Warlord Wednesday: Thief's Magic

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...

"Paradox"

Warlord #81 (May 1984)

Written by Cary Burkett; Penciled by Dan Jurgens; Inked by Dan Adkins.

Synopsis: In a shaded spot in Skartaris, two travellers sleep around a cook fire. Young Tinder creeps up to steal from an open sack. But the travellers are not as unaware as they seem:

The robed clerics are actually Jennifer Morgan and faithful Faaldren. Jennifer demands Tinder tell her his story—cautioning that she’ll know if he’s lying. Tinder tells how, after leaving Shamballah, he’d worked with a merchant caravan (and supplemented his pay with a little pickpocketing) until the New Atlantean raiders attacked. Everyone else had been killed or captured, but Tinder escaped.

Jennifer senses something more about the boy—a kinship—but doesn’t wish to use her magic to pry further just now. And so, Jennifer misses the chance to discover that Tinder is actually her half-brother, Joshua.

Tinder also tells them that Shamballah has fallen. Jennifer casts a spell to find out what happened to her father.

She can’t locate him—which means he’s either vanished from the earth or dead. The former is actually correct; Morgan is imprisoned in the future and (coincidentally) having a nightmare about the day Deimos forced him to kill his own son. It was a trick, of course, and Joshua was raised in anonymity, unaware of his true identity.

Despite the dire news, Jennifer wants to go to Shamballah to pick up her father’s trail. As they’re breaking camp, they get some unwanted visitors…

Comely cow? So, anyway, Jennifer starts to sling a spell, but it’s cut short when she takes a crossbow bolt in the shoulder. Faaldren jumps in with a sword stab through the eye of a lizard mount and Jennifer casts a spell sending illusionary warriors running to his aid. Still, her power's weakening and the illusions don’t fool the New Atlanteans long. Jennifer enlists Tinder’s help casting a spell with one of her magic jewels. She has Tinder concentrate on the most fearsome thing he can thing of for fodder for a renewed illusion spell. Tinder recalls something from a story a man chained in a Shamballan dungeon told him; a man who was actually Travis Morgan, his real father…

He conjures what Jennifer recognizes as a demonic train! She wonders where a Skartarian boy might have found out about locomotives. She realizes there’s more to Tinder than there appears. And so, when the boy asks if Jennifer will teach him some magic, Jennifer agrees to do so and to let him accompany them to Shamballah.

Things to Notice:

• Tinder (Joshua) is back. He was last seen in issue #61.
• The title character, however, barely appears--and he's asleep in his only non-flashback panel.

Where It Comes From:

This issue spends a far amount of time recapping and summarizing Tinder's origin, related piecemeal in previous issues.  The bull-headed beastman recalls Travis Morgan's own transformation by the Alces Shirasi back in issue #18.

Perusing Pathfinder's Bestiary 3

Welcome to post 600.

I picked up the pdf of Pathfinder Bestiary 3 last week.  I had heard it had some Lovecraftian creatures in it, and I was curious, but in general, I like mining monster manuals for ideas.  Paizo's previous entries in the Bestiary series have been pretty good in this regard.

First off, there are a lot of mythological creatures repurposed in tried and true rpg fashion.  Quite a few of these are of Asian derivation making this suitable for a "Oriental Adventures" sort of game.  There are also creatures from the myths of Native Americans, Inuit, and Pacific Islanders as well.  The Fiend Folio and Filipino folklore veteran, the Berbalang, makes an appearance.

There are a lot of other Fiend Folio also-rans.  The dire corby, adherer and the flumph get entries, for reasons beyond my understanding.  There are some Monster Manual II refugees too.

There are the obligatory expansions to giants, dragons, demons and devils.  As is typical, the ranks of evil classes of creatures get expanded with the divs (evil genies) and asuras (philosophic devil sorts), and our old friends the demodands (who all look much more militant and badass in their illustration than the MM2 originals).

One of the things I like is the cryptid and more modern folklore entries.  There's the hodak and globster from North America and the kongamato, lukwata and popobala (which was changed for some reason from popobawa) from Africa.

The aforementioned Lovecraftian critters include the moon-beast, voonith, and Yithians.  There are other literary borrowings including the bandersnatch and the jubjub bird from Lewis Carroll and monsters likely inspired by other media: the hungry fog and the sargassum fiend.

There are a lot of original monsters, of course.  Some of these (like the bogeyman and the pale stranger) are interesting, but seem better suited to a non-Medieval game.  Then there's the cold rider, who's sort of a frosty Nazgul astride a demonic reindeer, and the deathweb--the husk of a giant spider animated by thousands of little spiders!   Both of these guys would make cool one shots, at least.

Overall, I think it's a decent selection of monsters.  More time is spent on more of particular, familiar clades of creatures than I would like (more giants, demons, devils, and variant dragons and dragon-like creatures), but I really like Paizo keeping alive the tendency to borrow entries from literature and modern folklore in addition to mythology.

The Way of the Gun

“...a gun isn’t a thing of miracles. It’s a mechanical contraption that is capable of just so much and no more.”
- “One Hour” Dashiell Hammett

In the world of the City, it was opined over a century ago that “Forces beyond Man’s kin make the wizard, but with his own hand Man makes the gun, and so makes himself the Wizard’s equal.” Firearms represent the triumph of scientific arts like alchemy over the arcane; A triumph which has shaped the modern world.

The oldest firearms utilized the chemical explosive now called black powder. Given these older weapons were made by individual smiths rather than factories, they are more likely to bear enchantments. There are still matchlock and flintlock weapons in use by adventurers for this reason. The Dwergen-made wonderbuss is an example of such a weapon.

Historical sources attest to another (rarer) explosive called red powder, which is now lost. This rust-colored explosive was a closely guarded secret of a cabal of alchemists. (This group is supposed to have been called the Brethren of Steropes and resided in a mobile flying monastery always hidden behind a thunderhead--or so legends say). The compound was activated by exposure to light. It was used in guns of a wheellock mechanism where the striking of two crystals caused a small flash of light. It was also used in ceramic grenades and even in “time delayed” explosives that were placed at night, to go off with the coming dawn.

The modern form of gunpowder is a so-called “smokeless propellant” as it produces negligible smoke compared to the older compounds. It’s made from the alchemical fixation of “smokeless fire,” the same para-elemental substance (airy fire) of which jinn are composed. Modern, mass-produced guns are seldom enchanted--not purposefully, at least--but being close to death and strife sometimes leaves an arcane imprint. Adventurers and special government agents do sometimes use custom ammunition of a magical material or mundane bullets enchanted for a specific effect.

The City has stricter gun control laws many localities in the Union--at least nominally. Ownership or carry of any firearm small enough to conceal requires a license. These are issued by the police department (and usually require a bribe or a friendly contact to acquire, in addition to the licensing fee). Loaded long arms are illegal to carry (and even carrying unloaded ones will invite police involvement unless one can convince them one is on the way to a shooting range or to a hunt), but their ownership is not restricted.

In the Union overall, cities and towns closer to the wilderness or to uncleared caves or ruins have fewer restrictions than safer areas.

Any Requests?

Maybe it's because I'm in spitting distance of 600 posts and people have had time to digested Weird Adventures (and if you haven't, check out Booberry's review), or maybe it's just because it's Friday and I'm lazy, but I'm inclined to take suggestions for future posts.  So if you've got questions (burning or otherwise) you want answered about the City or the Strange New World, or some hint from a precious post you want me to expand upon, now's your chance to ask.  I won't necessarily do a post on every suggestion, but any I get will form my list for consideration when it's time to revisit the City. 

Here's some things I've thought about--but don't feel bound to this list.  It might be worth revisiting the (mis)adventures of Cap'n Clanton in the South Tranquil Sea.  There's also the Old World east of Staark as yet unchronicled.  There's always room for more famous adventurers of yesteryear. 

So that's what I've got. Anything from the audience?

Where's Your Head?

One of the strangest artifacts of the Ancients is the so-called Spectral-Head Harness. The device is a heavy, wide-shouldered pectoral of some reinforced leather-like material attached to a thick, rune-inscribed collar of black ceramic. The device is strapped to a wearer by a harness that seems composed of what seem like industrial hoses that follow lines of the wearer's ribcage. Once the device is strapped into place, it activates.

Jarus Shanck, adventurer and assassin, who gave his name to the City barony of Shancks, is the only recorded bearer of the artifact. What we know of its operation comes from accounts by Shanck’s associates. When Shanck was secured in the device, it began to emit a low hum. The sound lasted a few minutes. During this time, the flesh and hair on Shanck’s skull seemed to sublimate as a cloud of roiling mist formed around his head. Soon, only his skull was left, seemingly floating in the mist. Given that Shanck had never been considered a handsome man (He was extensively scarred, it was said, from too many narrow victories as a boy fighting giant rats in the gaming pits), this wasn’t an especially great loss. Interestingly though, the flesh of his skull was not actually gone. Close observation suggested it had merely been transformed--become hazy and indistinct--and mostly hidden by the mists it seemed to diffuse into.

Jarus Shanck always explained that his head had gone "elsewhere." Whatever that meant, the device seemed to grant the powers of True Seeing, Arcane Sight, and at least at sometimes, Precognition. Some claim it was futuresight that led Shanck to kill the sea creature, Thraug--but no one knows for certain. Shanck also ceased to need sleep, though his body still needed rest through inactivity. Attacks against his head would pass harmlessly through the mist and suffocation or drowning had no effect. It has been theorized that attacks that could effect the astral could have harmed his head, but this remains unproven.

Besides the obvious cosmetic effects, the harness had other disadvantages. The longer Shanck’s head spent wherever it went, the more he became distracted from things on the material plane. Increasingly concerned about this problem, Shanck finally sought to have the harness removed--and discovered another downside.

After Shanck’s death, the harness is said to have unlatched on its own. None of his lieutenants claimed it, and it disappeared from history. If the rumors about Shanck’s hidden treasure trove behind the cliffs along the Eldritch are true, it maybe that that is where the harness can be found--awaiting another head.

Warlord Wednesday: Future Trek

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...

"Future Trek"

Warlord #80 (April 1984)

Written by Cary Burkett; Penciled by Dan Jurgens; Inked by Dan Adkins

Synopsis: At the end of last issue, a wolf-headed, bare (and hairy) chested New Atlantean captain and his troops had the drop on Tara and her Shamballan soldiers in the weapons cache cave. Before Captain Wolf-head can seize the weapons for the glory of New Atlantis, a stranger in black appears and starts shooting things with a ray gun.

That gives Tara and Scarhart the opening they need:

They make short work of the New Atlanteans. Before they can thank their mysterious benefactor, he’s disappeared.

Somewhere in the future, Morgan, Shakira, and Krystovar are chowing down on some fine nutria-stew and chatting with Dr. Reno Franklin. He thinks he’ll probably be able to return them to their own time once they get the kinks worked out of the saucer craft. Right now, they only go forward in time.

Our heroes will have to wait. Weeks pass. Krystovar studies English, Morgan explores the futuristic complex, and Shakira gets bored and does something rash.

In cat form, she sneaks up of the complex via an air duct (despite Morgan’s warning about the temporal incongruity between inside and outside). Following some interesting smells, she comes upon a fine denizen of the future:

It looks like cat is considered fine eating in this time because future primitive and his gang chase Shakira, forcing her to hide in a ruined city.

Later, back at the complex, Shakira angrily interrupts Morgan and Reno to ask why Morgan didn’t come looking for her when she’s been gone for days. It’s the time difference again; For those inside the base, she’s only been gone for a short while.

Intrigued by Shakira’s story, Reno suggests they check out the ruined city. Morgan concludes that the destruction could only have been caused by a nuclear attack. Reno finds a calendar showing the date is later than he thought: The devastation occurred sometime after October 1 2303! Realizing his life has become a Twilight Zone episode, Reno freaks out a bit. Morgan tells him to man up. They need to organize a scouting expedition to find out just how much devastation there is.

The scientists have got a small plane that Morgan can fly. They decide to fly out over Salt Lake City (the closest metropolitan area) and see what they can see. Morgan tells Reno he’s been to the future before, but this one is different. Reno explains that, theoretically, there are an infinite number of alternate future timelines.

Salt Lake City is bombed out. Morgan prepares to fly in low to look for survivors, but:

Futuristic soldiers bring them aboard with a sort of force beam. Morgan tries to explain who they are to the captain of the group. Unsurprisingly, he’s skeptical of Morgan’s story of secret time travel projects. They’re arrested as spies…

Things to Notice:

• The Shamballan soldier extras with Tara and Scarhart seem to appear and disappear in different panels.
• There's little continuity between the dress of the Shamballans and the New Atlanteans here and last issue.
• Morgan's military training doesn't lead him to offer any other suggestion to the future Air Force captain than "call the President" to confirm his tale of a secret government project.

Where It Comes From:

This issue references Morgan and Shakira's previous jaunt to the future Australia in Grell's last storyline (issues #69-71).

How Many Are Out There?

So it looks like the orders of Weird Adventures are getting out there.  Over in the Land of Nod, Matt had some kind words.  It's got Bill the Dungeonmaster fired up over at The Crown and the Ring, and Jack, spinner of Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque, has got a copy in his hands.

Anybody else got theirs yet and care to let me know?  I think the lord of Gothridge Manor is still waiting...