Dragon Issue #138 (Oct ’88), Deities & Demigods, & The Religions of Shub-Niggurath

Its been a long while since the pages of Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea was cracked open. But last night I returned to my lair in the wee hours of the morning after a successful game night only to have a Dragon magazine slap me in the face. Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea often seems to me to be the perfect blend of B/X D&D and AD&D. The issue of Dragon Magazine in question is issue #138 (Oct ’88). In which we've got the Call of Cthlhu rpg article The Black Book and the Hunters by Craig Schaefer which introduces The Black Book of Shub-Niggurath & the Hunters of Shub-Niggurath (Greater Servitor Race). At four A.M. weird thoughts swirl in one's head & my copy of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition's Deities & Demigods was open to the 'Cthulhu Mythos' section. My eyes happened to catch this entry on Shub-Niggurth. 

Now at first this looks like Clark Ashton Smith's Abhoth ("The Source of Uncleanliness") & perhaps it was originally going to be. But then I started to think that perhaps it actually is an avatar of Shub-Niggurth. Maybe there's a far deeper connection between the cynical Abhoth & the 'mother of a thousand young'. A quick scan of the HP Lovecraft wiki revealed;" Of all the mythos deities, Shub-Niggurath is probably the most extensively worshipped. Her worshippers include the Hyperboreans, the Muvians, T'yog of K'naa, and the people of Sarnath, as well as any number of druidic and barbaric cults. She is also worshipped by the non-human species of the mythos, such as the "Fungi from Yuggoth" (the Mi-Go) and the Nug-Soth of Yaddith.(EXP: The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana) With the proper occult paraphernalia, Shub-Niggurath can be summoned to any woodlands at the time of the new moon. However, the place from whence she comes is not known." In my AS&SH this puts a very different spin on what might be residing with the bowels of  caverns of Y'quaa beneath Mount Voormithadreth. Abhoth could be part & proxy of a greater network of 'mis' creation that connects with the both Shub-Niggurath & Ubbo-Sathla. Abhoth is one source of many of the abominations that one finds within my dungeons; 

"[H]e described a sort of pool with a margin of mud that was marled with obscene offal; and in the pool a grayish, horrid mass that nearly choked it from rim to rim... Here, it seemed, was the ultimate source of all miscreation and abomination. For the gray mass quobbed and quivered, and swelled perpetually; and from it, in manifold fission, were spawned the anatomies that crept away on every side through the grotto. There were things like bodiless legs or arms that flailed in the slime, or heads that rolled, or floundering bellies with fishes' fins; and all manner of things malformed and monstrous, that grew in size as they departed from the neighborhood of Abhoth. And those that swam not swiftly ashore when they fell into the pool from Abhoth, were devoured by mouths that gaped in the parent bulk. 

—Clark Ashton Smith, The Seven Geases

Abhoth ("The Source of Uncleanliness") resides in the cavern of Y'quaa beneath Mount Voormithadreth. It is a horrid, dark gray protean mass and is said to be the ultimate source of all miscreation and abomination."
All of this puts a very different spin on the cults, covens, witches, & human institutions within Hyperborea or at least my version of it. All of these deities & their cults are going to be very important to the respective fertility & production of crops especially on Hyperborea. The glaring red star in the sky is very unforgiving & villages are going to need all of the help they can get.


So let's  go back to Clark Ashton Smith's 'The Seven Geases' which gives us some of the best slices of Hyperborean royals, court life, & a complete tour of the underworld of Mount Voormithadreth. But this story is  also the source for Abhoth ("The Source of Uncleanliness"). These 'avatar  pools' spawn life, fertility, & uncleaness in equal measure but what if their all interconnected. What if these avatar pools are all part of some high dimensional 'Cthulhu Mythos' birthing bio occult birthing mechanism for life. These avatar pits might in fact be the source that were used by the Elder Things for the creation of both life on Earth & the Shoggoths.


