Alien Gods, Dungeons & Dragons Elves, & Hellish Demons For Your Old School Campaigns

Tonight I'm thinking about the  Original Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons PC race of Elves. Elves from pop culture have always to a certain extent been well problematic. Though I know where they come from Tolkein's Hobbit & Lord of the Rings books. In my mind there's always been a distinct disconnect from the Elves of mythology & Dungeons & Dragons.  But the ideas that these beings are simply a different evolutionary route then humanity doesn't take into account why there are so many negative connotations associated with the Elves of  mythology. Pop culture but I think has a very different species of creature lumped into the European mythological view;
This isn't an accident Elves in German mythology are dangerous creatures of Chaos;

"In the period before about 1000, the Old High German word alp is attested only in a small number of glosses. It is defined by the Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch as a "nature-god or nature-demon, equated with the Fauns of Classical mythology ... regarded as eerie, ferocious beings ... As the mare he messes around with women".^[1] Accordingly, the German word Alpdruck (literally 'elf-oppression') means 'nightmare'. There is also evidence associating elves with illness, specifically epilepsy.^[2]

In a similar vein, elves are in Middle German most often associated with deceiving or bewildering people "in a phrase that occurs so often it would appear to be proverbial: 'die elben/der alp trieget mich' (the elves/elf is/are deceiving me)".^[3] The same pattern holds in Early Modern German.^[4][5] This deception sometimes shows the seductive side apparent in English and Scandinavian material:^[6] most famously, the early thirteenth-century Heinrich von Morungen's fifth Minnesang begins "Von den elben virt entsehen vil manic man / Sô bin ich von grôzer lieber entsên" ("full many a man is bewitched by elves / thus I too am bewitched by great love").^[7] Elbe was also used in this period to translate words for nymphs.^[8]

In later medieval prayers, Elves appear as a threatening, even demonic, force. Evidence includes Latin prayers found inscribed in lead amulets from southern Scandinavia and Schleswig"

In the Dragon & Lion retroclone Elves have gone to war with the gods & for a time replaced humanity's gods. These monsters bred hybrid races of peusdo humanoids. These things were servants, slaves, and possibly closely genetically related to humanity but weren't even close to being human; "Evidence for elf-beliefs in medieval Scandinavia outside Iceland is very sparse, but the Icelandic evidence is uniquely rich. For a long time, views about elves in Old Norse mythology were defined by Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, which talks about svartálfar, dökkálfar and ljósálfar ("black elves", "dark elves", and "light elves"). However, these words are only attested in the Prose Edda and texts based on it, and it is now agreed that they reflect traditions of dwarves, demons, and angels, partly showing Snorri's "paganisation" of a Christian cosmology learned from the Elucidarius, a popular digest of Christian thought.^[8]

Scholars of Old Norse mythology now focus on references to elves in Old Norse poetry, particularly the Elder Edda. The only character explicitly identified as an elf in classical Eddaic poetry, if any, is Völundr, the protagonist of Völundarkviða.^[60] However, elves are frequently mentioned in the alliterating phrase Æsir ok Álfar ('Æsir and elves') and its variants. This was clearly a well established poetic formula, indicating a strong tradition of associating elves with the group of gods known as the Æsir, or even suggesting that the elves and Æsir were one and the same.^[61][62] The pairing is paralleled in the Old English poem Wið færstice^[63] and in the Germanic personal name system;^[51] moreover, in Skaldic verse the word elf is used in the same way as words for gods.^[64] Sigvatr Þórðarson’s skaldic travelogue Austrfaravísur, composed around 1020, mentions an álfablót (‘elves' sacrifice’) in Edskogen in what is now southern Sweden.^[65] There does not seem to have been any clear-cut distinction between humans and gods; like the Æsir, then, elves were presumably thought of as being human(-like) and existing in opposition to the giants.^[66] Many commentators have also (or instead) argued for conceptual overlap between elves and dwarves in Old Norse mythology, which may fit with trends in the medieval German evidence.^[67]

There are hints that the god Freyr was associated with elves. In particular, Álfheimr (literally "elf-world") is mentioned as being given to Freyr in Grímnismál. Snorri Sturluson identified Freyr as one of the Vanir. However, the term Vanir is rare in Eddaic verse, very rare in Skaldic verse, and is not generally thought to appear in other Germanic languages. Given the link between Freyr and the elves, it has therefore long been suspected that álfar and Vanir are, more or less, different words for the same group of beings.^[68] However, this is not uniformly accepted"

The associations between the gods & their slaves also can be clearly seen in the Huldra ("hidden being") in Scandinavian languages which in my home campaigns is the word for the traditional AD&D style 'Elves'. These are humans bred with the supernatural & occult power flowing through their veins. Both Morgause & Morgana Le Fey's family lines are examples of half Huldra sorceresses & witches. These beings have echos & shadow versions of themselves scattered across the multiverse. These Huldra are alien beings existing half in our world & half within the cycling Chaos realm we know as Fairyland. "Folklorists and mythologists have variously depicted fairies as: the unworthy dead, the children of Eve, a kind of demon, a species independent of humans, an older race of humans, and fallen angels.^[14] The folkloristic or mythological elements combine Celtic, Germanic and Greco-Roman elements. Folklorists have suggested that 'fairies' arose from various earlier beliefs, which lost currency with the advent of Christianity.^[15] These disparate explanations are not necessarily incompatible, as 'fairies' may be traced to multiple sources."


I've talked at length about the connections between the Arthurian fairies & the Elves of Dungeons & Dragons who were the  slaves & servants of these powerful Medieval Elves. The bastard grand sons of King Arthur include among their own ranks Melehan, Melou and the Black Knight, Arthur's grandson as well as the Faerie Knight.

But could there be a deeper connection to the world of men & the context of Fairyland? For that we must understand that Fairyland itself is a rolling blob of supernatural & occult lost lands having been taken over the centuries. It exists as a higher dimension right along with our own world whist touching countless others.
"The concept of dimension is not restricted to physical objects. High-dimensional spaces frequently occur in mathematics and the sciences. They may be parameter spaces or configuration spaces such as in Lagrangian or Hamiltonian mechanics; these are abstract spaces, independent of the physical space we live in." These rolling foamy Hells & green tinged Heavens sometimes touch & consume our world in an effort to anchor themselves into our reality & time space. The problem is that the realm of Fairyland is tainted by Chaos & madness. Humanity was never meant to dally with the occult forces of Fairyland & this madness rolls through the bloodlines of these so called 'half elves'.A good example is the genetic crap shoot caused by Arthur's bastard sister Morgause;

"Her character is fully developed in Thomas Malory's 1485 compilation of Arthurian legends Le Morte d'Arthur, in which Morgause (Margawse) is one of three daughters born to Gorlois of Tintagel, Duke of Cornwall, and the Lady Igraine. According to Malory, her mother is widowed and then remarried to Uther Pendragon, after which she and her sisters, Elaine and Morgan ("le Fay", later the mother of Ywain), are married off to allies or vassals of their stepfather. Morgause is wed to the Orcadian King Lot and bears him four sons, all of whom go on to serve Arthur as Knights of the Round Table: Gawain, one of his greatest knights; Agravain, a wretched and twisted traitor; Gaheris; and Gareth, a gentle and loving knight.

Years later, her spouse joins the failed rebellions against Arthur that follow in the wake of King Uther's death and the subsequent coronation of his heir. Shortly after her husband's defeat, Morgause visits the young King Arthur in his bedchamber, ignorant of their familial relationship, and they conceive Mordred. Her husband, who has unsuspectingly raised Mordred as his own son, is slain in battle by King Pellinore. Her sons depart their father's court to take service at Camelot, where Gawain and Gaheris avenge Lot's death by killing Pellinore, thereby launching a blood feud between the two families.

