Thoughts on A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords

Thoughts on A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords

 “Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers."

― Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

There was a period when TSR consolidated their “adventure paths” into omnibus editions. Where those amalgamated versions successful? I wasn’t buying gaming products at the time, but I imagine they flew off the shelves. But were they good?

As I’ve been doing a deep dive into the Slavers series, let’s look at Scourge of the Slave Lords and find out. 

I’ll begin with touching on what remained the same within this super-adventure:

The original modules were largely untouched, and were reproduced verbatim, almost word for word, as it were. Indeed, almost every room description was left unaltered. Is that a good thing? That depends. Did you love the originals? Would you have been incensed had they rewritten them? Probably. Maybe the question ought to be, should they have rewritten them? Maybe. Probably not. Had they rewritten them, you might argue that the linked modules would not have been the A series anymore. And you would be right. From that point of view, you might say that it was best to leave well enough alone.

If you are of that opinion, that is. 

What changed?

The biggest change was the addition of a prologue. Who wrote it? I’ll go out on a limb and say that it was written by Ed Carmien. The super module is said to be designed by David Cook, Allen Hammack, Harold Johnson, Tom Moldvay, Lawrence Schick, and the aforementioned Carmien; but as we all know that Cook wrote the first, Johnson with Moldvay the second, Hammack the third, and Schick the finale, and that most of those mentioned had moved on to greener passages by the time this was published, I suppose that makes Carmien the sole designer of what followed.

Unlike the compilation that followed in 2013 (Against the Slave Lords), the 1986 super module presupposes that the PCs will have completed the Gygax adventure path of T1-4 (released the prior year as Temple of Elemental Evil), then A1-4 (Scourge of the Slave Lords), and moving on to G1-3, D1-3, and Q1 (Queen of the Spiders), and there were foreshadowing and clues to what was to come within it.

Highport is loosely developed, as is Suderham. There are interludes added as well, to fill in the gaps as the party gets from point A to B. Do those add to the adventure. A little. Not much. Most of it is side material.

Our Heroes

So, how does the super module begin?

The PCs are heroes, having plunged into the halls and depths of the Temple of Elemental Evil, putting an end to Eclavdra’s and Lolth’s evil plot.

(I must admit, that I do not like how Frank Mentzer had altered Gary Gygax’s original plot. Eclavdra was, and will forever be, an acolyte of the Elder Elemental Evil, in my mind.)

As you stretch out on the bench before the inn to warm yourself in the sun, you spot a stranger striding down the lane. Ostler, leaning out his front door, nods in that direction and says, "Now, what dye make o' that, fair sirs? 'Tis a man wrapped in the colors 0' some laird, strolling through our Hommlet. bustlin' like he's driven on some grand business. Mayhaps I'll have me some lairds party stayin' for the night." With a shrug he goes inside, calling to his family.

Looking closely, you can make out the glint of flaxen hair tumbling out from beneath the liveried cape. From the way this stranger moves, you'd safely guess him to be a her. Now, what business would a woman have in such a sleepy little village, a lords woman at that?

Assuming a sleepy pose, you continue to watch the stranger through half closed eyes. With a purposeful stride, she crosses the inn yard and passes your bench. A mingled scent of perfume and horse sweat follows her. There are muffled voices inside.

Suddenly, she steps back out the door and tosses back the hood of her cloak. "Good sirs," she says with a graceful curtsy, "I bear a message from Most Worthy Dame Gold of Safeton." She is, as you guessed, a young woman, endowed with a dignified and subdued beauty. She thrusts a heavy, buff envelope into your startled hands. "To The Saviors of Hommlet" is written across the front in a spidery hand. The back is closed with a large blob of wax pressed with a seal. She turns and walks away.

The invitation reads:

To those Brave and Worthy; May it never be said that the courageous undertake valor for the hope of reward nor the righteous seek purity. and thus may aspersions of evil never fall upon thy name. But, as ye know too well, the rewards of virtue are painful and cold.

Our advisors, through wisdom and sagacity. have proclaimed thy actions good and virtuous, done for the wealth of the people of Hommlet. Those so noble as yourselves will grace and ornament the presence of any gathering. We beseech you to kindly honor us with your presence during the Feasts of Edoira at Windy Crag in the town of Safeton.

Dame Gold 

[A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords - 5]

The PCs accept the invitation, and the adventure begins. What follows is a bit of a railroad adventure—that said, all adventures are a bit of a railroad adventure.

You may disagree, but once a story arc is introduced, and the PCs begin to follow it, there is an evil plot to be discovered, uncovered, and investigated, with plot points that lead to cities, manors, keeps and dungeons to be visited, and low level through high level bad guys to be defeated. The DM cannot possibly develop the entire world, and once the plot begins to unfold, it need be followed up on, no matter whether if the PCs travel to Saltmarsh instead of Nulb.

The PCs attend a week long festival at Dame Gold’s estate, where the meet and interact with a number of NPC. Friends and foes are potentially created, depending on how the week plays out. If this were to be a lengthy social and political campaign, this would certainly be a great way to begin it; but as most of these NPCs will never be seen nor heard from again, the party might be considered pointless. If the players like dungeon delves, this will likely end the campaign.

