisterhood are conducted. None but members of the Sisterhood are allowed at this gathering, though at other times any witch may take a non-witch with them through the Great Veil and to the Moon Hall.
The Moon Hall is sometimes a mansion or palace or even a castle with many rooms. At other times it appears to be glades and groves within a think forest. There is no sun within the Moon Hall only the light from Celene and Luna. No matter what its appearance there will be room for gathering, dancing, feasting.
Amidst all this the spirits of dead witches wander and particpate and interact with the living. They appear semi-translucent and may change from young to old as they speak. Many of the dead are hard to converse with as they appear to be dreaming or distracted by things unseen to the living.
Beneath the Moon Hall are the crypts where the spirit jars of the dead are kept. Some are large and contain the bodies of the dead. Other jars are small and hold only the ashes or even the spiritual essence of some long fallen sister. But the crypts are also a prison and a vault holding items of great power. Sisters whose spirits have fallen to evil or madness are imprisoned and guarded by the honored dead of the Sisterhood. Items of power deemed to dangerous to use except in dire neccessity are entombed beneath the spirit jars of the strongest of the Sisterhood from times past.
Beyond the Moon Hall the plane becomes chaotic and home to terrors drawn from the nightmarish depths of the mind. Any interlopers or those who seek harm to the sisterhood within the Moon Hall are cast into this border of churning chaos.
Posted: 10-08-2021 02:33 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 5a
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 5a
SPOILER WARNING! If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
5a). The Tale of Satampra Zeiros (Written Nov 16 1929, first published in Weird Tales Nov 1931)
Commoriom - [TWN] Polarion - [PLC] Satampra Zeiros - [NPC] Tirouv Ompallios - [NPC] Uzuldaroum - [TWN] White Sybil of Polarion - [NPC]
"I, Satampra Zeiros of Uzuldarium shall write with my left hand, since I have no longer any other, the tale of everything that befell Tirouv Ompallios and myself in the shrine of the god... (see post 5b), which lies neglected by the worship of man in the jungle-taken suburbs of Commoriom, that long-deserted capital of the Hyperborean rulers. I shall write it with the violet juice of the suvana-palm, which turns to a blood-red rubric with the passage of years, on a strong vellum that is made from the skin of the mastodon, as a warning to all good thieves and adventurers who may hear some lying legend of the lost treasure of Commoriom and be tempted thereby."
Commoriom Polarion White Sybil of Polarion
"Now Commoriom, as all the world knows, was deserted many hundred years ago because of the prophecy of the White Sybil of Polarion, who foretold an undescribed and abominable doom for all mortal beings who should dare to tarry within its environs. Some say that this doom was a pestilence that would have come from the northern waste by the paths of the jungle tribes; others, that it was a form of madness; at any rate, no one, neither king nor priest nor merchant nor laborer nor thief, remained in Commorion to abide its arrival, but all departed in a single migration to found at a distance of a day's journey the new capital, Uzuldaroum. And strange tales are told, of horrors and terrors not to be faced or overcome by man, that haunt forevermore the shrines and mausoleums and palaces of Commoriom. And still it stands, a luster of marble, a magnificence of granite, all a-throng with spires and cupolas and obelisks that the mighty trees of the jungle have not yet overtowered, in a fertile inland valley of Hyperborea. And men say that in its unbroken vaults there lies entire and undespoiled as of yore the rich treasure of olden monarchs; that the high-built tombs retain the gems and electrum that were buried with their mummies; that the fanes have still their golden altar-vessels and furnishings, the idols their precious stones in war and mouth and nostril and naval."
"...we saw in the moonlight the gleam of marble cupolas above the tree-tops, and then between the boughs and boles the wan pillars of shadowy porticoes. A few more steps, and we trod upon the paven streets that ran transversely from the high-road we were following, into the tall, luxuriant woods on either side, where the fronds of mammoth palm-ferns overtopped the roofs of ancient houses.
We paused, and again the silence of an elder desolation claimed our lips. For the houses were white and still as sepulchers, and the deep shadows that lay around and upon them were chill and sinister and mysterious as the very shadow of death. It seemed that the sun could not have shone for ages in this place- that nothing warmer than the spectral beams of the cadaverous moon had touched the marble and granite ever since that universal migration prompted by the prophecy of the White Sybil of Polarion.
"I wish it were daylight," murmured Tirouv Ompallios. Hos low tomes were oddly sibilant, were unnaturally audible in the dead stillness."
ADVENTURE IDEAS:
The Treasures of Satampra Zeiros
The city of Vol in the Amedio Jungle is dead but for the bestial life of the ape-man. While some parts of the city have been rebuilt by a few thousand of these strangely human-like and advanced creatures, most of the city remains locked in jungle-choked ruin. The oldest and more outlying areas of Vol are home to a more savage breed of ape-man as well as the beasts of the wild, the giant-sloth, clouds of giant bats, the sabre-tooth...
In the comfort of the old inn at Monmurg, the Silver Eel, Satampra Zeiros the One-Handed, tells of the great treasures to be found in a nameless and forgotten temple located in the abandoned suburbs of Vol, and of the map he is willing to sell for a substantial amount of gold, and a share in the treasure itself.
While Satampra's map is accurate, if slightly out of date, the treasures he speaks of, the eyes of the dark idol in the abandoned temple (rubies as big as northman's shields) and the collected offerings of millennia piled at the idol's feet, are not simply there for the taking. The temple is not abandoned, and the dark idol is not nameless. The wild ape-men of Kor, driven from the rebuilt center of the city by their more evolved cousins, have opened the doors to this ancient, squat stone temple and have found a god.
The passage to Vol, according to Satampra's map, is down the river from the Amedio Coast and onto a small tributary that ends at a collection of broken stone piers near the east of the city at the edge of the old suburbs. This basin is home to a water snake of gigantic proportions. Vasha, her ancestors altered by the power of ancient mages of Vol, is a stupendous creatures several times the size (and hit dice) of a normal water snake. She is of moderate intelligence but high cunning. She will not risk herself unless she is sure of success, though she is willing to sacrifice her progeny (what else are children for?) in great numbers. These water snakes are double the size and hit dice of normal water snakes and infest the half-submerged ruins immediately surrounding the pier.
Vasha lairs in a cavern beneath the basin. It was several passages and chambers (including a hidden chamber where the research was done on her ancient kin). Her nest has an escape tunnel that leads to the T'vala inlet which she will not hesitate to use. Vasha is a big coward at heart. Vasha is immune to charm spells and abilities and her children are highly resistant.
The overgrown houses, shops, barracks and boulevards have abundant animal life. Exploration of these ruined buildings will result in numerous encounters with wild animals defending their lairs. As with Vasha's children these animals are highly resistant to charm spells and abilities, but they are no more aggressive than any other wild beasts of the Amedio Jungle (at least for now).
If the players have Satampra's map it will show a path through the jungle and ruins that leads through, what one were, major streets of the outer city. These paths lead to a clearing. These paths are suspiciously clear and show signs of recent passage. piled at the idol's feet, are not simply there for the taking. The temple is not abandoned, and the dark idol is not nameless. The wild ape-men of Kor, driven from the rebuilt center of the city by their more evolved cousins, have opened the doors to this ancient, squat stone temple and have found a god.
The passage to Vol, according to Satampra's map, is down the river from the Amedio Coast and onto a small tributary that ends at a collection of broken stone piers near the east of the city at the edge of the old suburbs. This basin is home to a water snake of gigantic proportions. Vasha, her ancestors altered by the power of ancient mages of Vol, is a stupendous creatures several times the size (and hit dice) of a normal water snake. She is of moderate intelligence but high cunning. She will not risk herself unless she is sure of success, though she is willing to sacrifice her progeny (what else are children for?) in great numbers. These water snakes are double the size and hit dice of normal water snakes and infest the half-submerged ruins immediately surrounding the pier.
Vasha lairs in a cavern beneath the basin. It was several passages and chambers (including a hidden chamber where the research was done on her ancient kin). Her nest has an escape tunnel that leads to the T'vala inlet which she will not hesitate to use. Vasha is a big coward at heart. Vasha is immune to charm spells and abilities and her children are highly resistant.
The overgrown houses, shops, barracks and boulevards have abundant animal life. Exploration of these ruined buildings will result in numerous encounters with wild animals defending their lairs. As with Vasha's children these animals are highly resistant to charm spells and abilities, but they are no more aggressive than any other wild beasts of the Amedio Jungle (at least for now).
If the players have Satampra's map it will show a path through the jungle and ruins that leads through, what one were, major streets of the outer city. These paths lead to a clearing. These paths are suspiciously clear and show signs of recent passage.
The clearing, at the end of a short three mile journey through the ruins, is a paved square with an old and worn squat black building made of basalt blocks. It is a short, three-tiered, ziggurat with a set of stairs leading directly to a pair of double doors at its top level. There are at least fifty bodies scattered about the square. Two of the largest clumps of the dead, comprising about a dozen bodies each, are charred and smoking. The others appear to be chopped, battered and broken. Other than a few exceptions the dead are ape-men, some clad in dark mangy capes (giant-bat skin).
The first non-ape-man body appears to be a youth, fair-haired, the hands of an ape-man with a split-skull clutching his legs and the headless body of a second ape-man nearby. The youth has had his throat torn out. On his back is a large open pack which still contains food and some camping gear. He has an ordinary belt knife and clutches and unbloodied spear.
The second human body can be found at the foot of the ziggurat, a fruz warrior. There are a half-dozen ape-man bodies around him, slain, apparently, by a large axe clutched in his right hand. A close examination of his body shows that his arms and legs are swollen and tinged with green. He wears an enchanted shirt of chainmail and his axe is also magical and runecarved.
There are no other visible entrances to the ziggurat other than the double-doors at the top of the stairs (although 2 secret and hidden passages are among the ruined buildings bordering the square). The long flight of stairs up to the doors is festooned with ape-man dead with a large pile of bodies before the doors. These bodies will need to be cleared before any attempt can be made to open the doors. As the players reach to drag away the last body an automaton of flesh springs up, tossing aside the corpse of the ape-man. It is only slightly damaged and will attack anyone approaching the door or directing ranged attacks against it.
The doors are shut with iron spikes and a crossbar from within. It will take 449 hp damage to batter them down. As the first blow against them falls (or if they are opened by any means) drums from the surrounding ruins begin to sound.
To be continued... Posted: 10-07-2021 10:57 am NPC - Masruq, Paladin of Sutek
NPC - Masruq, Paladin of Sutek
The Lost Tomb of Sutek has been found by the Death God has not been freed. His power flows to his followers and Masruq is a devotee of the Death God, a holy warrior, a paladin of darkness. Sutek's high priestess has come down the Velverdyv to Verbobonc and no uses the Mirror of Travel to summon Sutek's followers from his tomb in the Dry Steppes to her dwelling in the city. Something in the Temple of Elemental Evil was not only imprisoning Zuggtmoy but also was one of the wards confining Sutek in his ancient prison tomb.
Qaribah, High Priestess has drawn Masruq through the mirror and now he leads a band death cultists in search of answers within the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil. The invasion of goblin wolf-riders has proven to be a valuable distraction and Masruq, Qaribah and a small army of followers under the guise of a large merchant caravan will tear the ruins of the temple apart, stone by stone, to find answers to free their Death Lord.
Posted: 10-06-2021 01:54 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Eira
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Eira
Eira was young and very powerful when she crossed into the Plane of Fog and Mist to battle the enitity known as the Gray. She struck down the greatest of the Gray's minion-conjurings and breached the glass-walled citadel of the Thought-Eater Lord. There she was lost for only three of her sister-witches could follow her and within the shattered fragments of fear, desire and nightmares they were separated.
The portals between the Plane of Fog and Mist remain open though now the largest are guarded and for the moment the great terrors sent by the Gray have been halted. Eira was first among the witches to track them down as they were hidden and invisible to the eye. Only the witches can see the portals and even the creatures and conjurings of the Gray can only by seen by wielders of magic or servants of the Gods.
With one hundred of her sisters Eira led the assault through the greatest portal in the dungeon-crypts beneath Castle Blackmoor and many witches fell during the breaching of that realm. Eira herself defeated the Wood-Rot, an ancient being that predated the arrival of humans to the Flanaess, and at its foul-core found the passage to the heart of the land of the Thought-Eater Lord.
The three who accompanied Eira to the Glass Citadel now gather strength for a return to that dread fortress to find what has become of their sister Eira. Posted: 10-05-2021 07:55 pm Saamal of Redmod sees the Light of Pholtus
Saamal is of a rich and noble Palish family, an accomplished knight and part of a growing number of the aristocracy who have fallen from the worship Pholtus. There is a more cosmopolitan air to the upper society due perhaps the growing wealth and military influence of the Pale. While Tenh has become a key trading hub with the barbarian north, it is the Pale who is the outlet to the southern lands of wealth and civilization. To the west the campaigns against the Bandit Kingdoms of Grosskopf and Fellands had cemented the alliance between Tenh and the Pale while the capture of the fortress-city of Redspan from the Bandits signaled the rise of the Pale's strength in arms. The clergy and theocratic rulers of the Pale have looked upon this with dismay. Wealth and military might are nothing without the Light of Pholtus guiding the way. And so Samaal, youngest of the House of Koiv, is summoned to Wintershiven and, beneath the Great Temple, brought into the Shining Ones presence... Posted: 10-05-2021 05:43 pm Grey Company - Mercenary groups of Oerth Part 1
Grey Company - Mercenary groups of Oerth Part 1
A company always on the run A destiny, oh it's the rising sun I was born, a crossbow in my hands Behind the shield I'll make my final stand, yeah That's why they call us Bad company I can't deny Bad, bad company Till the day I die Until the day we die
Greyhawk 579cy
These are interesting times for the Flanaess. The forces of Iuz are on the move, the Great Kingdom crumbles, the Baklunish west has been stirred to life by the rise of a death cult, the frozen Suel barbarians to the north are raiding in unheard of numbers, the natives of Hepmonaland wage war against the trading colonies... it is a good time to be a mercenary.
(The computer game Battle Brothers has gotten me thinking about running a different kind of Greyhawk Campaign. The players form a mercenary band instead of the normal adventuring party. Yes they search for treasure where they can find it but there is plenty of easier and more available coin to be made as mercenaries doing everything from caravan guarding, bandit hunting, treasaure seeking... to aiding in open warfare. A group of 3-5 players run a company of 12-20 player characters and henchmen that work from city to town hiring out when they can or finding their own employment when no contracts are available. For example...)
Verbobonc 579cy, the viscounty is beset by an invasion of goblin wolf-riders. The Verbobonc Lancers have their hands full, the militia is overwhelmed (and some body needs to handle the crops and man the shops) and the Viscount has begun hiring mercenaries. The Flanaess is troubled and few realms have aid to spare... the rise of the mercenary company is at hand.
In the viscounty the following contracts are being offered:
1. The bounty on bandit heads is at an all time high. With open warfare against the goblin tribes Verbobonc Guardsmen and Lancers have their hands full. The Viscount is offering bounty for the heads of proven bandits as well as hiring out mercenary groups to assault known bandit strongholds even those outside the borders of the viscounty. The Black Crows, a group of around 30 outlaws, has taken over a derelict town in the swamps to the south-east of the viscounty, the flee the Lancer patrols but the Lancers are busy fighting wolf-riders; the Viscount seeks a mercenary company to root them out.
2. Riverboat and caravan guards are needed. Losses to river pirates and outlaw bands are starting to take their toll and the merchant guild of Verbobonc is seeking to hire small mercenary bands to guard particular shipments. Provisions will be provided.
3. A large tribe of wolf-riders has set up near Nulb and a set battle is brewing. So far the number of skirmishes increases day by day. Mercenary companies are needed to aid in these fights and the general push against the main wolf-rider horde.
Posted: 10-05-2021 08:22 am Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 6
Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 6#5 Kalib, human male, (5th Level Fighter) twin brother of Kalife STR 18/89, INT 8, WIS 8, CON 17, HP 41, AL LE
AGE 30
Physical Description:
Kalib has a fringe of dark hair around this head but is otherwise bald. He has a heavy, black beard and mustache. 6"4' tall he is very heavy and very muscular, muscle-bound actually. He has tattoos over his right arm and shoulder. Across the right side of his chest is the tattoo of a demon showing half of its face. He has a large wide scar starting at the top of his forehead and running across the left side of his head.
He wears a large black poncho when on a raid with a chainmail shirt underneath. The poncho is simply a thick piece of cloth dyed black with a hole cut for his head and a belt across his waist. Over his face he wears the mask of a grinning pig-like face.
His normal wear is worn farmer garb. He dislikes his chainmail shirt and only wears it on raids or when Black Harris tells him to.
Background:
Kalib was born on a farm in Furyondy, His mother died in child birth and his father took it out on Kalib and his brother Kalife. At age12 the pair beat their father to death, gathered what money and belongings were on the farm and left.
They were quickly caught and placed in a prison where they were even more quickly sold as workers for a nobleman's farm. The life actually suited them. The nobleman was smart enough to recognize strong arms and weak minds, and violent tempers.
At age 16 the pair had grown from oversized murderous children to gigantic musclebound adults. The nobleman had them trained, as much as possible, in the art of combat, and kept them on as bodyguards, and since he dabbled in the free market of the underworld, as enforcers as well.
After a few years the pairs' brutal methods became too much for the nobleman and he passed on his dangerous employees to a traveling merchant and fence for stolen goods. In their early twenties they ended up working as hired thugs living in the Old Town of Greyhawk, which is where they met and joined up with Black Harris.
Personality and attitude:
Kalib is loyal only to his brother and Black Harris. He and his brother have a surprising fondness for cats, dogs and horses and will not abide any form of cruelty to these animals.
If his brother is killed Kalib will stop whatever he is doing and will cradle his brother in his arms weeping and crying piteously. He will not defend himself and the shock will reduce his intelligence and personality to that of a five-year old's.
Equipment: Chainmail shirt (+2) Two handed sword +2/+3 versus Hill Giants (He is completely unaware of this aspect of the swords enchantment) Draft Horse named Matilda
#6 Kalife, human male,( 5th Level Fighter) twin brother of Kalib STR 18/99, INT 8, WIS 8, CON 17, HP 41, AL LE AGE 30
Physical Description:
Kalife's appearance is similar to his brother's but he has no scar and his tattoos cover the left side of his body, a duplicate of Kalibs. He is a little more muscular but it is only apparent when the two are standing side by side.
He also wears a rough cloth poncho on raids with a shirt of chainmail underneath and a mask shaped like a donkey's with one ear is missing.
Background: See Kalib
Personality and attitude:
Kalife is very quiet and he only talks to his brother or Black Harris. He will support either in any situation. If his brother is killed he will go into a berserk rage, ignoring wounds, and attacking his brother's killer with fanatical strength (+4 to hit/+7 to damage). He will then go on to attack anyone not a brigand who is nearby. Afterwards, If Black Harris is around he will follow him everywhere and not want to be separated from him. If both are dead he will run off and live like a wild-man or beast, and his effective INT will drop to 3.
Equipment: Chainmail +2 Two-handed Bastard sword +2/ +3 versus the Undead (as with his brother he has no idea that the sword has any special enchantment except that he doesn't need to sharpen or polish it (which suits him fine). Draft Horse named Sara Posted: 10-04-2021 02:30 pm Zelsana Blacmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Zelsana Zelsana is a Palish witch come to Blackmoor. She was born to a brothel-worker in the capital of Wintershiven and recognized by the midwife who brought her into the world as having the link with Moon, Oerth and Stars that are marks of power among witches. As a babe she was purchased by the coven of Wintershiven, of necessity a secret organization amid the rigid and intolerant Pholtite rulers of the Pale. In the years of her childhood the growing Order of Witchfinders was making life for witches in the realm daily more perilous. As a teenage girl Zelsana was smuggled into Tenh where the Old Faith was still respected if not always followed. Zelsana spent her early womanhood in Tenh growing in power and respect among the people. She delved deeply into the history of witchdom, learning of the Yaga who was called Iggwilv or Louhi among those of Blackmoor. She who was the Mother of Witches and her Daughter who brought together the first coven and opposed the workings of her mother. Visions of that cold realm, the marshes that were the Yaga's first home in ancient times, the coming the gods with their steeds of metal and fire, the gleaming City of the Gods, the nameless horror on the mountain plateau that sat above the gleaming city... She saw the coming of the Gray to the Land of Black Ice, the Sisterhood and its fight against the minions of the Gray as they sifted through the fields and forests of Blackmoor. Zelana heard the thousand voices of the Sisterhood an she knew where she needed to be. Posted: 10-03-2021 01:14 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Tuure
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - NPC Tuure
Tuure is from the Burneal Forest, her folk belong to an ancient Flan tribe which hid among the green depths of the wood when the Bakluni and Oeridians first crossed into the northern Flanaess. Her father was a Tiger Nomad caught in a trap by her people the Vigonor who later became a member of the tribe and respected leader.
While Obad-Hai is primarily worshiped among the Vigonor men, the women have long followed the witching way. The Sisterhood is strong along the north-eastern forest while further to the west the tribal witches have maintained their independance. They have also not yet encountered The Grey and the need for joining forces has not presented itself. Yet.
Tuure is a young witch but has journeyed far across the forest. She has seen the attacks by The Grey, even crossed into the lands of Blackmoor and now is a member of the Sisterhood and the branch of tribal witches helping to protect the forest. Posted: 10-03-2021 12:45 pm Anzelika
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches
Anzelika, the younger daughter of the Canon of Redmod, was a typical maiden of the Pale. She was devoted and obedient to the will of Pholtus and dutiful to her father. That is until her visions began... The Pale does not welcome witchcraft. The Canon was not a tolerant man. Some years before he had suffered through the theft of a powerful chalice by a Rhennee thief and the willing defilement of his oldest daughter, Beautiful Light; then to have his youngest daughter show signs of powers that bore the earmarks of witchcraft was too much for the arrogant and pompous old cleric. Anzelika was cast out and sent from the Pale. Distant relatives in Tenh were contacted and, she who was once his daughter, sent there as no more than a servant. Anzelika's awaking powers and a hidden resolve within her delicate frame stirred a sense of freedom and rebellion within her. As the merchant train she accompanied crossed the borders into Tenh she left one night and took her first steps beyond the bonds the Pale and her father had set upon her since her birth. Her wanderings and adventures took her far beyond Tenh. The Bandit Kingdoms, the fabled White Plume Mountain, and further and further north till she came, finally, to Blackmoor. Today she is a powerful member of the Sisterhood. Her visions have allowed the defeat of machinations of Iggwilv and the forces of the Gray which plagues the land. Her sight stretches the ultimate north and shining metal city set against a mountainous plateau which radiates unspeakable evil. Posted: 10-01-2021 04:49 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - the Sisterhood
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - the Sisterhood
Blackmoor is a land of mystery. There are tales of its past with cities and kingdoms, wars and catastrophies, heroes and common folk, but still a place distant and removed from the normal commerce and happenings of the Flanaess.
Blackmoor was never a truly peaceful land. Beneath the surface and around the borders a cold grey presence could always be felt. It was a lifestealing hand that took the sick and preyed upon the newborn. Those who first took up the fight against this presence were the witches. In Blackmoor the witches healed the sick, assisted the clerics of Beory, Telchur, Velnius and Zodal, acted as mid-wives, cared for injured animals, and acted as judges. They were soothsayers and diveners of fate. All of Blackmoor from the king to the smallest village had a witch to advise and heal. Among the Council of Women they were predominantly leaders and were the teachers of the young girls, administering the test and right of passage from girl to woman.
With thw coming of the Grey, as they called the lifestealing presence, they became those who fought. Swords and spears were ineffective against the creatures of fog and mist which began to appear. Magicians was rare, clerics and priests were few, but the witches were many. Every girl who showed signs of power and ability were mentored and encourged to pursue the arduous path of witchery. And as the Grey strengthened, the Sisterhood was formed.
The Sisterhood, in some nascent form, had existed in Blackmoor for centuries. Never had it needed the strength, discipline and organization that the fight against the Grey demanded.
Nine witches form the Nyma Urd who guid the Sisterhood. They are the most powerful witches not necessarily the oldest. Once a year they may be challenged for their position on the Nyma Urd. There are thought to be a thousand witches in the Sisterhood, but that number has been growing. Certain events have set back the Grey and expeditions into the Land of Black Ice and beyond the very boundary of the Planes of Existence have rewarded the Sisterhood with both artifacts of power but also victories against The Grey on its own plane, that of Fog and Mist. Posted: 10-01-2021 11:38 am Aefre and the Breath of Blood
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches Aefre and the Breath of Blood
Aefre is born of the old tribes of the Burneal Forest who dwelled within before the riders from the west came, the Oerid driven back in defeat and welcomed by the old forest people. Today most who dwell within the chill forest are descended from both Oerid and forest people, only a few tribes are like Aefre's. While appearing youthful and quite beautiful Aefre is not young. She is the spiritual leader of her people and follows the rituals and ceremonies passed through the generations of the forest people. The forest is her home and she rarely is away from its borders but she is aware of what transpires in the lands around. Members of the Sisterhood bring her news but mainly come to her to learn. Aefre is the keeper of many powerful spells and rituals otherwise forgotten. The forest people once held many items of power; objects of wood and stone, leaf and root. There were also older than they. Weapons and objects of metal, crystal and light. Since the mingling with the Oerids most such items were lost, broken, stolen or sold. The Breath of Blood is one of the last. It is a golden box which only Aefra knows the opening of. Instead as a creature, an elemental of blood. This servant of Aefre's is from an age before humanity, older than elves. It keeps her young, protects her, but at what cost she does not say. Few have seen her with this golden box and none living but her have seen it opened.
Posted: 09-30-2021 08:29 pm Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Inkeri
Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Inkeri
Blackmoor is a shattered land but still a land of great power. The capitol is in ruins, the army scattered, the various lords barely ruling over their own lands. Darkness and mist have descended upon the farms and forests. Villages that remain are walled enclaves. Only the power of the witches keeps the land and its people from disappearing into the fog which rises from the valleys and flows from the hills.
Inkeri is a woman of strength and madness. She has fought off the otherworldly things that now inhabit the wilds of Blackmoor but at the cost of her sanity and her soul. The Sisterhood honors her and aids her when they can but she walks in two worlds and can be both a halp and a dnager to any that cross her path.
Originally she was a healer but her change has brought out a darkness that deals death to those who would stand in her path. Necromancy flows through her fighting the power of life and healing and slowly it is winning. She commmands flocks of dead avians and the animated body of a slain griffin is her mount. She is attracted to death and killing, healing those injured but absorbing some spark of spirit from the dead, Those she whose bodies she has drained of this final spark cannot be reincarnated or resurrected
Any who might harm Inkeri for whatever reason will earn the enmity of the Sisterhood and a society of over a thousand witches makes a very powerful foe. Posted: 09-30-2021 05:14 pm Adventure Idea - She Speaks A Scarlet Mist
She Speaks A Scarlet Mist
Who can say when the blood of man was polluted with the foulness of undeath. From what blackened and defiled corner of the Oerth where first they arose is unknown. Every corner of the globe speaks of them, Bruja, Dachnavar, Draugir, Chang Kuei, Mara, Striga, Vampire.
In the Flanaess it is the same, in any decent land they are hunted and outlawed. Vampires are social creatures that form a family with a patriarch or matriarch ruling over them, but these paternal figures feel no love or attachment for their offspring and will use them for their pleasure and their defense willingly sacrificing all those they deem their 'children' for their defense or even simple gain. At times they will tire of their family and will slaughter them all gathering their tainted blood in great casks like wine to be aged and consumed at a later date.
Vampires always choose the strongest or most beautiful or talented humans to be their victims and future 'children'. Around this family are collected groups of ensnared servants or 'thralls' as the Fruz from the northlands call them. These are half-drained victims of the vampires who are ensorceled into fanatical loyalty to their vampiric masters.
While vampires may be found in ruins, catacombs or graveyards, they often join the society of large cities such as Greyhawk or Dyvers as long as they can remain undetected. Some have taken over northern halls or holdings of the Sea-Barons or villas in the Great Kingdom.
There are rumors and traces of a vampiric brood gathering in the vast metropolis of Greyhawk and the local guard as well as a some of the ruling Oligarchs are interested in rooting them out. While a small bounty is placed on the capture or heads of any proven thralls, a much greater reward can be gathered for the bodies (living or dead, but living pays better) of any of the Vampiric family. The Lord or Mistress of the clan would garner the greater reward but such a capture or even a defeat of one of these monsters is deemed unlikely. Posted: 09-30-2021 09:52 am Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - The Red Witch
- Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - The Red Witch
The frozen land of Blackmoor, choked with mists and twilight. Few travel to that far world and few tales have returned. The great bard of Greyhawk has returned from a long sojourn there where it is said he found the City of the Gods. Silvertongue the Bard found strange and powerful forces at work in Blackmoor but he also found allies in a society of witches that are the hidden strength of that land.
The Red Witch travels the borders of Blackmoor alone though she is protected by golems of her own creation and terrible para-elementals. She practices a form of magic unknown in the Flanaess but it is said to have links to the ancient Olman rites of their priest/magicians and some Hepmonaland shamans are said to have similar powers and rituals. The Red Witch practices Blood Magic, summons para-elementals of blood, constructs golems of blood. She can cause blood to boil or to become Blood Worms that eat their way out of the skin. Her magic is terrible and powerful.
Her interests are in Blackmoor though she is said to welcome young women frfom anywhere who wish to learn her brand of witchcraft and become apprentices. Posted: 09-29-2021 03:06 pm NPC - Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Czylle
The frozen land of Blackmoor, choked with mists and twilight. Few travel to that far world and few tales have returned. The great bard of Greyhawk has returned from a long sojourn there where it is said he found the City of the Gods. Silvertongue the Bard found strange and powerful forces at work in Blackmoor but he also found allies in a society of witches that are the hidden strength of that land.
Czylle commands the elements. Lightning dances at her will. She would be a leader in any other land but the society of witches has no leaders. All are equal in their ranks once they have begun the first mastery of their art till they take their last breath on this Oerth. She goes gloved and cloaked in grey and her eyes burn with an inner fire. She looks far beyond this plane into worlds beyond and one day she will step beyond this Oerth and perhaps not return.
Posted: 09-29-2021 09:19 am Teleen of the Blood Jewels
Teleen is an Ancient. Among the Sisterhood of Witches there is great honor in the guarding of the Moonhall, the semi-Oerthly place of gathering and memory. It is easy to get lost within and years may pass as moments in its halls. Centuries past Teleen came to Blackmoor, a High Suel, great in power. She told nothing of herself but already the Blood-Jewels were set above her brow. She wished only to forget and found the Sisterhood, who welcomed her without question. In her search for forgetfulness Teleen plumbed the depth of Castle Blackmoor, walked the cold wastes of the Land of Black Ice and finally lost herself in the passages of the Moonhall. Now she has returned and seeks the Plane of Fog and Mist, ready to set herself against the Gray. Posted: 09-28-2021 03:14 pm Silent Ones
Little is known of the Silent Ones. They are said to be protectors of the lost secrets of the great Suel Mages of Power. Once they held great influence in the court of Keoland but now they are seldom seen. Dark or gray robed they walked the halls of power a feared and respected force. Always masked, silent but their word was a touch, a gesture, and obeyed. Today their respect comes of fear. Suspicion of their motives and growing dislike among the people and the court signals a time of confrontation with this ancient order and what then? What powers do they truly possess and what might be found in their silent, lonely tower. Posted: 09-28-2021 01:47 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 4
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories
SPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I have started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas.
4). The End of the Story (Written Oct 1, 1929 First Published in Weird Tales May 1930)
Nycea (Lamia) - [NPC][MON]
"She was not tall, but was formed with exquisite voluptuous purity of line and contour. Her eyes were of a dark sapphire blue, with molten depths into which the soul was fain to plunge as into the soft abysses of a summer ocean. The curve of her lips was enigmatic, a little mournful, and gravely tender as the lips of an antique Venus. Her hair, brownish rather than blond, fell over her neck and ears and forehead in delicious ripples confined by a plain fillet of silver. In her expression, there was a mixture of pride and voluptuousness, of regal imperiousness and feminine yielding. Her movements were all as effortlessness and graceful as those of a serpent."
"...if you could behold her as she really is, you would see, in lieu of her voluptuous body, the folds of a foul and monstrous serpent."
ADVENTURE IDEAS:
On the northern-eastern most edge of the Gnatsmarsh is a half-sunken portion of the Celadon Forest. It is filled with the rotting boles of trees with twisted roots like the long necks of giant serpents rising from the scum-covered water. The abbot of an ancient Pholtite monastery sends out a call for help (via messengers throughout the region and to others of his order). Men from the nearby town of Beetu have begun vanishing and now even some of his own monks have disappeared. One of the monks was bearing a minor relic which has allowed the abbot to divine its general location; in a wood of evil repute only a half-days march from the monastery. Within the wood are the ruins of a castle and it is within these ruins that the abbot believes the relic can be found, and perhaps the missing men.
The forest is home to bully wugs, giant ticks and toads, wolves and weasels, snakes and spiders, all of whom seem determined to keep the players from reaching the ruins. There is a deeply submerged path that shows signs of recent passage, the woods themselves are marshy and filled with quicksand, tangles and briars, making it rough and slow going.
The ruins are no more than overgrown rubble except for a wide cleared area near their center (once the great hall of the castle). At the center of this clearing is a well-like circular stair that descends into darkness. Around these stairs dance a strange group of men, bullywugs and satyrs. All are diseased, the satyrs and men with burning red eyes matted fur and hair and all with weeping sores. Most are at half their normal hit points. If come upon unawares they will be dancing wildly about the stairs, two of the saytrs playing pipes. But it is hard to reach the center clearing without rousing another dozen of the bullywugs who rest among the thick growth and rubble. This rubble provides them with 3/4 cover and the ape-men will hoot, holler and throw stones (which are plentiful). If these bullywugs are roused the saytrs and others will scatter among the stones and do their best to keep any from reaching the stairs. All have been charmed by Nycea and will fight to the death with a smile upon their lips.
At the bottom of the steps is a maze of passages and rooms, the walls wet and crusted and a thick smell of corruption and decay ever present. Within the corridors and rooms stalk a pair of Manticores and nest of wererats who laired here before the coming of Nycea and now hide from her minions.
Nycea herself lairs deep within the ruins near an primordial well that descends unto a dark lake in the Underoerth (an escape route for the ancient lamia). She is truly ancient, stronger with more hit dice and powers than a normal monster of her kind. She possesses several magical items, most notably an orb that allows her to scrye the surrounding land and use her powers to charm select males who will sneak away and come to her. Those so charmed bear the mark of Nycea visible only to others charmed by her, which allow them safe passage to her lair. Unfortunately Nycea is the carrier though not victim of a dread disease which she spreads to her more intimate minions. The disease causes 1d4 hit points of damage per day through fevers and weeping sores.
Nycea surrounds herself with charmed minions (all male) and snakes. Snakes, snakes, snakes, they adore Nycea and are drawn to her. snakes of all kinds surround and protect her.
The charmed monk with the relic (the fingerbone of a powerful cleric) wears this item about his neck in a lead cylinder. If opened it provides protection (10ft radius) to Nycea's charms and if she is struck in combat by this finger bone she will be dispelled in an explosion of light. The finger bone will disappear and reappear in the monastery.
While it is possible to defeat Nycea I like the idea of her as an illusive enemy that may haunt the players in future adventures. Posted: 09-28-2021 12:07 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 3
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 3Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories SPOILER WARNING! If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Orginioally inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set I have begun revising these ideas for my Greyhawk campaign.
3). The Last Incantation (Written Sept 23 1929, Published in Weird Tales June 1930)
Malygris (Mage) - NPC Meros Valley - [PLC] Nylissa - [NPC] Poseidonous - [PLC] Susran (capital of Poseidonos) - [TWN] Zemander (stream) - [RVR]
Malygris Poseidonous Susran
"Malygris the magician sat in the topmost room of his tower that was builded on a conical hill above the heart of Susran, capital of Poseidonis. Wrought of a dark stone mined from deep in the earth, perdurable and hard as the fabled adamant, this tower loomed above all others, and flung its shadow far on the roofs and domes of the city, even as the sinister power of Malygris had thrown its darkness on the minds of men.
Now Malygris was old, and all the baleful might of his enchantments, all the dreadful or curious demons under his control, all the fear that he had wrought in the hearts of kings and prelates,were no longer enough to assuage the black ennui of his days. In his chair that was fashioned from the ivory of mastodons, inset with terrible cryptic runes of red tourmalines and azure crystals, he stared moodily though the one lozenge-shaped window of fulvous glass. His white eyebrows were contracted to a single line on the umber parchment of his face, and beneath them his eyes were cold and green as the ice of ancient floes; his beard, half white, half of a black with glaucous gleams, fell nearly to his knees and hid many of the writhing serpentine characters inscribed in woven silver athwart the bosom of his violet robe. About him were scattered all the appurtenances of his art; the skulls of men and monsters; phials filled with black or amber liquids, whose sacrilegious use was known to none but himself; little drums of vulture-skin, and crotali made from the bones and teeth of the cockodrill, used as an accompaniment to certain incantations. The mosaic floor was partly covered with the skins of enormous black and silver apes; and above the door there hung the head of a unicorn in which dwelt the familiar demon Malygris, in the form of a coral viper with pale green belly and ashen mottlings. Books were piled everywhere; ancient volumes bound in serpent-skin, with verdigris-eaten clasps, that held the frightful lore of Atlantis, the pentacles that have power upon the demons of the earth and the moon, the spells that transmute or disintegrate the elements; and runes from a lost language of Hyperborea, which, when uttered aloud, were more deadly than poison or more potent than any philtre."
Nylissa
"...the girl Nylissa whom he had loved.
ADVENTURE IDEAS:
Malygris is a dark and mysterious figure in the city of Dyvers. He is rumored to be an exile from the City of Greyhawk but has, for longer than the life of an ordinary man, sat in his small tower in Dyvers Quarter of Merchants (an area for the manors and palatial dwellings of the rich) and brought what he wants from the world to him.
He is a font of knowledge esoteric, sorcerous and nefarious with many agents across the land to assist him. Information is the primary coin for his services or the players can become his paid agents, or cross paths with them, or act as hired adventurers sent to find some rare item or component while Malygris sits in his tower and dreams dark dreams. Posted: 09-27-2021 12:42 pm Gettum! Posted: 09-26-2021 03:32 pm NPC - Vir'Veth Warrior-Mage
NPC - Vir'Veth Warrior-Mage
During the giant incursions into Geoff in 576-577cy A mysterious elven figure was seen leading contingents of ogres, orcs and hobgoblins in the worst of the fighting. Now revealed to be a Drow, the dark splinter-race of elves that vomited from the Underoerth during those dark times, Vir'Veth was one of the first encountered by people of Geoff.
He rode a Nightmare and went armored as a warrior and cast spells as a mage. His weapons and armor bore powerful enchantments but during the last weeks of fighting his blade shattered as it met the power of the druid Haakul's staff and his armor was pierced by the arrows of the ranger Evest, she of the Lightning Bow.
Vir'veth was not slain and to this day leads a band of outlaws and monsters who lair in the Crystalmist Mountains above the Hornwood. Posted: 09-26-2021 02:26 pm 579cy Greyhawk 579cy
The year is 579cy and Zuggtmoy is free.
The Slavelords have been defeated. The giant incursion into Geoff and the northern states has been curtailed. The Drow have been revealed. A strange metal citadel in the Barrier Peaks has been discovered and looted. White Plume Mountain has been plundered. Even the little town of Saltmarsh has been saved from an attack from the sea. Acererak's Tomb has once again defeated its explorers and its legend grows.
After nearly 40 years of campaigning in Greyhawk I've moved 3 years forward in game time. Most of the current material found on this blog will be written for 579 in mind, but a good number of projects that I'm working on can be set at anytime, some can be used with any setting or any edition of the game (But when I write about game mechanics I write for 1eAD&D).
What has changed in 579cy? There is a silent war in the city of Greyhawk between the oligarchs. The main contention is between the guild of Thieves and the guild of Assassins.
In the viscounty of Verbobonc, the Wild Coast, Kron Hills, Lortmils. Celene, and surrounding lands there is an invasion of wolf riding goblins.
A death cult has risen in the Bakluni states but members of it are coming to Verbobonc and the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil. Prince Thrommel has been rescued and now plans on marrying the daughtere of Viscount Wilfirick.
In Nyrond the cult of Incabulos is on the rise.
And still the Flanaess is much how it was in 576cy. The rumor of war is perhaps louder , but no sweeping changes have altered the maps or destroyed nations (at least not in my campaign or what I write about).
Much, Much more is coming in 579 and I plan on working on my version of Greyhawk piece by piece. I hope it can be of some use for other DMs.
Posted: 09-25-2021 10:44 am Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 2
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 2
SPOILER WARNING! If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Originally I was working on converting CAS stories to the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerors of Hyperboria setting but Ive refocused on Greyhawk.
2). SADASTOR Charnadis (Demon) - [MON] Lyspial (Siren) - [MON] Sadastor (Planet) - [PLC]
Charnadis Sadastor
"...I found a vast and winding valley that plunged even deeplier into the abysses of this dreadful world. It was walled with perpendicular cliffs and buttresses and pinnacles of rusty-red stone, that were fretted into a million bizarrely sinister forms by the sinking of the olden seas. I flew slowly among these cliffs as the wound ever downward in tortuous spirals for mile on mile of utter and irredeemable desolation, and the light grew dimmer above me as ledge on ledge and battlement on battlement of that strange red stone upreared themselves between my wings and the heavens. Here, when I rounded a sudden turn of the precipice, in the profoundest depth where the rays of the sun fell only for a brief while at noon, and the rocks were purple with everlasting shadow, I found a pool of dark-green water - the last remnant of the former ocean, ebbing still amid steep, insuperable walls. And from this pool there cried a voice, in accents that were subtly sweet as the mortal wine of the mandragora, and faint as the murmuring of shells."
Lyspial "...I am a siren, and my name is Lyspial. Of the seas wherein I swam and sported at leisure many centuries ago, and whose gallant mariners I drew to an enchanted death on the shores of my disastrous isle, there remains only this fallen pool. Alas! For the pool dwindles daily, and when it wholly gone I too must perish."
ADVENTURE IDEA
The Treasure of Sadastor In a deeths of the Underoerth the demon Charnadis hides his treasure hoard on an isle at the center of a red lake. At the proper conergeance of the stars (around once per month) the demon sacrifices a beautiful maiden so that he may remain on this plane of existence. Prevent the sacrifice and Charnadis will be dispelled and his treasure will be for the taking.
If only it were that simple.
At the center of a small lake of accursed water in the cavern of Sadastor lies the isle of Lyspial, a drow vampiress-siren. She is bound to her lake and isle and must feed from the blood-red waters. It is she who sacrifices any that can be brought or lured to her isle. At its center is a small manor house and behind the manor a tall enchanted ash-tree that flourishes in the radiant magic of the Underoerth. From this tree she hangs her victims by their heels while their blood and life essence flow from their slashed throats. A channel runs from the tree down to the waters of her lake.
Charnadis is the willing paramour and servant of Lyspial. The great winged demon has servants of his own, both human and demonic. The humans, members of a cult which worship Charnadis, spread rumors of the treasure of Charnadis and gather slaves to be sacrificed to Lyspial. But Lyspial hungers for men and women of strength and power as well as the blood of slaves, so that the rumors that bring treasure hunters and adventurers are as desired as a steady flow of life and blood of lesser men and women. Charnadis also steals a few succulent maidens for his own desires and for Lyspial to sacrifice.
The cavern of Sadastor is home to a tribe of troglodytes who worship Lyspial. They live in a series of caves that honeycomb the cavern They are armed with poisoned blow-pipes and arrows, nets, jars of enchanted smoke that make men sleep, etc... to aid in the capture of anyone entering the cavern. They do not attack the drow cultists and the slave caravans which they recognize by certain signs and emblems that the cultists use and wear within the cavern.
Charnadis has at his command lesser demons and his drow cultists.
Lyspial has at her command Charnadis, his servants, the tribe of troglodytes and all within the cavern. Within the lake there are many lacedon ghouls, the tree and the top of the manor is home to several harpys, and Lyspial has charmed several adventurers (future sacrifices) who attend her within her small manor-house and will fight for her.
The manor has many small luxuries and treasures but in a chamber beneath her bedroom is a treasure vault containing a respectable amount of gold and jewels and a number of magic items, weapons and armor gathered from slain adventurers. A greater gorgon guards this treasure. Posted: 09-25-2021 10:08 am NPC - J'Lr
NPC - J'Lr
J'Lr is a ranger from Celene. She is older than she looks but still young for a Sylvan Elf. The forces of Celene have been fighting the growing strength of the Brokenjaw Goblin Wolfriders. The rangers of Celene have managed to turn aside a large wing of the goblin tribe but it is now on its way to the Kron Hills and J'Lr heads a contingent of rangers sent ahead to warn the gnomes and people of the Kron Hills.
Celene and the Viscounty of Verbobonc have been on strained terms since the release of Zuggtmoy from her prison in the Temple of elemental Evil a few years back and J'Lr has been told to warn the gnomes but let the gnomes warn the Viscount. J'Lr doesn't intend to obey those orders as she gets along well with the Verbobonc Lancers and will at least take her warning directly to one of the Lancer garrisons. Posted: 09-24-2021 09:43 am NPC - Zervan Cloud Giant Ambassador
NPC - Zervan Cloud Giant Ambassador
Arrogant, immensely powerful, brilliant, haughty and thoroughly evil, Zervan represents the Cloud Giant Confederation when it deals with its lesser brethren (any giants who are not Cloud Giants). He was an immessary to the ill-fated Nosnra and the Drow inspired campaign against surface dwellers that had him flitting between the grubby Hill Giants like Nosnra's ilk, the frozen Frost Giants and the sweaty and overheated Fire Giants. Now he is returned to his home, a cloud castle that floats among the Crystalmists. Some trouble with the dull, grey Stone Giants is brewing so he knows his time home will be short.
Zervan is tall even for a Cloud Giant and carries with him a enchanted blade crafter by enslaved dwarven weaponsmiths. It bears the trapped spirit of a Cloud Dragon within it, Xft by name, and constantly struggles for domination with Zervan. If Zervan can mentally dominate the spirit of Xft he gains the usae of the spells and abilities of an adult Cloud Dragon for the day. Each day he must struggle for control of the sword and if the dragon ever wins he will have Zervan destory the sword, frreeing the spirit of Xft and exchanging Cloud Giant flesh for enchanted steel. Xft will walk away in the body of Zervan and Zervan will bide his time till he can dominate a person of his liking and take their body for his own. So far Zevan has always won.
Posted: 09-23-2021 12:03 pm Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 5
Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 5#4 Zeffin, human male, (Level 2 Cleric) Salin's assistant Wis 16 HP 12, AL LE, AGE 18
Physical Description: Zeffin has the fair-haired pale-skinned looks of a Suel. He wears a closely trimmed beard and mustache. His hair is also trimmed very close to his head. He has the fine scarring, though a bit less, as that of Salin. In his case, though, it is much more noticeable. His scars show as redish lines against his pale skin, and the more recent have a purplish look to them. He is tall, 6", broad-shouldered and thin-waisted.
On raids he wore a chainmail shirt and black pants with a white, featureless face mask. He has a black ceremonial robe with a grey skull on its chest. He now wears this on raids over his chainmail. In town he dresses in his armor and plain grey or brown pants.
Background: Zeffin is from Sterich. His family is old and established. Minor nobility. They are western nobles and after years of conflict with the humanoids of the Crystalmist and Joten Mountains they began to make deals with these creatures of evil. First it was simply allowing passage so that raiders would not attack their land, soon their descendants began acting as fences for goods which these raiders brought with them. Finally they embraced the evil which they hadallowed past their borders. Zeffin is part of a growing cult of Hextor among his father's family and retainers. He was assigned to assist Salin by the superiors of his order.
Personality and attitude: Zeffin is a sadistic and brutal individual. He is fond of torture and would rather save a few of their victims to practice on. Occasionally the band will take a prisoner and squeeze information out of them. The brothers Kalife and Kalib had been in charge of this information gathering but Zeffin proved to have a greater skill and exuberance for such work. He is loyal to Salin and has a touch of hero worship for the successful cleric.
Equipment: Chainmail Shield Horseman's mace Heavy Warhorse: "Beast", Black, with white streaked forehead and 3 white socks Posted: 09-22-2021 02:41 pm Regional Products of the Flanaess - Cloth Part 1
Cloth - (Almor, Bissel, Celene, Ekbir, Furyondy, Geoff, Gran March, Great Kindom, Medegia, North Province, Nyrond, Ulek Duchy, Urnst County, Yeomanry)
These are the listed exporters of cloth but what kind of cloth?
I'd break down cloth types to
Cotton Hemp Linen Silk Wool
And then some subdivision, if necessary, such as types of Silk. Also in dealing with Silk and also the question of trade I would add Ket, Verbobonc, Dyvers and Greyhawk to the list of cloth exporters. If these last 4 aren't producers of cloth they are hubs of trade and will export cloth.
Keep in mind from the information provided is for export and doesnt say who is buying and where those merchant trains, wagons and caravans are taking the cloth.
Cotton is produced in warm climates. Hemp is primarily used for sailcloth Linen is made from Flax which favors cool and damp environments Silk is a product of the far west Wool requires sheep and only safe and settled lands are going to be able to have large herds of sheep safe from predators.
I plan on basing Ekbir as the main producer and exporter of Silk (and silk sub-products such as Satin, Samite, Velvet and Damask). Ket is then the go between in trade between west and east, shipping out silk and importing linen (with hemp, wool and cotton, being produced both east and west).
Why this matters to a DM? Merchants always provide me with a good amount of material for adventures. Showing which way trade flows and what is traded adds a handing dose of detail to the game and helps generate adventures.
Posted: 09-21-2021 05:38 pm NPC Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 4
Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 4#3 Salin, human male, (Level 6 Priest of Hextor) Str 16 Int 10 Wis 16 Con 15 Dex 12 Chr 12 HP 35, AL LE, AGE:24
Physical Description: Salin is a tall man, 6"3' with a slim sturdy build. He has a swarthy complexion and thick black hair. He has a fine network of scars over his entire body due to the practice of ritual scarring. It is part of the faith of Hextor as it was taught to him by his family and his temple. These scars form a very light spidery pattern covering his entire body. He continually adds to this with scars earned by his abilities and for participating in certain ceremonies. While to the uninitiated these scars are meaningless, they would tell a sage learned in the ways of this cult of the deity the story of Salin's life as a priest and disciple of Hextor.
Normally Salin only wears his black robes decorated with rings of grinning white skulls during ceremonies. During raids he wears a plain black robe and a white skull mask. Now he wears his robes of priesthood during raids, though he still uses the white skull-face mask. Beneath his robes he wears an enchanted shirt of chain and a steel skull cap under his mask.
In towns and villages he dresses as a fighter in his armor and plain, serviceable trousers.
Background: Salin is a Perrinlander by birth. His father, a mercenary, was a devotee of Hextor. Salin felt a strong calling toward Hextor and was accepted as a novice, swearing an oath of blood and steel on his 14th birthday.
Salin has only been a part of Black Harris' band for the last six months (still before the breakup with Red). He was recruited by Harris in the Principality of Ulek. Salin had been involved in a mission in the Pomarj and was reporting in to his superiors at the city of Gryrax. After hearing from a young mercenary devotee, Bismon, about Black Harris and consulting his superiors, Salin volunteered his services. While not a follower himself, Black Harris respects the powers of a cleric and the warlike nature of Hextor, and gladly brought Salin into his band.
Personality and attitude: Salin views Black Harris as a project and a potential warrior of Hextor. Red Hanlan never showed the proper respect, and his chaotic nature irritated Salin's sense of discipline. Then Salin came up with his plan, and introduced Tess, an agent of the temple, to throw discord into the friendship of these two men. Something has gone wrong. At first the plan went beyond his expectations, but Tess was supposed to assassinate Red Hanlan at her earliest opportunity. Now she seems to have gone rogue and become his partner and paramour. Salin desires the death of this traitoress with almost as much fervor as Black Harris. Her failure to complete his plan will be a mark, a physical mark, of shame.
Equipment: Spells 1st) Curse/Bless, Command, Cause/Cure lt.wnds, Dark/Light, Cause/Remove Fear. 2nd) Chant, Enthrall, Flame Blade, Hold Person, Spir.Hammer. 3rd) Animate Dead, Prayer, Pyrotechnics
Chainmail +2 Hammer of Pain: This Warhammer, usable only by those of an evil alignment, acts as a +2 weapon to hit and damage. 3 times every 24 hours its user can cause a jolt of pain which will stun an opponent for 1-3 rounds of combat (save vs rods and the victim will merely suffer a -2 on their chance to hit on the next combat round). There is a 10% chance that the pain will be inflicted upon the user every time this special ability is used (non-cumulative). Stunned victims cannot attack, cast spells, lose all dexterity bonuses and add 2 points to their AC (AC2 = AC4 while stunned)
Warhammer ( used for spiritual hammer spell, Salin keeps 2 a dozen of these among the pack animals.
Set of razor-edged knives and sharpening stone ( Salin will never use these as a weapon, they are for ritual scaring only)
Heavy War Horse : Blood, a dark reddish-brown coated stallion. Posted: 09-20-2021 10:03 am Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 1
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 1
SPOILER WARNING! If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Originally Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas but Im currently gearing up for Greyhawk.
The Abominations of Yondo (This story first appeared in print in the April 1926 issue of Overland Monthly but the typescript is dated February 5th 1925)
Cactus-Forest [WD] Fungi, Monstrous [MON] Insects, Long-Legged [MON] Lake, Weird [RVR] Monstrous Thing [MON] Ong (Lion Headed) [Deity] Ong, Inquisitors of [ORG] Vipers, Pale-Green [MON] Yondo, Desert of [PLC]
Cactus-Forest Ong Ong, Inquistors of
"It was noon of a vernal day when I came forth from that interminable cactus-forest in which the inquisitors of Ong had left me, and saw at my feet the grey beginnings of Yondo."
Yondo, Desert of
"The sand of the desert of Yondo is not as the sand of other deserts; for Yondo lies nearest of all to the world's rim; and strange winds, blowing from a gulf no astronomer may hope to fathom, have sown its ruinous fields with the grey dust of corroding planets, the black ashes of extinguished suns. The dark orb-like mountains which rise from its pitted and wrinkled plain are not all its own, for some are fallen asteroids half-buried in that abysmal sand. Things have crept in from nether space, whose incursion is forbid by watchful gods of all proper and well-ordered lands; but there are no such gods in Yondo, where live the hoary genii of stars abolished, and decrepit demons left homeless by the destruction of their antiquated hells."
Cactus-Forest Fungi, Monstrous Vipers, Pale-Green
"...in that fantastic wood, I had found no token or memory of spring; and the swollen, fulvous, dying and half-rotten growths through which i had pushed my way, were like no other cacti; but bore shapes of abomination scarcely to be described. The very air was heavy with stagnant odors of decay; and leprous lichens mottled the black soil and russet vegetation with increasing frequency. Pale-green vipers lifted their heads from prostrate cactus-boles, and watched me with eyes of bright ochre that had no lids or pupils. These things had disquieted me for hours past; and I did not like the monstrous fungi, with hueless stems and nodding heads of poisonous mauve, which grew from sodden lips of fetid tarns; and the sinister ripples spreading and fading on the yellow water at my approach..."
Insects, Long-Legged
"I went forward, sinking at each step in a loathly softness, and followed by certain long-legged insects that I had met among the cacti. These insects were the color of a week-old corpse, and were as large as tarantulas; but when I turned and trod upon the foremost, a mephitic stench arose that was more nauseous even than their color."
Lake, Weird
"Topping one of the any mound-like ridges, I saw the waters of a weird lake, unfathomably dark and green as malachite, and set with bars of profulgent salt. These waters lay far beneath me in a cup-like basin; but almost at my feet on the wave-worn slopes were heaps of that ancient salt; and I knew that the lake was only the bitter and ebbing dregs of some former sea. Climbing down, I came to the dark waters, and began to lave my hands; but there was a sharp and corrosive sting in that immemorial brine, and I desisted quickly, preferring the desert dust that had wrapped about me like a slow shroud."
Monstrous Thing
"It was then that I heard a diabolic chuckle on the hillside above me. The sound began with a sharp abruptness that startled me beyond all reason, and continued endlessly, never varying its single note, like that mirth of some idiotic demon. I looked up, and saw the mouth of a dark cave, fanged with green stalactites, which I had not perceived before. The sound appeared to come from within this cave. ...with all the rapidity of nightmare, a monstrous Thing emerged. It had a pale, hairless, egg-shaped body, large as that of a gravid she-goat; and this body was mounted on nine long, wavering legs with many flanges, like the legs of some enormous spider. The creature ran past me to the water's edge; and I saw that there were no eyes in its oddly sloping face, but two knife-like ears rose high above its head, and a thin, wrinkled snout hung down across its mouth, whose flabby lips, parted in that eternal chuckle, revealed rows of bat's teeth."
In the few short pages of the Abominations of Yondo there is much more about the desert and its horrific denizens. Asteroid pits, ruined cities and ruined temples, mausoleums broke and surrounded by rotting cypresses. Shadow creatures, beckoning statues, vapors with the sickening odor of corruption, empty suits of armor marching across the desert, mummies of ancient kings ridden by ape-like demonic beasts with distorted bodies.
An obvious scenario idea is for the players to be driven through the mutated cactus-forest with the desert their only means of escape, but Yondo can be the setting for many adventures. The story is a description of Yondo's horrors but it hints at greater terrors and perhaps great rewards for those who would dare explore its shattered fanes and ruined necropoli.
My current inclination is to use this for inspiration with a Sea of Dust setting. I keep seeing the Sea of Dust as pure desolation, but this gets me thinking of a horrible poisoned land with fearsome abomination and bizarre ruins. Something with a great CAS or Lovecraftian influence. Posted: 09-19-2021 10:02 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 1
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 1
SPOILER WARNING! If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Originally Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas but Im currently gearing up for Greyhawk.
The Abominations of Yondo (This story first appeared in print in the April 1926 issue of Overland Monthly but the typescript is dated February 5th 1925)
Cactus-Forest [WD] Fungi, Monstrous [MON] Insects, Long-Legged [MON] Lake, Weird [RVR] Monstrous Thing [MON] Ong (Lion Headed) [Deity] Ong, Inquisitors of [ORG] Vipers, Pale-Green [MON] Yondo, Desert of [PLC]
Cactus-Forest Ong Ong, Inquistors of
"It was noon of a vernal day when I came forth from that interminable cactus-forest in which the inquisitors of Ong had left me, and saw at my feet the grey beginnings of Yondo."
Yondo, Desert of
"The sand of the desert of Yondo is not as the sand of other deserts; for Yondo lies nearest of all to the world's rim; and strange winds, blowing from a gulf no astronomer may hope to fathom, have sown its ruinous fields with the grey dust of corroding planets, the black ashes of extinguished suns. The dark orb-like mountains which rise from its pitted and wrinkled plain are not all its own, for some are fallen asteroids half-buried in that abysmal sand. Things have crept in from nether space, whose incursion is forbid by watchful gods of all proper and well-ordered lands; but there are no such gods in Yondo, where live the hoary genii of stars abolished, and decrepit demons left homeless by the destruction of their antiquated hells."
Cactus-Forest Fungi, Monstrous Vipers, Pale-Green
"...in that fantastic wood, I had found no token or memory of spring; and the swollen, fulvous, dying and half-rotten growths through which i had pushed my way, were like no other cacti; but bore shapes of abomination scarcely to be described. The very air was heavy with stagnant odors of decay; and leprous lichens mottled the black soil and russet vegetation with increasing frequency. Pale-green vipers lifted their heads from prostrate cactus-boles, and watched me with eyes of bright ochre that had no lids or pupils. These things had disquieted me for hours past; and I did not like the monstrous fungi, with hueless stems and nodding heads of poisonous mauve, which grew from sodden lips of fetid tarns; and the sinister ripples spreading and fading on the yellow water at my approach..."
Insects, Long-Legged
"I went forward, sinking at each step in a loathly softness, and followed by certain long-legged insects that I had met among the cacti. These insects were the color of a week-old corpse, and were as large as tarantulas; but when I turned and trod upon the foremost, a mephitic stench arose that was more nauseous even than their color."
Lake, Weird
"Topping one of the any mound-like ridges, I saw the waters of a weird lake, unfathomably dark and green as malachite, and set with bars of profulgent salt. These waters lay far beneath me in a cup-like basin; but almost at my feet on the wave-worn slopes were heaps of that ancient salt; and I knew that the lake was only the bitter and ebbing dregs of some former sea. Climbing down, I came to the dark waters, and began to lave my hands; but there was a sharp and corrosive sting in that immemorial brine, and I desisted quickly, preferring the desert dust that had wrapped about me like a slow shroud."
Monstrous Thing
"It was then that I heard a diabolic chuckle on the hillside above me. The sound began with a sharp abruptness that startled me beyond all reason, and continued endlessly, never varying its single note, like that mirth of some idiotic demon. I looked up, and saw the mouth of a dark cave, fanged with green stalactites, which I had not perceived before. The sound appeared to come from within this cave. ...with all the rapidity of nightmare, a monstrous Thing emerged. It had a pale, hairless, egg-shaped body, large as that of a gravid she-goat; and this body was mounted on nine long, wavering legs with many flanges, like the legs of some enormous spider. The creature ran past me to the water's edge; and I saw that there were no eyes in its oddly sloping face, but two knife-like ears rose high above its head, and a thin, wrinkled snout hung down across its mouth, whose flabby lips, parted in that eternal chuckle, revealed rows of bat's teeth."
In the few short pages of the Abominations of Yondo there is much more about the desert and its horrific denizens. Asteroid pits, ruined cities and ruined temples, mausoleums broke and surrounded by rotting cypresses. Shadow creatures, beckoning statues, vapors with the sickening odor of corruption, empty suits of armor marching across the desert, mummies of ancient kings ridden by ape-like demonic beasts with distorted bodies.
An obvious scenario idea is for the players to be driven through the mutated cactus-forest with the desert their only means of escape, but Yondo can be the setting for many adventures. The story is a description of Yondo's horrors but it hints at greater terrors and perhaps great rewards for those who would dare explore its shattered fanes and ruined necropoli.
My current inclination is to use this for inspiration with a Sea of Dust setting. I keep seeing the Sea of Dust as pure desolation, but this gets me thinking of a horrible poisoned land with fearsome abomination and bizarre ruins. Something with a great CAS or Lovecraftian influence. Posted: 09-18-2021 03:45 pm Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 3
Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 3#2 Falil, human male, (Level 4 Magic User) Lyndos' aid Int 17 Dex 16 HP11, AL NE, AGE 35
Physical Description: Falil is short 5"4', dark haired, fullbearded and stout. He is surprising quick and agile. He has an intricate tattoo on his forearm. It contains in code the words which will activate the magic wand he carries. He has a terrible memory.
He wears a black hood on raids, just a simple black cloth bag with eye and nose holes cut into it. Over his normal old brown robe he wears a large black cape.
Background: Falil is the son of a Sterich merchant. His only interest was in magic and since he showed noaptitude for the family business he was apprenticed to a local mage of minor power. While studying with the mage a magical construct went awry killing the mage and the two other apprentices. Falil was accused of their murder but was actually innocent. He fled and was found by Black Harris sleeping along the bank of the Javan river. At the urging of Lyndos they spared the apprentice mage. Under the vigorous tutelage of Lyndos, Falil has proven to be an apt student, handy with languages and copying scrolls.
Personality and attitude: Falil is devoted to Lyndos. He is a lazy unassuming character who would liked to have simply lived out his life on his father's estate.
Equipment: Falil is able to memorize 1 less spell/ level than he would be allowed for his intelligence. He knows only those spells which Lyndos will teach him. He has no spell book of his own but normally has memorized; Sleep, Magic Missile & Invisibility
Sling 20 steel bullets Wand of Magic Missiles (12 charges) Mule, Henry Posted: 09-18-2021 12:03 pm The Hunters Market Verbobonc part 1
The Hunters Market Verbobonc Part 1
Verbobonc is a busy trading town . Goods come downriver from as far away as Ket and the Barrier Peaks or Highfolk and the Yatil Mountains. Merchants come to Verbobonc to buy the goods before they reach Dyvers or the City of Greyhawk where the prices are the highest.
Hunters and adventurers gather the skins, hides and saleable parts and meat but must sell to the town guilds and merchants rather than selling from a stall in the market.
This is a price and parts list by creature for the going rate of undamaged, unrotted monster/animal parts paid by the Verbobonc merchants to unlicensed hunters and adventurers. Skinning salvageable parts from monsters and animals is a basic skill and easily learned if a bit messy.
Alligator, Giant - Head 5gp with teeth - Hide 1gp per 5ft square undamaged section of the heavy back, sides and neck - Skin 1sp per 1ft square undamaged section of Underbelly - Teeth 1sp per tooth
Ankheg - Chitin 1gp per 5ft square undamaged section. - Eyes 5gp per pair
Ant, Giant - Antenna 50cp each - Chitin 10cp per 1ft square section
Ape, Carnivorous (Very Rare in the Viscounty of Verbobonc [VoV]) - Head 5gp for complete head (1gp if damaged ir missing fangs) - Hide 10gp for relatively complete upper body - Teeth 1gp per F fng
Baboon (Very Rare in the VoV) - Head 1gp for complete head - Teeth 1sp per fang
Badger - Pelt 1sp
Badger, Giant - Pelt 3sp
Basilisk (The merchants in Verbobonc can handle about a half-a-dozen basilisk sales per month. More than that and the price they will pay will drop dramatically) - Blood 1gp per quart - Brain 25gp - Eyes 100gp per eye - Head 250gp with eyes - Hide 10gp per 1ft square undamaged section - Heart 25gp - Horn 100gp - Teeth 10gp per tooth
Bear, Black - Claws 1 sp each - Meat 25cp per pound - Skin 1gp
Bear, Brown - Claws 1sp each - Meat 25cp per pound - Skin 2gp
Bear, Cave - Claws 3sp Each - Meat 50cp per pound - Skin 10gp
Beaver - Pelt 25sp
Beaver, Giant - Pelt 10gp
Beetle, Giant - Bombardier - Chitin 1gp per 1ft square section - Vapor Gland 10gp
Beetle, Giant - Boring - Brain 5gp - Chitin 1gp per 1ft square
Beetle, Giant - Fire - Chitin 2gp per 1ft square - Glands 5gp each
Beetle, Giant - Stag - Chitin 1gp per 1ft square - Horn 1gp
Beholder (Although Beholder carcases are sought after it may take time for VoV merchants to get buyers from Dyvers or Greyhawk, or further abroad) - Body the generally undamaged body of a Beholder is worth from 5,000 to 10,000gp - Central Eye 500 to 1,000gp - Eyestalks 500 to 1,000gp each
Black Pudding - Ash 1sp per pound
Blink Dog - Hide 100gp - Living Pups 1,000gp to 2,000gp
Boar - Heart 50cp - Hide 1sp - Meat - 1cp per pound
Bugbear - Head 5sp bounty - Head (rare pumpkin head) 10gp - Heart 1sp - Hide 10sp
Bulette (Merchants in VoV can handle at most two carcases a month though after 1 month they can set up buyers for up to 2 dozen more bodies) - Body 5,000gp to 10,000gp - Chitin 500gp per 5ft square plate - Head 500gp to 1,000gp - Heart 500gp - Hide Underbelly 500gp for complete underbelly - Limbs 250gp per limb
Carrion Crawler (Merchants in VoV can handles around a dozen bodies a month. More than that an the price will drop) - Body 250gp for complete body - Head 200gp - Tentacles 25gp each Posted: 09-17-2021 01:41 pm Encounter - The Body of a Dwarf
Encounter - The Body of a Dwarf
While this encounter can be used in practically any dungeon setting it is meant for a low level dungeon set in the Kron Hills on the edge of the Lortmils. The ruins of a dwarven outpost will be the first in the discovery of a long since conquered and destroyed dwarven fortress city which once ruled over the mountains and highlands before the coming of the Flan. The dwarf is a local mountain dwarf named Galleb and if his body is returned to his clan and especially his silver coin the players will be received kindly by them. Search parties of mountain dwarves are in the area looking for him hoping to find him aliv, but alas... 1) The body of a dwarf.
This dwarf's body is sitting against a section of wall (against a fountain, door, etc...) with both feet splayed out and his head, covered in a dark bristle of short hair, is leaning forward with his chin resting on his chainmail clad chest. The players will need to see if he is sleeping, though the wide pool of dried blood surrounding him points to a different kind of rest. If he is touched his body falls over on its side with a dull thud (unless the body is prevented from doing so).
If the players are observant they will notice a silver coin drop from his mouth (it was placed there after his death as a token of respect and is meant to pay his entrance the caverns of the dead). His body has not been looted.
There is a steel helmet beside him that has taken a serious dent (and another dent can be found on the dwarf. It was this crushing blow that killed him).
He is an average-sized dwarven warrior (meaning he is broad-shouldered and barrel-chested). He appears to have been dead for some time since his blood is dried and his flesh a bit green-tinged and withered. Surprisingly there is little rot about him and he smells no worse than most living dwarven warriors. No creatures or even insects have touched his body.
What can be found on or near him.
Armor: 1) Steel helm; badly dented (cannot be used till dent is hammered out). 2) Chainmail; patched and repaired but serviceable. Sized for an average dwarf. 3) Boots; leather - These boots are enchanted and allow the wearer to move silently. They are sized for a dwarf with average feet.
Weapons: 1) One-Handed war-axe in good repair. Sized for a dwarf (short handled) enchanted. (adds a positive modifier to hit and damage). 2) Dagger
Items: 1) Belt with 6 pouches 1a) Tinderbox 1b) Coins - 16gp, 23sp, 5cp 1c) Canteen - water laced with dwarven whiskey 1d) 2 silver tubes. 2 empty, 1 scroll of heal light wounds (in dwarven) 1e) a silk cloth wrapped around a steel framed hand-sized mirror 1f) a cloth bag containing 2 dozen small glass marbles 2) Silver Birth Coin near body - this will radiate a sense of well-being to anyone touching it. The coin is simply a normal silver coin but removing it from the dwarf's body will cause it to generate a feeling of wrongness, slight at first, that increases the further distance away from the body it travels. This feeling will afflict the possessor even if the coin is abandoned and only placing it back against the dwarves corpse will relieve this feeling. The coin is very ancient belonging to the old dwarven kingdom of the Lortmils and is now given out as a luck piece when a dwarven child is born.
3) Pants, cloth shirt, underwear, all common place and slightly soiled. Posted: 09-16-2021 12:53 pm NPC - Perricard Weaponsmith
NPC - Perricard Weaponsmith
The art of crafting enchanted weapons is rare. Surprising to some it is a craft come originally from the Dwarvensmiths of old. As dwarves are not known to be often spellweavers it seems strange to many that there is the renown for enchanted blades and armor. Their craftsmen seem to be able to enchant many things but it is their weaponsmiths that are renowned.
Perricard isn't a dwarf. He is a human late of Furyondy and a great enchanter of swords. Their are spells at his command but a deeper knowledge of blades he is said to have gained among the ruins of a dwarven kingdom in the Lortmils. Perhaps this is why he has moved to Verbobonc.
Gnomes do not like Perricard and he is not welcome in the Kron Hills. Currently he is hiring adventurers to return to the Lortmils and seek out that dwarven ruin, but what he searches for he has told none. Posted: 09-16-2021 11:18 am Gygax's letter from AlarumsandExcursions #2
Gygax's letter from AlarumsandExcursions #2 Dear Lee;
Hello! and our thanks for the two copies of A&E. Brian Blume takes care of SR, and he immediately made off with one copy of your zine, so you can rest assured of the trade arrangement.
It certainly is a good feeling to have so many persons enjoying something one had a hand in creating. I have been a sf and fantasy fan since age 12, a wargame enthusiast since age 10 and began designing and writing about 1965. The games and rules are fairly successful these days, but I have yet to sell a sf or fantasy story, and that will be my next real project -- in a year or so when I have time to rewrite my favorite fantasy novel in hopes of something more than the usual rejection slips.
In case you don't know the history of D&D, it all began with the fantasy rules in CHAINMAIL. Dave A. took those rules and changed them into a prototype of what is now D&D. When I played in his "Blackmoor" campaign I fell in love with the new concept and expanded and changed his 20 or so pages of hand-written "rules" into about 100 ms. pages. Dave's group and ours here in Lake Geneva then began eager and enthusiastic play-testing, and the result was the D&D game in January of 1974. It is an ongoing game, as the GREYHAWK booklet shows, and when Dave hands me the ms. for BLACKMOOR I am sure that there will be more alternatives yet. I have personally worked out enough material lately to do still another supplement, and the heaps of material sent in by fans would certainly fill another -- besides providing a good bit of material for publication in SR. So as long as players desire, TSR will continue to provide more D&D goodies (although my partners bemoan the fact that this tends to deprive the historical end of out operation.)
If you have seen WAR OF THE WIZARDS, you are aware of how imaginative and creative a man Professor M.A.R. Barker is. We have arranged, finally, to publish his masterwork, EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE. Professor Barker has been at work on his fantasy world creation for something like 40 years! It shows in his work. I hardly know where to begin in describing EPT. First, I must liken the whole of the Professor's work to JRRT's (and I understand that Professor Barker has a novel which he hopes to complete soon!). The whole of the game EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE is perfectly thought-out and logically structured. Its form was influenced by D&D (and I am greatly flattered about that) although its author had been testing various other forms prior to the publication of D&D.
I will not describe the world of 'PETAL THRONE, for Professor Barker does that himself, far better than I could hope to, in his game. Suffice it to say that we have spared no expense to do it justice when TSR publishes it. The box will be about 9" x 12" with a full-color illustration of the city of BeySy on the cover. The Professor is also one heck of an illustrator, and he did that map in a medieval style with building erections, larger-than-life figures of men, and so forth. In addition to a rules book (about the same number of words as D&D, possibly quite a few more) done in two-column, 3 1/2 x 11 size with a plastic ring binding so it will open flat to any section, there will be three full-color, plasticized mapboards (similar to the one found in STAR PROBE). Two are the map of the world, and the other is the city of Jakala. The first two are done with permission, on SPI hex maps, while the latter is done on a slightly smaller hex grid. The unfortunate part is what the whole will cost -- the $20 price range -- but we plan to make the separate parts available so that much cash won't have to be laid out all at once. We expect the work to be available by 15 July.
We also have a wonderful "parlor" version of D&D dungeon adventures coming up fairly soon -- great for when there are only non-addicts to play games with, for the family, or when there is only an hour or two for play. The game is well done, and its components are top-quality, and we expect it to be popular for many reasons -- not the least of which is it will help D&D enthusiasts demonstrate to the uninitiated why they love fantasy games.
I sang through both of the tunes in "Music to Loot Dungeons By". Good show!
There seems to be considerable confusion amongst your contributors -- particularly those who tend to be in a flap about incomplete or unpalatable solutions (to them) of D&D rules/questions/problems. The game is complex and complicated. When it was released, it was by no means in a final (or even polished) form, but were we to sit on it for another few years in order to get it that way? Can a broad fantasy game ever be finished? Of course we could not hold off publication, for it was too much fun to keep from others.
Dave and I disagree on how to handle any number of things, and both of our campaigns differ from the "rules" found in D&D. If the time ever comes when all aspects of fantasy are covered and the vast majority of its players agree on how the game should be played, D&D will have become staid and boring indeed. Sorry, but I don't believe that there is anything desirable in having various campaigns playing similarly to one another. D&D is supposed to offer a challenge to the imagination and to do so in many ways. Perhaps the most important is in regard to what the probabilities of a given situation are. If players know what all of the monster parameters are, what can be expected in a given situation, exactly what will happen to them if they perform thus and so, most of the charm of the game is gone. Frankly, the reason I enjoy playing in Dave Arneson's campaign is that I do not know his treatments of monsters and suchlike, so I must keep thinking and reasoning in order to "survive". Now, for example, if I made a proclamation from on high which suited Mr. Johnstone, it would certainly be quite unacceptable to hundreds or even thousands of other players. My answer is, and has always been, if you don't like the way I do it, change the bloody rules to suit yourself and your players. D&D enthusiasts are far too individualistic and imaginative a bunch to be in agreement, and I certainly refuse to play god for them -- except as a referee in my own campaign where they jolly well better toe the mark. Let us consider the magic-user question.
We allow magic-users to employ the number of spells shown on the table, so a 1st level m-u gets exactly one 1st level spell to use once before he must go back to his books and prepare to use the spell once again -- or a spell once again. To allow unlimited use of the spell is to make the m-u's too powerful. There is a better solution, of course; one I have been aware of since the first. That is to utilize a point system based on the m-u's basic abilities and his or her level. Spell cost is then taken as a function of the spell and the circumstances in which it is cast and possibly how much force is put into the spell. All that would have required a great deal of space and been far more complex to handle, so I opted for the simple solution.
Again, as a case in point, Ted Johnstone says I have trouble telling which rules are so completely obvious that he doesn't need to explain them. That, dear friends, is a statement which could only be made by someone who has never authored a set of rules or a game! Many of the rules which are completely obvious to me are totally obscure to others. I can say in complete truthfulness that I have had to explain each and every section of the rules to some players, either in person or by letter.
I desire variance in interpretation and, as long as I am editor of the TSR line and its magazine, I will do my utmost to see that there is as little trend towards standardization as possible. Each campaign should be a "variant", and there is no "official interpretation" from me or anyone else. If a game of "Dungeons and Beavers" suits a group, all I say is more power to them, for every fine referee runs his own variant of D&D anyway.
I recall that I told Bob Sacks that in Greyhawk we do not have existing religions included, for this is a touchy area. We have such groups as "The Church of the Latter Day Great Old Ones," Church of Crom, Scientist", "Brethren of St. Cuthbert of the Cudgle", and so on. Gods sometimes intervene. There are some artifacts and the like which aid clerics. In general, however, clerics are powerful enough without much aid, for they have quite a few advantages and work up very quickly. Fighters are really the ones whom everyone should be irate about, for they have the hardest time of it, if not backed up by other classes or by lots of other fighters or blessed with the most powerful of magic gear.
How does one use gunpowder weapons in the confined spaces of the dungeon? What happens to ears? Blackmoor has some gunpowder usage but the filthy stuff won't work in Greyhawk's world.
By the way, a score of 18 is only the usual top limit for humans in Greyhawk. We have monsters with intelligence scores well over 18, and one player is about to work out a deal which will jump his to not less than 19.
Please inform Ted that I too subscribe to the slogan "D&D is too important to leave to Gary Gygax." Gosh and golly! Whoever said anything else. However, pal, best remember that it is far too good to leave to you or any other individual or little group either! It now belongs to the thousands of players enjoying it worldwide, most of whom will probably never hear of you or your opinions unless you get them into THE STRATEGIC REVIEW. As soon as we can manage it, we intend to have expand SR, publish bimonthly and include a letter column.
Thanks again for sending A&E. It was most enjoyable. Watch out though, that it doesn't start D&D down the road of DIPLOMACY fandom with its constant feuds, bickering, invective, etc. Now tell the fellows to pick on Dave Arneson awhile -- after all he had as much to do with the whole mess as I did!
Regards, E. Gary Gygax
Posted: 09-15-2021 05:58 pm Spell - Gremorley's Portal
Spell - Gremorley's Portal
The mage Gremorley, a sneaky, cunniving and untrustworthy enchanter developed this spell from looted spellbooks of a powerful Suel thaumaturge Y'sn El'et who lived during the age of the Imperium.
Using a bar of pure gold enchanted with the blood of a dragon (the type of which will influence the type of gateway opened) Gremorley learned to inscribe a certain set of forgotten runes in a precise geometric pattern. The Sage P. Greco is said to have found the translation of these runes through painstaking and arcane research and it is to him that those wishing to employ the portal should consult.
The spell creates a man-sized opening between dimensions which allows both access and egress to either side like a gate standing open. The dangers of such a portal should be immediately apparent. Luckily the duration of the portal is limited. It is said to be effective from either dimension but it cannot be canceled or dispelled as it is a rift between the dimensions which must heal itself rather than an ongoing magical effect. Posted: 09-14-2021 03:39 pm Regional Products of the Flanaess - Cloth and Fur Regional Products of the Flanaess - Cloth and Fur Blue = Fur Red = Cloth
As can be seen the origional resource map shows a strong interconnection between areas exporting fur (almost all the northern realms with the exception of Blackmoor and the Snow Barbarians. The same is reasonably true regarding cloth production and export.
Fur in this case can be guessed at as referring to heavy winter furs rather than the inclusion of pelts, skins or hides.
Cloth production and especially exportation seems much more questionable. It is so widespread that it makes me wonder who is buying the exports?
Posted: 09-13-2021 05:06 pm Regional Products of the Flanaess By Nation (Expanded)
Regional Products of the Flanaess By Nation (Expanded)From the map found in the 1983 World of Greyhawk boxed set (Pg#45 A Guide to the World of Greyhawk) depicting regional products we are given 15 symbols representing major exports of the various nations (2 symbols of which depict unknown products or that no major exports exist).
Cloth - (Almor, Bissel, Celene, Ekbir, Furyondy, Geoff, Gran March, Great Kindom, Medegia, North Province, Nyrond, Ulek Duchy, Urnst County, Yeomanry)
Copper - (Almor, Blackmoor, Geoff, Gran March, Great Kingdom, Ice Barbarians, Idee, Nyrond, Pale, Perrenland, Snow Barbarians, Ulek County, Veluna, Verbobonc, Wolf)
Electrum - (CoG, Iuz, North Province, Pomarj, Sterich, Sunndi, Ulek Duchy, Urnst Duchy)
Food - (Almor, Bissel, Celene, Ekbir, Frost Barbarians, Furyondy, Gran March, Great Kingdom, Idee, Medegia, North Province, Nyrond, Pale, Sea Princes, Shield Lands, South Province, Tenh, Tusmit, Ulek County, Ulek Duchy, Ulek Principality, Urnst County, Urnst Duchy, Veluna, Yeomanry, Zeif, Hepmomaland)
Furs - (Frost Barbarians, Ice Barbarians, Iuz, Ratik, Rovers, Stonefist, Tiger, Wolf)
Gems - (of 4 types) (Bissel I, Blackmoor II, Bone March I and II, Geoff I, Gran March III, Great Kingdom IV, CoG I-IV, Ice Barbarians I, Irongate II and III, Ket I and IV, Nyrond I and II, Onnwal III, Pale IV, Pomarj I and II, Ratik IV, Scarlet Brotherhood I and III and IV, Snow Barbarians I and II, Sterich II and III, Stonefist I, Sunndi II and IV, Tiger I, Ulek County I and II, Ulek Duchy, Ulek Principality II and IV, Ull II, Urnst Duchy Duchy, Verbobonc I-IV, Yeomanry II, Zeif III, Hepmonland ?)
Gold - (Bissel, Frost Barbarians, Furyondy, Geoff, Great Kingdom, CoG, Highfolk Town, Highfolk Valley, Idee, Pomarj, Ratik, Rovers, Scarlet Brotherhood, Sterich, Tusmit, Urnst County, Urnst Duchy, Veluna)
Ivory - (Blackmoor, Stonefist, Hepmonaland)
Lumber - (Hepmonaland)
Platinum - (CoG, Onnwal, Sunndi, Tenh, Urnst Duchy, Hepmonaland)
Silver - (Bandit Kingdoms, Bone March, Celene, Frost Barbarians, Geoff, Great Kingdom, CoG, Ket, Nyrond, Pomarj, South Province, Sterich, Stonefist, Tiger, Tusmit, Ulek County, Ulek Principality, Ull, Urnst Duchy, Veluna, Yeomanry)
Spices - (Lorship of the Isles, Scarlet Brotherhood, Hepmonaland)
Woods, Rare - (Highfolk Valley, Lorship of the Isles, Scarlet Brotherhood)
Most of the distributions seem a bit odd, for instance Hepmonaland alone produces Lumber for export. I propose to expand on the existing list of exports and include variations in type (in a different method than appears to be used for gems) and production level.
Here is an alphabetical listing of the nations and their resources.
Almor - (Food, Cloth, Copper) Bandit Kingdoms - (Silver) Bissel - (Food, Cloth, Gold, Gems I) Blackmoor - (Ivory, Copper, Gems II) Bone March - (Silver, Gems I and II) Celene - (Food, Cloth, Silver) Dyvers - (Shipbuilding Supplies - Not a Listed Export Product) Exbir - (Food, Cloth) Frost Barbarians - (Food, Fur, Silver, Gold) Furyondy - (Food, Cloth, Gold) Geoff - (Cloth, Copper, Silver, Gold, Gems I) Gran March - (Food, Cloth, Copper, Gems III) Great Kingdom - (Food, Cloth, Copper, Silver, Gold, Gems IV) Greyhawk, City of [CoG] - (Silver, Electrum, Gold, Platinum, Gems I-IV) Highfolk, Town - (Gold) Highfolk, Valley - (Gold, Rare Woods) Horned Society - Ice Barbarians - (Furs, Copper, Gems I) Idee - (Food, Copper, Gold) Irongate - (Gems II, III) Iuz - (Furs, Electrum) Keoland - (Food, Cloth, Gold, Gems III) Ket - (Silver, Gems I and IV) Lordship of the Isles - (Rare Woods, Spices) Medegia - (Food, Cloth) North Province - (Food, Cloth, Electrum) Nyrond - (Food, Cloth, Copper, Silver, Gems I and II) Onnwal - (Platinum, Gems III) Pale - (Food, Copper, Gems IV) Perrenland - (Copper) Paynims - Pomarj - (Silver, Electrum, Gold, Gems I and II) Ratik - (Shipbuilding Supplies - Not Listed as an Exported Resource, Furs, Gold, Gems IV) Rel Astra - Rovers - (Furs, Gold) Scarlet Brotherhood - (Rare Woods, Spices, Gold, Gems I and III and IV) Sea Barons - Sea Princes - (Food) Shield Lands - (Food) Snow Barbarians - (Copper, Gems I and II) South Province - (Food, Silver) Spindrift Isles - Sterich - (Silver, Electrum, Gold, Gems II and III) Stonefist - (Fur, Ivory, Silver, Gems I) Sunndi - (Electrum, Platinum, Gems II and IV) Tenh - (Food, Platinum) Tiger Nomads - (Fur, Silver, Gems I) Tusmit - (Food, Silver, Gold) Ulek County - (Food, Copper, Silver, Gems I and II) Ulek Duchy - (Food, Cloth, Electrum, Gems I and II) Ulek Principality - (Food, Silver, Gems II and IV) Ull - (Silver, Gems II) Urnst County - (Food, Cloth, Gold) Urnst Duchy - (Food, Silver, Electrum, Gold, Platinum, Gems I-IV) Valley of the Mage - Veluna - (Food, Copper, Silver, Gold) Verbobonc - (Copper, Gems I-IV) Wild Coast - Wolf Nomads - (Fur, Copper) Yeomanry - (Food, Cloth, Silver, Gem II) Zeif - (Food, Gem III) NOTE - Hepmonaland - While not a nation it is listed on the regional production map of exported goods - (Lumber, Food, Spices, Platinum, Gems ?, Ivory) Posted: 09-12-2021 11:37 am Story - Red, The Sun With Smoke, The Oerth With Blood.
'The Charge of Caldni Vir'
"Vir, you are to take the 3rd Mounted Prodromoi and search the north-east in force. Send out single riders to feel ahead, but I want you to keep your command together. If there is trouble, crush it. If you can't, then run. No heroics. I want to know what those damn barbarians are up to, but none of the patrols have returned. You are to turn back in three days regardless and rejoin the army at Spinecastle."
"Yes, commander," Caldni Vir raised his arm in salute then turned his horse and spurred away.
Astolpho, Lord Adri, Commander of the Northern Host, watched his most junior captain ride off in a cloud of dust. "To be that young again, Florismart," he said to his companion and shook his head wistfully.
"Such things are possible,: the battle-mage answered. "Though not my specialty."
"They always have a cost," answered Astolpho. "One that I will never pay. Besides, old friend, I don't think I was meant to live forever."
***
"An independent command!" Amaury exclaimed. "Vir, you always had the luck."
"Luck had nothing to do with it, Amaury," Caldni Vir smiled.
"Hah!" laughed Triamond. "Lancers," he shook his head, "too much to expect the heavy horse."
"Far too much," said Caldni Vir.
The three young nobles walked through the muddy camp at a brisk pace. Their cloaks were spattered and their armored boots thickly covered. Mud was everywhere. The hooves of five thousand horses had chopped the wet ground into a mire. Booted feet had done their best to spray the mire over and into tents then shower brown specks of the much onto every bit of cloth, pack, saddle, and suit of armor.
"A week of warm weather and sunshine," said Amaury.
"What?" Triamond turned a questioning gaze at his friend.
"He means, it would take a week to dry out this place," Vir explained.
"Stop reading my mind," laughed Amaury. "Another week of washing to get everything clean."
Triamond shook his head. "Why bother? It will only get dirty again."
"Why shave? Why eat? Why breath? Amaury snipped.
"There is something about an army camp that attracts the rain," Vir said looking up into the grey cloudy sky as he paused before the tent.
"Take of those boots, Triamond!" Amaury commanded. "You're not tracking up our tent again."
The young knight grumbled but joined his pair of friends while they sat and removed their boots.
"Not even a page to help us with our boots," grumbled Amaury.
"Lord Adri believes in traveling light. I happen to agree," said Vir.
Sitting side by side atop barrels and supply boxes the three were an interesting sight. Black-haired and clean-shaven, Caldni Vir looked young but no one would mistake him for a youth even though he had the outward appearance of a student rather than a captain of cavalry. His manner was one of command and his eyes were unflinching, honest and direct.
Amaury was red-haired and of an age with his two companions, though he most often wore a sly expression that made him look older than his friends. He sported a thin mustache and a fringe of beard cut close to his chin, but the sides of his face were shaved. Both Triamond and Vir had long hair that could be tied back in a tail that would reach between their shoulder-blades or drawn up and used as padding beneath their helms, Amaury's was cut so short as to be nothing but a red tinge over his scalp.
Blond-haired and broad-shouldered, Triamond wore his hair and beard long. He was so pale that his skin was almost white. It was the mark of Suel heritage. Triamond was the by-blow of a barbarian slave-girl and a powerful noble, but no one with an ounce of sense or thought of self-preservation ever mention it to his face.
Vir the Black, Amaury the Red and Triamond the White.
Caldni Vir's banner was a simple triangle of black. It fluttered from the lance of his standard beared who rode by his side. Small strips of black cloth adorned every lance of the troopers who had ridden with Caldni Vir before and now the rest of the 3rd Mounted searched the camp for black cloth to add to their own lances. Some troopers lashed a red scrap of cloth to their lances just below the black of Vir. That black and red was Amaury's banner while he rode under the command of his friend. His handful of followers sought to curry favor with the rich young noble. A score of such troopers and armsmen made up this small private guard of Amaury's.
Triamond wore a strip of black cloth and a strip of white on his right arm and eight troopers, recruited by him personally, did the same. His followers were skilled woodsman and trackers, men of the north and loyal to this outcast lord's bastard.
The 3rd galloped from camp, fifteen-hundred strong, lances raised in salute as they passed beneath the watchful eye of the outer guards and the captain of the camp. The wilds swallowed them quickly, the rolling hills lightly wooded here but further north and east growing into the Loftwood Forest. Then they were gone, never again to see their commader, Lord Adri, or many a thousand of their comrades who had served beside them in the Northern Host.
***
"Triamond," Vir called to his friend with a frustrated snap, "Anything, any sign?"
"No, Sir!" snapped back Triamond, The large man was just as frustrated.
Two days of patrols and searches had found no sign of the barbarians. The woods were thickening as they drew near the Loftwood and Caldni Vir was mindful of the time they no longer had.
"There must be something," Vir shook his head. He'd removed his helmet, a light contraption of leather and chain with a small steel skull-cap atop, and hung it from the pommel of his saddle. His black hair was flat and damp with sweat.
"We even had Miskurblindi casting the bones," said Triamond.
"That tame barbarian hedge-wizard of yours, "Vir swore under his breath."If he can't find a trail or sign of magic then there is none to be found."
"He thinks highly of you too," laughed Triamond.
"Well no one is going to be thinking much of us when we get to Spinecastle," Vir said to his friend. "Where are they?"
"North," spoke up Amaury. The noble was attired in gull armor, such as the heavy cavalry of Lord Adri wore, though his was enameled in blood red.
"You will kill that horse," said Triamond disgustedly. "Looks like you are ready to join Adri's 1st Cataphract."
"North," said Vir, interrupting the banter. "Amaury, how do you know?"
"Blessings of the War God," the young noble gave them a wicked smile. "Am I not his faithful paladin?"
Triamond spat on the ground, but did not comment.
"This is a true fortelling?" asked Vir.
"I would not joke about such a thing," said Amaury. "We have not found them because they are not here. I was granted a vision," the young man grimaced. His face bore signs of pain and lines which had not been there just that morning. "At a cost," he added noting the looks from his two friends. "Mountains, a pass, very treacherous, a score of barbarian warriors falling to their deaths at a time. Then rockslides, beasts and monsters, death, much death. These barbarians kept coming none the less. They crossed the mountains in a swarm like maggots on a rotting corpse. One dies, ten die, a hundred, but they still came on in their thousands. I saw a tribe of ogre's dispute their passage, they were swept aside in moments. They come for us."
"Here?" asked Triamond, surprised.
Amaury shook his head and wiped the back of his hand across his eyes as if to close them. "What? No, not here. What did I say?"
"You said, 'They come for us'," Triamond repeated the young noble's very words.
"Well I don't think so," Amaury shook his head. "How would they know we are here? And why would thousands of barbarians come looking for us?"
"You're the one who said... " began Triamond.
"Spinecastle," Vir said firmly. "They come for Spinecastle. Maybe for the Northern Host as well, if their spies were privy to the marching orders."
"How could that be?" asked Triamond.
"Hah!" laughed Amaury derisively. "The trooper who scrapes my boots knew Spinecastle to be our destination before we set out."
"Our men would not betray us," Triamond stated firmly.
Amaury just rolled his eyes, but Caldni Vir clapped his friend and lieutenant on the shoulders.
"Triamond," said Vir, "Our men are brave, but courage doesn't mean good sense or a still tongue, especially when loosened with ale."
"Many would say that good sense and courage are mutually exclusive," smiled Amaury.
"What do you mean by that?" scowled Triamond.
"Perhaps I should change 'good sense; to 'education'," Amaury laughed.
"What?" sputtered Triamond, his white face growing red.
"Proof positive," Amaury said casually to Caldni Vir, gesturing to their companion.
"Amaury! Stop playing about," Vir ordered with a commanding voice. "Triamond, control yourself. Now then, Amaury, how far ahead are they? How much time do we have?"
The smile faded from Amaury's face and the distant look returned to his eyes. "You are already too late," came a deep sepulchered voice. The words came from Amaury's lips but the voice... the voice belonged to no living man.
***
Asolpho had ridden hard the day before, ridden his troops hard as well. He'd pushed the endurance of both man and horse hard as he dared so as to reach Spinecastle while light enough remained to set camp. Though man and horse had been exhausted, staggering as they traversed the final miles
III
Dawn rose over Spinecastle. Sparkles of light reflected from the polished helms and spear-points of the castle guards. A chorus of hammer, saw and axe began to sing. The noise came from the town rising quickly around the keep. The voice of the morning belonged to the craftsmen and laborers hard at their work by the break of day.
In a nearby field a second town had sprung up overnight. Tents like rows of mushrooms lined the muddy oerth, neat and orderly as any planted crop. The smell of breakfast fires, a dozen hundred strong, wafted from the camp.
* * *
Astolpho had ridden hard the day before, ridden his troops hard as well. He pushed the endurance of both man and horse hard as he dared so as to reach Spinecastle while light enough remained to make camp. Though both had been tired it was the horses who'd had their meal and rest before the men who'd ridden them.
As Astolpho's weary troops were arriving a delegation was sent from the castle. These highborn ambassadors from the Keep waited with growing impatience for Lord Adri to leave camp and meet with them. A messenger was selected from among their number and sent within the seeming chaos of horses, men and wagons to find the commander of the Northern Host.
***
The Lord Commander took of his helm and gauntlets but left on his cuirass and heavy cloak. He felt the chill take flight and the warmth of honest labor heated his arms at first then spread throughout his body as he brushed down the back and flanks of his stallion.
"Lord?" one of his personal guard spoke up as he entered the rough canvas tent used to stable the Lord Commanders horse.
"Yes, Stephanos?" Adri replied without looking up from his work.
"Lord, a messenger from Spinecastle," sergeant Stephanos informed him.
"From Lord Andras, Marquis of Spinecastle," interjected the messenger with a measure of both pride and impatience in his voice. "Are you Lord Adri?" he asked staring at Astolpho as he tended his mount the same as the most common of the troopers was doing in the surrounding camp.
In his travel-stained cape and muddy boots Astolpho looked like an aging cavalryman, which he was, and not the powerful Lord who now ruled the North in the Great King's name, but he was that as well.
Without glancing at the messenger Astolpho stood back and removed his cloak, his cuirass and then his shirt. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and went back to work, checking the stallions hooves and shoes for stones or damage.
