In the Zone

Over at the Fate SF blog, John introduced a cool community project inspired by the science fiction novel Roadside Picnic and the 1979 film based on it, Stalker. Porky's already got a contribution in, and Hereticwerks has made some cool logos (like the one above).

I had intended to jump in today, but going to Thor: The Dark World ate up my evening. I'm going to get my contribution ready for next week, and I encourage other bloggers (or nonbloggers for that matter) to think about getting in on it.

Night Music

There was discussion on G+ a few days ago about a suitable soundtrack for a game of Night's Black Agents, Kenneth Hite's GUMSHOE combination of spy thriller and supernatural horror. Here are my suggestions (follow the links for a listen):

1. The Gothic Touch
("Convoy Destruct" Atticus Ross)
2. Hunters
("Pinned and Mounted" Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
3.  A Deserted Bahnhof Just After 2 AM
("Under the Midnight Sun" Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
4. Chase
("Container Park" The Chemical Brothers)
5. The Smell of Blood
("Relapsed" Atticus Ross)
6. Crate from Wallachia, Coffin-Sized
("Den of Vice" Atticus Ross)
7. Knives and Stakes
("Special Ops" The Chemical Brothers)
8. In the Dark
("Oraculum" Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
9. Wings in the Night
("Bird of Prey" Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

10. Prague, 20:18 CET

("7 Years Later" Atticus Ross)
11. Assault
("Infiltrator" Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
12. Fight in the Crypt
("Bahnhof Rumble" The Chemical Brothers)

Warlord Wednesday: The Castle's Secret

Here's another installment of my examination of  the adventures DC Comics' Travis Morgan--The Warlord.  The earlier installments can be found here...

"Saga Part 4: The Castle's Secret"

Warlord (vol. 4) #4 (September 2009) Written by Mike Grell; Penciled by Joe Prado & Chad Hardin; Inked by Wayne Faucher, Dan Green & Walden Wong

Synopsis: Tinder and Alysha try to convince villagers near the Golden God's citadel to stand and fight, but they're having none of it. Tinder decides he and Alysha have to sneak back into the citadel to get more information that might help Tara and the Shamballan army (who are on the way).

Alysha will need to be dressed less "Earth style" to be inconspicuous. She refuses the standard Skartarian look:

Shakira, of course, takes issue with this opinion. She also tells the two that Morgan, Machiste, and Mariah are captives.

In the citadel, reporter Ewan McBane tells Morgan and Machiste about how he and his group got to this point. Ned Hawkins apparently found something--a gem maybe. Somehow, it led him to the citadel and gave him powers. Kate Archer became his concubine. Alysha ran off and (Ewan believes) probably got killed.

Meanwhile, Alysha is very much alive and now in Skartarian duds. Shakira shows Tinder and Alysha a back entrance to the castle: what appears to be a sewer opening in a cliffside. After a bit of a climb, they find it actually leads into Deimos's old laboratory.

Ned Hawkins, the Golden God, is having a little trouble with his Theran allies. He motivates them by shooting their leader, then promising them Morgan's head on a standard to carry into battle. Mariah reminds him he promised to spare her friends if she translated for him. He suggests she gets translating.

It turns out Deimos wrote his spells in blood in an Atlantean technical manual. Kate realizes that the technical manual has code in binary. They don't need Mariah to translate that part, just Kate's laptop, apparently.

Tinder and crew run into Ewan who has had a change of heart and is heading back with keys to free Morgan and Machiste. The group does so, but quickly meet resistance from Hawkin's guards. They fight to the laboratory, where Morgan tells the rest to run ahead while he holds the goons off. Machiste and Shakira ignore him and stay behind.

Morgan and friends push a large crystal container over to block the doorway. Unfortunately, it breaks open and frees this guy:

After a bit of a fight, Shakira kills it with a spear. They join the others in the river, and manage to drop a portcullis to keep their pursuers out.

They've got to stop Hawkins before he gathers his forces. Morgan gives Machiste the crystal Jennifer gave him to and sends his friend to the nearest sunlit peak to make contact. Shakira is going back into the citadel in cat form to spy. Morgan and Ewan ride back to the portal to the Himalayas. Morgan plans to go through and get weapons to combat Hawkins's Atlantean tech.

They're going to need them, as Hawkins has finally unlocked the secrets of Deimos's book.