Shoggoth artwork by Nottsuo - nottsuo.deviantart 
This puts a very different spin on the 'fertility rites' of the druids, shamans, & other human races of Hyperborea. I think its advised to not visit certain villages or towns at certain times of the year during the festivals. This is clearly the sort of a rite or invocation that we see in HP Lovecraft's 'The Festival'.


But there maybe much more going on here then we know, lately I've been rereading H. Rider Haggard, Ayesha, the Return of She  .
The novel is a  squeal to H.Rider Haggard's She in which the  character Ayesha, returns to life from the depths the afterlife. A mysterious occult force from the depths of the book's volcano known as the Pillar of Life which grants immortality. Now Ayesha is the inspiration for  "Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings – Ayesha's reflecting pool seems to be a direct precursor of Galadriel's mirror."  I 

Could these 'avatar pools' also grant a type of twisted immortality to their high priests & priestesses? I think so & in my version of Hyperborea this is only one more rung on the ladder of damnation that the Mythos gods inflict upon their charges. A twisted form of this style of immortality can be seen in Clark Ashton Smith's 'The White Sybil'. 

OSR Commentary - Divine Power, Appendix N Madness, & Old School Adventures

There are more then enough rooms, locations, & features within B4 The Lost City to satisfy an entire campaign's worth of play.




But as I stated in the last blog entry this isn't the only connection between the pulp elements of the so called Pulp Trilogy of Tom Moldvay. According to the B4 Drivethrurpg entry author  Shannon Appelcline, the author of Designers & Dragons;
"Following his work on the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, Tom Moldvay entered a period of extensive adventure design. "The Lost City" was the third book in what James Maliszewski calls Moldvay's "Pulp Fantasy Trilogy." It's a pretty apt name, as X1: "The Isle of Dread" (1981) contains a dinosaur-filled island, X2: "Castle Amber" (1981) directly references the pulp writings of Clark Ashton Smith, and B4: "The Lost City" (1982) features a city beneath the desert sands." Fine let's go with that analogy & then draw a conclusion that perhaps there could be further adventure literature connections that draw from the Appendix N author H. Rider Haggard's next book in the series She and Allan. Wait didn't you say in the last blog entry that Ayesha committed suicide?! Well in the universe of H Rider Haggard death is but another doorway. As we learned in She: A History of Adventure the Pillar of Fire source of the Spirit of Life grants immortality of the titan as well as the divinity of the 'gods'. But there's a terrible price for this, the person is subject to the alignment altering effects & corruption requiring a wisdom save every 1d6 days. Yes that right days. Subject to the Spirit of Life you gain the regeneration effects of a troll but also the overriding corruption of 'divine power'. The PC will tend towards lawful evil actions or towards chaotic evil should they perform 1d6 evil actions. This will cause them to have an aura of fear for small animals, children, & beings of less then 2 hit points. Those bathing in the Spirit of Life flames gain the vast abilities of the titans of legend.
You can use chain lightning, charm monster , cure wounds , fire storm , dispel magic, hold monster, invisibility, levitate, illusion; 3/day—etherealness,  summon nature’s ally IX; 1/day—gate, maze, meteor swarm, daylight,  smite, remove curse, & resurrection as if the caster was a wizard or caster class of level 20th. But there is a down side the caster while immortal from the effects of aging can still be harmed by weapons of iron & take full damage from magical weapons. Anytime you die there is a 30% chance that your body will be reconstituted in another location or back at the home location of the local Pillar of Fire.
Each time this happens the person becomes less & less human & seem remote as well slightly insane -2 on their Charisma score. All of this can be seen in Haggard's She & Allan. Adventurer and trader Allan Quatermain seeks a meeting with Aysha to see if he can communicate with those relations who have pasted beyond the veil of death. We come to another lost  "settlement called "Strathmuir" run by a Scot, Robertson, a drunkard and former sea captain, who lives there with his beautiful daughter Inez." Before this there have been meetings with powerful witch doctors, relic magical amulets, expedition set ups, & more as Quatermain journeys across Africa in search of Kor. But by this time the settlement has been attacked by cannibals & they cut a bloody swath across the minor characters of the novel.The royal power of Ayesha casts light on several other semi immortal characters & factions in Haggard's lost worlds of his fictional Africa.