Nevertheless, Morgause has an affair with Sir Lamorak, a son of Pellinore and one of Arthur's best knights. Her son Gaheris discovers them in flagrante and swiftly beheads Morgause in bed, but spares her unarmed lover. Gaheris is consequently banished from court (though he reappears later in the narrative)"

For player characters this means that the Elves of Dungeons & Dragons are not simply human like in temperament but of a truly alien mind set. Lamentations of the Flame Princess has several modules where the 'true' nature of Elves & fairies are explored. In the Lion & Dragon game several of the cults take prime advantage of the chaos tainted & rolling horror of the various Elven cults of Chaos.

So why would AD&D Elves or Huldra ("hidden being") continue to exist in the world & whom are these creatures actually hiding from? I think that the Chthonic of the higher dimensional layers might be the reason. Hidden in the folds of reality is a being first mentioned in In "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1930)", a recording of a ceremony involving human and nonhuman worshipers includes the following exchange:
"Ever Their praises, and abundance to the Black Goat of the Woods. Iä! Shub-Niggurath!
Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!"

"Shub-Niggurath - "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young" is classified as both an Outer God & as Great Old One. This is no accident for she exists completely outside of normal space time in a higher dimensional realm.

"The revision story "The Mound", which describes the discovery of an underground realm called K'n-yan by a Spanish conquistador, reports that a temple of Tsathoggua there "had been turned into a shrine of Shub-Niggurath, the All-Mother and wife of the Not-to-Be-Named-One. This deity was a kind of sophisticated Astarte, and her worship struck the pious Catholic as supremely obnoxious."^[7]

The reference to "Astarte", the consort of Baal in Semitic mythology, ties Shub-Niggurath to the related fertility goddess Cybele, the Magna Mater mentioned in Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls", and implies that the "great mother worshipped by the hereditary cult of Exham Priory" in that story "had to be none other than Shub-Niggurath.""

Shub-Niggurath by Dominique Signoret

Shub-Niggurath & her young are literally hunting for the souls of beings who are older then recorded time. She & other alien entities of her ilk are following the natural process that the Hundra were designed for. The Hundra are living supernatural batteries for the occult power that flows through them. They make excellent prey for many types of Chaos deity, demons,  Outer God or Great Old Ones.
Though out mythology the Hundra have been the perfect meal on the go for hyperdimensional beings of pure chaos & occult power. Their souls have so much acquired mystic potential that these beings make perfect prey for a wide variety of supernatural predator.

The Remorse of Orestes, where he is surrounded by the Erinyes, who were identified as chthonic beings, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1862
These proto Elves are the perfect portable sacrifice for a wide variety of supernatural predators & alien hunter species. These so called Elves are the perfect happy meal on the go for these alien gods & Hellish demons.

Dangerous Duplicity & Dire Alien Menace - Actual Pulp Era Campaign Event Six

Among the wreckage of a Grey scout saucer the PC's discover a particularly valuable cargo. The whole site was coordinated & several alien engineer drone & minor robots were trying to repair the same scout saucer.

slice & dice stripper & salvage  ships from last night's game

Our adventurer's salvager called in his patron's slice & dice stripper ship. The ship stripped down the scout saucer after our salvager shut down the crystal reactor & the internal battery of the cryo tube.



So in last night's Renegade Heroes, Tyrannical Conquerors, & Wasteland Kings game the  Players wrapped up the rescuing the PanAmerican Count & Countess  Turck along with their daughter Samantha. 

The count had been replaced by a  German  agent/assassin wearing a "doppelganger mask ". A doppelganger mask is from ruins of ancient Venus created by the Greys to infiltrate primitive societies. The mask is made from the living tissues of doppelgangers & allows its owner to change their shape three times per day. The owner must be within twenty feet of the target to be mimicked. The wearer is able to lightly  telepathically read  the targets deepest manners, minor daily routines, etc. The owner can pass for the victim for 1d10 months but eventually the owner's individuality will rise to the surface.


