Across The Gulf - A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David "Zeb" Cook & Castles & Crusades Greyhawk

 "It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids—as hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!" 

A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David "Zeb" Cook is set firmly within the Greyhawk region of Highport, a city south of the Wild Coast, in the Pomarj — a peninsula overrun by humanoids. Right out of the gate we've got the humanoid tribes and forces being incredibly organized & coordinated. And this goes back into the fact that A1 is perfect for bridging the gap between dungeon exploration and solid cooperative game play by the players. For 1981 or so A1 was a turning point in our campaigns with my uncle as DM. The humanoid armies of Chaos and Despair were on the move. Let's get A1 Slave pits of the Undercity's history out of the way;"A1: "Slave Pits of the Under City" (1980), by David "Zeb" Cook is the first of the "A" Slave Lords adventures. It was published in October 1980" 
The humanoid armies are highly organized and this recalls the  solid Sword & Sorcery style affair of A1  in the vein of a Robert Howard Conan story. There's lots & lots of Orientalist Hobgoblins throughout the A series. 

The Hobgoblin mercenary forces have been sent forth by the Orge Magi khanate and want to take slavers on behalf of the ruling Slavers council. These forces had crossed over from Castles & Crusades Mythos Earth
And all of the action is set around the fact that the PC's are going to get dragged into  the  middle of the conflict with the 'slavers' in the Drachensgrab Hills fortress in A2. This of course ties back into what we discussed yesterday on the blog here. 

Throughout A1 the PC's are going to have to cooperate because of the fact that the humanoids are of a slightly higher technological axoim and hit the skids at a late Roman Empire. So there are shades of Adventurer, Conqeuror, King here. We've got the party struggling through monsters, several puzzles, and perhaps a side quest in A1. 
Dungeon #221 (December 2013) contains the adventure " Lowdown in Highport" and this is the prequel adventure to A1. Here we get an overview of the machinations of the humanoid forces that come to dominate Highport. Again the Slavers series is firmly set within Greyhawk. 
All of these events are set firmly within Greyhawk meaning that we have the perfect blend to present the beginnings of a Castles & Crusades Sword and Sorcery Greyhawk campaign set within Highport. Since there's very little written about Highpoint its the perfect opportunity for the DM to make the city thier own. They could return to it after the 'Slavers' series to rebuild. 
But why would the humanoids descend on highport? And the answer is the human resources found within the city. Both as a slave and food source for the coming days. The Slavers crossing from one plane to another descending on highport smacks of desparation. 
Hobgoblins and the humanoid armies are perfectly suited to raiding the humans and then dominating the lands around them. There's plenty of time for adventurers to get way in over thier heads. Especially since the humanoids dominate  the Drachensgrab Hills 

 The humanoid tribes of   the Drachensgrab Hills pave the way for the hobgoblin armies with orcs, flinds, and gnolls playing thier part in the take over. They get thier share of human slaves and chattle.. 

In The Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk Campaign Setting The Battle Against The Slavers Continues In A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade By Harold Johnson & Tom Moldvay

 The battle against the slavers continues! You and your fellow adventurers have defeated the slavers of Highport, but you have learned of the existence of another slaver stronghold, and you have decided to continue the attack. But beware! Only the most fearless of adventurers could challenge the slavers on their own ground, and live to tell of it!

Secret of the Slaver's Stockade was the Summer of 82's most dangerous module for me where five PC's died and the spider cult wasn't doing resurrections. A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade puts the party in the middle of the conflict with the 'slavers' in the Drachensgrab Hills & one of their fortresses

"Secrets of the Slavers Stockade was published by TSR in 1981 as a thirty-two page booklet with an outer folder, and was written by Harold Johnson and Tom Moldvay.^[7] The cover artwork by Jim Roslof features a drawing of two hobgoblins, one of which is a sergeant with a leashed boggle, and a party of adventurers."

The entire module smacks of a solid Sword & Sorcery style affair in the vein of a Robert Howard Conan story. There's lots & lots of Orientalist Hobgoblins throughout A2. This is one of those modules that has a strange other wilderness feel that ties in with the pulpy corruption of T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil. This makes A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade perfect for using with a Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign. The fact is that hobgoblins are a perfect up tier monster from the traditional 'pig faced orcs' that most starter AD&D first edition adventures seem rife with. I've always thought of Dungeons & Dragon hobgoblins as semi demonic left over monsters from the Pre- Biblical Flood years who had a Mongolian style empire ruled by elite 'demonic Orge Magi wizard tyrants'. The society's Fall came with the Flood & they've never quite recovered.


