Greyhawk A-Z: Cities & Towns

Howdy Greyhawkers! I. As usual I need something to write about this week. I miss an opportunity when we recently talked about artifacts on Legends & Lore, and there is so much being put out in the community I don't know where to start sometimes. So instead I'll do one of my regular columns. If you have seen my A to Z column before just go to the Best of Greyhawkery and follow the links. This week I'm going to muse over various towns and cities of the Flanaess. Let's get to it!

Admundfort: Capital of the Shield Lands. I always pictured this place as an impenetrable fortress-city on a rocky island many miles out in the Lake of Unknown Depths. How could Iuz really take it over, expect by magic or flying? Otherwise, it's the perfect place to defend if you're a Knight of Holy Shielding. Although, if your primary mode of combat is horseback, it must be a pain to travel to shore and back. I imagine the knights hate being called back to see the earl.

Beetu: B-2...Bingo! Joking aside, this Nyrond city of 11,000 is featured in the Marklands, an indispensable source book. Get it! Beetu is a medieval town oppressed by a local count. It's near the Celadon Forest as well, so it's the perfect place to set a Robin Hood style campaign.

Courwood: I always loved the name of this town. I also thought it was part of Celene. I know I'm not the only one, it's got "wood" in the name for Corellon's sake! The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer disagrees. It belongs to the County of Ulek. Boo. What is Courwood's deal? I don't know!

Dorakaa: Capital of the Empire of Iuz. There is no place on Oerth more evil than this city. If you want a taste, get the 2E module City of Skulls. You want an aerial view, check out this map by me.

Exag: Have you heard of the Seeds of Seehan mini-AP? Written by Matthew Conklin and Tom Ganz, this 3-part adventure started in Dungeon #145 and features a write up on the old town of Exag in Perrenland. It's quite an exotic locale. If you can find this article, enjoy!

Fax: Town in the Wild Coast. Short name. Silly name. Maybe it's only silly because it's the shortened form of Facsimile.  I hate fax machines, maybe that's why I can't take the town seriously. There's a town in Wisconsin named Colfax. Gygax tended to use anagrams of people and places close to where he lived in Greyhawk. That's the best I got.

Glot: At a mere 5100 people, the reason Glot is capital of the Ice Barbarians has to be due to the fact it's the least icy part of the Cruskii lands.

Hochoch: The Grand Duchy of Geoff is one land that I've rarely used. I don't know why, it's got so much going on with giants and so forth. Hochoch pre-Giant Troubles is totally unknown to me unless I pick up a copy of AtG:Liberation of Geoff. Also if you're intrigued by Hochoch like me, get this awesome map by Mike Schley.

Irongate: This city in my opinion would be the best place to base an urban campaign in the east. There is alot going on here; dwarves, wizards, Iron League, Aerdian conflict, Scarlet Brotherhood, pirates, etc. It's the Minas Tirith of the Flanaess. If you want to know more check out Denis Tetreault's site Melkot, and the old Irongate Project. There is also an article on the city by Denis and Gary Holian in Dragon #351. Maybe this city project can be resurrected!

Jurnre: Found in the County of Ulek, Jurnre I believe is one of, if not the oldest city founded after the migrations. This, not Courwood, ahem, is the capital of this demihuman realm. There is actually a pretty good write-up with map of Jurnre in Fate of Istus. Don't run the adventure, just use this book as a source for all the wonderful cities in it.

Krakenheim: Capital of the Frost Barbarians. The Thillonrian peninsula (Rhizia) is so underdeveloped, but tiny Krakenheim is the most bad ass city name on the map. You just know those seafaring warriors once fought a kraken on the Grendep Bay. It used to be a great town I gather, but in 576 CY Gygax writes that the Fruztii have never recovered from the Battle of Shamblefield and they are technically under the rule of the Snow Barbarians. A shame.

Leukish: Capital of the Duchy of Urnst. I don't know what Living Greyhawk did with Leukish, but I think it's an excellent place to start if you are running Ghost Tower of Inverness (the Seer and the Soul Gem quest).as well as Maure Castle/ Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure. It's on the Nyr Dyv coast. You can do a lot with this city.

