Fossilized Mi Go Crystalline Unit For Ancient And Accursed Terra Using The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg

Number Encountered : 1d4 
Alignment: Chaotic Evil 
Size: S 
Movement: fly 80
Dexterity: 15 
Armor: 3
Hit Dice: 2 
Number of Attacks: 2 per round see below 
Damage: see below
Saving Throw: 17 
Morale:9 
Experience: 1,000 
Treasure Class: F (Mi Go) 


 Found deep within the hive works of the Mi Go are these ancient fossilized crystal brains once belonging to ancient sorcerers and wizards now long dead who were promised immortality by their fungus masters long ago. These fiendish crystallized brain material run the day to day operations of certain sectors, mining factories, and observation units for their masters.
They are mad evil things by human standards and far, far, removed from their humanity if they were ever human to begin with. Individuality is removed by the personality fragmentation process that goes into the creation of one of these things.
 These horrors float around in telekinetic bubbles of force which have a armor class of three. Three times per day they may cast the following : Darkness, Dispel magic, inflict blindness, hold person, protection from good, command, and create a beam of dangerous energy that can paralyze or disintegrate victims unless dice save allows victims to resist.
These things always have an extra sensory perception like spell ability and telepathic effect around them allowing them to communicate with lesser minds around them in a forty yard radius. 
They may telepathically call their master and are part of the greater Mi Go hive mind circuit. These monsters are often part of greater Mi Go computing units and have evolved past the need for metal cylinders that the Mi Go use.
The Mi Go can at anytime override any and all of these monsters abilities. They are merely cogs in the greater Mi Go machine of domination and conquest.
On Ancient and Accursed Terra these horrors are in charge of deep Terra underworld mining facilities and on the tops of the mines deep within the Himalayan mountains. They are often left to their own devices for centuries and most are quite made by human standards. Some will develop minions of their own but all bow to the will of their Mi Go masters.  

Free Sword and Sorcery Tale -The Testament of Athammaus Clark Ashton Smith

"It has become needful for me, who am no wielder of the stylus of bronze or the pen of calamus, and whose only proper tool is the long, double-handed sword, to indite this account of the curious and lamentable happenings which foreran the universal desertion of Commoriom by its king and its people. This I am well-fitted to do, for I played a signal part in these happenings; and I left the city only when all the others had gone."
 Get It right over
HERE

Connections to  the Hyperborean Cycle  
This monstrous tale by Clark Aston Smith gives all the details of the Voormis race. There is a metric ton of weirdness writhing in the background of this little story. From the weird connections to Tsathoggua himself to the descriptions of Hyperborea the tales spins out a very different image of Smith's world. This one has it all right there dripping down the page. This is Smith's Hyperborea and its a very different world indeed, now situated where present day Greenland is. 
 More can be found in the glossary of terms HERE
 And at the wiki entry on the Hyperborean cycle right over HERE On Wiki



Another wonderful map can be found right over
HERE

The Coming and Ending of the Voormis

According to Wiki: 

Lovecraft wrote to Smith in a letter dated 3 December 1929: "I must not delay in expressing my well-nigh delirious delight at The Tale of Satampra Zeiros [Smith's short story]... [W]hat an atmosphere! I can see & feel & smell the jungle around immemorial Commoriom, which I am sure must lie buried today in glacial ice near Olathoe, in the Land of Lomar!".^[1] Soon afterward, Lovecraft included Smith's Tsathoggua (which originally appeared in "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros") in the story "The Mound", ghostwritten for Zelia Reed (Zelia Bishop) in December 1929. Lovecraft also mentioned Tsathoggua in "The Whisperer in Darkness", which he began on February 24, 1930.^[2] Because Smith in turn borrowed numerous Lovecraftian elements, the cycle itself may be regarded as a branch of the Cthulhu Mythos.In a letter to August Derleth dated 26 July 1944, Smith wrote: "In common with other weird tales writers, I have ... made a few passing references (often under slightly altered names, such as Iog-Sotot for Yog-Sothoth and Kthulhut for Cthulhu) to some of the Lovecraftian deities. My Hyperborean tales, it seems to me, with their primordial, prehuman and sometimes premundane background and figures, are the closest to the Cthulhu Mythos, but most of them are written in a vein of grotesque humor that differentiates them vastly. However, such a tale as The Coming of the White Worm might be regarded as a direct contribution to the Mythos."

