Greyhawk Poll: Best Place to Retire

Welcome again Greyhawkers, this week I review my latest fan poll on the "Best Place to Retire a Character" in Greyhawk. I know just getting a PC to the point of retirement is hard, but where would they be most comfortable to settle down and spend their hard earned treasure in peace? Let's find out what you think...

Coming in first with a whopping 52% of the vote is the most popular and most obvious place, the City of Greyhawk. Yes, the Gem of the Flanaess has it all, it's politically neutral, it's centrally located, it's cosmopolitan taking in all cultures and races, and it has all the conveniences or advances of a magical/medieval society. Looking to spend thousands of gold pieces in one place? Greyhawk. Does your character want to live an expensive villa? Greyhawk. Do they want to run an inn? Greyhawk. Do they want to hang up the sword and run for mayor? Greyhawk.
So yes, any major city in the Flanaess will do, but the City of Greyhawk is for those who want to keep up on current events, stay in the limelight and perhaps come out of retirement should the world need saving again. The city is not for those who want anonymity.

What about characters who like the rustic, quiet life style, but want to stay somewhat close to the action? Coming in at 15% each is the County of Ulek and Highfolk. Ulek is nestled along the Lortmil mountains neighboring the Kingdom of Keoland, while the High Vale and Highfolk town lie along the winding Velverdyva River into the Yatil Mountains. Both places are nominally demihuman realms where humans also live in harmony. Highfolk is ruled by the Lord of the High Elves and is a land that brings images of Rivendell from the Hobbit to my mind. The County of Ulek is one of three independent Uleks, but this one is a shire-like place, like Hobbiton, but perhaps more populated like Tolkien's town of Bree where humans are integrated with halflings (and gnome).
Given the comparisons and similarities, County of Ulek and Highfolk are two prime spots for both demihumans to settle down and good or neutral-aligned human characters to remain among demihuman allies. Troublesome PCs may not apply to these places. Their likes would be better suited to the big city of Greyhawk. The one drawback of these places? They are not neutral realms and are often called on to wage war versus evil. Your retired elf or halfling might find themselves dusting off a weapon or wand before long.

Had your fill of kings and queens with their quests and intrigues? Maybe your character has a desire for a more lawful, democratic society that is still good? Well at 12% of the vote is the Yeomanry. This place is tucked next to the Crystalmist Mountains, well away from most trouble except from giant-kin. The landholders of the Yeomanry traditionally share the power here making this the best place to raise the next generation of adventurers by leaving them some property and title without having to usurp someone to get it.
Despite the quiet, remote location, the Yeomen are still a very martial society however. The finest warriors from humans to dwarves all belong to the Yeomanry League. Should trouble arise the Yeomen will not remain isolated for long, their freeholders will muster and march out to save some king even against their own interests. A retired PC would lose face if they ignored this call.

Coming in last at 2% each is Caliphate of Ekbir and the Olman Isles (Narisban). I chose these two vastly different places for a reason. They are far from the other polled locations, being decidedly beyond the Flanaess. The City of Ekbir is huge at over 60,000 people (close to Greyhawk in size) assuring that it has many of the same conveniences of Greyhawk yet the culture is the Baklunish West. As such, Ekbir's racial demographics (halflings are found here) and language barrier would be a turn off to a retiring dwarf or Cold North barbarian for instance. Ekbir is also a highly lawful good society making it attractive to paladins and some clerics (of the proper deity) but maybe not so much rouges and rangers. You can retire your PC in Ekbir in order to hide from the troubles of the Flanaess at large, because no one will think to look here.
Similarly there is Narisban, a tiny island town in the tropical Olman Isles. This place is as remote as it gets for those really looking to get away from it all. The weather is nice year round (barring storms), there's miles of beaches and while the native Olman people probably don't speak your retired character's language, they are not a threat to a former-hero (ignore those cannibal rumors). You won't have much in Narisban except what you bring with you or your can barter to get, making it a good home for resourceful outdoors types like rangers and druids. The place does get visited by pirates and sneaky Scarlet Brotherhood types however, so you can't exactly throw away your magic dagger and armor. Random jungle monsters might be a concern too, so build a sturdy hut and keep antitoxin handy.

That's all for now! Let me know where you have retired a PC to in your campaigns.

Update 6/20/2021: Since my 1000th post I've gone into semi-retirement from blogging. Maybe I was thinking about it back in 2017? You can find me in one of these places I imagine.