OSR Review & Commentary On S2 'Castles and Crusades: Dwarven Glory' by Stephen Chenault & The City State of The Invincible Overlord By Judges Guild

 Looking deeply into the Thunderhold Dwarves of City State of the Invincible Overlord fame has been interesting. The faded glory of the Dwarven race echoes some issues that I've been talking with DM Steve again. Games haven't happening been happening because of player's  work schedules. But on a Sunday we three DM's have gotten together around coffee to discuss & plan the next leg of the campaign. And once again I've brought up Judges Guild's City State of the Invincible Overlord & its infamously named 'Glory Hole Dwarven Mine'. 

The problem isn't the 'Glory Hole Dwarven Mine ' adventure  itself. But the fact that two years ago our players including myself were run through this module. So what the Hell do we do wanting to run adventures in the faded glory of the Dwarven lands?! Fortunately, we've got Castles & Crusades comes to the rescue with  Stephen Chenault's S2 Dwarven Glory a collection of three adventures including 'the Winding Stair' where a the specter of a fallen dwarven hero who will attempt to possess a player character, albeit it more or less benevolently. And things break down into a dungeon crawl in the remains of a  Dwarven citadel. What sets S2 apart is the amount of history that's crammed into 'the Winding Stair'. Because of the influence of the Thunderhold Dwarven kingdoms 'the Winding Stair' slots in as a 'plug & pay' adventure. 

The City State of the Invincible Overlord's history is so tied up with with the Dwarves of  Thunderhold that the history of S2 fits many of the traditional early Judges Guild themes. The Wilderlands of High Fantasy is very much a blank slate & some of these published adventures can easily be slid into place. For me the break out adventure because of the Dwarven adventure themes of 'the Winding Stair' this is going to be the perfect adventure coming up. 

S2 Castles & Crusades: Dwarven Glory Is Available Here. 

Clark Ashton Smith, The Wilderlands of High Fantasy, & S1 Gary Gygax's Tomb of Horrors As Old School Campaign

 A few days ago I posted about 'Judges Guild 'Wilderlands of High Fantasy' & Gary Gygax's B2 'Keep on the Borderlands' As Old School Campaign' on the blog. And over the last couple of day this blog entry has me thinking about 'The Arduin Grimoire'. For those of you who don't know of my love of these books let me assure you that they have coloured my campaigns for decades. 

Last night I went back into 'Into The Cities'.dot.com webpress blog and came across the following little nugget; "There’s another version of the Wilderlands over here. Scott Driver’s version is heavily influenced by Clark Ashton Smith.

Check this out:

“The City State of the Invincible Overlord is an ancient, decadent metropolis surrounded by howling wilderness and ruled by a grim tyrant. Its precincts are prowled by grasping merchants, ruthless slavers, cunning thieves, hollow-eyed whores, and the ululating thralls of weird cults. Beneath its cobbled streets and reeking sewers lies a sprawling labyrinth teeming with foul creatures and brimming with forgotten treasures and forbidden lore." 
So Clark Ashton Smith, The Wilderlands of Hight Fantasy & more?!  You can find Scott Driver's Wilderlands on the Wayback machine here!  Driver goes on with the following; "A pronounced fondness is evinced for fungi, vermiforms, slimes, pods, cephalopods, gastropods, mutants, human-animal amalgams, dark cults, body horror, unspeakable tentacular booglies, anachronisms, purple prose, and gamer humor." 

The idea of B2 Keep on the Borderlands adventure locations surrounded by a mix of Robert E. Howard & Clark Ashton Smith inspired wilderness has very deadly implications. What about the village of Hommlet being a forgotten piece of these border fortresses along the edges of  'The City state of the Invincible Overlord'. If this is the case then perhaps S1 'The Tomb of Horrors' by Gary Gygax might also find a place within such a wilderness expanse. Now let's think about this for a moment, we've got a Clark Aston Smith inspired Wilderlands. The tomb dungeon & its occupant could be left alone by the Invincible Overlord to kill off any up & coming adventurer rivals. 

