What Rough Beast: The Orcish Mind

"A routine soul-smear confirmed the presence of pure evil."

- Dr. Hibbert, The Simpsons

Orcs as read in D&D are the epitome of evil, congenitally irredeemable. And they're ugly, too.

As something of a reaction to this portrayal, latter-day orcs are often semi-noble savages. Something like Star Trek: The Next Generation Klingons.

In the world of Arn, I wanted orcs to be creatures mostly as suggested in the Monster Manual. Clashes of cultures are fine, but I've got human cultures to clash. Orcs are to be monsters.

Just because they're monsters, though, doesn't mean there can't be a reason for their monstrousness. Orcs can be understandable, I think, without being particularly relatable.

My inspirations here are recent works with more of an emphasis on psychology. R. Scott Bakker's fantasy epic Prince of Nothing trilogy, and its follow-up, the currently on-going Aspect Emperor series, has a new take on the Tolkien-derived orc concept. The Sranc are derived in perverse fashion from the Tolkienian, elf-like Nonmen--making them analogous to orcs in more ways than one. The sranc are unreasoning marauders with beautiful Nonmen faces, who roam in large packs, and seem only semi-intelligent, but can employ weapons. Unlike Tolkien's orcs, the sranc explicitly derive sexual pleasure from their violence. Here's a descriptive passage from The Judging Eye:

"Running with rutting fury, howling with rutting fury, through the lashing undergrowth, into the tabernacle deep. They swarm over pitched slopes, kicking up leaves and humus. They parted about trunks, chopping at the bark with rust-pitted blades. They sniffed the sky with slender noses. When they grimaced, their blank and beautiful faces were clenched like crumpled silk, becoming the expressions of ancient and inbred men.

Sranc. Bearing shields of lacquered human leather. Wearing corselets scaled with human fingernails and necklaces of human teeth.

The distant horn sounded again, and they paused, a vicious milling rabble. Words were barked among them. A number melted into the undergrowth, loping with the swiftness of wolves. The others jerked at their groins in anticipation. Blood. They could smell mannish blood."

Like the neurosurgery patient turned serial killer in Crichton's The Terminal Man (1972)--violence seems to be wired to directly to pleasure areas of sranc brains. Presumably, this was done, along with the physical changes, by the No-God, who warped the sranc from Nonmen stock.

Another species or subspecies with modified neurocognitive structures are the vampires from Peter Watts' 2006 science fiction novel Blindsight. On Watts' website there's a rather clever PowerPoint-type presentation that details the fictional history how the search for a gene therapy for autism lead to the discovery of the genetic basis of vampirism. In Watts' novel, vampire (or as Watts would have it, Homo sapiens whedonum) brains are much better at certain types of pattern recognition and information processing than standard humanity--but are also violent, and totally lacking in empathy.  In other words, what we would call rather extreme sociopaths.

So what does this all mean for the orc? Well, it seems to me that orcs in the world of Arn, like Tolkien's orcs or Bakker's sranc, are the products of biothaumaturgical engineering. The base human (or other hominid) stock employed was twisted to create shock-troops for war--an intelligent creature imprisoned by a brain hardwired for hatred of all beings non-orc, and deriving a great deal of neurologic reward from inflicting violence. Individual orcs will vary in the degree these traits are manifest, and half-orcs even more so, but orcish brains make them what they've always been--the implacable enemies of man.

More Inspirational Nonfiction

Here, from my shelves to you, are five more works of nonfiction that I've find inspirational, or instructional, in the process of world-building:

Imaginary Worlds by Lin Carter: This first selection is an oldie--woefully out of print--but a goodie and worth seeking out. Not only does Carter provide a history of "secondary world" or "imaginary world" fantasy, but his last chapter is a "how-to" on world-building covering topics like religion, cartography, and naming. It's aimed at fiction writers, true, but it has some good thoughts for gaming world-builders, as well.

The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall: Originally published in 1928, Hall's book is a good corrective to the simplified polytheistism in a lot of fantasy game worlds. He's got quick-read-but-detailed, chapter's on Pythagorean mysticism, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and more mystery cults than you can shake a bone rattle at. It would probably be useful to add some color to modern, or modernish, occult games like Call of Cthulhu, too.

