A blog about sewing machine repairs,but mainly my hobbies which include old school role playing games, science fiction,films, horror, and general geekery. Sit down and stay a spell.
Showing posts with label Ray Harryhausen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ray Harryhausen. Show all posts
Demonic Skeletal Ghouls summoned from the darkest depths of the Abyss to terrorize your Barbaric! rpg adventurers!
Demonic Skeletal Ghouls : Insect like skeletal demonic damned summoned from the Abyss of Ibis by foul magic. 7/10, Move 10m/round,
Armor 2 or by worn armor, Claws (melee 1D damage, slashing) or by weapon.
Physical 1, Combat 1. Demonic Undead, takes half damage from non-crushing weapons.
Often summoned by foul necromancers for those special nuisances from the Abyss of Ibis himself. These foul demonic creatures are relentless horrors that exist only for violence & bloodshed. Only a foul wizard of the most blackest heart with a Sorcery of 7 could even hope to summon these things from their carrion hives deep within the infinite Hells of the Abyss.
The Rhedosaurus from Beastfrom20,000fathoms 1953 is a Ray Harryhausen classic Kaiju from the golden Atomic age & perfect for Cepheus Atom , Barbaric! & finally the Hostile rpg setting. Think that Rhedosaurus shouldn't be in the Hostile setting. A baby beast had a cameo in the MST2000 classic 'Planet Dinosaur'. This isn't your ordinary Kaiju for the Rhedosaurus carries within its blood deadly microbes that will cause a disease in any victim who comes acros its path.
The Rhedosaurus species has been a resident of the inner Earth since the early 20th century when atomic testing awakened it from its millions of years sleep. Ancient alien flying saucers returned with samples of the Kaiju species to many biological containment worlds. These worlds are often run across by space explorers much to determent of said explorers.
The Rhedosaurus 24/50, Move 8 m, Armor 10, Bite (melee 5D damage)
and 2 claws (melee 2D each) ; Will Contaminate with radiation & disease if skin is breeched; throw Survival 6+ to
resist). Combat-3, Physical-1, Survival-2.
So what the hell does this have to do with Dungeons & Dragons or the OSR for that matter? Well there have been countless writers, artists, etc. including Gary Gygax & David Lance "Dave" Arneson who took a bit from this picture. But for a dungeon master this film is a god sent for creating & expanding upon for a home campaign. There is almost nothing written about or referenced about the island of Collossa or its lost people. Sokurah the magician played expertly by Torin Thatcher has been plundering their secrets, relics, treasures, & life forms for years. He reminds me on a certain level of Forbidden Planet's Dr.Edward Morbius both men are plundering the ancient knowledge of people's long gone. They're secrets are shaping them not the other way around. Sokurah has been messing with the black magick secrets of Collosa & they've been messing with him. He knows each and every detail of the island and its secrets but fails to see the bigger picture.What other secrets await in the dungeons & ruins of Collosa.
[about to land on Collosa] Sinbad: May Allah grant we find food and water. Harufa: And may Allah grant we find nothing else.
The peoples of Collosa mastered the transformations of flesh & the creation of chimera. The transformation of the Princess's lady into the serpent woman is both classic & telling.Telling because the magick is both smooth but very dangerous. The great thing about Harryhausen's stop-motion is the dream-like quality that sweeps over the audience. We would later on get another sample of the level of mastery of the wizardry of the people of Colossa.
There's something very unnerving about the skeleton from the Seventh Voyage. The magician transfers a bit of his mind into the skeleton to animate it but its aggressiveness is turned to murdering Sinbad. A friend of mine thought that the skeleton might have been a controlled Deadite ala Army of Darkness. This was something connected to the 'children of the Hydra' skeletons in Harryhausen's Jason & The Argonauts.
Sure by the end of the picture Sinbad & co. sail away from Collosa & live happily ever after. But what happened to all the ruins & other materials left behind? Its all still there along with other cyclopes & who knows what else. The island is a perfect adventure point for a mid level party of adventurers. Was Toro the only dragon on the island? No, I doubt it. Toro was a very dinosaur like dragon of an almost singular lower tier intelligence that acted as magician Sokura's watch dog & bodyguard.
