Robilar Remembers: Erac's Cousin PDF Print E-mail

Robilar Remembers: Erac's Cousin

by
Robert J. Kuntz and Douglas J. Behringer

The following information is derived from the "Original" Greyhawk campaign, as conducted by E. Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz. This information is presented for background trivia's sake and may not in some instances completely "agree" with the "Official" Greyhawk setting as published by TSR, Inc. Only TSR, which owns the rights to the Greyhawk setting, can decide what is "Official" Greyhawk lore, but hopefully others will find this information from the "Original" Greyhawk campaign of interest.

Dungeon module S4, The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (TSR, 1982), saw the introduction of a new demon prince, Fraz-Urb-luu (spelled "Fraz-Urb'luu" in Monster Manual II). In the description of this powerful fiend, it stated that: "For centuries, he was imprisoned in a bas-relief visage (described as a stone prison in Monster Manual II) in the dungeons beneath Castle Greyhawk. Many unwary adventurers were destroyed after speaking to the visage, but eventually he duped a mighty cleric and a powerful magic-user into performing several heroic deeds that freed him from his carved prison. The Prince of Deception then carried the unwitting tools into slavery on his own plane in the Abyss."

The description also notes that: "The only two individuals who have journeyed there (Fraz-Urb-luu's abyssal plane) and returned also report that magical items taken there lose their magic. They themselves lost swords of the utmost power. It therefore seems almost certain (90% chance) that magical items taken there, short of artifacts or relics, will be ruined."

The following is the story behind these cryptic entries in the description of Fraz-Urb-luu. In the original Greyhawk campaign, the fighter/magic-user know as Erac's Cousin (played by Ernie Gygax) managed to acquire two powerful vorpal swords. Both Gary and Rob decided that his character had become way too powerful, especially considering the fact that he possessed the ability to use both weapons at the same time. Erac's Cousin had learned how to fight with both weapons at the same time when he was teleported to Mars in an adventure patterned after the Warriors of Mars series. It seems that Mars (in Gygax's early conceptualization) was located within Oerth 's solar system, so Erac 's Cousin was able to teleport home when he finished adventuring. This adventure was created for Ernie, who loved the Barsoom books. So with both Gary and Rob Co-DMing, Erac's Cousin and the 9th level fighter Ayelerach (played by Mark Ratner) entered the dungeons beneath Castle Greyhawk.

The co-dm's "directed" the characters toward a dungeon level that contained a bas-relief visage of a demon face embedded in the floor. This "face" served as an entryway to DemonWorld(tm), an adventure locale created by Rob Kuntz that served as a "jumping off" point for demons in their planned invasion of Oerth. While tinkering around with the visage, they managed to release the demon prince, Fraz-Urb-luu. In desperation, Erac's Cousin used a Gate scroll and actually managed to gate in Zeus, the Greek god. Unfortunately for Erac's Cousin, a die roll of 5% ensued and Zeus decided to ignore the situation (see DM's Guide, first edition, TSR, 1979, pg 43 for a full explanation). Erac's Cousin and Ayerlach were whisked away to the demon prince's home plane and the vorpal blades were destroyed by the strange magical emanations of the demon's home plane. Thus ended the double-bladed reign of Erac's Cousin.

Note: For a full description of Erac's Cousin, see The Rogues Gallery, first edition, TSR, 1980. No description of Ayelerach has ever been published, but he was a 9th level fighter. This adventure was apparently inspired by The Face in the Abyss, a novel by A. Merritt.