Yellow Raider's Sails on The Horizon - Some Thoughts on A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords (1e) Network And The Hyperborea rpg

 Today on Twitter I brought up the fact that back in the Eighties we used the Slavers of A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords (1e) network and organization raiding places like Gamma Terra, Greyhawk, and a multitude of worlds. And we even had them show up on the Warden a time or two for particularly choice mutant slaves for wizards. 

Our latest thread of thought after getting together with some of my friends yesterday is that the Slavers are perfect for showing up on Hyperborea. And up to thier old tricks! If you look at A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity tagline it's perfect for Sword & Sorcery adventure;"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!" 
And this goes back into something I've been saying for years about Hyperborea as a whole. The whole setting is perfect for  coast raid and pirate campaigns. 

And this goes right back into what we were talking yesterday on the blog. And that is that piracy and sea faring is the back bone of the Hyperborea rpg. And this goes back to the fact that there's a very thin line between pirate and sailor or raider when there's a cutless at your neck. 
Hyperborea is rife with hidden ports and places where slaves can be moved or sold. 
Not to mention the fact that there's a ready market for choice slaves across a multitude of worlds. If you look at 'the nine' and the part they played in the evolution of the Slavers organization from the D&D fans wiki entry here; "The Slave Lords evolved out of a similar organization known as "The Nine," which was founded by Stalman Klim, sometime between 569 and 573 CY. Klim, a human priest of the Earth Dragon from the hidden Pomarj town of Suderham, had left Suderham in 569 CY to explore the Flanaess, where he gathered a number of allies, including drow and members of the Scarlet Brotherhood.

"In 574 CY, Klim and his allies returned to Suderham, where they slew its last king, Roderic and took control of the town. By 576, the organization had become known as the Slave Lords, though its ruling council was still known as the Nine. Known members of the Nine from 576-580 include:

• Stalman Klim (also known as Mordrammo)
• Eanwulf (Also known as Feelta), a human pirate lord
• Edralve, an exiled drow priestess of Lolth from Erelhei-Cinlu
• Lamonsten the Lazy, an illusionist from Dyvers
• Nerelas, a human assassin
• Slippery Ketta, a human rogue
• Ajakstu, a human wizard
• Brother Milerjoi, a human monk of the Scarlet Brotherhood
• Brother Kerin, a human monk of the Scarlet Brotherhood, Milerjoi's assistant"
  
  

Then we get a very clear line of sucession and the power behind and beyond the Slavers. And it not only possible but probable that they would be operating across worlds with thier villany. And what does this have to do with LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar?! Quite a bit as you and your party cross paths with more then a few encounters thar can be woven into an urban crossover with the Slavers or thier minions easily! 

Rats in The Walls - Using 1990 LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar by Dale "Slade" Henson, & The Hyperborea rpg For Sword & Sorcery Urban Crawling or Adventuring Part II

 "...Within these pages are dozens of short adventures perfect for an afternoon's or evening's enjoyment. Your characters may be hired to protect the Overlord from assassination. They might choose to take positions as caravan guards on a dangerous passage through a crocodile-infested swamp. Or, perhaps they'd prefer a quiet night on the town. (They might well prefer it; the question is, can they find it?)..."

The low down on LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar by Dale "Slade" Henson, has an interesting history according to the LNR1 wiki entry; "
LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar was written by Dale "Slade" Henson, with a cover by Fred Fields, and interior illustrations by Ken and Charles Frank and Jeff Easley, and was published by TSR in 1990 as a 96-page book." Now according tot this same wiki entry; " Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, comments on Wonders of Lankhmar: "There are a few good ideas here, but most of the entries are nothing special, and at two pages each they're all pretty short on detail." 
And this is precisely why I'd choose to put LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar at the table top level. And for the Hyperborea rpg this a great way to get the player's PC's into an urban Sword & Sorcery landscape. This style of Hyperborea rpg game session comes  without the deep commitment. And this goes back to last night's blog post. 

LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar goes right down that same rabbit hole with a difference. And that  difference is how the PC's would be using  the Hyperborean capital of the City State of Khormarium as thier base. Now this is by no means a band add for our party but what enables is the PC's to have some touch stone with both urban surroundings and the howling wilderness that is Hyperborea. And these short adventures found within LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar go towards a long way of creating a viable mini starting campaign set up. Short easy to run adventures, minimum commitment, and easily committed missions or so it seems. All of these are perfect as hallmarks for continuing the Sword & Sorcery campaign that we spoke about last blog entry.
LNR1 Wonders of Lankhmar by Dale "Slade" Henson, has the shorter Sword & Sorcery adventures that can easily be adapted the world of Hyperborea. And this plugs deeply into the urban landscape of the port cities of Hyperborea and it's city states. These places are going to be the centers of commerance and trade. And thier also rife for meeting places for the notorious and dangerous. So this gives LNR1 a bit of an edge for low levels of Sword & Sorcery play especially the Hyperborea rpg.