"Tell your Marquis of Spinecastle," said Adolpho quietly, "to wait."
Finally he glanced up at the messenger and said, with a growl in his voice, "Horses come first. Something your Lord seems to have forgotten, or never learned."
The messenger bristled at the contempt in the Lord Commander's tone but was careful in his protest. "But my Lord, this is peasant's work," he exclaimed quietly as he could.
Astolpho paused in his work and looked at the man with some distaste, "Stephanos! Remove this... fop. In one piece mind you."
"Yes, my Lord!" sergeant Stephanos replied with enthusiasm, a smile on his lips. With a gesture of his head two burly troopers appeared from just outside the canvas door-flap and grabbed the messenger, hauling him roughly away like a sack of grain. Stephanos marched after them, while cries of protest and outrage merged with the noise and bustle of the camp.
The battle-mage Florismart appeared from the shadows of a wagon that formed one side of the temporary stable.
"What kind of fools have the sent out here," muttered Astolpho.
"The normal kind," answered the mage. "The kind you have no time for... unless you mean us?"
Astolpho ignored the mage's humor. "I now see why I have been ordered to this misbegotten wilderness, and where the source of all the problems lies," he nodded in the direction of the entrance where the faint shouts of the messenger could just be heard.
"You have no need of out priestess of Istus then?" mused Florismart.
"Your spellcasters have begun their work?" asked Astolpho in reply.
"My people have begun, yes," answered Florismart. "The sun is down," he looked into the darkening sky which was rapidly turning black. "An owl flies above the camp. Its eyes are ours to use. Cynthia, our Istun cleric, she consults her crystal orb..." he trailed off.
"Problem?" asked Astolpho.
"Yes," Florismart touched the bracers on his wrists in a nervous gesture. "There is a cloud. A greyness that she cannot penetrate. Something is coming, something that we cannot foresee."
"Something has already arrived," said Astolpho firmly. "Us."
Florismart raised his brow in speculation. Posted: 09-10-2021 02:13 pm Nosnra's Cousin Nosnra's Cousin
When I first DM'd G1 I fleshed out the surrounding area so that Nosnra could draw on reinforcements from neighboring hill giants.
Nosnra's Cousin
Only five leagues north-east of Nosnra's steading stands the hall of Karnash, Nosnra's cousin. His is a large and ancient hall though not on the same scale as Nosnra's.
23 hill giant warriors are sworn to his service. His dire wolves are numerous and they have a fearsome reputation, his ogre retainers are loyal and well treated and have been settled in the nearby caverns for generations.
In case of trouble Nosnra would first call upon his cousin and these forces would be the first to arrive at the steading.
Karnash.
Karnash is a powerful hill giant, large and fierce. He is not noted for great intelligence, but he has both cunning and experience. He dotes on his pack of dire wolves and they are the envy of the hill giants of the Jotuns. These dire wolves are larger and more intelligent than the normal breed, and pups from his kennel are sought after by other hill giant clans.
He is young for a chieftain, having inherited his father's position (after defeating all challengers, including his elder brother), but he is a proven warrior and leader. His wife, Krilla, is beautiful (for a hill giantess), but not physically imposing. Karnash went on a great quest to win his bride and returned after more than a year, barely within the time limit set by her father, Geffed, a powerful chieftain himself.
In the end Karnash returned with the head of some fierce and terrible lizard, and the tale of his quest was matched by the scars he bore from it. The skull of this monster is hanging from the rafters of his hall, a testament to both his courage and the great value he set on his bride.
Karnash has five children, three daughters and two sons. His oldest boy, Kariff, is a warrior apprentice but much prefers to spend his time with the dire wolves. He is small for a hill giant, taking after his mother, and Karnash does not view him as a likely candidate for chieftain. Karoak his younger brother takes more after his father and is likely to be apprenticed years ahead of time. He is his father's favorite but is a bit of a spoiled bully, though Karnash either doesn't see it or doesn't care.
The Hall
Karnash's hall is typical of the old style hill giant steadings. A long main hall with wings branching from the ends and private quarters branching from the center of the hall. It is in remarkably good repair and one wing, including guesting chambers and expanded married quarters, is a recent addition. Karnash spends a great deal of his treasury on upkeep and expansion of his hall. Upon becoming chieftain he went to great trouble in obtaining dwarven slaves and has put them to use in both his smithy and in supervising construction of new buildings and re-enforcing the structure of the hall itself. His kennels are large and extensive and are continually growing.
Population.
Hill Giants
Karnash (chief) 23 Hill Giant Warriors (12 Married) Krilla (Karnash's wife) 12 Hill Giantess Matrons 15 Hill Giantess Maidens 37 Hill Giant children (17 male/20 female)
Ogres
The ogres live nearby in a natural and expanded system of caverns and have served the hill giants for generations. Their leader is Gruush who is only of average ogre size but is very good with the dire wolves. Karnash made it clear that the ogre chieftain is who he wants the ogre chieftain to be, end of discussion.
17 Males Ogres 32 Female Ogresses 53 Immature Ogres (male and female)
Bugbears
The Bugbears live in a warren of huts outside the main hall. The slave compound, similar to, but not as nice as the kennels, is between the outer wall of the hall and the bugbears' huts. A combination of factors whittled down the original clan of bugbears and recently Karnash induced (after only a handful of fatalities) a large tribe from the outlying hills to take up residence outside his hall. The survivors from the original tribe ( the Bloodyffangs ) are a down-beaten lot and are considering wholesale desertion. The new tribe (the Bone Crackers) are not very pleased to have joined the hill giants' service but their newly appointed chief ( the old one now just a smear under Karnash's boots) is smart enough not to show it. They've been taking out their anger on the Bloody Fang tribe who Karnash seems to have forgotten about.
17 Bugbears (The Bloody Fangs) 72 Bugbears (The Bone Crackers) 112 Bugbearlets +/- (high mortality rate)
Dire Wolves
The dire wolves live in a set of kennels built next to an outer wall of the hall. Karnash has a private entrance into the kennels from his personal quarters. These wolves are extremely well treated and well fed. Karnash as well as the other hill giants of his hall take them hunting on a daily basis. More than most other steadings Karnash's supplies itself by hunting rather than herding. A good percentage of hill giants and ogres will be out on the hunt continually, some arriving and some departing at all times. The pack is led by Fang and Claw, Fang is a gigantic dire wolf twice the size of an average dire wolf, but almost a lap dog when he is around Karnash who raised him from a pup. He is usually found at his master's side and will be at Karnash's feet during any meal. Claw is Fang's mate, a huge dire wolf bitch. She is young and has produced only two litters so far.
Fang, Claw 77 Dire Wolves 128 pups +/- ( pups are a source of trade with other Hill Giants)
Slaves
Karnash considers his slaves as a resource and because of this they are actually treated much better than the average slave held by hill giants. He especially prizes dwarves for their usefulness as smiths, engineers and masons. He is always interested in obtaining dwarven slaves. Karnash will always lame one leg of a newly acquired dwarven slave ( by severing the tendons) some will then die from infection and some will fight (hopelessly) to the death rather than allow this to happen. Since these rebellious fellows make poor slaves anyway Karnash sees this as a win/win situation. The dwarven slaves are kept in a special stone building next to the smithy and are segregated from the other slaves. They provide the know-how and skilled hands while the other slaves provide the blood and sweat. Because of this they are hated by the other slaves, sometimes more than the hill giants themselves.
The rest of the slaves are mainly orcs but there are a smattering of humans as well. The humans have banded together as much as they can and are led by a cleric who has managed to keep his abilities hidden from his hill giant owners as well as the orc slaves.
11 Dwarven Slaves (all lame in one leg) 183 Orc Slaves 39 Humans slaves (1 cleric, 1 high level ftr {unknown to anyone except the cleric}, 3 mid-level ftrs, 7 low level ftrs)
Guests
Recently the hall has been seeing more and more guests arriving. Some come to trade, others to seek alliance or mediation with Nosnra and feel safer talking with Karnash first, while some bring slaves to sell.
At the time of module G1 Karnash has a group of 3 hill giants who have brought 5 dwarven slaves to trade for some of the dire wolf pups. Another male hill giant who has come to seek permission to go on a betrothal quest for one of the hill giantess maidens of Karnash's hall. Lastly, a neighbors son with 5 other hill giants and 12 ogres have arrived to go on a hunt in woods to the south which are shared by both Karnash and his neighbor.
Reaction Force
If Nosnra summons help Karnash will respond immediately. He will go in person and leave the hall in the charge of his sub chief and leave 5 of his own (disappointed) hill giant warriors behind.
Some hill giants will always be out hunting and Karnash himself hunts at least once a week, but his sub-chief will respond as Karnash would, except that he would send 1 hill giant out after Karnash and leave the most experienced hill giant warrior behind at the hall while he took the rest out to aid Nosnra.
1D4+5 Hill Giants, 1D4+4 Ogres and 1D10+12 Dire Wolves will be out hunting at any given time. These hunters will follow the first group to relieve Nosnra (though 5 will relieve the other 5 left behind by the first group, since now it's their turn to be disappointed)
Karnash 17 of His Hill Giants ( 1d4+5 hill giants out hunting) 10 Hill Giant Guests 15 Ogre retainers ( 1D4+4) 12 Ogres ( his guests' retainers) Fang, Dire Wolf Pack Leader 40 Dire Wolves ( -1D10+12) Posted: 09-09-2021 04:56 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 11 Random Encounters Part 10 Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 11 Random Encounters Part 10
10. Ale Wagon
The PCs come upon a recently abandoned ale wagon. The horses are gone as well as any sign of the driver. Two massive barrels of ale are on the back. It would take 4 strong people to shift one of the barrels and they arent meant to be lowered to the ground just shifted onto a loading platform or ramp.
The wagon has a broken axle and is quite useless. The driver took the horses and road back to town or village to fetch more men and another wagon. The driver is a dwarf named Uiathne and this is powerful dwarven ale. Originally from the Lortmils these mountain dwarves settled in the viscounty. The Kevigan brewery is becoming a well known name.
If the players manage to return the ale barrels they will be rewarded and given free drinks whenever they return. Posted: 09-08-2021 03:36 pm Castle Project
After a recent Legends&Lore twitch show regarding castles I've had a desire to start developing castles for the Greyhawk setting. Looking at earthly pictures I think many can e used for the Flanaess.
The Krak des Chevaliers is a crusader castle in Syria. It is heavily fortified and reinforced during the gunpowder era. I can see it in many places. Shield Lands, Perrenland, Bissel, Tenh, the Pale, North Province....
Posted: 09-07-2021 01:00 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 10 Random Encounters Part 9
Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 10 Random Encounters Part 9
9. Verbobonc Lancer Patrol
The party encounters a patrol of Verbobonc Lancers. Typically these patrols are of 20 or 30 riders with a serjeant and a corporal or two in the group. With the incursion of the Brokenjaw Wolfriders the Lancers are spread thin and are in bands of 10 or 12 with a single corporal or serjeant leading them.
The Lancers are an experienced group of fighters and rangers with an occasional druid amongst them. They average a little higher (levels 1-2 in 1e AD&D terms) than normal guardsmen and their corporals and serjeants run even higher (3-5) so they even 10 or 12 Lancers are formidable.
3 of the Lancers are wounded in this patrol of 12 and they have recently encountered a band of wolf-riders whose bodies are scattered in a field about half-a-mile distant.
Corporal Bewes who leads this patrol will stop and inform the PCs that more wolf-riders are massing. If the players are mounted he suggests they accompany the patrol (which is headed in the opposite direction of where the Players are going). If the PCs have known to have aided Lancers or Verbobonc citizenry in the past and have no mounts Bewes will suggest they ride double with some of the Lancers. If the players wont turn back Bewes wishes then luck but says 'On your own head be it." before the patrol rides away.
Posted: 09-06-2021 01:42 pm Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris 2
R ed Hanlan and Black Harris 2Lyndos, human male, (Magic User level 7) Str 8, Int 18, Wis 11, Con 10, Dex 12, Chr 11 HP: 22, AL LE, AGE 33
Physical Description: Lyndos is pale with thin ash-blond hair. 5"9' and skinny. He is clean shaven but his fine thin hair is hardly noticeable even if he does not shave. He has no scars or tattoos.
Lyndos wears a dark hooded cloak on raids, he has a mask which looks like a grinning devils face horns and all which he wears under the hood, (he salvaged it from a group of wandering entertainers that the band ambushed on the road in Keoland).
In towns or away from the brigands he dresses in dark blue robes with occult signs, actual charms woven into its make-up, ( a charm against detection and a charm of protection +1) He wears a dark blue, wide-brimmed hat to protect his fair skin from the sun.
Background: Lyndos has served as Black Harris' lieutenant for the last three years and outside of Smashnose has been with the band the longest, (a total of four years). His mentor Stesil Hin, a mage of great experience and evil, had an estate outside of Hardby. After catching Lyndos borrowing spell components Stesil expelled him and Lyndos left Hardby only seconds ahead of one of Stesils' lightning bolts. Luckily Stesil failed to notice the old traveling spellbooks which Lyndos had borrowed earlier.
Down on his luck, Lyndos survived hand to mouth in the City of Greyhawk. Without cash or connections Lyndos owned only his stolen spellbooks, a bare minimum of components and a single set of worn pants, shirt and shoes. Then he met Black Harris and he has followed him ever since.
Personality and attitude: Lyndos is meticulous but lacks patience. His greatest desire is to expand his knowledge of all things wizardly but he does so regardless of the cost in pain and suffering to others. Lyndos had been in on the planning of all the major raids for the past few years. The sudden change in Harris' attitude toward the band's attacks and his lack of care in matters of security have forced Lyndos to make plans of his own.
While he bears no sense of loyalty to Harris he has been amply rewarded in the past and greatly profited due to his membership in the band of brigands. He receives all books, scrolls and magical items which are meant for a mage's use as well as a senior member's cut of all treasure. But now he feels that the rewards are coming at too high a risk and his counsels are ignored. He is gathering his resources and his courage, awaiting a time to break with the band unless he sees a change come over Black Harris and a return to the old ways.
Equipment:
Lyndos has a secret cache of spellbooks hidden away in Veluna City. He only carries a traveling spellbook while raiding.
Travelling Spellbook: 1st) Alarm, Comp. Languages, Detect Magic, Identify, Magic Missile, Read Magic, Shield & Sleep 2nd) Flaming Sphere, Invisibility, Knock, Mirror image, Ray Enfeeb., Web 3rd) Fireball, Haste, Hold Person, Lightning bolt, Pro.Norm. Missiles, 4th) Imp. Invisibility, Minor Globe Invuln., Wizard eye
Ring +2 of protection Staff of Shielding: This staff allows the user to cast the shield spell twice every 24 hours at the casters current level of experience. Sling 20 +1 sling bullets 10 Silver sling bullets 3 glass spheres holding dust of sneezing and choking, held in an ivory container that has a carrying strap. Dagger +1
Riding Horse: Mare, named LuLu. Posted: 09-04-2021 05:50 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 9 Random Encounters Part 8
Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 9 Random Encounters Part 8
Part 8. Jawbreaker Goblin riding party
A frequent random encounter will be raiding parties of Jawbreaker Goblins. They are overpopulated and moving up throw wild coast and into Verbobonc. This has proved troublesome for the kidnappers and at the moment they are as taken by surprise as the citizens of Verbobonc,
Goblin raiding parties all number several dozen sometimes as many as 60 or 70 in the main band, but these split into smaller groups that retreat at the sign of trouble and collect more raiders. So far several hundred goblin wolf-riders have entered Verbobonc with no telling how many more are to follow.
Goblin wolf-riders are normally leathered armored bearing a short bow, falchion or scimitar or dagger. They loot other gear and raid leaders and warchiefs always have better armor and gear including enchanted blades. Goblin leaders should b of increased HD or leveled NPCs. These Goblin have shamans (about 1 per 100) who are low level druid/magic-users.
A typical raiding party will have split down to about a dozen riders with one boss of stronger or more wiley disposition. Raid leaders are normally encountered with groups of 40 or more while warchiefs and shamans are normally encountered in groups of 100 or 200 goblins. Even a small raid boss will normally have 1 or 2 buddies who help him keep order, while a Raid Leader will have a lieutenant and a few body guards and several small raid boss types around. A full war chief will have a shaman or three, sub-chiefs, henchmen, bodyguards and a wolf that is of larger size and intelligence as a pack leader.
Posted: 09-01-2021 12:00 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 8 Random Encounters Part 7
Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 8 Random Encounters Part 7
7. Spiders
The PCs may notice small amounts of spiderwebbing near them off the side of the path, trail or road they are travelling. If they have animals with them they will become skittish and nervous. But by the time the PCs realize something is wrong it will be too late.
From all around them around a two dozen large spiders will make a fast scuttling approach. The players will have one melee round advantage before the spiders close.
The spiders are under the sway of the Aboleth's domination and are seeking to capture rather than kill. They will poison PCs hoping to weaken them and knock them unconscious. They will cast webs at them seeking to bind the PCs. If the PCs are defeated they will be webbed and poisoned awakening later in an abandoned barn. The barn is home to a giant spider and a number of large and huge spiders.
The PCs will awake to the sight of a beautiful but very unkempt and grimy woman. She is the druid Oleanne (See NB Book1 Pg#20). She will quickly cut the PCs free and urge them to run for it indicating a place in the barn wall where the boards have been snapped aside. If the players flee they will have no gear except what they carried on their person and any animals will be gone.
The PCs gear is in one of lofts but so are two huge spiders and half-a-dozen large spiders. Any animal mounts or companions are in broken down stable next to the barn. The giant spider and four huge spiders dragged them there for a future repast but they are still alive. The giant spider and the four huge spiders are away bringing back a number of riding wolves they captured.
Inside the barn are a dozen goblins and half a dozen wolves. They are webbed and caught. They will beg for their freedom but if released will escape as soon as possible and inform the other raiders of the weakened PCs in the area.
A large force of goblins will besiege the barn and spiders witin two days if these goblins escape and within six days even if they do not. Posted: 08-29-2021 12:43 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 7 Random Encounters Part 6
Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 7 Random Encounters Part 6
6. Dead Farmers The players come upon a field with the bodies of dead farmers, a dead horse and wagon with all its good broken and scattered. Among the dead are the bodies of 3 goblins with broken arrow ends sticking from them. The farmers have been terribly hacked at whether before or after they were killed is not apparent.
As the players near the scene of the massacre one them catches the sight of movement in the distance. The player with the best eyesight can just make them out as wolves with riders. Within a few moments the disappear into a dip in the fields and seem to ride off.
If the players examine the dead they will notice an odd thing. There are 7 dead farmers among the scattered and looted goods but 2 more are within the wagonbed. They too are dead but they have bound and gagged and tied to the wagon.
These 2 are local farmers but the 7 dead are minions of the kidnapper Ranchefus (See NB Book1 Pg#11). A search of the dead bodies reveals that they are wearing leather armor beneath their clothes and one has coins sewn into the lining. 25 Platinum pieces and a note saying "Live prisoners, any spell casters will earn a bounty. Remember!"
Posted: 08-28-2021 02:10 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 6 Random Encounters Part 5
Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 6 Random Encounters Part 5 5. The Packmule
Off the side of the road the players see a loaded packmule quietly nibbling on some scrub. The mule, Bert, appears docile, but mainly because it is exhausted. The players should notice that the mule is lathered and if they approach it in a friendly or cautious manner it will allow them to lead it and hopefully, from Bert's perspective, unload it.
Bert is carrying a load of Tinker's gear. A small portable anvil, charcoal, a small shovel. wood-axe and pick. Bars of lead for solder. There are also several pots and pans. A bag of steel sewing needles and colored thread. A small one man tent, a ground cover, two weeks rations, a lantern and several bottles of oil. There is a bag of metal fish hooks, a pole and thin line. There is a fancy folding live animal trap and half-a-dozen small spring traps.
There is a guide rope attached to a light harness but it has been cut with about 6 feet left. Underneath the packs and bags is a old worn riding saddle.
Anyone in the area will reckonize Bert as belonging to Ducote the Tinker, originally from Furyondy but now making a living plying the villages and town throughout Verbobonc. He is missing, kidnapped by the minions of Ranchefus (See NB Book1 pg#11) Posted: 08-28-2021 09:53 am Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 5 Random Encounters Part 4
Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 5 Random Encounters Part 4
4. The Farmhouse This encounter is best had at the end of the day when the players are considering camping for the night.
During the day the farmhouse appears to bw in good repair. It is a single open room, mostly bare except for a bench, chair and table. Inside is dry and clean. There is a well just outside and a back door. Both doors and windows seem stout enough for a farmhouse but the roof is just thatch and the walls wattle and daub (interwoven branches covered in clay). Better than tents at least with a firepit and covered smokehole at the back.
The place is desrted and the fields untended and a bit wild. If the nearby fields are searched the bones of animals can be found scattered about and if a greater search is made human and humanoid bones can be found.
If the players stay the night the house transforms into a half roofless ruin at the rise of the moon. From outside the house screams and moaning can be heard as if animals are being slaughtered. Then calls for help and more screams. Surrounding the house the bodies of dead animals, mostly cows and pigs, wander about. If any step outside the house they will attack and only stop if they players retreat back into the house. As the moon reaches its height the animals well lose all their flesh and become bones. The skeletons will stagger around and the skeletons of humanoids will approach from the fields.
At the moons height the skeletons will attack the house in groups of six or twelve. As they are slain the bones will nit together into monstrous combinations of man and beast and continue to assault the house. This attack will go on till moonset.
If the hut is burned down the skeletons will draw off and wait till the hut collapses. If the players leave the area of the fields the skeletons will not follow.
Beneath the packed earth floor are the skeletons of a dozen men and women. Digging them up and destroying the bones will cause the skeletons in the field to collapse. An iron chest is buried with the bodies containing an icon of Elemental Evil and 12 amulets. If these are taken the players will be haunted by the memories of these Elemental Evil cultists and they will receive no benefit of rest till they are buried or brought to a cleric or druid to be destroyed. Anyone in Verbobonc will immediately recognize them as belonging to the cult of Elemental Evil. Posted: 08-27-2021 01:16 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 4 Random Encounters Part 3
Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 4 Random Encounters Part 3
This encounter will take place within the Kron Hills but on the outskirts of a small town or village. 3. The Charcoal Burners
Charcoal burners create charcoal for use in smithies by burning logs in conical pile, mostly airtight, to keep the wood from going up in flames and being reduced to ash instead of charcoal. In Verbobonc, among members of the Old Faith, it is looked upon as an almost holy profession. Trees need to be marked by a druid for collection and certain rites and rituals are carried out to balance the destruction.
Those carrying out the work are either apprentice rangers or druids normally working under a more experienced teacher. There is lots of time for contemplation and a communion with nature.
There are 3 young druids, Nickells, Madgett, and Harriman; a ranger of more experience but learning druidic abilties named Garrett and an older druid named Sibbett.
They are cautious with strangers but generally friendly. If told about the goblin incursion or of the attack by kidnappers they will be concerned and immediatly break camp and set out to warn the nearby town or village suggesting that the players come with them but not insisting that they do so.
The players will first notice the smell of burning wood or see the smoke rising from a place with woods or forest. A dirt trail, recently used, will lead from any path or roadway off in the direction of the camp if approached from such a direction.
The druids and the town will be appreciative of any warning the players might give and the ranger, Garrett, would even accompany them if they are setting out soon as he plans to scout for any goblin-sign.
Posted: 08-24-2021 03:59 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 3 Random Encounters Part 2
Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 3 Random Encounters Part 2
2. The players come upon a dying goblin. He has had one arm bitten off and only a short distance away is the wolf he was riding, dead and showing bite marks at its throat and body. A pouch with a few coins, a dagger and sheath at his belt and a quiver with 20 arrows for a short bow are the most salvageable items.
100 yards further on they find 4 more dead goblins and wolves and the body of one of the largest dogs anyone can remember having seen. The dog has an iron collar labeled 'Rock' (which is the dogs name).
Rock is twice the size of a normal War Dog (4+4 hd in 1eAD&D terms). He is grievously wounded and will die from his wounds if not healed. His master, a wealthy merchant, has been slain by goblins of the Broken Jaw tribe, and Rock pursued a small pack of them.
If Rock is healed he will become bonded with the person who healed him. Rock would benefit from a suit of leather armor often crafted for wardogs, but it will cost more because of his size. Posted: 08-22-2021 12:08 pm Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 2 Random Encounters Part 1
1. Verbobonc Lancers fighting Goblin Wolf-Riders
This encounter can take place anywhere no closer than 10 leagues to the city of Verbobonc.
The players come upon a pitched battle between a 10 man patrol of Verbobonc Lancers and some 27 wolf-riding goblins of the Broken Jaw tribe. An overturned merchants wagon is near to a path or roadway and the lancers are making a stand there.
At the wagon are 2 dead merchants and one living merchant, Ciara. She has is a red-haired woman in her thirties with some training as a fighter (padded armor, light crossbow, quarter staff).
There are 7 dead goblins around or near the wagon and 3 dead wolves.
2 of the lancers are dismounted and lightly wounded. They are using the wagon for cover and firing short bows. The other 8 lancers are still mounted and preparing for a charge as the 27 wolf-riders and 4 riderless.
Each lancer is an experienced warrior (1eAD&D 1st and 2nd level Fighters or Rangers). Led by Serjeant Daukyn (3rd Level Ranger) so the fight isn't one sided but any help by the players would be appreciated.
At the end of the battle if the lancers win they will skin the wolves, loot the dead goblins and remove their heads for the viscounts bounty (1gp for the head of every goblin, orc or similar monstrous creature), loot the wagon and merchants if Ciara doesn't survive, or help Ciara remove any valuables from the wagon if she does. Most of the lancers are Old Faith so they will leave the dead, including there own, laid out for wild animals and nature to take its course on the bodies though the merchants and their own dead will be laid out respectfully while goblins and wolves will be left to rot where they have fallen or at most dragged off the road.
The wagon was carrying varied goods. The most valuable are some coin and gems. A large trunk contains components for spells. There was a metal chest with magical potions but most are smashed. Otherwise whatever general goods the DM wishes the players to find. Ciara won't mind terribly the wagon being looted if she secures the valuable items first. The wagon is completely destroyed but the two horses still in harness will be found further down the road. Posted: 08-21-2021 05:47 pm NPC Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 1
People will notice that I just used this photo for The Bold Soldier of Chendl but I liked it so much and fit with my idea for Black Harris that I've used it again. Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 1Oerthly Encounters
Red Hanlan & Black Harris
This pair of Brigands has been highly successful raiding across the lands west of Greyhawk, such as Furyondy, Veluna and Bissel, as well as the lands of the Yeomanry, Keoland, Ulek and Gran March. Recently, however, they have parted company and now Black Harris pursues his former partner. Red Hanlan now rides with his new partner Tess Bywater or "Laughing Tess" as she is called.
Periodically after a successful raid or series of raids the band would split up, each going their separate way, to enjoy the ill-gotten gains of their labor. Some traveled in pairs like the brothers Kalife and Kalib, but most set off on their own. At an appointed date the band would gather again and it was common for both Red Hanlan and Black Harris to return with a string of new recruits.
Having successfully left a bloody trail of robberies and murders along the paths and roads between the Dreadwood in Keoland to the Lorridges in Bissel, the evil band gathered together once more in a small but growing market town named Fountainspring set within the heart of the Kingdom of Furyondy. Red Hanlan came with a half dozen followers but Black Harris brought along only Tess. While in town the raiders were on their best behavior, but as the reunited group celebrated one last time before leaving town Tess killed a long time member of the band who 'insulted' her. Black Harris and Tess had a shouting, then throwing, match and finally Tess stormed off, with Red Hanlan. Later that night a now staggeringly drunk Harris broke down the door to Red Hanlan's room and the struggle which ensued wrecked the tavern and scattered or killed those who supported Red Hanlan.
Since that time Red has been on the run. Only Tess followed him from the broken tables and smashed chairs of the Inn.
Black Harris has sworn a dark oath of vengeance, but while his followers understand his desire they have more practical concerns, namely loot. Always bloodthirsty and merciless Black Harris has raided and robbed with a brutal cunning. Now he has grown careless. Robbing only to pacify his followers, his thoughts are turned to tracking down and exacting a painful retribution on his brief one-time lover and his faithless former partner. Previously the band would raid only after studying the layout of the land and the composition of the merchant caravan or train, though they would not hesitate to waylay a small party or individual whose bodies would be hidden among ditch or bramble, unlikely to be seen again. Now they strike without preparation. So far they have been lucky and their casualties have been few, but their luck is not likely to hold.
Red Hanlan has been on the run since that night. Nearly overtaken outside of Littleberg, he has since laid low, living rough along the edge of the Gnarly Forest. Once a ranger of Geoff, Red has used the skills learned in his early days to pick hidden and secure camps and hideouts for the band amid the wild. Now he uses these skills to hide from Black Harris.
Black Harris chases Red Hanlan. He will pursue him wherever the trail will lead. Red cannot remain hidden forever but will appear again, while Harris will follow carelessly in a wake of death and destruction till he is pulled down like a mad beast by the forces of order in the lands he afflicts or till he at last runs down his quarry, Tess and Red Hanlan.
The Brigands:
As an early precaution against detection the brigands took to wearing masks and black clothing on raids and making sure to dress differently if they were in a town or village. Several months before the group split apart they attacked a group of wandering players. The loot was poor but it contained many different theatrical masks which the brigands adopted. Unfortunately Black Harris and Red Hanlan also adopted a policy of no quarter. No survivors, no witnesses. It proved highly successful from their point of view. Merchant caravans and travelers simply vanished, their wagons, baggage and bodiesabandoned in woods or rough terrain. The careful and merciless tactics of Red Hanlan and Black Harris have kept their identities separate from the raiders who plague an area for a few weeks then disappear only to reappear leagues away in a different country or kingdom.
Black Harris, human male, Ftr Level 9 Str 17, Int 12, Wis 12, Con 17, Dex 12, Chr 10 HP 89, AL LE, AGE 36 Physical Description: 6"2', Thin and wirey. Brown hair and eye, brown mustache. Scars over his left eye, on right cheek, wide scar across upper right chest. Tattoo of a grinning skull on right bicep, an eagle holding a bloody dragon in its claws on his left.
On raids Harris wears black. black boots, pants, a black tabard over his chain mail and a black plume from his helm. He was a man of careful habits and grooming but now is lax and usually needs a shave. His mustache once neatly trimmed is on its way to becoming a soup strainer. While in towns or villages Harris would always wear colorful and fancy clothes of fine quality. In his current obsessed state he wears whatever he puts his hands on, leaving such garments on till their stench is strong enough for him to notice.
Background: Called 'Black Harris' because of his grim and merciless nature. It's rumored that he grew up in the Hold of the Sea Princes and spent part of his life as a pirate but no one knows for sure. He is merciless but maintains a rough and comradely discipline among his men. He demands obedience but does not play favorites and will not break his word. His followers know that they can expect honest and fair dealing from him but cruel and swift punishment if they should cross him or violate the oaths that they have sworn to Harris. He has deep respect for magic both wizardly and divine and will go out of his way to recruit practitioners of these arts.
Personality and attitude: Harris is now obsessed with the desire for vengeance. Once a careful and cunning planner he now simply rides in with the full strength of his band and overwhelms any guardsmen or outriders, then falls upon the body of the caravan or merchant train. He cares nothing for what treasure or valuables are harvested from these raids, though he still takes his cut. He uses this wealth only to pay informants or recruit more men in his quest against Red Hanlan. Only his lieutenant, the wizard Lyndos, and Lyndos's aid Falil, object to Harris's current actions.
The evil priest Salin, a follower of Hextor, approves of this direct action, "Attack, Attack, Attack!" is his motto.
Black Harris has a taken a step from evil into madness and the light from his fiery obsession burns in his eyes.
Equipment: Chainmail +2 Saber +1 of wounding. (1d8s-m 1d8-l) Shield +1 helm Lance +2 Gauntlet of crushing grip: This single gauntlet can be commanded by the wearer to attempt to crush anything in its grasp 3 times every 24hours. It can easily crush a flagon or snap an unenchanted blade. An arm or ankle would be pulped and perhaps severed. This gauntlet crushes slowly, taking 4 rounds to fully close. With a resisting opponent the user of the gauntlet must make a successful To-Hit. On the first round no damage is inflicted, the gauntlet merely grips what it will then proceed to crush. On each following round 1d6+7 pts of damage will be inflicted. The victim has the opportunity to pull away from the grip if they save vs their Dex on the first round for no 1d6 damage. Each subsequent round the victim will get a more difficult save, first at -2, then -4, and finally -6 as the gauntlets fingers sink deeper into their flesh. If successful they receive half damage as they pull away from the crushing steel fingers of the gauntlet. The gauntlet will not damage enchanted items. Its fingers would not even scratch enchanted plate mail but a shirt of chain, while itself undamaged, would not keep what is between its links from being pulped.
War Horse: Obesdian, is the fourth Heavy War horse of that name which Harris has ridden. As its name implies it has a glossy black coat. HD: 4+4 AC7 HP:31 6 potions of extra healing (private stock) 1 potion of Hill Giant Strength 1 potion of speed
Black Harris's Band
#1 Lyndos (level 7 Magic User) Harris's lieutenant #2 Falil (Level 4 Magic User) Lyndos's aid #3 Salin (Level 6 Priest of Hextor) #4 Zeffin (Level 2 Cleric) Salins assistant #5 Kalib (Level 5 Fighter) twin brother of Kalife #6 Kalife (Level 5 Fighter) twin brother of Kalib #7 Smashnose (Level 4 Fighter) 1/2 Orc #8 Travis (Level 5 Thief) leads thief contingent within band #9 Costos (Level 3 Thief) #10 Halvas (Level 1 Thief) #11 Dursus (Level 1 Thief) #12 Bismon ( Level 3 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #13 Quisson (Level 2 Fighter) #14 Tras (Level 2 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #15 Arrash (Level 1 Fighter) #16 Cruther (Level 1 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #17 Sasor (Level 1 Fighter) Follower of Hextor Posted: 08-21-2021 11:25 am Night Below - The Evils of Verbobonc - Part 1
The year is 579cy, 3 years after the events described in module T1-4 and the adventure begins in the city of Verbobonc at the Wayside Inn. The players are young and lacking in experience but trained journeymen if not yet masters of their professions and callings.
The Wayside Inn (See Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc part 5 & 6 for maps) is a large and comfortable inn recommended by the Mercenaries Guild as a place to meet prospective employers or socialize with other adventurers. When first entering the city the guardsmen at the gate directed the players to the Mercenaries Guild to register and pay the fee to the guild and the city. (See Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 3). The fee can be waved temporarily if the players take one of the pending jobs listed at the guild hall. Currently that involves taking on the work of couriers for the mage Gordrenn (Night Below Book 1 pg#10). The mage needs his items delivered to the town of Nulb(Thurmaster in NB) a town of bad repute but improving outwardly since the latest strike against the Temple of Elemental Evil in 576cy.
The road to Nulb isn't without its perils and the chances of unpleasant encounters are real. Goblin raiders are reported along the foothills of the Kron Hills (See NPC - The Goblins of the Broken Jaw) and the longer road to Hommlet (Milborne in NB) is recommended. Hommlet is a growing town with the first stages of a walled keep constructed beside it.
Once past Hommlet or the shorter route through the Kron Hills the players will encounter the scenario 'Capture Them Alive!' (NB pg#10-11). Should the players have a tough time with the encounter the Scout-Lancer Sedeq can appear for a timely intervention (See NPC Scout-Lancer Sedeq).
Posted: 08-20-2021 09:34 am Encounter - Animal Rescue
Encounter - Animal Rescue
During a recent attack by Carnivorous Apes (See Murders in Rag Alley) It was learned that the merchant ship Pit Bull had brought the creatures from Hepmonaland only to lose them in the harbor of the City of Greyhawk. Still secured onboard ship are a caged group of baboons, about 20 still surviving. A ranger from Hepmonaland, Mtaalamu, has followed this ship and is seeking aid freeing these Baboons from captivity.
The captain of the Pit Bull is an unsavory man to say the least, but capturing, killing or selling wild animals is of little concern outside of some druids and members of the Old Faith. Mtaalamu himself only values these baboons as they were stolen from a shrine sacred to his people. If he cannot free them he must see them slain and their spirits released. If so he must collect their heads and return them to the shrine.
Mtaalamu has some experience with traders and hunters from the flanaess and bears several diamonds and bars of unworked rough gold to pay for help. He has no concern over slaying the crew and captain of the Pit Bull, a ship of about 35 hands and 7 officers. Posted: 08-19-2021 10:47 am NPC - The Thief in the Night
The Thief in the NightOerthly Encounters
The Thief in the Night
Taldas Fei is a thief who specializes in burglary, especially the robbery of merchants, adventurers and any likely residents of a tavern, hostel or inn.
He will first stay as a guest under an assumed identity, a merchant, warrior, scribe, etc... always a different persona for a different town or village. Then he will carefully and cautiously explore his surroundings, keeping careful record of each room, door, window and lock. He will stay long enough to learn the local gossip and become a familiar face to the residents but avoids close contact with other travellers.
Taldas will never attempt a burglary on his first stay at an inn or tavern. He will first prepare the ground, then leave and return at a later date adopting the persona which he dedicates to that particular locale. He will, in larger towns and cities, sometimes take on a second, third, or more, persona if he feels that he can get away with it. Taldas gathers information and has a journal which he carries with him and a master journal which he has safely hidden away in his only permanent residence, a house in the City of Greyhawk. This journal contains notes and maps about each place that he has prepared. It also has notes on merchants, caravan routes, wealthy travelers, ceremonies and festivals as well as rumors and gossip about everything from dragon's hoards to the possible marriages of the nobility or wealthy; anything which might have potential for relatively unsecured treasure to find its way into first, one of his prepared inns or taverns, then into Taldas's pocket.
Taldas performs his burglaries only at night and will not be in residence when he does so. Instead he will have left the inn or tavern the night, or perhaps even a few days, before if he feels that his target will be safely ensconced within for that much time. After dark Taldas will return and enter through a carefully studied way; an upper window or roof access, the doors through which kegs of beer are rolled into the cellar, etc... Whichever way that he has discovered is the most vulnerable and unattended. He will then make his way to the room of his victim and attempt a robbery, hopefully without violence.
Taldas is aided in his craft by three magic items.
#1 Ring of Silence
This ring, when activated, creates a sphere of silence around the wearer in a 5ft radius. No sound of any kind passes from outside or into this sphere. It can be activated once every 12 hours for a duration of 30 minutes. It can also silence an individual, the wearers choice, within a 15ft range of the wearer for 10 minutes once every 24hours. These functions cannot be performed at the same time and the durations of these effects cannot be altered by the wearer.
#2 Gloves & boots of Spiderclimb
These magic items must be used as a set, a wearer missing a hand or foot could not activate their power. These are made from a slim, silky material and will fit any humanoids from small to large stretching or conforming to the size of their hands or feet. They must be worn directly against the skin of both hands and feet but luckily provide protection against sharp or piercing objects such as broken glass, razors or caltrops. They have no effect on crushing blows. Once all four items are donned they immediately begin to function and will only cease when either one part of the set is removed from the -wearer or if the wearers limb is severed. This set grants the wearer the same abilities as the magic-user spell spiderclimb.
#3 Catseye pendant
This pendant is of gold in the shape of a cat's head. Two green gems form its eyes. This pedant allows the wearer to see with a much greater degree of night vision (range 80 feet) as well as the ability to see well in direct or sudden bright light. When activated the wearer's eyes take on the form of a green-eyed cats. This pendant can be activated three times every 24hours for a 1 hour duration.
Taldas is patient and methodical. He is intelligent and chooses his targets with great care. He is unlikely to rob a powerful magician or priest and will back away from an excessively well-guarded item.
He approaches his craft almost as an art-form and is no throat-slitter or bash-and-grab thief. He would fight or even kill to escape from capture but will first just try to run away. He carries several defensive items to aid him in this. He might have any one or several of these on hand at any time.
#1) A pouch containing small steel sling bullets. Taldas is adept with the sling but would also use these to toss behind him and hopefully trip up his pursuers.
#2) A glass bottle of oil, he would use this only to make steps or floor slippery not to set fires.
#3) A pouch of caltrops. Not something Taldas would normally carry but he might if going after a high reward high risk item.
#4) A coil of strong twine or preferably wire. He would string these along a stair or passageway at ankle height.
#5) a glass jar filled with bees, wasps or hornet, depending upon their availability.
#6) several rags rolled into balls soaked in lantern oil and dipped in wax. If lit these will produces thick smoke but are unlikely to start a fire.
#7) a glass jar filled with glass marbles (if available) otherwise this will be a glass jar lined with wax filled with steel sling bullet. These marbles or bullets will also be greased. These would be used before the regular sling bullets.
While attempting a burglary Taldas will dress in black, wearing a black cloth mask and hood as well as a small pack and a belt with equipment. He wears no armor but has a +2 ring of protection. He carries a sling and a half-dozen throwing knives. Taldas has 1 packet of dust of disappearance which he will only use in a dire emergency. He also keeps a scroll tube on hand with a tattered an ancient map inside. If captured he will claim that it is a map to a lost treasure which only he can interpret correctly. A small section of the map is missing and Taldas will swear, truthfully that he has memorized it. Taldas picked up the map several years ago. It shows the lands along the western borders of the Duchy of Geoff, but he has no idea where it leads to. Notes on the map make mention of an ancient burial ground of a sorcerer king and of vast treasure, but Taldas is a burglar not an adventurer and prefers to get his treasure the old fashioned way, by stealing it from sleeping merchants.
He is of average height and appearance with blue eyes but otherwise his hair and general appearance are continually being altered. In Greyhawk, when he resides at home, he has sandy blond hair and a fair complexion, clean shaven and shorthaired and appears to be in his mid-thirties.
Taldas Fei, Human Male Thief level 7 Str 13, Int 14, Wis 12, Con 11, Dex 17, Chr 16 HP 29 Skills (without armor) Pick pockets 25 Open Locks 95 Find/Remove Traps 95 Move Silently 25 Hide in Shadows 90 Detect noise 15 Climb Walls 70 Read Languages 0 Posted: 08-19-2021 09:58 am NPC - The Green Beast
NPC - The Green Beast
The Green Beast stalks the woodlands of the Flanaess. It has the ability to transport itself from one forest or woods to another, its body decomposing into rotting vegetation and muck when it abandons one location for another. This beast is an avatar of the woods and forests. It is respected by those of the Old Faith and by druids and rangers in general.
It stands about 18feet tall and has the strength of a fire giant. It is armed with razor-sharp claws and can, but usually does not use its horned head in combat. It is immune to druidic magic and has a general 60% resistance to magic.
The Green Beast is an enemy to those who injure the forest or its creatures. It will aid elves, druids and rangers in need. It has a general dislike of dwarves and hates most goblinoid and evil giants. Posted: 08-18-2021 10:55 am Wormy Sep '77 Posted: 08-17-2021 12:05 pm Historical - High Prophetess of Istus 2923bh
In Ekbir the High Prophetess of Istus sits once again upon the seat before the wheel of fate. The cult of Istus, long suppressed, once more turns the wheel and the old regime falls. The High Prophetess declares Azek son of Atrex the new Caliph. 2923bh Posted: 08-17-2021 11:25 am Encounter - The Murders in Rag Alley
Encounter - The Murders in Rag Alley
A series of gruesome murders has occured in Rag Alley, Old City one of the poorest areas of the City of Greyhawk. Selek Quin watch-captain of the guard has asked for help but there is little reward for any except the goodwill of the most humble of Greyhawk's citizens and the thanks of the captain of the worst duty in the Nightwatch.
Three families have been murdered while they slept, torn to pieces within their locked dwellings. In two cases even their windows were shut. The last murders were just the night before and the upper windows, which had been barred, were burst open.
Some monster or demon seems to be on the loose.
The truth is that a ship carrying five carnivorous apes from Hepmonaland docked during the last week and the creatures escaped. The captain has sent out his sailors to retrieve them while the creatures have found their way to an easy hunting ground among the poor of the Old City. The pack is lead by an exceptionally smart and large Ape. They sleep during the day in a disused attic of an abandoned home and at night prowl the roof-tops of the city searching for food, human flesh preffered. They will hunt down vulnerable targets on the street or break into homes if they are able. The nights have been warm and so far twice the smallest has made its way down a cold chimney to let in the others. The last required the large ape to smash in a window.
Each night the creatures will go hunting and there is little that the poorly manned Old City Nightwatch can do until the creatures kill someone more worthy of attention than the inhabitants of Rag Alley. Posted: 08-17-2021 09:51 am The Goblins of the Broken Jaw The Goblins of the Broken Jaw
The tribe of the Broken Jaw is a large and widely spread collection of goblins. They are seen from the eastern Lortmils, through the Kron Hills, the Wild Coast, the fringes of the Gnarley Forest all the way to the Pomarj. Their numbers rise and fall as they are beaten back to lick their wounds and increase their numbers before setting out again to raid and plunder.
Predominantly wolfriders they also have masses of foot-troops that swarm from warrens in the mountains and hills to plague the gnomes and dwarves of the Lortmils and Kron Hills. Their wolfriders live a more nomadic existence and they sweep across the more open lands.
Currently the Broken Jaw wolfriders have raided through the northern wild coast and been encountered along the Kron foothills inside of Verbobonc.
Posted: 08-16-2021 01:00 pm Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 5 The Map 10-11a
Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 5 The Map 10-11a
10. Stables
The Stables have nine stalls most of which are normally occupied by medium draft horses and two medium warhorses. The warhorses belong to Sir Anglrieve and his master of guards Hubert, an experienced warrior and former Verbobonc Lancer. The stable master, his family and four grooms live in Main hall while at least six stable-boys live in the loft above the stalls.
11a. The Great Hall
The Great Hall is the main reception hall, dining hall and sleeping quarters for the manor. Sir Anglrieve and his family live in 11d the Family Residence and the Old Tower 11b contains the main barracks for guardsmen as well as the armory and the treasurey.
11a 1st Floor 1.
The entranceway is a large room. the main door is strong and kept shut and barred with two guardsmen normally on duty. There is a viewport in the door and the open it for the manor residence coming and going and guard it to admit strangers to the Hall. The room is lined with chairs and benches as well as pegs on the wall for cloaks. There are empty weapon racks to hold any weapons that visitors might possess as no one but Sir Anglrieve's guardsmen or fellow Verbobonc nobles or guards is allowed into the Hall bearing arms without Anglrieve's permission.
11a 1st Floor 2.
These double doors lead to th connecting passage with the kitchens. During mealtimes they are propped open.
11a 1st Floor 3.
These double doors lead to the connecting passage to the workshops. They are kept closed and barred except at mealtimes when a guard will prop them open and be stationed here.
11a. 1st Floor 4.
A long raised platform is against this wall with a long table and chairs for Sir Anglrieve guests and family to sit. Between mealtimes this is where Sir Anglrieve will sit to hear petitions and complaints as well as receive strangers and visitors.
11a 1st Floor 5.
This is the main dining and meeting hall. Tables and benches are stored to the south and pulled out at mealtimes. The hall is well lit by several enchanted stones that cast light down from lanterns set in the roof.
During times of trouble this room will be used for sleeping at night by refugees.
11a 1st Floor 6.
Double doors kept barred from the otherside.
11a 1st Floor 7.
Stairs going up to 2nd Floor
11a 1st Floor 8.
This is a guardroom. At least 2 guards will be on duty here at any time Posted: 08-15-2021 02:15 pm City of Greyhawk - The Wolfsbane Academy
City of Greyhawk - The Wolfsbane Academy
Located on Hilway Road near the gate to Old City the Wolfsbane Academy is a worn manor whose lands are now occupied with encroaching shops and businesses. Alicia, now called Lady Wolfsbane, is founder of this society which wars against lycanthropes.
Several years ago Alicia was simply the daughter of a minor Greyhawkian oligarch. She'd apprenticed as a sorceress and was soon to set out on a term of journeywoman travel when her fathers estate was overrun by a viscious band of werewolves. Bitten and badly wounded Alicia consumed belladonna which rendered her comatose for days. When she recovered all that was left were the half-eaten bodies of her family and the blood soaked halls of her father's mansion.
Since that time Alicia has dedicated herself to the cure or destruction of Lycanthropes. Her academy collects all known examples of the disease and trains those who wish to combat it. She herself has raised and enchanted breed of wardog whose very blood is mixed with silver. Their bite will wound or kill a Lycanthrope as it would a normal creature and if a Lycanthrope should bite them their blood and flesh will burn them like acid.
Alicia is partcularly interested in any lycanthropes from the gnarly woods and she pays a bounty for any brought to her alive. Posted: 08-13-2021 10:02 am Encounter - THEM!
Encounter - THEM!
The wealthy pirate-turned merchant Septum Bon has purchased a large collection of wharfside wharehouses, long disused, and has found them infested with giant ants! Worse the ants have made a home in the poorly maintained Safeton sewer system.
Players are hired to clean out the ants (but not burn down the wharehouses or Safeton. He needs the players to go into the sewers as well where the players encounter giant rats, crocodiles, a mangy wererat and several zombies of persons disposed of by the thieves guild.
But there is more...
One of Bon's merchant ships loaded cargo stored in the wharehouses and the pallets were infested with the giant ants. Now it is a battle onboard ship against a horde of these pesky insects. Posted: 08-12-2021 10:07 am Adventure Idea - Land Clearing
Adventure Idea - Land Clearing
The Adventurers are hired to clear an area of land northwest of Safeton (See Red Dot on Map). Once cleared of dangerous monsters and creatures the Players will be asked to stay on and help protect the workers who are building a walled estate. This is especially important to the man hiring them, Septum Bon, a supposedly wealthy merchant.
Septum is actually a former pirate and quite successful. He now runs merchant ships from Safeton but wants a more private estate than those available in the small city.
The area he has chosen contains a small cave complex containing a Troll lair. A hidden entrance in the lair leads to a small hill nearby where a watchtower built by the Suel Imperium once stood. The tower is long gone and even the fallen stones have long since been carted away and used for walls and foundations in Safeton. A secret trap door at the base of the tower was never discovered and the basement levels that hollowed out the hill remain. This hill is haunted by the undead remants of the Suel guardsmen who hid and died here when their tower was overthrown.
Several wild animals are in this area, including bears, dire wolves, giant badgers and a lone jackelwere. A large clutch of Owlbears is moving into the north of this area because of forces pushing them out of the Gnarley Forest. Posted: 08-11-2021 01:33 pm Encounter - Ankheg Attack
Encounter - Ankheg Attack
The small farming Village of Winslydale has been beset by a sudden infestation of Ankhegs. While the villagers themselves have little to offer as a reward for help except food and lodging the Viscount will be well pleased to hear of adventurers aiding his fold in time of need.
The Village is Hommlet sized but lacks Rufus and Burne or any stone keep or tower. The people are all of the Old Faith but are attended by an old Ranger rather than a druid. The ranger, Corin, is originially from Furyondy but settled in the viscounty decades ago. He heads the local militia. The village boasts a small Inn, The Red Rooster.
So far only livestock have been killed but not all the farmers have abandoned their farms and Corin is worried that they will be the Ankhegs next meal. A patrol of six Verbobonc Lancers will arrive in the next two days and a scout-lancer with six more lancers will appear the day after that and deal with the situation if the players still have not dispathed the Ankhegs.
Posted: 08-11-2021 11:42 am NPC - The Beggar King
NPC - The Beggar King
The Unofficial king of Verbobonc. He is a rough-patched, bearded man of middle years festooned with pouches, packs and bags. He normally carries a staff but bears a broadsword and short sword and can fight with one in each hand.
The Beggar King's true name is unknown perhaps even to himself. He wanders the roads and byways of the viscounty and surrounding lands having been seen as far off as Dyvers and the City of Greyhawk, is said to have appeared in Geoff in the time of their need against the giants and rousing the free folk of the Yeomanry in their struggle against the recent invasion of Hobgoblins which is wracking that land; but Verbobonc is undoubtly his home.
In truth the Beggar King is a ranger-lord, sometimes an avatar of the land itself. Those of the Old Faith, from the most common believer to the most powerful of druids has dreamed him into existence.
The Beggar King demands donations and tithes from travellers and merchants. He duels with guardsmen and lancers and seldom kills, though he has no mercy for evil men. He bears the Staff of the Oerth which increases his strength to that of an ogre and allows him to summon an earth elemental once per day. It allows him to blend into the earth three times per day and travel up to a one hundred yards beneath the oerth, though not thropugh rock or stone. His short sword is enchanted and can break a blade it crosses on a natural d20 as well as adding to the armor class of the Beggar King (+3 to AC in AD&D). His broadsword is intelligent and called Thunder. It can summon an air elemental once per day and strike with a force that can stun an opponent with an overpowering sound.
If slain the Beggar King will come alive again at the rising of a new moon. He will cut himself weapons from yew and ash. These will turn back to his enchanted gear and the gear taken will turn to a staff of ash and weapons of carved yew instead.
While the Beggar King is powerful his strength grows and falls with the dreams and beliefs of the followers of the Old Faith. In their need he is stronger, when content his power weakens. He is a pleasant fellow, offering aid to those in need, an expert in escape and hiding. He often challenges those he encounters to duels and rewards even those who lose with some various item he has picked up in his travels (usually of minor enchantment). He is known to lend one of his weapons to those in need, though seldom, very seldom, provides direct aid or even accompany anyone for longer than a short encounter.
Posted: 08-10-2021 09:12 am NPC - Scout-Lancer Sedeq
NPC - Scout-Lancer Sedeq
The elite among the Verbobonc Lancers are the Scouts. They ride the land alone or in small groups of two to five. The Scout-Lancers are chosen from the most experienced and skilled, mostly rangers, but some druids.
Sedeq is the son of a Kettish merchant based in the city of Verbobonc but whose mother is a minor noblewoman of the viscounty. He was brought up in the Old Faith and became enamored with the wild lands and forests. His father trained him in the skills of combat and wished him to be an officer in the Verbobonc Guards but Sedeq followed his own path.
At first Sedeq trained under the leaders of the Old Faith, learning of the land, the forests, and the hills. Then he followed a path of adventure seeking more than treasure, but what exactly he could not name. In his exploits he rescued a group of Verbobnc Lancers ambushed by bandits raiding from the Wild Coast and Sedeq was invited to join. Quickly it became apparent his skills would be best put to use as a Scout-Lancer and here Sedeq found his home.
Sedeq normally patrols alone. He is (in AD&D) a Ranger between levels 3-7 and possessing a few items of druidic magic such as boots of elvenkind, enchanted leather armor, a Spear of piercing which treats normal armor and hide as if it weren't there removing the AC protection when Sedeq attacks with his spear. His dagger might be enchanted as well as the leather helm he wears (A Cap of Endurance that allows him to go without food, water or sleep for as much as a week and increases his HP total by 50% The Cap will function for a week then be nothing but a normal leather helm for a week as the magic recharges). Depending on his experience Sedeq may possess, some, none or all of these items.
Sedeq can be a great aid to the party and will accompany them if they are on a worthy cause; something more than treasure seeking or exploring. Posted: 08-09-2021 04:01 pm Item - The Dancing Jesters Boots of Charm and Pain
Item - The Dancing Jesters Boots of Charm and Pain
Created by Tasha early in her mastery of magic the boots are a powerful item and yet also something of a failure as far as the Sorceress was concerned.
The boots are bright yellow with red trim and silver bells. They must be worn as a pair for the dweomer to take effect. They will stretch or shrink to fit any sized foot but if removed theyy appear to be fit for any normal-sized human's foot.
Perhpas Tasha tried too many enchantments on a single item but the Boots allow several enhancements to take effect and several affects to be forced upon the wearer. The first and most noticiable is pain. The Boots are alway too small. They pinch and are uncomfortable to wear causing an armor class and to hit penalty when worn (-1/-1 in AD&D). They have a 5% chance of causing spells to fail at casting and Dexterity reduction (-2 in AD&D) any resulting penalty or loss of bonuses is commulative with the armor/to hit reduction. Most of these penalties are the results of the uncontrollable dancing the wearer must do in stressful situations such as combat.
The wearer also has the choice to dance skillfully whenever they like. This includes any form of dance they may know.
The main benefit of ther Boots is their ability to Charm Humans and Demi-Humans as per the spell (cast as if 8th level in AD&D) three times per day. The wearer must dance continuously while this charm is in effect of the power is broken.
Currently only one pair of these is known to exist in the possession of the wizard Ryel of Dyvers.
Posted: 08-09-2021 11:32 am Event - Sub-Canon Auryn of Veluna Stands Before the Council of Nobles
Event - Sub-Canon Auryn of Veluna Stands Before the Council of Nobles
The Provost of Veluna Canon Wardla has been murdered in a shocking and foul manner; the flesh rotted from his bones and the minions of Incabulos are to blame.
Sub-Canon Auryn of Veluna bears the skull of Provost Wardla and warns the council that at least one of the noble houses of Veluna is involved, that this house has fallen under the sway of Incabulos. The people in attendence are dismayed but who among the crowd are loyal citizens of Veluna and followers of Rao and who are the traitors and worshipers of Incabulos? Posted: 08-08-2021 12:39 pm The Clan Vidar
The Clan Vidar
Addanc the Great, most renowned of all the Vidar, more so than even Vidar Spadehand himself, the first Clanchief. When the Vidar think of themselves they think of Addanc, greatest of clanchiefs. Addanc the Delver, he cut deep within the Stark Mounds. He brought vast wealth to the clan and great sorrow. Addancs desire was his and the clans undoing. Addanc the Lost. He followed the ore to its heart and of all those who went with him, worked alongside him, only one returned, and that one died before he could tell what happened. That night, as the Clan gathered to search for Addanc and the others, the mine shaft belched forth foul monstrosities of the UnderOerth. Many Dwarves died then, many disappeared, perhaps slain and their bodies taken or perhaps much worse, taken alive. All that had been built, all that had been gathered and crafted and stored, all that was of the Vidar, was touched by that night. The Mine of Addanc was at the heart of the Community and though the Vidar had built strong doors and deep chambers, these were set to keep them safe against what was without, they had built no defense against what came from within. The fighting lasted all that night. It stormed through the halls and from chamber to chamber. Young and old fought and died, those that could gathered in the Hall of Chiefs, those that could not died or were taken. This was a clan of miners and craftsmen, many of the warriors had died at the mouth of the mine when the horrors first sprang upon them, those who were left were the lucky or the strong. Avanc the Young, son of Addanc, became leader of his people that night. He was still an apprentice learning the ways of the Oerth and its bounty, but he had the voice and bearing of his father. He called down a curse upon these horrors and swore an oath of blood-vengeance against them. With an iron hammer in one hand and a miners pick in the other he left the Hall of Chiefs and his people followed. All those of Clan Vidar, except the very babes and children, fought the horrors back to the mine shaft. As the strongest forced the monsters down into the UnderOerth the most Craftwise cut the supports and arches and collapsed the tunnel behind them. When dawn came to the Stark Mounds the survivors of the Clan had gathered once more at the Hall of Chiefs. The doors had been shut and the side passages guarded. They lay stunned or stumbled aimlessly among the relics of their chieftans. As dark came again there was a pounding at the main doors. Some Dwarves lifted weapons, others lay where they had dropped hours earlier and would not rise, but all awaited their fate; the end of their clan and their lives. "Open" a voice boomed "Open, it is I, Avanc, the way is closed, Open the door to the Hall of my fathers, Open!"
Till this day the Doors of the Hall of Chiefs have been left open (though the hinges have been carefully oiled and the oak trunk to bar the door kept handy). Avanc had returned and brought a dozen scarred and grim followers with him. They did not speak of what they had found, how they had survived or their means of escaping from the far end of the blocked mine shaft, but the Book of Chiefs, seen by only the clan eldars, is said to tell the tale.
That night, now long years past, changed the Vidar. Once an open community, friendly and generous, they became close mouthed and close-pursed. They had reached out to harvest the Oerths bounty and without warning had been struck a grievous blow. The Oerth itself now had two natures, Evil and Good, and they could no longer fully trust it.
Dwarves of the Vidar Clan are slow to trust. They believe first in their own Clan. The survivors of Addancs Night, less than half the Clan at that time, became very closeknit and insular. They passed this feeling of community to their descendants where it exists strongly among the present day Clan. The greatest honor that they can bestow upon an outsider is admission into the Clan. They have also inherited a dislike for the UnderOerth and a distrust for all creatures living below the ground. This has led to a surprising affinity for surface dwellers, even Elves who they consider no better or worse than other Non-Dwarves such as humans. Before Addanc they were renowned miners and skilled builders. Now they shun those who delve into the Oerth. Still they craft with metals and process ores bought from others who mine. Their work is considered sturdy and of high quality but there have been few Masters of the Smith craft in their history. All Vidar learn the use of a weapon at an early age but they are generally an unaggressive lot. Their concern is defense and security but they also put a strong emphasis on wealth. Many of their riches had been taken on Addancs Night, most of what was left was used to rebuild and refortify their home. Young Vidar either involve themselves in craft or trade or seek wealth outside of their community. A Vidar returning to their community with wealth is highly respected, as long as they bring no problems back with them. Outward signs of wealth are not allowed within the community, such a display would be considered as tempting fate and bringing the Doom of Addanc down upon them all.
At their heart the Vidar have not forgotten what they were. Vidar Spadehand is still revered, He was no warrior but a master of his craft and wise. He lived a long life, even for a Dwarf and saw his Clan grow in both size and wealth. He wrote a book of laws for his Clan and they are carved along the columns in the Hall of the Chiefs and penned the first lines of history in the Book of Chiefs. The Vidar now think of him as the Chief of the Golden Years. They seek to find those times once again but they always expect the worst and prepare for it.
Surprisingly the Vidar see Addanc as a lost hero rather than the source of their decline. Avanc his son did much to redeem his fathers name. According to legend there is a passage known only to the Chieftain and his family that leads deep within the UnderOerth. Younger sons and Daughters of the Chief often disappear on quests. It is said that they search for Addanc and follow this passage into the forbidding depths.
There are those among the clan who follow a solely warrior calling. They call themselves the Shield of Avanc. They serve as guards for the Clanhome and the Eldars. There is another branch rumored to exist called the Hammer of Avanc who take on a much more aggressive role. The Hammer is thought to be made up of Vidar who have returned home from the outside world and seek to protect the clan from aggression which might occur not just guard the halls and chambers from direct assault.
Vidar Dwarves tend to be broader and shorter than an average Dwarf. They are known for their fortitude and strength, but while sturdy they are not known for being quick or agile. They are normally quiet and dislike boasting. They dress in drab inexpensive cloth and are known to be miserly. They avoid loud celebration. Abroad they might be seen in the dark quiet corner of an Inn with their back to a wall and their eyes watching for danger. Posted: 08-07-2021 12:59 pm NPC - Fireaxe
NPC - Fireaxe
Fireaxe is a Frost Giant from the Jotuns. He is a terror among his own kind since he took the enchanted burning axe from a Fire Giant chieftain. The axe is intelligent, crafted on the Elemental Plane of Fire and bound with the spirit of a Salamander Lord. Hreim, as he was, became overwhelmed by the spirit in the axe. Now he wars with himself and his own people. He is drawn to the Hellfurnaces, but can only stand the insufferable heat for a short tim Posted: 08-07-2021 10:51 am Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 4 The Map 5-9 Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 4 The Map 5-9
Graph squares are 5feet x 5
4. Gate Walkway
The Gate Walkway (or Upper Walkway) above contains the mechanism for lifting the Draw-bridge. The mechanism and chains are part of the enchantment and are extremely resistant to normal damage. There are two winding spindles on the wall of the walkway and the chain wraps around them but turns into a thin silver wire instead of the ponderous links that appear outside of the wall connected to the bridge. By placing a hand on the side of the spindle and turning a small crank the Draw-bridge can be raised quickly and easily and lowered in a reverse turning. Both spindles must be activated at the same time requiring two people to operate it.
Beneath the walkway a normal gate can be closed to bar the entrance if the Drawbridge is lowered. A crossbeam requiring a strength total of 36 is needed to lift the beam into place.
During the day the Draw-bridge is lowered and the gate shut until entrance is requested. The guards from the towers are responsible for handling the gate and the Draw-Bridge. At nightfall the Draw-bridge is raised and the gate shut and barred.
5. The Wall Walkway is 10 feet wide and runs the circumphrence of the manor except for the towers and the Gate Walkway. There are several ladders kept at various points for access or they can be accessed through the third floor of the Gate Towers.
Each section of wall is walked by at least 1 bow-armed guardsman night and day.
6. There is a 10 foot grass verge between the base of the wall and the Moat.
7. The Hideworker lives here with her husband and two children. She is both a lightly experienced Ranger and one of the manor's hunters as is her husband. During times of trouble they make room for several of her relatives and pack the place with sleeping mats.
There are archer-holes cut in the two walls facing the grounds.
8. The Wagon Shed has room for one wagon but mainly contains tools and supplies for repairing or even constructing a wagon. During times of trouble local farmers sleep here if the Main Buildings are full. Otherwise during trouble at least two militia will be stationed here.
There are archer-holes cut in the wall facing the grounds.
9. The Wainright
The Wainright and his wife and daughter live in this small one room house. During times of trouble they move into the great hall and at least two militia members will be stationed here. If the main hall is overflowing then the house will be used for housing.
There are archer-holes cut in the wall facing the grounds. Posted: 08-07-2021 10:23 am NPC - Estrella and Mikel
Estrella and Mikel
Once Estrella was a flighty and vain Rhennee maiden and Mikel was a warrior-thief Rhennee bargeman. One day while travelling on the Velverdyva on their way to Verbobonc and points west they left their barge for a tryst on the banks near the Gnarly forest and were set upon by a werewolf. Mikel was gravely wounded and Estrella managed to strangle the werewolf with her silver necklace and a power drawn from deep within her. Mikel became a werewolf and Estrella became something, different.
As Rhennee women age they become witch-priestesses of Khona the Goddess of the Moons, All at once young Estrella became a livinng embodiment of Khona and her power and influence over the Children of the Moon became dreadful.
Now Estrella and Mikel haunt the Gnarly Forest and rule over a ever growing band of werewolves, none stronger than Mikel. She is feared and respected by the Rhennee but as of yet outsiders are unaware of who leads a growing pack of werewolves in the Gnarly. Posted: 08-06-2021 03:53 pm Istus Posted: 08-06-2021 03:28 pm NPC - The Nulb River Pirates
NPC - The Nulb River Pirates
Tolub is a River Pirate captain and with his second in command Grud Squinteye (Squint for short) leads a large (40+) pirate crew partially based in Nulb but also in the city of Verbobonc.
Tolub is a very experienced fighter and with Grud hales originally from the Hold of the Sea Princes. The pair mutineed on the ship they served and found the Hold and surrounding waters far to hot for them to remain. Eventually the pair with a handful of followers found themselves drawn to Nulb, perhaps the lure of seductive evil emanating from the Temple of Elemental Evil brought them, but they found a home in Nulb.
(In my combination Night Below/TOEE campaign Nulb has grown and been outwardly tamed by the forces of the Viscount and several years have passed since the events described in TOEE. Tolub now goes by the name Raef and acts the part of a merchant, an identity he developed to sell his stolen goods in the city of Verbobonc, Dyvers and the City of Greyhawk.)
Tolub possesses two ships. A sleek pirate vessel and a stolid merchant ship. He has a small ramshackle base near Nulb on a barely navigable stream that is a tributary of the Imeryds Run. Around ten of his men always accompany him dressed as merchant sailors or guards while the remainder of the crew remain at his base with the ships.
Grud goes by the name Drak when in Verbobonc or other cities but is still called Squint due to the scar above his left eye that has pulled taught the muscles and given him his perpetual scowl.
The pirate ship is sleek and fast. It has no armaments and Tolub is careful to attack only unarmed or lightly armed merchant ships. half his men are armed with short bows although they all carry a variety of weapons. |
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Posted: 08-06-2021 01:44 pm NPC - Jaroo's Mother
NPC - Jaroo's Mother
North-east of the village of Hommlet is a small wood covering several hills and valleys. Towards it center, on the crest of a hill, a small cabin is home to the druidess Dien mother to Jaroo Ashstaff and once a leader of the Old Faith in Verbobonc. She dwells in the cabin with her animal companions Owl and Fox and protects the wild creatures of the wood, no longer concerning herself with the viscounty at large.
It is said her strength and knowledge of the Old Faith remains unmatched and in her youth she spent much time out among the people of Verbobonc. For a time she was much honored at the castle in the city and there are tales that Wilifrick needs look no further for an heir of his blood than Jaroo. Posted: 08-06-2021 10:25 am Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 3 The Map 1-3
The Manor is surrounded by a moat.
1. The Moat
The Moat is twenty feet wide and twenty feet deep. The bottom of the Moat has iron spikes embedded in it. The spikes are coated with an enchanted paint that is meant to prevent rust, but about half the spikes have rusted through. There is a stream that feeds the Moat to the upper north-east of the keep and an escape tunnel from the well at the bottom of the old tower (Area 11b) opens up at the bottom of the Moat in this north-east corner.
Occasionally a large animal or monstrous creature will find its way from the stream into the most but the nearness of the farms and villagers makes it too dangerous to keep such creatures as further defenses for the manor and they are normally slain or charmed and removed.
2. The Draw-Bridge
The Draw-Bridge is a huge twenty by forty foot construction of wood and iron. Huge chains are set into iron rings to either side and a set of enchanted pulleys are set in the arch above the gateway. The enchantment allows a normal strength human to raise the Draw-Bidge as if it weighed only a small fraction of its true weight and to let it descend gently and quickly without smashing down on the far bank of the Moat. When raised the Draw-Bridge completely fills the gate.
3. The Gate Towers
The Gate Towers are identical structures. When under siege the towers act as barracks for members of militia. Normally only four guardsmen are stationed inside each tower.
The first floor of each tower has no openings in the walls but the second, third and fourth all pierced with archer holes allowing two men to fire from the sides and four men from the front or back. The exception is the front wall of the second floor. Each tower has two large openings on the second floor with a bolt thrower at each. The four guardsmen always assigned to the Gate Towers are stationed here two to each bolt thrower. These are cumbersome weapons but very powerful. One man fires but it takes two men to load.
Each tower has a door on the third floor that opens on the Wall Walkway and a door on the fourth floor that opens Gate Walkway.
Posted: 08-06-2021 08:48 am Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 2 The Map
Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 2 The Map
Each square is 10x10 feet Walls are worked stone with a dirt center 10 feet thick with last 10ft crenelated. 30ft high with top 10ft crenelated
1. Moat 2. Drawbridge 3. Gate Tower 4. Gate Walkway 5. Wall Walkway 6. 10ft verge at base of wall 7. Workshop - Tanner/Hideworker 8. Wagonshed 9. Wainright 10. Stables 11. Main Buildings 11a. Great Hall 11b. Old Tower - Armory, Barracks, Treasury 11c. Barracks covered entrance. 11d. Family and Servants Residence 11e. Connection between buildings 11f. Kitchen, Brewery, Servants Residence, Food Storage 11g. Workshop, Storage 12. Smithy 13. Kennels 14. Well House 15. Stream connecting to Moat 16. Packed earth grounds. Posted: 08-05-2021 01:40 pm Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 1
Verbobonc - Sir Anglrieve's Manor - Part 1
Sir Anglrieve is a distant relation of the Viscount. he served the Verbobonc Guards with distinction in the Battle of Emridy Meadows but is now retired to his manor on the south-eastern edge of the Viscounty in a wide valley within the Kron Hills. The lands are a bit more wild than those closer to the city and the surrounding area is just starting to repopulate after the last rising of the Temple of Elemental Evil. The forests are near, though the elven kingdom of Celene patrols the woods the Wild Coast is still near enough to bring bandits, monsters and trouble without much warning.
All the farms are close and many of the farm families have members who work within the manor, Two of the three nearest towns are still abandoned and the third, Waymarket, survived only because the large inn, The Wyverns Tail, was almost as well fortifed as the manor. Waymarket now sports a wooden pallisade and watch towers with most farmers living inside the walls and going out to work their land.
There are a score of professional guardsmen inside the manor while the farmers have a militia that Sir Anglrieve leads in times of trouble. Posted: 08-05-2021 11:01 am NPC - Delia
NPC - Delia
Delia is a thief by trade but a survivor by nature. Some locals call her the Weeping Mask or the Black Kiss but not to her face. Her main residence is in the City of Verbobonc and she spends most of her time at the Mercenaries Guild when she is in the city. Otherwise she will be hired on with treasure seekers for the most part. Her skills are as well known as her remarkable face and the Viscount hires her for tasks that require someone with agile hands and a cautious attitude.
In her younger days Delia found herself in a magician experiment one wrong and no bears the burden of it. Delia's kiss will cause 1d10 damage and the chance to afflict the Black Rot (a magical disease that will turn the kiss-e into a shadow). Delia is immune to many of the effects of the Negative Material Plane and cannot be harmed by Shadows and resists all such attacks by undead creatures very strongly. She can see Shadows and any Undead perfectly clearly regradless of their abilities to hide or conceal themselves. Posted: 08-04-2021 11:16 am Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga - In my campaign Iggwilv the Mother of Witches is also known as Baba Yaga among the Wolf Nomads, Rovers of the Barrens, Bisselites, Tenh, Hold of Stonefist and Ratik, among the Blackmoorish and the Volke (erroneously called Suel Barbarians) she is called Pohja, an evil queen of winter. Posted: 08-03-2021 02:10 pm Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 12 - Farmers
Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 12 - Farmers
The bulk of the population of the viscounty is made up of the humble farmer. These folk fill the towns and villages, though not the city itself. Numerous farms do surround the city though far enough from the walls to prevent any buildings from being used as cover by a besieging force. Three towns have been built within one mile of Verbobonc and each is center for farm goods entering the city, much to feed the citizens but much to be sent downriver in trade to Dyvers and the City of Greyhawk.
Farmers are freefolk in the viscounty. They belong to small militia that take care of much of the law and order beyond the city walls usually commanded by some minor noble cleric or proseprous land owner, but some villages will have retired guardsmen or Verbobonc Lancers. One notable militia in the village of Hommlet is commanded by an experienced warrior with a mage, his partner, in support.
Farmers provide not only the manpower for the Verbobonc army should it be necessary to call upon them but also represent most of common society of the viscounty. Adventurers will no doubt encounter farmers more often than any other type of inhabitant and they can prove to be a great aid for all those things that go beyond simply slaying monsters and creatures. They can help with shelter and hirelings, pass on information, be a source for rumors and supplies. It is on their backs or in their wagons that many a hoard of coin has been brought from lairs to the city.
Most farmers in Verbobonc follow the Old Faith, but a goodly number of Cuthberite worshippers have been growing even in smaller villages. Many follow both Cuthbert and the Old Faith and this is especially true further from the city. In any case there is no conflict between the druids of the viscounty and the clerics of Cuthbert. Posted: 08-03-2021 10:30 am Adventure Idea - The Thing Under the Bed
Adventure Idea - The Thing Under the Bed
In a hidden chamber within the walls of the castle of Verbobonc Darena the daughter of Istarnus the wizard advisor to the Viscount is kept. An adept of magic herself she has become caught between the planes of existence. But she is not alone.
Something dark and loathsome has crawled from the nightmare realm of Incabulos and has been bound to her. This monstrosity of evil is a pale multi-limbed creature whose hair is black as the pit and her face a festering maggot-filled wound.
Istarnus has been unable to aid her and the clerics of Rao and Saint Cuthbert are powerless. Somewhere between the planes a part of Darena is trapped. Word has come that the Tower of Eldorath has been opened and beneath its ancient foundations a portal has been found that might lead across and between the planes. Istarnus seeks adventurers willing to step beyond the Oerth and into the great beyond to rescue his daughter. The risks are great but so are the promised rewards. Posted: 08-03-2021 07:10 am Adventure Idea/Alternate Oerth - The Nightmare of Incabulos
Adventure Idea/Alternate Oerth - The Nightmare of Incabulos
From time to time I'd run a Greyhawk campaign that would have some element that would take over the setting so I'd run it as alternate Oerth campaign. I ran a CthulhuHawk campaign where the Lovecraft pantheon and creatures were taking over the Flanaess, or a Gunpowder and Greyhawk game with a major introduction of guns and cannon, this idea is a zombie apocalypse theme where a plague settles over the Flanaess.
All across the Flanaess every human and humanoid is afflicted by the same nightmare vision of Incabulos rising from a sea of bones. A fire rages in the distance, the air is choked with ash and black bats, the Oerth has become a world of death.
From this point on all clerics have lost the ability to turn undead. Those who die rise as zombies and attack the living and the gods themselves have become remote and distant to the anguish of their worshippers.
Plague is sweeping the land and the spells of priests cannot cure it. (The plague causes 1d4 damage 1st day, 1d6 2nd day... progressing to a greater die of damage till the 6th day causes 1d20). Infection is by zombie attack, but anyone who dies for any reason rises as a zombie. Cities become necropoli as the streets soon fill with hordes of the dead. Only those of power can survive or those kept from the touch of the dead. The player characters must find a way to survive and hopefully a way to find the source of the rising dead and stop it.
Posted: 08-02-2021 07:51 am NPC - Durbar of Clan Steel Mountain
NPC - Durbar of Clan Steel Mountain
Durbar is an experienced dwarven warrior currently recovering from wounds in the city of Verbobonc. He is a mountain dwarf but from a clan and kingdom long thought dead. The Clan Steel Mountain is very old and its last holding is a fortress city in the Jotens where they have remained cut-off from the Flanaess for centuries. The recent rising of the giants and the stirring of the UnderOerth has ended their generations of hiding and now they are sending scouts out far beyond their borders.
Somewhere in the Lortmils there was a dwarven kingdom, cousins to the dwarves of Steel Mountain. Long ago this kingdom perished and Durbar has only been made aware of this when his party of fellow dwarves were forced from its ruined halls. Before returning to Steel Mountain Durbar seeks to return to the ruins, which are considered a holy place by the small groups of dwarves and gnomes nearby. Now he looks for a party of adventurers to join him in his search. He knows that such adventurers will despoil the ruins and loot any treasure but Durbar is more interested in finding the archives of the city than the treasury and will guide any adventurers to fulfill that goal while talking, truthfully, of the wealth once held in this city.
Durbar is a powerful fighter. His weapons are good Mountain Dwarf made with a shield of arrow attraction and a spiked mace named Morgenstern the Bonebreaker which is both enchanted and intelligent. Posted: 08-01-2021 04:54 pm Item - The Pot of Infinite Tea
Item - The Pot of Infinite Tea
The Verbobonc wizard Symes receives the Pot of Infinite Tea from the enchanter Kasaamat of Ket during his visit.
The Pot of Infinite Tea is a powerful item of magic from legendary lands far west of Zeif and the plains of the Paynim. What Symes, perhaps the greatest wizard who calls Verbobonc home, and one to be noted even in the City of Greyhawk, did to receive such a precious gift, payment or reward is unknown.
The Pot is filled with enough tea for a dozen servings and each cup of the tea has a random effect upon the imbiber. Some allow the casting of extra spells, some allow the seeing of visions past, present or future, some leave the drinker inebriated. Each cup produces a different effect with results that last no longer than a day.
After the first drop is poured the pot we refill itself in 24 hours. Drinking from an additional cup of tea will dispell the previous effects. Posted: 07-31-2021 07:18 am NPC - The Raven Queen
NPC - The Raven Queen
She is a mysterious figure seen wandering the lower Kron Hills east of Hommlet where the ruins of old villages and farms remain from the time of the Temple of Elemental Evils first rising and defeat. Many of the locals fell under its sway at the time or were driven out or killed and the area became wild and abandoned. Now that the temple has again been defeated and Hommlet risen in prominence with the outer walls of the castle completed people are again returning to the area. To the south one of the garrisons of the Verbobonc Lancers is no more than 10 leagues away and they have made great inroads on the monsters and tribes and bandits which had been calling these lands home.
The Raven Queen been spotted many times but never approached. Always great flocks of ravens and crows surround her and she herself can disappear among them perhaps transforming into one of the birds herself. She is seen as a good omen to the returning farmers and offerings are made to her and her conspiracy of ravens and murder of crows. She is said to have driven of monsters and predatory beasts from the newly formed villages forming in this wild land, but no one really knows who or what she is. Posted: 07-30-2021 08:35 am Monster/NPC - The Green Woman
Monster/NPC - The Green Woman
In the Gnarley Forest east of the Town of Nulb can be found a dryad grove, now deserted, the beautiful and dangerous tree-maidens having been slain or captured. This grove is now haunted by a creature much like them but far more elusive and dangerous.
She is called the Green Woman by those who have seen her. There is no fear in her but she is approached only by those with no intent of harm within their hearts. Quick as the strike of lightning, strong as the roots of trees, the Green Woman is immune to magic. She can summon trees and plants to aid her. Her flesh is as tough as ironwood and her hands clawed with razor-edged thorns.
The Green Woman is an elemental of nature and has been summoned from that plane by the death-cry of the dryads. Deep within the grove hidden by paths that are both on the Oerthly plane and the Plane of Nature is the portal that allows the Green Woman and her sisters entranced to Oerth. They are here to exact vengeance on those who have slain the dryads. Elves are seen as potential allies and they hold no animosity to rangers and druids, but creatures such as orcs and goblins they kill on sight. Posted: 07-29-2021 05:16 am Adventure Idea - The Bullywugs of Gnatsmarsh
Adventure Idea - The Bullywugs of Gnatsmarsh
The Bullywugs held a fairly inhospitable area of the Gnatsmarsh as their home and were seldom encountered. Within the last generation they have made alliance with the Wives of Incabulous and their numbers have swelled. A large colony of Bullywugs has been established by the monastary the Wives use as their base and temple. The Bullywugs now provide large patrols of 30-50 who keep the more common interlopers from surving the marsh while also providing the monastary with an early warning of any strong enough to overmatch them.
Bullywugs are not particularly powerful but the Wives have armed them a pole-arm that has been steeped in disease. If struck by a polearm 1d8 dmg their is a 25% chance that the person struck will be infected. The disease prevents normal healing for six days and cause 1d4 on the first day, 1d6 the second, progressively up to 1d20 on the sixth day. A cleric or paladin needs to cast cure disease to stop this process. Once cured the character can be reinfected and if they die during this process will rise as an infected zombie who serves the will of Incabulos.
This pole-arm also has a dart that can be shot from its top at the center. The darts range is 20ft for close range +1 to hit, 40ft medium and 60ft long -3 to hit. The dart cause 1d4 dmg and a chance to infect the same disease as the pole-arm, Bullywugs carry a pouch with 10 more darts in it. It takes 1 combat round to reload the pole-arm. Posted: 07-20-2021 09:20 am Adventure Idea - The Wives of Incabulos Adventure Idea - The Wives of Incabulos
Somewhere lost in the Gnatmarsh is an ancient half-sunken monastary. What diety was once worshipped here was forgotten long ago but now like the slithering mire around it the Sisterhood of Incabulos has claimed it for their. No place could be better suited for the worshipers of evil, disease and nightmare.
The sisterhood is powerful and growing within the borders of Nyrond. Priestessess, Necromancers, Sorceressess, Paladins of Darkness and Assassins fill their ranks. They are ruled by the Wives of Incabulos, powerful leaders of each calling. Three sisters by birth, Korza the Priestess, Kiva the Necromancer and Rusalka the Sorceress lead the temple and monastary while Soriena the Paladiness and Marica the Assassin are active in the towns and cities of Nyrond.
The three sisters have grown ambitious and have instigated a plague that is creeping from the swamp. Kiva has been drawing all who die to rise in undeath and come to the temple. This has lead the Nyrondese to hire adventurers to search the Gnatmarsh while they combat the plague.
Posted: 07-17-2021 12:21 pm Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 11 The Cult of Elemental Evil
Cties of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 11 The Cult of Elemental Evil
There is no greater evil, nor more insidious an organization in the Viscounty of Verbobonc than the Cult. It is, of course, centered at the Temple of Elemental Evil, but its tendrels spread wide and have found no greater purchase than the city of Verbobonc. The Temple is the pulsing heart of the Cult, it is that which creates nightmares and like a Black Hole it draws even light into itself and leaves only darkness behind. The Temple is the soul of evil, the brain that directs all its parts, but the City is the strong right hand.
No matter how man times the Temple is brought down and its forces scattered or destroyed it will grow strong again until its center has been cleansed and all its limbs withered and uprooted. So far the Heart of Evil at the Temple remains and its true infestation of the City has never been eliminated or fully discovered.
The Cult of Elemental Evil has its hands in almost all crime and most business in the City of Verbobonc. Its members are not even aware of each other until it is necessary for them to draw on the strength of one another. Many involved with the Cult are unaware that they are dealing with anything except other criminals, some organized others singular or small gangs.
The Cult has one or two members within every guild, every oranization such as the Verbobonc Guard, the Cavalry, the Militia, the Lancers, even the Viscount's Council.
Members of the Cult tend to be entire families, and marriage between cultists is encouraged with children raised in the Cult. From villages to towns to cities the Cult has corrupted one or two households and carfully grows in strength encouraging the young to become leaders, to become skilled and influential. The Cult thinks in terms of decades for plans to come to fruition all the while that the Temple draws in the monstrous and the completely corrupted.
The forces at the Temple tend to be impatient and strike too soon, while the Cult is part of plan that may take a century. Members of the Cult come to light when they are called upon to immediately aid the forces of servants of the Temple, but will never all come out the shadows; always some will be hidden and silently work on the long, long plan of evil domintion and corruption that has allowed it to survive for decades. Posted: 07-15-2021 01:37 pm The Tower of Eldorath Part 3
The Tower of Eldorath
Part 3
The land surrounding the tower is wild and overgrown. The ruins of several small buildings are close to the base of the tower, all roofless and some no more than two broken walls meeting at a corner. The water is nearby and what was once a collection of several small houses and the stubbs of beams which once supported a dock are all that can be found. There are nearby woods and the field around the tower which once must have been cleared is thick with weeds and small trees.
Hunting or fishing for supplies should present no problems but any shelter outside of the tower must be constructed. It appears that the area surrounding the tower has been unoccupied for many years.
The tower is constructed of grey stone that appears smooth but has a rough texture. It provides good tranction as a flooring and even if wet or coated with a slick substance grants firm footing. The doors and stairs in the tower appear to be of untarnished copper but show no signs of wear or verdigris.
The base of the tower has a small set of stairs leading to a pair of large doors. These are shut and show no sign of lock. No normal or commonly magical means can open these doors (at least in my campaign).
The players have been given a map of the interior levels of the tower though not of any dungeon levels, and an explanation of the odd system of locks that the tower possesses. The tower is 120ft tall and entrance is through the roof. The mage Talberth will provide 4 scrolls allowing levitation up or down for a weight matching the size of the party (up to 10) and a reasonable amount of supplies but the players may want to secure some means of at least descending the tower in an emergency, such as ropes and pulleys.
The interior and even the roof of the tower prevents any shapechanging maic or abilities. It stops planar travel or contact, It stops any magic or abilities that allow sight or travel through its walls, doors or floors.
Roof Battlements
1. A great, apparently copper, valve is set into the floor of the roof. Near its southern edge is a lock in the shape of cat's head with four needle-like fangs. A person placing their living hand in the cat's mouth and compressing the mouth of the lock upon it so that the hinged mouth shuts will cause the four fangs to painfully bite down upon their hand. Releasing the head will let the jaws open and the fangs to withdraw. This will cause 1hp of damage which cannot be healed naturally or magically within 1/2mile of the tower. This wound will continually drip blood but causes no more damage.
Once the lock is opened the valve will split into three sections and slide into the surrounding stone. The valve will remain open for 5 minutes unless triggered to close from the inside of the tower (a small figure of a cats head on the wall at the top of th spiral stairs. Press the head to open or close the valves. Any item short of a magical weapon or item will be sheared away by the slowly closing valves (It takes about 10 seconds for the vavles to close). Something caught in the vavles can easily be pulled free to allow them to shut.
The open valve reveals a set of copper stairs that ends with another copper valve set in the 11th level floor of the tower. There is no light inside the stairwell and even natural light is dim and only reveals 10ft of space. If magical light is used it causes something to give a muffled howl and the darkness to only be illuminated in a 20ft radius. If detected for the stairwell radiates powerful energy fron the Negative Material Plane.
2. The tower appears unworn and undamaged excpet for this 30ft arc of merlons which are melted into lumps of greenish material. This material, like the undamaged portions of the tower, cannot be damaged further in any way available to the players. To those who have studied artifacts from the Sea of Dust the damage is exactly the same to some damage found on building stones found in that desolate locale.
3. The tower slants slightly down from the center. A dwarf might detect such a slant even if not searched for. The edges of the tower at the base of the circular wall have small gaps allowing for liquid to run off and down the sides of the tower.
Tower Level 11
This level radiates energy from the Negative Material plane. Normal Light illuminate a 10ft radius, magical light a 20ft radius. Dispell Magic is of no effect. If magical light is used onb this floor it will cause a howl from room #2.
1. The central stairwell contains a section of circular stair leading to the roof. The floor is a similar copper valve as the roof cutting off further decent. There is a cat's head lock set on the edge of the floor valve but its jaw is shut and something is needed to open it (pressing the cat's head on the wall in room. The doors to this room are shut but may be opened in the fashion of the roof, each causing 1hp damage. They draw sideways into the wall when opened and will lock if allowed to close. Each time the door is locked it will require 1hp of blood and biting damage to open unless prevented from closing. Normal items will be sheared through by the slow but steady preasure of the copper door . Magical items will stop the door from closing. It Will require a strength total of 36 to force a partially closed door back open. The door will try to shut again after 5min.
Opening the door to this room causes a cacophony of howling, growling and barking erupt from its darkened interior. For decades 12 Shadow Mastifs have been trapped inside. They will immediately attack anyone who opens the door and try to escsape the room. Their first action will be escape and they will flee as far as they are able only attacking anyone blocking their path. If they find themselves still trapped in the tower they will beging hunting down anyone or anything nearest to the.
The interior of the room is a shambles. The Mastiffs have torn appart evrything inside to scrap. The only remaining objects are a series of silver-metal cages that have been broken open but not destroyed. This metal is silver imbued with moonlight and is quiet valueable. The bars are animical to creatures from the Negative Metarial Plane and can be used to cage such monsters. The metal can be reforged into weapons or armor that would be especially powerful against them.
If they debris on the floor is sifted several wooden arms, legs or limbless bodies of dolls or puppets can be found. The rest is broken glass, bent metal bits and bits of wooden furniture. Any paper items have long since been destroyed beyond recognition.
End Part 3 Posted: 07-14-2021 08:24 am The Tower of Eldorath Part 2
The adventure begins in the City of Greyhawk.
For those looking for such work the word has gone out for adventurers who will brave dangers in return for some coin and what treasure they can find within the ancient abandoned tower of Eldorath.
The mage Talberth is much respected within the city. He is said to have been (or perhaps still is) an agent of the city, the Circle of Eight, or the Grey College. He is a tall, thin man with a scarred face but a friendly manner. He has recently acquired knowledge and, at least within the society of mages in the city, ownership of an old tower. It is ancient and unoccupied for several years and Talberth offers an intriguing amount of gold and any items or treasure that may be recovered from the tower, (he just wants the tower), to any who will venture forth and empty the place of occupants from cellar to ceiling.
Research into the tower will easily reveal its known history. It is located on a peninsula on the Wild Coast (97-F4 on the Darlene Map) overlooking Woolly Bay. It is elven-built from before human settlement of ther area by a powerful Elf-Mage named Eldorath who occupied it for centuries. It was found abandoned and no word of Eldorath has been heard since. It was a monster filled ruin when humans settled the area and the Flan avoided it for the most part with heroes occasionally venturing inside though none chose to occupy it for themselves. With the coming of the Suel the tower was occupied again, but here the stories about are scanty and if Eldorath's Curse (as it has been called) descended upon these Suel occupiers no records tell of it.
Eldorath's Curse is the sudden and complete disappearance of the tower's occupants. It has happened to those staying in the tower for as little as a month while others have stayed decades without any ill or surprising effects. No one has found out what causes the Curse to trigger or if there is even a curse at all.
The tower itself radiates powerful magic at artifact intensity. It allows no form of tranportation through its walls or interior. It inhibits transformation either from abilities or spells. The stones cannot be damaged through physical or magical means, and the tower shows no wear or damage except for a section of merlons on the battlement of the roof which are strangely melted.
The doors of the tower are also immune to damage and possess a strange lock. The front, ground level gates can only open from the inside are currently shut. The roof is the only form of entrance.
No key is needed for the lock on the roof or on any of the doors within the tower but all doors can only be opened with blood. The lock is in the shape of mouth set with needle fangs. Someone must push their hand onto the fangs to unlock the door. This will cause the door to unlock and 1HP damage. The wound will not heal while within the tower and it will drip blood continuosly at a low pace. Each door in the tower has the same mechanism and the wounds are cummulative. Doors will lock if shut and will swing shut if not prevented from doing so.
The tower is 120ft high and players must find a way to reach the roof to gain entrance. Posted: 07-13-2021 06:10 am Adventure Idea - The Girl Who Burns with Fire
Adventure Idea - The Girl Who Burns with Fire
Reports have come to the Viscount Wilfirick of a beautiful young girl with strange eyes who can summon and control fire. She is said to be able to conjure fire into her hands at will. To shape it into creatures that animate and attack, to cast it in stream or throw and expanding ball of flame. She has burnt several Inns and village shops and seems to taking a meandering route through the center of the viscounty toward the city of Verbobonc. Several people including guardsmen have tried to stop her only to be consumed by fire. Thrown or shot weapons have incinerated before touching her. The Viscount has offered a 5,000 gp for her dead and 10,000 for her safely captured. Posted: 07-11-2021 04:50 am Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 10 - The Old Faith
Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 10 - The Old Faith
Verbobonc the city has the largest number of Cuthberites, a large following of those who worship Rao, especially among the Veluneese in the city, but it is still the Old Faith that dominates the beliefs of the common folk. Within the Viscounty nearly 4 in 5 of the populatiion still worship the Old Faith including many converts to Cuthbert who follow both paths.
The Old Faith is hard to pin down as it has no pantheon of deities. The spiritual leaders are druids and there is a hierachy within their ranks but for the most part each druid tends his own grove and flock without interference. There are 4 main ceremonies each year; First Day when the winter ends (Vernal Equinox), Long Day (Summer Solstice) marking the longest day of the year, Harvest (Autumnal Equinox), Long Night (Winter Solstice) marking the longest night of the year and the begin of winter. The druids gather during these ceremonies though those with flocks of followers conduct the ceremonies at their village or town groves and wandering and unattached druids join them. Even druids of more hermit-like dispositions attend these ceremonies and for some it is the only time when they will see another human or demi-human face.
In the Viscounty the Old Faith is very humancentric. While the concern is for the balance of nature and a harmony with Oerth most druids see the integration of humans and demi-humans within this balance as their goal. The lay population of the viscounty follow many rituals and this can be seen in their daily lives. They do not eat or drink without thanking the water, the food, or the animals they kill. Butchering animals is an important ritual with an apology to the creature and a thanks to them for providing sustenance.
Members of the Old Faith despise cruel behavior to people or animals and will step in to stop it, but they are also not seeking converts and have no animosty to other beliefs. The spread of Cuthbertism in the Viscounty is aided by this attitude.
Druids who follow other paths are welcome in the viscounty and many visiting druids find themselves converted to the Old Faith over time.
Posted: 06-29-2021 10:17 pm Guns in Greyhawk
Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up! This is my Boom Stick!
Ash would fit wonderfully in a Greyhawk campaign. Well, at least my kinda campaign.
Posted: 06-18-2021 10:19 pm Slerotin gathers survivors
After the Rain of Colorless Fire Slerotin gathers survivors amid the ruins of Charodon, a large city of the Imperium on the eastern edge of what is now the Sea of Dust. Posted: 06-14-2021 03:01 am NPC Sefa
NPC Sefa
Far from her Baklunish home Sefa is not what she appears, a dancing girl at the Bakluni House in Verbobonc. She is a spy and an assassin, a skilled thief and an even more skilled seducer. But even those roles hide her true nature, a nature that only her grand-daughter Tolora is aware of
Sefa is that darkest of once human monsters, a vampire. Long ago she swore her life to the service of Baklunni and so she has sworn her undeath. Unlike most vampires her dedication is entirely to the Baklunni deities and she is a kind of holy monster. She bears several ritual tattoos that grant her immunity from detection, damage from sunlight, cleric abilities to turn undead, or holy symbols. She cannot shapechange or assume gaseous form. Holy water does double damage to her and she must spend time in contact with blessed Baklunni soil once per month or begin to perish, aging and losing her strength each day unless she consumes the constitution of the living. Each time she bites someone she drains 1d6 points of constitution. When she drains all of someones constitution they die and will rise as a normal vampire at the new moon. She can maintain her strength by consuming victims once a day but will survive only nine days without contact with blessed Baklunni soil or a victim a day. She will need to consume extra victims to regain strength loss for any days missed. Posted: 06-12-2021 08:43 pm Verbobonc Lancers
The Verbobonc Lancers number somewhere around 900 men and women. They are split into 4 companies of over two hundred in each, comanded by single captain who reports directly to the Viscount. Each captain is law unto himself able to dispense high and low justice to any but the nobility of the viscounty.
