Secret of the Slavers Stockade

Greyhawk Source

Secret of the Slavers Stockade
Type:	Adventure
Author(s):	Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay
Editor(s):	Edward G. Sollers
Cover Artist(s):	Jim Roslof
Interior Artist(s):	Jeff Dee, Erol Otus, Jim Roslof, Bill Willingham
Series:	A (Aerie of the Slave Lords)
Publisher:	TSR
First Published:	July 1981
Pages:	40
ISBN:	0-935696-26-1

Secret of the Slavers Stockade (missing apostrophe intentional, fitting with other AD&D titles such as Players Handbook), is a 1st edition AD&D adventure for player characters of level 4-7. It takes place about 120 miles south^(p.4) of Highport in the hills of Drachensgarb (Hex A4-102 on the Darlene Map from World of Greyhawk Boxed Set)^(p.30).

Blurb

"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!     

This adventure was originally used for the Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragon^tm Game Tournament at Gen Con(c) XIII Convention and is the second of four in a series of related tournament adventures from TSR Hobbies, Inc.   

This adventure contains a challenging scenario, the tournament scoring system plus nine pre-rolled, playtested tournament characters. Also included are large scale referee's maps, notes and background information. A2 is a complete adventure in itself, but it is also a companion to A1 (Slave Pits of the Undercity), A3 (Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords) and A4 (In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords). Be sure to look for other exciting adventures from the Game Wizards of TSR."

Index

Characters

Prerolled characters for tournament play

• Blodgett, Male Halfling, 5th level Thief, NG.
• Dread Delgath, Male Human, 5th level Magic User, NG.
• Eljayess, Male Half Elf, 3rd level Cleric/ 3rd level Fighter, CG.
• Elwita, Female Dwarf, 6th level Fighter, LG.
• Freda, Female Human, 4th level Ranger, CG.
• Karraway, Male Human, 6th level Cleric, LG.
• Kayen Telva, Male Elf, 4th level Fighter/ 4th level Magic User, CG.
• "Ogre", Male Human, 5th level Fighter, NG. Had exceptional Strength.
• Phanstern, Male Human, 5th level Illusionist, CG.

Major NPCs

• Blackthorn - Commander of the Dungeon guard and representative of the Slave Lords. An Ogre magi that masquerades as human.^(p.3,29-30)
• Executioner - Icar's Lieutenant and an ogre.^(p.3,18)
• Gulyet - Markessa's apprentice and Goblin witchdoctor.^(p.3,21,33)
• Icar - The blind commander of the Hill Fort's forces. ^(p.3,19,27)
• Markessa- Leader of this branch of operations and keen magical and scientific experimenter of biology. She's expanded greatly in the later 2nd edition AD&D Slavers.^{(p.3,21,25,27,28,34,35)}

Minor NPCs

• A named Hobgoblin shaman, Adhu Nazaryet, of Maglubiyet.^(p.5)
• The captain of the fort guard, Gorbin Stalworth, and his half-orc lieutenant, Kairn.^(p.10)
• Jon, the Haunt, ghost of a sergeant from the previous keep^(p.7-8)
• 'Madman' a crazy escaped slave who has set up elaborate traps.^(p.12)
• Markessa's Double ^(p.33)
• Markessa's Lover/Bodyguard ^(p.33,34)
• 'Lady Morwin Elissar' - an escaped slave.^(p.5)
• Estelrath Tancred, a slave merchant, and his caveling slaves/bodyguards Cari and Filch.^(p.18)
• Fyndax, an Alchemist.^(p.25,29)
• Kyvin Trist, Scribe.^(p.29)
• Carlstar Wiofether, engineer/sapper/miner.^(p.21,29)
• Mouth, a caveling, 'Speaker' ^(p.31)
• Rat Master, a caveling, Chief 'Worker'^(p.32)
• Raker, a caveling, Chief 'Hunter'^(p.32)
• Inner Markessa, a caveling, chieftess of the 'Thinkers'.^(p.32)
• Jabber, a caveling, Inner Markessa's lover^(p.32)
• Snatcher, a caveling, chief 'Warrior'^(p.32)
• Whisper, a caveling, spokesman of the 'Leaders'^(p.32)

