Single Axis Outer Planes

There are a lot of very reasonable criticisms regarding the Gygaxian Great Wheel of Outer Planes, though I also like a lot about it. I've spent a fair number of posts on this blog trying to make it truly it some sort of coherent set of competing paradigms as Planescape promises but doesn't really deliver.

This post, I want to go in another direction entirely and see if the Outer Planes can be configured in such a way as to have a bit more Medieval flavor, a possible monotheistic bend, and potentially mostly be about the afterlife.

Take a look at the cosmology presented in the works of Dante:

Dante (like OD&D) imagines an order where what in latter day D&D terms we would call Lawful Good. So the Empyrean, the realm outside the cosmos where the Godhead or whatever supreme principle of goodness resides is the equivalent of the Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia in the Great Wheel.

"Beneath" that we enter the cosm and the spheres of the heavens. Here mystical cosmology mixes with physical cosmology and we have the Aristotlean celestial spheres of the classic planets. Dante makes of them "not-quite-good-enough heavens, and I would too, but with a twist. These would be the afterlives or mystic realms of "pagan" deities (using the term here to mean deities other than our Supreme Godhead mention above). Something similar to how the cosmology of the Sandman comics series works or Jurgen by James Branch Cabell, but more systematized as Gary would have wanted it. I would probably nix specific alignments in this sort of setup, focusing on interesting themes and correspondences.

Frank C. Papé

Above the planets is the sphere of the Primum Mobile or Prime Mover. This will be the mindless demiurge or ghost in the machine that makes the physical and near physical universe run. This is Mechanus of the Great Wheel.

 

Arriving at the Earth, we find Elysium/Elysian Fields, the Terrestrial Paradise. It can be found by the living, but it's difficult. Beneath the Earth is the gloomy, gray realm of Hades. 

In the caverns beneath Hades we begin to slip into the realm of truly evil souls, places where monsters have been cast down. There realms are probably all tied to a Deadly Sin. No doubt there are several infernal realms before we get to Hell (represented the sin of Pride) proper, where the rebellious angels have built their resentful kingdom in exile.

Immediately beneath heal would be Tartarus, where the Godhead has locked up frightening beings. Rival gods? The mistakes of former creation? Who knows?

Beneath Tartarus is the Abyss. The deep waters mentioned in Genesis, though this may not literally be water but some fluid. Liquid Tiamat (from Babylonian myth, not the the Dungeon & Dragons cartoon). Malign chaos incarnate.

Robert Crumb

Wednesday Comics: DC, March 1984 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm reviewing the comics released on the week of December 15, 1983. 

New Teen Titans #40: Perez delivers a great cover, but on the inside, he and Wolfman are back with the Brother Blood stuff I don't really like. The Titans are guests on Bethany Snow's TV show in a segment regarding proposed arms shipments to Zandia. The Titans, led by Wonder Girl, are unable to convince the other guests or the audience of the true evil intentions of the guy named Brother Blood whose live via satellite in a blood red outfit with a horned and fanged mask. He's just too darn charismatic! Dick figures out that the congressmen appearing on the program in support of Blood are actually his followers. Later, disguised as newsman Joe Walsh, Dick accompanies Bethany Snow and the three politicians on a fact-finding tour to Zandia, only to have his true identity uncovered by Blood's cult. Getting an emergency signal from Dick, the other Titans crash Blood's temple in their T-sub but get knocked out by gas. They awaken to find themselves about to be lowered into his weird pool of blood--and Dick in Brother Blood's thrall.

Superman #393: Rozakis/Cavalieri and Novick/Giordano discover yet another creep kind of obsessed with Lana: the super-villain called the Master Jailer. We last saw him back was in Superman Family #221 back in '82. He has a pretty ingenious plot, marred by his nuttiness. He targets Superman with missiles that fuse Green Kryptonite to his costume, and his costume to his skin. Superman appears to have succumb to the poisoning in the Fortress of Solitude. Next, the Jailer goes after Clark Kent. He looks all over town but has a tough time tracking him down. When he finally confronts him, Clark is revealed to be Superman--wearing a Clark Kent mask. He defeats the Master Jailer and reveals who he used a Bizarro device to make Bizarro copies of the Jailer's missiles that then exploded and de-Kryptonited him.

