Source Material: "The Gods of Mars", by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Philosophical precursor to B4: "The Lost City"

For an analysis of Book 1 of the Barsoom series, see Source Material: A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains significant details about The Gods of Mars and A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and TSR adventure B4: The Lost City, by Tom Moldvay. Those who have not read the books or read/played the adventure may want to stop reading now.

The first three volumes of Burroughs’ Barsoom series, unlike the following books, form a coherent, overarching story. John Carter encounters life on the world of Mars, “goes native”, and subsequently uncovers sinister secrets affecting everyone on the planet.

The Gods of Mars is superior to Burroughs’ first effort. In addition to the action and adventure of its predecessor, this volume has a theme: the danger of institutionalized religion, and the way in which it can be co-opted by culture to control the minds and actions of individuals. We find this same idea reflected in the work of Tom Moldvay, pulp-literate editor of the second edition of the D&D Basic rules. The concept suffuses Moldvay’s TSR adventure B4: The Lost City.

I recognize elsewhere how Robert E. Howard’s Red Nails and The Slithering Shadow/Xuthal of the Dusk influenced The Lost City, and apparently Howard was no stranger to religious cynicism. Unlike these two stories, however, false religion is a major, repeated theme in The Gods of Mars—and Burroughs depicts it using certain devices Tom Moldvay also applies in The Lost City.

Synopsis

As the novel opens, John Carter has recently returned to Barsoom following a decade-long exile on Earth. During this time, he has been ignorant regarding the fate of his wife, Dejah Thoris, and their child (who was not yet hatched when Carter was dragged across the void of space, back to his homeworld.) Now, after 10 years of waiting, the fates have seen fit to return him to Mars.

Regrettably, he does not find himself in the city of Helium, where he last saw his wife, nor even in the atmosphere plant he saved at the end of A Princess of Mars. Instead, he wakes in a wild place outdoors, overrun by vicious plant men and ferocious white apes. In a timely reunion, Carter’s old friend Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark, tells him they have both been stranded in the hidden Valley Dor—supposedly the Barsoomian paradise—and the deadly consequences the two face, even if they manage to escape.

Influence on B/X

False Gods

The essential element tying the narrative together in The Gods of Mars is the counterfeit nature of every diety and cult (the story contains multiple layers of deception) Carter discovers on the world of Barsoom. At one point in the story, he muses:

“I could not blame them, for I knew how strong a hold a creed, however ridiculous it may be, may gain upon an otherwise intelligent people…it is very hard to accept a new religion for an old, no matter how alluring the promises of the new may be; but to reject the old as a tissue of falsehoods without being offered anything in its stead is indeed a most difficult thing to ask of any people.”⁠¹

Moldvay deploys a similar idea, to significant effect, in The Lost City. The pyramid serving as the main adventure location is topped by giant statues of the three deities of Cynidicea, an ancient kingdom. On the first level of the dungeon, however, the player characters can already find evidence the cynical priests of Cynidicea used speaking tubes and fireworks to fake the miracles of their gods. Exploring the pyramid, and the city beneath, the PCs learn the cults of the old gods still exist, in a much degraded form, but the remains of Cynidicean society is controlled by another faction—the Priests of Zargon. These Chaotic clerics serve a powerful and monstrous entity, who nevertheless is not a god.

Like the Valley Dor in The Gods of Mars, the subterranean tiers of the pyramid are unknown to the general population. In a striking parallel to the River Iss, the rooms of these tiers represent the postmortem journey to the Cynidicean afterlife. The final chamber, however, while meant to represent paradise, doesn’t contain heavenly bliss, but instead horrific death—it is the slime-filled lair of the many-tentacled Zargon.

Barsoomians typically journey voluntarily down the River Iss, while the Priests of Zargon deliver captured Cynideceans to the creature they worship, but the two ordeals end in a similar fashion—the supposed paradises are the abodes of terrifying monsters, intent on devouring the captives/pilgrims.

Finding a Lost Race

The Gods of Mars is also a prime example of dungeon scenario 2, “Finding a Lost Race,” from the “Dungeon Master Information” section of the Basic rules (Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook, p. B51). There are, in fact, two “lost races” in the book, both of which are either legendary or unknown to the majority of the Barsoomians at the beginning of the story. It turns out Barsoom is home to many different people groups, distinguished by skin color—the red people of the inhabited cities, the green warriors of the dry sea bottoms, the white Therns, and the black “First Born.” The discovery of the hidden Therns and First Born form the backbone of the book’s plot.

Destroying an Ancient Evil

The subplot involving the First Born (the climax of the story) also demonstrates the effectiveness of dungeon scenario 3 from the Basic rules: “Destroying an Ancient Evil.” (Basic, p. B51) It turns out the major religion of Barsoom is controlled by Queen Iss of the First Born—and like Zargon in The Lost City, she is not all she appears.

Inspiration for your games

Because of its strong thematic similarities to Moldvay’s adventure, The Gods of Mars is an excellent source of material for one of my favorite B/X activities—modding The Lost City!

