Part of the haunting of Zenopus tower is "goblin figures" dancing on the roof in the moonlight. Do you think these were literally goblins (the dungeon has goblins in Room A) or something supernatural? To me it always evoked the Night on Bald Mountain part of Fantasia, or perhaps he animated version of Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre. I just found some moonlight dancing figures in Lovecraft's The Moon Bog & am wondering if they could be an influence. http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/mb.aspx
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/mb.aspx
I have always assumed they referred specifically to the goblins in Room A, but I also felt that they evoked a Lovecraftian image. I sort of felt that, by implying these moonlit dances as a part of goblin culture, Holmes was bringing a bit of mystery and character to the relatively mundane humanoids of D&D.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the "mundane humanoids" were mundane, circa 1976/7. They were there to be used, which is how Tucker's Kobolds were spawned. From 2000-whatever, they look like this genius invention that's outside convention, but I'd bet there was plenty of unexpected personality to any of the monsters in early games...
ReplyDeleteFollowing the above thought line.. if you went that route, you could then generate all sorts of major and minor plot hooks from that flavor text.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the spirit servitors were set free when Zenopus' magic waned, and have infested Portown ever since (leading to all sort of superstitions to keep them away, sales of guards and wards of varying efficacy by local magic users and clerics, and invocations and sacrifices to them by locals to use their services for ill gains).
Perhaps if Zenopus summoned a major demon and these minor spirits were its servitors, the major demon departed for its home upon release (perhaps by devouring Zenopus after a ritual gone wrong, perhaps merely set free when the magic user expired of other causes). When that happened, the demon left a number of its servitors as lurking spies in case other magic users sought Zenopus' old books and rituals and might again bind the demon; the servitors are an old wives' tale to the locals, but a real threat to magic users in Portown as they sniff out magic and then torment its practitioners.
All sorts of fun to be had..
Whether one envisions the "tower roof" as flat (as implied for the thaumaturgist's tower) or peaked (standard wizard's tower) could influence whether the figures are viewed as goblins or something spirit-like.
ReplyDeleteThe term shows up in Holger Cahill's Look South to the Polar Sky. It shows up in other tales but this could be a likely, unconscious source for the term: books.google.com - Look South to the Polar Star
ReplyDeleteI don't think he meant actual goblins, but figurative goblins in the literary sense..
ReplyDeleteI have always thought of them as some sort of fey being. "Goblins" in the general rather than specific sense.
ReplyDeleteWow a lot of interesting ideas from a bit of flavor text. If we're recommending Clark Ashton Smith stories with wizards one of Dad's favorites was The Maze of Malaysia Dweb, also The Double Shadow.
ReplyDeleteChris Holmes I read the Maze of Maal Dweb last night (also known as the Maze of the Enchanter). Creepy anti-Conan story! There's another story about the same wizard Maal Dweb that I am going to read now.
ReplyDeleteYou will find Smith has an obsession with orchid like flowers.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note regarding Zenopus' Tower.. dancing goblins aside, a fun adventure seed for games following an exploration of the dungeon (potentially taking place later, possibly much later) in the characters' careers, would be making the tower reappear. While it's physical manifestation was reduced to rubble, in his final stages of power perhaps Zenopus was able to enchant it such that it straddled both this and another plane (could be anywhere from the border ethereal to the Plane of Shadow to a pocket plane or a rock drifting through the Astral). Every so often, on the order of years or decades, the shadowy bulk of the tower appears when a thick sea fog rolls in from the waves, or on a moonlight night; it's appearance is a terrible omen, and no local has dared approach the fearsome apparition when it has shown itself.
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