[Greyhawk] North Province

Art by Mihai Radu

The Overking was traditionally appointed by vote of the magnates ruling the constituent territories of the Aedi. One of these was the region now called North Province which was held by House Naelax since the Great Kingdom's founding.

In time, Naelax seized the Malachite Throne themselves after the period of strife known as the Turmoil between Crowns. This dynasty came to a end under Ivid V, sometimes called Ivid the Mad, though that epithet fails perhaps to distinguish him from his predecessors. Before his ascension, the young Ivid was hardly considered a likely candidate for the throne, given that he was not possessed of any exceptional qualities to make him standout from his numerous siblings. 

In the fullness of time, though, Ivid was proved to possess the most essential quality for rulership: he was still alive. Not a few of his siblings were likely murdered and these assassinations are laid at the feet of Ivid's cousin and staunchest supporter, Grennell, who was ultimately elevated to Herzog of North Province.

Grennell, born to a cadet branch of House Naelax, was not in line to inherit even a lesser holding, so he put his skills at the application of violence to use, first in skirmishes against the Northern Barbarians and orcs, and then as assassin for his cousin, first in secret, then more brazenly. In the end he was rewarded with a ducal throne. After the reign of terror perpetrated by the pair, there were few other potential claimants left.

By all accounts, Grennell is a man of perversity and sadism. People who had displeased him or even ones who provoked his interest for any reason were taken by his henchmen and brought to his Iron Tower where they were subjected to the art of a scarred hobgoblin who served as his chief torturer or the attentions of the Herzog himself. His passions excited by these horrors, he then joined his retainers in feasting, gambling and debauchery.

The commoners and lesser landholders of the area around Eastfair lived in fear of their Herzog. Many have taken to having their children and heirs moved to the hinterlands or even out of the province to at least save them from Grennell's appetites.

Wednesday Comics: DC, June 1984 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics on March 29, 1984.

Blue Devil #1: As foretold in the preview in Firestorm a couple of weeks ago, here's a new series for a new character from Cohn/Mishkin and Cullins/Marcos. The stunt man and special effects genius Dan Cassidy is with the crew shooting the film Blue Devil when a couple of the actors go poking around the ancient ruins nearby and manage to release the demon Nebiros from 6000 years of captivity. Nebiros threatens to kill them all, but Cassidy, though no superhero, goes into action to stop him. How this story departs from the traditional superhero origin tale is it isn't just the story of one hero-to-be doing the resuing. Blue Devil would never have been able to defeat Nebiros and send him from this plane without the help of the brave members of the film crew who are to be become Blue Devil's supporting cast. Their victory is not without its cost, however, as Cassidy discovers in the cliffhanger ending that somehow Nebiros' mystical attacks have bonded the exosuit to him. 

This is a bit of a weird origin, I think, and I thought so when I read it 41 years ago. If you want a blue devil guy, why not just have him transformed from regular old Dan Cassidy by Nebiros' magic? Is that much less believable than the suit becoming part of him? Conversely, if you wanted a guy in a super-powered suit, why bond it to him at all? 

Those story choices aside, it's a solid first issue with a well-outlined group of characters and great art from Cullins and Marcos.

Action Comics #556: Maybe a couple of months ago I wondered if the writers had dropped the long-simmering Vandal Savage plotline. Well, it's back this issue, and it seems like what happened was they lost interest. Wolfman and Swan (the creative team that started it, I think) wind it up with Savage's plan to make Superman look dangerous and turn Metropolis against him working after a could more contrived events. However, Superman basically confronts Savage wearing a wire (not literally, but in effect) and gets him to gloat and give away his whole plan. Everybody on TV sees this and it's all "curses, foiled again!" for ol' Vandal. It seems weird to stretch out over so many issues what ends as the plot of a 30 minute episode of a cartoon.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #20:  Our heroes are still trying to cope with the drowning of Khe-Wannatu, with Chian urging them to move on, when pirates in outfits and bright colors out of an 80s pop video attack (though nice art as always by Duursema/Smith). These are the crew of the Black Unicorn, a ship with a unicorn head on its prow, powered by some sort of magical solar-energy absorbing jewel. Arion and friends are captured and taken aboard the by Captain Bloodmoor. Arion challenges the captain and fights him in single combat, managing to win his own freedom and that of his friends. The group then accepts the captain's invitation to remain on board at Wyynde's urging. Wyynde has seen a particular mermaid out a port window...