If we go with these CAS's influences  then S1 Tomb of Horror makes a certain amount of sense. The idea of a gallows humor dungeon & tomb with its lich king testing adventurers out in the wild wastelands & wilderness makes a lot of sense. Steve Wach of Red Pub Games also has a free set of maps available here for S1 Tomb of Horror 

Meanwhile the idea of a CAS inspired Wilderlands goes a long way towards roping in some of the ideas of the Arduin Grimoire. The alien influences, the nexus gates, forgotten technologies, etc. all point to an Arduin inspired connection. 

Judges Guild 'Wilderlands of High Fantasy' & Gary Gygax's B2 'Keep on the Borderlands' As Old School Campaign

We're going to be returning to the Wilderlands of High Fantasy & there's the fact that I've wanted to revisit some of the adventure events from last year's B2 Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax. Now we didn't necessarily place the keep in a definitive hex per say. 

But over at the Piazza forums  there's  thread called 'Keep on The Borderlands in the Wilderlands' by  ZardokhasSpoken  which goes into the following; " I placed them in CSIO hex 4623. This hex just seemed to me an ideal fit for this iconic module. The only change necessary was the inclusion of the keep, which made sense being Skandian, to "help and protect" the Gnomes of Lightelf. So much political intrigue at this location, with the spies of Lightelf sowing the seeds of Gnomish revolt, the shield maidens seeking to recapture Sea Rune, the bandits from B2 (hirelings of the Overlord to harass the Skandians?), and the elves of Palewood trying to stay neutral."  This makes things very interesting as the make up of the Wilderlands shifts yet again! 

ZardokhasSpoken  also released some free maps for the Keep & environs within the  Wilderlands to provide the DM with some lift to integrate the whole affair into their personal campaigns. 
The B2 Keep on the Borderlands & Wilderland  Maps are available right here! 

Some OSR Commentary On The Legacy of 50 years of Dave Arneson's First Blackmoor Game Session

 
Today was one of those days were we were very busy at the shop & didn't have a huge amount of time to get a secondary blog post up. And then family stuff came up. In the evening tonight we got together to game. But all day at the back of my mind has been the legacy of  50 years of  Dave Arneson's first  Blackmoor game session.  Based on me  quickly zipping around Havard Blackmoor's blog today . 

What has Dave Arneson meant to me as a dungeon master?! Where to begin? Everything begins at the beginning or with the toss of some dice to create a party of characters for players. Thoughts turn to Judges Guilds First Fantasy campaign by Dave Arneson.  And I get this weird feeling reading through the book. This happens 
every time Judges Guilds First Fantasy Campaign's pages cycle through my hands for the billionth time. Why?! The impact of Dave Arneson & his players explorations through the lands of  Blackmoor. 


The mysteries of Castle Blackmoor & what seems like Mr. Arneson's spirit reaching across time to talk to me through the words of the First Fantasy campaign.  There's no hero worship here but the simple act of one gamer talking to another about their campaigns on an elemental level. Dave Arneson seems to have that quality in direct contrast to Gygax. This isn't a condemnation of Mr. Gygax nor his legacy. Reading through The First Fantasy Campaign is like reading through Arneson's campaign notes. And its insightful. And the thing about a read through of The First Fantasy Campaign is that reads both like a war game & a campaign of 0 e edition of Dungeons & Dragons. And this is essentially because its the bed rock of what we call campaign settings for Dungeons & Dragons. Somehow to me everyday is Dave Arneson day. Just the fact that everytime I see Dave Arneson's name there's this thought in the back of my head that says Blackmoor. Why?! Today's date, " Today, April 17th 2021 marks the 50 year anniversary of the first official Blackmoor Game session"
Did those folks who went to that game of "BRAUNSTEIN"  in 1971  have any idea what kind of history they were making with Dave Arneson?! Now yes back then it was going to be fun evening & we as players & DM's are all the richer for their contribution to our hobby. 