The count was suffering with the effects of cryotube sickness & was attended to by the party's doctor/cleric. The blindness soon passed but the party also recovered certain documents that hinted at the location of a Grey hive near Grover's Mills New Jeresy.There's also a possible cult dedicated to one of the Outer Gods up there strongly hinted at with connections to the Grey's hive. These areas are strongly steeped in some of the heaviest battle fields & wastelands with connections to the Martian invasion of 1898.
For the various minor mutated monsters & menaces I'm turning to the resources of the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual coupled with the Fiend Folio.



The pulp elements from Clark Ashton Smith Zothique series of stories were hinted at when I pulled some of the more esoteric elements of  Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu & several key old school resources. In next week's game the party is going to have to return the count & deal with the aftermath of the Grey's duplicity.

Pulp Era OSR Make Over For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons's Modue Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull's UK3 The Final Enemy

At last! An opportunity to avert the threat to the little town of Saltmarsh! The real enemies have been identified - evil, cruel creatures, massed in force and viciously organized. Can the brave adventurers thwart this evil and ensure the safety of Saltmarsh?

The PC's have proceeded along the path of corruption to the well organized forces of the Sahuagin around the Atlantic area right into the lair of the monsters. U3 The Final Enemy by Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull is gritty & dangerous with a military feel to the over all module.
U3 is one of the more unusual adventures in that it features a three level dungeon & actual underwater adventure. I've used the entire U3 Saltmarsh series of adventures for Call of Cthulhu & many other pulp based Sword & Sorcery games as well including using it as a lead in for Astonishing Swordmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea second edition's The Mystery at Port Greely.

The whole of U3 is made for three things; exploration, underwater dungeon crawling, & full on old school adventuring. The Sahuagin lair is almost fully a third underwater dungeon &  a dark & dangerous place with Saltmarsh being the beach head for a full on invasion. The feeling of U3 is the final piece of a very large & corrupt puzzle. The tendrils of the Sahuagin's cults in the upper world can be seen in the Saltmarsh series adventure. The lair of the Sahuagin is a perfectly polished mirror of a sink of evil from the Adventurer, Conqueror, King rpg. 

The Sahuagin are an Atlantic ocean variant of the Deep One species with the Koa Tua being the lower oceanic variation of the species. The Sahuagin are looking to expand their ancient empire onto land especially after mankind has grown so lax.
"Y'ha-nthlei was not destroyed when the upper-earth men shot death into the sea. It was hurt, but not destroyed. The Deep Ones could never be destroyed, even though the palaeogean magic of the forgotten Old Ones might sometimes check them. For the present they would rest; but some day, if they remembered, they would rise again for the tribute Great Cthulhu craved. It would be a city greater than Innsmouth next time. They had planned to spread, and had brought up that which would help them, but now they must wait once more. For bringing the upper-earth men's death I must do a penance, but that would not be heavy. "
The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft

Characters of 3rd–5th level are the rule in U3 The Final Enemy, the module is completely lethal in places & not given for characters of at least the fourth level or below. The fact is that dungeon masters need to flesh out many of the more sinister aspects of the fishmen in U3. Dark Albion's Cults of Chaos is a viable option to do exactly that. The book lends itself quite nicely to fleshing out the more chaotic basis of the cults implied within the U.K. Saltmarsh series.


The world of an alternative history 1904 is a world in flux. There are several reasons to believe that the Sahuagin are actively on a black ops military warfare campaign across the globe. In 1904, with war in Europe a decade away, Britain and France sign an agreement, later known as the Entente Cordiale, resolving long-standing colonial disputes.On October 21, 1904, this almost happened. While en route to the Pacific Theatre, a nervous Russian fleet fired cannons at British fishing vessels thinking they were Japanese ships. In the confusion, some Russian ships even fired upon each other. Three British fishermen died and a host of diplomatic fall out resulted. Was this the fog of war or were there more sinister forces at work. This period of chaos happens across the globe & there is a method to this madness. Taking a cue from Dark Albion's set up for NPC's almost any can die within such a campaign & this fits with the dark & sinister nature of U3. The whole justifies the means of using Dark Albion's Cults of Chaos to flesh out the more nasty & dangerous of the Lovecraftian cults of the Sahuagin.