Things to Notice:

• Ewan McBane says its been "almost 40 years" since Morgan got to Skartaris. Given that this issue takes place in 2009 and Morgan arrived in 1969, there's nothing almost about it.
• Morgan is shocked to learn he would be 82 years old in the surface world.
• Morgan opines: "When I die, I want it to come as a complete surprise." Foreshadowing?
• Tinder's hair is colored purple all this issue.

Where it comes from: 
The slowness of time in Skartaris compared to Earth is touched on in this issue. This was something frequently brought up in Grell's run but abandoned by later writers. Strangely, Morgan can't believe it's 2009 as that would make him 82. Morgan had been to the surface world several times over the years, so it seems odd that "2009" is a particularly surprising year.

Weekend Matinee

Hammer of the Gods, despite sharing a title with a Led Zeppelin band biography, does not have a single Led Zeppelin song in it--not even "Immigrant Song." Actually, the Doors might have been more appropriate, as Hammer of the Gods is essentially Viking Apocalypse Now. That's a bit of a spoiler, I suppose, but one that will hopefully make you more likely to check out the film.

It's 871 CE and the Vikings trying to conquer lands in the British Isles have hit a setback with their king mortally wounded. He sends one of his sons Steinar on a quest to seek his exiled older brother Hakan and return with a suitable king for their people. The journey will take him across hostile Saxon territory through the deaths of friends and allies and straight into (heh) the heart of darkness.

The film might could have used some of the more artsy direction of Nicholas Refn's Valhalla Rising--then again, maybe its more straightforward action flick first half makes where it's going more of a pleasant surprise.

Bounty Killer isn't as heavy. In a post-apocalyptic future, bounty killers deliver grim (if it wasn't so humorous) justice to the white collar war criminals that brought the world to its current state. Few bounty killers are more successful than the enigmatic Drifter and celebrated Mary Death.  A conspiracy puts the two at odds and leads to a chase across the devastated wastes to confront the secretive rulers, the Council of Nine. 

Bounty Killer plays out like Cowboy Bebop crossed with Mad Max--with a dose of 80s British comic book gallows humor. For what must be a fairly low budget film, it's got good action sequences and a chase scene out of the Road Warrior. Plus, they had to pay Gary Busey's no-doubt exorbitant fee for his small roll.

It also introduces the concept of the "gun caddy"--a henchman for our time (well, the post-apocalyptic future). Barak Hardley steals the show as the would-be best gun caddy in the world, unobtrusively slipping magazines into empty guns or producing new weapons when needed from a dufflebag.

Of course, there's also Christian Pitre as Mary Death to like about the movie: 

Typhon

Typhon was a doomsday weapon created by the Titans in the depths of Tartarus, a matter worm designed bring system failure to the Cosmos--a final revenge against the usurpation of the Olympians. Typhon was defeated before it could reach full virulence, but only after infecting Echidna and turning her into the mother of monsters.

Typhon appears as a storm of black dust--actually a gigantic storm of rapacious micro- and nanobots. Those caught in the storm may be temporarily blinded on a roll of 1 on a d6. Even those not blinded can become confused per Mutant Future. The Typhon storm inflicts 2 points of damage to any character engulfed, double damage to those without some degree of protection (at least thick clothing or armor). Hiding in a body of water halves damage. Even after leaving the storm, a victim with take damage for 3 rounds. The swarm takes no damage except from fire or area effect energy or cold attacks.

Anyone who dies in the swarm rises as a zombie-like vector of Typhon. They develop a random physical mutation as their DNA is overwritten by Typhon. Anyone who takes damage but does not die must make a save vs. Poison or be infected:

Typhon Infection
Save Modifier: -2
Infection Duration: 2 weeks
Affected Stats: INT -1, WIL -1
Damage: 1d4
Further, every week of infection carries a cumulative 20% chance of developing a random physical mutation for the duration of the infection. Those infected hear the whispers of Typhon in their minds, urging them to destruction.

A Weird Adventures Halloween

The comparable holiday to Halloween in the world of the City is Revenant Night at the end of the month of Redfall. It's a night where folklore says the walls between the realms of the dead and the prime material plane thin, allowing spirits who haven't yet moved on to their plane of final reward can slip back into the world of the living. This seldom seems to occur in this modern age, but it can't be ruled out entirely. And there are other strange menaces adventurers might face:

In Motorton, it's the Night of Misrule, where the Dwarf might invite you to the Red Room. Out West, it's a particularly bad time to drive into a ghost town. In the Shambles neighborhood of the City, you can hunt (or be hunted) by a maniacally killer under the influence of the Lord of the Cleaver. Just about anywhere, calliope music might signal the arrival of the Carnival Pandemonium the mysterious Viscount Marzo.

Trick or Treat.

Warlord Wednesday: Shadowland

Here's another installment of my examination of  the adventures DC Comics' Travis Morgan--The Warlord.  The earlier installments can be found here...

"Saga Part 3: Shadowland"

Warlord (vol. 4) #3 (August 2009) Written by Mike Grell; Penciled by Chad Hardin; Inked by Wayne Faucher, Dan Green & Walden Wong

Synopsis: Morgan and friends come upon a group of refugees fleeing for a Shamballan fort to seek the protection of the Warlord. One man has Morgan's sword, given to him by a young man matching Tinder's description. Tinder had warned them of the raiders' approach and sent them to seek the Warlord's protection.  Then, he set fire to the fields and stayed behind to cover there escape. The farmer's saw him fall under a raider's arrow.

Morgan realizes Tinder was right and that he should have listened to him. Shakira says there's nothing he can do, but Morgan counters there is: He can finish what he set out to do.

Meanwhile, Alysha Grant is running through the jungle. She comes upon a pool where a unicorn is drinking. Struck by the wonder of the scene, she wades out to touch the creature, but then:

The carnosaur turns it's attentions to Alysha, but she's pulled from harm's way by Tinder. The dinosaur chases the two over a cliff. They might have fallen to their death, but Alysha manages to save them with her climbing axe. Later, after she's bandagaed Tinder's wound and cooked them something to eat, Alysha tells Tinder how she got to Skartaris (essentially relating the events of the first issue). She says everything that's happened is her fault. She set an evil power loose. Tinder believes the united people of Skartaris can defeat it--and he knows a man who can do it.

In the darkness of the Terminator, Morgan, Shakira, and Machiste ambush the returning raiders and use their clothes to disguise themselves to sneak into the Golden God's fortress. There, Mariah is being interrogated by Ned Hawkins, who is now the Golden God. He wants her to share what knowledge she has to help him uncover the secrets of Atlantean magic and technology. Kate is jealous, but Ned reins her in. Ewan, for his part, just documents it all with his camera. He's the only one of the three still in his earth duds.

Ned continues to try to convince Mariah. He tells her there is an inevitability to this: "New worlds were made to conquer." Morgan disagrees:

Ned shoots a blast from his golden armor and knocks Morgan out. His guard's overwhelm Machiste. Mariah quickly agrees to help Ned to save Machiste's life.

As Morgan and Machiste are taken away, Shakira (in cat form) watches from the shadows.

Things to Notice:

• This issue gives us a name for the story arc: "Saga."
• Ned rightly points out that Mariah has been studying Skartaris since before Kate was born. That may well be true, since she's been there since 1977.
• Again, we see a unicorn eaten by a carnosaur.

Where it comes from: 
Alysha's first meeting with Tinder has some parallels to Travis Morgan's first meeting with Tara, only this time it's the woman who's the outsider and the man who is Skartarian. In both cases, they wind up saving each other, ultimately.  The dinosaur in this case looks like a carnatosaurus rather than a deinonychus.

Like last issue, this one continues the theme of the 1992 limited series of Morgan being a fallen hero who abandoned his ideals. While this is touched on in the original series, it's not emphasized nearly to the same degree it has been in the Grell-pinned series since.

Mo' Mummies

For Secret Santicore last year, I wrote a piece on variant draculcas (vampires). I think that most neglected of classic monsters, the mummy, deserves a similar treatment.

MUMMY, BOG
These mummies were naturally created but are instead products of being buried in peat bogs. They aren't wrapped in bandages, their skin in tanned black, and they are more flexible than their fellows due to calcium phosphate in the bones being dissolved by bog acid. They only do 1d8 damage and have one less hit dice, but they can vomit acid for 1d4 damage.

MUMMY, GIANT
Humans weren't the only ones to be mummified, or to rise as fearsome undead monsters. Giant mummies have hit dice one better than what ever giant humanoid their size resembles or one better than standard mummy hit dice, whichever is better. They have all the standard mummy abilities, except (in some cases) mummy rot. (Check out Gomdulla above statted here.)

MUMMY, LOVELORN
These mummies got caught in a forbidden romance and were mummified as punishment. When first revived, they look like regular mummies and have all the pertinent abilities, but within 1d4 days, they shed their wraps (and most of their powers) in favor of a brooding, exotic charm. They typically become convinced someone is the reincarnation of a long dead love, and will go about trying to woo the lost lover, killing those that get in the way. They are able to Charm (as per spell).