Magepoint: This village of 130 souls is in the module Return of the Eight. Spoilers, this village is comprised entirely of veteran infantry who work for Tenser, whose castle is off the shore from here. I like the idea of a garrison in disguise. Perfect for a wizard domain.

Nevond Nevnend: Capital of the Duchy of Tenh. I like this choice because it's a double-N entry. What little I know about Nevond is found in the book WGR5: Iuz the Evil. I recommend alot of Greyhawk books in this post, but Iuz the Evil by Carl Sargent is the only one that is a MUST HAVE. It covers so much ground. From Vesve Forest to Nevond Nevnend? That's half the map in one book. Get this now. Now this Duchy of Tenh bears no resemblance to DA4: The Duchy of Ten from the original Arneson Blackmoor campaign. There is no Nevond Nevnend, no Flannae, no Bandit Kingdoms next door and definitely no Stonefist. In fact, it's just across a river from Blackmoor! The capital is called Stargmorgan. Owning this book, I can say, while it is impossible to retrofit into the Flanaess, this Ten is much better detailed than what we get from Sargent.

Ogburg: This city of 17k is in the Theocracy of the Pale. I don't know much about it, but given the Pale's reputation of being a bit over-zealous, Ogburg probably makes Beetu look like a nice place to live.

Port Toli: I love this city. In my current Hold of the Sea Princes campaign, it's the home port of the Toli Armada. This faction contends with Monmurg in political intrigue. Port Toli is my version of Casterly Rock in Game of Thrones. Like the Lannisters, the nobles of Port Toli are rich and like to bully around others. I have grand ideas someday write-up this city. So far it's all head-canon though. If you want to know more about my vision of the Sea Princes and the Toli Armada, go download a copy of Oerth Journal #32, there is an article by me on the Unconquered Hold of the Sea Princes.

Quaalsten: This Highvale town is found in Marklands as well and yes, it's named after Quaal of feather token fame. I like this concept a lot. There should be more towns and villages named after heroes; Tenserton, Mordenkainenshire, Gordville, Leomundia, Okay this is harder than I thought.

Rel Astra: If you've been around Greyhawk you probably know Rel Astra is the biggest city in the Great Kingdom, albeit a free city with its own ruler (Drax) and intrigues. This city is possibly the biggest in the Flanaess. Greyhawk is 59,000+ and I think Astra is 61k. The only problem with Rel Astra is it's location. It's on the east coast of the map and there just isn't much for Astrans to do here unless they go around the Scarlet Brotherhood or travel overland through thousands of miles of Flanaess. If Rel Astra was in the South Province it would make a lot more sense. Ah well. I had dreamed of doing a Rel Astra campaign once, with thieves guilds and wizards, then realized it's too much like Greyhawk City, just more evil. Maybe someday I'll revisit the idea.

Spinecastle: This is a minor Furyondian fort in on the front lines of war with Iuz. Nah, just kidding. The REAL Spinecastle out near the North Province and Ratik, is what the Frost Barbarians got slaughtered over long ago. Spinecastle may be the second roughest place to visit besides Dorakaa. If you'd like to know more about this Bone March citadel, go find a copy of Dungeon #148, Gary Holian and Steven Greer's In the Shadows of Spinecastle has you covered.

Tringlee: Capital of the elven ruled Duchy of Ulek. Courwood would've been a cooler name. that's all I got on this one.

Ulakand: What? You've never heard of Ulakand? It's the capital of the toughest nomad nation in the western quarter of the Darlene map! If you want to know more, check out this map and article on Ulakand by me!

Vlekstaad: So you want a remote, rough and tumble place that isn't really like the standard medieval cities in the Flanaess? Vlekstaad and the terrible Fists of Sevvord Redbeard could be a good candidate. This place is like the Ull of the north. Vlekstaad on the coast of the Icy Sea is an interesting base to do some in-depth wilderness adventures. You got frozen waters, imposing mountains, vast tundra and a couple huge forests that look like they've hardly been explored. It's worth a try.

Womtham: A major city in Nyrond near the Duntide River. What do I know about Womtham? Not much, but I do know it's an anagram of old school game designer Tom Wham. Wham's minigames like Elefant Hunt were one of my favorite treats in Dragon Magazine back in the day. You're welcome.

