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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade.

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!