I’m using material the playtests version of the Heroic Fantasy & Barbarian Conquerors Collection. Now given some of aspects of A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade its easy to see that the technological levels late Roman Empire of ACK's easily though out the module. Its quite easy to see that the PC's are going to have several adventure messes through out the module with some side puzzles & minor side quests. There are several locations in A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade module that could be seized as holdings by the PC's. They'll need to leave behind trusted hirelings to control them. These are perfect areas to act as tribal ins for warriors to breech into the lands that the hobgoblins have seized control of. These wildernesses areas of Drachensgrab Hills seem the type of areas that have been infected with the Chaos energies of the Temple of Elemental Evil. There are tons of monsters that seem to dip on the pulp bucket; things such as the the boggle, the cloaker, the haunt, and the phantom. These would later feature in the Monster Manual II & could be used to highlight adventure encounter to foreshadow the next adventure
Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords.


A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade is one of those modules that's completely centered & plugged into the Greyhawk campaign setting's wilderness. The adventure features an overland wilderness  of 110 miles (177 kilometers) through the Drachensgrab Hills  and offers plenty of opportunities for adventurers to get in way in over their heads. So could the monsters of  'the Drachensgrab Hills '  appear in Hyperborea of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Second Edition?There's a perfect opportunity to connect the tunnels of the dungeon in  A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade unto AS&SH Underborea. The cloakers of A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade's tribes might be perfect dimensional travelers who are taking advantage of the chaos of the Temple of Elemental Evil to raid both worlds!


The material in the playtests version of the Heroic Fantasy & Barbarian Conquerors Collection  really has several systems that allow one to add classic TSR adventures into home campaigns. These include several to help flesh out the plunder, tribal status, & how it affects both the party & community. A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade remains an old favorite because its very easy to adapt as an adventure to many classic AD&D first edition games as well as D&D first edition with some adaption on the dungeon master.


Dungeon stairs by Erol Otus, from AD&D module A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade

"Slave Pits of Hyperborea" An Alternative Commentary on Adapting A1: "Slave Pits of the Under City" By David 'Zeb' Cook To Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea

"A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity: It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids—as hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!"


So tonight let's talk about the classic A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity by David 'Zeb' Cook from 1980. "A1: "Slave Pits of the Under City" (1980), by David "Zeb" Cook is the first of the "A" Slave Lords adventures. It was published in October 1980."  Look if your gonna go for this classic module then go for the 'Against the Slave Lords'  2013 collection of this classic series of modules. This collection has AO Danger At Dark Shelf Quarry; "A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry -- that you can use to kick off an AD&D campaign that pits a group of adventurers against the evil Slave Lords! Module A0, designed for levels 1-3, sets the stage for events that unfold throughout the remainder of the "A" series."


Now let's say that the Slavers are not exactly satisfied with the world of Greyhawk. They've been looking into their crystal balls & have spied the world of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.  For some years now they've been secreting spies, thieves, assassins, etc. among the populations of Briagand's Bay, the captial city,etc. The first adventure goes off just like it does normally with the events of the A0: Danger at Darkshelf Quarry happening normally getting the first level adventurers in on the Slaver's action on Hyperborea. Why?! Because it sets up the party for the further dangers of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity by David 'Zeb' Cook. Even though these were originally tourament adventures the interior of A1 has lots of adventure connective tissue.

Drop the usual AD&D suspects unless you want to mix & match an AS&SH & AD&D party of adventurers.

A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity serves it purpose & it serves it well introducing the Slaver's goblin forces amid the ruined city of Freeport which might well become an outlying port from Brigand's bay. The guts of the module stays the same but the exterior is about to undergo a radical transformation. 
With a bit of handwaving by the dungeon master Freeport becomes a raided seaport with the temple & sewer ruins which have been infested by the forces of the slavers. They carry with them the taint of foul black magicks! Their forces of orcs are the servants of a demon pig god after all. The whole module takes on a more alien feel with the inclusion of the Aspis.



