A Gathering Storm - Frank Mentzer's IM1 Immortals Storm, Immortals Set, & Moorcockian Mythology

""The storm-stuff is not matter as we know it, and beyond Immortal control," the Hierarch sighs, "I fear we are doomed."

It appeared only a few weeks ago — a swirling gray mass of incalculable size. And in its center, an eye. A humanoid eye. Now the storm threatens the very era of Immortal rule.

The growing maelstrom emits a message to the Hierarchs. But what does it mean? Can it help save this realm of existence? Is there time to save this realm?

This first Immortal adventure pits your party against the multiverse in a desperate struggle to find the essence of life. This adventure is nothing like you've ever played before."



 So since the beginning of the year sale is on at Drivethrurpg again. DM Steve decided to get me an early 'New Year' present, brand new copy of the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia. And of course the players wanted in on the action?! But thumbing through it has brought up immortals again?! 

Never let it be said that we don't have a wicked sense of humor, & recently when DM Steve decided to get me Christmas gift of D&D Rules Cyclopedia (Basic) then things came around for us. Now one of the things to know about D&D Rules Cyclopedia (Basic)  is the fact that it has a very basic introduction to the immortal's path from  BECMI Dungeons & Dragons.  But if you know about Frank Mentzer's Immortals Box set then you know exactly what the immortals are actually capable of. 

See unlike other folks I believe that the Mystara & other planes immortals are the biggest 'cosmic pain's in the arse' in the entire multiverse & planes. The reason that I say this is reading through Frank Mentzer's IM1 Immortals Storm & Tim Brannan's Immortals set commentary here.  IM1 Immortals Storm uses an alternative Earth  New York & Chicago respectively as part of the adventure plot. And as a DM I had a group of young & inexperienced immortals show up on this Earth to 'fix' the storm. The PC's at the time were 'gods of Earth' & high level adventurers turned gods ala Primal Order rpg book. We can see immortals barging into the local time space continuum to solve an ongoing problem. And this is after we get the immortals having a 'grand tour' of  the elemental plane of fire, the home plane of the tonals, the home plane of the notions, and the elemental plane of earth. 
This was prior to the fact that the PC's had encountered the young upstart immortals before & within DM Steve's campaign. And they were thrown out of that region of the edges of Mystara's planes. The PC's returned the favor by banishing the immortals from their Earth. But what happened to the campaign events of IM1?! Now two years  before starting my Cha'alt Godbound game DM Steve left me up to my neck in it here. Recently there's been a bit of a Strombringer rpg boom  that's been on going at our collective table top. And last night DM Steve brought up this unresolved game?! And another question that's been bothering me. If evil cosmic artifacts such as the Black Sword exist within both BECMI & AD&D first edition are any immortals or gods ever safe?! Why is this question immortant?! Because of the nature of the Black Sword entity or is it entities according to the Michael Moorcock Multiverse Wiki; "The Black Sword is a cosmic archetype, able to exist in any universe in almost any form. It is the weapon of the Eternal Champion, but it is not always borne by him or her. As the name suggests, it most often takes the form of a massive black runesword. The Black Sword is alive, fully sentient and malevolent. It has a will of its own and will often disobey the wishes of its wielder.

The Black Sword devours the souls of its victims, and can even kill gods. It exists in the Higher Realms as creatures of Chaos, and can partially manifest as black-bladed swords or other weapons (such as Jerry Cornelius' Needle Gun or the Banning Gun) on the material plane.

The Black Sword has been called by many names in its different manifestations across the Multiverse, including Stormbringer, Mournblade/Ravenbrand, Kanajana, the Cold Sword, the Dragon Sword, and Murakamo-No-Tsurugi (Japanese for Sword of the Gathering Clouds).

Though the Black Sword is a being of Chaos, it seems to be an instrument of the Balance, akin to the Runestaff and the Horn of Fate. This is likely because in some cryptic way, the Black Sword and the Eternal Champion are one.

Lucifer has also claimed to be one with the Black Sword."

So is any god or immortal really safe?! Somehow I don't think so because we have various magic swords & artifacts floating around the multiverse not to mention the fact that Elric himself appears in AD&D 1st edition of Dieties & Demigods. 

It means that there are assasins out on the planes with the equilvent of loaded guns capable of killing gods. Let that sink in for a moment, & at any moment the entire works of a universe could comedown around the ears of the immortals or gods. Allowing both the lords of Entropy & Chaos to take on far more terrority then they originally were allowed. And yes I know that Frank Mentzer is going to contact me & give me a tongue lashing about the fact that he had specifically had separated BECMI, B/X, & OD&D from his immortals. But even the all powerful can fall to the minions & agents of evil. But what happens when even they need help?! And is that the sound of distant thunder?!