The Slavers saga comes to an end with a whimper instead of a bang.

Originally Published March 16th, 2002

This review builds on my reviews of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade, and A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords. It’s probably a good idea to read those reviews, found here, here, and here, respectively, before reading this one.

CONCEPT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the A-series of modules. Players who may find themselves playing in these adventures should not read beyond this point.

At the end of A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords the PCs fell victim to the Slave Lords: For months now they have been imprisoned in their dungeons — spellcasters tortured and kept from sleep to prevent them memorizing their spells; thieves denied their tools; and fighters denied their weapons. As the adventure begins they are dosed with more sleeping potions and then dumped into the cave system which runs through the nearby volcano.

The PCs must survive essentially by their wits alone in these caverns until, finally, the volcano erupts – destroying the city of Suderham beneath lava and an invasion of magmen. There is also a sligth chance at this point that the PCs might stumble onto the Water Dragon — the ship the Slave Lords are using to escape. If this happens, the PCs have the opportunity to defeat the Slave Lords once and for all. If not… well, who knows? They might bump into them in the next pub they stop at.

WEAKNESSES

There is only one problem with A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, but it’s a biggie:

It doesn’t make any sense!

And I mean from page one, paragraph one. Keep the adventurers imprisoned for months? Why? Then knock them out again and dump then in volcanic tunnels? Why?

“Why?” is actually a very important question here, because it’s one I kept asking myself throughout the module. As another example: Why are there kobolds, myconids, giant ants, and magmen all living in close proximity to each other down here?

But the most baffling question of all is this: Why, after an epic, four-part adventure, was the decision made to deny the PCs an epic confrontation with the Slave Lords? These memorable villains, although drawn well on the page, are never truly pitted against the PCs as true masterminds and cunning opponents. Instead, the saga of Slavelords is allowed to die with a whimper at best – a complete anti-climax at worst.

STRENGTHS

About the only thing A4 has going for it is the titular concept: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords. Stripped of their equipment and their most potent magical abilities, the PCs are asked to escape their imprisonment, re-establish a power base, and strike a final, definitive blow against their would-be captors.

That’s a pretty cool idea. But there’s so very little of it to be found on the page here. The dramatic escape is, instead, rendered as absolute, incomprehensible stupidity on the part of the villains. The volcano’s eruption, a potentially brilliant and epic complication for the final act, is instead used as a tool for anti-climax. The final confrontation with the Slave Lords – a battle which should live in the memories of the players forever – is reduced to a whimpering formality, if it happens at all.

CONCLUSION

A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords is not worth your time. Buy A1-3, but skip this one: You’ll be much better off ignoring everything except the high-level concept of A4 (which you can safely glean from this review) and crafting your own ending to this epic.

Style: 2
Substance: 2

Author: Lawrence Schick
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Price: $4.99
ISBN: 0-935696-28-8
Product Code: TSR9042
Pages: 32
Year Published: 1981

Arguably a great concept for a tournament scenario, but a terrible railroad in any other context. And the execution on this one really is quite lackluster. The A-series is well remembered in any case, but I think it would be even more highly placed in the pantheon of D&D adventures if it had managed to even marginally nail the landing.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

Blood gushes fresh in the mouth. Blood beats in the vein. Blood pours from the wound.  Blood roars through the brain. Blood flares in the scent. Blood thickens in death. Blood fills the throat. Blood cleanses the hunger.

Blood burns.

He is the personification of Rage. He is the Beast lurking in the heart of all men. He is the powerful, pulsing lust for domination and conquest which is coupled to every defiant breath of life. His howls are the primeval song of discord that belies all tongues.

He is Ravvan.

THE ROAR OF THE BEAST: “Though he is caged by the Sleep of the Faithful, the Beast’s rage beats upon the formless walls of that eternal prison just as the hot blood of passion beats through his veins. In spurts of rage, his will becomes manifest; whispers of the Beast that pulse through the red veils of the primal, holy fury.”

THE BLOOD OF RAVVAN: “Let his Blood be joined to your own. Let the Beast pulse through your veins. In Ravvan there is strength. In Ravvan there is life. In Ravvan there is truth. Take of his strength. Lust of his life. Heed his truth.”

THE IDOL OF RAVVAN: “And in the days of broken wisdom, we gathered the whispers of Ravvan and listened to his pulse in the many corners of the world. And we wrought of them an idol to give focus to his words that his pulse might deafen the world.”

Here the text describes – in loving, rapturous terms – a squat statue of obsidian depicting a demonic beast with slavering fangs; folded, bat-like wings; serrated horns; and long, vicious claws. “And through his eyes of ruby blood, the voice of the Beast rang true.”

THE SONG OF DISCORD: The “song of discord” appears to refer to both the “whispers of Ravvan” which can be heard “echoing through the chambers of the blood” and also to a prayer-chant:

The blood, the hunt
The dance, the fire
Return, return, return.