MUMMY, WELL-PRESERVED
These mummies have several unusual traits--most obvious of which is they are as attractive as the day they died, instead of being desiccated corpses. They don't have the mummy rot or the fearful reaction, but to do possess a charm ability (as per the spell). Typically, some sort of ritual is needed to fully resurrect one (involving some sort of item important to them in life and several blood sacrifices) of these mummies, but until then they are able to exert their will by control of others.

Monster Apocalypse a Go-Go

Zombie apocalypses are all the rage these days with films, books, and even a tv show. But other classic monsters deserve their (proverbial) day in the sun, too:

Vampires: The most obvious non-zombie contender for virtually extinction of the human species. Richard Matheson's I Am Legend and it's various movie adaptations have already ventured into this territory (as has the film Stake Land) --and the comics Planet of Vampires and Vampire Hunter D have already shown on vampire overrun post-apocalypses. Trading bloodsucking for flesh-eating is almost too obvious.

Piscoids: Cast them as Creatures from Black Lagoons, Manphibians, or walking catfish men, fishy humanoids are ready to climb from the depths and overwhelm the surface world. Perhaps a full-fledged takeover is the ultimate goal of the Deep Ones in Shadow Over Innsmouth? Global warming and rising sea levels would no doubt be part of their plan. A piscoid apocalypse might wind up looking more like Waterworld than Walking Dead.

Werewolves: Like vampires and zombies, werewolfism is passed by a bite, making them a reasonable stand-in. I don't know of any media werewolf apocalypses, but Dog Soldiers sort of does the "trapped in an isolated farm house" riff of Night of the Living Dead. Depending on exactly how the werewolves worked, things might be pretty tough for humanity: zombies are slow and dumb, while vampires have to sleep in the day time. Werewolves have neither of those limitations. Of course, their just humans in the day, trying to scourge for survival just like everybody else. Only at night would they join packs of killers to howl at the moon as they hunt through the ruins.

Frankenstein's Monsters: This seems like the biggest stretch given than Frankenstein had only one monster (or maybe two, depending on who you believe). Still, two monsters can overrun the world (unless they're giant, which still movies us out of zombie apocalypse analogous territory). Technology has advanced a lot since Frankenstein's day, though. Wein's and Wrightson's Un-Men in Swamp Thing (and Burroughs' Synthetic Men of Mars, for that matter) point the way: Mass production of monsters. In some ways, this would resemble an alien invasion apocalypse or robot apocalypse more than a zombie one--though perhaps the monsters "consume" humans by dragging them back to their secret factories to use as raw materials for more monsters?

Frankenstein's Mega-Monster

Frankenstein's Monster might might frighten simple villagers, but it takes a truly monstrous monster to present a challenge for a Giant Space Robot. Luckily, advances in technology have allowed mad scientist to play god on a titanic scale.

An everyday Giant Frankenstein's Monster might use zombie stats (bearing in mind they everything is giant in Giant Space Robot). A regular Giant Frankenstein's Monster energized by radiation or lightning, or one that is actually an alien is a more formidible foe and should be statted like a flesh golem.

The Sasquatch Variations

In a post-Harry and the Hendersons and Bigfoot and Wildboy world, your run of the mill Sasquatch may not pack the fearful punch it once did. In keeping with the season, here are a couple of sasquatch-like cryptids with a twist to move 'squatch back from "gentle giant" to "scary."

Batsquatch: First sighted in 1994 in Washington, batsquatch is an ape-like hominid with purple skin and batwings. (In other words, something like a scarier version of the winged monkeys in the Wizard of Oz). Stat these guys like a yeti, but add winged flight like a gargoyle.

Sheepsquatch: From the hills of West Virginia comes a cryptid also known as "the white thing." It's described as a bear-sized beast covered in thick, yellowish-white fur. It doesn't look much like the usual sasquatch with its low set eyes, goat-liked horns, raccoon-like hands, and a hairless tail like an opossum. I would use giant wolverine stats for these beasties (minus the musk).

Blue Belt Bigfoot: One of the few hairy hominids known to accessorize, the so-called Blue Belt Bigfoot has only been sighted in California and only on a few of occasions. It's essentially a a regular sasquatch (perhaps with a dog-like face) with a glowing blue belt. Sometimes, they travel in groups. I'd probably treat these guys as bugbears (just because) and give the belt some special power--or maybe not (other than the glowing) just to mess with PCs.