Pictured is a typical Lancer sans lance, though with the bow that most carry. They ride light warhorses, dress in green and red with a grey cloak that they can act as a cover at night. A large quiver of one hundred arrows is hung from one side of their saddles and a sheathed longsword from the other. A steel cap is on their head and studded leather armor on their backs. The Viscount provides all this to each trooper while officers provide their own gear and the wealthier among them provide their command with any extras they can afford.
Each Lancer is an experienced warrior with a smattering of rangers among their ranks. Druids, clerics and magic-users can be found as officers or auxiliaries in each company and at the minimum every company has a cleric, usually of Rao, and a druid of the Old Faith in their garrison.
There are 4 fortifications which the companies of Lancers maintain with somewhere between 50 to 100 Lancers always in garrison. While villages and small towns are near no civilians are allowed to dwell closer than a few miles and each fortification is self-sufficient.
All Lancers must prove their combat ability and horsemanship before entering the ranks. Each officer is someone of extraordinary ability. While some are rich and of the nobility many are not having risen through the ranks in service of the Viscounty. Ability is the key requirement for any officer or enlisted to become a Lancer.
The Viscount has seen the Lancers double in size during his reign and his own bodyguard are chosen from their ranks. Lancers are rarely seen in the city though many originate from city inhabitents. The Verbobonc Cavalry is stationed permenatly in the city and they provide both a quick military force and guardsmen for important caravans within the borders. Most Lancers begin their service as members of the Verbobnc Cavalry.
The wives and children of most Lancers dwell in their fortified garrisons. All labor within a garrison is done by Lancers or their family, from cook to carpenter.
Each company has its own pennant and the deeds of each company are recited on holy days and at celebrations. While visitors often come to the garrisons most never get beyond the outer gates and vistors audience hall. Holding pens for prisoners are in dungeons beneath these areas while the inner and stronger fortifications are for the homes, stables and barracks of the garrison and few strangers ever enter these areas.
Verbobonc Lancers are highly respected throughout the Viscounty and in the outlying areas as well, such as Celene, the Kron Hills and even as far as the City of Greyhawk itself. Posted: 06-06-2021 09:53 am Aerial Servant Monster - Aerial Servant
Aerial servants can be found across Oerth, since, as summoned creatures they will appear wherever a caster has sufficient knowledge and power to bring them forth. Their home is the Elemental Plane of Air but it is said they were commonplace in Suel households at the height the Imperium. The Sea of Dust is said to be haunted by wild and dangerously insane Aerial Servants though those who live on the fringe of that ancient and accursed land call them Dust Devils
They can be found in any large city especially in temples and colleges of wizardry. They are also commonly encountered in the dwellings of hermit mages and small forgotten ruins where they have never been dismissed back to their own plane of existence.
Posted: 06-04-2021 03:22 pm NPC - Derek and Wollfeblud
Derek - Champion of the Horned Society and his retainer Wollfeblud
Once Derek was human, some say a Shieldlander warrior captured and used as a demonic host by the Horned society. Wollfeblud may never have been human at all. He is rumored to have been a hellhound once or a winter-wolf changed to human form.
Whatever remains of the human Derek is hiden beneath his enchanted armor. As for Wollfeblud his senses are more than human making a superlative tracker. Posted: 05-28-2021 05:12 pm Covers Posted: 05-24-2021 08:10 pm NPC - Darkbreaker
Darkbreaker is a wood-elf from Geoff. During the invasion he stayed and fought withdrawing deep into the Dim Forest only to lead his warriors in raids as far south as the Hornwood. He blames Owen and most of the human population for the losses among the wood-elves and will no longer aid any humans, trusting only other elves. Posted: 05-24-2021 01:15 pm Covers Posted: 05-23-2021 11:31 am Lords of Steel
The Lords of Steel are a mercenary company composed of soldiers and adventurers from throughout the Flanaess. Their strength varies as does the leadership. They accept anyone who proves themselves no other questions asked. Members must be brave, loyal and obey orders. Currently there are over 300 in their company, mostly human but with half-elves, dwarves, gnomes and even half-orcs in their ranks. Warriors are the most common found but wielders of magic, thieves, priests, clerics and even thieves as well. Posted: 05-21-2021 07:19 pm Banners of Celene Nobles
Blue - Lord Kalevi - A Warrior Mage
Red - Lady Anneke - A Sorceress
Green - Kalevi and Liisa - Husband and Wife lleaders of the Celene Rangers Posted: 05-19-2021 05:07 pm Banner - Endbringers Mercenary Company The Endbringers worship Nerull. The originated as outcasts among the Bandit Kingdoms but in recent years have become quite formidable under the leadership of Septimus Craig, a former Shieldlander officer thrown out for sadism and cruelty. Posted: 05-17-2021 05:57 pm Captain Aelfrick of the Verbobonc Lancers
Captain Aelfrick of the Verbobonc Lancers
Aelfrick is young for such a responsible command as the Verbobonc Lancers are the best troops of Verbobonc. His is a distant relation of the Viscount but that has not earned him any undue respect or authority. In his youth Aelfrick's family was killed and their manor sacked by an invading band of brigands from thwe Pomarj. Aelfrick helped to track them down and annihiate them in their stronghold deep in the peninsula. Since that time he has lead a life of combat and adventure and is an experienced and cunning warrior. With his acquired treasure he rebuilt his family's estate and joined joined the Verbobonc Guard as a noble officer. His ability saw him to leadership within the guard and more recently a command within the Lancers.
The life of Verbobonc Lancer is not comfortable, safe or easy. They patrol the borders of the Viscounty, often pursuing enemies of Verbobonc far afield. They are found more often riding an endless circuit of the villages and towns than the city and sleep in the saddle or on the cold ground with a thick horse blanket for bedding than beneath a roof and in a real bed. Aelfrick thrives in the Lancers and his troopers would follow him anywhere.
Aelfrick has acquired several items of magic in his adventures but none so powerful as his Spear of Heartseeking. On a natural d20 the spear has a chance of instantly killing a foe. This chance 25% + 5% for every experience level the wielder is greater than the foe (or equivalent HD). The Spear will return to the wielders hand 2 combat rounds after it is thrown regardless of whether it kills its target or not. A unremarkable appearing brass ring must be worn by the wielder of the Spear for its enchantments to work. Posted: 01-21-2021 12:52 pm Item - The Cube of Light and Dark
Item - The Cube of Light and Dark
The Suel Imperium was vastly powerful. Today the greatest wizards and wielders of magic are pale shadows of that distant past. Though the Imperium is long gone still many items and a few places remain. The Sea of Dust, what was once the heartland of the Imperium, holds many secrets, many items which have been lost for millenia.
Sometime expeditions manage to return from the Sea of Dust and one such brought back many treasures. The Cube of Light and dark is one such. It was taken to the Grey College in the City of Greyhawk to be studied and from there, it and many other items, were stolen.
The Cube of Light and Dark is a black square stone about the size of half a loaf of bread. It cannot be touched by hand as a force keeps anyone about half a foot away from the sides. If the stone is caught between two hands it will begin to spin and cracks of white light will appear. From these cracks a white smoke and a black cloud will appear and swirl around the wielder as if it was a cloak or cloth being whipped by a stormwind.
The wielder gains a strong protection from magic and divine power. They have the ability to cast both light and darkness spells. They can open a portal to the Plane of Shadows and summon creatures to serve them from the plane. They can banish such creatures that they encounter with the power from the white smoke.
Wielding the cube takes a toll one the user and they will suffer a loss of hit points and strength. The cube can be used 1 hour for each point of constitution the character possess but if they wield it below 10 points of constitution they must roll a d6 and on a natural 1 or a roll higer than their consatitution they are drawn into the Plane of Shadows.
Once a character wields the cube half their hair will turn a ghostly white. Posted: 01-20-2021 06:37 pm Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 7 - Bakluni House
Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 7 - Bakluni House
Set near the west wall of Verbobonc Bakluni House is part tavern and part embassy for all interests of the people of the west, though mainly Bakluni. It is only a small building (pictured in center) run by a Baklunish merchant named Aqa Zarif. While he handles trade his bodyguard, Zeev, is a Baklunish spy. Both work for another merchant/spymaster Korath the Bald who runs the Baklunish interests in the City of Greyhawk.
Two of the House's dancing girls are actually trained assassins.
Tolora
And
Sefa
Posted: 01-14-2021 04:35 am Inkeri of the Hela'sons
Inkeri of the Hela'sons
The druidess Inkeri is a northern woman from the land the Snow Barbarians but she wanders the lands of the Viscounty of Verbobonc and neighboring Celene. As a druidess of the Old Faith she is welcome across the land though less so in the City of Verbobonc than in the countryside. Her companion is an owl and with it she can see and hear all that it can see and hear. While she is hardly defenseless in her own self the animals of the wild will protect her with their lives.
She has been seen in company with the Ragged King, a bandit/beggar who wanders the viscounty and surrounding lands demanding donations from any wealthy man or women he encounters. Jaroo Ashstaff, the druid of Hommlet, has welcomed her to his grove, the gnomes of the Kron Hills will doff their caps when she passes and she is welcome among the elves of Celene.
Recently she has been seen near the aband Posted: 12-31-2020 11:34 pm Viscount Wilfrick of Verbobonc
Viscount Wilfrick of Verbobonc
Wilfrick is an aging by vigorous warrior. He has seen the viscounty through two risings of the Temple of Elemental Evil and the fortunes of the viscounty seem to be on the rise.
He is pictured here returning from a patrol with a large force of Verbobonc Lancers. He rides a fiery warhorse named Terror that only he can handle.
Wilfrick's only daughter Helena is soon to be married to prince Thrommel of Veluna and the viscount will be naming an heir to the viscounty soon from among his nephews and nieces. Posted: 12-31-2020 12:20 am Magda's Divinations
Magda's Divinations
The Rhennee are well respected among the dockworkers and river merchants of Verbobonc. Their barges are continualy coming and going up and down the river and their goods and coins are welcome as well as the contraband they smuggle and fence with the criminal merchants of the city. One of the most respected of the Rhennee is Magda the Diviner. Her barge is perhaps the most often found tied to the docks of Verbobonc and her spells, potions and predictions are sought after by rich and poor, mercenaries and sailors, adventurers and even the Viscount himself.
Magda is a Rhennee woman in her mid-thirties. A user of magic skilled in divination. With her cat familiar, Pyotyr, beside her she has read the fortunes of hundreds of the town's citizens and and hundreds of other visitors to Verbobonc.
She is also a young clan leader of the Rhennee and the boss of the Rhennee smugglers who ply the river.
Posted: 12-29-2020 10:09 pm The Tower of Eldorath
The Tower of Eldorath
Before the Suel or the Flan there were the elves. The Celene of today is a small facet of what was once a priceless gem in the crown of the elven empire of the Flannaess. Eldorath's tower sits on what is the northern edge of the Pomarj but was then Celene.
Eldorath was a powerful elven mage. How or if he died is not known but his tower was found abandoned as if all its inhabitants had simply walked away. In the centuries since that time the tower has been looted, reinhabited and abandoned many times.
There is a great power to be found and the old stones but its strange curse has kept the tower empty for many years. Now it is in the possession of the mage Talberth and he offers gold and magical rewards for any who will brave the tower, clear it of whatever guards, wards or monstrous inhabitants might occupy its rooms from deepest cellar to its broken battlements.
Posted: 12-27-2020 10:49 pm Verbobonc Lancers on patrol in the Kron Hills
A patrol of Verbobonc Lancers crossing a gnome built bridge into the Kron Hills. These patrols have become much less frequent as the gnomes have begun patrolling and setting guard outposts. This is one of the many small bridges that crosses the deep ravines within the hills. Many now have a small stone tower built nearby. The gnome patrols are on small ponies and do not go beyond the hills while the Verbobonc Lancers are all human mounted on light warhorses. They keep shortbows cased on their saddles and are armored in studded leather with steel caps with lonswords sheathed on their saddles. Officers tend to be veteran warriors armored in chain or plate with weapons of their own preference. They average between twenty and thirty men per patrol. Posted: 12-27-2020 07:25 pm Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part Six - The Wayward Inn
The Wayward Inn - Verbobonc
One of the largests public taverns in Verbobonc the Wayward in is older than the city and its foundation stones are older than the castle. In the distant past the first building of stone on the spot was a storage house where grain was kept for a small settlement of Flannish farmers. A wooden pallisade surrounded the town and stone buildings were easily constructed from the rise where the castle would eventualy be constructed. When the Suel drove the Flan from the area a fortified waystation was built on the spot and when the castle was built the waystation became an Inn.
Original called the Waystation Inn the name changed over the years and its original name and use is long forgotten. Today the Inn and several nearby buildings are owned by the Shirewood family. The family also owns a small manor near ther castle and the eastern riverwall where the elder Shirewoods retire when their working days are past and the eldest son or daughter takes over the running on the Inn.
Adelaide Shirewood runs the Inn from her apartment on the 2nd floor. Her husband is a fair smith and runs the stables and the yard. Their three daughters help to run the Inn with the help of the extended family.
The Shirewoods employ a small group of a dozen toughs to keep order in the Inn. The leader is a experienced warrior who sometimes acts as a local guide and sometimes takes on adventures of his own. He is registered with the local Mercenaries Guild and will be recommended by them as a guide or henchman. These toughs live in the house immediately across the street from the Inn.
Unbeknowest to any but the Shirewood family there is a secret tunnel beneath the Inn that leads beyond the city walls to the north and another east that opens up near the river. The Shirewoods are heavily involved with Cult of Elemental Evil and run a counterfitting operation. False gold and debased coinage flows from the Inn and out to ships on the river or to couriers operating north of the city. They have no link to other members of the Elemental Evil cult and their contacts are from beyond Verbobonc.
Posted: 12-27-2020 02:41 pm Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 5 - The Wayward Inn Maps Posted: 12-26-2020 10:43 pm Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 4 The Guilds Part 2
Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 4 The Guilds Part 2
Painters, Spacklers & Sculptors Society - This mid-sized guild related to the Builder's Association has grown recently with the expansion of the towns around the city and improvements to buildings within the city itself. There is also a Society of Art and some of the sculptors have dual membership, but it is a much smaller Guild. Verbobonc was a very practical garrison and mercantile city but in the last two years a good deal of trade has come up and down the river and from the mines in the Kron Hills leading to a rise in the genral wealth and fortune of the citizens. The rather plain and functioning work of the sculptors has lead to a more artistic (and expensive) series of works among the wealthy merchants. This guild controls one tower along the north wall next to those controlled by the Builders Association.
Society of Art - A very small guild with an old mansion for its meeting hall. It is near the center of the city where the newer mansions of the wealthy have risen. They control no towers and even their apprentice membership does not belong to the city Militia. One of their senior members is a young Wizard, but reasonably powerful. He specializes in the creation of Golems and is a trained sculptor.
The Mapmakers Guild - Another relatively small guild. Their apprentice members are part of the City Militia but they do not control a tower. There hall is both meeting place and archive with workshops attached. It is located near the Mercenaries Guild and sees much commerce from the adventurous members. The Viscount has several members of the Mapmakers Guild on his staff.
The Bakers, Brewers and Cooks Union - This is a large guild which mans two of the towers along the north wall. The Brewers are mainly dwarves and they have grwon in number in recent years. Verbobonc Stout has become a popular brand and a Dwarven Ale and Whiskey are both decent sellers locally and up and down the river. The number of Inns and taverns has been fixed at 21 within the city but there is a boom in the nearby towns and at many of the crossroads around the city. Lately the Ragged King has been charging a tithe on any spirits that leave the city and the brewers are ready to hire mercenaries to hunt him down since the Viscount seems unable to stop him.
The Taverner amd Innkeeper Circle - This is a group of the 21 Inn and Tavern owners of Verbobonc. The Viscount's law only allows for these 21 which causes most guild halls to function as taverns and guilds for their members, families and associates. Each in is responsible for providing food and drink to each of the guild controlled taverns but they man no towers themselves. Their employees are exempt from serving in te City Militia but are responsible for keep order within their own premises. Each tavern or inn commands a small force of thugs, bouncers and barmen to deal with trouble.
The Carter and Driver Guild - Is a large guild linked to the Dockworkers Union. Most carted goods are headed toward the docks or away from them. They control one tower near the citadel where the largest stables are, both the Viscount's military stables and the large private stables near the Mill Gate. This guild has many members of the secret Thieves Guild but the Guild Master is kept unaware of this.
Posted: 12-25-2020 03:06 pm Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 3 The Guilds Part1
Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 3 The Guilds Part1
Verbobonc - The Guilds
As with most cities in the Flanaess the Guilds are important factor in the running of the city. In Verbobonc they also provide the manpower to patrol the walls and towers. The city has few gates and many towers. While the guardsmen watch the gates, guildsmen man the towers and the corresponding areas of the town by these towers is the headquarters of each guild.
From the largest to the smallest each Guild in Verbobonc has its own hall. It is unsurprising that the Dockworkers Union is the largest Guild in Verbobonc and their members man the three towers adjacent to the docks Goldsmith and Jewlers Guild is both the weathliest and smallest Guild and does not man any towers though its younger members still belong to the city Militia.
The Guilds of Verbobonc
The Alchemist Society - This is a small guild only its younger members train with the militia. Non-clerical healers also belong to this guild and there is a good deal of herb and nature lore combined with more magical brewinhg of potions and elixirs. Both Druids and Magic-Users are members. It has a hall the size of a large house near the southern gate (called the Mill Gate). Many of the guild members dwell in small villages or secluded dwellings beyond the city.
Builders Association - Nearly the size of the Dockworkers Union. They man the two northernmost towers and the tower facing the river above the wetsern gate (Called The Dock Gate). Engineers, Carpenters, Masons, and such belong to this Guild. With the growth in the city and viscounty after the defeat of the Temple of Elemental Evil this Guild is growing in size and importance as well. A large number of their memberships is busy constructing the fortification in the Village of Hommlet as well as rebuilding the town of Nulb. A small retinue is also at work rebuilding a small fortification called the Moat House for a band of adventurers.
The Dockworkers Union - The largest Guild in the city. They are the only Guild to maintain a watch beyond the walls. Their members patrol the docks day and night as well as man the walls and towers overlooking the docks. The Guards man the Dock Gate. They maintain a large Hall and Guild members and their families live in the area near the Docks inside the walls. While there is no official Thieves Guild in Verbobonc the Dockworkers Union is the unofficial yet very real Thieves Guild in the city. The Viscount is aware of this and it is up to the Dockworkers to maintain order and discipline among the city Thieves and punish unlicensed Thieves. Begging is not permitted in Verbobonc and a war of sorts is being waged by a vagabond called the Ragged King along the highways of the Viscounty.
The Mercenaries Guild - The Guild size varies. It maintains a hall and barracks large enough to accomindate 100 with a large stable as well as a smithy and armory. Adventurers, hirelings, men-at-arms, caravan guards, even minor magicians and expert treasure finders (thieves) belong to this guild. Its is 25 gold to join and 10 gold for a months membership after joining which provides a stable for a mount and one meal for member and member's horse per day for 1 month. Guildmembers are not under the command of the Militia but act as Auxiliaries for the Guard in case of emergency. They man no towers and are not entirely trusted by the Viscount. There is no official Assassins Guild in Verbobonc but the Mercenaries Guild has a contact from the City of Greyhawk guild and contracts can be taken through her if the correct paswords are known.
Weaponsmith & Armorers Guild - This is a surprisingly large Guild. They man the west towers below the west gate (Called The Gnome Gate) one of which is a large corner tower. Their hall is near this section of wall but they have small smithies and armories near each gate at the Guard barracks and in the Citadel itself.
End Part 1
Posted: 12-24-2020 09:33 pm Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc - Part 2
Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc Part 2
Provided is a crude map of Verbobonc's walls and castle. It was a costly endevor for Veluna to construct the walls around the city taking thousands of laborers and several years to build. Verbobonc was a garrison city and a good deal of its 100 acres of interior space were military stables and barracks as well as smithies, kitchens, armorers, and such like buildings that went into supplying a large military force. Still there was room left over for merchants and warehouses, a small monastary and a large temple to Rao as well as several open spaces for grazing and public assembly.
At first the many towers were manned by guardsmen but as time went by, and the area which made up the viscounty both expanded and quited, the need for so many professional guardsmen diminished and Verbobonc did what so many other older cities had done; the turned over the watch on the walls to the various guilds within the city.
There are several strong guilds within the city and each is responsible for manning or womanning one or more of the various towers. Each guild sends all their able members to train among the city militia and from age 12 to 45 they are responsible to spend their assigned time in one of the towers and walking their stretch of the wall.
The gates of the city are manned by guardsmen from the castle. The guards man the gates in shift spending no more than a week at a time living in the gatehouses. Most guardsmen have private quarters within the city with husbands, wives and family and Gate and Citadel duty is slightly honerous, though there are actually few complaints. Posted: 12-23-2020 09:28 pm D&D Ad - SP1 - Hamlet Posted: 12-23-2020 02:25 pm Lady Graysteel of Verbobonc Lady Graysteel of Verbobonc
She is the daughter of Viscount Wilifred's youngest sister and most likely to inherit the Viscountship of Verbobonc upon his death (May it be Far-off). The line of Viscounts began with adventurers who defeated the ancient Suel-Lich who inhabited the ruined castle of Verbobonc. Wilifred himself was a dutiful son and commanded the Verbobonc cavalry which maintained the peace throughout the viscounty but he was himself not an adventurer. His sister was and her many children, few now are left. Lady Graysteel is the most successful and experienced of those children and Wilifred envies her the life of adventure he denied himself.
Lady Katherine Graysteel, Kat to her family and friends, hovers between 8th and 9th level in my `1st edition AD&D campaign. Your mileage may vary. She is brave and daring with a surprising number of friends and fellow adventurers still alive. It was her party that braved the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil, freed Prince Thrommel and looted The Orb of Golden Death called Yellowskull from the Temple.
Yellowskull is what saved the adventurers from Zuggtmoy but it is also what is allowing Zuggtmoy to unknowingly influence Lady Graysteel's actions. The process is slow but Lady Graysteel has possessed Yellowskull for over two years and the corruption has already taken hold. Zuggtmoy is aware that Lady Graysteel may soon be made heir to Verbobonc and at the time when Wilifred announces his decision her plans to take over the viscounty will be set in motion. Already a cult of her followers have settled amid the bristling and growing town and several members of the town Guard, Guild-Militia and Cavalry or part of the cult.
Lady Graysteel we are enchanted plate armor and bears a sword of exceptional power. It is intelligent and can speak. It detects magic within a 10ft radius but cannot tell what type just sees it as a type of lightning-blue radiance. Its name is Decay and its blade is notched and rusted. On a natural 20 it will cause a non-magical item, armor, shield or weapon of its opponent to rot, rust or waste away in 3 combat rounds.
Lady Graysteel is completely unaware of the influence Yellowskull has over her through Zuggtmoy, Unless she is directly under control her nature (alignment) is not evil and her actions and thoughts are her own. Posted: 12-23-2020 11:17 am Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc - Part 1
Cities of Greyhawk - Verbobonc
Verbobonc, like most cities across the Flanaess, began as a fort built by the Suel Imperium. Its nearness to the Elves of Celene kept it as a fortified outpost and after the end of the Imperium it went through a period of abandonement with the castle on the stone outcrop overlooking the port becoming a haunted, monster-infested ruin.
A band of adventurers from Veluna cleared the castle centuries ago and began its refurbishment. The current Viscount Wilifred a descendent of two of that original band.
Now, two years after the expeditions and decimations of the forces dwelling in the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil, Verbobonc is on the rise, a growing and active city. The Viscount has kept the interior population in check as werll as he is able and the area around the walls clear but already several thousand people have taken up residence nearby and two small towns have developed on opposite sides of the walled city. Inside the walls the population of fighting age dwellers has risen to over 15,000 while another 7,000 now dwell in towns, villages, and small holdings within 3 miles of the walls.
***
Wilifred is aging but still a strong warrior and a force to be reckoned with. His sole child, Helena, is due to be married to Prince Thrommel of Veluna. The Prince, on his release from the Temple of Elemental Evil, found his way to Verbobonc and instantly fell in love with Wilifred's daughter Helena. It was a tragedy for the Prince as he was betrothed to the Princes Jolene of Furyondy and he left Verbobonc without realizing that in the years of his captivity Jolene had released him from his betrothal and married another, much to the Prince's rejoicing.
If Wilifred has only Helena for child he does not lack in family. His court is filled with poorer relations and currently he debates on which of his nephews or nieces will take control the Viscounty upon his death. Currently there are three contenders; Sir Eger who commands the Verbobonc Guard, Sir Grahame who is a warrior-priest of Rao and lately from Veluna and Lady Graysteel who is a famed adventureress continuing the family tradition of the founders of the line of Viscounts. It was she and her band who freed Prince Thrommel. Most bets are on Lady Graysteel to become the next Viscountess.
Posted: 12-22-2020 10:48 pm Setting Night Below in Greyhawk Part 1 -Verbobonc
Verbobonc.
The adventure begins at the Wayfaring Inn - Verbobonc.
{I'm integrating the T1-4, A1-4, GDQ1-7 modules into Night Below. I've used Night Below to fill out the super-modules before but never the reverse. I'm setting the start of the campaign a few years after the events of T1-4 so the familiar locals of T1-4 will have changed. The Temple is till a nexus of evil but it is just starting to draw evil creatures and humans again. It will be much lower level and in keeping with the events of the Night Below rather than the supermodule.
Some parts of the Night Below are altered to fit the Greyhawk setting but the Haranshire area fits nicely into the lands around Verbobonc, The Kron Hills, Hommlett etc... Verbobonc is a great place to begind the adventure and a good place for players to return to when they need a city to resupply, recruit, seek help, etc... So I will be detailing parts of Verbobonc. The Night Below uses the small town of Milborne as the first detailed area of the adventure and for me Milborne makes a good Nulb from T1-4 so Milborne is now Nulb. Part of the described setting in Night Below and area of hills and mines; perfect for the Kron Hills.
The Temple is a handy local for an expanded headquarters for the kidnapping gang. Brokenspire Keep is akin to the Moat House in T1. A small fortification used by the Temple but abandoned and not suffering the same damage that the Moat House suffered.
Night Below begins the first adventure book as the Evils of Haranshire but in this conversion think of it as the Evils of Verbobonc.}
The Wayfaring Inn - Verbobonc Posted: 12-21-2020 09:05 pm Mother Screng of Nulb Posted: 12-20-2020 05:22 pm Where the Bandits Are - Wormhall Part 4 The River Tower Part 3
The River Tower Part 3 - The Sea Caves
Basement 1
1. This large area is partly natural cave and partly worked stone. The floor has been leveled while some of the areas of wall and ceiling have been cut to form a smooth section or a higher roof. The roof is between 9 and 10 feet from the ground. At one point wooden walls and partitions existed but they have long since been removed and only knotches cut into the wall show where they once stood.
At the north end is a 30ft curve of wall and this is where Rex lairs with 3 female gnolls. These females fight as males but are generally unarmored and armed with longswords. If there is time they will don studded leather armor and grab shields as well. At the very least they are never without knives. The area is thick with carpets and rugs. an iron chest and two small chests contain Rex's treasure. The iron chest has several books on tactics and on strategy. It also contains a pouch with a small amount of gems and jewlery. A wooden box in the chest has 6 vials of healing potion. The smaller wooden chest has some platinum coins, a larger amount of gold and several gold bars. The larger chest has silver and copper coins.
The west wall below area 2 is lined with barrels boxes containing supplies for the tower, mostly food, but also lumber, firewood, oil, arrows, some spare suits of leather armor, etc... There is a goodly amount of stuff. It has been arranged into sections of similar good and is surprisingly orderly.
2. This is the ladder up to the 1st floor of the tower.
3. This is a deep pool. There is an iron grill across the top. A 5x5 section can be pulled aside but it is normally locked and bolted shut.
4. These are wide stairs going down to Basmment Level 2
Basement 2
This entire cave has been widened and shaped to hold a dock and a large iron caged area. The cages are normally filled with slaves waiting to be shipped to the Horned Society (10-20 Humans and Elves on average). The Gnolls choose 1 or 2 of the fatest and take them to their cage in the tower.
1. There are 4 Gnolls on guard here at all times. One will head for the tower as soon as a boat is spotted entering the sea cave. Rex always comes to meet the boats and to accept payment for the slaves from the agents of the Horned Society or to see the offloading of another shipment of slaves.
2. Stairs going up to Basement Level 1
3. A series of iron cages. Half the area is a single large cage but the other hald is made up of smaller 10x10 cages to hold special prisoners.
4. If boat is docked this is where it will be. Posted: 12-20-2020 05:19 pm Hommlet Church of Saint Cuthbert visible in distance Posted: 12-19-2020 07:47 pm Where the Bandits Are - Wormhall Part 3 The River Tower Part 2
The River Tower Part 2
The Gnolls - Around 50 Gnolls inhabit the tower. They are all armed with longbows. Their armor varies between leather, studded leather and chain. Sone use large shields and all use one-handed weapons, longswords, battle-Axes, flails and maces prefered. There is a distinct order of authority from their pack leader to the last follower but none of these gnolls is a runt or weakling.
Rex is their pack leader and he is head and shoulders above the intelligence and ability of the others. He was something of an experimemt by a Wizard who resides in the Rift Canyon. He is bigger, stronger and most importantly stronger than your common gnoll. He wears enchanted plate armor and carries a two-handed sword can that break unchanted armor and weapons on a natural 20.
`The River Tower 2nd Floor
1. Murder Holes line the floor. A large barrel of oil is in each corner of this area. The Gnolls will break open one of the barrels and let oil pour onto intruders beneath. The floor is sloped so that the oil will pool in the center and empty through the holes. A torch applied to the oil will send a stream of flame down to ignite any soaked beneath and the pool below. The Gnolls havent need to use this before and are unaware that the burning oil will ignite the inner door but not the portcullis. The outer portcullis is meant to be dropped in place after intruders have gained entrance hopefully trapping them in the hall below. The mehanism for raising and lower both sets of portculli are in this area.
2. This area is similar to the first floor area 2 but the crossholes for archers are set lower and there is no step below them,
3. Steps going down to first floor
4. Steps going up to third floor.
The River Tower 3rd Floor
1. This is a crenalated balcony. A Gnoll watchman is always on guard here, though often asleep.
2. This area is similar to second floor area 2.
3. Stairs going down to second floor.
4. A ladder going to a trap door in the roof.
The River Tower Roof
1. A trap door and ladder going down to the 3rd floor
2. The roof is peaked and sharply angled except for a small walkway around the outer edge that allows access to the four small guard towers. The roof is kept slick with tar and is sheeted in metal. It has enchantment to rersist it from heat and flame. Landing on the roof is extremely difficult.
3. A small guard tower. Each has a stout door and archer crossholes in the two walls facing out from the tower. Extra quiversd of arrows are kept in these rooms and a gnoll occupies each one. The duty is boring and the are often asleep. Posted: 12-19-2020 06:23 pm Wormhall Part 2 The River Tower
Wormhall Part 2 The River Tower
The River is Constructed on a small, rough island of rock that sits in the middle of the Ritensa River between Wormhall Port and the lands of the Horned society.
1st Floor
1. These are the main doors. A path leads down from them to a small quay where a single medium boat can tie up and offload goods. There is a small crane for offloading bulky items.
The entrance doors are thick and stout with a metal portculus that can be lowered in front of them.
The doors themselves are damp and swollen from the spray of the river crashing against the rocks and even magical fire will have a difficult time setting them ablaze. The tower is constructed of thick stone. It radiates faintly of evil if detected for as it was raised by devils summoned by the Hierarchs of the Horned Society.
The roof of this passage is lined with murder holes in the cealing.
The interior doors are thick and a second portculus can be lowered in place before them. These doors, while stout, have no special resistance to fire.
2. The interior of the 1st floor is filthy. The floor is covered in dirty hay, cracked bones, and cloth scraps pushed into piles. At least 10 gnolls can be found here at any given time.
The stone walls are all pierced with loopholes for archers. The ceiling is 10ft high and there is a small step before each loophole which is set 6ft above the ground giving the archers on the 1st floor the ability to fire down a little on those outside without the ability for the loopholes to be used against those inside. There are pegs on the wall by the loopholes to hold quivers of arrows.
There are weapon racks on each wall and quivers full of longbow arrows at hand.
3. Stairs going up to Level 2
4. A trapdoor leading down to the Basement
5. A metal cage usually contain a captive or two. The gnolls have a taste for fresh meat.
To be continued Posted: 12-18-2020 07:17 pm Where the Bandits Are - Wormhall - Part 1
2. Wormhall -
Leader - Baron Oltagg Ftr/Thf 4th/9th Troops - Cav 150, Inf 400, Gnolls 100 Population - 9,000
Wormhall gets its name from the ancient fortified manor on the banks of the Ritensa River. There is a town and small port on the river. An out-cropping of rock in the center of the stream holds a small fortified tower. The Baron keeps a contingent of 50 Gnoll archers in the fortress. Their longbows tipped with tarred arrows waiting to be ignited are a fearsome deterent to any attacks across the river by the Horned Society.
Baron Oltagg maintains the appearance of a cultured gentleman but is actually under the control of thew Horned Society. He supplies them with slaves purchased from other Bandit Kingdoms or taken as captives in the endless border fighting. He maintains logging camps and exports lumber up the river but also uses his camps to raid the Fellreev Forest attacking Sylvan Elves for the most part.
Wormhall of Wormhall is actually in a decent state of repair. 100 of the Baron's infantry are based in the Manor. and 50 of his cavalry. There is a gnoll tribe that serves Oltagg based in the cave system within the forest to the north. He maintains two small forts along the border with his fellow Bandit Kings with his remaing cavalry and infantry split evenly between the two.
The bulk of the population, 5,000 people, live in the town and farms around the manor. The rest are split between forest camps and small farming villages. Posted: 12-17-2020 12:35 pm Adventure Seed - The Deer Hunters
The Fruztii Shaman Vainamo leads a band of hunters dressed in enchanted Deer Cloaks and carrying Bone Lances as the look over a herd of deer. They are actually waiting to ambush a party of Schnai hunters who are stalking the herd.
Vainamo is a man of middle years. He has never sworn oath to the Schnai and has commanded a small rebel force against them. He is a Shaman (A priest/magic-user in my home campaign) of at least 9th level. He has a large number of followers but they never congregate in groups larger than 30. He is popular among the Fruztii except for the King and his loyalists, but his warbands tend to consist of Rangers, Druids, Shamans, and Fighting Men.
In my home campaign the Fruztii have no single class priests but have a Shaman (priest/magic user) hierachery. Both Shamans and Druids follow nature gods. The Raven or Crow God, the Fox, The Ice Queen, the 4 Winds, the Thunder God.
NEW Magic Items
Deer Cloak
The Deer Cloak allows the wearer to be seen as a Stag and appears so to all the senses including leaving tracks of a large Stag. If the wearer attacks he will suddenly appear as someone in the Deer Cloak only to transform back into the appearance of a stag 3 turns after the last combat action. While wearing the cloak the wearers speed is increased and they gain resistance to cold.
Bone Spear
This spear is magically transformed from the antler of a stag. It has the ability to slay a deer with a single hit. It is balanced for throwing. The Bone Spear is -3 to hit against metal armor but +3 to hit against leather armor, hide or no armor. It inflicts 1d12+1d8+1d4 damage.
Vainamo is a wanted man. There is a large reward for him dead or alive. He is also a charismatic and successful leader. He accepts men from all nations in his band except for Schnai. Posted: 12-17-2020 03:17 am Where the Bandits Are - Warfields Part 1
Bandit Kingdoms
Warfields
Leader - Guardian General Hok (Ftr 11) Troops - Cavalry 300, Infantry 500 Population - 12,000
Warfields is one of the most stable and strongest of the Bandit Kingdoms. It maintains a peaceful yet wary existence with the Shield Lands and has not proven a thorn in the side to the Horned Society worthy of exerting the forces needed to destroy it.
Guardian General Hok was once a common soldier in the Shield Lands. He served the previous lord of Warfields till he overthrew him and seized the leadership for himself. Since then he has trained his followers and bloodied them against the encrouchment of his neighbors and tribes of demi-humans. But the real strength of Warfields is the old castle that overlooks the Ritensa River. Hok has reinforced it and with his dwarven architect Gralon turned it into a formidable citadel for its size.
Warfields the castle and port-town are the main population center for Hok's territory. Over 10,000 people occupy the port with a small scattering of demi-humans (mostly Dwarves). The Horned Society deals with Baron Oltagg of Wormhall but the merchants from the Shield Lands and beyond find it safer to base themselves in Warfields. In any case Hok applies a small tithe on all goods sailing up the river on the way to Critwall.
The rest of the Warfields population is generally close to the castle in small fortified farming towns and cattle ranches. Hok's cavalry spends most of their time patrolling the area around the herds and ranches while there are two small fortifications that watch the border with Wormhall to the North and Tangles to the East.
Guardian General Hok
Posted: 12-16-2020 07:40 am Qaabil of Ekbir
Qaabil of Ekbir is young to be so powerful a magician as well as a scholar of ancient Suel enchantments. He has walked the Sea of Dust and returned, but now he is an exile from his own land. The Caliph has ordered his death and now Qaabil finds himself dwelling in the City of Greyhawk and hiring mercenaries for his own protection.
The young mage is hiring more than mercenaries. He is assembling a powerful group of adventurers for a grand expedition. Some say he seeks to return to the Sea of Dust, others that he has found the location of the fabled lost city of the Suss Forest. There are rumors he seeks to find a tomb of a long dead sorceror in the Vast Swamp. Whereever he intends to go he seems to be taking a small army with him. Posted: 12-15-2020 09:02 pm Painting - Inn of the Welcome Wench - Hommlet
While travellers use he main entrance and large common room the Hommlet locals use a side entrance to a smaller room. During the summer tables and benches outside this side door are favored. By sunset the farmers and locals have normally returned home for their supper and dark sees them sleeping early since their day begins before the crack of dawn. Posted: 12-15-2020 03:58 pm Painting - A Street in Hommlet
Module T1 has always been one of my favorites and the starting point for at least two campaigns set in Greyhawk each of which lasted more than 5 years. This painting captures the feeling that the old blue and white map always inspired me to picture in my mind's eye. Posted: 12-15-2020 06:21 am Adventure Seed - The Halfling's Dream
Whether it is a magic pipe or some ability of the Halfling Twigg Twiggham of Twigghome the smoke which hovers about him is said to show the dreams of those who sit near. Twigg himself sees nothing in the smoke and the idle thoughts of the farmers and craftsmen who normally sit in the common room of the Golden Harvest, the largest Tavern in Twigghome, show little but the slow and peaceful life of this large Halfling community nestled in the Duchy of Urnst. Yet the Golden Harvest and Twigg now see visitors from across the Flanaess seeking answers in the pipesmoke to questions which haunt their days and nights.
Twigg is an unemposing Halfling of moderate wealth and great indolence, but in his youth he was an adventurer and a thief of experience if not renown. Twigghome is a typical speciman of a prosperous Halfling community if larger than most as it is home to over 2,000 (A large portion of the Duchy's Halfling population). There is an organized militia and a stone fortress with several retired adventurers in residence. They are well able to defend themselves if need arises.
Posted: 12-15-2020 05:17 am Adventure Seed - Sentinels of Yesterday
Deep within the Adri Forest there is a place that humanity does not go. Something is changing there, something very old is returning and the Flanaess will not be the same.
For a time longer than the memory of humanity the Elves have kept guard over this place they call Bitterness. Guardians, the Elven Sentinals, have watched over this land since before the Suel Imperium, before the migrations of the Flan and the Oerid. A time when the Adri stretched unbroken across the north, when the Kingdoms of the Dwarves held all the mountains and the Elves ruled forest and plain.
The Adri is now no place for Elves of this day, the pathways twist and twist and wind till they take you places that once were or will be or never happened. The forest is growing and yet is no larger than its present borders. It is growing inside, vast and dark; trackless and wild.
From the long march of time the Sentinels of Yesterday are appearing and neither Elf or Human know how to stop them. Posted: 12-14-2020 03:20 am Sargent Karag
Sargent Karag commands a detachment of Shieldlanders who wage an endless war against the Horned Society. The Knight-Errant who originally led the company was slain along with his squires when the were ambushed by a devil-lead band of Hobgoblins. The company's Chaplin banished the devil before he himself was slain and out of the nearly 300 men only 72 fought their way clear.
Karag wears the typical helm and chain coat of his company and carries the large kite-shield which belonged to Sir Tindus, his slain commander. The Shield bears some enchantment which drove back the Horned Societies summoned devils during the ambush. Karag also carries Sir Tindus' longsword, but does not use it. Instead he favors and ancient curved war axe that has been in Karag's family for geenrations.
The company numbers some 112 men at the moment. New recruits arrive steadily but the losses to the Horned Society whittle down the command with almost every encounter. A noble replacement for their commander is rumored to be due shortly but so far no one has matarialized. Posted: 12-13-2020 03:46 pm Alarak Son of Chaos
The bastard son of Emirikol was a promising student at Grey College studying the geography of the Flanaess when his father made his famous ride of slaughter and destruction. It was only a day later when Alarak was dismissed and thrown from the college and his small set of rooms above the Four Pots, a less than salubrious inn frequented by students and members of the Cartographers Guild.
A crowd gathered at the eviction and then became a mob. Alarak found himself fleeing for his life. He was nearly caught at the Bridge of Entwined Hearts and barely made it through the Guarding Gate and out of ther city.
Alarak has received some training as both a fighter and magician but lacks experience in either profession. He is out on his own but is well versed in cartography and knows the Flanaess as well as maps could educate and as little as one who has never ventured beyond the walls of the City of Greyhawk.
Posted: 12-13-2020 04:30 am Handsome Hartlak
Handsome is a Half-Orc fighter/thief pirate captain. His ship, the Saucy Sue, plies the waters of the Tilva Strait. His crew is a mixed lot but most are Half-Orcs like Handsome. His base is some unknown island where Orcs and Half-Orcs make up most of the population and the only pirates allowed to make use of the port are Half-Orcs like handsome and all having some relation with the island.
Two of the earrings Handsome wears are enchanted. One provides him with limited protection from normal missiles and the other allows him to transform into a sea-lion. Handsome can't swim so he is particularly fond of that earring. He wears two enchanted daggers on his chest, Fang and Tooth. Both can be thrown and Tooth will return to his hand after a melee round while Fang causes bleeding wounds that need a priestly touch to quench. The sword across his back is a demon-touched longsword. Its name is a secret known only to handsome. He can some 1d3 Hellhounds to fight for him once per day and the sword radiates evil and howls increasing Handsome's chance to hit and lowering his attackers chances to strike him. Posted: 12-12-2020 05:15 pm Yljari Half-Elven Yljari is the Elector of the Elves in the Yeomanry. He is actually only a quarter human and three-quarters High Elven but to the other High Elves his human grandmother taints his elven heritage.The High Elves who make up over 80% of the Yeomanry elven population follow Prince Vallinen without question so Yljari is merely a spokesmen for the Prince rather than having his own voice in the Yeomanry council. The other elves in the Yeomanry follow Yljari and he is their voice to the Prince.
There is a strong desire among the High Elves to depart the Yeomanry for other elven realms especially the Duchy of Ulek where many of their kindred dwell. The Duke of Ulek traditionally holds his realm in the name of the Prince, but the days of the ancient High Elven kingdom have long passed and the High Elves of Ulek see their Duke as the real leader of all High Elves and themselves as the last small remnant of their kingdom (although this is disputed by the High Elves of Veluna and those of Geoff where a small High Elven woodland fortress survived from the days of the old kingdom. The Geoffish elves have also gained a great deal of independence since the giant invasion and see their Forest Lord as the real leader of the High Elves). Little credence is given to the "Lord of the High Elves" of the Quagflow Valley even though he commands a large population of High Elves.
Yljari is a powerful magician and one time adventurer. His wife, Sana, is a half-elven cleric originally from Veluna. His is extremely loyal to the Yeomanry and should the High Elves he and the other 20% of the elven population would remain. Posted: 12-12-2020 05:49 am Vallinen High Elf Fighter-Mage
Vallinen is the High Elven prince of the elves living in and around the Yeomanry. He is not the Elector who represents the elves among the council but is instead the hereditary ruler of the several thousand elves (of all types including half-elves). The dwell along the Javan, and have their greatest dwelling in the west of the Dreadwood with some living in the Little Hills. The High Elves here are a fragment of a mighty elven kingdom of old but they possess few of their ancient treasures and none of the great strength in arms that they once commanded.
The prince keeps his people united, but without him most would leave this land and travel east toward the lands with greater number of elves. Posted: 12-11-2020 09:41 am Kalman Laughingstaff
Kalman hails originally from Bissel but has crossed the length and breadth of the Flanaess many times in his life as an adventurer. Somewhere in his adventures he acquired his staff and his patronym. He is of middling height and middling age, a wizard of more power than most but still searching tombs and ruins for items of power. It is said he seeks a lost city hidden in the depths of some forest and protected by terrible guardians.
His staff is named Praytextatus and has a vile sense of humor, laughing in an evil cackle during the most inopportune and unfortunate moments. It finds death or maiming to be hilarious. The staff speaks an ancient form of Suel, as does Kalman, but has also learned the Common Tongue.
Posted: 12-11-2020 08:47 am The Minotaur - Graxus
Minotaurs are magical creations but from a time so long ago that their origin is lost. Attempts to recreate them result in many near misses such as Hinchcliffe's Ram-Men but the original Man-Bull is elusive and perhaps god-protected. They breed true and even cross-breed true in that the product of a union of Minotaur and Human, Demi-Human or Humanoid is Minotaur.
They will use weapons, and prefer them over bare hands. They can even be trained to wear armor. Luckily they prefer seclusion and the dark. The males tend to be solitary though a family group will have several females and a continuous litter of ever present young. The young males will be pushed out at an early age and most dont survive, which helps to keep the number of minotaurs down. A strong leader might have a half-dozen followers (making an adult tribe of 30-40 with the females of the species). Female Minotaurs are slightly smaller than males but much more aggressive when protecting their young, more intelligent and have a social order amongst themselves.
Graxus is rather typical of his breed, large, immensely strong, not overly bright with a mean streak a mile wide. He is the bodyguard of Keller the Lender, a financier to the Guildmasters of the City of Dyvers. Posted: 12-10-2020 05:50 pm Adventure Seed - The Mines of Sterich Part 1
The Mines of Sterich
Iron is in the hills of Sterich and war rages throughout the Flanaess. While Sterich has many smiths the great weapon and armorers of Greyhawk are the Dwarves of Ulek. The ore is smelted and the iron travels east to the Rushmoors and the branch of the Lort or south down the Javan till it fills the holds of merchant ships of the Sea Princes ending in Gryrax and the furnaces of the dwarven smiths. The journey is long and proven dangerous.
Sterich is recruiting guards of all sorts and advneturers of all types to watch over the great caravans and raft flotillas which leave their land each week. Inside Sterich companies of Halberders and Light Calvary protect the wagons but beyond the borders hired men are rewarded greatly to safeguard this bulky treasure.
Posted: 12-10-2020 01:46 pm Adventure Seed - The Kobold Menace
The wizard Kazimierz guarded by three stout warriors, Bede, Witus, and Teofil battle a force of invading kobolds bSeneath the streets of Istivin. This tribe of kobolds is from deep within the underoerth and have been driven out of their home by Umber Hulks. These kobolds are unnaturally smart and are more like a society of small humans. There are magicians, clerics, thieves an fighters and most warriors are equivalent to 1st level fighters with a smattering of higher level veterans and a few even higher level heroes within their ranks.
The Umber Hulks are forcing many UnderOerth creatures to flee, and a nest of Ankhegs is on the heels of the Kobolds along with smaller flocks of Grell and Carrion Crawlers.
The people of Istivin are in for a struggle that they may not win.
Posted: 12-10-2020 08:58 am Cardboard Hero 1-9 Crossbowman
Noth is a mercenary but originally he was a guardsman from Furyondy. He wears a full robe of chainmail and wields a heavy crossbow. He carries a longsword for close combat.
He is a member of the Mercenary Guild in the City of Greyhawk as well as several other cities if he happens to have business in them. Posted: 12-10-2020 02:17 am Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches - Czylle
The frozen land of Blackmoor, choked with mists and twilight. Few travel to that far world and few tales have returned. The great bard of Greyhawk has returned from a long sojourn there where it is said he found the City of the Gods. Silvertongue the Bard found strange and powerful forces at work in Blackmoor but he also found allies in a society of witches that are the hidden strength of that land.
Czylle commands the elements. Lightning dances at her willl. She would be a leader in any other land but the society of witches has no leaders. All are equal in their ranks once they have begun the first mastery of their art till they take their kast breath on this Oerth. She goes gloved and cloaked in grey and her eyes burn with an inner fire. She looks far beyond this plane into worlds beyond and one day she will step beyond this Oerth and perhaps not return. Posted: 12-09-2020 10:03 am Drow Warrior Gyr'On
After the invasion of Geoff when terror stalked the land the true leaders behind the giants apppered. The Drow Warrior-Lord Gyr'On riding upon a Nightmare prowled the wilds of Geoff hunting down those who'd fled and those who still fought. His story and that of a Geoff ranger are intertwined around that of the half-elven maid Fion have become legendary among those who have taken the land back. Posted: 12-09-2020 08:03 am Gar Hill-Giant Mutation Giant-Killer
After the fall of the giants, when they were at last driven from Geoff, a great scouring of the hills occurred and many a Hill Giant Clan and steading fell. The monsters were forced further ito the mountains to escape and their ancestral homes were abandoned. The bones of human, demi-human and giant litter the heights and valleys and little mercy was shown to any.
The mage Talberth had seen many a friend and companion lost during the years of the invasion and after and he had hatred for giants that stripped his humanity from his soul. When he discovered a hidden creche of Hill Giant young he would have had no second thought to exterminating the mewling babes but a darker idea came upon him. He would raise these young, experiment upon them till he created a creature who would be the bane of giants. Gar and his kind were the result.
Much bigger and stronger than a normal hill giant Gar is what Talberth calls a Giant-Killer. They are semi-intelligent magical creations but have manged to breed true. Unfortunately while they do have an unreasoning instinctual hatred of all other giants they have no regard for humans, demi-humans, animals or monstrous creatures either, all are food for their anger and the gnawing hunger that their size and heightened metabolism demand. They are clawed and fanged and tend to disdain weapons. They can craft simple fur clothing and scavenge better gear from giants and humanoids. They are wary creatures, hunt at night and prefer to ambush rather than confront directly though they will fight like rats if cornered. Posted: 12-09-2020 07:32 am Cardboard Hero - 1-8 The Archer
These are my favorite of the card stand-ups. (I recommend taping a penny or washer to the bottom for weight and stability). I love plastic miniatures but these are easier to store and much lighter than plastic (and loads lighter than metal).If you are a poor painter such as myself they are in color and the detail is nice (at least with the Steve Jackson versions. You can geta bunch of print on your own onlie, but I don't have the links.
The Archer was a particular favorite of mine. Sometimes an NPC, Henchman or player character. More of a guardsman than a hunter or ranger (though I've used this for a ranger mini several times.
As an NPC he is Jorn of the Yeomanry. He is a farmer and militia leader. Young but one of the picked twelve-twelve men of his province Posted: 12-08-2020 03:17 am Adventure Seed - The Displaced Displacers
The Displaced Displacers
The Displacer Beast is not native to Oerth. Hidden among the Barrier Peaks is wreckage of a space vessel transporting exotic animals from a wide range of planets. The Displacer Beast was one such creature. Unfortunately the automatic systems, robots and andoids which survived the crash are old, damaged and without guidance.
Inside the ship are cloning banks which can spawn thousands and thousands of any creature in the ships collection. Something has caused the automatic systems to begin a steady cloning of Displacer Beasts. In an effort to control the number of such of creatures the android supervisor has begun removing them from the ship by use of a warp transfer, This transportation system is funneling the beasts to a point on the shore of Lake Quag in Perrinland. The local militia with the help of some heavy horse guards has been able to keep the beasts from escaping the area but a local fishing village and a nearby town have had to be evacuated and the beasts are still appearing with alarming regularity. A large reward has been posted for any who can track down the source of this menace and put an end to the Displacer Beast plague. Posted: 12-07-2020 07:49 am The Blue Wolves Company
Many of Stonefists Blue Wolves are descended from tribesmen of Rovers of the Barrens. The Stonefisters winged horsemen are the elite cavalry of the Hold. Several companies exist, the Blue Wolves just being one of many. Rover mercenary horsemen are often employed as scouts and scavengers by these elite forces. Posted: 12-07-2020 02:41 am Orcs of the Fanged Sun
One of the leading Orcish tribes from the Land of Iuz. They are bit more organized and disciplined than some of their wilder brethren. They still fight in a mob but follow their tribal banners and their chieftains are commanded by evil Humans or intelligent Demonic creatures summoned by Iuz. Posted: 12-06-2020 11:44 pm Monster - Stone Scarab
Stone Scarabs are a magical creation of Baklunish wizards. They are similar in construction to Stone Golems but are generally much smaller and have many more enchantments and abilities. The smallest are no more than 3 inches long and are most often the eyes of the wizard allowing him to see and sense (according to the strength of enchantment) all that is around the scarab. They are easily destroyed in that they have obly a single hit poinnt but still require the kind of spells or enchanted weapons that would damage a Stone Golem or larger Scarab. Some smaller Scarabs contain poison and can pass on a single dose that causes damage or unconsciousness or some such effect.
The largest Stone Scarabs have been reported to be the size of wagons possessing great powers and strength while the most common are about three feet long and low to the ground like a dog and enchanted to fight or protect. Posted: 12-06-2020 07:29 am Cadwyr, Garem and Mahel
Three adventurers returning to Geoff after the Invasion of Giants.
Many adventurers came to Geoff during the years after the Invasion, but a number of native born returned home to aid their coutry during its plight. Here are Cadwyr the Sorcerer, Mahel devotee of Saint Cuthbert and the Ranger Garem crossing the frontier into the disputed lands. Garem sees signs of recent monstrous passage through the hill country. Posted: 12-06-2020 07:12 am Lyosha the Blade
Lyosha is a mercenary warrior and oftentimes bandit who has made his way down to the City of Greyhawk from his native Stonefist. He always said he is a descendent of the terrible tyrant Vlek, but since Vlek is said to have had over 600 children most Stonefisters can honestly say that Vlek is an ancester.
He is skilled at two weapon fighting and has come across several enchanted blades. He is best known for his singular magical item, the cod-piece of gonad protection. Posted: 12-06-2020 06:57 am Zsolt and Kata
One of the many calamities of the giant invasion of Geoff was a plague of undead that swept across the unoccuppied lands. It is believed that so may unburied and unconsecrated dead were the cause but some adventurers blame an ancient Suel tomb that had been discovered during the occupation and awakened by rebels attempting to use it as a base.
The ranger-maid Kata and the wild barbarian Zsolt, both natives of Bissel, are said to have found the Suel tomb and ended the incursion of undead Posted: 12-05-2020 07:46 am Red Lion of Furyondy
The Red Lion is a knight of Furyondy, a powerful warrior with a following of a hundred-men-at-arms, several squires, a band of archer/rangers and a train of waggoneers with supplies. He is a small army unto himself and said to be only andwerable to the king. Posted: 12-05-2020 06:04 am Aspect of Iuz
Upon his release from the imprisonment of Zagig a vast vision of Iuz as the great king appeared above his northern lands. It is in this form that he is often seen upon his throne. Posted: 12-04-2020 11:00 pm Master, Journeyman Apprentice
The magician Muddock his journeyman Grigg and the apprentice Froggly. Muddock in his youth served as a naval wizard upon the Nyr Dyv but never had a liking for it. When he set off on his own he avoided the water and eventually settled near Verbobonc and the northern spur of the Gnarley Forest Posted: 12-04-2020 07:53 pm Hugo Claydog of Hommlet
Hugo is a newcommer to Hommlet. He, like many others, came to work on the rising tower and castle and stayed as after roving his worth. He works as a hunter and forester and spends little time in Hommlet itself. He is actually a ranger of some skill and serves the druid and the Old Faith. He is likely to be recommended as a guide to any adventurers new to the area. Posted: 12-04-2020 05:26 am Azagba - Warrior Chief of the Hepmonland Forest Hunter Tribe
Azagba leads several allied tribes of Hepmonland natives. His weapons and armor are enchanted by tribal shamans or relics passed down from his forefathers. His people are along the northern coast and have the greatest contact with people from thre Flanaess. Posted: 12-03-2020 10:45 pm Baron Ambrus of Blackmoor and his Half-Shedu Mount Gyozo
The nyaterious land of Blackmoor is in no way made less so by the appearance of Baron Ambrus flying near the southrn borders upon his mount Gyozo, a half-Shedu (some say half Manticore). The pair are accompanied by a half-dozen giardsmen on Gryphons and often stop to converse with merchant men and travellers who make the long trip to the forbidding northern land. Posted: 12-03-2020 08:16 pm Albrecht the Bearded and his Imp Familiar Xertur
Albrecht,seen here casting a minor spell to protect himself from incoming missles, was an adventurer of some repute from the County of Sunndi, but suffered a complete personality change as the sole survivor to an expedition to the Vast Swamp.
After disappearing for a nuber of years he was reported as having established a small stronghold amid the Orc tribes of the Pomarj accompanied now by an Imp familiar named Xertur of unsavory repute. Posted: 12-03-2020 05:14 am Adventure Seed - A Knife In The Dark
The mists rise each night upon the streets of Greyhawk. From the docks and the Selintan, from the surrounding swamps where the Ery appears from beneath the Cairn Hills, from the steaming sewers and grates where the refuse both living and dead flow beneath the streets, the mists rise. With the mists comes death, death in the form of The Knife, the killer who takes eyes and hearts and souls, who paints the streets and alleys with blood and cannot be caught.
The Knife haunts Old Town. The bodies he leaves behind are truly lifeless and souless. No priestly spells, no magic, no divination can pierce the mists and the cloud that hides the killer. Posted: 12-02-2020 07:18 pm Bhionn the Half-Drow
During the giant's invasion of Geoff it was found that the Drow were actually the masterminds behind the attacks. Many slaves were taken to the underoerth to serve the Drow and Bhionn's mother was one such captive. A Drow matron raised several of the resulting half-breeds and Bhionn became a sorceress in the service of Elemntal Evil in opposition to Lolth. She has no difficulty with sunlight though her unnaturally pale flesh shows the heritage of her Drow father. Posted: 12-02-2020 02:55 am Agis-Snel the Sage
Soothsayers are easy to find but an honest and trustworthy Sage of experience and ability is a rare treasure. As Agis-Snel says, "A good Sage is not cheap and a cheap Sage is not good. Agis is very good indeed and very expensive. He also keeps secrets at no extra charge.
Snel was born in Verbobonc but apprenticed to a Scholar in the City of Greyhawk. It was there amid the ancient tomes and current bustle of the city that he learned his craft and gained his reputation. An older man now, he has returned to Verbobonc and practices a limited consultation for high fees, but is said to bbe worth every copper he charges by his sueviving customers. Posted: 12-01-2020 10:31 pm The God-Queen Neferu of Zeif
Before the Rain of Colorless Fire and the Invoked Devestation laid waste to the Suel and the Baklunish, there was a mighty dynasty in the west The ruling families were of great power and were worshipped as Gods but they were a divided lot and warred upon each other as the warred upon their chief rival the Suel Imperium. One of the lesser members of this dynastic family was Neferu. Her father ruled over the province of Zeif while she reined as the queen of air and fire in the great temple. The Invoked Devastation buried temple and turned the green land around it to Djinn cursed sand. Only recently have the doors to the inner chamber been found and opened and it is said Neferu walks again, much to the concern of Zeif's Sultan. Posted: 12-01-2020 09:49 pm Sentinels of Bitterness
In the depths of the Suss forest are the overgrown and weed choked ruins of a Suloise city lost but not entirely forgotten. The foundations of that city are not Suel but Olven. The Suel, merciless conquerors destroyed the Olven city, old beyond the reckoning of human years, and built their own city on top of it, but the protectors of the elves lived on even in death and death is what they brought to the Suel.
The Sentinels still roam the ruins and encountering one of these fearful guardians does not end well for most explorers, Posted: 12-01-2020 06:41 pm Ringfinger the Mage
Ringfinger has taken enough lip from this magic mouth.
His family were mild nobility from Rel Astra but fled to the Grandwood Forest and he was raised among the Freefolk. From childhood his life was one of adventure, He became apprentice to a mage known for the crafting of minor items of magical power and spent years assisting in the enchantment of rings. He wears three enchanted rings upon each finger, each balanced in their magick to not interfere with the power of each other. As Ringfingers own power grew so did the enchantments he cast upon the rings he crafted. One allows him to fall as a feather, another to disintegrate matter, another to send a bolt of lightning, another to render himself invisible should the need arise. It is said he has crafted rings for all the spells he has learned but only he knows if that is true. Posted: 12-01-2020 06:21 pm Hinchcliffe the Wizard
Hinchcliffe has always had a thing for hats but very poor taste. He was a promising student of the Grey College in the City of Greyhawk and chose the life of an adventurer rather than as an academic. he and his companions were monstrously successful in their adventures and Hinchcliffe retired to a ruined tower in the foothills of the Griff mountains to pursue experiments in the creation of monsters and creatures of the flesh. He is best known for his Ram-Men that have helped him carve out a smal domain among the monstrous north of that region though the location of his tower and the ever growing dungeons beneath is known only to a few. Posted: 11-30-2020 02:53 pm Hinchcliffe's Band - Ram-Man
The wizard Hunchcliffe is a proud alumni of the Grey College and an experimentor in mutations. The Ram-Man were his most successful experiments. These 3hd monsters are as intelligent as most peasants but more tractable. They disdain armor (mainly because Hinchcliffe hasn't bought them any and favor shields. Their flesh is tough and resiliant giving them a natural AC6 with shield it is AC5. Thery have a 50% resistance to magic and are immune to charm and mind control, Hinchcliffe has armed them with axes, morningstars and spears (which they throw fairly well). The are voracious eaters. So far they have all proven sterile and are only produced in the flesh-vats beneath the hidden hill Hinchcliffe calls home. Posted: 11-30-2020 11:19 am Weems Half-Elven
Weems Half-Elven
Weems was born and bred in the City of Greyhawk. His mother was an elven maiden, enslaved, who caught the eye of a master thief who stole her and rescued her from the hiring market (a half truth as a good amount of those hired end up nearly as slaves and the rest are simply slaves no matter what piece of parchment their owners hold which may say differently). From his father he learned the thieving skills and his an excellent burgler, lockpicker and disarmer of traps. He has a fondness for Druid's Weed, a mild hallucinogen which he smokes in dreamy melancholy lethargy Posted: 11-30-2020 10:41 am Snakelegs
Snakelegs
Snakelegs is one of the brood of Snakebiter Chieftain of the Snakebiter tribe. This large orc tribe numbers close to a thousand and are the largest and most powerful tribe in the high northern hills of the Principality of Ulek.
Snakelegs is amazingly strong and wields an ancient orcish stone mace. It adds 4 points to a orcs strength and is a + 2 to hit +6 to damage. Snakelegs wields a necklace of Ogre teeth that act as an amulet of +2 protection +4 versus Ogres. His Hide armor is normal smelly badly cured wild boar while his shield causes a -1 to hit to any enemy viewing it. Posted: 11-30-2020 09:46 am Mi'Kraw
In the Pomarj hills a gathering of Goblin shamans from many tribes has occurred and a supreme shaman has been chosen. Mi'Kraw once of the small, and now extinct, Blisterfoot tribe. He has power beyond the reckoning of any Goblin wielding his spells as a 9th level cleric. His skull totem allows him to raise zombies and animate skeletons. Ghouls fear him and obey his commands while stroner undead are loathe to challenge him or remain in nthe resence of his skull totem. He bears a sword called 'Frostblade" which is +3 to hit and damage and on a natural 20 causes 2d6 ice damage extra. He wears several protective chatrms and amulets and the skull of a demon as a helmet. The demon skull protects him from charms and fire damage. Posted: 11-28-2020 03:51 am Krellk & Slather
Krellk is a Goblin chieftain of a large tribeof Wolf-riding goblins that raid along the Wild Coast. Aided by their viscious steed-allies they are a force to be recogened with even among the orcs and smaller Gnoll tribes of the area. Killk and his riders have slain many a human and even the occasional ogre due to their unnusual ferocity and tactics. All of Killk's goblins have become proficient with the short bow and will only close after their arrows have heavily cut down the numbers of their foes or wounded them.Krillk uses his mobility and numbers to very good effect, always scouting and patrolling while withdrawing if the odds are not i his favor. Posted: 11-27-2020 11:46 pm Groth
Groth
Groth is a sub-chieftain from an Orcish tribe in Drachensgrab Hills. Dark things are afoot in the hills and Groth's tribe, The Blooddrinkers, has come under the influence of an unsavory necromancer. Under the tutelage of the necromancers fighter guardsmen Groth is now a 5th level fighter. He wears a suit of +2 Banded Mail, carries a shield that gives his followers +1 to hit if they are within a 30ft radius of Groth while he carries the shield openly on his arm and a -1 to hit to all enemies withina 30ft radiusne.. His mace is an unholy weapon that causes an extra d6 damage to clerics and paladins and is +2 to hit and damage Posted: 11-27-2020 10:30 pm Z'Lee and Ketch
Z'lee and Ketch come from a small tribe of lizardmen who share a community with the people of Saltmarsh, a prosperous port-town that has benifited enormously from this alliance. The pair had barely grown their first legs when adventurers raided their caves and only the actions of a druidess in the party saved the tribe and the town of Saltmarsh from disaster. The tribe, called 'Yellow-bellies' by humans not of the community, has grown very large and Z'lee and Ketch led an expedition in search of a possible colony site. The pair have been half-raised by humans and adventurers in particular and both possess the skills of low-level rangers rather than just those of lizardmen their age. Posted: 11-27-2020 08:38 pm Khelaret
Khelaret is of Madame Sartenna's 'Ladies'. She is of half-elven blood and Sartenna's second apprentice. She is more inclined to witchcraft than necromancy and having skills in both has proven helpful to Madame Sartenna.
Posted: 11-27-2020 07:43 pm Madame Sartenna
Madame Sartenna runs a very expensive and exclusive brothel in the Nobles Quarter of the City of Greyhawk. unbenowest to the outside world she is aa powerful necromancer and her six ladies of the night are apprentices. Not all who enter the doors of her establishment leave. In the sewers beneath her mansion are a growing number of undead. While she calls herself Rima Sartenna now her real name is Aggleroot Wortstinger. Posted: 11-27-2020 03:21 am Thorolf of Nydam
Thorolf is the Helmsman of the warleader Bovine's ship Blackwolf. On land he is always at Bovine's side and his horn sounds the summoning of the warband and at sea it calls to the other ships at night or when the fog has fallen (which it always does when approaching the Ghostland). He is a doughty warrior and hero in his own right and was once a sworn companion of Bovine's younger brother who fell in battle many seasons before.
It is said that his horn instills fear in men not of the north and that at sea it can be heard by any of Bovine's followers even if they be leagues apart. Thorolfs cloak is that of a bear and gives him strengeth, his belt is fashioned with the skull of a tusked troll and while wearing it wounds heal quickly even if they would be a mortal blow. His chestplate is from a Southron warleader and Thorolf's axe is called Oxkiller which causes terrible wounds and can split a man from head to groin. Posted: 11-27-2020 03:02 am Skirnir the Bootless
Skirnir is a young warrior of renown who follows the warleader Bovine the Bloody. Some call him a hero and he has several raids under his belt but he is from tribes of the nearer East rather than the more frigid and mountainous North as are most of the men in Bovine's warband. It is said that when he appeared among the Northern towns he had worn out the boots he appeared in crossing through a wild and uninhabited, at least by humans, land that spanned the long miles between those of North and North-East. The title 'Bootless' was bestowed upon him and many a horn's worth of blood was spilled in the honor-square fighting over this unwelcome sobriquet. Now he is only called 'Bootless' when he is beyond hearing and much less often.
His prowess is well recognized and he is always in the forefront of combat, but his temperament is not that of a leader and his achievements not quite that of those who are deemed heroes among Bovine's warband. That may change this season of raids. Already he possesses several items of note; An enchanted torque of silver that is said to protect his flesh as a suit of chain as well as a silver emblem that is said to do the same that was taken from a Southron warrior. His great axe is the work of Dwarves and is said to aid the strength he puts behind his blows so much so that he can split a shield in a single strike. Posted: 11-26-2020 08:21 pm Erik One-Eye
Erik One-Eye
Once he was Erik Red-Beard till a Southron's sword got in under his helm and took his left-eye with it. Now he is marked as one of the Raven King's chosen. Few warriors last long with one eye removed and Erik doesn't intend to stay in the land of the first-life longer than he need be.
Once he lead a warband himself but now he is one of the dozen or so heroes who accompanies Bovine on his raids west and south. He seeks the promise of the Raven King, a glorious death in battle. He disdains the use of a helm but still keeps himself armored, not seeking a gut-wound just a quick death he can see, when it comes for him.
Now he is first into a fray with no desire to stand amid a shield wall or worry that he will be struck down from his blind side. After all such a death is the promise of such a wound. He should already be dead but the Chooser has marked him so that all will know he had earned his place in the second life among the chosen heroes already. Erik is impatient to join his brethren. Posted: 11-26-2020 04:15 pm Bovine the Bloody
Bovine the Bloody
This dour warrior from the north is relatively young to command the respect and leadership of his warband. Personally he has over 180 men and women sworn to him, 3 longships worth, but as many as 8 longships have accompanied him on his southern raids. His crews are well experienced and doughty warriors but there is always a leavening of new warriors to replace those lost during raiding season. At least 30 of his followers, normally 10 per ship, will be raw recruits between the ages 14 and 16 while another 60 or so will have only 1 or 2 raiding seasons under their belt.
Of the remaining 90 or so men Bovine has two ship-leaders and a half-dozen heroes of his own standing while the bulk of the men are experienced warriors between the ages of 18-30 with a few greying oldesters in their 30's who somehow have not been chosen by the Raven King to swell his ranks in the next life.
While most of his men are normal axe and sword wielding warriors, a small group are priests of the bear-cult. These men disdain the use of armor and weapons and some take on the form of monstrous bears in battle. It is said that normal weapons do them no lasting harm or even recoil from their flesh. A number of skalds also accompany Bovine's small host. These poet-magician-priests are said to be in service of the Raven King and practice healing arts, enchantments, wizardry and even martial skills though not to the same degree as those purely wielding spear, axe or sword.
A small contingent of bowmen are aboard each ship. It is not a favored weapon of war among northerners but Bovine has among his ranks a renowned bowman from the west of the Island of Ghosts and he has trained those among Bovine's followers in the way of the Longbow. About a score of these warriors are bowmen and half-a-dozen of those coming on their first raid are apprenticed.
Among these warriors about 1/3 are swordwomen. They sale aboard a single longship and fight as a single group. They are lead by Hodra, Bovine's wife, and she is one of his two Ship-leaders. While skalds are all male, there are 3 Sedkona among Hodra's ship. These wise-woman carry staves that they use in battle both as a physical weapon but also as an item imbued with magical power. There are also a group of swordswomen, perhaps a dozen among the three-score, who know the ways of the Vol, a healing art that is similar to that practiced among the Skalds.
The heroes who follow Bovine are from various clans and tribes in the north but there are 3 dark-skinned warriors, a father and two sons, who journeyed on some quest to the far north, a wild red-haired warrior from the mountains in the north of the Ghost Land. a skald from the western islands, and even a warrior from the old empire in the southern lands who wears strange green-bronze armor and seems to know every weapon created by man. Posted: 11-26-2020 09:01 am The Stone Heads of Messerschmidt
In the great city-state of Ptolemides magic and those who wield it are as much artists as they are scholars or mystics and perhaps no one was greater at his craft than the mad sculptor-magician Messerschmidt. During his day the College of Wizards was a powerful organization and they held sway over all branches of the mystical field of study in a way that has not been seen again since.
Messerschmidt was a genius, but he had little truck with his fellow practitioners and this cost him dearly. The elders of College would not brook insolence let alone the complete disregard that Messerschmidt held them in and in a single much regretted night they smashed his studies, slew his wives and myriad children and thought to destroy the artist-wizard himself, but Messerschmidt had transported himself away to a nearby quarry to view the soul in the stone he sought for his next work. When he returned his tower was a burned out abattoir.
Over the next year Messerschmidt decimated the College of Wizards. The elders, staff and many of its students became the 'work' of the sculptor and instead of rendering stone into works of art and magic he rendered magicians into stone and artifacts of power.
There are dozens of these stone heads still in existence. They are the souls of mighty dweomencrafters frozen into paroxysms of emotion. Each alone benefits its possessor, acting as guardians most often, voicing alarms, summoning spells and creatures as they might have in life. The more that are brought together the more powerful they become.
A single head will act as a magic mouth unless the name of the magician whose soul is trapped within the stone is known. Then the head will be able to cast a single first level spell as if it were a first level magic-user. If the possessor of the head is also a magic-user they themselves will be granted the casting of an extra 1st level spell at 1st level once per day if they are within 100feet of the head.
With every extra stone head in possession the level and ability of the heads and the possessor increases by one. Two stone heads act as a single 2nd level mage and grant the same to the possessor of the heads within the 100 foot radius of this enchantment's reach. Through the years there has been a constant struggle to gain as many of these stone heads as possible. Many have been lost though whether they actually be destroyed is not known.
It is rumored that each head possesses unique abilities as well as curses and the number of heads is rumored to grow if used too often or if too many are gathered together. A wizard may possess twelve of these stone heads only for his apprentices to find thirteen come morning and no master to be found.
Posted: 11-26-2020 08:50 am The Horned Helms of Toszar Khan
Toszar Khan is the name the Wildmen of the North give to a Shaman-King from their distant past. The people of the more civilized Southlands know little of him. He ruled a vast empire and united the North from the Shores of the Ice seas and the blue-painted savages that now inhabit the northern highlands of the isle of Ghosts to the endless eastern plains of ice and snow that the Reindeer People drift across in their colorful and luxurious caravans and whose command of the elements keeps them safe from their dangerous cousins and outlanders who would ravage them.
That Toszar Khan ruled a vast city of stone older than the memory of man is undisputed. The broken towers and weed-choked streets can be found half-sunken into the Ice Marsh close to the edge of the great north wall the Southerns built to stem the tide of northern raids. Toszar Khan raised the city from the marsh, supported its foundations of the backs of summoned elementals of stone and earth, and at his death by the sword of the hero Culen Fairhair it sank once again into its chilly slumber.
But during the time of the shaman-king the old chieftains were dragged from their barrows and adorned with the horned helms of Toszar Khan. These were his warleaders, his strongest guardians and the greatest shame of his people who honored the dead and their dead heroes most of all.
Three of these helmed corpses have survived the death of the shaman-king. Most often they can be found in the old city of stone Zar-Kelen within the broken ziggurat where Toszar Khan was slain, but they often travel to and dwell within their own violated barrows to the north and east of the city.
Once their had been a score of the helmed servants but now only three remain.
The Bear, the oldest of the three. His helm is topped with the skull of a bear and his face masked by a cross of bronze, His body is marked with the old symbols of his achievements and power. He was a shaman-king himself and he wields unholy magic as well as martial power. His helm not only animates his cold, dead flesh (as it all the helms will do) it allows him to summon the spirits of dead beasts to fight for and serve him,
The Corpse-King, he is seen here between his fellows. The youngest and one of the last chieftains who was honored with a barrow before the old ways were abandoned during the years of the great plague and the burning of the dead began. His flesh is unmarked, though a sickly cold green-blue with the dark-slime that runs through his body instead of blood same as his brethren, and his helm is graven with the markings from the old pre-human foundations of the city, and his face masked by the bronzed breast-bones of a man. He is the most skilled with weapons of his brethren fighting with a southern longsword in one hand and a short-sword from the old southern empire in the other. He can summon all those he kills to fight for him though their bodies rot quickly and within a week collapse into a pile of putrid flesh and bones. Animals detest him and flee from him. Animal dead will attack him on sight unless controlled by his brethren.
The Ram. His fleshed is inscribed with the marks of a chain. Once he was enslaved by the Southerns and fought in their arena of death. Somehow he returned to the north and claimed leadership among the outlaws and bandits of the northern mountains. His helm has the skull of a ram upon it and he can summon the elementals of earth and stone to serve him. His resting place was a barrow of stone at the foot of the first mountain in the north and it is rumored that great treasures were buried within him but deep within the mountains roots, protected by all those The Ram defeated in combat, from the south to the shaggy mountain tribesmen of the far north to great beasts and monsters that few other encountered and lived to tell the tale. Posted: 11-26-2020 08:34 am Amaris
Amaris - Half-Elf -Cleric/Ranger Str 13/ Wis 17/ Dex 17
Amaris was brought up on the outskirts of Greyhawk with no memory of her parents. She was found wandering along the edges of the Gnarley Forest by a hunter and was raised among his own large brood of children. Her Half-elven heritage was readily apparent but whether it was her mother or her father who was the human was unknown. The elves of Celene and their kin would not acknowledge her and no one in the area north and east of the Gnarley knew where she had come from.
Her adopted father Calder at first took no more interest in her than his other numerous children but soon her natural ability at woodscraft and her skill with the bow made her his constant companion. With Calder's son Jerek and his daughter Caren, both older than Amaris, he hunted up and down the east of the Gnarley and sold his pelts, smoked meats and exotic catches to buyers in the City of Greyhawk itself. It was there that Amaris became devotee of the Wandering God Fharlanghn.
For many years Amaris wandered the Gnarly Forest and the Welkwood increasing her skills as a ranger and practicing her faith among those that needed the God's bounty. She became a companion to a Half-Elf druid who had a grove in the northern Welkwood but on his death at the hands of a group of mercenaries in the service of the Elder Elemental God she began to devote herself to hunting all such down.
While Amaris will still help those in need, especially wanderers, she is now found more often on quests involving the death of cultist, brigands and rogues or the despoiling of their places of power or worship. She turns to her bow more often than her prayers to Fharlanghn and is much distrusting and wary than her younger self would ever have imagined. Posted: 11-26-2020 08:02 am Ch'lvendn
Ch'lvendn - M-U Lvl 9 H.P. 27 AC: (10)
Ch'lvendn was born on the rolling hills of the northern plains beyond the city of Uzuldaroum near the Lake of Rust. She traveled with her people the Barovoz who cross the empty places between the northern cities in long caravans protected by their horsemen, their shamans and their wielders of magic (who are all female among the Barovoz). Her mother was a powerful figure in the council of the Three Elders who lead them and her daughter inherited much of her mother's ability but none of her desire to stay among the people.
When Ch'lvendn was old enough to become a journeywoman among the practitioners of magic she disappeared from the Barovoz during a quest to the ruins of once great Commoriom and traveled south and east increasing her skill, finding adventure and making a small name for herself among the cities and people of the more populous and less cold south.
Currently she has a small residence in the City-State of Ptolemides but she is not often found at home. She is no longer the teenage girl riding fearlessly away from all that she once knew, but her desire for power, treasure and adventure is still as strong. Posted: 11-26-2020 07:58 am Charybdes
Charybdes
She was born in the depths of the Abyss, skin of alabaster and hair like living fire, delicate and supple as a willow, her eyes blazing with the flames of her birth and her wings, stretched and formed of flesh as of a serpent, showed her Daemonic origin. Her creator, Veles, was with her in that moment when those ruby eyes awoke to the pain and delight of new life and she felt the hunger of her empty soul.
Veles filled her and left within her the seed of knowledge. She lived a thousand lifetimes in a clouded breath. Felt death and love, fulfillment and longing and with a soft, sharp cry was possessed by such lore that the sages of earth would lease their souls to attain.
She fell to her knees and drew her serpent-skinned wings about herself and though she could not sleep or dream she closed her eyes and found herself shivering naked amid a landscape of ice and freezing stone. There was a small chain of silver-coated iron about her ankle, silver so that it would not sear her flawless skin, and a collar of the same about her throat. Her eyes looked on all this in wonder and her mind drank in the new world around her so different from the place of her birth, the fire that gave no light or darkness which nourished her. This bright cold world was a torment and she wept.
She knew of time but had not experienced it till the light began to dim and the cold became a thousand knives that cut at her, but the darkness, the darkness was very sweet. When the light was gone she unfolded her wings, shook them and broke a shell of ice which had formed about her. She could not fly and although she had never flown knew that flight called to her as Veles had called to her, but the chain of iron and silver bound her to the stone and she could find no release.
Charybides stood and stretched her wings till they scraped against the cold walls of rock at her sides. She stood like the daughter of a God stepping from the bleeding cavity of his skull or a vision from the heart of a shell rising from the ocean deeps. Hers was a grace that no mortal could ever duplicate.
The chain sounded in a small chorus, its links had been adorned with bells and they pealed with tiny voices as she moved. A deeper louder fuller bell gonged in the distance. Charybides stopped, not in fear as she knew fear only as an idea, and listened. From a point beyond where she was there came the deep bell and a rumble that she could feel through the soles of her feet making the tiny bells of her chains cry out in small voices in response.
The light had not returned and she could see, not as a mortal sees, but in the way that fire sees. She watched the darkness blaze with colors that moved and danced and flowed like the crashing of waves.
To be continued... Posted: 11-26-2020 05:09 am The Island Fortress of Boyan the Wizard Part 1
Hyperborea
The Island Fortress of Boyan the Wizard Part 1
Before the time of man there were the Gods. Perun the Thunderer was the strongest and Veles the Snake was his brother. They split the world and chose the realms that they would rule. The contest they fought over this choice raised mountains in ash and fire, caused storms that drained the sea and floods that swept the Earth bare. While Perun was the stronger Veles was smarter, crafty and skilled with magic.
The struggle went on for ages and they created allies from the seeds of life to be found. The early Lizard Kings and their beasts aided them, but while they were the first children of Veles many were swayed by the raw power of Perun and betrayed their divine father. As the strife continued and the ages passed all manner of bird, beast and finally man were created.
The northern top of the world was carved from the earth and moved to a place beyond time. It became a gateway to other places, other times and other possibilities. It became a place of legend. It became Hyperborea.
***
Boyan the Wizard is a servant of Veles. He has ruled the northern islands for countless years, but it has been years longer since he was last seen. Still the people of the islands have been under his rulership for all the years that he has been gone. Boyan's fortress is set upon one of a cluster of small islands near the northern coast. His ships and flying beasts kept the farmers and fisherman of the towns and villages under check, collected the tithes in slaves and treasure, and recruited boys to become soldiers in the wizard's service.
Then the storm came and with the crash of lightening, the lash of torrential rain, the wind that broke walls, uprooted trees and foundered ships, the secret worshipers of Perun rose up and struck against the servants of Boyan and regained their freedom.
For long weeks the last of the wizard's servants were hunted down, but to everyone's surprise there has been no sign of the wizard or his steward and the council of apprentices who rule in the name of the wizard. Finally an expedition has been put together; warriors, clerics of Perun and the hidden Gods, magicians (who are not entirely trusted) and even thieves from Debent, largest of the towns formerly under the sway of the Boyan. With a small ship and crew who will take them to the wizard's fortress and then retreat to the safety of the nearby islands to prepare a camp and wait for a signal to return, this adventurous group will set out to explore the fortress and report back on what they find.
This is an open ended adventure for 5 to 10 characters levels 4 to 6. A well balanced party is recommended. (Welcome to the 1st draft). Posted: 11-26-2020 04:06 am Gizurr - Berserker - Northman
Gizurr - Berserker - Northman
-Ftr 6th Lvl - HP 56 (94 when Berserk) - AC 9 (4 when Berserk) +1 To hit (+3 to Hit/ +3 Dmg when Berserk). Immune to all spells and effects which attempt to slow, bind, charm, transmute or render unconscious while Berserk.
Gizuur lives in the hills above the fjord. He has been blessed by the Raven God with the red strength that comes from the old blood of bears. He is a sworn man to Rolfr and accompanies him on raids or when called upon at the settlement around the Fjord. When not raiding or fighting for Rolfr he works as a miner in the old caves and sells the red iron ore to the local smiths.
Once per day he can choose to go berserk (see Note). As a berserk wearing armor or even clothing is difficult as his muscles increase in size and he can split seams or cause damage to himself from the leather straps or chain links. He chooses to wear no shirt and only a loose kilt-like wrap of animal fur around his loins. For a weapon he wields an old axe called "Skull-Splitter" which can split a man from pate to breast bone on a natural '20' (double-damage on a save versus death magic otherwise an instant kill). Only those in a Berserk state can wield 'Skull-Splitter' properly and it is considered a holy weapon blessed by the Raven King.
Note: Those blessed by the Raven King can go into a wild state called Berserking once per day. They can summon this state in a single combat round and it will last for 2 combat for every point of their constitution. Their strength becomes exceptional and they are at +3 to Hit and +3 to Damage. Their AC becomes AC4 unless they are wearing armor of some sort which raises them to AC6 till it is removed. Many berserkers fight in the nude and at the very least fight bare-chested. Wearing metal armor causes 2HP of damage per combat round and leather armor will split and fall from their arms and chest.
Berserkers gain HP equal to their maximum for both their level and their constitution bonus with a 10HP bonus. Thus a 6th level fighter with 18 constitution would have 94HP while berserk. If a berserker is injured beyond his natural HP he will collapse after leaving the berserk state, if he is injured to a point more than 10HP below his natural HP he will die immediately upon leaving the berserk state.
While in a berserk state the berserker is immune to all spells and effects magical that would cause him to be bound, lose consciousness, be hasted or slowed, charmed, or transmuted. He is immune to natural poison, pain, or injuries that would render him unconscious.
Once all enemies are dead a berserker will turn on his friends and most save versus spells to keep them for every combat round that the berserk state is in effect. A berserker cannot control the length of his berserk state (2xConstitution in combat rounds) and must remain berserk for the entire duration. Once a Berserker has left his berserk state he will be at -4 to Hit and -4 damage till he has rested for at least 12 hours. Posted: 11-26-2020 02:24 am Them Bones
Them Bones
Jarrod the Carver was a warrior-mage from the land of the Narve, a mountainous country north of the One Hundred Cities. He was known for his love of chance and his wondrous magical creations and of those creations his dice are perhaps the most famous and sought after. He is said to have made a hundred sets of each kind and scattered them across the world. Each of the die was crafted from the bones of some animal or person. Many have similar effects, such as simply summoning that particular animal (his six-sided die of the Owlbear is particularly popular and legendary), but others are unique, some trivial, some beautiful and some horrific.
Here are some of his dice.
1) The Die of Flowers
This pyramid shaped object has four sides with an intricate carving of a flower on each face. It appears to be made of stone but has no weight to it and if thrown will float in the air about ten feet from he who threw it and rise to the caster's eye-level. The effect of the die occurs in the same segment it has been cast, lasts for 1d4 rounds and afterwards the die drops gently to the ground.
The first face of the die causes a storm of flowers to flow from it in a cone shape that will fill a ten foot high, ten foot wide and thirty foot long (10x10x30) area away from the caster of the die. This cloud of flowers will disrupt the casting of spells, normal and shouted conversations as the flowers tend to get in people's mouths if they are trying to speak, and ranged combat as they completely obscure everything in the area of the cloud. Melee combat is considered Blind Combat with an extra -2 penalty to hit for anyone in the cloud as the flying flowers are distracting even to anyone with an ability to fight blinded. Firing into the area of effect is also at negative modifier (-6 to hit) as all objects in the area of effect are completely obscured even to those looking toward them from outside the cloud of flowers. The torn petals remain as a colorful carpet after the spell has been cast, but they are simply a common variety though quite edible.
2) The Dice of Caltrops (and Jarrod's Bag of Dice)
Another pyramid shaped die of which several are normally available at the same time. The reason for this is Jarrod's Bag of Dice (see item 3.). A Die of Caltrops shows an icon of from one to four caltrops on its faces and when cast (or thrown, which is the safer method) it will spread out a layer of caltrops (either the small kind used against man-sized creatures or the large kind used against horse-sized creatures depending on the type of Die possessed. The die that produces the human-sized caltrops is smooth green while the horse-sized come from a die that is mottled red and blue). The layer will be from a ten to forty foot area centered around the cast Die. The caster of the die can walk through this field of caltrops without risk as long as he is in possession of the Dice Bag which spawned the Die (see item 3) but otherwise he will suffer the same damage as anyone else caught within a section covered in the caltrops.
Unlike normal caltrops which sit and hope for someone to step on them Jarrod's caltrops are more proactive. Anyone stepping into a 10 foot by 10 foot area will find caltrops underfoot no matter where or how carefully they step. Passing through the area causes 2d4 damage and reduces movement by 50% for 1d6 combat rounds unless the damage is somehow healed. Each time someone passes again through a 10x10 section of Jarrod's caltrops they must roll again for damage and add another 1d4 of combat rounds of movement speed reduction to their original total.
The caltrops from the Die have a chameleon ability that allows them to blend in with their surroundings rendering them effectively invisible. They do radiate magic and they will appear to any type of detect trap spell. These caltrops cannot be swept aside or regathered and remain in the area they originally covered unless disspelled.
3) Jarrod's Bag of Dice
In the creation of his dice Jarrod realized that some must be crafted so that in the casting of the die the effect would consume the die itself. In order to free himself of the necessity of recrafting these useful objects each time he used them Jarrod created one of his most powerful, remarkable and temperamental magic items. The Bag of Dice is a semi-sentient magic item the least of which (for there are many species of them) is highly valued and sought after. Each Bag of Dice has both an intelligence and an ego. They can speak, but only to their possessor's who they tend to adopt as pets though some treat more like servants. Bag's of Dice must be fed. At least one spell must be fed to them each day or a magical effect or a physical magic item. They have limited ability of movement (hunching and crawling like an inchworm) and the more powerful and intelligent have learned to cast spells of their own (especially after consuming scrolls, potions and various magic items). For all the trouble that they can be and cause, the rewards of possessing one of these Bag's of Dice are immediate and obvious as they birth magic dice the way a chicken lays eggs. A Bag of Dice can 'lay' one magic die per week. These dice will be found within the interior of the bag though once removed they can be stored anywhere. The Dice have a sense of the Dice Bag and using a magic Die without possessing the Bag which spawned it will impose some risk upon the caster of the Die. The normal limit of how many unconsumed Dice children a Bag will spawn before becoming reproductively inactive in an even dozen (the Bag will create 12 Dice and if they are unused, stop producing more, if 1 Die is used it will produce 1 more. This amount is called a 'carton'. Only 1 carton of Dice may exist at one time per Bag). Posted: 11-26-2020 01:45 am The Daemon Tells His Tale
The Daemon Tells His Tale
By Jason Zavoda
Your world is cold and plain as the skin of a virgin stretched on a drying rack. What I can tell you of the places beyond thought and behind reality would make you cry tears of blood, make you scream till your throat was stripped raw, pleasure you beyond pain and understanding.
Can you see the colors of death? Can you taste the sublime flavors of damnation or hear the unending chorus of those trapped between the veil of life and the curtain of eternity? You would have me rip a handful of threads from the weave of fate and place them in your grasp though each strand would flay your soul. Truly I would laugh at such a sight and bask in the radiance of your torment.
Would you sail with me on the boat of dreams past the boundary of the sane? Take bleeding wings sewn with the severed silver thread that binds your spirit safe to Earth?
The mystic heavens have no place for mortal travelers. To hear of what far fabled lands reside beyond the birth of the moon and the far reaches of the outer dark will set you on a path that will forever take you from the world of man.
There is no safety in words. They will not shield you from the horror of the empty dark. The words are a doorway, a gate to fear and wonder, that once opened can never be closed.
I will tell you of places unreachable filled with the nameless and the unimaginable from which there is no return. Posted: 11-26-2020 12:34 am Rolfr
Rolfr - HouseKarl - Northman
- Ftr 7th Lvl HP72 AC(9) {0 in +3 Chain Shirt} [-1 with +1 Shield]
RuneHelm - The runes for clear vision are inscribed on Rolfr's helm. The helm itself is dwarf-forged steel but the enchantment is good skaldish work. Wearing the helm allows Rolfr to see through fog and minor spells that would alter perception (up to 3rd level and thereafter giving him a +3 save against higher level spells where allowed). He also gains a +3 save against attacks that would cause blindness and increases his general eyesight by 20ft as well as allowing him to see that much greater in dim light or moon light. These runes were crafted only for Rolfr and the helm is only well crafted steel to anyone else.
Arrowcatcher - This shield gives a +1 bonus to armor class but it also draws any normal arrows, slingstones or darts to be attracted to it and bounce off harmlessly. Enchanted projectiles are unaffected.
Silk-Metal - This chain shirt was crafted by an elvish people beholding to Rolfr's kin. It is a family heirloom and will be ransomed if seized in battle. If not ransomed then it will be the object if quests and bounty to have it returned. It provides a +3 bonus to armor class and has the texture of silk against the skin of the wearer as well as weighing only as much as a shirt of the same material.
Drawn Blood - is a bastard sword of elven origin but altered by a Northern songsmith of the Eastern lands. It bears an enchantment that allows it a +2 bonus to hit but the songsmith made sure that any wounds would bleed for an addition 1d6 damage with a 20% chance that the wounded would swoon from blood loss and suffer a -2 AC and -2 to Hit penalty for the next round of combat.
The Green Cloak - Allows Roflr to ignore enchantments that might slow or trap him.
The Red Pants - these pants absorb 1 HP of damage for every damage dealing attack against Rolfr. If an attack only causes 1 HP damage then Rolfr is unharmed.
Posted: 11-25-2020 07:04 pm A Noise That Seemed Afraid Of Silence
A Noise That Seemed Afraid Of Silence
Beyond the coasts of Sange is an island in the Sea of Twilight. The sea itself is a place of beauty and terror, but the island, which has no name, is a place of ending. When the people of Sange weary of all things they seek this island for there is no true ending in Sange only life followed by life.
The Sea of Twilight can only be sailed by Death and finding Death in Sange is a hard thing. To kill a man or a woman, an animal or thing is possible but death lasts only an instant and the spirit of those of Sange who are killed flies free like a gleam of silver moonlight before it is gone to find life again.
The spirit of the dead must be caught in a cage of mirrors baited with a dream; A dream of power, of love, anger, tears, betrayal, revenge or remorse. The cage is capped with the frozen eye of a mage and the breath of despair. Then the body of the dead will be at the command of the holder of the cage and the journey to the island can begin.
There is a fear that has come to Sange. Dreams have become nightmares and the land, though always hard and often cruel, has lost the wonder, pleasure and enchantment that made unending life a joy instead of a wearisome burden or horrific punishment. The soothsayers, the oracles and the prophets speak of the island on the Sea of Twilight and say that only there can the answer to this curse be found.
Someone or some group of someones must make this journey, find Death to sail the ship, cross the Sea of Twilight and walk upon the island from which no one has returned. Great dreamers are called to this quest from all of Sange, dreamers brave and strong, of the mind and arm, heart and spirit before the darkness which has settled upon the land has ended every song, silenced every voice, broken the spirits of those who have lived a thousand lives and made Sange into a prison of nightmare and torment. Posted: 11-25-2020 04:21 am Minstrel Tales - The Bold Hommlet Farmer
The Bold Hommlet Farmer
Here is a ditty that is about a small village on the road north to Verbobonc. In the inns and taverns of the area a quick gulp of ale is normally taken at the end of each chorus.
One evening of late into Hommlet I strayed and bound for Verbobonc I was making me way At the Welcome Wench some time I delayed For to wet me auld whistle with Keoish
To Hommlet, To Hommlet, To Hommlet I strayed To Hommlet, To Hommlet To Hommlet I strayed The road to Verbobonc was dry as a bone The road to Verbobonc Was dry as a bone
I scarcely had travelled a mile of the road When I heard a dispute in a farmer's abode There stood a bandit, an ill looking toad And the wife of a bold Hommlet farmer
Chorus
"You're a robber" the bold farmer's wife she replied "You're as bad as a goblin with whom you abide But the men of Burne's Badgers will put down your pride They'll be here like lightning in front of a storm
Chorus
I spaded me fist and I picked up me stick and behind that foul bandit like a mouse I did trip Then with all my strength I gave him a lick and the bold farmer's wife was adoring (Loosely adapted from 'The Bold Tenant Farmer') Posted: 11-24-2020 07:58 pm Lost Library of Q'Sh - Tradesman's Entrance - Part 1
Lost Library of Q'Sh - Tradesman's Entrance
Part 1
The area around the Lost Library of Q'Sh is wilderness with the once nearby towns and villages long abandoned and swallowed by forest. The road to and from the library was once wide, well paved and maintained but the trees have claimed the once open track as they have claimed worked fields and town squares. Time and the elements and the gnawing roots of trees have not been kind to the works of man.
The library itself was made of sterner stuff, carved from a wide plateau of rock and descending untold depths into the earth, the work was at the hands of dwarven craftsmen, miners and masons; built as a repository of knowledge for the ages not just the life of a man or even a civilization.
If only those protecting the library had been as enduring as stone.
The Tradesman's Entrance -
The Forest
The area surrounding the Tradesman's entrance to the library is in a long narrow, heavily-wooded valley. The roadway that once marched evenly down the valley floor, raised above a fast flowing stream, has long since disappeared and the stream is now the only direct path to the wide southern gateway.