If the players are patient, once the festival comes to an end, they leave to begin a quest asked of them, one probably never embarked on, Dame Gold’s estate is raided, and a number of the guests are either carried off or enslaved.

The Raid

What follows is a clever, if VERY, railroady adventure.

It’s going to piss off a lot of players.

Self-determination will be stripped from them two or three times, literally.

But what follows does have its high points. There are spies and characters met on the road that have great potential, if used. As I already mentioned, there are interludes and subplots that help fill the gaps between modules. Eldredd is especially good, in my opinion, as is the attempt to develop the city of Highport.

I will not go into the individual modules within, as I’ve already done as much in earlier posts. If you have not, I invite you to visit those if you are interested in what I though of them.

But before Highport, the party must be dealt the Fate Worse than Death—cleverly conceived to elevate the PCs from hired thugs to victims incited by need for revenge—which may or may not break the campaign.

Captured

The PCs are captured and set to work as galley slaves for however long as it takes them to conceive and carry out an escape. It’s meant to break them. Worse than that, it is written into the adventure that the PCs WILL be captured and enslaved, the means spelled out. They will be gassed and shanghaied while aboard the Ghoul, a ship they contracted (terrible name; you should rename it, something like the Maidenhead, or some such), or bushwhacked if upon the road to Highport. In either, the PCs WILL be overcome, and enslaved. This will be the first moment where the PCs have no self-determination. The second will be when at the end of A3, the PCs will be overcome by the very same plot device.

Is the adventure made better? Marginally at times.

I especially enjoyed the addition of the introduction of the expositional character of Oric in Scumslum:

North of the walled city of Suderham, between the city and its harbor area, is the area known derisively to the locals as "ScumSlum! Peasant field workers far the farms, non-household slaves, and almost everyone who is not a tradesman, a slaver, or in the militia lives in shabby hovels clustered along the harbor road. For a few coins, any of the inhabitants of this area will invite the player characters into their home, beckoning them to move quickly, with darting eyes searching for agents of the slave lords. Copper is the expected coin for these people, silver will bring a very friendly reaction, and gold will raise eyebrows: "We don't see much gold here, stranger." [SotSL - 97]

The informant's name is Oric, and at 40 years of age he looks like a man of 60; he is worn out by the harsh life of being a peasant farm worker, and has already exceeded the average life expectancy of his kind. Suspicious and curmudgeonly at first, the prospect of the money the player characters are offering will gradually bring out his garrulous good nature; his final suggestion about ambushing slave buyers should provide the party with a method of entry into Suderham.

Oric will discuss as much about the city and its rulers as he knows, which is limited to general knowledge about the city: its quarters, the patrols, etc. [SotSL - 97]

Feetla, the Buccaneer

The Slave Lords are given a story arc that fits with the overall continuity of the campaign, if run as intended.

Feetla, the buccaneer, is renamed Eanwulf, and remains as undeveloped as he formerly was; but he is not the focal villain in this adventure, those being Stalman Klim and Edralve, who are maneuvering against one another for control of the Slavers organization. So, why change his name? Was Feetla so ridiculous? No. No more than Eanwulf, which sounds far more Nordic than it should, considering the adventure’s southern locale.

Does it all work?

Not really. Not to my mind. As I said, there are great additions within the pages of the super module, notably an excellent NPC character generator encounter table for Highport, and good Special Encounters, the same true for the Wilderness encounters leading up to Suderham, and encounters within.

To be honest, I really do like the prelude at Dame Gold’s manor. I really do. It has the potential to really open up the campaign from the start. Grist for the mill. Potential love interests. Possible allies. Even foreshadowed foes. Suppose Feetla is in attendance, scouting the site of the raid out beforehand, deciding who might bring in top dollar, and who might be more trouble that they are worth. The more I think on it, the more I like the idea. The PCs will want to extract a pound of flesh when they catch sight of one another later. And imagine their surprise when he recognizes them, and regales them with the expected soliloquy on how they’d slipped through his fingers by leaving earlier than expected, or even more infuriatingly, that he didn’t think they were worth the trouble to parade on the block.

In any event, when a few of the gathered revellers are killed in the raid, and when others are abducted, the PCs might feel far more obligated to pursue those dastardly villains than they might have been.

But as a whole, I was less engaged by what was presented within than what might have been developed.

That said, it is about slavers, and it definitely strove to make the PCs hate them.

One must always give credit where credit is due. This piece is made possible primarily by the Imaginings of Gary Gygax and his Old Guard, Lenard Lakofka among them, and the new old guards, Carl Sargant, James Ward, Roger E. Moore. And Erik Mona, Gary Holian, Sean Reynolds, Frederick Weining. The list is interminable. 

The Art:

Cover Art detail, from A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords, by Jeff Easley, 1986

Party-of-the-Week-Slavers by steeldragons

The Adventurers detail, by Val Lakey Lindahn, from A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords, 1986

Snatch by boxume

Sailing-the-red-sea by karaul

Flint by wildheadache

Source:

9026 T1 The Village of Hommlet, 1979

9039A  A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry, 2015

9039 A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity, 1980

9042 A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, 1981

9167 A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords, 1986

A0-4 Against the Slave Lords, 2013

Thoughts on A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

 

 “I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”

― Virginia Woolf

Trapped in the dungeons of the Slave Lords! The hardy adventurers must find a way out, with only their wits and courage to help them. But can they do it before everything is destroyed by the dreaded Earth Dragon? [A4 - 1]

In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

So writes Lawrence Schick as he introduces A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords.  Vintage players know how the PCs found themselves trapped in the slavers’ dungeons, but for those who do not, I present to you the story thus far:

Slavers had been attacking the coasts of the Azure Seas for years, laying waste to towns and carrying away its citizenry. Those fortunate enough to be affluent could be ransomed. Not so those serfs and peasants and fisherfolk caught in their net. Their fates were sealed.

