James Maliszewski's Blog, page 132

Greg Espinoza's Arduin Memories

To long-time admirers of the late Dave Hargrave's Arduin books, artist Greg Espinoza needs no introduction. He contributed many iconic illustrations to those early RPG tomes, some of which proved quite popular and influential on a later generation of artists. Recently, Greg shared recollection of his days working in the gaming industry, which he has very kindly allowed me to repost here.

I’d been thinking about some of my earliest work recently, some of my gaming illustrations from the late 70s. Specifically my work for David A. Hargrave on his Arduin Grimoire books and the various game modules, and to a lesser degree, a game I did called Star Rovers for a company called Archive Miniatures. This is work I did roughly 43 years ago, but I’ve found over the years that people still remember the Arduin game books and modules fondly. I look in on the occasional gaming blog, and recently discovered a number of YouTube videos talking about the history of Hargrave’s books and his legacy. I am rather elated Arduin is still going strong.

I'm a little fuzzy on exactly when I met David A. Hargrave, who originally created the Arduin Grimoire as a self-published supplement to Dungeon & Dragons, which displeased D&D creator Gary Gygax, to no end. I think, roughly, sometime in 1978, a friend of mine had heard through channels that Dave Hargrave was looking for an artist for a project. I went to visit him at a gaming shop in Concord, CA., where he was based at that time. I found Hargrave to be interesting guy, enthusiastic and very opinionated. I showed him what could charitably be called my portfolio at the time. He liked what he saw. The first thing he’d hired me to do was draw illustrations for his third book, The Arduin Grimoire III: The Runes Of Doom. I worked directly with Hargrave. I met him in person periodically to discuss illustrations, with a lot of communication by telephone. This was pre-Internet, so I couldn’t send him a scan or take a picture on my phone to get approval. We talked it through, and he liked what I did. I only ever had to make an alteration at least once. At the time. I was still in High School and living with my parents in Napa, CA. I’d played Dungeons & Dragons with a group friends in High School when I lived in Napa (As I remember, some of us incorporated Arduin rules into some of our games).

I was a lifelong comics fan, cutting my teeth on Silver age Marvel Comics. Yeah, I was a huge Jim Steranko and Paul Gulacy (who had a strong Steranko influence) fan. I was also a big Jim Starlin fan, and obviously, Jack Kirby. I soaked up lots of influences as a kid; Harryhausen movies, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Outer Limits, Gerry Anderson shows. 1950s sci-fi movies, ect. You name it, I was probably watching it. A lot of what I absorbed up to that point can be seen in in my Arduin art. Dave wasn’t hard to work with. He had his strong ideas of what he wanted, but he gave me the latitude to come up with stuff. I was around 18 years-old, still working out my techniques. I think I was inking with Rapidograph pens, then. Still trying to get the hang of Crowquill pens, and still didn’t know how to use a brush. Didn’t know the right paper to use. Other than some fan art published by my friend Steven R. Johnson, this was my very first paying art gig. Being rather isolated locally, I never met any like-minded artists who did what I did, and didn't meet any until the mid-80s at a Creation Con in San Francisco, which would be Ken Hooper, Edward Luena, and Shepherd Hendrix. That would prove to be my gateway into the comics industry.

The Runes Of Doom experience went well, I did the covers and a dozen interior illustrations. Dave later had me do a new set of covers for his first book, The Arduin Grimoire, Volume One. My covers for this book replaced the covers done by the previous artist, Erol Otus, who would go on to greater fame creating art for TSR’s Dungeons & Dragons books. I later did the cover art for three Arduin dungeon modules: Caliban, The Howling Tower, and The Citadel Of Thunder. There were no interior illustrations by me for the books, except, I think Citadel had two interior pieces. Each module included a sheet of die-cut monster and artifact cards. Dave used two other artists who did some great work on Arduin, Brad Schenck (A.K.A. Morno) and Michio Okamura, but I did the majority of illustrations. Hargrave sold his company to publisher Jim Mathis at Grimoire Games, who later produced a box set called The Arduin Adventure. I did a couple of interior illustrations for the booklet, but I also painted the box art, which at the time, I was rather proud of. When I finally saw the published set, I was rather dismayed to find my cover art reworked, with a lot of airbrushing added by someone named Anthony Delgado. I’m being honest when I state I wasn’t happy with it, and felt blindsided. Mathis also repackaged all three original Arduin books into a box set, and repurposed a Wizard illustration from The Arduin Adventure game book for the box art. I believe that was the last thing I did for them. In 2008 I found out that a company called Emperor’s Choice had acquired the rights to all things Arduin and I contacted them about doing some new Arduin-based work. My timing was good, as they were about to repackage the original Arduin Trilogy and George De Rosa hired me to create two new sequel covers based on my original Arduin Grimoire, Vol. I covers. I also created a logo for the book that EmpCho has repurposed for their Arduin Eternal book.

