Revisiting the Lost Worlds of ERB

Since the last post over a month ago, I have been reading and re-watching stuff to inspire my “Island in the Hidden Sea of Fire” project.

The Land That Time Forgot and At The Earth’s Core

I consider “The Land That Time Forgot” and “At The Earth’s Core” by Edgar Rice Burroughs as the essential foundation for any sort of “Lost World” setting.

I think you can’t go wrong with ERB as inspirational materials for any sort of “adventure setting.”

Next time, Post #150, in which I hope to have something more substantial to say.

November 2014 Update

Since the last post I have watched:

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

read:

The Land That Time Forgot

watched:

Mysterious Island

and watched:

Journey To The Center of The Earth 2008 TV version

I’ve also started thinking about what sort of ruleset to use for “Island in the Hidden Sea of Fire.” I was thinking of taking a look at “Shotguns & Saddles” for instance. It seems similar to older D&D editions, but with skills and firearms. Haven’t read through it yet though. (Also it is Creative Commons, so can pretty much do what you want with it, as long as attributed properly.)

Location: Mines of the Jeweled Ones

On the far side of the River of Fire are the underground Mines of the Jeweled Ones. They are reached through an underground passage that runs far beneath the River of Fire, and apparently unknown to the Jeweled Ones, also via a tunnel from the Lair of the Reptile-Men.

The mines are worked by human men (the grown male offspring of the Cave-Women that are not selected for other tasks.) It is rare for a man to try to escape from the mines, since they have been raised since infancy by the Jeweled Ones and know no other life.

The Cave-Women will occasionally hazard the trip through the Lair of the Reptile-Men to go in search of mates, since the only other men they know of are the jungle savages.

The mines are but one part of a complex of industries in the second ring of the Island in the Hidden Sea of Fire.

More Inspirations for “Island in the Hidden Sea of Fire”

Several weeks ago watched these:

One Million Years B.C.

At The Earth’s Core

Part of the delay in posting was waiting for a copy of “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” to show up. Which it finally did today.

“At The Earth’s Core” is an astounding movie as inspiration for a game setting. The 1970’s effects somehow work well with the Victorian-era characters and sensibilities.

I have gotten the book editions from “Bison Frontiers of the Imagination” for “The Land That Time Forgot,” “At The Earth’s Core,” and “Pellucidar” and will be reading them someday when I have time.

Soon I will be watching “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” as well as “Mysterious Island” and the 2008 made-for-TV version of “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”

Places on The Island in the Hidden Sea of Fire

Here is my initial “brainstorm list” I made up a month ago, before I had watched any movies for inspiration (although I had read some reviews of some to get an idea what to watch).

My general idea is that the Island has some kind of “zone” structure, maybe in concentric “rings” that get smaller the closer to the center of the Island you get.

These would be in the outermost zone, maybe getting to the border with the second zone.

“Jungle of the Savages” – here live several bands of primitive human hunter-gatherers that endlessly raid each other in a struggle for territory; some may be cannibals!

“Valley of the Gargantuas” – here two enormous semi-humanoid creatures eternally fight and wrestle with each other; they ignore puny visitors, but their struggles make the area very hazardous (ground shakes, boulders dislodged, etc.).

“Cliff of the Cave-Women” – here are several cave entrances that lead into the cliffside; this is the home of an all-female clan of primitive humans (female children are raised by the Cave-Women, while male children are brought to “The Tower of the Jeweled Ones” shortly after birth).

“Lair of the Reptile-Men” – cave entrances that lead to a network of caves and tunnels beneath the ground; the Reptile- Men (troglodytes?) are the traditional foes of the Cave-Women.

“River of Fire” – this is a shallow channel filled with molten lava that separates the outermost zone from the second zone of the island.

“Tower of the Jeweled Ones” – this is a perfectly symmetrical hexagon-shaped tower of some strange stone; the “Jeweled Ones” are mysterious beings that rarely leave their tower. The Cave-Women leave male offspring in the vicinity, which are then collected by the Jeweled Ones and brought into the tower. The Tower is near the edge of the River of Fire.