Othewordly Miniatures orcs are perfect to mess up the adventurers.

To run this properly the dungeon master is going to need a large core group of players. I would include a fair amount of extra PC's for the player's they will need it. Should they actually manage to survival it will be a miracle. How are the slavers able to opperate on Hyperborea & travel there? The ships of the Slavers have potions of space mead to protect their forces from the ravages of planar travel.
A really good way of joining Hyperborea & A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity is to take AS&SH's  The Rats In The Wall & Other Perils to join it up with the events unfolding in A1. This makes the module co oped into the world of Hyperborea without taking away from the module series events in Slaver series. 


The forces of the Slavers have probably been operating on Hyperborea for years. The various 'exotic' humans of Hyperborea would certainly be a novelty among the jaded royals of Greyhawk. Not to mention a welcome change of menu in certain sections of Greyhawk. Greyhawk in this style of campaign is going to be a gritty & fallen Sword & Sorcery location. The horror factor is going to be amped up & A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade, A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, and A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords are certainly going to speak to this in spades! 


We'll certainly open this series up more as we progress into the Slavers series & collection as the month continues if we've got the interest of you the readers! 

Bloody Wheels Within Wheels "Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk" Part Eight Commentary - A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David 'Zeb' Cook

"The heroes have entered the dungeons & ruins of The  Temple of Elemental Evil. Great deeds of valor & heroism were accomplished, & riches were taken from the belly of the beast. The greatest evil that Greyhawk has known has been vanquished back to the darkness of the Underworld & Abyss! "


"The horror & depravity has ended. Now the PC's can retire to a life of barbarian pleasure & decadence. Actually not quite!? "First of all you've got one of the main city states now a time haunted ruin! The city-state of Verbobonc  is going to take years to tame. You've also got tons of humanoid raider tribes now dealing violence to the  interior of the heart of the the central Flanaess . 

So given the tribes & options of The Heroic Fantasy Handbook play test document . What other possible deviltry could happen to Greyhawk? T1 Temple of Elemental Evil is going to take the PC's up the level ladder from one to nine.  Now given the amount of grief left behind from the fall out from the humanoid raiders, more dungeon clean out, the marauding tribes, monsters, battles, & inter tribal warfare. Its conservatively going to take between five to ten years campaign time to mop up all of the blow back from the awakening of the Temple of Elemental Evil. This power vacuum is going to be filled by all kinds of inner tribal turmoil as well. 
Local events are going to keep the players too busy to notice the raids by slavers on the coastal population along the Sea of Gearnat from Onnwal to the Wild Coast. Well that is until the local lords come to the PC's for help!
That's right 'the Slave Lords' have slipped in while the PC's have been embroiled in the inter politics of barbarian tribal events! 
"It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids—as hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!"
The Slave Lords and their operations in the central and southwestern Flanaess are a perfect fit to bridge the gap into a coastal barbarian & raiders campaign. They'd take full advantage of the chaos of the fall of one of the major city states! "Slave Pits of the Undercity was published by TSR in 1980 as a twenty four page booklet, and was written by David Cook.^[3] The cover artwork by Jeff Dee features an illustration of two aspis fighting a party of adventurers (including a bearded female dwarf).^[4] The interior art was done by Dee, David S. LaForce, Jim Roslof, and Bill Willingham" 

Orc by Tim Truman  from D&D module X5: Temple of Death, TSR, 1983

The orc tribes from the Temple of Elemental Evil are going to be seeking employment & who better to go with then the next power block on Greyhawk. The fact is that in a 'Sword & Sorcery Greyhawk ' slavers are going to be a major power block raiding, taking slaves, causing organized violence.
Just the sort of thing that Adventurer, Conqueror, King's system excels at! If the PC's have gotten too powerful or to high of a level then its time to introduce the PC's children or legacy characters to take over in the family's tradition. Could the slavers have been funding the various dark magick cults, black wizard cabals, etc. behind the resurrection of the Temple of Elemental Evil this whole time? Why?! A simple power grab sets up & destabilizes the entire empire of Greyhawk from within.



So what does this have to do with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition ? There's always a connection according to some of my critics?! Well, that's a fair assessment but this time the connection isn't as obvious as it first appears.
The ant-like aspis of my version of Greyhawk have their own pulpy origins on Hyperborea & the Slavelords have been importing them onto Greyhawk across the Boreas winds disrupting their natural migration patterns.