I created overall, roughly 98 (give or take) pieces of art for Arduin. I got paid roughly $5 dollars per illustration by Dave for the interiors on Runes Of Doom, $100. for the cover. later on, I got a slightly better rate for larger illustrations. I seem to remember I got paid $200 for The Arduin Adventure box art.

Dave treated me pretty well, but our relationship was strictly professional. We never socialized and I never gamed with him. I was lucky I was able to get what little facetime I could with him as I didn’t have a car to get me from Napa to Concord regularly. I seem to remember I talked my Mom into driving me there a few times. David A. Hargrave passed in 1988, and was informed of this by one of his friends at a show where I was exhibiting.

Looking back on my art then, it's some of my earliest work, and to say it's unrefined is charitable. There are some things I’m still somewhat happy with, some of it I find cringe-worthy. You have to start somewhere. I have no idea who owns all the original Arduin art, or where it is (Emperor’s Choice?). I do know that probably a lot of hardcore, old-school Arduin fans might be willing to pay for a piece of that history.

Regarding my work on Star Rovers, I seem to remember meeting Archive Miniatures publisher Nevile Stocken at a gaming convention, possibly a DundraCon. I had a table and was doing character sketches, he bought some of them. Dave Hargrave had started work on a game for Archive called Star Rovers, a science fiction-based role-playing game, but left the project. I think he may have recommended me? Stocken and I met at his store in Burlingame and he cherry-picked some pure-existing art from my portfolio, which included some panels from early, and very crude ‘zine work. I created a number of new illustrations (41 total), front and back covers for the game book, and the box art. I was asked to keep the proportions of the illustrated characters close to the proportions of the miniatures, so the some of the character look like they are escapees from the movie, Time Bandits. Once I turned in the art and later received my copy of the game, I was disappointed to find some of the pencil pieces he bought from me, he used, but hired another artist to ink them…badly. He also had the box art reworked and colored. I think the nail in the coffin for me doing any further work was a discussion we had over the phone regarding me getting my art back. He flat out told me he was keeping the art. We had no discussion about that prior, and I don’t remember it being in a contract, and I sure don’t have a copy of that contract anymore. Fledgling artists take note: one of my first hard lessons learned in working freelance, state any questions or concerns upfront, otherwise it’s your own fault. It was still quite a few years away before I’d learn the term “work-for-hire.” I don’t think I talked to Stocken after that. Maybe once? I never played Star Rovers. I still have my comp copy of the game and some of the miniatures.

Finally, a little Arduin trivia: Shardra the Castrator was originally a sketchbook piece. Dave bought it, and named the character on the spot. Black Wind was inspired by an Outer Limits monster from the episode, The Man With The Power. The Brain Eater was inspired by the B-movie, The Brain From Planet Arous. I’m reading in a few place that Dave had based a character on the Arduin covers on Clint Eastwood. I seem to remember I just drew the character like Clint on the Runes of Doom cover and he liked it. He did want me to go back to that design when I drew the new covers for Arduin, Vol.1. The one time he wanted a major change was to draw a top on the bare-breasted female warrior on the back cover of Arduin Grimoire, Vol. 1. I can’t remember if there were actual complaints about the nudity, or he was trying to head them off. I have no idea where the heck Attack Of The Kill Kittens came from. I think that was all Dave. and a piece of art people still remember. And finally, one of my artist pals, Ken Hooper told me a few years ago Hargrave had talked to him about working on Arduin before me.

