Hercules's Labor Day

In honor of U.S. Labor Day, check out this classic post about Herakles Labor Day from a science fantasy Lens:

"Labor Day Labors"

ZYRD

Someone fucked up. Wizards blame the gods--who are dead or gone and can't defend themselves. It's official church policy to blame the hubris of man and unofficially to suggest that means wizards. Whoever did it fucked up. Whoever did it opened a rent in the fabric of the universe and chaos poured in and the world was dissolved.

Gods, Wizards, or devils, somebody made a last ditch effort to save something. Gods were sacrificed, either willingly or unwillingly, and a haven was created: a hypercube hewn from the bodies of titans left to drift in amundic chaos. Zyrd.

Buried deep in the center of Zyrd is a cross of land, the Crux. Once civilization was more than the Crux, but over time, things have broken down. Beneath the Crux is the Underworld--any direction from the Crux is the Underworld. It holds out the chaos and traps the monsters spawned by it in its labyrinthine depths. 

But the chaos keeps creeping in. The only way to save Zyrd is to clear it. To reclaim the dungeon depths and the riches of ages lost there.

That's where you come in.

A Harsh Welcome on the Planet of the Apes

"STRANGE NEW WORLD" 

Player Characters:
Jeff Call as Brock Irving, "Don't move or this chimp gets it"
Justin Davis as Conrad "Rip" Ripper, "Is the atmosphere breathable? I check the science stuff"
Billy Longino as Olsen Potter Graves, "Give that monkey a banana"
Lester B. Portly as Eddy Woodward, "They finally did it"
Jason Sholtis as Francis LaCava, "My God...They're communists."
And introducing:
Jarrett Crader as Aurelius, "But I must see it!'

Nonplayer Characters:
Ted Cassidy as Eezaya
? as Gorilla Sergeant Pullo
? as Gorilla Sergeant Vorenus
Mariette Hartley as Lyra-7
Alex Cord as Dylan-14

Synopsis: The astronauts land on the post-apocalyptic Earth, heading for their former base in Carlsbad Caverns. They are shocked to discover a group of talking apes--and a human thrall! After a tense standoff, they capture the gorrilla soldiers. With a chimpanzee hostage/companion they arrive at the ancient installation and are surprised to find it still inhabited by people who call themselves PAX.

Commentary:
At last, some apes on the Planet of the Apes! I used (modified) versions of the stats from Fight On! #12 for Apen by Andrew Trent.

The apes claim to be from a place called Terminus City but were a splinter contingent of an archeological expedition some distance to the north led by the ever-curious Dr. Georgius. He has with him a platoon of gorilla soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Perdix. The captured Vorenus threatens the astronauts with retaliation by a Colonel Salaco and possibly the human-hating General Orcus. Are these idle threats? We'll see.

The astronauts landed there ship in the area of what once was Whites City, New Mexico, but their is no sign of human habitation now.

Eezaya first appeared to be a meek slave to the apes but he claims to be a warrior of a tribe along the "ancient border" to the South. He plans to unite his people with their human enemies against the ape invaders. By Eezaya's appearance we might think he is a descendant of the "White Comanche" Izaiah as depicted in the pilot films Genesis II and Planet Earth.

The current inhabitants of Continental Command at Carlsbad Caverns look a lot like inhabitants back in 2133, as depicted in Genesis II (including unfashionable jumpsuits). They even have similar names. Probably just a coincidence, though.

Wednesday Comics: Storm: The Legend of Yggdrasil

My exploration of the long-running euro-comic Storm, continues. Earlier installments can be found here.

Storm: The Legend of Yggdrasil (1981) (part 2)
(Dutch: De Legende van Yggdrasil)
Art by Don Lawrence & Script by Kelvin Gosnell

The strange creatures hitch the wrekage (with Storm and Ember inside) to a ceratopsian that drags it back to their base. They leave them on a big bullseye. The reptilian humanoids inspect the the two humans, and one of them who claims to be a High Priest declares them fit sacrifices for Yggdrasil.

Ember is having none of that:

The High Priest wants to kill them now, but he's stopped by a towering member of his race. Wag-Nar reminds the Priest that the law requires that they choose the way they die: A quick merciful death or a death with honor in the arena.

At first, Storm tries to avoid a fight, but Ember wants to fight the priest, but Wag-Nar swats her aside. They can only fight the Master. Storm agrees--and he wants to fight now. Storm is the first human ever to fight Wag-Nar. The creature accepts his request.

Unfortunately, Storm is outmatched. Wag-Nar prepares to kill him. He holds up the holy symbol of Yggdrasil prepares to offer his sacrifice. Storm recognizes it: "a tyrannosaurus!" Wag-Nar stops and has Storm repeat the name, then he asks Storm what his name is.

There is a murmuring among the crowd. A prophecy has been fulfilled! The famous warrior Bora-Ston had a vision that a brave human name Storm who knew Yggdrasil's true name would unite these creatures with their goddess.

Storm and Ember are adopted into the tribe:

TO  BE CONTINUED

National Park Dungeoncrawl

Need a dungeon map for you next adventure? Just stock one of these cave national park maps.

Here's Carlsbad Caverns:

And Mammoth Cave (at least the tour routes):

Subterranean Heaven

Who says mythic underworlds have to be dark and unpleasant? The underworld of Patala in Hindu cosmology is described as more luxurious than celestial heavens. It's the abode of various clans of Asuras and nagas. The sage Narada says of it in the Vishnu Purana:

"What," exclaimed the sage, "can be compared to Pátála, where the Nágas are decorated with brilliant and beautiful and pleasure-shedding jewels?"

There, its described as more like another plane in D&D terms, or at least a fairyland. The Bhagavata Purana keeps in definitely subterranean (though it does use a word for it that  cna be translated as "planet"):

"Below that world there is Pâtâla, the world of the master snakes...Most addicted to material happiness they all live with the shortest temper. They have five, seven, ten, a hundred or a thousand hoods, with on their crests fixed the most valuable gems the effulgence of which disperses the vast darkness of the caves of Pâtâla."

So a subterranean ream lit by the light of all the jewels worn and used in construction? Sounds like the sort of place adventures would want to visit. Of course, they have to contend with the material wealth loving demons, ghosts, and snakes that live there.

I don't see any reason dungeons (in the D&D sense) have to be so, well, dungeon-like. If they're opulent, but no less deadly, adventures have even more reason to go there.

Get Aboard the HMS Apollyon

Over at the Dungeon of Signs Gus L has released the Player Manual Part 1 Combat and Exploration for his HMS Apollyon game. Gus has really put some thought into what procedures aid and abet a good dungeoncrawl, and this manual is full of his thought and experimentation. Lots to steal. Check it out.