Please Stand By

Work has been killing me, so the blog has had to take a back seat. More Strange Stars, science fantasy Greek mythology, and other stuff to come.

Stay tuned.

Warlord Wednesday: Growing Pains

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...

"Growing Pains"

Warlord #131 (September 1988) Bonus Book 6

Written by Steve Wilson; Pencils Rob Liefeld; Inks Jeff Albrecht

Synopsis: Jennifer sees an urchin on the streets of Shamballah steal a coin from the body of a dead man and decides to take him under her wing. She brings him back to the palace.

Masaq, palace soldier, believes she's wrong for trusting him. This makes Jennifer recall a stray kitten she took in as a girl. Her mother didn't want her to keep the cat, either. Jennifer tried to find the cat's owner, and she tries to find the boy's family, but only manages to tunr up and angry merchant that says the boy has been stealing from him. Jennifer defends the boy.

The cat tore up the furniture; the boy, Valdesar, steals a knife and disappears. Using her magic, Jennifer sees the past of the coin and sees that Valdesar had actually killed the man. Guessing what he might do next, she hurries to the merchant's dwelling.

The merchant's dead. Valdesar claims it was self-defense, but Jennifer doesn't believe him. The boy runs away just like the cat did. The cat run out in front of a car and the boy runs out in front of a team of horses. Both were killed.

Jennifer was sad as a girl and is sad now. Her father is gone, her mother is gone, and Tara is gone--and she's all alone.

Things to Notice:

• Valdesar looks an awful lot like Tinder, but nobody ever comments on that.
• This story makes the error of allowing DC's sliding timeline to seep into Warlord (which has previously been without it). Jennifer and a friend are shown watching a Mel Gibson film as preteen/early teen girls. According, to the established Warlord timeline, Jennifer was in her late teens/early twenties by the time Gibson was in feature films.

Where It Comes From:
DC's Bonus Books were a series of 16-page stories inserted in various comics that showcased new talent. A list of the various bonus books and their feature characters can be found here.

Kosmoniks

The Kosmoniks or Cosmoi are a clade of traders (and sometimes pirates) believed to be descended from space-adapted humans, now acclimated to hyperspace. Though they are most commonly found in their rune inscribed ships in or around the nodes or operating terminal stations near stars above the galactic plane (in the vicinity of Deshret, for instance), but they roam far into the Zuran Expanse.

Appearance and Biology: Kosmoniks are short (1.4 m tall on average), lean, and have arms almost as along as their legs. They have dexterous, four digited hands and their feet are prehensile. Their gray skin is a flexible membrane, engineered to afford some protection against hard vacuum. Their most unusual trait are their faces: they are flat and hidden behind smooth, glossy masks, featureless except for their dark, membrane-protected eyes. This mask is thought to nanotechological device, but no non-kosmonik has ever had a chance to examine one.

All kosmoniks are mute. They communicate with each other via sign language, but carry translator devices to interact with other cultures.

Psychology: Kosmoniks are friendly, but superstitious. They are given to finding hidden meanings and interpreting signs and portends from events. All kosmonik groups have a set of taboos, but each kosmonik is likely to idiosyncratic ones, as well.

Stats/Abilites: Kosmoniks have ability scores in the same range as humans. They are able to withstand exposure to vacuum for two rounds before they must begin to make saving throws (and get a +1 to those saving throws). They also get a +1 to saving throws against radiation.

In the Land of Arn

Continuing my reposting of Google+ of setting tidbits, here are some more pictures and more glimpses into a fantasy world:

At the Conclave of Sorcerers the haughty Mabdosir Turms made overtures to Vathluna Drox regarding the exchange of thaumaturgical research--and things more carnal.  Turms was only saved from more than a sharp rebuke by the gong announcing the start of the invocation ritual.

