A Redder Sonja: Jirel of Joiry

Jirel of Joiry is riding down with the score of men at her hack,
For none is safe in the outer lands from Jirel's outlaw pack;
The vaults of the wizard are over-full, and locked with golden key,
And Jirel says, 'If he hath so much, then he shall share with me!'

- Quest of the Starstone

N-Spiration: Jirel of Joiry

Who is Jirel?

The Lady of Joiry - unconquered - hair crimson like flame; eyes yellow and vibrant! Taking no husband, as no man can yet best her - Joiry needs no lord so long as it has its queen!

Jirel - our protagonist - is the sword half of a sword and sorcery yarn: a ruler by day, warlord and baroness over a middle ages fiefdom, but far-traveled afield among the strange places that wait in parallel to the Earth - for body and for spirit. She is a master of the blade - wielding a two handed sword in battle, wearing heavy mail armor: but is no stranger to dirks and daggers. Inspired by - or at least influenced by - the days of struggle and adventure in Aquilonia or in Pellucidar, Jirel is brash and brave - as strong of arm as she is strong of will - her loves deep, but her enmities without restraint.

A product of the golden age of pulp, Jirel also represents among the earliest of protagonists in the fantasy adventure genre and within the newsstand medium hailing from the fairer sex: something that - in particular - is of note, in that she is also among the first (or, at least, the foundational) to have been written by a likewise female author: C. L. Moore.

Of C. L. Moore

C. L. - or, Catherine Lucille - Moore was a native of Indianapolis, born into the first World War (technically just before in 1911), grown in the Roaring '20s, and then broke onto the professional and literary scene during the Great Depression. Her first publications for a student magazine at Indiana University, at which she matriculated, went to print between 1930 and 1931 - only two short years before her first appearance in pulp magazines in 1933: at which point she adopted her initials as a pseudo-pen name. Curiously - in a world dominated by men, that is: the world of pulp fantasy and really literature in general in the 1930s - one might think that she adopted her initials rather than continue to publish as Catherine as a marketing ploy, concealing her gender: however, on all accounts, it was more so that writing was her passion, not her livelihood - she perceived it better to separate her writing persona from her real name to conceal it from her then employer, Fletcher Trust Company, for which she was employed as a secretary.

Early in life, C. L. Moore experienced chronic illness that prevented her from engaging in many typical girlhood pursuits. Instead, she spent a great deal of time reading - developing during that time a taste and fondness for fantasy: a taste and fondness which would turn into a knack - and eventually then into a vocation.

Her pulp fiction career would run until 1958 with the death of her husband, fellow author Henry Kuttner - with whom she collaborated under various pen names. Thereafter, she would teach writing at the University of Southern California and work occasionally as a screenwriter - but following her remarriage to Thomas Reggie, her writing ceased and her creative career was at an end.

C. L. Moore would pass in 1987 at the age of 76 after a battle against Alzheimer's: but not without having received the Fritz Leiber Award in 1978, the Gandalf Grand Master Award in 1981, and a posthumous honor: induction into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

And fires flame high on the altar fane in the lair of the wizard folk,
And magic crackles and Jirel's name goes whispering through the smoke. 

- Quest of the Starstone

Why should I read Jirel of Joiry?

First and foremost, a red-headed swords-woman, capable as any man, free of spirit and fiery of temper, is a staple of sword and sorcery - having been popularized tremendously by the cultural phenomenon around Red Sonja. Thus - as I'm sure the reader has already inferred - it becomes important to make a parallel, showing the influences that Jirel would have had on Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith's brainchild.

• In her original 1975 incarnation, Sonja wore a mail shirt and fought with a longsword.
  In 1935, Jirel Meets Magic, Jirel wears full armor, wielding a longsword.
• In 1975, Sonja is favored by Scáthach, but must never lie with a man who doesn't defeat her in combat.
• In 1934, Black God's Shadow, Jirel - though shriven of her sins by Gervase, the priest, she finds she has only ever loved the man who was able to best her.
• In 1977, Sonja is cast into a maze of illusions and mirrors for rescuing a waif from brigands.
  In 1935, again Jirel Meets Magic, Jirel is cast into a tower of illusions and mirrors to seek an evil sorcerous pair.
• In 1985... well... we won't talk about what happened in 1985.

The inspiration is obvious - and it is not the intent of this article to denigrate the Marvel series: but instead to illustrate the progression, the evolution of the independent and fierce heroine, as it pertains to the storytelling of modern sword and sorcery. While Sonja has moved on and changed with the times - new authors, new artists moving her arc forward, much the same as Conan (whose author, Robert E. Howard, penned the tale from which Sonja draws her name, The Shadow of the Vulture: interestingly in 1934... in a similar timetable as when Jirel appeared...) has been moved forward as his legacy moves from IP-holder to IP-holder in the wake of the author's passing - Jirel is unchanged: frozen in the brickwork, its legacy providing the giants' shoulders on which the Isaac Newtons of pulp adventure may stand. 

So in short - if you enjoy or are inspired by Red Sonja, you are likely to find common enjoyment and inspiration in Jirel of Joiry.

To branch away from the comparison - and to tie into another key element that permeates Appendix N: Jirel is set in the real world... with the exception that the protagonist regularly finds herself involved - voluntarily or not - with the supernatural. Spirit realms, alternate realities, and worlds beyond our own are consistent themes in Jirel's adventures - a form of portal fantasy where Joiry, her home base, is - if Quest of the Starstone is to be believed - is in France at the turnover of the 15th century into the 16th: but then the demon prince who has abducted her for his bride - not France at all! The hidden hell beneath the flagstones of the castle: again, France disappears - Earth with it - into a whole new planet. Which is another thing - The Black God's Kiss: the first story in the Jirel of Joiry collection: the entire premise is going deeply under an ancient castle and into an alternative reality: a mythic underworld too horrifying, to alien to remain in for long - where darkness itself becomes a commodity: groping through the unseen, far from the sun, and skirmishing with (or hiding from) the strange creatures found underneath. Have you ever run a mythic underworld? So has C. L. Moore.

But not every encounter is a combat.