So what does all of this have to do with X1 Isle of Dread?! Plenty! X1 Isle of Dread has any number of factions & ruins on its dinosaur filled acreage. As Allan Quatermain moves from one bloody encounter to another towards his ultimate destination of the lost city of Kor there is a sense throughout the novel that the characters are treading on the "powers of others''. What I mean is that the divine power of the Pillar of Fire is not something that man was meant to trifle with. Perhaps the gods weren't the first in the divine order, that right belonged to monsters far more terrible. In the case of the Proto Hellenistic Greco Roman gods it was the Lovecraftian Elder Titans whom the gods imprisoned in Tartarus. These themes are echoed in the '77 Ray Harryhausen film Sinbad & The Eye of the Tiger.

In X1 we see the remains of terrible monsters from the islands past laying in wait for the unwary. Are there ruins on the island that point to a terrible past where the titans once played with the creation of life itself ? Did they happen upon magical that allowed them to think they were unlike the gods themselves?! Through out She & Allan, Quaterman remains extremely skeptical of the divine power of the witch queen Ayesha. Even when she shunts his spirit over into the realm of the departed & he sees the love of his life. Allan Quaterman remains suspect of this queen of the damned. Perhaps the semi  divine power seen in the factions of She & Allan are indicative of the same flaws we see in the gods of Dungeons & Dragons & mythology. The legacy of the gods theme is something we see over & over again in Appendix N fiction.  One peoples taking over the relics & occult legacy of those who came before them.




This is especially true of the fiction of Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborea stories where the Hyperboreans have taken over various locations of the Elder Things from HP Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness. So to have the peoples of Kor taken over the lost city from the semi divine rulers of that city of the damned deep in the heart of Haggard's Africa. 

OSR Commentary - The Lost City By Tom Moldvay & The Forgotten Monsters & Classics of Appendix N

"Lost in the desert! The only hope for survival lies in a ruined city rising out of the sands. Food, water, and wealth await heroic adventures inside and ancient pyramid ruled by a strange race of masked beings. "
I've been in this hobby a long time & still turn to the older classics including B4 The Lost City which was  written by Tom Moldvay and illustrated by Jim Holloway. Parts of this module are literally a blank canvas for the dungeon master to write up their own dungeons & adventure locations. I'm fine with that aspect of the module which was originally designed with novice dungeon masters in mind. I'm fine with this as a design conceit for B4 as an adventure. When I was a boy reading Edgar Rice Burroughs & H. Rider Haggard  I always pulled out B4.  Pouring through Pulp resources one reaches a point where the reader crosses the gauntlet from adventure magazine fare into literature.


But last night I was talking with friends about  Tom Moldvay's The Lost City & one of the lesser known H. Rider Haggard novels Ayesha, the Return of She. The novel picks up right after the events of Africa chronicled in She. 
The second novel  Ayesha, the Return of She has everything to do with B4 & also a classic original Dungeons & Dragons monster that is seldom used today. So let's get some of the details out of the way;
"Ayesha, the Return of She is a gothic-fantasy novel by English Victorian author H. Rider Haggard, published in 1905, as a sequel to She. It was serialised in the Windsor Magazine issues 120 (December 1904) to 130 (October 1905), illustrated by Maurice Greiffenhagen.
It was published by Newcastle Publishing Company as the fourteenth volume of the Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library series in October 1977."Let's press on into the heart of the novel's plot via the abridged wiki entry; 