All-Star Squadron #34: Thomas and Hoberg/Collins are still in the midst of the story about a Japanese attack on California on two Earths. On Earth-Two, Neptune Perkins and Johnny Quick are taken prisoner on a Japanese sub, and about to be executed when Firebrand, Starman, and Liberty Belle come to the rescue. On Earth-X, the Freedom Fighters are defeated in battle with Baron Blitzkrieg, who then beats up Hourman and calls him a drug addict. Following an explosion of the Japanese submarine, Firebrand is trying to swim to safety with an unconscious Johnny in tow when Tsunami attacks. While all this is going on the Spectre pleads with the Presence to allow him to right the wrong that has imperiled both worlds.

Detective Comics #539: Moench and Newton/Smith continue the story from this month's Batman with Dark Knight teaming up with Dunfey, the boxing title contender, to bring the murderer of slain champion Michael Greene to justice. Eventually, they locate their suspect and his boss, Dr. Fang in a gym. Fang challenges Dunfey to a match while Batman and Fang's thugs watch ringside. Fang comes on strong, but Dunfey holds his own and turns things around. He's close to defeating Fang when one of the thugs shoots at him and Batman sees an opening to take them down. Even with his right arm injured, Dunfey K.O.s Fang with a left.

The next morning, Dunfey takes the title belt from the manager of the boxing association and gives it to the family of the late champion, telling them that one day he might get his own title, but this one belongs to Greene. Batman relates that Dunfey was told his arm injury will prevent him from boxing ever again, but he doesn't believe it will hold the man back.

In the Green Arrow backup by Cavalieri and McManus/Trapani, Australian tabloid publisher Morris Burdick (wonder who that could be a stand-in for?) is looking to buy the Daily Star. A costumed villain whose sort of a cosplay Blue Devil (he's red, not blue be he has the horned mask and a trident weapon, though his looks made from pipes) called the Printer's Devil appears with a flame-throwing weapon and threatens the Star building. Green Arrow battles the Printer's Devil but is trapped by his own net-arrow as a stray flame from the Devil's weapon nears gas station pumps across the street from the newspaper.

Jonah Hex #85: Fleisher remarks in the letter column that this is the 100th Hex story he has done. He also breaks the news that, due to sales, Jonah Hex is moving to bimonthy. On the plus side, De Zuniga is moving to full art duties. In the story, Turnbull and his fellow Fort Charlotte-truthers put the Grey Ghost, a masked vigilante that does reprisal executions for the Confederate Lost Cause, on Jonah's trial. He might have succeeded too, but an ambush on the road then an assault on Adrian's family by goons sent by her jilted fiancé, Clifford, manage to injury the Ghost in the crossfire and spoil his plans. Adrian, too, is injured confronting the Ghost, who Hex thinks is dead, but in actuality escapes.

Meanwhile, poor Emmy Lou is still being held captive by the gang that wants them to join their heist.

Legion of Super-Heroes #312: An editorial comment in the letter column here outlines the plans for the Legion going forward (much more completely than the comparable comments before in Teen Titans): a new "off-set printing" direct market series will be started and the old "letterpress" newsstand title will (starting with issue 314) change its name to "Tales of..." and after the next year, become a reprint title of the direct market series. 

As to the story itself, this issue seems mostly prelude. The Legion is called in to help the Science Police after a terrorist bombing in Metropolis. It's followed closely on the heels by a couple more. The perpetrators and the motivation for the bombings is mysterious as no ransom is asked for. The issue has a light tone, I think, for the subject matter but that's probably because most of it's pages are spent in lighter character interactions.

New Adventures of Superboy #54: The chubby, canary-yellow Klingon type, Harzz, from last issue initiates his plan for revenge against Superboy with Superboy Revenge Squad along to observe by using artificially created disasters to manipulate Superboy into destroying the Earth. Superboy doesn't fall for it, and the Revenge Squad leader executes Harzz as a competitor. Kupperberg and Schaffenberger/Giella keep juggling the other plotlines from previous issues: Lana escalates her selfish attempt to get Clark's attentions back by using Superboy to make him jealous, while Jonathan Kent stands defiant in the face of increasing pressure to drop his bid for city council, acceding to the demands of crooked developer, Gary Simmons.