So what's the story of the island of Collosa ? In my mind there are a few hypothesis that come to mind. One its another R&D facility of the gods like 'the Isle of Bronze'. I'm not the first to put forward that theory or speculation. But there's something much more interesting about the island of Collosa. If you watch the journey that Sinbad's crew take across the island there are different variations of ecosystems that they go through. Some are very similar to Skull Island from King Kong from '33. The dead island nation is very artificial and perhaps was there long before the people of Collosa got to it. Elder Thing by Віщун - http://vixis24m.deviantart.com/art/The-Elder-Thing-395769042
The island might have been a hold over from the time of the Elder Things of H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness. "The beings first appeared in H. P. Lovecraft's novella, "At the Mountains of Madness" (published in 1936, but written in 1931), and later appeared, although not named, in the short story "The Dreams in the Witch-House" (1933). Additional references to the Elder Things appear in Lovecraft's short story "The Shadow Out of Time" (1936)." The people of Collosa came later after the oceans drank Atlantis, Hyperborea, etc. Possibly foretold before the disaster that took the ancient world during one of its extinction cycles. So what was the black wizard after? Power & recognition on the global stage pure and simple, he manipulated events from the first meeting with Sinbad right from the get go. He wanted the secrets of the lamp, he had the secrets of the island dead island nation but that wasn't enough. It never is. He wanted the lamp's protection because there were deeper levels to the ruins where even greater secrets and horrors awaited him. We know that volcanic vents power the island's facilities.
If we go back to the original source material from Sinbad the Sailor from One Thousand and One Nights. Then the picture becomes much clearer in the magician's actual agenda ripe with his quest for forbidden knowledge and power. In fact the comic book adaptation Four Color #944 - The 7th Voyage of Sinbad released by Dell on September 1, 1958. bares this very fact out!
So what the hell is down blow in the vaults below Collosa? My guess is that there are incredibly ancient secrets of the Elder Things. Perhaps proto shoggoth material, relics, ancient secrets, & knowledge beyond the pale of mankind. Just the sort of thing to interest the black wizard of Collosa. We have very little on the black wizard's background but given the make shift state of his workshop's he's been plumbing the secrets of the island for ten to twenty years. He's adapted, modified, uses the artifacts & relics of Collosa as he see's fit.
Sinbad: What weird power restrains that monster? Sokurah the Magician: The man that holds this treasure is safe from even greater danger. Sinbad: Why didn't you destroy the monster? Sokurah the Magician: The genie of the lamp cannot be used to work harm. But in protection, his powers are invincible.
So how could Collosa be used for OSR retro clone system? Well given the artifacts and relics of the dead island nation. I can see using Collosa as an adventure location for Dark Albion. The island and its ruins make a perfect location to look for relics to help the War of The Roses brewing in Albion. The island could also fit into a Labyrinth Lord game as a destination for travelers and adventurers where the cyclops are deadly beyond measure. The island could also be used as a possible adventure location for Mutant Future as its already very dreamlike and could drift along the planar winds to wind up in the post apocalyptic world. The place would also make an excellent adventure location for Lamentations of the Flame Princess where adventurers have to locate one or more items while facing down the horrors of the island's cyclops guardians. Its also a ready made location to use with B/X Dungeons & Dragon's Isle of Dread which I've done many times!
"Sinbad and the vizier of Marabia, followed by evil magician Koura, seek the three golden tablets that can gain them access to the ancient temple of the Oracle of All Knowledge."
Tonight it was family movie night with an Appendix 'F' for film classic with the Ray Harryhausen & it has the 1973 charm as well as the quality that we've come to expect from a Harryhausen production. " The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" is a 1973 British fantasy film directed by Gordon Hessler and featuring stop motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. It is the second of three Sinbad films released by Columbia Pictures, the others being The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977). The film stars John Phillip Law, Tom Baker, Takis Emmanuel and Caroline Munro. It won the first Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film." all of this comes as no surprise to any fan of Producer Charles Schneer work. All of the classic Sinbad film elements are at work for "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad". The mysterious plot, the mad ravings of Tom Baker's as Prince Koura the sorercer in league with the forces of darkness. The fantastic stop motion animation of Ray Harryhausen plus a top notch cast round out this fantasy classic.