The valley forest is strangely empty of any large animal life except for a pair of giant-weasels that hunt by day and a patrol of kobolds who check their traps for small game by night.
If the players approach by day they may discover the tracks of a brown bear leading into the valley. A fresh trail can be found broken through the underbrush and in a small clearing near a recently uprooted tree is the scene of a desperate battle. A large brown bear lies dead atop the body of a giant-weasel. A second weasel is tangled amid the roots of the upturned tree. A small 1hp brown bear cub sits forlornly by its mother's body while the body of a dead cub is resting where the weasel dropped it; in the deep depression left by the roots of the tree.
The bear cub is very young and will bond with anyone feeding it. If abandoned the cub will attempt to follow the party. If cared for the cub could become a faithful animal companion, but keeping it alive as it is a 1HP AC9 creature could prove challenging.
The Stream
Once an icy-cold and fast flowing water that ran beside the raised roadway; the valley stream has become a slow and shallow flow of water skirting tumbled rocks as it leads toward the southern entrance of the library. To the west the valley wall rises higher as the water flows south ending in the pool at Area 1). before curving along the outer wall heading east and disappearing into a crevice and into the dungeons below.
Movement along the stream is not difficult but the bed is filled with loose stone and combat for anyone standing in the stream-bed is at -1 to hit.
The east forested bank of the stream is about ten-feet above the shallow water. During the spring storms flood waters will raise the stream from mere inches to a height that will easily overflow the ten-foot banks. The bank has been worn down in several places where kobolds have beaten down animal paths that reached the stream.
If the valley is entered at night there is a chance of encountering the kobold patrol or the group gathering small prey from their series of traps. (During the day it is possible to find the kobolds' traps which are simple wire snares).
A. Patrol
The kobold patrol consists of one sub-leader of 4hp AC5 (suit of homemade leather armor) armed with a barbed throwing spear dmg 1d4 (+ 1hp dmg to remove unless save under Dex is made) and a dagger he uses as a short sword dmg 1d4+1 (due to strength).
8 2hp AC7 kobolds armed with 1d4 damage stabbing spears.
The leader has a small belt pouch with a round gold sphere (if examined it will be revealed as the head of a small statue that radiates magic faintly).
The Trap Gatherers.
The trap gatherers consist of 12 kobolds that will split off into six groups of two. One kobold will be 2hp AC7 the other 1hp. The 2hp kobold has a stabbing spear 1d4 dmg and the other kobold is unarmed and will run away if attacked (or if any strangers are encountered). If forced to fight the 1hp kobolds can only inflict 1hp dmg.
Raising the Alarm Both the Patrol and the Trap Gathers will try to race back to their warrens (1a-1e) and raise the alarm about intruders rather than to stay and fight. If a single adventurer is encountered the Patrol leader might try to swarm them but will still send one member of his patrol back to the warrens. Posted: 11-24-2020 06:28 pm UnderOerth map location C-19 - South-West Tunnel
Underoerth map location C-19 - South-West Tunnel
Heading west the tunnel branches into three before entering this location.
The south-west tunnel is of double the normal width and heads downward. Signs of recent travel as well as maintenance are visible.
A dwarf might recognize the work of supporting columns as well as the drainage and ventilation shafts being of dwarvish work. A successful search for secret doors 10 yards down the south-west passage will reveal a locked hidden doorway. The lock is also of fine workmanship and is at -10% to pick for non-dwarves. The room inside is 20feet from the door to the back wall and 40feet long following the south-west tunnel. The wall separating the room from the tunnel is an even foot-and-a-half thick.
Inside the room, whose ceiling is only 6feet, are a half-a-dozen bunks of dwarven size showing recent occupation. Chests at the foot of each bunk contain only blankets for the bunks, but each has a false bottom. Inside each hidden compartment are 1d6 healing potions, a week's worth of iron rations, a one gallon water canteen, a +2 dagger that is of dwarven workmanship but like drowic weaponry will disenchant and crumble if exposed to sunlight or taken to the upper world for more than a month.
A cloak and weapon rack is against one wall, but everything is sized for dwarves. Two of the half dozen picks in the weapon rack are enchanted and allow the wielder to tunnel through 20feet of rock as if it were stone once a day if the rune of activation, engraved on pock-head, is touched and the activation word, "spelunker", and "gravy" is spoken in the dialect of 'Deep Dwarven'. There are also various shovels, hammer, chisels, coils of rope and masonry tools contained in the rack. There are 3 cloaks, dwarven sized, that give +2 armor class if the wearer is beneath the earth and near stone.
The door can be secured on the inside with an iron crossbar and there are two hidden holes at dwarven eye-level for looking out into the passage. Posted: 11-24-2020 04:15 am The Guardsmen of Ptolemides
The Guardsmen of Ptolemides
The lost and ancient city of Ptolemides sits on the coast of an ocean that has no name beneath strange stars which sing eerily in the darkness for those who have the fate to hear them. Long ago, it is said, the Hellenic fleet that came upon this land, discovered a vast ruined city on whose foundation they built temples and homes, but others say that Ptolemides has always been as it is now, taken complete to the last stone from their homeland, but all agree that the shifting skies and mist shrouded land, the cold waters of the ocean, are not and will never be 'home'.
Those who guard the gates and walls of the city, those who walk the streets or stand against the peoples and creatures which approach the environs of Ptolemides bear the arms and armor of the Hellenes from long ago, but over the years, how many is not known as time flows strangely in the land around Ptolemides, they have become a mixed group of Hellene and wanderer, conquered or barbarian outsiders.
The traditional arms of Ptolemides guardians is a full helm with cheek and noseguard; a breastplate of steel and shield of embossed wood and leather with a bronze edge. An armored skirt is worn and greaves that protect from ankle to knee. The ancient short-spear suitable for thrusting or throwing and a short-sword are the normal armaments for a Ptolemides guardsman. Some short-bows are still in use but the crossbow was introduced to the city in past years and the guardsmen took to its use immediately, both light and heavy cross bows are used,.
The basic patrol group is a 'Hand' of five guardsmen. One experienced guard in charge with one veteran and a mix of three green recruits or city reserves. The green recruits gain experience in the city and once they become veterans join the patrols that march or ride outside the walls if needed. Reserve guardsmen serve for several weeks a year as their work permits but a good excuse is needed if they don't answer a summons to duty.
Green recruits are chosen at the age of 16 (men and women) and may serve as guardsmen all their useful lives. Those who are trained as reserves also begin their training and selection at age 16 but are generally not called upon past the age 40. Both male and female Hellenes serve in the guard and are trained as reserves. Posted: 11-24-2020 04:07 am Muskethulhu - Die Akademie der Blinden
Die Akademie der Blinden
Terrible things happened during the great war; the creation of the Stahlköpfe was one of them. After the death of the East German King Maximilian and the destruction of the green stone talisman, the aptly named Der Grüne Stern, which had protected the powerful among the Holy Roman Empire for millennia, a study was made of the fragments; inside was found a map of silver wire. Prince Rudolph, soon to crowned king of the East Germans, oldest son of Maximilian, enlisted the aid of the feared magister-alchemist Anselmus Boëtius de Boodt.
Driven from the Celtoi lands and cast out from his own Belgai clan de Boodt wandered for years in the far north among the Nords, then to the Witch-lands of the east among the Suomalainen and the Zavoloshka. Where he went next is unknown but one day he appeared in Praha and soon his fame and skills became legendary. Rudolph was a dabbler in the occult and in his own palatial mansion within the city was home to alchemists and magicians, priests of many gods, cultists, madmen, mathematicians, artists and philosophers; de Boodt became his mentor and most trusted advisor.
Researching the green stone of the shattered amulet de Boodt discovered the map and deciphered its meaning. A path through the silvered land of moonlight led to Ultima Thule, the fabled land of the far north which de Boodt had searched for during his wanderings. First the ship was crafted that could sail the moonlight and then the expedition. Rudolph set aside his throne in favor of his brother Mathias and journeyed north with de Boodt and a company of explorers, men of learning, men of power, and warriors.
The ship sailed on the night of the new moon and returned on the last beams as it waxed, but years had passed for Rudolph, de Boodt and their company. Men had died, Rudolph had become 'transformed', strange and inhuman followers returned with them, the first of the Stahlköpfe, and soon after, on the outskirts of Praha, Die Akademie der Blinden was formed.
Within the hold of Rudolph's Mond Schiff were crates filled with a metal that appeared as silver but was stronger than steel. From this metal close-fitting helms were made that could never be removed. They were crafted like a long skull-cap that poured back over the neck and down over the forehead over the bridge of the nose and covering both eyes of the wearer. In the place of eyes were carved fragments of green stone. These were the Stahlkopfe. They could see what was not meant to be seen. They saw beyond the dark, beyond life, beyond a veil that hides what should not be and in seeing they became blind to all that makes a man not a monster.
Die Akademie der Blinden produces these monsters to serve the Emperor, the East German king, but first and foremost to serve Rudolph and de Boodt. It is said that when a Stahlkopfe dies the helm melts away like moonlight and the body transforms. It is only then that another recruit is summoned to Der Akademie der Blinden and another Stahlkopfe is created to serve.
Posted: 11-24-2020 02:35 am Muskethulhu - Az Ehes Kastély
Az Ehes Kastély
Much of the fighting in the great war occurred in Magyarország. Some places within that vast kingdom have not recovered, may never recover. One such place is Az Ehes Kastely. This palace was built on the remains of an earlier castle, a dark and evil place once the home of an evil prince whose battle with the Persian and their Turkic nomad allies is renowned to this day for the terror and inhuman acts of both sides.
Unknown to all but the prince were the sunless caverns beneath the castle and the relics of a bygone age when hideous creatures slipped past the veil of creation from the cold empty spaces between the stars and crawled across the earth; Relics and shadows and things that only the dank and reeking corruptions of stone and fungus warped and tainted by the presence of these elder and unwholesome beings could succor. The prince's mind, drained of humanity, twisted by evil and mad beyond hope still balked at the very hint of that which lurked within the black void of these primordial depths, but at the last, when the walls of his great keep were crumbling from the fire the Persians lit about them and shattering from the great stones thrown from the massive siege engines which had broken the outer walls, the prince opened a small door within the caverns and within his mind and the Evők a Lélek were freed.
No Persian or Turk ever returned home from that siege. No Magyar warrior survived to tell the tale. Haunted dreams of the villagers who had fled to the stone jungle of the hills and ravines about the prince's castle gave a vivid picture of the empty husks of men that stumbled beneath the keep and among the siege line and tents of the invaders.
As the centuries passed first a Magyar clan-chief, then a royal lord returned to the site of the castle. The Persians had fallen back to ancient borders in their ancient home; their Turkic nomad allies now settled in a kingdom in its own right, the southern pass had become secluded and disused. The lord removed the crumbled stone, built a palace upon the foundations of the keep, dragged away the rubble of the outer walls to flatten the space for lawn and garden. And then the great war began. Once more Turkish horsemen discovered the old abandoned trails to the north and the roar of cannon and musket shattered the peace as assuredly as the stones of the past had shattered the walls. As the great armies clashed a door never fully closed opened within the caverns beneath the palace and the Evők a Lélek returned.
The starved and desiccated bodies of the dead, Magyar and Turk, were found throughout the area. The nightmares returned to the villagers in their old hideaways among the hills. In the years since few come to Az Ehes Kastély and it is said that even fewer return. Posted: 11-24-2020 12:19 am Muskethulhu Roheisen Festung
Roheisen Festung
At the mouth of the Vistula River, surrounded by the wildling tribes of the Old Faith stands Roheisen Festung home to the Rotes Eisen Brüderlichkeit, a once proud knightly order, now an organization of violence, terror and evil that has seldom been matched in history. Blood drenches their walls and the ground around their massive fortress-monastery where unspeakable rites and demonical tortures are a daily occurrence.
From their walls ride the armored men and mounts festooned with the shriveled hands of their victims, dried blood and dark rust etched into their flesh and plate. A blight comes from the ground about the fortress. Man and beast fall to the Red Death, the plants and trees writhe as if in pain, bloated worms, some as big as an ox, move through the soaked earth and the susurrations of a thousand thousand bloated flies is never ending.
Those who fall to the blight will eventually find their way to the Roheisen Festung and swell the growing numbers of the Rotes Eisen Brüderlichkeit. Posted: 11-23-2020 08:34 pm Muskethulhu - Der Palast des Herzogs Weiss
Der Palast des Herzogs Weiss
Herzog Rupert Von Whilhelm of the Holy Roman Empire is said to be the most cunning and evil man in all the Germanies. His rise to power was accompanied by the great war between Gaeliqa, his own Holy Roman Empire, and the endless plains of the Rus and Magyars to the east. To the south the Hellenes, Persian Empire, and Thothland joined in. Even the Five Kingdoms of Hind, The Great Han Empire and Nippon were drawn into what has become known as the World War. Some say it was the assassination of the East German King Franz that began the war, his body torn apart in a sealed chamber within his schloss, the shattered remains of his pendant Der Grüne Stern scattered about the limbs and disemboweled torso of the king.
According to Dame Petite-Colline and known only to certain of her subordinates within the Enquêteur-Alchimiste Société and the Emperor himself, it was Rupert who summoned That Which Comes from Shadows and through the sacrifice of King Franz's wife and children caused the king to destroy Der Grune Stern which protected him.
Rupert's power has increased dramatically and what evil he plans within his palace none have been able to divine. Posted: 11-23-2020 06:19 pm Muskethulhu - La Cour du Labyrinthe d'eau
La Cour du Labyrinthe d'eau
Home to the noted scholar and alienest Etienne Quatre-Etoiles there is said to be no finer collection of strange and ancient tomes within the Empire of Gaeliqa. The water-maze, which gives the vast mansion its name, contains a spring which never dries at its center, though finding one's way to the heart is a spiritual undertaking as well as physically and mentally challenging. Anyone attempting to plumb the depth of the maze must first navigate the fountains and pools to find its entrance which only appears on the first night of a new moon or the last night of the waning moon. Fasting and soul-cleansing are first taken within the Chapelle de la Lune and possession of the Clé d'Argent is required to unlock the gate. Posted: 11-23-2020 02:10 am Muskethulhu - Chateau de l
Muskethulhu
The Chateau de l'ours, center for Musketeer activity in the Bois de Chèvre Noir region. Dame Petite-Colline is the mysterious figure who is in charge of the Enquêteur-Alchimiste Société whose members partner with the Musketeers in their battle with the diabolique and heretical forces which infest Gaeliqa as well as the sorcerous encroachments of Albion, the Land of Ghosts, from across the Little Sea. Posted: 11-21-2020 02:53 pm Appendix Z - M. John Harrison
Appendiz Z - M. John Harrison
I could say who he writes like, but really he only writes like himself. I'm sorry to say I've only read his Virconium stories and only his first two books of that series multiple times (especially The Pastel City) but this is a fantastic and richly imaginative series both beautiful and sad and hopeful with the thought that humanity could have reached the heights from which it fell. I could tell you of The Pastel City and Virconium but I will not. You need to have the pleasure of reading them for yourself and seeing the great and magical and technologically wondrous remains of mankind (man and woman if not as entirely human as we would call ourselves now and still basically human with our flaws and desires) for yourself.
Mr. Harrison is still writing and has his own blog lucky enough for us.
Bibliography
A Storm of Wings (1980) A Young Man's Journey to Viriconium (1985) Variant Title: A Young Man's Journey to London (1985) The Adventures of Jerry Cornelius (Parts 9 & 10) (1993) with Michael Moorcock and Mal Dean and Richard Glyn Jones [only as by Michael Moorcock and M. John Harrison and Mal Dean and R. Glyn Jones ] Anima (2005) Baa Baa Blocksheep (1968) The Bait Principle (1970) Black Houses (1998) The Causeway (1971) The Centauri Device (1974) Coming from Behind (1973) The Committed Men (1971) The Course of the Heart (1992) The Dancer from the Dance (1985) The Dead (1992) with Simon Ings The East (1996) Egnaro (1981) Empty (1995) Empty Space (2012) Entertaining Angels Unawares (2002) Events Witnessed From a City (1975) The Floating Nun (Excerpt from The Committed Men) (1970) Forever (1989) also appeared as: Variant Title: The Horse of Iron and How We Can Know It and Be Changed by It Forever (1989) GIFCO (1992) The Gift (1988) The Golden Cat (1998) with Jane Johnson [only as by Gabriel King ] The Good Detective (2007) The Great God Pan (1988) Green Five Renegade (1969) Guilty! (1971) I Did It (1996) The Ice Monkey (1980) The Ice Monkey and Other Stories (1983) In Autotelia (2012) In Viriconium (1982) Variant Title: The Floating Gods (1983) The Incalling (1978) Isobel Avens Returns to Stepney in the Spring (1994) Keep Smiling with Great Minutes (2008) The Knot Garden (2000) with Jane Johnson [only as by Gabriel King ] The Lamia and Lord Cromis (1971) Variant Title: The Lamia & Lord Cromis (2000) Lamia Mutable (1972) Variant Title: The Bringer with the Window (1972) Light (2002) London Melancholy (1969) The Lords of Misrule (1984) The Luck in the Head (1984) The Macbeth Expiation (1968) The Machine in Shaft Ten (1972) [only as by Joyce Churchill ] The Machine in Shaft Ten and Other Stories (1975) Marina (1966) The Neon Heart Murders (2000) The New Rays (1982) Nonesuch (2002) with Jane Johnson [only as by Gabriel King ] The Nostalgia Story (1970) Nova Swing (2006) Old Women (1984) The Orgasm Band (1975) Parietal Games: Critical Writings by and on M. John Harrison (2005) with Mark Bould and Michelle Reid The Pastel City (1971) Pearlant (2012) The Quarry (1983) Ring of Pain (1971) The Rio Brain (1996) with Simon Ings Running Down (1975) Science & The Arts (1999) Settling the World (1975) Seven Guesses of the Heart (1996) Signs of Life (1997) Small Heirlooms (1987) Strange Great Sins (1983) Suicide Coast (1999) Things That Never Happen (2002) Tourism (2004) also appeared as: Variant Title: Tourists (2004) Travel Arrangements (2000) Two Extracts from a New Book (2006) Viriconium (1988) Viriconium Knights (1981) Viriconium Nights (1984) Visions of Monad (1968) The Wild Road (1997) with Jane Johnson [only as by Gabriel King ] 'The Wolf That Follows' (1974)
Essays Absorbing the Miraculous (1974) The Adventures of Jerry Cornelius: The English Assassin (1980) with Richard Glyn Jones and Mal Dean and Michael Moorcock [only as by Michael Moorcock and M. John Harrison and Malcolm Dean and Richard Glyn Jones ] The Answer Is Chicago (1969) Author's Introduction (Things That Never Happen) (2002) Author's Note (The Floating Gods) (1983) Author's Note (Viriconium Nights) (1984) Big Brother Is Twenty-One (1970) [only as by Joyce Churchill ] The Black Glak (1972) Breakthrough (1987) By Tennyson Out of Disney (1971) Coming to Life (1975) Essay: A Literature of Comfort (1971) Filling Us Up (1973) Introduction (334) (1976) Introduction (The Chrysalids) (2000) Introduction (The Golden Barge) (1979) Introduction (The Tain) (2002) Introduction (The Vaccinator) (1999) Letter (Foundation #33) (1985) Notes from the Ivory Basement (1979) Paperbag (1969) [only as by Joyce Churchill ] The Problem of Sympathy (1972) The Profession of Fiction (1989) The Profession of Science Fiction The Rape of the Possible (1987) Read This (NYRSF, October 1994) (1994) Read This (NYRSF, September 1997) (1997) Sweet Analytics (1975) To the Stars and Beyond on the Fabulous Anti-Syntax Drive (1973) Trouble at t'White House (1969) Why I Write Space Opera (2003) Vorwort (Die Triffids) (2012)
Reviews A Raging Calm (1969) by Stan Barstow Alph (1973) by Charles Eric Maine The Chalk Giants (1975) by Keith Roberts Crybaby of the Western World (1969) by John Leonard Dance of the Dwarfs (1969) by Geoffrey Household Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1969) by Philip K. Dick Escape from Kathmandu (1990) by Kim Stanley Robinson Excalibur (1975) by Sanders Anne Laubenthal Floating Opera (1969) by John Barth The Folk of the Air (1987) by Peter S. Beagle The Getting Into Death (1975) by Thomas M. Disch Guzman Go Home (1969) by Alan Sillitoe Heathern (1990) by Jack Womack Ipomoea (1973) by John Rackham King Queen Knave (1969) by Vladimir Nabokov Kiteworld (1985) by Keith Roberts Masque of a Savage Mandarin (1975) by Philip Robinson Mirror Image (1973) by Michael G. Coney The New Apocrypha (1975) by John Sladek O-Zone (1987) by Paul Theroux The Paradise Motel (1990) by Eric McCormack Port of Saints (1981) by William S. Burroughs Preserve and Protect (1969) by Allen Drury Pstalemate (1973) by Lester del Rey Restoree (1969) by Anne McCaffrey The Sheep Look Up (1975) by John Brunner Solar Lottery (1968) by Philip K. Dick (co-reviewed with Robert Meadley ) [only as by R. G. Meadley and M. John Harrison ] The Ticket That Exploded (1969) by William Burroughs To Ride Pegasus (1975) by Anne McCaffrey
The Universe Makers (1973) by Donald A. Wollheim Posted: 11-21-2020 02:02 am Appendix Z - Keith Taylor
Appendix Z - Keith Taylor
A combination of Historical, Sword and Sorcery, his Bard series (5 books) is an enjoyable take on the bard of history and the bard of more popular fancy. I don't know if he is a gamer, but the series is wonderful inspiration for gamers. I can recommend the first three books in the series. I stopped reading somewhere shortly after starting book 4 (and can't remember why) and only recently picked up book 5.
He has a long list of short stories but the work is a bit too recent for me (I've never read any of the newer Weird Tales magazines or caught the work he did in the 70's).
Series
Bard Bard II The First Long Ship Bard III The Wild Sea Bard IV Ravens' Gathering Bard V Felimid's Homecoming
The Sorcerer's Sacred Isle The Cauldron of Plenty Search for the Starblade
Novel
Lances of Nengesdul The Tower of Death (with Andrew J. Offutt) When Death Birds Fly (with Andrew J. Offutt)
Short Story
"A Spear in the Night" "The Archpriest's Potion" "The Atheling's Wife" (as Dennis More) "At the Edge of the Sea" "The Bath-house" "The Brotherhood of Britain" "Buried Silver" (as Dennis More) "The Castles of Testing" "The Company of the Gods" "The Conqueror of Vectis" "Corpse's Wrath" "Daggers and a Serpent" "The Demon Cat" "Dragon Hunter" "The Emerald Scarab" "Emissaries of Doom" "The Favour of a Tyrant" "The Forest of Andred" (as Dennis More) "Fugitives in Winter" (as Dennis More) "The Harvest of Malice" "Haunted Shadows" "The Haunting of Mara" "Hungry Grass" "The Lady and the Demon" (with Paul Collins) "Lamia" "The Lost Ship" "Men from the Plain of Lir" "On Skellig Michael" (as Dennis More) "The Ordeal Stone" "Revenant" "The Scribe of a Hundred Lies" "Sir Lionel in Tournament of Rogues" "Spears of the Sea-Wolves" "Spirit Places" "Sunchosen" (as Cadmus Evans) "Tournament of Rogues" "The Unlawful Hunter" "The Walking Walls of Rome" "What Are You When the Moon Shall Rise?" "Where Silence Rules"
"The White Doe" Posted: 11-21-2020 01:59 am Appendix Z - Karl Edward Wagner
Appendix Z - Karl Edward Wagner
If there is reincarnation then Robert E. Howard was reborn as this man. Wagner was a hell of a writer. His Kane books fall somewhere beside Howard's Conan, somewhere down a dark and twisted version of Earth and Hyperborea where man is just the latest and far from the most powerful occupier of the planet, where raw strength, intelligence and determination follow a nightmare path of sorcery and death.
As much as I love the Kane stories it was reading two of his Weird Tales style anthologies that I came to appreciate the talent and versatility of Wagner. Pulp stories, Lovecraftian stories, horror and adventure and just damn weird stories.
If I were to pick one story I'd say Bloodstone. For me it is the best of the Kane tales and Kane strikes a deeper chord for me than any of the others, but honestly, it is hard to go wrong with his work. Some shines out a bit more, like 'Sticks' but these are good stories from a great writer.
Poetry
Red Harvest Songs of the Damned
Stories
.220 Swift A Walk on the Wild Side An Awareness of Angels At First Just Ghostly Beyond Any Measure Blue Lady, Come Back Brushed Away But You'll Never Follow Me Cedar Lane The Coming of Ghor The Dark Muse Deep in the Depths of the Acme Warehouse Did They Get You to Trade? The Education of Gergy-doo-doo Endless Night Exorcisms and Ecstasies A Fair Cop Final Cut The Gothic Touch Gremlin Hell Creek I’ve Come to Talk With You Again In a Lonely Place In the Lair of Yslsl In the Middle of a Snow Dream In the Pines In the Wake of the Night Into Whose Hands Killer (with David Drake) The Kind Men Like Lacunae Legion from the Shadows Little Lessons in Gardening Locked Away More Sinned Against Neither Brute Nor Human Old Loves One Paris Night The Other Woman as by "Kent Allard" Passages The Picture of Jonathan Collins Plan 10 From Inner Space Prince of the Punks The River of Night’s Dreaming The Road of Kings Satan’s Gun Shrapnel Sing a Last Song of Valdese The Slug Stardust Sticks The Treasure of Lynortis Two Suns Setting Undertow Unthreatened by the Morning Light Walk on the Wild Side Where the Summer Ends Why Not You and I?
Kane
Darkness Weaves Death Angel's Shadow Bloodstone Dark Crusade Night Winds The Book of Kane Gods in Darkness
Midnight Sun: The Complete Stories of Kane
Posted: 11-20-2020 07:14 pm Appendix Z - Howard Pyle
Appendix Z - Howard Pyle
Both illustrator and writer, Pyle was an amazing artist. So far I have only read three of his books, but his Merry Adventures of Robin Hood was probably the first non-children's book I ever read. For me it is the best of books and I've managed to hang onto that copy of it all my life. Men of Iron comes a close second. They made a rather enjoyable light movie out of it with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, but as with most Hollywood versions it has little to do with the book. The book has much more grit to it and much less pastel costumes and jumping about and tin plate armor suits. For the rest of his work I remember the Arthurian Legends vaguely but favorably (though I am not a big fan of the Arthurian tales).
Pyle is definitely the sword of sword and sorcery and his illustrations are some of the best I've ever seen.
A Modern Aladdin Arthurian Legends The Garden Behind the Moon The Ghost of Captain Brand Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates Men of Iron The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Otto of the Silver Hand Pepper and Salt The Price of Blood Rejected of Men The Rose of Paradise The Ruby of Kishmoor Stolen Treasure The Story of Jack Ballister's Fortunes Twilight Land Within the Capes
The Wonder Clock, with his sister Katharine Pyle Posted: 11-20-2020 06:53 pm Appendix Z - Harold Lamb
Appendix Z - Harold Lamb
His histories and biographies are some of the most enjoyable I've ever read, but Lamb was also a writer of adventure fiction. His Cossack and Viking stories put him in the realm of Howard, or more correctly, Howard took the realm of Lamb's work and used it to help build a world of his own. Though Lamb's tales were not sword and sorcery, he proved that the sword could be more than enough to enthrall a reader and show what an exciting and adventurous world this could be.
Fiction
A Garden to the Eastward The Curved Saber Durandal The Grand Cham The House of the Falcon Kirdy Marching Sands The Mighty Manslayer Nur Mahal Omar Khayyam Riders of the Steppes The Sea of the Ravens The Skull of Shirzad Mir Swords from the Desert Swords from the East Swords from the Sea Swords from the West Swords of the Steppes The Three Palladins Warriors of the Steppes White Falcon Wolf of the Steppes Non-fiction
Alexander of Macedon: The Journey to World's End Babur the Tiger: First of the Great Moguls Charlemagne Chief of the Cossacks The City and the Tsar Constantinople: Birth of an Empire The Crusades Cyrus the Great The Earth Shakers The Flame of Islam Genghis Khan: The Emperor of All Men Genghis Khan and the Mongol Horde Hannibal: One Man Against Rome Iron Men and Saints The March of Muscovy The March of the Barbarians New Found World: How North America Was Discovered and Explored Suleiman the Magnificent Tamerlane
Theodora and the Emperor Posted: 11-19-2020 08:15 pm Appendix Z - M. R. James
Appendix Z - M. R. James
He writes frightening ghost and horror stories. I think he is the scariest ghost story writer I've come across. His work doesn't fit into the 'weird' as much as it does into the 'horror', but not the more modern blood and atrocities kind of horror. His is the kind of horror that can make you want to look under the bed, or maybe, not want to look under the bed. The kind of story that dreaming about can wake you up in the middle of the night and turn the light on. You read his story and you think about locking the door and maybe wedging a chair up under the handle or you begin to regret that shutterless big glass window in your room. This man is definitely a master.
A Neighbour's Landmark A Night in King's College Chapel A School Story A View from a Hill A Vignette A Warning to the Curious After Dark in the Playing Fields An Episode of Cathedral History An Evening's Entertainment The Ash-tree Canon Alberic's Scrap-book Casting the Runes Count Magnus The Diary of Mr Poynter The Experiment The Fenstanton Witch The Game of Bear (unfinished) John Humphreys (unfinished) Lost Hearts The Malice of Inanimate Objects Marcilly-le-Hayer (draft) Martin's Close Merfield House (unfinished) The Mezzotint Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance Number 13 "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad Rats The Residence at Whitminster The Rose Garden Speaker Lenthall's Tomb (incomplete) The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard The Tractate Middoth The Treasure of Abbot Thomas Two Doctors The Uncommon Prayer-book
Wailing Well Posted: 11-18-2020 04:03 pm Appendix Z - William Hope Hodgson
Appendix Z - William Hope Hodgson
He is a terrifying writer. More so I think than CAS whose prose is more like poetry and equal to Lovecraft at his most frightening. Another spiritual father of the Weird Tales writers, his 'Boats of the Glen Carrig', Nightlands, House on the Borderlands, and The Ghost Pirates set their own standards for strange and disturbing fiction. Each of these 4 novels takes a different tack on horror though all done with Hodgson's talent and imagination.
His major works are available free on kindle and I believe his complete works are $1.99 (though they are all public domain so free versions may be available).
(Sam Gafford posts a wonderful WHH blog on wordpress that is well worth reading).
Note: This a wiki list so take it with a grain of salt as far as completeness or accuracy.
Novels
The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" (1907) The House on the Borderland (1908) The Ghost Pirates (1909) The Night Land (1912)
Short Stories
"The Goddess of Death" (1904) "Terror of the Water-Tank" (1907) "Bullion" (1911) "The Mystery of the Water-Logged Ship" (1911) "The Ghosts of the Glen Doon" (1911) "Mr. Jock Danplank" (1912 ) "The Mystery of Captain Chappel" (1917 ) "The Home-Coming of Captain Dan" (1918 ) "Merciful Plunder" (1925) "The Haunting of the Lady Shannon" (1975) "The Heathen's Revenge" (1988) "A Tropical Horror" (1905) "The Voice in the Night" (1907) "The Derelict" (1912) "Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani" ("The Baumoff Explosive" 1919) "The Shamraken Homeward-Bounder" "Out of the Storm" "The Albatross" "The 'Prentices' Mutiny" "The Island of the Crossbones" "The Stone Ship" "The Regeneration of Captain Bully Keller" "The Mystery of Missing Ships" "We Two and Bully Dunkan" "The Haunted Pampero" "The Real Thing: 'S.O.S.'" "Jack Grey, Second Mate" "The Smugglers" "In the Wailing Gully" "The Girl with the Grey Eyes" "Kind, Kind and Gentle Is She" "A Timely Escape" "The Homecoming of Captain Dan" "On the Bridge" "Through the Vortex of a Cyclone" "A Fight with a Submarine" "In the Danger Zone" "Old Golly" "Demons of the Sea" "The Wild Man of the Sea" "The Habitants of Middle Islet" "The Riven Night" "The Heaving of the Log" "The Sharks of the St. Elmo" "Sailormen" "By the Lee" "The Captain of the Onion Boat" "The Sea-Horses" "The Valley of Lost Children" "Date 1965: Modern Warfare" "My House Shall Be Called the House of Prayer" "Judge Barclay's Wife" "How the Honorable Billy Darrell Raided the Wind" "The Friendship of Monsieur Jeynois" "The Inn of the Black Crow" "What Happened in the Thunderbolt" "How Sir Jerrold Treyn Dealt with the Dutch in Caunston Cove" "Jem Binney and the Safe at Lockwood Hall" "Diamond Cut Diamond with a Vengeance" "The Room of Fear" "The Promise"
Sargasso Sea stories "From the Tideless Sea Part One" "The Mystery of the Derelict" "The Thing in the Weeds" "The Finding of the Graiken" "The Call in the Dawn" ("The Voice in the Dawn")
Carnacki stories "The Thing Invisible" "The Gateway of the Monster" "The House Among the Laurels" "The Whistling Room" "The Searcher of the End House" "The Horse of the Invisible" "The Haunted Jarvee" "The Find" "The Hog"
Captain Jat stories "The Island of the Ud" "The Adventure of the Headland"
Captain Gault stories "Contraband of War" "The Diamond Spy" "The Red Herring" "The Case of the Chinese Curio Dealer" "The Drum of Saccharine" "From Information Received" "The German Spy" "The Problem of the Pearls" "The Painted Lady" "The Adventure of the Garter" "My Lady's Jewels" "Trading with the Enemy" "The Plans of the Reefing Bi-Plane"
D.C.O. Cargunka stories "The Bells of the Laughing Sally" "The Adventure with the Claim Jumpers"
Selected short story collections Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder Men of the Deep Waters The Luck of the Strong Captain Gault, Being the Exceedingly Private Log of a Sea-Captain Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder
Poems
"Amanda Panda" "Beyond the Dawning" "Billy Ben" "Bring Out Your Dead" "The Calling of the Sea" "Down the Long Coasts" "Eight Bells" "Grey Seas are Dreaming of My Death" "The Hell! Oo! Chaunty" "I Come Again" "I Have Borne My Lord a Son" "Listening" "Little Garments" "Lost" "Madre Mia" "Mimosa" "The Morning Lands" "My Babe, My Babe" "Nevermore" "The Night Wind" "O Parent Sea" "The Pirates" "The Place of Storms" "Rest" "The Ship" "The Sobbing of the Freshwater" "The Song of the Great Bull Whale" "Song of the Ship" "Speak Well of the Dead" "Storm" "Thou Living Sea" "To My Father" "The Voice of the Ocean" "Shoon of the Dead" "Who Make Their Bed in Deep Waters"
Poetry collections The Calling of the Sea The Voice of the Ocean Poems of the Sea
The Lost Poetry of William Hope Hodgson
Posted: 11-17-2020 11:44 pm Appendix Z - E.R. Eddison
Appendix Z - E. R. Eddison
When people speak of High Fantasy they most often speak of Tolkien, but while Tolkien's highly detailed work may fall under that category it is E.R. Eddison who should be the example of it. His work is a grand affair with a style and prose that reflects an otherworldly look at knights and empires, champions and villains, with a taste of Spencer and Malory and a bizarre surreal romance about tragic and eternal forces of Love. His books are rich and lush with the stories told more as legends and fables with an account of great wrongs and great deeds more than they do as novels of people or portrayals of life, even fantastic lives. I find his books filled with a treasure trove of ideas rather than rich characters and story, but well worth the reading.
The Worm Ouroboros Mistress of Mistresses A Fish Dinner in Memison The Mezentian Gate
Non-Fiction
Egil's Saga.
Styrbiorn the Strong Posted: 11-17-2020 11:37 pm Appendix Z - A. Merritt
Appendix Z - A. Merritt
A. Merritt stands out as one of the most imaginative yet solidly based writers of weird and mysterious fiction. His main characters were often heroes, but they were men from the modern world (at least the modern world of the early 20th century). His stories are adventures, but the places these adventures occur, the societies, people and things that are encountered are as strange and compelling as any thought out by Lovecraft or CAS, and his heroes as brave as any written of by Howard. To me he seems overlooked, even more so than CAS, and yet his stories encompass enough in detail and provide inspiration for worlds undreamed.
(This bibliography is snagged mostly from wikipedia so I need to double-check its accuracy).
Novels The Moon Pool (fix-up, 1919) (The Moon Pool (1918) + Conquest of the Moon Pool (1919)) The Metal Monster (1920) The Ship of Ishtar (1924) Seven Footprints to Satan (1927) The Face in the Abyss (fix-up, 1931)) (The Face in the Abyss (1923) + The Snake Mother (1930)) Dwellers in the Mirage (1932) Burn Witch Burn! (1932) Creep, Shadow! (1934)
Short Stories Through The Dragon Glass (1917) The People Of The Pit (1918) Three Lines Of Old French (1919) Prologue (The Metal Monster, 1920) The Pool Of The Stone God (as W. Fenimore, 1923) The Woman Of The Wood (1926) The Women of the Wood (earlier version of The Woman Of The Wood, 1949) The Drone (aka The Drone Man, 1934) The Rhythm of the Spheres (original a chapter called The Last Poet And The Robots (aka The Last Poet & the Wrongness of Space) in the 1934 round robin novel titled Cosmos, revised in 1936 as a stand-alone work) The Whelming Of Cherkis (excerpt from The Metal Monster, 1946) When Old Gods Wake (fragment, 1948) The White Road (fragment, 1949) The Fox Woman (incomplete, 1949) Pilgrimage, or, Obi Giese (1985) Bootleg and Witches (fragment, 1985) The Devil in the Heart (outline, 1985) The Dwellers in the Mirage (original ending of the novel with same name, 1985)
Short story collections The Fox Woman and Other Stories (1949)
Poems Song for Wood Horns (aka The Wind Trail, 1910) The Silver Birches (1940) Old Trinity Churchyard (5 A. M. Spring) (1941) Sylvane - The Silver Birches (1973) In the Cathedral (1974) 2000 (The Triple Cities) (1985) Song for Wood Horn... (1985) Silvane—The Silver Birches (1985) Madonna (1985) The Ladies of the Walnut Tree (A Legend of Tuscany) (fragments, 1985) Court of the Moon (fragment, 1985) The Birth of Art (1985) L'envoi to Life (1985) Screens (1985) Sir Barnabas (1985) In the Subway (1985) Runes (1985) Eheu Fugaces . . . (1985) A Song for Christmas (1985) Comic Ragtime Tune (1985) Behold the Night He Cometh (1985) You Looked at Me (1985) Dream Song (1985) Castle of Dreams (1985) I Wonder Why? (1985) My Heart and I (1985) Think of Me (1985) The Ballad of the Cub (1985) Piddling Pete (1985) The Winged Flames (1985)
Collaborations The Challenge from Beyond (round robyn short story, with C.L. Moore, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Frank Belknap Long, 1935) Cosmos (round robin novel, chapter 11, 1932–34) The Fox Woman and the Blue Pagoda (novel, Hannes Bok fused Merritt's unfinished story with his own conclusion, 1946) The Black Wheel (novel, first seven chapters written by Merritt, completed by Hannes Bok, 1947)
Essays A. Merritt on Modern Witchcraft (1932) Concerning “Burn, Witch, Burn” (1932) Letter (Weird Tales, November 1935) (1935) Man and the Universe (1940) A. Merritt (1940) How We Found Circe (1942) A Tribute (1942) Letter to Mr. Louis De Casanova, July 23, 1931 (1985) Letters and Correspondence (1985) An Autobiography of A. Merritt (1985) with Walter Wentz A. Merritt—His Life and Times (1985) with Jack Chapman Miske What is Fantasy? (1985) Background of "Dwellers in the Mirage" (1985) Background of "Burn, Witch, Burn" (1985) Background of "Creep, Shadow!" (1985) A. Merritt's Own Selected Credo (1985) Posted: 11-17-2020 04:48 pm Appendix Z Algernon Blackwood
Appendix Z Algernon Blackwood
Blackwood is one of Lovecraft and CAS' literary fathers. I had heard of him long before I ever read any of his works and his writing did not disappoint. His short story 'The Willows' is a pre-mythos tale and perhaps one directly linked to Lovecraft's development of the elder horror or CAS touch of the wondrous and the macabre. Blackwood can take the mundane and drag it into darkness; into a realm of disturbing horror and otherness. His work is a great example of how to take a 'mundane' fantasy adventure and twist it into something much stranger and grander and frightening.
"= short story"
"Keeping His Promise" "The House of the Past" [1904] "The Empty House" [1906] "The Listener" [1907] "Max Hensig" [1907] "The Willows" [1907] "Ancient Sorceries" [1908] John Silence: A Physician Extraordinary (1908) A Psychical Invasion (1908) "The Kit-Bag" [Dec. 1908] "Secret Worship" [1908] The Education of Uncle Paul (1909) Jimbo (1909) The Human Chord (1910) "Perspective" [1910] "The Wendigo" [1910] The Centaur (1911) "The Glamour of the Snow" [1912] "The Man Whom the Trees Loved" [1912] "The Transfer" [1912] A Prisoner in Fairyland (1913) "Ancient Lights" [1914] "Accessory Before the Fact" [1914] "An Egyptian Hornet" [1915] The Extra Day (1915) Julius Levallon (1916) The Wave (1916) "A Victim of Higher Space" [1917] The Garden of Survival (1918) The Promise of Air (1918) The Bright Messenger (1921) Ancient Sorceries: And Other Weird Stories (1927) Dudley and Gilderoy (1929) The Fruit Stoners (1934) Posted: 11-17-2020 12:04 pm Appendix Z - Arthur Machen
Along with Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen is one of the spiritual fathers of both Lovecraft and CAS. His work is a combination of horror and mysticism. His prose is 19th century with a taste of victorian gothic. His ideas are bizzare and twisted like an opium induced dream or a hashish eaters nightmare. I personally found some of his work boring but other stories were fantastic. The Hill of Dreams, The House of Souls, The Great God Pan, should be on every weird tales to read list. Eleusinia (1881) poem
The Anatomy of Tobacco (1884) non-fiction (as " Leolinus Siluriensis" )
Chronicles of Clemendy (1888) " a volume of tales in the medieval pattern"
The Great God Pan and The Inmost Light (1894) supernatural stories
The Three Imposters (1895) episode novel; picaresque romance, terror
Hieroglyphics (1902) about literature
Dr. Stiggins (1906) about theology
The House of Souls (1906) supernatural stories (The White People, The
Great God Pan, and The Inmost Light
The Hill of Dreams (1907) mystical novel (written 1895-97)
The Bowmen, and Other Legends of the War (1915) short stories (includes "The Angel of Mons" )
The Great Return (1915) the return to Wales of the Holy Grail
The Terror (1917) novella -- animals revolt against humans
The Secret Glory (1922) attacked British public education
Far Off Things (1922) autobiography
Things Near and Far (1923) autobiography
Strange Roads (1923) nonfiction The London Adventure (1924) autobiography
Dog and Duck (1924) miscellany
The Shining Pyramid (1924) supernatural stories
Ornaments in Jade (1924) short prose pieces bordering on fantasy or horror
The Canning Wonder (1925) about the Elizabeth Canning case
Notes and Queries (1926) nonfiction
Dreads and Drolls (1926) nonfiction
Translation, Casanova's Memoirs (1930, 12 vol.)
Children of the Pool (1936) supernatural stories
The Cosy Room (1936) supernatural stories
The Green Round (1936) supernatural novel
Tales of Horror and the Supernatural (1948)
Eleusinia and Beneath the Barley (Necronomicon Press, 1988) poem and essay Posted: 11-17-2020 01:40 am Thieves' World - Shadows of Sanctuary - Named Characters By Story
Thieves' World - Shadows of Sanctuary - Named Characters By Story
Introduction: Hakiem One-Thumb
Looking For Satan: Aerie (f) Aristarchus Bauchle Meyne Chan Jubal Lythande (f) Quartz (f) Satan Wess (f) [Westerly]
Ischade: Acban Cappen Varra Darous Enas Yorl Hanse Shadowspawn Igan Ils [Deity] Ischade Kithakadis Minsy zithyk (f) Mradhon Vis Peruz [Bird] Shalpa [Deity] Shipri [Deity] Sjekso Kinzan
A Gift In Parting: Dubro Hakiem Haron (f) Hort Ilak Jubal Kitty-Cat Omat Panit [Old Man] Purple Mage Terci Varies
The Vivisectionest: Allestina [Deity] Bourne Cudget Swearoath Frax Hanse Shadowspawn Harmocohl Dripnose Ils [Deity] Jubal Julavain Kadakithis Kurd Lirain (f) Mignureal Moonflower Purter Quag Razkuli Shalpa [Deity] Stulwig Northborn Tempus [Thales] Thorfir [Deity] Vashanka [Deity] Zalbar
The Rhinoceros and the Unicorn: Amoli Cappen Varra Danlis (f) Dyareela [Deity] Enas Yorl Eshi [Deity] Farsi Gilla (f) Jarveena (f) Jordis Lalo Molin Torchholder Regli Rosanda (f) Sabellia [Deity] Sandol Savankala [Deity] Valira (f) Zorra (f)
Then Azyuna Danced: Azyuna [Deity] Cime (f) Kadakithus Kul Kurd Molin Torchholder Rosanda (f) Savankala [Deity] Soylalha (f) Tempus Vashanka [Deity] Zalbar
A Man and His God: Abarsis [Stepson] Azyuna [Deity] Cime (f) Hanse Shadowspawn Jubal Kadakithis Kurd Markmor Marypa Mizraith Myrtis (f) One-Thumb [Lastel] Razkuli Stefab Tempus [Riddler] Two Thumbs Veshanka [Deity] Zalbar Posted: 11-16-2020 10:42 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 18
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 18
Location 16).
The southern door is locked and bolted. The door itself is of very sturdy construction but is heavily scarred by claw marks which have dug deep furrows in the wood of the other side Location (15.2). The lock can be picked in a normal way but three heavy bolts lock it closed as well. Destroying the door will be loud but shouldn't take a great deal of time with an axe. Swords and blunt weapons will take longer and piercing weapons will be ineffectual.
The room itself is large and sumptuously decorated. Large carpets and skins are spread across the floor. A massively big bed is against the north wall (big enough for 5) and the east part of the room has a table that can seat 20. There are several dressers against the south wall to the west of the door. Nothing seems to be disturbed except the bed linen is crumpled and the heavy cover blanket made from the skins of several white tigers is pulled to one side and partially under the bed.
NOTE: The contents of this room are extremely valuable but only to the right buyer. Most would get only a fraction of their value in the shops or from the merchants of hammlets, towns and even small cities. Only in larger cities would the characters be likely to find buyers and the merchants which sell such items are likely to offer very little to the characters, while the characters are unlikely to move in the upper class circles where they would find the buyers themselves. These are all high quality items, but many are bulky or delicate and are easily damaged and destroyed. It is also unlikely that the characters would recognize the real quality of what they are looking at. In general they are likely to get only 2 or 3 times the value of a normal item for such things as plates, goblets, clothes or rugs, if even that.
In each corner of the room are 2 non-functioning Manikens. They are armed with longsword and trunchion and wear half-plate. Each is 16hp and AC3 in their armor, but require activation to respond in any way.
The dressers (4 of them) contain expensive clothing and shoes cut for someone short and slim. The clothes are ornate and heavily decorated but masculine. Selling them outside of a large city might be difficult, but in a larger more civilized area they might go for more than scrap cloth prices. Hidden at the back of dresser #3 is a secret compartment. Inside the compartment is a locked iron door. It is spelled closed with both a Wizard Lock and Hold Portal spell. If a knock spell is used (twice) the door to the metal compartment will pop open and a thick steel plate will drop just behind the opening door. A small catch located in another secret compartment in dresser #4 must be pushed into place and a knob in a secret compartment in dresser #2 pulled out to stop the plate from falling. Once the plate has fallen it will need to be raised by some means (such as knocking down the stone wall around it, but otherwise it is jammed shut.
Inside the spelled-shut compartment is a small box. If it is removed without first pushing in a metal bar in a 3rd secret compartment in dresser #1, a guillotine-like blade slams down. This trap will cause 1d12 Dmg and sever any unprotected non-metallic item which moved the small box. This blade must be removed to access the interior of the compartment and the mechanism is set to drop a wedge in place so that it cannot be lifted. A saving throw will drop the damage by half and save the item or appendage from being severed.
The small box is wooden and the top lifts off. Inside is a still beating, warm and meaty heart.
On the south wall east of the south door is a cabinet. Inside are plates, very fragile and valuable, as well as knives, forks and spoons of silver, enough for 25 people. There is a carving set with the handles made from the bones of a hill giant. Crystal goblets are in the upper cabinet. The plates and goblets are fragile but only valuable in a large city; otherwise they are hard to sell and the silver worth only its value in the weight of metal.
The three large carpets are very fine, but the quality makes them hard to sell in a town what they might sell for in a city. The large fur rugs are the pelts of several griffons sewn together. The work is exquisite.
The cover sheet across the huge bed is made from the fur of albino bears. If the characters pull at the blanket it first appears to be stuck under the bed. Peeking under the bed will just show the wadded up end of the huge fur blanket. A strong pull by a combined 18+ strength will draw the blanket from under the bed and with it will come a short man dressed in red silk pajamas. He will immediately shout for the players to "leave!" and attack with a short sword. The blade is very fine, +2 to hit and enchanted to leave a scar that will not fade even with magical healing where it strikes. This Delmondo the justice of the library. It was he who passed sentence upon those caught committing crimes within the upper levels of the library and he who commanded the Maniken guards. In his left hand he holds a small box with a button and a dial. Currently the dial is set all the way to attack-kill and he will push the button as soon as he is pulled from under the bed. The 8 Manikens will immediately activate. 5 will respond to attack the characters. 2 will attack the other Manikens and 1 will attack Delmondo.
While Delmondo appears to be a living man, he is actually an advanced form of Maniken and Man combined. The real Delmondo died long ago but he was such an effective judge and security officer that his body was hollowed out and filled with the enchanted cloth of the Manikens. His brain was encased in a crystal skull that is impervious to damage and his heart was removed and placed in a small box; stored in the secret compartment in the back of dresser #3. Delmondo can be truly killed only when his heart is destroyed. He is a Ftr3, 24hp, AC6 due to Dex and regenerates at 1hp per combat round. If he is completely destroyed his skull will survive. It will turn to a blue gaseous form and reappear under the bed in this location only to reform again in Delmondo. He does not leaves this room and unless drawn out from under the bed or if anyone finds the secret compartments within the dressers he will remain under the bed.
The door to the north leading to Location (18.) is unlocked but it can be locked and barred though the key is missing.
The ventilation shafts run across the ceiling of this room on the east and west with small grated openings obscured by cobwebs. Posted: 11-16-2020 04:21 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 17
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 17
Location 15.1) NOTE:
The ventilation shafts for this room run around the upper edges and have grilled openings at the top center of the east and west walls. The Little Green Men keep an eye on this area but find the Manikens disturbing so they do not enter.
Location 15.2).
This short passage is lined with destroyed Manikens. Something shredded them and tossed their cloth and wood bodies about to lie mangled across the floor. One Maniken is functioning intermittently. It is at (6) hp and missing one arm, but it will rise up slowly out of the pile of Maniken parts and bow slowly to the characters. Then remain still till the characters have passed and will then seek to follow the first character it sees and act as their guardian. It will only attack if that character is attached or threatened. It will not attempt to defend itself and if the players attack it the maniken will be at AC10 for that attack even though it is normally AC5. The damaged maniken can regain 4hp if its rewrapped in the best lengths of cloth from the destroyed manikens but its right arm is destroyed for good (unless it is rebuilt and re-enchanted) and it cannot be repaired past 10hp.
Location 15.3).
Inside this room are two splintered benches, an overturned and broken cabinet, two wooden chests with their tops smashed in and a table on its side with the uppermost legs missing. There is old dried blood on most on the floor and fragments.
As the characters enter this room they will hear the moaning and experience the sudden chill that they probably experienced before. The dried blood is swept up in a small but powerful twist of wind which sprang from nowhere and while it moans across the walls of the room the dried blood begins to form into a face; a grinning fanged and hairy face (if the players have any reason to know, the face is that of a carnivorous ape). If allowed to from the face will give the characters and evil, leering grin, stick out its tongue and in an earsplitting shriek explode into a cloud of dried blood.
Sifting through this room of debris will take some time as the floor is also covered in torn paper and sharply splintered wooden fragments. Some coins are scattered about (12sp and 17cp), a whip and a shirt sword. Under the cabinet will be found the skeleton of an arm in dull red torn from a jacket as the arm was torn from the body. Near the skeletal hand is a round jewel that glows (in reality it is crystal powersource [The Little Green would be profoundly delighted in recovering the jewel.] which can be used to power several devices such as the control stick for the manikens.).
The door to the east has been torn violently from its hinges and is on the floor of the corridor outside.
The height of this room is 15ft as are most halls and rooms on the 1st floor of the library. The ventilation shaft has an opening near the south-east corner, obscured by cobwebs, and a Machine-Spider and Little Green Man are 75% likely to be observing this room. As with all Little Green Men this one will flee if the slightest sign of detection is given by the characters. Posted: 11-16-2020 02:59 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 16
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 16
Location 15.1)
This passage is framed around Location (15). and other than the 10ft section which connects the fractured secret door from that location to the northern door which leads to Location (15.2) it is 5ft higher than the other floors on t Map (A1). A set of short stairs to the east and west of the secret door lead to this raised area.
On each corner of the room is a manikin made of wood and covered in cloth. There are 4 total and they wear a red uniform with black piping down the legs and black colors. Each carries a truncheon at their belt and a bag of 20 crossbow quarrels (light). In their hands are light crossbows. Currently they are inactive. When the library was constructed they acted as bailiffs who assisted the security force with those who committed crimes within the library.
Manikin
Frequency: Uncommon No. Appearing: 1-4 Armor Class: 5 Move: 12" Hit Dice: 2 % in Lair: N/A Treasure Type: N/A No. Attacks: 1 bludgeon or by Weapon Type Damage/Attack: Bludgeon 1d6 or By Weapon Type Special Attack: Nil Special Defenses: Immune to piercing weapons. Blunt Weapons do 1/4 Dmg. Any spell requiring a sentient victim such as charm or sleep has no effect on a maniken. Note: Fire does double damage to manikins. Magic Resistance: 10% Intelligence: Non Alignment: N/A Size: M Language: Manikins can understand only languages that were added to them during their construction.
Description: Manikens appear as normal humans in regard to size and shape, but their 'flesh' is simply painted cloth. They are normally dressed in uniforms. They may be armored.
Ecology: Maniken's are magical constructs formed from a skeleton of wood with enchanted cloth carefully wrapped around them in the appearance of flesh. They can be constructed to respond to simple commands but have no intelligence or sapience of their own. Though they require a skilled mage to enchant they are relatively cheap and easy to be constructed and are normally built 4 at a time. Their greatest weakness is fire.
Around the walls facing Location (15.) are hidden firing slots about 5ft from the floor [10ft from the floor of Location (15.)]. If activated the manikins last command was to fire upon moving creatures within Location (15.). They have 90% cover if attacked from Location (15.).
4 Manikens. 12hp, 2HD, AC5 1 attack. Light Crossbow (20 bolts). or 1 attack Club (their truncheon).
The north door to the room has a massive lock but is relatively easy to open and anyone attempting to pick the lock gets a 10% bonus.
The door to the east Leading to Location (15.3) has no lock. Posted: 11-16-2020 02:16 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 15
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 15
Location 15).
The southern door to this room is locked. It is thick and bound with iron, but the wood is rotted and a good shove will break the entire thing to fragments. The west, east and south walls are lined with benches. There is a metal cage at the center of the room facing a small dais with a large overturned table resting against the secret door.
The cage is large and heavy and bolted to the floor. It has a small door on its south face. The bones of some large creatures are inside scattered about. If they are removed it will be found that they are from several creatures. The bones are polished smooth and the ends are carved and notched. There are a dozen long bones from legs and forearms as well as 2 pairs of hands that have been wired together with silver wire and one huge, jawless skull.
If the bones are examined it will be noticed that they fit easily together and form a kind of arbor such as might be found at the entrance to a garden. To assemble the bones correctly the characters must roll lower than their Wisdom on a d20 with a -6 modifier (a character with 6 Wisdom would have no chance to assemble the bones). It takes 3 turns to assemble and characters can make an attempt once per hour.
Once assembled the skull fits nicely at the top held between the skeletal hands. When it has all been clicked into place it forms a freestanding arch. Between the spaces of the arch the air becomes still and black; the smell of damp earth pervades the room and a slight cold wind comes from the opening.
The assembled bones form a gate and the gate leads to a point 5 miles from the south entrance to the library. The area is in a small ravine cut by a cold river. The river descends from a waterfall 30 yards to the northwest and runs into a 50ft high wall of stone to the south-east. No matter when the gate is entered it exits at midnight of the following day. The gate is one way. Once through there is no return. There is an old narrow path that leads up the high walls of the ravine, but it has not been used in a long, long while.
The gate of bones will fall to pieces 30 minutes after being assembled. They can be gathered and carried by two M sized creatures or 1 L sized especially if they can be lashed together, bagged or boxed. The loose bones are difficult to carry. The gate will always lead to the ravine. Characters who enter the gate on the same day before the stroke of midnight will find themselves appearing one after the other at exactly the coming midnight, but should one character step through the gate 1 minute after the will not appear in the ravine till the midnight of the next day.
The secret door to the north is cracked. The corner of the large table has gouged a mark down the wall and was moved or thrown with such force that it dislodged the door from its frame. To open the door will require it to be removed, broken in or dismantled. Posted: 11-14-2020 03:36 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 14
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 14
The missing Location (8.1) and Location (14.1)
Location 8.1)
A wheel and pulley system to open the secret door on the south wall. The wood is rotting and the chain rusty. The pulley lifts a counterweight in the wall by turning a wheel with the chain wrapped around it. Triggering the latch to the secret door drops the counterweight and the secret door raises up into the ceiling very quickly. If the secret door is opened the pulley will need a combined strength of 24 to raises the counterweight. 2 M sized creatures can work the handles at one time. The counterweight will rise 3/4 of the way inside the wall before the rotted wooden drum of the pulley shatters and the chain goes flying loose like a flail while the counterweight comes down with a crash. A second chain which is inside the wall and connects the pulley to the secret door will also snap, dropping the secret door into place and wedging it shut. Anyone within 10ft of the wheel and chain must make a saving through versus Dex or receive 1d12 Dmg.
Location 14.1).
This large open room is black with ancient dried blood. There are manacles bolted into the wall. A careful examination will reveal that these are not uniformly at the same height or distance between each other and the iron rods driven between the stone blocks have cracked some of the stones. The manacles are crude workmanship.
A large tree stump is set at the southern end of the room and its surface is also covered in dried blood. It is also chipped and scarred by innumerable cuts of some bladed weapon of device.
A cold wind whistles down the corridor from the east and moans around this room if the characters enter it. The characters will need to make a saving throw versus fear. Those that fail the save will find themselves growing more and more nauseous while in this 30x30 space and will need to leave or vomit till they begin to dry heave. If they do not leave after that they will start sweating and faint for 1d4 combat rounds. This save will need to me made by anyone entering this room as well as each time they leave and reenter even if the passed a previous save.
The wooden stump is extraordinarily heavy, but if it is removed from the room, or any attempt is made to damage it, the stump will begin to shake; roots will sprout from its lower half. In one combat round 6 8ft long roots will have grown and begin waving about. If unmolested they will move the stump back into the room walking on the roots like tentacular legs. If the stump is attacked it will defend itself with the root-limbs. It will follow attackers into Location (14.) or down the eastern corridor for 60ft before turning back toward the open room.
The stump is AC8 with 50hp, each limb is 2HD, 16hp, AC5 1 attack, 1d10Dmg. Both stump and limbs are immune to arrows and piercing weapons. They take half damage from blunt weapons. Fire attacks cause double damage unless the stump saves as a wood item. The stump will interpose its limbs between itself and attackers making it hard to melee with the stump itself. Destroyed limbs will take 2 combat rounds to regrow.
If the stump is destroyed the area will be cleansed of fear and any characters who participated in its destruction will be healed 1d8 immediately and find that a golden aura glows about them, illuminating a 20ft radius and giving them a +1 to their savings throws and AC for 24 hours. Posted: 11-13-2020 11:14 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 13
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 13
14). The southern door is locked and constructed out of thick wood reinforced with iron bands. There is an iron grill over a small opening about 5ft up from the door and at its center. The opening is only about 1ft square and an iron plate which can be slid aside is latched in place on the other side of the door in Location (8.1).
The hall is very dusty and cobwebs line the ceiling arched about 15ft overhead. A Little Green Man riding a Machine-Spider will be lurking in the small air duct that opens onto this hall from the air-shaft which connects the halls and rooms in this Location. These ventilation tunnels run near the ceiling and are connected with all Locations which mention ventilation shafts unless otherwise noted.
See Location (13.) for the Little Green Man's actions if discovered. (Note: This is will be the same Little Green Man from Location (13.) unless something has happened to him.). If something has happened a second Little Green Man and his Machine Spider will be dispatched to investigate but he will be very wary and will deploy a set of tiny remote sensors that appear to be normal houseflys but are instead devices which the Little Green Man can direct and which allow him to see and hear (in dark or light) everything within an unobstructed 60ft radius. The Servo-Flys can be self-destructed on command by the Little Green Man (he wears the device that sends the command on the wrist of his silver gauntlet.). The Servo-Fly has no hp or attack capabilities. The can be easily destroyed but they are tiny, fast and agile.
The northern opening is a portal blocked by iron bars. The mechanism for lifting the bars is not in this Location, but the gate can be lifted with a combined strength of 40 and the bars bent normally.
14a). The door is slightly recessed into the wall. It's composed of iron and is extremely heavy. There is a hinged opening at the bottom but only big enough to slide a bowl inside. A grilled opening is set at face level in the door and is covered by a metal plate that can be pushed aside and latched open or when shut latched closed. If the grill is opened and a light shined inside it will reveal a small room with two cots but only one is occupied; a withered body in a robe lying atop one of the beds.
If the door is opened (it is locked by a normal lock and can be picked but trying to break open the door will create a great deal of noise) the body on the bed will open its mouth and begin to moan, its mouth will continue to open till its lower jaw cracks and falls off. At this point the body will attempt to rise. First one leg which lifts will shatter, then both arms, and its other leg, and its head will fall to the floor and explode in small puff of dust. The chest and lower will body will all tip over and collapse inward. Nothing will be left but dust. Examination of the room will reveal shackles attached to both beds but no keys to release. There are 4 sets of shackles with only a 1ft and 1/2 chain between the cuffs. There is no key but if opened they will lock automatically if shut.
14b). This room is almost identical to Location (14a) except that instead of a body on the bed, the beds are both overturned and broken. Beneath the rubble is a pile of left arms (9 of them). They have long ago withered and been stripped of almost all flesh. There is a rathole in the east wall, but if examined it reveals that it is clogged with spiderwebs. Someone or thing small enough could enter this passage but they could be no larger than a normal rat. (The tunnel leads through a small warren of dead-ended and collapsed passages for about 30ft then it drops down at a steep angle before emerging into a room in Dungeon Level 1 Location (13.).
One of the arms has a ring on its pinkie finger. The rotted flesh survived the depredations of the rodents because it was under a piece of broken bed-frame and the ring remained firmly lodged on the otherwise denuded digit. The ring is gold and has a small diamond at its center. It allows the wearer to sense the type of card within a 10ft radius, either in a deck, face-down on a table or held in someone's hand. This function is usable 3 times per day and last for 60 seconds.
14c). The door to this room is the same as the door at Location (14a). Inside the room is the body of a man curled on his side. If it is quiet enough he can be heard snoring and his chest rises and falls. If there is a loud noise he will awaken, roll over and rub his head. If questioned he will say that his name is Ogon and he has no idea how he got in the cell. He was travelling with a small group, investigating the entrance to some kind of building carved into a mountain. He is from a settlement about 50 miles distant and served as a caravan guard till joining with a few companions to search out wealth, glory and adventure. There is a large bruise on his temple and he wears normal boots, trousers and a padded shirt that normally is worn under chainmail. Ogon can give little information on the Library and has no idea what happened to his companions. His last memory is pulling open a large wooden door and shining a torch into the black passage it revealed, and then nothing.
Ogon will gladly join the party if asked, and if not he will ask if can join. If rebuffed he will ask to accompany them out of the Library and in the end will simply walk away in the direction of Location (8.1). if attacked he is a Ftr 1, 8hp, AC10, 1 attack, barehanded Dmg 1hp. If killed he has no loot but the clothes on his back. If the characters revisit the cell after at least 24hours have passed they will find Ogon still sleeping in his cell. Unkown to Ogon he was killed some time ago, decades, perhaps longer. He will act as a normal NPC for days, even weeks, or can even be run by as a Player Character, gaining experience and levels like a living human. He will bleed, suffer from wounds and be affected by spells in a normal way, but will have terrible dreams and a very hard time sleeping. Eventually he will stop sleeping altogether and start seeing movement in his peripheral vision, hear voices, then begin seeing ghostly figures.
After some time his wounds will not close properly though he will regain all his hp, His pallor will change to a greenish-black, all his thick brown hair will fall out. A desire to consume flesh will grow, and even if he is able to hide this, he will turn slowly and irrevocably into a ghoul. If at any point he is killed his form will reappear 24 hours later as the human Ogon sleeping on the bed in his prison cell.
14d). This room is lined with manicals bolted into the stone wall. In the center of the room is a pile of bodies that decomposed from the top down. Each has had its left arm removed at the shoulder. The top 5 bodies are skeletal, the next 4 are withered hHusks and the bottom body is somehow still covered in a damp and stinking flesh.
5 (one armed) Skeletons 1 HD 6hp each, AC7, 1 attack, 1hp Dmg
3 (one armed) Husks 2 HD 9hp each, AC5, 2(3) attacks, Claw 1d6 /Bite 1d10 Dmg
Husk
Frequency: Rare No. Appearing: 1-10 Armor Class: 5 Move: 12" Hit Dice: 2 % in Lair: N/A Treasure Type: N/A No. Attacks: 3 Damage/Attack: Claw/Claw/Bite 1d6/1d6/1d10 Special Attack: None Special Defenses: None Magic Resistance: Nil Intelligence: Low Alignment: Chaotic Evil Size: M Language: None
Description: Husks appear as dry and withered bodies. They are no more than a skeleton wrapped in an armor of flesh turned to a leathery consistency with some fragment of an animating spirit trapped within.
Ecology: Husks are the bodies of humanoids which have been slain in a ritualistic slaughter. Their spirits are chained to the focal point of the ritual be it an item, location, deity, or person. They are the rejected offerings of this ritual; contemptibly weak and ineffectual in comparison with the desired result of the ceremony. Each sacrifice was meant to hold a fragment of some greater power but the Husks are the discarded shells that could not contain the stronger entity. They are abandoned malignant creatures with the desire to kill their only emotion.
The last body absorbed all the blood and effluvia of the other 9 sacrifices but this was the executioner and not meant to be a sacrifice himself. Something struck him down before the ceremony was completed and he had the bodies of the sacrifices unceremoniously piled on top of him.
He wears a rusted human-sized chain shirt (serviceable if cleaned) and a crystal medallion around his neck. He has otherwise been stripped of valuables (three fingers have been removed which will be noticed if he is searched. The finger bones can be found scattered on the floor of the cell.). The medallion is in the form of an eye with a red stone at its center. It is not magical but acts as key to Dungeon Level 2 Location (3.). Posted: 11-12-2020 07:15 pm Thieve's World - Tales From The Vulgar Unicorn -Named Characters By Story
Thieve's World - Tales From The Vulgar Unicorn -Named Characters By Story
Introduction:
Hakiem the Storyteller Kadakithis One-Thumb
Spiders of the Purple Mage:
Ahloo shik-Mhanukhee Badniss Benna nus-Katarz Eevroen Handoo (f) Igil [Deity] Kemren (Purple Mage) Kheem (f) Lahboo the Tight-Fisted Looza Masha zil-Ineel (f) Nadeesh Shalpa [Deity] Shkeedur sha-Mizl Shmurt Shoozh Smhee (Rhandhee Ghee) Wallu (f) Weda Krizhtawn [Deity]
Goddess:
Alar Hil Aspak Alciros Foin Dyareela [Deity] Hakkad Harash Hasr-Ra-Kodi Heqt [Deity] Ils [Deity] Kadakithis, Prince (Kitty-Cat) Leah (f) Mernorad Regli Sabellia [Deity] Samlane (f) Samlor Hil San Savankala [Deity] Sterl (Wizard-Prince)
The Fruit of Enlibar:
Buboe Calisaro [Deity] Dubro Enas Yorl Gonfred Haakon Hakiem Illyra (Lyra) Jakob, Blind Lythande Malm Markmor Runo Thrusher Walegrin Vortheld [Deity]
The Dream of the Sorceress:
Alten Stulwig Azyuna [Deity] Cappen Varra Enas Yorl Illyra Ils [Deity] Jubal Jutu Stulwig Molin Torchholder Myrtis (f) Nemis (f) One-Thumb Quag Savankala [Deity] Vashanka [Deity]
Vashanka's Minion:
Alain Aspect Amoli Cime (f) Cudget Swearoath Hakiem Hanse Shadowspawn Ils [Deity] Jubal Kadakithis (Prince) Tempus (Cle..., Thales) Vashanka [Deity] Zalbar
Shadow's Pawn:
Abohorr Antelope Athavul Bourne Cime (f) Cudget Swearoath Dadisha Enos Yorl Eshi [Deity] Furtwan Gath Hanse Shadowspawn Ils (f) Jubal Kadakithis (Prince) Mignureal (f) Molin Torchholder Moonflower (f) Poker the Cadite Praxy Quag Rander Rehabilitatus [Deity] Sly Sorad Tempus (Thales) Theba [Deity] Tiana [Deity] Two Thumbs Vashanka [Deity] Wrenny
To Guard the Guardians:
Alten Stulwig Arman Haakon Hakiem Jubal Kurd Moria (f) Quag Razkuli Tempus
Zalbar Posted: 11-11-2020 12:30 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 12
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 12
11). This long corridor is lit only by a single torch burning at the southern bend. From the northern doorway it is a dim light, but from the western passage it appears only as a small speck. The floor is filthy as are all the floors in the areas infested with orcs and goblins, but the hall shows the marks of items that have been rolled or dragged along its length; barrels, boxes, chains, bodies, etc...
12). There is a badly concealed secret door here. The orcs use it from time to time and have left marks in the dirt on the floor as well as hand marks where they grab the door's edge. This will be noticed if the hall is searched and the latch to open it, a stone that needs to be pressed, has a big muddy hand print right on top of it. The door opens inwards and reveals a set of a ladder that drops 20ft. At the bottom of the ladder is a small room and a secret door that leads to the grounds outside of the library. The door isn't concealed from the inside, but is cunningly disguised on the outside as well as opening behind bushes that line the outer wall. Anyone searching for this secret door from the outside is at a -3 penalty.
12.1) This hall leads off to the west. It is filled with cobwebs above but no spiders. The secret door on the south wall is in a large niche. It is unconcealed from the north but is well designed and hard to detect from the south (-2 penalty when trying to detect from the Location (11.) hall.
The secret door to the east leading to Location (10.4) is also unconcealed but it cannot be opened from this side. The iron stove in Location (10.4) first needs to be moved aside.
13). This long dusty hallway appears empty except for normal cobwebs clinging to the ceiling which arches 15ft overhead. What cannot be normally seen is the large spider which moves along the top of the ceiling. If the characters can catch this spider they discover that it is not a spider at all. The helm sized device is a machine covered with the chitin of a large spider. Inside this machine is a tiny driver about 4 inches tall. He is green skinned and clothed in a padded orange suit with silver metal gauntlets and a helm made of glass.
If the spider is damaged enough to destroy it the driver will be killed, his glass helmet cracked and a thin greenish vapor released. If it is incapacitated the driver will touch a device that will cause the spider-machines to explode. If the machine explodes it will cause 2d10 damage (save versus Dec for 1/2 damage) in a 20ft radius and leave only fragments of the spider-machine. The driver's body will be completely destroyed though the tiny silver-metal gloves may survive the blast.
A ventilation shaft runs the length of the hall near the ceiling. It connects with most of the passages and rooms deeper on the first floor and down through Dungeon Level 1 and below. It is just big enough for the Machine-Spider to fit through.
The driver will flee from contact with characters and has no wish to attack. He will defend himself if attacked but only if he cannot flee. If somehow captured the Little Green Man will attempt suicide which he can accomplish merely by taking off his glass helmet or even opening it to the atmosphere. Little Green Men have no language. They are telepathic and possess an amazing will power which can bar telepathic intrusion upon their own thoughts.
Machine-Spider
Frequency: Very Rare No. Appearing: 1-3 Armor Class: 1 Move: 24" Hit Dice: 2 % in Lair: N/A Treasure Type: N/A No. Attacks: 3 Damage/Attack: Claw/Claw/Poison Bite 1d4/1d4/1d4+paralyzation Special Attack: The Machine-Spider can emit a web as if a Web spell had been cast but with a range of 20ft and a duration of 5 combat rounds. The web will spread over a 10ftx10ftx10ft area. The component is a liquid material inside the machine that turns to a large web like material when released. A normal Machine-Spider has enough of the material component for 5 attacks and can attack once per combat round. Special Defenses: None Magic Resistance: Nil Intelligence: Non Alignment: N/A Size: S Language: None
Description: A Machine-Spider is a small spider shaped vehicle with an interior enclosed driver's compartment and a skeletal frame. Its exterior is covered in the complete chitin and exterior protrusions of a normal spider of this size.
Ecology: The Machine-Spider is constructed by the Little Green Men. It is fueled by a tiny crystal engine that can be detonated on command. If a Machine-Spider is heavily damaged a recovery team will be sent to retrieve it. The crystal emits radiation that is unique and can be tracked at any distance by the Little Green Men. Posted: 11-11-2020 12:19 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 11
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 11
10.3) The north door to this room is missing. Along the east wall is a disfigured mural. Once it showed a scene of a great hall with several people in blue robes gathered around some central object but over time everything except fragments along the lower 2ft of the wall have been destroyed. There are a number of barrels, boxes, broken weapons and rusty or moldy pieces of armor piled in a great heap against the wall.
This room has become the sleeping quarters for the orcs in Location (10.2) If not on patrol or dicing in that location they will be here sleeping or eating. Normally 3 to 6 orcs can be found in this room.
Among the debris can be found a rusty but serviceable shirt of chainmail, dwarf-sized and three battle-axes of dwarven make. 1 battle-axe is of exceptional quality, though notched in two places. It is a non-magical +1 weapon, but if a natural 1 is rolled the blade will crack and become useless as a weapon.
These orcs tend to keep their best possessions on them since they are so often away from this room, but a huge wooden chest in the south-east corner contains valuable bulky items that they all have a share in. It would take 4 orcs to move the thing.
Inside can be found:
a). A human head incased in a glass globe. The glass is impenetrable but a voice can be heard coming from inside. Close listening can detect it speaking softly in a language which has not been spoken in a thousand years. If it is set upon a silver base (which is also in the chest) shaped like a large hand the voice becomes louder. If listened to while the moon is in the sky the hand glows with a silver light and the words will become clear and in the language of the listener. The head is telling old sagas of a great war between two city states from the far distant past. Some of the names are familiar but only as place names such as Sidok's Gorge or the Bone Palace; the story itself is unfamiliar. The head tells only this very long tale which takes weeks to tell fully. When it has finished it begins the tale once more. It answers no questions and grants no powers or abilities but it does tell an excellent story.
b). A stone sword taken from a statue. The arm was removed at the shoulder but not broken. Instead there is a square projection at the point where the shoulder would fit into a body. The arm is 5ft long and weighs nearly 200lbs. The body of to this arm is on dungeon level 1.
c). Several pyramidal crystals. They are an orange -red color and have a strange feel to them as if composed of flesh rather than crystal. Each will glow with light upon command. They give off an orange glow and if the base is placed against any surface they will stick unless pulled are hit by a strong blow. They can light a 30ft radius and can be stuck anywhere, walls, ceilings, etc... Each is exactly 1ft at its height with a square 1ft base. They do not radiate magic and if damaged will bleed a light red blood. If badly damaged the light goes out and does not return. These lights are actually the larval forms of living creatures and can be found in some profusion on the lower levels of the dungeon.
d) A collection of dwarf made shields. All are badly damaged but they have a sentimental value to the orcs.
See Location (10.2) for the stats of any orcs found here.
10.4). This room serves as both kitchen and larder for the orcs. The door is closed but has no lock and opens with a simple latch. There is a broken area where some lock or handle was smashed away, but so long ago that the wood has worn smooth and looks as stained and scarred with use as the other surfaces.
Against the south wall is a blood-stained wooden table and an old iron stove is set against the secret door on the west wall. The door opens if the stove is tilted forward all the way to the ground. Anything in the stove would come tumbling out especially since the grate in front is missing. The orcs keep the fire going continually.
There is a rack of filthy blades above the table. Two huge butchers cleavers, a mallet and a handful of large knives The cleavers would be awkward weapons -1 to hit and 1d4 damage. The three knives can be used as regular knives, though they could use a sharpening.
Against the north wall are chained three dwarves, two are still living. The legless body of a third dwarf hangs from its wrists above a sticky spill of congealing blood. There are chains enough for 10 people to be bound to the north wall (the orcs are due to receive rations from a hunting party that left the west entrance the previous day and are running a little short on dwarves).
One of the dwarves has gone quite insane. He is red-faced and pulls continually at his chains. Blood drips from his wrists and if released he will attack anyone in front of him. He is a Ftr 1 8hp, AC10, Dmg 1d4+3 (due to maniacal strength). His companion in chains is Bordain a Ftr2, 16hp (currently 3hp) AC10 - If his companion Afar is killed by the characters he won't be happy about it but he won't hold it against the characters. He is from a dwarven mining community about 40 miles distant and was part of a group of prospectors searching for likely places to mine the area. He was completely unaware of the library or the orc infestation. They were ambushed while searching the area about 5 miles away and dragged here mostly unconscious and has only vague memories of orcs and old chambers where they were dumped before being dragged some more. If freed he will offer his services as a guard till he has paid of his debt to the characters (at least till when he feels he has) then he will set off for his own community to inform them of the fate of his companions and the blood debt they will need to collect from the orcs. If he leaves on good terms with the players they will find the orcs to be gruff but faithful allies. Posted: 11-11-2020 10:21 am Thieve's World - The Rat in the Maze - 1
Thieve's World - The Rat in the Maze - 1
NOTE: After picking up Thieve's World from my shelf the idea to work out a map of the Maze and flesh out an adventure immediately came to mind. This is a rough draft and rougher maps (and ideas) for such an adventure.
The Rate in the Maze
Outside the inn of the Vulgar Unicorn runs the widest street in the warren of slums called the Maze. Before the doors the lights burn, but only bright enough to illuminate the filth and refuse, human and otherwise, that litters the avenue. Few thieves, beggars or common citizens of Sanctuary are desperate enough to steal the crude iron lanterns bolted to the walls outside the inn's old and scarred doors or cross One Thumb, the proprietor. Besides, night is a busy time for the inn. Dark plans are best laid in the dark it is said and inside the burglars, crooks and thieves outnumber the drunks.
Your group of conspirators has chosen the Vulgar Unicorn to lay your plans. Some of you have never met before and this nefarious pit of drink and despair seems a safer place than any which may lead to betrayal or ambush. Besides the inn sits near the center of the jumble of decaying houses, ruins, tenements and shops where few guardsmen dare go even during the light of day.
Each of you has been harmed greatly by the Rankan Empire bringing you together tonight to gather what strength you possess to strike a blow against it. Here in Sanctuary the Empire is vulnerable. The capital is far away and few citizens would shed a tear if ever Rankan, including the young prince, suffered a terrible death.
As your group forms, each giving the Sign, you choose a table in the dark beneath the upper balcony and begin to form your plan. Posted: 11-10-2020 09:41 pm Thieves World - Named Characters By Story
Thieves World - Named Characters By Story
Introduction:
Arman Bourne Hakiem Kadakithis, Prince (Kodakithis) Kilite Quag Ran-Tu Sabellia [Deity] Savankala [Diety] Vashanka [Diety] Zalbar
Sentences of Death:
Aye-Gophlan Dyareela [Deity] Enas Yorl Jarveena (f) Melilot Nizharu
The Face of Chaos:
Cappen Varra Durbo Haakon Illyra (f) Jakob, Blind Jofan Jubal Lthande (f) Marilla (f) Molin Torchholder Moonflower (f) Sabellia [Deity] Savankala [Deity] Vashanka [Deity]
The Gate of Flying Knives:
Anen of the Harvest [Deity] Azyuna [Deity] Butterfly (f) Cappen Varra Danlis (f) Dubro Enas Yorl Eshi the Love Goddess [Deity] Hanse Shadowspawn Hazroah the High Flamen Ills of the Thousand Eyes, Lord of Lords [Deity] Illyra (f) Jamie the Red Light-of-Pearl (f) Mattathan Mobius Molin Torchholder One Thumb Rosanda (f) Sabellia Lady of Stars [Deity] Savankala the Thunderer [Deity] Shalpa Patron of Thieves [Deity] Shipri the All-Mother [Deity] Thufir the Tutelary of Pilgrims [Deity] Vahsanka the Ten-Slayer [Deity] Venafer
A Few Remarks By Furtwan Coinpinch Merchant:
Furtwan Coinpinch Hanse Shadowspawn Thumpfoot, Old
Shadowspawn:
Bourne Corlas Cudget Swearoath Cusharlain Eshi [Deity] Gelicia Hakiem Hanse Shadowspawn Ils [Deity] Jubal Kadakithis (Kitty-cat) Lirain (f) Lycansha (f) Moonflower (f) One-Thumb Quag Razkuli Sabellia [Deity] Savankala [Deity] Shive the Changer Taya (f) Vashanka [Deity] Weasel Zalbar
The Price of Doing Business:
Cudget Swearoath Gambi Hakiem Hanse Shadowspawn Jubal Katakithis Lythande (f) Mor-Am Moria (f) Mungo One -Thumb Sabellia [Deity] Saliman Savankala [Deity] Zalbar
Blood Brothers:
Amar Amoli (f) Enoir Kalem Markmor Marype Mizraith Nesteph One-Thumb (Lastel) Stefab
Myrtis:
Ambutta (f) Amoli (f) Cylene (f) Dindan Dylan (f) Gelicia (f) Irda (f) Jubal Kadakithis Lythande (f) Mikkun Myrtis (f) Terapis Zalbar
The Secret of the Blue Star:
Azunya [Deity] Bercy (f) Cappen Varra Ils [Deity] Jiro Lythande (f) Myrtis (f) Rabben the Half-Handed Shalpa [Deity]
Shipri [Deity] Posted: 11-10-2020 06:30 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 10
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 10
10.2) There are from 6-18 orcs in this room. The number varies because many are often on patrol to the north where one of the forbidden doors to the eastern portion of the library has been opened. They are fairly nervous about this since it had been sealed shut with heavy boards and iron spikes as well as enchanted closed by their shamans. They patrol in groups of three and most use Locations (10.3) and (10,4) as their orc-cave while half-a-dozen of them remain at this location on orders from Gron in Location (10.1).
This room is surprisingly empty. There is a ventilation shaft in the north-east corner and the orcs keep a fire going beneath it. A round table is near it and six seats made from old wooden chests surround the table.
There are three large barrels of ale against the north wall. Two are sealed and one is broached and half empty. Anyone looking into the barrel will see something poking above the surface of the ale. If it is pulled out or the barrel emptied the body of a dwarf will be found. He is long since dead and the orcs added his body to give the ale some flavor. A check of the body will find a rusty chain shirt, dwarven sized, a thick leather belt which, if removed, will be inordinarily heavy. A check of the belt will reveal that it can be opened and inside, still dry as the belt was closed very tightly over it, is a map of the area showing an entrance to the library about 1/2 mile from Location (1). The weight comes from 20gp that are spaced around the inside of the belt.
A bucket is on top of the one barrel and there are wooden flagons on the table or more likely in the hands of the orcs.
The northern door is barred shut from this side and one orc is always stationed there. Anyone who wants to enter must knock loudly as the orc is usually asleep.
The eastern and southern doors are missing; both broken apart and used for the fire years ago.
The orcs in this room play a continual game of dice. As some return from patrol they inevitably sit down to play and take the place of some of the current players. The game has been going on for weeks. The 5 orcs playing (there are room for 6) are a little drunk, but the ale is fairly week and they are slow drinkers so they have no modifiers to their combat abilities. They are pleasantly drunk, enough for an orc to be considered pleasant and are more inclined to take prisoners than to just kill and eat them outright.
Inside one of the chest they use for chairs is a secret compartment. Once it held two dozen vials, but only 4 remain. Each contains a sluggish green liquid. It is derived from the edible slime which forms on the front steps of the library. In some ways it is alive. If opened it can be poured out but cannot be separated without causing it to wail in pain, flop around in a squishy way and turn to a grey-black sludge which tastes a little like chocolate mousse. If swallowed the slime can heal 2d8 hp damage and causes a mild hallucinogenic prophetic effect allowing the imbiber to see a quick history of the library overlayed in a disturbing way atop the present day. This effect last for 3 hours and the imbiber will be at -3 to hit and damage. What they will see passes before them very quickly. They get an impression of workmen flitting by as the dig these chambers from the base of a mountain that has had its top cut off as if with a knife leaving a plateau. Then people zip back and forth through the rooms in a blur of motion, furnishings and items come and go and finally it all turns into a horrifying mess of blood and terror. Darkness falls over the visions for a long while then creatures begin to fill the rooms and make the library their own. Throughout the experience the feeling of something watching, something which moves through every moment of the vision, alive and aware, creeps into the sense of sight and a sound begins to eat into the silence like teeth gnawing at a fleshless bone. When the hours pass and the visions end the character will retain this sense and every day within the library the feeling of being watched by this unseen thing will grow.
The 6-18 orcs are 6hp, 1hd, AC6 armed with either mace, bastard sword, or footman's flail. They wear studded armor. Each will have a pouch of 12-36 gold plated teeth and 3d6cp, 2d8sp, 1d6gp on them.
There are a few unusual items among their possessions.
a). A broken piece of mirror in a leather pouch. This piece is about palm-sized and cannot be broken or scratched. If it is joined with other pieces they will meld together into a larger indestructible mirror.
b). A piece of spider's leg, but made of metal. The outer chiten of a spider has been attached to a skeletal metal form. The spider would be about the size of a man's head if the leg is in proportion.
c). A silver cube with runes on each side. It radiates magic faintly. By holding the cube while casting a spell a mage will immediately relearn that spell. It can be used once a day. Once used all of the runes will fade from the cube only to slowly reappear with one less rune. This cube can allow the casting of spells up to 6th level. It can be used six times, each time one of the runes completely disappears after use and on the casting of the sixth spell the cube melts into a puddle of mercury. Posted: 11-10-2020 06:25 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 9
10.1) This center room is home to the orc leader in charge of this small portion of the tribe. He lives here with 3 body guards and the shaman assigned to him. The room is stripped bare of all furnishings. An iron stove is in the south-east corner and its ventilation shaft is still connected to the ceiling. The stove has no front grill and the glow of the fire, which constantly burns inside, is the only illumination.
There is a sleeping pallet and cloth blankets and thickly furred skins against the south wall near the fire. This belongs to Gron the orc leader. He keeps a loaded heavy crossbow beside his bed and sheathed longsword under the top skin of his bed. The longsword glows constantly (it glows in the presence of orcs) and is +2 to hit'+2 damage against orcs. It is a named sword called Gutslitter and on a natural '20 will disembowl the orc hit causing double damage and 1d6+6 pts of damage per combat round. A disembowled orc is at -3 to hit. Gron does not normally carry this sword. It is painful for him to hold, but he has found that some of his worst enemies are other members of the growing tribe of the Third Eye.
Gron has a large wooden chest that is locked by a huge lock. It is impressive looking but it's very size makes it +10% to pick. Otherwise it is much easier to smash the wooden chest than to try to break the lock. The chest contains the following items:
a). A human skull with the jaw and top of head removed. Gold fills the empty brain cavity turning into a macabre goblet. Gron drinks from this after battle. It heals 1d8hp of damage if the goblet is filled with blood and drained in a single gulp. The blood must belong to a person or creature the imbiber has killed in combat. This can be done once for every opponent killed but their blood must still be, mostly, liquid. (Gron has one of his body-guards carry this if they are outside of the Library or on one of the lower levels.
b). A bag with 137 gold plated teeth.
c). A small chest with what Gron thinks are gems but are really just glass from a band of players that they once attacked. They entire box of glass gems is worth 1gp. It is unlikely that the players will know the difference between these fake gems and real ones unless they have experience with valuing jewels or something untoward happens to the gems (like being pounded by a mace).
d). A small bag with 8pp, 47gp, 39sp
e) A small wooden box. Inside is a ring made of raw reddish gold with a red gem gripped by the sculpt of two hands. Writing is finely inscripted inside the ring. It will take a Read Magic spell to decipher the writing. It says "Fire, Flare, fire." The ring will give the wearer an immunity to small fires and a +3 save against large or magical fires. If a mage wears the ring and speaks the words inscribed aloud while putting a finger upon the red stone the spell Burning Hands will be cast against who or whatever the wearer wishes as if by a 5th level caster.
f). A large Dagger that radiates magic but has no special abilities. It is a decent finely crafted dagger and could be enchanted at a latter date.
g). A small iron box with 997 cp in it. Gron collects them. An examination will reveal that each copper piece is different in some way. Most of the cp's are common, but 131 would bring 1 to 10sp each from a collector and 41 would bring 1 to 10gp. 7 are fairly rare and would bring from 10 to 100gp each, and 1 is extremely rare and worth 1,000gp or more. Unless a character is a collector of rare coins himself these are very likely to be seen as only copper pieces of face value, but at some time the players may be cheated by a dealer out of the value of the coins or spend it an inn only to have a customer spot the rare coin and seek to rob the characters, etc...
h). This is a rolled cloth that surrounds a small gold statue wearing a crown and with and upraised hand (snapped off). A book is in its other hand. This is the symbol of learning which the characters may recognize. While it has a value of nearly 100gp it is also part of a key that allows access to a secret room deeper in the library.
i). A canvas sack holding 157sp with a smaller leather pouch holding 67gp.
The Shaman has a small tent made of minotaur hide in the north-west corner. The floor before the tent is blackened with the remains of a small fire. Inside the tent is normally found the shaman. The tent is always closed shut when he is inside and hazy with a thick smoke that smells like a burning rug. This smell and haze remain even when the tent is open. Prolonged exposure to this haze makes characters extremely lethargic and gives them an overpowering desire for food. Those affected can consume up to 3 days rations in a single setting. This feeling will wear off after 3 hours but during that time players will be -3to hit and -3 to damage.
There is a rolled up rug inside the tent and a thick hide of an owlbear on the floor. A leather bag contains several small wooden and ceramic pipes and a large pouch of a green leafy weed that acts the same as the haze if smoked or eaten. Another bag contains a large collection of jerked meat. These strands of meat are surprisingly tasty if eaten but it comes from a number of sources, both animal and sapient. There is the equivalent of 5 days rations worth of the jerked meat.
Finally there is a small carved ivory cheat. The chest itself is valuable if undamaged. Inside are various components that the Shaman considers necessary to cast his spells.
In the center of the room there is a rough wooden table. It is a heavy piece of wood, much scarred and marked. Three benches and a chair surround it. Gron's bodyguards take turns sleeping under the table and there are hides and rags piled there. A large box is also under the table and contains various rations including the headless and quartered bodies of two freshly killed kobolds.
A small box at the bottom of this box of provisions is hidden beneath the rations. It contains the treasury of all three body-guards. Inside are 17pp, 193gp, 390sp, 12 10gp rubies, 13gold rings worth form 1 to 25gp, a gold crown with gems (a worthless prop taken from the strolling player) and a string of 30 pearls (also fake) and a set of 6 worn six-sided dice carved from bone.
Gron is a 3rd level fighter. 23hp, AC 4 Str 17 Int 11 Dex 12 He wears a suit of enchanted chainmail +2 that will cause a normal sword-blade to snap a foot off its end if the attack roll against him is a natural '1'. He uses a battle axe in one hand that is non-magical but wickedly crafted and will cause +2 damage. In his other hand he wields a large enchanted dagger that gives a +1 to hit and allows the wielder to use it in their secondary hand with no training in two weapon fighting.
The three orc bodygyards are 1st level fighters. 8hp each, AC5 they armed with a longsword nonmagical +1 to hit due to quality, A flanged mace, a bastard sword. Each carrier s a pouch with 57, 43 and 41 gold plated teeth.
The Shaman is a 2nd level cleric/ 1st level magic user. 13hp, AC3. He wears a leather suit made of the skin of orcs that gives his AC3. On his head are the horns of a minotaur and can summon the image of the beast but not the beast itself. It will stamp and below and appear to attack but its form is insubstantial and at best it can cause a distraction or a retreat. It is not illusion and in all senses outside of touch it is real; loud, smelly and a character licked it they would taste minotaur (yuck). It will last till the shaman is killed or he dismisses it. He can call upon the minotaur once a day (this minotaur skin will lack this ability with anyone not a orcish shaman). If the shaman receives enough physical damage to kill him the suit will also be destroyed.
He bears a staff made from the carved bones of a man (two legs and an arm melded together with the skeletal hand holding a skull at the top of the staff. If hostile creatures approach within a 30ft radius the jaws will open and the skull will begin to laugh and titter in a most unpleasant manner. During combat the staff acts as a +1 to hit/ +3 to hit against humans and the skull will begin to sing. The song is in the common tongue and tells the story of young mercenary who ventured into the library only to be killed and eaten by these orcs. All players within a 50ft radius must save versus charm or become -1 to hit/-1 damage in combat. No human can hold this staff. A human touching it will receive a powerful jolt that causes 1d4 per combat round while they are holding it.
On his person is a belt with pouches. They have various components to his spells. Around his neck he wears a necklace of ears (from many creatures. They are dried and the Shaman finds them quite nice to snack on.
If captured or made to talk the shaman's eyes will roll up in his head, he will bite off his own tongue and begin shaking. After a minute he will shudder and die. If some divination is used the Shaman's spirit will merely curse and laugh.
Gron and his bodyguards will easily talk. They are unhappy with the tribe of the Third Eye. They are recent recruits from a smaller tribe charmed by the mage Zuel and merged with his ever growing garrison of orcs. This was several weeks ago and Gron would like out. If the characters appear strong enough and the shaman is killed Gron and his guards can be convinced to actual join the party as rather untrustworthy henchmen who look for the opportunity to steal what they can and escape. He will say that this is but a smaller group of orcs. A much larger force commands the west entrance and watches over a pack of kobolds (who they despise and often eat) guarding the north. The chief dwells down in the dungeons of the library in the floor below in a vast room with ledges all around it. The main garrison is down below as well as the women and children of the tribe. There is a great Shaman and all of the lesser shamans (and there are too many of them for Gron's liking) are now being trained by Zuel or his apprentices. The east of the first floor is dangerous and they don't go there (the doors that connect the east and west portions of the library are marked with warnings). They haven't explored all of the west section of the library and use only the long halls and a few siderooms to get to the west entrance and the north. Posted: 11-10-2020 11:54 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 8
10). This room is part of a small outpost of orcs. It currently contains 9 orcs but the inhabitants of Locations (10.1) and (10.2) have removed the interior doors in-between these three locations and regularly pass back and forth.
The eastern door is very strong. It is made of thick wood with iron bands to reinforce it. There was once a mechanical lock but it was broken long ago. Now the door is kept shut by a heavy bar that rests in staples set deeply into the stone wall to either side. The door itself will break before the iron bar is bent or the staples ripped from the wall. There is a small opening in the center of the door at face height. It has a small grill of iron set on the outside of the door to keep anyone from reaching through and an iron plate that can be slid across this opening from the inside and latched shut. It is normally kept shut but not latched.
An orc will normally be asleep, mostly drunk or half-asleep sitting with his back against the door. Nearby on the north wall a battered chest-piece from a suit of plate is hanging from the wall and an old mace is hanging next to it. If attacked or if intruders are spotted an orc will begin pounding on this chest-piece with the mace. The sound will be heard throughout the 3 areas of Location (10-10.2) and in the surrounding corridors.
The room gives no hint as to what it once might have been used for. The walls and floors are filthy. A dim light comes from the south-west corner where a small fire burns and what appears to be the limbless body of some small humanoid creature (kobold) roasts on a spit. The smoke makes the room hazy and thick (combat for PCs is at -1 to hit unless the smoke has cleared) and only a small ventilation shaft in the ceiling keeps the place from being dangerous even to the orcs.
There are bundles of rags and rotting skins against the west wall. If searched they reveal pouches, small bags and sacks containing the possessions of the occupying orcs. Each bag has around 2d20cp, 3d10sp, 4d8gp and a collection of from 4d10 teeth dipped in gold (these represent combat kills, though small creatures such as goblins and kobolds don't count). If any captive is found in possession of these teeth they will have their own teeth pulled from their mouths and crushed with a hammer (their teeth not their heads) a sign that they are unworthy opponents. These teeth are worth only about 10sp and are hard to sell within any of the few nearby settlements.