 The Voormis once again according to wiki : The Voormis are the three-toed, umber-colored, fur-covered humanoids^[6] that once had a thriving civilization in Hyperborea. They dwelled underground and worshiped the god Tsathoggua.^[7] After most were wiped out by other pre-human settlers, the most savage of the Voormis became restricted to caves in the upper slopes of the Eiglophian mountains.^[8] Before Hyperborea's fall, the remaining Voormis were hunted for sport.By dwelling subterraneously, it should perhaps be noted here, the Voormis were but imitating the grotesque divinity they worshiped with rites we might deem excessively sanguinary and revolting. As it was an article of the Voormish faith that this deity, whom they knew as Tsathoggua, made his abode in lightless caverns situated far beneath the earth, their adoption of a troglodytic mode of existence was to some extent primarily symbolic. Their eponymous ancestor of their race, Voorm the arch-ancient, had quite early in their history promulgated a doctrine which asserted that their assumption of a wholly subterranean habit would place them in a special relationship of mystical propinquity with their god, who himself preferred to wallow in the gulf of N'kai beneath a mountain to the south considered sacred by the Voormis.

— Lin Carter and Clark Ashton Smith, "The Scroll of Morloc"

From what I've read perhaps the Yeti and certain sightings of big foot are all that remains of this once strange and noble race. In Goblinoid Games 'Realms of Crawling Chaos'  the Voormis are a playable race as are the unhinged human/hybrid strains for Labryth Lord. Of course with a game like AS&SH its not much of a strain to add them in as PC's either. 

From most of the recent campaigns I've run the Voormis are a declining race of peoples. Yet they seem to be one of the most benign races as well discounting their inhuman rites. For all intents and purposes the coming of Knygathin Zhaum marks a very weird change to this race indeed. 

According to wiki:

Knygathin Zhaum is the child of Sfatlicllp and a Voormi.

He repopulated Hyperborea after humans deserted the city of Commoriom, building Uzuldaroum in its stead. Athammaus, the last executioner of Commoriom, tried to execute him by beheading, for his inhuman crimes, but because of his preternatural heritage, such attempts proved unsuccessful and only served to aggravate him. As a descendant of Cxaxukluth, Knygathin Zhaum reproduced by fission and thus created an Azathothian strain among the Hyperborean Voormi.
 The last of the Voormis dwell or   retreated to the highest slopes of the Eiglophian mountains. Their fate is writ in the Book of Eibon. 

Their fate is sealed by a far worse enemy "The Gnophkehs"

 According to wiki: 

They are humanoid cannibals described as being covered in coarse, matted hair with large protruding ears and proboscidean noses. They originally lived in Hyperborea and worshiped the Great Old One Rhan-Tegoth.^[1] But Rhan-Tegoth eventually forgot them when he entered a stone-like hibernation state. They were invaded and driven to the land of Lomar by the Tsathoggua-worshipping Voormis.

The papyrus reputedly preserved the darkest secrets of the occult wisdom of the detested Gnophkehs, which name denoted the repulsively hirsute cannibals whom Yhemog's ancestors had driven into exile in the arctic barrens. This scroll contained, in fact, the most arcane and potent ceremonials whereby the Gnophkehs had worshipped [sic] their atrocious divinity, who was no less than an avatar of the cosmic obscenity Rhan-Tegoth, and was attributed to Morloc himself, the Grand Shaman.

— Lin Carter and Clark Ashton Smith, "The Scroll of Morloc"

Later on they were again invaded by humans from Zobna and driven even further up north. It was there that Ithaqua, the wind-walker, appeared, to whom the Gnophkhehs transferred their allegiance. They started to harass the Voormis again as they grew in power contributing to the demise of the Voormis civilization.^[2]

The Gnophkehs in Lomar were eventually destroyed when Ithaqua and Aphoom-Zhah brought about the Ice Age along with the remnants of the Voormis in Hyperborea and the human civilization in Zobna

My players have come to loath these horrors which they have encountered with the passage of Ithaqua among the fathomless black gulfs between the stars. These cannibals are often left behind to be encountered as elite shock troops or as priests of the deity in the darkness between the stars.
In the Hyperborean cycle there are other marked changes to familiar Cthlhu dieties as well. In Clark Aston Smith's cycle we meet another aspect of Tsathoggua. Who is very different then Lovecraft's version. Simply two different aspects of a diety but both equal dangerous in their own right for PC's.
In the end Clark Aston's Smith's Hyperborea is great setting and remains a favorite of mine to set games, read about and send PC's too.
Happy gaming!