Dictionary of Ancient Deities by Patricia Turner & Charles Russell Coulter: Need inspiration for the portfolios or characteristics of gods in your game? Or maybe just need an obscure name to throw on an idol in a dungeon, and don't feel particularly like coining one? This books got you covered from A (Mayan death god) to Zywie (alternate name for Polish goddess of life, Ziva). It makes for interesting browsing for ideas you didn't know you needed, as well.

Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics by Chas S. Clifton: What's all this Ancient World-syle religion in a pseudo-medieval setting? Try out some of these challenges to Christian orthoxy through the ages. I've found heretical beliefs a big inspiration for "Catholicism-but-not" religions for games that need something like that. Not as much information as Cohn's book I've mentioned previously, but a breezier read and more browsable.

Monsters! by Neil Arnold: Arnold subtitles his book "the A-Z of zooform phenomena" giving a hint of his Fortean stance, but its weird sightings, urban legends, and mythological creatures make for fine adventure fodder. Arnold's entries suffer from a little sparseness of detail at times, and some of the monsters either already have analogs in gaming or would require a lot of thought to make them useful.  But things like the Hopkinsville Goblins, Jenny Greenteeth, or the cattle-mutilating, flying, Jellyfish of Japan, definitely have potential.

Mail Order Magical Materials

From the early 1930s until after World War II, companies like King Novelty Company sold "curios,"--hoodoo charms and ritual materials--and grimoires (including the famous Pow Wows, or The Long Lost Friend) alongside cosmetic and medicinal items.

In the world of The City, catalogs like these are handy resources for material components and materia magica. Even in more traditional, pre-industrial fantasy campaigns these materials might be used to add some flavor to spellcasting. For campaigns that don't use material components, maybe these materials enhance the potency of spells?

Here's a selection of some of the materials offered in the catalogs with suggested D&D game effects.  Example spells affected for each material are from the Open Game License System Reference Document version 3.5.

Devil's Shoe-String: Thin, flexible roots of a family of plants related to honeysuckle. These can be used as components in spells to "tie up" or "hobble" enemies (Entangle, Hold spells, Slow, Snare) and also be carried for luck in gambling.

Goofer Dust: Made from graveyard dirt, powdered, shed snake-skins, sulfur, and salt in the main, exact goofer dust formula's are trade secrets of the various manufacturers. Goofer dust is sprinkled where an enemy will walk, or perhaps placed inside his shoes, and leads a magical poisoning. [On a failed saving throw, the victim suffers a -2 to penalty to attack rolls, saves, and ability checks for a period of 1-10 days.]

Graveyard Dirt: Dirt acquired in a graveyard can be used as a material component for some spells which do harm to others (Bestow Curse, Cause Fear), but can also be used in spells of protection (Various Protection and Magic Circle spells). Whether graveyard dirt is gathered by the would-be caster or bought from a supplier, care should be taken that it has been "paid for"--usually by leaving an offering of a silver piece in the graveyard--to appease the spirits of the dead.

Lodestone: Pieces of naturally magnetic iron ore. Lodestone is a component used in spells of luck (Locate and Find spells), or attraction (Charm and Summon spells). Some hold that different color lodestones have greater potency when used for specific purposes.

Four Thieves Vinegar: An ancient, Old World formula, this is a mixture of herbs and vinegar, which can be ingested or applied topically to provide resistance to disease and magical protection. [Adds a +2 to saving throws against disease, and a +1 against spells for 2-12 days with each application.]

Van Van Oil: Made from herbal essential oils, it may be applied to the body or a surface as a component of spells of protection ([Alignment], Magic, Arrows, etc.). It can also be used to anoint magical items like amulets or rings to enhance them, or weaken cursed items. [Application of the oil adds one additional charge (1 time/item) to an item with limited charges, adds a bonus to the effect of any non-charged item for 1-10 hours, or removes the deleterious effect of a cursed item for 1-10 hours. These last two effects may be gained more than once per item, though never in a cumulative fashion. The oil has no effect on scrolls, potions, or magical weapons or armor.]

For information on real-world hoodoo and rootwork, and more examples of magical materials. check out Cat Yronwode's great website.

This Land...

"As I went walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway..."
- Arlo Guthrie, "This Land is Your Land"

Last Sunday, I mentioned the City sandbox campaign. I thought I might give a little more information on City, and its world.

The City sits at the mouth of the Eldritch River on the eastern coast of the New World (which isn't really new at all) facing the ocean, across which lies the Olde World which still suffering the effects of the strange weapons employed in the last war.

