Meet Carnival Pandemonium

After our last Weird Adventures game, Cornelius Doyle and Don Diabolico went to do some research to find out more about their foes. This is what they found out:

Marzo, Orlando Vincenzo Rodomonte Visconte di, the assumed name of an adventurer, courtier, thaumaturgist (or charlatan), and likely confidence trickster active in the latter half of the 58th Century. Some sources place his origins much earlier, but this may be only so much propaganda. His detractors appear accurate in their assertion that he was no nobleman of the Vitellian League, at least in the sense that no viscounty of Marzo is known to have existed.

Marzo’s primary attribute seems to have been his ability to insinuate himself into the courts of various Ealderdish nobles their his theatrical use of magical power. He has been derided as a mere illusionist by some, while others have embraced that mantle and championed him as the secret founder of the Brotherhood of Illusion.

Marzo’s fame was such that even long after his likely death he figures into legend. Several adventurers over the past half century have claimed to have encountered Marzo who sought to act as an agent for infernal powers looking to acquire souls. Whether these encounters are mere fabulations, the actions of pretenders, or brushes with an immortal magician are the subject of debate. [from The Practioners of the Art (Roodmas, 5802).]

Deadeye: Stage name of Jonas Early, a sharpshooter in Bucksnort Bill's Wild West Show. He toured with the show from 5833 until his death in 5838. Early died from infection after having been shot in a quarrel over a gambling debt. After display at the Wild West Show, his body disappeared before he could be buried. During life his life, rumor attributed Early's skill with firearms to a pact he had made with a devil--a rumor Early did nothing to discourage. [from The Wild West Shows and Their Performers (Weedle, 5877).]

Polly the Rubber Girl: Polly Ethel Leane was born in 5844. Gifted with unusual flexibility, she became a contortionist and dancer, performing in vaudeville theaters in the City. She died of an ether overdose in 5869. [from The Vaudevillians (Smoal, 5882).]

Mail Order Magic Item: The Horror Mask

This is another of those minor magic items that occasional shows up for mail order, supplied by sources unknown (and possibly extraplanar) for some inscrutable purpose.

When worn, the mask is unsettling beyond its appearance alone. Any creature below 5 HD viewing it must make a saving throw or be shaken and at a -2 to all attack rolls or saving throws. Even if a saving throw is successfully made the wearer is better able to intimidate those they deal with (bonus to reaction rolls to do so).

There is a 10% change (cumulative with each wearing greater than 5 minutes) that the mask will somehow become affixed to the wearer's face and only removal by magical means.

Carnival of Evil

In last night's Weird Adventures game, gentleman thief Don Diabolico and former lion tamer Cornelius Doyle found themselves confronting the supernatural as just a duo.

It started with a message from Philo Markham, a confidence man and friend of Diabolico. The two went to meet him at a waterfront warehouse full of circus and carnival equipment. Despite the fact they heard what seemed to be his voice, Markham was found dead. A knife in his back pinned a flyer to him: an advertisement for the Carnival Pandemonium in Rookend.

Investigation revealed there was a Carnival there, but it seemed old and abandoned--until they stepped inside and the lights came on. They entered through the giant head of a laughing devil. A show began courtesy of one Viscount Orlando Vincenzo Rodomonte Marzo. He admitted to killing Markham to lure "Team Victory" to him, and he expressed disappointment only two of them had come.

Diabolico shot the over-theatric murderer, only to have Marzo rise to his feet again after invoking the intercession of dark powers. Cornelius and Diabolic thought it best to retreat at that point, but the way was blocked by zombie roustabouts!

Our heroes were forced to retreat into the big tent. There, Marzo appeared again and introduced his confederates: the undead pistoleer Deadeye, Chaundoo the Mystic of the East, and Polly the Rubber Girl. He invited Diabolico and Cornelius to join their fellowship.  He promised his employers would grant them all the money and power they desired; they need only sign over their immortal souls.

Cornelius and Diabolico made a break for it. They narrowly avoided a trapdoor on the way out. Once out of the tent, the carnival appeared deserted again.  They headed for their car and home, determined to find out what they could about this new foe.

Warlord Wednesday: Bride of Yaug

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...

