[Parsulan] Zagartha

 

Zagartha is a floating island wandering some 1000 feet above Berlaith. Like the other floating rocks of Parsulan, it contains large amounts of thaumatite. It was ejected from the surface during the early years of the Demon War owing to the magical surge from the weakening of the Great Barrier.

Zagartha, when it was an earthbound mountain, contained a large temple complex and was the site of a famous oracle, but it was abandoned after it was desecrated by demonic forces. At least two conflicting stories are told regarding its reinhabitation. The first holds that the Seven Great Sages, disputing some obscure points of the oracles last series of pronouncements, journeyed there with their followers and were holding a symposium there when Zagartha rose into the sky, stranding them. The second holds the Sages led a group to a place of (relative) safety from the Fomori on the already skybound island with a magical conveyance that was wrecked upon landing. Even among Zagartha's inhabitants, both stories have their adherents. 

The original sages passed long ago, and the number of students their successors enjoy have dwindled over time as they tend to be drawn from outsiders, not from the ranks of locals who feel a sense of duty to the sages and support them materially but have little time for their ascetic lifestyles and philosophical arguments. Both groups dwell in and among the ruins of the previous temple complex. Either the buildings have been repurposed or their materials used to build new structures. The locals are mostly craftsmen, farmers, and merchants. They maintain the all-critical cisterns, tend the small fields, and conduct trade with the "ground-folk." 

One important aspect of their lives is the capture over other floating rocks. Some of these are added to Zagartha to expand it. Others are mined for materials. In both cases the rocks are reached through the use of the skywires and skywire harnesses that use small thaumatite to shoot lines at force. The skill necessary to employ them effectively takes years to master but makes many Zagarthans skilled aerialists.

Fantasy Superheroes

A common criticism of later editions of D&D from fans of older editions is that they produce "fantasy superheroes." I don't agree with that characterization. In fact, I wonder why we don't see many rpg examples of fantasy superheroes because, like Stargazer here, I think it could be an interesting idea.

For clarity, I don't mean characters in a fantasy world that have secret IDs and codenames and fight crime wearing costumes--though I think a Zorro or Iron Monkey sort of frame of masked fighters for justice could easily fit what I am thinking of. Mostly, though, I'm just thinking of comic books like Battle Chasers or Dreadstar (the latter is really space fantasy, but its basic setup is a useful example) and animated series like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002, particularly). Epic fantasy stories featuring super-powered characters. 

So what makes those examples "superheroic" in a way a 4e campaign isn't necessarily? In Superhero: The Secret Origin of A Genre, Coogan lays out his "MPI" definition of a superhero. That is, a superhero is a person with Mission, Powers, and Identity. He also has the fallback of "generic distinction" to catch characters (like the Hulk) that might fail by the initial test and to exclude characters that might seem at first blush to fit but are better accounted for in another genre.

Regardless of whether the fantasy heroes I'm thinking of would be superheroes in Coogan's estimation, I'm think about characters that:

• Have a mission, which might be something like "defeat Sauron," but could be something more like "overthrow the God-King who betrayed us." This wouldn't be the place for picaresque wanderings or "get rich or die trying."
• Have powers that are beyond reach of regular folks to a notable extent. Those powers would tend to require explanation and come with an origin of sorts. That could be as simple as "born an air bender," but whatever it is, it would set a character apart from most people. While this pillar is where there is the most overlap with modern D&D, I think D&D's approach to powers that largely makes then originless (other than being a particular class) and outside of spells, more an artifact of game rules than a setting element, fails to place it within the proposed genre.
• Have an identity, in the sense of being distinct, likely from other heroes in the party, but certainly from broader humanity. The difference between characters a normal D&D party is something like the difference between the members of the Fellowship of the Ring, but here the difference would be more like the differences between the members of the X-Men or Legion of Super-Heroes. I feel like a lot of identity is in a distinctive visual, but that probably comes from this subgenre being mostly a thing of visual media. Still, I feel like it would be something to think about in an rpg.

Wednesday Comics: DC, October 1985 (week 3)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on July 18, 1985.