Jirel has to use her discernment to identify which battles she can win and which battles are best fought in the mind - and further, which battles can be won if a weakness, a hidden mystery or flaw is determined and exploited. In 1936's The Dark Land - for example - Jirel manages to turn a reaction roll in her favor: learning from a banshee about how to defeat a demon king, otherwise invincible to mortal means. Jirel doesn't shy away from a fight - and isn't afraid to take knocks where they come - but she knows that a fight isn't always in her favor: and if that means negotiating with a hidden spirit for unknown malevolent magic? So be it.

Lastly - as might have been inferred from the examples, but that can't be overstated: recall, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy was published between 1954 and 1955. While The Hobbit had been published earlier, it was The Lord of the Rings which sealed his place as the father of modern epic fantasy. Jirel of Joiry - the stories therein - were all written before even that: the latest among them, Quest of the Starstone, being published in November if 1937 - easily half a year before Houton-Mifflin brought The Hobbit across the Atlantic the following spring. And again - this is not to denigrate Tolkien - but instead to praise Moore: her work was done in a Tolkien vacuum. Fantasy before The Lord of the Rings is its own bear - its own tone - its own entity: uncorrupted by comparisons made to the ever-popular Middle Earth.

For that reason - Jirel is refreshing, even to one whose tastes are different to those of the reviewer, as it is a breath of fresh air. It cannot be compared to Tolkien, reacting against or conforming to, because Moore would not have been aware of it. For this reason - if no other - like the work of Burroughs, like the work of Dunsany, like the work of L. Sprague de Camp... it is written from a place where fantasy was at greater liberty, executed without the need for license to deviate from elves and dwarves: and if for nothing else, it's a brilliant read - seeing into the world of sword and sorcery, of adventure fantasy, as it was - before the genre was turned over to epics. 

Jirel technically does not go to space. But the space man is a C. L. Moore character.

Of Note

As mentioned, the author - Catherine Moore - is female and did not make any effort, nor showed any intention, to hide the fact. This is evident in the writing - I think - in that it feels different than action-fantasy written in a parallel timeframe by her male contemporaries. There is greater introspection - more character emotion - and as frequently as not, those same emotions, that same cognition and intuition, make prominent features across the story.

This is not uniquely because she is female - the stories are action packed and do not shy away from traditional elements of sword and sorcery: black magic, red blades, ... - and I've met plenty of women very capable of appreciating and enjoying male authors like Anderson or C. A. Smith - but there is a distinct tone, a different-ness to the stories which make Jirel of Joiry stand out among Appendix N stories. I am reminded - when I was younger - reading the works of C. J. Cherryh - Hugo Award winner and author of works like the Fortress series and Heroes in Hell: I will not speak poorly of the works, but as you read, you can tell a female author penned them.

There is a bit of antiquated language, a bit of "old feel" - you can tell it was written in the 1930s - but that's the case for most of Appendix N. Thus, it wouldn't be fair to hold it against the book nor the stories therein. Over all - there is very little that I would criticize this series over.

Further Reading

For those fond of C. L. Moore and her style - during her career, she authored dozens of other books and stories - cataloged quite conveniently on the Science Fiction Encyclopedia: convenient because many of these works were written under a pen name, or in collaboration with other authors - frequently her husband, Henry Kuttner.

Some are of a fantastic or portal-fantasy vibe - others venturing into science fiction or other genres. While I intend to dig deeper into the list over time, as of this article, I will be at the mercy of you, the reader, to tell me which ones you like - as opposed to Jirel, for which I can make my own recommendation.

But magic fails in the stronger spell that the Joiry outlaws own:
The splintering crash of a broad sword blade that shivers against the bone,
And blood that bursts through a warlock's teeth can strangle a half-voiced spell,
Though it rises hot from the blistering holes on the red hot floor of Hell!

- Quest of the Starstone

In Conclusion

Jirel of Joiry is quintessential Appendix N. Containing open battle against evil sorceries, ranging through portals into strange underworlds, and indulging in deep dungeon delves: confined or otherwise in search of power or for the sake of exploration, itself - Jirel of Joiry works very well to inspire an OSR game table and deserves a place in our cherished appendix.

It would be unfair and dishonest to rate Jirel of Joiry anything other than 1: Full-Armor OSR.

Several reprints and republications of the Jirel stories exist - and there being only a handful of them, they will make a quick read and small addition to your personal gaming library. I am glad to have found this book, and I hope you too might give it a chance - as it will improve, or at a minimum compliment, your OSR game.

Thank you for reading - and delve on!

Golden Age Masterworks: Jirel of Joiry was published in 2019 by Gollancz, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group Ltd., Carmelite House, London, UK - a Hachette UK company. Cover art for Jirel of Joiry, 1969 printing, is not credited - however the collection was published by Paperback Library. Cover for The Complete Jirel of Joiry illustrated by Arnold Tsang is copyright 2016 to Jerry eBooks. Cover for French edition Jirel de Joiry / Les adventures de Northwest Smith, painted by Hervé Leblan and retrieved from PulpCovers.com in December 2024. 

Stories contained within Jirel of Joiry - Black God's Kiss, Black God's Shadow, Jirel Meets Magic, The Dark Land, Quest of the Starstone, and Hellsgarde - are copyright C. L. Moore, jointly with Henry Kuttner in the case of Quest of the Starstone, and originally published in Weird Tales magazine. 

Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast. Red Sonja, 1973, illustration is by Barry Windsow-Smith, published and owned by Marvel Comics - as of 2005, the Red Sonja intellectual property is owned and copyrighted by Dynamite Comics.

Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, text, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use.

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.

N-Spiration: Gandahar

We speak of Time and Mind, which do not easily yield to categories. We separate past and future and find that Time is an amalgam of both. We separate good and evil and find that Mind is an amalgam of both. To understand, we must grasp the whole.

- Isaac Asimov

N-Spiration:
Gandahar

About Gandahar

Imported to the US in 1989 as "The Light Years," this originally French flop grossed a mere $370,000 on an over $5 million budget: despite assistance from the legendary Isaac Asimov assisting on the translated script. This performance is somewhat of a shame - however - as in it, we are presented with a truly masterful time capsule in science fantasy.