Warlord Wednesday: Expect the Unexpected

Here's another installment of my examination of  the adventures DC Comics' Travis Morgan--The Warlord.  The earlier installments can be found here...

"Expect the Unexpected"

Warlord (vol. 4) #2 (July 2009) Written by Mike Grell; Penciled by Joe Prado; Inked by Walden Wong, Jay Leisten, & Joe Prado

Synopsis: Morgan goes to see his daughter Jennifer, the Sorceress Prime of Skartaris. She comments (as usual) that he only comes to see her when he needs something. Morgan admits he does. He tells her about the refugees fleeing a new god: a god that uses bullets.

Jennifer does some scrying:

Deimos. But he's dead (several times over). Morgan decides they need to check this out. Jennifer gives him a couple of magic stones to help him find the Golden God. Tara has to stay to defend Shamballah, but she wants to send 100 soldiers with Morgan. He declines, saying he doesn't want to dig graves along the way. Sometimes, one man can do what a hundred men can't...

Shakira goes along too, of course. Not far into there journey, they realize they're being followed. They lay a trap for their tail, and it turns out to be Tinder. He wants to go with them, Morgan doesn't think this mission is the place for a bard, but Tinder is adamant, and Morgan ultimately gives in.

He asks if Tinder can use a sword. Tinder replies he's good with a bow and a shorter blade. Morgan tosses him his sword and tells him he'd better learn.

Later, when they stop for a meal, Tinder sings the story of the Warlord, telling how Morgan won a queen and allies and bested Deimos. Morgan comments on the exaggeration and myth-making in it. Morgan ends the discussion of the past with sword practice with Tinder--which he wins by cheating.

They notice what they take to be slaver's raiding party passing near, but then Morgan recognizes the man in the cage:

Machiste. These are the men of the Golden God. The raiding party splits up, as some ride ahead to plunder nearby villages.

Morgan readies to attack them. Tinder counters they should warn the villages the men are likely to attack next. Despite the sensible of Tinder's suggestion, Morgan is focused on saving his friend. His belief in lofty goals died when he was forced by Deimos to kill his son. (Or so he believes; we all know Tinder is really his son.) Tinder angrily rides off to look after the people--something that he believes Morgan would have done, once.

Morgan and Shakira ride in and decimate the remaining soldiers. They free Machiste, who tells them Mariah was taken north to meet the Golden God. Machiste doesn't want to sound ungrateful, but he says they should have gone to warn the villages. Morgan says that's what Tinder said.

The three saddle up. Shakira asks where they are going now. Morgan replies: "After the boy."

Things to Notice:

• Jennifer wears the antennaed headband she wore in her first appearance.
• This issue provides a lot of recap on backgrounds of the priniciple characters, presumably for new readers.

Where it comes from: 
The title of this issue comes from the last line of the epigraph that appears in most issues of Warlord (and even some of the crossovers).

Jennifer (in discussing the possibility of Deimos's resurrection) mentions the Mask of Life, which was used to bring the demon priest back the first time in issue #10. It's interesting that she reaches all the way back to his first resurrection instead of mentioning the most recent one in the limited series in 1992.

It's Witchcraft

American Horror Story has returned to FX with its third season. This one is subtitled "Coven." Though it's already showing signs of mixing several horror tropes like in previous seasons, the title gives away it's focus on a group of witches. More precisely, it focuses on a school for witches; it's kind of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, except they have no interest whatsoever in helping those that hate and fear them.

Each of the students has a specific psychic sort of power. No real Bewitched-like all-purpose spellcasting, but some very powerful witches have more than one power. There are sort of traditional ritual magic spells, too. It's unclear how this might integrate with the innate powers, and I imagine it will stay that way. "Fuzzy on the details" is just the kind of show AHS is.

Besides the general witchery, there's (so far) an attempt to re-animate the perfect boyfriend from the remains of a bunch of dismembered fratboys, a swamp-dwelling Stevie Nicks fan with the power of resurrection, and conflict between the immortal historical figures Marie Laveau and Delphine LaLaurie.

While every season has had things that could be stolen for an rpg campaign, this season probably offers the most gameable setting so far. In fact, there's a suggestion of the European colonial witches versus traditions of oppressed peoples that is a bit reminiscent of GURPS Voodoo: The Shadow War.

GIANT SPACE ROBOTS!