Infact U3 The Final Enemy can be used as a jump off point for an extended Lovecraftian campaign. There's enough background for a dungeon master to back fill in the details of the Saltmarsh adventure.This background material is perfect for  enabling a group of players to assume the role of smashing pulp heroes. This can take the PCs to far beyond where they expect to end up at the end of the Saltmarsh adventures. Many of the monsters found in Dark Wizard's Monsters of Mayhem #1 has several monsters that can easily convey the heights of alien weirdness that the player's PC's will be experiencing within the lair of the Sahuagin.

Pulp Era OSR Make Over For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons's Modue Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull's UK2 Danger At Dunwater Part II

"The little fishing town of Saltmarsh is threatened! Why are lizard men gathering force nearby and why have they been buying large quantities of weapons? A party of bold adventurers must answer these questions or the people of Saltmarsh will never live in peace!"

So let's pick up what's been happening around 'the quiet' little fishing village around Saltmarsh. The action has picked up after the PC's have been involved with investigating a number of unexplained murders & attacks around the salt marshes &  swamps near New York City.  Everything picks up as the lizardman vs Kua Toa  military conflict begins to happen around the city & about 70% of the city is completely unaware that its happening up right under their very noses. The poor, displaced, & the gangs of smugglers around this area  know exactly what's been going on.
Pulp adventurers are going to have their hands full with managing negations with  an alien species that can go from enemies to allies in the space of adventure events.


All of the action is going to take place near a series of smaller islands around Manhattan & near the salt marshes of New York City possibly with Long Island being a connection as well.

The alien lizardmen might have moved into the area with some of the pulp elements taking place in the alternative turn of the century 1903 happening in some ruins that might in fact be a recast Keep On The Borderlands. The keep might have been a tourist attraction before the Martian invasion of 1897 & this helps to trace the lizardmen's route into the salt marshes. The Keep might be in Long Island or its environs.  Keep also helps to boost the PC's level from the low end to the higher end.

The turn of the century alternative Earth  old school OSR hybrid of Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Barbarians of Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu mixed in with Troll Lord Games Amazing Adventures firearms, modern equipment & more. The combination  called Renegade Heroes, Tyrannical Conquerors, & Wasteland Kings affords me more then a few indulgences such as getting rid of the Scooby Doo BS in U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. Playing up the alchemist as an NPC has all kinds of implications for a clever dungeon master.
The alchemist is a pulp villain of grand design whose been terrorizing the poor & fishing elements of New York since the days of the Dutch settlers. Make the alchemist an undead horror affords the DM gravitas with the players.  Rather nasty & rather dangerous  Lovcraftian cults have been backing the alchemist & his henchmen for their smuggling operations in the face of the Martian invasion & making a very health profit.
But Deep Ones are not known for their charity & adventurers cutting into profits & the cult scene is about to boil over. The appearance of the lizardmen is a good indicator of the situation. A combination of the cultist class from Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu & the very Adult themed Obscene Serpent Religion by Rafael Chandler  

help to bore out the cult seen in N1 Cult of the Reptile God. These bastards  have been muscling out the lizardmen from New York State or the salt marshes. The real trick here is to keep the players from killing the lizardmen. The cult has  literally been driving the lizardmen underground.






ACK's Lairs & Encounters  can really give the dungeon master the upper hand to create the background, treasures, and more for many of the monsters that are thumbnailed in UK2 Danger At Dunwater.


This turn of the century New York aspect of a campaign centered around UK2 Danger At Dunwater is going to have to take advantage of a massive amount of foreshadowing of coming events & pull the players along. Not rail road them but leading them deeper and deeper as we see in pulp magazines & comics.

