DUNGEON 112: Maure Castle Background(SPOILERS)

Endur · Aug 3, 2004

SPOILERS FOR DUNGEON 112 MAURE CASTLE

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

I'm looking for Greyhawk background information for the various organizations mentioned in Maure Castle.

References, products, urls, etc. are what I'm looking for. I've already read the Dungeon 112 module, so I'm not looking for information from the dungeon module, but if the original module "Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure" or any other resource has information that the re-write does not have, that would be useful.

I'm seeking information on:
1. The Seekers
2. The members of House Maure mentioned anywhere else (either the 8 vanished apprentices or the ten "living" scions or Uncle or Slerotin)?
3. The Tome of the Black Heart
4. The Cult of the Long Shadow
5. Malcanthet, Demon Princess of Succubi
6. The Cult of Silver Dreams
7. The Cult of the Purple Stone
8. The Lost City of the Elders

grodog · Aug 3, 2004

I would post a query over on Rob Kuntz's Pied Piper messageboards @ http://p085.ezboard.com/bpiedpiperpublishing

Wycen · Aug 3, 2004

Yeah, most likely RJK has the only information or at least the best info on all those groups. You might be able to find a bit more out about the Tome of the Black Heart, the Purple stone and Lost City of the Elders from the original adventure, but probably not much.

Joshua Randall · Aug 3, 2004

I think the adventure makes it pretty clear that most of that stuff is in there as window dressing, and to allow the DM to make up further adventures that tie into Maure Castle. It's possible that not even Rob Kuntz knows anything more than what he's already written!

BOZ · Aug 3, 2004

Joshua, isn't that what Greyhawk has been mostly like all along?

Erik Mona · Aug 3, 2004

As others have said, everything you need to know is in the module itself. That said, there are a few additional resources, most of them very rare and very out of print, that might give you a little more information.

>>>
1. The Seekers
>>>

The Seekers, a "loose-knit society of adventuring scholars and explorers who hunt ancient secrets and magic, often for personal gain and profit" first appeared in the Living Greyhawk Journal #4, in an article entitled "Silent Sorcery: The Silent Ones of Keoland" (specifically, page 15), written by Gary Holian. Gary co-wrote the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer and was behind the Isle of Dread article in Dungeon #114, where the Seekers get another (extremely brief) mention.

Gary is currently revising an article on the Seekers for publication in a future issue. For posterity, the following "classic" NPCs have been affiliated with the Seekers:

1) Eli Tomorast (Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure)
2) Lashton (Queen of the Spiders)
3) Tibarian Matreyus (Green Nightmare: The Amedio Jungle: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~monax002/Council/OJ4/amedio1.html)
4) Rory Barbarossa (Isle of Dread)

There will be a couple more in the new article. When you think of the Seekers, think "Beloch" from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

They will definitely re-appear within the pages of Dungeon.

>>>
2. The members of House Maure mentioned anywhere else (either the 8 vanished apprentices or the ten "living" scions or Uncle or Slerotin)?
>>>

These have not been mentioned in previous Greyhawk material. For more on Slerotin, see "The Lost Passage of the Suloise" on p. 27 of the "Glossography," from the original Greyhawk boxed set. Dragon #241 has a "Greyhawk Grimoires" article about Slerotin. None of this stuff is necessary to run "Maure Castle," but it might provide some useful context.

>>>
3. The Tome of the Black Heart
>>>

This is detailed in the original "Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure" (WG5), but all of the relevant details have been repeated in "Maure Castle."

>>>
4. The Cult of the Long Shadow
5. Malcanthet, Demon Princess of Succubi
6. The Cult of Silver Dreams
7. The Cult of the Purple Stone
>>>

These were all invented for "Maure Castle." The enigmatic Purple Stone originally appeared in WG5, but the cult is completely new.

>>>
8. The Lost City of the Elders
>>>

This is described in WG5 (and repeated in "Maure Castle"). Rob Kuntz has developed a very similar "Lost City of Ancients" in his "Garden of the Plantmaster" adventure, which he published in the early 1980s under his own imprint, Creations Unlimited. Even that adventure only details a tiny part of the city, however, and the place largely remains a mystery.

It's a mystery I'd love to explore in Dungeon, of course, but what Rob plans to do with the place is entirely up to him.

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon