Ricca was a Mid-South Sea island nation that acts as a port of rest for many vessels, because it is near a number of important trade routes. The demonic Claw was an absolute ruler of the island. He had a great castle on top of the island's tallest peak. The castle overlooks a number of small villages.
| The Mind Control Jewel Of The Claw |
The Claw maintained order using a mystical jewel that amplified his telepathic abilities. He used his powers to create an elaborate system of rewards and punishments. The subjects that pleased him received vivid, euphoric dreams, while the subjects that displeased him were plagued with equally vivid nightmares. The jewel also allowed him to monitor his subjects' thoughts and curtail dissent before it got out of control.
The Claw was eventuallly forced off Ricca, and when a pair of American adventurers stole the jewel, he lost control of his subjects. What happened to Ricca afterwards is unknown.
Ricca In The Modern World Of The OSR
Right after the War years of 1945 the island nation never quite made it into the modern world & now has drifted into the lime light as a tourist haven with a very dark undercurrent. The place is one of numerous hidden dangers in its subtropical local within the South China Seas.
With tough ecomonic times the place has become a haven for many pirate outfits, mercenary operations, gun trafficking, & the ugly specter of human slavery.
With tough ecomonic times the place has become a haven for many pirate outfits, mercenary operations, gun trafficking, & the ugly specter of human slavery.
The Island nation is surrounded by deep ocean canyons & swift currents. Legends speak of numerous dragons of the sea & far worse hiding in canyons & valleys were no man may venture.
Today the island nation is one of the chief employers of some of the flashest mercenary outfits in all of the world. Recca is a place of stark contrasts on the one hand it is a thorn in the side of the Chinese government.Yet on the other it is also one of their chief factional arenas of commerce & bleeding high technology in the world.
For those in the know Recca is one of the best employers for the so called Stepping Stones Program. A risky venture in dimensional & space exploration that will put Recca on the leading edge of the highly renewable energy sources, explorations of other worlds, & astro physics. To name a few. All with Chinese backing & Western technology. Yet Ricca is a place that can't seem to escape the specter of its past..
For those in the know Recca is one of the best employers for the so called Stepping Stones Program. A risky venture in dimensional & space exploration that will put Recca on the leading edge of the highly renewable energy sources, explorations of other worlds, & astro physics. To name a few. All with Chinese backing & Western technology. Yet Ricca is a place that can't seem to escape the specter of its past..
The world at large has mostly forgotten the mysterious & awesome ruler of Ricca. The so called Claw who ruled the place with an iron fist from 1939 right through the occult wars of 1955. His activities are still shrouded in mystery to this day. Only recently has the files of the Banzai Institute become more open to the public.
The Claw What We Know
The ruler of the Pacific island nation of Ricca, the Claw is the ultimate villain, often called the God of Hate by his own people. The Claw came into power through numerous criminal activities, often leaving no trace of his actions and disappearing with the aid of his giant boring vehicle, which can tunnel through solid rock. He can make himself any size he wishes, towering over Manhattan when he first came to the U.S., where he would encounter his greatest foe -Daredevil. He has other ill-defined abilities as well which are dependent on the phases of the moon.
Over the years, the Claw faced a number of opponents, which included (in chronological order) - Jerry Morris, MajorCarl Tarrant, Daredevil, the Ghost and Rocky X. The Ghost was the longest-running opponent of them all, fighting the Claw for twenty issues.
In the Rocky X stories, Claw had left the Earth during WWII by tricking the Nazis into building him a rocket. He went to the planet Zylmarx and for decades built up an invasion force to bring with him to conqueror the Earth. His plans are foiled by Rocky X and his allies.
The Claw & Ricca In The OSR
The Claw is basically an 12th level Wizard /8th Level Carcosian Sorcerer/ Lich Thing with a nation to back his power mad schemes. He has been using the island nation for years.He has very strong psionic abilities. Mental domination is among one of his chief powers & he can literally dominate a mind from half a world away.
Using a combination of Zylmarxian technology & Earth techniques he has been mapping the so called cracks in reality which follow the ley line patterns of Forbidden Mythos Black Magic & other unholy sciences. He & his team created the basics of Project Stepping Stone rather then risking the lives of his own men. The claw farms out the exploration work to other folks willing to put their lives on the line. The claw is looking for something but what isn't clear. There have been numerous missions since the 90s & some of the most incredible technology & finds have been locked away for decades. There has been a flurry of recent missions & jumps. Ricca is hiring for something big but why is not clear at present. Caution is advised when working with the Claw however Ricca & The Claw are two perfect foils for a game of High Caliber Adventure. They are perfect for pulp weirdness in a modern day comic book style setting. They've got everything that a dungeon master might want. Great story hooks, undeath, mysticism, & high weirdness. The Claw might be a discipline of Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, but I doubt it. He is perhaps a demigod of hate within his own right. He's been killed, destroyed, etc. numerous times but the Claw isn't easy to put down at all. Working for him however would be a great lead in for a complete adventure especially getting under the surface of Ricca society.
Using a combination of Zylmarxian technology & Earth techniques he has been mapping the so called cracks in reality which follow the ley line patterns of Forbidden Mythos Black Magic & other unholy sciences. He & his team created the basics of Project Stepping Stone rather then risking the lives of his own men. The claw farms out the exploration work to other folks willing to put their lives on the line. The claw is looking for something but what isn't clear. There have been numerous missions since the 90s & some of the most incredible technology & finds have been locked away for decades. There has been a flurry of recent missions & jumps. Ricca is hiring for something big but why is not clear at present. Caution is advised when working with the Claw however Ricca & The Claw are two perfect foils for a game of High Caliber Adventure. They are perfect for pulp weirdness in a modern day comic book style setting. They've got everything that a dungeon master might want. Great story hooks, undeath, mysticism, & high weirdness. The Claw might be a discipline of Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, but I doubt it. He is perhaps a demigod of hate within his own right. He's been killed, destroyed, etc. numerous times but the Claw isn't easy to put down at all. Working for him however would be a great lead in for a complete adventure especially getting under the surface of Ricca society.
| This castle overlooks the capital of Ricca. It was once the domain of the Claw pre WWII. Now a national monument this place is said to still to this day to be haunted by the ghost of the victims of the Claw! |
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