Blood & Souls For the Demon Swords - OSR Commentary - Weird Tales Judges Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy -

 

"Stay well away from that sword," Smiorgan warned. "It has the habit of killing more than its master chooses." ~ The Sailor on the Seas of Fate


In the annals of legend is there a blade with as many souls that have been cut down in their prime as Stormbringer & Mournblade from Michael Moorcock's Elric books. Yesterday we spoke about the Dwarves of the Wilderlands & Hyperborea. Today we're going to speak of one of the most evil swords of three worlds & no its not Stormbringer. This blog entry picks up with the Dwarven efforts from yesterday. And it picks up with the sword Tyrfing or as its called Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving; "Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving (The name is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to the Terwingi) was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the Poetic Edda called Hervararkviða, and the Hervarar saga "

DM Steve called Tyrfing - 'the Sword of  Three Names'. What does it have to do with the Stormbringer entity? "Moorcock intended the sword/character as a symbol of his theme, "how mankind's wish-fantasies can bring about the destruction of... part of mankind." Tyrfing has many of the same qualities as Stormbringer. This cursed sword was forged by the hand of the Dwarves.  Tyrfing is another part of the Dwarven legacy of items of mythology & power. In order understand the magnitude of Tyrfing's influence we have to look a very brief summery of the events surrounding the sword from the wiki entry ; "Svafrlami was the king of Gardariki, and Odin's grandson. He managed to trap the dwarves Dvalinn and Durinn when they had left the rock where they dwelt. Then he forced them to forge a sword with a golden hilt that would never miss a stroke, would never rust and would cut through stone and iron as easily as through clothes.

The dwarves made the sword, and it shone and gleamed like fire. However, in revenge they cursed it so that it would kill a man every time it was drawn and that it would be the cause of three great evils. They finally cursed it so that it would also kill Svafrlami himself.

When Svafrlami heard the curses he tried to slay Dvalinn, but the dwarf disappeared into the rock and the sword was driven deep into it, though missing its intended victim.

Svafrlami was killed by the berserker Arngrim, who took the sword in his turn. After Arngrim, it was worn by Angantyr and his eleven brothers. They were all slain at Samsø, by the Swedish champion Hjalmar, and his Norwegian sworn brother Orvar-Odd; but Hjalmar, being wounded by Tyrfing (its first evil deed), has only time to sing his death-song before he dies, and asks Orvar-Odd to bring his body to his beloved Ingeborg, daughter of Yngvi at Uppsala.

Angantyr's daughter, Hervor (by his wife Tófa) was brought up as a bond-servant and remained ignorant of her parentage. Upon learning it, she armed herself as a shieldmaiden, and travelled to Munarvoe in Samsø in an attempt to recover her father's weapon. She found it and married King Gudmund's son, Höfund. Together they had two sons, Heidrek and Angantyr (the second). Hervor gave Heidrek the sword Tyrfing in secret. While Angantyr and Heidrek walked, Heidrek showed Angantyr the sword. Since he had unsheathed it, the curse the dwarves had put on the sword made Heidrek kill his brother Angantyr. This was the second of Tyrfing's three evil deeds.

Heidrek became king of the Goths. During a voyage, Heidrek camped at the Carpathians (Harvaða fjöllum, cf. Grimm's law). He was accompanied by eight mounted thralls, who eventually entered his tent and slew him in his sleep, the third and final of Tyrfing's evil deeds. Heidrek's son, also named Angantyr (the third), caught and killed the thralls and reclaimed the magic sword, finally satisfying the dwarves' curse.