As I mentioned at the outset, It’s gratifying to see the various YouTubers talking about Arduin. It’s mind-boggling that the out-of-print Arduin books are going for hundreds of dollars. And also surprised to see all the piracy with my Arduin art on t-shirts, mugs, hoodies, etch. I even found some of my old monster cards badly redrawn in a knock-off Arduin monster card set

So, there you have it. Since those halcyon days of gaming art, I’ve freelanced in comics and animation for close to 40 years. I did one more game project: designing some guns (five illustrations) for a game book called Worlds Beyond for Other Worlds Games in 1989. I’ve worked for Eclipse comics, TSR (their comics line), Tundra/Kitchen Sink Press, Image Comics, did art for a Wizard Of Oz Tarot deck for Illogical Associates, Printed In Blood’s 30th Anniversary The Thing Art Book, among many other projects.

Greg Espinoza (8/14/21)

The original post appeared on Greg's Facebook here. You can also keep in touch with him and his art through his Instagram.

Retrospective: The Iron Wind

My direct experience of Iron Crown Enterprise's Rolemaster during my youth was limited. I'd dabbled with Arms Law & Claw Law  but that was the extent of my exploration of this venerable fantasy roleplaying system. (I was much taken with its "little brother," Middle-earth Role Playing, which occupied a weird sweet spot in terms of its presentation of both rules and Tolkien's setting.) Nevertheless, thanks to the advertisements appearing in the pages of Dragon magazine, I was reasonably well appraised on ICE's releases for the game – and sometimes cast an envious eye upon them.

A good example of this is The Iron Wind, whose second edition was published in 1984 (its first edition appeared in 1980 and predates the existence of Rolemaster, but I have never seen it in the wild). The subtitle of the book is "a series of adventures in the world of Loremaster," but that's not truly accurate. Yes, The Iron Wind does include some scenario outlines within its 50 pages, but those are brief and take up less than a single page. Instead, the bulk of the book is devoted to an overview of the Mur Fostisyr, an island cluster northwest of the setting's main continent of Jaiman. 

As one might expect in a product of this sort, we're given discussions of the geography of the island cluster (including maps, both color and black and white), native flora and fauna, its people, and "places of power" – locations of mythic and/or magical importance, aka potential sites for adventures. All of these places of power are then detailed extensively, providing the referee not just with maps, but also keys indicating their inhabitants, treasures, and traps. Each is also given context within the larger history of the Mur Fostisyr islands. The titular Iron Wind is a malevolent force associated with the Unlife – the main antagonists of the Loremaster setting – that swept down from the north, bringing with it cold, demons, and corrupted elves who seek to subjugate the entirety of the region and enslave its peoples. Clichéd though it may be, it's nevertheless a decent set-up for a campaign set in the region.

Never having seen the first edition of The Iron Wind, I can't speak to its contents. The second edition, though, looks and feels very much like a MERP regional sourcebook – which I mean in a positive way. One of the things I always liked about those MERP books of old was the way that they provided plenty of low-level detail, like what the terrain looked like, the kinds of animals that could be hunted nearby, and the types of medicinal herbs available to characters who take the time to seeking them out. The Iron Wind is much the same. When combined with the extensive maps, NPC descriptions, and local magical items, it's a solid collection of tools for the referee setting up a campaign here (or even just a series of adventures).

From our vantage point of the present day, what stands out to me about The Iron Wind is how much it leaves open to the referee to decide. This is stated explicitly in the "Adventuring in Mur Fostisyr" section of the book, which points out the areas an enterprising referee can decide for himself. Back in 1982, I wouldn't be surprised if some buyers saw this as a cop-out; now, though, I find it very refreshing and strangely inspiring. In some ways, The Iron Wind feels a lot like a MERP module whose contents are largely unconstrained by a singular vision. Mind you, I know next to nothing about the larger Loremaster setting or its subsequent development; this one may well be an outlier in this regard. Whatever the case, I saw a lot to like in The Iron Wind. Had I read when it was first published, it might well have tempted me to give Rolemaster another try.

