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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Mar 30, 2018 17:00:42 GMT -5
Now I understand why Lakofka made L2 as a murder mystery adventure - he was inspired by EGG doing the same thing with VOH...
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Mar 31, 2018 14:29:34 GMT -5
Now I understand why Lakofka made L2 as a murder mystery adventure - he was inspired by EGG doing the same thing with VOH... It must be that I failed to fully appreciate Lakofka's adventures: I liked L1 The Secret of Bone Hill, but I had not liked L2 The Assassin's Knot. Now I will need to look at these modules in a new light, including L3 Deep Dwarven Delve, for possible additional clues about VOH and TOEE? I probably ought to look into A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry by Skip Williams, since he was a schoolmate of Ernie Gygax and did play a PC {Rufus} in the original Hommlet adventure DM'ed by EGG. What was EGG's opinion of Skip Williams? One of the good guys or not? Did Tim Kask or Terry Kuntz have any significant publishing input at any time for AD&D? I am curious because they also adventured in EGG's Hommlet campaign as Jaroo and Terjon?
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Mar 31, 2018 16:04:41 GMT -5
The rival stable in "Silver Blaze" is of Lord Backwater = Lareth?
The land around in this short story is desolate moor land.
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Mar 31, 2018 16:21:27 GMT -5
VOH location #4 has a widow, so this could be the "Straker" family from Silver Blaze, after the death and discovery of John Straker's body 1/4 mile from the stables?
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Mar 31, 2018 18:16:21 GMT -5
The other option is if as published VOH is set just prior to the crime committed in "Silver Blaze", that the strapping farmer of location #12 is having an affair with the carpenter's wife? This is tenuous however, because I don't see the strapping farmer marked as a "John" in the VOH text? The indication here is that he does have treasure hidden in a clay pot filled with dry flowers, and the treasure includes 36 gold pieces (which explains why the darkness rune is 36 squares in TOEE temple gates and also in 1983 WOG boxed set} a gold {future wedding?} ring, so it seems like he has gifts hidden for a lover with expensive tastes, and Straker = kraters = vases. I may go ahead and make this the Straker family..."strapping" sounds like this farmer is having an affair, and in Silver Blaze, John Straker was intending to use the cravat to strap up the horse's leg so it could be sneakily hobbled by him and returned to the owner's stable prior to the race. The horse however, sensed something was wrong and kicked the trainer in the head killing him, so it was not a murder in truth, but instead accidental death of the villain! The carpenters' wife has a silver chain of 12 silver coins worth 25 gold pieces, connecting her to the strapping farmer at location #12 and also to the herdsman at location #25 - it must have been on this herdsman's sheep that John Straker, the strapping farmer, practiced hobbling animals.
Note that we also have WOG folio darkness rune = 16 squares, assassin Gremag has 16 dexterity and constitution both, the captain of the militia has 16hp, 16 constitution and wisdom both. So a possible interpretation is that the captain of the militia is assassinated at some point during this adventure, with other attempts to follow, likely Terjon and Elmo who have 16s and twinning 41 hit points. Other attempts to follow on could continue on anyone marked with "16" like Calmert, Nira Melubb, and Kobort.
Other agents of evil have 16s and would work in darkness to help Gremag perpetrate assassinations: the traders' spy, and Lareth.
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Mar 31, 2018 18:32:34 GMT -5
Silver blaze artwork has a cart wheel pictured with 13 spokes = VOH location #13, the traders.
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Mar 31, 2018 19:01:42 GMT -5
In "Silver Blaze", Derbyshire = Brid(well) + heresy.
So EGG was thinking he would do a heretical work next in T2 Temple of Elemental Evil making use of Bridwell's elementals and Paracelsus?
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 1, 2018 22:08:20 GMT -5
Has anyone had experience with A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry? If so, do you recommend this adventure module? What modifications or extensions did you make or that you all recommend?
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 9:11:00 GMT -5
Silver blaze artwork has a cart wheel pictured with 13 spokes = VOH location #13, the traders. Doyle also ranked "Silver Blaze" 13th in a list of his 19 favorite Sherlock Holmes stories.
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Post by GRWelsh on Apr 2, 2018 13:56:42 GMT -5
Silver blaze artwork has a cart wheel pictured with 13 spokes = VOH location #13, the traders. Doyle also ranked "Silver Blaze" 13th in a list of his 19 favorite Sherlock Holmes stories. It's also the 13th Sherlock Holmes short story he wrote.
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 14:16:43 GMT -5
Since the leather worker = EGG is a Jack-of-all-trades, I think this is a hint to find the famous "John" named version behind each craftsman in Hommlet.
So VOH location #14 is a reference to John Carter, and #28 is a reference to John Carpenter?
Who are we supposed to see from the other VOH craftsmen?