Adventures were called upon to seek out the slaver’s hidden bases, and those that did, found fronts and blinds in Nyrond and Almor, in Onnwall and Indee; indeed in each and every nation that were beset upon. But where was the Slavers’ secret base? All clues led to the Pomarj, sundered since the Hateful Wars. An assault upon the once great city of Highport was doomed to fail, however; so, [rather than sending] troops, the lords first cautiously dispatched bands of adventurers. Their mission: find the ultimate stronghold of the slavers and destroy the Slave Lords, thus ending their power. [A4 - 2]

And they did. But they soon discovered that putting and end to the Slavers’ operations in Highport was only the beginning, for correspondence discovered in Highport led the adventures into the Drachensgrab mountains, where horror upon horror led them to the Slavers’ aerie of Suderham.

The adventurers attacked the Slave Lords in their lair beneath Suderham, but on the verge of victory, the party was defeated by an impassable sleeping-gas trap. The sleeping adventurers were ignominiously stripped of their belongings and dragged to the dungeon cells beneath Drachen Keep, the forbidding tower on a plateau above the town. [A4 - 2]

They woke to discover themselves bereft of all their arms and sundries, if not their skill.

Time passed. Torturously. I mean that both figuratively and literally.

The Dungeons of Drachen Keep

Something finally occurs to break the monotony of imprisonment: the stone shudders and the earth growls as a large tremor rocks the island. Dust filters down from the ceilings of the cells, and the adventurers can hear much shouting and commotion among their captors. After a short period, the doors to the dungeon clang open, and in walks the stronghold’s evil High Priest, surrounded by guardsmen. “The Earth Dragon has spoken!” he announces. “He is hungry, and the time has come to feed you to him, as is our sacred custom. O miscreants, now you shall pay for the havoc you have wrought. Guards, subdue them with the Smoke of the Little Death.”

He turns and leaves, and the guards go with him. Shortly, however, there is a click as a small aperture is opened in the dungeon door. Through it comes the end of a tube, which spews out the green sleep smoke the characters remember so well .... [A4 - 4]

The party awakens in a place where there is no light and no sounds but their own. Characters with infravision can ascertain that all party members are presented. The place they are in looks and feels like a natural cave, about 30 feet in diameter. There are four 10’ high exit tunnels somewhat evenly spaced around the perimeter. Characters with infravision cannot see a ceiling; apparently it is too high. The floor is covered with sand. None of the party have any possessions save a dirty cotton loincloth. They have no weapons, no food, nothing: only their wits, and a small closed cloth tube which rests on the floor in the center of the room. It is a foot-and-a-half long, about the size of a wand or scroll tube. [A4 - 4]

It was Selzen Murtano who dropped the package for them to find. Remember him? The beggar at Suderham’s gate? To be fair (or less brutal, this not being a tournament), have Mutano leave then a few daggers, as well. More on him later. 

The stage is set for one of the most challenging of tournament modules. The PCs must escape from the caverns before the volcano in which they awakened collapse.

All they have at their disposal is their wit and skill. Will that be enough?

The premise of this module was not Lawrence Schick’s. It was Harold Johnson’s, the writer of A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade. It was he who first stripped the PCs of their worldly possessions, forcing them to rely on their wits instead.

But it was Schick’s idea to adapt the adventure to tournament play when players at GENCON began demanding that there had to be a reason for monsters to be where they were, just as there had to be a reason for the adventurers to have plumed their depths. Schick, David Cook, Allen Hammack, and Johnson rose to the occasion with the help of Tom Moldvay, and wrote what is now considered one of the finest of adventure paths ever. Later compiled into one adventure, 1986’s Scourge of the Slave Lords is heralded as the 20^th greatest adventure in D&D history.

This was one of my favourite modules of those early days. I did not play many. But of those that I did, this was one of the most challenging. And exhilarating.

Looking back, is it as good as I remember? Mostly. Would I change much? No.

As I mentioned when reviewing A3 Aerie of the Slave Lords, I would remove reference to the dreaded Earth Dragon. It is not required. Instead, I’d replace it with the Elemental Eye, first mentioned in A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry. Aside from that, most encounters feel like they should, or could be there. There are kobolds and giant ants, and creatures akin to ropers. There are a lot of fungi, this being where the myconids made their debut.

More importantly, there is an epic conclusion to the adventure path. Having escaped from the caverns the PCs awoke in, they witness the imminent destruction of Suderham. The Slave Lords are fleeing and it’s up to the PCs to confront them and put an end to their evil schemes, once and for all.

It will be difficult, at best. Potentially lethal, in fact. The PCs do not have their equipment, only what they’ve been able to scrounge during the course of the past hours. Luckily, the Slave Lords are not at their most prepared, either, owing to their ordeals since Mount Flamenblut began to tear itself apart.