Talent Showcase #19: We arrive at the last issue of this title, and it doesn't really go out with a bang, but just with a kind of sense of obligation. There are more 1 page humor pieces than usual. There's a Western written by Rowlands about a writer who becomes his character, only to have the role taken up by a fan when he grows weary of it. That Darwyn Cooke is back with a story called "Private Eye" that already stands out visually, showing promise if not being terribly interesting otherwise. Dennis Yee is back with another installment of his Texan superhero team, the Desperados.

DC Comics Presents Annual #4: Maggin and Baretto/Ordway bring back Maggin's creation, Superwoman. Historian Kristen Wells, still eager to learn more about the mysterious Superwoman's career (particularly since she now knows she is Superwoman!), travels back to 1985. Baretto/Ordway show us that women history professors in the 29th Century dress like the movie version of an 80s pop star with a Mad Max theme. In fact, she and Stiletta in Hex may shop the same boutiques. Anyway, time travel being inherently risky, she loses her memory. As she struggles to regain it having various minor misadventures, Superman faces certain doom by Green Kryptonite at "Luthorcon III", in a deadly game of "monkey-in-the-middle" (like "keep away," I guess) between Luthor cosplayers who don't know that he's the real Superman or that the fake Kryptonite they had was secretly replaced by the real thing by the real Luthor. It's silly, but in a fun way, the issue's only flaw perhaps being it didn't need the pages allotted to it by annual length.

In the epilogue, we see Wells' colleague in the future (some point more in the future than when we last saw him) staring at a statue of Superwoman and wondering what was his friend's ultimate fate in the past. He's surprised by the appearance of Wells who has just returned from the 20th Century prepared to relate her adventures as a superheroine in the past. Maggin clearly hoped comics would chronicle those adventures, but that was not to be, certainly not with the dawning of the post-Crisis universe. Outside of one more tale--an obscure "imaginary story" by Moore in 1986 you probably haven't heard of--Wells hasn't really appeared again. 

Batman and the Outsiders #26: Kobra sends his agents to ambush the Outsiders as they go about their lives, and the goons all fail utterly. Batman even stops one agent from suicide using his cyanide filled tooth to interrogate him with "truth serum." Apparently Kobra's thought of that and given the goon a drug that kills him when a truth serum is introduced to his system. Either that or Batman misjudged the dose and killed him and is just covering up. Luckily with some forensic detective work and a knowledge of pine straw, they trace Kobra to the commune, realizing that Halo must be in his hands. They've barely started exploring the hidden (and now deserted) base when Kobra appears on a screen, boasting that he has taken control of the satellite missile defense program (thanks to the general he mind-controlled last issue) and is threatening to give it to the Soviets if the U.S. doesn't surrender Fort Knox to him.

Blue Devil #16: Mishkin/Cohn and Kupperberg/Farmer give us essentially the Blue Devil Swimsuit Issue as the whole cast goes to the beach. The fun doesn't last though as the Fisherman (in his first appearance since 1977, and his last pre-Crisis, outside of the Who's Who--see below.) shows up to rob the partygoers. Blue Devil manages to capture him while battling a horde of mini-monsters that rain down as a side-effect of cloudseeding. There might also be some effect of the weird, red skies (allow this to be an official Crisis tie-in) which the people of L.A. take in stride without all the doom and gloom hitting Gotham and Metropolis. Anyway, no sooner has Cassidy defeated the villain than he is recruited by Green Lantern to the go to the Justice League satellite.

Green Lantern #193: Engelhart and Staton/Patterson pick up where last issue left off. The 3 Lanterns on Zamoran have to leave because Star Sapphire hasn't really committed any crimes yet. On the way back to Earth, Stewart and Katma encounter a creature that looks sort of like a winged gargoyle composite being like the Super-Adaptoid or Composite Superman. He's Replikon, a guy who fought Hal Jordan before, as he wants to make the Earth into a replica of his destroyed home world so his species eggs can be incubated there. The fact that that would kill life on Earth is of no consequence. Stewart defeats him but then gets the Guardians' permission to make a planet suitable to the creature's needs. In doing so, he passes another test in his training. Katma Tui also tells him her backstory, and the two express their love for one another. They also get word the Guardians are becoming involved with this whole Crisis thing, with the issue telling us this is effectively the point where Crisis #1 comes in.