Angantyr was the next king of the Goths, but his illegitimate half-Hun brother Hlod (or Hlöd, Hlöðr) wanted half of the kingdom. Angantýr refused, and Gizur called Hlod a bastard and his mother a slave-girl. Hlod and 343,200 mounted Huns invaded the Goths (See The Battle of the Goths and Huns). The Huns greatly outnumbered the Goths. The Goths won because Angantyr used Tyrfing to kill his brother Hlod on the battleground. The bodies of the numerous warriors choked the rivers, causing a flood which filled the valleys with dead men and horses."  And then Tyrfing vanishes from mythology & legend according to the same wiki entry; " The  curse on Tyrfing is comparable to that placed on the ring Andvaranaut in the Völsung Cycle." The ring Andvaranaut is another blog entry unto itself.  As we said in yesterday's blog entry there's are several analogies of the Young Kingdom empire within the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. 

Tyrfing vanished from history secure in the hands of its makers as a part of the treasures & artifacts of the royal houses of the gods of the Dwarves. The sword was used in the final battles of the gods of Earth against the forces of darkness. All of this taking place in the far future battle of Ragnarök. All of this takes place on 'Old Earth in the far future before the passage across the nexus gates of humanity onto Hyperborea & the Wilderlands. The sword Tyrfing was or will be at the battles of Ragnarök.The sword Tyrfing is a part of the stormbringer demonic entity that eternally comes around as a part of the end of a world or univere's cycle. 

This means that Tyrfing or a Stormbringer analogy in the form of a magic or artifact sword could well be on both the Wilderlands of High Fantasy & Hyperborea. But why?! Because the Stormbringer entity is eternally wanting to be born or forged across realities of the multiverse. Which means possibly right now a cycle simliar to or paralleling the events of Elric & the Young Kingdoms could be happening right this second in Hyperborea or the Wilderlands. 

This happens across realities time & again to trim the 'fat' of each of the realities that we see. In Black Blade of the Demon King from Knight Owl Publishing from 2018 we see this cycle in its full effect with an adventure for PC's. 

 

Where will the evil sword strike next?! We'll get into that coming up.  

Blood on the Hands of The Dwarves - OSR Commentary - Weird Tales Judges Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy - Thoughts on the City State of the Invincible Overlord

 So we pick up with running the Wilderlands of High Fantasy with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg. Why?! Because while the Wilderlands of High Fantasy is both fascinating & uneven. Its very good for bridging the two setting. Take for example the Dwarves of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The Dwarves of the Wilderlands are different. And already some OSR illuminary is getting ready to send this blog another angry email. On every other world campaign setting the Dwarven race is dying utterly & yet within the Wilderlands of High Fantasy the race seems to be thriving?! Why?! There are more then a few off shoots of the Dwarven race within the Wildlands. And the Dwarven race  are utterly connected with th founding of the City State of the Invincible Overlord. This comes into play in Judges Guild's Thunderhold one of the original homes of the Dwarves in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. 

Is there some reason why these Dwarven off shoots & subraces seem to have connections to the maggot Dwarves of the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg's Hyperborea? The answer comes down to the entry on the mythological aspects of Dwarves from their Wiki entry; "Norse mythology provides different origins for the beings, as recorded in the Poetic Edda (compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources) and the Prose Edda (written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century). The Poetic Edda poem Völuspá details that the dwarfs were the product of the primordial blood of the being Brimir and the bones of Bláinn (generally considered to be different names for the primordial being Ymir). The Prose Edda, however, describes dwarfs as beings similar to maggots that festered in the flesh of Ymir before being gifted with reason by the gods. The Poetic Edda and Prose Edda contain over 100 dwarf names, while the Prose Edda gives the four dwarfs Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri (Old Norse 'North, South, East, and West') a cosmological role: they hold up the sky.^[1] In addition, scholars have noted that the Svartálfar (Old Norse 'black elves') appear to be the same beings as dwarfs, given that both are described in the Prose Edda as the denizens of Svartálfaheimr.^[5]" 