Xia Ulos: I had to pull this one out of The Scarlet Brotherhood. This obscure little town is a redundant port is mainly used by the brotherhood to do maintenance on ships that can't make it back to a bigger port.

Yecha: Capital of the Tiger Nomads. I've never used it, and I'm fairly sure 90% of Greyhawk DMs haven't either. Fortunately for us all, fellow Greyhawker Blake Ryan did a write up on this town last year on Tribality.

Zeif: I love this city. It conjures pictures in my head of an Arabian Nights type story. Grab a copy of Al-Qadim and you can run some fantastic stuff here. Oh, did you know Zeif had a Living Greyhawk group for a few years (Canada)? Check out this old L&L show we did with some of Living Greyhawk: Zeif's principle members. Good times!

That's all for now. Greyhawk has thousands of cities, towns and villages. I could do this same A-Z many times over. But, eh, no thanks! See you all next time.

2E Greyhawk Wars: Great Kingdom War of Succession

Welcome back Greyhawk aficionados! Today is a pivotal installment in my 2E War Campaign series. If you don't know what all this historical fuss from my home game is about, be sure to read the prelude to this series first. To sum up, I started posting the epic three-part Iuz-Furyondy War, but then realized I had notes on way more wars that we had played back in the 1990's. Below is the timeline of wars I am writing about..

Great North War 605 CY to 609 CY
Great Kingdom War of Succession 610 CY to 611 CY
Pomarj-Celene War 610 CY to 613 CY
3-Month aka "Scarlet" War 613 CY
Schnai Civil War 615 CY

Aerdy Civil Wars 615-616 CY
The Greyhawk Wars aka "The Bandit War" 617 CY to 618 CY
Battle of Bellport Harbor 623 CY
Iuz-Furyondy War 627 CY to 629 CY (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Now that you're hopefully caught up (you might want to read the Great North War before this one), let's begin the Great Kingdom War of Succession. This time I have included a map, showing the principle antagonists and keyed to the chain of events in the narrative so you can follow along more easily. By the way, thanks to Anna Meyer for her wonderful spread maps. Hang in till the end, because I always add some personal commentary at the very end. I did run this game nearly 30 years ago after all. Enjoy!

Click to zoom

The Great Kingdom War of Succession

Summer 610 CY

At the close of the Great North War and following the flight of ousted Overking Ivid V, Herzog Grenell of the North Province threatened war against any who opposed his claim to the vacant Malachite Throne in Rauxes. Drax of Medegia (House Rax), the Kingdom of Nyrond and the Barbarian Alliance were soon at odds over succession¹. The Theocracy of the Pale had allied with Grenell during a secret meeting at the Rel Mord peace talks in 609 CY². Many other secret meetings took place at this fateful conference. Robed ministers of the Scarlet Brotherhood clandestinely made a pact with the See of Medegia for rights to the lands of the Iron League³. Meanwhile, an even more secretive plot was formed between Holy Censor Spidasa of Medegia and the fiery Herzog Grenell⁴.

A): Bone March, already in league with the North Province, ended this brief period of peace as it covertly sent its humanoid armies through mountain passes to devastatingly conquer Ratik.

B): The Barbarian Alliance took advantage of this truce breaking action. Under the command of Halfgrim the Night Shadow, they launched new raids on their old enemy, the Sea Barons though no gains were ever made.

C): At the same time, the same barbarian horde which had sacked Rauxes in 608 CY was still at large in the Great Kingdom for the last two years⁵. Led by another Night Shadow, Valkaun Dain, this veteran army was recalled and redirected to invade the North Province in an effort to quickly end the Herzog’s bid for succession. Grenell’s provincial army, which had stayed out of the Great North War, was fresh and well-prepared however. After driving deep into the province, the Suel horde was defeated at the Battle of Eastfair by the Herzog’s new High Marshall, the former adventurer Cromwell; who won yet again at Kaport Bay.

D): Here, Halfgrim’s longships returning from the last Sea Barons incursion sought to give succor to their routing kinsmen by ferrying the survivors back across Grendep Bay.

