The Zayne adventures

Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 00:27:15 +0200
From: Mixos Dimitris
Subject: The Zayne adventures

> Hi,

I happen to have five of the titles published by Creations Unlimited in my D@D collection.I have not opened them yet(They are still shrink-wrapped) but I can quote a synopsis from what is written in the back page of the modules:

1. GARDEN OF THE PLANT MASTER.Skill levels 6-12.ON an alien world there is a
city.Dead.And in that cityis a Garden,quite alive.In that Garden is its former architect,The Plantmaster,now a captive of the garden's new Master,Lamash the Demon of the Wood.The Plantmaster like all Garden inhabitans,is mutated;and it is only a matter of time before he finaly relents and gives his tormentor the KeyWords for unlocking the Gardens doors,which prevent Lamash from entering.....Your World.!!!
2.THE MAZE OF ZAYENE (Part 1-Prisoners of the Maze)Skill Levels 8-12. The Queen is
dead!The kKing is mad!Long live ......the Kingdom!Death to King Ovar the Tyrant! Life to Law and Order!Four Characters are a number complete---complete with a mission
so insane,so daring,that terming it an assassination hardly satisfies the imagination.Are the four volenteers who whould lay law King Ovar assassins? Or are they heroes?If they are the former,how are they better than the madman they are assigned to kill/And if they are the latter,willtheir heroism be enough to overcome the trials of the Mayze of Zayne?
3.THE MAZE OF ZAYENE(Part2-Dimentions of Flight)Skill Levels 8-12. A door is easily
unlcked isn't itAnd isn't the key always under the mat?.The assassinns have becomed
the persued and the intended victim is now the victimizer.The characthes have failed to assassinate King Ovar.They now flee for their lives,for four Keys,for their only future in the world of the sane.Through desert climes,up mountain peaks not of the world,to a land with blue and black snow,and onto a not so Happy Hunting Grounds--they flee and fight.!
4.THE MAZE OF ZAYENE(Part3 Tower Chaos)Skill Levels9-12.Ersille's loyal subjects say that it was the Queen's deathwhich drove King Ovarto the brink of madness,to reopen the slave pens,to order the mass executions,to persecute the good but misled peopleof the Kingdom,and to ignore the factthat he was no longer a king but a bast.! Four stalwart charchters are chrged with assassinating Kiing Ovar. They must penetrate TOWER CHAOS and at the right momentstrike Ovar dead!
5.THE MAZE OF ZAYENE(Part4 The Eight Kings)Skill Levels9-12. And then there were
eight....THE EIGHT KINGS have fooled the people of Ersille.Not only did King Ovar rule,but ruled eight times over(give or take a court wizard),created anew each day by the wizard Zayne. He was a complacent King,but set upon evil ways,for his(or was it their?)minds were controlled.You see.the real King Ovar was taken prisoner by Zayne some time ago. And now,insteadof wanting Ovar dead,the good people of the Kingdom wont the old codger saved.!What's a regent ot do?

Here are a few words from Matthias Bock (AFTERGLOW"S non TSR item list) homepage about Robert Kunz releashes:

"[Apparently Robert J.Kunz (One of the first people in TSR)used this outlet to release some of his old adventuring material,possibly written back in the 70's. The adventures were set in Greyhawk initialy,but copyright reasons forced Robert Kunz to change some names.In early articles about the modules,Zayene was referred as "Zaeen" or "Xaene"]"

I hope I helped sheding some light in this issue (The Zayene Adventures)

Re: Greytalk FAQ

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 21:36:15 +0000
Reply-To: rjkuntz@gci-net.com
From: rjkuntz
Organization: Creations Unlimited
Subject: Re: [GREYTALK] Greytalk FAQ
To: GREYTALK@MITVMA.MIT.EDU

Phil Rhodes wrote:
>
> At 02:50 PM 8/4/97 +0000, rjkuntz wrote:
> >Unanswerable?
> > 4.1 Who were the nine demigods imprisoned by Iuz?
> >***********************************************
> >
> >Jeez, Phil. I answered this already. And Gary would tell you the
> >same thing, of course. What do you need? Signed affadavits by the
> >Nine?
>
> In triplicate, signed in red ink (or preferably, blood), if you please.
>
> ; )
>
> Seriously, I put it in the 'Unanswerable' section because the
> answer you gave 'officially' (which is different from 'real')
> doesn't answer the question. That's because the 9 gods that
> were imprisoned in the original campaign were demigods, but
> later were moved to lesser/intermediate status. Here's the
> relevant section:
>
> “4.1 Who were the nine demigods imprisoned by Iuz?
>
> This, along with the canon question, has caused more debate on Greytalk
> and other forums than any other question. The gods imprisoned in the
> original Greyhawk campaign were revealed by EGG and Rob Kuntz to be
> Obad-Hai, Trithereon, Heironeous, Hextor, Iuz, Olidammara, Celestian,
> Ralishaz, and Erythnul. Note that these are *not* officially demigods; as
> the original campaign grew and the world was published, most ended up
> as lesser or intermediate gods.”
>
> I didn’t forget you had answered the question, but I was recognizing that
> the debate will go on because of differences in you and Gary’s campaign
> and the campaign represented in the 1983 Boxed Set.

This is my last post regarding the 9….

But, especially, referring to your last sentence, Phil, the point is not relevant. The question asks of Greyhawk Castle, _not_ of the Greyhawk Campaign. The Castle did have 9 demi-gods (as named) imprisoned within it. Robilar freed them; Gary moved them to the outdoor. _Then_ with the advent of the WoG boxed set, were they included (by design) as lesser and/or demi (whatever) gods. That story, and its counterparts, existed before the advent of TSR’s D&D rules in printed form, before any “official” printing of anything Greyhawk, and that is wherein the difference lies.

There are no semantics involved here actually, only creative backfilling on EGG’s part (ask him). And I truly consider further speculation on this subject as senseless, really. If one cannot accept what the real designers actually did in their pre-published campaign as their own canon, then there are castles in in the sky! Have a good chase : ) .