Diving into the Arduin Underworld - OSR Commentary On Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By David A. Hargrave

  " Once again, Dave Hargrave presents a wealth of information concerning the Arduin campaign setting including the Gods of Arduin, overviews of 67 major/minor religions and detailed descriptions of the “Tri-Moon Cults”, “Brotherhood of Blood” and the “Church of HIM”!"

"Also featured are detailed biographies of Arduin’s most famous and notorious personalities including members of the infamous Black Lotus Society, Thieves & Assassins Guilds, Arduin Nobles and Major Siege Lords, Dream Weavers (a new player class) , notable personalities from the Arduin II campaign and famous Player Characters!" 

I've written about Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By David A. Hargrave before on this blog. Winds of Change is one of the most critical books on the  Arduin campaign. Why? Because of the fact that we  detailed biographies of Arduin’s most famous and notorious personalities including members of the infamous Black Lotus Society, Thieves & Assassins Guilds, Arduin Nobles and Major Siege Lords. We also we get the low down on the illegal drugs of Arduin which have ties to all of the major criminal organization described. 
We also get the low down on 'real world animals' and poisons of that these animals use. These poisons also have implications to assassinations and murders. 
These guilds and powers are intimitately connected to the royal families &  royals of Arduin. All of the above twist into the Black Lotus society & this secret organization is threaded throughout Arduin society. The point of religion which is central to the Arduin campaign setting & we get a very good overview of the gods. Religion is central to these power structures on Arduin. 
We also get two cults  on the cult of Him and 'The Brotherhood of Blood'. And the latter cult is infact one of the most dangerous and unquiet armies of undeath on Arduin. The Brotherhood of Blood is a part of the goddess of Lyrra (goddess of undeath, destruction, blood,etc.). And this cult is one of the most dangerous on Arduin! It's a soul destroying, town devouring, horror that is on the move on Arduin. The Brotherhood of Blood is also outlawed everywhere on Arduin. And yet this cult seems to be growing according to the article in 'Winds of Change'
Then we get new magic items, ritual magic, spells, & the Dreamweaver class. But the real focus of 'Winds of Change' seems to be how the underworld and criminal elments of Arduins ties together. 
And it's the lesser elements of the thieves guild and organizations that PC's are going to interact with. Arduin seems to be a campaign world where all levels of society interact with each other but the social fabric really involves the PC's social standing very much. 
Arduin seems to be a campaign world where adventure elements fold into each other. Taken as a whole this makes Arduin a very rich and well rounded campaign setting from the ground up. 

Diving into the Arduin Underworld - OSR Commentary On Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By David A. Hargrave

 " Once again, Dave Hargrave presents a wealth of information concerning the Arduin campaign setting including the Gods of Arduin, overviews of 67 major/minor religions and detailed descriptions of the “Tri-Moon Cults”, “Brotherhood of Blood” and the “Church of HIM”!"

"Also featured are detailed biographies of Arduin’s most famous and notorious personalities including members of the infamous Black Lotus Society, Thieves & Assassins Guilds, Arduin Nobles and Major Siege Lords, Dream Weavers (a new player class) , notable personalities from the Arduin II campaign and famous Player Characters!" 

I've written about Winds of Chance (Arduin Grimoire volume 8) By David A. Hargrave before on this blog. Winds of Change is one of the most critical books on the  Arduin campaign. Why? Because of the fact that we  detailed biographies of Arduin’s most famous and notorious personalities including members of the infamous Black Lotus Society, Thieves & Assassins Guilds, Arduin Nobles and Major Siege Lords. We also we get the low down on the illegal drugs of Arduin which have ties to all of the major criminal organization described. 
We also get the low down on 'real world animals' and poisons of that these animals use. These poisons also have implications to 
These guilds and powers are intimitately connected to the royal families &  royals of Arduin. All of the above twist into the Black Lotus society & this secret organization is threaded throughout Arduin society. The point of religion which is central to the Arduin campaign setting & we get a very good overview of the gods. Religion is central to these power structures on Arduin. 
We also get two cults  on the cult of Him and 'The Brotherhood of Blood'. And the latter cult is infact one of the most dangerous and unquiet armies of undeath on Arduin. The Brotherhood of Blood is a part of the goddess of Lyrra (goddess of undeath, destruction, blood,etc.). And this cult is one of the most dangerous on Arduin! It's a soul destroying, town devouring, horror that is on the move on Arduin. The Brotherhood of Blood is also outlawed everywhere on Arduin. And yet this cult seems to be growing according to the article in 'Winds of Change'
Then we get new magic items, ritual magic, spells, & the Dreamweaver class. But the real focus of 'Winds of Change' seems to be how the underworld and criminal elments of Arduins ties together. 
And it's the lesser elements of the thieves guild and organizations that PC's are going to interact with. Arduin seems to be a campaign world where all levels of society interact with each other but the social fabric really involves the PC's social standing very much. 
Arduin seems to be a campaign world where adventure elements fold into each other. Taken as a whole this makes Arduin a very rich and well rounded campaign setting from the ground up. 