E): To the south, Nyrondal forces still occupied much of fractured Aerdy since the end of the previous war. Once the truce was ended, their armies adjusted to the barbarian horde’s attack on Eastfair by striking southeast at Medegia in an attempt to end the claim of succession by Drax. The Nyrondese Army was stretched thin from years of fighting however, and so were easily repelled at the border by Medegian forces.

Autumn 610 CY

F): Now on the offense, the North Province turned southward and with little opposition, Grenell’s forces seized the contested capital city, Rauxes. The citizens of Rauxes who had lived autonomous and rebuilt since Ivid’s ouster, were forced to attend a dreary victory parade for Grenell while provincial troops searched and looted their homes for any signs of the enemy.

G): Sensing the tide of the war turning against their favor, King Archbold reluctantly ordered Nyrondese forces to strategically withdraw for home. Since the fall of Ratik to Bone March and the ruinous Battle of Eastfair, it seemed the Barbarian Alliance and the royal claim of Juma Dain was in jeopardy as each king regrouped to defend their home shores. King Orvung was not yet beaten though, as the Schnai began work on a huge new fleet of longships.

H): After a successful coup involving spies and assassins, the new government of the Lordship of the Isles was now in openly allied with the Scarlet Brotherhood. This meant the Duxchaners would no longer fight their traditional rivals, Medegia and the Sea Barons. With the threat of an Iron League naval invasion eliminated, Drax of Rel Astra and Holy Censor Spidasa went on the offense. Fast moving Medegian forces crossed through southern Aerdy and finally into Ahlissa, easily liberating it from Nyrond who was already retreating home across Relmor Bay. Herzog Chelor⁶ was summarily placed back on the provincial seat in Zelradton, but this time as a subject of Holy Censor Spidasa. The Prelacy of Almor and the Iron League, who had been supported by Nyrond for years, was shocked by the sudden abandonment of Ahlissa. These small bordering states readied their navies and armies to deal with the inevitable consequences of Nyrond’s withdraw.

Winter 610 CY

Events abruptly changed for the Scarlet Brotherhood. The Scarlet Sign-backed leaders of the Lordship coup were overthrown by Duxchan loyalists before any aid could be mustered to augment the Medegian or Brotherhood warfleets. Subsequently the Lordship of the Isles rejoined the Iron League, who were amassing for an impending Brotherhood attack by sea and Medegia by land. Meanwhile, a Sea Barons envoy carrying Spidasa and Drax, sailed across icy waters to the Schnai capital of Soull. At this unprecedented visit the Holy Censor pleaded with the Schnai king to back Drax’s claim against the vile Herzog Grenell. King Orvung had no love for the Sea Barons or Medegia, but the North Province and Bone March were a more immediate threat to Thillonria. The king took their gifts and assured the scheming Aerdians that he could convince the Barbarian Alliance to side with Drax and Medegia.

I): While the forces of Grenell continued to overrun the Aerdian countryside, Herzog Chelor, whom was not privy to the treaties between Spidasa and the Scarlet Brotherhood, started to raise a new South Provincial army with the intention of ending the Iron League. While conflict intensified in the south, the envoy of Spidasa and Drax sailed next for the North Province to speak with their main rival, Herzog Grenell.

Spring 611 CY

J): By now the North Province had managed to occupy all but parts of the southern Great Kingdom that were taken by Medegia. Grenell’s only resistance left was an elite company of Nyrondese cavalry still stationed in the city of Jalpa, tasked with covering their kings withdraw. Encircled at the Battle of Jalpa, the Nyrondese skillfully held the city resulting in the North Province’s only major defeat.

K): To the north, the patient Theocracy of the Pale had been quietly massing troops on the Nyrond border, ready to march into the heartlands once the War of Succession went to Grenell. King Archbold had been warned about this treacherous pact between the Pale and Grenell, which was integral to his decision to abandon the Great Kingdom campaign. Aware of this new front in the war, Archbold himself led the defense, easily forcing the Theocrat’s inexperienced army back to Wintershiven.

L): Now with the Duxchan fleet on their side again, the Iron League sent their warships on the Azure Sea and Tilva Strait to intercept the war-transports of the Scarlet Brotherhood. Outmatched and outnumbered, the invasion fleets were utterly annihilated, and with them the Scarlet Brotherhood’s part in the war⁷.