Meanwhile, Hal Jordan is sitting on Earth alone, regretting his life choices.

Infinity, Inc. #19: As the cover tells us, this is part of the last "Justice Society-Justice League Team-Up" in this continuity. It's also a Crisis tie-in and catches the title up to those events. Commander Steel and Mekanique show up from Earth-One and convinces the Infinitors (except Obsidian who has disappeared for Crisis) to help him take out the "criminals" who have usurped the name of the JLA. I have to say, repeated storylines regarding them getting duped into helping a badguy do not make the team look very smart. Once they have mostly helped him defeat the Detroit League, his behavior and the little details don't quite add up, so they realize they have made a mistake. Commander Steel orders Mekanique to attack them too. 

This issue also introduces Beth Chapel, the physician treating Jade's poisoning and former student of Charles "Dr. Midnite" McNider.

New Teen Titans #13: This is another of this month's Crisis tie-ins and the most continuity conscious. Wolfman starts where last issue left off and works his way up to the "present" (in terms of this month's issue of Crisis) telling us what the Titans did along the way. First, we see the Tamaranians coming for Kory slowed down by the anti-matter wave. After Cyborg finally has his talk with Sarah, he is whisked away by Harbinger and is missing for much of the story. The Titans deal with the time disruption, and we see their brief team-up with the Outsiders depicted in COIE #3 rescuing people from the anti-matter wave.

About a month after the issue's beginning, Cyborg is reunited with his teammates, and the heroes get a bit of respite from fighting the disaster in the nearly rebuilt Titans Tower. Suddenly, Captain Karras and his crew arrive, announcing that Koriand'r must return with them to Tamaran at once.

Sgt. Rock #405: This storyline was heavily advertised in comics leading up to its publication, but I've never read it before. "Angels with Black Wings" may well be the last in a long line of anti-racism stories Kanigher did in his career, many of which, unfortunately, haven't aged well. We'll see how this one goes. We start off with a double frame of sorts. The story opens in a postwar civil rights march where a black former soldier recognizes one of the police barring the marchers' way from the war. We then flashback to Rock and his Lieutenant meeting Captain George Dennis, one of the Tuskegee Airmen as Easy is camping near their airbase. The lieutenant means to keep his distance, but Rock is interested in how the airman got here. He also offers the first explanation I've seen of how he has a black man in his unit: paperwork mishap. Anyway, most of the issue is Dennis telling his story and the story of the Tuskegee Airmen to Rock. It's more didactic than the typical Sgt. Rock story, but we'll see how it develops in the next installment.

Saga of Swamp Thing #41: Moore and Bissette/Alcala bring Swamp Thing back to Louisiana, where a night-time soap about the antebellum South is in production at a plantation nearby. Abby gets a job there and is a witness to the growing darkness as the past refuses to stay the past, and ghosts begin to influence the behavior of the actors playing their parts. She asks Swamp Thing to look into it, and they arrive as the extras are conducting a voodoo ritual in the fields, and the stars seem prepared to re-enact a gruesome murder inside the old house.

Warlord #97: I reviewed this issue here.

Who's Who #7: It's fitting that Flash (drawn by Infantino) appears in Who's Who the same month his series ends. The Fisherman also happens to appear here, looking much more menacing under Luke McDonnell's pencils than he does in the pages of this month's Blue Devil. Beyond that we've got Felicity from Omega Men and the Floronic Man from Swamp Thing. The Forgotten Heroes and Forgotten Villains aren't yet forgotten as they get a page each. Both Firebrands from the pages of All-Star Squadron are here as well. Fire Jade (recently deceased) from Amethyst shows up drawn by Dan Jurgens. The entry on Firehawk doesn't really make a big deal of her romantic relationship with Firestorm, following the comic's lead in just kind of dropping the previous love triangle (or quadrangle, if we consider Firestorm is a composite of two people). She's drawn by Rafael Kayanan.

Goblin Games

Our Nimble game continued last night with the party leaving the city of Brookdale Mill to rescue the local patron fae Moonblossom who had been kidnapped by a band of goblins. Following the goblin's trail, the party came upon another sign of their aggression: a caravan wagon overturned and at least partially looted. Frea found some loose gold pieces and a cowering halfling, who introduced himself as Shag Marigold. Marigold says he's an artificer traveling to Ervessos to work for the nobility. He was robbed of a manastone, and the oxen that pulled his wagon was chased off.