With the ocean and the Olde World behind us, let's heading out west. We come to the Smaragdine Mountains. These parallel the east coast, running into the sea in the north and petering out in the south. These old, forested hills are the home of superstitious yokels, moon-shining ogre clans, crafty conjure-men, and magical beasts. In the south, where the mountains shrink to hills, then flatten, and finally sink to vast swamps, we again find monsters--prehistoric holdouts and belligerent (and malodorous) skunk-apes.

West again, over the mountains, we find steel-towns, and corrupt Lake City, run by warring gangsters, on the shores of the Inland Sea.

Beyond the cities and still fertile farm lands, are the Dustlands. These were farm lands once, but now ruined by drought, ruled by sentient, malevolent storms--cyclone suzerains and tornado tyrants--and haunted by black-dust ghosts.

Eager to leave the Dustlands behind us, we push westward and find more mountains. These are rugged peaks that dwarf the Smaragdines, and shadow hardpan, high deserts. These are places of old mining ghost towns, deep canyons with ancient cliff dwellings, and strange, diminutive mummies that might still whisper in dessicated voices to those that will listen.

West again, one last time, and we're in the lands of Hesperia, and at another coast. Hesperia is the most civilized place we've come to since we left the east--and maybe more civilized, depending on who you ask. Sunny, palm-treed Heliotrope, in the south is the home of movie industry that entertains a continent. In the north is decadent San Tiburón, where lives a vagrant, who's either the Maimed King of the New World, or a sad lunatic.

And that's a brief, fly-over tour of a continent.  Sea to shining sea, as it were.

Names to Conjure With

A really good name for a character in fiction is a marvellous thing.  Some very good writers just don't have the naming facility, while others, perhaps less talented in some respects, have a great knack for it.  In alphabetical order, here are fifteen of my favorite names from fiction of the fantastic (and one comic book series)...Or at least there a sampling of those favorites I can recall at the moment.  How many do you recognize?

• Anasurimbor Kellhus
• Caladan Brood
• Dorian Hawkmoon
• Druss
• Eldred Jonas
• Feyd-Rautha
• Jherek Carnelian
• Kull
• Smaug
• Susheeng
• Syzygy Darklock
• Tars Tarkas
• Tempus Thales
• Tobias Moon
• Uther Doul

As a bonus, here are some organizations from fiction with cool names:

• The Blasphemous Accelerators
• The Big Coffin Hunters
• The Bloody Mummers
• The Deacon Blues
• The Galrogs
• The Silent Oecumene

Warlord Wednesday: Tower of Fear

Let's 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...

"Tower of Fear"

Warlord (vol. 1) #10 (December 1977-January 1978)

Written and Illustrated by Mike Grell

Synopsis: Morgan, Machiste, and Mariah are riding through the jungle when Morgan catches sight of a megalithic cirlce--where it appears a human sacrifice about to take place! In righteous fury, Morgan charges in and cuts down the purlpe-robed cultists. By the time Machiste and Mariah arrive, Morgan's escued the beautiful, intended sacrifce.

The girl protests that Morgan shouldn't have interfered. Her name is Ashiya, and she was chosen to be sacrificed so that the Mask of Life, a national symbol which had been taken from her people in conquest, would be returned to them. Morgan asks why they just don't take it back, and Ashiya replies that they have no warrior mighty enough to retrieve it from the Tower of Fear.

So of course, we next find our heroes at the base of a forbodding black tower. There are strange gargoyles, suspended in the air on floating discs, but not guards. No one who's entered has ever survived to tell of the horrors within. Morgan is confident he and Machiste will, but adds that the "ladies better stay here." Mariah is incensed at his chauvinistic attitude, and bets that she can reach the top of the tower before the two men. Grinning, Morgan and Machiste accept, and ask for the stakes...

The heroes enter the tower's doors, and see a spiral stair. Before Mariah can enter, Morgan slams the door shut. He still thinks its too dangerous for her. The two warriors mount the staircase, which spirals ever upward into darkness, to the heart of the tower. They haven't gone far before they're startled by transparent, eerie green tendrils materializing to grasp at them. In a moment, they're fighting in the grip of a gelatinous one-eyed creature--with a hungry maw!

Desperate, Morgan cuts through the tentacle holding him, and dives sword first, driving his blade into the creature's eye. The creature howls in pain, but by the time Morgan has regained the stair, it's disappeared--"gone back into whatever hell spawned it!"