Several of the bundles have some notable items.
a). Under this pile of bedding is a backpack with one of the shoulder straps missing. It is relatively new but stiff with dried blood and other stains. Inside is the skull of a dwarf with most of the flesh gnawed away, but the skull is haunted by the memory of the slain dwarf. If given a respectful ceremony before disposing of it the character or characters will gain +1 to hit/+1 to damage against any of the orcs in the library (unless otherwise noted). If treated with disrespect the spirit will haunt the disrespectful characters and moan and curse them during combat telling them that they are no better than a bunch of dirty orcs themselves and making them -1 to hit/-1 to damage against any combatants in the dungeon unless the spirit can be appeased in some manner.
b). Atop this pile of stinking skins is a short stabbing spear. It cannot be thrown but is useful in finding the location of mushrooms. It will give off an earthy smell when it is within 50ft of any edible mushrooms and a sweetly sick smell when approaching the poisoness variety. The smell will grow stronger and stronger the nearer they are.
9 Orcs - 6hp, 1HD, AC6, Studded Leather, Mace or Bastard Sword
See Location (6 Note) if any are captured or questioned. Posted: 11-07-2020 09:03 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 7
9). The door to this room is a normal wooden door with no lock. It opens toward Location (8.) and has a pull ring on its outer side.
There is an iron stove, cold and overturned in the south-east corner of the room. The ventilation pipe hangs from the roof (inside the stove is a solid clump of ash which, if smashed apart, reveals a piece of parchment 3/4 burned revealing 1/4 of the 1st level of the dungeon below).
Against the north wall (marked with a boxed X on the map) is a short but long cabinet. Inside can be found the ancient remains of the rations that the men, now skeletons, ate in life. Once it was home to a nest of rats, now a score of these giant creatures are also nothing but skeletons themselves. They are animated and with the same vicious desire to kill as their once human counterparts. With a wordless squeak they will spring out from the cabinet if opened and, in a flow of bony feet, attack those in the room. They are 1hd-4 creatures with 2hp each and AC of 7 and 1 bite attack that will do 1hp of damage. If the nest of rotted bones and rations is examined 200 cp can be sifted from the debris. But if this is done a trap door beneath the base of the wormridden boards of the cabinet will be discovered dropping down to dungeon level 1.
The room is lined with 10 beds against the east and 10 against the west walls. These 20 beds are simple bunks with a wooden chest at the end of them. Each has a pillow made of chicken feathers, a thin mattress made of straw on what were once nets of hide straps. These straps have all been gnawed to pieces and the simple mattresses have collapsed through them to the floor. If searched the rag pillows will reveal several items.
A). A small glass container with a tarry black sludge at the bottom. This sludge is actually a powerful drug. If smoked it will alleviate pain and cause minor hallucinations. There is enough for 5 doses. A pair of normal sheathed throwing daggers and a tinderbox is also in this pillow. The daggers are lightly blackened and have a hard burnt substance on their blades.
B). This pillow contains a silver locket with an inscription inside saying "Love Potion Loves Her Owlbear." It is a cheap locket with silver plate and is worth only 1sp.
C). A small flute carved from wood. Value 5cp
D). A chipped cube of glass. Looking through it will make anything seen through it appear larger. Value 5sp.
E). This appears to be a small book, an adventure story set in an alternate world, but slipped into the spine is a note in code. If deciphered by mundane or magical means it will say, "Moonset, lower stacks".
The blankets and rag pillows are moth eaten and torn by small claws with a rank smell of must and decay.
The 20 trunks at the feet of these beds are all locked with cheap simple locks. +2 bonus modifier to open. They can easily be smashed open with a sharp strike or even kicked off the chest with a bootheel to the hasp. Inside are mostly rotted clothing, belts, boots, but each has some personal gear and a coin pouch. These pouches will contain 3d12cp, 2d10sp, 1d8gp, 25% chance of a ring, locket or pin valued at 3d10gp,
Some have noteworthy items.
a). The bottom of this trunk has a trapped (poison needle but the virulence of the poison has diminished with age and not only causes 1d6 damage (rather than death) save for 1/2 damage) secret compartment. Inside this compartment is a shirt and pants of light black cloth, soft black shoes whose soles will an abraded surface that allows the wearer to grip surfaces better (adds a + 5% to attempts at climbing walls or moving across slick surfaces). There is a dried stick of black face paint, a bottle of a dried greenish substance (once a gummy poison that could be coated on blades. It is still faintly poisonous and eating a quantity of it will cause 3d6 damage, save for 1/2 damage), and a sheaf of thin paper with a small dried bottle of ink and a quill pen.
There are three weapons in the case.
A set of 12 small throwing knives. These have no grip, just a heavy tang to balance the blade weight. These small knives are a nonmagical +2 to hit and do 1d4 damage.
A long curved double-edged dagger. The blade is blackened with a runnel down its length (where a gummy poison could be coated without risk of rubbing off when sheathed). It is a non-magical +2 to hit and does 1d6 damage.
A pair of black gloves with a set of iron spikes at the top and base of the palm. This device makes it easier to climb (+20% bonus) and can be used in weaponless combat to add 1 HP of damage per attack.
There is also a roll of 4 glass tubes. Each is filled with small grayish glass pellets (5 per vial). If the glass is broken they explode in a 10x10 ft cloud of harmless but opaque grey smoke that will dissipate after 3 combat rounds.
b). This chest has a smaller box filled with scrolls of an erotic nature. There are 37 scrolls that run in value to the right 'collector' for between 5sp to 10gp each.
c). Inside this chest there is a small wooden box. It is very old but solidly made. It seems to be filled with very small bones, each with a mark carved upon them (if the writing can be seen at all so minute are the letters). If they bones are removed upon the case the will vibrate slightly and if several are removed near each other they will begin to join together. If the entire box is dumped out they will pull themselves in a set of 6 skeletal mice with a seventh that holds a stringed instrument made of bones. A thin and high music will come from the instrument. The six mouse skeletons will begin to dance around the player. Tiny squeaks will be heard above the music. Slowly the music will grow louder and after another minute or two the dancers will begin to bow to the ground as they dance. They will grovel upon their bony bellies before the music. Any characters within hearing of the music must first save versus charm or begin to dance themselves. Those who succeed in their save must then save versus fear or become paralyzed. This dance will go on for 5 minutes till the charmed characters find themselves groveling on their own stomachs. Then the music will stop and the skeletal mice will search for the box, open its lid, climb inside and fall to pieces. The box and bones are immune to ordinary damage and if the bones are scattered they will return (somehow) to the box by the next rising of the moon. The character which opened the box will find it returned to his possession no matter how he tries to get rid of it. At the waning of the moon he must save versus charm or he will open the box again and dance. Posted: 11-06-2020 08:21 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 6
The Lost Library of Q'Sh
8). This is a large somewhat 'S' shaped room. The south-western end has two secret doors. The western secret door is described in Location (5). but if the area is not entered from that location the skeletons described will be clustered near the south-western nook. They will react to the approach of characters from the north or through the secret door nearby on the south wall.
The wide portion if the room running north-south has two long wooden tables with benches against the west wall, a weapons rack, on the east wall, with ten light crossbows (only two have not been rotted by a slow dripping leak that has come down the wall from a large crack in the stone roof) and a score of bolt pouches contain bolts, most of which will fly apart in flinders if anyone attempts to use them as the damp and moisture have rotted them as well. There is a larger weapons rack is against the wall near location (8.1)., but it is empty. Against the wall facing the library's portico is wheel and pulley system to raise the counterweight which is dropped when opening the southern secret door.
The floor of the room is scattered with broken bones and rotted leather armor, sundered shields (four are still serviceable, medium shields) and ten longswords with various degrees of rust (the swords are -2 to hit and damage till they have been resharpened).
Amid the scattered bones on the floor of this room will be seen a black and dried smear of blood leading to the far eastern end of the room and trailing around the corner.
The door to the north is thick wood with iron bands and a iron grill work over a small opening at chest height. Peering through grill work and shining a light through or having some type of dark vision reveals Locastion (14). a corridor with doors similar to this one, though details are hard to make out as they are slightly recessed into the walls of the passage.
8.2). The smear of dried blood ends before the western door which is appears as a normal wooden door with a pull ring. The space before the door is very similar to Location (6.2) with a very large stain of black dried blood across the floor and spattered on the walls. A moment after stepping within 10ft of this area or upon opening the eastern door from the other side, a cold moaning wind will howl down the passage and stir the blood into a dancing black dust devil which will turn into the form of a robed woman. If this form is touched by anyone or anything during this process or after it has solidified it will emit a screeching, wordless howl and collapse into a pile of dried blood. If allowed to form the woman will hold out her hands revealing that all her fingers have been torn or bitten off. She will look at them herself, howl madly and throw herself at the nearest character, whereupon she will burst into a cloud of dried blood, but anyone within a 10ft radius will find themselves drenched with hot fresh blood as if a bucketful of the stuff had been thrown at them. Posted: 11-05-2020 01:57 pm Dragon #354 Greyhawk References
Dragon Magazine #354 Index
Aaron Marander (Human Fighter 13)[NPC] 31
Aasimar [MON] 31
Abbor-Alz Mountains [MT] 31
Aerdy, Kingdom of [KNG] 26
Almor [KNG] 26
Altar [ITM] 20
Ambara (Female Young Adult Gold Dragon)[NPC] 31
Angel [MON] 22
Arminder Nogg (Champion of Glory)(Male Half-Orc Cleric 5 Heironeous)[NPC] 31, 32
Armorer [CLS] 31
Arnd of Tdon [NPC] 28
Azkava Mor (Paladin)[NPC] 30
Baator [NPC] 30
Ballista [ITM] 31
Bandit [CLS] 23
Battle of a Fortnight’s Length [BTL] 26
Battleaxe [ITM] 20, 22, 23, 25, 31
Battleaxe, Holy +2 [ITM] 32
Beloved of the Gods [RUM] 26
Belt of Giant Strength [ITM] 32
The Blinding Light [RUM] 26
Book of Penitence [BK] 22
Book of the Code [BK] 22
Bright Desert [PLC] 31
The Broken Brotherhood [RUM] 28
By the Archpaladin’s Skin [RUM] 25
Caralin Arvendis (Male Half-Elf Fighter 3/ Cleric 10)[NPC] 31
Chainmail [ITM] 20, 31
Cleric [CLS] 20, 22-24, 31
Coffer [ITM] 30
Coldeven [CAL] 26
The Day of Just Rebellion [CAL] 26
Demon [MON] 32
Deva, Astral [MON] 32
Devil [MON] 30, 32
Dragon [MON] 31
Dragon, Bronze [MON] 31
Dragon, Gold [MON] 31
Dragon, Silver [MON] 31
Dwarf [MON] 20
Elf [MON] 20, 31
Elf, Half [MON] 20, 31
Ferrante (Paladin)[NPC] 22
Fharlanghn [DEITY] 31
Fields of Glory [PLN] 20
Fighter [CLS] 20, 22, 31
Flanmi River [RVR] 26
For Honor and Valor [RUM] 25
Fortnight’s Feast [CAL] 26
Gasharin Hefloranis (Male Elf Fighter 8)[NPC] 31
Great Kingdom [KNG] 26
Greyhawk, City of [TWN] 23, 31
Griffon [MON] 31
Guard [CLS] 24, 31
Heironean Code [PHL] 22, 24, 26
Heironeous {Heironious} (The Invincible, The Archpaladin, The Valorous Knight)[DEITY] 18-20, 22-26, 28, 30-32
Heironeous, Brotherhood of the Lance Unbroken [ORG] 25
Heironeous, Church of [ORG] 20, 22, 28
Heironeous, The Copper Crusaders [ORG] 25
Heironeous, Cleric of (Glorious, Valorous Host, Hero of the … Rank, Champion of Glory, Knight Gallant, Knight Courageous, Knight Valiant, Knight Champion, Paragon, Paragon-General)[CLS] 24, 26, 30, 31
Heironeous, Order of the Shining Sword [ORG] 24, 25
Heironeous, Paladin of (Templar)[CLS] 24
Heironeous, Sanctum of (City of Greyhawk)[TMP] 31
Helena Stanmaer (Female Human Cleric 12 of Fharleanghn)[NPC] 31
Hextor [DEITY] 19, 20, 24, 26, 28, 30
Human [MON] 31
Invulnerable Coat of Arnd [ITM] 28
Iuz [DEITY][NPC] 23, 25, 31
Kara-Fruit [ITM] 20
Karistyne [NPC] 31
Karistyne Castle [CTl] 31
Katarina (Lady)[NPC] 25
King [CLS] 24
Knight [CLS] 24-26, 28
Knights of the Holy Shielding [ORG] 25
Labelas Enoreth (Elven God of Time)[DEITY] 31
Longsword [ITM] 20, 22
Mace, +3 Disruption [ITM] 32
Malchaus (Astral Deva)[MON] 32
Manticore [MON] 31
May the Axe Grow Great [RUM] 25
Mayaheine [DEITY] 24
Meersalm [ITM] 20, 26, 28, 30, 32
Mercenary [CLS] 20
Messenger [CLS] 31
Monk [CLS] 20
Murlynd [DEITY] 24
Nine Hells [PLN] 30
Nyr Dyv [RVR] 23
Nyrond [KNG] 26
Oeridian [PPL] 20, 28
Oerth [PLC] 23
Onwald Sidney [NPC] 22
Orc [LNG] 32
Orc [MON] 31, 32
Orc, Half- [MON] 31
Paladin [CLS] 19, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30, 31
Peasant [CLS] 24
Pelor [DEITY] 24
Pholtus [DEITY] 26
Pholtus, Church of [ORG] 26, 28
Pit Fiend [MON] 30
Pitchfork [ITM] 23
Platemail [ITM] 20, 26
Ready’reat [CAL] 26
Ranger [CLS] 31
Rary [NPC] 31
Reaping [CAL] 26
Red Thunderbolt (+2 Shocking Thundering Battleaxe)[ITM] 30 Right Makes Might [RUM] 25
Robe [ITM] 20
Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia [PLN] 20
Sheep [MON] 23
Shianne Stotmahanded (Female Elf Wizard 13)[NPC] 31
Shield Lands [KNG] 20, 23, 25, 26, 31
Soldier [CLS] 19, 22, 31
Spy [CLS] 31
Statue [ITM] 20
Stern Alia [DEITY] 26, 28
Stonemason [CLS] 31
Tabard [ITM] 20, 31
Tattoo [ITM] 24
Temple [TMP] 20, 22, 25, 26, 32
Undead [MON] 25
Valormight [CAL] 26
Wealsun [CAL] 26
Wolf [MON] 23
Wyvern [MON] 31
Posted: 10-22-2020 05:24 am Fritz Leiber's "Lankhmar" Character Names
Here is a list of character names from Fritz Leiber's "Lankhmar" or "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" stories.
I urge anyone who has not read Leiber's "Lankhmar" stories to read them and anyone who has read them to re-read them.
Names compiled from 'Swords and Deviltry' (Hopefully I haven't missed too many)
Bannat Effendrit (Mingol) Essendinex Fissif Flim Giscorl Glavas Rho Grif Harrax (Snow Man) Hinerio Hor (Snow Man) Hrey (Snow Man) Hringorl (Snow Man) Hristomilo Ivrian Janarrl Jengao Karstak Ovartamortes Krovas Mara (Snow Man) Misra Mor (Snow Woman) Mourph Nalgorn (Snow Man) Nattick Rokkermas Slaarg Slevyas Slivikin Tyarya Vellix Vilis Vlana Zax (Mingol)
The Snow Woman
Effendrit (Mingol) Essendinex Harrax (Snow Man) Hinerio Hor (Snow Man) Hrey (Snow Man) Hringorl (Snow Man) Mara (Snow Man) Mor (Snow Woman) Nalgorn (Snow Man) Vellix Vilis Vlana Zax (Mingol)
The Unholy Grail
Giscorl Glavas Rho Ivrian Janarrl
Ill Met in Lankhmar
Bannat Fissif Flim Grif Hristomilo Jengao Karstak Ovartamortes Krovas Misra Mourph Nattick Rokkermas Slaarg Slevyas Slivikin Tyarya
2). List compiled from Swords Against Death & Swords in the Mist
Arvlan Atya Basharat Braggi Bwadres Danius Gis Glipkerio Gnarlag Gortch Grilli Harsel Ilala Innesgay Issek Ivlis Kivies (Raven) Kooskra (Eagle) Kreshmar Laavyan Larlt (Mingol) Lavas Laerk Lessnya Lithquil Mingsward Moolsh Moulsh Ohmphal Ourph (Mingol) Ouwenyis (Mingol) Pulg Quatch Rannarsh Skel Slevyas Srith Stravas Teevs (Mingol) Tovilyis Tres Urgaan Wiggin Zizzi
Swords Against Death
The Circle Curse
Lithquil
The Jewels in the Forest
Arvlan Rannarsh Urgaan
Thieves House
Ivlis Laavyan
Moolsh Ohmphal Slevyas Tovilyis
The Bleak Shore
Larlt (Mingol) Ourph (Mingol) Ouwenyis (Mingol) Teevs (Mingol)
The Sunken Land
Lavas Laerk
Claws From the Night
Atya Kivies (Raven) Kooskra (Eagle) Lessnya Moulsh Stravas
The Price of Pain-Ease
Braggi Danius
Swords in the Mist
The Cloud of Hate
Gis Glipkerio Gnarlag Harsel Innesgay Kreshmar Skel Tres
Lean Times in Lankhmar
Basharat Bwadres Gortch Grilli Ilala Issek Mingsward Pulg Quatch Srith Wiggin Zizzi
Compiled from Swords Against Wizardry
Alyx Bonecracker (Ice Gnome) Breakskull (Ice Gnome) Brilla Dickon Divis Eeack (Rat) Essem Faroomfar Flindach Friska Gibberfat (Ice Gnome) Glinthi Gnarfi Graah (Bear) Grom Gwaay Hasjarl Hirriwi Hisvin Hovis Hrissa (Ice Cat) Ivivis Juln Kewissa Keyaira Klevis Kranarch Kronia Kruk (Bear) Legcruncher (Ice Gnome) Nemia Ogo Oomforafor Quarmal Scraa (Roach) Snarve Tamorg Tork Twelm Vlek Yissim Zobold
Stardock
Bonecracker (Ice Gnome) Breakskull (Ice Gnome) Faroomfar Gibberfat (Ice Gnome) Glinthi Gnarfi Graah (Bear) Hirriwi Hrissa (Ice Cat) Keyaira Kranarch Kruk (Bear) Legcruncher (Ice Gnome) Oomforafor
The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar
Alyx Dickon Grom Gwaay Hasjarl Hisvin Kronia Nemia Ogo Snarve Tork Vlek
The Lords of Quarmall
Brilla Divis Eeack (Rat) Essem Flindach Friska Hovis Ivivis Juln Kewissa Klevis Quarmal Scraa (Roach) Tamorg Twelm Yissim Zobold
Compiled from The Swords of Lankhmar & Swords Against Ice Magic
(F) = female
Bashabeck Bimbat (Boarhound) Bomar Dwone Edumir Elakeria (F) Eesafem (F) Fralek (F) Freg (F) Frix (F) Fro (F) Gale (F) Gara (Deity) Glipkerio Kistomerces Gonov Gorex Grig (Rat) Grongier Grum (F) Hilsa (F) Hisven Hisvet (F) Hreest (Rat) Hrenlet (F) Ivmiss (F) Khahkht Kos (Deity) Kreeshkra (Ghoul)(F) Krimaxius Lukeen May (F) Mog (Deity) Movarl Naph Nattick Numblefingers Olegnya Radomix Reetha (F) Rill (F) Rivis Rightby Samanda (F) Siss (Rat) Skwee (Rat) Slenya Akkiba Magus (F) Slinoor Svivomilo (Rat) Tchy (Rat) Zwaaken
The Swords of Lankhmar
Bashabeck Bimbat (Boarhound) Elakeria (F) Frix (F) Glipkerio Kistomerces Grig (Rat) Hisven Hisvet (F) Hreest (Rat) Hrenlet (F) Kreeshkra (Ghoul)(F) Krimaxius Lukeen Movarl Naph Nattick Numblefingers Olegnya Radomix Reetha (F) Rivis Rightby Samanda (F) Siss (Rat) Skwee (Rat) Slinoor Svivomilo (Rat) Tchy (Rat)
Swords Against Ice Magic
The Sadness of the Executioner
Eesafem (F) Gorex
Beauty and the Beasts
Slenya Akkiba Magus (F)
Under the Thumb of the Gods
Fralek (F) Freg (F) Fro (F) Gara (Deity) Ivmiss (F) Khahkht Kos (Deity) Mog (Deity)
The Frost Monstreme
Afreyt (F) Cif (F) Gaus Gib Mannimark Mikkidu Pelly Pshawri Skor Skullick Titchybi (F) Trenchi
Rime Isle
Bomar Dwone Edumir Gale (F) Gonov Grongier Grum (F) Hilsa (F) May (F) Rill (F) Zwaaken Posted: 10-21-2020 06:11 am REH's Conan - List of Names and Ethnicities
Abbreviations of Ethnicities
Acheron = Ach Aesir = Aesir Afghul = Afg Aquilonian = Aq Argossean = Arg Bakalah = Bak Brythunian = Bry Corinthian = Cor Dagonian = Dag Hyrkanian = Hyr Keshan = Kes Khauran = Kha Kothian = Kot Kozaki = Koz Kshatriyan = Ksh Kushite = Kus Kutchemesian = Kut Messantian = Mes Nemedian = Nem Ophirean = Op Pelishtim = Pel Pict = Pict Shemite = Shem Stygian = Sty Tlazitlans = Tla Turanian = Tur Vanir = Vanir Xuchotlan = Xu Yimsha = Yim Zamboulan = Zamb Zamoran = Zam Zingaran = Zin Zuagir = Zu
Acheron Xaltotun - Ach
Aesir Gorm - Aesir Horsa - Aesir Niord - Aesir Wulfhere - Aesir
Afghul Yar Afzal - Afg
Aquilonian Albiona - Aq Altaro - Aq Arpello - Aq Ascalante - Aq Athemides - Aq Balthus - Aq Dion - Aq Epemitreus - Aq Gromel - Aq Hadrathus - Aq Namedides - Aq Numedides - Aq Orastes - Aq Pallantides - Aq Prosepero - Aq Publius - Aq Rinaldo - Aq Servius Galannus - Aq Soractus - Aq Thespius - Aq Tiberias - Aq Trocero - Aq Valannus - Aq Valeria - Aq Valerius - Aq Volmana - Aq Zelata - Aq
Argossean Bracus - Arg Demetrio - Arg Galacus - Arg Strom - Arg Tito - Arg
Bakalah Aja - Bak Bajujh - Bak
Brythunian Aratus - Bry Natala - Bry
Corinthian Ivanos - Cor Muriela - Cor
Dagonian Khosatral Khel - Dag Yateli - Dag
Hyrkanian Amurath - Hyr
Keshan Gorulga - Kes Gwarunga - Kes
Khauran Ivga - Kha Krallides - Kha Salome - Kha Taramis - Kha Valrius - Kha
Kothian Almuric - Kot Arbanus - Kot Constantius - Kot Khossus - Kot Sergius - Kot Shupras - Kot Strabonus - Kot Taurus - Kot Thespides - Kot Tsotha-Lanti - Kot Vateesa - Kot Yasmela - Kot Zorathus - Kot
Kozaki Olgerd Vladislav - Koz
Kshatriyan Bunda Chand - Ksh Chunder Shan - Ksh Devi Yasmina - Ksh Gitara - Ksh
Kushite Ajaga - Kus Ajonga - Kus Laranga - Kus Shukeli - Kus Yasunga - Kus
Kutchemesian Thugra Kohotan (Nathok) - Kut
Messantian Publio - Mes
Nemedian Alcemides - Nem Amalric - Nem Arideus - Nem Arus - Nem Aztrias Petanius - Nem Demetrio - Nem Dionus - Nem Enaro - Nem Kalanthes - Nem Kallian Publico - Nem Nimed - Nem Numa - Nem Octavia - Nem Posthumo - Nem Promero - Nem Tarascus - Nem Taurus - Nem Zenobia - Nem
Ophirean Akkutho - Op Amalrus - Op Khossus - Op Livia - Op Olivia - Op Theteles - Op Tina - Op
Pelishtim Bit-Yakin - Pel
Pict Zogar Sag - Pict
Shemite Belit - Shem Gebal - Shem Gilzan - Shem Khumbanigasa - Shem Servio - Shem Zargheba - Shem
Stygian Ctesphon - Sty Kutamun - Sty Rammon - Sty? Tascela - Sty Thalis - Sty Thoth-Amon - Sty Thothmekri - Sty Thothmes - Sty Thutmekri - Sty Tuthamon - Sty Yara - Sty?
Tlazitlan Chicmec - Tla Olmec - Tla Tachic - Tla Techotl - Tla Tecuhltli - Tla Topal - Tla Xamec - Tla Xecelan - Tla Xotalanc - Tla Yanath - Tla Yasala - Tla Zlanath - Tla
Turanian Alafdhal - Tur Ghaznavi - Tur Jehungir Agha - Tur Jelal - Tur Jungir Khan - Tur Kerim Shah - Tur Khosru Khan - Tur Yildiz - Tur Yezdiderd - Tur
Vanir Bragi - Vanir Heimdul - Vanir
Xuchotlan Tolkemec - Xu
Yimsha Khemsa - Yim
Zamboulan Aram Baksha - Zamb Ghanara - Zamb Nafertari - Zamb Totrasmek - Zamb Zabibi - Zamb
Zamoran Shevatas - Zam
Zingaran Belesa - Zin Beloso - Zin Galbro - Zin Gebbrelo - Zin Sancha - Zin Tranicos - Zin Valbroso - Zin Valenso - Zin Zaporavo - Zin Zarono - Zin Zingelito - Zin
Zuagir Djebal - Zu
Misc. and Unkown Akivasha - ? Astreas - ? Athicus - ? Joka - ? Murilo - ? N'Gora - Island Kingdoms? N'Yaga - Island Kingdoms Nabonidus - ? Ortho - ? Pelias - ? Petreus - ? Satha - Giant Snake Thak - Ape-Man Tiberio - ? Vathelos - ? Yag-Kosha (or Hogah) - from the green planet Yag Yelaya - ? Zang - ? Zarallo - ?
Compiled from Del Rey's The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
The Phoenix in the Sword
Ascalante - Aq Ctesphon - Sty Dion - Aq Epemitreus - Aq Gromel - Aq Numa - Nem Numedides - Aq Pallantides - Aq Prosepero - Aq Publius - Aq Rammon - Sty? Rinaldo - Aq Thoth-Amon - Sty Trocero - Aq Volmana - Aq
Frost-Giant's Daughter
Bragi - Vanir Gorm - Aesir Heimdul - Vanir Horsa - Aesir Niord - Aesir Wulfhere - Aesir
The God in the Bowl
Arus - Nem Aztrias Petanius - Nem Demetrio - Nem Dionus - Nem Enaro - Nem Kalanthes - Nem Kallian Publico - Nem Posthumo - Nem Promero - Nem
The Tower of the Elephant
Taurus - Nem Yag-Kosha (or Hogah) - from the green planet Yag Yara - Sty?
The Scarlet Citadel
Ajaga - Kus Akkutho - Op Amalrus - Op Arbanus - Kot Arpello - Aq Athemides - Aq Khossus - Op Namedides - Aq Pelias - ? Satha - Giant Snake Shukeli - Kus Strabonus - Kot Tsotha-Lanti - Kot
Queen of the Black Coast
Belit - Shem N'Gora - Island Kingdoms? N'Yaga - Island Kingdoms Tito - Arg
Black Colossus
Amalric - Nem Khossus - Kot Kutamun - Sty Shevatas - Zam Shupras - Kot Taurus - Kot Thespides - Kot Thugra Kohotan (Nathok) - Kut Vateesa - Kot Vathelos - ? Yasmela - Kot
Iron Shadows In The Moon
Amurath - Hyr Aratus - Bry Ivanos - Cor Olivia - Op Sergius - Kot Yildiz - Tur
Xuthal of the Dusk
Almuric - Kot Natala - Bry Thalis - Sty
The Pool of the Black One
Sancha - Zin Zaporavo - Zin
Rogues in the House
Athicus - ? Joka - ? Murilo - ? Nabonidus - ? Petreus - ? Thak - Ape-Man
The Vale of Lost Women
Aja - Bak Bajujh - Bak Livia - Op Theteles - Op
The Devil in Iron
Ghaznavi - Tur Gilzan - Shem Jehungir Agha - Tur Jelal - Tur Khosatral Khel - Dag Octavia - Nem Yateli - Dag Yezdiderd - Tur
Compiled from Del Rey's The Bloody Crown of Conan
The People of the Black Circle
Bunda Chand - Ksh Chunder Shan - Ksh Devi Yasmina - Ksh Gitara - Ksh Kerim Shah - Tur Khemsa - Yim Khosru Khan - Tur Yar Afzal - Afg
The Hour of the Dragon
Akivasha - ? Ajonga - Kus Albiona - Aq Altaro - Aq Amalric - Nem Arideus - Nem Beloso - Zin Demetrio - Arg Gebal - Shem Hadrathus - Aq Laranga - Kus Nimed - Nem Orastes - Aq Publio - Mes Servio - Shem Servius Galannus - Aq Tarascus - Nem Thespius - Aq Thothmekri - Sty Thothmes - Sty Tiberias - Aq Tiberio - ? Tuthamon - Sty Valannus - Aq Valbroso - Zin Valerius - Aq Xaltotun - Ach Yasunga - Kus Zelata - Aq Zenobia - Nem Zorathus - Kot
A Witch Shall Be Born
Alcemides - Nem Astreas - ? Constantius - Kot Djebal - Zu Ivga - Kha Khumbanigasa - Shem Krallides - Kha Olgerd Vladislav - Koz Salome - Kha Taramis - Kha Valrius - Kha Zang - ?
Compiled from Del Rey's The Conquering Sword of Conan
The Servants of Bit-Yakin
Bit-Yakin - Pel Gorulga - Kes Gwarunga - Kes Muriela - Cor Thutmekri - Sty Yelaya - ? Zargheba - Shem
Beyond the Black River
Balthus - Aq Soractus - Aq Tiberias - Aq Valannus - Aq Valerius - Aq Zogar Sag - Pict
The Black Stranger
Belesa - Zin Bracus - Arg Galacus - Arg Galbro - Zin Gebbrelo - Zin Strom - Arg Thothmekri - Sty Tina - Op Tranicos - Zin Valenso - Zin Zarono - Zin Zingelito - Zin
The Man-Eaters of Zamboula
Alafdhal - Tur Aram Baksha - Zamb Ghanara - Zamb Jungir Khan - Tur Nafertari - Zamb Totrasmek - Zamb Zabibi - Zamb
Red Nails
Chicmec - Tla Tascela - Sty Techotl - Tla Tecuhltli - Tla Tolkemec - Xu Olmec - Tla Ortho - ? Tachic - Tla Topal - Tla Valeria - Aq Xamec - Tla Xecelan - Tla Xotalanc - Tla Yanath - Tla Yasala - Tla Zarallo - ? Zlanath - Tla Posted: 10-18-2020 06:07 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 5
6 Note). There is a chance that an individual creature or patrol may appear in this corridor while the characters are present. The following encounter may occur.
6.A). 6 Goblins from deeper within the library have been sent to reinforce those at the front gate. 2 are archers
2 Goblins have shortbows, short swords and leather armor. They are AC7 and 3HP each. and fight as 1-1 creatures. Each has 20 arrows in their quivers and will move one to each side of their compatriots and try for flanking shots against their enemies. If they run out of arrows they will draw their shortswords and attack.
4 Goblins have either a mace or shortsword. With either small or medium shields. They are 4HP, AC6 and fight as 1-1 creatures.
All goblins wear small helms.
6.B) 20 Goblins are being sent on a hunting party to find meat for the fire (there just haven't been as many adventurers coming to the dungeon lately).
10 Goblins have shortbows, short swords and leather armor. They are AC7 and 3HP each. and fight as 1-1 creatures. Each has 20 arrows in their quivers and will move one to each side of their compatriots and try for flanking shots against their enemies. If they run out of arrows they will draw their shortswords and attack.
10 Goblins carry javelins (one in hand and two in a sheath on their backs) with short swords and leather armor. They are AC7 and 3HP each. and fight as 1-1 creatures. They can fight with their javelins as a hand-held weapon but normally through them all first at a distance and closed with their shortswords.
All goblins have helms. Each carries a medium sack as well as a coil of twine and another with 20feet or so of rope.
6.C). 3 Orcs from Location (10). coming to kick some crap out of a few goblins in Location (3). for some fun. They will proceed out of the door between Locations (10). and (6). but if they spot more than 2 characters they will turn and run for the door, slamming and bolting it behind them. If they are able to do so the characters will hear a deep gonging sound from behind the door to Location (10).
3 Orcs - Each Orc wears a suit of studded leather armor and carries a club in their hand, but has a bastard sword sheathed at their belts. Most unusual is the tattoo of an eye on the back of their bald heads. This tattoo radiates magic and allows the Orcs to be aware of anyone approaching them from behind (range 10ft). They are 6hp, 1HD, AC6, dmg 1d6 club or 2d4 bastard sword.
If taken alive and questioned they (or it) will reveal some, none or all of the following information amid various lies, curses and threats.
They are the orcs of the Third Eye and serve the great and powerful Zuel who appears to them as a walking God formed of blood. He led them to this place season upon season ago and they dwell in these stinking man-chambers in between the times when the great and powerful Zuel sends them forth to raid or on strange missions that are the God's will. He can say that his tribe has more than a hand of hands in it or many hands of hands, he didn't excel at math. They inhabit the chambers to the west, but further west than the chamber he came from. He and his fellows keep an eye on the goblins in this area. The great and powerful Zuel has commanded them never to go further east in this warren of chambers than the hallway they are now in and they have marked the sign of the eye upon any doors they are not to enter. The warrens go down and his tribe mainly lives on the lower level, but they avoid the more dangerous places and the stairs or pits to levels below that one (anything below Dungeon Level 1). They're entrance to the library is to the west and they know of at least two other entrances to the library. None of them can map worth a damn.
7), This chamber was a secret passage connecting the wide hallways leading from the front doors, but now both western and eastern doors have been blocked and the interior passage choked with rubble. The difficulty in opening the western door is detailed in location (6). while the eastern door will open halfway as it raises into the ceiling but will then jam and a pile of rubble will slide out through the half-open section.
It is possible to clear the rubble but doing so will bring another fall of dirt and stone. Anyone working at clearing the room must save versus their Dex or be clouted with rock for 1d10 damage. Characters will be forced from this room by falling rock unless some means is provided to protect them from the falling stone and keep it from refilling the passage. Posted: 10-17-2020 05:10 am The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 4
The Lost Library of Q'Sh
6). The southern doors of this hallway are smashed apart and the remains hang from the hinges. If the goblin's fire is still burning in location (3). then the first ten feet of the passageway can be seen without other illumination. There is dust and small debris in the corners of the hall but the center of the floor is clear except for the stained footprints of many feet. (an examination will show that most of the footprints are either made by goblins or an even smaller three-toed clawed foot, but beneath the smaller footprints are larger prints of booted feet). These footprints run the length of the hall till it turns west in location (6.1).
The hall is unlit but the rusted remains of wall sconces are set at intervals along the wall at about a 6ft height. Most are broken and will not a hold a torch and some are missing entirely. The sconce that is set at the spot of the secret door to location (7). is one of the missing sconces and only a rusty stain remains. The secret door here has a +1 modifier to detect but cannot be opened from this side. The door itself is made of 1ft thick blocks of stone and will need to be knocked apart to access location (7). (normally a difficult, time consuming and noisy activity).
The ceiling is 15ft high and arched. Though there are cobwebs aplenty they are the work of small, common spiders. Their webs can be burned away but they will not catch fire as to spread, nor are they particularly dense.
Toward the northern end of the hall is a doorway to location (10). It has a small grilled opening covered by an iron plate which can be slid aside. Any thumping on this door or unsuccessful attempts to open it [there is a thick crossbar locking it in Location (10).] and the plate will slide open. A orc's face will appear behind the grill and he will grumble "This better be good," in the Orcish. If he is not slain or incapacitated immediately the iron plate will slam shut and a loud gong will be heard coming from behind the door.
6.1) At the turn of the corner the characters will see a huge pool of dried blood that spreads across the floor in front of the northern doors as well as splatters across the walls up to nine feet in height as if something had been butchered in this spot. If the characters approach the bloody floor a cold moaning wind will whip down the corridor and set a dust devil amid the dried blood. In moments it will form the figure of a robed man holding a scroll. If the figure is touched in any way it will collapse into a pile of black powder. If allowed to form it will hold the scroll out to the characters. If a Read Magic spell is cast upon the scroll it will create a bobbing spark of light that can illuminate a 20ft radius and will drift about 10ft in front of the character who cast Read Magic. This spark will dance about 5ft from the ground and move first toward the west trying to lead the character further into the dungeon. Posted: 10-16-2020 04:49 am Dragon #311 Greyhawk Reference
Dragon #311 Greyhawk References
Castle Greyhawk [CTL] #18
Chimera [MON] #18
Displacer Cloak [ITM] #18
Elf, Gray [MON] #18
Melf (of the Green Arrow)(Gray Elf) [NPC]
#18
Mordenkainen [NPC] #18
Red Rampart Guards [ORG] #18
Trail of Displacer Cloak Ashes and Elven Tears [STR] #18 Posted: 10-15-2020 09:12 am Lost Library of Q'Sh - Tradesman's Entrance Part 1
Lost Library of Q'Sh - Tradesman's Entrance
Part 1
The area around the Lost Library of Q'Sh is wilderness with the once nearby towns and villages long abandoned and swallowed by forest. The road to and from the library was once wide, well paved and maintained but the trees have claimed the once open track as they have claimed worked fields and town squares. Time and the elements and the gnawing roots of trees have not been kind to the works of man.
The library itself was made of sterner stuff, carved from a wide plateau of rock and descending untold depths into the earth, the work was at the hands of dwarven craftsmen, miners and masons; built as a repository of knowledge for the ages not just the life of a man or even a civilization.
If only those protecting the library had been as enduring as stone.
The Tradesman's Entrance -
The Forest
The area surrounding the Tradesman's entrance to the library is in a long narrow, heavily-wooded valley. The roadway that once marched evenly down the valley floor, raised above a fast flowing stream, has long since disappeared and the stream is now the only direct path to the wide southern gateway.
The valley forest is strangely empty of any large animal life except for a pair of giant-weasels that hunt by day and a patrol of kobolds who check their traps for small game by night.
If the players approach by day they may discover the tracks of a brown bear leading into the valley. A fresh trail can be found broken through the underbrush and in a small clearing near a recently uprooted tree is the scene of a desperate battle. A large brown bear lies dead atop the body of a giant-weasel. A second weasel is tangled amid the roots of the upturned tree. A small 1hp brown bear cub sits forlornly by its mother's body while the body of a dead cub is resting where the weasel dropped it; in the deep depression left by the roots of the tree.
The bear cub is very young and will bond with anyone feeding it. If abandoned the cub will attempt to follow the party. If cared for the cub could become a faithful animal companion, but keeping it alive as it is a 1HP AC9 creature could prove challenging.
The Stream
Once an icy-cold and fast flowing water that ran beside the raised roadway; the valley stream has become a slow and shallow flow of water skirting tumbled rocks as it leads toward the southern entrance of the library. To the west the valley wall rises higher as the water flows south ending in the pool at Area 1). before curving along the outer wall heading east and disappearing into a crevice and into the dungeons below.
Movement along the stream is not difficult but the bed is filled with loose stone and combat for anyone standing in the stream-bed is at -1 to hit.
The east forested bank of the stream is about ten-feet above the shallow water. During the spring storms flood waters will raise the stream from mere inches to a height that will easily overflow the ten-foot banks. The bank has been worn down in several places where kobolds have beaten down animal paths that reached the stream.
If the valley is entered at night there is a chance of encountering the kobold patrol or the group gathering small prey from their series of traps. (During the day it is possible to find the kobolds' traps which are simple wire snares).
A. Patrol
The kobold patrol consists of one sub-leader of 4hp AC5 (suit of homemade leather armor) armed with a barbed throwing spear dmg 1d4 (+ 1hp dmg to remove unless save under Dex is made) and a dagger he uses as a short sword dmg 1d4+1 (due to strength).
8 2hp AC7 kobolds armed with 1d4 damage stabbing spears.
The leader has a small belt pouch with a round gold sphere (if examined it will be revealed as the head of a small statue that radiates magic faintly).
The Trap Gatherers.
The trap gatherers consist of 12 kobolds that will split off into six groups of two. One kobold will be 2hp AC7 the other 1hp. The 2hp kobold has a stabbing spear 1d4 dmg and the other kobold is unarmed and will run away if attacked (or if any strangers are encountered). If forced to fight the 1hp kobolds can only inflict 1hp dmg.
Raising the Alarm
Both the Patrol and the Trap Gathers will try to race back to their warrens (1a-1e) and raise the alarm about intruders rather than to stay and fight. If a single adventurer is encountered the Patrol leader might try to swarm them but will still send one member of his patrol back to the warrens. Posted: 10-10-2020 05:07 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 3
The Lost Library of Q'Sh - 3 5). The hallway is very wide and has an arched ceiling that peaks 15ft overhead. It is extraordinarily dusty inside and the ceiling is choked with spiderwebs. When either set of doors (north or south) is opened the dust will be stirred and a small whirlwind will begin to dance in front of the open door. It will spin faster and faster and the dust will begin to form into the shape of a man. If disturbed the forming figure will give a loud moan of anguish and fly apart leaving a pile of dust behind, but if it is left alone it will become the figure of a tall robed man holding a book. He will hold out this book to the characters so that they can see the cover. On it is the sigil of a snake swarming around a set of runes. There are runes also inscribed along the body of the snake but in a different language. If Comprehend Languages is cast upon the book it will reveal dozens of names though one stands out as if embossed (Zuel). The runes upon the snake remain undecipherable. The names around the snake will begin to shift and push against the snake's encircling body and the snake's body will begin to constrict. The figure of the robed man will let out a scream and both man and book will explode in a cloud of dust. If the figure of the man is touched at any point during this process he will collapse in a pile of dust, though the book itself can be touched by the caster of the Comprehend Languages spell.
Empty sconces where torches once rested alternate left and right down the hall every 20ft and if the 1st sconce (where the secret door is marked) is turned to the left a grinding sound will be heard, a small vibration will run through the floor and the walls, while dust shakes from the ceiling. The 10ft section of wall which holds the sconce will recede about an inch and stop. It is jammed shut. The movable wall will take magic or picks and sledge hammers to take apart. It is an actual thick section of stone wall formed of stone slabs weighing a couple of hundred pounds each and expertly fitted together (damn that dwarven craftmanship) so knocking it apart will probably involve a good deal of time, a slight chance of stones falling on the character and a great deal of noise).
Once the obstruction is cleared a half-dozen skeletons will burst from the dark interior of the room; each armed with sword and shield. The leader still wears a rusty shirt of chain (he is AC4) while the others wear the scraps of rotted leather armor they wore in life but are now of no additional protection. They bear longsword and shield (giving the other 5 skeletons AC6) and do the damage of their weapon unlike their more generic brethren. They will fight to their destruction.
If the thick cobwebs of the hall are searched or set afire (the webs will ignite but they burn sluggishly taking 2 combat rounds for a 10ft section to burn through) a mummified body will drop to the ground (with the chance of falling on anyone standing directly under it. As the first 10ft section is burned a body will drop from the entangling webs (or if the webs are cut away or the body found within and pulled from them). 2 more bodies can be found among the cobwebs and will be found when half the spiderwebs are burnt or removed.
The first body is that of a dwarf wearing a chain shirt and helm. He carries a battleaxe clenched tightly in one withered fist. He has a pouch at his belt contain 30gp.
The second body is that of a man wearing robes and carrying a staff. He has a medallion made of silver with a small red gem at its center worth (10gp) and a scroll tube in his belt containing what appears to be the spell for Burning Hands but if cast will cause the scroll to burst into flame and engulf the caster for 1d12 Dmg.
The third body is that of an elf wearing a fine shirt of chain and carrying a longsword. His body will be the last discovered.
If all three bodies are discovered or when any attempt is made to open the northern doors or turn the sconce in the hall to trigger the secret door a huge spider construct will drop from the ceiling. It will immediately animate the 3 bodies who will rise and attack the characters. This creature radiates magic and is not undead. It is made from the hollowed out body of a giant spider.
Giant Spider Construct - 12hp, 2HD, AC6, 1 Attack (Bite for 1d10) Arrows cause no damage. Stabbing/Thrusting weapons cause 1HP damage. Slashing/Chopping/Blunt weapons cause double damage. Can animate and control up to 3 corpses.
Body 1 (dwarf)- 8hp, 1HD, AC5, 1 Attack (1d8 by weapon or 1d3 weaponless). Arrows cause no damage. Stabbing/Thrusting weapons cause 1HP damage
Body 2 (man) - 4HP, 1HD, AC 10, 1 Attack (1d6 by weapon or 1d3 weaponless). Arrows cause no damage. Stabbing/Thrusting weapons cause 1HP damage.
Body 3 - (elf) - 6hp, 1HD, AC5, 1 Attack (1d8 by weapon or 1d3 weaponless). Arrows cause no damage. Stabbing/Thrusting weapons cause 1HP damage.
The northern doors are similar to the southern except that these have pull rings in them. They are also warped shut and require a combined strength of 30 to open them but doing so will trigger the Giant Spider Construct to release its three animated corpses (if not already released) and attack.
Posted: 10-08-2020 11:02 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh -2
The Lost Library of Q'Sh -2
3). This massively long portico is littered with debris.
Presently it is home to a small band of goblins who are camped close to the main door. There are 12 of them with a 13th, an archer, standing guard by the doors at location 2). Of the twelve the leader is a small but solid goblin armed with a spiked mace, armored in a fresh shirt of padded leather and bearing a medium shield. He is AC5 and 7HP and fights as a 1HD monster. In combat he kicks his more cowardly fellows forward but trusts his other companions to follow where he leads so he is usually in the middle of the small group, neither rushing into combat nor lingering behind.
2 Goblins have shortbows, short swords and leather armor. They are AC7 and 3HP each. and fight as 1-1 creatures. Each has 20 arrows in their quivers and will move one to each side of their compatriots and try for flanking shots against their enemies. If they run out of arrows they will draw their shortswords and attack.
9 Goblins have either a mace or shortsword. With either small or medium shields. They are 4HP, AC6 and fight as 1-1 creatures.
All goblins wear small helms. The leader carries the spending money for his group. A pouch with 27gp, 52sp, 39cp. The inside of his helm has a cloth lining containing 5pp and 3 small gems worth 25gp, 20gp and 10gp.
The portico is a long marble porch with pillars and a screen made of rusted iron lattice that allows people to peak out but makes it difficult to see in. The shortwall around the portico is 4ft high with the lattice running another 15feet to the overhanging roof.
The eastern side of the porch is the goblins latrine and the west is where they cook their meals and sleep. A large iron pot is simmering over a fire when first found and inside is some nameless though edible stew. Three large wooden barrels are breached nearby. one is an almost empty barrel of water, one is full and the third is a three quarters empty barrel of a thick ale. A pint of which is mildly intoxicating, 5 pints will make an average imbiber fairly drunk and 10 pints will render them disgustingly bloto. There are 35 pints worth left in the barrel. A wooden bucket is floating in the barrel of ale.
A dozen and a half piles of animal skins and ragged cloth make up the goblins' bedding. The chief sleeps on an overturned wooden bench with a thick bearskin and a lumpy pillow. All the bedding is indescribably filthy and rank. If the common bedding is searched 3 daggers, 18gp, 72 sp and an empty ivory scroll tube (worth 10gp) will be found.
The chief's bedding has beneath it a large two-handed sword and a man-sized shirt of chainmail. In the pillow is a fine cloak with a gold ruby-set pin. The pin radiates magic faintly and allows the wearer to speak with roses (and only roses) once a day if they know the command word. To the right buyer it is worth 200gp.
The doors to Location 6). have been smashed open and only fragmens of wood still dangle from the hinges.
The doors to location five are 10feet wide and 15feet high. They are unlocked but slightly warped. They open outward and it takes a combined strength of 30 to open them. Unfortunately the pull rings that were set in the door are missing and some means of grasping the door will need to be devised (which shouldn't be hard as a stout rope nailed to them with iron spikes should do the job).
3.1). This secret door defies natural detection and a search of the wall will reveal it with a -4 modifier to the attempt (it is really well-made). There is no latch or mechanism to open it from this side of the door. It is constructed of 1ft thick stone blocks, about half the thickness of the outer wall and opens by being raised into the ceiling by a counterweight that is released from location 8).
4). There is a mosaic here of an old man in robes holding a book with raised text. If three of the letters of the text are pressed simultaneously a latch will click and the door can be opened outward. Inside is a long hall. There are 2 sconces on each wall set about 10ft apart with the stubs of burned out torches and a stairway leading down to dungeon level 1.
Posted: 10-06-2020 07:12 pm The Lost Library of Q'Sh Part 1
The Lost Library of Q'Sh Part 1
References as to whom or what Q'Sh was are uninformative but the Library of Q'Sh is mentioned in several journals and histories as a minor location of sagacious lore among the Suel of the late Imperiuum. Until recently its location was unknown but several traders in Verbobonc have recently acquired items which bear the name and markings of Q'Sh.
A group of gnome miners exploring the eastern Kron Hills area in search of a famous but abandoned mine have come under attack by marauding goblin wolf-riders and their guild has both mounted a rescue mission and a placed a reward for the head of any goblins brought back to their guild house at the border outpost Laghevel. They have the intention of eventually seeing the area made safe for mining.
Hunters returning to the border fort report tracking goblins to a lightly wooded region where they were surprised to find the entrance to some large building cut into the side of one of the hills.
Note: The actions of creatures at location 2). will probably occur before characters reach location 1).
Location 1).
The stairs are marble and very worn. Several have been cracked into fragments and all are slick with a green fungal slime. Movement on the stairs is at 1/2 speed and anyone running on the stairs must make a fumble roll as do those initiating combat.
Combat on the stairs is at -2 to hit and combatants must roll a d20 at the start of each combat round in which they are attacking (before any attack roll can be a made) to see if they lose their balance.
(a natural roll of 5 or less is a critical fumble and any item held in hand or hands will be dropped while 1d4 damage is taken and the combatant will tumble down the stairs with the possibility of tumbling into someone below them who then must roll to see if they fall as well whether they were attacking, defending or not. These fumble rolls are taken separately so that a combatant may have to roll more than once to see if they lose their balance or are knocked over by someone else losing their balance).
(a natural roll of 10 or less results in a combatant losing their footing and falling to their knees or back on their butt and suffering 1hp damage as well as giving any attacker a +2 to their to hit roll. Any attack they were attempting to make will be negated).
The green slime upon the stairs is a living organism but is harmless. It may be consumed and is both tasty and nutritious. 8 ounces of slime is = to one day's rations. It consumes vegetable matter and can double in size once a week if fed 4 times its starting weight daily, but it needs to be stored in a cold and damp environment or it will dry out and die in a day. 5 gallons of slime can be collected from the front stairs.
2). These are massive wooden doors each 15ft wide and 15ft tall bound in brass, but heavily battered. The righthand door is wedged in place and must be broken, burnt or somehow dismantled to remove it. It will not open. Any force strong enough to break the hinges free and move the warped wooden portal will tear it apart in an explosion of splintered fragments and heavy bands of brass (50gp worth of brass can be removed from these doors).
The lefthand door is split across its center and the lower half (about 4ft up from the bottom) is partially open; enough for a man to slip inside. Sheltered in the doorway is a 3hp goblin archer. He bears a shortbow, leather armor and shortword. He has 16 arrows in his quiver and will fire at maximum range toward anyone approaching the stairs. He is normally AC6 but with the partial cover of the splintered doorway he is AC2.
When he runs out of arrows or when characters begin to ascend the stiars the goblin archer will withdraw and the goblins at location 3), will begin to fan out along the top of the stairs. Posted: 10-05-2020 07:27 pm The Gateway from Dol-Kahn
The Gateway from Dol-Kahn
The demon army of Slent-Moran was lost; Eaten by the clocks of time. Slent-Moran himself, great wizard though he be, could not escape the fate which had taken his legion of soulless men. The cavern he found himself in bled tears of fire, drank magic and offered no escape.
He set his army to carving away the stone, dredging the sea of blood at the center of this realm, climbing toward the vaulting sky which danced with colors he could not see but numbed his eyes and froze the corners of his mind till each thought was hidden in a blizzard of sparking white.
For a time that he could not measure but seemed longer than all the lives he had stolen, he endured. Then in the depth of the blood sea his demons dragged forth the crystal. In its depth Slent-Moran found a way to unfreeze his mind and work a fraction of the vast power he once commanded with ease. The crystal showed him the cursed realm he now inhabited, Dol-Kahn The Chamber in the Void. He saw the league of mortals and demons who had joined together to cast him into this prison and the gods who had formed this place from the torn viscera of a beast strong enough to threaten even them. Its heart had been the crystal and its vast power lingered in its depths. Slent-Moran lost himself in the wonder of the crystal for an instant or an age; Time did not linger in this prison realm and found that he was not alone. The beast that was the crystal lived within its shifting depth and Slent-Moran thought he had found an allie but in truth the beast had found a slave. Posted: 10-03-2020 08:11 pm Out of the Dark
Out of the Dark
The hallway branches off in a T section as you step inside the entrance to the ruined keep(The entryway is at the bottom of the T). No lights, but lots of cobwebs, and empty sconces where torches once rested. (The sconces alternate left and right down the hall every 20ft and if the 2nd sconce on the left is turned to the left a grinding sound will be heard, a small vibration will run through the floor and the walls, while dust shakes from the ceiling. The 10ft section of wall which holds the sconce will recede about an inch and stop. It is jammed shut. The movable wall will take magic or picks and sledge hammers to take apart. It is an actual thick section of stone wall formed of stone slabs weighing a couple of hundred pounds each and expertly fitted together (damn that dwarven craftmanship) so knocking it apart will probably involve a good deal of time, a slight chance of stones falling on the character and a great deal of noise).
Once the obstruction is cleared a half-dozen skeletons will burst from the dark interior of the room; each armed with sword and shield. The leader still wears a rusty shirt of chain (he is AC4) while the others wear the scraps of rotted leather armor they wore in life but are now of no additional protection. They bear longsword and shield (giving the other 5 skeletons AC6) and do the damage of their weapon unlike their more generic brethren. They will fight to their destruction.
Inside the room (which is L shaped, the entrance through the secret door is at the top of the L and the bend at the bottom sweeping toward the turning corridor at the end of the hall, nicely obscuring what can be seen around the corner of the room) are two long wooden table with benches, a weapons rack with ten light crossbows (only two have not been rotted by a slow dripping leak that has come down the wall from a large crack in the stone roof) and a score of bolt pouches contain bolts, most of which will fly apart in flinders if anyone attempts to use them as the damp and moisture have rotted them as well. A larger weapons rack is against the far wall, but it is empty. Against the wall facing the Keep's entrance is a small iron stove, cold and overturned, while the ventilation pipe hangs from the roof (inside the stove is a solid clump of ash which, if smashed apart, reveals a piece of parchment 3/4 burned revealing 1/4 of the 1st level of the dungeon below).
The floor of the room is scattered with broken bones and rotted leather armor, sundered shields (four are still serviceable, medium shields) and ten longswords with various degrees of rust (the swords are -2 to hit and damage till they have been resharpened).
A short but long cabinet is against the opposite wall from the secret door. Inside can be found the ancient remains of the rations that the men now skeletons ate in life. Once it was home to a nest of rats, now a score of these giant creatures are also nothing but skeletons themselves. They are animated and with the same vicious desire to kill as their once human counterparts. With a wordless squeak they will spring out and in a flow of bony feet attack those in the room. They are 1hd-4 creatures with 2hp each and AC of 7 and 1 bite attack that will do 1hp of damage. If the nest of rotted bones and rations is examined 200 cp can be sifted from the debris. But if this is done a trap door beneath the base of the wormridden boards of the cabinet will be discovered dropping down to dungeon level 1. Amid the scattered bones on the floor of this room will be seen a black and dried smear of blood leading to the far end of the room and trailing around the corner. If the party approaches the corner, with a light source or some means of vision in the darkness as the room is a stygian pit, they will notice... (To be continued) Posted: 10-03-2020 01:28 am Beyond the Forest
Beyond the Forest
Cara Hilan's Daughter left the forest of her kindred to follow a hunt. She would call them animals, but they were men. Bandits, Outlaws, a pack of humans who had abandoned their humanity, to her they were prey. In the lands of men she found many who stood in the way of her vengeance; laws and powers that protected these men; Allies and victims that aided her. She hunts alone though companions in her quest come and go or fall in the fight. Across the length and breadth of the Flanaess she has traveled; to great cities and seemingly endless wastelands, through ruins and bandit kingdoms, to the far north of icy wastes and beneath the depths of the Oerth to wage battle against her own dark and evil kindred. Her vengeance has become her life. She is a hunter beyond the forests of her home and as lost in spirit as any stray of nature that has wandered into the world of man. Posted: 10-02-2020 09:29 pm Dar-Kal-An
Dar-Kal-An
Dar-Kal-An of the Bloody Hand Orcs is a product of the Empires expansion and its shameful past. Centuries ago the orcs of the southern coasts were no more advanced in the ways of war than their cousins in the far south or on the western peninsula. They forged crude weapons and armor, fought like a pack of animals and planned no further than which direction to march. The Blind God-King changed that.
With the power of evil sorceries he blended orc and human and turned these mutated creatures into the iron fist of his army. A score of kingdoms fell beneath the studded boots of these monsters but the wasteland of devastation they left behind added nothing to the glory of the Empire and a dark and shameful page in its history.
Today that devastated land is still home to orcs such as Dar-Kal-An. They fight as men, but have the strength and ferocity of ogres. Their smiths and craftsmen forge fine weapons and steel, but what they cannot do their slaves accomplish. The Bloody Empire is what they call the loose confederation of orcish tribes which inhabit the wasteland. They are a constant source of menace to the borders of the Empire and the surrounding lands to the south and east, but though they have been driven back time and again never have they been truly defeated. Posted: 10-01-2020 09:45 pm The Griffin Invasion
The Griffin Invasion
Skylord is wingleader of his pride. For long years they nested among the eastern mountains above the rolling plains where the horse herds ran. Then came the riders of horses and season after season the herds thinned as they were captured and driven to the west. Competition between griffin prides became fierce as the fight for horsemeat became more desperate. Always Skylord was victorious and his pride became a flock.
It was he that first began the attacks on man. The taste was strange and sweet. The danger was great as the horsemen spat thorns and bore sharp claws, but times were now hard among the prides and flocks and there was no other way, and Skylord was developing a taste for this new flesh.
They glided from the mountains and drove the remaining herds before them to trample the horsemen. In the west where the mountains ended were strange small hills of stone and smaller caves of wood. Skylord and his followers descended upon these stone hills and rooted out the horsemen without horses inside, made them their new lairs and nested within. From these low stone peaks they crossed over the land and hunted. They tore open the caves of wood and feasted. This land was filled with many new beasts to eat and horseless men. The cry went out and flyers returned to call to their kind and the mountains emptied. Posted: 09-30-2020 09:43 am The Raid
The Raid
Bodvar, Heidrek, Hersir and Olaf are the first four over the castle walls into the keep.
Bodvar is an older warrior and leader of this raid. He is a tall mad, as are most of the Norsemen with him. His bear is plaited and white, though some blond can still be seen among the silver. He is an experienced warrior, still strong and quick, but also well trained and skilled with sword and shield. He bears a blade from eastern lands but his shield is plain. His armor is said to have been crafted by dwarves, the links do not rust and they dull the edge of swords as if the mail were stone. His helm is from the south and east. A great captain wore it and Bodvar looted it from his corpse after defeating him in desperate combat. His cloak is made by elves and the pin he wears is of gold that gives him strength.
Heidrek stands behind his warchief. A lifelong companion to Bodvar and is his trusted lieutenant. He is immensely strong though not as quick as his friend. He too is grey and his hair is cut so short beneath his helm that only the tattoo on his skull of a raven in flight can be clearly seen. His axe returns to his hand if thrown, a thing of awesome magic, and his sword glows a bluish light if enemies are near. It always holds a keen edge and never dulls. The helm was crafted for him and always can he see in darkened rooms. No flare of light can blind him or illusion fool his eyes while he wears that helm. He bears no armor except a tunic soft as silk but strong as the breastplate of a Roman chief. His shield is made from the bones of great birds. It is light as a feather and like a feather it causes Heidrek to land if he should fall or jump from a height.
Hersir is shorter than his companions. Once a thrall to Bodvar but long ago he proved his worth and paid his debt of servitude. Now he is one of the Warchief's sworn companions. His hair is dark, the grey just streaking his beard. He is furtive and quick, agile and a shadow in the darkness when he wants. Hersir acts as a scout. First upon the wall and through the door. His spear belonged to Hjalmar, a great man among his people, but he lived long and sat upon a throne when the Raven King called him to die in battle. Bodvar raided his hall and Hjalmar fell to Hersir's knife between the shoulders as he turned to run. Hersir claimed his spear, true and sharp enough to pierce a Dragon's hide. His sword looks plain but at word it will dance before and fight as a battle-brother beside him. His dagger is a terrible weapon said to have been taken from the cold realm of Hel. A cut from the blade can freeze a man in place. It smokes like warm breath on a cold day when it is drawn. His shield was crafted by fire spirits and no touch of flame will harm Hersir while he bears it. His armor is simple padded stuff, but strong as chain and light as a thin shirt. His helm is taken from a mounted warrior chief of the Dumnonii. When wearing it no stone, bolt or arrow can touch him.
Olaf is thin, but wiry and still strong though he is older than the others. He was a boon companion to Bodvar's brother and serves him loyally, but he has heard the Raven King's call and no seeks glorious death in battle. His gear and weapons are simple. His shield is always on his back as he wants the honor of seeing his deathwound and his slayer. His sword, his sword is of great power. It can shear through armor as if it were cloth. It is called Dvergar's Kiss and it sings a song that gives strength to Olaf and all his companions when it takes a life or severs a limb. Olaf does not plan to return from this raid. Posted: 09-29-2020 08:09 pm The Sorceress of Karn
The Sorceress of Karn
The banks of the Crystal River stand high during the summer drought. Higher still are the walls of Karn, city of pleasure and delight. Karn has no single ruler. So prolific are the mages, necromancers, sorcerers, wizards and enchantresses within its walls that a parliament of magic presides over Karn and the surrounding lands. The greatest of these wielders of magic is chosen to rule for a single year before passing the scepter (a simple unenchanted iron rod that bears no mark and whose power resides only in the strength that the parliament allows those who have been chosen to bear it). This year, the year of the Feathered Serpent, the renowned enchantress D'lana has been chosen as ruler, a sign of her personal ability and the growing strength of her guild. While all members of the parliament practice the craft only the most skilled are welcomed among the Dreamshapers, a young guild, but growing with a vitality that many of the old and well-established guilds have lost. Posted: 09-29-2020 07:00 pm The Catacombs of Ptolemides (revised) - 1
The Catacombs of Ptolemides (revised) - 1
Ptolemides was once a proud Hellenic city-state, but the world shook, the great island kingdom of Atlantis sank beneath the waves and Ptolemides found itself cut from the world that it once knew. Today, though the exact when and where of Ptolemides is a question much debated by the cities philosophers, the city seems becalmed on the edge of a great void, a crossroads of places and times unimagined. The seas have changed and beyond the farmlands that surround and feed the city are the mists and into the mists few will go, and out the mists come strangers.
Beneath the city are the catacombs. The dead were taken and interred among the passages for centuries, but it is no longer used, no longer safe. The temple of Thanatos has somehow become lost amid the endless winding passages and chambers. Some say that they feel his presence even in the sewers and deeper chambers of the city. Some say that they have seen the God himself, though few believe. Those that see Thanatos do not return.
"And there the children of dark Night have their dwellings, Sleep and Death, awful gods. The glowing Sun never looks upon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, nor as he comes down from heaven. And the former of them roams peacefully over the earth and the sea's broad back and is kindly to men; but the other has a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze: whomsoever of men he has once seized he holds fast: and he is hateful even to the deathless gods." (Hesiod)
The people of the city rarely go to the catacombs, but the strangers are drawn to its stygian depths. Ptolemides accepts these strangers as it has accepted the changing sky where the stars dance and the moon is too bright, and too near. Walls have been built around the precincts of the city where the entrance to the catacombs can be found. A tax is charged for entrance, a tax on the strangers and their goods, and a tax on what the strangers take from the catacombs, those that return.
Among the people of the mists word has spread of the riches to be found in the catacombs of Ptolemides, of the dangers and the challenge. Those seeking wealth, adventure and renown make the trip to Ptolemides. The city thrives on the coin they bring, but looks down on these people of different worlds and different times.
The know entrance to the catacombs is a gated cave set in an empty hillside. Once the temple of Thantos sat upon that hill, but in the night when the world shook it vanished and left only the open cave behind. Around the cave are now shops and inns that serve those who would enter the cave. Here can be found rest and gear, weapons and armor, temples to strange gods and shrines covered in offerings for those who have not returned. The cave itself is guarded by soldiers of Ptolemides and a tax is collected on all those who would enter. There is a second gate deeper into the cavern, and here those who would seek to leave the catacombs must pay a tithe on all that they have gathered from below. The entrance is well guarded and fortified, not only to bar the way of travelers and collect the tax, but also to protect the city from what might emerge from below.
Here begins the revised adventure The Catacombs of Ptolemides Posted: 09-28-2020 01:29 pm Thurn
Thurn
The old dwarven fortress, Thurn, lay abandoned for over a century; its gates thrown down and overgrown; its halls ringing empty with the ghostly sound-memories of its past. It had fallen to an attack that came from within and without, from beneath the earth and from the sky. Age old enemies aligned against them. Proud and alone they fell.
The halls were well looted but parts of the mountain fortress were brought down atop the heads of the victors when the final traps of dwarven engineers were sprung and much of the famed treasures, the great hoard of gold, and jewels were buried with the dead in an avalanche of stone. Over the years many came and searched, some found, some died, some disappeared, but most left Thurn emptyhanded enriched only by disappointment.
Then came the Orcs of the Red Dwarf Skull. Twofist Headhammer had been chieftain for a half a dozen years, though he had not counted the passing of time; strength and brutality were his strongpoints, not reflection or thought. Instead seasons came and went and Twofist marked them only by the victories he had won and the heads he had broken, the skulls added to the shamans' story-spears that told the tale of the tribe and gave courage to its warriors.
Each story-spear held a half score skulls, their bony pates carved with crude orcish runes, the sockets for their eyes holding red-dyed stones of wakefulness, ever alert to the approach of foes. Clamped between their evergrinning teeth were the mummified hands of orcish dead; a reminder to all the cost these beheaded foemen had made the tribe pay. Only the skulls of those who had slain a tribesman in combat were worthy to be added to a story-spear.
Atop the chieftain's spear was the oldest of the fleshless and grinning heads; a thick-boned dwarven skull, yellow as a horse's tooth. It sat alone at the base of the spear-blade, crude black stone that glistened like water and bled rust. It seeped across the ancient dwarven skull staining it a deep brownish red. What runes there might have been on that skull could not be seen, the blood of the stone masked them long ago. No written word was needed to tell the tale of the chieftain's story-spear. The spirit of the long dead chieftain whose withered hand was clamped firmly in the dwarven king's teeth and the spirit of the dwarven king himself would speak when the moons were full and the shamans told the story of the spears danced the summoning ritual before the gathered tribes.
Change has come to the wandering tribe of the Red Dwarf Skull. Twofist heard the call of a great earth-spirit, felt the chilling touch of the countless dead beneath the mountain and claimed the empty halls of Thurn for themselves. He sits upon the broken rock throne of the dwarves and dreams. Soon he will awake.
The Tribe of the Red Dwarf Skull
Chief Twofist Headhammer:
Twofist is a large orc, but more than just big, strong and brutal, he has an instinctual cunning and he is called by something greater than himself. He knows no fear and fights without mercy. He values the lives of his warriors as coin but he is generous with his enemies willing to spend his followers if needed for victory. Now he sits upon the ancient dwarven throne like a miser, hoarding the strength of the tribe while he dreams and what he dreams would shame a dragon. He can sense the wealth buried beneath the mountain, it calls to him, stronger than bloodlust, stronger than the spirit urge to breed, stronger than the ghost-brew of madness given by the shamans. His dreams speak of uniting the orcish tribes that wander, the scampering goblins that infest the nearby caves and hills. He dream of conquest and an army of slaves from the human lands to dig and dig till their bones floor the halls and their skulls pile high as the mountain.
Weapons:
The Chief's Story-Spear
The chief's spear is a magic blade. It bleeds rust and a touch will taint weapons and armor. The taint spreads fast and will affect non-magical weapons and armor after a successful strike causing them to suffer a -1 modifier to hit and damage or a +1 to AC. This accumulates every round till the weapon or piece of armor becomes a useless lump of rust. Enchanted items of +1 or +2 have a saving throw against the taint. A save means no effect and even if the save is failed that taint does not spread on enchanted items, but every strike by the spear will require another save and each failed save adds to the damage that the taint will cause. Items of +3 or with major enchantments are immune to the taint. Weapons that successfully hit the chief while he carries the spear are subject to the taint.
The spear defends the chief adding a +2 benefit to his AC and radiating a 10ft protection from Good. It is a +2/+4 against dwarves weapon and all orcs who are within sight of it gain +1 to hit. The tribe is organized is this manner;
Chief Head-Shamaness (All Shamans are female) Sub-Chief Clan Shamans (each keeps the individual clan's story-spears) Clan Leaders (Currently there are 9 clans within the tribe, most are interconnected families but one tribe is composed of orcs who have left other tribes to join the Red Dwarf Skull tribe. The last clan is composed of a hodge-podge of goblinoid creatures who are allied with the tribe but not actually part of it. They have no story-spear but do have their own shamans). Posted: 09-27-2020 03:42 pm The Smoking Mountain
The Smoking Mountain
The badlands south-east of the Empire was once a prosperous realm dotted with freeholdings, towns, small cities, manors, fortresses and farms. A curving range of mountains protected its own eastern border; a broad and fast moving river came down from those same mountains in the north and formed a lake which separated it from the dense forests and the wildlands and tribes that dwelt within that leafy demise. To the west the small kingdoms not yet aligned with the Empire posed no threat and the south opened on the Salt Sea.
Then the world shook, the mountain screamed, the sky darkened. Ash fell like snow and a river of fire flowed from the east swallowing all in its path. At first the land died; crops, animals, people, cities, towns and fortresses. None could survive near the mountains, few survived even within sight of the cloud wrapped peaks, now plumed with black and the glint of burning red inside.
Seasons passed, a year, then another. Travelers began to cross the old roads, land at the southern ports, explore the empty and ruined keeps and manors. Farmers returned to the edges of the old lands and discovered fields of grain growing wild and thick, flowers like a cascade of a hundred springtimes, animals more plentiful than had been seen in the east since the legends of the first men who'd discovered the western lands. But though the land flourished it was no longer man's, no longer empty and what had come to claim this flourishing land were creatures that no tale had ever told of, no legend or dream had ever conceived. From the depth of the earth had spewed creatures, things, monsters who now thrived in the open air and bright sunshine. Hunted and danced in the moonlight, wondered at the stars, and now lusted for the world which man had thought of as his own. Posted: 09-26-2020 07:35 pm The Hunt for Delos Quinn The Hunt for Delos Quinn
The Duke of Gillead sends his bailiffs after the notorious thief and highwayman Delos Quinn.
Ganiff Breithem leads his men through the Finnen Woods in pursuit of Delos Quinn who escaped from the cells beneath Heartstone Keep the day before his execution. The party consists of two local foresters as trackers and half a dozen armed baliffs. The foresters are father and son, the father an experienced woodsmen and archer while his son is still learning the trade. Ganiff's men are veterans of both melee and brawl, but none, not even Ganiff himself, are well versed in the use of the bow.
Delos on the otherhand is not a woodsman but knows his way around the crossbow, which three of his compatriots have provided for him. The four have set an ambush just within the entrance to a small glade where the ground rises and spring near the top feeds a small waterfall and pond. Posted: 09-26-2020 11:34 am The Faceless Brotherhood
The Faceless Brotherhood
An unlikely trio of two dark elves and a winged man guard an etheric gateway between the void and the material plane.
Travelers who by choice or by accident find themselves passing from our world through the multi-dimensional planes will sooner or later encounter the Faceless Brotherhood. These creatures, for only some are men or even humanoid at all, have had not only their features removed but also their identities. They have no mouth or ears and their eyes are only pits that glow with a bright light that flares and bleeds colors like a prism of flesh.
Most often they are found at gateways. Offerings of true value, from gems to the true name of a demon or a story or even a wordless song, will guarantee safe passage. At times they will suddenly attack an individual or even a group, at others they will not raise a finger even at the cost of their own existence. On their deaths they burn from the inside out and all their possessions as well.
Upon the nameless, infinite and sometimes unsubstantial planes between one dimension and the next can be found temples, fortresses and monasteries populated by the Faceless Brothers. Patrols and even small armies of them can be encountered, but what they are up to, what plans or goals they may have, are mysteries known only to themselves. Posted: 09-25-2020 10:29 pm Blood, Lace, Steel, Honor and the Outer Dark - Musketeers 3 Etienne L'Fleche examines the clock in the great hall of Castle Bois De Coeur.
The Clock in the Hall
Soon after the disappearance of Lady Adele the clock in the great hall began running backwards, as did several maids and pages who tried to touch the hands of the ancient timepiece. Lord Anglais, the husband of Lady Adele, sealed off the hall and summoned the musketeers immediately.
An investigation of the clock found the workings to be carved from bone and woven braids of hair. Within the body of the clock an entrance to a foul tunnel was found; A circular passage that twisted down into the bedrock below the castle itself.
The musketeer Etienne sent word to his partner Leon, a theologian, alchemist and master of white magic and back to the chapter house in the provincial capital.
As with the pit beneath the floor of the castle's cellar, a foul and musty odor issued forth from the winding tunnel. Using great caution and a number of peasants bearing torches, Etienne and Leon wormed their way down into the dank whole. At the bottom the found a wide chamber littered with rounded stones and a black stream that disappeared in either direction through a water-carved passage of stone.
When the pair approached the sluggish and viscid liquid the sound of stone rubbing against stone erupted all around them.
" Vipera Seoanei," moaned Leon."It would have to be Vipera Seoanei."
"Looks like snakes to me," said one of the peasants before Etienne slapped him in the head.
Posted: 09-25-2020 07:08 pm Blood, Lace, Steel, Honor and the Outer Dark - Musketeers 2
The Hole in the Floor
A maid of Lady Adele D... and the Musketeer Etienne discover a hidden chamber beneath the cellar floor.
The Lady Adele D... of Bois De Coeur disappeared in the middle of a Fete during Midsummer's day and has not been seen since. Unbeknownst to any in the castle, except for the chief groom, Lady Adele was a worshiper of the Old Ones from beyond space. Every dozen years during the summer solstice the Lady sacrifices to the One Who Speaks With Fire allowing her access to powerful magicks of a particularly destructive nature. She intended to lead her fellow worshipers in the start of the ceremony, a great bonfire at the center of an ancient grove.
The chief groom of Bois De Coeur had other plans. While he had no objection to the terrible fate of the young village maiden who was to be the central figure in the horrific summer rite lead by Lady Adele, he, as a worshiper of the Horse Goddess, could not allow the burning and transformation of the young stallion the cult was also preparing to sacrifice to their fiery deity.
With the subtle preparation of the grove, a dilution of several essential elements in the ritual and the help of a particular noxious green stone revealed to him by his equine goddess, he managed to change the focus of Lady Adele's sacrifice onto herself and her followers.
Now the Musketeers and their theological brethren have been called in to investigate. Divination has pointed to the local forest and the bowels of Castle Bois De Coeur. Posted: 09-25-2020 04:10 pm Blood, Lace, Steel, Honor and the Outer Dark - Musketeers 1
Blood, Lace, Steel, Honor and the Outer Dark - Musketeers 1
In the province of A... the enemies of the Gaelic nation are more than just swordsmen or soldiers, for in that deeply forested realm the merely mortal evils of the world are outmatched by the ancient, the unearthly and the infernal. As always it falls upon the musketeers, protectors of Gael, to rout out all that threatens their blessed realm with steel blade, lead shot, or stone talisman.
Here can be seen a young musketeer and his theologian companion struggling with a corrupted swordsmen, once of the imperial guard, but now in the service of warlock (being throttled by the learned hands of the theologian). The warlock's servants are many and few are human, though the former guardsman was the most visible of those that guarded his body. The musketeer and theologian have caught them along the forest road linking the provincial capital with the port of N... Posted: 09-24-2020 05:08 pm A Noise That Seemed Afraid Of Silence
Beyond the coasts of Sange is an island in the Sea of Twilight. The sea itself is a place of beauty and terror, but the island, which has no name, is a place of ending. When the people of Sange weary of all things they seek this island for there is no true ending in Sange only life followed by life.
The Sea of Twilight can only be sailed by Death and finding the dead in Sange is a hard thing. To kill a man or a woman, an animal or thing that is not quite any or none is possible but death lasts only an instant and the spirit of those of Sange flys free like a gleam of silver moonlight before it is gone to find life again.
The spirit of the dead must be caught in a cage of mirrors baited with a dream; A dream of power of love, anger, tears, betrayal, revenge or remorse. The cage is capped with the frozen eye of a mage and the breath of despair. Then the body of the dead will be at the command of the holder of the cage and the journey to the island can begin.
There is a fear that has come to Sange. Dreams have become nightmares and the land, though always hard and often cruel, has lost the wonder, pleasure and enchantment that made unending life a joy instead of a wearisome burden or horrific punishment. The soothsayers, the oracles and the prophets speak of the island on the Sea of Twilight and say that only there can the answer to this curse be found.
Someone or some group of someones must make this journey, find Death to sail the ship, cross the Sea of Twilight and walk upon the island from which no one has returned. Great dreamers are called to this quest from all of Sange, dreamers brave and strong, of the mind and arm, heart and spirit before the darkness which has settled upon the land has ended every song, silenced every voice, broken the spirits of those who have lived a thousand lives and made Sange into a prison of nightmare and torment. Posted: 09-24-2020 02:06 pm Hyperborea - Darkness be The Burier of the Dead
"Must we start our fight Groaning over corpses? Come what may Let us enter the ford To meet death before the hosts With bloody spear-blade Or the savage sword If our time has come." Cuchulainn - from "The Tain"
With the destruction of Galla chaos spread among the Galla Hills and among all the Keltic people as the struggle for who would become Over-King now that Srubdaire the ruler of Galla was dead. Four men contend to sit beneath the blessed tree where the ruler would be enthroned and crowned with leaves of oak. Scathach and Uathach and Aif and the man called Son of Daman.
Many times in the past had the division between Kelt and Kelt brought misery to the people and enemies down upon the Keltic lands as they fought between each other. The holy druids had united from clan to clan, tribe to tribe and the law of oak and stone prevailed over the foolishness of chiefs and kings.
The fight for the Crown of Leaves, as the title of Over-King is called among the Kelts, is now formalized and the combatants meet with only a small company of bodyguards and followers to engage in combat at sacred fords where the waters will wash away the blood spilled by Kelt fighting Kelt. Pugnacious and always ready for a fight every village headman and chieftain of a minor tribe set forth to do battle much to the dismay of the druids and wise men among the clans.
It was on Bealltainn night that the witch-fire was firsts seen. The Druids had set the holy fire at Ur-Uisneach, the blessed hill, and as the fire was lit an unholy blaze was seen far up the slopes of the mountains to the east. A chill wind was felt and a howl like the cry of lost souls was heard. An inauspicious omen, but one that proved itself too readily while the Keltic lands reeled and their leaders struggled for power.
Like a swarm of beasts the Picts fell upon the eastern valleys. What power, what cursed magic they had used, none can say, but from the far north-west of Hyperborea they have come to raid and plunder the Keltic people. The Son of Daman has set aside his quest for the Crown of Leaves and struggles alone with only his own followers against the Picts. His horsemen have left a bloody furrow across their advancing line of raiders but he alone cannot stop them.
Here is a quest for heroes to stand perhaps beside the Son of Daman or, at the urging of the Druids, find the source of the Witch-Fire among the eastern mountains and cut off the tide of Picts who now press against the disunited defenders of Galla. Posted: 09-24-2020 11:47 am The Black Monolith
The Black Monolith
On the foothills of the Kimmerian Steppes near Lake Novagrad, where the people of the Rus have settled, there is a darkness which haunts their land. Legends speak of a ship of fire which created the great lake, and of the Norse God Ullr creating the Chain of Nod with his skis as he fled from some unnamed horror, the streams of the Chain which feed the lake from the tall mountains, but the fear that is whispered among the settlers within the hills and valleys is of a Stone Monolith that sits upon the last hill before the coming of the mountains near to a cavern of immense size and evil repute. This is the Black Monolith which is older than the settlement of the Rus, older than the Kimmerians, if such stories can be believed. Any of the old race of Hyperboreans will avow no knowledge of this stone, but neither will they journey nearer than the southern edge of Lake Novagrad and even then none will stay longer than it takes to complete what business they may have before moving on.
The village of Stregoicavar sits on a small promontory at the south of the lake. It is here that the people cower within their shuttered houses at night, here where the fear of the Stone Monolith and here where the adventure begins... Posted: 09-23-2020 09:26 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Minions of the Moon
North of the Hellenic City-State of Ptolemides, beyond the forest of the Crowned Beast (but known to most as the Foxwoman's Domain), lies a pool of liquid silver metal that is death to touch. Around this pool can be found white-clad devotees of a new cult that has followers in both Khromarium and Ptolemides and seems to be spreading like fire among dry leaves to every city and large town in all of disparate Hyperborea. These are "The Minions of the Moon" and they worship both the Moon as a divinity and the silver pool as the Moon's avatar upon the earth.
It is rumored that at both the waxing and waning of the moon human sacrifices are performed which the cultists call 'The Silver Death' and the victims are submerged in the liquid metal pool. The bodies are said to be held by chains and drawn back from their fatal bath now withered and hardened like iron. Their spirits are then purposed to walk the environs of the people serving the will of this new lunar divinity. The reality is much more deadly.
These sacrifices have become servants of the silver metal pool, which is a living entity fallen to earth millennia ago. It is an animal creature without need of sustenance and without language. It can rise into a wave and move, sometimes at great speed, but will always return to the basin where it now resides connected by a cord of liquid metal to a crystal-like object buried deep within the earth below. These servants act as automaton akin to those of Iron but with several differences (See New Monster).
The truth behind the cult is the discovery of the crystal by a notorious thief from Rusland, Mikhaliov Fydrovich, who , fleeing from a monstrous guardian of a Ptolemides merchant's treasure, came across the pool of liquid metal and the fragment of crystal which lay almost within the pool itself. The body of a dying manticore had come in contact with the pool and with the crystal Mikhaliov was able to summon it to his defense and defeat the guardian Daemon which pursued him. Much to his disappointment the silvered form of the manticore fell to dust within a few weeks time.
Mikhaliov was not one to let a good thing go and his quick mind immediately formed the idea of the cult and "The Minions of the Moon". Originally all the members were thieves or the like, but the cult has taken on a life of its own and only the original core (and some select recruits) now know that the cult is false.
Worshippers of Lunaqqua are the dire enemies of the cult and minor war of assassination and retribution is being waged between the two.
New Monster
Automaton, Silver Metal [MON] No. Encountered: 1-6 Alignment: Neutral Size: Varied, most common size is M Movement: 40 Dexterity: 16 Armor Class: 5 Hit Dice: 4+2 No. Attacks: varied most commonly 2 (Pummel) (see Notes) Damage: 2d6/2d6 Saving Throw: 14 Morale: NA Experience Points: 750
Silver Metal Automatons are formerly living creatures (most notably human but to a much lesser extent any creature existing in Hyperborea and even some that do not) whose flesh and bone has been consumed and replaced by the creature that is the pool of liquid metal. They have only an animal intelligence regardless of their former intelligence as a living creature and a life span of under two months. At the fullness of the moon above Hyperborea they must return to the liquid metal pool where they merge with the creature or harden into a solid piece of dull grey metal and fragment into a powder that will eventually sift away to nothingness.
These Automatons can be controlled by a fragment of crystal that is now set within a small medallion (and worn by the Master of the Minions of the Moon. They will obey basic commands when within a 60foot radius but otherwise act as an extension of the pool of liquid metal with a completely alien set of reactions and desires. (They my stand still and let themselves be hacked to bits, walk into a fire, off a cliff, attack wildly, etc... )
NOTE: Silver Metal Automatons that are formed from monstrous creatures retain and physical type of attacks including number and damage of attacks of the formerly living creature with a +2 damage per attack. All other stats remain as per the basic listing (AC, Dex, Etc.. ) for any form the Silver Metal Automaton may take regardless of previous HD or abilities.
NOTE: These Automatons are not constructs and are much quicker, moving with a high grace and dexterity, than magically created Automatons. Part of their AC comes from a bonus for high dexterity.
NOTE: Sacrifices to the pool of liquid metal can only be done at the waning and waxing of the moon. At other times anything entering the pool is simply absorbed into the liquid metal. Even at these time there is a 75% chance that anyone or thing of flesh placed into the pool will simply be absorbed.
NOTE: These Automaton's can regain full HP by resubmerging themselves within the pool, but will also regenerate 50% of their total HP every night when the moon rises (up to their original HP total). If reduced to 0 HP they turn into a grey metal and fall to dust. Posted: 09-23-2020 04:58 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Alchemist
In all of Khromarium there is perhaps no single individual better known and yet still an enigma than the man known only as 'The Alchemist'. That he is a mage of great power is undisputed, but his origins remain unknown as does his name.
Years ago a strange ship sailed into the docks of Khromarium; a ship without sails, without crew, and with only a single occupant. It was a small ship but the man who emerged from its hold seemed too old to have crewed even such a vessel no bigger than the long boat off a galley. When he turned and lifted the ship in his hands and then proceeded to fold and refold the vessel till it was smaller than his hand, smaller than his fingers, so small that those watching had to look away as what they watched became more than wondrous; it became disturbing to the senses of what should be and what should not.
This was the arrival of the Alchemist. Not a display of raw power, but power was there, subtle and practical. He appeared as an old man of white beard and hair, not tall, perhaps shorter than average, not fat, nor thin, nor so old to appear feeble. As he turned to walk along the quay a staff of smooth white wood appeared in his hand as if a branch, straight and unblemished, grew from a dark core of nothingness.
The Alchemist settled near the Street of Trade where it crossed the Quarter of Craft before emptying into the Sea Market where the goods fresh from the holds of ships were sold and the pens of exotic animals and slaves were kept. He found an old building that had suffered in the Cold Riots many years before, partially ruined with a roof holed by fire and walls stained with smoke. A small crowd of layabouts, longshoremen, traders and sailors had followed at a respectful distance from the docks where he had arrived and watched as he step lightly across the overgrown yard littered with debris and enclosed by a short iron fence. The doors of the building had been nailed shut but they parted at the touch of the Alchemist's hand and closed silently behind him.
A flash of light burst from the windows and the holed roof, out the top of the broken chimney. The light suffused the walls, swept across the yard, caressed the iron fence, the broken gate. When the light faded the iron gate was black, the yard bare except for a carpet of wildflowers and herbs, the walls of the building a rich brown, the windows glassed and shuttered, the roof whole and the doors more solid and dark bound with what might be silver and etched with runes that none could read, and open as if waiting visitors.
The Alchemist stepped from his new abode and shut his door behind him, locking it with a small silver key and turned toward the nearby market. He shopped, and talked of small things, and laughed. He hired servants to watch his door and tend his garden and cook his meals. The Alchemist seems never short of gold and what he cannot find for sale he hires adventurers to find for him, and within his brown-walled home he sells potions and pills, salves and solutions which will dissolve steel but not harm flesh.
The Alchemist is liked, respected and somewhat feared by his neighbors on the Street of Trade, but he is well-regarded and a source of pride for proud Khromarium. Posted: 09-23-2020 04:32 pm Inspiring Illustrations - Outside the Khromarium Gate
romarium is vast and older than man. Streets and towers and catacombs that wind their way into the bowels of the earth like a wyrm gnawing at the heartstone of the city. So vast is Khromarium that losing oneself in its twisting paths can become being lost in passages of time and space and dimensions not hospitable to man. It is said that the center of the city can never be found, always there will be another tower, ruined manor, gaping pit where the dank sewer waters gush down and down and down, another street or alley to follow deeper and deeper along ways that should not be trodden if there is any wish to return. But Khromarium is a city filled with life as well and the precincts that surround the walls and its many gates are lit with fires both mundane and magical. Cleanly swept are the corridors of the wealthy and powerful or littered and stinking with the refuse of the outcast poor and discarded souls. Merchant squares abound, strange passengers from stranger lands view wares from coach or palanquin. Street musicians play and thieves ply their trade. Courtesans demurely pass brothels where their less fortunate and less expensive fellow professionals bare their own bare and berouged wares from doors and balconys.
Outside the gates of Khromarium can be found philosophers, beggars and scribes. Soothsayers, hedge-wizards, and shamans can be found in abundance, but any with more earthly goods are shooed away and into the well-taxed environs of the city walls by the passing guardsman and mounted patrols of the city. The business of the mind, the soul, and the mystical is conducted along these thoroughfares by any but the well-established masters of these professions, beggars and mendicants excluded.
Tellers of fortunes, popular among the Kimmerians and people of Rus, have small tents inside the city gates, while a more well-regarded practicer of divination can be found sitting upon a waxed or oiled cloth on the verge of the great road close to the iron and wood portals of the city. There is a hierarchy and tradition among the traders in the ephemeral outside of the gates and woe-betide any who would usurp another's spot of buttocks smoothed grass that may have been occupied for generations or passed down from journeyman to apprentice from time immemorial. Posted: 09-23-2020 03:32 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Blunt Monster With Uncounted Heads
Deep within the forests of the Coast of Scars can be found the ruins of a small stone tower. Its foundation stones are very old and show the marks of fire and of war. How many times the tower has been tumbled and rebuilt none can say, but a few stories of its latest incarnation remain though the upper most levels are cracked and roofless.
Of late a man has come to dwell within this ruin. He is thin and austere, robed as a priest or a sage or crafter of spells. His name is not known, though some call him 'The Mage' or the more lengthy 'The Summoner of Small Daemons'. And that last name is very apt.
All about this man run the smallest of Daemons, run, dance, fly and cavort about him as if around their heart's desire. Should any approach this man with malice in their hearts these Daemons turn from merriment to a vicious defense. Even the greatest of the Devil-swine which haunt the woods give him and his horde a wide berth for those that have not have met their fates buried beneath a thousand small teeth and claws and a thousand more waiting for their chance to blood themselves on their larger kin.
'The Mage' seems pleasant enough, but his flock of small Daemons deters visitors of a more wholesome sort. With each passing day it seems a few more of these tiny Daemonic forms join the throng which surrounds the old tower though some are always flying or scuttling afar to do their adoration's bidding. And as time passes the fewer Devil-swine there are to be found in the woods, though the nearby City-State of Dorset, long overrun with these foul piggish Daemons and their progeny, seems to be swelling in compensation.
How long it will be before 'The Mage' turns his attention to this Daemonic concentration, if that is his ultimate goal, none can tell, but it has been long years since the Coast of Scars has been as clear and safe from the swine-men or their Daemonic masters as it has become due entirely to this unnamed man and his abhorrent following. Posted: 09-22-2020 06:51 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Robe That Terror Wears
A cold wind blows from the sea and with it she steps upon the shores of Hyperborea. The storm walks with her and seeking life she brings the frozen death to the land. Her touch is blue ice as are her eyes. Innocent, the curse she bears is a slow moving doom that no spell, no sword can touch.
In the frozen wasteland that she leaves behind her a shadow moves. Her tormentor follows casting chains of ice upon the dead. To save the land is to save her and face what she cannot.
Already the path she has taken is filled with white death. Villages are stilled, silent tombs whose doors are opening as a greater evil emerges into the cloud-wrapped day. All is darkness as if evening had swallowed the noonday sun.
From the northern shores of Hyperborea comes the call for help as an endless winter begins to swallow the land. A woman walks alone ahead of the desolation, but is she cause or merely, as she claims, related by those few who have survived her encounter, merely a victim chased by darkness, swallowed by madness and running, running, only a few paces before the storm.
The villages along the Striped Gulf beg for help as their neighbors are caught within the approaching darkness. None have returned of all those who have searched for answers. Only the woman who walks ahead of the storm. Posted: 09-22-2020 05:25 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Great Spirit of the Woods
Amid the dark recesses of Hyperborean forests rests the God-King of ancient days. So old that he is nameless or if named it is forgotten before Atlantis drowned or the passage to Old Earth was lost in the mists which surround Hyperborea. He is known as the Great Spirit of the Wood to his followers and the woodland beasts and sentient monsters that dwell within his green boundaries.
He rarely shows his face beyond the heart of the woodlands, but a few incautious travelers have seen it, dark and brooding, his hair a dirty white entwined with leaves and branches but worn as a living crown. The Great Spirit does not take desecrators of his sacred groves or deep heartland lightly and the doom that may fall upon such are torments that can last an age, bound within the flesh of a great tree, living as the tree lives, but exposed to the pain of all that comes to the woods; the bite of axe, the touch of fire, the rot of age and devouring teeth of insects.
The Great Spirit calls to not only the trees and plants of the woodland, but to all those creatures, including man, who live within. He is no peaceful ruler and roots fight for nourishment from the soil and sunlight from the sky, beasts stalk the weak, the weak burrow and gnaw at the roots of tree and plant, the dead nourish the living, and so it goes on and on, the turning wheel of time, life and death, overseen by the Great Spirit, lord of all that transpires. Posted: 09-22-2020 04:34 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Gateway of Cruel Desire
Cold is the path of the dead and colder still is the heart of the Necromancer. And yet there is a passion that lurks within this twisted breed of mage that drives them forward into the darkest and most loathsome of places; none more so than the tomb-temple to be found on the Isle of Ghul.
The gateway is ancient, older than the Necromancer that rules the isle, and in a language that only the daemon's of the abyss can recognize, though they curse and shun the place, a story of power, lust in all its meanings, and torment is spelled out in the carven entranceway to this labyrinth. Twisted and endless are the passageways of the Tomb, lost is the temple, and lost as well are the souls of all who have fallen within this accursed charnel house. The carven gateway is beautiful and the massive doors of bronze, green with verdigris, sit open, the outer chamber is marble and granite, a dried fountain with sculptures of water nymphs surrounding its bowl, but from the open grill of its drain, too small for any human to utilize, come the screams of the dead, and the massive doors are shut, silently without warning, and no spike or iron or blockade of stone can prevent their closure, not to open again till the sun has set and risen once more.
Hiding behind a marble bench in a room further into the labyrinth will be found a young girl, emaciated, scarred from torture, wild-eyed and clad in rags. She will speak in a language that only the aid of sorcery will make clear, and pleas for help. Her tormentor is within the tomb, he has set her here to hunt down and torture. She has no idea how long she has been within the tomb, she has never seen the temple, but she is of flesh and blood, though weak and starved. She can lead any who would follow her to a secret room entered through a series of levers held as spears and swords among an array of statues that bear an uniformity of look but of no make recognizable to any living in this age of the world since the fall of Atlantis.
Inside the chamber is a clear pool and drinking from it will heal wounds but alleviate hunger any more than the taste of unenchanted water would. This has been her refuge. Stepping back outside this room will find the scowling visages of half a score of animated warriors. Defeating them, now flesh and blood themselves, will be no easy task, but the rewards are the armor and weapons of these doughty foes. The tomb goes further... Posted: 09-22-2020 02:50 pm Inspiring Illustrations - This Feast of Battle
War has always been a living thing among the Kimmerians and their half-breed kinsmen. The Kimmerian-Kelts are an offshoot of centuries of warfare between the clans of the Kimmerians and the tribes of the Kelts. The mixed breed children born of these wars, the raids, the rapine, the endless chain of murder and revenge, have been rejected by both sides. Sometimes abandoned to nature and never more than starving and mistreated outsiders existing on the refuse of either society these unwanted children slowly banded together and formed their own tribes but as a single clan. Their hatred for their pure breed kindred has welded them into a single sprawling family where every member is a brother or sister regardless of tribe or chieftain.
Recently this unity of purpose has become embodied in the spirit of a single man. Zhalov of the Yellow Beard has become the first of their clan to unite all of the Kimmerian-Keltic tribes under a single ruler. Born of a Kimmerian slave held in Keltic lands Zhalov broke his shackles and escaped his servitude fleeing into grasslands of Vol. Hunted by a warparty of Kelts he turned on his attackers time and again but was slowly forced into a stony outcropping which sat on the verge of the mire that is the Lug Wasteland. At last he was cornered and in his fight among the stones he slew six of the surviving warparty and sent the last few Kelts fleeing his wrath. Wounded and with a storm approaching Zhalov sought shelter among the rocks and found a crevice no wider than his own shoulders which he crawled into.