The party promises to get him back the manastone, if they can (though not the gold). Aelarion used his Naturecraft to figure out the goblins' trail. It was a good thing he was so skilled, too, because the goblins had laid false trails that led to pit traps. The party found the ox in one!

Further into the woods, they came upon a ridge, and they heard raucous laughter. A stealthy reconnoiter revealed a group of goblins playing a "dodge ball" sort of game with stones and one goblin on a giant rat. The party tried to sneak around the ridge and surround them, but they flubbed their stealth rolls and the goblins are alerted. 

The party still held the high ground, and the goblins were at a disadvantage. Aelarion, Tamarra, and Pan blasted the goblins like proverbial fish in a barrel with spells. G'Mbalisto and Frea charged in for melee. 

The rat rider managed to charge up the ridge and smacked Pan, knocking him prone. The other goblins hurled the rocks they had previously used in the game at the party.

In the end, the party wins with very little injury. They even manage to nab one goblin to interrogate. He confusingly asserts that the faerie is "a power source" that "Greb" plans to use for "the juggernaut."

------

This adventure is still mostly the intro adventure in the Nimble's GM's guide, though I'm mixing in some other elements to make it more interesting (to me, at least!). We're still getting used to the system. Though its lighter on paper, combat is still taking us about as long as 5e. Of course, we had 10 years' experience with 5e, so no doubt there's plenty of room for improvement here.

Wuxia State of Mind

Events have conspired to put in a wuxia mood what with the Wandering Blades draft, the impending release of the new Last Airbender movie, and the recent Criterion sale on Amazon where I picked up a couple of wuxia titles among other things. Then there's Wesley Chu's wuxia-inspired fantasy novel, The Art of Prophecy. I've been listening to the audiobook.

Chu's book is interesting because it mixes the epic fantasy elements with the wuxia ones. The people of Zhuun have been training a prophesized champion to defeat the Eternal Khan and free them from the menace of the Katuia tribes and their steam-powered roving cities of the grasslands. The first problem is the champion, a fifteen year-old boy named Jian, hasn't really received the proper training. Instead, he's just grown up spoiled by luxury and self-importance. The elder "master war artist" Ling Taishi shows up to set things right, but she's just starting to make headway with the boy when the second problem drops: the Eternal Khan is killed while drunk by a random Zhuun soldier. 

With the prophecy busted, Jian is a political liability for the five Dukes of Zhuun and the delicate balance of power between them. Tiashi rescues the boy, and they both go on the run.

When while, the Katuia are thrown into chaos and the warrior Sali, decides to break tradition and delay her duty in order to try to find the only surviving member of her family. There's also the mad assassin Qisami thrown into the mix.

I like how Chu uses familiar wuxia elements but remakes them for a fantasy world. Instead of the wulin we have the lunar court as the society of martial artists, presumably related to the world's three moons and their seasonal cycles. Instead of "lightness kung fu" Tiashi's abilities are described as manipulating air with her spiritual energy. There are also the completely un-wuxia elements of the Steampunkish Katuia cities and their home grassland which is formed by gigantic blades of crash and a brittle crust of earth over a sea.

There are 2 more books in the series after this one, and I am interested in seeing where it goes. 

Wednesday Comics: DC, October 1985 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I'm looking at comics that were published on July 11, 1985.

Flash #350: Bates and Infantino/McLaughlin come to the end of Flash's run of 246 issues and over 25 years (in 2020, the series' legacy numbering was revived) abruptly with zero fanfare. I didn't see a single house ad heralding the series' end. The letter column suggests a rumor was going around fandom, though.

With Abra Kababra revealed as the true villain, the Rogue's must escape from a deathtrap he leaves them in. They wind up teaming up with Newbury and Flash to defeat the time traveling villain. The Flash realizes the identity of the future visitor inhabiting Newbury's body:  Iris Allen! It turns out her parents (in the future) were able to rescue her psyche upon her death in the past and have since cloned her a new body. "Newbury" reveals Abra Kadabra's juror tampering which gets Flash acquitted, and somehow, that restores public confidence in him. After all this, and with Barry Allen "dead," the Flash goes to the future to be with Iris. Everybody lives happily ever after--though since we've seen Crisis, we know it's only for a while.