DESIGN NOTES

In the original Ptolus sourcebook, Ravvan appears as a beast god. I decided to slide him over into the ranks of the Galchutt because (a) it seems like a pretty good fit and (b) the Idol of Ravvan appeared in one of the adventures I was using in Act I of my campaign. I knew that the chaos cults would be featured heavily in Act II, and the connection would let me foreshadow what was coming. After the fact, the players could (and did!) look back and realize they’d been hearing whispers of the Galchutt for months before truly learning of their existence.

The song of discord is actually a secret deep cut. When I started running my first long-term D&D 3rd Edition campaign, I kicked things off with John Tyne’s Three Days to Kill. That adventure also features cultists, who put in appearance at the Festival of Plenty and sing a song:

The wine, the song
The dance, the fire
Return, return, return.

When I ran the adventure, I rewrote the lyrics. At the time, this had nothing to do with Ravvan, but as I was writing up Ravvan’s lore I felt a resonance with those older lyrics and so I incorporated them here.

I enjoy doing this sort of thing just for my own pleasure (and deep worldbuilding can turn up all sorts of interesting interconnections), but In the Shadow of the Spire also originally featured one of the players from that earlier campaign. This would have been a cool easter egg for them. Unfortunately, the player left before the group ever encountered this lorebook or heard the song’s encore.

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The saga of the slavers continues, but the quality begins to drop.

Originally Published March 16th, 2002

This review builds on my reviews of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity and A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade. It’s probably a good idea to read those reviews, found here and here, respectively, before reading this one.

CONCEPT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the A-series of modules. Players who may find themselves playing in these adventures should not read beyond this point.

A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, designed by Allen Hammack, sets the PCs on a more proactive path in their mission to destroy the sinister slavers. The story here is basically broken into three sections.

The Caves of Drachensgrab: Following leads picked up in A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade, the PCs have (off-screen) penetrated deep into the Pomarj – a wasteland infested with humanoid tribes. Here, standing on the “rocky slope of a steep hill,” they hope to find the hidden entrance to the slaver’s stronghold.

This section of the adventure is essentially advanced spelunking with as many illogical twists as Allen Hammack could dream up: Gnolls, salt slides, bizarre and improbable traps, piercers, a storoper (a roper which looks like a stalagmite instead of a tree), an illusionary throne room, and more.

The Hidden City of Suderham: If the PCs find their way through the caves, they’ll enter the hidden city of Suderham – an entire city hidden away in the heart of the mountains and serving the Slave Lords’ every whim. Here the PCs need to keep a low profile, while trying to find a way into the Slave Lords’ stronghold.

The Catacombs: The way in lies through the sewers and catacombs beneath the cities. Here Hammack is able to find a bit more logic on which to hang his improbabilities (because here, at least, there should be no regular, legitimate traffic – so the Slave Lords can place whatever traps and defenses they want).

Eventually, however, the PCs find their way to the Council Chamber of the Slave Lords. At this point, the tournament background of these adventures rises up: The DM has the choice of either railroading a loss here (thus prompting A4: In the Dungeon of the Slave Lords), or letting the PCs mop up the Slave Lords. (In reality, there are several ways that a DM could restructure this final encounter so that the players aren’t run over by a train – but the module isn’t going to provide you with any guidance here.)

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords has significant flaws.

First off, as I alluded above, the encounters here trigger all of my Absurdity Meters. The constant barrage of illogical contrivance in A3 renders the module essentially unplayable as written for me.

Second, as I mentioned above, there’s the railroad at the end of the adventure.

Finally, the Slave Lords simply don’t affect the course of the module at all. I have no sense of an “assault” on anything, because the entire module comes across as nothing more than a mediocre dungeon crawl. The title promises so much, and the adventure delivers so little!

So what does this module have going for it?

First off, the basic adventure structure is a good one: Find the hidden route through the caves of Drachensgrab, sneak through the Hidden City, and lay siege to the Aerie of the Slave Lords. As an outline, that sounds fantastic! (But, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.)

Second, although both the caves and the catacombs are poorly done, the Hidden City portion of the adventure is very well done: There is a complete encounter key for the entire city (detailing every building), and the premise itself here is strong – even awe-inspiring. In playing the module, whenever a group of PCs emerges from the caves to see the Hidden City sprawled out beneath them, a moment of silence invariably settles over the group.

(The Hidden City also benefits from the inclusion of a Player’s Map.)

CONCLUSION

A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity and A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade are both very strong modules, in need of little more than a minor clean-up job. A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, on the other hand, presents little more than a few good ideas – particularly when it comes to the first and third sections of the adventure.

That being said: The structure presented here is a good one. And the Hidden City material probably makes this a worthwhile purchase. You’re going to have to put in a lot of work to make this serviceable for your game table, but there’s enough raw material here that it’s going to make your job easier than working from scratch. For $5, that’s probably good enough to justify the purchase.