"In the book's prologue, the book's anonymous "Editor" receives a parcel. Opening it, he finds a letter from Horace Holly, with an enclosed manuscript containing a second memoir about She. There is also a second letter, from Holly's doctor, to whom Holly has entrusted his letter and manuscript, along with a wooden box, which contains an ancient sistrum. The doctor recounts how, when attending Holly in his last hours, he arrived at the house to find that Holly had risen from his deathbed and made his way to a local ring of ancient standing stones. Following him, the doctor glimpsed a manifestation that appears to Holly, but as the vision vanished, Holly had let out a happy cry and died.
When the narrative of Holly's manuscript begins, nearly twenty years have passed since their first adventure in Africa, but he and his ward Leo Vincey are convinced that Ayesha did not die. Following their dreams, they wander for years through Asia, eventually coming to "Thibet" (as it is spelled in the book). Taking refuge over winter in a remote lamasery, they meet the old Abbot Kou-En, who claims to recall a past-life encounter with a witch queen from the time of Alexander the Great. The Abbot tries to dissuade them from going on and warns them that, however beautiful, nothing is immortal, even if the Queen was born centuries ago in Ancient Egypt or remembers it from a past life. He believes the Queen is holding on to the distractions of life, which will lead them away from Enlightenment and peace, whether she is a demon, a fallen angel, or only a dream.
Despite the Abbot's warning, Leo is compelled to press on and Holly will not abandon his adopted son. When spring breaks, they travel out into the uncharted region beyond the monastery; after a perilous journey and many narrow escapes, they arrive in the city of Kaloon, which is ruled by the evil Khan Rassen and his imperious wife, the Khania Atene, who claim to be descendants of Alexander the Great's ancient Hellenist generals. The people of Kaloon live under an uneasy truce with the people who serve the Hesea, the Priestess of Hes, who dwells on the Mountain, a huge volcano that dominates the region, at the summit of which is a massive natural rock formation in the shape of an ankh. Atene declares her love for Leo, but the jealous and dissolute Rassen (who has been driven mad by the sorcery of Atene and her uncle, the wizard Simbri) wants to kill them."
Strange lamaseries, weird abbots, ancient prophecies, & terrible wizards as well as lost cities?! Yes we're in deep  Appendix N drenched waters here. But it gets better when the city of Kaloon takes center stage & we're moved to the next lost fragment of a long forgotten empire;
"Atene's rival, the mysterious Hesea, orders Atene to send Leo and Holly to her, or risk breaking their peace treaty. Atene vows to kill Leo, rather than let him go, but with the help of Rassen, they escape the city. However they soon realise that Rassen has betrayed them and is hunting them with his monstrous Death-Hounds. They make a dash to the foot of the mountain, where they are caught by Rassen, but after a desperate struggle they manage to kill the Khan and his hounds."
Death hounds?! Adventurer reversals, complications, & the unexpected death of one of the minor villains?! Yeah this book was written in 1905 but it could be a typical old school Saturday night play session report.

First edition illustration of Ayesha

"As Leo and Holly ascend the Mountain they are intercepted by the people of Hes, who are then joined by a ghost-like Messenger, who leads them up the mountain. After they arrive at the vast temple-palace complex near the summit, they are taken into the presence of the veiled Hesea, who admits that she is the Messenger who guided them up the Mountain.
In accordance with ancient custom, Atene comes to the mountain temple for the funeral of Rassen. The Hesea now declares that she is indeed the reincarnation of Ayesha, and that Atene is the reincarnation of her ancient rival, Amenartas. To the horror of Leo and Holly, Ayesha reveals she has been reborn into the body of a wizened old crone, her beauty gone. Atene challenges Ayesha, but Leo declares his love for Ayesha, regardless of the form in which she appears. With his choice, the mysterious life-force within the volcano reaches out and engulfs her – when it clears, her former beauty and majesty has been restored."

Ayesha is a vessel of a much earlier & very powerful divine power but while its the power of the gods its not benign power. Power corrupts & the power of the Pillar of Life's fire is one that corrupts while granting immortality & ancient forbidden wisdom as seen in She. 
But where did the pillar of life come from?! How does this relate to the inner workings of a forbidden knowledge of a world even sorcerers & wizards can barely comprehend. 