Arak Son of Thunder #31: Colon is back on art, though much of this story is a reprint of the Thomas/Colon/DeZuniga preview of Arak in Warlord #48 (1981). Arak relates that incident to Satyricus in context of a story about about a girl named Amber who was a slave to the viking jarl, Ottar. He contests with Sigvald for her, with Ottar planning to give the girl to whoever brings him the biggest piece of amber. Although, Arak successfully retrieved a larger piece of amber, he returned too late. Ottar died while he was away and, in the Viking tradition, his slave girl was killed with him. Arak began to think of leaving the company of the vikings as a result, which he soon would. 

Batman #369:  Moench and Newton/Alcala return to Alfred and his daughter, Julia. They're in Montreal investigating Jacques' murder. They must be on to something, because someone keeps trying to kill them. After more than one close call, Alfred calls in Batman for help. It turns out the assassin is Deadshot, who is so eager for revenge on Batman, he starts making blunders regarding the job he's supposed to be doing. Julia is desperate to avenger her father and is getting reckless, too. A well-timed Batarang at Julia's gun, keeps Deadshot from killing her and her from killing Deadshot. Batman interrogates Deadshot and the assassin reveals to their surprise that it was Jacques Remarque who hired him!

Flash #331: Bates/Cavalieri and Infantino/McLaughlin conclude the story from last issue. Flash lets Grodd think he's finished him, so the ape lets his guard down and let's Angelo go. Flash springs into action and uses his speed to actually move Grodd in front of his own mental blast. Solovar and the Gorilla City crew show up to bring the Flash home and take Grodd into custody. Meanwhile, the police are looking for the missing Barry Allen and somebody plants a bomb in the office of the Flash's lawyer. Hearing the explosion over the phone, the Flash races to save him, but will he be in time?

G.I. Combat #263: Continuing the story from previous issues, the Mercenaries managed to best the Yeti creature and grab the cobra statue--which doesn't appear to be made of anything like the gold and jewels they were promised. Still, the women with them are going to take it back to the temple, so the Mercenaries follow along to keep them out of harm. Good plan, because they do get attacked. Back at the temple, the old man uses some liquid to reveal it's true, golden, jewel encrusted form. He gives the Mercenaries a ruby each. They leave, but then Gordon decides he wants to go back for the woman he's sweet on, but the temple and its inhabitants have disappeared.

The two Haunted Tank stories continue to get mileage out of Craig's son, Eddie, now being a member of the crew. This particularly comes to the fore in the second story which has a frame story of Eddie writing a letter to his mother (Craig's estranged wife) regarding recent events where a fuel shortage for both sides starts as problem but ultimately becomes an advantage for Stuart's Raiders as they're able to take out a group of immobile Panzers solo after that fill up courtesy of captured German vehicles. In the first, Gus' background as a minster is highlighted as he struggles with the commandments of his faith and his duty as a soldier. In the end, though, Kanigher doesn't really have anything profound to say about that, but it's good to see Gus get the spotlight.

The nonseries story is about a bomb disposal team dealing with a bomb made with a particularly tricky fuse. It no doubt carries an additional air of verisimilitude as the writer, Paul S. Newman, served as a tech with a bomb disposal unit.

Omega Men #12: Broot and Shlagen part company with the rest of the Omega Men on Rashashoon. Broot feels he has delayed too long finding his wife. They follow coordinates stolen from the Citadel to a near-lifeless planetoid. There they discover radiation-poisoned Changralynian youth toiling away. They have never met their captors or heard of the Citadel. They work in the name of their religion. At their temple, Broot is horrified to discover that the blind priestess is his wife, Kattayan-Bish.