Underworld & Underclass Issues - Commentary 'House of the Rising Sun' (Arduin Grimoire volume 6) By Dave Hargrave From Emperor's Choice

 House of the Rising Sun (Arduin Grimoire volume 6) By Dave Hargrave has been one of those missing pieces of my Arduin Grimoire collection. Well, no more thanks to Emperor's Choice Miniatures & Gamers. 
And this goes back to October when I found a copy of the contents of House of Rising Sun on The Ruins of Murkhill forums here. 

According to the poster oldskolgmr who posted a break down of the contents of the Dragon Tree Press version of the book; 
"Arduin Grimoire Vol. VI; House of the Rising Sun  [Note all writing and spellings in the original except bracketed, italicized material, by the poster].
By David A. Hargrave
Copyright 1986
Illustrated by Roland Brown
Published by Dragon Tree Press
Second Edition 1988 
Pg. 2           Foreward, Dedication, Undedication, and Special Thanks to Dragon Tree Press [Ben & Mary]

Pgs. 3 - 7    The Adventurer Class (A new character class)

Pgs. 8 - 11  The Street Urchins of Arduin 
Pgs. 12 - 14 The Beggars Guild (And New Character Class?)
Pg. 15         The Assassins of Arduin [general]
Pg. 16         Arduin Law and Redress by Assassination 
Pgs. 17 - 20 Unique Weapons of Arduin Assassins
Pgs. 21 - 23 Poisons of Arduinian Assassins
Pgs. 24 - 25 Commercial Medicines of Arduin
Pgs. 26 - 28 Arduin Food
Pgs. 28 - 29 And Beverages
Pgs. 30 - 31 The Natural Denizens [animals/fauna] of Arduin
Pgs. 32 - 37 Arduinian Avians 
Pgs. 38 - 39 The Special Pets of Arduin
Pgs. 40 - 44 More Monsters of Arduin
Pgs. 45 - 46 New Magiks [mages]
Pgs. 46 - 47 New Druidical Magik
Pgs. 47 - 48 New Priestly Magik
Pgs. 49 - 50 New Runesinger Magik
Pgs. 51 - 54 Dragon Magik
Pgs. 55 - 59 More Arduinian Alchemical Goodies
Pgs. 59 - 60 Special Alchemist's Note, Alchemists Character Individualization Chart
Pgs. 61 - 65 More Orcish Alchemical Mayhem
Pgs. 66 - 68 New Mystick Artifacts and Treasures 
Pgs. 69 - 70 Bardic Oddities of Arduin
Pgs. 71 - 73 Rare and Legendary Gems and Jewels
Pgs. 74 - 75 Old Legends of Arduin
Pgs. 76 - 83 The Old Gods [of continents five and three]
Pgs. 84 - 88 The Noble Families of Arduin
Pg. 89         Super Heroes and Sword Swingers
Pg. 90         Final Note [from David A. Hargrave] and Abbreviations [used]      
From the World of Arduin [advertisement for Arduin Grimoires published by Dragon Tree Press]

More Arduin books by Grimoire Games [advertisement]

From the World of Delos [advertisement, Dragon Tree Press publications not related to Arduin]"
 There are two PC classes that have me intrigued,  'The Adventurer Class (A new character class)' & 'The Beggars Guild (And New Character Class?)'. Both of these classes are mostly two classes that form a hodgepodge of abilities for the player's PC . The adventurer class goes all of the way to level 100 and the beggar does as well.  The adventurer is a highly trained & dangerous profession with the PC starting training at age ten to fifteen years of age. The training is very serious. And the PC is something akin to a D&D rogue but far more of a tomb breaker. They have elements of assassins, courtesans, and alchemists. The adventurer class is a child of the urban environment and they compliment the beggar quite nicely. This is a rough & tumble class and its by invite only. Mostly human & Elven types go for the adventurer class. Proto  Adventurers  are taken away for training a minimum of seven years. 

Beggars can be of any race, color, creed, etc. with any physical deformity and they go through a training course of three years. And they are one of the most respected guilds on Arduin because they are information brokers par excellence. And they have incredibly close ties to the Arduin Thieves Guilds. A beggar gets three thieves skills They are not real thieves per say. And gain levels as traders & they often have rats or creatures of the rodent variety as trained pets. Beggars eyes are everywhere on Arduin. 

So what do these PC classes say about Arduin?! Well to me it says volumes about Arduin's urban underworld & how its cityscape is interconnected in with the criminal element.  'House of the Rising Sun' also contains 'The Street Urchins of Arduin' which has incredibly strong ties the beggar's guild within the cities. The PC's are incredibly wise to keep on the good side of these social & adventure element. 

Adventurers are whole different level with life being an adventure as a part of their credo. And its very possible that there are any number of abandoned ruins, cities, & even urban  dungeons where & when their particular skills are needed. The adventurer's class strikes me as 'Laura Croft' years before a proper 'Laura Croft' game ever debuted and far less of an 'Indiana Jones' style adventurer. The adventurer speaks volumes of treasure seeker and far less of deadly thief of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fame. That being said I can see these three PC & NPC  classes working very well together to form another pillar of the underworld that crosses over into certain circles of academia on Arduin. 

'House of the Rising Sun (Arduin Grimoire Volume 6) Is Available Right Here...