B6 "The Veiled Society" (1984) by David Cook is a plot-driven, city-based adventure for character levels 1-3, set within Specularum, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos.
Module B6 "The Veiled Society" (1984) by David Cook. Cover illustration by Steve Chappell.
The adventure is a good way to introduce characters to Specularum, and serves as a handy sequel to "The Haunted Keep".
The PCs arrive during the Procession of Lucor:
...a religious celebration honoring a legendary local cleric named Lucor.* It winds through the streets of the city to the harbor, where the statue of Lucor is floated out to sea. Each year a woman of notable rank and importance leads the procession.
*the term "lucor" might be Latin for "brilliance" (denoting a Lawful saint), but alternately Middle English for avarice (possibly a play on words by Cook...)
Paper building with 25 mm miniatures, from this review.
The adventure makes use of paper sculptures of houses and walls, created by Dennis Kauth, as well as paper miniatures, illustrated by Jim Roslof.
Paper miniatures, illustrated by Jim Roslof.
Basically, Jim Roslof, who did all the art in the module, drew these in black and white. PMTs -- high resolution photo-mechanical reproductions -- were made, which Roslof colored using inks.
The colored PMTs were pasted to a board, which was then photographed to create the color separations used in printing the final product. (At 1/3 the size.) Players would cut out the minis and use them at the gaming table.
posted by Brian Stillman on Facebook May 31, 2016
A small hexmap of the area surrounding the city of Specularum is included, demonstrating its relation to the river and adjacent Duke's Park:
Overview of the city of Specularum, from module B6 "The Veiled Society" (1984) by David Cook.
Walled on the landward side, Specularum is also protected by two breakwaters that extend into the harbor, restricting passage upriver.
Overlooking the harbor is the Duke's castle, providing ample defence:
More detailed map of the city of Specularum, from module B6 "The Veiled Society" (1984) by David Cook.
XSOLO "Lathan's Gold" (1984) by Merle M. Rassmussen begins in Specularum, and appears to use the map from B6 as a template.
(The map of Specularum was completely revised in GAZ 1 "The Grand Duchy of Karameikos" (1987) by Aaron Allston.)
I've run "The Veiled Society" twice, and once wrote up a brief epilogue to the adventure using material from GAZ 1, entitled "Law in Karameikos".
While I always thought the B6 city map was better, in light of the history of Karameikos presented in the gazetteers, the GAZ1 map makes more sense. The original village was obliterated and the tidy Thyatians laid out a whole new city on a grid. It did not keep perfectly over the century of Thyatians rule, as the Traladarans were not as orderly as their conquerors, but you can still see it in that map. No sign of any such grid in the B6 map.
ReplyDeleteAgreed - I like to use the GAZ 1 map for a true Mystara campaign.
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