Warlord Wednesday: Trilogy

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...

"Trilogy"

Warlord (vol. 1) #12 (April-May 1978)

Written and Illustrated by Mike Grell

Synopsis: Mariah is journaling in the port city of Bakwele when Machiste finds her. The two go in search of Morgan (who said he was going to "scare up a martini"). They find him in the middle of a barroom brawl.

Machiste heartily approves, while Mariah (predictably) does not. She wonders aloud why she followed Morgan to Skartaris, but doesn't like it when Machiste intimates that it might be because he's a man--and she's a woman.

Mariah (changing the subject) asks why Machiste, a king, leaves his kingdom and follows Morgan. Machiste says his people are capable of ruling themselves, but tells a story to explain why Morgan commands his loyalty. After they escaped the gladiatorial school, Morgan united the undisciplined group into an army, forging them together with talk of liberty. On the day before a raid, a young boy, Aton, approached Morgan and asked to join the cause of freedom. Morgan is surprised to learn that the fame of his group and his message has spread. Morgan gently tells the boy that he's too young--there's time later to choose the bloody life of a warrior.

Aton hasn't gone far when he's attacked by a purple carnosaur. Morgan rushes to help, opening fire with his pistol. Enraged, the beast turns on him. Aton cuts its Achilles tendon, giving Machiste and Morgan time to kill it. Morgan, impressed, makes Aton his herald, outfitting him with a helmet, a banner, and a fine steed. He tells him to go out and proclaim the cause of liberty. Machiste arrives at the point of his story: Morgan is a dreamer.

Mariah wonders if she has misjudged Morgan because of their political differences. She relates her own story. Shortly after their arrival in Skartaris, she and Morgan happened upon a beautiful unicorn. Morgan tells her that the unicorn shows that Skartaris is a place where "all of men's dreams can come true." No sooner has he spoke, than primitives attack with arrows, and slay the unicorn to win the sacred power of its horn. Morgan is seized by rage. He attacks the hunting party, and kills them quickly. Then, Mariah watches as he kneels down beside the fallen unicorn and weeps.

Mariah suggests that he's a man of contrasts, beyond understanding. Machiste is about to reply, when they have to move to avoid a tavern brawler tossed in their direction. The fight finished, Morgan walks over to them. Mariah explains that they've been trying to figure him out.

Morgan, smiling, says they might as well stop trying. What makes a man give up his home and security for the life of a warrior and wanderer? Perhaps it's the thrill, he muses. He admits the life he's chosen is likely to be a short one, but it won't be dull.

Things to Notice:

• The scene depicted on the cover don't occur in the issue.
• The "Skartarian hieroglyphs" on the tavern's sign say "Crazy Earl's" in English.
• This is the first appearance of Aton, who later becomes a semi-regular. His next appearance is in issue #38.
• Is that Barney (or a close relative) that menaces Aton?

Where It Comes From:
The title "trilogy" refers to the three stories--and three insights into the man, Travis Morgan. Exploration of just who Travis Morgan is, particularly from the viewpoint of those around him, becomes one of Grell's primary concerns in the saga.  This is particularly apparent as he revisits the character and world the 1992 limited series, and in the new series, currently on-going.
Unicorns also make a several appearances in Grell-penned issues. They seem to represent the primeval beauty of Skartaris, and are often used,whether explicitly or implicitly, to contrast this aspect of Skartaris with its savagery--like in this issue.

100 from the Sorcerer's Skull

This is my 100th post--somewhat artificially because I didn't want it to fall on the sarcosanct Warlord Wednesday.

It's been an interesting 127 days, particularly the past few that have seen a crude dungeon map drawn by my cousin twenty plus years ago bring in about 5200 viewers--which is around 100 times as many as I get on a usual day.

I'd like to thank my friend Jim who pestered me until I did this (so he could stop having to read my essay-like emails on gaming topics, probably), put together the banner to my specifications, and became my first follower.

Then there's the Old School Rant (now Jump) that found my "Saturday Morning Sorcery" post worth passing on, and James of the Underdark Gazette, whose generous review brought a lot of folks by.

And  of course, I'd like to thank the 41 (as of this writing) followers I've got, and the RSS feed-readers--from the ones who've been around for months, to the one's who've just arrived.  It's nice to know my ramblings have an audience.

Eberron and Clashing Inspirations

My friend Chris (of Chris's Invincible Super-Blog fame) invited me to play in the new game he's starting up--a Pathfinder campaign in the Eberron setting.

