Random Immigrant Urban Encounter Table

Any major city, like the City, is likely to be something of a melting pot.  Here are ten random encounters with immigrants of various ethnicities/nationalities, from Ealderde, the Old World. 

Roll 1d10:

01 Doppelkinnian Butcher - Heavy set man with an outrageously over-sized moustache (waxed at the ends), and thinning hair. For some reason, his artificial left eye is bright blue.  His real one is brown. His large, heavy-knuckled hands always have the faint stain of blood. All he sees and hears gets reported to the Mob, and from there to infernal Syndicate capo Dis Pater.

02 Graustarkian Police Man - Ruddy faced with a bulbous nose like ground-beef. Pay him well, and he'll look the other way. Don't pay him, and he'll look for a reason to crack your head. Despite his accent, don't ever mistake him for a Dawsbergener.

03 Ixanian Dissident Scientist - Thin, bespectacled, chain-smoking man, with a twitchy mouth and nervous eyes. His fastidious suit is hopelessly out of date. He's a bit paranoid--anyone could be a Red agent or an Anarchist fanatic trying to get the secret. What secret? Well, how does he know he can trust you? At some point in the near future, his dead body will be found in the Eldritch River.

04 Karlovan Laundress - Aged, stooped, and bundled in a shawl. She sings to herself constantly in the old tongue--songs bawdy and profane, if anyone understood them. She has a chronic, wet cough which should worry her employers, but doesn't. She knows a few hexes that can make things difficult for those who cross her.

05 Uqbarish Taxi Driver - Oh, the stories he could tell--and will. He'll regale you with fascinating tales of the old country, if you can pick the gold from the dross of his broken Common.  Don't listen!  His homeland doesn't exist in this world (at least not yet), but the more people who come to believe in it through his enchanting anecdotes, the more likely it is to manifest in reality--and like a cancer begin remaking the world around it.

06 Trysteran Pimp - Sleepy-eyed, perpetually smells of alcohol, but a sharp dresser. He always carries a stiletto (since the incident that gave him the still-visible scar on his left cheek) and knows how to use it. He's also got a pistol (souvenir from the War) in his sock drawer.  Has a strange fear of mirrors, and a habit of stroking a rather sinister looking icon of a saint no one is able to recognize.

07 Scirieli Prostitute - Works for the Trysteran Pimp. Beautiful, and brunette, with green eyes that might hold centuries worth of boredom. In the old country she was chosen as a young girl to serve the cult of the old and dread goddess the church father's have tried hard to stamp out, but the peasants stubbornly cling to in secret. She's got a knife, too. An ornate, ancient blade you will not see unless you too are chosen. And by then it's too late.

08 Servian Newsboy - Born in the City and sounds like it, though he parents know not a word of Common. Manages to hear a lot without ever being noticed, and shows up almost like magic at pivotal moments, often to complicate matters. Wields a mean slingshot.

09 Luthan Anarchist - A tall, thin man with long spider-like fingers. Carries a Cerebus-headed cane he fondles like a lover.  His accent is thick, and he tends to mumble, so one can ever be sure they heard him correctly. He has enough explosive secreted on his person to whip up at least a small bomb on very short notice. No one in this decadent City is sufficiently dedicated to the revolutionary cause. He'd see it all go up in flames, if he could.

10 Poitêmien Occultist - Once handsome, but now bald, and growing paunchy. His penetrating gaze is half his mystique. The other half is the shabby, libertine air he tries to cultivate. Does seances for old money, and looks for magical artifacts in the markets of poorer parts of town. He seems to be seeking something specific...

Fear the Living Totem!

The strange creatures called "Living Totems" are sometimes found in the lands far to the west of the City, and perhaps in other worlds as well. They appear in the form of monumental carvings common to certain cultures, particularly certain tribes of the natives of the City's Strange New World. They are not, however, animated statues, but instead alien beings which have a form similar to such carvings.

# Enc.: 1
Alignment: Chaotic (Neutral or Evil)
Movement: 120' (40')
AC: 6
HD: 8

Attacks: 1 (fist)

Damage: 2d8

Save As: F8

Morale: 10

Living totems spend long periods of time in torpor or slumber, appearing as normal totem carvings, but awaken at intervals to terrorize available humans, or declare their tyranny over whatever. After a few weeks of such behavior, they typically fall into inactivity again. Living totems take a -1 to initiative due to their ungainliness. They take no damage from penetrating weapons (like arrows), only half damage from bludgeoning or cutting weapons. Fire-based attacks, however, cause an additional point of damage per damage die rolled, and flaming weapons do one point additional damage (or 1 point if they are of a class which would otherwise do none). They also suffer a -1 penalty to saving throws against fire-based attacks.

In the "real world" (or a reasonable facsimile) living totems could reasonably found in the lands occupied by the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, or in the lands of the Maori or Ainu. 

This monster is inspired by the Atlas/Marvel comics Old West menace that first encountered the Rawhide Kid in issue 22 (June 1961) of his title.

Warlord Wednesday: Holocaust

Let's re-enter the lost world with another installment of my issue by issue examination of DC Comic's Warlord, the earlier installments of which can be found here...

"Holocaust"

Warlord (vol. 1) #15 (October-November 1978)

Written and Pencilled by Mike Grell; Inked by Joe Rubenstein

Synopsis: Morgan, Machiste, and Mariah are travelling through the forest of Ebondar, nearing the end of their journey to Shamballah. Morgan climbs a tree to see if he can find out how close they are. From the high branches, he sees glittering Shamballah not too far off in the distance--where his mate Tara awaits.

While Morgan dreams of being reunited with his wife, Mariah doesn't share his excitement at the nearness of the journey's end. Machiste knows that she's in love with Morgan, and knows as well as she that that's futile. Machiste hints at his feelings for her. Mariah appreciates his concern, but either doesn't grasp his meaning, or is too caught up in her own unrequited feelings to truly respond.

Meanwhile, Morgan has a branch shot out from under him by a energy blast from the city. Morgan's descent is quicker than he intended, but he manages to keep himself from falling to his death. The three hear voices approaching through the forest, and Morgan, fearing a war party, suggests they hide up in the trees. From that vantage point they see not a war party, but refugees.

The three descend to find out what's happened. They're told that a demon now dwells in Shamballah and wrecks destruction. The king himself has perished. Morgan asks after Tara, and finds that she still lives. She remains in the city, never having given up hope that the Warlord would come to the rescue. With that news, Morgan races into the city to do just that, with Machiste and Mariah trying to keep up.

They find Tara in the palace. She cries as she tells Morgan of how she waited for him to return, and how she never gave up hope. And then she decks him. She accuses him of doing his best to forget her, since he's showed up in the company of a "red-haired hussy." Mariah takes offense at that, and runs forward to defend her self--sword drawn.

Tara meets Mariah's blade with her own, and...Catfight! It goes on for a bit, before Morgan intervenes, pushing Mariah aside somewhat roughly, and declaring his undying love for Tara. As he and Tara embrace, Mariah, heartbroken, flees the room. Morgan is nonplussed.  Machiste calls him a fool before running after Mariah. Morgan suddenly realizes what he's been too blind to see this whole time, but doesn't have much time to reflect as bolts of energy rip through the palace floor.

Morgan suggests they leave, but Tara says there's a reason why they can't go. The attack over for the moment, she takes him to an adjacent room and shows him their infant son! As the grandson of the king, he is heir to the thrown of Shamballah. The city's now-scattered people will rally around him when the crisis is over. But first they have to survive--which is far from assured, as energy bolts begin flying again.

As the energy seems to be coming from the city itself, Morgan asks Tara to lead him to the lower levels. The two leave their son in the care of a servant, and search out a way below. After passing through the lowest levels of the palace and into a natural cavern with an underground river, they enter a thoroughly man-made underground complex--one full of a massive computer core like the one they saw at the subshuttle station, though this one is grander.

Suddenly, lasers began firing and the two seek cover. As they hang precariously from a piece of equipment, Morgan realizes that the use of lasers, which deflect harmlessly off the shiny metal equipment, is intentional. Mad laughter sounds through the structure. Morgan realizes its the computer running the complex that's trying to kill them. It's gone mad from the centuries of isolation.

Morgan and Tara desperately search for a way to escape. They stumble upon the main power center, where the energy of the Skartarian sun serves to power the main reactor. The two climb into the shaft and find a giant parabolic mirror which focuses the sun's rays into a concentrated beam. Thinking quickly, Morgan and Tara redirect the beam to cut into the wall of the cavern. It burns an opening in the rock to the underground river, which then pours down the shaft and destroys the computer.

Even knowing it had to be done, Morgan regrets the loss of the knowledge, and what it might have meant for Skartaris. Heading back to the palace, the two discuss what to name their sun, and decide on Joshua, naming him for Morgan's father.

Back in the palace, they find all the danger has yet to pass. There's been an attack, and Joshua is missing. The servant blames it on a demon. Morgan and Tara rush up a high tower. At its top, they see the devil-priest Deimos astride a winged creature, carrying away their son!

Things to Notice:

• Tara slugs Morgan in a scene that is to be repeated several times of the course of the series.
• Joshua Morgan makes his first appearance.

Where It Comes From:
Travis Morgan's return to his wife (and child) after a long absence is no doubt inspired by the usual travails of Edgar Rice Burroughs's heroes--prototypically John Carter in Gods of Mars. The loss of Joshua in this issue performs the same function as the cliffhanger ending of Gods of Mars where Carter loses his beloved Dejah Thoris again.

As mentioned in my commentary on issue #5, the Atlantean computer core seems visually inspired by Forbidden Planet. The "insane" computer may go back to the pulp era, but certainly shows up in several original Star Trek episodes ("The Ultimate Computer", "Return of the Archons", etc.), but of course the most famous insane computer is probably 2001's HAL 9000.