Watching "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" is like going back in time for me. Waiting for the Saturday movie on New York channel '11' outta New York & hoping that there wasn't a delay because of some September storm. " The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" takes me straight back to B/X Dungeons & Dragons or original Dungeons & Dragons!
All of the classic Dungeons & Dragons Sword & Sorcery elements are in this film:
The mysterious quest to unknown & dangerous lands with the journey to the lost pcontinent of Lemuria.
A maimed NPC in the form of the Grand Vizier of Marabia, who has been acting as regent following the death of the sultan, who had no heir. Dark forces are at work here aligned against the party.
The dangerous quest for the party & the boat load of NPC's.
Dangerous monsters at every turn due to the stop motion work of Ray Harryhausen
An easily adaptable plot for Dungeons & Dragons along with several NPC's that could easily be dealt with your favorite edition of Dungeons & Dragon's edition.
A continually fueled plot perfect for PC's to stumble into the middle of it.
A country fragment of the lost continent of Lemuria that will still exist by the time the film is over to add into your old school game.
There's still several major plot holes that the dungeon master can exploit for their own version of " The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" adventure elements into it.
The fountain's gifts are not the only legacy of Lemuria. There are several other hints in the begining of the " The Golden Voyage of Sinbad". These can be used to fuel a mini campaign of sorts.
" The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" has at its heart the clearest representation of law vs chaos in the quest for the Fountain of Destiny
Harryhausen's work in "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" is in top form but his work is never really over the top. The monster encounters fit the story of the film. Its never the other way around & the lost continent of Lemuria sequences are very enchanting. They also echo the best of the encounters in Dungeons & Dragons.
Dark magic here takes its full price as the 'demons of darkness' give their results but suck the life from Tom Baker as Prince Koura. And Tom Baker as Prince Koura steals every single scene that he's in. This is classic Tom Baker on tap & one of his best scene stealing peformances. But more then that Prince Koura is a villain with a hard domain stealing objective. Even though its not stated he's a perfect foil for a game of Adventurer, Conqeuror, King rpg. He's got the three 'M's that an NPC needs motive, magick, & madness in spades!
And the cast of characters in "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" are the perfect example of a Dungeons & Dragons party of adventurers. They don't meet in a tavern but instead have both the framing device of Sinbad ship & his destiny to use as a campaign frame up. To me one of the best of the Sinbad series of films & a gem of Sevenities classic fantasy besides being a favorite in the Sinbad movies. Sure the entire film of 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad' was born from the ashes of Western culture's Orientalism phase of history & adventure. But its a classic for reasons because at its core its one of the films that great campaigns are made from. "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" ends but with the promise that just out of frame is the perfect opportunity for your own adventurers to take up the reigns of the 'grand adventure'.
Hendrik van Minderhout (1632-1696) - A Harbour Scene with Oriental Figures
Drive: magnetic drives capable of near light speed velocities Hit Points: 55 Internal Systems/Psionic/Super Science Devices :Psi CrystalTheir language translator device resembles a glowing crystal rose which also serves as the input device for their "Infinitely Indexed Memory Bank"
"Infinitely Indexed Memory Bank" Humans captured by the invaders are subjected to scanning for the "Infinitely Indexed Memory Bank" which strips the victims' mind of all knowledge, leaving them mindless zombies. The victim must make a save vs death when their bathed in the rays of the psi crystal.
It is capable of holding hundreds of thousands of minds Weapons systems: Sonic Cannons
Weapon Range Variable Damage Weight Sonic Cannon 4 miles 2d10 125
Defense Systems: Electric Screen capable of producing of 100 hit point force curtain below the ship.
These saucers were mass produced in the millions by the & there's a very high after market making these saucers very valuable. Within certain specialty black market place locations they are worth 70,000 to 80,000 gold pieces to the right parties & black wizards
The psi crystal emerges from the roof of the saucer & acts as translating device, mind reading device, & the infinitely indexed memory bank which will steal a human mind unless save verus death is made. A formation of five or six chariots will induce solar flares that disrupt planet's weather and short as well as long range communications.
