Tortles of the Purple Sage

"Tortles of the Purple Sage" by Merle and Jackie Rasmussen is a D&D wilderness adventure for character levels 4-10, published in Dungeon #6 (July/August, 1987) and Dungeon #7 (September/October, 1987).

Dungeon #6 (July/August, 1987).  Cover illustration by Jim Holloway.

The Adventure:

I posted a review of this adventure on Dragonsfoot, back in 2010.

The theme of exploration serves as a continuation of module X9 "The Savage Coast" with further details regarding the three alignment-based alliances, the Lawful Brotherhood from the previous adventure, and a newly described Chaotic Sisterhood.

About the Authors:

Merle and Jackie Rasmussen live a quiet life in the small Iowa town of Huxley.  Merle is the general manager of a game store in Des Moines, and Jackie is a legal secretary.  Both have written for DRAGON magazine and TSR's game division.  Besides writing modules for the D&D game, the pair have worked on many TOP SECRET game projects.

Dungeon #6 (July/August, 1987)

The Great Northway Lands:

Map of the Great Northway Lands.  Cartography by Diesel.

The Great Northway is a broad and mighty river which flows for thousands of miles from its mythical source, the Spring of Good Health.  Some say the river might actually be a channel to the arctic waters of Frosthaven.*

*a barren island of rocks and ice, home to a huge clan of frost giants, described in CM1 "Test of the Warlords"

Details are provided regarding the remnants of three cities of the ancient Dravs, connected by mysterious gate stones.  The cities were destroyed by an earthquake, which also shifted the course of the Great Northway.

The coastal climate of the Great Northway Lands is similar to the southeast United States, while the inland climate is like Southern California or the Mediterranean.  During the winter, the Yazak Steppes resemble the midwest United States prairie during spring or fall.

New Monsters:

Rasmussen uses several monsters with origins in previous adventures, citing their entries in AC9 "Creature Catalog" (1986):

Amoeba, Giant;* Aranea;** Archer Bush;*** Cay-man;**** Decapus, Marine;*** Dog; Dragonfly**** (white, black, green, blue, red, gold); Dragonne;***** Hawk (normal, giant); Hypnosnake;****** Lupin;* Native; Pagan;* Phanaton (subchief, warchief, bodyguards);** Pocket Dragon;******* Rakasta;** Sea Dragon; Slime Worm;* Snapper; Tortle; Vampire Rose***

*appeared in X2 "Castle Amber"

**appeared in X1 "The Isle of Dread"

***appeared in B3 "Palace of the Silver Princess"

****appeared in AC2 "The Treasure of the Hideous One"

*****appeared in XL-1 "Quest for the Heartstone"

******appeared in X3 "Curse of Xanathon"

*******appeared in M2 "Maze of the Riddling Minotaur"

Conclusion:

"Tortles of the Purple Sage" completes Merle Rasmussen's expansion of the Known World.  As with his prior works, its primary utility may be to serve as a backdrop for expansion, rather than as a standalone adventure.

Red Steel

The AD&D 2e "Red Steel" boxed set (1994) by Tim Beach detailed a unique campaign setting, based in part on the "Princess Ark" articles by Bruce Heard.

"Red Steel" (1994) by Tim Beach.

The boxed set included a 128 pg campaign book, a 32 pg gazetteer, three poster-sized, full color maps, and a 15-track audio CD.

Savage Coast - Red Steel prolog

The "Red Steel: Savage Baronies" accessory (1995) by Tim Beach covered the Savage Baronies region, along the western Gulf of Hule.

"Red Steel: Savage Baronies" (1995) by Tim Beach.  Cover illustration by Alan Pollack.

The boxed set included a 64 pg campaign book, a 32 pg adventure "Divided We Fall", a poster-sized, full color map, a 14-track audio CD, and 8 parchment paper handouts.