When the light of dawn touched him Zhalov was surprised to find that he was not alone in his shelter. The crumbling body of some ancient warrior shared his cave. Beside the body was a sword whose edge crackled with lightning when he touched its hilt and a strange weapon that was nearly the death of him. At first he could not decide if the strange device was a weapon or some tool of the ancient man who had died in the cave. Its shape was odd and it had the look of something that might be used as a crutch with a smooth metal end that fit nicely beneath his arm diminishing down to a length of hollow round metal. Peering inside the hollow he could find nothing.
Zhalov was weak and badly wounded, but the cave had the feel of death to it now and he would stay there no longer. With the use of his new found metal stick he pulled himself back through the crevice and into the sunlight. The stones around him were slick and in his descent he slipped, his hand clutched at his metal stick and found the odd strip of metal that projected from its side. Suddenly the stick erupted in a flair of lightning which shattered the rock nearby. Zhalov was sprayed with tiny flecks of stone but he felt them not and only stared in wonder at this powerful weapon he had been banging against the stones.
Weeks later Zhalov was riding deep within the grasslands of Vol on the horse of a Kimmerian who fell to his lightning blade. He found himself looking at a swirl of horsemen in the distance. It was a dark year for the half-breed tribesman of Vol. The Kimmerians were raiding in force, slaying the old, enslaving the young, riding off with what loot they could find and the horses and herds of their victims. In a blaze of blue fire Zhalov rode down upon the Kimmerians. His thunderstick causing fear and panic as he approached, his lightning sword unstoppable. The prophecy of the great savage fighting man had been fulfilled and the feast of battle had begun. Posted: 09-21-2020 09:57 am Inspiring Illustrations - Riding the Wolf
When the Rus found themselves transported to Hyperborea many of their traditional ways immediately changed. The Boet, a group of warrior-hunters finely attuned to living in the wild, were possessed by the spirit of the Vukodlak; an ability akin to lycanthropy. While they could not change themselves into the aspect of a wolf they became attuned to the nature of wolves and discovered a monstrous form of wolf lurking on the outskirts of their towns and settlements. Whether these were wolves from Rusland altered by the powerful magic which caused the dislocation from old Earth to Hyperborea or whether these beasts were already in Hyperborea the Boet do not know and these wolves cannot tell them, though along with their gargantuan size the wolves have gained the power of speech, their memories begin with their first encounters of the Rus and their adoption of the Boet.
According to Vas'Ka, the pack leader of all the wolves in Rusland (anywhere the Rus settle is called Rusland) the Boet just smell right and a bond of friendship and even brotherhood has sprung up between the two.
Never much for horses and more at home in the thick forest or the hills and mountains the Boet were always poor horseman, but with the coming of the great wolves they now ride in packs through the forest and steppes that surround Hyperborea's Rusland or scrabble through the stoney hills and inhospitable heights on their borders. The great wolves are as big as ponies, but stronger and heavier, their bodies all muscle and dense bone. The Boet ride them when there is a need for haste though most often a pair of human and great wolf can be encountered hunting the forest or patrolling the roadways between town and village or camping on some hill, sharing their days catch.
Boets tend to wear a shirt of fine chain sometimes with a sleeveless vest of leather over the metal. Many will wear a cap of iron, steel or leather, but just as many disdain such and grow their hair long which they tie back and tuck under the collar of their armored shirt. They are almost never found without bow or sling, but they tend to favor a spear and a short sword as weapons.
Their new wolfish affinity has given them keener sense making it easier for them to track animals or enemies. They can be killed or wounded like any other man, but heal twice as quickly. The can speak to animals though they speak Rus to the great wolves and the great wolves can growl out a few short words of Rus back to them.
The great wolves of Rusland are several times the size of a normal wolf, the largest are truly the size of horses and even the smallest is big and strong enough to carry a normal-sized Boet. Their senses are slightly less keen than that of a normal wolf but still greater than a man's. They bond with their human companions and will fight to the death against any who would attack them. On the death of a Boet companion the great wolf will pine and grieve, and let its life pass away within three days of the loss of a companion.
The bonding ceremony between Boet and great wolf is called Riding the Wolf and the pair set out on a tour of Rusland. This is celebrated by a massive hunt with dozens of Boet and great wolves participating culminating in a feast where the families, wolves and human, join in to eat what the hunt has gathered.
Most Boet and great wolves are encountered alone, but that is only the cautious nature of the hunters. There will usually be from three to five other Boet and great wolves somewhere nearby waiting to see if they have encountered friend or foe. In any case there will always be at least one pair of wolf and rider that is does not reveal themselves. These Boet are a suspicious lot outside of their own kind, which is the main reason they and the Rus have prospered in this strange land of Hyerborea that is now their home. Posted: 09-20-2020 05:55 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Temple of the Blind
The Temple of the Blind
In the Red Desert men have found fortunes in mines of silver, iron and copper, but the cost is often their lives, as the sages have written and the families of the men lost to this cold wasteland will attest. Men do not live in the Red Desert but things that hold themselves as men do. Beast like creatures that ape the ways of men haunt the steppes and high grounds, walk the bottoms of dried out seas where the bones of ships can be found, the detritus of ages past; lost fleets and lone vessels from different times and places. Ships of wood, ships of bone, ships of metal that could never have floated, ships of glass; their shattered hulls flaring like beacons when the sun's rays break through the dismal perennial clouds which roof the wasteland.
Then there are the sightless men and their temple city with the vast blind effigy of their god which sits amid the cavernous homes of their metropolis. Sightless they are with smooth flesh where their eyes should be, but doubly keen are their other senses. They can hear the breath of their enemy, the sound of every move. It is said that the wind which blows across the desert is the dying words of their stone god and with it they can hear what a man could see. Hear shapes and the space between the leaves of a plant, hear the distance between walls of their home and the table where the sit to dinner, hear the roughness of the ground, the edge of a cliff, the half-buried root that would trip a seeing man.
The sightless men are disdainers of magic and have no liking for those who practice the arcane art. They are a pious people and many dedicate themselves to the worship of their dead stone god. They are strong warriors and amazing with any weapon that is thrown, especially the use of the sling. They have an affinity with stone.
Their homes are colorless and dark except where a random streak of some unintended, unseen brightness has been added. They have no liking for fire and seem immune to the heat of the day or the frosty chill of the night. They delve deep into the earth of Hyperborea and trade precious metals and gems with men who dare the wasteland. They are always greedy for weapons or items of metal which they do not produce themselves. They weapons and items that they craft for themselves are stone, crystal or bone.
While they appear almost human their flesh is rough and scale-like, they have no hair and their teeth are a single ridge of bone that grows throughout their life and must be worn down usually by an oblong of stone they use as a file or rasp.
The sightless men are dangerous to deal with though once they have established trade with a man they will deal fairly, but they are constantly looking for men and dangerous beasts to sacrifice to their god. The method of sacrifice is said to be truly horrific as the sightless men eat their victims alive within the confines of their temple, first pummeling them with thrown stones, then setting upon the near senseless captive in a maddened pack and consuming the body utterly till nothing is left but cracked bones upon a blood soaked floor. Posted: 09-17-2020 05:13 pm A. Merritt - Some Ideas and Descriptions From His Stories - The People of the Pi A. Merritt - Some Ideas and Descriptions From His Stories
SPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of A. Merritt 's prose.
Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set Forum I have begun sifting through my collection of A. Merritt for ideas.
1). The People of the Pit
Blue Shaft of Light - [MON] The City in the Pit - [TWN] Eblis - [NPC] Fear Dust - [ITM] Five Peaks - [MT] Frozen Hand of Cloud - [ITM] Gate of Ghouls - [PLC] Gateway to the Pit - [GTE] Ghosts of Winds - [MON] Golden Band - [ITM] The Green Stairway [PLC] Lao T'zai - [NPC] People of the Pit - [MON] The Pit - [PLC] Sanctuary Caves - [PLC] Shan Nadour - [NPC] Snaky Red Trees - [ITM] Thick White Liquid - [ITM] The Thing in the Pit - [MON][Deity] Whispering - [SPL]
Blue Shaft of Light - Five Peaks -
"North of us a shaft of light shot half way to the zenith. It came from behind the five peaks. The beam drove up through a column of blue haze whose edges were marked as sharply as the rain that streams from the edges of a thunder cloud. It was like the flash of a searchlight through an azure mist. It cast no shadows.
As it struck upward the summits were outlined hard and black and I saw that the whole mountain was shaped like a hand. As the light silhouetted it, the gigantic fingers stretched, the hand seemed to thrust itself forward. It was exactly as though it moved to push something back. The shining beam held steady for a moment; then broke into myriads of little luminous globes that swung to and fro and dropped gently. They seemed to be searching."
Fear Dust - Lao T'zai -
"My mouth was as dry as though Lao T'zai had poured his fear dust down my throat."
Eblis - Frozen Hand of Cloud - Gate of Ghouls - Shan Nadour -
"It makes me think of the frozen hand of cloud that Shan Nadour set before the Gate of Ghouls to keep them in the lairs that Eblis cut for them."
Ghosts of Winds - Whispering -
"From the North and high overhead there came a whispering. It was not the rustling of the aurora, that rushing, crackling sound like the ghosts of winds that blew at Creation racing through the skeleton leaves of ancient trees that sheltered Lilith. It was a whispering that held in it a demand. It was eager. It called us to come up where the beam was flashing. It drew. There was a note of inexorable insistence. It touched my heart with a thousand tiny fear-tipped fingers and it filled me with a vast longing to race on and merge myself in the light. It must have been so that Ulysses felt when he strained at the mast and strove to obey the crystal sweet singing of the Sirens."
Golden Band -
""I was filing the band about the waist. It was gold, but it was like no gold I had ever handled. Pure gold is soft. This was soft, but it had an unclean, viscid life of its own. It clung to the file. I gashed through it, bent it away from the body and hurled it far off. It was - loathsome!"
"...I saw that around my waist had been fastened a yellow ring of metal. From it hung a chain and this chain passed up over the lip of the high ledge. I was chained to the altar..."
Gateway to the Pit - People of the Pit - The Pit -
""The people of the pit," he said. "Things that the Devil made before the Flood and that somehow escaped God's vengeance. You weren't in any danger from them - unless you had followed their call. They can't get any further than the blue haze. I was their prisoner," he added simply. "They were trying to whisper me back to them!""
""The road passed between two high rocks that raised themselves like a gateway."
The crawling man paused.
"They were a gateway," he said. "I reached them. I went between them. And then I sprawled and clutched the earth in sheer awe! I was on a broad stone platform. Before me was a sheer space! Imagine the Grand Canyon five times as wide with the bottom dropped out. That was what I was looking into. It was like peeping over the edge of a cleft world down into the infinity where the planets roll! On the far side stood five peaks. They looked like a gigantic warning hand stretched up to the sky. The lip of the abyss curved away on each side of me.
"I could see down perhaps a thousand feet. Then a thick blue haze shut out the eye. It was like the blue you see gather on the high hills at dusk. And the pit - it was awesome; awesome as the Maori Gulf of Ranalak, that sinks between the living and the dead and that only the freshly released soul has the strength to leap - but never strength to cross again.
"I crept back from the verge and stood up, weak. My hand rested against one of the pillars of the gateway. There was carving upon it. It bore in still sharp outlines the heroic figure of a man. His back was turned. His arms were outstretched. There was an odd peaked headdress upon him. I looked at the opposite pillar. It bore a figure exactly similar. The pillars were triangular and the carvings were on the side away from the pit. These figures seemed to be holding something back. I looked closer. Behind the outstretched hands I seemed to see other shapes.
"I traced them out vaguely. Suddenly I felt unaccountably sick. There had come to me an impression of enormous upright slugs. Their swollen bodies were faintly cut - all except the heads which were well marked globes. They were - unutterably loathsome. I turned from the gates back to the void.""
"I can't describe those carvings! No human being could - the human eye cannot grasp them any more than it can grasp the shapes that haunt the fourth dimension. Only a subtle sense in the back of the brain sensed them vaguely. They were formless things that gave no conscious image, yet pressed into the mind like small hot seals - ideas of hate - of combats between unthinkable monstrous things - victories in a nebulous hell of steaming, obscene jungles - aspirations and ideals immeasurably loathsome -"
"...the haze began to thicken and glow; the cylinders shine more brightly. I knew that it was dusk in the world above and I felt that with dusk my time of peril had come; that the thickening haze was the signal for the awakening of whatever lived in this pit."
"...There began to grow around me a murmur. It was everywhere - and it grew and grew into a great whispering. I peeped from the side of the stone down into the street. I saw lights passing and repassing. More and more lights - they swam out of the circular doorways and they thronged the street. The highest were eight feet above the pave; the lowest perhaps two. They hurried, they sauntered, they bowed, they stopped and whispered - and there was nothing under them!"
"... that was the terrible part of it - there was nothing under them. Yet certainly the lights were living things. They had consciousness, volition, thought - what else I did not know. They were nearly two feet across - the largest. Their center was a bright nucleus - red, blue, green. This nucleus faded off, gradually, into a misty glow that did not end abruptly. It too seemed to face off into nothingness - but a nothingness that had under it a somethingness. I strained my eyes trying to grasp this body into which the lights merged and which one could only feel was there, but could not see."
"...Something cold, and thin like a whip touched my face. I turned my head. Close behind were three of the lights. They were a pale blue. They looked at me - if you can imagine lights that are eyes. Another whiplash gripped my shoulder. Under the closest light came a shrill whispering. I shrieked. Abruptly the murmuring in the street ceased. I dragged my eyes from the pale blue globe that held them and looked out - the lights in the streets were rising by myriads to the level of where I stood! There they stopped and peered at me. They crowded and jostled as though they were a crowd of curious people - on Broadway. I felt a score of the lashes touch me -"
"...And now the reddish mottled gleam began to deepen. Outside arose the humming and through the circle that was the entrance came streaming the globes. They ranged themselves in ranks until they filled the Temple. Their whispering grew into a chant, a cadenced whispering chant that rose and fell, rose and fell, while to its rhythm the globes lifted and sank, lifted and sank."
"...All that night the lights came and went - and all that night the chant sounded as they rose and fell..."
"...The red glow faded, the lights streamed out; the whispering died. I was again alone and I knew that once again day had broken..."
"...the lights came again. All through the night the whispering chant sounded, and the globes rose and fell. The chant seized me. It pushed through me until every nerve and muscle quivered to it. My lips began to quiver. They strove like a man trying to cry out on a nightmare. And at last they too were whispering the chant of the people of the pit. My body bowed in unison with the lights - I was, in movement and sound one with the nameless things while my soul sank back sick with horror and powerless. While I whispered I - saw Them!"
"...Saw the lights?" I asked stupidly.
"...Saw the Things under the lights," he answered. Great transparent snail-like bodies - dozens of waving tentacles stretching from them - round gaping mouths under the luminous seeing globes. They were like ghosts of inconceivably monstrous slugs! I could see through them. And as I stared, still bowing and whispering, the dawn came and they streamed to and through the entrance. They did not crawl or walk - they floated! They floated and were - gone!""
The Green Stairway -
""A stairway led down into the pit..."
"...it seemed not so much carved out of the rock as built into it. The slabs were about six feet long and three feet wide. It ran down from the platform and vanished into the blue haze."
"...I went down the stairway..."
"The steps ran along the side of the rock at a forty degree pitch. As I went down I studied them. They were of a greenish rock quite different from the granite porphyry that formed the wall of the precipice. At first I thought the builders had taken advantage of an outcropping stratum, and had craved from it their gigantic flight. But the regularity of the angle at which it fell made me doubtful of this theory."
"After I had gone perhaps half a mile I stepped out upon a landing. From this landing the stairs made a V shaped turn and ran on downward, clinging to the cliff at the same angle as the first flight; it was a zig-zag, and after I had made three of these turns I knew that the steps dropped straight down in a succession of such angles. No strata could be so regular as that. No, the stairway was built by hands!""
"...A few feet beneath me the stairway jutted out into a Titanic arch, unearthly as the span that bridges Hell and leads to Asgard. It curved out and down and straight through the top of the highest pile of carven cylinders and then it vanished through it. It was appalling - it was demonic - ..."
"...I crossed the span. I went down through the top of that - building. Blue darkness shrouded me for a moment and I felt the steps twist into a spiral. I wound down them..."
Sanctuary Caves -
"At regular intervals I had passed the mouths of small caves. There would be two thousand steps and then an opening, two thousand more steps and an opening - and so on and on. Late that afternoon I stopped before one of these clefts. I suppose I had gone then three miles down the pit, although the angles were such that I had walked in all fully ten miles. I examined the entrance. On each side were carved the figures of the great portal above, only now they were standing face forward, the arms outstretched as though to hold something back from the outer depths. Their faces were covered with veils. There were no hideous shapes behind them. I went inside. The fissure ran back for twenty yards like a burrow. It was dry and perfectly light. Outside I could see the blue haze rising upward like a column, its edges clearly marked. I felt an extraordinary sense of security, although I had not been conscious of any fear. I felt that the figures at the entrance were guardians - but against what?""
The City in the Pit - Snaky Red Trees -
""There is a city you know. But not such a city as you have ever seen - nor any other man who has lived to tell of it. The pit, I think, is shaped like a bottle; the opening before the five peaks is the neck. But how wide the bottom is I do not know - thousands of miles maybe. I had begun to catch little glints of light far down in the blue. Then I saw the tops of - trees, I suppose they are. But not our kind of trees - unpleasant, snaky kind of trees. They reared themselves on high thin trunks and their tops were nests of thick tendrils with ugly little leaves like arrow heads. The trees were red, a vivid angry red. Here and there I glimpsed spots of shining yellow. I knew these were water because I could see things breaking through the surface - or at least I could see the splash and ripple, but what it was that disturbed them I never saw."
"Straight beneath me was the - city. I looked down upon mile after mile of closely packed cylinders. They lay upon their sides in pyramids of three, of five - of dozens - piled upon each other. It is hard to make you see what that city is like - look, suppose you have water pipes of a certain length and first you lay three of them side by side and on top of them you place two and on these two one; or suppose you take five for a foundation and place on these four and then three, then two and then one. Do you see? That was the way they looked. But they were topped by towers, by minarets, by flares, by fans, and twisted monstrosities. They gleamed as though coated with pale rose flames. Beside them the venomous red tress raised themselves like the heads of hydras guarding nests of gigantic, jeweled and sleeping worms!"
"...I was standing high up in - I can't tell you in what, I'll have to call it a room. We have no images for what is in the pit. A hundred feet below me was the floor. The walls sloped down and out from where I stood in a series of widening crescents. The place was colossal - and it was filled with a curious mottled red light. It was like the light inside a green and gold flecked fire opal. I went down to the last step. Far in front of me rose a high, columned altar. Its pillars were carved in monstrous scrolls - like mad octopuses with a thousand drunken tentacles; they rested on the backs of shapeless monstrosities carved in crimson stone. The altar front was a gigantic slab of purple covered with carvings."
"...I was out on a street that stretched on into dim distance between rows of the carven cylinders."
"Here and there the red trees arose. Between them rolled the stone burrows. And now I could take in the amazing ornamentation that clothed them. They were like the trunks of smooth skinned trees that had fallen and had been clothed with high reaching noxious orchids. Yes - those cylinders were like that - and more. They should have gone out with the dinosaurs. They were - monstrous. They struck the eyes like a blow and they passed across the nerves like a rasp. And nowhere was there sight or sound of living things."
"There were circular openings in the cylinders like the circle in the Temple of the Stairway. I passed through one of them. I was in a long, bare vaulted room whose curving sides half closed twenty feet over my head, leaving a wide slit that opened into another vaulted chamber above. There was absolutely nothing in the room save the same mottled reddish light that I had seen in the Temple..."
The Thing in the Pit -
""And as I stood I grew aware of something that lay behind the lip of the altar fifty feet above me. I knew it was there - I felt it with every hair and every tiny bit of my skin. Something infinitely malignant, infinitely horrible, infinitely ancient. It lurked, it brooded, it threatened and it was - invisible!"
"Behind me was a circle of blue light. I ran for it. Something urged me to turn back, to climb the stairs and make away. It was impossible. Repulsion for that unseen Thing raced me onward as though a current had my feet.""
Thick White Liquid -
""...I saw beside one of the pillars a yellow bowl filled with a thick white liquid. I drank it. If it killed I did not care. But its taste was pleasant and as I drank my strength came back to me with a rush..."
ADVENTURE IDEAS:
I have already used some of these ideas in the post titled: Listener to the Sphinx, but there is so much material in this short story that I barely touched on what can be done with it.
In 'Listener to the Sphinx' I touched on the great stairway leading down into an abyss and the caves as both sanctuaries and portals to other times and places, other worlds, other dimensions. After sorting through all the ideas in 'The People of the Pit' I will be expanding on these for my campaign.
The great stairway will lead to the City in the Pit, the Slug-like creatures that can whisper and charm a man to be their slave, and the great Unseen Deity/Monster that they worship. The stairway acts as a portal and leads to a rift between dimensions that these Slug Beasts inhabit. They are constantly seeking slaves and sacrifices to their Unseen god but have been unable to ascend the stairway itself. The wards are fading though, and expeditions of these creatures will soon be seen on the surface of Hyperborea.
The Thick White Liquid is the sap from the Snaky Red Trees. It strengthen and heals any human but weakens their ability to resist the charmed whispering of the creatures.
The Golden Band is both an enchanted item and a living creature fashioned from the body of a living Slug Beast. It acts to enhance the enthrallment of their slaves so that they will do their bidding even at the cost of their own lives.
The Slug Beasts range in power according to the light of they emit from their heads. Purple is the weakest while Red light is emitted from the strongest of these monsters. They have the ability to float, though not at great speed unless close to a surface. They can even float quite fast across a liquid surface, but are very slow if flying above. Their main power is their ability to charm creatures and people. The more Slug Beasts who concentrate their power together, the stronger the charm. Otherwise they are able to conduct physical attacks with the whip like tentacles each possess. Damage is slight but these tentacles have the power to stun or paralyze an opponent. The weakest of the Slug Beasts require multiple strikes with their tentacles in order to stun. Those who project the purple light can only attack with 3 tentacles at a time, but the strongest can strike with 18 tentacles (they all possess 20 tentacles ringed about their body). These tentacles are surprisingly delicate and can be destroyed with very little damage.
Biting is also another attack form. The weaker Slug Beasts are also the smaller, the Purple creatures only 3 or 4 feet high and 1HD monsters. While the Red Slug Beasts are up to 15 feet high and are 12HD monsters, possessing several abilities, including the ability to cast spells.
They are intelligent creatures capable of using tools but they wear no armor and use no weapons except those they naturally possess. They are wonderful alchemists and produce potions and balms of all sorts as well as poisons. They normally keep these in vials made of bone (human and otherwise) or great golden metal storage jars they craft from the living bodies of the weaker Slug Beasts.
There are six known types of these creatures which project light along the primary color (Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red from weakest to strongest), but it suspected that the Unseen Deity/Monster they worship projects a light that cannot be seen by human eyes, and their young project a light that is also invisible (Infrared and Ultraviolet respectively). The Great City of The Pit is vast and rests on a plane of existence inimical to human life. There are no mountains but a vast jungle filled with living plants surrounds the massive city on most sides and a wasteland of mud and fens with some open expanses of thick yellow liquid are at its one edge. There are no vertebrate creatures in jungle or wasteland, but life of sorts abound, with abominable creatures of slime and plants that slither and wind like beasts through the distorted and abhorrent growth of the jungle. Posted: 09-15-2020 03:31 pm Tale of Brave Ulysses
The Hellenic people of Hyperborea have carved out small city-states amid this chaotic and eldritch land, but they have not forgotten their past and no legend has greater meaning to a people lost from old Earth than the tales of Ulysses. In the centuries since they crossed the seas and found themselves trapped in this cold hard country countless ships and sailors have been lost striving to find a way to return to their fair Mediterranean home. Even today a great expedition is being prepared in the city of Ptolemides and adventurers and explorers from all over Hyperborea have come to join the legendary captain Eudoxus in this journey. Eudoxus has ventured further in his galleys than any other captain in Hyperborea, even the vaunted Norsemen of Vikland have not sailed as far... and returned. Eudoxus is a popular man with the Hellenic people of Ptolemides as well as his crew, but he has never denied a place in his galley to any man who can prove his worth, Hellene or outsider. This expedition is no different and unlikely shipmates are to be found among his crew. Any man strong enough to pull an oar is welcome if the know the sea or the sword for Exodus brings with him a strong warband as well as his sailors. Woe betide the fate of any Viking raider, pirate or slaver who thinks to attack the Phlegethon, Eudoxus' two-decked galley, but the size of the vessel is unlikely to attract the wolves of the sea that so often prey upon the merchantmen of Hyperborea. While the expedition is formidable and one which many think will finally overcome Eudoxus and his Phlegethon there is a steady stream of volunteers for his crew and many men of renown are said to have already signed aboard and sworn their oaths to Eudoxus. Though he still needs to fully crew his massive ship he has enough men to set out on a shorter journey, the location of which remains a secret known only to Eudoxus and the most loyal or experienced members of the expedition, he has never sailed out without returning with wealth and stories of heroic proportion as well tales of danger and sometimes the heads of his conquests to prove it. It will be only a handful of days before Eudoxus sets sail and those seeking gold and glory must make haste if they wish to sign aboard the Phlegethon and sail into legend. Posted: 09-13-2020 10:15 pm Tesla and the Unknown Region Tesla and the Unknown Region
"Darest thou now O soul. Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for the feet nor any Path to follow?"
One day Nikolai Tesla walked out onto his stage between his machines of tamed lightning and in a blinding flash disappeared from Old Earth forever. The gulfs of space are not empty. No, they are filled with a horror older than time, beings that should not be and are inimical to man. Their gaze which is not sight wanders the galaxy peering deep into the darkness as easily as they stare into the blinding core of a sun. Some have fallen to Earth and the hint of their shadow haunts the dark corners of the mind. Others have crawled between what is and what was and what may come venturing forth in madness and ecstasy. And in Hyperborea many of these dark powers are worshiped as Gods though they care not thirsting only for the souls of men and lusting after torment and despair. The men of Old Earth have touched they veil that hides these beings delving deep into the grinding spheres too small for the eye to detect or summoning the lighting and chaining the elementals to dance for their pleasure. Nikolai Tesla was one of these men, a powerful wizard that changed the substance of the world by tearing apart the veils and thrusting his mind into the white light of creation. In his hands he wielded the power of light and fire and awoke the beasts which lurk. In a confrontation that removed him from the world of modern man he broke the spine of the daemon summoned against him and fashioned a gateway from its unearthly flesh powered by its own hellish spirit. His gaze sought a refuge and in the mist shrouded land of Hyperborea that exists beyond time and the geography of any but the mind he stepped from Old Earth and into the ageless realm. A new Wizard walks the streets of Khromarium. Tesla came upon Hyperborea with nothing but power and with his power he has fashioned himself a citadel in the ancient ruins of the great city. His tower blazes with globes of fire, with chilling lightnings that can crawl across the ground, across the flesh of man without burning, without ending. His power is great but his needs for metal, for this Hyperborean magic he has discovered, for his automations that guard his laboratories, all are great and many a merchant and adventurer has profited greatly in their dealings with striding giant of light and raw power. Tesla has stepped from Old Earth through the Unknown Region into Hyperborea and shaken the foundations of all. Opportunity abounds, he can be a generous master, a Posted: 09-13-2020 08:43 pm Listener to the Sphynx
Listener to the Sphynx
In Hyperboria the Plateau of Leng holds many mysteries. It is not a place for men or even those who walk as men, but amid its wind swept desolation can be found the ruins of man. No record tells of the men from old Earth's Aegypt dwelling in that terrible place, but the statues and obelisks of that ancient land can be found jutting from the surface of the cold and barren tundra. A cult of wild-monks, driven mad by their nearness to the dark and malevolent entities which dwell atop the high plateau, speak with the statues of man, God and monster and they listen for a reply which is more than the moaning of the wind. These mad men speak of a lost city, of the terrible otherworldly music that floats down on the wind from the plateau to the low hills, of the things whose shape twists the mind and the bodies which must be gathered and burned by touch since none can see such things and live. The monks have no name for their order and their dwelling place is usually no more than a hide or ragged blanket used as a cover from the brutal winds and merciless sun of the desolation of Leng slung from the edge of ruined stone, boulder or ditch. There is a secret temple buried beneath the baked earth of the plains of Leng near the foothills too close to the edge of the plateau to protect the sanity of man. The markings are the most ancient of hieroglyphs of Old Earth's Aegypt and the story they tell of the rise and exile of their God-King Sutekh burns the soul of any reader as a surely as a brazier of coals would burn the flesh. The temple, which the monks call The Hall of Mati, is protected by some terror known only as The Things of the Night. Whether these be the blasphemous soul-rending creatures which haunt the Plateau of Leng or some other foul and wondrous beings brought from the depths of Stygian darkness beneath the sands of Aegypt and transported to Hyperborea no man knows, not even the monks who worship these living nightmares. The Things of the Night have no care for the monks though they do no more than torment them and haunt their dreams rather than devour their souls as they do to any who would profane the temple. Inside the temple are chambers kept meticulously clean by the monks; chambers for worship and contemplation, a library of scrolls and books of all types and languages. A cadre of blind monks tends the temple and records the knowledge gained from their more wild brethren who wander the desolation around them seeking answers from broken fragments of Aegyptian Gods and effigies of guardian monstrosities that litter the wasteland. The temple descends down into dark gulf by way of a series steps carved from a greenish stone. The mouths of myriad small caves are set next to the steps and on the outer edge, unprotected by rail or balustrade, lays an abyssal pit that seemingly has no end. As the steps are descended the roof of the cavern first disappears in a bluish haze then a darkness which becomes lit by a field of stars that roof no earthly heaven. a whispering is said to descend from these stars, beautiful and enthralling, and the bodies of men who died of thirst or exposure, for the stairway into the pit is colder than the mere chill of ice or snow, can be found staring up at this alien expanse with sightless eyes and the look of ecstasy frozen on their lifeless husks. Only the sanctuary of the caves can protect a man when he is called by the whispering from the stars, and even then he will never be free of the longing for the voices which called to him from the dark. The caves upon that perilous stair are sometimes no more than a bare chamber but at other times they are portals to other places and other times. The monks are said to have charted hundreds, perhaps thousands of these caves, a chart that varies with the changing of the alien stars seen above. With their knowledge they travel beyond Hyperborea and within Hyperborea. They have visited ancient Mu, Lemuria and Atlantis, Aegypt before the coming of man when the beast-headed Gods walked the deserts alone, they have walked among the stars. They search for items of vast power said to be the sceptre of Horus called the Giver of Winds and a crystal tablet marked by the hand of the Falcon-God himself. These things not even the wise and powerful suspect of the nameless wild monks of Leng. Though many wonder what they hear from the lips of their broken stone idols or how they survive the mad desolation and eldritch terror of such a cursed and unholy place. Posted: 09-13-2020 12:15 pm Historical - The Origins of Humanity
According to the Baklunish humanity was created in what is now the trackless southern deserts of Zeif. It is true that the vast wastelands of sand that are the south and west of Zeif once contained ancient empires that died before the Suel Imperium was ever born. Ancient Zeif contended with both but the Baklunish speak of a savage time when humanity wasn't much better than the animals they consumed and only the annals of the demi-human races can confirm this bestial time before the history of humanity had truly begun. What record is there beneath the sands of Zeif that yet may exists to prove these stories? The sand-swept ruins of these other empires appear from time to time. If one were to delve deep beneath these do the bones of the first humans await to be found? Posted: 09-12-2020 07:11 pm Inspiring Illustrations - A Crown of Snakes and Flowers
A Crown of Snakes and Flowers
When the doom finally came upon the great city of Kor the King was lost, his body and the crown of Kor never found. It is said that the nameless beast, which no power seemed able to stop, slew the king and consumed his body leaving only a bloody bag of flesh behind, but there are rumors that the king escaped through tunnels beneath the city which led beyond the walls into the dense surrounding forest. Escaped or slain, he was never seen again but within the forest of Koth (called Trogos by the native tribes of ape-men and fish-eyed troglodytes) the crown of Kor, adorning a worn and ancient skull, has been described as the center of an inhuman and barbaric shrine. The crown is of reddish gold formed into bands of snakes and flowers, and so the shrine is a strangely bright affair of flowers laid in offering while snakes writhe about the rotting bodies and man and beast beneath their floral coat. Tribes of the frog-like reptilian trogs surround the shrine, and their fondness for snakes has led them to cultivate true monstrosities as pets. What other relics of mighty Kor may be found if this truly be the lost crown, and are the worn bones and fleshless skull the pitiful remnants of its once powerful king? Posted: 09-12-2020 06:47 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Hanged Man
The Hanged Man
The roadsides of Hyperborea are dotted with hanging trees, gallows or gibbets, rarely unoccupied. These are often places of the unconsecrated dead and in consequence are avoided or quickly passed by the common folk of the locale, but it is not unusual to see a cleric setting wards, a patrol of warders and workmen removing one malodorous corpse to make room for a fresh one, a wandering skald, a lurking necromancer's apprentice, a pair of body-snatchers, or among the Rus, a dispossed drifter called a Zhulik serving some vile purpose of the local Koldun ( a type of Witch/Necromancer/Soothsayer) as depicted here. The Hanged Man serves as a warning to rebels, outsiders and any troublemakers and the spaces on the gibbet are all too readily filled. The symbol of The Hanged Man is found in many lands of Hyperborea among thieves as a simple twist of rope or as a small doll-like figure of cloth among certain dark cults of murder and assassination. Among the Norse it is banned emblem and those found with it are subject to the punishment of Ullr. Posted: 09-12-2020 11:36 am Inspiring Illustrations - Older Than The Memory of the Dead
Older Than The Memory of the Dead
The foundations of Khromarium are set deeper and more firmly than bedrock. They touch upon the boundary of the black abyss and the nightmare dreams of the Elder Gods who were never worshiped by man. More terrible than the bodies of the Dead that Walk are the Blue-men who inhabit these frail shells of humanity. That they themselves are corpses of some ancient and unknown race speaks of a terror the passing ages has allowed to endure. The Blue-men are corrupters and desecrators. They delight in pain and the torture of the living. They trample the ceremonies and rituals of the Gods beneath their feet and scatter the offerings of the pious. Rarely seen, the Blue-men are powerful and draw energy from the power of priests and mages. The drain the life from strong warriors and wear their skin as a cloak to mask their decaying limbs. They find their ways into the very bones of men. When and where they will appear is unknown. They prefer moonless nights but will come out in the brightest day. Singly they are a terror, but in groups of three or four they are a devastation. Wherever they come from it is deep beneath the great city, among the tunnels that wind down and down beneath the earth, swallowed in darkness, older than the memory of the dead. Posted: 09-12-2020 11:34 am Inspiring Illustrations - Bearers of the Dead
Bearers of the Dead
One of the more bizarre cults of Hyperborea is the Priesthood of the Burden. When and where they first arose is a mystery and who their patron deity may actually be, if they have any at all, is unknown. Each priest is a strong man or woman, they have need to be, for each morning when they rise they pray to their deity and strap onto their back the bones of the dead. Are these the bones of a loved one? An enemy? A worshipper of their unknown God? Only members of their order know and none will say. They have no temples, no shrines, though they are often seen among tombs or graveyards. They offer no prayers and give no sermons though they sell their services and gain coin through the power granted to them. The members of the priesthood may be found in Khromarium, Ptolemides, Yitharium, almost anywhere in Hyperborea carrying their gruesome burden upon their back where-ever they go. Posted: 09-12-2020 11:20 am Inspiring Illustrations - The Blood of Medusa
The Blood of Medusa The Hellenic people came to Hyperborea long ago. They came in single galleys and large fleets, the greatest were those lost coming home from the ruin of Troy swallowed by the capricious will of the Gods and the dark waters that separated the living world from the realm of the dead. They found a land much different than their sunny warm homeland but they also found other Hellens and they found both their monsters and their Gods. It is said that Apollo has walked in Hyperborea since the dawn of time and wild Pan has left Old Earth to dwell here for long ages. So too dwells the Medusa or the Gorgon as they call her here. The Medusa in Hyperborea is not she of Old Earth legend, but these Medusae are her kin. Her sisters or her children. They are found on the many islands which dot the cold Hyperboread sea, they inhabit the peaks and passes of the great mountains which split the continent and rise toward heights greater than man has ever climbed. As deadly as their Old Earth namesake, they leave the smashed fragments of common men and heroes, frozen by their gaze, amid their lairs and hidden dens. The bravest of men hunt these fiends, fair in body and face, but foul in spirit with a nest of vipers for their hair. To slay a medusa is to earn more than fame. Even dead the power of their gaze remains in their own cold, dead eyes. And the blood of a medusa will grant a man flesh that can turn a blade, healing that can return a man from death, or reflesh men turned to stone. It is said in Ptolemides that the son of the last Hellen king is a frozen statue in the lair of a Medusae Queen and that to free him will see the lost glory of the Hellenic people and the fortunes of Ptolemides return to a golden age not seen since the coming of the heroes in the long ages past. Much gold and much more speculation is now spent on where this Queen may reside but the common belief is that the great captain Eudoxus and his expedition is bound for an isle shown only on a parchment-skin map held in trust by the priests of Apollo. Posted: 09-10-2020 09:55 am B1 In Search of the Unknown - A Hyperborean Campaign Alternative - Part 4
L1A10) This long room, no wider than the outer halls, is lined with tables alternating against the north (top of the map) and south (bottom of the map) walls. The small 10ft northerly nook of this generally east-west room is lined with shelves. This room was lit by several glass lanterns hung set near the ceiling which arches close to ten feet above the floor. These lanterns could hold oil and all are still about half fool (and presently unlit). They can be taken down simply by removing them from a hook and chain arrangement near the ceiling. There are 4 lanterns in total. Once they were enchanted with the spell 'Continuous Light' but that enchantment has long since faded. In the long room several of the tables toward the middle have been overturned and debris scattered, but those tables nearest to the door and those near the small bend in the chamber are upright There are two tables near the door that still have the remains of small items. Several small hand tools with rusted ends (worth 5 silver in total as salvage to a dealer in such delicate instruments) a scratched glass oval that was once a powerful magnifying glass now worthless except for starting fires in strong sunlight, and a jumble of 5 pieces that would make an Atlantean LazPistol but it is missing its power back. The LazPistol must be assembled to function. A functioning LazPistol would be worth thousands of gold and even the parts in this condition would be worth 100gp a part to the right dealer. The LazPistol parts strongly resemble those of a hand crossbow except that these are all made out of metal with no wooden stock. Since the players characters are unlikely to have ever seen a LazPistol these parts can be casually described as those of a hand crossbow. The second table is scattered with a number of square cylinders (the housing for LazPistol powerpacks) but they are simply hollow metal tubes with no interior components. A large table vice is attached to the edge. It weighs over 25lbs and is worth 10 silver to any smith. A selection of fine files has rusted to the wall and the rack they were set in rendering them relatively valueless. The player characters will notice a scattering of bones on the floor with the largest concentration amid the overturned tables. The bones are from at least a dozen human-sized skeletons. No flesh remains on these bones and anyone with knowledge of such things will notice the rounded ends of the longer bones denoting boiling in some metal cauldron. Amid the bones are a handful of rusted weapons. 3 Longswords, 5 maces, 1 warhammer, and 2 crossbows. There are also a dozen metal rings of iron etched with runes. These metal rings are about 8 inches in diameter and will radiate magic if detected. They are a magical item concocted by Zelligar long ago. Tired of interference by holy men, shamans and clerics he devised a means of rendering his lesser undead creations immune to their Turn Undead abilities. With his iron slave collar his animated creatures were under his control alone. At the end of the room near the small north facing door is an empty weapons rack (though a small compartment at the bottom of the rack contains sharpening stones, metal polish and spare strings for crossbows). There are also shelves on either wall of the 10ft area around the door. The floor is littered with small boxes and bits and pieces of metal squares, tubes, sprockets, springs and whatnot. There is 50lbs worth of the stuff and a metal craftman would gladly pay 5 silver per pound for these bits and bobs. NEW MAGIC ITEM: Zelligar's Iron Slave Collar Using arcane knowledge granted to him from his researches in Quasqueton Zelligar crafter his iron slave collars. These collars can fit around the neck of any humanoid undead, but his iron collars only function on skeletons and zombies allowing them complete resistance to the Turn Undead ability of clerics. Each of these iron colors is etched with the same runes, is made of a reddish tinged iron and weighs around 3lbs. There is a 10% chance that when a Turn Undead is attempted against a wearer of the collar that the collar will explode causing 1d6 damage to everything is 10ft radius and completely decapitating the skeleton or zombie. These collars would bring a bounty of 50gp each to clerical authorities in Ptolemides or Khromarium, but any Necromacer would pay at least 100gp each for these collars. NEW WEAPON: Atlantean LazPistol An Atlantean LazPistol resembles a hand crossbow but without a bow and made entirely of a light grey metal. Said to have originally been brought down from the stars by travelers to fair Atlantis in the distant past and imitated by the legendary Atlantean weaponsmiths, these LazPistols are exceedingly rare and hard to replace. They have an effective range of 50ft, may be fired twice per round and do 1d6+3 damage. Their powerpacks come in two sizes 25 bolts and 50 bolts. If left in the sun these packs will recharge at a rate of 5 bolts per day. LazPistols are valued in excess of 10,000 gold and powerpacks at 500 and 1,000 gold respectively, but they are rarely offered up for sale.
Posted: 09-09-2020 06:52 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Harvester of Kor
The Harvester of Kor
Kor, magnificent Kor, vast and ancient Kor, capital of old Hyperborea. Ruined Kor, infested with semi-intelligent man-apes of Hyperborea like worms in a carcase festering in the sun. Kor of towers that scrape the clouds, of magic that lifted men to the sky and touched the moon, Kor of dark-despair and haunted madness. Kor that was, whose foundations are of emerald that cannot be cut or shaped by any means that man can bring to bear. Kor with doorways that cannot be opened, wickedly curved and shaped, squat and peaked for the entrance of beings that were never human. A monster came to Kor that could not be named. It ate the souls of men, and their hearts, licked clean their bones, and left a bloody pile of empty skin behind. The armsmen of Kor, with their armor of diamond that could not be pierced, their golden bracers that gave them the strength of ten, their curved blades of blended steel that would cleave shields in a single stroke, these heroic men fell one by one to the nameless beast that stalked by day and at night breathed out its fetid nightmares through the streets of the ancient city. And Kor died, its people fled, its king's flesh hung from the gates of his palace like a flag, an empty sack that screamed from a hollow mouth. The high-priest of Kor whose Gods are forgotten burnt himself alive on a pyre of sacred tomes and cried aloud for vengeance even as the fire ate his flesh and burned his name from the knowledge of men. When his ashes were long cold and scattered by the winds which played joyfully among the empty streets of Kor the Harvester came down from the dark between the stars. In the shape of a man he met the nameless beast and chased it deep beneath the dungeons of the city. Tied to this earth for an aeon which to him is the single beat of his heart, he walks the streets of Kor. It is he who opens forbidden doors, he who takes his tithe of blood from among the beast-men, he who they fear beyond their own Xathoqqua, and he who awaits to find again the hidden nameless thing and fulfill his oath so one day he can again return to his cold and distant home in the darkness of the sky. Posted: 09-02-2020 04:15 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Tomb of Isabella
The Tomb of Isabella
Isabella of Khromarium is a princess of sorts of that eternal city. Her family was as old as the stones of the Great Council Hall where the rulers of Khromarium sat and extolled laws unto their more savage brethren. But Isabella is gone from the city, dead some say, murdered so that her wealth might pass to her relations, as she is the only child of her parents. Other suspect her lover who they also say Isabella rejected in favor of an older suitor more in keeping with her class and station, Or did her pale beauty attract the attentions of a powerful noble or the reclusive Malygris the greatest and most wicked mage in all Khromarium who is said to have an eye for such young maidens as Isabella. But what has truly happened to Isabella remains a mystery. Demosthenes, Isabella's one-time suitor is the scion of a wealthy family. He is a duelist and not an adventurer so he has sought out the services of such to find his darling Isabella. Through bribery and torture he has managed to find a clue to his Love's where-abouts. On the outskirts of the Ruling Quarter where all the Councilor families have their mansions are the crypts and tombs of Khromarium's oldest families; Isabella's chief among them. It is here that Demosthenes has been told that his Love was taken. He himself is above breaking into her families crypt and delving into the darkened passageways to search for her, but he will provide servants to move stones and carry torches. He warns that the crypts are no simple affair but are instead passages going back to the earliest reaches of the city and perhaps older even than man's occupation. He wishes them luck and urges them to haste since every hour he is parted from Isabella is a torment. At least the fop's gold is good and burial crypts of the wealthy promise decent pickings in burial loot if nothing else. Posted: 09-02-2020 09:52 am B1 In Search of the Unknown - A Hyperborean Campaign Alternative - Part 3
L1A6) As the PCs approach this alcove they will hear a loud groaning as of someone in pain. A glance inside will show an empty alcove except the ever familiar stone lips of a magic mouth on the back wall. It will give a deep groan as the PCs watch and force itself to say; "Passss worddd" before snapping its lips shut. If questioned the magic mouth will say; "Tooooo Mannn-eee... Tooooo Mannn-eee..." It will then try to disappear and remeld with the wall (and secret door) but fail and reappear with a deeper groan and then pinch its lips shut. It will not speak again, but will let a groan escape every few minutes. If the players try to detect a secret door and succeed they will find one at the back of the alcove. It appears to be of the same stone as the surrounding walls, but there are indications of a hidden keyhole (this lock can be picked but is already unlocked) and hinges along the one side. The door is actually made of stone though only half as thick as the walls. There is nothing to pull on this side of the door but if 50+ points of strength are used to push at the door it will give an inch then slam shut. The PCs will each have a 1in6 chance (a 6 on a d6) of noticing a faint putrid smell when the door is momentarily opened but it is quickly lost amid the general smell of damp and mold that permeates the corridor. This door is very strong and bound together with magic, which lessens its weight allowing it to be opened as a normal wooden door. Trying to destroy the door is impossible without monstrous strength (such as that of a giant) or with magical weapons. Even then it would quite an undertaking to chip away the stone with an edged weapon, though a magic mace or sledge would have better results). Once opened this door can only be locked again with a key NOTE: The Password is 'Zenopus' but the door is already unlocked. L1A7) As the PCs approach this alcove they will see a pair of stone lips appear. The lips will say; "Password!" in a loud, clear and authoritative voice. If given the password (Password is 'Suponez') there will be the sound of a click, the magic mouth will disappear, and the secret door will be unlocked (though not revealed unless it is discovered by searching for secret doors). It can be pushed open. If given the wrong password the mouth will begin shouting very loudly; "INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!" over and over again for 3 turns before resetting. Once opened this door can only be locked again with a key This door is very strong and bound together with magic, which lessens its weight allowing it to be opened as a normal wooden door. Trying to destroy the door is impossible without monstrous strength (such as that of a giant) or with magical weapons. Even then it would quite an undertaking to chip away the stone with an edged weapon, though a magic mace or sledge would have better results). Even a casual glance into the alcove will reveal a small round object in the corner, though a light source is required. On examination it will be revealed to be the head of a man with the top of his head caved in and the slightly slick insides of his empty skull revealed. The man has a weasely face and beady brown eyes. His scalp appears to have been torn open and pushed aside before his skull was broken and partly removed. L1A8) The corridor and alcoves here are awash with congealed blood. The smell of putrification and corruption is overpowering and PCs will need to save vs their constitution on a d20 (their con or less) or suddenly be overwhelmed with the need to vomit (DM's feel free to edit this out if it is too graphic for your game). Examination of the alcoves and corridor immediately in front of both is a disgusting and messy job. Anyone doing so will be covered in decomposing blood and be left literally red-handed, the smell will also linger. But those doing so will discover; The head of a two-handed axe with the haft broken off near the head. It can be repaired easily. A scattering of coins 7gp, 23sp, and 15cp. A torn leather pouch with 1gp, 2cp still in it. If the pouch is carefully examined a small inner pocket will be discovered contain 5 small diamonds worth 25gp each to any semi-honest merchant. A dagger with its tip snapped off (-1 to hit) The broken foot-long blade-half of a longsword (good as an iron spike at least). A blood-soaked book with all but the middle 3 pages ruined. It will make a normal man's head spin to try and read it, but it is the remains of a spellbook. It contains the following spells: Level 1; Flaming Missile Level 1: Light Level 2: Fire Web The rest of the book is ruined and cannot be deciphered, L1A9). From the entrance the short flight of stairs rises to just over the height of a man. The stairs themselves are bloodied but the general dampness of the air and slickness of the stones has gradually allowed the blood to pass and collect in area L1A8. As the first PC or PCs ascend the stairs they see a scene of some carnage. First one than another body hoves into view. They are at a small cross-section of corridors with one path straight ahead and two others on either side dwindling off into darkness or stone walls with the hint of other openings revealed along the way by the light of their lanterns, magic or torches. Directly ahead the corridor has two doors at either side and the crumpled form of a man in armor is huddled near to the left-hand doorway. The body of another armored man is head-first toward the stairs and the PCs can see his bloodstained head and ravaged face,; the flesh torn and mangled as if an animal had gnawed at it. Two more bodies are on the floor about 10ft to the right, both armored men, tangled together in death. One man in dark robes is propped against the wall near the right-hand door in the corridor straight ahead of the stairs. His arms and head dangle lifelessly and he is bent at the middle but still upright. If the PCs poke, prod or shoot any of the bodies before approaching closer than 5ft the body will utter a low, guttural moan and begin to push itself to its feet. This will take 1 combat round in which the PCs may attack freely and at +4 to hit. If the PCs approach closer than 5ft there is a 50% chance that the body will lurch forward and make an attack on the PC using eithers its pummel or bite attack. Otherwise the body will utter a low, guttural moan and begin to push itself to its feet. This will take 1 combat round in which the PCs may attack freely and at +4 to hit. After the first of the Living Dead has been roused all 5 of the bodies will rouse at the same time and attack the nearest PC. These creatures a new type of monster created by Zelligar called 'Living Dead'. NEW MONSTER: Living Dead No. Encountered 1d100 Size: M Movement: 15 Dexterity: 3 Armor Class: 10 or by armor type Hit Dice: 1 No. Attacks: 1 (pummel or bite) Damage: 1d8 Pummel or 1d4 bite Saving Throw: 16 Morale: 12 Experience Points: 48 Special: a). Always attacks last, Takes 1 combat round to awaken if not moving, Cannot run b). Immune to poison, fear, charm, paralysis, & cold based attacks c). Arrows, bolts and piercing/thrusting weapons only do 1hp damage if they hit. d). Natural '20' considered head-shot and immediately kills living dead e). Multiple Living Dead will attempt to Overbear see [AS&SH] V.3 Combat actions, unarmed combat f) Immune to clerical Turn ability (as they are not undead, but are more akin to a very weak flesh golem). g) Electrical attacks heal damage and can even temporarily increase the Living Dead's HPs. HPs can be increased to double normal amount. Lasts for 1 day. Zelligar sought to create an army of flesh golems cheaply and experimented with his necromantic abilities to raise the dead. These were his first attempts and were mildly successful, but far too weak for his needs. Still, the made useful servants. L1A9) continued... All Living Dead have 8hp. They are recently converted to the Living Dead and are a bit slow to respond to noise so any noise made by the PCs before reaching L1A( is ignored. Body #1) A living dead in chainmail armor clutching a broken sword (the top half of the blade is found at L1A8). He has suffered terrible wounds to his face and throat and is missing the little finger of his left hand. He is AC5 ITEMS: A gold ring is on his right hand. Worth 2gp but his family in Khromarium would pay handsomely for its return. His chainmail is slightly damaged and rusty but still serviceable. Body#2) A Living Dead with head wound. He appear to have been a Norse or a Kelt, at least the white and red stripes of his pants declare him to be. He is in serviceable chainmail but bears no weapons. He mumble something about "brainnzzz" as he attacks but is other silent. He is AC5 In combat a natural 18, 19, or 20 will strike his damaged head and kill him on the spot. ITEMS; A worn, but serviceable chaimail shirt. Body#3) A Living Dead in chainmail with a sheathed dagger at his belt and a coin-purse. This body still has a few pieces of equipment left in a brown sack hanging over its left shoulder. He is AC5. Half of a long plaited beard of golden hair dangles from his face but the other half has been torn out by the roots. He is AC6 ITEMS: A slightly damaged (brings AC to 6 instead of 5) chaimaail shirt. A dagger +1 (non-magical, but very finely made) Coinpurse with 18gp, 5sp, 12cp In the sack can be found a metal canteen of water laced with raw alcohol, 1 week's worth of Iron Rations, a 10ft length of wire, a 50ft coil of role and an Iron Hamee. Body #4) A Living Dead in ruined chainmail. No weapons. His armor has been yanked to pieces and ruined. He is AC10 Body#5) A Living Dead in dark robes. The robes have tiny glyphs sewn cunningly into them that are not visible under casual examination. The robe is magical and gives +1 to saving throws versus fire or fore magic. The body has had its throat torn open and is unarmed. He is AC10 Posted: 09-01-2020 04:12 pm Inspiring Illustration - The Priestess of New Delphi
The Priestess of New Delphi
She sits upon her raised chair her feet high above the ground, as they never touch the ground; not if she is to receive visions from Apollo Helios. Priestess, prophetess and bodily host to the essence of the God she reaches toward him, toward his avatar, the Sun, as she reaches toward truth, and above the earth, never touching its soil, she will remain till the end of her days as priestess. At the end of her days, when age and infirmity take away her ability to receive the God within her, the priestess steps from her chair and passes the bowl of seeing, which contains a deep red and potent wine, and the living stem of the tree of life, to the youngest of her handmaidens who then ascends the golden chain, never again to set foot upon the ground till the end of her days. Or so it should have been. The Priestess of New Delphi dwells within a sacred cave. A golden chair with the feet of a lion is raised high so that the Priestess's feet dangle freely, never chancing that she may touch them to the cold stone floor, and thereby become tainted with the base earth. Beneath this chair the stone floor is split, and from this crevice pours forth a subtle smoke that loosens the mind and allows the visions of the Priestess to pass wordlessly from the greater realm wherein dwells Apollo Helios to those supplicants deemed worthy (normally worthiness is judge by the weight and worth of the supplicants offering) to receive her prophetic sight. Or so it should be. Recently a darkness has crept into the sacred caverns and ominous are the visions granted to Apollo's Priestess. Beneath the caverns of New Delphi a slumbering power has awakened and mixed with the sense altering drafts from below now comes the stuff of nightmares. New Delphi is a wealthy and powerful holy site for the Hellenic people, but they themselves cannot disturb the sacred ground. Only outsiders may journey beneath the caverns of New Delphi and seek out what taints the dreams and visions of the Priestess. Success will bring great reward and the gratitude of the worshipers of Apollo and his Priestess. Failure may well mean a lost and lonely death, if not worse, beneath the cold stone of New Delphi. Posted: 09-01-2020 07:08 am B1 In Search of the Unknown - A Hyperborean Campaign Alternative - A Note On Mag
A Note On Magic Mouths
The magic mouths at L1A3 and L1A4 control the iron bars which block the passageway at L1A5. Upon finishing their warning they are meant to raise the bars for 5 Turns then drop them again. (The bars will automatically raise for 5 Turns if anyone passes the alcoves at L1A6 & 7 heading toward the front gate). Unfortunately the magic mouths have become slightly deranged during their years of solitude and have developed a bit of a pugnacious attitude and something of a Scottish accent.
After their initial attempt to follow their original instructions as to what to shout at intruders they simply give up and leave the bars raised permanently, but now shout insults at anyone who passes them by,
Here are some of what they may shout and an insult generator.
1). Run Away, ye Pansys! 2). An where dae ye think you're goin'? 3). Back to ye own country! 4). Suck mae wally! 5). Freedom! Freedom! 6). Up yers, ye coot. 7). Ye bloustie ol'callyack 8). Ach, stick it up yer trakkans 9). Stitch this, jimmy! 10). Ere's a kiss for ye, ya off-lookin minger
Insult generator:
Most of their insults begin with Ye or Thee, then roll 1d100 three times.
1-2). bampot 3-4). bassa 5-6). bauchle 7-8). bawheid 9-10). boggin 11-12). bowfin 13-14). clag-tail 15-16). clapped-in 17-18). clatty 19-20). cuddie 21-22). diddy 23-24). doaty 25-26). dobber 27-28). doolie 29-30). doowally 31-32). eejit 33-34). feartie 35-36). ginky 37-38). glaikit 39-40). gomeril 41-42). gommy 43-44). hackit 45-46). haggis 47-48). heidbanger 49-50). hing-oot 51-52). honkin 53-54). jessie 55-56). keech 57-58). lavvy-heid 59-60). maddy 61-62). midden 63-64). midgie-raker 65-66). minger 67-68). numpty 69-70). nyaff 71-72). oof-lookin 73-74). plookie 75-76). puggled 77-78). scabby 79-80). scadge 81-82). scaffbag 83-84). scunner 85-86). shaan gadgie 87-88). skelly 89-90). soapdogger 91-92). tosser 93-94). tumshie 95-96). wally 97-98). wally, wally 99-100). Reuse previously rolled word or double use next word if first roll. Posted: 08-30-2020 03:45 pm B1 In Search of the Unknown - A Hyperbanore Campaign Alternative Part 2
WILDERNESS AREA OUTSIDE OF QUASQUETON
The wilderness around Quasqueton is dangerous but in a more natural way than the dungeon. There are no human settlements now closer than 30 miles and no roads or even large trails leading to the hill. There are animal trails and a small stream about two miles from Quasqueton which runs from north to south and empties in a marshy area. There is a chance that the players will find a beaten trail through the woods, not fresh, but as recent as a few weeks past, someone using bladed tools or weapons widened an animal trail in the direction of the hill. This chance becomes near certainty when the gates of Quasqueton are found since the cleared trail leads to the gate. Backtracking along this trail the players will find that it splits in two. One way leads back to the small stream, the other to a campsite.
The Campsite
At some point a few weeks before the PC's arrive someone, several someones, established a small camp at the base of the hill. It has been destroyed and only torn and muddy canvas, broken wooden casks and some metal debris such as a dented pot, iron chain, a cask of iron spikes (48 rusty iron spikes salvageable from the dirt and forest loam). Exploration of the campsite will reveal that a building once stood in this place, the fallen stone walls covered by bushes and vines but its foundation, still forming a square with the campsite in its middle, shows the dimensions of a mid-sized structure. Even if the campsite is not explored in detail there is a 1d3 chance of one of the players hearing the sound of burbling water and only a dozen feet into the woods a small spring can be found.
NOTE: Before setting off on their quest the PCs will be supplied with 1 pack mule for every 3 PCs. 1 full month of iron rations per PC. 1 medium-sized tent for every 3 PCs. Sundry camping gear which the DM may decide to detail or allow the PCs to request, but anything within reason should be allowed. The one item of true note is a compass-like device which always points in the direction of Quasqueton, but whose pin spins in happy little circles within the dungeon itself.
A wilderness encounter table has not been included. This is a forested area and forest animals and animal-like monsters dwell within it. The players characters cannot expect any animals or goods left unattended to remain unmolested but the main focus of the adventure is the dungeon and not the wilderness.
A ROLEPLAYING RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended, but such advice can easily be ignored, to have the players generate 3 player characters each before starting the adventure. 1 PC can be left behind to hold the horses and guard the camp, while two others journey into the dungeon. If one or even two PCs are killed during a game session a third will be readily available to take up the fallen torch and keep the game moving forward without too much backtracking. Then one or two new PCs can be rolled up and be ready to be worked into the campaign.
THE GATES OF QUASQUETON
LEVEL 1 NOTE: Keyed areas are simply marked 1. , 2. , etc... on the map, but are listed in the text as L#A# (Level#Area#) NOTE: Passageways: All Passageways on level 1 are made of smooth, largish blocks of stone of varying size. Floors and walls are slightly slick. Passageways are unlit but have wall sconces to hold torches every twenty feet on opposite walls. Unless otherwise noted. NOTE: Doors: All doors on level 1 are wooden with iron pull-rings on either side. Hinges are set into the wall and copper hinge-plates protect the wood around the hinges. All doors have keyholes and are locked. Unless otherwise noted. L1A1). The entranceway to the dungeon appears to be no more than weathered cliff face of blackish slate, except that a section of dirt and vegetation has been cleared in front of a shallow cave-like opening and a stone-faced door, the exterior rough unhewn rock , the interior smooth and finished, stands open. Examination of the door will reveal 3 rusted iron spikes driven into the rock preventing the door from closing. The passage is an even 10feet wide and 8feet high. The air is damp and musty and tinged with the smell of corruption. The passageway is unlit though sconces for torches are set every twenty feet on opposite walls. During the early morning sunlight will illuminate the first 20feet dimly but further than that and the hall is black as a very black pit. L1A2). (Trapped Door). A sturdy wooden door with tarnished copper hinge-plates and a rusted iron pull-ring with a small key-hole beside it. This door has old cracks running down its face, but they do not weaken its structural strength. It is a very large door, as are all the doors in the dungeon, made of thick heavy wood. It opens inward but is jammed shut. There are black stains running down the edge of the door from just above the keyhole (blood) and at the foot of the door are several wormlike objects that are a fuzzy-green with white showing through (the severed fingers of the corpse at L1A3). TRAP: The pull-ring is trapped with a magic trap (it will radiate magic if detected). Anyone touching it will receive 1d6 electrical damage and a 50% chance of being knocked on their ass and stunned for 1d3 Turns. This damage and effect will occur each and every time the pull-ring is touched. The door may be pushed open with a combined strength of 24. It is not locked, merely swollen shut. If attempts are made to break down the door axes, maces or sledgehammers will make the door gong like a drum and awaken or alert and guards or inhabitants from L1A3 to L1A13. It will take 3d6 Turns to knock open the door Attempting to burn down the door with a normal fire will be unsuccessful as the door is damp from the moist atmosphere and the hall is poorly ventilated. Such a fire will force any PCs who need to breathe air out of the tunnel and send a plume of black smoke from the passageway out the front door to hang above the hill like a big bat-signal in the sky. Once the door is open examination of it will reveal that there are gouges along the hinges where iron spikes were driven-in and removed and dark black streaks (blood) along the inside of the door from just above the keyhole. L1A3) (Magic Mouth) There is a large pool of damp congealed blood on the floor (the floors are damp and slick but not awash with water so the blood has not dried but neither has it washed away) in the alcove, on the walls, a bit on the ceiling and in the passageway between L1A3 and L1A4. The upper torso of a thinnish man in torn leather armor is tossed into the corner. At first glance he looks more like a bundle of rags. He has no lower body, head or fingers on his right hand. If anyone steps into the passageway opposite the alcove or into the alcove itself a pair of stone lips (magic mouth) will appear and speak the following words: "Who Dares Enter This Place And Disturb the Sanctity of its Inhabitants?" Then with only a slight pause a voice from L1A4 will be heard to say: "Htead Niatrec Ot Demood Srerolpxe Yhdrahloof Fo Pourg A Ylno!" Then from L1A3: "You're Saying It Backwards Again, You Idiot!" Then from L1A4 (with an apologetic voice): "Sorry, Sorry, My Bad. Woe To Any..." Then from L1A3: "Wait, Wait, I'm Supposed to be Saying That Too!" "Woe To Any... O Bugger It." And the stone lips in L1A3 Disappear. If searched the torso has only a ruined set of leather armor on its half-person. L1A4) If the PCs slip into this alcove without stepping into the passageay or L1A3 a pair of stone lips will appear on the back wall. It will remain silent for a moment and then say: "You're Supposed to Talk With Him Across the Hall First." If the PCs fail to leave the alcove the voice will say: "Off With Ya. I have Nothing More To Say." And if the PCs still haven't left it will begin to whistle tunelessly. In the alcove PCs will see the severed lower body of a thinnish man dressed in dark trousers and wearing soft leather boots. Dark stains are congealed on the floor and walls. The lower body is tossed in the corner of the alcove. The boots are salvageable and might be sold for a few silvers. A sheath is built into the side of the left boot and contains a throwing knife. L1A5) A set of thick iron bars block the passage. If the PCs have listened to the message from L1A3 the bars will be raised. If not they are lowered and locked in place. It will require a combined strength of 60 to lift and hold the gate. If strength is withdrawn and the point value is less than 60 the gate will come smashing down with a change to do 1d12 damage to anyone underneath and a 25% chance to pin a PC to the floor. NOTE: The Magic Mouths will reappear whenever anyone approaches from the front gate, but have grown lazy and surly in the years they have been left alone. They won't bother lowering the iron bars again and will only yell rude insults at anyone passing their alcoves from now on. Posted: 08-29-2020 01:37 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Dark Rider
The Dark Rider
Bilibin is a throwback among the tribes of the Rus who live on the edge of the Kimmerian steppes in small cities and large towns. The Rus were latecomers to Hyperborea and the lands and people are disturbingly strange to them. They left behind their gods when they arrived in the aftermath of a great storm that swept them from their conquered home and deposited several town and villages in this strange land, so now most have become followers of Hyperborea's multitude of deities; from Hellenic Apollo to sloth-bodied Xathoqqua. But it is to Nerthus that Bilibin pays worship; she who is a Goddess of peace but demands the sacrifice of men. It has been long since the last believer in Nerthus dwelt among the Rus, who seem determined to forget their past and somehow adapt to all the ways of Hyperborea without seeming rhyme or reason. Bilibin is said to have encountered the Goddess in her chariot and become her lone priest. His aim is to return the Rus to her worship and he isn't above killing them all to do so. While he is a true-believer in Nerthus, Bilibin is not a cleric but is instead a powerful Warlock, having been both a warrior and a mage in his younger years. He now rides throughout the land of Hyperborea but returns again and again to his people, the Rus, bringing with him death and destruction to all who fail to return to the worship of Nerthus. For the most part he is falls upon travelers and small villages and beheads all those who he sees as heretics to the true faith. His actions have earned him the title of the Dark Rider, the bringer of death and he has little success in his work of conversion. Posted: 08-26-2020 01:24 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Witch-Queen of Yithorium
The Witch-Queen of Yithorium
Long ago the Witch-Queen and her band of mercenary followers reclaimed the ruined city of Yithorium and made it their own. Now it is the City-State of Yithorium and the Witch-Queen rules all of the surrounding land. She is plagued by the resistance of the desert nomads who are the main occupants of the Zakath desert which completely surrounds the small city-state. Recently a war-leader, Balthus, a Hellinic/Krimmian half-breed waged war upon the city state and besieged the city. The Witch-Queen herself descended upon the siege lines in the night and took the head of Balthus which she animated and placed above the gates of her city where it moans out in pain and cries tears of blood upon those below. (The tears of blood are sought after and collected by servants of magicians, necromancers, priests and merchants, though the guardsmen always take their cut to look the other way. The tears fall at irregular intervals and catching them requires the blocking of traffic so it is a difficult occupation). Today there are scattered bands of Balthus' army throughout the city-state and the Witch-Queen is hiring adventurers and mercenaries to track them down and exterminate them. Posted: 08-23-2020 11:26 am B1 In Search of the Unknown - A Hyperborean Campaign Alternative - Part 1
B1 In Search of the Unknown - A Hyperborean Campaign Alternative Using the Astounding Swordsmen & Sorcerors of Hyperborea setting. Background: Years ago Zelligar the Uncaring, a Necromancer/Alchemist of great renown, and his loyal henchman Rogahn the Bald, constructed a vast underground dwelling, laboratory and fortification they called Quasqueton. This labyrinth of rooms and passages was built far from any towns or settlements, deep within a forested land and dug into a crested hill that commanded an excellent view of the surrounding area. Zelligar valued his solitude since his experiments were dark and dangerous and while the life or death of any other than himself mattered not to him, he did not like interference in his affairs. It is said that the construction of Quasqueton took decades and cost the lives of hundreds of laborers. Zelligar found that animating the corpses of the slain greatly added to the efficiency of his workforce; his surviving workers began to slip away only to be hunted down by Rogahn and added to Zelligar's unliving crew. What other enchantments Zelligar used to construct his fortification no one can tell, but as they neared completion powerful beasts, demons and daemons and monsters of all sorts were seen aiding in the building of the seemingly numberless halls and chambers carved from bedrock deep within the forested hill. For years both Zelligar and Rogahn disappeared from the knowledge of men. The few workers who survived told tales of the labyrinthine passages, the deep chambers, the finding of passages old and abandoned that joined with the fresh work of Zelligar's fortress-laboratory. They spoke of things best not seen by man, and some, those who had worked on the deepest levels of the complex, refused to speak at all, only hinting at terrible and unnatural things that sang in the darkness and stripped the souls from men. And then one day a band of bloodied mercenaries appeared in the nearest towns, with a husk of a man as their leader. Drained and withered, Rogahn stayed among the townsfolk, who were filled with questions, only long enough to buy supplies and any fresh mounts he could find before riding away, putting as much distance as he could between himself and his former home, Quasqueton. In terse words and sepulcher tones Rogahn warned the townsfolk that they were far enough away, that beasts and monsters now stalked the upper halls, but something woken by Zelligar from beyond the void between the worlds ruled the deep chambers, something older and far more evil than man. Beware the singers in the darkness he warned and rode away. That was years ago and both Zelligar and Rogahn are folktales now among the people of the surrounding land. The very name Quasqueton is forgotten by the people, but not by those who have studied ancient texts, who search for power no matter how dangerous, evil or unnatural it may be. It is known by few that Zelligar built upon that hill not by chance but by design. Power drew him there to a place where power once had dwelled and been swallowed by the earth in ages before man had even come down from the trees. Those seeking such power and lived have learned caution, and it is not they who will breach the doors of lost Quasqueton and walk its long forgotten halls. No, they have hired mercenaries and sought adventurers to be their stalking goats. With old maps and minor enchantments they have equipped the brave and foolish. Now Quasqueton awaits and what rewards or terrors may be found cannot be said for the adventurers are in search of the unknown. With luck the unknown may not find them first. DMs INTRODUCTION: This is an introductory adventure for a party of 6-8 1st level characters. If retainers or hirelings are used it is recommended that they be unskilled 0-level torch holder types. As the party delves deeper into the halls of Quasqueton the dangers will increase as should the experience level of the party, their wealth and the quality of any followers or hirelings. Quasqueton is both a modern dungeon built by Zelligar and a series of ancient tunnels and chambers built by mages and monsters of old and deeper down, because Quasqueton is a very deep dungeon, are places where man did not dwell, passages carved or shaped by things; horrors that should not be and are best not encountered, and rewards, well, the reward of survival, perhaps mere earthly rewards of gold and gems and items of great power, but the cost even for the survivors may be more than they ever receive in return.
Posted: 08-23-2020 08:39 am Inspiring Illustrations - The Pale Magician
The Pale Magician
They say, in Hyperborea, that if you want to find a necromancer you look in a graveyard but if you want to find a magician you go to Khromarium, and in Khromarium the magician to find is young Zorathus called the pale magician.
There are more powerful sorcerors, witches and mages within the great city, but each can be dangerous to deal with, each will use those who come to them, and normally the cost of dealing with them is high. Zorathus has power enough and each day seems to gain more, and lose some part of himself.
It is said he never leaves his small tower, an ancient ruin older than man, except in the moonlight. Zorathus has the look of one whom the sun has not touched, but he is not a creature of the night. Instead call him a creature of dreams, for it is in dreams where he truly dwells. And the cost of dealing with Zorathus is not in coin but the dreams of those who come to him. A small price to pay many think. One dream for a spell or enchantment, a scroll of minor power, the varied skills of a sorceror for a dream. The greater the dweomencraft required the cost in dreams increases, deeper dreams more powerful dreams, dreams taken and never to come again. Zorathus's servants speak of a door in the ruined tower that appears only in the moonlight, a door through which their master takes the dreams he collects, but where it leads and what use he makes of other mens' dreams none know. Posted: 08-22-2020 02:12 pm Inspiring Illustrations - A Plague of Wolves & Ravens
A Plague of Wolves & Ravens
Across the wastes of Hyperborea a lone figure emerges. Swathed in robes no one can say if this be a man or a woman. The figure appears in the distance and a blackness seems to hover near them; and the ravens come. But then the earth seems to move like a wave around this silent pilgrim and the wolves lope by. Hundreds of them. They are a killing, scavenging plague that sweeps across the land. All creatures flee before it. Entire villages are decimated by it with scant few survivors who hid in attic or cellar, barricaded against this unstoppable menace. They are an army and they are winning their war against mankind. They think as an army thinks. They run when a power greater than theirs opposes them. They attack when their opponents are weak. They conquer, but leave only well picked and gnawed bones behind them. Posted: 08-22-2020 01:57 pm Inspiring Illustrations Tales of Brave Ulysses
Cream "You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever, But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun. And the colours of the sea bind your eyes with trembling mermaids, And you touch the distant beaches with tales of brave Ulysses, How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing, For the sparkling waves are calling you to kiss their white laced lips. And you see a girl's brown body dancing through the turquoise, And her footprints make you follow where the sky loves the sea. And when your fingers find her, she drowns you in her body, Carving deep blue ripples in the tissues of your mind. The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers, And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter. Her name is Aphrodite and she rides a crimson shell, And you know you cannot leave her for you touched the distant sands With tales of brave Ulysses, how his naked ears were tortured By the sirens sweetly singing. The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers, And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter.
The Hellenic people of Hyperborea have carved out small city-states amid this chaotic and eldritch land, but they have not forgotten their past and no legend has greater meaning to a people lost from old Earth than the tales of Ulysses. In the centuries since they crossed the seas and found themselves trapped in this cold hard country countless ships and sailors have been lost striving to find a way to return to their fair Mediterranean home. Even today a great expedition is being prepared in the city of Ptolemides and adventurers and explorers from all over Hyperborea have come to join the legendary captain Eudoxus in this journey Posted: 08-22-2020 12:11 pm Inspiring Illustrations - The Tree of Crows
The Tree of Crows
On the shores of Hyperborea the lost fleet of Erik the Red came ashore long years ago. Only Ullr, the god of glory, was able to make the journey through the mists which cut off Hyperborea from old Earth. It is said that Ullr blinded the eyes of Erik and lead him to this place, lost to the All-Father and the reward of Valhalla. Erik's people landed among a chain of islands they named Vikland, but Erik himself was never found. The skalds say that Erik turned back toward the mist when his eyes were opened and he saw how he had been tricked by Ullr, but an island rose from the sea and his ship was raised unto a great height. From the wood of this ship sprang a tree and this tree is the birthplace of crows, the eyes of the All-Father, When the tree is found again by Erik's people the crows will come to Vikland, great death, glory and the return of heroes, for the All-Father has never forsaken his people or the harvest of heroes he needs for the last battle. Posted: 08-22-2020 09:56 am Inspiring Illustrations - Horse in a Boat
Horse in a Boat
The people of the north still venerate the ancient pictograph drawings of their ancestors and the drawings still have power even though the stories they told have been forgotten. The skalds and priests can draw power from these drawings and commune directly with the various northern deities; the Raven King, the Stormhammer, the Fox-God, the Green Goddess, etc... so while each of these locations is considered holy no single deity claims them as their own. Shamans are said to have been able to draw forth visions of the events depicted in the crude drawings so that their entire tribe could experience them. Some individual creatures or items of power or even heroes from the past could be brought forth, for a time, to help the shaman or the tribe before fading away to their place in the long ago. Part of the early path to power for a shaman is said to have been through waking quests that involved stepping into the past or to dreamscapes whose gateways were these carvings and paintings on the ancient rock walls. Posted: 08-21-2020 09:59 am The Hall of Song, Geoff before the Giants
The Hall of Song, Geoff before the Giants
Geoff is last home of the western Flan, those of the mountains and forests. In Geoff the people call themselves the Cydonn and Flan is the name that the outsiders, the Suel and Oeridians, use.
Geoff is known to its people as the land of song and in the years before the coming of the Empire from the south and the horse-warriors from the north it was a bigger place. The Cydonn had lands further east and south and their tribal cousins, the Gortys and the Arteniens beyond that.
But in those long-ago days already other people had carved out what they called 'kingdoms' and though the Suel and Oeridians called them Flan, they were not of Cydonns or their blood.
All these songs were lost except among those of Geoff and scattered across the land were halls of song where the bards and more common minstrels would contest with each other, gather apprentices and keep the old songs alive. Before the giants came. Posted: 08-18-2020 07:56 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 7
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories SPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I have started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas.
7). The Planet of the Dead
Altanoman [NPC] Antarion [NPC] Chamalos [PLC] Haspa [NPC] Phandium [PLC] Saddoth [TWN] Thameera [NPC] female Urbyzaun [TWN]
He was standing on a road paven with cyclopean blocks of grey stone - a road that ran interminably before him into the vague, tremendous vistas of an inconceivable world. There were low, funereal, drooping trees along the road, with sad-colored foliage and fruits of a deathly violet; and beyond the trees were range on range of monumental obelisks, of terraces and domes, of colossal multiform piles, that reached away in endless, countless perspectives toward an indistinct horizon. Over all, from an ebon-purple zenith, there fell in rich, unlustrous rays the illumination of a blood-red sun. The forms and proportions of the labyrinthine mass of buildings were unlike anything that has been designed in terrestrial architecture; and for an instant, Melchior was overwhelmed by their number and magnitude, by their monstrosity and bizarrerie...
He, Antarion, a renowned poet of the land of Charmalos, in the elder world that was known to its living peoples by the name of Phandiom, had gone on a brief journey to a neighboring realm...
...and glad that he was now approaching his native city of Saddoth, where dwelt her dark and splendid palace of past aeons the beautiful Thameera, whom he loved.
...the world where in he walked as Antarion was incomputably old, and the ages of its history were too many for remembrance; and the towering obelisks and piles along the paven road were the high tombs, the proud monuments of its immemorial dead, who had come to outnumber infinitely the living. In more than the pomp of earthly kings, the dead were housed in Phandiom; and their cities loomed insuperably vast, with never-ending streets and prodigious spires, above those lesser abodes wherein the living dwelt. And throughout Phandiom the bygone years were a tangible presence, an air that enveloped all; and the people were steeped in the crepuscular gloom of antiquity; and were wise with all manner of accumulated lore; and were subtle in the practice of strange refinements, of erudite perversities, of all that can shroud with artful opulence and grace and variety the bare uncouth cadaver of life, or hide from mortal vision the leering skull of death. And here, in Saddoth, beyond the domes and terraces and columns of the huge necropolis, like a necromatic flower wherein forgotten lilies live again, there bloomed the superb and sorrowful loveliness of Thameera.
He and she were the last representatives of noble ancient families, whose untabulated lineage was lost in the crowded cycles of Phandiom. Like all others of their race, they were embued with the heritage of a complex and decadent culture; and upon their souls the never-lifting shadow of the necropolis had fallen from birth.
Thameera was even more sensitive, more visionary by nature; and hers was the ultimate refinement that is close to an autumnal decay. The influences of the past, which were a source of poetic fruition to Antarion were turned by her delicate nerves to pain and languor, to horror and oppression. The palace wherein she lived, and the very streets of Saddoth were filled for her with emanations that welled from the sepulchral reservoirs or death; and the weariness of the innumerable dead was everywhere; and evil or opiate presences came forth from mausolean vaults, to crush and stifle her with the formless brooding of their wings. Only in the arms of Antarion could she escape them; and only in his kisses could she forget.
Antarion was once more admitted to the presences of Thameera by slaves who were invariably discreet, being tongueless. In the oblique light of beryl and topaz windows, in the mauve and crimson gloom of heavy-folded tapestries, on a floor of marvelous mosaic wrought in ancient cycles, she came forward languidly to greet him. She was fairer than his memories, and paler than a blossom of the catacombs. She was exquisitely frail, voluptuously proud, with hair of a lunar gold and eyes of nocturnal brown that were pierced by fluctuating stars and circled by the dark pearl of sleepless nights. Beauty and love and sadness exhaled from her like manifold perfume.
They saw below them the ruinous and forgotten roofs of Urbyzaun, which had lain unpeopled for more than a thousand years; and beyond the roofs, the black unlustrous lake surrounded by hills of bare and eave-corroded rock, that had once been the inlet of a great sea.
...the crumbling palace of the emperor Altanoman, whose high, tumultuous glories were now a failing legend...
Beneath the black midnight that hung above them like an imminence of, unremoving wings, the streets of Saddoth were aflare with a million lights of yellow and cinnabar and cobalt and purple. Along the vast avenues, the gorge-deep alleys, and in and out of the stupendous olden palaces, temples, and mansions, there poured the antic revelry, the tumultuous merriment of a night-long masquerade, everyone was abroad, from Haspa the king and his sleek, sybaritic courtiers, to the lowliest mendicants and pariahs; and a rout of extravagant, unheard of costumes, a melange of fantasies more various than those of an opium dream, seethed and eddied everywhere.
Late in the evening, Antarion left by a postern door the tall and gloomy mansion of his forefathers, and wended his way through the hysteric whirling of the throng toward Thameera's palace. He was garbed in apparel of an antique style, such as had not been worn for a score of centuries in Phandiom; and his whole head and face were enveloped in a peculiar physiognomy of a people now extinct. No one could have recognized him, nor could he on his part, have recognized many of the revellers he met, no matter how well-known to him, for most of them were disguised in apparel no less outre, and wore masks that were whimsical or absurd or loathsome or laughable beyond conception. There were devils and empresses and deities, there were kings and necromancers from all the far, unfathomed ages of Phandiom, there were monsters of medieval or prehistoric types, there were things that had never been born or beheld except in the minds of insane decadent artists, seeking to surpass the abnormalities of nature. Even the tomb had been drawn upon for inspiration, and shrouded mummies, worm-gnawed cadavers, promenaded among the living. All these masks were the screen of an orgiastic license without precedent or parallel.
ADVENTURE IDEAS
I have plundered 'The Planet of the Dead' for ideas concerning the isle of Ix, the city-state of Yithorium and a festival for the Zangeriosans.
Ix
Unspeakable Ix is a land of dark dreams and brooding evil. The isle at the rim of the world reaches far beyond any geographic boundaries and the great cyclopean roads that cross the isle run interminably into a 'vague, tremendous vista of an inconceivable world'. It is as if all the dead cities, necropoli, forgotten and abandoned temples, monuments and mausoleums of not only this world but also of untold alien worlds, bizarre and monstrous, can be found stretching endlessly into a distant horizon. That Ix sits not only on the rim of this world, but countless worlds and times, Wandering into these lands it easy to become lost and few who venture forth are ever heard from again.
But it is the living cities of Ix that those from Hyperborea first encounter; Great Saddoth, the capitol of Altanoman's small empire, the city-states of Charamol and Phandiom, and Urbyzaun, ruinous and crumbling, which lies on the outer edge of the kingdom, where the undead servants of necromancer's outnumber the living. Evil dwells in this land whether in the cities of the living or the dead.
Yithoriam
Thameera, witch-queen of Yithorium, was once a princess of Saddoth. Her father, Altanoman necromancer-king of Saddoth, conqueror and ruler of Phandiom, Chamalor, and Urbyzaun, the last city-states of the living upon the isle of Ix, had dark sacrificial plans for his beloved daughter. With the help of her lover, the poet Antarion, she escaped and fled the isle, but Altanoman cursed them both. His power over the dead and death itself was boundless and so he cursed his daughter and her lover with eternal life. Thameera is immortal but each day is a torment, only with Antarion does she truly feel and though his curse is a kind of immortality he lives for only a month inhabiting the body of a man of his lineage before fading again to exist in a nightmare realm of the necromancer-king's devising.
Thameera's immortality has 'turned her delicate nerves to pain and languour, to horror and oppression' and without Antarion such is her rulership of Yithorium. Constantly she looks for ways to break Antarion's curse, though she has come to welcome the endless youth of her own immortality.
Yithorium is now a rich city, but it is tightly controlled by the witch-queen and her soldiers. There are parts of her city that are still no more than the ruins which Thameera and her band of mercenaries found long ago, but slowly she is rebuilding Yithorium, house by house and street by street.
There is a constant need for workers, both in the city, clearing and rebuilding, and in the mines where Thameera gathers her wealth. Adventurers of all types are sent to explore the ruins and all such are welcome, but the laws of the city are strict and the punishment for breaking those laws can be months or years working in the mines. Any male entering the city who bears a resemblance to Antarion will find himself invited to a private interview with the witch-queen, but eventually any relationship that develops will end badly.
Thameera is always eager for news regarding Ix or her father, the necromancer-king.
Zangerios
In Port Zangerios and the Zangerios Islands they celebrate the first night the Green Death came upon them in an orgiastic, night-long masquerade that flows through every town and especially the streets of the City of Masks.
This festival is called 'The Night of Death', but while the people of Zangerios honor the dead upon this day, the night is a celebration of life at its most primal. Children born nine or so months from this day are considered blessed with life but no one examines their parentage too closely.
From the most lowly beggar to Governor Haspa himself, all can be found in masked costumes ranging from rags to the most elaborate, unheard of, and extravagant. From the last rays of the sun through the deep of the night till the first glimmer of dawn, the celebration illuminates the streets in a river of multi-colored lights like a flood of jewels spilled from the coffers of a dragon's hoard.
The revellers rule the streets on this night and the laws are few. Murder and robbery are frowned upon, but appearing without mask or costume can quickly become a sentence of death if the fickle, cruel, drugged and drunken mob has its way. Those who do not wish to participate in the celebrations bolt their doors, shutter their windows and pray for dawn. Posted: 08-13-2020 12:06 am The Catacombs of Ptolemides - IV
AREAS 16-18
These areas of the dungeon are filled with thick and clinging spiders' webs (except for where noted). The passages and rooms average 10ft in height except for room 16 whose ceiling arches to a 15ft peak at the center. The walls are smooth stone. Entrances to passageways are arched and framed in stone. Doors are thick, hard wood with iron bands and hinges hidden in equally thick beams used as frames. The average door takes 300hp of damage to knock down.
The spiderwebs are thickest near the ceilings and thin near the floor. They obscure vision and make it hard to move. Vision is down to 10ft even with a bright lightsource. Movement is also slowed down to 10. Fighting within the webs is at -2 to hit and damage for all weapon types except for piercing weapons which receive no penalty.
The webs are sticky and clinging, but not strong enough to hold up more than a hat or a small dagger.
The webs are unusually moist and have a sickly sweet smell. An open flame will cause the lower webs to crinkle and blacken while emitting a thick smoke, but to set them afire requires an open flame to be held to them for at least 2 combat rounds or the use of magical means.
If the flames do catch fire the results will be spectacular and a bit explosive.
NOTE:
The upper few feet of the webs near to the ceiling are heavily permeated with fumes from enchanted embalming barrels (A new item noted below). Any open flames which reaches reaches to the ceilings, such as a torch thrust above 8ft or burning webs, will cause the fumes to ignite in a greenish flame. Anyone within the 10ft block where the fire began must Save versus Dexterity or receive 1d8 damage (The save will reduce this to 1d4 damage and the character will have dropped to the ground). There will be a 1 in 6 chance that the fire will ignite clothing, hair, etc... though a successful Save versus Avoidance will negate any potential damage.
If the webs are ignited there will be several effects:
Flames will spread through Area16-18 at a rate of 20ft per combat round.
All Giant Ogre-Faced Spiders will take 1d8 fire damage.
All Pickled Zombies (New Monster) outside of their embalming barrels will be ignited.
All seals on embalming barrels will crack though the barrels will not automatically open.
All open doors will slam shut unless prevented.
The cracked walkway at 16b will collapse. Specific damage and effects are noted under 16b's description.
Area 18a will explode. Specific damage and effects noted under 18a's description.
AREA 16-18 cont...
Wooden embalming barrels are stored throughout this area. Several of them have been cracked open and are releasing a sickly sweet stench whose fumes have filled the webs along the ceiling.
This entire area is home to a large colony of Giant Ogre-Faced Spiders. They have been attracted by the fumes coming from the cracked embalming barrels). All Giant Ogre-Faced Spiders in this area are slightly poisoned and inebriated do to the inhalation of these fumes. They are at 1/2 hp and are -3 to hit.
NEW MONSTER: Zombie, Pickled No. Encountered: 1d6 Alignment: Chaotic Evil Size: M Movement: 20 Dexterity: 3 Armour Class: 6 Hit Dice: 2 No. of Attacks: 1 (Pummel or Bite) Damage: 1d6 Pummel or 1d3 Bite Saving Throw: 16 Morale: 12 Experience Points: 52 Treasure Class: J,K,L,M
Pickled Zombies are the result of unhallowed corpses left inside enchanted embalming barrels. These barrels (combined with a specific fluid) are normally sealed with a clay and wax ward that inhibits reanimation, but over time or if the seal is damaged, the bodies placed in these barrels will reanimate as a slightly weakened form of a normal zombie.
In appearance these Pickled Zombies are undecayed. Their flesh is moist and covered in a viscous goo which exudes from their pores, mouth, nostrils and other bodily openings. This goo smells sickly sweet and the fumes which come from it are flammable though the goo is not. Anyone trying to grapple with a Pickled Zombie will be at a -2 disadvantage. They are literally as slippery as a greased pig.
Special: 2 or more Pickled Zombies will attempt to grapple or overbear an opponent. If they are able they will then stuff the victim in an enchanted embalming barrel in an attempt to create another zombie. It takes at least a week for a body to ripen in a barrel and emerge as a Pickled Zombie.
Pickled Zombies are immune to fire based attacks. If exposed to flame, magical or normal, they will ignite with a shimmering blue flame, but the viscous goo that they exude protects them from fire damage. A burning Pickled Zombie does an additional 1d4 per attack with a 1 in 6 chance of setting their opponent afire for 2 combat rounds (at 1d4 damage per round). Save versus Avoidance for no damage. This blue flame will last around a Pickled Zombie for 1d6+3 combat rounds unless reignited by another flame source.
Pickled Zombies smell sickly sweet and attract spiders of all sorts. The fumes are a mild poison to spiders as well as an intoxicant. A spider exposed to these fumes for more than a week will be poisoned at 1/2hp and intoxicated for a -3 to hit penalty.
NEW ITEM:
Enchanted Embalming Fluid This fluid is normally found in conjunction with Enchanted Embalming Barrels and Pickled Zombies. Though it can be found on its own, it has a shelf life of only 2 weeks before losing its potency when not in a Enchanted Embalming Barrel or Pickled Zombie. It is a mild poison which will reduce most non-magical creatures to 1/2hp if exposed to it for more than a week. It is a greenish, thick liquid that emits a powerful sickly sweet smell. This smell attracts spiders from as far away as 60ft+1d10x10ft
NEW ITEM
Enchanted Embalming Barrel These were designed years ago to preserve the bodies of the dead for a more elaborate interment. Each was sealed with a priestly ward set in clay and wax around the barrels lid after the body was placed inside. Unfortunately these wards decayed after only a few months and were easily damaged. A body placed in an unwarded Enchanted Embalming Barrel will become a Pickled Zombie after a weeks marination.
AREA 16 3 poisoned Giant Ogre-Faced Spiders reside in this area. They will attack anyone passing through the center section of the room.
In the South-West corner of the room there is an over-turned hand-cart with a broken wheel. Beneath the cart is a large wooden chest. The chest is unlocked and has inside a large quantity of spoiled trail rations, 3 skins of dank but drinkable water (1 quart each), a glass jar with a waxed top containing 1 pint of moonshine. In a secret compartment at the bottom of the chest are 2 healing potions and 1/2 a dozen empty potion bottles.
Along the North wall are 6 Enchanted Embalming barrels, 4 of which contain Pickled Zombies.
AREA 16a These corridors contain webs, Pickled Zombies, poisoned Giant Ogre-Faced Spiders, and Enchanted Embalming Barrels,
For every 20ft of corridor there is a 1 in 3 chance of encountering the following: 1). 1d2 poisoned Giant Ogre-Faced Spiders 2). 1d3 Pickled Zombies 3). 1d3 Enchanted Embalming Barrels that are: a). Empty b). Sealed with the body of a corpse - Treasure Class - L,K,M c). Unsealed with a Pickled Zombie 4). The drained hulk of some creature a). A dog b). several rats c). The body of a man in leather armor. He clutches a short-sword in his withered hand. A small case on his belt contains ink, quills, parchment and a partially completed map of this level. d). A man in robes. He wears an enchanted +1 silver dagger on this right arm. Inside his robes in a hidden pocket there is a tube containing a scroll of Burning Hands and another scroll of Flame Missile. e). The body of an Giant Ogre-Faced Spider on its back with its legs curled around it. It is not dead, only dead drunk and poisoned like its fellows. It will spring to life if awakened.
AREA 16b This 10ft section of hallway is piled with a score of Enchanted Embalming Barrels. At some point these were used as a make-shift platform to reach the ceiling. Some took a hammer and chisel and did substantial damage to ceiling, even gouging a few holes to the passage above. The barrels have no fallen and several are cracked open and oozing a greenish viscous goo.
The heavy fumes in this spot have attracted 1/2 dozen Giant Ogre-Faced Spiders who lair in this passage. They are both poisoned and drunk like their fellows in other areas.
If exposed to open flame these webs will ignite with a powerful explosion. Anyone in the 16b square will suffer 3d8 damage (Save versus Breath Weapon for 1/2 damage). Anyone in the two adjacent squares will suffer 2d8 damage, Save versus Breath Weapon for 1/2 damage).
If an explosion occurs the ceiling will crumble and now have a 5ft diameter ragged hole (or from above a 5ft diameter hole in the floor of that passage). All barrels in and around 16b will split apart and 8 flaming Pcikled Zombies will crawl from the wreckage.
AREA 17 This room is littered with smashed barrels, the dismembered bodies of 5 Pickled Zombies and 7 dead Giant Ogre-Faced Spiders. The door to the East is open, but has been severely damaged and hangs only from an upper hinge. The secret door beyond is closed and a bar has been dropped across the inner side to keep it shut.
The webs in this room have been hacked apart at 6ft high and lower, but the upper webs are still thick and permeated with embalming fumes. These webs will ignite if exposed to flame but will cause only 1d3 damage to anyone beneath them and a Save versus Dexterity (which will mean dropping to the floor) will negate any damage.
AREA 18a This small room is jammed with Enchanted Embalming Barrels, the Southern 10ft square is packed floor to ceiling with over 25 barrels alone. All the barrels are cracked and leaking fluid.
The door to this room is shut but not locked. Anyone opening the door will need to Save versus Breath Weapon or become immediately nauseated and subject to vomiting. Each combat round that this door is open or anyone is within the room, a Save must be made. This door is partially cracked and leaks fumes from the concentrated source within. If the hall outside the door is ignited then area 18a will explode violently.
The door will be shattered and cause 1d10 damage to anyone standing in the 10ft block front of it (in the 18b hall). Anyone inside the room will suffer 3d8 damage. After such an explosion the room will contain only a large amount of shattered barrels and body parts. If anyone sifts the wreckage they may find 280gp, 584sp, 2,000cp and 12 30gp gems. To recover these items by mundane means will be slow and disgusting work.
AREA 18b The Northern door to this hall is shut with a bar across it, but is also nailed shut with iron spikes from the other side.
The Eastern door leading to area 18a is shut and the door is cracked
The West door is open.
This small hallway is filled with webs. See area 16a for possible encounters.
Posted: 08-12-2020 12:42 am Masilda the Rhennee Seeress and the Werewolf King
Masilda the Rhennee Seeress and the Werewolf King
The barges of the Rhennee are ubiquitous along the Velverdyva and among them is perhaps no figure of more renown then Masilda. Her powers of divination are sought by merchants, princes, soldiers, sailors and adventurers of every hue. But her abilities come at a price for her visions show a true fate, most often dark and unavoidable . The path of the Ranger-Lord, Lokanth, of the Gnarley Forest whose destiny it was to inherit the mantle of the Werewolf King allowed for no alteration despite the visions and warnings of Masilda.
The dark and misted woods of the Gnarley hold terrors and secrets within their borders that are older than the coming of men to the Flanaess. Rangers watch the edges of these thick-forested valleys and thorn choked groves but within them time itself twists and turns among the ancient trees and most who enter never return. Lokanth lost his son to such a malignant section of wood along the northern run of the Gnarley, Wer-haunted and legendary among the rangers and the elves. In his desperation he sought the vision of Masilda and her words brought him no surcease only the telling of his fate which could not be changed. Posted: 08-09-2020 09:57 pm The Catacombs of Ptolemides - III
9a). At both of these spots marked in the corridor there is a large pool of dried blood. Between these marked spots on the map and location 9b there are smears and drops of blood streaked across the stone floor in the direction of area 9b.
9b). This area is layered with debris; wood that has been splintered, cloth torn into strips, even vegetation such as roots and wild vines. The debris is spread across the room and several feet thick. At a point near the center of the room a man's foot and lower leg is half buried under this mess.
If anyone pulls at this foot it will resist slightly then pull away revealing a foot with a leg severed a few inches above the knee. If the leg is pulled free or if anyone searches or disturbs the debris 2 swarms of baby giant ticks will erupt from their layered nest and attack. There are a total of 5 baby tick swarms within this room. After the initial 2 that attack, another 1 will form and attack whenever anyone disturbs the debris or tries to search.
