Beyond the Flanaess: Zihindian Lands

Merry Needfest Greyhawk explorers! I'm happy to promote a new article in a series by the legendary Greyhawk Grognard in which he expands on the Guide to the World of Greyhawk with his rendition of the previously unseen Volume IV A Catalogue of the Lands Beyond the Flanaess. Joe Bloch has previously done some amazing Darlenesque work in mapping the mega-continent of Oerik and his articles on nations, deities and events in the Baklunish Basin is unrivaled. His look in on the Lands of Zihindia builds on the dearth of previously published material we have from D&D and Gygax's Gord novels. Admittedly I never cared or even tried to explore this part of Oerik, though I knew it was always there on the far side of the Sea of Dust taunting me.  Download this article now and see how it stacks up with your vision of the southwest. In the meantime, here a is a few enticing takeaways I noticed from reading Zihindia that should get all my scholarly Greyhawk friends interested in this area. 

1. Zihindia is ancient! 576 CY is 9023 Z.C. That makes this area a few thousand years older than their former neighbors the Suloise Empire. 

2. Before the cataclysms, the Suel also migrated here and quickly slipped into Zihindian society. I can only wonder what the Scarlet Brotherhood would think of this place!

3. This land has some impressive armies. I know Joe likes his mass combat so he has kept with the spirit of Gygax's work and included each land's standing armies. And they are big for Flanaess standards. Jahind has 100k, Uttarayana has 120k (including 100 war elephants) and Mulwar can raise up to 180k! Never mind what else is going on in this land, I mainly want to see how these armies would battle it out!

4. The cities are large. Going along with the impressive armies, Zihindia has some big urban areas. Every capital clocks in at 38-44k population which is comparable to the Flanaess' best. For further comparison Greyhawk (boxed set) is 58,000 and Rel Astra is 63,900. What is Zihindia's largest city though? Pashod, the capital of Uttarayana Raj has 135,000 people. Now THAT is a medieval metropolis I'd like to see mapped out.

Stay tuned to Greyhawk Grognard because there is definitely more in store according to this issue: "Coming soon: our explorations of the mystical lands of Zihindia continue with new monsters found in those lands, new classes, spells, and magic items, complete details of the Zihindian pantheon, and more!"