Greyhawkery Comics: Saga of Valkaun Dain #15

Welcome in, readers! This is the continuation of the Saga of Valkaun Dain, the greatest hero of all my 2E Monty Haul campaign. To read about his previous exploits follow the navigation links below. Anyone who has ran or played D&D, (especially a published adventure module of any edition) knows that a dungeon map in a printed book must conform the dimensions of the page (or a poster). The mightiest mega-dungeons are definitely held to this law of fantasy physics. A side effect of these margined maps is that an experienced dungeoneer like Valkaun here, will start to deduce things even an astute elven mage like his friend Mortellan cannot accept. Valkaun will not be deterred, however. See what I mean. Enjoy!

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Greyhawkery #1067

Happy Needfest! Good luck in 2024 Greyhawkers! I'll see you at Gary Con, on Legends & Lore or on Canonfire (mortellan) and Discord (greyhawkmike)

 

Dark Greyhawk Forum Letter

Well met Greyhawkers! Today I was reminded that way back in 2000, at the turn of 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition, before the internet became an everyday means of communication, I wrote a letter to the Forum page that was published in Dragon #273. This was in response to the Question of the Month" in issue #270: “Does your campaign have a particular theme? Is it swashbuckling, epic, gritty, or wahoo? Tell us all about your campaign style!”

Here is my response. Enjoy!

Dark Greyhawk

I wrote this in response to the "Question of the Month" and also to add to the discussion in #264 through #270 about evil characters. The campaign I run is set in the northwest of the Greyhawk campaign setting and uses heavy Al-Qadim sources. The Arabic feel is very refreshing. All the characters are foreigners and have had a wonderful time trying to blend in by learning new customs, dress, and especially language. They have adopted new names and even acquired their hirelings from this area. New and exotic locales always liven a static campaign. The land is full of mystery and intrigue, but the PCs fit in perfectly because they are all schemers and shady fellows as well. They always parlay or even deal with villains rather than just outright slay them. Every monster or encounter is assessed for its benefit, not just used as a stepping stone for the next encounter. Their motto is, dealing with evil is better than a pat on the back. Then, if necessary, you can always turn on evil and side with good in the end.

I do not rigidly control alignments, except in the case of priests. All the characters are decidedly shady but not evil. As long as the PCs can at least trust one another, then it doesn't matter what their alignments are. The lawful evil fighter in my group has shown many instances of paladinlike behavior toward the common man and even his foes. You don't wear alignment like a badge; your actions define your character.

In fantasy literature, the greatest heroes are what I term "shady." Elric, Conan, Fafhrd, and the Grey Mouser are all shady characters. Alignment never stopped any of them from doing the right thing in the end. The only recent characters from literature I can imagine fitting this description are Raistlin or Drizzt. Why are the shady ones the favorites? They have more fun.

It seems to me the only classes purely concerned with their alignment are the religious ones (cleric, druid, and paladin). They are the ones who have their beliefs dictated by a higher power. I am not saying you shouldn't play good guys, but some campaigns could use a change in locale and attitude.

Gen Con 2023: I'm Back!

Heya Greyhawkers! I'll be at Gen Con in Indianapolis this year, but only for one day on Saturday unfortunately. I haven't been to GenCon for seven years. I have no idea what I'll do there besides the dealer hall. So, if anyone wants to meet up and chat Greyhawk or con stuff for a while, hit me up on the comments or email me at mortellan@gmail.com

Until then, enjoy!

My GaryCon XV Recap

Greetings Greyhawk friends! I am back and with a quick report of my time at GaryCon XV at Lake Geneva, WI. This is my 5th time going in person, COVID notwithstanding. Last year we were still coming out of the pandemic, masks were a must, but now we've moved on and the con is stronger than ever. Let's get into it...

Me and my best buddies Jayson and Eric (who I've gamed with for nearly 40 years) headed upstate on Wednesday evening. We rolled in too late to hit the con proper and get badges though, so we slept early. Lesson #1 for those going for the first time, the con doesn't officially start until Thursday, but you can pick up badges the day before if you get there early. It saves some time standing in line. The weather was quite nice overall. 

On Thursday we got to our actual hotel and took the trolley to the Grand Geneva. Lesson #2 for those aspiring to go to Gary Con, pay for the gold badge because you get a week head start to get closer accommodations and sign up for games. Or you can do what a lot of my Greyhawk colleagues like Anna Meyer do, and volunteer to work the con, this will get you there early and better chance of closer hotel rooms. Anyhoo, as I am neither there to work on my vacation, nor worried about getting in exclusive games, I arrive later than normal. Kudos to all my friends who do put in the time to make Gary Con a wonderful time for all us slackers! We ran to the vendor hall for a bit, and first place I like to hit up is Black Blade Publishing and talk to Allan "Grodog" Grohe. I bought some new larger hex paper from him, so expect some wild maps from me in the coming months. (more on that later). I also got to give a shout out to this advertisement at Allan's booth. It is Hounds of Oerth by the inimitable Carlos Lising and various authors for his latest charity effort. Be sure to go to Casl Entertainment, download Hounds of Oerth and please donate to this worthy cause.

As a side note, Gary Con had a deal worked out to screen the new D&D Movie Honor Among Thieves, once a day. I did not take part in this exclusive event, because me and the guys already had an early showing of it back home. My short move review is that it is major fun, and worthy of a sequel. I had lowered my expectations after the last movie 20 years ago, but this time they made one with some heart. I can't wait to see it at home so I can try to hunt for movie easter eggs. Good times.

Another astounding thing about Gary Con XV was the number of celebrities keeps growing each year. This year, I either spoke to or saw Vince Vaughn, Todd Stashwick, Tom Morello, Paul White aka Big Show, and of course Joe Manganiello. Then there is all the author and artist celebs that I geek over, such as Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Margaret Weis, Zeb Cook, Darlene, and Erol Otus. I also made sure to get a picture with the legendary Ed Greenwood who has always been fun to interact with in the past and now is incredibly a regular among the Greyhawk community, often featuring on Lord Gosumba streams. I've been to several Gen Cons over the years and never saw this many cool celebs all at once and in such proximity. Gary Con is small and intimate, but not a place where it's overly mobbed with people. I can't wait to see who else shows next year!

Thursday afternoon I was fashionably late to the 2nd annual Legends & Lore stream from Gary Con. Anna, Jay Scott and myself showed off a lot of upcoming projects in the Greyhawk community. We took a wild variety of questions from the audience, many who were new to the show, but no less enthusiastic to banter about all things Greyhawk. Special shout out to Eric Menge and Roger Moore for attending and lending their expert commentary as well! At the end of the seminar, I handed out print copies of a new Sea Princes map I created for this con. It's a partially "burned" map that one might find in a chest or on a pirate ship. Download this map at this link for the full-size version and put it to good use!

