Aihrde Horror - The Slavers & The Remains of Empire - Castles & Crusades Greyhawk

 So we spoke at length about the Dwarves and thier placement within a Mythic Earth and Castles & Crusades Greyhawk.. And how this all relates back into the Slavers series of modules. And how does any of this affect Castles & Crusades world of Aihrde?! It has everything to do with the C&C official setting believe me. Amd all of this relates back into A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity. The Slavers are are raiding on Greyhawk for slaves and pillaging what as well as whatever they can. This makes Aihrde ripe for the raiding;"Aihrde is large world, nearly 24,000 miles in circumference. The world possesses vast oceans and seas, one primary continent and five smaller continents. Her south and north poles are covered in thick sheets of ice year-round. It is a land of wild adventure, peopled by the fierce Aenochians and their mortal enemies the Ehtrum, Elves of the Lands of Seven Rivers, Halfings, and the Earagoth, the First Born, the Dwarves." And here's the Dwarves right in the center of the creation myth,again. 

 

If the Slavers organization and network are using the Dwarven writing as the source of thier knowlege for thier raids across worlds. Then it stands to reason that Aihrde would be a perfect target. We've got lightning fast raids, quick hits on coast line villages, and pillaging of villagers wherever they can be found. But are these the same Slavers that we've seen in the past. And the answer to this lays in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragon's first Edition Rogues Gallery. We pick a few high level evil NPC's and these become the Slavers for Aihrde. 

 So why not use the Castles & Crusades NPC Almanac Sketches? Because of the fact that we're looking for NPC's that modern C&C players won't be familar with. And then there the fact that the the Castles & Crusades NPC Almanac Sketches NPC's are actually going to be our Slaver's resistence fighters network against the Slavers. And this is especially true with our focus on Aihrde. Even if Greyhawk is saved from the Slavers Aihrde isn't. 

 Remember we're dealing with an organization or network of slavers who are operating across the planes. So we've got Mythic Earth, Greyhawk, and now Aihrde.
Is there really anyone at the center of the web?! At this point the slavers network may have been going on for eons. They may be tied into the Thieves guilds across the planes. They smuggle items of rare power and danger to the campaign world in exchange for certain criteria of slaves. Favor and corruption go hand in hand so there may be deeper ties into  Aihrde's rulers and rogues with the local Thieves guilds getting kickbacks and slaves on the side.Finally after centuries of scandal & corruption. Local lords, finally tired of the situation, hire a band of adventurers to attack the slavers in their home.

Dwarves, Barbarians, Slavers, & The Remains of Empire - Castles & Crusades Greyhawk

If we look at Autarch's By This Axe as the basis for a campaign set on a Mythical Earth then we've got the Dwarves builting a Dwarven empire's infrastructure and basis. 

These Dwarves were created to guide mankind and by the time the adventurers are ready to explore. The Dwarves are on the decline and on thier way out. The Chaos races however are on the upswing. And this leads the Dwarves back into the spot light. This might be because of the fact that the Slavers organization has been pushing the world into full war! 
And this could well be happening at the end of the late Roman Empire. Tribes of human barbarian and forgien warriors are picking at the bones of the Empire. 
The humanoid races are subcombing to the powers of Chaos which are on the rise. 
The Slavers have been stoking the fires of war by doing raids and the constant taking of slaves. These raids have been fueling the collapse  of the remains of the Roman empire. 

