Ep 16--the Temple of Trax

We add yet another sentient race to Amzot.

There is an ancient decaying city located in a remote jungle area surrounded by mountains. Since Dorno and Tara didn't know about it, but Zandor did, then I think that means Zandor did some lone scouting/studying of Amzot before deciding this would be the home of the Herculoids. Putting this together with what we've assumed from past episodes, Zandor then returned to Amzot with Dorno & the creatures and began to put an end to the chaos, with Tara joining them a bit later.

We also get some more indications of Zandor's scientific skill. We've established he's primarily a geneticist, but he has enough skill as an archaeologist to learn something about Trax.

Anyway, I have a proposed back story about Trax. A few thousand years ago, some humans on Earth (during the early Middle Ages) somehow ended up in space--perhaps kidnapped by alien slavers. They end up on Amzot and manage to achieve dominance over the decadent Traxian civilization. But most of the humans died out, so that by Zandor's time only one human is left--kept alive by the last of an ancient Traxian potion that they no longer remember how to make.

The Traxians were dying out as a people, with a civilization desperately trying to save themselves by sacrificing captives to their clock-work idol. But soon there were so few that a survival instinct put them into hibernation for centuries, until the Herculoids arrived and they were awakened by their insane & immortal human high priest.

So we add the Traxians to the list of native fauna, along with the amphibious beasts that nearly eat Igoo, which I think largely inhabit the subterranean rivers and lakes of Amzot. I've dubbed these guys Gator-oids.

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AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

M—A small mountain range. The Kyanite gladiatorial arena is located atop one of these mountains, though the Kyanites themselves live on another planet and only occasionally visit Amzot.

W--(off map to the west): The Western Sea—a large sea located some distance to the west of the Herculoids’ home ground.

T--(off map to the northwest)--The Temple of Trax. This is a jungle area surrounded by mountains. The Traxians built a city here thousands of years ago, with a clock-work idol they worshiped as a god being the centerpiece of the city. The city is built atop fast, underground caverns, many of which contain rivers or lakes infested with Gater-oids.

With human high priests (displaced from Earth), the Traxians used to capture and sacrifice other sentient creatures to appease their god. They once had a fairly sophisticated civilization, producing an immortality serum as well as clock-work mechanisms. But they went into decline until the few remaining Traxians placed themselves into hibernation, watched over by the remaining human priest.  

The Traxians are about 8 feet tall, very strong, with tough armor like skin and a single horn protruding from their forehead. 

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

Gater-oids--Amphibious carnivores about the size of an Earth horse. They are vicious four-legged creatures with an armored carapace and a vaguely shark-like head. They are able to rend and digest nearly anything organic, no matter how tough (including Igoo!)

 AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Episode 15--The Gladiators of Kyanite

Another awesome episode in terms of a deliriously fun fight scene. But it does make one think about what we should add to Amzot in terms of its native life.

Here we learn about the Kyanites, who apparently periodically capture some of Amzot's nastier wildlife for use in fighting their gladiators. So is there a native human civilization on the planet? We can't argue that the arena is off-planet. Even if we assume that Tundro is carried off-planet after being captured AND that Zandor & Zok fly after him (since we know Zok is capable of inter-planetary flight)--Dorno & the other Herculoids follow on foot. So off-planet doesn't work.

BUT--the Kyanite arena is all by itself on a mountain top. If the Kyanite civilization is based on Amzot, where's the city? It's not impossible that they build their arena in a remote area, but it still seems odd.

So I propose that the Kyanite civilization does indeed exist on another planet (Kyan?). This is backed up by the fact that their leader Neron does not at first recognize the Herculoids--something that would be very unlikely if he lived on Amzot. On the other hand, Zandor recognizes Neron-- but I think that means Zandor maintains sources of information about off-planet shenanigans that might some day affect Amzot.

So Kyanite is a decadent Roman-esque civilization from another planet. They are a very military society that is proud of their martial skills, so they establish arenas on planets known for dangerous wildlife, then travel between them holding gladiatorial contests. In fact, let's say that different factions from Kyan hold games, with those who have the best win/lose record earning military and political power on their homeworld. They've been to Amzot before and now its come up on their circuit again.

So this episode does not add anything new to Amzot's native flora and fauna, though we do now know there is a Kyanite arena built on a mountaintop (part of a small mountain range) somewhere on the day-side. Based purely on Zok's orientation when he arrives at the arena, I'm placing this mountain range northwest of the Herculoids' home.

