Saturday, February 18, 2023

The Keep at Koralgesh

"The Keep at Koralgesh" is a 20-page Basic D&D adventure by Robert B. Giacomozzi and Jonathan H. Simmons, published in Dungeon #2 (November/December, 1986).



Cover illustration used for Dungeon #2 (Nov/Dec, 1986), depicting the fall of Koralgesh, also used as the cover illustration for DA4 "The Duchy of Ten" (1987)


The scenario features a four level dungeon, suitable for a party of beginning PCs, beneath the keep and ruined seaport of Koralgesh.

This is another Basic D&D adventure that I ran for my son and his friends, years ago.  I wrote a review on Dragonsfoot, back in 2017 (linked, here).



About the Authors:
Robert Giacomozzi and Jonathan Simmons are teachers for talented and gifted children in Killeen, Texas (their students introduced them to fantasy gaming).  Both of them enjoy a variety of fishing and hunting sports, both read SF and fantasy stories, and both collect miniature figures.  Robert is married and has two kids, two dogs, and two pythons; Jonathan has only one dog aptly named Goblin.
Dungeon #2 (November/December, 1986)



Location:

A possible location on the west coast of Brun was discussed in this thread on the Piazza, back in 2009.  Unfortunately, this is quite far out of the way.

An alternate location in the Kingdom of Ierendi was discussed, here.



Replica maps of Ierendi from Gaz 4 "The Kingdom of Ierendi" (top) and X1 "The Isle of Dread" (bottom) from the Atlas of Mystara (here and here), with Koralgesh in the location of Port Siers 


The authors appear to have been inspired by the fate of Pompeii in envisioning Koralgesh, which suggests a particular location on Ierendi island:.
...Ierendi's people live in the shadow of our great fire mountains.  From time to time these old and generous friends turn violent and cruel, spouting molten rock and poisonous gases upon the people of Ierendi.  Rivers of fire flow across the once-lush-and-green land, leaving nothing but a blackened wasteland of cinder and ash.  A tragic example: in 786 the entire population of Port Siers - over 1, 000 people - was killed in less than an hour by a cloud of burning ash that descended Mount Haumea and washed over the sleeping town like the Black Legions of Death.
GAZ 4 "The Kingdom of Ierendi" (1987) by Anne Gray McCready



New Monsters:



The tyrannabys, illustration by Mark Nelson.


Two original creatures, the Lovecraftian tyrannabys (a slimy, tentacled, aquatic creature), and the enigmatic epadrazzil (a conjured guardian from a 2-dimensional plane), are described.

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