According to the original Scourage of the Slave Lords wiki entry; "The original series consisted of four modules:

• A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity
• A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade
• A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords
• A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

"Each module is a self-contained adventure that leads into the next in the series. The series is intended for use in the World of Greyhawk, but can be imported to any campaign setting."
This means that Greyhawk's Highport and Drachensgrabs regions are going to be at high risk and the PC's are going to have to destablize the Slavers organization from the inside out. And on Greyhawk A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity take place right around the same time as the collapse of the Roman empire so this puts events at 
 580 CY;"The events of the adventure are set in 580 CY, following four years of raids by slavers on the coastal population along the Sea of Gearnat from Onnwal to the Wild Coast. Local lords, finally tired of the situation, hire a band of adventurers to attack the slavers in their home. The adventure begins in the Pomarj city of Highport at a ruined temple which serves as a headquarters for the slavers.^[1] The module takes the group through the temple and into the sewers below where giant insect-like creatures make their lair along with the slave lords." 
And there are deep ties between the barbarian tribes of Greyhawk and the Germanic tribes of Earth. Even though the human tribes can not abide the humanoids of Greyhawk. 
And this goes back to the fact that we're taking full advantage of the Castles & Crusades Codex Germania. 

So what does this mean for PC's?! It means that we're going to have a mix of both Greyhawk and Mythic Earth PC's thrown into a party who are going to be working to escape the slavers. And all of this ties back into A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity. And the simple hook of looking for stolen family members ties events back into 

A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade.

Review & Commentary On Demons of Dundurn (1982) By Les R. Scanlon & Derek C. Watson From Judge's Guild For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition & Your Old School Campaigns

 

"An eerie silence greeted the dawn at Riverside House the morning after the wedding feast of Arnulf and Gunda. As the day wore on concerned villagers appealed to Oskine to gather some of the guests at the Feathered Serpent Inn and investigate. Oskine instructed the group of guests to proceed ahead and said he would join them later. The guests crossed the empty threshold to discover..."

Note: The cover states that it is "Part 1 of the Rood of Parth Series" but no further adventure were ever published in this series too bad. And we'll see why.. 

At the moment sitting here in a favorite little bestro & coffee house with my current favorite Judge Guild module let' flash back to Eighty two. For a moment, we've already looked into the possibility of adding in  Ravenscrag to this Wilderlands of High Fantasy Campaign. But if the events of Gary Gygax's B2 Keep on the Borderlands unfold then what?! The whole region blows up into a full blown war. But let's face it this should take months of real actual game time. So what can we do in the mean time?! Demons of Dundurn (1982) By Les R. Scanlon &  Derek C. Watson From Judge's Guild has all of the right ingredients for a nasty heel adventure  turn in the meantime. There's plenty of NPC's, solid locations, an entire village, & some excellent cartography. Demons of Dundurn is the Wilderlands of High Fantasy settled & the civilized areas of the map. 

The adventure plot is solidly done & this works out as a great mid level or mid tier adventure for Castles & Crusades as well as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as it was meant to. The whole cloth of Demons of Dundurn could easily be set right outside of the Citystate of the World Emperor without muddying the waters. Why?! Because in the shadow of the citystate the whole of module's adventures become a ripple in the greater schemes of the citystate. This lends campaign weight to the adventure whole package & product. 

What recommends Demons of Dundurn? The adventure can be easily slipped into any existing campaign.But what makes it desirable is the fact that the adventure's construction fits the world feel of a game of Castles & Crusades as a system. 
If the Wilderlands of High Fantasy is Frank Frazetta artwork, classic Sword & Sorcery  &  Appendix N influences then Demons of Dundurn is classic Saturday movie serial with plenty of action & sword play. The adventure plot is there, the artwork is top notch for a Judge's Guild product. 

I keep saying that Demons of Dundurn fits the over arching style & go about that is the Castles & Crusade system. This isn't an idle opinion, this is a testament to the hard line of Demons of Dundurn. This adventure could be used as bridge gap for C&C's Haunted Highlands & the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The NPC's, the locations, & etc of Demons of Dundurn fit the venerable mini campaign setting of the Highlands. 
The Feathered Serpent Inn is perfect as an adventure location into the Haunted Highlands. Perhaps the inn occasionally 'wanders' a bit. 

Again this fits some of what I've seen in the new up coming Troll Lords adventures. Why?! Because Troll Lords is getting ready to launch a new Kickstarter soon 'The Feathered Serpent' could provide a way of translating between potent gaming resources. 

