In the days when the Masters had passed and the Long Quiet had fallen upon all the Caverns of the Galchutt, still within the deepest clefts of the earth there labored the truest of their servitors. Within the depths of Eurl-kallat Dath – the Cavern of Dripping Darkness – the Shepherd of Malignancy tended the vile works which had been left to his care.

This slim volume – bound in a white volume sheened with a silver-grey which is slick and greasy to the touch – tells the legend of the “youngest of the Galchutt”, a shambling creature given the name of Merihim.

THE CAVERN OF EURL-KALLAT DATH: “Within the Caverns of the Galchutt there was a place where pestilence hung thick in the air. In that place of kallat dath, the Galchutt set the crafty mind of Merihim to work. There cancerous mutations were given motile form and demonic phages waged wars of fecund prosperity.”

THE WORKS OF MERIHIM: From the incubation vats and wild proving fields of Eurl-kallat Dath, Merihim perfected all manner of diseases and mutations. He “wrought the arts of Jessuk to fungal life” and “exercised the corruption of nature’s order with its own hand”.

THE CORRUPTION OF MERIHIM: Merihim was also said to bear the “touch of Abhoth”. His right arm was shriveled with palsy, for his “very essence had become unbalanced in the equations of life” – and so his left arm had grown to immense, twisted proportions.

His hunched back is described as “miasmic fecundity” and from it sprouted six prehensile, fleshy stems that ended in toothy maws. Each of these stems was a direct conduit to fetid and corrupted organs which served as the breeding ground for foul diseases. From these “maws of cancerous life”, Merihim could expel the smotherfume – a cloud of noxious, polluted disease.

THE ASCENSION OF MERIHIM: “In the time when the Princes were drawn into their web and the Masters in their chains were taken into their slumber, Merihim still labored within his cavern. And for long years thereafter, he labored still. And the Princes, though caught still in their web, looked out upon the world and saw this mighty service. And they reached out to the Shepherd of Malignancy. And in that time Merihim answered their call and fulfilled the rites of fealty unto their name.

“So he became the one who willingly entered the Slumber, pledging the vows of the Natharl’nacna even in the Time of Loss and binding himself to a servitude of oblivion. But when the Time of Dissolution comes, the truth of his service shall be remembered.

“Let all who would serve the will of Chaos think of the Shepherd. Reflect upon the Faith of Anarchy and covet only that deepest of all communions in which the will of Gods shall be forsaken as tyranny and the will of Demons hold resplendent liberty.”

DESIGN NOTES

Merihim is from The Book of Fiends. I’ve spoken many times before about how fantastic this bestiary is. This is another example of how much use I’ve gotten out of it over the years.

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This codex is a collection of lore describing one of the Galchutt: Jubilex the Shapeless. The Faceless Lord. The End of All Forms.

Jubilex is revered as the dissolution of structure and form. The strictures of society are unjust and he will unmake them. The limitations of our fated physical form are unfair and they can be undone. In all substance and form and structure there is an inherent separation and, thus, inequality. In the end of all substance and form, all things shall be made as one and all things shall be made equal and all things shall be made just.

THE SLIME OF ALL ENDS: The manifestation of Jubilex is that of a thing of slime and ooze – disgusting, loathsome, and said to be shunned even by the other Galchutt. Its foul and nauseating body is without set from – it can appear as a vast pool of slime or rise up into a towering column of disgusting ordure. In many texts, however, it is described as a tall, cone-like heap, striated in disgusting blackish-greens, foul browns and yellows, and sickly translucent grays and ambers.

THE RED EYES: No matter what description of Jubilex is given, however, mention is always made of the pulsating, red eyes that “look in all directions from his undulating form”. These eyes are said to “see the making and unmaking of all things”.

THE EFFLUENCE OF CHAOS: Jubilex is also described as “spewing forth the verdigris ichorous”. The remnants of this loathsome effluence – a green, slimish ichor – is said to still lurk in the dark places of the world, shunning forever sources of light and heat (which are anathema to it).

THE DARKNESS GIVEN HUNGER: Jubilex is said to be served by the Darkness Given Hunger – a “black and pulsing creature of nether destruction”. Depending on the texts being referenced, the Darkness Given Hunger was either “ripped from the depths of the Formless Form” (exuded from his own undulating body); created through a demonic infusion; or independently spawned in “stygian pits of ever-dark”.

DESIGN NOTES

I added Jubilex to the ranks of the Galchutt partly because it just makes sense and is an easy way to expand their number, but mostly because I adapted a published adventure featuring Jubilex and used it in my Ptolus campaign. It’s a good example of the campaign stitch.

Back to Chaos Lorebooks

The best installment of the Slavers series of modules.

Originally Published March 16th, 2002

 This review builds on my review of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity. It’s probably a good idea to read that review, located here, before reading this one.

The four modules in the A-series were written by four different creative teams. With A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade Harold Johnson (along with Tom Moldvay) picked up where David Cook, who had written A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity left off.

CONCEPT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the A-series of modules. Players who may find themselves playing in these adventures should not read beyond this point.

At the end of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity the PCs should’ve acquired a map. This map leads them to “an old fort lost in the midst of the Drachensgrab Hills.” A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade picks up with the PCs standing outside of this fort, currently in use as a stockade for the humanoid slaver caravans.