"Bride of Yaug"

Warlord #107 (July 1986)

Written by Michael Fleisher; Art by Ron Randall

Synopsis: Morgan, Shakira, and Damon (still suffering from the crossbow wound) cross a rocky desert on the way to the legendary Greenfire Sea and the House of the Celestials where the wizard Hagar-Zinn is said to dwell. On the way they encounter hungry sand squids and a blinding simoon that drives them unexpectedly toward a lost city.

Entering the city,they’re captured by greenskinned men. The leader of the city arrives and commands our heroes be freed. He introduces himself as Wauk and his people as The Sons of Yaug.  They aren’t the least bit creepy:

Well, maybe a little. Anyway, the Sons of Yaug offer the trio their hospitality. They treat our heroes to a feast and offer them a place to stay the night.

Morgan wakes up sort of woozy, like he’s been drugged and finds Shakira missing. He rouses Damon to help him look for her. They hear chanting coming from beneath the floor. Morgan locates a trapdoor. They follow a stairway down and find:

Sword raised, Morgan leaps on Yaug. While Morgan fights the monster, Damon runs in and frees Shakira.

Yaug proves impervious to Morgan’s blade. Morgan has to improvise:

Morgan runs out of the temple and finds Damon and Shakira waiting with the horses. The three ride off to continue their quest as the city burns behind them.

While all this is going on, Mariah and Machiste are suffering at the hands of the torturers of Unmschal. Machiste watches in horror as Mariah dies under a volley of arrows in front of him. Never guessing it was a sorcerous illusion, he refuses to speak with Mariah who calls to him from the neighboring cell.

When the torturers come for her, Mariah overpowers one and grabs a sword. She forces them to open Machiste’s cell. With a captured Ummschal wizard-priest, the two run for the beach. They force the mage to re-animate the skeletal crew to man the bone boat.

The bone boat is launched, but the wizard-priest warns that his brethren will stop them--even it it means his life is forfeit. No sooner has he said that than a towering warrior-shape rises, formed from the ocean waves themselves!

Things to Notice:

• Unmschal is spelled Ummschal here.
• Yaug on the cover looks pretty different from how he appears in the issue itself.

Where it Comes From:
This issue is very much in the pulp Sword & Sorcery (and older Warlord) tradition. We've seen cultists bent on sacrificing our heroes in issues  3, 23, 39, 48, 102 among others. Interestingly, in many Grell-penned issues it's Morgan and not his female companion imperiled.  The dying race looking to breed and extend their numbers trope shows up in issue 18.

Blank

"The Blank" is the name given to an individual (or more likely, a series of individuals) responsible for sporadic crimes in the City. The Blank appears as the outline of a person; otherwise they are completely white and featureless, like a figure left unfinished in the painting of the world.

In addition his unusual appearance, the Blank is resistant to harm and capture. He walks away from gunfire or other assaults that should have been fatal. Magic likewise seems unable to effect him directly.

What is unknown to the authorities (and perhaps everyone but the person who currently has it) is that the blank effect is the result of a magic item:  A silvery dinner suit, flashy like something a stage performer might wear. When the suit is donned, the person wearing it can watch in a mirror as they "fade" into the blank.

Attempts to discover the suits origins prove fruitless. The tag is worn, but appears to list it's manufacturer as "NOX." No clothier of that name is known.

In addition to making the wearer unrecognizable (and having the side effect of distorting their voice), the wearer has AC 0 and takes half damage from any mundane weapon. Magical weapons deal "normal" weapon damage without any bonuses. The wearer is also immune to any directly aimed magic. Magics that deal damage through a physical effect (like a fireball) can effect the wearer at half damage.

While wearing the suit an individual is able to perceive the etheric layers of the Material plane and with experience, the near Astral. The kaleidoscope of lurid colors and outre images can be highly disorienting until a wearer become use to it.

Weird Days in the City

In the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide, Gygax famously said that you can't can't have a meaningful campaign unless strict time records are kept. With that in mind, here's the basic timeline of the event in my G+ Weird Adventures, with special emphasis on the rumors and reports that might be of interest to others.

The current year is 3888. (For more on the calendar of the City, go here.)