Once again these tales are owned and copyrighted to their rightful owners. I'm merely a humble reader and DM whose a fan of Clark Aston Smith's tales. This blog post is for entertainment purposes only. 

Commentary And Review Of AFS Magazine Issue #3 For The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg

This is the third issue of AFS magazine for the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea rpg game and other OD&D  retroclone systems. This is a fifty six page fan magazine for the game printed on heavy duty quality paper and featuring plastic style cover as well as spiral binding.
Really you are getting a quality product for the money. 

Get it right over
HERE

For a third issue of a fanzine this book features some very solid quality articles and professional editing right off the bat. But is the material presented useful for AS&SH? I believe that its as solid issue. 

AFS Magazine #3 - Table of Contents

New Monsters – Ogre Slugs, Man-Scorpions by Tim 'Turgenev' Hartin

 Issue three features two monsters that are distinctive and interesting. They are actually presented in an Osric format but are easily adaptable to AS&SH. They definitely have the distinctive Sword and Sorcery feel of the game and fit the bill for inserting into a campaign easily.

Article  - Adapting 'The Uncharted Isle' by Clark Ashton Smith to Adventure & Setting, by Jason Zavoda

This is a big story and adventure from the mind of Clark Aston Smith along with the material presented adapted from the world of the story. Very well done and in itself a mini campaign in the making.

Fiction – The Temple of Death, By A.C Benson (1903)

Sword and sorcery is a mix of pulp, horror, and adventure along with classic works of the 'genre'. This tale fits the bill nicely.

Table of Items – Moderate Treasures by Scalydemon, Datagoblin, MatthewD44, Iain_IF

More treasures are always welcome and these are well balanced for AS&SH.

Adventure – Into the Black Kingdoms, an adventure taking place in SW Hyboria for levels 2-5 by Scott Moberly

A wicked adventure from the mind of Scott Moberly and this one has some twists and turns to it.
Solidly done and easily adaptable to the game. Very concise with some nicely balanced encounters. PC's might want to think before acting quickly though.

Article – The Cult of Silence, A Cult Description by Tim 'Turgenev' Hartin

A very wick cult that would make a very cool little mid point encounter for a party in the AS&SH game itself but I can also see using this with some other games nicely written as well.

Adventure – Kusu’s Cove/Hyperborean Laboratory by Benoist Poire

This is a min campaign adventure, seriously one of the better adventures I've seen as of late. This has all of the elements that I love in the AS&SH system. High Weirdness, Lovecraftian style encounters, deadly monsters, balanced NPC's and encounters, and a downright nasty background.
Very well done adventure.

New Monster – The Were-Shark, adapted from the Dr. J. Eric Holmes novella ‘The Maze of Peril’ by Chris Kutalik
We round this magazine out with a classic monster adapted by Chris Kutalik and given over from his campaign and into yours. This is a really nasty piece of work with Lovecraftian overtones to it.  

 Issue Four of AFS magazine kinda picks up where issue three leaves off. We are given more monsters, adventures, and options for the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea system. 

Issue three feels like a mini campaign module filled with more expanded adventure material for the game itself.
These two magazines make excellent starting points for a mini campaign actually. 

 Many of the articles are broad strokes of brilliance for optional content for games. Having read extensively through both issues of AFS twice I've come to a few conclusions. 

 The monsters and items in the magazine are easy drop in campaign starters and they make great mid point adventure encounters for parties. 

 The spiral bindings make finding stuff quick and easy during play. They hearken back to a time when this sort of binding was common. 

 The text is easy to read and not to hard on the eyes and at my age that's an important factor. 

 The editing is solid and the articles balance their game content very well. 

Art is by a variety of old school black and white artists. The art gives the magazine a pulpy feel throughout. Once again I'm reminded of old Judges Guild material. 