I'd be interested in the origin of this arc and its resolution and whether it was always intended to end this way or it was modified for Crisis. This had the ingredients to make a great storyline. Taking a character to their lowest point always makes good drama: the "Born Again" arc in Daredevil will begin just 3 months from this issue's publication. Unfortunately, Bates's narrative still has a foot firmly planted in the 70s with its episodic nature and lack of resolve to really have Flash wallow in misery, while "Born Again" will become a defining story for the 80s. Further, the story fails to really wring the melodrama from the tale that would have surely been a part of an analogous arc in the Marvel 70s. Cheesy though it would have been, 70s Englehart (or whoever) would have had poor, mid-shattered Fiona Webb become a super-menace briefly, instead of just shuffling her off-stage. At least that would have been interesting! Infantino, unfortunately, is not really the artist for the over-the-top emotion that sort of 70s Marvel-style storytelling would have required. (I think a review of his 70s work at Marvel would support that, but maybe I'm forgetting something).

Some might say these differences are just Marvel vs. DC, but I would argue given the stuff being published in a number of DC titles (Swamp Thing and New Teen Titans, just to name two), it isn't so much DC as perhaps DC's approach to their oldest, core characters, and whether this is due to a failure of creativity or editorial vision, I can't say.

DC Spotlight #1: This was a free promo giveaway, but there are a few interesting things about it. One, it has a nice cover by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Another is that the series it plugs aren't the ongoing series of any of their marquee heroes, outside of Green Lantern (which at this point, isn't your Super Friends Green Lantern). Instead, Firestorm, the Teen Titans, and the Outsiders are plugged, giving an indication of where the comic shop fan interest in DC was at. We do get a page on the upcoming Pozner/Hamilton Aquaman limited series, and some Frank Miller Batman book. Also, this issue is technically the first appearance of the Watchmen, though of course, not in-story, in the illustration accompanying the text piece on the upcoming Moore/Gibbons limited series.

Legion of Super-Heroes #15: After introducing the new Legionnaires last issue, Levitz and LaRocque/Mahlstedt sideline them this issue as they real just serve as bait for Dr. Regulus to lure the Legion into a trap. Sun Boy takes his foe on in one-on-one combat. Though it's a tough fight, Sun Boy wins through creative use of his flight ring. 

Meanwhile on Shanghalla, Timber Wolf pays tribute to his fallen comrade, the Karate Kid. He pledges to fulfill the Kid's last wishes by planting a flower at the Sacred Stones of Lythyl. At the Time Institute, Brainiac ruminates over the (historical for him) death of Supergirl.

Amethyst #10: Interesting cover by Colon. His art in the rest of the issue (or perhaps it's Kesel's inks) seems rushed and sketchier than the usual art on this series. We reach the conclusion of the conflict with the Ancients over the fate of Gemworld. As the creatures exert all their influence to destroy the world, Amethyst brokers a deal where they siphon excess energy all the time instead of reaping it in a world's destruction, allowing the worlds to "pay rent." Meanwhile on Earth, Carnelian has found Dark Opal's broach and intends to use it to gain power.

Batman #387: Moench and Mandrake bring Flash Rogue's Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang to Gotham. The two at first discuss teaming up, but after Batman thwarts their first robbery, and members of Black Mask's False Face Society looking for someone new to "hench" fall under the hypnotic sway of Mirror Master, the two villains are as much out to get each other as the Caped Crusader and friends. In fact, after the Mirror Master barely escapes Bullock and Robin, he receives a boomerang from the Captain made from his own will-zapping mirror tech. 

Arak Son of Thunder #49: The series reaches its penultimate issue with Arak's final showdown with Angelica. She's revealed as being behind the dragon in the Canton harbor. She's after the elixir of immortality she steals from Mu-Lan's grandfather. Mu-Lan, like Haakon, doesn't survive this issue. They are on a ship smashed by the dragon. Our heroes do a lot of fighting, but they would have likely shared the same fate had not Mu-Lan's grandfather summoned a dragon spirit to do battle with Angelica's monster. He also traps Angelica within a magic mirror, which Arak smashes with his tomahawk.