World's Finest Comics #304: Sometimes in comics a writer just wants to make a character or characters a thing even though they plainly are not going to be. Kraft and Lightle/Trapani give us the demanded by no one origin of Null and Void. It is surprisingly involved Peter (Void) getting hired to rescue Solomon (Null) from Nazis in the Caribbean, then them being forced into a rather culturally insensitively portrayed "Voodoo ritual." They get super-powers from this as it not uncommon in comics.

Anyway, in the present Peter manages to get off from the crimes he committed their last appearance by calling into question Superman's and Batman's testimony since one is an alien and the other a masked vigilante. There doesn't appear to be any prosecutor at this trial, so the judge goes along with it. Batman starts stalking Peter to get him to trip up, but then he learns the artifact that empowered them is being trasported in a block of ice, he rounds up Null and they go to Costa Rica to retreive it. Batman and Superman have figured out what they are after and confront them, but Void sends Superman to another dimension and Null neutralizes Batman's sense so they can knock him out. The villains make good their escape.

[Greyhawk] South Province

Under the enlightened rule of the Herzogin, Eliamund, South Province could reasonably boast to being the most cultured and genteel realm of the Aerdi. The first Aerdian university was founded with her encouragement and patronage. The poets and troubadours who were welcome at her court composed ballads of chivalry, romance, and courtly love that then spread throughout the Kingdom. Perhaps owing to a culture dating back to the realm of Flan queen Ehlissa, women enjoyed a greater role in South Kingdom than in the more patriarchal north.

In the North, legends painted Ehlissa as a wicked enchantress, cruel to her subjects. The Southron troubadours, however, sang of her as a wise and benevolent, an interpretation encouraged by Eliamund.

This bright age did not last. The Turmoil Between Crowns saw Eliamund forced from the throne. She lived out her remaining days in an abbey. 

The South Province of 576 CY was not the land it once was. An ill-favored cousin of the Overking, Faastal, sat upon the ducal chair, a man incompetent as he was arrogant. He had been given a task that would have challenged someone of greater talents: to put down rebellion in the South and return the cities of the Iron League to royal control. Faastal crushed the people with taxes to fund his military blunders and dealt over-harshly with any dissent. His efforts only served to stoke the fires of rebellion he had been sent to quell.

For the rebel bands hiding in the forests and the towns barricaded against the Herzog's men, Eliamund became a symbol of their struggle and was given devotion like a saint or hero-god. 

Greyhawk So Far

I've got more posts to come, but I figured it was a good time to put all the posts I've written so far together in one place:

The project idea (though it's perhaps become a bit less Medieval over time than I initially intended. It's still a large part, but not the sole focus).

The Bone March

The Horned Society

The Iron League

Ket

The Holy See of Medegia

The Pale

Rel Astra

The Duchy of Tenh

The Aerdian Church of Law

And some real-world images for terrain inspiration.

Wednesday Comics: DC, June 1984 (week 3)

Join me as I read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on March 22, 1984.

Warlord #81: I discussed the main story here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, Jinal and her companions rely on the city that serves as D'roz's embassy, and everyone gets to do a bit of relaxing. Jin and Renna visit a bathhouse but wind up getting into a fight (a scene that seems right up Randall's preferred illustration alley) and have to be rescued by Yisrah and his magician tricks.

Batman and the Outsiders #11: Barr and Aparo shine a bit of a spotlight on Katana as a ninja-type guy breaks into her apartment and after a fight, steals her sword. Katana leaves for Japan without telling any of the others where she's going, but after Halo let's them known she's gone, they manage to follow her there. She reluctantly reveals that she has come to retrieve her sword, which contains the soul of her slain husband.

Meanwhile, the guy who stole the sword has taken to the blade to Noguri, the head of a ninja clan, who uses a ritual to extract the souls a group of warriors killed by the sword, including Katana's husband, and bind them to his service to seek revenge on Katana.

Green Lantern #177: This issue is mostly a reprint of a story by Wein and Cockrum from issue 128 where Hector Hammond is siphoning off Jordan's ring energy to use against him. We just got a new framing sequence by Wein and Patton/Smith where a question from a reporter prompts Jordan to recall that earlier adventure. What's interesting is the story was also presented as a flashback when it was first published.