On Thursday night me and my pals got invited to a pick-up game of 5E Ravenloft ran by the amazing DM Dave from the Twitch stream Guild Superior. This game was incredible in that he hosted over ten of us through his rendition of Curse of Strahd, starting as 0-level Barovian kids, to 5th level seasoned adventurers, and fast forwarding to 9th level heroes. It was quite the concept for a one-shot adventure and those of us who hung in there until 2am fighting Strahd did not leave disappointed (no help from me as I could not roll over a 10 to save my life). 

Kudos to Dave for putting on such a good game, and a shout out to my Barovian childhood friends, Anna, Scott, Jayson, Eric, Chris, Rob, Karl, Bob, Josh, and Chad. 

Friday morning, I played some Dungeon Crawl Classics and only lost 3 out of my 4 characters! I later caught Anna Meyer and Alysa Faden's mapping seminar. Jay as always was manning the controls so the two could regale us with their mapping projects past and present. I regret however that I didn't catch their party with Troll Lord Games to announce the Free City of Altimira Boxed Set project. There's just so much to do at Gary Con and so little time.

Friday evening me and my crew took part in our second Legends of Roleplaying D&D tourney. Last year we finished top 5 out of over a dozen tables, this year the theme was a return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, and well, we didn't do so hot finishing 9th overall. I was no help in that my elven thief got blown up by explosive runes. Timed games can make you do foolish things. This brings to mind lesson #3, crowded gaming halls are LOUD. So, get there early and sit close to the GM! At any rate, congrats to the winners of this tournament, I heard after the fact there is a trophy that is being passed on each, kinda like the Stanley Cup. I was dismayed after our game, but now I'm back on the horse! 

Saturday morning started out iffy for me. Up to this point Wisconsin weather was being pleasant but then BOOM we had six inches of snow overnight! I was up early and was cleaning the car off like I was in a hurry to get to work or something. Luckily my friends didn't panic like me, and we stayed long enough to see it melt down later that afternoon as we finished with a game of Mutant Crawl Classic by Goodman Games. Fun stuff, it reminds me of old school Gamma World. That was all we had scheduled for Gary Con however since we planned to leave afterward. We made one more run through the con, dealer room and halls, then the most important thing before heading back to Illinois, we got Wisconsin cheese! Accept no substitutes. So yes, I missed a good 1.5 days of convention time, but really it was the best con I ever attended. I did everything I set out to do. There were so many people I met from streams and the community, and I got to game with so many people for the first time. If I missed anyone, I will catch you in 2024!

Greyhawk Comic Rewind: Say What?

Hail Greyhawk mavens! I was scrolling through some of my old Greyhawk Comics scrips recently, and there are some where the annotations at the end were full on blog posts. This is what led to Greyhawkery of course. Let's go way back to July 2009 and see a fun strip celebrating the linguistic depths of D&D and the Greyhawk setting. You can read the comic in its entirety below or follow this link if you want to go back and read other installments. Enjoy!

July 23th, 2009: 'Ware and were, friends! The World of Greyhawk has a long tradition of using obscure words, unique terms and especially keen, setting specific expressions in its publications. How then did poor Mayaheine fare when Pelor came along, picked her out of her home plane and dropped her off on Oerth? Check it out. ;)

Be sure to see the annotation at the end of this one. ;)
-mortellan

No games here. If you knew all the bold terms above, then you are a hardcore Greyhawk fan indeed! But just in case I have friends and family reading this, here is a glossary:

Cold Iron Avail You: "A common exchange between warriors among the Highfolk and in Furyondy, referring to the power of cold iron against certain undead, particularly the servants of Iuz."
I Spit on the Old One: (Among Highfolk and Furyondy) "An aggressive greeting or expression of bravery or disdain." The Old One refers to the demigod of evil, Iuz.
May the Axe Grow Great: "An expression used among the exiled Knights of the Holy Shielding. It refers to their deity Heironeous (above), who possesses an axe that can grow or shrink in size. It expresses the hope that good will thrive and grow great, that the Shield Lands will be reclaimed, and that better times will come."
Starcloak: A coin from the elven realm of Celene. 1 electrum piece. Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold, silver and other metals.
Godsday: The 4th day of the week, a day of worship. The day before Godsday however is Moonday.
Thorp: A small village usually consisting of 2d4x10 people.
Fler: "The principal inlet to Lake Quag, flowing from the Burneal Forest and the Land of Black Ice beyond. It is supposed that much of this river is passable to large craft."
Meersalm: A special salve used on Heironeous by his mother, Stern Alia to make his skin virtually invulnerable. (Don't ask me why Meersalm is for barter in a small village.)
Guchek: A Wolf Nomad tribe living on the shores of Lake Quag in the trade town of Ungra Balan.
Hobilar: Light skirmishing cavalry.
Ordai: "This dialect shared by the Wolf and Tiger Nomads bears some resemblance to Ancient Baklunish, but it is most similar to dialects spoken among the distant Paynims."
Chrysoberyl: A yellowish-green gemstone worth a base 100 g.p. The Sultanate of Zeif has a secret source of Chrysoberyl that it trades as far east as Keoland.
Da'Shon: "Falling Hail, a complicated form of unarmed combat practiced by one of Xan Yae's sects (Goddess of Stealth and Mental Power)." Xan Yae sponsored the demigod of physical and mental mastery, Zuoken who is also the Master of Da'Shon.
Vetha: A Rhennee (Gypsy-folk) wise-woman, fortune-teller and mystic but not a da'shon teacher.
Rhopan: "The language of the Rhennee, Rhopan is also called 'Rhennee cant' because it borrows many terms from other languages, including the argot of several thieves' organizations. It is not related to any Oerthly tongue."
Sweet as the Mistmarsh: "A phrase used ironically throughout the Domain (of Greyhawk) to indicate a business deal or an agreement that smells fishy to the speaker."
Old Peculiar: An ale made at Peculiar Manor by Sanjaray Mohsin of Ekbir from a recipe given to him by a dwarven chieftain. "Old Peculiar is jet black and is so heavy some say it is best not drunk but eaten with a fork. It tastes like liquid peat and no one alive has ever claimed to have downed more than two pints, and usually only dwarves claim even that. Sanjaray boasts that the crucial test of the ale's readiness is that if a rat won't dissolve in a keg of it in less than five minutes, it needs more fermentation."
Dirawaen: A network of magical roads built during the height of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy. "Constructed by earth elementals tamed to the will of the famed Aerdi war-mages, these roads aided not only the passage of armies in war, but also of merchants and trade in peacetime. Neither rain nor snow gathers on the broad, black paving stones of the Dirawaen roads, rendering them passable even in winter when mundane roads are muddy swamps. Priests of Fharlanghn, god of Horizons, Distance, Travel and Roads, laid powerful dweomers on the Dirawaens allowing travelers to move quickly over long distances without tiring (travelling on a Dirawaen road doubles all land-based movement rates). It is said that no cart has ever broken a wheel, nor a horse thrown shoe or rider while travelling on a Dirawaen road."
Ktosor-hep: "Dustlakes." A feature of the Sea of Dust. "Expanses anywhere from half a mile to six miles across in which the dust is charged with a magic that causes it to take on the characteristics of water. The grains form a sort of fluid which permits the passage of air between them but retains them in a single body which supports waves and boats and swimmers as if it were a true lake. Unlike water, however, it may be made somewhat breathable if a fine cloth mask is placed over the mouth. It is therefore possible to descend to the surface beneath the dust, and there to examine in the dim and dust-laden atmosphere the ruins of towns and cities, for each dust-lake seems to have been just such a site before the Rain of Colorless Fire."
Tinklingice: Olven term for the month of late Autumn.
Ready'reat: Common Flanaess term for the same month of late Autumn.
Lirtlemark: Other name for the March of Bissel, once the northernmost frontier of the kingdom of Keoland before it was lost in the Small War against Furyondy (438 CY).
Old Ferrond: The lands from the western Nyr Dyv to the Yatil Mountains, primarily referring to the old Viceroyalty of Ferrond which served as the western frontier of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy. Old Ferrond eventually slipped away from the waning empire and broke into several smaller states including the Kingdom of Furyondy.
Thillonrian: A person (usually an Ice, Frost or Snow Barbarian) from the mountainous Thillonria Peninsula in the northeast Flanaess.
Subaltern: A junior officer (A rank not normally given to barbarians).
Bec de Corbin: A type of polearm similar to a Lucerne Hammer (neither of which barbarians prefer). In 1st edition, a Bec de Corbin cost 6 g.p. and it did 1d8 dmg vs small and 1d6 vs large, with a speed factor of 9.
Obex: An inverted two-step ziggurat shape normally used as a symbol of Tharizdun.
Ipt: A species of Ipp tree (60' high, greenish bark and hand shaped leaves) that is even larger and taller. Favored by Sylvan Elves.
Deklo: "Massive hardwoods often 15 get in diameter and over 100 feet tall. They have thick strong branches that grow almost parallel to the trunk. The leaves of the tree are nearly round and grow in thick clumps. On a mature deklo, leaves will be over 1 foot in diameter. These trees tend to grow in groves, excluding other forms of vegetation.
Dweornite: Found in the Horned Lands. "Tear-shaped semi-opaque, blue-white stones found in totally unpredictable subterranean locations. The gems have diverse magic powers." Similar to dweorstones found in the Cairn Hills and Ioun Stones.
Moonveil: A coin from the elven realm of Celene. 1 Platinum piece.
Sure as a Shielding Oath: "Refers to the Knights of Holy Shielding, famed for their loyalty. It indicates a thing is a near-certainty."
The Handmaiden: Also known as Kule or Celene, (the moon not the elven realm) the smaller of Oerth's two satellites.
The Mistress: The Great Moon (aka Raenei or Luna) upon which the months are based. Appears barren from the ground but is actually forested.
Thoqqua: A giant worm from the elemental plane of fire. Known to tunnel beneath the Sea of Dust.
Until the Starbreak: "A farewell and oath of fidelity used among the northern barbarians (Thillonrians). It has two meanings. In bitterly cold weather the exhalation of breath causes a tiny cloud of frost to form and fal, and these falling flakes are referred to as "the breaking of stars," hence, "until the starbreak" can mean "until we meet again." It can also mean "until the end of the world" since certain barbaric myths indicate that the world ends with a shower of stars that fall when the heavens break."

Hands in your pockets, eyes on your purse: "A common farewell in the City of Greyhawk, where thieves are everywhere." 

Greyhawk Fans! Gary Con 2022 - See You There!

Psst! I will be at Gary Con 2022 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin from March 24-26. There is two Greyhawk themed seminars on Thursday, March 24th. One is the 2nd Greyhawk Fandom Renaissance put on by Kristoph Nolen of Greyhawk Online, the other is a live show of Legends & Lore with me, Jay Scott and Anna Meyer. Exciting stuff. See you there! 

1000th Greyhawkery Post!

Cold iron avail you! Welcome Greyhawkery readers new and old. When I set out to do a Greyhawk themed blog 11 years ago, I was already nearing the end of a long 5-year run doing Greyhawk themed comic strips. The commentary on my comic strips had evolved into such long winded affairs, that I realized a full Greyhawk blog made more sense. In the decade or more of doing Greyhawkery, I've created more comics (Castle Greyhawk), as well as talked about D&D news, nostalgia, the fan community, and my own home campaigns set in places like the Sea Princes and the Greyhawk Wars. One thousand blog posts is a lot of words to pour out onto a screen. I've covered everything imaginable about the World of Greyhawk, from nations to geography to mysterious places, and everything in-between. I had a couple close calls along the way, where I despaired and contemplated ending the blog, but the community has always been there to push me, inspiring me to keep going and write more. I'm grateful for everyone that has read my blog. One thousand blog posts was a milestone I wanted to reach as a challenge to myself, because this time I really am putting the blog on hiatus. 

I am reluctant to say I am ending the blog because there is always more to write about, or new editions of D&D to come out, and perhaps someday when I'm 70, a newly published Greyhawk setting to meticulously pick over. For now though, I really have hit a wall creatively and it seems better to me to press the pause button than to stress myself trying to come up with content twice a week, in order to keep up an arbitrary pace I set a decade ago, back when my ideas were fresh and indeed I had more time and energy. The other dynamic at play, and this is not a bad thing, is that there is a lot more going on in the Greyhawk community. Indeed the most I've seen since the 2000s when Living Greyhawk hit the scene. When I started Greyhawkery, Paizo had already lost their Dragon/Dungeon magazine license, Living Greyhawk was done, and it was more or less just Greyhawk Grognard and me, plus the hold-out fan sites, fan forums and fanzines when it came to dedicated Greyhawk content. Fast forward to 2021 and there is SO MUCH MORE fan content being produced that I feel I can take a sabbatical! 