Mutano is there to greet them before the finale.

Selzen Murtano is a slender man with attractive features and a sly wit. He’s prone to impulsiveness and sometimes acts without thinking. He keeps his black hair short and his face shaved. He wears fine studded leather armor and keeps a longsword in a scabbard hanging from his belt. In addition to weapons and armor, Selzen has a padded wallet containing thieves’ tools. [Dungeon #215 - 32]

This is the beginning of the docks area. To the west, the rattletrap houses of Scumslum are going up in flames, the fire leaping from one to the next. Northeast remove is the first dock. Only one boat is tied there, a small galley emblazoned with a finned dragon. Without warning, a man dressed as a Slave Lord lieutenant runs toward the party from behind a nearby house, shouting loudly. [A4 - 19]

We’re told that the PCs’ gear is on the Water Dragon, but I’d have Murtano have a few gifts for our heroes beyond those mentioned to help them in the battle to come. Healing potions. Scrolls. Maybe a weapon or two.

Murtano will give the party two scrolls he managed to filch from Drachen Keep: a clerical scroll of four spells (cure serious wounds and 3 cure light wounds), and a magic-user’s scroll of five spells (sleep, invisibility, strength, dispel magic, and hold person). All spells are at the 7th level of use. He will also give the characters a crystal monocle with a permanent read magic cast on it, to enable the spellcasters of the party to make immediate use of the scrolls. [A4 - 19,20] 

The Slave Lords

Which Lords are left to face? The high priest Stalman Klim, the aforementioned Mordrammo of A3; Theg Narlot, the slavers’ master of espionage; Lamonsten, their illusionist of note who has hitherto remained unnoted; the Scarlet Brotherhood’s Kerin, disciple of Brother Milerjoi, both of whom were mentioned in A3; Slippery Ketta; and Edralve, an exiled drow from Erelhei Cinlu.

What happened to Feetla, Milerjoi, Ajakstu, and Neralas? Who knows? We are left to wonder at their fate.

Should you slow the pace of the overall adventure, a number of these august personages could be well known to the PCs, and to you for that matter, by adventure’s end. And they would know the PCs, too. “You again?” Klim screams upon recognizing the party as they resolve from the smoke and slaves that had hidden them from view until then. “No matter. You’ll be dead soon.”

This will make the final confrontation more satisfying, in the end.

Personally, I’d reserve Klim and Feetla for The Last Slave Lord, should you wish to run that. Have them escape. Have the characters see them flit away by however means before the final conflict.

Or not. Klim’s future has been secured, regardless.

As to Ketta? Has she been present throughout the campaign, as I suggested? All the better. Has she been redeemed? Unlikely.

Ajakstu

And Ajakstu? If you recall, I suggested that he become a she, and that she be LN and not the unspecified evil expected. Did she survive A3? Was she killed by her own? Did she, could she, betray her assigned cause, assigned to her by the Scarlet Sign?

But death is rarely the end to such dastardly foes.

2013’s The Last Slave Lord in Dungeon magazine #215, details how Klim’s evil endures.

Stalman Klim and the other Slave Lords found death in the ensuing battle. The clone was still growing when Klim died.

Now, in the weeks after the disaster, his soul waits inside the developing body, knowing his chance for revenge is at hand. [Dungeon #215 - 32]

One must always give credit where credit is due. This piece is made possible primarily by the Imaginings of Gary Gygax and his Old Guard, Lenard Lakofka among them, and the new old guards, Carl Sargant, James Ward, Roger E. Moore. And Erik Mona, Gary Holian, Sean Reynolds, Frederick Weining. The list is interminable.

The Art:

Cover art, from A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, by Erol Otus, 1981

Prison-Cell by chapboy

Dungeon Map, from A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, 1981

Swimming Adventurer illustration, from A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, by Erol Otus, 1981

Escape for the Dungeons illustration, from A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, Unsigned, 1981

Suderham in Flames  illustration, from A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, by Jim Roslof, 1981

The-Slave-Lords by francisrpnavarro, from A0-4 Against the Slave Lords, 2013

Ketta detail, from A0-4 Against the Slave Lords, by Francis RP Navarro, 2013

Eternally-Yours by bohemiart

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

9167 Scourge of the Slave Lords, 1986

Dungeon magazine #215, The Last Slave Lord, by Robert J. Schwalb, 2013

Thoughts on A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords

“Right now I’m having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.”

― Steven Wright 

Into the Drachengrab Mountains! Hot on the trail of the marauding slavers, you and your fellow adventurers plunge deep into hostile Hills. Spurred on by your past success, you now seek the heart of the slaver conspiracy. But hurry! You must move quickly before the slavers recover from your previous forays and attack! [A3 - 1] 

What can I say about A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords? I’m not really a fan of the module, not in and of itself, anyway.

As far as classic tournament modules go, I'd have to say that it is a solid example of how tournament modules were written at that time. It's fast-paced, and it can easily fit neatly into a four-hour timeslot.

But I'm really not a fan of tournament modules. They usually have encounters with monsters that have never seen the light of day again, for good reason. Also, there are those unrealistic dungeon layouts. Who would design and excavate such things?

