Warlord Wednesday: When A Legend Dies

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...

"When A Legend Dies"

Warlord #114 (February 1987)

Written by Michael Fleisher; Art by Ron Randall

Synopsis: A peasant is getting hassled by the tax collector of Baron Kraag, when the Warlord shows up. He rallies the peasants then leads them in a charge on the Baron’s castle. His horse picks up a stone in it’s shoe, and the Warlord falls behind. The peasants ride into an ambush and are slaughtered. When the battle’s over, the Warlord collects his fee from the Baron.

Has Morgan turned evil? No, this Warlord activates a device and his disguise falls away. This is Desaad of Apokolips out to sully the legend of the Warlord.

Meanwhile, the real Morgan is trying to figure out what happened to the wizard V’Zarr Hagar-Zinn. He finds a scrap of the wizard’s robe and a piece of parchment. The parchment contains part of an incantation. Morgan and friends step into the waiting magic circle and:

Morgan and friends find themselves hanging from the hand of the wizard over a demon-pit of “weirdling ethers” that will turn their “physical bodies into vapors” to be huffed by demons. Once the demons have done that, they’ll have the power to invade Skartaris.

In the vicinity of Shamballah, Tara discovers the area of extreme aging is indeed expanding. She she’s a dinosaur age, die, and decompose to bones before her eyes. If Morgan doesn't get back with a cure soon, all Shamballah is at risk!

Back in the nether-realm, Morgan pulls an improbable maneuver that involves dropping them all toward the pit, but swinging out at the same time. Somehow, this works and soon their battling demons.

They make their way to some pudgy, winged reptile mounts. The wizard tells them they have to get back to the portal they came through to return to their world.

They fly out toward the portal with the demons right behind them. Morgan wants to stay behind and hold them off while the others get through, but V’Zarr says he should do it instead. Only Morgan’s heroism can save Skartaris from the coming threat. He magicks a ring into Morgan’s finger.

Morgan and the others fall through the portal. The wizard knows he won’t be able to follow them. He converts himself to pure magical energy, sacrificing himself to close the portal.

Meanwhile, Desaad disguised as Morgan is jumped by a Vashek adherent out for revenge. He’s surprised the Vashek is a woman--and he surprises her by laughing at her desire for revenge and suggesting they have an enemy in common.

Things to Notice:

• This issue is a Legends crossover.
• It seems a bit odd that Desaad is personally masquerading as the Warlord.

Where it Comes From:
The title of this issue refers to the death of V'Zarr Hagar-Zinn, but also to the hit-job Desaad is doing on Morgan's reputation.

Speaking of Desaad, he's the chief torturer to Darkseid, and a creation of Jack Kirby. He first appeared in Forever People #2 (1971).

Three Years, Three Skulls

I completely forgot that December marked this blog's third anniversary. Where does the time go?

Thanks to everyone who's been a reader and a supporter.  To commemorate the occasion, here are three of my most popular posts over the past year:

Here's an unusual monster in the form of the Night Nurses. Or you might want to revisit my discussion of using famous monsters of filmland in unfamiliar contexts in "Monster Mashup." Finally, you can check out one of my Hell's Hoods series and learn all about Moloch, "The Bull."

Want A Science Fiction Adventure?

Last night I ran my first Starships & Spacemen: Star Trek game. Rather than do a post-play write-up, I thought it would be more interesting and maybe useful for people to turn it into a sort of mini-module. 

So here it is.

It's suitable for any science fiction game, really, but assumes Star Trekian universe.

Pirates of Orion

Here’s another Star Trek species for Starships & Spacemen:

ORIONS
Encountered: 2d4 (5d10)
Movement: 120 (40’)
Intelligence: Average
Psionic Potential: 2d4 (inactive)
Hits: 1d8
Armor: -1
Combat Skill: 12
Save: L1
Attacks: 1
Damage: By weapon
Morale: 8
XP: 10
The Orions are an ancient, multi-species society engaged in legitimate trade--but also involved in numerous criminal enterprises including piracy and slave-trading. Their most infamous commodity are the “Orion slave girls” or “Orion animal women,” members of a green-skinned humanoid species exploited by the more advanced members of the Orion congeries.

The dominate Orion species has pale blue to chalk white skins. They employ disruptor weapons and fly fast, stealthy starships. 

Warlord Wednesday: Though Fiends Destroy Me!

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...

"Though Fiends Destroy Me!"

Warlord #113 (January 1987)

Written by Michael Fleisher; Art by Ron Randall

Synopsis: Shakira’s gathering firewood in a gloomy forest. She’s miffed at Morgan’s behavior ever since Mariah showed up. The two have been lovey dovey all the time, and it’s irritating her.

What bugs her even more is a tribe of cylopses that chase her back to camp, screaming for Morgan.

Meanwhile, leagues away, Tara (Morgan’s wife) plays nurse to the elderly Jennifer, reminding us of what the Morgan’s Quest storyline is about anyway: Morgan is looking for a cure for his daughter (by his first marriage) who was magically cursed with aging. What’s worse, the zone of aging has begun expanding from the meadow where Jennifer was found toward the city of Shamballah.

