The Gagged Quaklu

We did some in my Gnydrion setting this weekend in the area of the Lake of Vermilion Mists using the rules lite game Grok?! Most of the players had the game, but none of us had ever played it, so it was a good excuse to take it for a spin.

I quickly put together new Background and Asset tables, but it was a rush job, and something I'm probably revisit over time. Anyway, the players were:

Aaron as  Nortin Tauss, an arcane dabbler possessed of a vial of hwaopt intoxicant for some reason.
Andrea -  Yzma Vekna, teamster with poor hygiene and a blunderbuss.
Paul - Antor Hogus, skinny vagrant with a stun wand.

Yzma and Nortin arrived in Phaelorn Gap on the stage coach out of Flinterjay. (Yzma was driving, Nortin a passenger.) Antor was already in town, sleeping in the stables and doing odd jobs. They all intended to eventually make their way to the hippy spectacle of the Festival of the Hierodule in the vicinity of the Lake, but at the moment they were looking for lodging for the night.

Finding the hotel a bit pricey, Nortin, on recommendation of the local constabulary, sought a room at the more modestly priced (and appointed) boarding house of Milda Brept. While Nortin and Yzma discuss the hidden fees and riders associated with boarding with Matron Brept, Antor inquires if there is any work for him. Another stranger at the boarding house, one Kreik Gelmot, speaks up to offer him a minor commission.

In the boarding house's back yard, Gelmot explains that he has a quaklu (either a flightless bird with hands or a feathered theropod dinosaur with beak, depending on how you look at it, used as a riding animal) he wishes to part with. He wishes Antor to take the beast outside of town and make sure he doesn't return. Interestingly, the quaklu is muzzled, which isn't common. 

The three noted this as unusual and assumed something else was going on. Yzma examined the animal and found it to be sound to her experience eye for draught beasts. Nortin threatened to summon Shreev Molok. Fearing this potential income might be snatched from him, Antor quickly pulled up the stake and leaped upon the creatures back to ride away.

Gelmot was satisfied enough with this outcome and departed. Nortin and Yzma were still curious and followed on foot.

In the scrub outside of town, Antor removed the quaklu's gag. It was indeed one of those rare, atavistic specimens, capable of speech. It immediately began squawking that it had seen a murder!

Medioxumate Devils

 

Art by Ske Bozic

Zeniba Goll, called Zeniba the Shrewd, self-anointed Mayor-Prefect of  Wollusk is the leader of gang known as the Medioxumate Devils. It is through this group of cutthroats that she maintains her hold on the town and resists overthrow by the faction led by Sodmos Thalur the Vitner.

Pictured here: Kro, Skeesik Two-Knives, Zeniba, Chult Angmox, and Olma "Silence" Mondark.

I've been reading the rules lite rpg Grok?! recently, so here are Zeniba's stats in that:

ZENIBA

Traits: Aging, former bodyguard, gang boss, "The Shrewd", wants to run Wollusk

 Assets: Power Rod, leather armor, goon entourage, [+4 slots]

Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1983 (week 1)

My goal: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! Today, I'm looking at the comics at newsstands on the week of November 5, 1982. 

This week features a sort of 80s milestone. The "Meanwhile.." column appears for the first time. You can see the column from this month's comics here. There is a discussion of a History of the DC Universe series which sounds less like the series we got post-Crisis and more like Crisis on Infinite Earths itself which won't actually show up for a couple more years. Then, there are two Marvel/DC crossovers mentioned, one of which won't come along for 20 years and the other has yet to appear.

Wonder Woman #300: Nice wraparound cover, suitable for an anniversary issue, by Hannigan and Giordano. The interior uses quite a cadre of artists: Gene Colan, Ross Andru, Keith Giffen, Jan Duursema, Dick Giordano, Rich Buckler, and Keith Pollard, but it's the story by Roy and Danette Thomas that I have a problem with. Wonder Woman has been having bad dreams and awakens to see some kind of shadow creature looming near her. The 70s Sandman shows up and reveals it's a creature escaped from nightmare. He keeps promising she's okay now, but after she accepts Steve Trevors' proposal, and they start planning a wedding, the nightmares and anxiety just intensify.  Her nightmares all reveal sort of "What-Ifs?" (or perhaps Elseworlds) of alternate ways her meeting with Trevor and their subsequent relationship could have gone and ended up badly. In the end, it turns out the creature is Wonder Woman's own insecurities and doubts. She faces those with the help of Sandman. Trevor jilts her at the altar, ironically deciding he had feelings for Diana Prince (who is believed dead). The status quo is restored!

This probably read better in 1982, but in 2023 its problems are blatant. Primarily, it's that Wonder Woman is incredibly passive and reactive throughout the whole thing. She's literally being defeated by her own negative emotions. Sandman plays the "nice guy" creep, showing up with a pretense of helping, but later admitting to having been spying on her dreams ("to help") and being in love with her. Oh, and withholding information about the nature of the shadow being. After her marriage plan fails, he whisks her off to the dream world and assumes they'll start a relationship without any real consent from her. In the end, he recognizes his bad behavior, but it's a tepid admission and more importantly it still leaves Wonder Woman--the hero of the book--dazedly acquiescing to both the behavior and the apology. All this is particularly galling because this is a milestone issue and should be a celebration of the character,

Arak Son of Thunder #18: The trouble in Byzantium continues, courtesy of the Thomases and Gonzales/Alcala. Arak manages to escape from his bonds where Haakon and the treacherous Greeks have left him and battles to rescue the others from being consumed in Greek fire. He's help by Satyricus waking up and rousing the others. They manage to survive and save the Emperor and his mother, but Haakon escapes with a scholar than knows the secret of Greek Fire and hids for White Cathay. Irene gives Arak and crew a mission to follow Haakon back to White Cathay to retrieve Kallinikos or to kill him. A heretic Nestorian priest, Johannes, appears before the court and offers to help. The Byzantines want to kill him, but Arak defends them man who will serve as a guide. The four depart on their quest.

In the Valda backup, Greeramada needs the words of power from Malagigi to enact her evil plan for power, which he refuses to give. When the sorceress threatens to kill Valda, the wizard relents. Greeramada then leads Valda to the Mount of Martyrs to perform the resurrection spell. The spell appears to succeed when St. Denys appears carrying his own head. Valda manages to break free from the sorceress' control and impales her own a blade. The sorceress plans to use St. Denys to heal herself only to discover that she was tricked. Malagigi and the thief Brunello disguised themselves as St. Denys. The wizard hadn't given her the true spell. With the sorceress now dead, Brunello departs, and Malagigi and Valda plan to return the stolen reliquary.

Blackhawk #255: Evanier and Spiegle continue what I think is an underrated (and certainly uncollected!) run. Nazi scientist Dr Gehirn, having worked closely with Hugo Merson, has developed a low-frequency, mind-effecting radio signal which will induce psychological insecurities. The receiver is placed in a medallion, and German agents arranged for Blackhawk to receive this medallion and to wear it. For the next few days, the transmitted signals cause Blackhawk to experience nightmares and affect his concentration and leadership ability. He's pushed to the breaking point after he crashes in the desert and experiences physical deprivation as well as Gehirn's unrelenting attack. Luckily, the other Blackhawk's show up to rescue him and shoot down Gehirn's observation plane.

 

DC Comics Presents #54: Kupperberg and Newton work-in a sort of environmental message as Superman joins forces with Green Arrow to get to the bottom a mysterious, persistent smog over much of the country (including Metropolis and Star City). They are forced to battle against a scientist's energy-harnessing apparatus that causes tremendous air pollution as a by-product, which is more involved than you might think, as it's pulling from some extraterrestrial living energy thing. Interestingly (to me anyway) Kupperberg has Superman describing Star City as "to the north" of Metropolis which in context seems to imply it's further north on the East Coast.

Fury of Firestorm #9: Conway and Moore/Rodriquez pick up where last issue left off with Firestorm sinking in New York Bay and Stein trying to wake Ronnie up. He final does and the two head out to fight Typhoon and the storm. Ronnie gets frustrated with Stein criticizing his ill-considered attempts to help, and he releases all his nuclear energy at once, dissipating the storm, but causing them to split into their separate identities and they fall 4 feet to a building below.

Ronnie gets into another argument with Carmichael and the two arrange a time to fight. When they do, Carmichael takes advantage of a couple of distractions to knock Ronnie down, which has the effect of causing Doreen to rush to his aid. Ronnie has also been allowed back on the team and will play that night. Stein has a worse day as he loses his job and then falls off the wagon. Then, Typhoon starts up again. Firestorm is stymied a bit by Stein's intoxication, but Ronnie's renewed confidence perhaps gives Firestorm new reserves of power. Wherever it comes from, they apparently dissipate Typhoon ("he's gone" is all we are told, but it seems final.) 

