[Villains] Mistress Ibis Shatn

One of the most powerful wizards in the Thonian Rand, the part of Thonia bordering to Blackmoor, is Mistress Ibis Shatn. Ibis is the Warren (Baron) of New Bril, and one of the vassals of Duke Markovic. A force of 200 Imperial Constables defent her stronghold. These forces supported the Iron Duke in his military repression of the Peshwah. She is noted for her cruelty as well as her hunger for magical power. Unfortunately, one of her less than competent hirelings accidentally caused one of her most powerful magical items to magically disappear. She is now completely dedicated to finding the item again as it contains a part of her life essence. Should she be able to reclaim it, she will once again become a powerful asset for Duke Markovic in his quest to reclaim Blackmoor in the name of the Thonian Empire.

Read more about this fascinating character and her magical items here.






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-Havard

[Characters] Stephen the Rock – First D&D Arch Villain

In 1975, TSR published D&D Supplement II: Blackmoor. Unlike Supplement I, Blackmoor was not just a mere collection of additional rules and monsters, but also featured a unique look into the actual Campaign World of the author through the world’s first adventure module Temple of the Frog.


The Temple of the Frog featured not only a dungeon, frog people, cultist-like monks and other critters.  It also featured the first Arch villain in D&D history. The villain was known as Stephen the Rock, or simply St. Stephen. I have previously discussed Dave Arneson’s tradition of letting players control the bad guys. St. Stephen was no exception. The player who had come up with this character was Stephen Rocheford, known as “Rocky” or “the Rock” among his friends. He remembers how he and Dave first came up with the character back in 1973:

“Dave approached me to invent an 'evil' character that would be 'different from the norm' in this world. Ergo, I thought and settled on a character that was 'not of this world' of Blackmoor. My inspiration eventually was from an old episode of the original Star Trek television series. In it, Captain Kirk found a planet of Nazi's and found the earthling, an historian, who founded it in the hope eliminating it's excesses and organizing this society for the betterment of all in the name of efficiency. I told Dave Arneson and he was delighted. He asked that I ‘flesh out’ the character. “

As we know this was not the last time that Star Trek would be a source of inspiration for the Blackmoor Campaign. The line between fantasy and science fiction was more blurry back then and elements of science fiction had been present from the beginning of the campaign. However, Rocheford’s ideas took things one step further:

“My character was a soldier( I was an Army Officer) who crash landed in Blackmoor with several others from a 'spaceship'. He found a village organized around a group of monks. They and the villagers thought the stranger was a very powerful wizard; in fact he was a man who used a 'phaser' and so overawed the indigenous people that he was proclaimed the ‘High Priest of the Monks of the Swamp’. “

Not only do we see the early seeds to the fabled adventure of the Temple of the Frog here, but also what would become the City of the Gods. Two of the most famous adventures of the Blackmoor line thus sprung from the discussions between Arneson and Rocheford. Rocheford had further ideas for the religious order his character established.

“I set about to organize a theocracy based on the worship of frogs, which were in great supply in the swamp. These frogs were bred and genetically improved over time until some special breeds grew to enormous size. A Temple was erected and an Order of Monks reorganized around this hall of worship. The High Priest had his secret chambers in which no one was allowed except his companions who filled various roles: security chief, treasurer, medical staff (for the genetics ) and so forth. In the High Priests most secret room only the security chief was allowed in as it possessed the generators to 'charge' the weapons and maintain the remnants of the computers from the crash. This allowed this small group to take over the immediate environs of the swamp and the villages. The High Priest wore robes similar to a Roman Catholic Archbishop( I grew up Catholic), complete with staff and mitre. In the temple at the far end was a large pipe organ that ran to the roof and which the openings allowed the countryside to hear the strain of the High Priest playing THE music of this cult: Toccata and Fugue in d minor, by Bach. He played this piece at the time of weekly feedings of the frogs. Those who failed to convert were fed to the frogs, and their possessions were donated to the church. The Temple expanded to transform the original social structure found into a complete theocracy that was evil in nature and which preyed on it neighbors in raids for loot and captives but which always retreated to the swamps in which to hide. Outsiders who ventured into the swamps did not return. The myths and legends which grew were terrible as to what evil lurked in the swamp.”

The basics of the Order of the Frog were given in Supplement II, but it is impressive to see the level of detailed planned for the actual campaign, even down to the music St. Stephen played on his pipe organ. In Supplement II, Stephen was not the one who set up the cult originally, but an unsurper, who had taken over the Order. The DA series saw further developments to the character as Dave Ritchie explained St. Stephen’s relationship with the City of the Gods, making him a traitor to Captain Bork Riesling, seeking power instead of obeying Riesling’s orders to follow the “Prime Directive”.
Rocheford explains that the character was developed in several stages in discussions between him and Dave Arneson. The original concept was formulated in 1973, but the two gamers kept working on the character until 1977. However, already when the first ideas had been sketched out, the character was to be introduced into the campaign:

 Eventually 'The Great Svenny' and his friends heard of this and were intrigued sufficiently enough to launch an expedition. Dave made sure we had worked out several details about this prior to him, as referee, passing on the rumors of this society in the swamps to the players. I kept my role as High Priest, per Arneson's request, secret from the others until the first actual expedition. One of the characters was killed and his loss was a warning to the others and so set the stage for future endeavors by the group who wished revenge and to find out what happened. It was a great "what happened" set up when they finally found the the weird guy in the robes who shot an immensely powerful lightning bolt at them. Awaking later in the swamp, all that could be remembered evoked a 'riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. The game was on!!!

