Soldiers for Salvation

Every adventurer has at least heard of the Hell Syndicate and its infernal bosses, but fewer are aware that the agents of Heaven are also active in the world. Worldwide, they’re a varied lot--more variable even than the differing versions of the Supreme Being espoused by world religions and encountered by planar travelers--but they have similar aims: They make sure the multiverse functions as it should and they motivate humans to confront the forces of evil.

The followers of the Good Book call these beings “angels.” In the Astral and beyond they can be powerful and frightening, bigger and stronger than many earthly eikones. Their forms are too big and strange for the Material Plane, but in the higher realms they're composed of  a tumult of wings and heads of animals or geometric solids and fire. Always fire.

On earth, they're are smaller and more mundane. A string of soup kitchens and homeless shelters across the Strange New World are operated by angels in human guise or their agents. From the down-and-outs, addicts, and alcoholics that take advantage of their services, the angels recruit soldiers. The most trusted of these they grant minor miraculous powers, making them essentially members of the Gifted. Others are recruited via traveling revivals or mysteriously short-lived radio evangelist shows. These folk drawn from among the working poor, the elderly, and the outcasts of society become secret members of the Army of Salvation.They wait quietly for the time when they will be called upon to perform some task for the agents of God.

Some angels on Earth are sent on missions by their superiors to right various mundane wrongs they encounter--not by direct action as much as by encouraging humans to do so. These angels seldom appear in any way angelic: They mostly look like traveling salesmen, regular clerks or the like. They rarely manifest any supernatural powers--though they are able to travel from place to place instantaneously and have the uncanny knack of avoiding serious physical harm. Other powers are available to them, but these must be cleared with their superiors and are only sanctioned in the direst need.

Ghosts of the First Ones

Discoveries since the the advent of the space age have confirmed occult theories and assertions of the Book of Dzyan that humanity is not the first intelligence to arise on the earth. Astral projection has allowed a glimpse of the beings that inhabited earth in the distance past. The oldest of these was a protoplasmic race made of lighter elements than current physical matter--indeed, they were of a density we would currently term “etheric.” They inhabited a continent only slightly denser than themselves, long ago sublimated into the Astral, but then located at what is now the North Pole. For this reason, these beings have been dubbed “Polarians.”

Psychic impressions indicate the Polarians were alien in many respects. They do not appear to have possessed consciousness in the manner of humans and were perhaps part of a group intelligence. They weren't users of tools in the usual sense: they made what they need from their own substance. Polarian bodies possessed no organs and they reproduced asexually via binary fission.

Polarians are long extinct, but their tenuous ghosts are sometimes encountered, particular in the atmospheres of the gaseous outer planets, blown there by the solar winds.

POLARIAN GHOST
# Enc.:1 (1d4)  Movement:180’ (60’)  Armor Class: 0 (or 8)  Hit Dice: 8  Attacks:1  Damage: 1d6, see below  Save: M8.
These remnants of the Polarian race are ethereal and incapable of physical harm or being harmed by physical creatures. However, their presence is unnerving and may cause fear as per spell. Pyschic beings are particularly susceptible to their alien intellects and save at a -2. They can be harmed by supernatural abilities which effect ethereal creatures or by other ethereal being. They may strike ethereal creatures with pseudopods for 1d6 damage. On a successful hit they can envelope a foe if they wish, provided their man-size or smaller. To ethereal creatures this does a 2 points of damage per round. Their ability to damage etheric beings also allows them to disrupt psychic helms, effecting navigation in unpredictable ways.

Some Images from Talislantan Space

Well, not really, but they work reasonably we for it:

Chana warrior.

Jaka manhunter.

Mondre Khan.

Sarista.

Talislantan Space: Cymrilians

The planet Cymril lies at the center of the Seven Worlds Alliance. Its capital and only city--the crystalline megalopolis Cymril City (or just “Cymril”)--is the de facto capital of the Alliance and the nexus of trading routes, as well. Beyond the city, Cymril is only sparsely populated wilderness, dotted with small settlements.

Cymrilians are a green-skinned humanoid species known for their powerful psi abilities. Not all Cymrilians possess these abilities, but psi training and experimentation are central to Cymrilian culture, and the most powerful psionics form the planet's ruling elite. They have even developed technological means of enhancing their mental powers. All children of Cymrilian society are tested at a young age for psi abilities and the most promising are sent to various academies.

Cymril was founded by a people called the Phandre from the Phaedran Star Empire of old. The Phandre exiles split into three factions/sub-ethnicites that exist to the modern day. The Koresians, currently ascendant in Cymril, are forward-thinking and more interested in being involved in galactic society. The Tanasians are conservatives descended from the former rulers of the Phandre. Until their ouster, Cymril was more a authoritarian and expansionistic state. Tanasians instituted a eugenics program to foster psi potential among their people and were generally opposed to alliances with other (lesser in their view) species.

The third group, the Pharesians, are radicals and rejectionists of Cymril society. Pharesians are distinct from the Koresians and Tanasians, having a darker green skin-tone. They are outcasts, dwelling in the wilderness outside Cymril City or wandering among the inhabited stars as merchants or traders. Their ancestors considered psychologically unsuitable for advanced psi training, Pharesians are barred from the psionic academies by Koresians and Tanasians alike.

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.