Basing itself out of the 1969 novel Les Hommes-Machines contre Gandahar, or - in English - The Machine-Men versus Gandahar, the film has seen a bouncy ride from its release: having been originally released in 1987, two years before the Miramax English dub, having been re-released on DVD exclusive to Europe in 2007, a second release to Korea, and then brought to new life by a small but dedicated cadre of fans at the Gandahar Restoration Project. Gandahar was the brain child of Parisian cinematographer René Laloux - the director behind animated adventure pieces Fantastic Planet and Time Masters - who served as both director and writer for the original adaptation. While adventure animation may not be the central focus of his career, it is without question a hallmark of his legacy - among which Gandahar stands a nearly lost testament.

Qualities of Note

Seriously - even the mountain their city is on has tits.

First and foremost... tits. 

Tits... everywhere.

While that's not something that would make a movie OSR or not - I am compelled to notify (or warn?) the potential viewer: perhaps as a byproduct of a more permissive time, perhaps having been animated in a more liberated place, but the Gandaharians - the people populating the title nation - are minimalists on clothing. Perhaps this may conform it to the "loincloth barbarian" esthetic that I had done podcast and video about earlier this year, a trend that waxed in the 1980s, but by and large - the Gandaharians, emblematic of liberty and peace, are particularly licentious regarding their attire. I could likely continue to wax about the implications: but in particular, it serves to forewarn about the contrast between Gandahar and the Men of Metal: who are uniform, jet black, and consider themselves a collective rather than individuals.

To continue on the topic of the Gandaharians - they are master bio-engineers: having manipulated living things to such an extent as to service their needs in a fantastic equivalent of the Flintstones vacuum cleaner: pets grown from pods in vines; docile herd animals - but also transportation: flying creatures capable of distance travel with rider, or also grand guardians: stone crabs, the purpose of which is to defend its creators, allowing them to soften. Further, they have mastered the use of plants, a mix of science fantasy perfectly fitting of Appendix N. The primary weapons of the Gandaharians are biological in nature: seed guns, for example, which - when embedded in flesh - grow rapidly into thorn bushes: killing and suspending the target; dancing shrimp creatures that likewise seed ground - creating barriers akin to hedgerows of the same material to control movement on the field of battle. This is in contrast to the Men of Metal - who are by nature industrial, technological; serving as the baseline for several philosophical contrasts in the film - which I will touch more on later.

The primary benefit to these technologies - they are ripe to steal for your OSR campaign: the purview of strange future druids or eldritch, alien beings - and also, the interplay between the steel-encased Men of Metal and these technologies. Because of their makeup - the men are immune to some weapons, but vulnerable to others. A war is waged between them - as the title of the original book may imply - and the tactics and technology of both sides of the conflict changes over time. The machines adapt and send different technologies - for example, turning the briars and brambles used to control their movements to stone so as to make them brittle: allowing hover-tanks to crush through them. Further, as the machines grow more advanced as the film progresses and Gandahar, itself, becomes more pressed: the Gandaharians become less advanced - reliant first on technology, then on ingenuity, and finally pressing their enemies with sticks and clubs: all other avenues being exhausted.

Interestingly - the Gandaharian military seems to prefer practical plate over more sensual or typical bikini armor (except once exhausted to sticks and loincloths, see above) but that's another conversation.

L'Oeil Du Dragon, La Sirène
Philippe Caza (1996)

The animation for the movie is Heavy Metal tier - and although it is plagued by random slow motion elements (perhaps intended to show dynamism), the art direction is fabulous: an extension of the creativity in the weapons, creatures, armor, and design for characters and their equipment. Presumptively, this is the result of the collaboration of the director Laloux, with Philippe Cazaumayou - professionally and publicly more widely known as Caza - an artist made famous for his contributions to Métal Hurlant, a French parallel to Heavy Metal magazine and one which appears to be available in digital form for those who can read it, beginning in 1975. His style is evocative and alien, borderline surreal in its use of color and contrast - which without doubt contributed to the stunning visuals that permeate Gandahar. The world is wildly imaginative - on par with Morrowind for its presentation of the unfamiliar as familiar to the audience and to the characters - making it ripe for picking inspirational material.

To Be Aware Of

As I mentioned before - the Men of Metal are presented in contrast to the Gandaharians: overtly in a "industry versus agrarian" contest, man and nature, and likewise freedom and tyranny - the individual and the collective: something that would have been pressing debate on the minds of an 1980s Europe. However, the film suffers from what I call "art house philosophy" - when an artist, caliber unmatched in the presentation of the visual, the musical, or what have you - presumes their right brain is a mirror to their left in cognition... erroneously. Lines like, "Can a god... be a murderer?" pepper the film - and concepts like kinship and loyalty are explored, but have little relevance to each other as the characters exploring them grow.

Some plot elements move forward for no reason apart from it makes sense in the narrative, moving the story along: for example, the Gandaharians - having genetically perfected themselves - produce an underclass of mutants - "The Deformed" - one which the protagonist, Sylvain, comes into contact with. He initially thinks them the enemy, but finds that they are loyal and friends. There is no reason presented for this - apart from their organic element (they are Gandaharian!) compared to the Men of Metal, who are not. Internal monologues, speculation on the nature of life and discerning our own role in the movement of fate, are somewhat haphazardly injected into the film: at times, advancing the plot, at times - not. Some strange decisions are made - like trying to reason with the Metamorphis before planning to kill it: something which doesn't make sense, as it can read minds and thus would know of the plot once conversation was engaged. This can detract from the movie for a discerning ear - but if you approach the film like an acid trip (which it would admittedly do well for) you will likely not be disturbed.

Spoiler alert - the main twist of the movie is that the Men of Metal are from the future: a time portal has been constructed and sent them from the future into the present to achieve the ends of the villain, Metamorphis, a millenium distant. The movie - thus - engages in a time paradox: where the protagonist attacks the enemy in the future so as to prevent the war in the present: and upon succeeding, the evidence of the conflict in the present slowly sinks into the earth. The war, itself, is not averted - damage is still done, lives still lost - but the future to the present is preserved by the destruction of the future-present to end its aggression. Confused yet?

