“There was a long hard time when I kept far from me
the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its
worth.”
―
Great
ExpectationsSecret of the Slavers Stockade |
The battle against the slavers continues! You and your fellow adventurers have defeated the slavers of Highport, but you have learned of the existence of another slaver stronghold, and you have decided to continue the attack. But beware! Only the most fearless of adventurers could challenge the slavers on their own ground, and live to tell of it! [A2 - 1]
Is this module the best in the Series?
It might
be. Does the module have problems? What module doesn’t. The most glaring issue
to my mind in this one is the ankheg hiding in a far too deep puddle at the
entrance of the stockade. Think on that for a moment, if you will. But I’m willing
to look beyond that and focus on the adventure’s strengths. Secrets of the
Slavers Stockade has the most realized plot, and the very best villains of all
the modules in the A-series. Blackthorn is creepy! The Executioner horrifying! Icar is terrifying! And
could there an antagonist more vile than Markessa? You would have to look long
and hard to find one. She’s Mengele! Todesengel! The Angel of Death!
Icar |
The story so
far:
Slavers have
plundered the coasts, carrying off farmers, fisherfolk, and nobility alike. You
put an end, albeit temporarily, to their activity in Nyrond at Darkshelf. Maybe
not. You likely set them back a few months until they set up another front in
another coastal village and carried on, unabated. Then, some time later, you
infiltrated the sundered city of Highport in the Pomarj, where all evidence of
the slavers’ activity pointed.
You crept into
Highport and after much investigation discovered the slaver’s stronghold, a
burnt-out temple in the heart of the city, surrounded by orcs and undead. You
narrowly escaped death and enslavement within, but in the end, you defeated the
Slave Lord and his minions, only to discover that Highport has never been the
slavers’ true base.
On the table are the records of the slavers’
activities in the area and a map of the caravan route and the stops on the way.
[A1 - 18]
It’s an old trope, but in this case it works. These are
lower echelon slavers, not privy to the same knowledge as their superiors.
In any event, [the] map has led the party inland from
Highport to an old fort lost in the midst of the Drachensgrab Hills. Supposedly
this stockade is used as a way station by humanoid caravan merchants who dare
risk travel across these perilous lands. The party's map, however, indicates
that the fort is really a front for the slavers, and that it is being used as a
processing and fattening house for newly acquired slaves. The information
agrees with that received from a slave who escaped from the stockade. The
slaves are brought in with the mock caravans, but they are never seen to leave.
To help fulfill their mission the player characters decide to investigate the
old fort. [A2 - 2]
So says the module. But like the modules preceding this
one, it is for tournament play and designed to fit neatly within the four-hour
play period allotted it.
The Executioner |
What follows is a series of lethal encounters within the fort, where the characters are lucky to remain undetected for long.
Should they remain undetected, they will eventually
descend into another of those dungeons built in the crazy heyday of dungeon
creation, and eventually meet and dispose of the Executioner and Icar,
Markessa’s trusted minions, if not Markessa, herself, as the module hints to
her inevitable escape, never to be seen or heard of again, until the release of
Slavers in 2000; and again in 2016 when caslEntertainment revived her
memory with the first his series of adventures featuring her.
Might I suggest some changes? A stockade is well and
good, but I would wonder its purpose in the centre of what was once a
territory. I might imagine that the slavers have secured a number of locales
along their “caravan route” that met their needs. It need not be a stockade. It
can be, of course; but what if it were a remote and once palatial hunting
lodge? That would suit Markessa, I think, owing to the description of her
quarters in the module. Palatial is not necessary, but it would certainly be
more comfortable. Remote, that would be far more important to her; to be left
undisturbed. But I also imagine that she would prefer quiet to conduct her
“work.”
Congruent to that chain of thought, she’d have erected a
wooden stockade downwind of her lodge to keep those odoriferous assets.
Which leads me to the lodge. Her “supply” would be kept
in the basement, maybe her laboratory, as well. As might be the Executioner.
Icar would be on the ground floor, in the kitchen, as per the module; so too
offices and studies and libraries and solariums and dining halls, each decked
out with the accoutrements of a trophy rooms.
There need not be a second floor. If there is, that is
where their suites would be and not on the first, both personal and guest. Treasure
would be in their quarters, hidden, trapped, what have you. This is where the
drow are likely to be as well, the curtains drawn by day, thrown open to the
glories of the night sky that they would be in wonder of by night.
Once Markessa is defeated, either dead or taken flight (I
prefer the latter for campaign continuity purposes), a search of her laboratory
(or her quarters, or study—a more likely prospect) would reveal the lure to the
next stage in the adventure.
Shoved behind some books and papers on the top of one
cabinet is a roll of parchment. There are three sheets of parchment, the first
one listing various names, these are the names of the slave merchants Markessa
normally does business with. The second sheet is a tally of the slaves most
recently received divided by general description and where they are from. The
last is a crude map of the caravan routes and may be used by the party to reach
dungeon module A3 - Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords. [A2 - 28]
Why would
there be such a map? I prefer that the PCs find correspondence instead:
letters, orders, a summons.
Confronting Markessa |
Despite
my criticisms, and desire to tinker, I believe this is the strongest of the A
series modules.
What are
your thoughts on this much beloved classic?
Do you
agree?
Markessa in her laboratory |
The Art:
Cover Art, from A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade, by Jeff Roslof, 1981
Markessa, from A0-A4 Against the Slave Lords, by Mike Lowe, 2013
Detail of Stockade Cartography, from A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade, 1981
Confronting Markessa, from A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade, by Bill Willingham, 1981
Markessa in her laboratory, from A0-A4 Against the Slave Lords, by Mike Bridges (of Greyhawkery), 2013
Sources:
9039A A0 Danger at Darkshelf
Quarry, 2013
9039 A1 Slave Pits of the
Undercity, 1980
9040 A2 Secret of the
Slaver’s Stockade, 1981
9041 A3 Aerie of the Slave
Lords, 1981
9042 A4 In the Dungeons of
the Slave Lords, 1981
A0-A4 Against the Slavers, 2013
11621 Slavers, 2000
A5 Kill Marquessa!, casl
Entertainment, 2016
A6
Die, Marquessa, Die!, casl Entertainment, 2017
A7 Marquessa, Thy Name is
Evil, casl Entertainment, 2018
Hey, I did not know there was an A5 to A7 Modules. These must be 3rd Party content.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are. They were written by Carlos Lising, the owner of casl Entertainment. There is a link to his website within the post!
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