Meanwhile, the other Omega Men led by Primus race back to Euphorix. They arrive only moments too late. Kalista has re-activated the energy shield and destroyed the controls so that it can't be lowered again.

Star Trek #1: Barr and Sutton/Villagran continue from where last each left off with another almost pitch perfect evocation of Trek. Kirk and Lt. Bryce are in spacesuits attempting to get into the Klingon station hidden in wormhole space while Saavik in a shuttlecraft attracts the Klingon's attention. Captain Koloth (presumably not the same as the one in TOS) is smart though and suspects the shuttle may be a ruse. He orders extra guards and also has guys watch his helmsman Konom, who was the one who secretly signaled the Federation. After some fights and quick thinking, Kirk, Bryce, Saavik and Konom escape via the transporter--but only after Kirk leaves a bomb whose detonation causes the base to return to normal space. Koloth chooses to blow his crew up rather than be captured.

Interestingly, there is foreshadowing of STIII here in some of McCoy's thought balloons. The Klingons are very much of the ST:TMP mold, not the version with less elaborate makeup we'll get in STIII and later. The only detail that seemed off to me is Bryce opening fire on disintegration setting on a group of Klingon guards. It seems like the Starfleet way might have been to stun them, but I can't think of a completely analogous scene in a TOS episode to compare. 

Greyhawk: Medegia

The See of Medegia is a territory ostensibly within the Great Kingdom of Aerdy that is under direct sovereign rule of the Holy Censor of the Aerdian Church of Law. Though the reach of the Censor's ecclesiastical authority has diminished with the decline of the Great Kingdom, he remains one of the most powerful and wealthy rulers in the eastern Flanaess.

The Church of Law has ever tied to the Aerdi, their kings, and kingdom. While the various Hierarchs of Law of the Flanaess were independent, they were in communion, and the Hierarch of Medegia was invested as Holy Censor, guardian over the doctrine of Law and moral guide to the Malachite Throne and the entire Kingdom.

Most Medegian church houses, including its great basilica, were originally dedicated to Pholtus, the Blinding Light, though Legalism being a transtheistic faith, this was not true of other churches in other lands. Today, the iconography of Pholtus persists, but the stern-faced deity is little favored by the current Holy Censor, his most senior clergy, or the other highfolk of the land. The Divine Law has varied manifestations and champions, so why should they not pray to Zilchus, whose doctrine of material prosperity for the faithful is more amiable to their wealth and privilege?

Despite the Holy Censor's roll as advisor to the Overking, neither the indolent Hierarch nor his flattering and generous orthodoxy are favored at court. Ivid is rumored to have become enamored of an antinomian heresy wherein, as a divinely favored monarch, he is above the precepts that bind others. The Censor is, of course, concerned, but not overmuch, so that his enjoyment of his position isn't soured.

The Hidden Religions of D&D: Druidism

This one isn't so much hidden, but hey, when you've got a series title, you gotta stick with it. Unlike with the Church of Law which has been obscured by tme, I think people have a good idea of what Druidism in D&D is: it's neutral and associated with Nature. In the Greyhawk setting and other places it's the "Old Faith" standing in perhaps for pre-Christian beliefs of Europe but without the Christianity.

I think there's another way to go, though, completely consistent with what the original works tell us about druids.

Druids first show up as monsters in the Greyhawk supplement. We are told they are "priests of a neutral-type religion." They can shape change and attractive barbarian followers.

They become a class in Eldritch Wizardry where they are described again as Neutral and "are more closely attuned to Nature, serving as its priests rather than serving some other deity." Mistletoe is holy to them, and they protect plants and animals.

Neutral may well just have been meant to imply unaligned here--not taking a side in the conflict between the civilizing force of law and the destructive forces of chaos: "I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares for the woods as I care for them," as Treebeard would have it. But maybe it's not just the woods the druid cares about?