The next issue blurb trumpets the return of Pat Broderick.

Justice League #211: Conway and Buckler continue the X-Element story, with the Justice League eager to accept help from the Treasurers who can give the element Earth now lacks. The Justice League begins to suspect the Treasurers' motives however when the alien's request they be given one particular human in exchange (who agrees to go willingly). They are right to be suspicious, because the aliens' cure causes one third of people and animals to be transformed into monsters. The Phantom Stranger appears to help out, even as Truthspeaker, a rebel Treasurer, reveals that his fellow aliens are actually the first wave of an invasion of Earth by the reptilian War-Kohn.

Adventure Comics #496: The only new story here is The Challengers of the Unknown by Rozakis and Toth/Giacola. Following up on the Professor's lead regarding a potential responsible party for the attempted murder of the group, they discovered that his cousin not only didn't try to kill them, but the uncle whose inheritance was the hypothetical motive isn't even head, having faked his death for tax purposes or something. Red Ryan gets confronted by a casino owner he owes.  The man is accused of plotting the murder, but he logically points out if Ryan were dead, he wouldn't get what he was owed. The Challengers-to-be are no closer to a solution. 

Scintilla

Scintilla are the common currency of civilized Gyndrion. They are naturally occurring shield-shaped crystals of various colors, with the most common known as opaline. The are typically harvested from areas with a history of volcanic activity, but their generation also relates in poorly understood ways to the flows or lines of fae, the energy which is harnessed to work magic.

Pre-scintilla crystals form within cysts occurring underground with have the appearance of geodes. The crystals within fracture into scintilla upon exposure to air. Scintilla are harvested from ruptured nodules, though the nodules themselves may be excavated and carefully ruptured by hand, a process called "cracking." Cracking tends to yield more scintilla, but over lower value.

Despite claims by montebanks, no sophont of Gnydrion has every been proven to be able to detect pre-scintilla nodules. So-called scintilla-sniffing nonnigs however are able to do so, though how they do this is mysterious.

In addition to their pleasing, crystalline appearance, scintilla are favored as currency because they are impossible to counterfeit, even through use of magic. In fact, scintilla are minor magical insulators, absorbing and dissipating fae energy directed specifically upon them, turning black and cracking in the process.

The Island and the Censor

Pohjal or in older texts Cinis Pohjal is a large island of volcanic origin within the Lake of Vermilion Mists. It is a desolate place of ash and pumice, dotted with hot springs and smoking holes, and attracting an inordinate number of noisome gas flies. In summary, there is little to recommend it, except that is also a place where scintilla may be gathered without diving and the attendant risk of angry urulu.

Scintilla cysts burst in the warmth of the hotsprings, and sifting the loose sand from their bottoms can yield imperfect--but perfectly spendable--scintilla of opaline and citrine colors with the rare sanguine. By some oversight of Panarchic edict, the ownership of scintilla gathered naturally above the lake's surface is an open question, allowing a legal opportunity for others to lay a claim so long as they can avoid disputation with the Eminent Compulsor or his agents. 

Besides the inconvenience of reaching the island and retrieving the scintilla there is another factor discouraging their acquisition. The island is the home of a baleful Visitant known as the Censor. This being is said to appear as a slender automaton with feminine form and four arms, two of which have dexterous hands and two large, scalpel-blades. The Censor lies dormant much of the time, but when she awakens, she seeks sophonts to improve upon in the direction of her moral sensibilities.  There are cases of individuals emerging her editing free of their previous vices and deficits of character to go on to lives of distinction, but they are rare.

Wednesday Comics: DC, January 1983 (week 4)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, we look at the comics hitting the newsstand on October 28, 1982.

Action Comics #539: Wolfman and Kane continue the split Superman story. Our hero seeks the help of both the Atom and then the Flash to get back to the past, but Satanis has blocked him at every turn and his friends are worried about his defeatism and despair.

In the past, the other Superman has been working diligently to try to escape, but it's too late.  Syrene starts a ritual to filter the Runestone of Merlin's energies through his body and into hers, and just then, Satanis attacks her castle and appears to get the upper hand. Syrene absorbs the Runestone's powers, killing Superman in the process. Wanting to show off her powers before killing Satanis painfully, Syrene shatters a faraway planet and tosses the fragments at him. Satanis leaps inside Superman's body, which shields him from the avalanche of meteorites. Now possessing Superman's powers as well as his own magic, Satanis is ready to fight.

