Warlord Wednesday: Sins of the Father...(Part 3)

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...

"Sins of the Father...Fate of the Son" (part 3)

Warlord Annual #4 (1985)

Written by Cary Burkett; Penciled by Pat Broderick; Inked by Bob Smith.

Synopsis: In his tower, the Evil One scries the approach of Travis and Jennifer Morgan. He recognizes the Hellfire Sword (which he knows as the sword of Baroth). He doesn't plan to fall prey to it again.

The tower opens to disgorge hordes of creatures at our heroes.  Father and daughter throw themselves into the fray:

Morgan is in a berserker rage and near invulnerable with the power of the hellfire blade. Tinder follows in the wake of his father and sister (though none are aware of the relationship), stepping over the bodies and gore.

Morgan charges into the sanctum of the Evil One.  He leaps forward and buries his sword to the hilt in his foe’s chest.  But:

The Evil One returns to corporeal form, then smashes Morgan’s wrist, causing him to drop the sword.  He lays the Warlord low, and then does the same to his daughter.  He gloats over his foes and begins to torture them with his magic. 

He doesn’t notice Tinder enter the room.  Tinder sees the Hellfire sword and manages to wrench it from the Evil One duplicate.  Jennifer tells the boy to run.  After all, he can’t wield the sword—only someone of the blood of Travis Morgan can do that.

The Evil One dies. His tower crumbles. While Tinder cradles the body of his dead friend, Chakka, Jennifer ponders what just occurred. She knows that only a descendant of her father could wield the sword. Her father had a son, but he’s dead, killed by their father’s own hand—or so everyone assumed.

Morgan remembers nothing of what happened, and Jennifer doesn’t share her suspicions.

Tearfully, Tinder buries Chakka.  He decides to go away for a while.  How could anyone else understand his grief at having to kill someone he loved?

Things to Notice:

• How did the Evil One create that duplicate of himself? (I know, magic, but still, he's never done it before.)
• Why doesn't Jennifer tell her father what happened?

More Things You should Buy

Well, two are new and one is a point to a sale of cool products by fellow bloggers.

Delve! is a 'zine by Johnathan Bingham, proprietor of the Ostensible Cat (astute readers of Weird Adventures will note a coffee shop by that name in the City--a shout out to Johnathan for his work on the project). This issue is basically a weird fantasy module and well-worth the price.  Check it out!

The Manor 'zine by Tim Shorts of Gothbridge Manor, is on its second issue.  The first has been reviewed positively by James at Grognardia (among others).  Reserve your copy today! 

Jack's "greatest hits" compilation/expansion of his always interesting blog posts have been  available in hardcopy for a while--but now that compendium is on sale!  I've talked this one up before. If you've been sitting on the fence, now's your chance.  Follow the links to get your hard or soft copy today. 

A Few of My Favorite Aliens

Aliens species in most science fiction rpgs are of the of the human body animal head variety or just human’s with odd skin color--which might be cool if they gave them so interesting personality.  There are some pretty interesting aliens in games.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Vrusk
From: Star Frontiers
All the species in basic Star Frontiers are pretty cool (Zebulon’s Guide has some clunkers, though) but the corporatist, insect-appearing (though not actually intervebrate) Vrusk are good ones.  They avoided the cliches of evil insectoids and (mostly) hive culture.

Kronin
From: GURPS Aliens
At first blush these guys are a “warrior race” cliche (okay, not just at first blush), but two me there are a couple of interesting things about them.  One is that their societal structure is based around cadres and avoids the usual “Klingon Empire” thing.  Two, their noseless humanoid appearance reminds me of the Acroyear in the Micronauts comics, who are one of the coolest warrior races ever.

K’kree
From: GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 2
Horse-like herbivorous sophonts on a holy crusade to cleanse the universe of meat-eaters. Not only due the K’Kree break with typical humanoid alien design, they turn “peaceful herd animal” expectations on their ear.

Arilou
From: Star Control
These guys are from a series of computer games and are just green-skinned humanoids.  What’s interesting about them is they reference the classic little green men from flying saucers motif.  Their ships are inertialess too, making them unique among the sentient races--and mysterious. The fraal from Alternity's Star*Drive setting are a somewhat similar idea, perhaps better done, but without the cool saucers.

Pentapod
From: Traveller: 2300AD
2300AD had several well done species, but the biotech-using pentapods are my favorite. Interestingly, the pentapods themselves are biotechnology--constructs made by deep sea intelligences on their homeworld.  It’s a set-up that could be easily used for horror, but the pentapods are one of the closest allies of humans.

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises ends Christopher Nolans Batman trilogy and presents the most coherent story arc in a series of superhero films so far.  While the Marvel and previous DC efforts have mostly been isolated adventures with a few through lines, Nolan and his collaborators have crafted something a bit more novelistic.  This culmination of the trilogy reaps the harvest of seeds sown way back in Batman Begins and (if perhaps only in a subtle and incomplete way) challenges the very notion that “being the superhero” is actually the best thing the protagonist could be doing with his life.