"The Black Vessel" (1996) by Morris Simon

The Mystara novel "The Black Vessel" (1996) by Morris Simon is set in the Savage Baronies.*

*see this thread over at the Piazza for an extensive review and commentary

Savage Coast Campaign Book (1996) by Tim Beach and Bruce Heard.  Cover illustration by Jennell Jaquays.

"Red Steel" and "Red Steel: Savage Baronies" were revised and re-released in 1996 under the AD&D: Odyssey line as a free download (available on the Vaults of Pandius, here).

Part 1: An Atlas of the Savage Coast
Part 2: Characters of the Savage Coast 
Part 3: Adventures on the Savage Coast

Additional free downloads included The Orc's Head Peninsula Campaign Book and the Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium.

Fan-made PDFs were created using the files, laid out by Axel Boucher:

Savage Coast Campaign Book:

Part 1: An Atlas of the Savage Coast
Part 2: Characters of the Savage Coast 
Part 3: Adventures on the Savage Coast

The Orc's Head Peninsula Campaign Book:

Book 1: Orc's Head Peninsula Sourcebook

Book 2: Savage Steel

Savage Coast Monstrous Compendium

In 2021, WotC unwittingly released the fan-made PDFs for sale on DriveThruRPG (which have reached Copper status).  This caused a minor uproar in Mystara circles, given that WoTC is thereby obtaining revenue from a fan-made edit of a free download.

Additional Resources:

Savage Coast and Orc's Head Peninsula on the Vaults of Pandius
The "Savage Coast / Red Steel" forum on The Piazza
"Q&A with Tim Beach" (February 7, 2009)

X9: The Savage Coast

X9 "The Savage Coast" (1985) by Merle and Jackie Rasmussen, and Anne C. Gray is a D&D wilderness adventure for character levels 4-10, detailing the Savage Coast, the untamed frontier to the west of the Wild Lands.

Module X9 "The Savage Coast" (1985) by Merle and Jackie Rasmussen, and Anne C. Gray.  Cover illustration by Keith Parkinson.

The Adventure:

I posted a review of this module on Dragonsfoot, back in 2010.

The players are given four adventure hooks, one of which involves rival clerical brotherhoods.  A good way to extrapolate the authors' original intentions would be to make the Lost City of Risilvar the home base of the Brotherhood of Light.

I would flesh out a Chaotic Alliance including the aranea and the Brotherhood of Light and base them out of Risilvar.  Then I would stock those missing buildings in the Lost City and make tracking the Chaotic Alliance to the Lost City of Risilvar the climax of the module.

Since the adventurers are initially hired by the Brotherhood of Light to investigate the activities of the Lawful Brotherhood, this provides an opportunity for the party to be "played" by their original employers - something they would have to figure out for themselves.

See [BECMI] Extreme Makeover: X9 The Savage Coast on Dragonsfoot (June 23, 2010)

Design Origins:

Rasmussen reflected on the design origins in a post on Facebook:

The Savage Coast (X9) was an Expert Game Adventure for D&D. It takes place, you guessed it, on the Savage Coast.  It was more settings than plot line.  I studied the floor plan of a medieval monastery which became the Lawful Brotherhood Cleric Outpost.  I studied Central American pyramids that became the Lost City of Risilvar.  I remember hand drawing eight NPC/animal locations including Tribal Village, Pagan Teepees, Bark Lodges, Cay-men Compound, Phanaton Platforms, Arenea Webs, Tents, and Egg-Laying Grounds.  What was edited out became Tortles of the Purple Sage in two issues DUNGEON Magazine #6 & #7.  I may have outlined The Great Northway AKA Great Northway Lands in the 2 part Tortles adventure.

Merle Rasmussen on Facebook (October 6, 2015)

Plan of Saint Gall. Simplified view showing different structures.  (source: wikimedia)

In response to my question regarding the medieval monastery, he answered "I used the Plan of St. Gall which may never have actually been built until a recent reproduction."