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 16:15:29 GMT -5
Doyle also ranked "Silver Blaze" 13th in a list of his 19 favorite Sherlock Holmes stories. It's also the 13th Sherlock Holmes short story he wrote. Yes, and I think we are supposed to glimpse that VOH location #31 two-storied tower indicates a second Sir Arthur Conan Ignatius Doyle Sherlock Holmes work, his 31st = The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton. Note that Charles = larches, and there are Tamaracks at the moathouse, a slender North American larch...
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 16:17:35 GMT -5
It's also the 13th Sherlock Holmes short story he wrote. Yes, and I think we are supposed to glimpse that VOH location #31 two-storied tower indicates a second Sir Arthur Conan Ignatius Doyle Sherlock Holmes work, his 31st = The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton. Note that Charles = larches, and there are Tamaracks at the moathouse, a slender North American larch... Client is Lady Eva Brackwell, villain is Charles Augustus Milverton
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 16:51:45 GMT -5
"A tangled skein," Arthur Conan Doyle scribbled in one of his cheap red marbled notebooks. He was considering possible titles and images for the detective novel that had begun to grow in his imagination. For this note he may have been recalling a prominent image in Emile Gaboriau's 1867 novel "The Mystery of Orcival," featuring Monsieur Lecoq. In one passage Gaboriau describes an investigator's thoughts: "The difficulty is to seize at the beginning, in the entangled skein, the main thread, which must lead to the truth through all the mazes, the ruses, silence, falsehoods of the guilty." It had been translated into English in 1871, only two years before Gaboriau's death; Arthur was 12 at the time.
So VOH is a cryptic centennial tribute, due to VOH has 1971 in view.
What is interesting is that TOEE was published in 1985, roughly two years prior to Bridwell's death in 1987...?!
Another thing I noticed, is that VOH has 33 locations = 33 lines on 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of notebook paper! That's where it all started, a blank sheet of notebook paper used to outline 33 VOH locations?!
That's encouragement for the creative spirits - pull out a sheet of notebook paper and get to work!
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 17:12:08 GMT -5
Since the leather worker = EGG is a Jack-of-all-trades, I think this is a hint to find the famous "John" named version behind each craftsman in Hommlet. So VOH location #14 is a reference to John Carter, and #28 is a reference to John Carpenter? Who are we supposed to see from the other VOH craftsmen? For John Carpenter, the obvious reference is the 1978 film "Halloween". It's possible we are supposed to look back further to "Assault on Precinct 13"...
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 17:32:07 GMT -5
Since the leather worker = EGG is a Jack-of-all-trades, I think this is a hint to find the famous "John" named version behind each craftsman in Hommlet. So VOH location #14 is a reference to John Carter, and #28 is a reference to John Carpenter? Who are we supposed to see from the other VOH craftsmen? For John Carpenter, the obvious reference is the 1978 film "Halloween". It's possible we are supposed to look back further to "Assault on Precinct 13"... Carpenter was approached by producer J. Stein Kaplan to make a low-budget exploitation film for under $100,000, on the condition that the filmmaker would have total creative control. Carpenter's script, originally titled "The Anderson Alamo", was inspired by the Howard Hawks Western film "Rio Bravo" and the George A. Romero horror film "Night of the Living Dead". Was this inspired by EGG's Greyhawk supplement? Did John carpenter have correspondence with EGG?
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 17:40:09 GMT -5
For John Carpenter, the obvious reference is the 1978 film "Halloween". It's possible we are supposed to look back further to "Assault on Precinct 13"... Carpenter was approached by producer J. Stein Kaplan to make a low-budget exploitation film for under $100,000, on the condition that the filmmaker would have total creative control. Carpenter's script, originally titled "The Anderson Alamo", was inspired by the Howard Hawks Western film "Rio Bravo" and the George A. Romero horror film "Night of the Living Dead". Was this inspired by EGG's Greyhawk supplement? Did John carpenter have a friendship with EGG? John "Straker" = "Starker" leap to Assault on Precinct 13...
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 2, 2018 17:55:43 GMT -5
Assault on Precinct 13's Austin Stoker = St keratinous
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Post by GRWelsh on Apr 3, 2018 7:58:36 GMT -5
Dave, how much are your players even interacting with the ordinary citizens of Hommlet? I'm not sure spending so much time developing their backstories in such intricate ways will pay off, if the answer is "not much."
Charles Augustus Milverton lived at Appledore Towers, btw.
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Post by davegibsongreyhawkdm on Apr 3, 2018 9:04:29 GMT -5
Dave, how much are your players even interacting with the ordinary citizens of Hommlet? I'm not sure spending so much time developing their backstories in such intricate ways will pay off, if the answer is "not much." Charles Augustus Milverton lived at Appledore Towers, btw. There have now been several moathouse expeditions since PC Dontae's death in the second moathouse expedition. I will post some further expedition notes with the half-Orc "Grom" having joined the party. It has been fun, but the PCs, after having some more success, have run up against some stiff opposition at the moathouse... Actions have since taken the PCs back into Hommlet, where they have gotten some more involvement and background on some VOH residents...
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