The stockade is a guarded compound, and the adventure is designed with this in mind – in fact, the central concept of the adventure is that the PCs are laying siege. Although the adventure is compromised in this regard somewhat by its original status as a tournament adventure (the NPCs are just a little too static in their response to the PCs in my opinion), Johnson does succeed in presenting a gritty, dangerous, well-fortified fort. Getting in won’t be easy, getting out will be even tougher, and that’s the whole point.

A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade also features a larger number of Slave Lords than A1 (which only had one): Markessa is the overseer of this fort, an extremely dangerous fighter and wizard who is currently engaged in various experiments involving human subjects. She is caught in a power struggle with Icar, the fort’s commander, and Blackthorn, a representative of the Slave Lords. They are accompanied by Executioner, Icar’s lieutenant, and Gulyet, Markessa’s assistant and apprentice.

WEAKNESSES

A2 shares many of the same general weaknesses as A1: The artwork and presentation is sub-par by modern standards, and some elements of the adventure don’t stand the test of time well. But, in comparison to A1, these weaknesses are also far less severe.

In fact, the only seriously debilitating element of the adventure, in my opinion, is a series of rooms inhabited by a madman pretending to be a ghost through a variety of parlor tricks: I simply can’t accept that a fort controlled by a powerful sorceress would put up a real ghost for long (let alone a fake one). A handful of similar, but less severe, flaws are also here – requiring some minor clean-up work. But these problems are not serious, and can be easily resolved (probably in less than a half hour of work). Unlike A1, I would be able to run Secret of the Slavers Stockade straight out of the box without having a bad taste in my mouth afterwards.

One change I would heartily suggest here: Take the defenses of the stockade up to the next level. The fort’s defenders could benefit from a bit more dynamism; and I would particularly like to see more involvement from the fort’s leaders in organizing, coordinating, and contributing to that defense.

ESD Note. The ESD currently available from Wizards has a flaw which the printed module lacks: Due to the poor quality of the scan, the map of the fort is practically illegible. Be prepared to do a fair bit of work trying to reconstruct the map key from the few legible clues which remain. Efforts to have Wizards correct this problem have been met with stony silence.

Note: This is no longer true of the current PDF copies available for sale.

STRENGTHS

A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade is the strongest installment in the A-series. We’ll discuss the flaws of A3 and A4 in the next two reviews, but in comparing A2 to A1 the differences are clear: A2 is a larger module, giving you more in the way of sheer material; A2’s encounters are better designed and better conceived; and A2’s characters are more compelling and dynamic. (It’s at this point that you begin to understand why people talk about the Slave Lords as being villains of special quality.) The largest difference between the two modules, however, is simply one of execution: The average quality of material on A2’s page is higher than the average quality of material on A1’s page.

CONCLUSION

If you don’t like A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade, then you’re probably not going to like the A-series as a whole. This is the best of the best, showcasing everything that sets the Slavers modules apart: A strong, well-defined concept, an excellent setting, memorable villains, and challenging encounters. This is classic D&D at its best.

Style: 2
Substance: 4

Author: Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay
Publisher: TSR, Inc.
Price: $4.99
ISBN: 0-935696-26-1
Product Code: TSR9040
Pages: 42
Year Published: 1981

This was around the same time that I was designing adversary rosters. My desire for a more dynamic defense of the stockade was born from the same impulses, and with adversary rosters would now be trivially accomplished.

Next: A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

Dan De Fazio’s Deathbringer has lunched its crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit!

Deathbringer is a brutal new tabletop RPG from Professor DM and Roll For Combat, crowned EN World’s Most Anticipated TTRPG of 2026. Fully compatible with Shadowdark and built to drop into any OSR system, Deathbringer delivers fast, savage combat where death isn’t the end — it’s part of the journey.

I’ve been looking forward to Deathbringer for a long time now, and so I was absolutely thrilled when Dan invited me to join the party! I’ll be writing an adventure for Deathbringer!

In fact, Professor Dungeon Master has summoned a dark conclave of amazing adventure writers:

• Kelsey Dionne, creator of Shadowdark and winner of the 2024 ENNIE Awards, including Product of the Year, Best Game, Best Layout & Design, and Best Rules
• Justin Alexander, author of the USA TODAY Bestseller So You Want to Be a Game Master? and 2024 ENnie Gold Award Winner
• Luke Stratton, creator of Pirate Borg
• Brandon Gillam, founder of RPG publishing imprint RUNEHAMMER
• Daniel Fox, creator of ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG
• Ben Milton, from Questing Beast, creator of Knave and Maze Rats
• Baron DeRopp, Dungeon Masterpiece
• Luke Hart, The DM Lair
• Discourse Minis, Dungeons & Discourse
• David McFarland, DM Scotty
• William Tanner Schroeder, Paladin Prose
• Grace “World Destroyer” Mason (the title is earned)
• Bob World Builder

It’s an incredible honor to be invited to join these creators!

Combat is fast. Victories are earned. Death is real.

DEATHBRINGER

Magical Kitties Save the Day, the game I co-designed with creator Matthew Hanson and Michelle Nephew, is being placed under an open license by Atlas Games!

Atlas asked me back to answer some questions about Magical Kitties, the open license, and what my plans are for the future.

Check out the full interview!