Who do you talk to when you want to find something that's been lost? Well, if you're a resident of the Young Kingdoms in my mid-90's Stormbringer campaign, you talk to Obkdy.
If you're completely insane or unbelievably desperate, that is.
My adaptation of something found in Chaosium's Stormbringer supplement, White Wolf, Obkdy is a major demon who lives in his own little pocket dimension that is directly connected to the physical world. He has a very small group of followers (a sum total of two: an abnormally pale Death-Priest and an abnormally pale Death-Priest-in-training). This pair of devoted followers are the sole staff at the "Cave of Obkdy" (a great map of which can be found on page 43 of White Wolf), a place where the aforementioned insane and/or desperate few trek to for answers. Those deemed worthy of an audience with the Son of Tulu are bathed and taken unarmed and semi-nude deeper into the Cave to the altar chamber. Here they pray for Obkdy's blessing until they and the Death-Priest are transported to Obkdy's "Drifting Isle." (See the sheet below Obkdy's - the "Eye of Obkdy" - to see how the Death-Priest really accomplishes this feat.)
The Isle is no more than a gigantic cavern, and new arrivals find themselves on a ledge a few yards above the cavern floor. They watch from there - generally in horror - as Obkdy reveals himself from the deep shadows of the cavern.
A somewhat-less-than-typical encounter goes something like this (as well as I can recall it from when my friend Terry's character, Drovis, and his Attractive Red-haired Companion, stood before Obkdy):
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "I -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- am -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- Obkdy."
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "Son -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- of -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- Tulu."
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "Tell me -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- what -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- you seek."
Drovis: "I need to find a magical dagger. It has an obsidian-like blade, and I last saw it diving for the deepest waters of the ocean - stuck in Father Dagon's back." (There's a story for another time... Also, the chain of events that led Drovis to be standing before this demon is a pretty interesting story - for another time...)
[Obkdy's mouths drool; his arms wiggle about menacingly.]
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "I will -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- help you -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- find this dagger."
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "But I -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- require -"
All Obkdy's Mouths at once: "- a sacrifice."
[The demon's eyes drift slowly to the Attractive Red-haired Companion. His mouths open and his tongues roll disgustingly out in perverse motions.]
Drovis thinks for a moment. Then, with a burst of coiled muscle, he grabs the Death-Priest with one gigantic hand and liberates from him his ceremonial knife. Before the confused clergyman even has time to understand what is happening, Drovis drags the knife roughly across his throat and hurls the bleeding, gurgling priest from the ledge - directly into one of the demon's slobbering maws.
[Obkdy's Mouth 1 devours the hapless Death-Priest as he tries to scream but instead manages only to choke on his own blood.]
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "Farewell, my friend -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- you have served me well."
The rest of the encounter is pretty basic, with Obkdy revealing the location of the dagger, and explaining what Drovis can do to get it back. When their business has concluded, the demon regurgitates the Death-Priest's diadem so Drovis and Companion may return to the cave - and pass it on to the newly promoted Death-Priest-in-training.
So, since this post has turned into a minor epic, let's get to the good stuff: the record sheets for Obkdy, Son of Tulu, Hoarder of Lost Secrets, and the Eye of Obkdy.
. . . . .
If you're completely insane or unbelievably desperate, that is.
My adaptation of something found in Chaosium's Stormbringer supplement, White Wolf, Obkdy is a major demon who lives in his own little pocket dimension that is directly connected to the physical world. He has a very small group of followers (a sum total of two: an abnormally pale Death-Priest and an abnormally pale Death-Priest-in-training). This pair of devoted followers are the sole staff at the "Cave of Obkdy" (a great map of which can be found on page 43 of White Wolf), a place where the aforementioned insane and/or desperate few trek to for answers. Those deemed worthy of an audience with the Son of Tulu are bathed and taken unarmed and semi-nude deeper into the Cave to the altar chamber. Here they pray for Obkdy's blessing until they and the Death-Priest are transported to Obkdy's "Drifting Isle." (See the sheet below Obkdy's - the "Eye of Obkdy" - to see how the Death-Priest really accomplishes this feat.)
The Isle is no more than a gigantic cavern, and new arrivals find themselves on a ledge a few yards above the cavern floor. They watch from there - generally in horror - as Obkdy reveals himself from the deep shadows of the cavern.
A somewhat-less-than-typical encounter goes something like this (as well as I can recall it from when my friend Terry's character, Drovis, and his Attractive Red-haired Companion, stood before Obkdy):
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "I -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- am -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- Obkdy."
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "Son -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- of -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- Tulu."
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "Tell me -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- what -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- you seek."
Drovis: "I need to find a magical dagger. It has an obsidian-like blade, and I last saw it diving for the deepest waters of the ocean - stuck in Father Dagon's back." (There's a story for another time... Also, the chain of events that led Drovis to be standing before this demon is a pretty interesting story - for another time...)
[Obkdy's mouths drool; his arms wiggle about menacingly.]
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "I will -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- help you -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- find this dagger."
Obkdy's Mouth 1: "But I -"
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "- require -"
All Obkdy's Mouths at once: "- a sacrifice."
[The demon's eyes drift slowly to the Attractive Red-haired Companion. His mouths open and his tongues roll disgustingly out in perverse motions.]
Drovis thinks for a moment. Then, with a burst of coiled muscle, he grabs the Death-Priest with one gigantic hand and liberates from him his ceremonial knife. Before the confused clergyman even has time to understand what is happening, Drovis drags the knife roughly across his throat and hurls the bleeding, gurgling priest from the ledge - directly into one of the demon's slobbering maws.
[Obkdy's Mouth 1 devours the hapless Death-Priest as he tries to scream but instead manages only to choke on his own blood.]
Obkdy's Mouth 2: "Farewell, my friend -"
Obkdy's Mouth 3: "- you have served me well."
The rest of the encounter is pretty basic, with Obkdy revealing the location of the dagger, and explaining what Drovis can do to get it back. When their business has concluded, the demon regurgitates the Death-Priest's diadem so Drovis and Companion may return to the cave - and pass it on to the newly promoted Death-Priest-in-training.
So, since this post has turned into a minor epic, let's get to the good stuff: the record sheets for Obkdy, Son of Tulu, Hoarder of Lost Secrets, and the Eye of Obkdy.
. . . . .
"Try Obkdy brand Death-Priest snacks, now with less salt." Sounds like Drovis was quite the chaotic, wasn't he?
ReplyDeleteEvery time I read one of your Stormbringer posts I yearn to play the game. It is one of the few old-school D&D-like games that I never played - worse, my own D&D campaign that I've been running for ever is strongly based on the Elric / Stormbringer Young Kingdoms setting.
ReplyDelete@Jerry: No, just a pragmatist with no love for demons and their followers. Terry played him as the atypical pulp hero to a tee. He was forever saving the downtrodden victims and giving the bullies of the campaign their due. Boy, how I miss that campaign...
ReplyDelete@Dyson: It is definitely a fun game to play - if you've got the right players, of course. Then again, there's really no reason it couldn't be played with the D&D rules, IMHO. It's more about the spirit of the setting than about the rules themselves, after all.