In getting ready for the game, I've been perusing the Eberron Campaign Setting book--something I haven't really looked at since I purchased it in curiosity, because it was the winner of WOTC's setting contest. The introduction has a section on the "Tone of Eberron." I think a lot of the elements mentioned here--the emphasis on "cinematic" action, the blending of pulp and medieval fantasy conventions--go a long way to explaining what the judges at WOTC found appealing about the setting. There's also references to "a thousand shades of gray" and "dark adventure," which seem to suggest moral ambiguity and edginess--things the kids are thought to be into.

What drew my attention in particular is that Eberron's version of the old "Appendix N" are all film references, not literary ones. Nothing wrong with that, in particular. The list of inspirations for my current campaign contains a filmography. What's particular interesting is not that its a list of films, but rather that its a fairly disparate group of films.

I can put Brotherhood of the Wolf, and From Hell together. These are "cinematic" (in the since of visually dynamic) and somewhat "dark" in tone. Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Mummy certainly fit together with over-the-top action and a bit of humor. Maybe Sleepy Hollow and Brotherhood and of the Wolf bridge the cap between those two and From Hell in slightly different ways.

The ones that really have me scratching my head are Name of the Rose, Casablanca, and The Maltese Falcon. I can put Name and Maltese together, or Maltese and Casablanca, so maybe by the transitive property I can group the three, but I have a harder time putting them with most of the films above.

I'm sure I'm over-thinking this. I firmly believe that inspirations can have dissonance as well as consonance. But without any explanation, I sort of think these references were slapped together for very superficial reasons without much thought to how one might conceptualize their elements to come up with a coherent "feel" for the setting.

Luckily, I'm not the DM this time, so I don't have to put those things together, and I'm certainly won't deny that there are some cool elements to Eberron, for all that.

And in the end, its gaming--with friends.  And that ain't bad.

My First AD&D Character

The nostalgia continues.  Here's the character sheet of my very first character in any version of D&D I (1e AD&D, in this case) from almost thirty years ago:

I realize that this just slightly more age worn that say, the Dead Sea Scrolls, so I'll reiterate some of the key points.  The material document itself is a sheet of typing paper on which the layout of the official AD&D character record form has been re-created in blue ballpoint pen.  The character is Grimlin, a 13th level elven fighter whose hit points have seen a high amount of revision, but now number "1900."  I don't recall how that came to be, but I'm sure there's a story there.  Probably several.  All epic.

This character was inspired by the elven hero of one of the D&D: Endless Quest books.  He had a sword which would light up when he said "Sword of the Magus light this place!" or something similar.  He was definitely a "short" elf, not a tall Tolkiennian one.  I named him "Grimlin" because I had recently discovered the folklore creature of that name, and thought the name sounded cool--this was before the 1984 film.

Now let's take a look at the loot on the back:

I should explain that we played for sometime without a copy of the Dungeon Masters Guide.  The first one I'd ever seen was when I got it for Christmas the year I got my very own copy of the Players Handbook (the new one with the Easley cover).  I say that to illustrate that we had, therefore, never heard of a "Monty Haul campaign."  With that in mind, I'll let you review the list of magic items on your own.

Now despite the vast power of Grimlin and his companions, there was no "ascending to godhood" like I heard mentioned by other players I would meet at Boy Scout camp, or other summer programs, back in the day.  No, Grimlin and his gang were still schlepping it through dungeons--though dungeons which extended to the Outer Planes, admittedly (note that Grimlin had the Rod of Asmodeus in his possession).  Said schlepping required lackeys, and Grimlin has ten alignment-congruent henchmen--Hawk (named for the Slayer?), Taran (named for the pig-keeper?), Goan, Roland, Nordon, Pannon, Gord (before Gygax!), Nar, Jor, and Thor.

I actually have my second character, too--a bard named Robin Goodfellow--but that sheet is in worse condition than this one, and much less epic, as it comes from a less "anything goes" time in our gaming--which is to say still probably pretty damn "anything goes."

But we had a helluva lot of fun, and that's what matters.

A Map from Ages Past

This map was drawn by my cousin, Tim, who introduced me to gaming back in the earlier '80s.  Somehow, it came into my possession years--decades--ago. 

We never gamed in this dungeon.  I don't know if Tim did with another group.  I've thought about using it myself on several occasions, but I don't know if I ever did.  Since the various iterations of my campaign world relate to Tim's rather bare-bones world in a fashion similar to the relationship the Marvel Universe has to Timely Comics, Kazoth has been mentioned at times.  I've always conceived of him as one of those demon/monster/god-things, like Thog, or similar creatures, from Robert E. Howard's oeuvre. 

