Sunday, November 20, 2011

Temple of Trax - A Herculoid Mega Dungeon !

If there is an episode of the Herculoids that basically screams mega dungeon its the 
Temple of Trax whose plot goes something like this ~ 
The Herculoids come upon the ruins of a lost civilization. When Zandor leaves with Zok, Tara is kidnapped and the others are attacked by gargoyle statues that have come to life. Zandor returns to help The Herculoids do battle with an ancient priest who intends to sacrifice Tara to the largest gargoyle, Trax.

Thousands of years years ago the planet Qusar was host to an ancient civilization called the Trax. They were step pyramid builders Even though  their technology wasn't above stone age ; there were very advanced for their age. By the time Zandor & company had their ruins the Trax had been in steady decline for thousands of years already. The Traxian empire had apparently at on time had thousands of humanoid servants & tribes from which they came from. 




The Trax As A Race 
The Trax as stated above were step pyramid builders. They were a humanoid mixture of insect or arachnids & humans perhaps gene spliced together by another more ancient mad race of aliens. They're odd eye sockets & mask like faces give them an eerie gargoyle like appearance. They appear reminiscent of ticks or certain types of deep sea creatures.
At their height of civilization on Quasar they appeared to be a very industrious race as well with miles of stone works & pyramids covering their valley empire.
They are well suited for working with stone as well. Their appearance suggests a low center of gravity. They sport 2 sets of arms as well as a set of low squat legs. Each arm has a set of manipulative claw like hands tipped with wicked nails. They sprout 2 sets of arms & an extensive reach. Each trax has a low center of gravity making it hard to knock them over in combat & giving them a posture suited for working with stone. 


Since the Trax are an insect like species they have built both extensive above ground &  below ground stone works. These works seem to go on for miles & sport many dead falls & pit traps. It is not know if the Trax are native to Quasar or from a distant star & have fallen into decline in the meantime. 
Traxian artifacts are considered bad luck by native Qusarians as evidence by some of Zandor's comments in the episode. 

There is some much not known about the Traxian way of life. They may communicate by telepathy or some other super science power. It is not known if they have a written language at all. The Trax may not be intelligent in any sense as we know it & only do things by instinct. 


Trax religion
The Trax perform human sacrifice & some type of ancestor worship. The largest of the Trax possibly their queen as well as being their god has native sacrifices made to it regularly. The Trax sacrifice travelers & way fares they capture as soon as they are captured!
 This has given their valleys an evil reputation that is richly deserved!

An example of  Traxian stone works. 
 Beware the ruins of the Trax lest they take you!


No image was available of a Trax because the photographer was sacrificed!
Traxian Warriors 
Frequency : Common (Around their valley rare else where.)
No appearing: 1-10 
Armor class : 5 
Move:9" 
Hit dice: 4+1 
% in lair : 30%
Treasure Type : Q 

No. Of Attacks : 2 
Damage/Attack: 1-10 
Special Attacks : Nil 
                                                            Special Defenses: 50% of remaining undetected within their city ruins.
Magic Resistance: Standard 

Intelligence: Low 
Alignment: Chaotic Evil  
Size: Large (9-12" tall) 
Psionic Ability: Nil 
Attack/Defense: Nil 
These are the standard Trax warriors whom are what remain of the once mighty Trax empire. The ruins are filled with the Trax graven images & idols. Any warrior may remain completely motionless & never be observed to move until its too late. 
The Trax attack with their slashing claws twice per round. They slice 1-10 damage. 
It has been speculated that the Trax kept their tribal slaves for both labor & food. Because of the truly alien nature of the Trax this is debatable & up to the individual dungeon master! 

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