A mysterious alien race hid giant robots all over the earth, waiting for the day humankind would need them. That day is today. The sinister invaders the ancient aliens always feared have arrived. They use giant monsters to cleanse worlds of all life to ease their takeover. Earth is their next target. The giant space robots, piloted by intrepid human pilots, are the Earth's only hope!

A pilot has 3 stats: Intelligence, Willpower (Wisdom), and Reputation (Charisma).

A robot has 3 stats: Strength, Agility (Dexterity), and Durability (Constitution).

All stats are 3-18 with appropriate resultant bonuses or penalties.

Intelligence: Determines the ability to unlock new powers in a robot. Every time a power is employed a percentile roll is made with the chance of success determined by intelligence (based on the Spell Learning Probability Percentage in LL AEC, ranging from 20% with a 3 to 90% with an 18 INT).
Willpower: Affects response to saving throws from certain mental powers (like wisdom).
All the other abilities are just like their counterparts.

Robot Classes:

• Tank: Not a literally tank, but a brute force model. d8 hit dice, Fighter combat tables and advancement.
• Blasters: Lighter models with various sorts of special powers or energy weapons. d4 hit dice, Magic-User combat tables and advancement. Blaster pilots have a chance to "unlock" a new power in their robot with every level. They can use a power once a day (contingent on a power roll).
• Defenders: Medium models that combine some aspects of blasters and tanks. d6 hit dice, Cleric combat tables and advancement. They have a chance to "unlock" a power at second level, and an additional one every level thereafter.

Powers: Are reskinned spells, though obviously they are the more combat oriented of them. You could do away with spell levels at your discretion.

Weapons: Robots use giant and futuristically styled hand to hand weapons. Darts or arrows might be missiles instead, but maybe not.

Hit Points: Are possessed by giant creatures/robots. Smaller beings don't rate on the scale and are utterly destroyed by 1 point of damage.

Monsters:
Reskin any monster you want. They're all giant now, and ones bigger than man-size are really gigantic!
Examples:  Voidflyers (stats for bats); Gorillagon (Gorilla); Mechapede (giant centipede)--you get the idea.

All Hallows' Eve Draws Nigh

Halloween approaches and I've got some holiday themed posts in the works. First though, let's take a look back at what we unearthed in previous years. 2011's and 2010's ghastly delights are summed up here.

And here are last year's installments:

Monster Mashup: The classic Universal Monsters in different genres and other media.
New Flavors of Frankenstein: Different twists on a classic archetype.
Monstrous Monday: Jumpin' Jack: Stats for Spring-Heeled Jack.

Warlord Wednesday

Here's another installment of my examination of  the adventures DC Comics' Travis Morgan--The Warlord.  The earlier installments can be found here...

Warlord (vol. 4) #1 (June 2009)

Written by Mike Grell; Penciled by Joe Prado; Inked by Walden Wong

Synopsis: In Tibet, high in a mountain cave, an expedition makes a surpsising discovery: A whole deinonychus carcass frozen in ice.

Sometime later, Alysha Grant shows the head of the dinosaur to her friend Kate who works for a museum. Alysha needs money to get back to Tibet and fully explore the cave the carcass was found in. Kate can't get the funding from the museum, but she has an idea.

They go to rich adventurer Ned Hawkins and give him quite a story:

He agrees to go along and in turn recruits journalist Ewan McBane to chronicle his exploits.

Soon, they're all on a mountain in Tibet. They run afowl of the Chinese military and poor Rhampa the Sherpa is killed.  They make it to the cave, but they're trapped.  Or they think they are, until they find a shimmering, golden portal to someplace warm in the recesses of the cave...

Morgan and Shakira are rousing from a sleep period in Shamballah. Morgan pulls open the curtains to look out onto the city--and is attacked by a griffin!

The commotion brings Tara and her soldiers running, but by the time they arrive, Morgan has dispatched the beast.

Not just griffins are being driven out of the North, there are human refugees, too. Morgan and Tara go down to see what's bringing them in and find Tinder already there. He's already gotten a story, and has a refugee repeat it to Morgan:

It turns out the refugee is from Machiste's kingdom of Kiro. He fears the kingdom may have fallen. The invaders wield a power none can stand against: a power that can kill at a distance. The man's son bears a wound from the weapon. It punched through is breastplate and still grievously injured him:

A bullet hole!

Things to Notice:

• Grell writes Warlord again for the first time in nearly 17 years.
• This issue doesn't have a title.
• The recap of Morgan's origin reminds us he arrived in Skartaris in June of 1969.