"While waiting out the winter, Ayesha writes her memories (which are the basis for the fourth book in the series, Wisdom's Daughter). Ayesha shows Holly and Leo how she commands mortals, spirits, and demons. She questions Holly at length about the modern world and expounds to him her plan that, once united with Leo, they will rule the world, conquering the existing Empires by flooding the world's gold supply with her alchemy. Appalled, Holly fears that Ayesha may succeed."
Holly is right to fear & Ayesha is a witch queen straight out of the lost world conventions that H. Rider Haggard created. The power of Ayesha is the power of the gods of Olympus  & their creations who came before mankind ever walked upright. The titans have  been in original Dungeons & Dragons wood grain box from 1974 - '76. "The titan was introduced in the earliest edition of the game, appearing in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974),^[1] the Greyhawk supplement (1975),^[2] and the Eldritch Wizardry supplement."The power of the Ayesha is the power of the Proto Hellenistic gods that was inherited by the titans. Those perfect beings who were the first beings to walk the Earth before mankind.
"In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a titan is an enormous, powerful, and godly outsider. Though titans are supposedly of both chaotic good and chaotic evil alignments, the majority of them seem to be good. In appearance, a good titan resembles an enormous (25 feet tall) humanoid, with perfect beauty and strength. They are hardy and muscular, but nonetheless extremely handsome/beautiful. Every aspect of them (teeth, hair, etc.) is also perfect. Based on the Titans of the Greek and Roman pantheons, they dress themselves in traditional Greek garb such as togas and loincloths. They also dress themselves in rare and valuable jewellery to make themselves seem even more overpowering and beautiful." A perfect being with an inferiority complex & divine power a bit beyond a lich?! What could go wrong?! The titans were alien & utterly perfect so the gods banished them from the Earth to allow mankind to flourish. But they were far too valuable a military force to destroy. Their artifacts, relics, weapons, artifacts, & cities are still scattered across the Earth both above, below, & scattered across the planes. Their power was the power of the divine & never meant for the likes of mankind.


Ayesha commits suicide once her own power over takes the very man she loves. Alexander the Great & his generals tried to recreate the empire of the Titans. They almost succeeded but once you cross the forbidden line into the realm of the gods chaotic power things don't go well. And what does all of this have to do with B4 The Lost City?! Well just about everything?! Because scattered in the dungeons & rooms of the The Lost City there are still silent sites of their power. But these are still guarded & we get a good look at one such guardian in the 1963 Ray Harryhausen film Jason & The Argonauts.

Was it the power of the gods & titans that drove the peoples  & factions of  B4 The Lost City mad?!? PC's are treading in the footsteps of the servants of the gods, their encountering the degenerate remains of their servants when a wandering monster crosses their path. B4 The Lost City has far more to it then at first it seems. There could well be much more in store for players once certain doors & tombs are uncovered.


So does B4 The Lost City have a forgotten temple that contains a flame of the sacred  Pillar of Life??! In my own games yes & it has powers similar too the temple of the four elements from Sinbad & the Eye of the Tiger by Ray Harryhausen. But only with the right combination of occult elements will it choose to grant its terrible form of immortality. But tomorrow we'll explore the terrible cost of this  of immortality on the blog.

King Solomon's Mines-Classics Reimagined On Indie Go Go Campaign

See & Support The Campaign Right Over 

HERE 

This is a new Indie Go Go campaign for the King Solomon's Mines graphic novel. This is an old school style of the great pulps & comics that came before it. This is a whole new cloth take on one of the greatest novels of Darkest Africa. H.Rider Haggard's classic is taken and turned upon its ear into an exciting visual feast of adventure and fury.
To get this project off the ground your help is needed. This is a project with a great solid background to help to cement this visual feast of H.Rider Haggard's masterpiece of adventure, fortune, and glory.
According to the authors and artists :

"Welcome to the new KING SOLOMON'S MINES --a colorful and sexy new 48 page graphic novel by Pablo Marcos & Mark Ellis!