Unlike Law and Chaos which seem to be transcendent and come from extraplanar forces, maybe Nature in this context is the cycles and balance of the material world? Given the description in Eldritch Wizardry, it seems likely to me that the religion of the druids is pantheistic with Nature (or the material plane) being an immanent divine force or deity. It could be animistic with everything in the natural world having a separate spirit, but it might also be monist, where divine Nature is the only true reality.

I think then that the druid's neutrality is a somewhat militant sort. The dualism of Law vs. Chaos is contrary to their understanding of the unity of all things; the strong, opposing polarities are nonsensical if existence is governed by cycles. Worse, these ideas from the Outer Planes would be alien intrusions on the harmony of the world.

Wednesday Comics: DC, March 1984 (week 1)

My continuing mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics that were at newsstands on the week of December 8, 1983. 

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld #11: Mishkin/Cohn and Colon reach their penultimate issue with Amethyst leading the many of the houses of Gemworld in an assault of Dark Opal's castle with Prince Topaz recruiting his sister and Lady Sapphire to their cause and joining them. But Dark Opal now has all the gems and has the armor forge his breastplate, which he puts on before it cools in a bit of Victor von Doom-esque rashness. He gives Sardonyx to the Emissaries of Varn to avoid paying his debts, but Carnelian plots betrayal. The final confrontation between Opal and Amethyst looms!

DC Comics Presents #67: Wein and Swan/Anderson do a holday-themed issue, teaming Superman up with Santa Claus. I can't quite say that this sort of thing doesn't occur to today, but it is definitely relegated to holiday one shots of dubious continuity reference. In the waning Bronze Age, this sort of reminder that comics are children's media, or meant to appeal to the child in adults, was still allow in mainstream titles, if in small doses. The villain of this one is naturally the Toymaker, who is hypnotizing kids with gimmick toys on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus helps Superman out, then gets help delivering his toys. 

Atari Force #2: Dart has a potentially prophetic nightmare about Blackjack's death. They buy a ship to head back home, but they unknowingly get a vessel sabotaged by the Dark Destroyer's minions. It leaves them stranded in space in a dangerous situation with enemies approaching. Meanwhile, Packrat is caught by his brother and law enforcement only to escape again with his brother on his trail. Morphea rescues Babe from the unscrupulous smugglers. Chris continues to train with his powers and deal with his anger regarding the prejudice that cost him his relationship. Conway and García-López/Villagran are still getting the team together.

Blackhawk #268: Evanier and various artists (Spiegle, Howell/Giacoia, and Wildey) deliver another issue of solo "Detached Service Diary" tales. Blackhawk deals with a skeptical, know-it-all reporter who refuses to see the Nazi threat, even when getting shot at. Andre deals with a German general and a French collaborator stealing art and jewels by manipulating them to have a falling out with each other and German command. Finally in a holiday themed tale, Olaf, after crashing in a rural area, is helped by a Jewish family and gets the Hanukkah spirit.

Fury of Firestorm #20: Killer Frost discovers that the accident that changed her is also killing her, and that doesn't improve her disposition. Firestorm is trying to find her but can't. The police are being unhelpful thanks to one of the detective's understandable distaste for vigilantism. He's trying to close the Goldenrod case. Ultimately, though, Frost's rampage makes her location apparent. Firestorm rushes to confront her but, in the battle, takes an ice spike through the shoulder. Too weakened to fight, Stein suggests they just let Frost attempt to drain them. She does and is apparently melted away, trying to cope with Firestorm's nuclear heat. Firestorm stumbles to Lorraine's house and passes out.

Justice League of America #224: Busiek and Patton/Giordano pits the League against Paragon, a vigilante out to eliminate the inferior 90% of the population and has the power to duplicate the powers or abilities of any anyone. What he can't do is stand up to the coordinated attacks of the Leaguers combined, particularly with those with unduplicatable powers (Red Tornado and Green Lantern leading the way). An interesting thing about this issue is the opening with Ollie, Clark, and Hal getting together like three buds for a meal in Star City. The dialogue suggests that Star City is located somewhere besides the East or West Coasts, perhaps meaning Busiek conceives it as on the Great Lakes?