The chariots may create 1 to 2 hit point spies that may travel any where across the planetary surface . The infinitely indexed memory bank may keep track of millions of these spies. They may be strung together to form networks of webs of vast information.
This is a poster for Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, Columbia Pictures, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Further details: Theatrical release poster of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.
Synopsis : Created by the millions by the Atlans these craft have been adapted by a wide variety of races & have seen action during a many theaters of war. These dependable craft are easy to maintain use & considered to very valuable for two reasons. The parts for these craft can be produced by many cultures just making it into their atomic ages. Because the low out put required for the craft many low yielding nuclear fuels may be used for the reactors. The craft themselves can use a ley line supplemented system to skate slight beyond the local space time continuum. This enables the craft to take full advantage of the time delay created by this effect.
The number of races who have used these craft since their creation by the Altan is countless. The craft still fetch a good price upon the open market & in certain pirate quarters of the universe.
The Derro have several variations upon the usual designs & are often seen within certain quarters of Derro terrority. Many mythos races will fire on sight of these craft which has made the derro install magnetic & sonic stealth fields. These will last as long as a slave with super science powers is installed in place. The Derro often have them medically slaved into the mechanisms that run the ship as well as the index.
When it comes to cult classic film Ray Harryhausen's Golden Voyage of Sinbad is light years ahead of many of the films today in my opinion. Here's the wiki break down on the film ;"The GoldenVoyageofSinbad" is a 1973 British fantasy film directed by Gordon Hessler and featuring stop motion effects by RayHarryhausen. It is the second of three Sinbad films released by Columbia Pictures, the others being The 7th VoyageofSinbad (1958) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)."
But its actually the two issue Marvel comic book of 1974's Worlds Unknown that adapt the 'The GoldenVoyageofSinbad' film into a two part comic book & these are the issues to get for the Appendix N goodness. Why?! Because were adapted by Len Wein with the art of George Tuska. These two issues are even better adaptations of other Marvel movie licences at the time & yes this includes Star Wars.
These two issues are must haves for the dungeon master! Seriously if its adventuring in the world of Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad films that you want to bring your old school games these are the issues to have. Don't believe me?! Check out the Mad Thinker's blog entry on these Marvel classics. The world of Sinbad is perfect for bringing in X1 'The isle of Dread' by David Cook & Tom Moldvay. A legendary island of adventure lines up with the popculture Harryhausen depiction of the dashing sea captain.
Marvel's Sinbad depiction looks like it could be the past of a classic issue of Dr.Strange or possibly the future of Greyhawk. The action is fierce & the tales are epic! There' plenty of dangling plot hooks in these issues for the DM to really take advantage to weave in their own adventures around the passing of Sinbad & the party left with some of the monsters left in his wake.
These issues were on Roy Thomas's watch as editor, art team of George Tuska (interior pencils and cover pencils to issue 7) and Vince Colletta (inks- interiors and covers). Along with Glynis Wein (colors) and John Costanza (letters) and finally that iconic cover by Gil Kane on issue eight! Yes these are the issues to have if your A. a Harryhausen completest & B. if your looking to do a quick & dirty campaign in the world of Sinbad.
Even the Magazines & Monsters blog gave these issues more then a passing grade! These are must haves in my opinion. And what would I actually use to run a game campaign in the world of Sinbad?! The classic Bard's Game Atlantis trilogy of books of course! Its got everything & more found in the world setting of Sinbad!
Sinbad is the world setting after but the Atlantis books are the world before the Biblical cataclysm that turned the world upside down. Want to know more about Bard Games Atlantis Trilogy? Wayne's books has an entire section here on the history & products of the Atlantis books. Marvel's Worlds Unknown 7 & 8 "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad' adaptation taps into that childhood nostalgia while taking on the high end of Sword & Sorcery goodness. Sure there's Al-Quadim setting but there's nothing like crafting your own campaign for OD&D or Holmes from the ground up whist watch a Sinbad marathon. In closing yesterday was Gary Gygax day and I think that Jim Whampler's artwork here captures the spirit & essence of the man. Hope everyone rolled some dice, got together with friends, & played a solid round of the grand game of Arneson & Gygax.