White Dwarf: Issue #5

Issue #5 of White Dwarf (February/March 1978) features a cover by Polly Wilson. Ian Livingstone's editorial is about copyright laws and their enforcement. The reason he broaches the subject is because several companies (including TSR) have had to remove their Middle-earth wargames and miniatures from the market, owing to the threat of legal action from the copyright holders. What's fascinating is that Livingstone takes the position that "nobody will gain from the strict enforcement of copyright laws." I'm honestly not sure how to take this, because he makes it clear earlier in the editorial that he believes copyright law "rightly exists to protect an individual or company from piracy." 

The issue kicks off with Lewis Pulsipher's extensive review of FGU's Chivalry & Sorcery. By and large, Pulsipher thinks very highly of C&S, in large part because it has a coherent philosophy and perspective, basing itself on a specific period of medieval history and society rather than the generic fantasy seen in other RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. That said, Pulsipher nevertheless opines that there is still a need for a game that combines the "versatility, variety, and simplicity" of D&D with the "clarity and completeness" of C&S. 

"Der Kriegspielers Fantastiques" by John Norris is a review of a series of 25mm miniatures based on the inhabitants of Middle-earth. Norris finds them a mixed bag, with some of the figures being excellent and others not so much. "Monsters Mild and Malign" by Don Turnbull is a collection of ten new monsters for use with Dungeons & Dragons. None of them are standouts, except possibly the Kzin, based on the cat-like aliens from the works of Larry Niven, and even then the only reason I remember it is because of how odd I found its inclusion. A much better article is the third part of Lewis Pulsipher's "D&D Campaigns." In this part, he discusses various aspects of the game – alignment, treasure, resurrection, etc. – that he feels the referee should consider before starting a new campaign. It's a good collection of advice and suggestions overall. However, I do find it amusing when he refers to the "revised rules" for D&D, by which I assume he's talking about those in the Holmes Basic Set (since the Players Handbook hadn't been released at the time this issue appeared).

"Open Box" reviews Book of Monsters, Book of Demons, and Book of Sorcery (all by Little Soldier), War of the Ring (FGU), and All the Worlds' Monsters (Chaosium). Interestingly, none of these products gets a solid endorsement. Instead, most are described as flawed in some way, particularly the Little Soldier books. There's a brief report about the events of Games Day III, a 1000+ person convention held on December 17, 1977. Included with the report are sample questions from a D&D rules quiz. I thought I knew the game's rules quite well, but, reading through these, I realized how little I actually new (to be fair, many of the questions are more about memory than anything else – how many potions are listed in the game? – so perhaps I shouldn't feel so bad).

"Food and Water on the Starship Warden" by Richard Edwards is an article supporting TSR's Metamorphosis Alpha. It's a decent article, providing lots of ideas (and examples) for the referee to use in establishing the ecology of the starship, as well as how to make use of it in his campaign. I continue to be struck by the presence of MA articles in White Dwarf. It's a game I knew so little about in my youth and yet, from the looks of things, it seems to have been quite popular in its time. The first installment of a fantasy comic called "Kalgar" appears in this issue, written and drawn by David Lloyd. Rounding out the issue are three new magic items by Joseph Nicholas and Brian Asbury's new experience point system. The system, which he facetiously dubs "the Asbury System" is based on hit points of the creatures defeated, not hit dice. This enables him to dole out XP to characters based on the amount of damage they do to an opponent. I can see some value in this sort of approach, but, as with most of Brian Asbury's articles in WD, the new rules seem more complex than they ought to be.

To my mind, this issue is a weak effort, compared to some of its predecessors. Overall, I was none too impressed by it, but such is the nature of periodicals. Here's hoping the next issue is better.

Sorcerer Spells of sha-Arthan

I spent the weekend hard at work on detailing sorcerer spells for my upcoming The Vaults of sha-Arthan campaign. As you can see, spells aren't leveled in the same way they are in traditional Dungeons & Dragons. Instead, I've decided to make all spells available to all sorcerers, regardless of level. However, the sorcerer's level determines the effect of the spell, with some spells offering much more impressive effects when cast by high-level sorcerers. The document is still in draft form and will probably not see a truly final version until I've had the chance to test it in the campaign (which I hope will begin next month sometime). For now, I'm simply plowing ahead, hoping to get it to done so I can add it to the growing sha-Arthan Player's Guide.