The KING SOLOMON'S MINES graphic novel is a fresh take on H.Rider Haggard's classic tale of adventure and treasure hunting in 19th century Africa."

While Mark Ellis weaves a complex tale with its own history and mythos into the back story of the mines of King Solomon. The artwork is furnished by 

Pablo (Conan The Barbarian, Tales of the Zombie) Marcos, whose work in comic books needs no introduction. The team takes a brand new slant on the adventurers of Rider and gives them a grounding in the best of the old school comic and pulp tradition with a distinctly modern veneer. This is tale that is worthy of Rider and I'm familiar with both of these professionals work over the years.
 I can see this angle of professionalism being applied to other properties and expanded into a full range of pulpastic adventure. Personally I can't wait but this is a project that will need the help and support of the fans to make this happen. 

This adaptation by the team of legendary comics illustrator Pablo (Conan The Barbarian, Tales of the Zombie) Marcos and best-selling author Mark (Outlanders, Doc Savage, Justice Machine) Ellis brings a new and colorful perspective to the Victorian-era yarn.

But this is only the beginning. There will be more following this incredible tale of adventure. The team has been hard at work applying their considerable skills to developing other classics reimagined into full blown graphic novel extravaganzas.
According to the indie Go Go project blurb:  

The KING SOLOMON'S MINES graphic novel by Pablo Marcos and Mark Ellis is just the first of several planned projects (with Ying Ko Graphics) featuring "reimagined" classic adventure heroes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's CHALLENGER rendered here by the ever-awesome Jeff Slemons, Jules Verne's NEMO by the uber-talented Steven E Gordon and of course, HR Haggard's QUATERMAIN, by the legendary Pablo Marcos.

But of course none of this work happens without your support and now that the campaign has come to Indie Go Go. The whole project can't go forward nor a series come into existence without the help of those who would love to see this pulptastic project see the light of day. Take a few moments and take a look. I'll be watching this project closely and seeing as the pieces for King Solomon's Mines fall into place. 

King Solomon's Mines-Classics Reimagined by Stephan Friedt Graphic Novel Kickstarter Reminder

Get This Funded Right Over 

HERE

There are only eleven days to go on the King Solomon's Mines Graphic novel! There needs to be a push to get this wonderful tale funded and gotten to market! The romance, intensity, and ideas of Haggard are brought to exciting life by top talents in the comic book and graphic novel world but it can't happen without your support! 

According to the Kickstarer site: 

This adaptation by the team of legendary comics illustrator Pablo (Conan The Barbarian, Tales of the Zombie) Marcos and best-selling author Mark (Outlanders, Doc Savage, Justice Machine) Ellis brings a new and colorful perspective to the Victorian-era yarn.

Now look I of all people know that times are tough and tight but this is a great project and the material will be treated with the respect and admiration that it deserves.
 
From the top talents to the artwork this graphic novel is a throw back to a time when pulp magazines & comic books featured incredible artwork and design. The team on this one knows the material and ideas of where to go with it. They'll do a killer job with this property but only if it gets funded. 

So here we've got a great project that has a new take on this classic pulp work and like so many of the incredible wonderful other projects this one needs your help. I've seen some of the artwork associated with this one and its a great take on the Haggard material. There is a certain epicness associated with King Solomon's Mines and a feeling of continuing almost pulp level journey that comes with the writing and artwork. 

I've followed these folks various projects and products for years and I have no doubt that this one if successful is going to be one hell of a graphic novel and possibly the start of a series. This is a case of  a project having to start someplace. I'm biting at the bit to see this enter the public arena as an actual graphic novel. But as I've said this project can't happen without you! Take a look, reach into your pocket and get this one funded. 