 Maps are very well laid out and represented though out the magazine. Many of the adventures feature these solid additions to the material.
This may not seem like a big deal but maps sometimes make the adventure and with a game like AS&SH they're really need to convey the old school feel of the game. 

 As I stated earlier the Hyborean Laboratories and Cave systems part of the Kusu's Cove adventure are one of my favorite pieces from AFS #3. I was given an extra map and it really helps with running it. 

 All in all I've been really pleased with the value and professional production of ASF magazine. I'm hoping to order back issues of it next week and complete my collection to get caught up with this AS&SH resource. 

Cybernetic Module For Ancient And Accursed Terra Using The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg System

The cybernetic module is an ancient Atlantian invention created from the divine tears of the goddess Imirish also known as The Daughter Of Law and Order. The module is carved into the shape of a scarab and was once granted to minor functionaries of the Atlantian empire.  They knew counter spells to keep its most potent effects of Law at bay. The powers of Law are imparted into the pseudo universal matrix of the item with shadows of technologies existing on several planes at once.
 Once per week the owner may read the thoughts of anyone within a 90 foot radius. The user must maintain constant concentration for this link to work. As per a 'Helm of telepathy'. Using the module will cause the user's eyes to take on an eerie blue green yellow cast. This may linger for 1d4 rounds after user has ended use of the module.
The user may determine if the target has been the target of 'demonic' influence or power as well as the time mind technologies of the 'Great Race of Yith'. The module is wrought through with a fine mesh of micro psychic circuitry that uses the body's own electric fields to power it. The user may disrupt once per new moon the minor technologies and artifacts of the Great Race and their ilk(remotes, wands, etc.) Those technologies will seem to cause the user debilitating headaches and they will be at -2 on all rolls when in their sphere of influence.
The continued use of the module after 1d8 days will cause the target to shift toward the extreme lawful strain of the divine and they will be contacted by the powers of Law as per the 'Contact Other Worldly Being' spell.  The user will eventually become a tool of the Bureaucracy  of  Law itself. These divine powers will see, hear, and act through the wearer.

The weird circuitry of the module will thread its way through the user as they sleep. He or she will not feel any pain but will gain the use of ultra vision as the spell once the process is done. They will gain 1 point of wisdom but this will be because of the unending perfect planes of Law that they dream of at night. Emotions will start to be shed, loves lost, and ties to the mortal world broken as the user becomes more enraptured with the gifts of Law and Order.
 The module will act as a scarab of protection after the user gives himself or herself over to Law completely.

They will gain the following after 1d10 weeks of the use of the Cybernetic Module:
Clairvoyance once per day 

Contact Other Worldly Being(of Law) once per week 

Temporal Acceleration once per new moon 

Understand Artifact of Law once per week

The final phase of the this item will happen after a 1d8 year period of use. The user will become a 'child of the module' and plane shift into the planes of Law to become a part in the so called 'Unending Machinery of Law' never to be seen again upon the mortal plane.  
These modules were used in different areas of the Altantian Empire originally as part of the so called Shreruri or  'Cybernetic Religion' Once an official state run religion that fell out of favor after the death or assassination of one of the many emperors of the world spanning power.
 The modules powers relate to the divine rites of creation and creative endeavors spurred on by the state but the rites connected with such activity are lost to the ages. It is said by certain sages that these modules reflect the benign yet obtrusive side of Atlantian religion of the time.
One thing is for certain, the Derro hate those who use such items especially and have captured, tortured, and executed users of such items with extreme prejudice. This has spurned a legend that Imirish herself is a prisoner of the mad ones and even now lays at the center of the underworld empire. One thing is certain thousands of such modules lay within the Derro vaults under the Earth. 

Commentary &Review of AFS Magazine Issue #4 For The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea Rpg

 Purchase any of the AFS Magazine products right
HERE

 AFS Issue #4 arrived today along with some other packages full of swords and sorcery goodness! There were two issues of the magazine(Issues #3 & # 4)  along with a really lovely note from Scott Mosley. Thanks for extra issue. Alright right off the bat these were well packed and pretty heavy for a fanzine! They're on a really nice stock of paper and the spiral bounding isn't the crap one you get in some cheap print places ( you know the ones I'm talking about here).
I've had less then a day with issue #4 of ASF and I can tell already I'm going to want the back issues of the magazine! 