So why use  A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David 'Zeb' Cook as campaign adventure bridge gap? Well because its the perfect module to use for what happened to many of the humanoid tribes after the fall of the Temple of Elemental Evil. This was a tip that I picked up reading over the commentary in the description of the module on Drivethrurpg yesterday;
"The Slave Lords are raiding along the Wild Coast and into nearby lands. The actual adventure is set in Highport, a city south of the Wild Coast, in the Pomarj — a peninsula overrun by humanoids. With that said, there's almost no detail on the adventure's locale, probably due to the its origins as a tournament. Instead, the details all focus on the two delves: a ruined temple and the city's sewers."

Tomorrow we'll be getting into more of the Hyperborean connection, alternative setting details on the movements of the Slavelords operations, & the focus of the Sword & Sorcery elements for dealing with this campaign. So stay tuned!

In The Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk Campaign Setting The Battle Against The Slavers Continues In A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade By Harold Johnson & Tom Moldvay

The battle against the slavers continues! You and your fellow adventurers have defeated the slavers of Highport, but you have learned of the existence of another slaver stronghold, and you have decided to continue the attack. But beware! Only the most fearless of adventurers could challenge the slavers on their own ground, and live to tell of it!


Secret of the Slaver's Stockade was the Summer of 82's most dangerous module for me where five PC's died and the spider cult wasn't doing resurrections. A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade puts the party in the middle of the conflict with the 'slavers' in the Drachensgrab Hills & one of their fortresses

"Secrets of the Slavers Stockade was published by TSR in 1981 as a thirty-two page booklet with an outer folder, and was written by Harold Johnson and Tom Moldvay.^[7] The cover artwork by Jim Roslof features a drawing of two hobgoblins, one of which is a sergeant with a leashed boggle, and a party of adventurers."

The entire module smacks of a solid Sword & Sorcery style affair in the vein of a Robert Howard Conan story. There's lots & lots of Orientalist Hobgoblins throughout A2. This is one of those modules that has a strange other wilderness feel that ties in with the pulpy corruption of T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil. This makes A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade perfect for using with a Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign. The fact is that hobgoblins are a perfect up tier monster from the traditional 'pig faced orcs' that most starter AD&D first edition adventures seem rife with. I've always thought of Dungeons & Dragon hobgoblins as semi demonic left over monsters from the Pre- Biblical Flood years who had a Mongolian style empire ruled by elite 'demonic Orge Magi wizard tyrants'. The society's Fall came with the Flood & they've never quite recovered.


I’m using material the playtests version of the Heroic Fantasy & Barbarian Conquerors Collection. Now given some of aspects of A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade its easy to see that the technological levels late Roman Empire of ACK's easily though out the module. Its quite easy to see that the PC's are going to have several adventure messes through out the module with some side puzzles & minor side quests. There are several locations in A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade module that could be seized as holdings by the PC's. They'll need to leave behind trusted hirelings to control them. These are perfect areas to act as tribal ins for warriors to breech into the lands that the hobgoblins have seized control of. These wildernesses areas of Drachensgrab Hills seem the type of areas that have been infected with the Chaos energies of the Temple of Elemental Evil. There are tons of monsters that seem to dip on the pulp bucket; things such as the the boggle, the cloaker, the haunt, and the phantom. These would later feature in the Monster Manual II & could be used to highlight adventure encounter to foreshadow the next adventure
Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords.


A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade is one of those modules that's completely centered & plugged into the Greyhawk campaign setting's wilderness. The adventure features an overland wilderness  of 110 miles (177 kilometers) through the Drachensgrab Hills  and offers plenty of opportunities for adventurers to get in way in over their heads. So could the monsters of  'the Drachensgrab Hills '  appear in Hyperborea of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea Second Edition?There's a perfect opportunity to connect the tunnels of the dungeon in  A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade unto AS&SH Underborea. The cloakers of A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade's tribes might be perfect dimensional travelers who are taking advantage of the chaos of the Temple of Elemental Evil to raid both worlds!


The material in the playtests version of the Heroic Fantasy & Barbarian Conquerors Collection  really has several systems that allow one to add classic TSR adventures into home campaigns. These include several to help flesh out the plunder, tribal status, & how it affects both the party & community. A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade remains an old favorite because its very easy to adapt as an adventure to many classic AD&D first edition games as well as D&D first edition with some adaption on the dungeon master.