Update (September 11, 2024) - a more comprehensive plan of the monastery of St. Gaul appears in the AD&D 2e "Charlemagne's Paladins" Campaign Sourcebook (1992)

The Lawful Brotherhood:

The Lawful Brotherhood represents the early/frontier church of the later Savage Baronies, and can be based on the religion of Narvaez (which seems to be inspired by Spain during the Inquisition).

Their temples have seven altar areas (one for each of the seven immortals in the pantheon of Narvaez: Ixion, the Inquisitor (Vanya), the Ambassador (Masauwu), the General (Thor), the Judge (Tarastia), Milan (Mealiden Starwatcher), and Valerias)

See Who were the Lawful Brotherhood? on the Piazza (June 28, 2010)

The Brotherhood of Light:

I like to regard the Brotherhood of Light as human worshipers of Menlil (aka Atzanteotl) and allies to the scorpion men of Nimmur, as described in Bruce Heard's article from Dragon #192 The Sting and the Sun.

Ixion and Atzanteotl are bitter rivals, hence the antipathy between the Lawful Brotherhood and the Brotherhood of Light, so-named because of their part to play in conquering the surface world for the followers of Menlil.

See Who were the Brotherhood of Light? on the Piazza (November 2, 2016)

New Monsters:

Amber Lotus Flower;* Amoeba, Giant;* Cay-men;** Decapus,*** Marine; Dog, Normal; Dragonne Monster;**** Giant River Serpentweed;** Lupin;* Pagan;* Sacrol;***** Tortle; Snapper; Strangle Vine******

*appeared in X2 "Castle Amber"
**appeared in AC2 "The Treasure of the Hideous One"
***appeared in B3 "Palace of the Silver Princess"

****appeared in XL-1 "Quest for the Heartstone"

*****appeared in M2 "Maze of the Riddling Minotaur"

******originally appeared as the Choke Creeper in the AD&D Monster Manual II

Coat of Arms of the Savage Coast, from Dragon #181 (May, 1992)

The Voyage of the Princess Ark:

Bruce Heard presented a richly detailed, Gazetteer-era version of the Savage Coast in a series of "Princess Ark" articles in Dragon magazine:

Part 21: The Savage Baronies (Dragon #174, October, 1991)
Part 22: The Savage Coast (Dragon #175, November, 1991)

Part 23: The Claw Peninsula (Dragon #176, December, 1991)

Part 24: The Kingdom of Robrenn (Dragon #177, January, 1992)

Part 25: The Kingdom of Eusdria (Dragon #178, February, 1992)

Part 26: The Kingdom of Renardy (Dragon #179, March, 1992)

Part 28: The Kingdom of Bellayne (Dragon #181, May, 1992)

Part 30: The Magocracy of Herath (Dragon #183, July, 1992)

Part 32: The Squamous Kingdoms (Dragon #185, September, 1992)

Part 33: The Land of Wallara (Dragon #186, October, 1992)

Part 35: The Land of Jibaru (Dragon #188, December, 1992)

He completed his update of the Savage Coast and beyond in a few additional "Known World Grimoire" articles:

The Kingdom of Nimmur (Dragon #192, April, 1993)

The Dark Jungle (Dragon #196, August, 1993)

The Kingdom of Eshu (Dragon #200, December, 1993)

 

Asked about his rationale, Heard explained:

I deliberately took liberties with the original settings.  In researching (Serpent Peninsula) and what obviously lay to the west (Hule and the Savage Coast), it quickly became clear that there was very little of interest there.  I didn’t think anyone would be particularly fascinated by thousands of miles of swamp, desert, and featureless plains with nobody around!  I made these changes in order to liven the place up, and so mercilessly grafted on geographical features and local cultures.  At this point, it would be safe to assume all these older modules took place at an earlier period in time.

Bruce Heard, Dragon #174 (October, 1991)

Conclusion:

Module X9 "The Savage Coast" provides an expansive canvas for the development of an epic campaign, rich in adventure and role-playing opportunities.