Gandahar treats time not like a line, but more like - perhaps - fly tape: where different points in time interact, they get tangled - sticking to one another in a wad before allowing it to move forward, ever onwards into the future. It's interesting - the Deformed, mentioned earlier - their culture has no use for the present: instead, when referring to a present event or state, they refer to it sequentially in the past and future - I am not Clerics Wear Ringmail, I was will be Clerics Wear Ringmail. This rejection of the present and the treating of the past and future as interlinked, joining in our perspective, is unique to Gandahar - at least in my cinematic and literary experience - and I respect its assertion as to how time, interwoven with space, is implicitly paradoxical. It was one of the few elements of the movie that made me think - though, admittedly, not in a sophist sense, but in an, "I don't feel bad doing this in my campaign" sense.

How a proper casting of Call Lightning looks

The last note I would make on Gandahar - when it was translated for an English-speaking audience, the soundtrack was totally redone. In the original, Lebanese-French orchestral composer Gabirel Yared - known better for the Grammy he was awarded resultant from his work on The English Patient - was chosen to handle the score of the film. However - Miramax, under the supervision of the Weinstein brothers, re-scored the film, choosing progressive rock style music in an attempt to appeal to then-modern audiences. Thus, the music in the English version is very dated - with the classic synthesizers lending the film a distinct 80s vibe.

This may be a selling point to some - if you enjoy that vibe, then this will move into the "What I Like" heading for your own review! However I am a bit curious to see if I can acquire the French version - even if I don't understand the words - to compare the impact of one composer versus the other. It's a shame - still - that the notably timeless appeal of the orchestra was replaced by the guarantee of dating that comes with any contemporary style: as Laloux's intended experience and Andrevon's intended message will be irrevocably diluted for a great many of those who yet find it in this future to it.

Where to Find Gandahar

As of this writing, you can stream Gandahar on Roku or with ads on Prime Video.

There was a fan-dub version on YouTube - one which allegedly kept the French original material left out of the English official release - but this appears to have been taken down due to copyright complaint.

In Conclusion

While without question a product of its time - and without doubt shackled in some ways by editorializing and reaching for intellectual pursuits to which the authorship was not quite prepared - Gandahar would be a great addition to Appendix N. The imaginative monsters, the strange and innovative technology, and the curious interweaving of time with itself into a cohesive yet paradoxical whole is, at its core, on par with the science fantasy of Gary's time - and I would not be surprised if this film, having come out some years after the ever-classic B/X was published, was not influenced by it.

For these reasons - I recommend Gandahar - and rate it 2: Essentially OSR.

There are some sequences where the characters move about underground - including an intriguing concept where the underground dwellers can use a series of small cracks and crevices like a listening network: hearing but not seeing the movements and conversations of those who travel the crust of their domain. However there is nothing significantly dungeon-crawly about these sequences: and the movie falls prey to the typical adventure story necessity of having an overarching plot!

But that in mind - the story is intended to be epic in its scope - heroic rather than picaresque - which is really the only thing separating it from a perfect score.

Thank you for reading - delve on!

Gandahar written and directed by René Laloux and based on the novelizations by Jean-Pierre Andrevon, is the property of its respective owners and distributors, Miramax LLC and Acteurs Auteurs Associès. All images, quotes, and media therefrom presented in this article is likewise property of the aforementioned owners. Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast. L'Oeil Du Dragon, La Sirène by Caza is property of the artist and was retrieved from MutualArt.com in December, 2024.

Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, text, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use.

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.

The Night Land

 N-Spiration: The Night Land

"[I]t is yet one of the most potent pieces of macabre imagination ever written. The picture of a night-black, dead planet, with the remains of the human race concentrated in a stupendously vast metal pyramid and besieged by monstrous, hybrid, and altogether unknown forces of the darkness, is something that no reader can ever forget [...]"

- H. P. Lovecraft on The Night Land

About The Night Land

Published in 1912 by Eveleigh Nash, The Night Land is the most influential of the works left to us by William Hope Hodgson - soldier, sailor, personal trainer, and author native to Essex, England. More frequently authoring nautical yarns, Hodgson received critical acclaim for short stories such as Out of the Storm and The Ghost Pirates - both published in 1909. The Night Land - unlike those fantasies - is set in the far future, based on a theory of the time that the sun - powered by the gravitational collapse of the gasses that comprised it - has winked out: leaving all below in darkness. 

This theme, shared with Jack Vance and some others of Appendix N fame, sets it in an apocalyptic "dying earth" genre - and also similar to Vance, where lost technology and science mingle with the arcane and occult, The Night Land is a land where esoteric energies are observed and leveraged by what fraction of humanity remains after the onset of the long dark. The primary hero of the tale is an athletic and academically-minded 18th century gentleman (to whom the author bears a striking resemblance in several ways: in dedication and appearance, but not in fiscal success - an unfortunate theme shared by Conan the Cimmerian creator Robert E. Howard): one who, in his dreams, sees visions cast backwards through time from the far reaches of this dark far future.

While Hodgson, himself, would perish in 1918 in service of the British artillery, fighting in Belgium: his ambitious, titular keystone work - The Night Land - would survive in publication time and again in his estate, lending macabre inspiration to countless authors - Lovecraft, Gene Wolfe, Clark Ashton Smith, and Tim Lebbon to name only several.

What's to Like

Why is it that this story - the places, the figures in The Night Land - find so frequent a fixture in reference in modern media? I have personally lost count of the number of times "The Last Redoubt" - which is the name of humanity's greatest and last city in The Night Land - has made an appearance as a place (pyramidal or not) in various RPG media. Simply put - the answer becomes obvious even to the shallow read: Hodgson has a remarkable gift for imagination. Giant living stone beings - unknown to immobile, patient so long that their animation might yet be called to question: history, or academic histrionic? - or shrouded, silent figures standing, guarding a flat plain, walking a long road, with no rational motive evident to the human reader: malevolent? Indifferent? 

The work is totally full of the sort of creature, the sort of image, that sticks in the mind: almost like, in reading it, we enter into the dream of the author - whose experience we share in the same surreal grounds as one might recall in nightmares. The foremost element of the book the reader will note is the phenomenal imagination with which the whole exercise is rendered: an element that persists throughout the work: with the watchers of the early manuscript, the hounds or silent walkers of the middle, or the abhuman horrors of the later.