Looking closely at the map, I see several interesting things:

It amuses me that the innermost sanctum of Kazoth (where he has his own chamber) also houses his vestal virigns "and such" (whatever that might mean) and his sacrificial victims-to-be.  This says to me Kazoth is the kind of god-thing who would have a mini-frdge full of drinks in his den.  He just doesn't want to go far for stuff. 

Its interesting the walls of these chambers are rough-hewn (I assume that's what that means), suggesting it might be older than the rest of the complex.

 Most intriguing is the secret passage surrounding Kazoth's chamber.  I wonder what purpose that serves?  Perhaps its a doctrine of the faith that Kazoth's taking of sacrifices must be recorded in gory detail, so scribes watch unobtrusively to do just that.  Or maybe Kazoth gets cranky if his every need isn't responded to instantly, and its just for convenience?

Moving to the other side of the complex we find the mysterious Room of Illusions.  I assume all the "X's" are locations of various illusions.  Why would a temple complex need this?  I'm not sure. Maybe its for psychological torture to make a sacrificial victim juicer for old Kazoth.

Leaving the Room of Illusions, one encounters several traps (the dotted lined areas) which I suspect are probably trapdoors.  So many traps in one place perhaps argues against my explanation for the illusion room, but perhaps there just here because of those three treasure chests.

On the other hand, the naming of the Passage of No Return reinforces the notion that most who saw the Room of Illusions were on a one way trip.

I think the name of the last area I'll comment on may give away its inspiration.  The Room of Souls may have at least acquired its its title from the Well of Souls in Raiders of the Lost Ark--I would suspect specificly from Kenner's Well of Souls Playset. 

I could see the statues there supporting a Raiders connection as well, though I'm sure these statues come to life at some inopportune time for the players.

At least that's how I'd do it.

Free Comic Book Day!

In honor of Free Comic Book Day, my friend and sometime collaborator, Jim, over at the Flashback Universe Blog, has posted a comic I wrote called Hell-bent: Infamous Monsters.  This is the first of two Hell-bent stories I wrote to actually see completion.  Both feature the exploits of former Rough Rider, Sam McCord, and his gang of eclectic troubleshooters--Turner the former buffalo soldier, Pursuivant the wealthy adventuress, Alba the laconic Apache, and Morgan the sharpshooting movie cowboy--in the years just prior to World War I.

This story finds McCord and his crew facing off with an unusual Los Angeles gang that might be somewhat familiar.

The comic was illustrated by the very able, Diego Candia, with lettering and production design from Jim.

So anyway, check it out here with the Flashback Universe web comic viewer.

Cryptids Revealed!

Browsing Scott Francis' The Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, gave me some inspiration.  Here are Labyrinth Lord stats for a couple of "zooform phenomena" of our world--and maybe others....

SKUNK APE

No. Enc.: 1d4
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120'(40')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 2 (any combo of claw & bite)
Damage: 1d4/1d4
Save: F2
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: None
Special Abilities: Stench: save vs. poison or -1 on attack roles.

Skunk apes are shaggy-furred primates native to warm, swampy areas--like Florida, where their most often sighted.

Skunk apes are notable for eyes that appear to glow in the darkness, and the strong stench that they exude--so strong that dogs will often refuse to track them. Skunk apes sometimes appear to leave three-toe tracks, which is unheard of for a primate, particularly when they have five fingers.

HOPKINSVILLE GOBLIN

No. Enc.: 2d4
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 60'(20') (but can leap 20')
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 1 (thrown rock) and Special
Damage: 1d3, Special
Save: E1
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: None
Special Abilities: Immune to nonmagical weapons; Bedevilment: save vs. spell or opponents are harried by the goblins prankish antics they suffer -2 on attack roles, or have concentration spoiled.

Hopskinville goblins are named for the (earthly) place they made their first--and only--appearance, though they are almost certainly extraterrestrial or ultraterrestrial in origin. They appear as roughly 3' tall humanoids with luminous, silver skin, large ears, and large eyes on the sides of their heads.

The goblins have clawed fingers, but never seem to use these to do real damage to people or animals. Instead, they hurl the occasional rock, and generally cause irritation and fear by making a weird nuisance of themselves--following people around, grasping at them or their belonging, scratching or scraping things to make irritating noises, etc.

In the one record encounter with these creatures, a family farm-house in Kentucky was beset by them one summer night in 1955. The goblins generally acted menacingly, but never caused much actual harm. They were, however, completely impervious to gunfire. The attack ended at sunrise, as mysteriously as it began.