Hierodules perform in sexual rites within the temple of Meln itself, the oldest in the city, venerating the now nameless and distant gods of the city’s foundation. Hierodules come from all social classes and serve anonymously beneath masks that also seem to disguise their voices, lending them an otherworldy quality.  No one has ever noted a hierodule to age. It is presumed they do, as new initiates are selected from time to time, but no one knows what becomes of those that retire.  The inner sanctum of the temple holds a lingam with glyphs (worn and faded) that sages believe was a boundary marker of some pre-human civilization.

The Throne Room of Gaagmragog, sub-man bandit chieftain. His motley band of outlaw humans, sub-men, and degenerate species less identifiable, holes up in a series of caves inside a rock "island" deep in the Great Swamp

Down These Mean Streets

Shadowrun has never had a good source book on New York City. Mike "Wrathofthezomibe" Evans (that mad man of gaming and Hellboy tattoos) has rectified that problem and added Vornheim inspired urban adventuring tools to boot.   What's more this Shadowrun Complete City Kit and New York City Guide can be yours for the low, low price of free.

Download it here.

In the Dharwood

Last summer, I did some picture-based riffing on a setting on Google+. Since only part of that ever appeared on the blog (and without pictures), I thought it might be of interest to my readership here. I did more than these three. If there is interest, I might re-post more. I might even if there's not.

Golden Men of Haoun Dhar: The only inhabitants of the ruins which give the Dharwood its name. The men are seen on occasion amid the tall columns (engraved with demonic faces) performing odd, communal rituals or standing like statues on the central ziggurat for hours on end.  At night they are sometimes glimpsed on the ziggurat’s pinnacle, seeming to make observations of the heavens with unusual instruments. Few dare approach the ruins for fear of the strange men, despite the legends of a fabulous treasure within the ziggurat.

Kro One-Eye : Alcoholic (and possibly consumptive) swordmaster. He lost his left eye either to an insurgent in the Dharwood or to an angry whore, depending on how deep into the cups he his when he gets 'round to the tale. He's a fixture in dives along Wine and Tavern Streets, regaling fellow patrons with daring (and dubious) tales of his youthful adventures, and the occasional demonstration of his skills. For a cup of watered wine he'll give a few pointers on swordmanship. For a bottle of good Kael whiskey, he'll take on a student. For a small cask of vintage Trosian Red, he'll fight at your side--as long as it doesn't take him far from the River District for long.

Mystery cult snake priestess: One of many such agitators in the peasant uprising in the Dharwood.  Nobles have been burned alive in giant wicker statues in heretical rites. Lawlessness and banditry are common throughout the region and travelers should take care.

Cyclopes

By way of example of the sort of thing I was thinking of with the Greek mythology science fantasy setting riff I blogged about, here are some ideas for cyclopes. As any one familiar with Deities & Demigods (or Greek mythology) knows, cyclopes come in two varieities: lesser and greater. Use your system of choice's stats for them.

Art by Chris Lazzer

Lesser cyclopes are biomechanical creations of the Olympians. Perhaps they were weapons in the war with the titans, but now they are used as sentinels or are found roaming free in desolate places. Most are still playthings of one Olympian or another, so tampering with them may well invite a god's wrath.

Lesser cyclopes are giants (20 ft. tall) and have rather simple operating parameters--meaning they tend to regard humans as things to be exterminated. Their solitary sensor (or "eye") is overwhelmingly their primary means of gathering data on their surroundings so that (combined with their limited intelligence) makes them easy to "blind." Some lesser cyclopes may be able to unleash an electrical blast from their single eye.

Greater cyclopes resemble lesser ones in appearing to have one eye, but are actually very different creatures. These are intelligent servitors, created to aid Hephaestus in his efforts. These gleaming skinned giants (about 10 ft. tall) have a constantly moving eye of piercing light in their otherwise featureless faces. Their scanning sensor collects information in array of different modalities. They can fire highly destructive beams if they have the need. They are dispassionate, utterly logical beings, not given to wanton violence, but also utterly without mercy.