Very few beings explicitly identifiable as dwarfs appear in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, and they have quite diverse roles: murderous creators who create the mead of poetry, 'reluctant donors' of important artifacts with magical qualities, or sexual predators who lust after goddesses.^[6] They are primarily associated with metalsmithing, and also with death, as in the story of King Sveigðir in Ynglinga saga, the first segment of the Heimskringla—the doorways in the mountains that they guard may be regarded as doors between worlds.^[7] One dwarf named Alvíss claimed the hand of Thor's daughter Þrúðr in marriage, but he was kept talking until daybreak and turned to stone, much like some accounts of trolls" 
Here's the cavet to the Dwarves of the Wilderlands not only are their different varieties of them but I believe that these varieties are survivors of some horrid event. There are hints here & there across the original Judges Guild Wilderlands & some of the D20 Wilderlands of High Fantasy line of books from Necromancer games. Yeah, yeah, the D20 Wilderlands of High Fantasy  material has as much weight as a ballon filled with manure. 
Is there is deep ibiding connection between the Deep Dwarves (aka Kazadrugar), Duergar, & the children of Ymir in Hyperborea. All of these races are cruel, vendictive, half insane, & survivors of some disaster. Its almost as if these immortal beings have been driven half insane by some ancient trauma. When the Dwarven gods made the crossing through the nexus gate into the Wilderlands they brought with them not only their survivors. But the knowlege of  Ragnarök  itself. 

For the Dwarves who are incredibly long lived the literal war between the gods isn't over. The connections between the Dark Elves of the Wilderlands &  the Deep Dwarves (aka Kazadrugar) are obvious. Don't bring this up with either race unless you don't mind slow torture followed by agonising death. The literal connection between the mythological Germanic roots & the Elves;"After the medieval period, the word elf tended to become less common throughout the Germanic languages, losing out to alternative native terms like Zwerg ("dwarf") in German and huldra ("hidden being") in Scandinavian languages, and to loan-words like fairy (borrowed from French into most of the Germanic languages)."

If Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea takes place thousands or millions of years in the future of Earth. Then this could be why the pantheons of the gods of Hyperborea are so shattered. The Dwarves of both the Wilderlands & Hyperborea are refugees from the far future conflict of the literal Ragnarök. GThe Dwarves of the Wilderlands are thriving because they've created new Dwarven gods & royal clans as well as families. 

Are the Dwarven races of Hyperborea & the Wildlands hiding  as well as thriving?! Perhaps a bit of both but let's go back to Qelong by Kennith Hite for a moment. The war between the two divine beings of Qelong represents a micro cosm of the large scale war that the Dwarves have witnessed in the ancient past. The Dwarves are tied to the fate of mankind going back to the ancient past millions of years ago. 
The Dwarven race has forged the tools & weapons of Chaos & Law plus they have ancient  legacies of their history that they want to have kept quiet. James Raggi's Hammers of the God for the LoFP rpg bares one of these secrets out into the open. 

The Hammer of the Gods dungeon could be put at the edge of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy as a deadly little secret waiting to be found. But why are the Dwarves sticking so close to mankind?! The Germanic hero of folklore Dietrich von Bern sounds oddly like Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion Von Bek. In DM Steve's Stormbringer rpg campaign Von Bern was a distant member of the Von Bek family. He was another aspect of the Eternal Champion intimately involved with the Dwarven race of German mythology; "The hero Dietrich von Bern is portrayed in several adventures involving dwarfs. In Laurin, he fights against the dwarf King Laurin at the dwarf's magical rose garden and later rescues a woman whom Laurin had kidnapped. A similar plot occurs in the fragmentary poem Goldemar. In Virginal, Dietrich rescues the dwarf queen Virginal from a force of invading heathens. The dwarfs Eggerich and Baldung play a role in aiding Dietrich in the poem Sigenot: Baldung gives Dietrich a magical gem that prevents him from being bitten when thrown into a snake pit, whereas Eggerich helps Dietrich and Hildebrand escape. In the Heldenbuch-Prosa, a dwarf takes Dietrich out of this world after the death of all the other heroes, a role given to Laurin in some other versions of Dietrich's end."  This sounds eeriely like something that the eternal champion's companion might do!? 