Further, in providing these memorable creatures, environments, flora, and science - the author introduces plot elements, descriptions and explanations, and terminology almost in passing: with a casual demeanor that ingrains a sense of verisimilitude. In modern vintage, when we talk about - say - a car problem or locking our keys out of the house, small details that will be evident to someone living the experience - a reference perhaps to a spider on the windshield at the time or perhaps popping the screens off windows to check for alternative ingress: in the same way, Hodgson references casually curious differences between the Night Lands and present Earth. Speaking to a generic assumption of the psychic listenings of the gifted - on a more fantastic perspective - or to the difference in air pressure at the top versus at the bottom of the Last Redoubt, something that in context makes total scientific sense but in execution introduces a parallel reminder of the great pyramid's indicated scale. This serves to draw the reader in - to bring the story to life in a way that less prosaic diction might never hope to accomplish.

What's to Be Aware Of

My copy of this book is entitled The Night Lands and Other Perilous Romances. Which makes total sense... when diving in to the first chapter. It begs the question: what was Hodgson thinking?

While we've established that the perspective of the book is an 18th century gentleman "remembering" the far future in the form of dreams projected from his distant reincarnation, the book takes thousands of words to set up this premise: one which could more concisely be illustrated even in the form of a single paragraph.

And that's not just a 21st century internet brain, addled by the immediacy of digital feedback - this is demonstrably the case...

...in that the author does indeed set this premise in a single paragraph at the start of the second chapter.

The first chapter of the book introduces our protagonist - but not as he appears for the rest of the story. 

The first chapter introduces our forever love interest - but not as she appears for the rest of the story.

While the characters become referenced, over and over, as a driving force for the narrative over the duration, the events and build-up that occurs through the first fifteen pages or so is immaterial to the story in its wider scope. My advice for any who read this book - seeking inspiration for a fantastic or sci fi adventure campaign or alternatively for pleasure - start on chapter 2.

Unfortunately, to continue with this trend, the author persistently over-states, over-includes, over-qualifies: the book, by all accounts, is in the vicinity of 200,000 words - for comparison, The Fellowship of the Ring, the longest of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is only 178,000 words. When compared to other works in Appendix N, one will notice quickly that The Night Land is quite verbose and thick: both in its verbiage (crafted by Hodgson to emulate a pseudo-archaic evolution of language) and in its page count. Though Unlike more pulp-y sources, however, The Night Land does not pack those pages with action.

A great deal of the book is a detailed travelogue - hour by hour, step by step, detailing the amount of time the protagonist is able to sleep, how much he eats or drinks, when he forgets to drink for some reason or other, inspiring him to drink a little extra at the next stop, and so forth. So heavily mired, it is, with this kind of excess prose - the genius elements of the work, the pieces that will make it into your home campaign or stick in the far recesses of your dreams in photogenerative recollection, are frequently eclipsed: the reader's mind becoming bored and wandering, missing the wheat for the endless chaff.

For light at the end of the tunnel - the beginning is better than the middle and end: which drag far more - so perhaps one might read the first half, skip the travelogue, and pick up Cliff's Notes for the ending.

In Conclusion

The Night Land is a phenomenal exposé of imagination and cosmic horror. It is weighed down, however, by heavy diction and superfluous recapitulation of elements trivial to the progression of the narrative. It follows the traditional arc of a romantic hero - one who sees the call to adventure, braves danger on a specific quest, and fulfills it. For that arc, it does not conform to the traditional understanding of OSR adventure - and so falls into a strange medium: where the inventive biology, evocative descriptions, and alien geography is highly inspirational, without doubt having influenced and inspired countless campaigns. 

It is not OSR - but it might be taken into an OSR setting, with little or no problem in contributing to its ambiance. For that reason, I've ranked it 4: Potentially OSR? - its wild excesses beautiful, its cultural implications intriguing: but its purple prose and its over-verbosity miring it like a gold vein: requiring its miners to produce a pool of acid in distilling the valuable ore.

The Night Land is worth skimming - and its contents worth mining - but it is not for the faint of heart. You have to enjoy Hodgson in order to enjoy Hodgson - and it may be a few hundred pages before you figure it out.

Delve on, readers!

The Night Land and Other Perilous Romances by William Hope Hodgson, as shown, is published by Night Shade Books, New York, and edited by Jeremy Lassen, and is copyright Night Shade Books, 2005. Portrait of the author, William Hope Hodgson, is sourced from WeirdLetter.blogspot.com and believed to be in the public domain. Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast. 

Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, texts, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use. 

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.

N-Spiration:

The Spine of Night

About the Film

Written and directed by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King, two obscure but not unknown screenwriters, animators, and Frank Frazetta enthusiasts, The Spine of Night is the full-length sequel to a short film, Exordium, written and rotoscoped by King and made publicly available on his YouTube channel. Gelatt - having seen Exordium - saw also potential: approaching King to spark a collaboration in homage to greats of the genre and of the medium. A work of passion - The Spine of Night is truly a letter of devotion to the world of sword and sorcery cinema: strung along on a shoe-string budget and the aspirations of its creators over the course of seven long years, resulting in the production of a true classic of novel independent cinema: one which, if engadget is to be believed, almost wasn't - as a software update caused the only machine on which the final film had been put together to fail in recognizing its video drivers.

Starring some surprisingly heavy hitters - including recognizable names Lucy Lawless, Joe Manganiello, and Richard Grant - as voice actors in its leading roles, The Spine of Night is an adept modernization and simultaneous shameless homage to the pulp fantasy of the golden age running through the '70s and '80s - one which is relentless in its adherence to the spirit of the genre, but seamlessly finds a way to make itself feel new, feel fresh - taking a shot to the tastes of 2021 and entirely knocking it out of the park.

The Spine of Night is a sprawling epic - a river, meandering, yet relentless and strong as it flows from its springs to the sea - one which any aspiring Dungeon Master would not want to forgo.

Be Aware

First and foremost:

I didn't say it - Google said it.