The Salt Water fishing village & its environs around the turn of the century New York city are really going to shine especially in the foot lights of this sprawling massive metropolis. The Koa Tua, Sahuagin, & Deep One triangle in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons has always been a complicated one among certain groups of old school  dungeon masters. UK2 Danger At Dunwater really brings this issue to the surface. Tomorrow we'll get into how to solve this issue. When the UK3 The Final Enemy comes to call!

Pulp Era OSR Make Over For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons's Modue Dave J. Browne with Don Turnbull's UK2 Danger At Dunwater Part I

"The little fishing town of Saltmarsh is threatened! Why are lizard men gathering force nearby and why have they been buying large quantities of weapons? A party of bold adventurers must answer these questions or the people of Saltmarsh will never live in peace!"
Its been a long while since I did anything with UK2 Danger At Dungwater after talking about turning UK1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh into a viable alternative Earth turn of the century introductory adventure. The turn of the century alternative Earth  old school OSR hybrid of Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Barbarians of Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu mixed in with Troll Lord Games Amazing Adventures firearms, modern equipment & more. The combination will be called Renegade Heroes, Tyrannical Conquerors, & Wasteland Kings!
There are several updates that I'd do to U2 to be closer to an alternative turn of the pulp  Earth New York city adventure campaign setting. Saltmarsh is a fishing town left mostly untouched by the Martian invasion but the poor & immigrants in the area are another matter. They  have much lower technological axiom then those living in the golden  halls of power around New York city. There are lots of hazards from the invasion, crime is deadly, and there is a far more pulpy feel to this sort of a campaign setting.

Danger At Dunwater is the second in the "U' trilogies of adventures and pits the characters into the aftermath of  The Sinister Secret Of Saltmash adventure and meshes right into the front and back adventure plots of U1 quite nicely. But as a a hook I would have several New York city residents going missing & using an old pulp trick I'd use a mid tier monster to get the adventurers involved. Taking Monsters of Mayhem #1 from Dark Wizard games I'd grab the Lagoon Creeper & spin it as a Deep One variant that has broken rank from the Koa Tua. 
The Lagoon Creeper's traditional native New York city fishing waters have been disturbed by their more advanced Koa Toa brethen then there's bound to be blood in the water.

The war preparations of the both the lizardmen & the Koa Tua have disturbed the monsters in their New York city salt water swamp lairs. And because their weird & very pissed off they've begun to take residents from around their lair as sacrifices in eldritch rites to their own horrid demonic gods. Perhaps as a way to summon an aquatic demon  to stop the efforts of their neighbors.

Lagoon Creepers are not monsters to be trifled with & so have moved closer inland taking up residence in the ruins of old buildings, submerged basements, and other areas where the Martian invasion has left swaths of devastation. In fact the Lagoon Creepers are hardier & better able to survive the frigid waters of the Atlantic & their own populations are pushing the Kao Tua out of the New York & Long Island waters. This could be prompting the entire war surrounding the UK1 -3 series of adventures.

With a bit of work with the Deep Ones RC class from Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu  & a large swath of ACK's Lairs & Encounters we can really give the Lagoon Creepers an NPC pulp make over. We get several side quest dungeons to hook into before diving into the main course of Uk2 Danger At Dunwater. The DM could infact use the Deep One RC class rules to do hybrid Lagoon Creepers as a player option but these should be few & very far between.




This is just the preliminary adventure set up because racial & biological pressures from events from  N1 Against the Reptile Cult have driven the lizard men out of their traditional New York state hunting grounds. These three events have triangled the perfect storm for events in UK2 Danger At Dunwater. But what happens to the fanatics left behind after the events of N1 Against The Reptile Cult. These nasty & rather dangerous  Lovcraftian cults of N1 Against The Cult of the Reptile God might be found in some of the back alleys of New York City stretching its coils & influence deep into New York State's back woods. This could be represented by the very Adult themed Obscene Serpent Religion by Rafael Chandler. 

In part II coming up we're going to get into the stank & middle core events of Uk2 Danger At Dunwater.