Krell, The Man, The Myth, The Legend

[dragoon500ly]

Ah Krell! He (and his followers) are one of TMPs favorite villains and so little is know about him!

The first mention is in TM1-1 as the Warriors of Krell; "Stopped once from building an extensive, repressive empire by the Project, the dictator Krell caused the capture or destruction of several Morrow bases. He captured one intact and had himself frozen. He arises every few decades to incite his followers to further expansion. The same followers guard his bunker while he sleeps." TM1-1 also notes that Krell operates in the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. Has access to modern vehicles and weapons (captured TMP), and has access to electricity, steam power, solar/mining and farming (most likely through Project Caches).

His followers are mentioned in:

Operation Lucifer mentions the WoK as advancing into northwards into Wisconsin, slaughtering all in their path.

Prime Base were we discover that the WoK are responsible for the deaths of TMP personnel and the attempted nuking of Prime.

The Final Watch where they are in possession of a ship (no mention of sail or steam) and that they are trying to secure 150-year old SLBMs.

Over the years, I've read over various fellow MP fans take on Mr. Krell and has Warriors. Opinions are badly split over his background, his ability to take out TMP bases, even the area he controls and his ultimate aims. Sadly, like the various takes in the modules, Krell seems to have no real sense of purpose. He's turned into Freddy Kruger sequels. A nasty type of villain, but one who's just there to provide large amounts of gore.

In my own version of Krell, he was never a member of TMP or the Council of Tomorrow, rather he was CEO of a mid-range corporation with a taste of abuse of power and a desire to live as long as possible. His corporation was a sub-contractor for some of Morrow Industries less-secretive needs and being a man who wanted every advantage, Krell undertook a little industrial espionage and managed to discover the Morrow Project. Krell never had any idea of the scale of the Project, but what he saw scared him. He used the knowledge gained through his espionage and decided that if a war came, he wanted to be on the side that lived through it and be in a position to build his own little version of heaven.

The Warriors of Krell are his bodyguards, security personnel, key scientists who joined their boss in a bid to control what was rebuilt after the war. Unlike the careful, prescreening of TMP, the Warriors took anyone who was willing to prove their willingness to follow orders and their loyalty to Krell.

World War Three caught Krell by surprise, with many of his preparations not yet completed. He gathered as many of his followers as possible and rode out the nuclear strikes in his bunker, after allowing time for the fallout to settle, he opened his bunker and started securing the equipment and supplies that he would need for his new kingdom. And one of the first things that he did was to use the results of his espionage to uncover several boltholes and seize their equipment. Using captured MPIDs, he was able to use the AutoNavs to uncover supply caches and then, a regional command base. The supplies he was able to acquire served him well as he established his empire, gathering survivors who were willing to do or suffer anything in return for a safe haven.

With access to the command base's cyrotubes, Krell was able to enter into cold sleep over carefully selected intervals. A complete mythos has built up around the "Sleeping God Krell" and his followers, brainwashed from birth are willing to do anything that their God orders them to. Krell has several Warlords (his most loyal and fanatical followers) who guard his empire while he sleeps and prepare for Krell The God's next awakening.