Personally, I think this is the weakest of the A series, mainly because it was always meant to be a stepping stone to the finale. It really serves no other purpose. The characters have to navigate a dungeon to gain entry to the city, which is a city in name only. There are no houses, not residences, and no marketplace to speak of. The businesses are scattered about without rhyme or reason. It was meant to be a series of set encounters that led the characters to, you guessed it, another dungeon. The Slave Lords are left undeveloped, their names and backgrounds pointless if not utilized in the course of the adventure, something unlikely to happen in the time allotted in a four-hour tournament.  I’m not being unkind. Tournaments are tournaments. They’re not supposed to be deep. They're supposed to be fast and furious with lots of combat and traps and PC mortality.

Aside from that, there is much to glean from this module, despite its faults, especially if it is considered Part 1 of the finale, A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords being Part 2.

Taken as such, Allan Hammack did alright, considering the constraints placed upon him. He was hobbled from the get go and had to work within the confines of what was to come. That he was hobbled with writing this module is unfortunate, considering the whole series was based on his original idea of having the PCs awaken in a dungeon, stripped of their equipment and magic, and left with only their imaginative skill and ingenuity to aid them in their escape. That is sheer genius. But how could the DM place the PCs in such a predicament?

But I’m getting ahead of myself…. 

The story so far:

Nerelas in Highport

Slavers have plundered the coasts, carrying off farmers, fisherfolk, and nobility alike. The PCs have 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 sacked city of Highport in the Pomarj, where all evidence of the slavers’ activity pointed. You discovered that Highport was only a base from which those slavers sallied forth. The slavers were not only operating by sea, they were raiding from deep within the Drakensgrab Mountains into and across the Lortmils and Ulek. It was there that you confronted Icar and Markessa, coming face to face with depravity and horror as you had never imagined. But Markessa was not the mastermind behind all you had fought thus far. Further evidence pointed to the remote Marche of Suderham.

How were the PCs directed here? They found a map, of course. It’s an old trope. Why should there be a map? The slavers are likely know where their strongholds and outposts are. Have the information buried within reams of paperwork and correspondence. Have the characters chase Markessa there if you wish; after all, the text of A2 suggested that she is likely to escape.

I would suggest that you ensure she does. More on that later.

The module begins with a cavern complex that leads to the “city” of Suderham, its paths riven with mazes and traps and slides and monsters that would have made travel by even the slavers difficult, if not impossible. Let's not get into how absolutely no effort went into making the Cave Map look like anything natural, but let's do discuss how it is even guarded by an illusionist, a supposedly lackluster one of only eighth level named Wimpell Frump, with the expectation that the Aerie will be assaulted despite its being deep in the Pomarj.

Lamonsten

Eighth level? Lackluster? I think not. I ask you, why would anyone of such skill agree to such a task? It would be a boring vigil, I expect. Aside from that, what need they of a hired illusionist when they have Lamonsten, an illusionist of note sitting on their council?

Dispense with the dungeon. It is unnecessary. Keep the action above ground. I’d also dispense with the idea of Suderham resting on an island. The logistics of sustaining such a place would be daunting, at best.

I would downgrade Suderham to a remote lakefront village at the foot of Drachen Keep, a fortified house of the deposed marquess. (Why a fortified house and not a castle, because it is inland and not on a border; castles and keeps with walls and palisades have always seemed more fitting on borders in my mind; and a fortified house would be cheaper to build and maintain. I like to imagine that the marquess’ ancestor built his retreat after having tamed his lands.) Hedged farmlands stretch out from the river that wends through a valley that’s peppered with bunches of pine and beech.

Draken Keep

The party can then creep up on the village, waylay some slavers’ caravan approaching it, and use their papers to gain entry (as the module suggests). Once within, the characters can learn more about what befell the Marche from those inhabitants that remain, held hostage to the orcs that overran it, and the slavers who took possession. This is all predicated on the assumption that what follows is part of a greater campaign, and not a tournament, if anyone runs such anymore.

As per the module, the town will be infested with slavers, and the townsfolk will be wary of strangers, as all newcomers are there to deal with their new masters.

Skulking in Suderham

The module has the party skulking throughout the city, searching for clues to the entrance to yet another dungeon, the city sewer, whose layout would impede the flow of sewage. That’s two dungeons, thus far. With a barely developed city in between. There’s so much that can and should happen here.

There are allies to be found. Selzen Murtano, for one. You don’t remember him? He's the beggar met at the gate:

As you pass through the main gate and take your first steps into the city, a wizened, limping beggar hobbles UD and asks for alms.

The beggar, upon closing with the party, whispers that he is an agent of those who hired the players. He says, “Seek out the ivory paladin,” and then disappears into the passersby. [A3 - 9]

He left clues for the PCs to follow. Whether you choose to use them as written is up to you, but I imagine he bribed the bartender of the inn “The Sign of the White Knight” to pass information to them in the even of his own passing.

In the east side of the dining area is the bar counter, behind which works an overweight, sweating bartender. If the bartender is given 10gp (or more) he will say, “Not all who lie may be resting;” for 50gp (or more) more he will add “learn from the knowledge that never dies.” [A3 - 11]

Use Selzen Murtano. He makes further appearances as the campaign progresses.

These are the stats given him in A4:

AC 4 (studded leather), MV 9”, LVL 6 thief, hp 30, #AT 1, D 1-8 from long sword, S 7, I 16, W 6, D 18, C 15, ch 14, AL NG).