Style: 2
Substance: 3

Author: Allen Hammack
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Line: AD&D (ESD)
Price: $4.99 (ESD)
ISBN: 0-935696-27-X
Product Code: TSR9041
Pages: 30
Year Published: 1981

A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords was one of the very first D&D modules I ever purchased, plucked out of the Used bin at Pinnacle Games in Rochester, MN. I pored over its pages and ran the dungeon section of the adventure many times, despite not having access to the rest of the A-series until several years later. (As a neophyte GM I could not wrap my head around how the underground city was supposed to work, although I sort of stumbled through it once.)

Next: A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

In the days when the Masters had passed and the Long Quiet had fallen upon all the Caverns of the Galchutt, still within the deepest clefts of the earth there labored the truest of their servitors. Within the depths of Eurl-kallat Dath – the Cavern of Dripping Darkness – the Shepherd of Malignancy tended the vile works which had been left to his care.

This slim volume – bound in a white volume sheened with a silver-grey which is slick and greasy to the touch – tells the legend of the “youngest of the Galchutt”, a shambling creature given the name of Merihim.

THE CAVERN OF EURL-KALLAT DATH: “Within the Caverns of the Galchutt there was a place where pestilence hung thick in the air. In that place of kallat dath, the Galchutt set the crafty mind of Merihim to work. There cancerous mutations were given motile form and demonic phages waged wars of fecund prosperity.”

THE WORKS OF MERIHIM: From the incubation vats and wild proving fields of Eurl-kallat Dath, Merihim perfected all manner of diseases and mutations. He “wrought the arts of Jessuk to fungal life” and “exercised the corruption of nature’s order with its own hand”.

THE CORRUPTION OF MERIHIM: Merihim was also said to bear the “touch of Abhoth”. His right arm was shriveled with palsy, for his “very essence had become unbalanced in the equations of life” – and so his left arm had grown to immense, twisted proportions.

His hunched back is described as “miasmic fecundity” and from it sprouted six prehensile, fleshy stems that ended in toothy maws. Each of these stems was a direct conduit to fetid and corrupted organs which served as the breeding ground for foul diseases. From these “maws of cancerous life”, Merihim could expel the smotherfume – a cloud of noxious, polluted disease.

THE ASCENSION OF MERIHIM: “In the time when the Princes were drawn into their web and the Masters in their chains were taken into their slumber, Merihim still labored within his cavern. And for long years thereafter, he labored still. And the Princes, though caught still in their web, looked out upon the world and saw this mighty service. And they reached out to the Shepherd of Malignancy. And in that time Merihim answered their call and fulfilled the rites of fealty unto their name.

“So he became the one who willingly entered the Slumber, pledging the vows of the Natharl’nacna even in the Time of Loss and binding himself to a servitude of oblivion. But when the Time of Dissolution comes, the truth of his service shall be remembered.

“Let all who would serve the will of Chaos think of the Shepherd. Reflect upon the Faith of Anarchy and covet only that deepest of all communions in which the will of Gods shall be forsaken as tyranny and the will of Demons hold resplendent liberty.”

DESIGN NOTES

Merihim is from The Book of Fiends. I’ve spoken many times before about how fantastic this bestiary is. This is another example of how much use I’ve gotten out of it over the years.

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This codex is a collection of lore describing one of the Galchutt: Jubilex the Shapeless. The Faceless Lord. The End of All Forms.

Jubilex is revered as the dissolution of structure and form. The strictures of society are unjust and he will unmake them. The limitations of our fated physical form are unfair and they can be undone. In all substance and form and structure there is an inherent separation and, thus, inequality. In the end of all substance and form, all things shall be made as one and all things shall be made equal and all things shall be made just.

THE SLIME OF ALL ENDS: The manifestation of Jubilex is that of a thing of slime and ooze – disgusting, loathsome, and said to be shunned even by the other Galchutt. Its foul and nauseating body is without set from – it can appear as a vast pool of slime or rise up into a towering column of disgusting ordure. In many texts, however, it is described as a tall, cone-like heap, striated in disgusting blackish-greens, foul browns and yellows, and sickly translucent grays and ambers.

THE RED EYES: No matter what description of Jubilex is given, however, mention is always made of the pulsating, red eyes that “look in all directions from his undulating form”. These eyes are said to “see the making and unmaking of all things”.

THE EFFLUENCE OF CHAOS: Jubilex is also described as “spewing forth the verdigris ichorous”. The remnants of this loathsome effluence – a green, slimish ichor – is said to still lurk in the dark places of the world, shunning forever sources of light and heat (which are anathema to it).

THE DARKNESS GIVEN HUNGER: Jubilex is said to be served by the Darkness Given Hunger – a “black and pulsing creature of nether destruction”. Depending on the texts being referenced, the Darkness Given Hunger was either “ripped from the depths of the Formless Form” (exuded from his own undulating body); created through a demonic infusion; or independently spawned in “stygian pits of ever-dark”.

DESIGN NOTES

I added Jubilex to the ranks of the Galchutt partly because it just makes sense and is an easy way to expand their number, but mostly because I adapted a published adventure featuring Jubilex and used it in my Ptolus campaign. It’s a good example of the campaign stitch.

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