Sneaking into the Warner Theater on a Saturday afternoon through the side back entrance enabled me and my crew of miscreants to see this film. It was hugely influential on a generation of film goers in the Eighties. Especially gamers, for a time it seemed that you couldn't throw a rock and not hit ten different old school campaigns all centered around Greek mythology. The basic plot centers around Argos the land that Perseus lands in after Zeus's jealous wife Hera sets him down in but there was far more going on around the plot of the film; "King Acrisius of Argos imprisons his daughter Danaë, jealous of her attracting suitors. When the god Zeus impregnates her, Acrisius banishes his daughter and his newborn grandson Perseus to sea in a wooden chest. In retribution, Zeus kills Acrisius and orders Poseidon to release the last of the Titans, a gigantic sea monster called the Kraken, to destroy Argos. Meanwhile, Danaë and Perseus safely float to the island of Seriphos where Perseus grows to adulthood. Calibos was always a favorite villain of mine warped by the curse of Zeus into something far more and far less then a man. Calibos has been and continues to be my primer for playing divine curses on NPC's. Even in this film there is something of the fickle & the undercurrent of the chaotic nature of the Greek Harryhausen gods.
" Calibos, son of the sea goddess Thetis, is a young man engaged to marry Princess Andromeda, the daughter of Queen Cassiopeia and heir to the rich city of Joppa; but for committing several atrocities against Zeus, including hunting and destroying Zeus's sacred flying horses (excepting only Pegasus), Zeus transforms Calibos into a monstrous deformed creature with one hoof, goat-like horns, and a long tail. This left Calibos an outcast where he lived in the swamp. In revenge, Thetis transports an adult Perseus from Seriphos to an abandoned amphitheatre in Joppa, where he is befriended by an elderly poet named Ammon and learns that Andromeda is under a curse and cannot marry unless her suitor successfully answers a riddle whose failures are burned at the stake. In order to aid his son, Zeus sends Perseus a god-crafted helmet from Athena which makes its wearer invisible, a magical sword from Aphrodite, and a shield from Hera. Perseus, wearing the helmet, captures Pegasus and follows Calibos' giant vulture that is carrying Andromeda to learn the next riddle. Perseus is nearly killed by Calibos but manages to sever one of Calibos' hands, losing his helmet in the process."
There are a couple of things to keep in mind for an old school dungeon master looking at Clash of the Titans:
The hero & his party of adventurers & hirelings go on a few side quests before achieving their goals.
Scattered all throughout Clash of the Titans are the remains of the world before the gods. This is something that echoes throughout the film. The feeling that there was 'a world before'. The Kraken itself can be considered a part of this.
The prison of Medusa at the edge of the Underworld is pure dungeon crawl & has many classic elements of an old school adventure including a guardian monster in the form of the two headed dog Dioskilos.
There are other echoes of earlier Greek mythology films such as Jason and the Argonauts from 1963.
Burgess Meredith as Ammon is a perfect pure bard, sage, and councilor NPC & his performance makes an excellent reference for old school DM's
The interaction between the gods and humans in '81's Clash of the Titans is fickle at best and downright dangerous at worst. This sort of interaction might be typical for human and god interactions.
There is treasure just sitting around several of the picture's adventure locations and this could lead a party of adventurers to follow the trails blazed by Perseus and co.
The Kraken isn't the only monster that the gods have imprisoned. There's a bunch of horrors implied by the film but never seen.
There isn't much back story given to the Stygian Witches but its clear that their very dangerous. Could a relative of the PC's have been one of their victims? This might make for a good side quest.
The gods make several references to the moves of other humans on their chess board. Could these be the PC's interfering in the plans of the gods?