There's a Tales of the Green Lantern Corps backup by Wein and Kane that was reprinted in that Best of DC #61 I've mentioned before. It's the tale of Kwo's last day as a Green Lantern before retirement. The story works I think because it is somewhat understated.  Kwo does a number of heroic things, but he doesn't "face his greatest challenge" or die a heroic death. Instead, he turns in his ring thinking about a kid's kite he rescued.

Infinity, Inc. #3: The Thomases and Ordway/Machlan show us what Star-Spangled Kid, Huntress, and Power Girl were up to while the rest of their developing team were in the past for a few pages. Then when the others return from 1942, they all go to set up shop at Stellar Studios, an abandoned movie company owned by the Star-Spangled Kid. Turns out Solomon Grundy is making the movie lot his home. Meanwhile, several JSA members have been lured into a trap and drowned in a underground river by an evil Superman.

Saga of Swamp Thing #25: Given the title's Vertigo future and the direction of Pasko's run before his, it's interesting that Moore ties his Swamp Thing as much to the DC Universe as he does. With had the Floronic Man the last arc, and as this one gets started with see Jason Blood arrive in Houma, apparently after the demon Kamara, last seen in The Demon #4 (1972). Abbie intersects with Blood's hunt as she has just taken a job at a children's psychiatric facility where one of the patient's is being menaced by the demon of fear. This issue is all build up, but it's an interesting build up.

New Talent Showcase #6: This issue sees the end of the Feral Man (Ringgenberg and Carlson) and Ekko (Margopoulos and Lightle) stories. Ekko is the most accomplished and interesting of the issue due mostly to Lightle's art. The story veers to melodrama with Simon's evening being spoiled by the arrival of his date's estranged husband. Then it's some swift, superhero action as he suits up as Ekko to confront the villainous Hit Team, resolving the conflict surprisingly quick. After nearly killing the elderly Crimeking, Ekko decides to stick to medicine and give up the superhero gig. But will it last? So far as this title goes, it does.

Feral Man also makes an abrupt end, but with an even weirder turn. The boss at the CIA reveals Feral Man must work for him or else they'll detonate the bomb they implanted in his head. Also, he's got to bring in the woman, Ruby, who's been helping him. Feral Man surprisingly agrees. Surprisingly, once Ruby is in CIA's hands, she's offered a job to. Our heroes go to work for the government they've been trying to escape. I'm sure they had some wild adventures, but we're destined not to see them.

There's another installment of Dragonknights, where the Dark Lord escapes his exile and inhabits the body of the awesomely named Lord Thrash, his right-hand goon. The heroic kids manage to free the Dragonknights, too, but then they refuse to fight for Earth!

The last story is a sort of retro comedy one-pager by Stephanie DeStefano, "The (Mini) Misadventures of Nick O. Tyme"

Sgt. Rock #389: This one is an example of another Kanigher go-to writing tactic: really hammering home a theme or motif. The named members of Easy keep getting injured and left behind and they keep giving Rock some keepsake, good-luck charm to be returned to them when he sees them again. Rock almost loses all the items in a German ambush, but Worry Wart saves the day. Rock gets to return all the items at the hospital.

The backup story is about a q-ship in a life or death (mostly death) struggle with a U-boat. It makes some gesture to war as the equalizer in the last two panels which the rest of the story didn't really build up to. It was written and lettered by "The Kubies" which was a group of students in the Joe Kubert School.

Supergirl #20: Kupperberg and Infantino/Oksner celebrate an anniversary for Supergirl. First though, she experiences times where her powers and strength fail, and of course, that means the Parasite who just tangled with Superman last month. She manages to get out of a deathtrap with her special, Kryptonian metal comb and defeat Parasite, who she learns is just a clone. Later, Superman escorts her to a surprise gathering celebrating the anniversary of her arrival on Earth. The Justice League of America and Teen Titans turn up, and a statue of Supergirl is erected over the spot where she landed on Earth in her rocket (at 12:17pm). Thanks to Thanagarian technology, the statue floats in a fixed spot above the ground.