Omega Men #31: The cover proclaims this as a Crisis tie-in, and it does acknowledge that the Crisis is occurring, but that's really about it. The group of Omega Men we've been following attempt to save an ailing Viathan with travelers in pods in its belly, while Artin and Green Man try to save Elo. Klein and McManus get around to showing us what the Vega System is up too. The Tamaranians mourn the supposed deaths of the group we've been following, and Harry Hokum strikes a deal with Doc, Shlagen, and the rest for cooperation against the remnants of the Spider Guild.

Red Tornado #4: Busiek and Infantino/McLaughlin bring the limited series to a close. Red Tornado confronts the Construct, and it doesn't go well. While the Construct thinks he has the android defeated and spends his time gloating to Kathy, Reddy is rebuilding and infiltration the Construct's mental domain. By force of will and tough questions that shake the Construct's resolve, Red Tornado wins the day. In the aftermath, he embraces his found family and his newfound humanity.

I feel like the more abstract Infantino/McLaughlin art works for this issue in a way it didn't always work in Flash. It probably won't be to everyone's taste, but it reminded me a bit of Alex Nino. It's too bad it wasn't in the service of a story that really played to its strengths for the whole run.

Star Trek #19: We get a Chekov-centric story from the ST:TMP era written by Walter Koenig himself with at by Dan Spiegle. It isn't the best story we've gotten in this series, but still more Trekian than most of the comics previous licensors Marvel and Gold Key put out. Chekov is feeling guilty over the Enterprise's inability to rescue another vessel and inadvertently incites a portion of the crew to mutiny. made worse because Enterprise is out of control and on a collision course with an asteroid. All is not at seems, though, and manipulation by a hidden alien species is responsible at least in part for the crew's behavior. Chekov shakes off the psychic mind games in time to save the day. The aliens decide to make friends instead of manipulating others.

Super Powers #2: The Kupperberg and Kirby/Theakston toyetic series continues with Green Arrow, Red Tornado, and Hawkman sent to New York to deal with one of Darkseid's seeds of doom. They tussle with Kalibak and get sent back in time to the Age of Dinosaurs. Some of the dinos escape to the modern era and Martian Manhunter and Aquaman have to help deal with them. Martian Manhunter also confronts Darkseid in his secret base, but Darkseid holds him off with a bluff.

Superman #412: Nice cover by Janson. On the inside, Bates and Swan/Williamson continue the "Clark Kent--Fired" story. While Clark goes to the unemployment office and reconnects with Steve Lombard, Superman continues to try to do good while worrying about his sanity. Luthor advances his plan, setting these mysterious hi-tech staves in the ground around Metropolis. After Superman experiences an illusion where he fights with Luthor and punches right through his chest, killing his foe and dooming Metropolis to nuclear holocaust as Luthor's battlesuit explodes, he is fully convinced he's losing his mind.

When the Crowdfunding Rewards Arrive

 With starting our new campaign in Nimble and life in general, I just haven't got around to giving the attention I'd like to to crowdfunding rpg products that have been arriving. 

Two Little Mice have been busy lately and I got the physical occupy of Outgunned: Superheroes (I've had the pdf for a while) and the drafts of the Twilight Sword material. The former is the "action flick" (campaign book) for the Outgunned action movie rpg for cinematic supers. The latter is their Legend of Zelda-inspired fantasy rpg. Both look good, and I'm interested in seeing the rules implementation in both of them, more than I think either will be something I will play any time soon, admittedly. I'm always interested in rules lite-ish supers games, and I'm like to compared Twilight Sword to the similar jrpg-inspired Legends of Akeroth.

What I have spent a little bit of time reading over is the plain text draft of Wandering Blades, a wuxia rpg. Wuxia (sort of like supers) is a genre where I haven't found the system that I think perfect captures what I want to see in such a game. Wandering Blades looks pretty simple (which is a plus), but also flavorful.

These aren't the only crowdfunding rewards I haven't really given a thorough read, I'm said to say. If only these things would arrive at the moment I had maximum interest in them and time to engage with them!