That's right folks, I'm doing fine and I'm not technically going anywhere. I'm still going to write and draw at my leisure (more Ull?). If something seems particularly good I might even post it on Greyhawkery, or submit it to one of our other excellent fan content outlets. I plan on reading more (I'm terrible at that), continuing to stream (or chat in streams), and hopefully run or play in more Greyhawk rather than just talk about it. I also need to go back through these 1000 posts and fix some dead links, organize my "best of" section, and finish some primer stuff on the home page. One more thing (since this post is written at the tail end of the COVID pandemic), ideally I'd love to get back to a physical convention someday to meet all the Greyhawk friends I've made. 

In the meantime, I'd like to acknowledge and direct you to all the fabulous content creators out there that I follow or collaborate with occasionally. These people will keep us all entertained in the years to come, and who knows someday maybe they'll inspire me to regularly blog again. Enjoy!

Joseph Bloch is my original inspiration to blog and write articles. At his blog Greyhawk Grognard, Joe continues to create content such as maps and gazetteers Beyond the Flanaess, and he even finds time to make fun YouTube videos revisiting classic D&D products. I met and hung out with Joe a couple times at Gary Con, and its been a pleasure. Please follow Greyhawk Grognard if you are new to this community, there is a wealth of content to be found on his blog.

Carlos Lising is always foremost on my mind when I discuss Greyhawk with people. Ever since those long Thursday night Greytalks, I could tell this guy was in a whole different league than me (not the NHL though). Now he runs CaslEntertainment where he has published dozens of modules with an old-school flair, all play tested at conventions so you know they are good (I can attest to his DM skill from meeting at Gary Con). To go with his publishing efforts, Carlos has a stream on Twitch, he does charity events, and he still finds time to collaborate on other Greyhawk projects. You must check out Carlos' work if you haven't already!

David Leonard has the blog Greyhawk Musings where he has been putting out the best deep dives on Greyhawk history. David also has an associated Facebook group, and is also a recurring guest on the Lord Gosumba Twitch streams. His research and commentary is always top-notch, which is why his blog posts are among my favorites.

Tommy Kelly also runs an inspired blog called Greyhawk Stories, where he showcases a variety of fiction for Greyhawk, and does author interviews. His serialized novel the Hateful Wars has been a saga unlike any told in the Greyhawk community. If you have fiction of any kind set in the World of Greyhawk that you want to share with a wider audience, Tommy is the person you should talk to!

Anna B. Meyer should need no introduction. She is of course the pre-eminent cartographer in the Greyhawk community, if not the entire RPG industry. Anna is definitely among the top people who have influenced me to create and share stuff for the community. I've been streaming and hanging out with Anna at conventions for quite a long time now, and she is always gaming, chatting, and developing new projects. Anna never rests. If you are aspiring to make custom maps, or do any sort of content for Greyhawk, talking to Anna will motivate you! Check out her website for downloads of the best maps on the internet, and for updates on her future work. She also has the Flanaess Geographical Society on Facebook.

 

Jay Scott is a relatively recent, but strong influence on me and the entire Greyhawk community. His time put into his campaign, his drive to stream, and his talent at community-building is truly awe-inspiring. Jay does old school 1e/2e AD&D, with elaborate miniature and terrain set-ups, all streamed on his LordGosumba channel on Twitch. Jay is always active online, running games for his home group, or mixing in guest players from the community like Anna. His organizational efforts have now given us an annual Virtual GreyhawkCon, and has lifted up Virtual GaryCon during the pandemic. Jay has an amazing "Gabbin" talk show on his channel with Anna every week where they bring on creative guests from our community and often from the D&D industry (past and present). Jay has incredible sponsors for his channel, and is always hosting prize giveaways to his viewers. That alone is worth looking into his channel if you haven't already. Oh yes, and every Wednesday you can watch Jay, Anna and myself on Legends & Lore yakking about Greyhawk topics until we drop. The content never ends at Lord Gosumba.

Casey Brown incidentally is a huge asset to the Greyhawk community. His (Unofficial Living Greyhawk) Bandit Kingdoms Summary continues to be a legendary publication, the only one of its kind. If only we had more books like his. More recently, Casey has been the go-to contact for former Living Greyhawk writers to be interviewed on the Lord Gosumba channel, thus allowing more fans to reengage with the active Greyhawk fanbase.

Speaking of the community, here is a bunch more of my creative friends!

Bryan Blumklotz is a devoted loremaster and creator of the finest Greyhawk heraldry in the community. I've had the pleasure to meet Bryan at Garycon, and be on a panel with him. I hope to do so again someday. Besides his work on Canonfire! Bryan runs the Facebook group Greyhawk Resources where you can see some of the best discussion and content from the past and present posted on a near daily basis! 

Denis Tetreault is the mad mind behind Maldin's Greyhawk, which I'm positive is the longest running Greyhawk fan site on the internet. You might remember Maldin from his work on Melkot and Irongate, plus the amazing print revision of the City of Greyhawk maps in the pages of Living Greyhawk Journal. You can still find those digital maps, and much much more on his website. Denis is a very good friend of mine, going back to the late night Greytalk chats. More recently Denis has been on our Greyhawk streams, and he has been hosting my old Greyhawk Comic strip for several years now. Oh and he has a Facebook group, Greyhawk Adventures. I'm looking forward to whatever new stuff ol' Maldin will put on his website in the future.

Jason Zavoda of the blog Hall of the Mountain King has put out unique Greyhawk content at a prolific pace. Jason is a very knowledgeable guy that I have enjoyed talking to in chats and on stream, in fact you might know him best from his Greyhawk index.

Scott Casper is a self-published game designer and fiction writer. His Castle Greyhawk graphic novel and webcomic has been the best collaboration of my Greyhawk career. It's unreal to think that for several years I illustrated the adventures of Tenser, Yrag, and Robilar. Scott is above all things an old school gamer who is always involved in running or playing at conventions. To see what Scott is up to check out his blog Scottenkainenland.

Allan Grohe of the blog From Kuroth's Quill, also owns one of the oldest Greyhawk fansites on the web, Grodog's Greyhawk. For longer than I can remember, Allan has been a highly respected member of the Greyhawk community. You can usually find him at game conventions either working a booth or running old school games such as his long running Castle Greyhawk campaign based on Gygax's original maps.

Scott McMillan and his Aerdi History blog is one you need to add to your reading list. I've known Scott a long time from forums and chats. I put Scott's research and commentary on Greyhawk lore up there with the best in the community. 

Charles Akins has the blog Dragons Never Forget. (formerly Dyvers) He is a humorous guy that I've interacted with for several years now. Charles is also author of the annual Great Blog Roll Call, so he knows the gaming community quite well.

I haven't mentioned enough Greyhawk streaming and video creators yet, here are some favorites...