Thriller #7: Fleming and von Eeden seem between story arcs, so not a lot happens this issue. Our heroes get together for an Italian meal from Mama Salvotini and Edward Thriller invites both the Kane Creole clones over. Dan gets some background on the mysterious Quo, who got so spiritual advanced he became a concept of balance of good and evil and finds out that the guy was once the husband of White Satin. The background on Quo reminded me of some later pre-Vertigo and early Vertigo stuff.

24 Hours in Ancient China

I've recently been listening to the audiobook of 24 Hours in Ancient China: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There by Yijie Zhuang, part of the 24 Hours in Ancient History series that includes volumes of Rome, Athens, and Egypt by various authors. The conceit of the series is that in a succession of vignettes about various characters over a 24-hour period, something of the daily life of the time and place is revealed. 

In this volume, the time and place is 17 CE, the fourth year of the reign of the usurper Wang Mang, which the book refers to as the Western Han dynasty, but Wikipedia frames as the brief Xin dynasty. In the space of 24 hrs we meet craftsmen and criminals, labors and scholars. Each vignette drops us into mundane drama of regular life--often which ends unresolved because the purpose of the series is instructive. Still, it's a conceit that delivers the information in a more entertaining way than a textbook approach would have.

Of particular interest to gamers might be the nocturnal larceny of the gang of tomb robbers led by a self-styled knight errant (youxia), the trials of the minor official maintaining a small, frontier fort in a time of increased Hun raids, the criminals being marched to a work camp, or former Imperial concubine exiled to superintend her Emperor's mausoleum.

It's a fascinating read. If the other volumes in the series are as good as this one, then I look forward to checking them out as well.

[Greyhawk] The Bone March

Art by Keith Parkinson

The barbarians swept out of the hills in a ravening horde, without warning, and stormed Venarium with such fury none could stand before them. Men, women, and children were butchered. Venarium was reduced to a mass of charred ruins, as it is to this day. The Aquilonians were driven back across the marches and have never since tried to colonize the Cimmerian country. 

- Robert E, Howard, "Beyond the Black River"

The Bone March comes by its ill-omened name due to the number of bodies fallen and carelessly interred in its plains and forested hills. The Aerdi added it to their kingdom but paid dearly to wrest it from the Fruztii. The new margravate was awarded to the hero knight Caldni Vir, who led the charge that broke the siege of Spinecastle. For over 400 years, the Aerdi presence grew in the region, and the Overkingdom's greater concerns were elsewhere.

The so-called humanoid presence in the Raker Mountains had long been known. They had been pushed there by conflict with the Flan and Frustii. The Flan in particular made a regular practice of harrying them so that their numbers didn't grow too large. Many a Tenha youth found first glory in a raid on an orcish settlement.

After an increase in assaults against Aerdian villages and sorties against outposts, orcs and their allies launched a full-scale invasion in 561 CY. By 563, Aerdian Bone March had fallen, and the Markgraf Clement was slain.

An account by a priest of the Church of Law at Spinecastle who escaped alive is recorded in the annals of the Aerdi Chronicle: "The inhumans came forth into the March in terrible numbers, inflamed with fury. This followed long months where raiders attacked with most savage frenzy manors and villages of the hinterlands, and the horde exulted in fire, pillage, and slaughter. They were utterly cruel in inflicting torture, greedy in plundering, most insolent in abuse, even unto the sacred Houses of Holy Law."

Reports such as these fed the popular idea of the orc as a unique threat to the Overkingdom and the Realms of Law in general. In fact, humans were able to interact with orcs peaceful to a greater degree than other humanoid species due to their greater intelligence and relative lack of desire to use humans as a food source. Though their day-to-day existence was precarious, humans did remain within the March, and some less scrupulous and more daring individuals even prospered as intermediaries between human and humanoid societies.

It is true that orcs often tend to reserve a particular disdain for the clergy of Law who they seem to view as witches and agents of oppression. Native orcish religion is dualistic with two "houses" or "tribes" of deities, one of which is fiery, aggressive, or volatile and another that is serene, defensive or stable. Deities have been known to move from one group to the other and some deities are difficult to qualify. Human scholars have historically struggled with translating this distinction and have tended to default to their own dichotomies of "law and chaos" or "good and evil." Protracted conflict with humans over their time in the Flanaess has led orcs to turn to the fiery gods and promoted the importance of the Gruumsh cult.