Even if you don’t want to play or adapt the adventure, you can still use this material for for your own B/X settings and scenarios:

The Cynidicean cults continue to deceive their own people.

The clues on the first level of The Lost City, that the priests of the old gods were performing fraudulent miracles, represent an unsolved riddle—why was this necessary? The Lost City seems to take the same cynical perspective on institutionalized religion as The Gods of Mars, but only follows-up with regard to the Priests of Zargon.

The well-crafted faction play in the adventure could be even more interesting if all three cults, while rivals, are in league with one another to preserve their most important secret—the old gods aren’t gods, or at least the cults don’t truly represent them. This would explain why all living members of the cults depicted in the adventure are non-cleric characters. Fighters represent two of the gods, and magic-users the third. How do they continue deceiving the Cynidiceans? Is this the true reason the cults have declined? Do the rank-and-file know their gods may be fake, or only the leaders? What happens if the player characters reveal what’s really going on? Are the gods real, but have deprived the cults of their favor because the cults have become corrupt?

The Lost City includes the spirit of Demetrius, a powerful Cynidicean cleric (The Lost City, p. 17). It’s capable of possessing a character and granting them the ability to cast spells. Demetrius died by assassination; the text implies this was due to his fanatical obsession with destroying the Priests of Zargon. Alternatively, perhaps this is a cover story—maybe he was killed by his own people, because they realized he was the last true disciple of the old gods, and when he finished with the Priests of Zargon, he was going to take down the apostates within his own religion!

The supernatural powers of the Priests of Zargon aren’t miracles—they’re something else.

Unlike the cults of the old Cynidicean gods, the Priests of Zargon include living individuals able to cast cleric spells—yet the text explicitly states “[a]lthough Zargon is ancient, it is no god.” (TLC, p. 23) Where are its priests getting their power?

Perhaps they are faking their miracles in the same way the cults of the old gods are faking theirs. Maybe all the sects secretly include magic-users who disguise their spellcasting as favors from the appropriate deities. Or, they could be imitating healing spells with some form of advanced herbalism—likely including ingredients from the fungus fields near the underground city.

Those are fine solutions for the Cynidicean cults, but for the Priests of Zargon, I feel we need something more. An intriguing approach would be to use the excellent third-party supplement PX1: The Psionics Handbook, by Richard LeBlanc, Jr., of New Big Dragon Games Unlimited. Zargon is already a very Lovecraftian entity, with its tentacles and slime, its unknown, primordial origin, and its mysterious ability to regenerate over time. A psionic nature for the creature seems reasonable, as does a tendency for some Cynidiceans to develop psionic abilities due to its proximity and hidden influence.

Giving the Priests of Zargon a weird origin for their powers, tied directly to their patron, would set them apart from the other cults, explain the ascendancy of the priests in what remains of Cynidicean society, and make them a serious threat to the other factions.

There is something more dangerous behind Zargon.

In The Warlord of Mars, the religion most of Barsoom follows is a fraud perpetrated by the “holy” Therns, whose own religion is, in turn, a fraud perpetuated by the First Born.

In The Lost City, the Cynidicean priests once deceived their own people, and the Priests of Zargon are also promoting a fraud.

What if, unbeknownst to the Priests of Zargon, something else lies behind the monster they worship? Two details of the setting provide opportunities for this sort of development.

First, a large chapel in the pyramid includes many mosaics depicting the rise of Cynidicea. One of the early mosaics shows a tribe of humans defeating “an army of snake-headed humanoids.” (TLC, p. 18)

Second—the city itself lies  in the upper catacombs, below the pyramid. Beneath the city lie the lower catacombs, filled with “terrible monsters” (TLC, p. 24).

Combining these two elements provides the outline for a comprehensive explanation of everything going in in The Lost City. The lower catacombs could be the last refuge of the surviving“snake-headed humanoids”—the original denizens of the land before the coming of the Cynidiceans. Following their defeat in open battle, the snake-people retreated far underground, plotting the defeat of their enemies by other means. To this purpose, they used their psionic powers to summon Zargon, a powerful, otherworldly entity, to bring about the downfall of Cynidicea. The Psionics Handbook contains stats for psionic “serpent men” (The Psionics Handbook, p. 42). Cold-blooded, calculating, and patient, the snake people have waited centuries for their plan to come to fruition—but the intervention of the player characters, and the defeat of Zargon, have forced their hand. They begin taking direct, if covert, action to put an end to the Cynidiceans once and for all.

A Campaign in an Adventure

The above are just a few ways in which The Lost City can be enhanced and expanded by recognizing its thematic connections to The Warlord of Mars. More than just an adventure, Tom Moldvay has given us an entire campaign in miniature, replete with mysteries, challenges and adventure hooks. Drawing from the same well of pulp fantasy fiction Moldvay used to create it, a DM can continue expanding the setting indefinitely, potentially keeping their gaming group eager and engaged for years of play.

Coming Soon
The Warlord of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs

1. The Gods of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Amazon Kindle, Location 2386