Demons of Dundurn offers an alternative to the 2020's same again & off again OSR offerings. We're deep into Eighty two weirdness with a twist or two of locations, solid NPC's & more. 

Now I really love the artwork in this adventure that said this review comes with a note. Many DM's will find that James Mishler's Magnificent Miscellaneum Volume II is going to be of use if your running Demons of Dundurn as a part of your  C&C campaign. Can't say why?! But you can figure it out folks. 

All together Demons of Dundurn (1982) By Les R. Scanlon &  Derek C. Watson is another title that I'm very glad was included on the near infinite thumb drive I received as a gift. The adventure is another slice of '82 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons at its best in my humble opinion. 

I'll save you a seat at the Feather Serpent Inn & have the bar maid save you an ale. Ta Ta for now my friends. 

Review & Commentary On Ravenscrag By Judge's Guild For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition & Your Old School Campaigns

Once again the deep well of my thumb drive provides me with a place that I just need to add into my on going campaign. This isn't the usual module that you hear about around the hobby shop soda machine. 



 In Eight- One Judges Guild produced Ravenscrag, a sorta of back filler kinda module that is rather unique its output & feel. Ravenscrag isn't your usual Judges Guild's product because while many JG products & books were generic in look & feel. Ravensscrag is all  castle and attendant area book. And its such that it can be dropped into your own campaign. For my purposes its proto Celtic/Norman feel is exactly the sorta of place that I want in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Why?! 

There's a lot going on in Ravenscrag! The module is chalk full of NPC's & a kingdom in turmoil. The kinda of turmoil that adventurers make much worse. You've got 

detailing the rooms and inhabitants of a six-level castle and a five story keep all within the reach of the player's PC's and that's where things get very interesting. How interesting?! Ravenscrag is a perfect location to tack on B2 Keep on the Borderlands.


Why? Because Ravenscrag makes an excellent castle & kingdom along the same track along the borderlands as the famous keep. And there's just as much intrigue happening in Ravenscrag. 

The maps, NPC's, and really the over all package of  Ravenscag make the whole very pleasing to the eye & the palatte of the old school gamer. Infact I'm not the only one who loved the module pacakge;"Paul O'Connor reviewed Ravenscrag in The Space Gamer No. 45.^[1] O'Connor commented that "If you play D&D or think you can overcome the problems of non-specific text, then Ravenscraft is an excellent buy for the money."" So as you can see there's quite a bit on the full burn of this module. 

The dungeons,the keep, the locations, & even the overall feel of this module keep the DM coming back for a bit more of a dip into the weyrd pools of Ravenscrag. There's a proto Arthurian or Norman Britian feel here that reminds me of a time long gone from fairy tales & deeds of daring do. 
But what is there for the OSR gamer?! 

Ravenscrag offers up a heap of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons madness that takes its cues from both '81 AD&D as well as some seriously good resources to pull from. The kingdom itself can be dragged & dropped into any world but fits in the seriously deadly annals of '81 style gaming. But that unto itself isn't its only draw. For Castles & Crusades the vibe of Ravenscrag fits within many of the recent adventures that we've seen outta of Troll Lords. Because Troll Lords is getting ready to launch a new Kickstarter soon  Ravenscrag could provide a way of translating between potent gaming resources. 

Why!? Because adventurers need islands of stability amid increasingly dangerous places. Fortunately Ravenscrag isn't that but kinda of is if lots of criteria are met. In otherwords there's a Hell of a lot of opportunity for the DM to use Ravenscrag to their advantage. 

Is Ravenscrag a good module?! Yes but is it a fantastic one?! Sorta if the DM is looking for a location that can offer as much adventures as it does opportunity across the board. Ravenscrag is a solid addition unto Castles & Crusades for myself. Because it takes the DM into a world of intrigue & the players into solid danger! Again classic & very well done for Eight One AD&D!