Pulp Fantasy Library: A Hero at the Gates

Tanith Lee is one of those fantasy authors whose existence largely escaped my notice during my younger days. This is in spite of the fact that one of her short stories, "In the Balance," appeared in the third volume of the celebrated Swords Against Darkness series edited by Andrew J. Offutt – the only one included in Gary Gygax's Appendix N. I remember very well reading that volume, several of whose stories made a lasting impression upon me, yet, for the life of me, I can't recall Lee's own contribution. I find that particularly odd, because, if nothing else, Lee is an exceptional stylist; even if one does not like the tales she tells, there can be little doubt that she tells them with aplomb.

Later in life I corrected this lacuna in my literary education and read several collections of Lee's short stories, including one, published in 1982, entitled Cyrion. Cyrion is the name of the protagonist of all the included stories, including "A Hero at the Gates," first published in the pages of the Summer 1979 issue of Shayol, a science fiction and fantasy periodical about which I don't know a great deal. In any case, "A Hero at the Gates" takes place, like all of the adventures of Cyrion, in a fantasy version of the medieval Kingdom of Jerusalem (Heruzala) at the time of the Crusades. I say "fantasy version" primarily because sorcery and the supernatural are incontrovertibly real; in most other respects, the world Cyrion inhabits is simply the 12th century Levant with the names swapped out – "Remusans" for "Romans" and "Hesuf" instead of "Jesus," for example.

"A Hero at the Gates" begins with the arrival of Cyrion at a city in the midst of the desert in which he has been traveling, alone, for some time. 

Cyrion stood and regarded the city. He was tempted to believe it a desert too, one of those hulks of men's making, abandoned centuries ago as the sands of the waste crept to their threshold. Certainly, the city was old. Yet it had no aspect of neglect, none of the indefinable melancholy of the unlived-in house.

Before long, Cyrion recognizes that he is being watched by the inhabitants of this unnamed city.

What did they perceive? This: a young man, tall and deceptively slim, deceptively elegant, which elegance itself was something of a surprise, for he had been months traveling in the desert, on the caravan routes and the rare and sand-blown roads. He wore the loose dark clothing of a nomad, but with the generous hood thrust back to show he did not have a nomad's pigmentation. At his side was a sword sheathed in read leather. The sunlight struck a silver-gold burnish on the pommel of the sword that was also the color of his hair. His left hand was mailed in rings which apparently no bandit had been able to relieve him of. If the watchers of the city had remarked that Cyrion was as handsome of the Arch-Demon himself, they would not have been the first to do so. 

As descriptions of a character go, it's a good one and representative, I think, of Lee's luscious style. At any rate, Cyrion is soon met by a man with "a hard face, tanned but sallow, wings of black hair beneath a shaved crown, and a collar of swarthy gold set with gems." The man, who identifies himself as Prince Memled, explains that he and his subjects "await a savior. We await him in bondage … You, perhaps, are he." 

Cyrion, naturally, is skeptical but nevertheless asks Memled to explain what he wants from him. 

"We are in the thrall of a monster, a demon-beast. It dwells in the caverns beneath the city, but at night it roves at all. It demands the flesh of our men to eat; it drinks the blood of our women and our children. It is protected through ancient magic, by a pact made a hundred years before between the princes of the city (cursed be they!) and the hordes of the Fiend. None born of the city has power to slay the beast. Yet there is a prophecy. A stranger, a hero who ventures to our gates, will have the power."

Upon questioning, Memled admits to Cyrion that other would-be saviors have preceded him – "upward of a score," he explains – and they have all "met an early death." The prince tells him that no one will think ill of him should he refuse to undertake this enterprise. He also adds:

"I can reveal no more. It is a part of the foul sorcery that binds us. We may say nothing to aid you, do nothing to aid you. Only pray for you, if you should decide to pit your skill against the devil."

Despite this, Cyrion accepts Memled's offer to attempt to save his city, in exchange for coin. The prince readily agrees to this, saying, "We crave safety, not wealth. Our wealth has not protected us from horror and death."