AFS Magazine #4   - Table of Contents

New Monster – The Gurondu by Tim ‘Turgenev’ Hartin

This isn't isn't simply a new monster but a new race of ape like monsters with a few interesting twists and turns in them. 

Variant Class – The Burglar by Scott Moberly (written for Holmes Basic)

Sword & Sorcery games always need more thief varients and this is a well put together class for a basic OD&D style game or your favorite OD&D retro-clone. Very solid and easily adapted to just about any sytle of campaign  

Artifact -  The Iounic Loop – Reimagining the Ring of Gaxx by Allan T. Grohe Jr. (grodog)
This is a nasty and dangerous magical artifact and should be used with the utmost care in a S&S campaign that being said its a very well done dangerous artifact by a solid writer. 

Fiction – A Blizzard in the Sahara by Aleister Crowley (1911)

A travelogue from the Great Best himself. This put me in mind for running a desert adventure 

Table of Items – High Value Treasures by Scott Moberly

Some very rare and valuable loot for an S&S game. 

Variant Class – The Purloiner by Jeff Talanian & Colin Chapman (written for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea)

This is a solid thieving character class with more twists and turns for AS&SH. Believe it or not, I've already got a use for these guys. This class wouldn't have been out of place in certain Robert Howard stories at all.  Well put together and balanced. 

Adventure – The Lamia’s Heart, An Adventure By Jeff Talanian (set in Hyperborea

For 2–5 Zero Level Thieves)

A nice solid introductary adventure that is very well written for a group of zero level starting characters who are going to get in way in over their collective heads fast. That being said the adventure is well done and the encounters balanced for fast play. 

Table – One Sentence Plot Hooks for Sandbox Gaming by Various (named) authors

These could prove a DM a few well placed plot hooks to really get players going into a fast play right this evening  style situation. Simple, easy, and concisily conceived.

Adventure – Theme for a Jackal (an adventure set in Hyperborea for character levels 2-3) by Scott Moberly

This is a highly written, tightly packed adventure that can be linked to other adventures in the series that the author has done or simply an evening's entertainment with your AS&SH players. The adventure is tightly packed, well done, and the encounters somewhat deadly if the players don't think the situation through carefully. AS&SH might seem combat heavy but in actuality there is a lot of thought into avoiding harrowing situations.

Article- Crawling Without Hexes by Chris Kutalik

Crawling without Hexes is an article that intrigued me. This article is written from the perspective of a wargamer and DM making a very solid idea about the Hex system vs the point to point method of wargaming. This goes along with its use for old school rpging. Some very interesting ideas in this one.

Map – The Nooks & Crannies Level by Allan T. Grohe Jr. (grodog)
One thing I have to say is that the maps are very well done and easy to read. I love maps especially old school module style adventure maps. 

 The text in the magazines was easy to read, the spacing well done, and the content pretty damn good for the price. 

Fanzines are a tricky balancing act and this one is dedicated to Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. That being said there are a few retro-clone things stuck in here and there. That's not a bad thing at all. The variety makes this a very useful magazine for any DM as well supporting the game even further. The production values are top flight and having worked on a few local fanzine recently I can appreciate the labor of love that is AFS. As for issue # 3, I'll cover it coming up on Saturday with more AS&SH material in between. I have to say that Scott Moberly provided me with excellent customer service and a great product. The writing was top and ideas very old school. The magazine makes a great supplement for Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. Colour me satisfied with my purchase! 

The Umbrarious- Besham's Wyrm A New Monster For Ancient & Accursed Terra Using The Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers Rpg System

The Umbrarious or Besham's Wyrm

Number encountered 1 (1d2) 

Alignment : Chaotically Evil 

Size: L 

Movement : 40 (swim 20) 