Dungeon stairs by Erol Otus, from AD&D module A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade

Bloody Wheels Within Wheels "Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk" Part Eight Commentary - A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David 'Zeb' Cook

"The heroes have entered the dungeons & ruins of The  Temple of Elemental Evil. Great deeds of valor & heroism were accomplished, & riches were taken from the belly of the beast. The greatest evil that Greyhawk has known has been vanquished back to the darkness of the Underworld & Abyss! "


"The horror & depravity has ended. Now the PC's can retire to a life of barbarian pleasure & decadence. Actually not quite!? "
First of all you've got one of the main city states now a time haunted ruin! The city-state of Verbobonc  is going to take years to tame. You've also got tons of humanoid raider tribes now dealing violence to the  interior of the heart of the the central Flanaess .

So given the tribes & options of The Heroic Fantasy Handbook play test document . What other possible deviltry could happen to Greyhawk? T1 Temple of Elemental Evil is going to take the PC's up the level ladder from one to nine.  Now given the amount of grief left behind from the fall out from the humanoid raiders, more dungeon clean out, the marauding tribes, monsters, battles, & inter tribal warfare. Its conservatively going to take between five to ten years campaign time to mop up all of the blow back from the awakening of the Temple of Elemental Evil. This power vacuum is going to be filled by all kinds of inner tribal turmoil as well. 
Local events are going to keep the players too busy to notice the raids by slavers on the coastal population along the Sea of Gearnat from Onnwal to the Wild Coast. Well that is until the local lords come to the PC's for help!
That's right 'the Slave Lords' have slipped in while the PC's have been embroiled in the inter politics of barbarian tribal events!
"It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids—as hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!"

The Slave Lords and their operations in the central and southwestern Flanaess are a perfect fit to bridge the gap into a coastal barbarian & raiders campaign. They'd take full advantage of the chaos of the fall of one of the major city states!
"Slave Pits of the Undercity was published by TSR in 1980 as a twenty four page booklet, and was written by David Cook.^[3] The cover artwork by Jeff Dee features an illustration of two aspis fighting a party of adventurers (including a bearded female dwarf).^[4] The interior art was done by Dee, David S. LaForce, Jim Roslof, and Bill Willingham"

Orc by Tim Truman  from D&D module X5: Temple of Death, TSR, 1983

The orc tribes from the Temple of Elemental Evil are going to be seeking employment & who better to go with then the next power block on Greyhawk. The fact is that in a 'Sword & Sorcery Greyhawk ' slavers are going to be a major power block raiding, taking slaves, causing organized violence.
Just the sort of thing that Adventurer, Conqueror, King's system excels at! If the PC's have gotten too powerful or to high of a level then its time to introduce the PC's children or legacy characters to take over in the family's tradition. Could the slavers have been funding the various dark magick cults, black wizard cabals, etc. behind the resurrection of the Temple of Elemental Evil this whole time? Why?! A simple power grab sets up & destabilizes the entire empire of Greyhawk from within.



So what does this have to do with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition ? There's always a connection according to some of my critics?! Well, that's a fair assessment but this time the connection isn't as obvious as it first appears.
The ant-like aspis of my version of Greyhawk have their own pulpy origins on Hyperborea & the Slavelords have been importing them onto Greyhawk across the Boreas winds disrupting their natural migration patterns.

So why use  A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David 'Zeb' Cook as campaign adventure bridge gap? Well because its the perfect module to use for what happened to many of the humanoid tribes after the fall of the Temple of Elemental Evil. This was a tip that I picked up reading over the commentary in the description of the module on Drivethrurpg yesterday;
"The Slave Lords are raiding along the Wild Coast and into nearby lands. The actual adventure is set in Highport, a city south of the Wild Coast, in the Pomarj — a peninsula overrun by humanoids. With that said, there's almost no detail on the adventure's locale, probably due to the its origins as a tournament. Instead, the details all focus on the two delves: a ruined temple and the city's sewers."

Tomorrow we'll be getting into more of the Hyperborean connection, alternative setting details on the movements of the Slavelords operations, & the focus of the Sword & Sorcery elements for dealing with this campaign. So staytuned!