Heroes of the Islands

art by Herb Kāne

Erene was the most beautiful woman in the world, so beautiful that it was said she was the daughter of the Sky God Tiwo, who had lain with the wife of the Chieftain of Raketaminio. She was married to Mengerao son of Ateru, but stolen by Prince Palitisi of Taloia. Mengerao called upon his brother, Akakamuna, mighty chief of Mukanai, his face tattooed with the likeness of the tusk and whiskers of the boar, for aid, and a great host was assembled and there war canoes made for Taloia, with cunning Uluihi, veteran Nehetoru, and strong Aiwaha among them. Greatest in battle would be the demigod Akirihi, who would dance his war dance before palisades of Taloia and kill its champion E’etolo with his shark-toothed war club.

So, basically: Why not recast the Greek Age of Heroes in a pseudo-Polynesian fantasy Oceania? Here's a list of gods (with name variants):

Tiwo/Kiwe: Sky God
Era/Ela: His wife
Emā: Messanger god
Are/Ale: War god
Tiwonuho/Kiwonuho: God of kava and beer
Apaitio/Apaikio: Volcano god.
Pāwone/Aparanu: God of song
Pohetahone/Pohekao: Sea god.
Atana/Akana: Goddess of Wisdom
Atamito/Akemike: Shark goddess of the hunt
Apatite/Apakiki: Love and fertility goddess
Ehatia/Ehakia: Goddess of the cook fires
Tamate/Kamaki: Goddess of cultivated crops, particularly sweet potato and taro

The Motley Isles

The Motley Isles lie but a few miles from the coast of the Country of Yanth in the Boundless Sea. The islands are known as a haven of pirates who value their freedom above all else, except perhaps the plunder they take from hapless ships.  Vessels that call the Motley Isles their home often fly a distinctive flag: a skull and crossbones emblazoned on a crazy-quilt pattern.

The only settlement of note on the isles is Polychrome. The authorities in Yanth and the Land of Azurth in general paint Polychrome (and the Isles in general) as a place without law, but this is not entirely correct. Polychrome has few codified laws, its true (other than those governing apportioning of shares of loot and the sanctity of property) but disputes between between individuals or groups of folk are settled in a prescribed manner. In the town hall of Polychrome there is an ancient, oracular device: a black sphere marked with a skull and crossbones.

The origins of the device are obscure, but it is doubtful that it was made the Land of Azurth. It is operated by shaking it and reading its pronouncement in a window on the underside. The answers it provides requires some interpretation, and that is provided by the officiants who perform the ritual. Such is the aversion of the pirates to anything that smacks of governmental service, they rely on press gangs to force citizens into service.

Wednesday Comics: The Spire

My review of the Storm Chronicles is going to take a two week break but will return. In other comic news, the 2016 Eisner nominees are out and The Spire was among the titles to make the list for "Best Limited Series." I reviewed the first four issues of the series here and then...well, I probably got distracted by something else. But I didn't quit reading the series, and I'm eagerly anticipating it's final issue.

To review, the Spire is a tower-city and bastion of humanity rising out of a toxic alien desert. Commader Shå of the city watch, a "skew" (a slur for a nonhuman), has to deal with the prejudices of the people around her while trying to catch a murderer whose crimes have ties to the city's past.

The issues are available now. The trade will be out in December.

Azurth NPC Card

Over the weekend, I got to thinking using Jeff Call's great character portraits only on the record sheets for the pregens wouldn't allow enough folks to see them all, so I decided to do a giveaway for the Hydra booth: 3x5 NPC cards statted for 5e. Shouldn't be too hard to get those printed up.

Here's a sample of the front and back of one:

Mystery Men! 2nd Edition

John M. Stater of the Land of Nod blog has just recently released the 2nd edition of his Mystery Men! superhero rpg. As readers of this blog know, I am a big fan of superhero stuff, and I've also noted before how Mr. Stater is one of the most prolific quality content generators in these parts, so this project was definitely in my wheelhouse.

D&D mechanic-based superheroes has never been my first go to, but John employs it to really good effect. It seems like it would be light and fast place to play, and without the fiddly bits that slow up character creation in something like Mutants & Masterminds. The graphic design and art both seem to support this sort of "open the book and go!" inviting feel.

John has also got support for the system over on his blog. Only one post for the latest version yet, but you can check out the likes of Crystar the Crystal Warrior for the first edition and a fembot from Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.

Check that stuff out, then get over to rpgnow and get yourself a copy.

Meet Ina Quick

North Texas Rpg Con gaming registration opened last night and my session is nearly full. I showed off the character sheet of Sir Clangor, one of the pregens for game previously. Here's another (minus complete equipment): the rogue, Ina Quick.

People of the Feud

There was a colony ship, sent out from Earth or a world very much like it to settle a new world. It's navigators had been genetically modified to take advantage of a new drive system allowing FTL travel. The majority of the colonist were placed into cryogenic suspension for the voyage.

Something went wrong. Inadequate shielding? Purposeful sabotage? No one remembers. The navigators began to mentally breakdown, expose to psychoactive and mutagenic properties of the manifold outside normal spacetime. The ship was stranded stuttering in an out of spacetime.

The navigators began to develop psionic powers and with them certain physical requirements. Boosted quantities of certain neurotransmitters. No synthetic source was available, but there were the stored colonists to feed on.

To help them manage the ship and their food source, the former Navigators awakened a military congent, a few at the time. They mentally enthralled them and enslaved them. Molding them over generations.

As generations passed under the accelerated mutagenesis of the manifold, both the Navigators--calling themselves the Masters now--and their soldier caste had diverged significantly from their original genotype. The Masters had long ago authorized larger scale awakening of more of the colonists to serve as a more docile slave caste--and cattle.

The Masters grew complacent and removed from human concerns and feelings. They didn't see the revolution coming. A soldier named Gith lead a coalition of the soldiers and the menials against their oppressors they now called Mind Flayers after their manner of feeding.

The former Masters were either killed or used their power to flee into the nonspace. The coalition that had brought about their downfall did not long survive. Former menials resented the soldiers as long time collaborators and the soldiers disagreed with the menails attempts to master Mind Flayer psionic disciplines.

When the ship was finally cannibalized and destroyed, two cultures had emerged as firm in their hatred of each other as they were in their former masters.