On Amazon, it's rated "18+" and on IMDB, it's listed as "not rated" - but before learning anything else about this movie - be aware: it is not family friendly. There is not that much profanity, as I recall - but there is pervasive, graphic violence throughout; abundant, persistent nudity - inclusive, masculine and feminine; and a fair dose of what I would consider body horror. While - to be fair - nudity and violence are hallmarks of many classic sword & sorcery films: The Spine of Night turns it up to 11: if you are of more delicate sensibilities about either of those two tones, you may want to strongly consider whether or not you want to experience this movie.

What's to Like

Holy rotoscoping, Batman!

While the quality of the rotoscope, itself, might not be on par with 70's classics a la Don Bluth or Ralph Bakshi, it is still easily on par or above A-tier pieces like A Scanner Darkly in terms of its color and presentation. Further - the fluid motion and the particular character of the technique give The Spine of Night an acute nostalgia and feel: one evocative of an earlier era of animation. Further - no expense was spared on the backdrops: meaning that the characters breathe and move against a stunning and dynamic backdrop - wildfires, snowfall, smoke and mist - or against a dynamic and colorful firmament. The film is beautiful - even if the watcher does not have the same affinity and affection for rotoscope as this particular reviewer - and the artwork, coupled with the design and variation of the world-building, will inspire even the most no-photo-blue, official-product exclusivist.

Which brings up a second point - world-building and scale.

The film begins in a somewhat localized scale, with a single warlord and party or a single tribal unit, and then builds upwards - into guilds and organizations - into armies conquering cities and empires at war. The story is contiguous, but not entirely congruous: flowing through generation upon generation, chronicling a span of ages rather than a span of years. Why is that OSR? Simply - the main character is the campaign, itself. Yes - there are driving characters: these would be our player characters - but the game continues - the movie, in this context, continues - with or without them: time presses on, the world evolves, some characters come, some characters go, and the world continues turning: itself untroubled by the fate of its temporary inhabitants. Outside of the gaming language - too - the film does a good job of illustrating a cosmology, its impact and its evolution in a human social environment: hinting at the beyond, interpreting the beyond - in a refreshing way: something that could be adapted to a campaign world as multiple approaches to a similar core belief rooted in forgotten truth.

Throughout this change in scale, as well, the quintessential element of OSR gameplay is present - the dungeon crawl! Two in particular come to immediate recollection: the first of which being more traditional - with an acolyte of a temple devoted to knowledge delving in the deeps to retrieve forgotten books. In any other genre, this would pass for Magic-User behavior! Further - deeper into the film - the world building takes a turn and displays its capacity for the gonzo, introducing a city under siege in which Mad Max bird-men (or, warriors clad in bird-like Dark Sun bondage wings) stow away on an airship, which they then must commandeer before descending on the palace of an evil wizard-priest: whose defeat (if they can manage it) might save their city! Trudging through the airship, eliminating potential threats and eliminating the chance of capture or identification, and then charging into the sanctum of the enemy? It doesn't get more pulp fantasy than that! 

Finally, to touch on the magic in the world - there exists, through the progression of the movie, a sort of progression of the ages. We go from a primitive iron age to what appears high medieval - then into a technological, almost diesel-punk renaissance: but the consistent theme throughout is a strange blue garland - called somewhat cryptically "The Bloom." A taste of this bloom can work wonders - having grown from the corpse of a chthonic god - and one who knows how to use it can wield wonderful (or terrible) power. The magic system is thus varied and flavorful - some effects being subtle, others being flashy and obvious: some appearing to change the flesh, to warp the corporeal to suit the whim of the spirit so recently confined to its skin-cage; at other times, summoning back the shades and corpses of the dead and damned. This balance fits with the theme of an uncaring universe - it becomes to the user what the user is within himself - and the visual effects to support it are nothing short of iconic.

Where to Watch

The Spine of Night is available for digital rental or purchase on Prime Video - where I watched it. I was afterwards relieved that it was rentable - as I would not want my young children, impassioned by the likes of Thundarr and of Fire and Ice to mistakenly play this one as an analog! In addition, it is available on Apple TV as a rental or on AMC+ Shudder to stream under subscription: although a trial is available for those not keen on yet another recurring cost. 

Further, it is allegedly free to watch on Hoopla: which part of me wishes I had figured out before renting - but at the end of the day, I am glad to have supported this project. 

There is nothing like this film being made today - which is a loss for culture and something I would gladly spend the $3 or $4 pittance I did in to change.

An official listing of places and prices where the film can be viewed online is also provided by the production team on the official Spine of Night website.

In Conclusion

I desperately want to simply state that The Spine of Night is OSR-AF and leave it at that. You are truly missing out if you have not seen this movie. It is the bastard love child of Heavy Metal and Weird Tales left to marinate in distilled Brom. On top of the art direction and world building, however, it also contains several key elements of OSR game play - including dungeon exploration and mass combats - and intentionally includes the mentioned use case of "zooming in" to leverage the skirmish mechanics of the game to influence the wider outcomes of the campaign world. 

So - for the subjective qualities mentioned at first coupled with the objective OSR components present in the script and experience - I can unabashedly justify claiming The Spine of Night to indeed rate as 1: OSR-AF.

While having heard that Gary, himself, was a Jehovah's Witness - he might have shied away from this one due to the graphic, pervasive, and nonstop adult content, to be fair, I was never able to meet the man: so I have no idea what he would have liked or disliked anyway! With that caveat, however, I don't think I am out of place in saying The Spine of Night would be a welcome addition to any Appendix N: as its scope and scale, you can find a sequence that jives with your preferred tone, and in that sequences arising from that campaign in the future would easily be made richer by the inspiration this film provokes.

Thank you for reading - and delve on!

The Spine of Night, produced by Gorgonaut and Reno Productions and distributed by RLJE Films and Shudder in the United States, or by Yellow Veil Pictures internationally, and all imagery related thereto is property of RLJE Films. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons, and D&D and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast. Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, texts, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use. 

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.

Pirates of Dark Water

Thirteen treasures of ancient time,         thirteen lessons of rule in rhyme. To find the jewels in secret places,         follow where the compass faces.

If returned from the shore beyond,         a new day dawns for Octopon. But if they should fall into evil hands,         darkness descends on all the lands.