Selzen Murtano is a slender man with attractive features and a sly wit. He’s prone to impulsiveness and sometimes acts without thinking. He keeps his black hair short and his face shaved. He wears fine studded leather armor and keeps a longsword in a scabbard hanging from his belt. In addition to weapons and armor, Selzen has a padded wallet containing thieves’ tools. [Dungeon #215 - 32]

Ditch the second dungeon, too. Firstly it's just an excuse to add another maze to the module; and secondly, its a sewer whose design would impede the flow of sewage. Why design it as such? And more importantly, why would the Slavers place their throne / conference room in a sewer when they obviously own the city and have nothing to fear from its populace? The idea is preposterous and should be ignored. Develop the marquess’ fortified house instead. Put the slave pens in the basement, and the Slave Lords’ apartments on the second floor. Most encounters ought to be focussed on the fain floor, including the face-off with those Lords present.

Feetla

There’s been much ado about these Slave Lords, thus far. Who are they? What do we know about them? Not much, really. This is what we do know.

Those mentioned are:

Feetla (a buccaneer and the mastermind behind the slavers’ raids to date) is the supposed leader of the group. He's shown to have an eyepatch, but is that really necessary? No; it's just for flavour. I suggest making him Suloise, and a Sea Prince in exile, one with Scarlet Brotherhood connections. What does he need the Brotherhood for? He needs money to hire a fleet with which to take back his lands and estate in the Hold of the Sea Princes. He's a man of the sea and would most certainly prefer to be on the deck of a ship, and not stuck in these mountains. But a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

Nerelas (a silent and cunning assassin) is the spymaster. I've suggested using him before, as early as in A1 to draw the PCs into a much larger narrative, foreshadowing far more sinister foes than those presented. Is he a Suloise Uncle? Why not. His profession fits the bill. The lot of them might be Suloise, if you've a mind to make them so.

Ajakstu

Ajakstu (a magic-user who is otherwise unremarked upon) is our femme fatale. We can have fun here. The module is rather testosterone heavy, so he can be a she, which opens the story up for role play. She can be as evil as you wish. Or not. She could be LN, and dedicated to her people's cause, if not as ruthless in the pursuit of their plot as Feetla is, and Nerelas surely is. Is she offended by slavery? No. It is sanctioned by the law of the Land of Purity, and she has never questioned the right and wrong of it. It just is.

Brother Milerjoy (a high ranking member of the Scarlet Brotherhood) is there to keep an eye on things, and to see that the Brotherhood's interests are met. If the Slavers are Suloise, Milerjoy's presence is far more convincing.

And then we have Modrammo (high priest of the cult of the Earth Dragon, or so he professes to be). Let's make him another Sea Prince in exile, Feetla's elder brother. He is the real mastermind behind this whole enterprise. That will add depth to the backstory. Neither he nor Feetla trust the Brotherhood; they are just a means to an end. In fact, Nerelas and Ajakstu and Milerjoy are expendable, as far as he is concerned.

There are more, supposedly. There must be. There are nine thrones in the chamber of the Slave Lords and only five are present.

Who might they be? They are named in A4: Theg Narlot, Edralve, Lamonsten, and Ketta. That most definitely raised the number to nine. But these villains have not joined our narrative (unless you’ve been following these missives and taken to heart those suggestions I’d mentioned) and will be addressed in another review.

Very little is said about any of the villains in this module, though. I expect it was assumed that they would be elaborated upon in A4. Maybe it was assumed that most would be killed by the PCs. Either way, more is said about Milerjoy and Mordrammo than the others.

Brother Milerjoy

[Brother Milerjoy] and his disciple Brother Kerin mysteriously appeared at the first Council of the Slave Lords. It is an indication of the growing strength of the Scarlet Brotherhood that Brother Milerjoi was immediately accepted into the Council. [A3 - 20]

The mere mention of Brother Kerin is a mystery, as he is only mentioned in passing and never makes an appearance in this adventure.

Stalman Kim, I AM Death

Mordrammo is the chief priest of the Temple of the Earth Dragon. He is a strong enemy, but his self-preservation instinct is strong, He realizes that the attacking party could very well get lucky, so he has a protection from good […] before the party enters the room. As soon as he throws his flame strike, Mordrammo will escape using his word of recall. [A3 - 20]

About that Earth Dragon…. There is nary a mention of the Cult of the Earth Dragon out of the A series, and its sequel Slavers, so its up to you if you wish to use it here. It is Flan, and if you go with the Suloise theme it is out of place, except as a red herring for any prying eyes. Mordrammo could just as easily be a high priest of the Elemental Eye instead, tying the temple stumbled upon in A0 into the overall story arch.

Mordrammo, Brother Kerin, and the other Slave Lords will reappear near the end of module A4 [In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords). [A3 - 20]

One would think so, anyway, as it says so here; but one would be wrong. Kerin does, but not Mordrammo. Or maybe he does. A certain Stalman Klim does. Is Stalman Kim Mordrammo? Of course he is: Their stat blocks are identical. The confusion was cleared up 30 years later in Dungeon #215’s The Last Slave Lord in which it was explained that Stalman Klim was known as Mordrammo to his underlings, a name meaning “I am Death”. [Dungeon #215 - 32]

Is this such a big deal? No. I blame the editors back in 1980 for not keeping each writer in the know of what was going on with other modules in the series being written concurrently with their own. 