M): Far to the north, Ratik which had been suffering since the war began, was liberated by the Barbarian Alliance. Striking by land though the Timberway Forest, the horde rallied their Ratikan allies from hiding and in the process Bone March was overrun, even into their own land. By summer’s end, the barbarians also razed Spinecastle, avenging a centuries old loss at the Battle of Shamblefield. Though Bone March was now conquered, the war-weary barbarians dared not attack the North Province⁸.

Not far away in Eastfair, Spidasa and Drax finally gained audience with Herzog Grenell who was already in jubilation for his generals reported that Nyrond had finally pulled out of Jalpa, thus ending the foreign intrusion. Much to Drax’s horror, Spidasa turned on him and the Sea Barons, pledging all of Medegia in favor of Grenell⁹. Back in Nyrond, King Archbold called a cease in fighting for his armies, but the Iron League wasn’t done, neither was King Orvung and the barbarian fleet.

Summer 611 CY

N): Coordinated assaults were made into the South Province by the Iron League and Almor. None of these battles were successful however, for Chelor had the backing of Medegia. Furthermore, the fast-spreading news of Grenell’s victory caused fear in the Iron League, spurring their armies and fleets to return.

O): The North Province had no intention of dragging out the war. Grenell had finally got everything he wanted¹⁰. So did King Orvung of Schnai. Keeping his word to not attack Medegia or the Aerdian coast, the renewed barbarian fleet invaded and finally conquered the weakened isles of the Sea Barons. There was no reprisal for it was a minor loss in the eyes of Overking Grenell¹¹. The Great Kingdom War of Succession was over.

Footnotes:

1.      King Archbold of Nyrond and the Barbarian Alliance both favored Ivid’s distant Naelax relative, Juma Dain, as next in line for the throne. Young Juma was orphaned when his expatriated parents were killed by assassins. He was later adopted by the barbarian hero Valkaun Dain who famously led the Sack of Rauxes. This Nyrond-Thillonrian backed claim was viewed as not only the best hope to bring lasting peace to Aerdy, but also between Suel and Oerid peoples.

2.      The Theocrat in Wintershiven was convinced that an over-extended Nyrond would inevitably be conquered in this alliance, thus greatly expanding the Pale’s rule and religion. This alliance was a masterful lie by Herzog Grenell to keep the Pale out of the Great Kingdom.

3.      Holy Censor Spidasa was sure if the Scarlet Brotherhood could be focused on conquering the Iron League states, they would make better allies than enemies. Spidasa wisely spent the necessary time to ensure this alliance with the Father of Obedience.

4.      Spidasa and Grenell colluded to take back the Great Kingdom. Grenell would rule matters temporal and Spidasa matters spiritual. Mayor Drax’s claim to the throne while legitimate, was in reality used to draw attention away from their hidden alliance until the right time.

5.      Valkaun Dain and the restless barbarian horde had abandoned the city the Rauxes after it was razed because even though Ivid had been deposed they were ill-equipped to control such a heavily populated region. Post-war, the horde mostly remained in Nyrond-held Aerdy during the peace talks in hopes their candidate, 14 year-old Juma would be installed as Overking.  

6.      Herzog Chelor had sought refuge in Rel Astra, living in luxurious exile as a guest of Drax, until his province could be retaken.

7.      The Father of Obedience thought it wise to conserve the Scarlet Brotherhood’s forces for another day.

8.      It is suggested Grenell was not just focused on taking Rauxes, that he allowed Bone March to be taken, since he cared little for its humanoid populations.

9.      In the Herzog’s courtroom, Spidasa had Drax beheaded, not before admitting he was never in favor of a Rax on the Malachite Throne. This pleased Grenell and he accepted Spidasa’s “surrender” gracefully.

10.   Deposed overking Ivid V had fled Rauxes to the Sea Barons in 609 CY. Because he rightly did not trust Spidasa, he then discreetly made his way to Eastfair the following year to desperately seek the aid of his cousin Grenell. Much like in the Great North War, Grenell still would not aid his kin. Instead, Ivid was quietly destroyed and with his demise, the royal staff, orb and crown were obtained. All that remained was the Malachite Throne.