For these riches two shall vie,

        in the realm of Dark Water where the treasures lie...

N-Spiration:

The Pirates of Dark Water

About the Show

N. C. Wyeth

The brain child of David Kirschner and the byproduct of collaboration with Hanna-Barbera, The Pirates of Dark Water is an animated series best considered in three parts: first, a miniseries - Dark Water - aired in 1991 on the Fox Kids programming block; second, a first season with eight new episodes from the Dark Water miniseries, aired on ABC also in 1991; and finally, a second season - again, eight new episodes - airing between 1992 and 1993 on syndication.  Inspired in Kirschner's mind by the writings of Robert Louis Stevenson and the artwork of N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle, The Pirates of Dark Water is a unique fusion of pseudo medieval fantasy and the romantic swashbuckling adventure inherent to the Age of Sail.

At the time of its creation - the Dark Water miniseries was the most expensive animation ever attempted at Hanna Barbera: with double the cels of a standard production aimed at the same audience - each episode coming with a production price-tag of half a million dollars - unheard of for a pilot, but adjusted for inflation, putting it into the cost realm of established, prime-time media akin to Family Guy or Adventure Time. Starring a frankly stunning cast of voice talent - Jodi Benson (Ariel of The Little Mermaid), Brock Peters (beyond his Tony Award nomination and recurring role in the Star Trek motion picture franchise, perhaps known best for his portrayal of Tom Robinson in 1962's To Kill a Mockingbird), Tim Curry... - Hanna-Barbera truly gave it their all to launch and succeed at this surreal and genre-defying yarn.

The Pirates of Dark Water - especially in the first season - is characterized by amazing visuals and a completely alien world. The viewer experiences the sensation of exploration even by watching as the characters navigate through the world of Mer: which is simultaneously familiar yet dramatically different from our own historical reality. 

This is especially powerful in the first five episodes - where the high production values lend themselves, in addition to the all-star cast, to a stunning visual experience: fluid motions of both characters and objects, dynamic and natural interaction between elements in the frame, and lighting and contrast enviable by live-action television firmly grips the eye. 

Hours pass - dragon riders, alien beings, mystic encounters, open battle across the high seas or through lush jungles brimming with vibrant, unknown flora - the only cue as to that reality being the buffering of a new episode loading on stream.

The technology level is approximately medieval - and the world is filled with magic: enough that the citizenry will be aware of it (perhaps fueling the superstition of piratical characters), but not so much that magic is the answer to every problem. The thrust of the show is that thirteen mystic gemstones - the Treasures of Rule - use to keep a substance called Dark Water (a malevolent, semi-sentient liquid that drowns ships and men and causes lands it poisons to wither) at bay: and having been lost, the Dark Water is spreading unchecked. But in the meantime, the workaday adventurer leverages a series of tools - clockwork rigging, gliders, and other DaVinci-emulative technology - to accomplish their ends: and in addition to this plethora of almost Waterworld styled equipment, a wild and diverse assortment of animals and plants fill in the gaps. Tough octopus being used for grappling; leeches with acidic wash being thrown into the sails of enemy vessels to cripple their mobility, or cephalopods with air bladders being worn about the head to facilitate breathing beneath the waves.

(same actor)

They substitute technology for purpose-use animals? Kind of like the Flintstones. Quiet, you!

Whats to Like

First and foremost - the characters in the series, including the majority of the protagonists, are all pirates. They are cut-throat thieves who carry their own motivations and their own interests at heart: something that is perfectly in line with the OSR adventurer. The common attack against the Thief class in 0e communities is that "Everyone is a Thief" - this is absolutely true of The Pirates of Dark Water. 

Spoiler to follow (and conclude with this paragraph) - Niddler, the monkey-bird (a hybrid, sentient creature which is composed of precisely the chimeric mix the species name might suggest), upon rescuing the main protagonist, Ren, threatens to drop him into the sea if he doesn't want to stop for refreshments along their path. More deviously, in the fourth episode, Tula - the bar wench turned stowaway and unlikely ally - reveals her long-con: having gained the trust of the others, she poisons them and uses the treasure as barter to try to retrieve a kidnapped magician from her home island, sacrificing her allies in the process!

This mercenary nature - for both villains and heroes, alike - lends itself towards the treasure focus of the series. Most seamen are always looking for treasure, for gold - and on several occasions, the attempt to acquire it leads to problems. Enemies frequently outgun or outnumber the treasure-seekers: so force is rarely the answer. Instead, the party has to think on its feet and rely on cunning, rely on their environment, and push their luck to make it through and to win their objective. This parallels the OSR tabletop experience - where a party is going to be frequently outgunned, out-leveled, and is going to have to likewise embrace tactics outside the obvious to walk out of the adventure both enriched and alive. The energetic nature of an age-of-sail romance likewise serves to energize the process: getting the players into the mood for the adventure.

Further - the series combines two key elements of OSR play: the overland and the underground adventure. Seeking the Treasures of Rule, at a minimum - the primary objective of the main character's quest - entails in each episode where one is sought out from its hiding place an over-sea voyage to arrive where it was hidden or lost, an overland trek through unknown territory to find where its hidden, and usually a crawl through a complex, dungeon, or adventure site where puzzles, traps, and monsters make it more difficult to obtain! Even in episodes where a Treasure of Rule is not the main focus - other treasures usually are: for example, a flock of monkey-birds to be sold as pets or slaves; or a treasure map which (spoiler to follow) leads to an island of spiders and a cave with a chest... which was a trick! The treasure having moved to a silk-wrapped chrysalis and the chest having been left empty to draw in unwary pirates as prey!

Melnibonéans?

We see this pattern emerge and repeat: in beautiful parallel to the gold-for-experience feedback loop tacitly endemic to OSR campaigns.

Lastly - in regards to villains and other "NPC' characters - there is usually a faction involved. Very few, if any, characters outside the main group operate on their own. The primary antagonist - Bloth - commands a ship with dozens of crew; the Dark Dweller commands a cult of followers. Alternatively - allies are never just allies: Zoolie, a pirate making several appearances, commands a tavern / game-house and several employees. And among these characters - the only "solo" character springing to mind is Teron - the mystic "ecomancer" (a magician with nature powers) whom the party rescues and befriends: which likewise falls into Appendix N: the lonely wizard in his tower; the secretive druid in his grove.