Creatures

• Ankheg^(p.8)
• Badger^(p.18)
• Bear, Brown^(p.4)
• Beetle, Cave^(p.31)
• Boar,Wild^(p.4,19)
• Boggle (First appearance) ^{(p.4,10,12,20,23,36)}
• Bugbear^(p.4,24,29)
• Carnivorous Ape^(p.5)
• Caveling (Module specific)^{(p.18,27,31,32)}
• Centipede, Giant^(p.31)
• Cloaker (First Appearance)^{(p.16-17,36-37)}
• Dog,Wild^(p.4)
• Dog, War^(p.5)
• Drow^(p.35)
• Dwarf ^(p.3133)
• Elf^(p.3,31,33)
• Giant, Hill ^(p.4)
• Ghoul^(p.4)
• Gnoll^(p.4,33)
• Gnome^(p.33)
• Goblin ^{(p.3,4,18,20,24,26-31)}
• Griffon^(p.4)
• Halfling^(p.18,31,33)
• Half-orc^{(p.10,17,19,31,33)}
• Haunt (First appearance) ^{(p.7,20,21,37)}
• Hobgoblin^{(p.4-12,14-15,17-19,21,24,35)}
• Horse, Wild^(p.4)
• Human^{(p.3,5,9,10,12,21,28,31,33)}
• Kobold^(p.18)
• Lizard, Cave^(p.32)
• Lizard, Giant (Dead)^(p.19)
• Lycanthrope, Wereboar^(p.4,19)
• Lycanthrope, Werewolf^(p.4,29)
• Medusa^(p.20)
• Minotaur^(p.34)
• Ogre ^(p.3,18)
• Ogre Mage ^(p.3,29-30)
• Orc^(p.4,17)
• Owlbear^(p.28)
• Phantom (First Appearance)^(p.22,36)
• Rat ^(p.20)
• Rat, Giant^(p.20,31)
• Spider, Cave^(p.32)
• Spider, Giant^(p.22)
• Stag^(p.4)
• Wight^(p.4)
• Wolf^(p.4,11,24)
• Wolf, Winter ^(p.21)
• Wolf, Worg^(p.24,26,27)

Items

• Death's Master, a magic sword (No Special Abilities), wielded by Icar.^(p.19)
• Sun-Dancer, a magic sword (No Special Abilities), wielded by Gorbin Stalworth^(p.10)
• Winower, A massive two handed sword wielded by Kairn.^(p.10)(A1-A4 corrects the spelling to 'winnower'^(p.63) which refers to removing people or things from a group until only the best ones are left. i.e., "weeding out" or eliminating the bad ones.)

Locations

• Highport (Mentioned) ^(p.2)
• Drachensgrab Hills^(p.2)
  • Hill Fort- Location of the adventure.

• Sea of Gearnat (Mentioned)^(p.2)

Organizations

• Slavers of the wild coast, Slave Lords

Behind the Scenes

Originally run as a 7 part tournament along with the other original adventures of the A series (A1, A2, A3, A4), this adventure is two parts, to be played through by different groups. This leads to some disconnect between the areas in the adventures. This is also why there is no development in the pregenerated characters between A1 and A2, as the tournament intended for the two parts of A1 and A2 and the first part of A3 to be played as the opening rounds for different groups. A4 was planned as the ending first, and the preceding adventures as a route to get there^(p.3)

Elwita's design, as a bearded female dwarf, is credited to David Cook^(p.3)

This adventure was released after A3 and A4 by a few months- both due to the greater length (40 pages, compared to A1's 24, A3's and A4's 28) and that Harold Johnson, youngest staff member and manager of editing, kept having his schedule interrupted. This is why Tom Moldvay is credited with helping co-author, as he stepped in to help finish the project.^(p.3)

The adventure has many grammatical, spelling and editorial errors, such as describing different creatures in a scene description to the area description (Area 8a, two goblins become hobgoblins).

Playtesters of this adventure were Jim Barber, Neil Christianson, Tom Christianson, Jeff Dee, Kevin Hendryx, Mike Price, Don Snow, Bob Waldbauer, and Skip Williams.

Icar is described as a 7'ft black man. While most humans in the Flanaess are pale to darkly tanned, the Touv introduced in 1999 in The Scarlet Brotherhood accessory book, are described as having dark brown to black skin^(p.36) suggesting Icar may be or have Touv heritage. Jeff Dee drew another image of Icar in 2005 for a commission.

The drow are mentioned to have a trade post connected to the caves of the Hillfort. Considering the distance from the Hellfurnaces and the Vault of the Drow, these drow are either from another drow settlement or far wandering traders.

External Links

Reviews

• Merric's Musings

Articles

• DriveThruRPG
• RPG.net
• RPGGeek

References

Bibliography

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from the Greyhawk Fanon Wiki— (Secret of the Slavers Stockade).

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic	Type	Description	Product	Page/Card/Image
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	Adventure	Located in: Wild Coast (Drachensgrab hills),	A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity	1, 3, 17
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	Adventure	Located in: Wild Coast (Drachensgrab hills),	A1-4 Scourge of the Slave Lords	3, 55
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	Adventure	Located in: Wild Coast (Drachensgrab hills),	A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	All
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	Adventure	Located in: Wild Coast (Drachensgrab hills),	A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords	1, 2
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	Adventure	Located in: Wild Coast (Drachensgrab hills),	A4 In The Dungeons of the Slave Lords	1, 3
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	Adventure	Located in: Wild Coast (Drachensgrab hills),	Dragon magazine #043	12
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	Adventure	Located in: Wild Coast (Drachensgrab hills),	From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess	72
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade	Adventure	Located in: Wild Coast (Drachensgrab hills),	World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983)	30