I doubt anyone will be surprised to learn that things are not quite what they seem. Fortunately, Cyrion is exceedingly clever, a keen reader of others and an eye for small details. These traits all serve him well in a story that, ultimately, is less a traditional sword-and-sorcery yarn than a mystery. Indeed, Cyrion himself feels less like a Conan than a street-smart pulp detective. There's even a scene, toward the end of the story, where Cyrion explains how and why he was able to discern something that no one else seemingly could. It reminded me of similar scenes in Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories or those of his many imitators, which I rather suspect was the point.

In any event, "A Hero at the Gates" is a good read and a nice change of pace from more traditional pulp fantasy tales. I suspect anyone reading it will soon wish to read more and I heartily encourage that – if you can find them; like so much of Lee's oeuvre, they are currently out of print. 

RIP Steve Perrin (1946–2021)

As some of you have no doubt heard, Steve Perrin, one of designers of RuneQuest (and, through it, Basic Role-Playing and all the other RPGs based on it), has died at the age of 75. I don't know that I can do him a better tribute than that posted on the Chaosium blog yesterday, so I'm simply going to quote from it:

He is one of our Great Old Ones. An innovative genius who helped pave the way for us to exist today, delighting gamers while they sit around a table, in person or online, exploring stories and adventures together, weaving new tales of derring-do. RuneQuest and Superworld were his children, and his imprint on so many of our other games is indelibly present.

Many of us grew up playing his games. He was the uncle we admired, envied, and listened to for his wise counsel. In the last few years, as a new edition of RuneQuest was born he was there, his wisdom and experience reminding us of the simple, pure, and wondrous origins of the magic of roleplaying. How can you say thank you for that?

My late father regularly used to say, "No one is getting any younger." I find myself thinking of that more and more lately, not just as I grow older but as so many of the people I knew and looked up to as a younger person pass beyond the veil. Steve Perrin will be missed by those who knew and loved him, whether personally or through the games he created or inspired others to create. All things considered, that's not a bad legacy. 

House of Worms, Session 235

The day of the wedding of Nebússa hiTéshku of the clan of the Golden Bough and Lady Srüna hiVázhu of the clan of the Iron Helm arrived at last. The nuptials themselves began just after sunset, with a procession, as is the tradition in Béy Sü. Such a procession would normally begin at the clanhouse of the groom and make its way to the clanhouse of the bride. However, the Iron Helm clan has no presence in the capital, so the Golden Bough temporarily "converted" their clanhouse into that of the Iron Helm, dressing their servants and slaves in the livery of that venerable clan of Méku. Nebússa, his closest family and friends – including his comrades in the House of Worms clan – assembled near the Palace of the Realm, along with his own litter-bearers, musicians, guards, and a panoply of servants. After all, weddings in Béy Sü are public affairs and the Golden Bough hoped to impress the entire city (and show up their rivals, the aristocratic clan of Sea Blue). To an outside observer, they certainly seem to have a good effort!

Upon arriving at the "Iron Helm" clanhouse, Nebússa and his party were directed toward the clanhouse's great hall, while others, depending on their station were directed to other locales in and around the clanhouse. Locals of lesser station would never set foot in the clanhouse itself. Instead, they would go to various "satellite" celebrations in courtyards and open spaces on the grounds of the clanhouse – or even in the streets outside. The great hall itself was lit was torches, candelabra, and hanging lamps of various sorts. All throughout the hall were daises on which attendees and guests are directed, based on their social status. Determining exactly who goes where relative to everyone else is a delicate matter and one of the reasons that the preparations for the wedding took so many weeks. Upon the highest dais of all was a representation of the Seal of the Imperium, which everyone ritually reverenced before taking their place on the appropriate dais.

In Béy Sü, weddings are an entirely secular affair, with no religious associations. Likewise, the wedding ceremony itself is a simple one: the exchange and consumption of a slice of dná-grain bread taken from golden plates by the bride and groom. This Nebússa and Srüna did, to the approbation of all the attendees (and much finger-snapping, as is the Tsolyáni custom). With this completed, food and drink in copious amounts was served to all. It was at this time that many of the guests were able to take in the guests who had come to this grand affairs. There was Tíkuru hiTlakotáni, clanmaster of the non-imperial lineage of the emperor's own clan; Jijékmu and Khámiyal hiSayúncha, both former governors of Béy Sü, along with their sister, Khámra; Elué hiDlarútu, "the Belle of Béy Sü," and Churmegásu hiTlélsu, the Grand Adept of the Temple of Sárku for the eastern Empire. And, of course, there was the mighty general, Kéttukal hiMraktiné and his "nephew," Kágesh (actually Prince Eselné, traveling incognito) – a veritable who's who of the good and the great of Tsolyánu's capital.