The Pirates of Dark Water is permeated with OSR themes and tones - sure to inspire characters or home-brewed supplements to your personal campaign. 

Concerns and Considerations

Re-watching The Pirates of Dark Water on Amazon Video streaming service, one sees a rating which varies for each episode - some of which recommend an age of as high as 13 as the appropriate minimum: requiring a code to unlock if watching on a child-profile. This is - however - utter hogwash: as the show is - undeniably - a program aimed at children.

• The plot of multiple episodes proceeds only because of obvious, easily solved miscommunications or uncharacteristically stupid players about the stage. Falling into Dark Water? Danger! Nevermind that I am holding a Treasure of Rule, which I should remember will force the Dark Water back and save my skin like it did last episode!
  
  
• Plots become formulaic: local stranger seems helpful, but betrays the party to Bloth! - strange phenomenon occurs; Tula activates ecomancer powers - problem solved! It becomes predictable in the latter episodes to older eyes.
  
  
• There is a notable cessation of violence: with being knocked over, being thrown in the water, or being subjected to sleeping gas/powder replacing sword fighting, ship ramming actions, and heaving victims into the lair of carnivorous creatures.
  
  
• Character development after the miniseries seems capricious - season two, in particular, being weighed down with episodes hinging on character traits or inter-party conflicts with either no precedent or in active opposition to events in prior episodes: as though the offenders were written in isolation.

Villain, Early Series

Even in the miniseries, it is evident that the target audience was young: the hero, Ren, is naive; the quest, to save the world. All true violence is implied, off camera, and a vernacular for curses and insults (noy jitat, you kreld-cruising sea-hog!) is invented for Mer, itself, in evasion of profanity without compromising in tone.

Villain, Late Series

More disappointingly, however, in the latter episodes of the first season (and truly noticeable in the second) budget concerns severely impact the magic of the visual and audio presentation. Where once, an entire scene is painted together - later on, the hallmark difference in saturation occurring when one element of an animated scene is moving or interactive against a background which is static rears its ugly head. 

Sea Monster, Early Series

Where once, a character listening to the tale or plan might shift eagerly, moving weight from one side to the other, their hair shifting in time a moment later as they do - later on, listeners are as still as stone: a cheaper pose without that annoying requirement of animation due to being animate.

Sea "Monster," Late Series

But the disappointment of what could have been - were the series allowed to complete rather than cancel as costs mounted and reduced production quality and thematic faithfulness restricted distribution or audiences: this still stings a bit harder.

Lastly... for some reason, the production decided to make Tula into a magician where she was a perfectly acceptable rogue and scrapper before - and along with the class shift comes a sexier costume. Simpler - at at a minimum: perhaps easier (cheaper...) to color and animate. In so doing, an element of fantasy is added, but at the same time, an element of character is taken away. While a child might like new Tula (Newla?) - the "ecomancy" she learns is not akin to Vancian magic. It instead serves as a crutch: providing exactly what she needs at the exact time. And truthfully, this is my only gaming-specific complaint against the series: that the magic does not match the spirit of TSR D&D - which makes it deviate a bit from what an OSR party might experience.

Where to Watch

In terms of streaming, while I am not aware of a streaming option that is free to use, the complete series, The Pirates of Dark Water, is available for purchase on Further Media 
For readers who find themselves intrigued and pursue The Pirates of Dark Water, but are left unsatisfied by the two dozen odd episodes they find, a companion comic book was released by Marvel around the time the show was still running. Physical copies can be found, or digital copies exist that can be read online. YouTube from Warner Brothers media, on Vudu, and also available to buy or to rent on Amazon Video. While it is possible there are more avenues - I personally watched on Amazon out of convenience - it will be the responsibility of you, the reader, to seek them out.

For physical media - DVDs of the series (season 1, season 2, or the both together) can be found used or new in various outlets - Amazon, Ebay, Walmart, or - again - likely other resellers.

In another interesting note - there were two Pirates of Dark Water themed video games also released - one, for Super Nintendo; the other for Sega Genesis. The former is a side-scrolling brawl style game: the latter bears more role-play elements. It has been long enough since I have seen them - perhaps longer than some of my readers have been alive - that I cannot remember to vouch how well they suit the genre or how faithful they are to the source material.

In Conclusion

The Pirates of Dark Water is a solid, largely well-written fantasy adventure romp: leaning deeply into pseudo-medieval mystic fantasy and sea-soaked swashbuckling. The crew survives sometimes by strength, but more frequently by wits and by coin - and in the case of the villains: that coin is purposed to flesh out bands, armies, or factions which then compete with one another for control of the treasures and also for control of the waves. The only element holding it back is the later syndication: where quality suffered due to cost and marketing concerns.

For this reason, I rank The Pirates of Dark Water in two parts - first, the miniseries (and by extension season one) as 1: Tré OSR; and second, season two and the scraps in season one which foreshadow it, 3: OSR by Association. An over-all rating of 2 is probably fair for the whole of the pot.

This show is a relic of a better time - when adventure, exploration, and a deep yearning for what was beyond the horizon permeated Saturday mornings, filling the heads of those young enough, cereal in hand, to invest those precious hours into ingested imagination: fueling a similar yearning to roam - in local lands or beyond. It's something I remember fondly from my childhood, and something I have had the pleasure of sharing with my own children - gladly thereafter witnessing their conversion of existing toys and playthings into piratical accouterments. 

A table which sets its campaign in the world of Mer is a table at which I would happily sit. 

Delve on!

The Pirates of Dark Water, originally produced by Hanna-Barbara, is property of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All imagery related thereto is likewise property of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. The Rocky Horror Picture Show produced by 20th Century Fox is wholly owned by The Walt Disney Company via The Walt Disney Studios division. Art piece of a pirate and a snake by N. C. Wyeth, name unknown to Clerics Wear Ringmail, retrieved from IllustrationHistory.org. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons, and D&D and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast.

Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, texts, or images and includes references to them for review purposes under Fair Use: US Code Title 17, Chapter 107. 

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.