Thursday, March 27, 2008

Underworld 2: Ecologies

One of the things that intrigues me about tales of realms below the earth, is the life (or semblance of life) that dwells there.

Many references within contemporary fantsy place vast mushroom forests within the deep caverns of the underworld. These enormous, or otherwise widespread "shrooms" are often pasty white and often pose threats to trespassers in the form of poison. Many other sorts of creatures feed off of these fungi, and are themselves very strange.

Giant reptiles similar to dinosaurs, giant crayfish, huge amoeba-like gelatin-monsters, and hidden enclaves of alien beings all haunt such underworlds. Surface races and monsters abound in these realms away from the sunlight. and so dark things can grow strong there, unhindered by light.

Humans or other humanoids that dwell in these underworlds are some of the most wretchedly fascinating monsters of mythology and contemporary fantasy. From Morlocks and similar creatures, to the monstrous ghouls of H.P. Lovecraft's dreadful imaginings.

The underworld is not a place for the weak or foolish. Adventurers might go spelunking into those lightless depths, but few come out again.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

The Underworld...


Wow, sorry to be so long between postings. I will try to get more frequent entries posted in the future.

Now on to the subject!

Underworlds of varying description are extremely present in mythology, folklore and fantasy fiction. Call it Hell, Hades, Land of the Dead or the Underdark, it makes little difference. They all are dreadful places, haunted by ghosts, monsters and awful conditions.

The oldest underworld descriptions are (of course) deep underground, connected to the surface via caves, wells, springs or hiddeen rivers. These lands are ruled over by dreadful beings with awsome magical powers, who are sometimes considered gods.

Assorted dragons, demons, disreputable gods and mutated dog/wolf/god-things such as Cerberus, Garmr or Fenrir guard the entrance to the more prosperous regions in the underworld. As if many folks would WANT to go there...

One of the most well-known to modern dorkdom (to which I am a happy member) is the Underdark. This vast region of caverns exists in the worlds created for various settings for the Dungeons and Dragons Role-Playing Game. The Underdark is the place where all of the ancient evil races retreated to after one of the many GREAT WARS so prevalent in fantasy settings.

The Underdark is a weird fairyland, with forests of gigantic mushrooms and strange beasts. In some caverns, mutated dinosaurs roam, either adapted to the lightless realms or dwelling near magical sources of light such as glowing moss or crystals. This sort of thing is right out of the book Journey to The Center of The Earth by Jules Verne.

As stated above, the races that live here are usually the descendants of ancient losers of racial wars. The most popular are the Dark Elves (or Drow). Followers of an evil goddess who dragged her followers into exile from the light, they are the polar opposite of suface elves in thought, deed and appearance.

The origins of the Drow in real world mythology, as well as that of their dwarf counterparts the Duergar, come from norse legend, where they were more-or-less the same sort of creature. In Norse Myth, the Dock-Alfar or Dark Elves were fairy creatures cursed to find sunlight poisonous. Thus they lived in the deep underworld. They were as cold and joyless as the grave.

I shall talk of these beings in greater depth (ha ha), at another time.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Alien Beasties


I adore alien beasties, particularly the sort that shows up in 50's-70's science fiction movies, and the kind you meet in a Dr. Who marathon (Tom Baker please).

Theres just something about those rubbery monsters that delights me to no end. I know you can see the zipper etc, but its more the whole-hearted devotion to the craft and an earnest hope that the viewer will be so swept away with the fantasy of the tale that it doesn't matter.

Sure complainers complain, but they do that no matter how "realistic" that ten headed monkey/robot/slug-monster looks.

To the left is a kind of monster I devised awhile back for a role-playing game. The monster (called Tli-Cal) is a sort of robot who instead of a computer brain has a human one. The end result is a robotic warrior that is cheaper (for its illithid masters) to make and control than a standard construct creature.

For the truly nerdy among you, below are the creatures statistics for the Dungeons and Dragons game system. I should note that these things are pretty tough, and if used correctly could likely beat the tar out of PC's.

Tli-Cal (Brain Raiders)

Large Construct (Cybernetic)
Hit Dice: 4d10+ 30 (54hp)
Initiative: +8 (Dex, Imp Initiative)
Speed: 40ft, Climb 20ft, Swim 30ft
AC: 19 (+6 Natural, +4 Dex, -1 Size)
Attacks: 2 Claws +9 Melee, or Staff Blade +9 Melee, Laser Rifle +8 Ranged.
Damage: Claws 1d8+5, Staff Blade 2d6+5, Laser Rifle 3d10.
Face/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Leap.
Special Qualities: Construct, Thralldom.
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +8, Will + 5;
Abilities: Str 21(+5), Dex 19 (+4), Con-, Int 16 (+3), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 14 (+2)
Skills: Climb +11, Jump +43, Search +10, Spot +9, Listen +9, Intimidate +8, Gather Information +9.
Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Mobility.
Climate/Terrain: Any
Organization: Single (with 8-10 Grimlocks), or Squad (4-10).
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: Half Standard.
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Advancement: By Character Class (Fighter)

These beings are protolife constructs piloted by a humanoid brain, permanently grafted within the constructs “head”. These creatures serve the illithids with slavish devotion, leading hordes of grimlocks and other monsters against the invaders foes.
Tli-cal are the most often seen arm of the illithid presence, they can be encountered anywhere, but are usually used most in scare tactics. Though these creatures do not need to eat, they enjoy the “taste” of humanoid brains, and will snack if the opportunity presents itself.

Combat

Tli cal are not subtle, attacking with a barrage from their staffs before wading into savage melee.
Leap: Tli-Cal are natural jumpers, gaining a +30 enhancement bonus to all Jump checks. They are not limited by their height when determining maximum jump distances.
Telepathy (Su): Tli-cal can communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language. This range increases to 3 miles concerning giltharid.
Cybernetic Construct Subtype: Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, disease, and similar effects. Not subject to subdual damage, ability damage, energy drain, or death from massive damage. However, as Cybernetic Constructs have organic vitals (brain and ganglia), they are subject to Critical Hits.
Thralldom: All protolife constructs are considered to be under the effects of a permanent thrall effect towards the Elder Brain, and thus all illithids.

DISNEY & DRAGONS: D&D in Fantasyland

Many times, in recent years I have encountered would-be players of Dungeons and Dragons whose sole experience with the fantasy genre h...