TDKR begins by dealing with the consequences of the previous film.  The ending of The Dark Knight, I had interpreted as just a set-up for further adventure, but instead has led to a Gotham with increased police powers and no need for Batman.  This victory is hollow for its two architects (Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne) because it’s based on a lie.

They don’t have to fret too long about that though, because (as Selena “Catwoman” Kyle) quips to Bruce: “a storm is coming.”  That would be a bulked up Tom Hardy as Bane: a bruiser with a needlessly complicated plan and a weird (but engaging, to me at least) mechanically altered voice.  Pretty soon, the Dark Knight returns, but only to face a beat down at Bane’s hands and a Knightfall. Then, Bane isolates Gotham and makes it a No Man’s Land, that the U.S. government fears to intrude on.

TDKR weaves a lot of elements from various Batman storylines (more than I’ve mentioned above) into a coherent enough for a superhero film whole. There are Nolan twists along the way that are not really surprising if one knows the comic sources, but are still dramatically satisfying.  The only quibble with one of them is that Batman’s world’s greatest detective skills are hardly in evidence.

The film isn't without problems.  The villain’s plot is pretty convoluted and has some logic flaws,which may bug some people. It is a looonngg movie, and there are some things that could have been trimmed.  The Bale scratchy Bat-voice is still in evidence--though I’ve gotten use to it after three films.

It doesn’t offer the “fun” of the Avengers or The Amazing Spider-Man, and it probably isn’t as genre expanding as the film proceeding it, but TDKR delivers on the promise of The Dark Knight by giving a dramatically solid payoff to that film and a strong ending to the series.

Random Rampage Table

On occasion, someone in the City can be heard to ask, incredulously: "What's climbing to the top of that skyscraper?!":

1. nonhuman hominid or primate
2. Gargantuan crustacean (lobstrosity)
3. Fifty-foot showgirl
4. Gi-ant
5. Flesh golem compose of parts of 1-6 other giant creatures
6. Animated statute
8. Man mutated by thaumaturgic accident
9. Gigantolycanthrope
10. Ghost of another creature (roll again to determine which)
11. Amorphous blob or slime
12. Mega-flumph

Have You Heard?

Art by Lester

There's a new crime boss in the Hell's Commot neighborhood of the City.  He's connected to the Hell Syndicate but not (as far as is known) an infernally "made man" himself.  They call him (strangely) "the Mermaid," but his real name may be Marbendlar.

He holds audiences at the Iceberg, a new club off the Circus, where the bright-lights bleed into the darkness of the Commot.  The interior of the club is like an ice cave, all white and glittery with stalactites.  The band plays on a stage that looks like an white ice flow on an indigo night sea.

What power does this weird wizened and legless homunculus have to command the respect (well, fear) of hardcases and tough guys? No one is sure.  Some say that (though he's new to the City) "the Mermaid" has been around a long time, and is used to being in charged.  Some point to accounts of an odd little idol snatched from gill men in  skirmish in the last century.  No pictures exist, but the description is similar.

If you should meet Marbendlar (or whatever his name is), don't call him "the Mermaid."  He hates that.

Hey Kids! Weird Adventures now has a Google+ Page.  Follow here.

Warlord Wednesday: Sins of the Father... (part 2)

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...

"Sins of the Father...Fate of the Son" (part 2)

Warlord Annual #4 (1985)

Written by Cary Burkett; Penciled by Pat Broderick; Inked by Bob Smith.

Synopsis: The Evil One flies around doing some low level terrorizing before magicking himself up a tower.

Meanwhile, Jennifer and Morgan arrive in the magical realm under the river where Morgan tossed the Hellfire sword. They make their way to a castle: the place of the Keepers. A woman greets them and takes them for an audience with the queen.

The beauteous queen knows what the two are there for. She likes Morgan and would grant him the sword but there’s someone else that wants to claim it: Dagon Soul-Stealer, King of the Undead. He’s defeated all other would-be claimants so far. Morgan agrees to fight him, and the queen whisks him away to the land of the undead. The hellfire sword is there, stuck in a rock—but this guy's there too:

Morgan, not wanting to waste any time, shoots Dagon right between the eyes—to no effect. Morgan is on the defensive until gets Dagon to follow him up a cliff, where he’s able to get the Undead King off balance and knock him into a pit of spikes below.

Morgan moves to claim the hellfire sword—but Dagon bursts forth from the pit! He’s got Morgan and plans to finish him off with the hellfire blade. As if it has a mind of its own, the sword slips from his grasp and falls within Morgan’s reach. Morgan snatches it up and decapitates Dagon with it.

The queen explains that the sword chose Morgan. His life force was stronger, and the sword feeds off life force. The blade reclaimed Morgan and will forever belong to him and his heirs.

Morgan and Jennifer are transported back to Skartaris. Ashir points out the Evil One’s tower to them:

Jennifer and Morgan head out for the tower. They don’t notice Tinder tagging along behind them, concerned for his friend, Chakka.

TO BE CONTINUED

Things to Notice:

• There's a sword driven into an anvil in the castle of the Keepers that looks familiar.

Notes:

One wonders what the personification of Death Morgan met in previous issues thinks about this king of the undead?  "Dagon" is the name of Semitic fertility god.