11.   Spidasa remained Holy Censor of Medegia and chief cleric of the entire Great Kingdom. Influenced by the fate of Drax, Herzog Chelor swore fealty to Grenell. For winning the war, High Marshall Cromwell was elevated to Herzog of the North Province. Grenell of House Naelax, was crowned Overking on Harvester 14, 611 CY.

Commentary: Wow so having re-read and edited my timeline notes from this war, it is possible, but not entirely clear if it was a continuation of our use of the Greyhawk Wars board game for mass combat resolution. I still maintain in hindsight I will never use these rules again, much more preferring War Machine from the Companion D&D Rules. I still wonder if this narrative was forced by me instead of entirely played out. After all, my friend Jayson's PC Valkaun had a huge stake in this war. If the barbarian alliance and Nyrond win, his NPC son Juma becomes Overking. Unlike the Great North War, there is virtually no wins by the forces of Good until the end. Was the war fixed? Maybe so. There is still many more wars to come though.

I am also discovering that I either did not use Carl Sargent's animus for my Great Kingdom nor did I use the Death Knights of Aerdy. More accurately I think I ignored them. I didn't need all that undead craziness going on in my politics. However I'm sure mad Ivid "the Undying" was an animus because I wrote that Grenell had to "destroy" him. I also fondly recall using Duke Szeffrin the animus, but that tragic tale  is probably in a future installment...

Another reason I know I used Greyhawk Wars for this theater, is when I was constructing the map to go with this article I found that the events in my notes flawlessly followed the Wars game map (divided into playing spaces ala Risk).

High Marshall Cromwell was a former PC of my friend Eric, who was in the army at the start of this campaign. I would NPC Cromwell while Eric was away, to keep him part of the game. Eric would later get heavily involved in this 2E campaign when he returned, but this time with a new set of PCs.

Who are the Night Shadows? I just wrote about them last post.

Lastly, I'm kind of pleased at the impotence of the Scarlet Brotherhood in my campaign. Since I started writing about my Sea Princes campaign on this blog, and in Oerth Journal, I've railed against the Brotherhood's ability to easily conquer someone halfway across the continent. You saw in this war, that the Lordship was taken by guile, but the swashbuckling Duxchaners overthrew them too. Then proceeded to wipe out the Brotherhood fleets. Spoiler, it doesn't get much better for the Scarlet monks in the coming installments. I guess I liked them as small scale antagonists for my players, but not as a large scale military threat (shrug).

Until next war!

Greyhawk Power Group: Night Shadows

Greetings Greyhawk readers! If you've been following my blog or the weekly chats on our show Legends & Lore, you'll know I've been nostalgically going through my old 2E campaign material and posting it to showcase all the wars that I've waged on the Flanaess. In the middle of this "Silver Age" of D&D, my gaming group created many fun things and one that has stood the test of time is the power group known as the Night Shadows. Created by my best friend Jayson, the original Night Shadow was his fighter character in our 1E AD&D campaign, that was transitioned in our 2E reboot to become an order of barbarian heroes devoted to the Norse Pantheon. Of course back then we used Odin, Thor, Loki, Sif, etc. Not only was I a huge fan of Norse myth and Mighty Thor comics, but the Thillonrian culture was obviously based on vikings. The Suel pantheon besides Kord never screamed barbarian to us so we injected the gods we knew since we were kids to Greyhawk. By the time Carl Sargent brought Vatun, the Blades of Corusk and the Greyhawk Wars to the game, we were already deep into this campaign. Jayson in fact had two characters become Night Shadows, most notably his favorite fighter, Valkaun Dain who would go on to become the greatest of his order.

All of this preface is to explain that for the purposes of this article I am reverting the story of the Night Shadows back to solely Greyhawk mythos so it can be easily incorporated into your own campaign. Naturally, switching between Vatun and Odin shouldn't be hard, so go with whichever works best for your own game. Now onto the story. Enjoy!

Legend of the Night Shadows

As legends tell, many centuries ago a shadowy demon lord and his mindless hordlings were loosed upon the Thillonria Peninsula. In their path of destruction, they razed an untold number of small villages until they ascended the heights of the Corusk Mountains, where the demon lord conjured the Night Shadow Keep, an area perpetually shrouded in gloom. Kings of the three great barbarian tribes united against this common enemy and sent their armies to break the foul keep and slay the demon within. The demon-keep was near unassailable however, and as each barbarian assault failed, the fiendish defenders seemed to grow in strength. Just when the siege looked hopeless and the enemy was set to deliver a final crushing blow, a great barbarian warrior on an eight-legged horse charged down out of the clouds, and challenged the demon lord to face him in single combat.