Scene from the poem Virginal: Dietrich von Bern and Hildebrand fight against dragons. Note that Dietrich is breathing fire. UBH Cod.Pal.germ. 324 fol. 43r 
Workshop of Diebolt Lauber, Hagenau 1444-1448 - http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/cpg324/0103

Further connections between the Dwarves of the Wilderlands & Michael Moorcock's Elric saga come in with several Wilderlands kingdoms that could be considered tributes to the master of dark fantasy. But with a bit side glance could be more human & perhaps Meliborean  refugees from the conflict between the gods.  Could  Dietrich von Bern's family have royal connections to the royals of the City State of the Invincible Overlord?! 

OSR Commentary - Weird Tales Judges Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy - Fight On! (Issue 3 - Fall 2008) & Blackmoor

 Hoping that everyone is having a wonderful holiday here in the States & elsewhere. Today was both busy at work & in another sense frustrating. If you've been paying attention to this blog then you know that recently its been one of those weeks where the Wilderlands of High Fantasy has been on the table top once again between games. Tonight between beers with fellow Fight On! (Issue 3 - Fall 2008) has been passed back & forth. Why?! "Wilderlands Map 19: The Wild North by Robert S. Conley, detailing the lands north of Valon and west, by many folks' reckoning anyway, of much-fabled Blackmoor!" Fight On! (Issue 3 - Fall 2008) was dedicated to Robert Bledsaw senior & his Judges Guild  creations. 

The Bundle of Holding For Astonishing Swordmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea kicked off a run of Sword & Sorcery nostalgia at our table top. Now what started off as a casual re examination of AS&SH has become a deep dive into the heart of our mutual obession of Hyperborea & The Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Fight On! (Issue 3 - Fall 2008) is one of my favorite issues of the faboulous magazine Fight on. Why?! Its not well known outside of select circles of the OSR & it contains another version of Blackmoor. The Blackmoor of The Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Its sorta like getting two campaign settings in one OSR fanzine for the price  of one. And "Wilderlands Map 19: The Wild North by Robert S. Conley" is a really nicely done map & key article. But this is AS&SH after all here?! So we wanted to punch it up a bit more with some of the outlying areas a tad more in keeping with the dark aspects of the Sword & Sorcery themes. So that's where Gregorius21778: 25 Encounters in the Eerie, Barbaric North by Kai Pütz

So why use this little gem of a supplement?! Because Gregorius21778: 25 Encounters in the Eerie, Barbaric North by Kai Pütz contains a very nice lack of details; "The “barbarians” in this release (that are not described as Scottish, Gaelic, Pict or anything but just named “barbarians”) fight with spears, axes, shields and short bows, wear nor armor or leather armor. They life in simple cottages or block houses, and either isolated or insmall villages. The region that is imagined to be the backdrop of the encounter is an isolated and cold land with rough hills and woodland: a rather typical environment in most game worlds" This tribal information fills in some of the typical blank area on the map. So we get a sense of whose on the edges of this Wilderlands version of Blackmoor. This is very snow bound & dangerous region of the Wilderlands & a perfect place to add in a monster from the Monster Manual II - the aurumvorax. 

These creatures are capable of taking on Chimera all on their own & they have to eat gold as a part of their normal diet. The mountainous area & geology of this version of Blackmoor is perfect for these animals. Now what does any of this have to do with AS&SH. Hear me out here folks. Imagine that before the Green Death Hyperborean pre teen warriors would have to make the crossing over to Wilderlands version of Blackmoor to prove their virility by slaying  aurumvorax. They had to gain the golden pelt as a part of thier rite of passage. 
So is there a real Blackmoor connection here?! Possibly in the fact that there may be a hidden dungeon lair of the Egg of Coot here. But is it completely frozen over?! 

Could this same Wilderlands of High Fantasy hold within its bounds a hidden & semi frozen DA3 City of the Gods By Dave Arneson & David J. Ritchie?! I think that if the adventure elements were extented?! The short answer is yes! One of the reasons for this is just how extensive huge the wilderness of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy is.