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- Gruntfuttock
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Offline - Registered: 1/29/2014
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Primordial
Back when he was writing the Sword & Sorcery Codex, Garnett Elliott was posting on MeWe about his influences and one of the things he mentioned was the cover illustration of an old paperback featuring Kull (it was from the 70s or 80s I think). It was a great illustration, and he said that for him it summed up the antediluvian world of King Kull. It popped into my head today as I was reading the last setting in the Codex – Primordial.
Those four and a half pages of broad-brush setting are a great distillation of what makes an antediluvian world such a great place to adventure in. I had read those pages before, but this time I read slowly rather than skimmed them, and I was struck by the fact that although there is plenty of room to add your own stuff, it really is a really good solid foundation for your own creativity. Just like the level of detail in Simon’s Lemuria, in fact.
All the inhabitants of the world are drawn from other pages of the Codex, and the only thing I think is missing and that would have been nice to have would have been a world map in a style of something painted onto cured hide – something a general would roll up and take on campaign.
The army of the Yxian Empire with it’s chariots, citizen phalanx, and elephants - sorry, Mastodons – and auxiliary infantry drawn from around the world, reminded me of Carthage in the early part of the Punic Wars. The nods to Howard, Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith are well done.
The only thing is…how do you pronounce ‘Yx’?
If like me, you just skimmed Primordial because it was the last thing in the book, take another look. I just might end up going there…
My real name is Steve Hall
- Gruntfuttock
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Re: Primordial
According to Garnett, apparently 'Yx' should be pronounced 'Yix'.
Umm....not sure I see that myself. Surely it's, 'Eze' or 'Ize'?
My real name is Steve Hall
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Thread Starter- Pit Fighter
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Re: Primordial
I giggle ever time I see MeWe mentioned as I was completely oblivious to its existence before joining here and the name choice is so odd. Lol... While I'm unfamiliar with the setting, I instinctively also default to "Yix" as the pronunciation.
- Gruntfuttock
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Re: Primordial
One thing to decide in my development of Garnett Elliott’s ‘Primordial’ setting from the Codex, is what to leave out, or rather what don’t I like about it. The answer is very little.
However, the crown and military helmet imagery of brain-devouring trilobites doesn’t sit well with me – it reminds me too much of really cheap, cheesy and rubbish 1980s S&S films like Kull, which is not what I want in my games – YMMV, which is totally fine of course. So the crown will be a regular (if possibly gaudy) crown, and the army’s helmets will be functional and like Carthaginian ones.
Mind you, I have no problem with: “To this day, the priesthood of Yx uses spider, crab, and other arthropod imagery, while openly vilifying the serpent men and their kind.” That sets up suspicion about the origins of the Yxian religion, which seems a good plot point to me.
The setting has megafauna taking the place of traditional monsters which I like very much. I see it as a setting where supernatural colour is provided by demonology and necromancy (Harryhausen skeleton warriors!) However, a lamia or two seem appropriate here, and possibly with so many demons around thanks to those pesky sorcerers, perhaps Lillith, the biblical mother of demons might be tweaked to make an appearance.
(“Do not call up that which you cannot put down.”)
Last edited by Gruntfuttock (8/17/2025 12:59 am)
My real name is Steve Hall
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Thread Starter- Warlord of Lemuria
- Great Old One
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Re: Primordial
The trilobite-helmet-brain devourers kind of remind me of the only Leiber story the genuinely gave me the creeps, The Sunken Land. The imagery was very eerie and claustrophobic to me and the last couple of pages horrifying.
I am the one who writes for old school D&D, yet BoL and Everywhen are pretty cool too.
- CaptAdventure
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Re: Primordial
Apologies if this seems pedantic (don't mean it to be), but do you by any chance mean cheesy '80s Sword & Sorcery like Krull?
Because Kull the Conqueror didn't come out until '97. (After Sorbo rose to fame in Hercules.)
-- Paul
- Gruntfuttock
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Re: Primordial
I was being loose with language, although in my defence I would maintain that the 1997 Kull did have cheap 'n' cheezy production values right out of that 1980s box. 
My real name is Steve Hall
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Thread Starter- CaptAdventure
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Re: Primordial
Fair enough! I was more just clarifying whether you meant Kull (which is definitely Sword & Sorcery) and Krull (which I'd call Sword & Planet at best).
Of course, for all it's faults, Krull had Lysette Anthony in it. She's dreamy!
But, yes, Kull the Conqueror was in a similar class to Deathstalker, albeit with a higher budget.
-- Paul
- Gruntfuttock
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Re: Primordial
I see your Lysette Anthony and raise you Tia Carrere!
(Thinks: If Paul has Sandahl Bergman in his back pocket, I’m screwed!)
My real name is Steve Hall
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Thread Starter- CaptAdventure
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Re: Primordial
Well, I'm certainly not going to try to trump your Tia Carrere with Brigitte Nielsen!
(Although not '80s, I might try to match your Tia Carrere with Kelly Hu.)
-- Paul
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