And an this is an epic take on Haggard's all time classic and with a bit of a twist or two to keep even the most hard core pulp hound interested for the entire way. King Solomon's Mines is part hero's journey and part adventure into a world of epic adventure and pulptastic story telling in the old school tradition with a brand new spin.
But it can't happen without your help. 

One thing about this project, Ellis and co always support their various projects with Facebook groups and more. You can join this Facebook group right over HERE 

Heads Up On The King Solomon's Mines-Classics Reimagined Kick Starter Going On Now!

 Fund it Right Over
Here

Some great comic book professionals are putting together a great forty eight page graphic novel of epic porporations. This is a brand new take on the old classic and takes the classic material back to its pulp roots and then brings it into an epic and action packed direction but of course it needs funding and all of the other myriad costs that come with such graphic projects.
I know the incredible work of the artists, writers, and folks involved. This is a straight up venture that I can't wait to see more magic of the folks involved.
 According to the Kick starter page : 

Welcome to the new KING SOLOMON'S MINES --a colorful and sexy new 48 page graphic novel by Pablo Marcos & Mark Ellis!

The KING SOLOMON'S MINES graphic novel is a fresh take on H.Rider Haggard's classic tale of adventure and treasure hunting in 19th century Africa.

This adaptation by the team of legendary comics illustrator Pablo (Conan The Barbarian, Tales of the Zombie) Marcos and best-selling author Mark (Outlanders, Doc Savage, Justice Machine) Ellis brings a new and colorful perspective to the Victorian-era yarn.

The KING SOLOMON'S MINES graphic novel by Pablo Marcos and Mark Ellis is just the first of several planned projects (with Ying Ko Graphics) featuring "reimagined" classic adventure heroes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's CHALLENGER rendered here by the ever-awesome Jeff Slemons, Jules Verne's NEMO by the uber-talented Steven E Gordon and of course, HR Haggard's QUATERMAIN, by the legendary Pablo Marcos.

So here we've got a great project that has a new take on this classic pulp work and like so many of the incredible wonderful other projects this one needs your help. I've seen some of the artwork associated with this one and its a great take on the Haggard material. There is a certain epicness associated with King Solomon's Mines and a feeling of continuing almost pulp level journey that comes with the writing and artwork. 

.  The work will really focus on the hero's journey into the world of Allen Quarterman and continue to pull the reader into the artists and writer's take on the world that Haggard created. We see a totally different take on King Solomon's Mine while pinning down the hero and cast for further adventures. A very nice bit of slight of hand work while entertaining the audience here in this graphic novel.

 One thing about this project, Ellis and co always support their various projects with Facebook groups and more. You can join this Facebook group right over HERE

I love the sheer fun and incredible pulp artwork & writing  that is associated with this project. Its nice to see the Haggard material being used properly and with a nice old school take here. I'm going to continue to follow this project and see where it goes. Please take a moment and let's get Haggard's  Darkest Africa into the hands of modern pulp readers.

Celebrate H.Rider Haggard's Birthday With A Free Download For Your Old School Campaign

Grab A Book Right Over
HERE

 H.Rider Haggard who had a birthday this weekend is considered the father of the modern adventure story and novel by many. His works have been translated numerous times, his characters are timeless and have been used as recently as Allen Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels. His character Allen Quartermain is the proto type for Indiana Jones and his death traps have been the inspiration for countless DM's.
The H.Rider Haggard practically invented various types of death traps that have been used throughout countless D&D adventures over the years. His lost worlds have inspired, been ripped off, and copied numerous times through out the life of D&D and its various editions.  Haggard  remains timeless and continues to hold influence over a many a DM or game creator alike. He remains one of my favorite authors. Simple to pick up and hard to put down.
 According to Wiki : 

Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE (/ˈhæɡərd/; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre.^[1] He was also involved in agricultural reform throughout the British Empire. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential.