Dexterity: 17 

Armor Class:0 

Hit Dice : 10 

Number of attacks: 2 Bite/Sting 

Damage: 5d6/ 1d4+1

Saving Throw: 12 

Morale: 11 

Experience : 2,350 

Treasure: F

A horror from the blackest Hells of the imaginations of the Serpent Men, these horrors lurk in certain cursed fetid water ways, wells, and ancient sewers. They are said to be the creations of the souls of ancient serpent Men priests who have taken the names of the Outer Ones for their own gain and cast forbidden magics against their own people. These things are the result of their corrupt spirits cast into an unholy combination of demonic as well as mortal flesh and made to crawl in the lowest dung infested waterways. They are often found in sewers as well guarding ancient passageways
These horrors are completely conscious and aware of their positions within Eternity but they are completely and utterly insane. They are cunning and evil things made of reptilian stock, mixed with gelatinous decaying flesh and the lizard like heads of dog things with rows of shark like teeth. They have organs within their throats capable of creating a variety of neurotoxins and tongue like stinger capable of  punching through leather armor with easy.
 Twin stingers upon the tail are also complete the package. These deliver a sleep inducing paralysis wound upon contact.
 These horrors are semi aquatic and capable of rapid movement within the twisting maze like confines of their mega dungeon ruined world.
These things still retain a love of shiny and golden things from their previous lives. The horrors often keep a 'treasure' chamber full of jewels, artifacts, and some scientific remains. These trinkets are actually simply reminders of half forgotten memories and bits of their former lives. They merely serve to further torture the beasts with the knowledge of how far they have fallen from their former service.
Often these horrors are left to guard former Serpent Men underground facilities, bases, and vaults. Sometimes these will be places where the Wyrm once had a position of power. These horrors are often brought sacrifices by the local population and worshiped as a minor spirit of fertility and protection.
 Certain individual wyrms may sometimes have the ability to charm humans as per the spell but this is a very rare occurrence. Others sometimes are granted minor spell like abilities but this will often vary from individual to individual.
The wyrms are nearly immortal and baring accident or death by violence they often sleep for centuries at a time and truly are immortal. They regenerate very,very, slowly due to the deluded demonic blood flowing through their veins.
 There are ancient sub human cities which summon these horrors from the depths of the Earth and worship them as patrons. These fools often sacrifice adventurers or trespassers to these monsters from the ancient depth of Eternity.
 Nagas have a special hatred for these beings and the two are never found within the same locations. Nagas will hunt down and kill these horrors where they are found and replace them if possible.
 Special :
Tongue/Bite delivers venom : make death (poison) save or suffer paralysis for 1d6 +6 turns 

Tail sting delivers venom : make a death poison save or suffer instant incapacitatation (paralysis) followed by death in 2d4 rounds. 

Even More Free Sword and Sorcery Material For Your Old School Campaigns - The Valor of Cappen Verra By Poul Anderson

 Down load it For Free
HERE

 Over the Christmas holidays I received this wonderful sword and sorcery anthology from a friend of this blog! 
The anthology came out in 1968! 

Thanks!
This is a solid piece of work with a great cover by Virgil Finley! I do so love his classic lines and great  artwork which also has him on the cover of the book.
The rest of the collection features: Poul Anderson - The Valor of Cappen Varra
Lord Dunsany - Distressing Tale of Thargobrind the Jeweller
Robert E Howard - Shadows in the Moonlight
Henry Kuttner - The Citadel of Darkness
Fritz Leiber - When The Sea-King's Away
C.L. Moore - Hellsgarde
H.P. Lovecraft - The Doom that came to Sarnath
Clark Ashton Smith - The Testament of Athammaus
Get it right over
HERE * *I'm sure if you look around its available for much less folks.

'The Valor of Cappen Verra' is a wonderful story that features Cappen Verra a bard of no small qualities who from the sophisticated South and seeks employment with a court in the North. He ends up almost buying it from a troll and well go read the story.
 Cappen Verra is a different sort of fellow from the usual stripe of sword and sorcery heroes. He's a guy up to his neck in the situations he finds himself in and uses every trick in the book to get out. There isn't any sword play in this one but that's fine with me. Cappen Verra isn't that style of bard you see.

The fact is that I've seen this bard much later on in a certain bar in Thieves World. He's every bit the Anderson creation and a pleasure to read. He also makes a wonderful model for an NPC bard in a campaign. Anderson's other creations like the night mare world of fairy from 'Two Hearts and Two Lions' echoes throughout this story.
 I really enjoyed Cappen Vera for a real change of pace from the usual blood and thunder tales we often find in sword and sorcery.