"Perseus seeks a way to defeat the Kraken, while Pegasus is captured by Calibos and his men. Zeus commands Athena to give Perseus her owl Bubo; but she orders Hephaestus to build a golden replica of Bubo instead, who leads Perseus to the Stygian Witches. By taking their magic eye Perseus forces them to reveal that the only way to defeat the Kraken is by using the head of Medusa, who lives on an island in the River Styx at the edge of the Underworld. The next day, the group continues on their journey without Andromeda and Ammon, who return to Joppa."
"On the Gorgon's island with three soldiers by his side, Perseus fights Medusa's guardian, a two-headed dog named Dioskilos, who kills one of his companions but Perseus intervenes in the nick of time and kills the beast. Perseus leads his two remaining allies into the Gorgon's lair. His two other companions die on encounter with Medusa herself; she shoots one of the soldiers with an arrow and turns the other to stone. Perseus uses the reflective underside of his shield to deceive Medusa, decapitates her, and collects her head; but the shield is dissolved by her caustic blood. As Perseus and his party set to return, Calibos enters their camp, forces Bubo into the water, scares the horses away, and punctures the cloak carrying Medusa's head, causing her blood to spill and produce three giant scorpions called Scorpiochs. The scorpions attack and Thallo is able to kill one of them, but he and his fighting companion are both killed by Calibos himself. Perseus slays the other two scorpions and thereafter kills Calibos and grieves Thallo's death."
The scorpion scene still creeps me out but its indicative of the fact that the mortals are playing with the materials, items, & events of the Greek gods. This is one big entertainment for those same gods something again implied in '63's 'Jason & the Argonauts' film. In fact there's always been deep connections between Clash of the Titans & Jason & The Argonauts. Is the whole set up with the Kraken simply another entertainment in a long line of such events of the gods? Both pictures imply this very thing.
There's this feeling to both pictures that there's far more going on then we the audience are seeing. There have been other heroes & adventures that we are not even aware of. These films imply a history and deep backstory that one gets from a Harryhausen film. I'm not waxing lyrical here or clouded by nostalgia. These were films with weight to them and mythological backgrounds to them for old school campaigns. An early look into Clash of the Titans can be found in Starlog issue #38 which has a really solid article on the film.
So the Kraken is defeated & all ends well for Joppa. Well not exactly you've still got the gods plotting their next move on the city state & then there are the families of the poor bastards that went with Perseus. This is where the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition Deities & Demigods book comes in. Almost but not quite everything is stated up in this book except the Kraken.
I know that your thinking that surely you can't plug this into Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea? Can you? Well actually you can. The heroes & some background elements were placed in the constellations by Zeus himself. What if there's shadows of these NPC's in the stellar namesakes. Could there be a quest in the making between the Outer Darkness of the night between the stars? I have a feeling of something along those lines.
For now keep em rolling! Clash of the Titans remains an old favorite of mine and millions out there. A perfect game night film and perhaps set up for your old school campaigns?
So what the hell does this have to do with Dungeons & Dragons or the OSR for that matter? Well there have been countless writers, artists, etc. including Gary Gygax & David Lance "Dave" Arneson who took a bit from this picture. But for a dungeon master this film is a god sent for creating & expanding upon for a home campaign. There is almost nothing written about or referenced about the island of Collossa or its lost people. Sokurah the magician played expertly by Torin Thatcher has been plundering their secrets, relics, treasures, & life forms for years. He reminds me on a certain level of Forbidden Planet's Dr.Edward Morbius both men are plundering the ancient knowledge of people's long gone. They're secrets are shaping them not the other way around. Sokurah has been messing with the black magick secrets of Collosa & they've been messing with him. He knows each and every detail of the island and its secrets but fails to see the bigger picture.What other secrets await in the dungeons & ruins of Collosa.
[about to land on Collosa]
Sinbad:
May Allah grant we find food and water. Harufa:
And may Allah grant we find nothing else.
The peoples of Collosa mastered the transformations of flesh & the creation of chimera. The transformation of the Princess's lady into the serpent woman is both classic & telling.Telling because the magick is both smooth but very dangerous. The great thing about Harryhausen's stop-motion is the dream-like quality that sweeps over the audience. We would later on get another sample of the level of mastery of the wizardry of the people of Colossa.
There's something very unnerving about the skeleton from the Seventh Voyage. The magician transfers a bit of his mind into the skeleton to animate it but its aggressiveness is turned to murdering Sinbad. A friend of mine thought that the skeleton might have been a controlled Deadite ala Army of Darkness. This was something connected to the 'children of the Hydra' skeletons in Harryhausen's Jason & The Argonauts.
Sure by the end of the picture Sinbad & co. sail away from Collosa & live happily ever after. But what happened to all the ruins & other materials left behind? Its all still there along with other cyclopes & who knows what else. The island is a perfect adventure point for a mid level party of adventurers. Was Toro the only dragon on the island? No, I doubt it. Toro was a very dinosaur like dragon of an almost singular lower tier intelligence that acted as magician Sokura's watch dog & bodyguard.
So what's the story of the island of Collosa ? In my mind there are a few hypothesis that come to mind. One its another R&D facility of the gods like 'the Isle of Bronze'. I'm not the first to put forward that theory or speculation. But there's something much more interesting about the island of Collosa. If you watch the journey that Sinbad's crew take across the island there are different variations of ecosystems that they go through. Some are very similar to Skull Island from King Kong from '33. The dead island nation is very artificial and perhaps was there long before the people of Collosa got to it. Elder Thing by Віщун - http://vixis24m.deviantart.com/art/The-Elder-Thing-395769042
The island might have been a hold over from the time of the Elder Things of H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness. "The beings first appeared in H. P. Lovecraft's novella, "At the Mountains of Madness" (published in 1936, but written in 1931), and later appeared, although not named, in the short story "The Dreams in the Witch-House" (1933). Additional references to the Elder Things appear in Lovecraft's short story "The Shadow Out of Time" (1936)." The people of Collosa came later after the oceans drank Atlantis, Hyperborea, etc. Possibly foretold before the disaster that took the ancient world during one of its extinction cycles. So what was the black wizard after? Power & recognition on the global stage pure and simple, he manipulated events from the first meeting with Sinbad right from the get go. He wanted the secrets of the lamp, he had the secrets of the island dead island nation but that wasn't enough. It never is. He wanted the lamp's protection because there were deeper levels to the ruins where even greater secrets and horrors awaited him. We know that volcanic vents power the island's facilities.
If we go back to the original source material from Sinbad the Sailor from One Thousand and One Nights. Then the picture becomes much clearer in the magician's actual agenda ripe with his quest for forbidden knowledge and power. In fact the comic book adaptation Four Color #944 - The 7th Voyage of Sinbad released by Dell on September 1, 1958.
bares this very fact out!
So what the hell is down blow in the vaults below Collosa? My guess is that there are incredibly ancient secrets of the Elder Things. Perhaps proto shoggoth material, relics, ancient secrets, & knowledge beyond the pale of mankind. Just the sort of thing to interest the black wizard of Collosa. We have very little on the black wizard's background but given the make shift state of his workshop's he's been plumbing the secrets of the island for ten to twenty years. He's adapted, modified, uses the artifacts & relics of Collosa as he see's fit.
Sinbad:
What weird power restrains that monster? Sokurah the Magician:
The man that holds this treasure is safe from even greater danger. Sinbad:
Why didn't you destroy the monster?
Sokurah the Magician:
The genie of the lamp cannot be used to work harm. But in protection, his powers are invincible.
So how could Collosa be used for OSR retro clone system? Well given the artifacts and relics of the dead island nation. I can see using Collosa as an adventure location for Dark Albion. The island and its ruins make a perfect location to look for relics to help the War of The Roses brewing in Albion. The island could also fit into a Labyrinth Lord game as a destination for travelers and adventurers where the cyclops are deadly beyond measure. The island could also be used as a possible adventure location for Mutant Future as its already very dreamlike and could drift along the planar winds to wind up in the post apocalyptic world. The place would also make an excellent adventure location for Lamentations of the Flame Princess where adventurers have to locate one or more items while facing down the horrors of the island's cyclops guardians. Its also a ready made location to use with B/X Dungeons & Dragon's Isle of Dread which I've done many times!