Haggard's stories are still widely read today. Ayesha, the female protagonist of She, has been cited as a prototype by psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud (in The Interpretation of Dreams) and Carl Jung. Her epithet "She Who Must Be Obeyed" is used by British author John Mortimer in his Rumpole of the Bailey series as the private name which the lead character uses for his wife, Hilda, before whom he trembles at home (despite the fact that he is a barrister with some skill in court). Haggard's Lost World genre influenced popular American pulp writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Talbot Mundy, Philip José Farmer, and Abraham Merritt.^[26] Allan Quatermain, the adventure hero of King Solomon's Mines and its sequel Allan Quatermain, was a template for the American character Indiana Jones, featured in the films Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, ^[28] Quatermain has gained recent popularity thanks to being a main character in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Haggard was praised in 1965 by Roger Lancelyn Green, one of the Oxford Inklings, as a writer of a consistently high level of "literary skill and sheer imaginative power" and a co-originator with Robert Louis Stevenson of the Age of the Story Tellers.^[29]

The first chapter of his book People of the Mist is credited with inspiring the motto of the Royal Air Force (formerly the Royal Flying Corps), Per ardua ad astra.<sup>[30
You can read more about Haggard right over HERE

King Solomon's Mines</sup> 

^{The number of times that I've used the location for King Solomon's Mines is far to numerous for many an OD&D game. The location, plot, and substance of the novel are far too good to pass up over the years. There are far too many elements that can be adapted from the books of  Haggard.}

^{The basic plot of King Solomon's Mines according to wiki :}

Allan Quatermain, an adventurer and white hunter based in Durban, in what is now South Africa, is approached by aristocrat Sir Henry Curtis and his friend Captain Good, seeking his help finding Sir Henry's brother, who was last seen travelling north into the unexplored interior on a quest for the fabled King Solomon's Mines. Quatermain has a mysterious map purporting to lead to the mines, but had never taken it seriously. However, he agrees to lead an expedition in return for a share of the treasure, or a stipend for his son if he is killed along the way. He has little hope they will return alive, but reasons that he has already outlived most people in his profession, so dying in this manner at least ensures that his son will be provided for. They also take along a mysterious native, Umbopa, who seems more regal, handsome and well-spoken than most porters of his class, but who is very anxious to join the party.

All of the elements of a proto D&D style party of adventurers are in the book and the lost world civilization are all right there between the pages. 

As for the cries of racism and exploitation and other less savory aspects of the novel wiki had this to say : 

The book has scholarly value for the colonialist attitudes Haggard expresses,^[17] and for the way he portrays the relationships among the white and African characters. While Haggard does indeed portray some Africans (such as Twala and Gagool) in their traditional (for Victorian literature) literary posts as barbarians, he also presents the other side of the coin, showing some black Africans as heroes and heroines (such as Ignosi), and shows respect for their culture. Although the book is certainly not devoid of racism, it expresses much less prejudice than some of the later books in this genre. Indeed, Quatermain states that he refuses to use the word "nigger" and that many Africans are more worthy of the title of "gentleman" than the Europeans who settle or adventure in the country.^[18] Haggard even includes an interracial romance between a Kukuana woman, Foulata, and the white Englishman Captain Good. The narrator tries to discourage the relationship, dreading the uproar such a marriage would cause back home in England; however, he has no objection to the lady, whom he considers very beautiful and noble. Haggard soon "kills off" Foulata, but has her die in Good's arms.

Kukuanaland is said in the book to be forty leagues north of the Lukanga river in modern Zambia, which would place it in the extreme south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The culture of the Kukuanas shares many attributes with other South African tribes, such as Zulu being spoken and the kraal system being used.

 There's a digital download of the first edition of the 1901 version of the book right over at the Internet Archive. Right over HERE

King Solomon's Mines remains a great source by an author who is mostly forgotten these days. This gives a DM a very broad pallet of material to work with and draw from. There's a ton that can be done with H.Rider Haggard's novels for your old school D&D games.