John Burchfield runs the incredible Twitch stream Blue Box RPG. John is a master of his DM craft, he runs live game sessions with a very talented squad of players. He also hosts a talk show on his channel called the Loremaster's Arcanum which can often be seen live ahead of my own Legends & Lore. John and the folks at BlueBox have an insanely devoted fan following (shout out Mad Chatters!), which have only added to the growing Greyhawk community. I hope to some day get on BlueBox now that I have the free time. If you haven't watched or heard of BlueBox yet then I only have one question for you, "What Are You Doing?!"

DMWill is one of the hardest working, most fun people in the gaming community. He has a blog called the Greyhawk Companion where he posts original game material for 5E. Of course Will also has a gaming stream WickedStudiosLLC where he does a variety of games. Be sure to follow Will!

WuTangPiglet carries on the tradition of Greyhawk Channel as he brings the action on Greyhawk Tales. Wu is a riveting DM, and has a fun group of players. They are always looking to add someone to the table too, so stop by and have a look!

WilyHobbit is running Greyhawk 5E with his Greyhawk Lives episodes. Wily has always been a devoted fan of the streaming community and now he is actively contributing with his own hosted games. Please give WilyHobbit a follow.

Oronir is all the way from Belgium and he is the creator of the Grey League a unique and educational Youtube series. Oronir really does his research and is only getting better with each episode on his channel. I say it a lot, but if you haven't seen the Grey League yet, go there now.

DMGalger has an up and coming stream on his channel, SorrowsTale. You should check out his ongoing game, it's a 5E Greyhawk campaign called "We of Oerik". 

There is so many people creating and sharing content online, I'm struggling to remember them all!

The folks at the fan site Dragonsfoot have always run with the old school Greyhawk crowd. This top-notch community is where the late Len Lakofka and other fans that I know continue to chat and work on projects such as the Footprints ezine. 

Big Mac is a superfan from the UK, and I know him best from The Piazza forums where one can interact with the Greyhawk, Spelljammer, or just about any D&D fanbase. Big Mac can be found on just about any stream or chat these days. I look forward to discussing more with him in the future.

Dave Guerreri and the Greyhawk Reborn staff have continued to write and DM new Greyhawk adventures at conventions since the end of LG. Check out their Facebook group and website for more info. This group knows their craft and always have a bunch of games offered at each event. I met Dave and some of his co-creators many years ago at Gen Con. They have been carrying the torch for a long time now, so give them some love.

Scott Agnew is an amazing entrant to the content creator club. He has a Patreon for a completely converted 5E Greyhawk Rebooted. Check out this stuff, it's quite amazing. If you see him on Facebook give him some feedback.

Last, but not least!

None, I repeat NONE of my Greyhawk contributions would've been possible without the fansite Canonfire! and the esteemed author Gary Holian. His site is where in 2002, I first started sharing articles, replying to forum posts, and taking part in late night Greytalks. It is here I made dozens and dozens of friends in the Greyhawk community. Time flies! I credit Gary "PluffetSmedger" for keeping Canonfire going for so long, even when it's seemed near dead, but now from what I've seen it's getting vibrant again with a new Post Fest and other popular fan projects. Gary has always been accessible to the community, including to collaborate on content (albeit at a glacial pace), but in the present he is way more active. You can find him on the Canonfire Discord, or on Lord Gosumba stream either trolling us from chat or participating as a guest.

Speaking of Canonfire, there is so many contributors on that site I cannot list them all, you will just have to get involved in sharing Greyhawk content, meet these fellow creators on the forum or discord, then feel welcomed into the greater community. There are a few notable people active on the site that I can praise though. If I miss anyone don't worry I'll thank you in person eventually.

Rasgon aka Ripvanwormer is probably the smartest loremaster in the entire Greyhawk community, but modesty keeps him out of the spotlight. Rasgon can still be found on the forums though ready to answer your questions in extreme detail.

CruelSummerLord is one of the most prolific writers of articles and fiction on CF. CSL is the example for those who have a lot of content they want to share and how to serialize it over a long span. He's a legend.

 

Rich DiIoia has been a huge contributor to CF for a long time as well. Known as "Longetalos" he currently is very involved in the community, heading projects on Canonfire like Touring the Flanaess. He is a fixture in chats and on discords. Rich is also a helluva DM I hear. ;)

Cebrion has been an author, editor, and forum moderator on Canonfire for many years. Though I would say I'm not actively staff on CF anymore, I have always valued spending time with LordCeb the most on the Greyhawk forums and the old Thursday night chats. Waaaagh!

Brian Dougherty is another amazing author who has graced Canonfire and my blog. "Braggi" on the forums, Brian went as far as to do an insanely cool conversion of my Wonders of Ull: Old Skool Edition. He is also a master at heraldry and much more. I hope Brian keeps producing more Greyhawk content!

Finally, and just as important, much of our Greyhawk community is tied together and curated by the skillful dedication of Kristoph Nolen. He runs the resurgent Greyhawk Online. which has been around for years, but now it facilitates even more online Greyhawk content than ever. GHO hosts not only my first Greyhawk Comic, but many other classic fan websites, and archived Living Greyhawk websites. GHO also hosts a Discord, and has the BEST Greyhawk Wiki you'll ever find (kudos to the Wiki team, I know you guys and appreciate your work). Kristoph of course is the editor in chief Oerth Journal our longest running and most important fan project, now almost on its 35th issue as of this post. Under Kristoph he has brought the OJ to print with the help of Patreon. I was fortunate enough to have met him (and many other Greyhawkers mentioned above) and contributed to the first print issue ever, given out at GaryCon XI. The Oerth Journal team is always looking for more authors, artists, and editors. If you want to get involved in the Greyhawk community and make a name for yourself, this is your opportunity. Kudos to all those authors and artists, too many to name, that have been instrumental in creating the Oerth Journal.

That's enough I think. Now let me see what Greyhawk stuff you can create. I can't wait to read, comment and discuss more Greyhawk content in the future. Until next time!

Very Best of Greyhawkery

Welcome again Greyhawk lords and ladies! Today I'd like to point out some of my best posts from the past. I have a whole subpage dedicated to the Best of Greyhawkery though. So this post will be my picks for ten of the Very Best of Greyhawkery. Let's get this started, in no particular order. Enjoy!

Virtuosos of Villainy: Eli Tomorast is my love letter to this vile wizard of the Maure Castle fame. Few villains in my home games have been as hated as Tomorast. His distinctive demon claws kind of make him stand out as well. The art for Tomorast by Kalman Andrasofszky, James Ryman and Wayne Reynolds is the best. I also recently learned that Paizo publisher Erik Mona himself owns the original cover painting of Eli from Dungeon #112. Jealous! I wish I had done more Villainy articles like this, but really few ever stand the test of time as well as Eli.