Does this module fail? I think it does, on many levels. Maybe not as a tournament module, but certainly as part of a greater campaign, which the series becomes when strung together. Why does it fail? Because the PCs are supposed to fail. Should they? It’s up to you. The question is, do you want to run A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords? If you do, then the PCs must be defeated.

And that will likely piss them off, especially if it is obvious that they had no chance at all. 

How’s that for verisimilitude? And it doesn’t change the intent of the original storyline.

 

One must always give credit where credit is due. This piece is made possible primarily by the Imaginings of Gary Gygax and his Old Guard, Lenard Lakofka among them, and the new old guards, Carl Sargant, James Ward, Roger E. Moore. And Erik Mona, Gary Holian, Sean Reynolds, Frederick Weining. The list is interminable. 

The Art:

Cover art, from A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, by Jeff Dee, 1981

Dark-alley by martinnh

Cave Map, from A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, 1981

Wimpell Frump, from A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, by Jeff Dee, 1981

Suderham Gate, from A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, by Jim Roslof (?), 1981

Arabian-esque scene, A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, by Bill Willingham, 1981

Sewer Map, from A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, 1981

Flint by wildheadache

Eternally-Yours by bohemiart

Brother Milerjoy detail, A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords by Jeff Dee (?), 1981

Wizard-sketch by sarakpn

 

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

11621 Slavers, 2000

The Last Slave Lord, by Robert J. Schwalb, Dungeon magazine #215, 2013

Thoughts on A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade

“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.”

― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

 

Secret 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]

Markessa

 

Blackthorn

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

Should Markessa escape? Yes! Why? Two reasons: Because she is one of the chief antagonists of the 2^nd ed. module Slavers; and because there is a series of three modules penned by Carlos Lising that carry on her foul machinations. These are A5 Kill Marquessa!, A6 Die, Marquessa, Die!, and A7 Marquessa, Thy Name is Evil. All is not lost if Markessa does die; her early demise can be dismissed as the death of yet another double. 

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

Riff-Raff by insane-cheshire-cat6

Icar by jeffdee

Executioner by kolsga

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

Thoughts on "Lowdown in Highport"

“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”
― Marcel Proust

Needless to say, spoilers ahead!

Lowdown in Highport

What did the world need during Wotc’s 4^th edition era? More AD&D. More Greyhawk and instalments of the epic Slavers series, specifically. Chris Perkins obviously thought so. It was he who contacted Skip Williams to write a prequel to the A-series, so I assume the resulting compilation was his idea. Against the Slave Lords was published in June of 2013; oddly, that was the same month that WotC released a further finale to A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords in Dungeon magazine #215 titled The Last Slave Lord. I say oddly, because I can’t help but think that the compilation could have only been made better by its inclusion, not to mention that of what followed in December in #221: Lowdown in Highport. (Sadly, that was also the final issue of Dungeon magazine, as well.)

Why weren’t they included? I don’t know. Maybe they thought the compilation was long enough as published. Maybe they thought a longer compilation would have been too expensive. Maybe they wanted to sell more magazines.

No matter, for whatever reason, they were not included, and I suspect that there are a lot of people out there who never knew that these adventures even exist. How could they, many of them having migrated to Pathfinder after the release of 4^th edition?

Until now, that is….

In any event, Lowdown in Highport follows A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry and precedes A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity. They dovetail nicely into once another, giving DMs another option to following the path set down in A1-4 The Scourge of the Slave Lords, published by TSR in 1986.

The story thus far:

Slavers were raiding up and down the coastlines of the Flanaess, carrying off noble and serf alike without regard to station. Those lucky enough to be affluent could be ransomed, if their families could raise the coin in time, that is. If not, those families were unlikely to see their loved ones again. Peasants and serfs were not so lucky. Their fate was sealed.

Bazili Erek/Brubgrok

Why hadn’t Keoland or Onnwal of Nyrond tasked their fleets to put an end to the Slavers activities? They might have if they hadn’t been embroiled in their own troubles. They were, and hadn’t, and the Slavers were free to act with impunity.

Such was the case in Nyrond. Its attention was firmly held by the nightmare unfolding in the Great Kingdom, and it had little cause to distracted by anything else.

But not all were so occupied. The overlord of Darkshelf was one such. His was an otherwise quiet and peaceful district, until he grew suspicious of a certain dwarf by the name of Bazili Erek, and what might be going on at Darkshelf Quarry. Events unfolded, as events sometimes do, and evidence was unearthed that the Erek was not a dwarf after all, and a Slaver to boot! And that the slaves gathered from Nyrond were being smuggled to Highport, a once wealthy seaport of the Pomarj that had been overrun by orcs and goblins in the aftermath of the Hateful Wars.

Forces of righteousness and honor have recently descended upon Highport, some openly and others in secret, in various attempts to destroy the machinations of the Slave Lords and abolish the abominable enterprise that has taken far too many loved ones from home and hearth. One such doughty servant of goodness is Mikaro Valasteen, a cleric of Trithereon. Mikaro slipped unnoticed past the crumbling walls of Highport with a single mission: to rescue and transport as many slaves to their freedom as possible. [Lowdown in Highport, Dungeon Magazine #221 - 2]

But Valasteen cannot succeed in this task alone. He needs help.