This is open for debate--if we assume that Amzot's earth-like gravity means its the size of Earth, then there's plenty of room for multiple civilizations. But the overall vibe of the Kyanites seem to place them off-planet. At least this is true for me and--well, it's MY blog, isn't it? BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

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I've tried to improve the ongoing map a little and it does look slightly better, but I'm afraid I simply don't have the talent to produce a map that looks cool enough to really do Amzot justice. Hopefully, my brilliant and fascinating analysis of the planet makes up for this.

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

M—A small mountain range. The Kyanite gladiatorial arena is located atop one of these mountains, though the Kyanites themselves live on another planet and only occasionally visit Amzot. 

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

NOT ON MAP: The Western Sea—a large sea located some distance to the west of the Herculoids’ home ground.

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Episode 14--Tiny World of Terror

This is a really fun entry in the series, but nearly all the action takes place on a microscope slide after our heroes are reduced to microscopic size, so we learn nothing new about Amzot.

The villain (Torrock) is a mad scientist who wants to eventually shrink down the entire galaxy and rule it with his genetically-engineered microscopic monsters. Torrock and Zandor know each other, which I think helps back up my back-story that Zandor was a renowned geneticist who created the Herculoids. He and Torrock both worked in the same field, so could easily have run across each other.  Also, Zandor quickly figures out how to work Torrock's "microscopic transducer" (shrink ray). Once again, we see that though he has chosen a technology-free life style (darn hippy!), he's no stranger to technology.

So, as far as Amzot is concerned, the map and summary from the Dec. 6 post is still up-to-date with all the episodes we've reviewed so far.

Sorry the map is so lame-looking, by the way. I've been doing some Photoshop tutorials at work, so I hope to be able to use Photoshop to replace lame-o map with something that looks half-way decent.

Episode 13--Mekkano, the Machine Master

This episode is, by the way, awesome in the imagination that shows in the design of Mekkano's machines and the fight choreography.

We actually get no new information about Amzot this episode--no new flora, fauna or locations are introduced, so the map and descriptions from the last post are still valid.

We do find out that Zandor apparently keeps in contact with whatever passes for galactic civilization and--despite largely eschewing technology--he does maintain a facility for launching and landing rockets. He is able to summon a rocket from the space prison and send Mekkano back there at the episodes conclusion. I'm torn about whether to include the rocket facility on the map, since it's not a natural part of Amzot. I'm assuming it would be located not far from the Herculoids' home--in the desert area near the edge of the jungle. That fits what we see, since we see jungle in the background while Zandor and family watch the rocket launch.

The episode does give us interesting speculations about Zandor and the nature of the Herculoids. We know that the Herculoids are smart, understand language, and implicitly have a low-level telepathic connection with each other & the humans. Gloop and Gleep have an actual language they can use.

They also often employ fairly complex tactics in their fights. This time, though, Tundra fires his energy rocks as if they were mortar rounds, accurately calculating range and angles to hit his targets. In other words, he instantly did complex math in his head. It's beginning to look like when Zandor created the Herculoids, he gave them human-level intelligence.

Zandor and the Herculoids have battled Mekkano in the past, which is why the villain breaks jail and seeks revenge. I have the impression (for no reason that I can put my finger on) that this original battle took place before Zandor & Co. came to Amzot. Perhaps it was fighting Mekkano that gave Zandor the idea for giving his Herculoids purpose in life by fighting evil, causing him to seek a home on Amzot and bring peace to that beleaguered planet.

Episode 12--Prisoners of the Bubblemen

The question raised by this episode is whether the titular Bubblemen are yet another native race of Amzot or from another planet.

It's also interesting that Zandor and Dorno both recognize the Bubblemen and know about their lab underneath the Western Sea, but Tara needs to have their identity explained to her.

I'm going to assume the Bubblemen are alien to Amzot, because their "home" is described as a lab and not a city or colony. Also, Zok blows the place up at the end. So either it was the lab of an evil scientist with his evil henchmen, or Zok just slaughtered a colony of mostly innocent Bubble-people and effectively committed genocide.

To explain this, we'll add a little more back-story. As previously discussed, Zandor brings his family and the Herculoids to Amzot to bring peace to the war-torn planet. Tara stays away for a short time while the others find a base of operations. During this time, Zandor and Dorno learn that the Bubblemen have set up a lab and are conducting horrible genetic experiments on the native fauna. So one of their first adventures on Amzot is stopping the Bubblemen. They believe the Bubblemen have fled Amzot and get distracted by dealing with the other problems besetting the world, so they never get around to dismantling the undersea lab or confirming that the Bubblemen have actually fled. so, in this episode, the Bubblemen have finished upgrading their own weapons and attack Zandor.