In the present, Clark Kent walks into the offices of the Daily Planet and immediately passes out. Lois Lane calls in the doctor who examines Clark and declares him dead! His body is taken for an autopsy while the Daily Planet staff mourns him.

In the Aquaman backup by Rozakis and Saviuk, Aquaman gets the full story on how Vlana, the woman who ruled her dimensional world of Xebel after Mera left to marry Aquaman, is now in possession of Mera's body. She's looking to telepathically recruit fish allies and take them back to Xebel. Perhaps saving her the embarrassment of enacting this plan, Aquaman and Mera go through a warp to Xebel. The crossing returns Mera's control of her own body to her. The two confront Vlana, who now has fish-summoning powers and draws an army of octopi, sharks, swordfish, and electric eels through the warp to fight for her. Aquaman is stunned by her telepathic strike, and Vlana tells Mera to choose which fish species she wants to be killed by!

Arion Lord of Atlantis #3: Kupperberg and Duursema resolve the seige of Atlantis from last issue with the presence of Arion tipping things decisively against the Thamuzian invaders. Arion is reuinted with Chian and Wyynde and mets Mara. When he examines the ram-head shaped crystal she carries, he accidentally releases the demon imprisoned within--a hulking ram-headed humanoid. The demon proceeds to kick Arion's butt, until Garn Danuuth shows up and the two combine their powers to reimprison the monster. That done, Danuuth almost literally backstabs Arion, and laughs triumphantly over the body of his unconscious foe. 

This is an issue I had as a kid. I got a lot of D&D game inspiration from it. It's also got my favorite cover by Duursema of the series, I think.

All-Star Squadron #17: Thomas and Gonzales/Hoberg seem set to do a riff on the Outer Limits episode "I, Robot" (based on a story by Eando Bender), but the trial aspect never really much develops and instead we get a retelling of Robotman's origin and the outing his secret identity before a typical "the hero proves his worth by being noble enough to save his enemy" ending in the courtroom. In the end though, the Squadron is approached by Dr Henry King (secretly Brain Wave) who secretly intends the kill them all, along with the JSA. They sort of brush him off, and he doesn't take that very well.

Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #11: The Wuz-Wolf's rampage continues thanks to the creative team of Bridwell and Hoberg/Gordon. After defeat at the hands of the Wuz-Wolf last issue, the team rushes to stop him from making a meal of Peter Porkchop (aka Pig-Iron). They manage to rescue there friend, but Wuz-Wolf slips away long enough that dawn turns him back into Andy Wolf with no memory of his actions. The next night, he strikes again, but an accidental touch of the magic talisman restores Pig Iron's powers and he flattens Wuz-Wolf. The Zoo Crew confiscates the charm (made from a meteor) than created Wuz-Wolf in the first place.

In the Rubberduck backup by Shaw,Bridwell, and Hoberg, the malleable mallard (I can't be the first one to think of that nickname) battles the Dr. Hoot's creation, Salamandroid who has heat powers.

Detective Comics #522: Conway apparently didn't think he wrung enough out of his dubious Snowman story from Batman #337 from a year and a half ago or either the loose ends nagged him. Whatever the motivations, Batman is in the Himalayas with a guide in full Batman costume and no snow gear tracking the albino, half-Yeti thief and murderer from that issue. He finds him, and events lead to the guy being severely wounded. He chooses to reuinte with his Yeti father and die in the mountains than live as a freak (and go to prison) returning with Batman. Novick's pencils don't enliven this lackluster material in the way Garcia-Lopez's did, and he makes the odd (and unfortunate when combined with poor coloring choices) choice to depict the father Yeti as a guy with vaguely bestial features with maybe half his body covered with a slurry of snow.