If the debris is searched carefully, a long, messy and disgusting job, they will discover the upper body of a man in chainmail, a severed hand with a gold ring with ruby chips worth 10gp, a chipped and dulled longsword that radiates magic, which is -1 to hit but +2 to damage, and 32gp, 15sp and a small bag containing 5 uncut diamonds which appear to be cloudy crystals but are worth 50gp each.
New Monster: Tick, Giant (Baby Swarm) No. Encountered: 1d6 Size: S Movement: 25 Dexterity: 12 Armour Class: 9 Hit Dice: 5 No. Attacks: 1 Damage: 1d4 Saving Throw: 10 Morale: - Experience Points: 50 Treasure Class: -
A swarm of baby giant ticks represents 40 of these little monsters. Each is about 3 inches long and has 1hp. Any damage to the swarm represents the actual number killed in the attack.
Special: Fire will keep them at bay Piercing weapons do only 1hp damage per attack If reduced below 16 in number the swarm will dissolve and the surviving baby giant ticks attempt to skitter away.
10). This circular niche off the west side of the corridor contains a fountain and a small pool that is about 2ft high and the diameter of the niche. The water pours from a pitcher in the hands of a statue of a voluptuous naked woman. The water is collected in the circular pool at the statues feet. Followers of Lunaqqua will receive a blessing following their first drink of this water. This blessing will give them a +1 advantage in all dice rolls for the next 6 game turns. Subsequent drinking at this fountain will be refreshing but does nothing but dispel thirst.
Anyone desecrating this fountain (which includes attempts to damage it) will receive a curse of lycanthropy unless a save versus magic succeeds.
An overturned wooden bucket is at the edge of the stone pool.
11a). The door to this room is ajar. It can be barred from inside the room but no crosspiece is in evidence. It can be locked but the key is nowhere to be found.
11b). Three long tables are set side by side toward the center of this area. On each table is a nude body, two men and one woman. An overturned metal tripod and metal basin is near the west-most of the tables and half-burnt coals, now long cooled, have spilled from it. (The coals can be gathered and will burn for an hour, giving off a good deal of heat but very little light). Under the coals is a dagger made from a chunk of obsidian and wrapped with leather. It radiates magic if detected.
New Item: This is a Dagger of Mordezzan. It is a +1 magic weapon, but its main use is in the creation of animated skeletons and the production of Skins of Mordezzan. The dagger can make incisions in dead flesh that when complete will animate up to 3 skeletons per day. These skeletons will be at the command of their creator, except they will take no actions against a follower of Mordezzan who wears a Skin or bears the symbol of Mordezzan. A follower of Mordezzan who is a cleric or necromancer may wrest the command of these skeletons if they are of higher level.
New Item: The Skin of Mordezzan is the specially prepared skin of a sacrificial victim. It radiates evil and is worn by a follower of Mordezzan granting him the same armour class as that of leather armour, provides +1 to saving throws, and protection against paralysis, cold based and charm spells and abilities. Arcane markings are placed on the victim's skin, then they are submerged in a vat of enchanted liquid, then a Dagger of Mordezzan is used to remove the skin. Anyone trying to wear a Skin of Mordezzan who is not a follower must save versus poison of suffer 1d6 hp damage per combat round (save for half damage) and will suffer 1d6 hp damage per combat round until such a save is made even after the suit is removed. (Only 1 saving throw is necessary once the Skin is removed, but a save must be rolled each turn the Skin is worn.
A giant tick sits on top of the man's body on the center table. It has been poisoned while trying to drain the body. The tick is at half-hp and -1 to hit and damage. The bodies of 4 dead giant ticks are scattered around the floor north of the tables.
If anyone examines the bodies they will find arcane markings on the flesh that a necromancer will recognize as part of a ritual to animate the dead. Each body has bone deep incisions and it would take little effort to remove the skeletons from the surrounding flesh.
11b). A set of spikes on the east wall holds 7 human skins. These are completed Skins of Mordezzan. No trace of internal organs or bones are in evidence.
11c). The drained and dry body of a man in a dark blue robe is crumpled here. If searched it is revealed that he wears a Skin of Mordezzan beneath his robe, but it is damaged beyond repair showing many knife wounds in the back and head of the Skin and the man almost completely severed, hanging together only by the skin at the back of the neck.
12). The west wall of this room is lined with skeletons who stand motionless until someone approaches within 20ft, opens the northern doors or who attacks them from a distance. There are 9 skeletons lined up in two rows facing the west wall. In each of their hands is a human thigh-bone, one end spiked with nails, which they use like a spiked mace, damage 1d6. A stack of boxes three high is on the north wall and the south. Each box contains 2 skeletons. These will attack if the crate is open. These skeletons will obey the commands of anyone in a Skin of Mordezzan and will not attack anyone showing a symbol of Mordezzan.
12a). This door is shut but not locked. It can be barred from inside the room. The wooden crosspiece is on the floor near the door.
12b). This door is shut but not locked. It can be barred but no crosspiece is in evidence.
13). There is a large vat in the center of this room 5ft high and 10ft in diameter. The walls of this room are set with iron spikes and the bodies of 12 men are hanging upside down from the spikes. Each has been marked with arcane symbols and the sign of Mordezzan. Their bodies show lines of deep incisions head to toe.
An iron chain hangs from a pulley above the vat. Inside the vat is a thick, dark liquid that radiates magic if anyone detects such. The liquid is a primary ingredient in creating a Skin of Mordezzan, and a flask of it would be worth 5gp to an alchemist, Necromancer or seller of spell components. There is enough liquid in the vat to fill 1,000 flasks.
If anyone peers into the vat an Undead Minion of Mordezzan will reach out from the liquid and try to first grapple with the character then drag them into the vat. If this is successful the character will be attacked by 5 Undead Minions of Mordezzan
If the attempt to grapple the character fails, all 5 Minions will burst from the vat, pulling themselves over its edge and attack.
At the same time the Minions attack the bodies on the wall will begin to writhe and shake. In 2 combat rounds 5 of the bodies of the wall will have had their skeletons pull free of the flesh that surrounds them. They will drop to the floor and attack. 2 combat rounds after that 5 more will pull themselves free and 2 rounds later 5 more till a total of 15 skeletons have left their skins hanging on the walls. The empty skins are not yet enchanted and are merely dead flesh.
New Monster: Minion of Mordezzan Undead Type 3 No. Encountered: 1d6 Alignment: Lawful Evil Size: M Movement: 40 Dexterity: 10 Armour Class: 7 Hit Dice: 2 No. Attacks 3(Claw/Claw/Bite) Damage: 1d3/1d3/1d6 Saving Throw: 15 Morale: 10 Experience Points: 41 Treasure Class: S,T
Minions of Mordezzan are similar to ghouls but lack the ability to paralyze their prey. At one time they were loyal members of the Mordazzen cult and wore sacred Skins of Mordezzan. Upon the death of the cultist this Skin bonds with their own flesh and they rise after a short time as an undead Minion of Mordazzen.
Special: Immune to poison, paralysis, fear and cold-based attacks Protection from evil holds them at bay
14). This chamber has walls covered in torn, blood spattered and shredded tapestry. 2 of these hangings have gold thread woven into them and are worth 25gp each, even in their mangled condition. In the south-west corner is a pile of broken wood made up mainly of chairs but some larger furniture of unknown type as well. Along the north wall there is a table, swept clear but covered in dried blood, as is the floor around the table. Against the east wall there is an overturned and smashed cabinet. Mixed in with the cabinet are torn books and scrolls and broken glass.
If the cabinet is searched there is a 50% chance that a hidden drawer at the bottom of a splintered shelf will be found. The drawer is locked and a thief can attempt to pick it. If the secret drawer is smashed open the two glass vials in will be smashed.
The drawer contains 2 potion vials and a small spell book. Potion #1 is of Healing Potion #2 is of Fire Resistance
The small book holds 3 spells; Animate Carrion, Extermination, and Skeleton Servant.
14a). A bench runs along the south wall of this alcove. Huddled against the east wall on the bench are two figures in blue robes. If approached closer than 10ft these 2 Undead Minions of Mordezzan will attack. If attacked from a distance they will also attack.
14b). This alcove at the south end of the main room is hidden from casual view by a torn tapestry. There are pegs running down the west wall and 5 dark blue robes are scattered beneath them on the floor.
Most noticeable is the Undead Minion of Mordezzan, stripped of its blue robe and nailed to the south wall with iron spikes. The creature is at only 5hp but is still animated and struggles to free itself.
15). This door is locked and barred shut from the east side of the door. A glyph has been carved into the wood of the door. If shown around the city above it will be found out that it is the mark of Ptolemides Thieve's Guild, but such questions will be noted and the Thieve's Guild will be informed. Posted: 08-08-2020 08:35 pm The Catacombs of Ptolemides - II
2). The center section of this hall is blackened from a recent fire and there are also signs of battle, but one that happened long enough ago for the stink of burning flesh to have faded to a mere memory.
2a). The secret door at this location has been made to look like part of the wall, but it is partially ajar and anyone searching this area will have a +1 chance of noticing it, while any thief passing within 10ft will have the same chance at detecting the secret door as if they had performed a search. If a thief actively searches for a secret door at thus location they will automatically find it.
The door opens inwards away from area 2 but pushing at it will not open the door, It will take a combined strength of 25 to move door and then it will only open wide enough for 1 person to squeeze through at a time. What anyone slipping through the door encounters is described in area 5.
2b). This secret door is fully open. If shut it is undetectable with the wall and will latch itself closed. It opens inward to the small room and can be opened or closed from the inside. The latch can be picked, or magicked open, or forced with a test of strength, or battered down if 300hp damage is inflicted on the door.
2c). In this area there is a wide burnt space centered around a smashed lantern. Within the burned area are the bodies of 3 dogs and a man. They have all been rat-gnawed and what remains of them has been crisped by the fire.
If searched the man's body has a fire-blackened dagger in his fist and a shortsword in a serviceable sheath beneath him. The remains of his belt, again underneath his body, has a set of thieve's picks and tools in a leather case attached.
The pack he wore was burnt by the fire and gnawed apart by rats. If it is touched it can be lifted waist high before coming to pieces and the contents spilling out on the floor. Inside the pack is a congealed pile of twenty lead sling bullets which can be picked apart and reused, a hammer with a charred handle that will snap at the head if used, 12 iron spikes, a knife in a gnawed leather sheath, 12gp, 23sp, 18cp (once in a small pouch but now loose. The entire mess will come cascading down and scatter across the floor. This may, at the DM's discretion, attract the creatures from area 4.
3). The stairs from all 4 entranceways to this area lead down in the direction of the map arrow so that the floor of this chamber is 15ft lower than the surrounding halls and passages. The roof is also higher and angles upward to meet a single, large beam in the ceiling. From floor to roof is a 40ft distance.
Hanging from the ceiling beams are 3 giant ticks. 1 tick will drop upon the first person to pass more than 5ft into the room from any of the sets of stairs. The other 2 giant ticks will leap down the following combat round. All 3 ticks will jump down if attacked.
In the corner along the west wall is a pile of debris which includes the carcases of 2 dogs, sucked dry of fluids by the ticks, as well as the drained bodies of several giant rats. The exoskeletons of 5 giant ticks are also scattered among the debris.
While the ticks possess no treasure their exoskeletons are worth 5gp each if sold to an alchemist or dealer in spell components. Each exoskeleton is 3ft in diameter and weighs several pounds.
4). This room may once have been used for storage and along the west wall can be found the broken staves of barrels as well as their rusted iron bands, broken bottles and glass fragments. If someone sifts through this they will find 1 unbroken bottle of lamp oil.
More recently this room appears to have been used as a campsite. There are half-a-dozen blankets and bed rolls spread out along the south wall and some gear such as armor, cloths and weapons along the east wall. If anyone approaches the south wall they will see that 3 of the occupants are still wrapped in the bedding. On close examination, within 10ft, it will be apparent that the occupants are long dead, their faces dried and withered.
These 3 adventurers have, at some past time, succumbed to wounds received from zombies and are now zombies themselves. They died while sleeping and were abandoned by their comrades. When inactive they return to their bedrolls and attempt to find the sleep they are now denied.
If anyone comes within arm's reach of any of the bodies the corpse's eyes will flash open and the zombie will attack. If attacked themselves they will awaken and attack. Loud noise may also rouse these zombies and they may proceed into area 2 to investigate.
The zombies themselves are wearing only the clothes they had on when they died. Their gear and weapons, that were unwanted by their comrades, were left piled against the east wall.
In this pile can be found 3 dagger and sheaths, a hand axe, a halberd, scale-mail sized for a large man, chainmail sized for an average man, a helm, a shield, 2 backpacks.
Backpack #1 contains: A skin of spoiled wine, trail rations which are now a hardened rotten lump, a small throwing dagger in a sheath (+1 to hit if thrown due to exceptional craftmanship, non-magical), 50ft of tightly coiled rope, a half-dozen iron spikes and a small mallet.
Backpack #2 contains: A flask of whiskey, rotted trail rations, a set of prayer beads, a pair of thick gloves such as a smith might use (non-magical but helpful when dealing with sharp or hot objects) a polished steel mirror in a soft cloth bag, and at the very bottom, a small gold signet ring worth 15gp, but if asked about in the environs of Ptolemides it will be discovered that the crest is of a local family and a 100gp reward is offered for its return.
5). This good-sized room may once have belonged to watchmen of servants. Its most recent use has been as a nest for giant ticks. A large fire was set in its center and the cracked and worthless exoskeletons of a dozen ticks are scattered among the ashes.
The west door is shut but unlocked. Both this door and the southern secret door can be barred shut, but the crossbeams to both are missing.
5a). The bodies of several dogs are jammed against the southern secret door. These dogs have been dead for some time but were obviously killed by sword or axe. There is even a broken arrow head lodged within one body. If the bodies are removed the door opens and closes without problem.
6). There is a 3d6 chance of encountering 2 giant ticks battling 5 wild dogs when entering this juncture for the first time. These animals will battle each other or any other creature that enters the fray. If 2 of the dogs are killed the remainder will run for the northern passage (and then east if followed). The ticks will battle to the death.
At any future time entering this juncture there will be a 1d6 chance of encountering a single wild dog which will immediately run away up the northern passage or on a roll of '2' or '3' on a d6, the chance of encountering a pack of 6 wild dogs that will attack the party and retreat to the north if half their number are killed. This encounter can happen again and again unless the source of the wild dogs is discovered and actions taken to prevent further attacks.
7). This long hall is filled with long niches cut into either side of the passage. Each niche contained the body or bodies of the dead, but that was long ago and now only the fragmented remnants of those bodies can be found. Fire has scorched this long hall and ash and bone fragments are brushed up against either wall though a clear trail down the center of the floor shows recent use.
This hall has become a resting place for giant ticks.
7a). At each of these points 1d3 giant ticks are located within the niches. These ticks have all filled themselves with the blood and precious bodily fluids of their many victims, rat, dog, human, etc... and are slower to react than their more hungry kin (-1 to surprise rolls). They will still spring out and attack anyone passing in the hall or examining their niche, as will any ticks in an adjacent 10ft section.
7b). Someone dropped a heavy wooden box at this point. The lid has snapped and the box was overturned. If a 30ft area of hall is cleanly sifted 312cp, 31sp and 3gp can be found among the thick ash and bone fragments.
8). 2 giant ticks have taken up residence in this area. The will lurk around the corner near the ceiling opposite whichever way the party is approaching. If undetected they will attack the last person in the group to pass near to them. Posted: 08-07-2020 05:18 am The Catacombs of Ptolemides- I
Continued from Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6a
The Catacombs of Ptolemides
Rooms and passages in the catacombs normally have ceilings roughly 10 feet overhead and sconces or holders where torches or lanterns can be set, but are no torches or lanterns will be found unless specifically mentioned. Light must be provided by the player characters otherwise the catacombs are lightless black (unless the described areas mention illumination).
The initial area is formed from carved stone with wooden supports for the typical entranceway.
1). The platform that the characters are standing on is circular and a little over 20ft in diameter. Large torches (taking two hands to hold) are set around the edges of the platform in metal standing brackets welded to the platform. These torches will burn for a full hour before guttering and going out. A slow but continual circulation of air bends the flames from the torches slightly to the west.
As the platform nears the last 10ft to the floor the PC's will see skeletal bodies in ancient armor affixed to the north, south and east walls. Iron spikes are set into each 10ft section of these walls the bodies of these long dead warriors have been thrust upon the spikes with enough force to pierce the ancient verdigris encrusted chest plates they all wear.
Several large mallets, some of wood, and some shaped from human thigh bones, are scattered near to the walls, and these can be used to beat upon the armor of the dead hanging upon the walls. If hammered for more than three combat rounds this noise will alert Tomeron's servants who man the winches above and they will begin to draw up the platform. If the room is dark a circle of light will appear 50ft above as the iron cover is first lifted before the chains take up the slack and the platform begins to rise. It will be several combat round before the platform begins to rise after the winches begin to turn but then the platform will be drawn up 10ft every 3 combat rounds. No amount of shouting will get Tomeron's servants to stop or bring the platform back to the ground once they have begun drawing it up, unless it is the command of Tomeron himself.
If anyone begins beating on one of the chest plates, tries to remove the armor or searches the bodies, a normal sized rat (stats as per the ASSH rulebook) will leap from the mouth of the dead body and attack. 1 combat round after this attack, 6 rats will begin to pour from the various bodies and attack the PC's. 6 more will appear the following combat round, and finally 6 more after that in the next combat round for a total of 19 attacking rats.
If more than 8 of their number are slain the rats will flee toward area 1b where a rat-hole has been gnawed at the bottom of the secret door.
The 20th Rat
There is one rat that will not take part in the combat but will be the last rat through the hole at area 1b. If it is attacked it will continue in its attempt to flee. If it is slain and the body examined it will be revealed as some type of autonomaton formed of wood and metal enclosed in the pelt of a rat.
*Clockwork Scout No. Encountered: 1 or 1d6 Alignment: Neutral Size: S Movement: 15 Dexterity: 12 Armour Class: 4 Hit Dice: 1 No. Attacks: 1 Damage: 1d4 Saving Throw: 17 Morale: - Experience Points: 15 Treasure Class: -
Clockwork Scouts are part of a mechanical species developed during the height of Hyperborean civilizations in ages past. They have survived and can be found mainly in the ruins of Hyperborean centers of learning and sorcery.
Clockwork Scouts have a rudimentary sentience but what will and independent thought they might have is subsumed by the greater purpose and willpower of more powerful members of their species. They have no known language but can somehow communicate all the have seen, heard and experienced to there more powerful Clockwork beings.
Each clockwork scout is shaped into a skeletal version of a small animal and covered with such creatures fur, flesh or hide.
While a Clockwork Scout possess no treasure of its own their non-functioning bodies can be worth from 10 to 50gp depending on the type of damage. A function Clockwork Scout is easily worth over 250gp.
*The Clockwork Scout is from Frog God Games 'The Tome of Horror Complete S&W version' though slightly altered for my Astonishing Swordsmen campaign.
1a). The dead body of a mangy dog is crumpled in the upper corner of the south facing passage. It is a thin and rat-eaten corpse, mainly skin, hair and bone. If closely examined a fragment of blue cloth can be found in its clenched teeth.
1b). This is a secret door that has been well-crafted to appear as a section of the north wall. It even has one of the old dead bodies and an iron pike set into it. At the bottom edge of the door the rats have gnawed a small hole. If a lightsource such as a bullseye lantern is directed through the hole a space or chamber can be seen on the otherside.
The door is stoutly build and an iron bar is set in place. It will take at least 300hp of damage to batter down the door. Any noise may attract a wandering monster but will not in itself signal for the platform to be raised.
(To be continued...) Posted: 08-06-2020 02:29 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6a Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories - 6aSPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I have started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas.
6a). The Epiphany of Death (Written January 25, 1930)
Ptolemides, Catacombs of [PLC] Ptolemides, City of [TWN] Tomeron [NPC]
"Somehow, Tomeron seemed never to belong to the present; but one could readily have imagined him as living in some bygone age. About him, there was nothing whatever of the lineaments of our own period; and he even went so far as to affect in his costume an approximation to the garments worn several centuries ago. His complexion was extremely pale and cadaverous, and he stooped heavily from poring over ancient tomes and no less ancient maps. He moved always with the slow, meditative pace of one who dwells among far off reveries and memories; and he spoke often of people and events and ideas that have long since been forgotten."
"I cab readily recall, however, the studies to which Tomeron had devoted himself, the lost demonian volumes from Hyperborea and Mu and Atlantis with which his library shelves were heaped to the ceiling and the queer charts, not of any land that lies above the surface of the earth, on which he pored by perpetual candlelight."
"He maintained that life and death were not the fixed conditions that people commonly believed them to be; that the two realms were often intermingled in ways not readily discerned, and had penumbral borderlands; that the dead were not always the dead, nor the living the living, as such terms are habitually understood."
"Carrying torches, we left the mansion of Tomeron and sought the ancient catacombs of Ptolemides, which lie beyond the walls and have long been disused, for there is now a fine necropolis in the very heart of the city. The moon had gone down beyond the desert that encroaches toward the catacombs; and we were forced to light our torches long before we came to the subterranean adits; for the rays of Mars and Jupiter in a sodden and funereal sky were not enough to illumine the perilous path we followed among mounds and fallen obelisks and broken graves. At length we discovered the dark and weed-choked entrance of the charnels; and here Tomeron led the way with a swiftness and surety of footing that bespoke long familiarity with the place."
"Entering, we found ourselves in a crumbling passage where the bones of dilapidated skeletons were scattered amid the rubble that had fallen from the sides and roof. A choking stench of stagnant air and of age-old corruption made me pause for a moment but Tomeron scarcely appeared to perceive it, for he strode onward, lifting his torch and beckoning me to follow. We traversed many vaults in which mouldy bones and verdigris-eaten sarcophagi were piled about the walls or strewn where desecrating thieves had left them in bygone years. The air was increasingly dank, chill and miasmal; and mephitic shadows crouched or swayed before our torches in every niche and corner. Also, as we went onward, the walls became more ruinous and the bones we saw on every hand were greener with the mould of time."
ADVENTURE IDEAS
The Catacombs of Ptolemides
The city of Ptolemides was once a proud Hellenic City-State, but after the advent of the Green Death it shrank to less than half its previous population. Of that half only the ruling elite and the King's guards are pure Hellens. The rest of the city is a mix of various races, the bulk of whom are common men of a hodge-podge heritage. The only recognized temple is of Apollo, though its following is small, but all the gods have their worshipers, their shrines and their hidden temples.
Within the city only the sections near the outer gates and the central citadel are occupied, while entire quarters are abandoned and walled off, for Ptolemides is also a city of the dead.
When the Green Death came it swallowed the city whole and only those within the citadel survived. These survivors were overwhelmed by the number of the dead, and in houses, manors, tenements and even the streets, the bodies were left unhallowed to putrefy and rot. But these unshriven spirits soon began to walk, to haunt the dead quarters of the city, and to prey upon the living.
Gates were shut, all entrances to these dead quarters walled off, closed and guarded. The priests of Apollo joined the city guard in a desperate attempt to drive back the dead. Then, more welcome than they have ever been, came the necromancers, and the greatest of these was Tomeron.
When Ptolemides was first settled, when the foundations stones were first set, these early Hellens found the catacombs, and what they believed, perhaps rightly, was the entrance to the underworld, the land of the dead. These passages were old and endless, already filled with tombs and ancient bones and passages that went deep into the earth. For generations the bodies of the dead were placed reverently within vaults and mausoleums and niches cut into the walls. Over time the nearest of the passages were filled, and the tunnels were followed further and further while a slow sense of evil and darkness crept nearer, and the dead were no longer left undisturbed.
A great necropolis was built at a small distance from the city and the catacombs of Ptolemides were sealed. The Green Death came, and the dead walked, and then came the necromancers, and with them Tomeron.
Tomeron has unsealed the catacombs and from the abandoned manor where he now lives, in a dead quarter of the city, he directs others; magicians, thieves, priests, fighters, adventurers, fools, to do his bidding and search the catacombs. Of what is brought back to the surface Tomeron has his tithe, but always he seems disappointed, as if what he is truly looking for is never found.
NOTE: Here begins my conversion of TSRs 'Legendary' boxed set, the Ruins of Undermountain. I will just be using the maps for the most part (because my cartographic skill is so poor) but I've always loved this particular dungeon crawl and it will be a pleasure to convert for my Astonishing Swordsmen campaign.
Tomeron, as I plan to use him, is a high level Necromancer. Ptolemides, a small human city, old, but not as ancient as Kor or Khromarium.
Reaching Tomeron's manor is best done in daylight. What was once the artisan's quarter of Ptolemides is now a walled and guarded ruin. Only one gate into the quarter is left open, though rumors say that the Guild of Thieves knows of a secret way.
A small fortress has been built before the gate to this quarter and a toll of 5gp per person is collected to let anyone inside. A toll of 20gp per person is collected to let anyone back out again, and a tax on any treasure of 1 coin, armor, weapon, or valuable, is levied by the king.
There are three gates and a wide circular tunnel that lead to this dead quarter. The outer gate within the fortress will first be opened and as the party approaches the 2nd gate, this outer gate will be closed. Then the 2nd gate will be opened and when the party reaches the gate to the dead quarter, that gate too will close. Finally this 3rd gate will open and the party will be allowed to enter what was once the Artisan's Quarter.
If anyone wants out there is a bell that can be struck near the gate and a basket will be lowered from the wall to collect the 20gp return fee. After dark the guards will ask for extra coin to allow escape from this quarter, and some will not respond at all, preferring to lock and bolt their doors rather than face what might be ringing the bell.
Once outside the small fortress a returning party will be lead to a counting house next door to the fort and there the tax will be levied.
Shops catering to adventurers have sprung up on the avenue leading to this gate and a large inn called 'The Dirge' sits on the far corner from the fortress. It is common for a last drink to be bought here before entering the gate and all manner or business is transacted within this tavern. Hirelings hired, rumors gathered, notices left and what-not.
The dead quarters of the city are very grim and dangerous places, and Tomeron's is no exception. Most buildings are in ruins and many are unpleasantly occupied. rats, bats, vermin and spiders infest these buildings, as well as all manner and kind of undead. The main street is kept warded, at least during the day, but at night the undead roam and there is little shelter to be found.
Several necromancers do live within this quarter and far down its streets can be found an almost-palace that is their guild hall, but these buildings are guarded and sturdy and do not welcome visitors.
Tomeron, on the other hand, welcomes adventurers at anytime. His manor is in a large walled compound three blocks from the gate. The doors to his house are always open and lead to a large entrance hall. Tomeron himself will come to greet all those wishing to journey to the catacombs.
Inside this hall is a large staircase leading to a dimly lit upper floor, but the players will not be invited to see it more clearly. On its balustrade sits a pair of gargoyles, perhaps mere statues, but their unmoving features are grinning and malevolent. A half-dozen uniformed footmen are nearby, pale men with the stench of carrion about them, and the black beneath the stairs seems filled with something more awful than darkness.
To the left of the entrance-way is a set of double-doors. These open to a long, wide passage that turns and turns as it leads down, and finally comes to a broad square room. A quick estimates shows a ceiling vaulting out of site, and a room at least eighty feet wide as it is eighty feet long. Some tables and chairs are at the north end, at its center is a large round pit covered by an iron plate. Massive chains lead from the plate to four crank mechanisms spaced evenly around its sides.
"I take one coin in five and such items, jewels, gems and such-like as take my fancy. No more than one in three. If you agree and are prepared, that is your way to the catacombs," Tomeron points to the pit and the iron plate which covers it.
If the party agrees and wants to proceed Tomeron will speak a sharp command and four tall and heavily scared men will approach the cranks and begin raising the iron plate. Suspended by chains beneath the plate is a platform. Once the iron plate has reached the ceiling the platform will be even with the edge of the pit and a panel will be extended to act as a bridge. Once the party is on the platform the panel will be removed and the platform lowered into the pit.
Tomeron will call down to the party, "From here your adventure begins. Beat upon the armor of the dead to signal your return." Posted: 08-05-2020 04:41 am Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions - 5c
2nd Floor
1). The smell of burnt flesh is pervasive through this area. The ceiling is nearly fifteen feet high.
1a). Stairs going up to the Top Floor. Only a dull greenish light illuminates the top of the stairs.
1b&c). Stairs going down to the First Floor. This stairwells are unlit and are dark as a tomb.
1d). This area is lit by a burning flame held in the palm of a huge statue of a demonic bat-like creature which stands at the center 10 foot section of the south wall. Around the floor are scattered remnants of a hasty camp. A roll of bedding with blood stains, some scattered food (enough for 1 days rations if gathered up and the consumer is none to particular in what they eat) and a broken bone amulet of Pictish design (once this allowed control of the flesh automaton's on this level of the dungeon and the one outside the temple at the top of the stairs. It has been destroyed by acid and physical damage).
The statue stands 10 feet tall with sweeping wings sculpted up to the 15 foot ceiling. The face of the statue displays an evil grin and one large red gem (1,500gp value) the size of a fist. The left eye-socket of the statue is empty and weeps a dark viscous (and flammable) goo that has run down the face and body of the statue (and hardened to the body like a stream of wax down a candle but of a consistency more like clay). The right eye holds the gem.
At the clawed feet of statue us a charred corpse, its arm outstretched ending in a fingerless palm.
If the body is searched, a fairly disgusting process, a set of thieves lock-picks will be discovered hidden cunningly inside the belt.
If the gem is pried from the statues eye-socket a loud click will be heard and a stream of burning goo will be projected in a stream 10ft long from both eyes, while at the same time, a cloud of flammable gas will exhale from the statue's mouth and fill a 10ft diameter sphere directly in front of the statue. The cloud of burning gas will inflict 2d12 damage (1/2 dmg if saved against) to anyone within the area, while the burning goo will inflict three rounds of burning damage (again, 1/2 damage if saved against) to anyone caught buy the discharge. 1d12 the first combat round, 1d8 the second and 1d4 the 3rd. Only the first rounds damage can be saved against and items may, at the DMs discretion, on the burning victim, may also need to a saving throw or be destroyed or damaged.
The goo dripping from the eye or eyes can be collected. About enough to coat 3 arrowheads can be collected in an hour or 6 in an hour if both eyes are now leaking the goo. If exposed to air for more than an hour the goo dries, though this clay-like substance will also burn and about a 1lb of it can be scraped from the body of the statue.
2). This hall is composed of 10ft alcoves sealed off with a greenish crystal. Each crystal wall is strong enough to withstand 10,000hp damage before shattering. within each alcove can be seen the unmoving body of an Elder Thing.
Upon opening the door from area 1 the players are presented with a scene of horrific carnage. The bodies of two Elder Things have been torn limb from limb (though some body parts are missing). A thick, dark red blood is spattered across walls and floor. From area 2b comes a steady pounding noise.
2a). This shattered alcove is empty except for a covering of crystal shards. These shards are a natural bane to all shoggoth and shoggoth-like creatures. They can be used as sling stones and will act as magic +2 to hit/damage sling stones if used against such creatures, though they will do no or little damage to normal creatures. In addition, the possession of 5 or more of these fragments will act as a +1 item of protection against shoggoths and related creatures.
2b). From this location comes the steady pounding of 2 flesh automatons as they relentlessly assault the wall of greenish crystal. They have already caused over 9,000hp damage against this wall and it will shatter in 1d10+10 minutes. Upon shattering it will release an Elder Thing and both flesh automatons will immediately attack the creature.
If interrupted in either attacking the wall or the Elder Thing, both flesh automatons will turn and attack whoever interrupted their actions (ignoring the useless attacks of the Elder Thing), and continue attacking anyone on this level, before turning back to their assault on the wall or the Elder Thing.
The Elder Thing will attack anyone within reach and will attack and pursue them till it is destroyed or prevented by some other means.
2c). As per 2a except that among the crystal shards within the alcove may be found a hand-sized five-pointed object of dark green soapstone. This object acts as a +3 item of protection against shoggoths and shoggoth-like creatures.
2d). This alcove appears empty but behind the crystal wall is a portal that leads to a hidden vault deep within the Spiral Mountain Array. (The vault is merely a 100ft by 100ft space until the key to its exit can be found, which is not yet available in this adventure). If the wall is shattered a stream of Elder Things will pour out, one every combat round, if they can force themselves out of the alcove. 20 of these monsters will come pouring forth, the last will bear a malfunction crystal-tipped iridium rod of the Great Race. After 1d6 uses the rod will emit a crackle of blue electric light for 3 combat rounds then explode, disintegrating everything in a 20ft diameter sphere.
2e). This is a massive gelatinous cube that fills the hall and stretches some 70ft end to end. It still attacks as a 4hd monster but has 10 times the hit points of a normal cube (not really a cube then is it?). It usually circles the corridor endlessly and is fed by sacrifices by the ape-men. It has 3 times the normal treasure (the ape-men are not very thorough when looting their sacrifices). Currently the monster is cowering in this corner of the hall after having about 30% of its mass destroyed by magical attacks and suffering a violent bout of indigestion (see 2f).
2f). At the center of this gelatinous cube is suspended the body of a flesh automaton. It was swallowed before orders could be given and it is a sort-of standby mode. If freed from the cube it will attack anyone within sight, nearest first, and pursue them anywhere within or without the temple until destroyed.
(To be continued) Posted: 08-04-2020 07:51 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 5b
Tsathoggua
"...we forthwith started to explore a left-hand avenue, which, though it had been laid out with mathematical directness, vanished at no great distance among the fronded trees. Here, somewhat apart from the other buildings, in a sort of square that the jungle had not yet wholly usurped, we found a small temple of antique architecture which gave the impression of being far older even than the adjoining edifices. It also differed from these in its material, for it was builded of a dark basaltic stone heavily encrusted with lichens that seemed of a coeval antiquity. It was square in form, and had no domes nor spires, no facade of pillars, and only a few narrow windows high above the ground. Such temples are rare in Hyperborea nowadays; but we knew it for a shrine of Tsathoggua, one of the elder gods, who receives no longer any worship from men, but before whose ashen altars, people say, the furtive and ferocious beasts of the jungle, the ape, the giant sloth and the long-toothed tiger, have sometimes been seen to make obeisance and have been heard to howl or whine their inarticulate prayers."
"...the black interior of the temple yawned before us, and from it there surged an odor of long-imprisoned mustiness combined with a queer and unfamiliar fetidity."
"...the place was paven with immense quinquangular flags of the same material from which its walls were built. It was quite bare, except for the image of the god enthroned at the further end, the two-tiered altar of obscenely figured metal before the image, and a large and curious-looking basin of bronze supported on three legs, which occupied the middle of the floor."
"I had never seen an image of Tsathoggua before, but I recognized him without difficulty from the descriptions I had heard. He was very squat and pot-bellied, his head was more like that of a monstrous toad than a deity, and his whole body was covered with an intimation of short fur, giving somehow a vague suggestion of both the bat and the sloth. His sleepy lids were half-lowered over his globular eyes; and the tip of a queer tongue issued from his fat mouth. In truth, he was not a comely or personable sort of god, and I did not wonder at the cessation of his worship, which could only to have appealed to very brutal and aboriginal men at any time."
"What unimaginable horror of protoplastic life, what loathly spawn of the primordial slime had come forth to confront us, we did not pause to consider or conjecture."
ADVENTURE IDEAS (Continued from 5a)
As the drums begin to beat scores of ape-men rush from the surrounding ruins. A group of eight with an alpha male leading run toward the stairs. It will take them no more than to melee rounds to cross the stones paves of the square and reach the bottom of the stairs, and only another melee round to rush up them and engage anyone at the doors at top.
NOTE: After the first group has begun their charge other small groups of 1d6+6 ape-men (with a 25% chance of an alpha male leading them) begin to make their way behind them or pull themselves up the walls on all side. As an example, for the first 11 melee rounds ape-men will rush up the stairs or make their way around the sides of the ziggurat ever other melee round, 5th round, 7th round, etc... and on the 9th melee round since the ape-men first charged the stairs, a group of six and an alpha male will climb to the top of the ziggurat above the doors and be able to jump down on the next melee round.
NOTE: These ape-men need make no morale cheeks and are immune to any charm spells. The are already under the complete swat of Xathoggua.
If anyone makes it inside the top floor, after opening or smashing down the doors, they will find that the ape-men will not enter. If the entire party is inside the top-floor room the ape-men will disappear from view, moving down the stairs, around the corners of the walls, or peer down from the roof above. Anyone steeping beyond the doors or sticking their head out will be pelted with 30+ thrown stones each melee round for three rounds and then attacked by a rush of ape-men. In no case will an ape-man step within the temple and any that do will go wild, frothing at the mouth, and then collapse in a shuddering semi-conscious heap. Such ape-men will only awaken if they are brought outside the temple or at the sound of a gong being beaten somewhere below (this will be dealt with in a future post).
Top Floor
The interior of the top floor is dank and slimed with a glowing greenish substance that has the smell of rotting vegetation and a slightly acidic quality that will burns the skin and stains and disfigures cloth and hide. It does add enough light to see within the chamber if there is no other illumination.
1a-1g are pedestals with what appear to be iron statues (or broken fragments of iron statues) of humanoid appearance. Each is of a warrior though their shape is slightly disturbing, legs appear too long, the chest narrow and sunken, the arms oddly jointed and the fingers numbering more or less than a humans. Such faces as can be seen are a strange combination of toad, bat and giant sloth. Each statue is exactly detailed and the work masterful, though slightly horrific and bizarre.
It can easily be seen that each of these statues have received severe damage, and several have been almost completely destroyed, and one appears to be missing. A closer look shows that they are covered with slowly moving fragments of metal as if they were swarmed by some infestation. A few moments will reveal that these fragments are minding the fragments, rebuilding the missing pieces and reconstructing each damaged statue.
These statues are a new creature for my campaign.
The Iron Men of Xathoggua
No. Encountered: 1 Alignment: Neutral Size: M Movement: 20 Dexterity: 5 Armor Class: 4 Hit Dice: 8 No. Attacks 1 (Plus Special) Damage: 3d8 Saving Throw: 11 Morale: - Experience Points: 4,000 Treasure Class: -
Constructed by Hyperborean sorcerers in the distant past, the Iron Men of Xathoggua are similar to automaton's of iron. Each is dedicated to Xathoggua and can be commanded by the deity at will (overriding any other commands). Each Iron Man is constructed by a single priest of Xathoggua and controlled by a scroll of a silver-like metal. Only a single controlling scroll can ever be possessed and such a scroll allows command of only a single specific individual. Anyone trying to possess and use more than one scroll will cause those iron men to attack the user. An iron man must be within sight of someone using a silver scroll and their voice must be able to be heard (an Iron Man has average hearing).
The art of building the Iron Men is now lost, but they are well nigh indestructable. Built from a magnetic black iron which fell to Hyperborea from the dark void of space, the priests of Xathoggua enchanted the alien metal, turning it into a viscous liquid and through their dark arts imbuing each with the life essences of ten powerful warriors and ten colonies of foul green slime, and a quantity of their own blood.
An Iron Man can be shattered with normal weapons, but the metal, even smashed to fragments, is drawn to each other with a force strong enough to pull free from the grip of a strong man. These pieces will find each other even across great distances. It would require great magic or the heat of a mighty forge to destroy this metal.
Allowed to reassemble itself an iron man will 'heal' at a rate of 3hp/turn. When it has reached half its hit points it will be able to function once more though only able to move at half speed and deal half damage, (it will still be able to carry out its special attack).
Special: Immune to charm, sleep, hold and other mind-affecting sorceries. Electrical attacks slow the Iron Man for 3 rounds Fire attacks due 1/2 damage or no damage if saved. Acid attacks do no damage
Every 5 melee rounds the Iron Man can vomit a green acidic substance up to 10feet striking a 5foot diameter sphere of space. This attack will cause 3d6 damage.
Each Iron Man is constructed with an flanged mace gripped in one hand with its other hand free.
Top Floor (continued)
1a) This Iron Man is utterly destroyed. The fragments are slowly shifting together but have only reformed the feet.
1b) This is an empty predestal
1c) This Iron Man is partially reformed and able to function. It's armor is chipped and cracked. The top of its head is missing and the glowing green liquid sloshes out over its face as it moves. It cannot use its special vomit attack.
NOTE: All surviving iron men will attack if anyone approaches within 10feet. If any of the iron men are activated then all are activated and will go on the attack (this includes only the iron men at locations 1c, 1e & 1f).
1d) This Iron man is only half complete. Its body has been rebuilt up to its lower chest. Inside its bowl-like interior is a pool of acidic slime. This glowing green slime may be collected in glass or metal containers. A jar's worth, if used as a missile or poured onto someone, will do 1d10 damage. There is 5 jars worth of slime that can be recovered.
1e). This iron man is at three-quarters hit points and functional. Its body is cracked and missing small pieces, through which leak the green acidic slime, but it is still able to perform its vomit attack. See 1C for the NOTE regarding the functional iron men.
At the feet of this Iron Man is the body of a half-Pict sorcerer. The body has received grievous wounds and its right hand is missing. There is a +2 Dagger of Venom concealed in his left boot (5 doses of poison remaining) and 5 100gp gems sewn into each cuff of his pants (10 gems total). His belt has been cut and pockets turned out, but there is a large silver serpent-shaped buckle on his belt worth 50gp with a hidden compartment containing 3 doses of poison for his dagger. In a half-destroyed pack that still hangs over one mutilated shoulder, there is an acid-eaten spellbook which still contains 2 1st level spells and 1 2nd level spell (to be determined by the DM).
1f) This iron man is at half hit points and its special vomit attack functions normally. See the NOTE at 1c concerning this monster.
If activated this iron man will step forward, perhaps off its pedestal and reveal the squashed hand of the Pictish sorcerer whose body is at 1e. There are 2 rings on the broken fingers of this hand. One is in the form of a snake with emeralds for its eyes. It is of ancient craftmanship and worth 250gp to the right buyer. The other is a Ring of Shooting Stars. NOTE: This ring is made of an opposing metal to that of the iron men and the wearer of such a ring will be the focus of any attacks.
1g) This iron man is completely shattered. All it appears to be is a squirming pile of metal fragments oozing a glowing green liquid slime.
2) The stairs leading down to the 2nd floor.
(To Be Continued) Posted: 08-03-2020 06:45 pm Michael Moorcock's 'Elric' List of Names - 1 Michael Moorcock's 'Elric' List of Names - 1
Here is a list of names from Michael Moorcock's 'Elric' series of books. I'm using them primarily for my home campaign of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.
I have compiled these names from the books 'Elric of Melnibone' & "The Sailor on the Seas of Fate'.
M = Melnibonean
Agak Arioch (Duke of Hell) Ashnar Aubec (M) Avan Astran Brut Carolak Cymoril (M) Female Dyvim Tvar (M) Gagak (Female) Gratyesha (Female) Grome (Earth Elemental) Hashgan Hown Ilian J'osui C'Reln Reyr (M) Magnum Colim (M) Niopal (M) Female Niun Nnuuurrrr (Insect) Orland Pyaray (Chaos Lord) Rackhir (Phumite) Sadric (M) Saramal (M) Female Saxif D'aan (M) Smiorgan Straasha (Water Elemental) Urlik Skarsol Valharik (M) Vassliss (Female) Yyrkoon (M)
Elric of Melnibone
Arioch (Duke of Hell) Aubec (M) Cymoril (M) Female Dyvim Tvar (M) Grome (Earth Elemental) Magnum Colim (M) Niopal (M) Female Niun Orland Pyaray (Chaos Lord) Rackhir (Phumite) Sadric (M) Saramal (M) Female Smiorgan Straasha (Water Elemental) Valharik (M) Yyrkoon (M)
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
Agak Ashnar Avan Astran Brut Carolak Gagak (Female) Gratyesha (Female) Hashgan Hown Ilian J'osui C'Reln Reyr (M) Nnuuurrrr (Insect) Saxif D'aan (M) Tendric Terndrik Urlik Skarsol Vassliss (Female) Posted: 08-03-2020 01:31 am Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 5a
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories
SPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I have started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas. 5a). The Tale of Satampra Zeiros (Written Nov 16 1929, first published in Weird Tales Nov 1931)
Commoriom - [TWN] Polarion - [PLC] Satampra Zeiros - [NPC] Tirouv Ompallios - [NPC] Uzuldaroum - [TWN] White Sybil of Polarion - [NPC]
"I, Satampra Zeiros of Uzuldarium shall write with my left hand, since I have no longer any other, the tale of everything that befell Tirouv Ompallios and myself in the shrine of the god... (see post 5b), which lies neglected by the worship of man in the jungle-taken suburbs of Commoriom, that long-deserted capital of the Hyperborean rulers. I shall write it with the violet juice of the suvana-palm, which turns to a blood-red rubric with the passage of years, on a strong vellum that is made from the skin of the mastodon, as a warning to all good thieves and adventurers who may hear some lying legend of the lost treasure of Commoriom and be tempted thereby."
Commoriom Polarion White Sybil of Polarion
"Now Commoriom, as all the world knows, was deserted many hundred years ago because of the prophecy of the White Sybil of Polarion, who foretold an undescribed and abominable doom for all mortal beings who should dare to tarry within its environs. Some say that this doom was a pestilence that would have come from the northern waste by the paths of the jungle tribes; others, that it was a form of madness; at any rate, no one, neither king nor priest nor merchant nor laborer nor thief, remained in Commorion to abide its arrival, but all departed in a single migration to found at a distance of a day's journey the new capital, Uzuldaroum. And strange tales are told, of horrors and terrors not to be faced or overcome by man, that haunt forevermore the shrines and mausoleums and palaces of Commoriom. And still it stands, a luster of marble, a magnificence of granite, all a-throng with spires and cupolas and obelisks that the mighty trees of the jungle have not yet overtowered, in a fertile inland valley of Hyperborea. And men say that in its unbroken vaults there lies entire and undespoiled as of yore the rich treasure of olden monarchs; that the high-built tombs retain the gems and electrum that were buried with their mummies; that the fanes have still their golden altar-vessels and furnishings, the idols their precious stones in war and mouth and nostril and naval."
"...we saw in the moonlight the gleam of marble cupolas above the tree-tops, and then between the boughs and boles the wan pillars of shadowy porticoes. A few more steps, and we trod upon the paven streets that ran transversely from the high-road we were following, into the tall, luxuriant woods on either side, where the fronds of mammoth palm-ferns overtopped the roofs of ancient houses.
We paused, and again the silence of an elder desolation claimed our lips. For the houses were white and still as sepulchers, and the deep shadows that lay around and upon them were chill and sinister and mysterious as the very shadow of death. It seemed that the sun could not have shone for ages in this place- that nothing warmer than the spectral beams of the cadaverous moon had touched the marble and granite ever since that universal migration prompted by the prophecy of the White Sybil of Polarion.
"I wish it were daylight," murmured Tirouv Ompallios. Hos low tomes were oddly sibilant, were unnaturally audible in the dead stillness."
ADVENTURE IDEAS:
The Treasures of Satampra Zeiros
The city of Kor is dead but for the bestial life of the ape-man. While some parts of the city have been rebuilt by a few thousand of these strangely human-like and advanced creatures, most of the city remains locked in jungle-choked ruin. The oldest and more outlying areas of Kor are home to a more savage breed of ape-man as well as the beasts of the wild, the giant-sloth, clouds of giant bats, the sabre-tooth...
In the comfort of the old inn, the Silver Eel, Satampra Zeiros the One-Handed, tells of the great treasures to be found in a nameless and forgotten temple located in the abandoned suburbs of Kor, and of the map he is willing to sell for a substantial amount of gold, and a share in the treasure itself.
While Satampra's map is accurate, if slightly out of date, the treasures he speaks of, the eyes of the dark idol in the abandoned temple (rubies as big as norsemen's shields) and the collected offerings of millenia piled at the idol's feet, are not simply there for the taking. The temple is not abandoned, and the dark idol is not nameless. The wild ape-men of Kor, driven from the rebuilt center of the city by their more evolved cousins, have opened the doors to this ancient, squat stone temple and have found a god.
The passage to Kor, according to Satampra's map, is down the river Vol and onto a small tributary that ends at a collection of broken stone piers near the east of the city at the edge of the old suburbs. This basin is home to a water snake of gigantic proportions. Vasha, her ancestors altered by the power of ancient mages of Kor, is a stupendous creatures several times the size (and hit dice) of a normal water snake. She is of moderate intelligence but high cunning. She will not risk herself unless she is sure of success, though she is willing to sacrifice her progeny (what else are children for?) in great numbers. These water snakes are double the size and hit dice of normal water snakes and infest the half-submerged ruins immediately surrounding the pier.
Vasha lairs in a cavern beneath the basin. It was several passages and chambers (including a hidden chamber where the research was done on her ancient kin). Her nest has an escape tunnel that leads to the Torg inlet which she will not hesitate to use. Vasha is a big coward at heart. Vasha is immune to charm spells and abilities and her children are highly resistant.
The overgrown houses, shops, barracks and boulevards have abundant animal life. Exploration of these ruined buildings will result in numerous encounters with wild animals defending their lairs. As with Vasha's children these animals are highly resistant to charm spells and abilities, but they are no more aggressive than any other wild beasts of Hyperborea (at least for now).
If the players have Satampra's map it will show a path through the jungle and ruins that leads through, what one were, major streets of the outer city. These paths lead to a clearing. These paths are suspiciously clear and show signs of recent passage.
The clearing, at the end of a short three mile journey through the ruins, is a paved square with an old and worn squat black building made of basalt blocks. It is a short, three-tiered, ziggurat with a set of stairs leading directly to a pair of double doors at its top level. There are at least fifty bodies scattered about the square. Two of the largest clumps of the dead, comprising about a dozen bodies each, are charred and smoking. The others appear to be chopped, battered and broken. Other than a few exceptions the dead are ape-men, some clad in dark mangy capes (giant-bat skin).
The first non-ape-man body appears to be a youth, fair-haired perhaps nordic or kelt, the hands of an ape-man with a split-skull clutching his legs and the headless body of a second ape-man nearby. The youth has had his throat torn out. On his back is a large open pack which still contains food and some camping gear. He has an ordinary belt knife and clutches and unbloodied spear.
The second human body can be found at the foot of the ziggurat, a viking warrior. There are a half-dozen ape-man bodies around him, slain, apparently, by a large axe clutched in his right hand. A close examination of his body shows that his arms and legs are swollen and tinged with green. He wears an enchanted shirt of chainmail and his axe is also magical and runecarved.
There are no other visible entrances to the ziggurat other than the double-doors at the top of the stairs (although 2 secret and hidden passages are among the ruined buildings bordering the square). The long flight of stairs up to the doors is festooned with ape-man dead with a large pile of bodies before the doors. These bodies will need to be cleared before any attempt can be made to open the doors. As the players reach to drag away the last body an automaton of flesh springs up, tossing aside the corpse of the ape-man. It is only slightly damaged and will attack anyone approaching the door or directing ranged attacks against it.
The doors are shut with iron spikes and a crossbar from within. It will take 449 hp damage to batter them down. As the first blow against them falls (or if they are opened by any means) drums from the surrounding ruins begin to sound.
To be continued... Posted: 08-02-2020 08:03 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 4
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories
SPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I have started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas.
4). The End of the Story (Written Oct 1, 1929 First Published in Weird Tales May 1930)
Nycea (Lamia) - [NPC][MON]
"She was not tall, but was formed with exquisite voluptuous purity of line and contour. Her eyes were of a dark sapphire blue, with molten depths into which the soul was fain to plunge as into the soft abysses of a summer ocean. The curve of her lips was enigmatic, a little mournful, and gravely tender as the lips of an antique Venus. Her hair, brownish rather than blond, fell over her neck and ears and forehead in delicious ripples confined by a plain fillet of silver. In her expression, there was a mixture of pride and voluptuousness, of regal imperiousness and feminine yielding. Her movements were all as effortlessness and graceful as those of a serpent."
"...if you could behold her as she really is, you would see, in lieu of her voluptuous body, the folds of a foul and monstrous serpent."
ADVENTURE IDEAS:
The abbot of an ancient monastery sends out a call for help (via messengers throughout the region and to others of his order). Men from the nearby town have begun vanishing and now even some of his own monks have disappeared. One of the monks was bearing a minor relic which has allowed the abbot to divine its general location; in a wood of evil repute only a half-days march from the monastery. Within the wood are the ruins of a castle and it is within these ruins that the abbot believes the relic can be found, and perhaps the missing men.
The forest is home to giant ticks and toads, wolfs and weasels, snakes and spiders, all of whom seem determined to keep the players from reaching the ruins. There is a wildly overgrown path that shows signs of recent passage, the woods themselves are marshy and filled with tangles and briars, making it rough and slow going.
The ruins are no more than overgrown rubble except for a wide cleared area near their center (once the great hall of the castle). At the center of this clearing is a well-like circular stair that descends into darkness. Around these stairs dance a strange group of men, ape-men and men of Leng (about a half dozen of these satyrs). All are diseased, the ape-men and men of Leng with patchy, matted fur and all with weeping sores. Most are at half their normal hit points. If come upon unawares they will be dancing wildly about the stairs, two of the men of Leng playing pipes. But it is hard to reach the center clearing without rousing another dozen of the ape-men who rest among the thick growth and rubble. This rubble provides them with 3/4 cover and the ape-men will hoot, holler and throw stones (which are plentiful). If these ape-men are roused the men of Leng and others will scatter among the stones and do their best to keep any from reaching the stairs. All have been charmed by Nycea and will fight to the death with a smile upon their lips.
At the bottom of the steps is a maze of passages and rooms, the walls wet and crusted and a thick smell of corruption and decay ever present. Within the corridors and rooms stalk a pair of Manticores and nest of wererats who laired here before the coming of Nycea and now hide from her minions.
Nycea herself lairs deep within the ruins near an primordial well that descends unto a dark lake (an escape route for the ancient lamia). She is truly ancient, stronger with more hit dice and powers than a normal monster of her kind. She possesses several magical items, most notably an orb that allows her to scrye the surrounding land and use her powers to charm select males who will sneak away and come to her. Those so charmed bear the mark of Nycea visible only to others charmed by her, which allow them safe passage to her lair. Unfortunately Nycea is the carrier though not victim of a dread disease which she spreads to her more intimate minions. The disease causes 1d4 hit points of damage per day through fevers and weeping sores.
Nycea surrounds herself with charmed minions (all male) and snakes. Snakes, snakes, snakes, they adore Nycea and are drawn to her. snakes of all kinds surround and protect her.
The charmed monk with the relic (the fingerbone of a powerful cleric) wears this item about his neck in a lead cylinder. If opened it provides protection (10ft radius) to Nycea's charms and if she is struck in combat by this finger bone she will be dispelled in an explosion of light. The finger bone will disappear and reappear in the monastery.
while it is possible to defeat Nycea I like the idea of her as an illusive enemy that may haunt the players in future adventures. Posted: 08-02-2020 04:07 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 3
Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories SPOILER WARNING! If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose. Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I have started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas.
3). The Last Incantation (Written Sept 23 1929, Published in Weird Tales June 1930)
Malygris (Mage) - NPC Meros Valley - [PLC] Nylissa - [NPC] Poseidonous - [PLC] Susran (capital of Poseidonos) - [TWN] Zemander (stream) - [RVR]
Malygris Poseidonous Susran
"Malygris the magician sat in the topmost room of his tower that was builded on a conical hill above the heart of Susran, capital of Poseidonis. Wrought of a dark stone mined from deep in the earth, perdurable and hard as the fabled adamant, this tower loomed above all others, and flung its shadow far on the roofs and domes of the city, even as the sinister power of Malygris had thrown its darkness on the minds of men.
Now Malygris was old, and all the baleful might of his enchantments, all the dreadful or curious demons under his control, all the fear that he had wrought in the hearts of kings and prelates,were no longer enough to assuage the black ennui of his days. In his chair that was fashioned from the ivory of mastodons, inset with terrible cryptic runes of red tourmalines and azure crystals, he stared moodily though the one lozenge-shaped window of fulvous glass. His white eyebrows were contracted to a single line on the umber parchment of his face, and beneath them his eyes were cold and green as the ice of ancient floes; his beard, half white, half of a black with glaucous gleams, fell nearly to his knees and hid many of the writhing serpentine characters inscribed in woven silver athwart the bosom of his violet robe. About him were scattered all the appurtenances of his art; the skulls of men and monsters; phials filled with black or amber liquids, whose sacrilegious use was known to none but himself; little drums of vulture-skin, and crotali made from the bones and teeth of the cockodrill, used as an accompaniment to certain incantations. The mosaic floor was partly covered with the skins of enormous black and silver apes; and above the door there hung the head of a unicorn in which dwelt the familiar demon Malygris, in the form of a coral viper with pale green belly and ashen mottlings. Books were piled everywhere; ancient volumes bound in serpent-skin, with verdigris-eaten clasps, that held the frightful lore of Atlantis, the pentacles that have power upon the demons of the earth and the moon, the spells that transmute or disintegrate the elements; and runes from a lost language of Hyperborea, which, when uttered aloud, were more deadly than poison or more potent than any philtre."
Nylissa
"...the girl Nylissa whom he had loved.
ADVENTURE IDEAS:
Rather than an adventure about Malygris I see this grim mage as a source for many adventures. In my Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea campaign I will have him as one of the most powerful magicians in Hyperborea. He will be a font of knowledge esoteric, sorcerous and nefarious with many agents across the land to assist him. The players can become his paid agents, or cross paths with them, or act as hired adventurers sent to find some rare item or component while Malygris sits in his tower and dreams dark dreams. Posted: 08-01-2020 10:44 pm Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 2 Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 2
SPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I have started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas.
2). SADASTOR
Charnadis (Demon) - [MON] Lyspial (Siren) - [MON] Sadastor (Planet) - [PLC]
Charnadis Sadastor
"...I found a vast and winding valley that plunged even deeplier into the abysses of this dreadful world. It was walled with perpendicular cliffs and buttresses and pinnacles of rusty-red stone, that were fretted into a million bizarrely sinister forms by the sinking of the olden seas. I flew slowly among these cliffs as the wound ever downward in tortuous spirals for mile on mile of utter and irredeemable desolation, and the light grew dimmer above me as ledge on ledge and battlement on battlement of that strange red stone upreared themselves between my wings and the heavens. Here, when I rounded a sudden turn of the precipice, in the profoundest depth where the rays of the sun fell only for a brief while at noon, and the rocks were purple with everlasting shadow, I found a pool of dark-green water - the last remnant of the former ocean, ebbing still amid steep, insuperable walls. And from this pool there cried a voice, in accents that were subtly sweet as the mortal wine of the mandragora, and faint as the murmuring of shells."
Lyspial
"...I am a siren, and my name is Lyspial. Of the seas wherein I swam and sported at leisure many centuries ago, and whose gallant mariners I drew to an enchanted death on the shores of my disastrous isle, there remains only this fallen pool. Alas! For the pool dwindles daily, and when it wholly gone I too must perish."
ADVENTURE IDEA
The Treasure of Sadastor
In a deep valley the demon Charnadis hides his treasure hoard on an isle at the center of a red lake. Each new moon the demon sacrifices a beautiful maiden so that he may remain on this plane of existence. Prevent the sacrifice and Charnadis will be dispelled and his treasure will be for the taking.
If only it were that simple.
At the center of a small lake of accursed water in the valley of Sadastor lies the isle of Lyspial, a vampiress-siren. She is bound to her lake and isle and must feed from the blood-red waters. It is she who sacrifices any that can be brought or lured to her isle. At its center is a small manor house and behind the manor a tall ash-tree. From this tree she hangs her victims by their heels while their blood and life essence flow from their slashed throats. A channel runs from the tree down to the waters of her lake.
Charnadis is the willing paramour and servant of Lyspial. The great winged demon has servants of his own, both human and demonic. The humans, members of a cult which worship Charnadis, spread rumors of the treasure of Charnadis and gather slaves to be sacrificed to Lyspial. But Lyspial hungers for men and women of strength and power as well as the blood of slaves, so that the rumors that bring treasure hunters and adventurers are as desired as a steady flow of life and blood of lesser men and women. Charnadis also steals a few succulent maidens for his own desires and for Lyspial to sacrifice.
The valley of Sadastor is home to a tribe of wild-men who worship Lyspial. They live in a series of caves that honeycomb the valley. They are armed with poisoned blow-pipes and arrows, nets, jars of enchanted smoke that make men sleep, etc... to aid in the capture of anyone entering the valley. They do not attack the human cultists and the slave caravans which they recognize by certain signs and emblems that the cultists use and wear within the valley.
Charnadis has at his command lesser demons and his human cultists.
Lyspial has at her command Charnadis, his servants, the tribe of wild-men and all within the valley. Within the lake there are many lacedon ghouls, the tree and the top of the manor is home to several harpys, and Lyspial has charmed several adventurers (future sacrifices) who attend her within her small manor-house and will fight for her.
The manor has many small luxuries and treasures but in a chamber beneath her bedroom is a treasure vault containing a respectable amount of gold and jewels and a number of magic items, weapons and armor gathered from slain adventurers. A greater gorgon guards this treasure. Posted: 08-01-2020 02:30 pm REH's Conan stories list of names and ethnicities REH's Conan stories list of names and ethnicities
(Hopefully I haven't missed to many names or gotten the ethnicities wrong)
Abbreviations of Ethnicities
Acheron = Ach Aesir = Aesir Afghul = Afg Aquilonian = Aq Argossean = Arg Bakalah = Bak Brythunian = Bry Corinthian = Cor Dagonian = Dag Hyrkanian = Hyr Keshan = Kes Khauran = Kha Kothian = Kot Kozaki = Koz Kshatriyan = Ksh Kushite = Kus Kutchemesian = Kut Messantian = Mes Nemedian = Nem Ophirean = Op Pelishtim = Pel Pict = Pict Shemite = Shem Stygian = Sty Tlazitlans = Tla Turanian = Tur Vanir = Vanir Xuchotlan = Xu Yimsha = Yim Zamboulan = Zamb Zamoran = Zam Zingaran = Zin Zuagir = Zu
Acheron Xaltotun - Ach
Aesir Gorm - Aesir Horsa - Aesir Niord - Aesir Wulfhere - Aesir
Afghul Yar Afzal - Afg
Aquilonian Albiona - Aq Altaro - Aq Arpello - Aq Ascalante - Aq Athemides - Aq Balthus - Aq Dion - Aq Epemitreus - Aq Gromel - Aq Hadrathus - Aq Namedides - Aq Numedides - Aq Orastes - Aq Pallantides - Aq Prosepero - Aq Publius - Aq Rinaldo - Aq Servius Galannus - Aq Soractus - Aq Thespius - Aq Tiberias - Aq Trocero - Aq Valannus - Aq Valeria - Aq Valerius - Aq Volmana - Aq Zelata - Aq
Argossean Bracus - Arg Demetrio - Arg Galacus - Arg Strom - Arg Tito - Arg
Bakalah Aja - Bak Bajujh - Bak
Brythunian Aratus - Bry Natala - Bry
Corinthian Ivanos - Cor Muriela - Cor
Dagonian Khosatral Khel - Dag Yateli - Dag
Hyrkanian Amurath - Hyr
Keshan Gorulga - Kes Gwarunga - Kes
Khauran Ivga - Kha Krallides - Kha Salome - Kha Taramis - Kha Valrius - Kha
Kothian Almuric - Kot Arbanus - Kot Constantius - Kot Khossus - Kot Sergius - Kot Shupras - Kot Strabonus - Kot Taurus - Kot Thespides - Kot Tsotha-Lanti - Kot Vateesa - Kot Yasmela - Kot Zorathus - Kot
Kozaki Olgerd Vladislav - Koz
Kshatriyan Bunda Chand - Ksh Chunder Shan - Ksh Devi Yasmina - Ksh Gitara - Ksh
Kushite Ajaga - Kus Ajonga - Kus Laranga - Kus Shukeli - Kus Yasunga - Kus
Kutchemesian Thugra Kohotan (Nathok) - Kut
Messantian Publio - Mes
Nemedian Alcemides - Nem Amalric - Nem Arideus - Nem Arus - Nem Aztrias Petanius - Nem Demetrio - Nem Dionus - Nem Enaro - Nem Kalanthes - Nem Kallian Publico - Nem Nimed - Nem Numa - Nem Octavia - Nem Posthumo - Nem Promero - Nem Tarascus - Nem Taurus - Nem Zenobia - Nem
Ophirean Akkutho - Op Amalrus - Op Khossus - Op Livia - Op Olivia - Op Theteles - Op Tina - Op
Pelishtim Bit-Yakin - Pel
Pict Zogar Sag - Pict
Shemite Belit - Shem Gebal - Shem Gilzan - Shem Khumbanigasa - Shem Servio - Shem Zargheba - Shem
Stygian Ctesphon - Sty Kutamun - Sty Rammon - Sty? Tascela - Sty Thalis - Sty Thoth-Amon - Sty Thothmekri - Sty Thothmes - Sty Thutmekri - Sty Tuthamon - Sty Yara - Sty?
Tlazitlan Chicmec - Tla Olmec - Tla Tachic - Tla Techotl - Tla Tecuhltli - Tla Topal - Tla Xamec - Tla Xecelan - Tla Xotalanc - Tla Yanath - Tla Yasala - Tla Zlanath - Tla
Turanian Alafdhal - Tur Ghaznavi - Tur Jehungir Agha - Tur Jelal - Tur Jungir Khan - Tur Kerim Shah - Tur Khosru Khan - Tur Yildiz - Tur Yezdiderd - Tur
Vanir Bragi - Vanir Heimdul - Vanir
Xuchotlan Tolkemec - Xu
Yimsha Khemsa - Yim
Zamboulan Aram Baksha - Zamb Ghanara - Zamb Nafertari - Zamb Totrasmek - Zamb Zabibi - Zamb
Zamoran Shevatas - Zam
Zingaran Belesa - Zin Beloso - Zin Galbro - Zin Gebbrelo - Zin Sancha - Zin Tranicos - Zin Valbroso - Zin Valenso - Zin Zaporavo - Zin Zarono - Zin Zingelito - Zin
Zuagir Djebal - Zu
Misc. and Unkown Akivasha - ? Astreas - ? Athicus - ? Joka - ? Murilo - ? N'Gora - Island Kingdoms? N'Yaga - Island Kingdoms Nabonidus - ? Ortho - ? Pelias - ? Petreus - ? Satha - Giant Snake Thak - Ape-Man Tiberio - ? Vathelos - ? Yag-Kosha (or Hogah) - from the green planet Yag Yelaya - ? Zang - ? Zarallo - ?
Compiled from Del Rey's The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
The Phoenix in the Sword
Ascalante - Aq Ctesphon - Sty Dion - Aq Epemitreus - Aq Gromel - Aq Numa - Nem Numedides - Aq Pallantides - Aq Prosepero - Aq Publius - Aq Rammon - Sty? Rinaldo - Aq Thoth-Amon - Sty Trocero - Aq Volmana - Aq
Frost-Giant's Daughter
Bragi - Vanir Gorm - Aesir Heimdul - Vanir Horsa - Aesir Niord - Aesir Wulfhere - Aesir
The God in the Bowl
Arus - Nem Aztrias Petanius - Nem Demetrio - Nem Dionus - Nem Enaro - Nem Kalanthes - Nem Kallian Publico - Nem Posthumo - Nem Promero - Nem
The Tower of the Elephant
Taurus - Nem Yag-Kosha (or Hogah) - from the green planet Yag Yara - Sty?
The Scarlet Citadel
Ajaga - Kus Akkutho - Op Amalrus - Op Arbanus - Kot Arpello - Aq Athemides - Aq Khossus - Op Namedides - Aq Pelias - ? Satha - Giant Snake Shukeli - Kus Strabonus - Kot Tsotha-Lanti - Kot
Queen of the Black Coast
Belit - Shem N'Gora - Island Kingdoms? N'Yaga - Island Kingdoms Tito - Arg
Black Colossus
Amalric - Nem Khossus - Kot Kutamun - Sty Shevatas - Zam Shupras - Kot Taurus - Kot Thespides - Kot Thugra Kohotan (Nathok) - Kut Vateesa - Kot Vathelos - ? Yasmela - Kot
Iron Shadows In The Moon
Amurath - Hyr Aratus - Bry Ivanos - Cor Olivia - Op Sergius - Kot Yildiz - Tur
Xuthal of the Dusk
Almuric - Kot Natala - Bry Thalis - Sty
The Pool of the Black One
Sancha - Zin Zaporavo - Zin
Rogues in the House
Athicus - ? Joka - ? Murilo - ? Nabonidus - ? Petreus - ? Thak - Ape-Man
The Vale of Lost Women
Aja - Bak Bajujh - Bak Livia - Op Theteles - Op
The Devil in Iron
Ghaznavi - Tur Gilzan - Shem Jehungir Agha - Tur Jelal - Tur Khosatral Khel - Dag Octavia - Nem Yateli - Dag Yezdiderd - Tur
Compiled from Del Rey's The Bloody Crown of Conan
The People of the Black Circle
Bunda Chand - Ksh Chunder Shan - Ksh Devi Yasmina - Ksh Gitara - Ksh Kerim Shah - Tur Khemsa - Yim Khosru Khan - Tur Yar Afzal - Afg
The Hour of the Dragon
Akivasha - ? Ajonga - Kus Albiona - Aq Altaro - Aq Amalric - Nem Arideus - Nem Beloso - Zin Demetrio - Arg Gebal - Shem Hadrathus - Aq Laranga - Kus Nimed - Nem Orastes - Aq Publio - Mes Servio - Shem Servius Galannus - Aq Tarascus - Nem Thespius - Aq Thothmekri - Sty Thothmes - Sty Tiberias - Aq Tiberio - ? Tuthamon - Sty Valannus - Aq Valbroso - Zin Valerius - Aq Xaltotun - Ach Yasunga - Kus Zelata - Aq Zenobia - Nem Zorathus - Kot
A Witch Shall Be Born
Alcemides - Nem Astreas - ? Constantius - Kot Djebal - Zu Ivga - Kha Khumbanigasa - Shem Krallides - Kha Olgerd Vladislav - Koz Salome - Kha Taramis - Kha Valrius - Kha Zang - ?
Compiled from Del Rey's The Conquering Sword of Conan
The Servants of Bit-Yakin
Bit-Yakin - Pel Gorulga - Kes Gwarunga - Kes Muriela - Cor Thutmekri - Sty Yelaya - ? Zargheba - Shem
Beyond the Black River
Balthus - Aq Soractus - Aq Tiberias - Aq Valannus - Aq Valerius - Aq Zogar Sag - Pict
The Black Stranger
Belesa - Zin Bracus - Arg Galacus - Arg Galbro - Zin Gebbrelo - Zin Strom - Arg Thothmekri - Sty Tina - Op Tranicos - Zin Valenso - Zin Zarono - Zin Zingelito - Zin
The Man-Eaters of Zamboula
Alafdhal - Tur Aram Baksha - Zamb Ghanara - Zamb Jungir Khan - Tur Nafertari - Zamb Totrasmek - Zamb Zabibi - Zamb
Red Nails
Chicmec - Tla Tascela - Sty Techotl - Tla Tecuhltli - Tla Tolkemec - Xu Olmec - Tla Ortho - ? Tachic - Tla Topal - Tla Valeria - Aq Xamec - Tla Xecelan - Tla Xotalanc - Tla Yanath - Tla Yasala - Tla Zarallo - ? Zlanath - Tla Posted: 08-01-2020 11:32 am Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 1 Clark Ashton Smith - Some Ideas and Descriptions from his Stories 1
SPOILER WARNING!
If you have not read this story TURN BACK NOW! or risk losing forever the unspoiled appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's prose.
Inspired by the rules and setting of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyberborea boxed set and the discussion of the same on the OD&D Forum I have started sifting through my collection of Clark Ashton Smith for ideas.
The Abominations of Yondo (This story first appeared in print in the April 1926 issue of Overland Monthly but the typescript is dated February 5th 1925)
Cactus-Forest [WD] Fungi, Monstrous [MON] Insects, Long-Legged [MON] Lake, Weird [RVR] Monstrous Thing [MON] Ong (Lion Headed) [Deity] Ong, Inquisitors of [ORG] Vipers, Pale-Green [MON] Yondo, Desert of [PLC]
Cactus-Forest Ong Ong, Inquistors of
"It was noon of a vernal day when I came forth from that interminable cactus-forest in which the inquisitors of Ong had left me, and saw at my feet the grey beginnings of Yondo."
Yondo, Desert of
"The sand of the desert of Yondo is not as the sand of other deserts; for Yondo lies nearest of all to the world's rim; and strange winds, blowing from a gulf no astronomer may hope to fathom, have sown its ruinous fields with the grey dust of corroding planets, the black ashes of extinguished suns. The dark orb-like mountains which rise from its pitted and wrinkled plain are not all its own, for some are fallen asteroids half-buried in that abysmal sand. Things have crept in from nether space, whose incursion is forbid by watchful gods of all proper and well-ordered lands; but there are no such gods in Yondo, where live the hoary genii of stars abolished, and decrepit demons left homeless by the destruction of their antiquated hells."
Cactus-Forest Fungi, Monstrous Vipers, Pale-Green
"...in that fantastic wood, I had found no token or memory of spring; and the swollen, fulvous, dying and half-rotten growths through which i had pushed my way, were like no other cacti; but bore shapes of abomination scarcely to be described. The very air was heavy with stagnant odors of decay; and leprous lichens mottled the black soil and russet vegetation with increasing frequency. Pale-green vipers lifted their heads from prostrate cactus-boles, and watched me with eyes of bright ochre that had no lids or pupils. These things had disquieted me for hours past; and I did not like the monstrous fungi, with hueless stems and nodding heads of poisonous mauve, which grew from sodden lips of fetid tarns; and the sinister ripples spreading and fading on the yellow water at my approach..."
Insects, Long-Legged
"I went forward, sinking at each step in a loathly softness, and followed by certain long-legged insects that I had met among the cacti. These insects were the color of a week-old corpse, and were as large as tarantulas; but when I turned and trod upon the foremost, a mephitic stench arose that was more nauseous even than their color."
Lake, Weird
"Topping one of the any mound-like ridges, I saw the waters of a weird lake, unfathomably dark and green as malachite, and set with bars of profulgent salt. These waters lay far beneath me in a cup-like basin; but almost at my feet on the wave-worn slopes were heaps of that ancient salt; and I knew that the lake was only the bitter and ebbing dregs of some former sea. Climbing down, I came to the dark waters, and began to lave my hands; but there was a sharp and corrosive sting in that immemorial brine, and I desisted quickly, preferring the desert dust that had wrapped about me like a slow shroud."
Monstrous Thing
"It was then that I heard a diabolic chuckle on the hillside above me. The sound began with a sharp abruptness that startled me beyond all reason, and continued endlessly, never varying its single note, like that mirth of some idiotic demon. I looked up, and saw the mouth of a dark cave, fanged with green stalactites, which I had not perceived before. The sound appeared to come from within this cave.
...with all the rapidity of nightmare, a monstrous Thing emerged. It had a pale, hairless, egg-shaped body, large as that of a gravid she-goat; and this body was mounted on nine long, wavering legs with many flanges, like the legs of some enormous spider. The creature ran past me to the water's edge; and I saw that there were no eyes in its oddly sloping face, but two knife-like ears rose high above its head, and a thin, wrinkled snout hung down across its mouth, whose flabby lips, parted in that eternal chuckle, revealed rows of bat's teeth."
In the few short pages of the Abominations of Yondo there is much more about the desert and its horrific denizens. Asteroid pits, ruined cities and ruined temples, mausoleums broke and surrounded by rotting cypresses. Shadow creatures, beckoning statues, vapors with the sickening odor of corruption, empty suits of armor marching across the desert, mummies of ancient kings ridden by ape-like demonic beasts with distorted bodies.
An obvious scenario idea is for the players to be driven through the mutated cactus-forest with the desert of Yondo their only means of escape, but Yondo can be the setting for many adventures. The story is a description of Yondo's horrors but it hints at greater terrors and perhaps great rewards for those who would dare explore its shattered fanes and ruined necropoli. Posted: 07-31-2020 04:55 pm Gygax's Letter in Alarums and Excursions #15
Gygax's Letter in Alarums & Excursions #15
Dear Lee,
Hereafter you will find comments regarding A&E 14 done in the order in which the material they pertain to appears in the zine. This is bound to cause a rather disjointed missive for which I beg your kind indulgence in advance.
Your stand regarding future publication of variant material is most appreciated, for we do not particularly feel happy to see some rehash of our copyrighted material. With regard to commercial sale of material pertaining to D&D, I can state that TSR is absolutely opposed to the practice in those cases where there is infringement upon our copyright. In the case of your supplemental material, I cannot say but will certainly tend to look more favorably on an enterprise of yours you have been most careful and conscientious regarding the rights of TSR. Please let us take a loot at the material if you wish to go ahead.
Rick Schwall played in "Greyhawk Castle" once or twice, but he either was with a very small group -- I do not recall -- or his memory is not good. Rob and I do not bother to place adventurers on any sort of graph if the group is three or less. All placement is easily kept track of with so few players involved in combat. When more than three persons are in a party, we always require that they align themselves in a march order, the leader be in the front rank, and changes in marching order be noted. The party keeps one copy of this, and they must furnish us with a duplicate. When combat takes place we sometimes use miniatures, otherwise paper and pencil, to record positions, actions, hits given and hits scored. My favorite grid for character positions in combat is a large sheet of staggered squares covered with acetate. Colored china markers are used to show positions, moved, etc. When running large groups through a tournament scenario, such nice touches must be done away with in the interest of time.
Lee, no matter how carefully something is written, and I am not thereby claiming D&D was written with a view towards deletion of ambiguities, there will always be some person at work to twist the content to their own ends. A classic case is the Avalon Hill game STALINGRAD, which stated the German player could place up to 8 factors of German units in Finland. As the rules did not mention Rumanian units, some of these clever fellows put them into Finland too! I take exception to the statement that I am not able to write very clearly. Correctly put forth in a form asserting that D&D was not written without loopholes or carefully would be quite acceptable. When I treat historical subjects, rules are written in a far different manner. Specifically to the point, magic-users are not allowed to wear any form of armor or use any form of weapon other than daggers. We have amended our treatment to allow them to use staves as weapons as well. Characters able to operate in two or more classes at once do not fall under the injunction against armor and weapons. Thieves can use nothing better than leather armor, and they may never use a shield. They may use only daggers and/or swords, magical or not. I would allow them to use a garrot or sling in some cases. Likewise, I would allow the use of a fine chainmail short of magical nature. The point is that the DM should make such decisions. (Ooops, I just blamed you for something evidently written by Glenn Blacow... Sorry!)
Glenn has quite a few novel concepts. Evidently he believes a dungeon should be rather like a fun house, with a monster behind every door and so much magic available you can't keep track of the enchanted swords without a scorecard. Anyway, I personally dislike refereeing for expeditions above six persons, but demand usually force me to take more. The largest party we ever took into "Greyhawk Castle" was 16 --- and four actually survived to tell of it. And that without 75% occupancy and no more than a half-dozen traps on a typical level. In any event, from your statements, Glenn, I do believe you could handle play in my dungeon -- or even Arneson's -- and do well, but how can the clean-up crew be considered "helpless"? An encounter with an ochre jelly dropping from the ceiling can be rather devastating.
Rumors concerning the way we play D&D seem to be flying about all sorts of places, and unfortunately most of these bits of information are only partially correct at best. Dan Plerson says that we are rumored to play competitive D&D with group against group. It so happens that when we get the campaign into high gear, there is considerable competition between three or four factions, and they find it enjoyable to attack each other when the opportunity arise -- and they do play to make such opportunities. As a DM I find this quite suitable. It does not occur frequently. It almost never happens during dungeon expeditions. Here is how we have things set up:
The game world is a parallel earth, but the continents are somewhat different. Most of our campaign activity takes place on what corresponds to North America, on the eastern half of the continent. The "Blackmoor" lands lie far up on the northeast coast. "Greyhawk" is in the central portion. There are a few other independently run campaigns located on this map. There are also some other dungeons related to the "Greyhawk" campaign located at some distance from the free city of Greyhawk. Players in our campaign may freely play in "Blackmoor", but to get there they must adventure cross country. With one or two other campaigns, we do not allow any cross-campaign play other than this, for these is too great a disparity of DMing. The territory within 500 or so miles of our main dungeon is mapped out at 5 miles to the hex. Territory within 50 miles of Greyhawk city is mapped more closely, and monster locations are indicated. The entire world is mapped out in rough form, with notes regarding typical encounters in given areas as well as particular special places, for hardy souls who wish to go forth to seek their fortunes.
Charlie Luco is quite correct. Kuntz and Ward should have known better than to fly in the face of an already published monster, and the Rakshasa business is now too late to correct. The whole of GODS' needs correcting due to the mis-stripping done at the printer. When we do this, we will probably enlarge the format to 8 1/2 x 11, add a lot more material and make necessary corrections at the same time. Rakshasas will stay as they are in SR, and the indian demons will be properly indicated to be something else altogether.
Mr. Konkin's ethos is rather strange in equating good with law and chaos with evil, but becoming embroiled in a philosophical discussion is the last thing in the world I need, so let's skip it.
I do not believe that Wayne Shaw has ever played in an actual "Greyhawk" expedition, although he may have been involved in a tournament game sponsored by TSR which I had a hand in devising. From his comments, I am forced to suppose that the good man does not care to think, and his answer to problem solving is to kill. At least he got the wrong impression. I invite him to set up an appointment to have a go at the real thing, and let us see if he "naturally" slays the creatures he encounters. I lose all patience with sophomoric players of this sort; they belong in a Monty Hall dungeon.
It seems that Dungeons & Beavers players are getting paranoid. We did not design GODS' simply to shame them or whatever. The supplement was written to conform to the major type of play going on in the country. If the beings therein do not fit into their particular manner of play, it is easy enough to ignore the whole work -- or add a zero to the hit points each can take. Yes, fellows, I find 20th level to be absolutely incredible, for you won't get it in the games hereabouts -- or in most other places which I hear in talking with DMs. It makes good players angry to hear about umpteenth level characters when they have had to play two actual years, carefully and intelligently, to rise to tenth level or so.
A good example is the Origins I dungeon -- incidentally drawn from a similar tomb designed by Alac Lucion. Very few of the players who engaged in the tournament were able to think out the problems. In a test run, Rob Kuntz, in his game persona as a 13th level (evil) lord went through the entire tomb in four hours actual time. He took 14 orcs and a couple of low-level flunkies with him. He lost all the party, but his character personally looted the lich's tomb and escaped with the goodies. Rosenberg is wrong, for there were a number of ways to get out the place, although only two to get out with anything except your skin. I hope that in the future I will be able to have more individuals try "Greyhawk Castle." It's not as tough as "Blackmoor," but I think it might give some few an enjoyable time.
Thanks for sending A&E along! I hear you missed GenCon West I, but I hope that you'll make II and I'll see you there. Arneson went to this year's event, and it is my turn to go in '77
Best regards,
E. Gary Gygax
NOTE: I will be adding the comments from A&E #14 that Gygax is responding to, probably within the next few days. Posted: 07-31-2020 04:32 pm Origins 1 ToH review from A&E #4
I had hoped that this would be a retelling of a Castle Greyhawk adventure, but instead I soon realized that this poor group of adventurers (complete newbies for the most part) had wandered into The Tomb of Horrors. I have retyped this as I found it, spelling errors included (I just hope that I've added none of my own).
From: Alarums & Excursions #4 September 1975
Billy Balrog's Own Fanzine number three By Mark Sawnson
ORIGINS I occurred this past weekend. This zine is con report, adventure description and critque and a multiple game review. Since it review a few details of a Dungeon that Gygax will be running as Gencon in mid-August it should not appear until the September A&E, regardless of how late the August one is, (unless it doesn't appear until September.)
We drove down from our gathering point in Conn. last Friday (july 25) New Jersey is still the Blasted Lands and Baltimore, outside John Hopkins, is a slum. $13 was very. low for 2 nights, even if they were un-airconditioned "coffin singles." The food in the cafeteria was acceptable, since there were no decent nearby cheap restruants a Good Thing,and I haven't heard of any problems with the campus administration. The minatures play was rare, but Dippy, Iron Ships & Wooden Men (or vice versa), and all sorts of board games abounded. After I picked the wrong method of finding two German Pak 75/L40's I was out of the armor minature play and devoted myself to kibutzing on one and all. (Above report dedicated to giving Pelz something to complain about even harder than D&D - which follows.)
THE DUNGEON that Gary had brought along was being run in a tournament - all parties with identical characters (ranging from a MU 12 to a Fighter 4 - with strength of 18. As characters were assigned in alphabetical order I ended up as a 6th rate Magic user- supposedly the weakest in the group. Four of the fifteen had any previous experience. I grabbed the callers spot and announced the imposition of military discipline. Judging by the way the game went, Slobbovian army.
As I started to say- there were no wandering monsters (damn few monsters at all, in fact), plenty of traps (too many) and very few experienced players. It was run by Gary's son, who devoted no effort to keeping the characters in character. However, we did just as well as the other Friday night group- with 13 expert adventurers, that many would be callers- and perhaps just a shade to much caution.
We were to loot a tomb, hidden under a hill. Paul Bean having chosen our spells while I described D&D to the 11 novices and Gary's son wrote out the character descriptions (why they didn't make up several sets on 3x5 cards beforehand passeth understanding - to busy is the probable explanation.) No names were assigned to the characters. The remaining two experienced players- New Yorkers I think, retired into a corner to determine their own equipment. It quickly bacame obvious that they had tabbed me as the bossy type and didn't want to argue. The situation- which was dire- demanded such behavior, however. A little more assistance would have been usefull. Paul and I made a bad mistake at once- not being used to playing with single use spells we did not take enough multiple copies of the more usefull ones. Everyone had a magic item or two- I had levitation boots- in this dungeon the most usefull thing in the whole group. We had two magic users (12, 6), 2 clerics (10,6), 7 fighters (8 Palafine,3x7,6,5,4), 2 thieves (9,5)(Hobbit thief=5: in the other party they started down the tunnel to the tune of "Thieves aren't lawful, Hobbits aren't Neutral; where do Hobbit thieves come from" a case of that sub-Game- Grossing Out the Dungeonmaster). And 2 elves (M6 F4, M4 F4 C4!) No time to investigate Elvish clerics- and Gary's son was running things "by the book".
My fabulous career as caller began as we first entered the right hand entrance and emerged slightly ahead of the ceiling. We then tried the right entrance- and were trapped as a wall slid too behind us. Our Passwall spell got us out. (In the other party , tale-end Charlie responded to this event by "drawing sword and bow." His march position was readjusted. They hadn't realized no wandering monsters either.)
Finally we entered the central entrance, and headed down the 20' wide passage. The walls were plastered and covered with murals. 40' down there was a picture of two dogheaded beings holding a coffer- which stuck out of the wall. I decided that we could do without Anubis's kin and continued. Our elves reported no secret doors or traps. Ten more feet and out #2 and #3 fighters fell into a trap and lost minor bickerings with three poisoned, 5' spikes each. Poor quality elves we have hear, thought I. We dragged them out. Should our Patriarch raise them from the dead? After 5 hours in the Barren Lands my condition might have been described as numb. With a hazy idea of saving the spell for later I ordered them dropped back into thee pit for later recovery. Neither the Paladin nor the Patriarch protested. The Dungeonmaster did not tell them they should have (both were neos.) No one suggested that we take their useful equipment along with us (one had a bag of holding.) At this point I ordered a Locate Traps spell used- a bit late- and we avoided two more pits on the way down to the end of the corridor- 60'. Still plastered walls, still the elves detected no hollow spaces or hidden doors. What a time to pick defective elves!
At the end of the passageway there was a devil mouth- with an open, black mouth. Things shoved in did not return. On the left there was a door with a blue haze covering it. anything that went partway in came back, Things that went in all the way did not. Paul, a F7 and the only other useful person on the expedition to this point volunteered to investigate the door. He went through and the Dmaster took him outside. In a bit, I decided it was time to charge through all together. (How do you run a 15 man expedition- (all characters were male) why, most of the players are an attentive audience.)
Our Patriarch and the 7th level Dwarf decide to stay put, and went outside. the game room. We found ourselves inside a 10' square, 30' high room, without doors and possessed of 3 levers. At this point I announced that we were all driving spikes into the walls and standing on them. Various conditions of levers were tried. All three down resulted in the floor opening for a stimulating view of a 100' drop. At this point the Dmaster told that the levers had started in the neutral position. all three were put up, the ceiling opened and we climbed up and into a 3' high and wide crawlway.
At this point the cleric and dwarf were brought in and decided to enter the screen behind us. Somehow the floor had reopened behind us and we had one small and one holy mound of flesh 130' down from where we were. By this point I had a feeling that this was not going to be the most successful adventure of the tournament.
We crawled up the passageway, discovered a room above a trapdoor with wooden, golden and silver chests; containing a massive skeleton, 10 snakes and a magic ring with white dust inside. The hobbit thief tried it on, deciding not to remove the powder and promptly died. We wiped it off and took the ring along.
We got out along the crawlway. The room was plastered, the elves detected nothing and I had not yet grasped that a 1/2" of plaster was elf proof. Gygax's elves have to see secret doors, reasonable but not what I am accustomed to. We came back up in a pit with two old friends in it. I suggested departure. The rest of the party wanted a crack at Anubis's cousins- resulting, after a lever in a30' pit being found- from which Paul was extracted with only bruises.
Someone else had a brilliant thought- what's behind the plaster? We broke some and found a door. Blasted insensitive elves! Down a corridor and discovered two super-gargoyles, which were disposed of with difficulty- they being 8th level and no one on our side remembering whatmagic they had. Finally, a lightning javelin did the trick, while it was demonstrated once more that "Charm person" does nothing to gargoyles. (The rest of the party had not gotten the idea and ordered their characters around to a limited degree.) Two colars at 500 GP were thus acquired- our only treasure, it turned out.
Now through a maze of 10' square rooms with walls that pivoted vertically, horizontally, slid up,down,and sideways. Each direction had to be individually specified. The party agreed and our 18 (80%) fighter started making holes in the wall instead. This git up to another 20' corridor, with more plaster to break, thence into a crawlspace (thank Ghu for no wandering monsters!" which got us to a chapel. Blue altar-which our Paladin warned us not to touch (26 point lightning bolt as it turned red, so I learned from another party later) and an orange mist door. Our sixth level cleric walked into it. A female anti-cleric promptly emerged and threw a curse. "I'm attacking her with my +3 mace announced our sole living cleric operator. Gently the situation was explained to him. The Dmaster decided the curse had been hurled at the Paladin. Who picked the misguided female up and hurled her into the orange doorway; from which emerged our cleric with a sore jaw.
At this point we got a five minute warning and things started to move fast. The fing into a slot on the opposite wall (there went a 5' diameter protection ring, said the Dmaster.) Out along a 10' corridor, down a flight of stairs as three more panic- a landing, doors east and west...
"Games over" said Gary. Another, later party, possibly aided by rumors or led by someone who understood pits, elf proof plaster and the unpopulated nature of Gygax's dungeon- got th whole treasure. Sigh.
From this experience I deduce a couple of lessons.
1) Don't run D&D as a tournament. 2) Always shatter plaster unless you are in the dungeon of nasty minded people such as I who might put poison gas behind it. 3) Play a Gygax game if you like pits, secret doors and Dungeon Roulette. Play a game such as in A&E if you prefer monsters, talking/arguing/fighting with chance met characters and a more exciting game. of course, the game may not have been typical, but Gary can defend himself. I felt no real desire for a second, similar game. Posted: 07-31-2020 03:19 am Gygax's Letter from Alarums and Excursions #8
Alarums & Excursions #8 A Letter From E. Gary Gygax
There was an interesting comment in the October ish which I cannot allow to pass unchallenged. This veritable pearl of wisdom dropped from the learned lips of one "Barry." [Well, not really. It actually occurs in PERCEPTION 2, pages one and two written by Dick Eney. It is addressed to Barry who had condemned "xeroxing D&D rules instead of paying for them" in an earlier issue. Future allusions to "Barry" will be changed to "Eney" by the typist. -- LG.]
Now in all fairness, I must preface my remarks with the admission that I once said something very like what this good fellow did with regard to "pirating" of miniature figures. Jack Scruby wrote a rebuttal which made me look a tad foolish and set the matter straight. So now the shoe is really on the other foot and it pinches a trifle.
Leaving aside the question of legality -- and it is illegal to copy works held under copyright, of course -- I must set you all straight about costs. The production of a game or rules set entails very many expenses beyond the base printing cost, and I must say that the printing cost of D&D runs quite a bit above the six bits that Eney mistakenly asserts is the cost. (If, in fact, he can have the three booklets printed, the separate charts also done, and assembled, the box made and wrapped, and the whole put together and shrink-wrapped for that price, he should contact me immediately and let me know the name of the printer!) However initial printing cost is not the only consideration. First, a substantial sum of money must be raised in order to pay for from 3,000 to 5,000 copies of the print run, and a place to house all these sets must be found. Then material to handle orders, wrap them and ship them must be arranged for, as well as someone to do the actual work. Records must be kept. Taxes must be paid. Royalties must be reported and paid to authors and artists. Salaries must be paid. Overhead must be paid. And there is always the good old discount! We offer them, hobby stores get them (and most folks would rather go and pick their materials up immediately than wait for a mail order), and distributors get very substantial ones. They're all necessary and beneficial -- except that in some cases the authors make more money on a run than TSR does! That's fine as long as the overhead and fixed expenses get taken care of, but it doesn't consider what is to be done for new productions.
As A&E has not hesitated to point out, TSR deserves to gain some profit for its venture. Frankly, we do not think anybody else would have been willing to hazard what we did in pioneering the fantasy game field. In this same vein, we have many other new designs which we wish to publish, but each entails a considerable amount of time, effort and capital. TSR employees all receive minimal wages in order that the firm will have enough excess to produce new material. To correct the learned Eney, D&D, GREYHAWK, CHAINMAIL et al., most certainly are bread and butter to five or six TSR employees (including myself, my wife and our five children). They are also the bread and butter of those who look forward to new material from TSR.
This whole matter irritates me more than a little when I think of the time and effort I have put into it for the past few years, the work all of the TSR people have put in with an average remuneration of something less than two dollars per hour, while some nit babbles about matters he has absolutely no conception of! (As I was careful to preface this whole thing with the admission that I once did the same with regard to the costs of miniature figures, I trust no personal offense will be taken.)
Again, Eney seemingly shells out a buck for A&E without qualm or complaint because it contains something he enjoys greatly. Doesn't D&D deserve the same regard? I think so. It is illegal to copy D&D. It is unethical. And in the final analysis, it might mean real loss to great numbers of people. That isn't to say that there is the least objection to copying parts of the books for your own use or for that matter if some individual is too damn poor to afford the cost of his own copy of D&D, it is better he get a Xerox than not be able to play. But how many copies are simply made so as to profit the fellow illegally duplicating his D&D? Or how many are made in order to save the money, so as to use it for some other form of entertainment? It all boils down to the question about whether or not the laborer is worthy of his hire. Evidently Eney does not think so. I appreciate A&E's stand with regard to this matter and letter is written primarily to vindicate it, for I doubt it will turn those with a dishonest bent from whatever course they choose.
From Alarums & Excursions #1 by Barry Gold
Lee and I, as publishers of Alarums and Excursions, recommend that you buy the rules to Dungeons and Dragons if you don't already have them. Xeroxing somebody else's copy is unethical and illegal too. If you are going to get involved enough in the game to build your dungeon, you should at least spring for $10 for the rule books. If you aren't making your own dungeons, you don't really need the books - some other player can tell you how to make and play a character. So there is no excuse for making a bootleg copy and depriving Gary Gygax, the game's inventor, of his fair share.
The latest prices we have are D&D $10, Chainmail $5, Greyhawk $5, dice $2.50 per set --- one each D4, D6, D8, D12, D20. Chainmail is the predecessor of D&D and is useful for resolving missile fire in melee. Greyhawk is the first supplement, with new spells, monsters and treasure.
From Alarums & Excursions #5 October 1975 Depth Perception 2 By Dick Eney
BARRY: There are mutterings of Discontent over your comment anent(Sp?) depriving Gygax of his fair share by xeroxing Dungeons and Dragons and, by extension, Greyhawk and Chainmail. as I believe that I (hem hem) am unlikely to be tagged as one of the irresponsible hippie types trying to tear down the fabric of our Free Enterprise system, maybe I'd be the right one to state them.
Firstest, let us Define Our Terms. D&D, Greyhawk, and Chainmail are fanzines (and there are more than a few Fanzines with better artwork and proofreading). That is, they are something that is published in connection with Gygax's hobby and for fellow hobbyists; they are not his bread and butter and so we don't have to make a baseline calculation of what brings him in a decent annual salary, as we would with a fulltime professional. On the other hand, we do have to him justice and make sure that a work which has brought us so much pleasure doesn't wind up costing him something out of pocket. All X so far?