So I'm not including the Bubblemen in the list of fauna native to Amzot. The only new item to add to the map is the Western Sea.

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

NOT ON MAP: The Western Sea—a large sea located some distance to the west of the Herculoids’ home ground.

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Ep. 11---The Defeat of Ogrun

On a personal note--this is one of my favorite episodes in terms of exciting and imaginative fight choreography.

I think this is the first time we've met invading aliens who DON'T know about Zandor and the Herculoids. We're never told why they want to invade Amzot, but access to the Energy Rocks is always a likely motivation.

The episode adds the Black Pool to known features of Amzot. This does present a puzzle. At first, the alien ship is hiding beneath the surface of the pool, but later the pool seems to suck down first Ogrun's fighting vehicle and then the mother ship to their respective dooms.

I think the explanation here comes from Zok firing his eye lasers into the pool just prior to Orgun crashing into it. Let's theorize the water of the lake is laced with a chemical compound--that--when energized--turns the water into a thick, viscous solution.

We also see a couple of skeletons of large monsters at the lake. One looks like it might be a giant snake--so I'm going to go with that. The other is a large skull with a single, curved horn at its nose. I'm going to call this a rhinoid. Since we never see living examples of these monsters, I'll place their usual habitat in an area north of the lake, well away from the Herculoids' home.

To the map below, I've added a preface containing general information about the planet.

AMZOT--GENERAL INFORMATION: Amzot is in the same solar system as the planet Zodan, both of which have breathable atmospheres and Earth-like gravity.

Amzot is tidally locked, with one hemisphere always facing the sun. But the solar system is near a nebula, which causes large clouds of cosmic dust to drift through the system. This dust occasionally eclipses the sun, causing "night" on Amzot's daylight side.

AMZOT—DAY SIDE

A--Desert (mesas, cliffs, occasional tar pits, occasional flora including Iron Trees) The home of the fortunately rare Giant Vultures. The north end of the desert area contains the White Cliffs.

B-Jungle (various flora, including Rubber Vines & Kona-nuts. Also, Lizard-Birds, ants, grubs & snails)

C-Canopy Trees

E—Endless Caves: On the surface, the terrain is very much like the desert area near the Herculoids' home. Underneath this is the domain of the Spider Men. These are four-foot tall insect-like humanoids. They are sentient, have a language, and have the technology to produce “web guns,” which fire blobs of sticky and very strong webs. They train large ants the size of small ponies to use as mounts. The Spider Men are a nomadic society, though their domain is largely underground in the huge and labyrinthian Endless Caves. They conduct raids on the Mole Men (traveling to the Mole Men domain via secret tunnels) and occasional raid the surface for slaves and/or resources. Because they are tribal, they have never banded together strongly enough to be the threat that the Mole Men and Parrot People are, but they are still dangerous.

U-Underground domain of the Mole Men. The Mole Men are small but resilient humanoid creatures with a monarchical government. They have a technological society, with the skill to produce energy weapons and advanced vehicles such as hovercraft. They were once very aggressive, conquering vast portions of the surface world. Only internal dissension among them (some factions of the Mole Men society were more pacifistic) prevented them from gaining supremacy over the technologically backwards Parrot People. They are now largely contained in their underground domain by the Herculoids.

BP—The Black Pool. A large lake of water that is laced with a chemical compound unique to Amzot. When struck with energy (such as Zok’s laser beams), the water is transformed into a thick, viscous solution in which creatures and vehicles are trapped and rapidly disintegrate. The lake will slowly revert back to water at a rate that depends on how much energy was added. The area north of the lake are home to giant snakes (about 30 feet long) and rhinoids—large dinosaur-like quadrupeds about the size of Earth elephants.

1. The Dark River--flows south from jungle, with a 300-foot high waterfall known as The Bottomless Waterfall located not far out of the jungle.

2. Monkey-People--strong but shy & unaggressive flying monkeys. They are semi-sentient, with a very primitive language and loose tribal structure. They eat plants, insects and small mollusks.

3. Hill area that is home to the Parrot People. They are avian humanoids with a warlike, aggressive culture that once enslaved the Monkey People. They are omnivorous & have a sophisticated language and some technology, allowing them to make clothes and fashion wooden clubs. They are largely contained to the hill area due to their fear of the Herculoids.