Thanks to Dan H Boggs for providing the information from Stephen Rocheford.

Image Source: Brainiac 5.





-Havard

[Characters] Captain Krey – First Dark Wizard

I have earlied brushed upon the subject of evil player characters in Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign. The first evil wizard in the Blackmoor game and this the first evil wizard in roleplaying history was played by one of the original Blackmoor players, a young man named Kurt Krey. His character was known as Captain Krey.Captain Krey started out as one of The Fant’s allies, helping his friends take back Blackmoor after Baron Wesely ("The Weasel") had sold them out to the Egg’s forces. However, as most Wizards, Krey sought magical power. One person could offer him this: Soukup the Balrog. Soukup was none other than the Egg’s lieutenant and Krey betrayed Fant for the magic offered by Soukup.

Unfortunately, Soukup’s plan to overtake Blackmoor failed and Krey had to flee the realm. At first he sought refuge in the Realm of the Egg, but found that he was not welcome there. He wandered into the cold realm of the Skandaharians. On the Skandaharian Coast, he boarded a ship and recognized a southerner travelling with the norsemen. He was one of the Fant’s allies, Robert the Bald:

“Like David, I am a big fan of anything naval, and I knew that if I went through the woods I would reach the coast and could run into the Skandaharians. David thougt I was crazy, but he could not talk me out of trying. My dice rolling was fantastically lucky, and I made it through the woods to the coast. I joined the Skandaharians and went on several voyages with them.”-Bob Meyer

On the ship, Krey kept his identity secret from Robert, but the two gradually became friends. As they journeyed the two were also united by their common dislike of the brutal Skandaharian captain. Robert challenged the captain to a duel and defeated him, with Krey keeping the crew at bay. Robert now assumed command of the vessel. Together they travelled through the Firefrost Canal and into the Black Swamps, making their way to Blackmoor:

“…the journey up the river back to Blackmoor was so hazardous that I lost most of the crew before reaching Blackmoor bay, and Gertie (the dragon in the bay) soon took care of the ship. The wizard managed to drag me to shore, along with a couple of the men. He then disappeared to where he really wanted to go. All of this adventuring was over a period of time of a couple of months, and Greg was actually the Gamemaster for the trip up the river. “-Bob Meyer

What happened to Captain Krey after this remains a mystery…


More about Captain Krey at the Comeback Inn Forum


Image source:http://media.photobucket.com/image/Dark%20Robed%20fighter/BlueKokiri/DarkWarrior.jpg










-Havard

[Characters] Moorkok the Slayer

Reader 1d30 asked about this character some time ago. I figured it was time to elaborate some more. This is the fourth installment of the Realm of the Egg.

Skandaharians, warriors of the north. Not just your run of the mill noble seafaring norsemen. No these are blood-thirsty, human sacrificing killing machines. Strength and raw brutality is the way to earn respect among this people. They are feared warriors, but none were as feared as Moorkok the Slayer.

While most of his kin are gray or blue eyed with hair ranging from dark to light blonde, Moorkok would stand out with his reddish hair and sparkling green eyes. These features betrayed a foreign origin, but no Skandaharian dared speak ill of his parentage. Or those that did do not live to tell the tale. Rumors circulate even today though that demonic blood runs through his veins. Other say he stems from the mysterious realm of Rhun. The Warrior is tall and powerfully built. In battle, he wears metal armor and a deadly mace. He rides a white war horse.

Through battle, Moorkok rose in the ranks of the Skandaharians, until he became one of the champions to join the Hirdr; Jarl Thorsen’s personal guard.

In the Year 998, the Northern Lords fully understood the threat that was known as the Egg of Coot. They decided to join with the Baron of Blackmoor. Moorkok personally led an attack against the Coot stronghold of Trollgate. Something happened there at Trollgate. The Skandaharian army was wiped out. Their leader was not slain however. In the midst of battle, he heard a voice calling his name. As if entranced, he abandoned his men and left the battlefield.

Since that day, Moorkok has served the Egg. He has done this so successfully, that the Egg has named him Prince of the Realm and has decided that Moorkok will be the one to lead the next invasion against Blackmoor. This is the day Moorkok waits for. He also hopes to get a chance to test his mettle against Marfeldt the Barbarian, the only one he considers an equal.







(More information about Moorkok may be found in DA1. Much of the above are my own inventions. Some additional information and discussion about this character can be found here.)






-Havard