Vigilante #4: Newton is on pencils this issue. Chase and his team are riveted to news regarding a murder of the leading man, Clark Reynolds, one half of a classic Hollywood couple by wife and co-star, Grace Moore. Chase gets to attend the trial and Moore's testimony generates a lot of sympathy, but then someone assassinates a witness for the prosecution. Vigilante gets involved dealing with a series of identically dressed, masked assassins. Again, Vigilante makes reference to his quick, but intensive training that turned him from a normal guy to nearly superhuman. In the end, it turns out Grace Moore is not as wholesome as her screen image. She was cheating on her husband, and when he found out, she killed him lest he ruin her reputation. She hired the cybernetic shut-in called the Controller to assassinate witnesses against her with his robots. Wolfman again leans into the Reagan era elements of this sort of character highlighted with some moralizing about the lack good role models and cultural decay. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt that the fact Moore got caught with another woman is just an incidental detail and not meant to be further indication of her depravity.

Wonder Woman #313: Mishkin and Heck have Diana Prince assigned to track down the missing Major Griggs which leads to a confrontation with Circe and her mysterious ally that manages to bind Wonder Woman's wrists--and of course Circe's man-beasts including Griggs. Meanwhile on Paradise Island, Sofia goes up against the Amazon hierarchy investigating why Hippolyta is hiding things from Diana.

In the Cavalieri and Burgard/Martin Huntress story, Huntress manages to escape the angry mob and capture Terry Marsh who she interrogates with some fists to the face until he spills it regarding Earthworm. She surprises the villain and a goon in his lair, and even Earthworm's rat minions don't slow her down. However, Earthworm avoids capture by somehow passing through narrow bars.

Appendix M: A Weird Medieval Fantasy Reading List

 And the M is for "Medieval." I've read some dark and/or weird fantasy set in the Middle Ages of late, and I figured I'd put them together in a list with some complimentary works for those that might be interested.

12th Century:

Mitchell Lüthi. Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror. A German Knight and his companions agree to smuggle a Holy relic out of Jerusalem for the Pope but wind up transported somewhere else by a gigantic sandstorm and confronting cosmic horror.

Clark Ashton Smith. “The Maker of Gargoyles" (In 1138, gargoyles come to life and terrorize the city of Vyones), “The Holiness of Azédarac” (a priest travels through time from 1175; in the future he discovers a sorcerer as managed to get declared a saint). 

13th Century:

Clark Ashton Smith. "The Colossus of Ylourgne." In 1281, a necromancer and his disciples take revenge on Vyones with an undead giant. 

14th Century:

Christopher Buehlman. Between Two Fires. In 1348, as the Black Death ravages France, a disgraced knight and a young girl may be the ones who can keep Lucifer and his legions from bringing about Hell on Earth.

Jesse Bullington. The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart. In 1364, A pair of German brothers from a long line of graverobbers embark on quest to make their fortune looting the crypts of Egypt. They encounter monsters, magic, and madmen along the way.

Clark Ashton Smith. “The Beast of Averoigne.”  In the summer of 1369, a comet heralds the arrival of a strange beast to ravage the lands around the Abbey of Périgon.

15th Century:

Jesse Bullington. The Folly of the World. In the aftermath of the St. Elizabeth's Flood, three conspire to take a treasure from a town beneath the water. 

Greyhawk: The Iron League

by Anna Meyer

The Iron League was a separatist alliance formed in 447 CY for mutual defense against the Great Kingdom. While the members made much rhetorically of the demoniac apostasy and madness of the Naelax, the League's greatest concern was economic. None of the trading cities wished to allow the profligate Aerdy nobility to root like pigs in their accumulated wealth.