Morgan and Machiste finish the climb without incident, and find themselves at a narrow bridge, crossing to a door. As soon as their on the bridge, a vortex of energy grows out of the darkness in front of them, and begins to disgorge demonic humanoids of various forms. Morgan and Machiste do battle with the creatures, but realize they have to find a way around the warp. They decide to slide under it, and Machiste does. Morgan, still cleaving demons, is right behind.

Opening the door allows light to flood in, which causes the demons to move away. Morgan and Machiste get through the door and close it behind them, leaning against it in fatigue from the their trials. That's when a voice says: "I was beginning to think you'd never get here."

A smug Mariah lounges, twirling what's apparently the Mask of Life around her finger. Mariah explains to the flummoxed heroes that, while they relied on brawn, she used her brains and observed that the gargoyles at the tower's base sat on anti-gravity discs. She road one up to the top like an elevator.

Their quest completed, the three's combined weight allows them to ride the disc back down. They give the mask to the grateful Ashiya, and Mariah reminds the two men that its time to pay up on the bet. A little later, the three ride away, with Machiste complaining his crown doesn't fit as well on his newly shaved head. Morgan vows not to underestimate Mariah again--or to make anymore bets with her.

Elsewhere, Ashiya drops her magical disguise, and reveals herself to be an old witch. She gloats over duping Morgan, her master's enemy, as she places the mask of life on the face of the body before her. The body seizes, then rises to a sitting position. The man removes the mask to reveal the newly-scarred visage of a resurrected Deimos!

Things to Notice:

• Our heroes tend to believe stories told to them by beautiful damsels in distress without any real verification.
• Morgan somehow didn't have to do anything to make good on the bet with Mariah.
• This is the first appearance of Machiste's classic, bald look.

Where It Comes From:
This issue has a real "sword and sorcery" feel. The title recalls the likes of Howard's "Tower of the Elephant", Leiber's "The Howling Tower", and Moorcock's "The Vanishing Tower", to name a few. The materializing tentacled beast, recalls the extradimensional Thog of Robert E. Howard's "Xuthal of the Dusk" (also called "The Slithering Shadow") which first appeared in Weird Tales in 1933:

 ...and was adapted in Savage Sword of Conan #20:

An Annotated Appendix N for Arn

For those who follow, or have occasionally enjoyed, my posts on my current campaign setting--the continent of Arn--I thought the a lists of its inspirations might prove of interest.  There are a myriad of smaller inspirations (including a lot of nonfiction) which have added details to "fill out" the whole, but these are the biggest influences, and the reasons why:

Books:
James Branch Cabell. Jurgen, The Silver Stallion, and Figures of Earth (in order of influence). Cabell's ironic tone and mannered, roguish characters, are a big influence on how I portray NPCs in the campaign, and the elaborate, almost farcical cosmology, has some influence on the world's interactions with the multiverse.

Robert E. Howard. While I love Howard's work, he's not a big influence of the current conception of Arn, but "The Hyborian Age" essay was one of the earliest influences, and I can still see its traces.

Fritz Leiber. The Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories. Beyond the "implied setting" of D&D, these are probably the biggest inspiration. "Ill Met in Lankhmar", "The Adept's Gambit", and "The Cloud of Hate" are probably the most pertinent.

Clark Ashton Smith. The tales of Hyperborea were a strong general inspiration, and to a slightly lesser extent the Zothique cycle stories, particularly "The Back Abbot of Puthuum." The tales of Averoigne were influential on the development of Llys and the Llysans (particularly "The Holiness of Azédarac", "The Disinterment of Venus", and "Mother of Toads").

Games:
Aaron Allston.  Wrath of the Immortals.  Though I not a fan of much of its execution, the basic portrayal and conception of the Mystaran Immortals influenced the Ascended of the world of Arn a great deal.

Frank Mentzer.  BECMI Dungeons & Dragons.  The "end game" of immortality was the inspiration for ascension, and the seed of much of Arnian religion.

TV & Film:
Deadwood (2004).  The almost faux-Shakespearean but profanity laced dialogue of the folk of Deadwood, is how I imagine the urban-dwellers of Arn talking--but never seen to remember to try to replicate in play. Ah well. The mire streets, and ramshackle brothels and taverns of Deadwood also have a place in the Arnian aesthetic.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994).  Tarantino's loquacious rogues are good models of Arnian adventurers.