3887
26 Swelter: From the City Inquirer:

"MANIAC CAPTURED! ELDRITCH VALLEY SLEEPS SAFELY AGAIN: Tranquility has been restored to the usually quiet communities of the Eldritch Valley.  Fennix Orgo, the so-called 'Shrike' killer, has been apprehended by law enforcement and returned to the Blufton Sanitarium, where he is to spend the rest of his days.  Orgo was responsible for at least seven deaths by brutal, bestial means, including the murder of Jon Wyllard by impalement--a grisly deed which earned him his nickname."

The Shrike will escape again in a little over a year.

Redfall: From the tabloids:

"It seems John Vandemaur, heir to the Vandemaur's fortune, has scandalized his family and the Old Money set in general after taking up with a former dime-a-dance gal from Hoborxen.  Matriarch Urania's blue blood has supposedly been set to a boil by her eldest's discussion of putting a ring on this unfamilied lass from across the river."

John Vandemaur marries this girl from Hoborxen, Viviane, after a short courtship.

3888
3 Bluster: From the tabloid The Tattler:

"SOCIETY GAL GOES GHOUL: A 'Wild' debutante has been getting a taste of the City's night-life, all right--unless the nightlife's tasting her!  We hear she's quite taken with a beau of the ghoulish persuasion.  Is this a case of love being blind?  Or maybe it's just too dark in Undertown?" 

The story refers to Sue Ann Wilde whose doomed love with a brooding ghoul hoodlum, Dean, will only survive a little over a week from this point.

16 Bluster: A group of operatives working for Celebrity Private Investigator Heward Kane are hired by Viviane Vandemaur to retrieve the body of her departed husband from Barrow Island (the beginning of the events of the adventure "The Night City").

Ripened: Cyrus Westerly died 10 years ago, but in accordance with his wishes, his estate has yet to be settled. Westerly’s lawyer and executor, Rothger Croston, has summoned the five potential heirs to the remote and decaying Westerly Mansion on the Eldritch, north of the City. It’s rumored the will has some eccentric provisions (So begins the events of the adventure "Night of the Shrike.")

After the positive press Don Diabolico, Boris Brovsky, and Erskine Loone get from solving the Westerly case, Heward Kane makes them a franchise of his agency and sets them up with their own office near Pentacle Park.

Soon after, the events of the adventure "Heart of the Machine" begin.

2 Harvest: From the City Herald:

"SOON PLANES MAY FLY THEMSELVES: Hew Hazzard, owner and chief officer of Zephyrus Aerocraft, announced the appointment of Silas Atwill to lead the coordination of his Automata Division. Hazzard spoke of his vision of automata flown aircraft and flying devices that could aid mankind in a myriad of ways. 

Dr Atwill has been an engineer with Zephyrus Aircraft for several years and a member of Mr. Hazzard's "inner circle" of innovators."

3 Harvest: Erness "Snuffy" Smite, caretaker at the Greasy Lake Scrapyard, is found dead along with his wife and two teenage children. There is evidence that they all suffered from wereratism.

7 Harvest: Zephyrus Aerocraft is assaulted by automata.

The Midnight Hour

The Midnight Hour is a stolen fragment of time: 60 illicit minutes secreted away in an antique pocket watch with a "man in the moon" hunter case. The captured hour is from eleven to midnight, hence the name.

The watch doesn't keep regular time. Instead, when the watch is wound, it uses up the stolen minutes. The user does so by winding the watch, closing it's lid, then re-opening it. Until the lid is closed again, the watch ticks down the captured hour. Though the hour proceeds normally for the possessor the world beyond is at a standstill, frozen in time. Frozen except for one thing: The sky turns to night for the duration of the watch's operation.

If the stories are to be believed, it pays to be cautious and only use a minute or two at the time. Weird things from the Astral Plane seep in between the moments as the Midnight Hour slips by.  They're drawn to the watch like moths to a flame. They have strange names: the Velveteen Horror, the Creeping Doomster, the Loneliness That Grins, Something Ugly, The Hole in the All, the Pain that Remembers, the Silence Between Sobs, She Loves Not--and others, found in obscure texts. No one has ever seen one and been able to describe it beyond vague, fear-informed impressions. Those owners of the watch they get a hold of are never seen again in living human form.

The other caution given regarding the Midnight Hour is that every minute used is an hour taken off the possessor's life. These are not just shaved from one's last days; they are sometimes pivotal moments, perhaps, taken from random points in a person's life. To use the watch is to gamble the time it grants against what might be lost.