Now let's make a cost guestimate. Volume I is 36 pages and a heavy cover, II is 40 pages and a heavy cover, and III is 36 pages and a heavy cover. Pages are four to a quarto sheet, so there are 18 standard-size sheets and three heavy covers. Let's assume something I don't really believe for a moment: that he hadn't the information to shop around for a price break or quantity discount, and paid the prices for commercial instant-print lithography, i.e. got badly ripped off. Nevertheless, even paying premium rates like that, 1000 sets of D&D -- that is, of all three booklets together -- should have cost him about $733.80. If he printed 2000 at once it would have been nearer $1268.80 (or $624.40 per thousand). Greyhawk, similarly, should have stood him $341.20 per thousand; if he got 2000, then $583.00 total (or $291.50 per thousand). Any of you can check this with your friendly neighborhood instant-print lithographer, so I won't bother with the calculations here. I did run it past George Scithers, who gets similar-size print runs for AMRA; he gets distinctly better prices for the whole operation including commercial stapling, even though AMRA uses odd-size special-order paper, runs half-tines, and is far superior in quality of repro to D&D.
Personally, I paid the full list price for Dungeons and Dragons and Greyhawk both, just as I did for other stuff like Warriors of Mars and intend to do for War of Wizards and Empire of the Petal throne and probably more. Presumably many of the rest of us did or would do the same, as a point of honor. But when somebody charges me $10 for an item that should have cost him less than 75c, that's a markup of well over a thousand percent (unless I punched the wrong buttons, it comes to 1264% for D&D and 1366% for Greyhawk. all in all, I am not about to dump on Xerox fandom on the grounds that Gygax is being screwed every time that green light flashes.
NOTE: Comment by Sherna Burley From Alarums&Excursions #7
Dick Eney: I find your calculation of Gary Gygax's profit frightening. You have overlooked a couple of factors, though. First, the box probably costs quite a bit (no; about 15c retail -- R.E. [Dick Eney]), and its label costs something too. Second, and more important, I bought my copy from a friend, a (fan) dealer, who was able to give me a discount. This means that, whatever Gygax gets for this set, it is not always the full $10. When there are all those overhead costs, including postage on his mail orders...
As a (partial) beneficiary of Xerox, I am glad to think, however, that he does make quite a bit more profit than seems reasonable, even if not the 1264% you calculated. (Let it be noted that I bought D&D and GREYHAWK, and would not have had the money to buy a new set to replace my lost V.I of D&D.) [I've never seen any offer of single volumes; does anyone know if they are replaceable other than by this sort of bootlegging? -- R.E. aka Dick Eney] Posted: 07-30-2020 10:41 pm Regional Products of the Flanaess - Cloth and Fur
Blue = Fur Red = Cloth
As can be seen the origional resource map shows a strong interconnection between areas exporting fur (almost all the northern realms with the exception of Blackmoor and the Snow Barbarians. The same is reasonably true regarding cloth production and export.
Fur in this case can be guessed at as referring to heavy winter furs rather than the inclusion of pelts, skins or hides.
Cloth production and especially exportation seems much more questionable. It is so widespread that it makes me wonder who is buying the exports? Posted: 07-30-2020 05:19 pm Alarums and Excursions Mini-Review From Strategic Review #6 Feb 1976
Alarums and Excursions Mini-Review From Strategic Review #6 Feb 1976
Alarums & Excursions is a group project collated and edited by Lee Gold... The rates vary from issue to issue, so get them from Lee. It consists of contributions from numerous people, and deals solely with D&D. It is an excellent source of ideas, inspirations and fun. It provides a forum for debate and controversy (some of it is to be taken with a grain of salt, as one or two debates are woefully lacking in background on the topics. For some time now it has seen discussions of printing costs from people that are either ignorant concerning the topic, or incredibly naive). Printing in a single issue can range from terrible to very good. For all of its faults, it is far and away the best D&D 'zine, and well worth reading. See for yourself why it rates a MAJOR TRIUMPH.
NOTE: The comments regarding printing costs appear to be in response to a comment which first appeared in Alarums & Excursions #5 in the portion labeled Depth Perception 2 by Dick Eney. He writes in response Barry (Barry Gold, I believe, and this mention regarding xeroxing the D&D rules written in Alarums & Excursions #1)
From Alarums & Excursions #1 by Barry Gold
Lee and I, as publishers of Alarums and Excursions, recommend that you buy the rules to Dungeons and Dragons if you don't already have them. Xeroxing somebody else's copy is unethical and illegal too. If you are going to get involved enough in the game to build your dungeon, you should at least spring for $10 for the rule books. If you aren't making your own dungeons, you don't really need the books - some other player can tell you how to make and play a character. So there is no excuse for making a bootleg copy and depriving Gary Gygax, the game's inventor, of his fair share.
The latest prices we have are D&D $10, Chainmail $5, Greyhawk $5, dice $2.50 per set --- one each D4, D6, D8, D12, D20. Chainmail is the predecessor of D&D and is useful for resolving missile fire in melee. Greyhawk is the first supplement, with new spells, monsters and treasure.
From Alarums & Excursions #5 October 1975 Depth Perception 2 By Dick Eney
BARRY: There are mutterings of Discontent over your comment anent(Sp?) depriving Gygax of his fair share by xeroxing Dungeons and Dragons and, by extension, Greyhawk and Chainmail. as I believe that I (hem hem) am unlikely to be tagged as one of the irresponsible hippie types trying to tear down the fabric of our Free Enterprise system, maybe I'd be the right one to state them.
Firstest, let us Define Our Terms. D&D, Greyhawk, and Chainmail are fanzines (and there are more than a few Fanzines with better artwork and proofreading). That is, they are something that is published in connection with Gygax's hobby and for fellow hobbyists; they are not his bread and butter and so we don't have to make a baseline calculation of what brings him in a decent annual salary, as we would with a fulltime professional. On the other hand, we do have to him justice and make sure that a work which has brought us so much pleasure doesn't wind up costing him something out of pocket. All X so far?
Now let's make a cost guestimate. Volume I is 36 pages and a heavy cover, II is 40 pages and a heavy cover, and III is 36 pages and a heavy cover. Pages are four to a quarto sheet, so there are 18 standard-size sheets and three heavy covers. Let's assume something I don't really believe for a moment: that he hadn't the information to shop around for a price break or quantity discount, and paid the prices for commercial instant-print lithography, i.e. got badly ripped off. Nevertheless, even paying premium rates like that, 1000 sets of D&D -- that is, of all three booklets together -- should have cost him about $733.80. If he printed 2000 at once it would have been nearer $1268.80 (or $624.40 per thousand). Greyhawk, similarly, should have stood him $341.20 per thousand; if he got 2000, then $583.00 total (or $291.50 per thousand). Any of you can check this with your friendly neighborhood instant-print lithographer, so I won't bother with the calculations here. I did run it past George Scithers, who gets similar-size print runs for AMRA; he gets distinctly better prices for the whole operation including commercial stapling, even though AMRA uses odd-size special-order paper, runs half-tines, and is far superior in quality of repro to D&D.
Personally, I paid the full list price for Dungeons and Dragons and Greyhawk both, just as I did for other stuff like Warriors of Mars and intend to do for War of Wizards and Empire of the Petal throne and probably more. Presumably many of the rest of us did or would do the same, as a point of honor. But when somebody charges me $10 for an item that should have cost him less than 75c, that's a markup of well over a thousand percent (unless I punched the wrong buttons, it comes to 1264% for D&D and 1366% for Greyhawk. all in all, I am not about to dump on Xerox fandom on the grounds that Gygax is being screwed every time that green light flashes.
NOTE: Comment by Sherna Burley From Alarums&Excursions #7
Dick Eney: I find your calculation of Gary Gygax's profit frightening. You have overlooked a couple of factors, though. First, the box probably costs quite a bit (no; about 15c retail -- R.E. [Dick Eney]), and its label costs something too. Second, and more important, I bought my copy from a friend, a (fan) dealer, who was able to give me a discount. This means that, whatever Gygax gets for this set, it is not always the full $10. When there are all those overhead costs, including postage on his mail orders...
As a (partial) beneficiary of Xerox, I am glad to think, however, that he does make quite a bit more profit than seems reasonable, even if not the 1264% you calculated. (Let it be noted that I bought D&D and GREYHAWK, and would not have had the money to buy a new set to replace my lost V.I of D&D.) [I've never seen any offer of single volumes; does anyone know if they are replaceable other than by this sort of bootlegging? -- R.E. aka Dick Eney] Posted: 07-29-2020 08:25 pm Reference List of Various Fanzines from 1970's Reference List of Various Fanzines from 1970'sHere is a list of references to various fanzines
A&E = Alarums&Excursions DRG = Dragon Magazine SR = The Strategic Review
Abyss (DRG#50) Alarums & Excursions (SR4)(DRG#50) The American Wargamer (A&E11) APA-DUD/Pandemonium (DRG#50) APA-L (A&E1) APA-NESFA (A&E9) Apprentice (DRG#22)(DRG#3) AZAPA (A&E8) Battle Report (SR3) The Beholder (DRG#50) Conquest (Divine Right PBM)(DRG#35) The Cosmic Balance (A&E11) Dankendismal (SR6) Europa (A&E11) The Fantorgn Scrolls (A&E12) Fire the Arquebusiers! (SR6) Great Plains Game Players Newsletter/Gamelog (SR4)(DRG#33) Kranor-Rill (SR4) Liaisons Dangeruses (SR4) The Lords of Chaos (DRG#50) Morningstar (DRG#50) News From Bree (A&E11) Owl & Weasel (SR6) Phoenix (DRG#22) Quick Quincy Gazette (DRG#50) Ryth Chronicle (A&E11)(SR6) Spartan (A&E5) The Stormlord (DRG#50) Trollcrusher (DRG#50) The Wild Hunt (A&E9)(DRG#50) WSFA Journal (SR4) Zepplin (DRG#50) Posted: 07-29-2020 05:17 pm Gygax's letter from AlarumsandExcursions #2
Here is the text of a letter by Gary Gygax published in the fanzine Alarums and Excursions issue #2 from July 1975. There are a few comments regarding the original Greyhawk campaign, but it is mostly about the philosophy, at that time, about the D&D game system.
NOTE: As I read through A&E#1 I keep finding comments which Gygax responded to in his letter in issue #2. I wish I'd noted them all at once, but I actually read issue #2 and jumped the gun at transcribing the letter and posting it before going through issue #1. I will keep updating this post the issue #1 to provide context. On reading later issues of the Strategic Review I have found that issue #1 of A&E seemed to have a profound influence on how Gygax developed the game, especially the magic system. I plan on reprinting those articles since they seem to be part of the same conversation and an important part of the history of D&D.
Dear Lee;
Hello! and our thanks for the two copies of A&E. Brian Blume takes care of SR, and he immediately made off with one copy of your zine, so you can rest assured of the trade arrangement.
It certainly is a good feeling to have so many persons enjoying something one had a hand in creating. I have been a sf and fantasy fan since age 12, a wargame enthusiast since age 10 and began designing and writing about 1965. The games and rules are fairly successful these days, but I have yet to sell a sf or fantasy story, and that will be my next real project -- in a year or so when I have time to rewrite my favorite fantasy novel in hopes of something more than the usual rejection slips.
In case you don't know the history of D&D, it all began with the fantasy rules in CHAINMAIL. Dave A. took those rules and changed them into a prototype of what is now D&D. When I played in his "Blackmoor" campaign I fell in love with the new concept and expanded and changed his 20 or so pages of hand-written "rules" into about 100 ms. pages. Dave's group and ours here in Lake Geneva then began eager and enthusiastic play-testing, and the result was the D&D game in January of 1974. It is an ongoing game, as the GREYHAWK booklet shows, and when Dave hands me the ms. for BLACKMOOR I am sure that there will be more alternatives yet. I have personally worked out enough material lately to do still another supplement, and the heaps of material sent in by fans would certainly fill another -- besides providing a good bit of material for publication in SR. So as long as players desire, TSR will continue to provide more D&D goodies (although my partners bemoan the fact that this tends to deprive the historical end of out operation.)
If you have seen WAR OF THE WIZARDS, you are aware of how imaginative and creative a man Professor M.A.R. Barker is. We have arranged, finally, to publish his masterwork, EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE. Professor Barker has been at work on his fantasy world creation for something like 40 years! It shows in his work. I hardly know where to begin in describing EPT. First, I must liken the whole of the Professor's work to JRRT's (and I understand that Professor Barker has a novel which he hopes to complete soon!). The whole of the game EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE is perfectly thought-out and logically structured. Its form was influenced by D&D (and I am greatly flattered about that) although its author had been testing various other forms prior to the publication of D&D.
I will not describe the world of 'PETAL THRONE, for Professor Barker does that himself, far better than I could hope to, in his game. Suffice it to say that we have spared no expense to do it justice when TSR publishes it. The box will be about 9" x 12" with a full-color illustration of the city of BeySy on the cover. The Professor is also one heck of an illustrator, and he did that map in a medieval style with building erections, larger-than-life figures of men, and so forth. In addition to a rules book (about the same number of words as D&D, possibly quite a few more) done in two-column, 3 1/2 x 11 size with a plastic ring binding so it will open flat to any section, there will be three full-color, plasticized mapboards (similar to the one found in STAR PROBE). Two are the map of the world, and the other is the city of Jakala. The first two are done with permission, on SPI hex maps, while the latter is done on a slightly smaller hex grid. The unfortunate part is what the whole will cost -- the $20 price range -- but we plan to make the separate parts available so that much cash won't have to be laid out all at once. We expect the work to be available by 15 July.
We also have a wonderful "parlor" version of D&D dungeon adventures coming up fairly soon -- great for when there are only non-addicts to play games with, for the family, or when there is only an hour or two for play. The game is well done, and its components are top-quality, and we expect it to be popular for many reasons -- not the least of which is it will help D&D enthusiasts demonstrate to the uninitiated why they love fantasy games.
I sang through both of the tunes in "Music to Loot Dungeons By". Good show!
There seems to be considerable confusion amongst your contributors -- particularly those who tend to be in a flap about incomplete or unpalatable solutions (to them) of D&D rules/questions/problems. The game is complex and complicated. When it was released, it was by no means in a final (or even polished) form, but were we to sit on it for another few years in order to get it that way? Can a broad fantasy game ever be finished? Of course we could not hold off publication, for it was too much fun to keep from others.
Dave and I disagree on how to handle any number of things, and both of our campaigns differ from the "rules" found in D&D. If the time ever comes when all aspects of fantasy are covered and the vast majority of its players agree on how the game should be played, D&D will have become staid and boring indeed. Sorry, but I don't believe that there is anything desirable in having various campaigns playing similarly to one another. D&D is supposed to offer a challenge to the imagination and to do so in many ways. Perhaps the most important is in regard to what the probabilities of a given situation are. If players know what all of the monster parameters are, what can be expected in a given situation, exactly what will happen to them if they perform thus and so, most of the charm of the game is gone. Frankly, the reason I enjoy playing in Dave Arneson's campaign is that I do not know his treatments of monsters and suchlike, so I must keep thinking and reasoning in order to "survive". Now, for example, if I made a proclamation from on high which suited Mr. Johnstone, it would certainly be quite unacceptable to hundreds or even thousands of other players. My answer is, and has always been, if you don't like the way I do it, change the bloody rules to suit yourself and your players. D&D enthusiasts are far too individualistic and imaginative a bunch to be in agreement, and I certainly refuse to play god for them -- except as a referee in my own campaign where they jolly well better toe the mark. Let us consider the magic-user question.
We allow magic-users to employ the number of spells shown on the table, so a 1st level m-u gets exactly one 1st level spell to use once before he must go back to his books and prepare to use the spell once again -- or a spell once again. To allow unlimited use of the spell is to make the m-u's too powerful. There is a better solution, of course; one I have been aware of since the first. That is to utilize a point system based on the m-u's basic abilities and his or her level. Spell cost is then taken as a function of the spell and the circumstances in which it is cast and possibly how much force is put into the spell. All that would have required a great deal of space and been far more complex to handle, so I opted for the simple solution.
Again, as a case in point, Ted Johnstone says I have trouble telling which rules are so completely obvious that he doesn't need to explain them. That, dear friends, is a statement which could only be made by someone who has never authored a set of rules or a game! Many of the rules which are completely obvious to me are totally obscure to others. I can say in complete truthfulness that I have had to explain each and every section of the rules to some players, either in person or by letter.
I desire variance in interpretation and, as long as I am editor of the TSR line and its magazine, I will do my utmost to see that there is as little trend towards standardization as possible. Each campaign should be a "variant", and there is no "official interpretation" from me or anyone else. If a game of "Dungeons and Beavers" suits a group, all I say is more power to them, for every fine referee runs his own variant of D&D anyway.
I recall that I told Bob Sacks that in Greyhawk we do not have existing religions included, for this is a touchy area. We have such groups as "The Church of the Latter Day Great Old Ones," Church of Crom, Scientist", "Brethren of St. Cuthbert of the Cudgle", and so on. Gods sometimes intervene. There are some artifacts and the like which aid clerics. In general, however, clerics are powerful enough without much aid, for they have quite a few advantages and work up very quickly. Fighters are really the ones whom everyone should be irate about, for they have the hardest time of it, if not backed up by other classes or by lots of other fighters or blessed with the most powerful of magic gear.
How does one use gunpowder weapons in the confined spaces of the dungeon? What happens to ears? Blackmoor has some gunpowder usage but the filthy stuff won't work in Greyhawk's world.
By the way, a score of 18 is only the usual top limit for humans in Greyhawk. We have monsters with intelligence scores well over 18, and one player is about to work out a deal which will jump his to not less than 19.
Please inform Ted that I too subscribe to the slogan "D&D is too important to leave to Gary Gygax." Gosh and golly! Whoever said anything else. However, pal, best remember that it is far too good to leave to you or any other individual or little group either! It now belongs to the thousands of players enjoying it worldwide, most of whom will probably never hear of you or your opinions unless you get them into THE STRATEGIC REVIEW. As soon as we can manage it, we intend to have expand SR, publish bimonthly and include a letter column.
Thanks again for sending A&E. It was most enjoyable. Watch out though, that it doesn't start D&D down the road of DIPLOMACY fandom with its constant feuds, bickering, invective, etc. Now tell the fellows to pick on Dave Arneson awhile -- after all he had as much to do with the whole mess as I did!
Regards, E. Gary Gygax
NOTE: To provide some context for part of Gygax's reply I am adding this comment by Ted Johnstone from Alarums&Excursions #1 (Addendum - I believe I have misattributed this comment, as Gygax perhaps did as well, and it is by Mark Swanson in reply to Ted Johnstone instead of a comment by Ted Johnstone himself).
TED JOHNSTONE - My comment on the non-existence of a "Charm Monster" spell was a symptom of my usual disease of firstdraftitis. I've read the rules but haven't memorized them. Two points. // Howver, on a larger subject, I am a supporter of the slogan "D&D is too important to leave to Gary Gygax." Gary has produced other games in the past. The problem has been that they are not interesting in their full form. They tend to be flawed by simple, bad solutions to complex problems. Thus, in Gary Gygax's game, A MAGIC USER GETS TO USE EACH SPELL ONCE A DAY.
If a first-level magic user gets to charm one person a day with no other magical acts permitted, Gary's version of the spell is entirely appropriate. As is the "No saving throw against sleep," the lack of restrictions on how often a character can be healed, etc. (The rule can be found, vaguely, in book three, and explicitly in Gary's magazine, #3.) As I said, Gary has trouble telling which rules are so completely obvious that he doesn't need to explain them. Welcome, brother heretic, or were you planning to do it that way? This problem, how to limit the magic users, is second only to the question of what are the characters doing as defining the games. Gary Gygax says that a Medium has one spell a day, a seeress gets to cast to a day, etc -- and they are all out on a treasure hunt. It's a simple solution, but I don't like it.
NOTE: Further context reference for Gygax's reply concerning player attributes above 18. Comment is from Alarums & Excursions #1
TOM DIGBY: Somebody mentioned talking about things in D&D jargon and mentioned that "Kimball Kinnison has about a 16 intelligence." These attributes are obtained for a character by rolling three six-sided dice, with a possible range of 3-18, a mean of 10.5, and a standard deviation of about 2.96... The Mensa cutoff is the 98th percentile and comes out to 16.5 intelligence. The normal curve has one person in a thousand about 19.5 though, somethingyou can never get with three dice. This may mean that there are a number of people in fandom whose intelligence is greater than can exist in a D&D world.
NOTE: Even further context. I believe Gygax's mention of Dave Arneson's role in creating D&D stems from this comment by Barry Gold in Alarums & Excursions #1.
From Alarums & Excursions #1 by Barry Gold
Lee and I, as publishers of Alarums and Excursions, recommend that you buy the rules to Dungeons and Dragons if you don't already have them. Xeroxing somebody else's copy is unethical and illegal too. If you are going to get involved enough in the game to build your dungeon, you should at least spring for $10 for the rule books. If you aren't making your own dungeons, you don't really need the books - some other player can tell you how to make and play a character. So there is no excuse for making a bootleg copy and depriving Gary Gygax, the game's inventor, of his fair share. Posted: 07-29-2020 05:10 pm Gygax's letter from AlarumsandExcursions #2
Here is the text of a letter by Gary Gygax published in the fanzine Alarums and Excursions issue #2 from July 1975. There are a few comments regarding the original Greyhawk campaign, but it is mostly about the philosophy, at that time, about the D&D game system.
NOTE: As I read through A&E#1 I keep finding comments which Gygax responded to in his letter in issue #2. I wish I'd noted them all at once, but I actually read issue #2 and jumped the gun at transcribing the letter and posting it before going through issue #1. I will keep updating this post the issue #1 to provide context. On reading later issues of the Strategic Review I have found that issue #1 of A&E seemed to have a profound influence on how Gygax developed the game, especially the magic system. I plan on reprinting those articles since they seem to be part of the same conversation and an important part of the history of D&D.
Dear Lee;
Hello! and our thanks for the two copies of A&E. Brian Blume takes care of SR, and he immediately made off with one copy of your zine, so you can rest assured of the trade arrangement.
It certainly is a good feeling to have so many persons enjoying something one had a hand in creating. I have been a sf and fantasy fan since age 12, a wargame enthusiast since age 10 and began designing and writing about 1965. The games and rules are fairly successful these days, but I have yet to sell a sf or fantasy story, and that will be my next real project -- in a year or so when I have time to rewrite my favorite fantasy novel in hopes of something more than the usual rejection slips.
In case you don't know the history of D&D, it all began with the fantasy rules in CHAINMAIL. Dave A. took those rules and changed them into a prototype of what is now D&D. When I played in his "Blackmoor" campaign I fell in love with the new concept and expanded and changed his 20 or so pages of hand-written "rules" into about 100 ms. pages. Dave's group and ours here in Lake Geneva then began eager and enthusiastic play-testing, and the result was the D&D game in January of 1974. It is an ongoing game, as the GREYHAWK booklet shows, and when Dave hands me the ms. for BLACKMOOR I am sure that there will be more alternatives yet. I have personally worked out enough material lately to do still another supplement, and the heaps of material sent in by fans would certainly fill another -- besides providing a good bit of material for publication in SR. So as long as players desire, TSR will continue to provide more D&D goodies (although my partners bemoan the fact that this tends to deprive the historical end of out operation.)
If you have seen WAR OF THE WIZARDS, you are aware of how imaginative and creative a man Professor M.A.R. Barker is. We have arranged, finally, to publish his masterwork, EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE. Professor Barker has been at work on his fantasy world creation for something like 40 years! It shows in his work. I hardly know where to begin in describing EPT. First, I must liken the whole of the Professor's work to JRRT's (and I understand that Professor Barker has a novel which he hopes to complete soon!). The whole of the game EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE is perfectly thought-out and logically structured. Its form was influenced by D&D (and I am greatly flattered about that) although its author had been testing various other forms prior to the publication of D&D.
I will not describe the world of 'PETAL THRONE, for Professor Barker does that himself, far better than I could hope to, in his game. Suffice it to say that we have spared no expense to do it justice when TSR publishes it. The box will be about 9" x 12" with a full-color illustration of the city of BeySy on the cover. The Professor is also one heck of an illustrator, and he did that map in a medieval style with building erections, larger-than-life figures of men, and so forth. In addition to a rules book (about the same number of words as D&D, possibly quite a few more) done in two-column, 3 1/2 x 11 size with a plastic ring binding so it will open flat to any section, there will be three full-color, plasticized mapboards (similar to the one found in STAR PROBE). Two are the map of the world, and the other is the city of Jakala. The first two are done with permission, on SPI hex maps, while the latter is done on a slightly smaller hex grid. The unfortunate part is what the whole will cost -- the $20 price range -- but we plan to make the separate parts available so that much cash won't have to be laid out all at once. We expect the work to be available by 15 July.
We also have a wonderful "parlor" version of D&D dungeon adventures coming up fairly soon -- great for when there are only non-addicts to play games with, for the family, or when there is only an hour or two for play. The game is well done, and its components are top-quality, and we expect it to be popular for many reasons -- not the least of which is it will help D&D enthusiasts demonstrate to the uninitiated why they love fantasy games.
I sang through both of the tunes in "Music to Loot Dungeons By". Good show!
There seems to be considerable confusion amongst your contributors -- particularly those who tend to be in a flap about incomplete or unpalatable solutions (to them) of D&D rules/questions/problems. The game is complex and complicated. When it was released, it was by no means in a final (or even polished) form, but were we to sit on it for another few years in order to get it that way? Can a broad fantasy game ever be finished? Of course we could not hold off publication, for it was too much fun to keep from others.
Dave and I disagree on how to handle any number of things, and both of our campaigns differ from the "rules" found in D&D. If the time ever comes when all aspects of fantasy are covered and the vast majority of its players agree on how the game should be played, D&D will have become staid and boring indeed. Sorry, but I don't believe that there is anything desirable in having various campaigns playing similarly to one another. D&D is supposed to offer a challenge to the imagination and to do so in many ways. Perhaps the most important is in regard to what the probabilities of a given situation are. If players know what all of the monster parameters are, what can be expected in a given situation, exactly what will happen to them if they perform thus and so, most of the charm of the game is gone. Frankly, the reason I enjoy playing in Dave Arneson's campaign is that I do not know his treatments of monsters and suchlike, so I must keep thinking and reasoning in order to "survive". Now, for example, if I made a proclamation from on high which suited Mr. Johnstone, it would certainly be quite unacceptable to hundreds or even thousands of other players. My answer is, and has always been, if you don't like the way I do it, change the bloody rules to suit yourself and your players. D&D enthusiasts are far too individualistic and imaginative a bunch to be in agreement, and I certainly refuse to play god for them -- except as a referee in my own campaign where they jolly well better toe the mark. Let us consider the magic-user question.
We allow magic-users to employ the number of spells shown on the table, so a 1st level m-u gets exactly one 1st level spell to use once before he must go back to his books and prepare to use the spell once again -- or a spell once again. To allow unlimited use of the spell is to make the m-u's too powerful. There is a better solution, of course; one I have been aware of since the first. That is to utilize a point system based on the m-u's basic abilities and his or her level. Spell cost is then taken as a function of the spell and the circumstances in which it is cast and possibly how much force is put into the spell. All that would have required a great deal of space and been far more complex to handle, so I opted for the simple solution.
Again, as a case in point, Ted Johnstone says I have trouble telling which rules are so completely obvious that he doesn't need to explain them. That, dear friends, is a statement which could only be made by someone who has never authored a set of rules or a game! Many of the rules which are completely obvious to me are totally obscure to others. I can say in complete truthfulness that I have had to explain each and every section of the rules to some players, either in person or by letter.
I desire variance in interpretation and, as long as I am editor of the TSR line and its magazine, I will do my utmost to see that there is as little trend towards standardization as possible. Each campaign should be a "variant", and there is no "official interpretation" from me or anyone else. If a game of "Dungeons and Beavers" suits a group, all I say is more power to them, for every fine referee runs his own variant of D&D anyway.
I recall that I told Bob Sacks that in Greyhawk we do not have existing religions included, for this is a touchy area. We have such groups as "The Church of the Latter Day Great Old Ones," Church of Crom, Scientist", "Brethren of St. Cuthbert of the Cudgle", and so on. Gods sometimes intervene. There are some artifacts and the like which aid clerics. In general, however, clerics are powerful enough without much aid, for they have quite a few advantages and work up very quickly. Fighters are really the ones whom everyone should be irate about, for they have the hardest time of it, if not backed up by other classes or by lots of other fighters or blessed with the most powerful of magic gear.
How does one use gunpowder weapons in the confined spaces of the dungeon? What happens to ears? Blackmoor has some gunpowder usage but the filthy stuff won't work in Greyhawk's world.
By the way, a score of 18 is only the usual top limit for humans in Greyhawk. We have monsters with intelligence scores well over 18, and one player is about to work out a deal which will jump his to not less than 19.
Please inform Ted that I too subscribe to the slogan "D&D is too important to leave to Gary Gygax." Gosh and golly! Whoever said anything else. However, pal, best remember that it is far too good to leave to you or any other individual or little group either! It now belongs to the thousands of players enjoying it worldwide, most of whom will probably never hear of you or your opinions unless you get them into THE STRATEGIC REVIEW. As soon as we can manage it, we intend to have expand SR, publish bimonthly and include a letter column.
Thanks again for sending A&E. It was most enjoyable. Watch out though, that it doesn't start D&D down the road of DIPLOMACY fandom with its constant feuds, bickering, invective, etc. Now tell the fellows to pick on Dave Arneson awhile -- after all he had as much to do with the whole mess as I did!
Regards, E. Gary Gygax
NOTE: To provide some context for part of Gygax's reply I am adding this comment by Ted Johnstone from Alarums&Excursions #1 (Addendum - I believe I have misattributed this comment, as Gygax perhaps did as well, and it is by Mark Swanson in reply to Ted Johnstone instead of a comment by Ted Johnstone himself).
TED JOHNSTONE - My comment on the non-existence of a "Charm Monster" spell was a symptom of my usual disease of firstdraftitis. I've read the rules but haven't memorized them. Two points. // Howver, on a larger subject, I am a supporter of the slogan "D&D is too important to leave to Gary Gygax." Gary has produced other games in the past. The problem has been that they are not interesting in their full form. They tend to be flawed by simple, bad solutions to complex problems. Thus, in Gary Gygax's game, A MAGIC USER GETS TO USE EACH SPELL ONCE A DAY.
If a first-level magic user gets to charm one person a day with no other magical acts permitted, Gary's version of the spell is entirely appropriate. As is the "No saving throw against sleep," the lack of restrictions on how often a character can be healed, etc. (The rule can be found, vaguely, in book three, and explicitly in Gary's magazine, #3.) As I said, Gary has trouble telling which rules are so completely obvious that he doesn't need to explain them. Welcome, brother heretic, or were you planning to do it that way? This problem, how to limit the magic users, is second only to the question of what are the characters doing as defining the games. Gary Gygax says that a Medium has one spell a day, a seeress gets to cast to a day, etc -- and they are all out on a treasure hunt. It's a simple solution, but I don't like it.
NOTE: Further context reference for Gygax's reply concerning player attributes above 18. Comment is from Alarums & Excursions #1
TOM DIGBY: Somebody mentioned talking about things in D&D jargon and mentioned that "Kimball Kinnison has about a 16 intelligence." These attributes are obtained for a character by rolling three six-sided dice, with a possible range of 3-18, a mean of 10.5, and a standard deviation of about 2.96... The Mensa cutoff is the 98th percentile and comes out to 16.5 intelligence. The normal curve has one person in a thousand about 19.5 though, somethingyou can never get with three dice. This may mean that there are a number of people in fandom whose intelligence is greater than can exist in a D&D world.
NOTE: Even further context. I believe Gygax's mention of Dave Arneson's role in creating D&D stems from this comment by Barry Gold in Alarums & Excursions #1.
From Alarums & Excursions #1 by Barry Gold
Lee and I, as publishers of Alarums and Excursions, recommend that you buy the rules to Dungeons and Dragons if you don't already have them. Xeroxing somebody else's copy is unethical and illegal too. If you are going to get involved enough in the game to build your dungeon, you should at least spring for $10 for the rule books. If you aren't making your own dungeons, you don't really need the books - some other player can tell you how to make and play a character. So there is no excuse for making a bootleg copy and depriving Gary Gygax, the game's inventor, of his fair share. Posted: 07-29-2020 05:10 pm Languages of Oerthly Magic - Dancing Lights
Languages of Oerthly Magic - Dancing Lights5). Dancing Lights
Amedian - Kukeza Taa (Ku-Ke-Za Ta)
Bakluni (Ancient) - Dae Ezeklar (Da Es-Ek-La-Re)
Drow - Tenklo Fe'K (Te-No-Klo Fe-Ek)
Dwarven - Daenda Lys (Da-En-Da Lis)
Elven - Daenzin Valoe (Da-En-Sin Va-Lo)
Flan - Zo'lza Damaeza (Zo-El-Ze Da-Ma-Za)
Fruz - Daenda Loez (Da-En-Da Loz)
Giantish - Tazenda Leeta (Ta-Zen-Da Le-Te)
Gnomish - Daenda Leaten (Da-En-Da Le-Ten)
Oeridian - Tanzuesek Ogny (Tan-Zu-Is-Ik Og-Ne)
Olman -Nataam Veakkukae (Na-Ta-Am Ve-Ak-Ku-Ka)
Suel - Korum Luminar (Ko-Ram Lu-Me-Nar) Posted: 07-28-2020 06:12 pm Languages of Oerthly Magic - Comprehend Languages Languages of Oerthly Magic - Comprehend Languages4). Comprehend Languages
Amedian - Koo'lwa Looga (Ku-El-Wa Lu-Ga)
Bakluni (Ancient) - Delere Anlamak (De-Le-Ri An-La-Mak)
Drow - Er'tato Nelven (Er-Te-To Ne-El-Ven)
Dwarven - Forsta Saipro (For-Sta Sa-Pro)
Elven - Immareta Kaelta (Im-Mar-Ta Ke-El-Ta)
Flan - Teingata (Te-An-Ga-Ta)
Fruz - Ski'a Tungamal (Skee-Ya Tun-Ga-Mal)
Giantish - Verstane (Ver-Sta-En)
Gnomish - Begrypen Tane (Be-Gri-Pen Ta-En)
Oeridian - Poneat Azikeah (Pon-At Az-Ek-Ah)
Olman - Molekeah Perintu (Mo-Li-Ka-Ya Per-In -Too)
Suel - Lingus Comprehendere (Le-Eng-Us Com-Pre-Hen-Der) Posted: 07-27-2020 04:16 pm Languages of Oerthly Magic - Charm Person
Languages of Oerthly Magic - Charm Person3). Charm Person
Amedian - M'Tu (Em-Tu)
Bakluni (Ancient) - Kekeklek KeSe (Kek-Ik-Lik Ki-See)
Drow - Varsa Zem'l (Var-Sa Se-Mel)
Dwarven - Cade Per (Ca-Da Pe-Re)
Elven - Haen Kelo (He-En Ki-Lo)
Flan - Daen (De-En)
Fruz - Hela Mae (He-La Ma)
Giantish - Care Per (Ca-Re Pe-Re)
Gnomish - Care Aryrzo (Ca-Re Re-Rez-O)
Oeridian - Obyana Keloveka (Ob-Ya-Ne Ke-Lo-Ve-Ka)
Olman - Al'k Nap'r (Al-Ak Na-Par)
Suel - Lapreme Peres (Le-Por-Em Per-Res) Posted: 07-26-2020 08:13 pm Languages of Oerthly Magic - Burning Hands Languages of Oerthly Magic - Burning Hands2). Burning Hands
Amedian - Moto Mikono (Mo-To Me-Ko-No)
Bakluni (Ancient) - Eller Yan (El-Er An)
Drow - Kezeben Yg (Ke-Ze-Ben Eg)
Dwarven - Barende Haende (Bar-En-De Ha-En-De)
Elven - Potava Kaes (Pa-Ta-Va Ka-Is)
Flan - Lama Do (La-Ma Do)
Fruz - Breande Haende (Bre-An-De Ha-En-De)
Giantish - Brende Hade (Bre-An-De Ha-De)
Gnomish - Barende Haende (Bar-En-De Ha-En-De)
Oeridian - Zaen Ruke (Za-En Ruk)
Olman - Kayel Erem (Ka-Il Er-Em)
Suel - Arden Manus (Ar-Den Man-Us) Posted: 07-26-2020 02:22 pm Languages of Oerthly Magic - Affect Normal Fires This was a project I was working to list all the vocal elements for spells. It was a certain level of detail that I had starting getting into when I began writing stories about Greyhawk but it also helped with game-play in giving magic-users something to do other than just saying they cast magic missile; I had have them say the vocal component of the spell.
Languages of Oerthly Magic - Affect Normal Fires1). Affect Normal Fires
Amedian - Kutire Moto A Kaed (Ku-Tir -Ee Mo-To A Ka-Ed)
Bakluni (Ancient) - Angenlare Etkill (An-Gen-La-Ri Et-Kil)
Drow - Befola Sol Tuzek (Be-Fol-A Sol Tu-Zek)
Dwarven - Paver Barde (Pa-Vir-Ka Bar-De)
Elven - Vaketta Tulpall (Va-Ket- Ta Tul-Pal)
Flan - Defare Tintanat (Di-Far Tin-Te Nat)
Fruz - Ar Ae Elelga Elde (Ar A El-Il-Ga El-Da)
Giantish - Yswerkan Barde (Us-Vir-Ken Bar-De)
Gnomish - Envode Barde (In-Vod Bar-De)
Oeridian - Veat Porove (Vi-At Po-Rov)
Olman - Catraba Ti Patikkum (Ca-Ta-Ra-Na Ti Pa-Tik-Kum)
Suel - Igne C'Da Ef (Ig-Ne See-Da Af)
I think Ive worked out my language equivalents if anyone wants to work up some of these for themselves. Amedian - Swahili Bakluni (Ancient) - Turkish Drow - Magyar Dwarven - Danish Elven - Finnish Flan - Irish Fruz - Icelandic Giantish - German Gnomish - Dutch Oeridian - Russian Olman - Tamil Suel - LatinThese are just the base for the very slightly altered languages. It helps me a great deal in fiction but it is also helpful DMing and adds a good reason to have a comprehend languages spell on hand. I chose them with a few ideas in mind. The Suel always remind me of ancient Rome so Latin. The giants, dwarves, fruz, and gnomes always feel linked to me. Elves and Drow should have some link but strained over the centuries that have separated them so Finnish and Magyar.Posted: 07-25-2020 11:36 pm City of Greyhawk Random Dwelling Generator #1
1) Single story 20x30 home with cellar and attic.
A common building often found in the:
Beggar's Quarter Brewer's Quarter Clerksburg Carftsman's Ward Foreign Quarter Labor Quarter Low Quarter River Quarter
It is less commonly found in the:
Garden Quarter Hutsham Slums The Shacks The Strip Thieves Quarter Trade Areas University Area
It is rarely found in the:
The Halls High Quarter Plaza D'Haut
As with most homes found in the city:
Cellar:
The cellar is normally a dirt floor whose walls are constructed of stone slabs or boulders. Two wooden support beams help to hold up the wooden floor of the first level. This is typically used as a storage place for food (jars of preserved fruits and vegetables, meats, herbs, etc...), beverages, normally kegs or barrels of ale or beer, sometimes smaller barrels or bottles of stronger drink. These cellars are normally dank and musty, mice are common, but rats can be found (more likely to be encountered in the Beggar's Quarter, River Quarter, Hutsham, Slums, The Shacks & The Thieve's Quarter).
In some areas, most notably in Old City Quarters, as well as the High Quarter, Trade Areas and the River Quarter, these cellars will be floored with stone and access to the sewer system beneath the city is common through grates or metal-lidded passages.
The First Floor:
Stone is easy to come by in the City of Greyhawk so most dwellings have either their first story walls constructed of stone, or of stone halfway up (three or four feet) and then wood.
Exterior doors are stout, often studded with iron nails or banded in bronze or iron in the Plaza D'Haut, Thieve's Quarter, River Quarter, Hutsham & The Shacks. These doors will often have a simple iron lock, and all will have staples and a bar ready to be dropped in place on the inside.
In the Beggar's Quarter and the Slums doors are commonly found broken or in disrepair. Most have a set of iron staples so that the door can be barred from the inside, but, for the most part, doors will have a simple wooden latch (in these quarters anything as valuable as a lock will most often have been pried or cut from an unprotected door.
In all other quarters exterior doors are stout, and capable of being barred from within but normally do not have locks.
First floor windows do not normally contain glass. In the Plaza D'Haut, Thieve's Quarter, River Quarter, Hutsham & The Shacks iron bars are often found. A double set of shutters is often in place, both capable of being bolted or barred from within.
In all other quarters first floor windows normally have a single set of shutters capable of being barred from within. In both the Beggar's Quarter and the Slums shutters are often missing or broken, with boards nailed into place over the empty window-frame.
First floor interiors normally consist of a single 10x15 bedroom. The rest of the first floor is a small area set around the fireplace with perhaps a cabinet for food, a stone sink, water-barrel, small table and chairs. There is a back door immediately across from the front in most dwelling with cellar stairs to onside and attic stairs to the other. Ceilings tend to be six to ten feet.
Second Story
Second stories are wood construction. In areas where the first floor windows are barred, so too are attic windows. There will also be shutters, normally a single set capable of being barred, latched or bolted from within. Even in the Beggar's and Slum Quarters these shutters are often found intact.
The two upstairs rooms are often bedrooms, but sometime used for storage. A trapdoor and ladder allow access to the roof and the area around the chimney stack often has a table or work-bench.
The roof is wooden with curved brickwork tiles. A gutter runs along the edges front and back. In the Beggar's Quarter and the Slums these roof tiles are often missing and the roof sagging or warped.
The Exterior
The back of most homes has an outhouse with a honey-pot and a shed containing gardening equipment (most tools of any value are kept indoors). The fence is most frequently made of wooden boards.
Most Greyhawkers grow food in their small plots of land. Larger areas will likely have a few hens and henhouse, goats or a pig or two.
At each corner of the house a gutter runs down to a water-barrel. Plumbing or wells are rarely, if ever, found in these dwellings.
Occupants
These homes are inhabited, for the most part, by small families of two parents, three to five children and a grandparent or great uncle/aunt. These are dwellings of peasants and commoners who have some form of employment.
In Hutsham and The Shacks these dwellings are often in good repair and occupied by the more well-to-do of the down-and-out of Greyhawk. They are sometimes used as guardposts, or homes of overseers and minor bosses.
There are likely to be found 2-5 1st Level Fighters or Thieves with a 2nd level Fighter or Thief in charge.
Walls surrounding these dwellings in Hutsham and The Shacks will be 8 to 10 feet high of stone with broken glass or spikes on top, or tree-boles with spiked tops. A door or gate in the back fence is likely. Yards may contain a shack or shed with 2-4 0-level servants living within.
Posted: 07-25-2020 03:26 pm A Thief in the Tome of Horrors - Aberrant A Thief in the Tome of Horrors (Or Converting this Monster of a Book to 1eAD&D)
Aberrant
Frequency: Rare No. Appearing: 2-12 Armor Class: 4 Move: 12" Hit Dice: 8 % in Lair: 50 Treasure Type: C No. of Attacks: 1 Damage/Attack: 2d8 Special Attacks: 1 (Thrown Object 1d10 dmg) Range 20/40/60 (To Hit +0/-1/-3) Special Defenses: None Magic Resistance: None Intelligence: Low Language: Debased Suel Life Expectancy: 30 years (maturity age 12-14) Size: 14 feet Tall - Extended Reach - These giant size creatures have an extended reach making it likely they can strike first against normal and small sized opponents.
Physical Appearance: See Tome of Horrors Complete (S&W version) - Addition Description - Hair Brown or Black, Eye Color Same, Skin Color light brown to pale but normally grey or streaked with dirt.
Ecology: Aberrants are a form of giant mutation developed after the great Suel/Bakluni war and the Rain of Colorless Fire. While often confused with Giants they are actually descended from human stock. In all respects such as what they can eat and how they breed and give birth they retain human characteristics.
Aberrant tribes will normally consist of 2-12 adult males, 3-18 adult females and 12-64 children. The men hunt and gather while the females do most of the work around the tribal dwelling. Adult females are consistent with the stats for adult males though with only 6HD on average and 1d10 damage from their attacks. Aberrant females will ferociously protect their young.
Females conceive about once per year and the infant mortality rate is about 50%. The leading cause of death for female Aberrants is childbirth.
Aberrants are extremely primitive. They build little though they do make use of cloth or hide for shelters and crude structures from the wrecks of wagons or buildings. These are extremely flimsy lean-to type structures that can be stripped down and taken with them in a few moments (mainly the cloth and rope or vines). Since most weapons and items they come across are not their size they mainly use crude clubs and stones for throwing. Occasional a human-sized sword may be found among them as a knife, but used more as a tool than a weapon.
World of Greyhawk Location:
Aberrants can be found along the hills and lower mountains circling the Sea of Dust as well as the Dry Steppes along the Sulhaut Mountains and the southern Crystalmists. They have been seen at the crux of the Jotens and the Crytsalmists at the birth of the Davish River, though not in great numbers and along the southern Jotens, the Crytsalmists and the Hellfurnaces in the Yeomanry. Sightings of Aberrants have been made in the Tors and along the arm of the Hellfurnaces as far as Hokar and as far south as the strip of land west of Jekla Bay and even where the Amedio Jungle runs against the Hellfurnaces in the far south.
Cyst Fist's Pass (Near the Hornwood - Geoff)
The trepidations of the Giants and their invasion of Sterich and Geoff shifted many a tribe and monster from their normal hunting grounds. Perhaps non-more so than Furgristle and his tribe of Aberrants forced north through the high mountains and down to the hills surrounding the embattled land of Geoff. Frost giants from the Jotens and tribes of Ogre's pushed these deformed and primitive creatures from their caves and now this small band raids through the forest of the Hornwood in preparation for the winter to come.
(See Tome of Horrors complete S&W version for the adventure hook)
Alfric watched the shaft fly true as it brought down the last of the deformed monsters. The two humans with him had feathered the giant creature with a half-dozen arrows already before it fell.
"Four..." said Oswin, a middle-aged man clad in mottled green and brown. He stood a foot taller than Alfric and pulled a longbow as big as the elf.
"The others appear to be out hunting," Alfric replied as he moved forward, another arrow nocked and ready.
The smell of roasting horseflesh was strong. Stronger even than the stink of unwashed bodies, the pile of refuse that stained the hillside and the rot of badly cured hides and decaying meat.
"Where has that little bastard gotten to?" asked Kellen, the third of their party. He was about the height of Aelfric but wide with broad shoulders and back. He'd slung his bow and drawn a long chopping sword, some type of falchion with a single-edge.
"I'm up here," cried a hushed voice high with panic. "Get me down!"
As the trio crested the hill they could see a large fire-pit and the carcase of a horse blackening on a spit above it. Nearby a tree stripped of most of its branches still held a single arm reaching out toward the fire and a crude wooden cage dangling about a dozen feet from the ground. Inside a peculiar little bird hopped about. Clad in the skin of an owl-bear a bruised and beaten halfling danced about pulling at the stout wooden bars.
"Hugh!" cried Aelfric. "How you managed to survive when the rest of those merchants ended up being eaten..."
"Those stupid giants. It was that owlbear hide," Hugh called back. "They think I'm some sort of birdman... I don't know, but they think it's funny. They'll be roasting me soon enough. Get me out of here!"
"What we need is a ladder," said Kellen.
Oswin looked from Aelfric to his blocky nephew. "You'll do," he said. "Get up on his shoulder Ael and see about cutting down our little bird."
"Make it quick! Make it quick!" Hugh chirruped. "There are a dozen more of those monsters around."
"Cut your squawking," grumbled Kellen, but up above him Aelfric went to work with haste on the vines that bound the cage together. Posted: 07-25-2020 10:27 am Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 6 Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 6#5 Kalib, human male, (5th Level Fighter) twin brother of Kalife STR 18/89, INT 8, WIS 8, CON 17, HP 41, AL LE
AGE 30
Physical Description:
Kalib has a fringe of dark hair around this head but is otherwise bald. He has a heavy, black beard and mustache. 6"4' tall he is very heavy and very muscular, muscle-bound actually. He has tattoos over his right arm and shoulder. Across the right side of his chest is the tattoo of a demon showing half of its face. He has a large wide scar starting at the top ofhis forehead and running across the left side of his head.
He wears a large black poncho when on a raid with a chainmail shirt underneath. The poncho is simply a thick piece of cloth dyed black with a hole cut for his head and a belt across his waist. Over his face he wears the mask of a grinning pig-like face.
His normal wear is worn farmer garb. He dislikes his chainmail shirt and only wears it on raids or when Black Harris tells him to.
Background:
Kalib was born on a farm in Furyondy, His mother died in child birth and his father took it out on Kalib and his brother Kalife. At age12 the pair beat their father to death, gathered what money and belongings were on the farm and left.
They were quickly caught and placed in a prison where they were even more quickly sold as workers for a nobleman's farm. The life actually suited them. The nobleman was smart enough to recognize strong arms and weak minds, and violent tempers.
At age 16 the pair had grown from oversized murderous children togigantic musclebound adults. The nobleman had them trained, as much as possible, in the art of combat, and kept them on as bodyguards, and since he dabbled in the free market of the underworld, as enforcers as well.
After a few years the pairs' brutal methods became too much for the nobleman and he passed on his dangerous employees to a traveling merchant and fence for stolen goods. In their early twenties they ended up working as hired thugs living in the Old Town of Greyhawk, which is where they met and joined up with Black Harris.
Personality and attitude:
Kalib is loyal only to his brother and Black Harris. He and his brother have a surprising fondness for cats, dogs and horses and will not abide any form of cruelty to these animals.
If his brother is killed Kalib will stop whatever he is doing and will cradle his brother in his arms weeping and crying piteously. He will not defend himself and the shock will reduce his intelligence and personality to that of a five-year old's.
Equipment: Chainmail shirt (+2) Two handed sword +2/+3 versus Hill Giants (He is completely unaware of this aspect of the swords enchantement) Draft Horse named Matilda
#6 Kalife, human male,( 5th Level Fighter) twin brother of Kalib STR 18/99, INT 8, WIS 8, CON 17, HP 41, AL LE AGE 30
Physical Description:
Kalife's appearance is similar to his brother's but he has no scar and his tattoos cover the left side of his body, a duplicate of Kalibs. He is a little more muscular but it is only apparent when the two are standing side by side.
He also wears a rough cloth poncho on raids with a shirt of chainmail underneath and a mask shaped like a donkey's with one ear is missing.
Background: See Kalib
Personality and attitude:
Kalife is very quiet and he only talks to his brother or Black Harris. He will support either in any situation. If his brother is killed he will go into a berserk rage, ignoring wounds, and attacking his brother's killer with fanatical strength (+4 to hit/+7 to damage). He will then go on to attack anyone not a brigand who is nearby. Afterwards, If Black Harris is around he will follow him everywhere and not want to be separated from him. If both are dead he will run off and live like a wild-man or beast, and his effective INT will drop to 3.
Equipment: Chainmail +2 Two-handed Bastard sword +2/ +3 versus the Undead (as with his brother he has no idea that the sword has any special enchantment except that he doesn't need to sharpen or polish it (which suits him fine). Draft Horse named Sara Posted: 07-24-2020 08:18 pm Minstrel Tales Riddles Storm on Land Minstrel Tales Riddles Storm on LandRiddles
These are a collection of Anglo-Saxon riddles. The authors are unknown and the prose can be a bit obscure but they fit so well into my Greyhawk campaign that I have used them often.
Storm on Land
Who of men is ready-witted and wise enough to say Who drives me forth on my journey, When I arise in my strength, exceeding furious, When I resound in my might?
Sometimes I move with malice through the land, Shatter the people's halls, spoil the houses; The sky rises up, grey over the roofs; There is noise on oerth, the death-pang of men.
When I stir the wood and the druid's groves, When covered with water, felling trees Bearing upon my back, the dwellings of men, The coverings of the oerth, the beasts of the land.
Say who it is who covers me, Or what I, who bear those burdens, am called. Posted: 07-24-2020 06:44 pm Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 5 Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 5#4 Zeffin, human male, (Level 2 Cleric) Salin's assistant Wis 16 HP 12, AL LE, AGE 18
Physical Description: Zeffin has the fair-haired pale-skinned looks of a Suel. He wears a closely trimmed beard and mustache. His hair is also trimmed very close to his head. He has the fine scarring, though a bit less, as that of Salin. In his case, though, it is much more noticeable. His scars show as redish lines against his pale skin, and the more recent have a purplish look to them. He is tall, 6", broad-shouldered and thin-waisted.
On raids he wore a chainmail shirt and black pants with a white, featureless face mask. He has a black ceremonial robe with a grey skull on its chest. He now wears this on raids over his chainmail. In town he dresses in his armor and plain grey or brown pants.
Background: Zeffin is from Sterich. His family is old and established. Minor nobility. They are western nobles and after years of conflict with the humanoids of the Crystalmist and Joten Mountains they began to make deals with these creatures of evil. First it was simply allowing passage so that raiders would not attack their land, soon their descendants began acting as fences for goods which these raiders brought with them. Finally they embraced the evil which they hadallowed past their borders. Zeffin is part of a growing cult of Hextor among his father's family and retainers. He was assigned to assist Salin by the superiors of his order.
Personality and attitude: Zeffin is a sadistic and brutal individual. He is fond of torture and would rather save a few of their victims to practice on. Occasionally the band will take a prisoner and squeeze information out of them. The brothers Kalife and Kalib had been in charge of this information gathering but Zeffin proved to have a greater skill and exuberance for such work. He is loyal to Salin and has a touch of hero worship for the successful cleric.
Equipment: Chainmail Shield Horseman's mace Heavy Warhorse: "Beast", Black, with white streaked forehead and 3 white socks Posted: 07-23-2020 04:36 pm Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 4 Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 4#3 Salin, human male, (Level 6 Priest of Hextor) Str 16 Int 10 Wis 16 Con 15 Dex 12 Chr 12 HP 35, AL LE, AGE:24
Physical Description: Salin is a tall man, 6"3' with a slim sturdy build. He has a swarthy complexion and thick black hair. He has a fine network of scars over his entire body due to the practice of ritual scarring. It is part of the faith of Hextor as it was taught to him by his family and his temple. These scars form a very light spidery pattern covering his entire body. He continually adds to this with scars earned by his abilities and for participating in certain ceremonies. While to the uninitiated these scars are meaningless, they would tell a sage learned in the ways of this cult of the deity the story of Salin's life as a priest and disciple of Hextor.
Normally Salin only wears his black robes decorated with rings of grinning white skulls during ceremonies. During raids he wears a plain black robe and a white skull mask. Now he wears his robes of priesthood during raids, though he still uses the white skull-face mask. Beneath his robes he wears an enchanted shirt of chain and a steel skull cap under his mask.
In towns and villages he dresses as a fighter in his armor and plain, serviceable trousers.
Background: Salin is a Perrinlander by birth. His father, a mercenary, was a devotee of Hextor. Salin felt a strong calling toward Hextor and was accepted as a novice, swearing an oath of blood and steel on his 14th birthday.
Salin has only been a part of Black Harris' band for the last six months (still before the breakup with Red). He was recruited by Harris in the Principality of Ulek. Salin had been involved in a mission in the Pomarj and was reporting in to his superiors at the city of Gryrax. After hearing from a young mercenary devotee, Bismon, about Black Harris and consulting his superiors, Salin volunteered his services. While not a follower himself, Black Harris respects the powers of a cleric and the warlike nature of Hextor, and gladly brought Salin into his band.
Personality and attitude: Salin views Black Harris as a project and a potential warrior of Hextor. Red Hanlan never showed the proper respect, and his chaotic nature irritated Salin's sense of discipline. Then Salin came up with his plan, and introduced Tess, an agent of the temple, to throw discord into the friendship of these two men. Something has gone wrong. At first the plan went beyond his expectations, but Tess was supposed to assassinate Red Hanlan at her earliest opportunity. Now she seems to have gone rogue and become his partner and paramour. Salin desires the death of this traitoress with almost as much fervor as Black Harris. Her failure to complete his plan will be a mark, a physical mark, of shame.
Equipment: Spells 1st) Curse/Bless, Command, Cause/Cure lt.wnds, Dark/Light, Cause/Remove Fear. 2nd) Chant, Enthrall, Flame Blade, Hold Person, Spir.Hammer. 3rd) Animate Dead, Prayer, Pyrotechnics
Chainmail +2 Hammer of Pain: This Warhammer, usable only by those of an evil alignment, acts as a +2 weapon to hit and damage. 3 times every 24 hours its user can cause a jolt of pain which will stun an opponent for 1-3 rounds of combat (save vs rods and the victim will merely suffer a -2 on their chance to hit on the next combat round). There is a 10% chance that the pain will be inflicted upon the user every time this special ability is used (non-cumulative). Stunned victims cannot attack, cast spells, lose all dexterity bonuses and add 2 points to their AC (AC2 = AC4 while stunned)
Warhammer ( used for spiritual hammer spell, Salin keeps 2 a dozen of these among the pack animals.
Set of razor-edged knives and sharpening stone ( Salin will never use these as a weapon, they are for ritual scaring only)
Heavy War Horse : Blood, a dark reddish-brown coated stallion. Posted: 07-23-2020 04:13 pm Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 3 Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris Part 3#2 Falil, human male, (Level 4 Magic User) Lyndos' aid Int 17 Dex 16 HP11, AL NE, AGE 35
Physical Description: Falil is short 5"4', dark haired, fullbearded and stout. He is surprising quick and agile. He has an intricate tattoo on his forearm. It contains in code the words which will activate the magic wand he carries. He has a terrible memory.
He wears a black hood on raids, just a simple black cloth bag with eye and nose holes cut into it. Over his normal old brown robe he wears a large black cape.
Background: Falil is the son of a Sterich merchant. His only interest was in magic and since he showed noaptitude for the family business he was apprenticed to a local mage of minor power. While studying with the mage a magical construct went awry killing the mage and the two other apprentices. Falil was accused of their murder but was actually innocent. He fled and was found by Black Harris sleeping along the bank of the Javan river. At the urging of Lyndos they spared the apprentice mage. Under the vigorous tutelage of Lyndos, Falil has proven to be an apt student, handy with languages and copying scrolls.
Personality and attitude: Falil is devoted to Lyndos. He is a lazy unassuming character who would liked to have simply lived out his life on his father's estate.
Equipment: Falil is able to memorize 1 less spell/ level than he would be allowed for his intelligence. He knows only those spells which Lyndos will teach him. He has no spell book of his own but normally has memorized; Sleep, Magic Missile & Invisibility
Sling 20 steel bullets Wand of Magic Missiles (12 charges) Mule, Henry Posted: 07-23-2020 02:36 am Encyclopedia Magica Revised : Anything Item Encyclopedia Magica Revised : Anything ItemEncyclopedia Magica Revised : Anything Item
It is said that in the dungeons beneath the ruins of the Mad Archmage's castle every item of magic and every spell can be found...
Anything Item
(Original Version): Unearthed Arcana, Encyclopedia Magica Page #21
Somewhere between the third level below the lake of quicksilver and the gaping maw of living stone that was the entrance to the fourth the party found the workshop. The seven survivors of their party, which once numbered a dozen, found themselves on a wide landing in the middle of a broad set of stairs busily binding the wounds of those the archway had bitten when Gwen, a dwarven warrior-maiden noticed a chip on the wall. It was no more than the size of a pebble taken from the corner of a massive black near the bottom edge of the landing they rested upon.
"Kal," she called to the gnome illusionist who led them, "do you have that vial of quicksilver we found above?"
"Certainly, my dear," the old gnome fished into one of the dozens of pockets which lined his robe. Under his breath he spoke a Word and the small vial with the rough stone cap appeared in his fist. "Here. What use do you see for it?"
"That cap," Gwen answered. She bent and held it near the small chip in the stone wall. "It matches..." she began to say but as she brought the vial within a foot of the wall it sprang from her hand like a steel needle to a loadstone.
The capped end fit perfectly and joined the stone block with a klick. The quicksilver immediately flowed along the joins between the stones in a silver-metal line which formed an arching door. Silently the wall opened slowly inward.
"What have we here?" Kal wondered aloud.
The small party of explorers entered the room beyond the secret doorway. Inside they found a long chamber lined with benches and peghooks on the walls above them. Heavy aprons of varying type were on the pegs mixed with strange hats and hoods, thick gloves and goggles, some with dark lenses, some green, yellow, red or even clear. Beneath the bench were boots of different size, but all with soles padded deeply with cork.
A large double-door was set into the far wall. It opened at a touch, in fact one door came slamming down off its hinges with a boom that made the entire party jump. Harold, their thief, looked back at the other with a sheepish grin, then moved inside the room now revealed.
It was a fairly large room, wide, but still longer than its width. Several lanterns were hanging from the ceiling, still shining forth with undimmed light from enchanted stones. The rest of the room was blackened by fire and layered with scattered debris. All except one small workbench against the far wall which appeared in the light to be untouched.
"Wait," whispered Kal holding the thief back, "could be a trap."
"One that has already gone off by the look of things," Harold replied.
Whatever had caused the destruction had happened long, long ago, but still the magic lights burned overhead in a few of the remaining lanterns. Harold crept about the room while the Cuthbertian priest chanted from the safety of the doorway. The grace of the Saint revealed no dangers while Harold's search found only slagged metal, some of it precious, fragments of gems and a large amount of soot stained shattered glass. The only whole object was a small rod of quicksilver held by a crystal vice.
"What is it?" Harold asked Kal who had come to stand beside him.
Kal reached beneath the collar of his robe and drew out a medallion, a small metal disc with a ruby at its center. He rubbed it between his palms as if to warm it. A red glow shone brightly for a moment, the bones of his hands suddenly visible beneath Kal's flesh, then faded quickly so that the tanned leather of the gnome's old skin hid the medallion once more in his hand. Sagging for a moment, then forcing his shoulders back, he held the medallion to his eye and gave a startled gasp. The disc fell from his fingers and dangled on its golden chain.
"Ahhh..." Kal uttered, "that is what it first looked like."
"What? What?" Harold asked in an excited voice, he had a sudden vision of gold coins pouring into his hands.
Kal's eyes were half-lidded and he looked a century older, but he smiled at the thief.
"A very powerful item indeed. It can become any small object the holder desires, enchanted or mundane. It appears unused, untouched, perhaps freshly created and abandoned here..." Kal trailed off and looked about him at the wreckage all around. "What, waste, what knowledge lost, what power in this room and gone..."
Harold grinned back. "How much do you think we can get for it?"
***
Anything Item (Revised)
Only discovered in its original form once in the annals of the wise ( a cylindrical bar two inches in diameter and one foot long. It is composed of an enchanted metal appearing to be quicksilver, but bitterly cold to the touch, with an uncomfortably slick texture).
If the command word is known it can instantly transform into any non-consumable small object either enchanted or mundane (though of limited duration, 1 use or 1 hour and neither relic or artifact) that the possessor has held before (i.e. the has once held a ring of free action but not a rod of lordly might, he can transform the anything into a duplicate of the ring, but not the rod).
If the item has a single use effect the Anything Item can be used for that one effect. If it has a permanent effect (such as a Helm of Underwater Action) that effect will last for 1 hour. (i.e. if changed into a +3 dagger, the +3 bonus would last for only 1 hour before becoming a dagger with no bonus at all). If commanded to become a mundane item it remains in that form until commanded to change.
The Anything Item can be changed into a specific form only once, then can never take that form again. It can be commanded to change only 3 times by an individual and will remain in the last shape it is commanded to duplicate till someone else takes over ownership and commands it to change once again. The object cannot be traded back and forth. Once it has been used by a new owner the old owner, even if only 1 change was commanded, has lost ownership of the item forever.
Powers 1. May transform into any non-consumable small object magical or mundane upon command. 2. The Anything Item radiates magic regardless of its shape or magical or non-magical abilities.
Limitations 1. Can only duplicate an object that has been previously held by current owner. 2. Can only perform a single magical effect of duplicated object 3. Enchantment disappears after one hour even if duplicated objects magical effect or ability has not been used (i.e. a Horn of Valhalla duplicated but not used becomes a mundane horn after 1 hour). A duplicated item with a permanent magical effect or bonus also becomes a mundane item after 1 hour. 4. No item can be duplicated twice. (i.e. If a previous owner changed the Anything Item into a Ring of Free Action it can never be changed again into a Ring of Free Action regardless of new ownership). 5. An individual can only command the Anything Item to change a maximum of 3 times. The next owner can command a change a maximum of 3 times and so on. 6. Once used ownership is established, but should a different individual take hold of the Anything Item and command a change then they are the new owner and the previous owner may never again command the item to change, though anyone may make use of the changed item (within the limitation of class restrictions) if given by the current owner or taken from them.
Saves As: The Anything Item saves as Metal, Hard (+5) at all times and in any form. If damaged it turns into a small pool of quicksilver which evaporates in a single hour.
In the Greyhawk Campaign; Only 7 of these Anything Items are known to exist. No mage claims the ability to construct these items. Posted: 07-23-2020 12:36 am Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris 2 Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan and Black Harris 2Lyndos, human male, (Magic User level 7) Str 8, Int 18, Wis 11, Con 10, Dex 12, Chr 11 HP: 22, AL LE, AGE 33
Physical Description: Lyndos is pale with thin ash-blond hair. 5"9' and skinny. He is clean shaven but his fine thin hair is hardly noticeable even if he does not shave. He has no scars or tattoos.
Lyndos wears a dark hooded cloak on raids, he has a mask which looks like a grinning devils face horns and all which he wears under the hood, (he salvaged it from a group of wandering entertainers that the band ambushed on the road in Keoland).
In towns or away from the brigands he dresses in dark blue robes with occult signs, actual charms woven into its make-up, ( a charm against detection and a charm of protection +1) He wears a dark blue, wide-brimmed hat to protect his fair skin from the sun.
Background: Lyndos has served as Black Harris' lieutenant for the last three years and outside of Smashnose has been with the band the longest, (a total of four years). His mentor Stesil Hin, a mage of great experience and evil, had an estate outside of Hardby. After catching Lyndos borrowing spell components Stesil expelled him and Lyndos left Hardby only seconds ahead of one of Stesils' lightning bolts. Luckily Stesil failed to notice the old traveling spellbooks which Lyndos had borrowed earlier.
Down on his luck, Lyndos survived hand to mouth in the City of Greyhawk. Without cash or connections Lyndos owned only his stolen spellbooks, a bare minimum of components and a single set of worn pants, shirt and shoes. Then he met Black Harris and he has followed him ever since.
Personality and attitude: Lyndos is meticulous but lacks patience. His greatest desire is to expand his knowledge of all things wizardly but he does so regardless of the cost in pain and suffering to others. Lyndos had been in on the planning of all the major raids for the past few years. The sudden change in Harris' attitude toward the band's attacks and his lack of care in matters of security have forced Lyndos to make plans of his own.
While he bears no sense of loyalty to Harris he has been amply rewarded in the past and greatly profited due to his membership in the band of brigands. He receives all books, scrolls and magical items which are meant for a mage's use as well as a senior member's cut of all treasure. But now he feels that the rewards are coming at too high a risk and his counsels are ignored. He is gathering his resources and his courage, awaiting a time to break with the band unless he sees a change come over Black Harris and a return to the old ways.
Equipment:
Lyndos has a secret cache of spellbooks hidden away in Veluna City. He only carries a traveling spellbook while raiding.
Travelling Spellbook: 1st) Alarm, Comp. Languages, Detect Magic, Identify, Magic Missile, Read Magic, Shield & Sleep 2nd) Flaming Sphere, Invisibility, Knock, Mirror image, Ray Enfeeb., Web 3rd) Fireball, Haste, Hold Person, Lightning bolt, Pro.Norm. Missiles, 4th) Imp. Invisibility, Minor Globe Invuln., Wizard eye
Ring +2 of protection Staff of Shielding: This staff allows the user to cast the shield spell twice every 24 hours at the casters current level of experience. Sling 20 +1 sling bullets 10 Silver sling bullets 3 glass spheres holding dust of sneezing and choking, held in an ivory container that has a carrying strap. Dagger +1
Riding Horse: Mare, named LuLu. Posted: 07-23-2020 12:32 am Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 1 Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 1Oerthly Encounters
Red Hanlan & Black Harris
This pair of Brigands has been highly successful raiding across the lands west of Greyhawk, such as Furyondy, Veluna and Bissel, as well as the lands of the Yeomanry, Keoland, Ulek and Gran March. Recently, however, they have parted company and now Black Harris pursues his former partner. Red Hanlan now rides with his new partner Tess Bywater or "Laughing Tess" as she is called.
Periodically after a successful raid or series of raids the band would split up, each going their separate way, to enjoy the ill-gotten gains of their labor. Some traveled in pairs like the brothers Kalife and Kalib, but most set off on their own. At an appointed date the band would gather again and it was common for both Red Hanlan and Black Harris to return with a string of new recruits.
Having successfully left a bloody trail of robberies and murders along the paths and roads between the Dreadwood in Keoland to the Lorridges in Bissel, the evil band gathered together once more in a small but growing market town named Fountainspring set within the heart of the Kingdom of Furyondy. Red Hanlan came with a half dozen followers but Black Harris brought along only Tess. While in town the raiders were on their best behavior, but as the reunited group celebrated one last time before leaving town Tess killed a long time member of the band who 'insulted' her. Black Harris and Tess had a shouting, then throwing, match and finally Tess stormed off, with Red Hanlan. Later that night a now staggeringly drunk Harris broke down the door to Red Hanlan's room and the struggle which ensued wrecked the tavern and scattered or killed those who supported Red Hanlan.
Since that time Red has been on the run. Only Tess followed him from the broken tables and smashed chairs of the Inn.
Black Harris has sworn a dark oath of vengeance, but while his followers understand his desire they have more practical concerns, namely loot. Always bloodthirsty and merciless Black Harris has raided and robbed with a brutal cunning. Now he has grown careless. Robbing only to pacify his followers, his thoughts are turned to tracking down and exacting a painful retribution on his brief one-time lover and his faithless former partner. Previously the band would raid only after studying the layout of the land and the composition of the merchant caravan or train, though they would not hesitate to waylay a small party or individual whose bodies would be hidden among ditch or bramble, unlikely to be seen again. Now they strike without preparation. So far they have been lucky and their casualties have been few, but their luck is not likely to hold.
Red Hanlan has been on the run since that night. Nearly overtaken outside of Littleberg, he has since laid low, living rough along the edge of the Gnarly Forest. Once a ranger of Geoff, Red has used the skills learned in his early days to pick hidden and secure camps and hideouts for the band amid the wild. Now he uses these skills to hide from Black Harris.
Black Harris chases Red Hanlan. He will pursue him wherever the trail will lead. Red cannot remain hidden forever but will appear again, while Harris will follow carelessly in a wake of death and destruction till he is pulled down like a mad beast by the forces of order in the lands he afflicts or till he at last runs down his quarry, Tess and Red Hanlan.
The Brigands:
As an early precaution against detection the brigands took to wearing masks and black clothing on raids and making sure to dress differently if they were in a town or village. Several months before the group split apart they attacked a group of wandering players. The loot was poor but it contained many different theatrical masks which the brigands adopted. Unfortunately Black Harris and Red Hanlan also adopted a policy of no quarter. No survivors, no witnesses. It proved highly successful from their point of view. Merchant caravans and travelers simply vanished, their wagons, baggage and bodiesabandoned in woods or rough terrain. The careful and merciless tactics of Red Hanlan and Black Harris have kept their identities separate from the raiders who plague an area for a few weeks then disappear only to reappear leagues away in a different country or kingdom.
Black Harris, human male, Ftr Level 9 Str 17, Int 12, Wis 12, Con 17, Dex 12, Chr 10 HP 89, AL LE, AGE 36 Physical Description: 6"2', Thin and wirey. Brown hair and eye, brown mustache. Scars over his left eye, on right cheek, wide scar across upper right chest. Tattoo of a grinning skull on right bicep, an eagle holding a bloody dragon in its claws on his left.
On raids Harris wears black. black boots, pants, a black tabard over his chain mail and a black plume from his helm. He was a man of careful habits and grooming but now is lax and usually needs a shave. His mustache once neatly trimmed is on its way to becoming a soup strainer. While in towns or villages Harris would always wear colorful and fancy clothes of fine quality. In his current obsessed state he wears whatever he puts his hands on, leaving such garments on till their stench is strong enough for him to notice.
Background: Called 'Black Harris' because of his grim and merciless nature. It's rumored that he grew up in the Hold of the Sea Princes and spent part of his life as a pirate but no one knows for sure. He is merciless but maintains a rough and comradely discipline among his men. He demands obedience but does not play favorites and will not break his word. His followers know that they can expect honest and fair dealing from him but cruel and swift punishment if they should cross him or violate the oaths that they have sworn to Harris. He has deep respect for magic both wizardly and divine and will go out of his way to recruit practitioners of these arts.
Personality and attitude: Harris is now obsessed with the desire for vengeance. Once a careful and cunning planner he now simply rides in with the full strength of his band and overwhelms any guardsmen or outriders, then falls upon the body of the caravan or merchant train. He cares nothing for what treasure or valuables are harvested from these raids, though he still takes his cut. He uses this wealth only to pay informants or recruit more men in his quest against Red Hanlan. Only his lieutenant, the wizard Lyndos, and Lyndos's aid Falil, object to Harris's current actions.
The evil priest Salin, a follower of Hextor, approves of this direct action, "Attack, Attack, Attack!" is his motto.
Black Harris has a taken a step from evil into madness and the light from his fiery obsession burns in his eyes.
Equipment: Chainmail +2 Saber +1 of wounding. (1d8s-m 1d8-l) Shield +1 helm Lance +2 Gauntlet of crushing grip: This single gauntlet can be commanded by the wearer to attempt to crush anything in its grasp 3 times every 24hours. It can easily crush a flagon or snap an unenchanted blade. An arm or ankle would be pulped and perhaps severed. This gauntlet crushes slowly, taking 4 rounds to fully close. With a resisting opponent the user of the gauntlet must make a successful To-Hit. On the first round no damage is inflicted, the gauntlet merely grips what it will then proceed to crush. On each following round 1d6+7 pts of damage will be inflicted. The victim has the opportunity to pull away from the grip if they save vs their Dex on the first round for no 1d6 damage. Each subsequent round the victim will get a more difficult save, first at -2, then -4, and finally -6 as the gauntlets fingers sink deeper into their flesh. If successful they receive half damage as they pull away from the crushing steel fingers of the gauntlet. The gauntlet will not damage enchanted items. Its fingers would not even scratch enchanted plate mail but a shirt of chain, while itself undamaged, would not keep what is between its links from being pulped.
War Horse: Obesdian, is the fourth Heavy War horse of that name which Harris has ridden. As its name implies it has a glossy black coat. HD: 4+4 AC7 HP:31 6 potions of extra healing (private stock) 1 potion of Hill Giant Strength 1 potion of speed
Black Harris's Band
#1 Lyndos (level 7 Magic User) Harris's lieutenant #2 Falil (Level 4 Magic User) Lyndos's aid #3 Salin (Level 6 Priest of Hextor) #4 Zeffin (Level 2 Cleric) Salins assistant #5 Kalib (Level 5 Fighter) twin brother of Kalife #6 Kalife (Level 5 Fighter) twin brother of Kalib #7 Smashnose (Level 4 Fighter) 1/2 Orc #8 Travis (Level 5 Thief) leads thief contingent within band #9 Costos (Level 3 Thief) #10 Halvas (Level 1 Thief) #11 Dursus (Level 1 Thief) #12 Bismon ( Level 3 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #13 Quisson (Level 2 Fighter) #14 Tras (Level 2 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #15 Arrash (Level 1 Fighter) #16 Cruther (Level 1 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #17 Sasor (Level 1 Fighter) Follower of Hextor Posted: 07-23-2020 12:31 am Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 1 Oerthly Encounters Red Hanlan & Black Harris Part 1Oerthly Encounters
Red Hanlan & Black Harris
This pair of Brigands has been highly successful raiding across the lands west of Greyhawk, such as Furyondy, Veluna and Bissel, as well as the lands of the Yeomanry, Keoland, Ulek and Gran March. Recently, however, they have parted company and now Black Harris pursues his former partner. Red Hanlan now rides with his new partner Tess Bywater or "Laughing Tess" as she is called.
Periodically after a successful raid or series of raids the band would split up, each going their separate way, to enjoy the ill-gotten gains of their labor. Some traveled in pairs like the brothers Kalife and Kalib, but most set off on their own. At an appointed date the band would gather again and it was common for both Red Hanlan and Black Harris to return with a string of new recruits.
Having successfully left a bloody trail of robberies and murders along the paths and roads between the Dreadwood in Keoland to the Lorridges in Bissel, the evil band gathered together once more in a small but growing market town named Fountainspring set within the heart of the Kingdom of Furyondy. Red Hanlan came with a half dozen followers but Black Harris brought along only Tess. While in town the raiders were on their best behavior, but as the reunited group celebrated one last time before leaving town Tess killed a long time member of the band who 'insulted' her. Black Harris and Tess had a shouting, then throwing, match and finally Tess stormed off, with Red Hanlan. Later that night a now staggeringly drunk Harris broke down the door to Red Hanlan's room and the struggle which ensued wrecked the tavern and scattered or killed those who supported Red Hanlan.
Since that time Red has been on the run. Only Tess followed him from the broken tables and smashed chairs of the Inn.
Black Harris has sworn a dark oath of vengeance, but while his followers understand his desire they have more practical concerns, namely loot. Always bloodthirsty and merciless Black Harris has raided and robbed with a brutal cunning. Now he has grown careless. Robbing only to pacify his followers, his thoughts are turned to tracking down and exacting a painful retribution on his brief one-time lover and his faithless former partner. Previously the band would raid only after studying the layout of the land and the composition of the merchant caravan or train, though they would not hesitate to waylay a small party or individual whose bodies would be hidden among ditch or bramble, unlikely to be seen again. Now they strike without preparation. So far they have been lucky and their casualties have been few, but their luck is not likely to hold.
Red Hanlan has been on the run since that night. Nearly overtaken outside of Littleberg, he has since laid low, living rough along the edge of the Gnarly Forest. Once a ranger of Geoff, Red has used the skills learned in his early days to pick hidden and secure camps and hideouts for the band amid the wild. Now he uses these skills to hide from Black Harris.
Black Harris chases Red Hanlan. He will pursue him wherever the trail will lead. Red cannot remain hidden forever but will appear again, while Harris will follow carelessly in a wake of death and destruction till he is pulled down like a mad beast by the forces of order in the lands he afflicts or till he at last runs down his quarry, Tess and Red Hanlan.
The Brigands:
As an early precaution against detection the brigands took to wearing masks and black clothing on raids and making sure to dress differently if they were in a town or village. Several months before the group split apart they attacked a group of wandering players. The loot was poor but it contained many different theatrical masks which the brigands adopted. Unfortunately Black Harris and Red Hanlan also adopted a policy of no quarter. No survivors, no witnesses. It proved highly successful from their point of view. Merchant caravans and travelers simply vanished, their wagons, baggage and bodiesabandoned in woods or rough terrain. The careful and merciless tactics of Red Hanlan and Black Harris have kept their identities separate from the raiders who plague an area for a few weeks then disappear only to reappear leagues away in a different country or kingdom.
Black Harris, human male, Ftr Level 9 Str 17, Int 12, Wis 12, Con 17, Dex 12, Chr 10 HP 89, AL LE, AGE 36 Physical Description: 6"2', Thin and wirey. Brown hair and eye, brown mustache. Scars over his left eye, on right cheek, wide scar across upper right chest. Tattoo of a grinning skull on right bicep, an eagle holding a bloody dragon in its claws on his left.
On raids Harris wears black. black boots, pants, a black tabard over his chain mail and a black plume from his helm. He was a man of careful habits and grooming but now is lax and usually needs a shave. His mustache once neatly trimmed is on its way to becoming a soup strainer. While in towns or villages Harris would always wear colorful and fancy clothes of fine quality. In his current obsessed state he wears whatever he puts his hands on, leaving such garments on till their stench is strong enough for him to notice.
Background: Called 'Black Harris' because of his grim and merciless nature. It's rumored that he grew up in the Hold of the Sea Princes and spent part of his life as a pirate but no one knows for sure. He is merciless but maintains a rough and comradely discipline among his men. He demands obedience but does not play favorites and will not break his word. His followers know that they can expect honest and fair dealing from him but cruel and swift punishment if they should cross him or violate the oaths that they have sworn to Harris. He has deep respect for magic both wizardly and divine and will go out of his way to recruit practitioners of these arts.
Personality and attitude: Harris is now obsessed with the desire for vengeance. Once a careful and cunning planner he now simply rides in with the full strength of his band and overwhelms any guardsmen or outriders, then falls upon the body of the caravan or merchant train. He cares nothing for what treasure or valuables are harvested from these raids, though he still takes his cut. He uses this wealth only to pay informants or recruit more men in his quest against Red Hanlan. Only his lieutenant, the wizard Lyndos, and Lyndos's aid Falil, object to Harris's current actions.
The evil priest Salin, a follower of Hextor, approves of this direct action, "Attack, Attack, Attack!" is his motto.
Black Harris has a taken a step from evil into madness and the light from his fiery obsession burns in his eyes.
Equipment: Chainmail +2 Saber +1 of wounding. (1d8s-m 1d8-l) Shield +1 helm Lance +2 Gauntlet of crushing grip: This single gauntlet can be commanded by the wearer to attempt to crush anything in its grasp 3 times every 24hours. It can easily crush a flagon or snap an unenchanted blade. An arm or ankle would be pulped and perhaps severed. This gauntlet crushes slowly, taking 4 rounds to fully close. With a resisting opponent the user of the gauntlet must make a successful To-Hit. On the first round no damage is inflicted, the gauntlet merely grips what it will then proceed to crush. On each following round 1d6+7 pts of damage will be inflicted. The victim has the opportunity to pull away from the grip if they save vs their Dex on the first round for no 1d6 damage. Each subsequent round the victim will get a more difficult save, first at -2, then -4, and finally -6 as the gauntlets fingers sink deeper into their flesh. If successful they receive half damage as they pull away from the crushing steel fingers of the gauntlet. The gauntlet will not damage enchanted items. Its fingers would not even scratch enchanted plate mail but a shirt of chain, while itself undamaged, would not keep what is between its links from being pulped.
War Horse: Obesdian, is the fourth Heavy War horse of that name which Harris has ridden. As its name implies it has a glossy black coat. HD: 4+4 AC7 HP:31 6 potions of extra healing (private stock) 1 potion of Hill Giant Strength 1 potion of speed
Black Harris's Band
#1 Lyndos (level 7 Magic User) Harris's lieutenant #2 Falil (Level 4 Magic User) Lyndos's aid #3 Salin (Level 6 Priest of Hextor) #4 Zeffin (Level 2 Cleric) Salins assistant #5 Kalib (Level 5 Fighter) twin brother of Kalife #6 Kalife (Level 5 Fighter) twin brother of Kalib #7 Smashnose (Level 4 Fighter) 1/2 Orc #8 Travis (Level 5 Thief) leads thief contingent within band #9 Costos (Level 3 Thief) #10 Halvas (Level 1 Thief) #11 Dursus (Level 1 Thief) #12 Bismon ( Level 3 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #13 Quisson (Level 2 Fighter) #14 Tras (Level 2 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #15 Arrash (Level 1 Fighter) #16 Cruther (Level 1 Fighter) Follower of Hextor #17 Sasor (Level 1 Fighter) Follower of Hextor Posted: 07-23-2020 12:31 am Oerthly Encounters The Thief in the Night Oerthly Encounters The Thief in the NightOerthly Encounters
The Thief in the Night
Taldas Fei is a thief who specializes in burglary, especially the robbery of merchants, adventurers and any likely residents of a tavern, hostel or inn.
He will first stay as a guest under an assumed identity, a merchant, warrior, scribe, etc... always a different persona for a different town or village. Then he will carefully and cautiously explore his surroundings, keeping careful record of each room, door, window and lock. He will stay long enough to learn the local gossip and become a familiar face to the residents but avoids close contact with other travellers.
Taldas will never attempt a burglary on his first stay at an inn or tavern. He will first prepare the ground, then leave and return at a later date adopting the persona which he dedicates to that particular locale. He will, in larger towns and cities, sometimes take on a second, third, or more, persona if he feels that he can get away with it. Taldas gathers information and has a journal which he carries with him and a master journal which he has safely hidden away in his only permanent residence, a house in the City of Greyhawk. This journal contains notes and maps about each place that he has prepared. It also has notes on merchants, caravan routes, wealthy travelers, ceremonies and festivals as well as rumors and gossip about everything from dragon's hoards to the possible marriages of the nobility or wealthy; anything which might have potential for relatively unsecured treasure to find its way into first, one of his prepared inns or taverns, then into Taldas's pocket.
Taldas performs his burglaries only at night and will not be in residence when he does so. Instead he will have left the inn or tavern the night, or perhaps even a few days, before if he feels that his target will be safely ensconced within for that much time. After dark Taldas will return and enter through a carefully studied way; an upper window or roof access, the doors through which kegs of beer are rolled into the cellar, etc... Whichever way that he has discovered is the most vulnerable and unattended. He will then make his way to the room of his victim and attempt a robbery, hopefully without violence.
Taldas is aided in his craft by three magic items.
#1 Ring of Silence
This ring, when activated, creates a sphere of silence around the wearer in a 5ft radius. No sound of any kind passes from outside or into this sphere. It can be activated once every 12 hours for a duration of 30 minutes. It can also silence an individual, the wearers choice, within a 15ft range of the wearer for 10 minutes once every 24hours. These functions cannot be performed at the same time and the durations of these effects cannot be altered by the wearer.
#2 Gloves & boots of Spiderclimb
These magic items must be used as a set, a wearer missing a hand or foot could not activate their power. These are made from a slim, silky material and will fit any humanoids from small to large stretching or conforming to the size of their hands or feet. They must be worn directly against the skin of both hands and feet but luckily provide protection against sharp or piercing objects such as broken glass, razors or caltrops. They have no effect on crushing blows. Once all four items are donned they immediately begin to function and will only cease when either one part of the set is removed from the -wearer or if the wearers limb is severed. This set grants the wearer the same abilities as the magic-user spell spiderclimb.
#3 Catseye pendant
This pendant is of gold in the shape of a cat's head. Two green gems form its eyes. This pedant allows the wearer to see with a much greater degree of night vision (range 80 feet) as well as the ability to see well in direct or sudden bright light. When activated the wearer's eyes take on the form of a green-eyed cats. This pendant can be activated three times every 24hours for a 1 hour duration.
Taldas is patient and methodical. He is intelligent and chooses his targets with great care. He is unlikely to rob a powerful magician or priest and will back away from an excessively well-guarded item.
He approaches his craft almost as an art-form and is no throat-slitter or bash-and-grab thief. He would fight or even kill to escape from capture but will first just try to run away. He carries several defensive items to aid him in this. He might have any one or several of these on hand at any time.
#1) A pouch containing small steel sling bullets. Taldas is adept with the sling but would also use these to toss behind him and hopefully trip up his pursuers.
#2) A glass bottle of oil, he would use this only to make steps or floor slippery not to set fires.
#3) A pouch of caltrops. Not something Taldas would normally carry but he might if going after a high reward high risk item.
#4) A coil of strong twine or preferably wire. He would string these along a stair or passageway at ankle height.
#5) a glass jar filled with bees, wasps or hornet, depending upon their availability.
#6) several rags rolled into balls soaked in lantern oil and dipped in wax. If lit these will produces thick smoke but are unlikely to start a fire.
#7) a glass jar filled with glass marbles (if available) otherwise this will be a glass jar lined with wax filled with steel sling bullet. These marbles or bullets will also be greased. These would be used before the regular sling bullets.
While attempting a burglary Taldas will dress in black, wearing a black cloth mask and hood as well as a small pack and a belt with equipment. He wears no armor but has a +2 ring of protection. He carries a sling and a half-dozen throwing knives. Taldas has 1 packet of dust of disappearance which he will only use in a dire emergency. He also keeps a scroll tube on hand with a tattered an ancient map inside. If captured he will claim that it is a map to a lost treasure which only he can interpret correctly. A small section of the map is missing and Taldas will swear, truthfully that he has memorized it. Taldas picked up the map several years ago. It shows the lands along the western borders of the Duchy of Geoff, but he has no idea where it leads to. Notes on the map make mention of an ancient burial ground of a sorcerer king and of vast treasure, but Taldas is a burglar not an adventurer and prefers to get his treasure the old fashioned way, by stealing it from sleeping merchants.
He is of average height and appearance with blue eyes but otherwise his hair and general appearance are continually being altered. In Greyhawk, when he resides at home, he has sandy blond hair and a fair complexion, clean shaven and shorthaired and appears to be in his mid-thirties.
Taldas Fei, Human Male Thief level 7 Str 13, Int 14, Wis 12, Con 11, Dex 17, Chr 16 HP 29 Skills (without armor) Pick pockets 25 Open Locks 95 Find/Remove Traps 95 Move Silently 25 Hide in Shadows 90 Detect noise 15 Climb Walls 70 Read Languages 0 Posted: 07-22-2020 11:12 pm The Frost Giant Jarl - Grugnur's Lament Part 1
The Frost Giant Jarl - Grugnur's Lament
"I told you that chain would come in handy," Talberth said with an I-Told-You-So half-smile on his lips.
Several nasty looks came from the assembled party and the wizard-elf Telenstil put a hand on his old apprentice's shoulder.
They were a bleeried-eyed and worn looking group. Blood-spotted banadages were on most of them and three of the five dwarves looked like they were about to collapse.
"It's freezing..." chattered the halfling among them even though he was well wrapped in a bear-skin cloak cut down to his size. A small orc stood beside him wearing his bear-skin like a blanket with holes cut for his arms and legs. He wore a belt made of thick rope and two shortswords were sheathed at either side with a pair of daggers crossed at his middle.
Two of the dwarves were in well-fited, finely crafted mail. One bore a warhammer that was etched with cryptic dwarven runes while the other held a double-headed axe, short handled and of obvious dwarven craft.
"I still don't trust orcs," the axe-wielder commented in the old, old dwarfen tongue.
"You can trust that one well-enough," commented one the thin and greyhaired dwarves. Ginnar, for all that he was the hammer-wielder's younger brother looked older than their father after months of captivity in Nosnra's steading. "Little Rat ran errands for me from the forge to my friends and those rebel orcs. He was so small the giants didn't seem to notice him."
"Those giants," said one of the ex-slaves beside Ginnar, "worse than any orc."
"He's been adopted by Harold," Galar said firmly. He set his warhammer down and rubbed his hands together. As eldest and a priest to boot his word was final. "Be polite."
Around them the strange mix of humans and humanoids began to move. They were in some huge cavern, though to the giants it must have seemed low-ceilinged if wide and round. The magic chain which had transported them here glowed with a nimbus of blue-white light and provided illumination if not warmth.
At the one end of the cave were piles of crates and the walls were hung with the skins of huge animals. A blackened circle showed where a fire was once lit and wood remained in it ready to be kindled into flame. Fuel in the form of cold, dried logs was piled against another wall.
As they watched the huge human ranger withdrew a tinderbox from his belt and started some dry moss aflame inside a little frame of twigs. Quickly a lively dance of fire was growing as he bent and fed it larger and larger sticks and splinters of wood.
The halfling-thief and his apprentice Little Rat, the orc, began to pry open boxes at the back of the cave.
The sylvan-elf Ghibelline approached the dwarves with a smile on his lips. "I told you we would be free one day Ginnar."
"That you did, lad," Ginnar replied with a smile of his own, "But I never believed we'd live to see it."
"We almost didn't," said a deep voice beside them.
The dwarves looked at the figure smaller than all of them and older. Ivo was a gnome from the Kron Hills and a crafter of illusions more powerful than any they had seen before.
"It was good fortune to find you beyond the walls and outside that dungeon of Nosnra's," Ivo continued.
"There is something loose down there even the giants were afraid of," said Serleg, one of the two Hill Dwarves rescued with Ginnar.
"Even that bastard, Fehrig, that flame-haired Fire Giant, came up from the forges and dragged us along with him," added Feg, Serleg's brother.
"I wish that I could have collected the blood-debt that one owes," grumbled Serleg.
"We'd meant to collect from many a giant, especially Nosnra," said Ivo, "But here we are."
"And where is here?" asked Ginnar.
"If what we'd read about that chain is correct," answered Ivo, "We are in the land of the Frost Giants. The great glacier, the home of Grugnur, the Frost Giant Jarl, and we mean to deal with him as we dealt with Nosnra. Only, perhaps, a bit more dead."
***
The fire only occupied a portion of the large ring left by the giants who had used the cave. It brought light and dancing shadows. A cloud of smoke rose to the ceiling and disappeared above a large animal skin, some hairy mamoth-sized creature as big as a barn. Harald, the old ranger, had found a large passage beyond that turned and twisted, screened by two more hangings before opening to a land of glaring ice and rock beyond. A quick scout of the area showed no tracks so he returned quickly.
The rest of the company, five dwarves, a halfling, a gnome, two elves, three humans and a small orc were sitting around the fire warming themselves and cooking things on sticks.
"So, are we truly in the glacier lands?" asked Nyradir, the dwarven warrior.
"Yes," replied Harald tacturnly. His face was grim as approached.
"I am sorry Harald," said the old elven-mage. Telenstil knew how Harald had longed to stay, even if alone, to hunt down Nosnra or more likely die in the attempt. Only his loyalty to his companions had made him enter the ring of chain when they had enacted its enchantment, bringing from the hills to these cold, cold mountains.
"We will need to keep watch..." Harald began.
"I will go," spoke up Ghibelline. The sylvan elf rose to his feat and Gytha the priestess of St. Cuthbert rose with him.
"I will accompany you," she said and a quick smile touched Ghibelline's lips while across from them a bitter twist flashed across the tall human mage's features and then was gone.
"The ice glares in the sun," warned Harald, "watch your eyes. It can blind."
"I was raised in the same hills as you," Gytha replied, but she squeezed the ranger's arm as she passed him by.
"No matter how bright the sun will not blind or dazzle my eyes," said Ghibelline. "And after the dark of Nosnra's dungeons I still dream of the sun," he said, 'and the stars."
The pair disappeared through the woolly curtain which helped protect the cave from the bitter cold. The fire had already taken the deadly chill from the air and the small mountain of fuel left by the giants promised that it would not run out soon.
"Elves and halflings have the best eyes for the daywatch," said Ivo, "and the dwarves and I can handle the night."
"We have some hours till dark," said Harald. "I will rest now but once it is dark I will set out and find this next nest of giants."
"Not you alone," said Telenstil, "I still have my ring to help us and we have enchantments."
"Galar no trouble, find giants," said Nyradir. "I wish Berronar would let you speak their language all the time," he said to the cleric in their mountain tongue.
"That is no small thing to ask," Galar replied.
"I can speak well enough for the pair of ya," Ginnar told the two dwarves.
"Master elf," Ginnar said to Telenstil both with politeness due an elder and the respect due to a rescuer who saved him from slavery, torture and inevitable death, "My brother be a priest of Berronar, and in the God's good graces, so I doubt not he can find a true path to these giants."
"Yoyur brother, yourself and your companions are very welcome," said Telenstil, "But you need not accompany us..."
"Feg, Serleg and myself be better smiths than fighters, but still we are fighters," replied Ginnar. All three now stood and faced the others. "We go where you go. Your foes are ours," he said putting his thumbs in his belt and meeting the others eyes, "truly, these giants are our foes of old for all our kind, mountain or hill."
Telenstil stood and bowed to the three dwarves. "You are most welcome. We have much to avenge and even more to learn from these giants. For now let us take our ranger's advice and rest. Tonight we will begin."
Posted: 07-09-2020 02:40 pm She Speaks A Scarlet Mist
She Speaks A Scarlet Mist
Who can say when the blood of man was polluted with the foulness of undeath. From what blackened and defiled corner of the Oerth where first they arose is unknown. Every corner of the globe speaks of them, Bruja, Dachnavar, Draugir, Chang Kuei, Mara, Striga, Vampire.
In the Flanaess it is the same, in any decent land they are hunted and outlawed. Vampires are social creatures that form a family with a patriarch or matriarch ruling over them, but these paternal figures feel no love or attachment for their offspring and will use them for their pleasure and their defense willingly sacrificing all those they deem their 'children' for their defense or even simple gain. At times they will tire of their family and will slaughter them all gathering their tainted blood in great casks like wine to be aged and consumed at a later date.
Vampires always choose the strongest or most beautiful or talented humans to be their victims and future 'children'. Around this family are collected groups of ensnared servants or 'thralls' as the Fruz from the northlands call them. These are half-drained victims of the vampires who are ensorceled into fanatical loyalty to their vampiric masters.
While vampires may be found in ruins, catacombs or graveyards, they often join the society of large cities such as Greyhawk or Dyversas long as they can remain undetected. Some have taken over northern halls or holdings of the Sea-Barons or villas in the Great Kingdom.
There are rumors and traces of a vampiric brood gathering in the vast metropolis of Greyhawk and the local guard as well as a some of the ruling Oligarches are interested in rooting them out. While a small bounty is placed on the capture or heads of any proven thralls, a much greater reward can be gathered for the bodies (living or dead, but living pays better) of any of the Vampiric family. The Lord or Mistress of the clan would garner the greater reward but such a capture or even a defeat of one of these monsters is deemed unlikely. Posted: 06-25-2020 01:33 pm | |
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