Glittering Isles of Greyhawk

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my own Greyhawk projects like Greyhawkery, or Castle Greyhawk that I neglect to mention and promote some of the other great Greyhawk fan-authors out there. One worth directing all eyes toward is Anthony Conrad Edwards. Mr. Edwards is notable for game and novel writing through his Ravenlore Press in addition to an excellent blog From the Raven's Quill where he has been parceling out details on a project of his; the Realms of the Glittering Isles.

The Glittering Isles is a "Beyond the Flanaess" type location set in the Solnor Ocean east of the Great Kingdom. Anthony explains all in his prologue post on the realms, but it's basically his home campaign built by stitching together several published modules and reworking them to fit into the greater Greyhawk setting. The isles were once a hidden land exclusively inhabited by grey elves and faerie-kind, but over time through certain machinations and migrations, it has become inhabited by a variety of races and cultures. I particularly like how he has tied the elven demigod Ye'Cind (of Recorder fame) into the Glittering Isles. Ye-Cind isn't heavily developed in D&D canon yet he has an artifact named after him, so I say own it!

Anthony's write-ups on the Glittering Isles is reminiscent of the Guide to the World of Greyhawk format, from his overview of the Realms to his charts on populations and PC birthplaces. Anthony has also introduced a clever silver-based monetary system, the Aerdy Pound, which is inspired by a Footprints magazine article by Joe Maccarrone.

One last thing, I especially like how the Glittering Isles has Corsairs who ply the Hepmonaland coast and interact with other seafaring nations like the Lordship of the Isles. This makes Anthony's isles very much in tune with my own Hold of the Sea Princes campaign where I'm striving to bring the action to the southern and eastern waters of the Flanaess instead of the oft-published inland areas of Greyhawk. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Edward's efforts