The Jewel Throne Zine

"... to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet...."

- Robert E. Howard

"Once prayed to my gods, searching for the whistled memories
Empty eyes are staring now, to my feet a land of sorrow
I'm the king, sitting in the dark hiding from the shadows of the wind
Wafts of might, wine of fire, I was called to taste

Silver horses brought us here, to the edge of the universe
We left the falling walls as the stars' collapse began
Now I rest on the highest steps, revealed the eternal frontier
As I gaze from the Jewel Throne to the portal of infinity

Fallen have the "chosen ones", debris remain in the dust
Far behind, beyond the sands, the wind sings to those who fell
Forever now, my hands laid down the poisoned weapons
I will pray to my gods, searching for the mysteries"

- Thomas G. Warrior

As I've previously mentioned, I've been mulling over doing a RPG zine as a means of getting past the stress related burnout that's been plaguing me recently (speaking of stress, as I was writing this my boss phoned me to talk about possibly being laid off, good grief!), and with the positive reaction it has elicited (and the possibility of having a buttload of free time soon) I've decided to do so.

I presented a selection of names for the zine I had been considering, and "Jewel Throne" won by a considerable landslide with two votes. Although I'm sure Netherwerks will be gratified to see that I managed to work a Black Ziggurat into the logo.

This zine will be digest sized, done in a underground metal/punk style, with dodgy illustartion by myself, and will focus of sword & sorcery, weird fantasy, science fantasy, post-apocalyptic, and science fiction gaming. The intention is to present a selection of D&D-compatible resources in those genres...one-page sandboxes, mini-dungeons, monsters, spells, technological artifacts, random tables, and so forth. Although I would like to include material compatible with Runquest, Call of Cthulhu, Traveller, and other great RPGs, both old and new.

My original intent was to do this as a free-to-download present to the community. Now, with the potential of impending financial hardship, I'm reconsidering this solely as a means of mitigating the aforementioned scenario.

Several of you expressed interest in contributing; originally I was wildly enthusiastic about that, but with the possibility of this being a for-(meager)profit venture I can certainly understand any that would wish to rescind their offer; however, anyone who did contribute would, if it ends up not being a free-to-download production, receive fair compensation for their effort.

My plan is to begin working on material, with a two-week deadline before commencing with layout and than publishing in some form or other. If I end up printing this myself I have some ideas regarding pull-out maps that could be quite nice.

I'd love to hear any feedback regarding this project. Suggestion, criticisms, it is all welcome.

The Jagged Gut Slicer Gin House & The Future of Agog City

Located in "The Rough Side" neighborhood of Adomaz, The Jagged Gut Slicer is a low-class gin house frequented by cheap thugs, mercenaries, bravos and the like. The low-ceiling common room is dimly illuminated by garish purple and green indirect lighting, concealing the signs of intoxicant abuse on the sullen, emaciated, nude dancing slaves that cheap entertainment in curtained, stained alcoves. The clientele and staff will mock non-fighter patrons, but will respect any fighting-men or equivalent who seem capable. The Jagged Gut Slicer only serves gin, usually a vile concoction with a metallic aftertaste but high quality stock is provided to respected customers. The staff will direct those seeking stronger fare to the Den of Utmost Repose in the alley behind the premises.

Vexid, a personable and garrulous Zermish Man sellsword currently in the employ of the Baron of Adomaz as a bodyguard for the noble houses' children, frequents the Jagged Gut Slicer when he is on leave. Vexid enjoys discussing rumors with soldiers and adventurers, as well as providing unsolicited, well-meaning advice.

The owner of The Jagged Gut Slicer is Zho-Mug the Face-Eater, a retired champion pit fighter famous for holding his opponents in a bear hug and than eating his foe's face. Zho-Mug is a tall, muscular, leathery Gresh Man in late middle age who dresses in a shiny black synthsilk half-cape and shiny black plasteel plate armor. He wears bright red Woman's' Paint smeared about his lips and his teeth have been filed to points. Despite his appearance, Zho-Mug acts in a jovial, good-natured fashion, but will progressively become more incoherent, inappropriate and somewhat creepy as conversation progresses, possibly a consequence of year of both intoxicants abuse and the use of physique-enhancing chemicals and hormones.

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Also, courtesy of an investigative report by Geordie Racer, Agog City...OF THE FUTURE!

Credit Where Credit Is Due, Other Neglected Notes and Further Zigguratitude

1. A while ago I posted my "100 NPC(s) Table." I feel terrible for neglecting to mention/credit how much of an inspiration Zak Smith's "Hidden Traits of NPCs" tables was. #99 is my favorite!

2. After I posted about my appreciation for Morten Braten's Ancient Kingdoms: Mesoptomia, the admirable Melan put a boot up my ass for neglecting to mention XP1: The Spider God's Bride And Other Tales, an excellent 3.5 edition traditional Sword & Sorcery resource and non-sucky adventure path easily usable with any version/edition.

3. While I was discussing Mesopotamian D&D, I should have also mentioned Chgowiz' yet unreleased "Land of Two Rivers/Tomb of Hulkursag." The crumbs of info I have seen have me drooling...

4. One day I berate simulacrum producers and the OSR-at-large for neglecting the Froghemoth and the next day a true scholar and gentleman of the aforementioned OSR provides an open game content version for us all to use.

5. More Black Ziggurat sightings: The Mutant Future and a partial cross-section of Ziqquratu Ziyaret.

6. I make a post about unique spellbooks and than one of you wise-acres has to go and beat me to making a Random Magic Book Name Generator. Also Trollsmyth went and provided links to further examples of such books.

Hopefully my next post will actually have some Planet Algol related content instead of blogosphere/meta- echo chambering (as much I love the "echo chamber" effect!).

Further Sightings of the Black Ziggurat!

Under the Dying Sun (and a very meta- manifestation as well!)
The Ebon Zikkuract (a very literal tesseract manifestation and now we have the word "zikkuract!")
The Black Ziggurat of Riskail (You know Riskail? That hot, new weird fantasy setting with all the talented writing and artwork...plus their Black Ziggurat has a Shoggoth!)
And what's This? Only the Black Ziggurat of GREYHAWK! (Which also contains an imprisoned Satan-figure and a lightsabre...)
EDIT: I'm hating myself for forgetting The Black Ziggurat of the Mutant Future!