Where It Comes From:
This makes several sly references to previous issues: the deinonychus in the cave and the one in First Issue Special #8; Morgan asking Tinder about ballad writing and "Ballad" being the title of the story in the 1992 limited series.

What Happened to Volume 3?
Warlord volume 3 ran from April 2006-January 2007. It was written by Bruce Jones and drawn by Bart Sears and "rebooted" Warlord continuity. It was not particularly well-received and ignored when Grell returned to do this series.

The Crystal Obelisks

The crystal obelisks are anomalous artifacts commonly associated with the Hidden Land. The most famous and enigmatic of these is the so-called Graydon Obelisk, though a similar crystal (an anonymous gift) resides in the collection of the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology. Both these crystals and others rumored to exist figure prominently in Fortean and paranormal lore.

The account attributed to John Richmond Graydon (but only surfacing after his death) asserts that he found the crystal on a skeleton garbed as Spanish conquistador in the Sierra Madres. He describes the crystal psychically projecting voices and visions of another world into his mind. He came to understand the crystal was part of a control mechanism. In a trance-like state, while under the crystal's influence, he produced a crude map of the Hidden Land, the area maintained by this mechanism.

Graydon relates that those who have been to Hidden Land and returned confirm the existence of larger crystal obelisks: perhaps 16 ft. tall, and 4 ft. wide at the base in remote places in the Land. Sometimes they appeared are normal, cloudy quartz crystal, but at times colored pulses of light appear inside them. They provided some influence over weather and even astronomical phenomena--perhaps even time and distance. From his investigations, Graydon believed these to be part of system of smaller obelisks--most of which had been swallowed by the jungle.

The builders of these crystals and the grid they form are an enigma, but at least one of Graydon's correspondents attributed them to the Nephilim of Genesis. Graydon's account is conflicted in regard to whether these giants still exist.

Graydon was found dehydrated and dying from a spear wound in the Matto Grosso in 1908. His appearance (and eventual death) in Brazil presents something of a mystery as he dined with acquaintance in Tucson just two days earlier.

Cast in Ruin: A Taxonomy of Post-Apocalypses

This week, Charlie Jane Anders wrote an article about the disappearance of the "advanced civilization fallen to barbarism" story that used to be so prevalent in popular genre media. She considers a couple of reasons, one of which is that it has been supplanted by the post-apocalyptic story.  That got me thinking about whether those sorts of stories might be related in some way, and that led me to hypothesize a taxonomy of post-apocalyptic tales.

The first thing to consider is: Did the apocalypse happen to the viewpoint characters or their culture or did it happen to someone else?

Happened to the viewpoint characters/their culture:

If it happened recently you're dealing with a standard post-apocalyptic (or perhaps apocalyptic, if it's ongoing) tale. Examples would include The Walking Dead, I Am Legend, and Night of the Comet, just to name a few.

If it happened in the remote past, then we're dealing with post-apocalyptic fantasy like Thundarr or the Heiro novels of Sterling Lanier. There is a variant where the apocalypse is really slow moving: the dying earth story. It's tempting not to consider these post-apocalyptic stories at all, except for the fact that at least some of them (the Zothique tales of Clark Ashton Smith and The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson, to give a couple of examples) seem very concerned with pointing out how things are winding down to their inevitable end.

Happened to someone else:
If the apocalyptic event happened recently, and the viewpoint characters have arrived to discover this, we're probably dealing with a science fiction mystery or horror narrative. The Star Trek episode "Miri" probably falls into this category. (Some will protest that the apocalypse in "Miri" hardly counts as recent, being hundreds of years ago. I'd argue the extremely slow aging of the surviving children and the resemblance of the fallen culture to the culture of Star Trek's reviewers in the sixties, gives the story an immediacy that it's internal chronology doesn't reflect.)

If the fall is a remote event, then the "civilization fallen to barbarism" story comes into play (showing up in numerous Star Trek episodes like "Omega Glory" and "Spock's Brain" and as a backdrop in a lot of lost world or planetary romance fiction). If the civilization is mostly gone, but it's influence can still be felt, we're probably out of the post-apocalyptic genre and into science fiction, horror or a combination of the two--but not necessarily. The science fiction and/or horror option is exemplified by works like At The Mountains of Madness, Forbidden Planet, Quatermass and the Pit, and (again) a number of Star Trek episodes like "That Which Survives."

