Another OSR Campaign Idea - Misty Isles of the Eld By Chris Kutalik & Robert Parker From The Hydra Cooperative Vs. Elven Powers of Dark Albion

So I was away a good portion of the day today with my father at the doctors in my home town. There really wasn't much that I could do and I decided to get away from my old school D&D books and the OSR material to help me get some perspective on this new arch for the Warlords of the Outer Worlds campaign. I was thinking about mixing in old school D&D material, a couple of favorite OSR titles, and a bit of science fantasy. Alright more like a lot of science fantasy in this case with the post apocalyptic theme turned up a bit.
For my version of Russia in Warlords, the human race isn't at the top of the food chain of dominance anymore. I kept thinking about the classic Thundarr The Barbarian cartoon from 'Eighty One' all day. In each and every episode we find out that the human race has ceased to be top of the food chain. That aspect I'm keeping with mankind huddled in technologically advanced city states kept working by almost magick relic technologies.

The Fey  races have returned to the wastelands & wilderness; along with the other mythological races and their sinister progenitors. Where the PC's are right now is right in the cross hairs of a metaphorical stand off as to greater powers are in a protracted cold war over the human population. The Eld and Elves of Dark Albion fame have been in a bloody & very dangerous hot/cold  war over the humans as resources. They're literally fighting  over the bodies, and souls of the local humans. Part of the greater problem is the fact that the humans willingly go to the elves because that's what's been done for generations.  The guidelines that have been given in Cults of Chaos make this very easy to fit into a campaign. It also makes them foes for the fickle and very dangerous Eld.

The two Elven powers mine the dreams of the human population, ravage their souls, & feed off their emotions all of the while dealing with them as resources and slaves. Warfare takes the form  of weird poetry readings, magickal story contests, and high hunts where humans are released and two teams of hunters go after and hunt down the prey. All of this is done in the most alien and civilized terms but it is still warfare none the less.


The humans deal with ancient gods, cut deals with other demons and wizards, and try to forget about the high handed ritual combat going on in the Veil & The Beyond around the corner from reality. Sometimes these wars split reality and the locals are caught in the cross fire. Meanwhile adventurers and wastelands pick up the scraps and relics left behind by the combatants. High Elves & fairies try to protect the humans but ultimate are just as alien as the others but the odd half elves or fey touched are produced now and then. These beings are often drawn into the clutches of the elves because magick and chaos sings in their blood. The siren call is often too strong for them. They are taken by cults & often end up on the sacrifice block or worse.



Magick mutation, and chaos leave its wake many mutants,monsters, and horror stories waiting for adventurers to blunder into communities touched by these beings. Entire villages and isolated societies have had generations of contact with the various Elven and Eld power blocks. Many of the traditional Russian gods and priests take a very dim view of these alien interlopers. Shamans and priests of law often bring down purges or hunts to such places with divine assistance. But still the roots of chaos run far too deep to cause any real extinction in such ancient practices.


As for the Eld they find all of this terribly amusing in a cold blooded and calculating way. They're fickle and highly dangerous nature are a match for the Elven powers of Dark Albion. The Chess game of theirs continues apace with no real end in sight for now.


This is simply another wrinkle I'm working on for my Tuesday night game. Dark Albion's Cults of Chaos isn't out quite yet but Misty Isles of the Eld from The Hydra Cooperative is currently available.
This idea occurred to me the other day when I was going over my notes for the Eld Vs the Astral Raiders blog entry I did a couple of days back.