New Greyhawk Map: South Seas is to date, my masterpiece in cartography. This map as far as I can tell is the most downloaded and talked about on my blog. No wonder why, there are few like it. I made the South Seas map for my long-running pirate-themed Sea Princes campaign, but the whole effort was mostly research over actual map making skill. I took what we knew of the inset map from the 1983 Glossography, and combined it with the extended Hepmonaland from the Scarlet Brotherhood sourcebook. Then I really tied it into current Greyhawk by adding all the new locations from the Savage Tide AP such as Sasserine, Scuttlecove, and yes, thanks to Gary Holian the Isle of Dread to the far southwest. Could have I done more with this map? Of course! Artistically its just a line drawing with some clever clip art and layers to give it an old nautical chart look. I encourage anyone to modify, improve, or expand upon this map.

Sword of Kas Through Editions is a short, but effective article that I researched back in 2015. Little was I to know it would end up being one of my top ten most viewed posts. The Sword of Kas is one of those iconic items from D&D so I'm sure people often come across this post in their searches. Magic swords is a popular subject anyways on this blog, but this one beat them all.

Greyhawk Wizards: The Pentad is a short, but inspired post that I did on a hypothetical all-female wizard group ala the Circle of Eight. Greyhawk is full of wizards (or lich-wizards), and besides Iggwilv, it's a male dominated world. I had fun piecing this team together, especially as an attempt to bring Ed Greenwood's creation from the Wizards Three articles, Rautheene, back into the setting since she bears no mention anywhere else.

5 Reasons to Visit the Bandit Kingdoms is the first in a series that I hit upon in 2015 as a way to introduce adventure ideas in the major areas of the Flanaess to new DMs who might otherwise have no idea what to use or where to find it. I'm happy to see this similar effort done to all the nations of the game setting through Canonfire's Touring the Flanaess postcard community project.

Rulers of Ull: Ulzhak the Golden and Kuchakar the Dragon Slayer is two of my favorite home-spun creations for Ull, but I'm counting this as one item. I had intended to do a story on all the rulers of Ull, but that is a tiring exercise I'll save for another day. Instead I did the two that to me, were the most action packed and heroic. These historical rulers were invented as a way to show even lowly Ull can develop some heroes, and that there is epic quests to be had there as well.

Pirate Fleets of Greyhawk is one of my best articles for Greyhawkery, and this has made an appearance in Oerth Journal as well. In my opinion, my Sea Princes material is significantly better than my Ull series, because I've actually ran my friends through this in multiple linked campaigns. The pirate fleets above most of my pirate articles informs best what the factions and political climate of the South Seas is like. Check it out!

Ring of Five Questions: Creighton Broadhurst is the first of an amazing run of interviews that I did from 2011-2012. Creighton is one of my favorite LG authors back in the day (he made Rary the Traitor cool again) and he was an occasional visitor to our nightly Greyhawk chats. He was kind enough to be my first "industry" person involved in the blog. I would go on to pose my custom set of 5 Greyhawk questions to other authors and artists. More recently I resurrected the Ring of Five for all Greyhawk fandom to share their favorite answers regarding our shared hobby.

Furyondy-Iuz War Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 is part of my epic 2E "Greyhawk Wars" campaign that spanned 24 in-game years. Back in the 90's I kept quite good notes and wrote battle reports on our campaign and such. It all culminated in the final war against Iuz which was probably inspired by Tolkien's the War of the Rings. Check out these battle reports, perhaps they will inspire other DMs to wage war on the Flanaess like good old Gygax probably intended!

Greyhawk A-Z: Spells is not the even close to the first in my A-Z series, but its the most impressive in my opinion. Anyone who is well read on published Greyhawk could easily put together an A-Z list of names, places, or items, but Greyhawk specific spells? That was such an undertaking that I spent hours researching books and magazines to fill the list, and I still had to cheat a few times. Then I did a second A-Z list cause I had so much left over. 

That's all folks! Be sure to check out the Best of Greyhawkery page link at the top where I will hopefully someday have everything categorized for your convenience. Until the Star Break!

Mike's Greyhawk Pronunciations

Howdy Greyhawkers! Okay folks, this is a dumb, silly post, but I don't care. So I've been reading old Dragon mags and came across Frank Mentzer's old pronunciation guide article from Dragon #93. After amusing myself with this often joked about and debated topic I reasoned that I have never covered pronunciation on the blog, so why not? 36 years after the fact, let's compare how I pronounce Greyhawk proper names versus the learned Pluffet Smedger. Oh by the way, for those who have never seen the article, it's written as if Mentzer got his info directly from the meta-story author of the Greyhawk Guide, Pluffet Smedger of Rel Mord University. So if Ed Greenwood has Elminster, Frank has Smedger evidently. Check it out:

The learned Dr. Smedger popped in yesterday. And I do mean popped. The sound of teleportation is quite audible at close range - such as just behind one's chair. 

"Pluffie, you twit, I asked you not to do that!," I greeted him politely. "I even rearranged the furniture so you couldn't."

He returned my salutations with his usual grace. "You call that furniture? Besides, you can't confuse me; this place is 'very familiar.' Got a copy of Leadbeater's Astral Plane?" 

"Probably. Check the files."

... 

 A few minutes later, Pluffie returned; apparently his mind was still on Leadbeater. "Just as I thought!" he grumbled, but in the tongue of the Flanaess. "He confuses them utterly." He gestured violently with his wand. I responded in the same language, out of courtesy. "What do you expect? That was written in London, in 1895. You've seen more devas than he has. Please put that wand away." 

He looked startled, and switched to Cammon. "More what? Devas? Your accent is terrible." He was right; I'm not very good with the Flan language. 

"Now that you mention it, could you check a few pronunciations for me?" 

"Gee, I think I might might have to rush off. . ." he said, standing idly and pretending to read my diplomas (rather obvious, even for him; cash is his weak spot). I named a price a bit more generous than is my wont, but then, he still had his wand out. After making several unnecessary remarks about my habits and my heritage, he finally agreed, and dictated the following list to my Scroll of Transcription.

Okay let's get it the pronunciations. I'm only focusing on the Greyhawk specific names (no drow business). First listing in bold is Smedger, anything in parentheses is comments on how I say the word. The notation is all Mentzer, so if you need help to decipher this check out Dragon #93 if you want the full experience. Enjoy!

Aerdi     AYR-dee     (ditto this)

Almor    @L-m0r     (same I'm fairly certain)

Beetu     bee-TOO     (ditto again, and please why is this town even on the list?)

Belissica     be-LISS-i-ka    (I probably do say it that way or BEL-iss-i-ka)    

Blashikmund     BL@SH-ik-mund, or bl@sh-IK-mund    (can't say I've ever tried this one, I'll go #1)

Boccob     BAK-ab    (I've said BO-kob. my whole life, now typing this, that seems absurd *shrug*)

Burneal     BURN-ee-ul    (yup!)

