Secret of the Slavers Stockade

Template:BookSecret of the Slavers Stockade (missing apostrophe intentional, fitting with other AD&D titles such as Players Handbook), is a 1st edition AD&D module 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 module 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 modules from TSR Hobbies, Inc.   

This module 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 adventure modules 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/ Tenebra Complexor^{(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 (Maybe intended to have been spelt 'Widower'), A massive two handed sword wielded by Kairn.^(p.10)

Locations

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

• Sea of Gearnat (Mentioned)(p.2)

Organisations

• Slavers of the wild coast, Slave Lords

Behind the Scenes

Originally run as a 7 part tournament along with the other original modules of the A series (A1, A2, A3, A4), this module is two parts, to be played through by different groups. This leads to some disconnect between the areas in the modules. 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.

This module was released after A3 and A4 by a few months- perhaps due to it's length (Nearly twice as many pages as A1) or that Harold Johnson was one of the youngest staff members at the time and needed to give the project over to Tom Moldvay for finishing.

The module 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 module 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. This doesn't fit most of the Human ethnicities in the Flanaess, who are pale to darkly tanned, but may mean he is from foreign lands.

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.

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