In the Cavalleri/von Eeden Green Arrow backup, Green Arrow manages to convince the guards and George Taylor, Jr. that he's not a thief, and learns that the Daily Star also shares computer time with a junior high school. Tracking down that lead, he discovers that Hi-Tek is really a 14-year-old computer nerd. Quick talking on the kid's part convinces Green Arrow to not turn the kid in and let him design a digital sight for his bow. He's Microchip before Microchip (who first appears in Punisher #4 in 1987),

Jonah Hex #68: Fleisher and DeZuniga continue the story Hex's trail of vengeance against the rogue cavalrymen responsible for the death of Jonah's fiancée, except that Hex doesn't seem to be really on a trail. He's just living his life, and the guilty parties are so afraid he's coming for them, they come after him--and meet their end. This time, he's in the town of Gravesboro where the town fathers have convinced him to become a deputy sheriff to help an old friend clean up the town--only the old friend doesn't want the help as it offends his pride, despite the fact he clearly needs it. While Jonah navigates this situation Kincaid, now a hired gun and a Native American who throws a mean tomahawk team up to lay an ambush for him. This creative team always does solid work on this title, I think.

New Adventures of Superboy #37: Superboy is still contending with the teacher gone wrong, Wright, who is somehow stealing mental energy from the kids to have the power to best the Boy of Steel. When a gloating Wright reveals the core of his power is his self-confidence, Superboy seeks to shake Wright's faith in himself. It works, and the bad guy is defeated.

There's a Dial-H for Hero backup by Bridwell and Bender. Vicki shows up and discovers the mysterious has Chris' Dial. The two manage to defeat him in his form of Great Jupiter, but he eludes capture. Then, it's more typical Dial H heroics, as Jimmy Gymnastic and Spyglass battle Firecracker.

Weird War Tales #119: I feel like Kanigher was probably the wrong man for Creature Commandos, despite a few good stories under his belt. It's gonzo-ness calls for a pulpier, Marvel war comic approach than Kanigher's usual style. It isn't that he doesn't provide outré elements, but they seemed to feel tacked on at times and don't add to the fun. Here for instance, most of the story hammers the typical Creature Commandos theme that they are viewed as monsters and not accepted anywhere. On a mission to Italy, they rescue a scientist who has built a time machine, which they use to go to the future hoping to find a cure. Instead, they find Aryan giants in sci-fi outfits, the survivors of an atomic apocalypse, who are appalled at their mutant nature and throw them in an arena. The Commandos manage to escape and head back to their own time. They should have shifted Bob Haney to this book after Unknown Soldier was cancelled. 

World's Finest Comics #287: This is another issue I had as a kid. Burkett is joined by von Eedon on art, continuing the Zodiac story. It's interesting how the switch to his more angular and harsher-lined style makes the story seem more mid-80s and thus ahead of its time than Buckler's more Bronze Age comic look. Superman, Batman and Robin have taken care of the zombies in Gotham City, but they don't know Bat's body has been possessed by the Dark Cloud. Until Batman attacks Robin then starts hitting Superman, that is. Superman restraints the frenzied Dark Knight and the Cloud is forced to leave Batman's body.

Madame Zodiac and Dr. Zodiac watch all this, but the Doc is having second thoughts about his involvement. Madame Zodiac threatens to rat him out to their dark lord and Dr. Zodiac is too cowardly to take any action.

Robin takes Batman home and Superman goes to the JLA Satellite, where he hears about the wave of crimes around the world. Wonder Woman reports Zatanna still hasn't recovered. Superman is on his own with this.

The next night, Bruce goes to a friend's party but leaves when he notices dark presence moving close near the building. Investigating as Batman, he's jumped by demons in Gotham Park summoned by Madame Zodiac. Superman, having received a mental warning of danger, flies to Gotham to help Batman, but the magic used against him makes his effort futile and he can only watch as the creature take his friend away. Later, in Madame Zodiac's hideout, Batman's body is prepared for possession by the dark lord.

Nine Years in Azurth

 

We didn't have a game this weekend, but the 20th (I believe) marked the 9th Anniversary of our Land of Azurth campaign.

The party started in Yanth Country and has now visited 3 of 4 regions of Azurth (and they passed beneath the 4th), as well as taking side trips to  other places like the Land of Under-Sea and Medieval France.

In all that time, we managed to hold on to all but 2 players. Eric dropped out due to life and dissatisfaction with the telegaming we had to adapt to in the pandemic versus in person. Jim passed away earlier this year after a nine year battle with colon cancer.

My imagination tends to wander pretty quickly. I would never have stayed with this world, this campaign, and this system this long without a group of players that it was fun to DM for. 

Thanks to Andrea, Gina, Bob, Tug, and our absent friends for the enjoyment they've given me over the years.