Corusk     K0R-usk    (I'm certain I say it that way, or kor-OOSK when I'm being fancy)

Dimre     DIM-ray (duh)

Erac     E-r@k (no way Pluffet, this is just a clever respelling of Eric/Erik)

Erythnul     e-RITH-nul    (sounds about right)

Fharlanghn     far-LANG-n     (sounds correct, I love saying this name)

Flanaess     fla-NES     (for years I said fla-NAY-ess, but I've gradually warmed to Smedger's way)

Grugach     GROO-gatch     (i think I do say it this way, however not sure why it isn't GROO-gak)

Heironeous     hayr-O-nee-us    (this one changes alot. I think I've mainly said hay-RON-ee-us)

Incabulos    in-K@B-yoo-lus    (this works for me!)    

Iuz    yooz, or EE-uz    (#1, nope, #2, nope.... I am Team EYE-ooz)

Johydee    jo-HY-dee, or johee-DEE    (not sure, I think I say jo-HEE-dee)

Kelanen    KEL-a-nen    (spot on!)

Keoghtom     KEE-o-tum    (this works, but I have said KEE-o-tom most often)

Kyuss     kee-OOS    (nope, I say KY-oos)

Leomund    LEE-o-mund    (Lakofka approved)

Lolth     lalth, or lolth    (#2 for me, definitely not "loth" too)

Mordenkainen     M0R-den-kay-nen    (sounds right I suppose!)

Murlynd     MUR-lind    (ehhh...I think I say it MURL-ind)

Nystul     NY-stul, or NIS-tul    (#2 for me, though I think I like #1 better)

Obad-hai     o-bad-HY    (on the mark)

Oerid     O-rid    (yup)

Oerik    O-rik    (definitely)

Oerth    OYth    (NO! How do you go from O-rid, O-rik, to OYth? It's O-urth. Fight me!)

Otiluke     O-ti-look    (I'm fine with this)

Phaulkon     FAL-kun    (eh, I say fall-KON)

Pholtus     FOL-tus    (yes, this is okay)

Quaal     kwal, or kwayl    (#1 here, but #2 intrigues me, given the feather token association)

Quag     kw@g    (I think I say it this way, unsure)

Tenser    TEN-ser    (right on)

Tharizdun     thar-IZ-dun    (This sounds right, but I might say thar-iz-DOON when being spooky)

Vecna     VEK-na    (kinda hard to mess up)

Zuggtmoy     ZUG-tmoy (weird one, I think me and my friends say ZUG-it-muah, no idea)

Alrighty, that was fun, wish there was more on this list. Here is some bonus ones of my own in case you're curious:

Ull    UHL    (not OOL)

Nyr Dyv    near div    (yeah, yeah)

Furyondy    fur-ee-ON-dee  

Geoff    jeff    (though for years I said GEE-off)

Zeif    ZIEF    (though recently I'm won over to ZEEF)

Verbobonc    vair-BO-bon (silent 'c')

Adri    AY-dree    (though I don't discourage AH-dree)

Suel    SOO-ul    (sorry Rich haha)

Rao    roww    (said RAY-o for a long time)

Wastri    WASTE-ree    (i mean WAST-ree is good, but the word waste makes him seem awful)

Baklunish    bak-LOON-ish    (decent?)

Iggwilv    EEG-wilve    (yup, that's it for me)

Ring of Five Questions: Round 14

Well met Greyhawk patrons! If you've been following this blog for the last month or two, you'll know this is the fourteenth round of my ongoing Return of the Ring of Five Questions column! If you're finding this column for the first time, this is a special community participation feature of Greyhawkery. Search back and read the previous installments (Round 1-13) then email me at mortellan@gmail.com with your own five responses. Remember, you can be as short or wordy as you like in these responses. Disclaimer: I will keep taking entries until the end of 2020 so hurry up and respond before Needfest is almost here!

This round we have another special entrant to the Ring, my friend and creative compadre, Scott Casper whose novella Castle Greyhawk, I helped bring to life as a graphic novel for several years online. Scott is an old school stalwart of the Greyhawk community who is no stranger to the Ring of Five Questions. Check out Scott's original interview from way back in 2012. Those Five Questions were tailored to him, so this time around he will be answering the same as everyone else, but a couple of the Q's are still classic. Since Scott holds a special place in my history with the Greyhawk community, I'm going to take his return to the Ring up a notch. Let's see how 2020 Scott measures up to the Greyhawk community, 2012 Scott and...ME. Yes I'm throwing myself in the Ring at long last for my final answers. Ready? Enjoy!

Q1. What is your favorite realm or region in the World of Greyhawk setting? 

Scott: Last time my answer was South Province, and I still love that region (the only time in recent years I’ve written anything for Canonfire was when South Province needed some representation in a project), but my last two campaigns have been set in the City of Greyhawk. To an extent, I’ve tried making this the Greyhawk City of the Original Greyhawk Campaign, but I do get lazy on occasion and borrow from Carl Sargent’s amazing City of Greyhawk boxed set. I don’t want to go 100% boxed set version because I’ve already done that -- that was, in fact, my second Greyhawk campaign ever back around 1990. But it’s also just too good to ignore.

Anyway, short version is that my answer is the City of Greyhawk, or perhaps I should say the Domain of Greyhawk -- since Castle Greyhawk is in the domain, but not in the city!

Mike: Scott wisely changes his answer from 2012. The South Province (Ahlissa) can be a cool place to make your own, but the City (and yes, Domain) of Greyhawk is too iconic in my view to deny. for that reason I too choose Greyhawk as my favorite location. Unlike Scott, I was never versed in Gygax's novel/home game version of the city, but my best campaigns have always been built around the 2E city boxed set, the updates from Roger Moore's The Adventure Begins and the later Living Greyhawk Journal (and Denis Tetreault map) additions. Greyhawk has all the best NPCs, organizations, economy and yes, magic. 

People know me and assume from my extensive Ull and Sea Princes writings on Greyhawkery that these are my favorites, but the Gem of the Flanaess and its surroundings (of course the iterations of Castle Greyhawk) is where most of players have enjoyed adventuring and establishing their characters homes. Every time I run a game there it's like returning home, so it's never difficult to DM. Good start Scott, let's continue... 

Q2. If you could actually be one Greyhawk deity which one would it be? 

Scott: Last time I said Boccob, but that was a joke answer. I don’t want the responsibility of being a greater god. I’d choose to be a quasi-deity, like Heward. He gets to hang out with the gods, play the organ at their parties, but doesn’t have a portfolio or sphere of influence he has to worry about.