Once the meal was done, guests could mingle more freely with one another, meeting old friends and acquaintances, as well as being introduced to those whom they'd not yet met. Side rooms off the great hall were given over to all manner of entertainments, from singers of epic poetry, gambling games, mimes and drama, as well as gladiatorial and athletic competitions. This provided plenty of opportunity for conversation, networking, gossip, and, of course, plotting. Aíthfo decided to take full advantage of this by circulating amongst as many powerful and influential guests as possible. Though planning to return to Linyaró, he was also looking to the future. He had already made plenty of contacts in Béy Sü, contacts on which he intended to call when he returned to the capital. 

Aíthfo sought out Elué hiDlarútu, who had previously warned him to watch out for attempts by the Temple of Ksárul to assassinate him, lest he return to Linyaró and foil their plans there. When he met her, she smiled and told him that he had obviously taken her warning to heart, as he was still alive. She continued, asking Aíthfo if he still intended to head south. Aíthfo obfuscated, in the hope that he might be able to trick Elué into revealing more about her own intentions. Unfortunately, she remained cryptic as they exchanged pleasantries. She then excused herself and glided elsewhere into the party. Not long after, Aíthfo made his way in the direction of Kéttukal, who was outside, watching his "nephew" engage in a wrestling match with a huge N'lüss gladiator. Kéttukal received Aíthfo gladly and told him that he had heard "a little" about his exploits in the Achgé Peninsula. After some more small talk, Aíthfo then asked the general to come with him to meet his uncle, Grujúng, whom he described as an "admirer" of the Kéttukal's.

The general agreed, inducing anxiety in Grujúng, who did not feel worthy to speak with the general. The two men met and got on quite well, with Kéttukal inquiring into the military engagements in which Grujúng had engaged on the Southern Continent. Eventually, the general inquired into Grujúng's plans. When told that he intended to return to Linyaró with his clan mates, Kéttukal expressed some sadness. His reason is that he had a need for a commander for the third cohort of the First Legion and would have been very happy to have Grujúng take the position. Despite the temptation, Grujúng declined the offer. Kéttukal said that he understood the decision before bidding his farewell and heading outside again.

Nebússa and his new wife circulated throughout the great hall. Over the course of their mingling, he found a great deal of interest in his plans for the future, with many people expressing the hope that he would not return to Linyaró. Some even went so far as to offer him sinecures in Béy Sü and other similarly well remunerated positions in the capital. Like Aíthfo, Nebússa gave no clear indications of his intentions. Later, when he met up with his comrades in the House of Worms and shared information about their experiences, Znayáshu opined that it looked as if someone (or several someones) was attempting to break up their group and prevent them from returning to Linyaró. Nebússa concurred and suggested that everyone be on guard against more attempts to suborn them.

The wedding celebrations continued.

Flying Buffalo News

Since the middle of June, I'd been hearing rumors that Flying Buffalo, the oldest still-extant RPG publisher, had been sold to someone, but no one had any details on who that someone might be. The Internet being what it is, all sorts of fanciful theories were put forward, the most plausible one in my opinion being Goodman Games, which had a longstanding relationship with Flying Buffalo as a result of its reprints of the beloved Grimtooth's Traps  books. 

In due course, Steve Crompton, manager of Flying Buffalo, confirmed the rumors but was tight-lipped about FB's new owner. This was frustrating, though understandable, given the way business acquisitions work. However, if you visit the website of Flying Buffalo, you will see that it not only looks quite different than it used to, but that it's also very spare. A single long on the homepage leads to a press release that identifies the company's new owners as Webbed Sphere, Inc. of Corbin, Kentucky, USA. Self-described in the release as "a management and holding company for numerous ventures, including online retailer Troll and Toad, home decor brands Darware, Decorae, and AuldHome; game and toy publisher Toy Vault, and jigsaw publisher Mchezo," it doesn't seem, on first blush, to be an obvious choice as the new publisher of Tunnels & Trolls and other venerable FB game lines, like Nuclear War, but stranger things have happened.