Morgan and friends quickly defeat the cyclops tribe. Then, Morgan and Mariah are quickly back to making out, and Shakira to being disgusted. What would digust Shakira even more if she knew is that Morgan’s new attraction to Mariah is all due to a magic love amulet.

While that’s going on, in a “agless edifice of otherwordly desgin overlooking the Greenfire Sea” a wizard peers into his smoking dish. He’s worried that evil forces from a tenth and previously unknown plane are out to get the one man who can save Skartaris from a coming threat. That man (of course) is the Warlord. The wizard hopes Morgan and his companions arrive soon.

In Kiro, King Machiste is having a conversation with a wizard:

The wizard tells Machiste he cast a spell to transport Mariah to the side of her beloved! Wrong answer.

In our world, Redmond, the CIA agent Morgan evaded in the Yucatan, is still trying to figure out what was going on. He “renditions” Doug Andrews (the hapless tourist Morgan saved from high tech Mayans) to get answers.

Finally (after 14 issues), Morgan and his gang reach the Greenfire Sea.

They don’t have long to bask in that accomplishment, as a flock of gargoyle creatures swoop down on them. Oh, and they’re gargoyle creatures that shoot energy beams out of their eyes! Luckily, our heroes have a protector: The wizard uses his power to block the gargoyle rays.

One of the creatures snatches up Mariah. Morgan throws Shakira his gun, then leaps at the creature with a action hero quip:

They manage to jump to safety as the creature falls into the Greenfire.

Morgan’s safe and the wizard’s relieved--but then a group of beam-shooting garogyles swoop down on him!

When Morgan and the others arrive at the tower, they find no wizard V’Zarr Hagar-Zinn. The place is trashed and there’s fresh blood on the floor--perhaps only an hour old, according to Mariah. Shakira angrily says they could have been here an hour earlier if Morgan and Mariah hadn’t been acting all hormonal.

Their argument is cut short by a peal of villainous laughter.

Things to Notice:

• For some reason, Fleisher holds off on identifying V'Zarr Hagar-Zinn until the very end.
• This is the last issue where before the DC Universe invades Skartaris. Next issue is a Legends crossover.

Where it Comes From:
The events of this issue and the last one reset the love triangle between Morgan, Mariah, and Machiste--though this time with Morgan as a love-drugged participant.

IN SPACE!

Is it just me, or wouldn't the races and some of the setting elements of Talislanta translate well to a space opera milieu? Probably some of that is the exotic skin colors and mostly humanoid forms certainly seem like TV and movie space opera, at least.

So, this is what it could look like: the Galactic Empire of the Archaeans (or maybe, humans) was destroyed in the Great Disaster. A time of darkness followed, but now a New Age of progress is under way. Pockets of civilizations are expanding out into the stars. These new civilizations include:

• The Alliance of Seven Worlds: A confederation of the planets Astar, Cymril, Durne, Kasmir, Sindar, Taz, and Vardune.
• The Quan Empire: A territory conquered by a race of warriors, now fallen into indolence. It's subjects include the warrior Kang, the spiritual Mandala, and the technically skilled Vajra.
• The Instrumentality of Aa: An oppressive, theocratic regimen, at war with an offshoot of their race known as the Zandir.

Then of course, there are the independent races and worlds. Everybody takes shore leave on the pleasure planet of Thaecia. Nagra and Jaka bounty hunters chase criminals all of the galaxy. Then, their are the Imrian slavers, dealing in Batrean slave girls.

Works pretty well, doesn't it?

The Little Guys

For Starships & Spacemen, here's another obscure species from Star Trek:

ITHENITES
Requirements: None
Ability Adjustments: STR -1
Skill Adjustments: Contact +1
Metabolism: Copper Based

Ithenites are dwarf-like, metallic bronze-skinned humanoids from the planet Orodanga in the 61 Virginis system. They call themselves “Dayen.”  They have been longtime members of the Federation, joining shortly after it’s founding.

The Ithenites are a wide-ranging species, often encountered in small enclaves on the more cosmopolitan worlds. No one knows how long they have been a spacefaring culture--certainly for longer than most prominent Federation species. They have never been involved in any protracted conflicts with other species and have the uncanny ability to avoid offending either side in times of disagreement.

Ithenites are generally considered affable and easy-going, and are widely known for their love of good music, food, and drink--though they seldom over-indulge. Outside of the hospitality and entertainment industries, they are mainly encountered as traders. They're noted to be shrewd dealers, but considered fair and pleasant to haggle with.

Notes: These coppery skinned dwarfs were unnamed delegates at the Babel Conference in TOS episode “Journey to Babel.” An unfilmed scene from the script for the Enterprise episode “Terra Prime” called an ambassador resembling the characters from TOS “Ithenites.” The first mention of Ithenites was in the episode “Azati Prime.” An article for the FASA Trek rpg in Stardate Magazine #11 named this species “Dayen.”