Should you wish to run TSR’s Scourge of the Slave Lords, you can swap out Jack of the Light for Valasteen.

Mikaro Valasteen is a stout but sinewy man of middling years, balding on top but with long, stringy dark hair that hangs to below his shoulders. His locks only partially obscure the fact that one ear is missing. He sits across the table, silent for a moment. “There are folks who need your help,” he finally says. “A group of escaped slaves hide in the city because they can’t flee. The gates are watched. They need a secret route out of town, and I think you’re the folks to find and clear it for them.”

Mikaro stands and begins to pace, warming to his subject as he continues. “There are a number of sea caves along the coast below the city wall, and I believe some connect to the surface above. I’ve already explored several chambers and tunnels that link the basement of an abandoned villa where the refugees hide to the sewers below the city. I believe a path can be traced all the way through.”

He turns and places his hands on the table, giving you an intense stare. “Will you do this thing for me? Will you help these people, these longsuffering victims, return to their lives and loved ones?” [Dungeon #221 - 3]

Thus begins Thomas M. Reid’s Lowdown in Highport. It’s a short adventure and by no means sufficient to bridge the XP gap between A0 and A1, but it’s a good one, I think, also reminiscent of the tournament modules it was meant to compliment. It’s also a dungeon crawl, but in this case, it works.

The question rises: How did the PCs meet Valasteen? If you’re running this module as a tournament, it doesn’t matter. If you are running this as a link in the greater Slavers’ campaign, then you have your work cut out for you. Not only are you going to have to motivate the PCs to come here, you’re going to have to plausibly introduce Valasteen and map out Highport a little, because the PCs are going to want to go there.

There’s a fair description of the sundered city within:

Highport

The town of Highport sits on a small sheltered inlet along the northern coast of the Pomarj peninsula, facing the Wooly Bay. It is divided into two main parts: numerous docks and a port district right on the shore, and a walled urban area at the top of a steep bluff. When humans controlled and lived in Highport, both sections of the town were kept in good order. Since the humanoid invasion, much of the place has fallen into ruin, either razed during the initial attacks or through subsequent neglect.

The port district is little more than a shanty town, filled with ramshackle wooden buildings constructed out of spare planks, boards, and netting. The unstable structures often lean at odd angles, and the “streets” are really narrow, twisting alleys that frequently dead end. Only a handful of original structures still stand, including a couple of inns and several warehouses. Life in the port district is a dangerous, vermin-filled affair that frequently ends in bloody death.

The High City, as the upper area is known, has more breathing room, although its conditions are little better than the port district below. It was once surrounded by a high stone wall to protect it from the depredations of the marauding humanoids that roamed the hills beyond, but much of that protective barrier was demolished in the attacks. The High City is now a wasteland of rubble-strewn streets, and one building in three is a burnt-out shell.

A switchback road cut into the face of the bluff leads from one part of Highport to the other, still protected at each turn by a gated guardhouse. Though sufficient for all the foot traffic that once traveled along it, the road was too narrow to handle all the merchant wagons that needed to move between the two sections of the town, so a number of stout cranes of dwarven design were installed along the bluff to hoist cargo up and down. These are no longer functioning, and only two even remain in place. The rest were cast down during the invasion, crushing hundreds of refugees waiting to flee Highport by boat in the port district below. Those have since been disassembled, their parts used for constructing hovels. [Dungeon #221 - 4]

You may wish to remain true to the original intent of the series.

Several bands of adventurers have been gathered together and will be sent to infiltrate the base and destroy the leaders of this evil band. Caution is recommended, for the true strength and extent of this slave ring is not known, but they seem to be stronger and better organized than encounters with their small raiding parties would indicate. [A1 - 2]

Carrying on afterwards is easy. The forward plot is sketched out within.

He offers them a chance to work with him again, helping more slaves to escape. If they agree, an entire series of daring rescues could take place, using the abandoned villa and the tunnels down to the sea caves as an underground railroad of sorts.

If the characters have come to Highport in pursuit of the slavers responsible for the looting and pillaging along the Wild Coast (as detailed in the adventure Danger at Darkshelf Quarry), he points them in the direction of a temple taken over by the Slave Lords (adventure module A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity) and tells them he believes that the source of the slaving activity can be found somewhere within.

Mikaro can become a regular source of information and aid for the characters. Conversely, he could be captured and later found as a prisoner of the slavers deeper within the A-series adventures. [Dungeon #221 - 15]

The Art:

Lowdown in Highport illustration, by Ben Wooten, Dungeon Magazine #221, 2013

Balizi Erek/Brubgrok, by Rich Longmire, A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry, 2013

Lowdown in Highport cartography, by Jared Blando , Dungeon Magazine #221, 2013

52-Sunsets-In-Alghero-Week_23 by damainnero

Sources:

Lowdown in Highport, by Thomas M. Reid, Dungeon magazine #221, 2013

The Last Slave Lord, by Robert J. Schwalb, Dungeon magazine #215, 2013

9039A  A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry, 2015

9039 A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity, 1980

9042 A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, 1981

9167 A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords, 1986