Mike: Scott has had years to reflect and become humble. Boccob was a choice of more than a few people in the Ring too. I myself was very tempted to take the Uncaring, then it dawned on me. No I'm not talking about Pelor, or Pholtus! I would chose to be Wee Jas, goddess of Magic, Death, Law and Vanity. Am I vain, no never, but if I were a god I'd have to shake Scott's concern about responsibility. Sure, Heward is a fine choice, alot of the Quasi and Hero-gods get to adventure around still, party with all the Mordys and Zagygs out there and he's right, don't have to answer to anyone. But for me, after some thought I'm WEE JAS. Yeah, yeah, she's a goddess and I'm fine with that! No one else went for her, so surprise!

Boccob has magic and is greater. Nerull has death and is greater. Wee Jas however kind of plays the middle at times, which is very like me. She can be greater or intermediate depending on her mood perhaps? She is lawful, which is also like me. She is also vain and ambitious for more portfolios. This part is not like me, but if I'm Wee Jas, then heck with it!   

Q3. You have one wish. Which Greyhawk module or accessory would you do over or fix?

Scott: I never got this question eight years ago! I’ve seen a lot of answers already that seem like really good answers, but I am going to stake my claim on the Rob Kuntz Archives. His maps and keys to El Raja Key (or Maure Castle, as we know it on Oerth), including some of the levels that also became part of Castle Greyhawk, are on that CD-ROM product (maybe not the original original versions, though; I suspect the keys were rewritten sometime in the early 1980s, given some of the monsters you can encounter there). I have been fleshing out those levels with more detail for recent campaigns. While not technically a “fix,” I am tempted to share my more detailed version of El Raja Key.

Mike: Mr. Casper shows he is a paragon of old school Gygaxian Greyhawk. I'm a big fan of Kuntz too, I love Maure Castle probably more than Castle Greyhawk in fact. Eli Tomorast is my boy! I also have the CD-ROM Scott talks about and it's a wealth of unpublished lore. I got at Gary Con, so I'm not sure where you can still get a copy from. Maybe Scott will know? Anyhoo, I imagine bringing RJK's El Raja Key to life in a finished product would fulfill the wishes of quite a few friends of ours in the community.

Myself though, I have ranted several times in the RoFQ column about the Five Shall be One/Howl from the North/Greyhawk Wars storyline. I will stick with this being my hill to die on for a revision. Sargent was merely taking Gygax's cues and was steering the Flanaess to war. I like wars as anyone who has read Greyhawkery knows. The quest for the 5 Blades of Corusk should have united Thillonria to go conquer lands to the south, Bone March, Pale, North Province, etc. That's how it played out in my 2E campaigns and I think GH Wars as published could have its Great Kingdom/Iuz subplots and still allow for the barbarian faction led by a very real and freed Vatun to carve a new power group in the north. If not that, the mods could be reworked for a South Seas variation like I did in 3E for my players. Instead of questing in the cold north the blades are scattered across the tropics. Instead of barbarians, you need a party of Suel pirates. Good times!

Q4: You're putting together an all-star Greyhawk NPC group. Who is your number one pick? 

Scott: I love Tenser, Robilar, Terik, Yrag, Ehlissa, Murlynd, and all the characters from our Castle Greyhawk webcomic. Eneever Zig, the wizard who goes into the Castle Greyhawk dungeons with Gord and Chert in Night Arrant, has featured prominently in two of my campaigns now. If I’m going by canon characters -- I am going to stick with our main protagonist, Tenser.

If I can include non-canon NPCs, though….I loved using this mage named Mokli in my old South Province campaign. He was based on Quinton, from the comic book Thieves & Kings (created by Mark Oakley). He’s supposedly extremely powerful, but he dresses like a poor apprentice and is never seen casting a spell, ever. He showed up at various points in the campaign, looking for the PCs because he had vital information to tell them about what they needed to do next -- but then something would always happen that would interrupt him and keep him from being able to tell them. It made him seem like he knew a lot about what was happening behind the scenes of the campaign, but every time it was a bluff -- I didn’t actually have anything prepared to tell the PCs. They were good sports and always played along. I’ve been blessed with some great players over the years.

Mike: Good ol' Tenser is a bold choice. He is indeed a wonderful protagonist throughout all Greyhawk lore. He is near and dear to the Greyhawk Domain as well, and someone who a quasi-deity like Heward would hang out with too! I definitely enjoyed drawing Tenser (and all those NPCs he mentioned) for the comics all those years. You could see his progression in power through the chapters, though we never quite got to the pinnacle. Still, as NPCs go he would be a much better team leader than Mordy who always manipulates from the shadows. Also Scott, since we're pals, I will give you Mokli as well. I like nostalgia and sometimes your own creations are better. Yup another mage to run with Tenser. Wizards  is where all the glory is at in Greyhawk.

For myself, I like wizards too. I was tempted to go with an obvious good choice like Mordenkainen, Rary or even Tomorast, but as cool as it would be to have a guy with demon-hands on my team, I realized that I need a more powerful and classy #1 pick. You guessed it, I'm going with Iggwilv the Witch-Queen of Perrenland. She is quasi-deity level, she can make artifacts, she can trap demon-lords and she has a lot of connections in the D&D multiverse. Am I worried about Iggy usurping me? Heck no, I'm Wee Jas remember? Girl power! Okay, one more question to go...

Q5. If you could possess one artifact or relic from Greyhawk lore, which would it be?

Scott: If I’m Heward then naturally I want my Mystical Organ (insert your own dirty jokes here). But I also want the Mighty Servant of Leuk-O because I always pictured that being Voltron.

Mike: Okay Scott you talked me into it again. Since he is Heward and has to impress at those parties in Tenser's Castle, I will grant the Mystical Organ is a given. The Mighty Servant though, yeah that gets the job done. Mentioning Voltron definitely plucks at my 80's cartoon heart-strings too. So there you go buddy, two for one! Well played!

To finish off this truly epic round of the Ring, I am going to go with the best artifact in all of D&D and probably RL mythology, the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga. Skip Twitchell first picked the hut back in round 4 and that stuck with me. If I'm the ultimate deity of magic and death with the ultimate witch queen at my side, then our base of operations is going to be mobile and plane-hopping! Baba Yaga would have to be in this witchy group too, I can't kick her out of her own home after all. Who knows, maybe when we visit the City of Greyhawk, Heward and his organ can entertain us at a party inside the hut. Well that was a load of fun everybody. 

Thanks to Scott Casper for his entry. I hope you were tickled by my answers as well. There is still time, send me an email if you'd like to share your five answer with the Greyhawk community!