The stories in this category I would consider as in the post-apocalyptic genre itself would be of the "cautionary tale" or "sins of the past" sort. Ralph Bakshi's Wizards fits here, as do two unusual, effective, and Oscar nominated Christmas cartoons from MGM: Peace on Earth (1939) and Good Will to Men (1955).

There are less clear-cut stories that are inbetween these two poles. In this group are stories where the relationship of the viewpoint characters (or the viewer) to the apocalypse or the occurrence of the apocalypse, itself, is saved for a reveal at the end. The original Planet of the Apes is a classic example here, but Teenage Cave Man (1958) also fits the bill.

Also, we can place many so-called "Shaggy God" stories here, as the apocalypse leads to an Adam and Eve scenario. The Twilight Zone episode "Probe 7, Over and Out" is practically the archetypal version of this tale, but it has turned up as recently as Battlestar Galactica (2004).

Look--There's A Map!

Work has been grueling this week! More of my regular posting content is forthcoming, but for now enjoy another map. This one is from Don Lawrence's Trigan Empire. Marvel at its mysteriousness!

Warlord (& Wonder Woman) Wednesday

Here's another installment of my examination of  the adventures DC Comics' Travis Morgan--The Warlord.  The earlier installments can be found here...

"Land of the Lost" (parts 1-5)

Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #179-183 (May-September 2002) Written by Phil Jimenez, Penciled by Roy Allan Martinez & Gabriel Rearte, Inked by Martinez, Andy Lanning, Ray Synder & Marlo Alquiza

Synopsis: Wonder Woman and her boyfriend Trevor Barnes wind up in Skartaris accidentally (thinking they were going to ancient Atlantis). They fight some dinosaurs and meet some little people who tell them where they are:

It's seems that Villainy, Inc. (a collection of Wonder Woman foes led by Clea, queen of the Atlantean remnant Venturia) shot for Atlantis and wound up in Skartaris, too. They quickly recovered from the mistake and went about conquering Shamballah.

They have Morgan and Jennifer in a cage while the the sorceress Jinx, does nasty body-warping things to them.

Villainy, Inc. also discovers the computer core beneath the city. Cyborgirl is able to interface with the computer, which Clea believes will allow them to control all of Skartaris and power enough to potential take over the Earth.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman has freed some captives from Giganta and a group of giants. She begins building an army from the disparate human and nonhuman cultures of Skartaris. She takes that army to Shamballah.

While Wonder Woman takes down Giganta, then fights Clea, Trevor and the army get into the palace and free Dr. Poison's captives/potential subjects--including Machiste and Shakira. Those two attempt to free Morgan and Jennifer, but Jinx attacks them.

While all that's going on, Trinity reveals her plan She had known they were coming to Skartaris all along. Her tendrils allow her to begin to take over Cyborgirl so that she can interface with and reboot the Skartarian master computer. She's actually a creation of the ancient Atlanteans that built the computer, a viral vector intended to reset the system and turn back time to the rule of the Atlanteans.

Waves of energy emanate from the palace, devolving and de-aging the Skartarian forces fighting on both sides. Wonder Woman leaves a subdued Clea and storms the castle. She saves Machiste and Shakira from Jinx and finds Morgan and Jennifer who tell her where to find the computer core.

Dr. Poison comes to save Jinx and is almost taken down by Morgan and friends, but escapes with (of course) poison. She runs to the computer core, too.

Trevor (who's already there) fills Wonder Woman in on what's happening. Dr. Poison's suggestion that Trinity is a virus and is currently confined to the core--but will spread to all the computers in Skartaris--gives Trevor and idea. He talks to Cyborgirl, convincing her to fight Trinity and regain her humanity. She does and manages to contain the Trinity virus in the core, which Wonder Woman destroys with Clea's trident. The energy wave stops.

Evil is defeated. Clea is presumably de-aged and nowhere to be found. The Warlord gets cheers:

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and Trevor (who did most of the world saving) are going to do a bit of rebuilding before heading home.

Things to Notice:

• Wonder Woman spends five issues in Skartaris, but Morgan and crew only appear in a few panels.

Where it comes from: 
Clea and Villiany, Inc. conquered Shamballah to take control of the super-computer beneath it, first seen in issue #15. Not only does the computer differ in appearance from previous portrayals, but Clea says it controls all of Skartaris--something it's never been shown to do before.

There are many humanoids depicted that seem call backs to previous issues (centaurs, titans, dwarfs, fishmen, winged men), but none of them are depicted in such a way as to make it clear--in fact, some seem very different in character.