Though not a regular player of T&T, I'm very much a well-wisher and hope that the purchase of Flying Buffalo will not negatively impact it in any way. I've noticed a renewed interest in the game in recent years and the Deluxe Edition of the game (published in 2015) seems to have been well received by fans. I'll certainly be keeping an ear out for additional news. If any readers are more knowledgeable in these matters, I'd anything you have to share on the subject. 

Retrospective: The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror

My reading of White Dwarf #4  this week reminded me first of Gary Gygax's Dungeonland (which was the subject of a previous retrospective) and then of its sequel – companion? – The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror (hereafter Magic Mirror). Like Dungeonland, this module was first published in 1983, at the start of a period during which Gary Gygax was extraordinarily prolific, creating a number of very remarkable, if flawed, products for AD&D. Unlike Dungeonland, whose interior artwork was inappropriately provided by Timothy Truman, Magic Mirror is almost entirely illustrated by the late, great Jim Holloway, whose darkly humorous style is perfect for an adventure module of this sort.

Much as I love Dungeonland, I've always preferred Magic Mirror. There are a couple of reasons why this is so, starting with the aforementioned Holloway artwork. Lewis Carroll's stories of Wonderland are famously weird, filled with characters and situations that are equal parts scary and humorous. In my opinion, Holloway manages to thread the needle between these two poles in exactly the right fashion. The result is a better complementarity between word and pictures than in Dungeonland. 

More important than the module's esthetics – vital though that is! – is its specific content. What specific content, you might ask? The first thing that immediately comes to mind is the wooden house of Murlynd. Murlynd is not a character from Carroll's stories but rather from the early days of Gygax's own Greyhawk campaign. A creation of Gygax's closest friend, Don Kaye, Murlynd is a magic-user but one whose adventures took him to the Old West, hence the reason that he's often depicted dressed as a cowboy, complete with firearms.

For reasons I cannot fully articulate, I've always found characters like Murlynd strangely compelling. I suppose it's the way that he represents an older understanding of fantasy, one that's not bound by the narrow definitions that we tend to accept nowadays. I've long admitted that I used to struggle with this wilder kind of fantasy. Yet, even as I was struggling with it, some part of me must have recognized that there was something liberating and, above all, fun about this approach to fantasy and Murlynd in his Stetson is fun – or so I think. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed Murlynd's house, filled with anachronistic items from throughout time and space, as well as a talking grandfather clock, a lightning quasi-elemental, and "the Witch-Ghost" in the attic, among other oddities. 

Of course, there are other equally notable elements of the module. For example, there's the Garden of Colossal Flowers, filled with vain, silly, and rude plants with humanoid faces; the Chessboard Fields that the characters can only cross by playing a violent version of the game; all the creatures mentioned in Jabberwocky; Humpty Dumpty; and the manor house that includes the Mad Feast Hall. Like Carroll's stories, Magic Mirror is equal parts funny and dangerous, but, above all, it's weird and whimsical. I think that's what made such an impression on me when I first read it nearly four decades ago. The module taught me that I didn't need to be such a stick in the mud about fantasy. I could cut loose from time to time and lean into the wild and woolly aspect of the genre. Whether the lessons I learned truly had anything to do with The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror or not, I feel a certain gratitude toward it and to Gary Gygax for broadening my vision of fantasy.

The Four Worlds

An excerpt from The Pandects of Hidden Truth:

The canons of the Ancients speak of four worlds:

The True World, called sha-Arthan in the Exalted Speech of the Makers.The Old World, the Lost World, out of which the Makers first called Man.The False World, sometimes called the Mirror World, a spectral reflection of the True World.The World Between, commonly called the Void.The Old World is forever barred to Man by the will of the Makers and the maledictions of the Eternal Gods. The False World is the domain of ghosts and, though attainable through sorcery, to be shunned by the living. The Demon Races claim the World Between and jealously guard their realms against intruders from other worlds.