The association's core members had histories stretching back to ancient, Suloise, maritime city-states. While the Aerdi gained suzerainty over the region, the regional lords were content to allow a great deal of local self-rule (so long as they benefited from the ongoing trade), and in time became intertwined with the Suloise population through marriage and alliance with the local oligarchic families. Intra-region conflict between local nobles, powerful families and guilds was a more pressing concern until the Herzog's heavy-handed treatment prompted the member states to set aside their differences. At least for a time.

Although the League was founded primarily for military purposes, it did possess a confederal civil government. The ruling council, composed of representatives of the individual states, was fairly limited in its power outside of military matters, but was given the ability to control custom duties and adjudicate disputes between regions.

This is a follow-up to this post. I drew inspiration for the Iron League from the Lombard League and communes of North Italian and their relationship with the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperors. Given their Suloise history and their climate (Hot summer Mediterranean, according to Anna Meyer's climate map), I felt like their Suloise history might well amount to something like the Phoenician city-states. Visually, the continental states would look something like Sicily, Southern Italy, or parts of the Iberian Peninsula, except the Lordship of the Isles which is more humid and more like Florida.

Wednesday Comics: Comics Related Gift Suggestions

Here are some suggestions for comics related gifts for this holiday season:

Mighty Marvel Calendar Book: All the classic Marvel calendar images from '75-'81 are collected in this hardcover. It features art by Buscema, Miller, Simonson, Perez, Kirby, and more. Who doesn't want to see the Hulk as George Washington at Valley Forge?

Hobtown Mysteries vol 2: The Cursed Hermit: I've been charmed by this quirky series of stories probably most succinctly described as "Twin Peaks meets Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys." Creators Bertin and Forbes present a small, coastal Canadian village with a lot of weird stuff going on under the surface. The Teen Detective Club—a registered after-school program makes it their business to get to the bottom every one of their town's bizarre occurrences unraveling the secret history of their town as they go. You'll want to read volume one first.

World's Finest: Teen Titans vol 1: Spinning out of the Waid's World's Finest we get a tale of the original Teen Titans, that homages the Silver Age while by completely modern. Waid's approach to this these link series brings a lot of warmth and a bit of humor in addition to the superhero action.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End vol 1: I've talked about how good this fantasy manga about what happens after the party completes the epic quest is before (back when #11 came out). Alas, there's no bundle of all 11 (currently) volumes, but this is where you want to jump in.

Duke vol 1: I was skeptical of the Energon Universe re-imaging of Hasbro's toy properties when I first heard about it, but the Duke limited series won me over. Not every limited series has been as good I don't think, but this one and Cobra Commander are well worth your time if you have any interest in the 80s iteration of G.I. Joe.

DC Comics Style Guide: Early this year Standards Manual announced they would be reprinting the fabled DC Style Guide from 1982 with that gorgeous José Luis García-López artwork that set the standard for the look of the DCU for a generation. It ain't cheap, but you can pre-order this hardcover here. 

Thinking Greyhawk

Over the past month, I've been reading some historical fantasy (Between Two Fires and His Black Tongue), some straight historical stuff (rpg supplements from Codex Integrum and the season on Frederick II of the podcast History of the Germans), and most recently, taking a real look at the World of Greyhawk (1980) folio.  All this stuff knocking around in my head led me to believe it might be interested in borrowing an old idea from Miranda Elkins and doing a series of blog posts developing a version of Greyhawk derived from the folio, with a Medieval history sort of feel.

I'll be using the 1980 folio as the only "canon" though I'm not opposed to taking material from the 1983 boxset and the Dragon articles written between and around the time of both publications. I'm trying to avoid more recent Greyhawk material. In keeping with the other recent inspirations, I'm going channel the historical wargamer Gygax over the pulp fan Gygax, and also I'll be using some of the ideas derived from examination of the pre-Greyhawk implied setting of D&D.