OSR Matters & The Tightening of the Noose With Campaign Round Up - A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords & OSR Deep Dive Session II Report

"The countryside is rife with the calls of bloodshed & murder. The world we know is coming to an end. Goblins, pig faced orcs, & worse have come to take the world of man! The skies cry tears of purple laced destruction as a world of savagery & sorcery  merges with the Earth we know. A world not unlike our own. Gods & their projeny may spell our  doom or this Earh prime material salvation! "




Lady of Hats goblin illustration. 

Sorry I'm a bit late with today's blog post, I was reminded of my childhood because of the brocilis that seems to be rattling around my chest this weekend. But on the up swing my players got to tangle with a bunch of orcs & goblins led by a half orge slaver named Breaulus on Friday. Now this is for my Godbound/Cha'alt crossover campaign. These orc warriors, goblins raiders, are led by hulking humanoids who are taking full advantaget that the Cha'alt rift is causing in a small California town. These guys were rounding up residents & modern Earth refugees to take back to the slave pits of a Sword & Sorcery Greyhawk for sale. Many of the goblins were hopped up on Red Zoth a combat drug that turns its user into a fearless machine. The user gets +2 dex & +1 strength but the down side is that it makes the user a bit of a loon -1 on wisdom. Not that bad for goblins but humans it can burst their hearts after 2 weeks of straight use. Red zoth is made by taking pure zoth burying it in demon dung & sand for two days then letting the dung boil off under the alien suns of Cha'alt.


Tim Truman artwork from the classic Half Orge
Dragon magazine articles. Gary Gygax himself wrote an article on half-ogre PCs in Dragon Magazine #29, with Roger Moore posting a follow-up expansion article in Dragon #73.

What the PC's weren't expecting was the appearance of Xno godbound & alien sungod of the green sun of Cha'alt. A two bit sun god & blow hard he was there to ensure the stready supply of slaves for his end of the operation. Things did not go well as my players ended up ganging up on him & he ended up trapped between planar spaces. This battle took up a good third of the night!
The PC's ended up tangling with a group of Cha'alt  Skeevers next & their mech. This gave the party a real headache. They ended up bluffing their way through & murdering  the mob of Skeevers. They were able to scare off the mech after the pilot failed a morale roll.  But what they don't know is that their good deed of recaucing the residence of this neighborhood has attracted more of the slavers forces attention. These include some rather nasty giants & Jotuns!
That's coming up next week! That's where we ended the party managed to free slaves & save folks!  Bearing in mind that the party of adventurers are not super heroes. These folks can & will die from time to time.


Why?! Well because I've been using  A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords as both guide & inspiration. The Slavers know that the Prime Material Earth is on the ropes. The Lovecraftian forces of Hyperborea are returning as the Cha'alt cross rift has opened up on the West Coast of California. Las Vegas, Nevada was where the first of Cha'alts forces & cults started to show up but lots of factions have jumped on board. This campaign takes place during early stages of  the time of Ragnarok when the Lovecraftian forces of darkness are trying to retake the surface world.
The PC's know that Fuchsia Malaise has been winding its way through the underworld of Nevada & California.  The drug has many potential effects that the wizards of the slavers are very interested in. The potential for profits are incredible but the risk is monumental. 

There are now reports of tall, proud, cruel  & very dangerous armed soldiers coming from South America, Mexico, & parts of Texas. The PC's have heard of this army of Hyperboreans from some of the locals of California. They lay waste wherever they travel & leave only ash in their wake. Some of the mauaraders of evil wizard name Chang Fruc of the Evil Eye of Thrus have been found on pikes after encountering them. 

These are not the weak & tepid Hyperboreans that have suffered in the face of Astonshing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg's Green Death. No these are the fanatical murderous & crual horde of AS&SH rpg's golden age given form & bloody purpose! The age of R'lyeh is coming & all will bow in the face of cruel insane alien gods!