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Published by Outlaw Press, Inc.
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“The Hall of Wolves” Copyright © June 2008 by Ken St. Andre All rights reserved
“Griffin Feathers” Copyright © June 2008 by Ken St. Andre All rights reserved.
“Trollgod Tells a Tale” Copyright © June 2008 by Ken St. Andre All rights reserved
“The Monster Race” (Edited by M. E. Volmar) Copyright © June 2008 by Ken St. Andre All rights reserved.
“The Two Worst Thieves in Khazan” Copyright © 1992 as “The Two Worst Thieves in Khazan“ Revised and expanded © June 2008 by Ken St. Andre
“Under Khazan—Naked Doom” Copyright © 1992 as “Under Khazan—Naked Doom” Revised and expanded © June 2008 by Ken St. Andre
“Ler’s Dream” Copyright © June 2008 by Ken St. Andre
All Rights Reserved by Ken St. Andre.
This novel “Griffin Feathers” is a tribute to Tunnels and Trolls™, originally written by Ken St. Andre and trademarked by Flying Buffalo, Inc. The use of Tunnels and Trolls™ by Outlaw Press, Inc. is officially approved by both Flying Buffalo, Inc. and Ken St. Andre.
Art Included (in order of appearance) Artists: Simon Lee Tranter (front cover, page 40), M. E. Volmar (logo on pages 1, 3, art on page 159), Lena Iachoukova (pages 1, 115, 129, 152), Jeff Freels (pages 5, 8, 20, 72), Graham Buckingham (maps on pages 77, 79), Jon Hancock (page 117), JLS (page 130), Debra Cahill (pages 150, 151), Jarek Gach (back cover)
All art copyrighted © by the artists.
Visit our Tunnels & Trolls™ web site at http://outlaw-press.com/
Printed in the U.S.A Copyrighted © 2009
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The Hall of Wolves 5 Griffin Feathers 8 Trollgod Tells a Tale 72 The Monster Race 74 Introduction to Rufus 115 The Two Worst Thieves in Khazan 117 Interlude 129 Under Khazan—Naked Doom 130 Afterword—The Black Aura 150 Urukin Girl Speaks 151 Ler’s Dream 152 Kyenn’s Notes 159
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During the last century of her reign in Khazan, Lerotra’hh began to practice a strange sort of hospitality. On stormy days she opened a wing of the palace to the poor and provided both refreshments and tales for them. This wing was called the Hall of Memory by Lerotra’hh, but was known as the Hall of the Wolves by the people because statues of wolves guarded all the doors.
The Hall of Wolves was a great hallway constructed entirely of boulders brought magically from some hills far to the southeast of the city. Ogres and giants then piled the huge stones atop each other to form a great square compound. A mortar of cement held the rocks in place. While the Hall was being built Lerotra’hh could often be seen directing the work. When it was finished, a true eyesore had been added to the city—something that looked like a great square pile of rocks rising to a rough and rocky dome on the south side of the palace.
The building was furnished with smaller rocks for the people to sit upon, and it had statues lining the walls. In the very center was a curious statue of an old uruk. It showed him crouching next to a bonfire, flanked by two wolves. He was clearly old, for the limbs were gaunt and almost devoid of muscle, and the face was dried and
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wrinkled. The statue wore a necklace of wolf teeth strung on a string of braided grass. One hand spread in a gesture commonly seen in wizards who are casting a spell; the other held three large brown feathers. Although the feathers were carved from the same gray marble as the statue, they were painted brown and white, and they were larger than most feathers.
Other statues in the room included an ogre, a dragon, and the wizard Khazan. The elvish wizard was shown as a giant towering over and menacing a group of uruk children and their wolf cubs. His long elvish features were contorted with rage, and his robes were the red of blood. It was a horrifying memorial, and quite near the main entrance.
The food that was served in the hall would have been considered disgusting by the good kindreds of the city. It consisted of small rodents and large insects. These small food animals were kept alive in large pens at the back of the hall, and those who wanted to eat them had to go and claim their own. The hungry citizen would just reach into a pen and grab either a rodent or a beetle. No provision was made for cooking the beasties.
At various places around the walls cunningly made fountains simulated natural springs. These were placed near various statues, and they offered water with different flavors. One spring had a strong flavor of iron in the water; another seemed almost muddy, while a third was pure and tasted only of water. Near each spring were tables with various plants spread upon them—mostly different varieties of nettles, although one offered cactus complete with spines. For those who had thought to bring some kind of drinking container—bowl or cup—with them, the plants could be steeped in the various waters to produce several varieties of primitive tea.
Primitive was the key word in all this presentation. The citizens of Khazan understood that this hospitality, crude as it was, simulated the life of the Death Goddess when she was young. She wanted the people to know of her roots and the hardships of her early years. She wanted to emphasize the difference between herself and the human and elvish rulers that had preceded her.
The hall was only opened on days of bad weather, and it was only open to the first five hundred who came to it. Guards stood at the front entrance and admitted or denied passage to those who came. Anyone wearing gold or jewels was denied access. No one could bring a weapon into the hall, not even as much as a belt knife. The hall was designed for the poor, but in later years it became fashionable for the
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