Iron Trees--Large (50 foot or higher) trees that sparsely populate the desert area. These trees have very deep roots to access underground water sources. Their name derives from their extremely tough outer bark, which can withstand violent impacts without showing any damage. Zandor's shield is made from Iron Tree bark.

Rubber Vines--Thick, pliable vines that grow down from the limbs of certain tall trees. They anchor themselves in the ground to search for additional water. Zandor has learned to use the vines as personal catapults to vacillitate rapid travel through the jungle.

Canopy Trees—Large trees whose thick, tough foliage form a sort-of ledge half-way up the trunk, with more foliage forming a roof. Zandor and his family make a home in one of these trees.

Kona Nuts--a tasty fruit found in the jungles of Amzot. In size, shape and taste, it is nearly identical to Earth's coconut.

Lizard-Birds—A bird/reptile hybrid about the size of Earth’s condor.

Giant Vultures—These very large predatory bird/reptile hybrids are more reminiscent of pterodactyls than Earth’s vultures. They like to carry captured prey back to their nests while the prey is still living, then consume it there. Giant vultures are solitary, living alone when not in heat.

Giant Ants—Subterranean ants the size of small ponies that live in the Endless Caves. They  have the intelligence and capacity to be trained similar to ponies as well, being used as mounts by the Spider Men. They can run at very fast speeds for short distances.

AMZOT—Night side.

One of Amzot’s hemispheres is in perpetual darkness.

1: The Stone Forest—an area in which many stone towers give the impression of having grown there like trees. Some of the small rocks are “flare rocks,” which generate bursts of light upon impact. This area also contains many cliffs and chasms. The following fauna lives here:

The Dorgytes—A sentient species of pygmy-sized humanoids with large eyes designed to allow them to see in the dark. In fact, Dorgytes can’t survive for lengthy periods of time in direct sunlight. They build huts in the “branches” of the towers in the Stone Forest and have limited technology.

Night Scarabs—Semi-sentient species of insect-people. The Scarabs are carnivores and lurk in the shadows in packs, leaping out at helpless and unsuspecting prey but running when danger seems to threaten.

Hooded Caterpillar—This creature is about 20 feet long. Able to fire the spikes that grow out of its body, it is carnivorous and very aggressive.

Armored Killer—About the size of an Earth pony, this four-legged carnivore is also aggressive. It is protected by a thick, spiked carapace.

Electro-Beetles—5-foot long insects able to fire energy blasts from their antenna. They are carnivorous and travel in packs, working together via instinct.

Episode 10--The Android People

A race of androids arrive on Amzot, but unlike most invaders, they are not here to loot the planet's resources. Rather, they want to use Zandor as a model for building a perfect android warrior race and then conquer the galaxy.

This story gives us more fodder for expanding Zandor's back-story. He recognizes the Android People and knows their leader's name (Korvac). Have the Androids visited Amzot before, or did Zandor encounter them in a pre-Amzot adventure? Remember that we are theorizing that Zandor was a geneticist, who created the Herculoids and brought them to Amzot to give them purpose. To bring peace to a planet infested with dangerous fauna and being fought over by Parrot People, Spider Men and Mole Men would mean Zandor would have needed to already have experience as a warrior and leader even before arriving. In fact, by this episode, he apparently has a galaxy-wide reputation as a kick-butt warrior, which is why the Androids want to use him as a template for their own warriors.

So I think Zandor did have some adventures--either with or without the Herculoids--before coming to Amzot.

Also, Zandor flips over a piece of heavy equipment without apparent effort. It seems that he did some genetic tinkering on HIMSELF, since he has low-level super-strength.

As far as Amzot is concerned, I think this is the first episode that doesn't add any thing knew to our knowledge of the planet's native flora and fauna. So the map & list from the previous post are still current.

EDIT: But we do have a new element that adds some confusion about Amzot's rotation (or lack thereof). In "The Lost Dorgyte," it seemed to be established that Amzot is tidally-locked, with the Herculoids living on the side of perpetual daylight and nocturnal creatures such as the Dorgyte living on the "night side." But when THIS episode begins, the Herculoids are asleep and it appears to be night time.

So does Amzot rotate or not? I'm going to say it doesn't. My theory is that the solar system that includes Amzot is located near a nebula. Occasionally, bands of cosmic dust from the nebula drift through the system and temporarily block out sunlight, producing brief periods of "night-time" on Amzot's daylight side.