Seeing this impossible hero’s arrival, the demon lord was enraged. Undaunted, the fiend finally came forth from his keep, his body shrouded in shadows, except two glowing eyes burning with hate. As the two figures clashed, the weary Thillonrians suddenly realized that their savior was Vatun, the Great God of the North. The barbarians fell to their knees in awe as the demon lord was easily vanquished and his minions faded into nothingness. Vatun then lifted the fallen demon overhead, transforming the beast into a black jewel the size of a man’s fist.

The God of the North then gave this stone to his priests upon the battlefield. Before he departed upon his steed, Vatun instructed that once every five years, the tribes should hold a ceremony in remembrance of what he did for them all, and at this ceremony they should gather their finest young warriors for a holy competition. The priests of Vatun then took the keep as their temple, to be shared equally among the three great kingdoms. On the day of the ceremony, the Night Shadow Stone mysteriously disappears from the temple and is hidden within the vastness of the Corusk Mountains. Fledgling heroes summoned from all corners of the peninsula, compete to find the stone and bring it back to the Night Shadow Keep. Over several days, this hazardous trial often takes the lives of some, but ultimately the one who is worthy returns with the demon-stone. The priesthood then sanctifies the victor, who then joins the ranks of the Night Shadows serving Vatun from this temple-keep. Each new member is bestowed a ceremonial sword indicating that the hero is a chosen of Vatun and guaranteed a seat at his table in the afterlife.

This tradition has continued unabated for several hundred years, even long after Vatun’s imprisonment by the evil winter god Telchur sent the priesthood into a steady decline. It is speculated by cynic sages from the “civilized Flanaess”, that Vatun’s faithful have always conducted the Night Shadow trial by their own devices, modifying it as needed to pick the best candidate. Nonetheless, the presence of a chosen of Vatun has often been a unifying force among the Suel barbarians in times of crisis. Always of the adventurous sort and few in number, the Night Shadows are the closest the north has to a knighthood or paladin order. Like the priests they serve, their highest goal is to free Vatun and unite the barbarian kingdoms. Indeed, it is said that in the past more than one hero who has wielded one of the five famous Blades of Corusk has been a Night Shadow.

Ranks of the Night Shadows (540-595 CY)

Year Chosen       Age        Name                                  Homeland           Class/Level               Status

540 CY                 67           Tyrvald Brötby                  Schnai                  Fgt 15                   N.S. Keep

545 CY                 60           Rennek Aelfrieson            Fruztii                   Fgt 11                   Deceased

550 CY                 55           Skaldvik Vatuneye            Schnai                  Fgt 18                   Missing

555 CY                 58           Skarblod the Powerful    Fruztii                   Fgt 18                   N.S. Keep

560 CY                 55           Skellmark the Lost           Cruskii                  Rng 13                  Missing

565 CY                 50           Bjarni the Ugly                  Fruztii                   Fgt 14                   N.S. Keep

570 CY                 42           Haenir the Bold                Schnai                  Fgt 12                   N.S. Keep

575 CY                 40           Borist the Beggar             Cruskii                  Fgt 8                     Deceased

580 CY                 30           Thorarin König                  Schnai                  Fgt 11                Adventuring

585 CY                 22           Halfgrim the Keen            Fruztii                   Fgt 8                  Adventuring

590 CY                 25           Harald Husavik                  Schnai                  Brd 8                 Adventuring

595 CY                 16           Valkaun Dain                     Cruskii                  Fgt 1                 Adventuring

             

2E Greyhawk Wars Campaign: The Great North War

Welcome back Greyhawk historians. As promised, this is the continuation of my personal 2E campaign material from the 1990's, a turbulent phase where I had the Flanaess constantly at war. For context read my Prelude and if you want, skip ahead a few decades of game time and read my original three-part Furyondy-Iuz War. At any rate, let's kick this off with the Great North War. Be sure to also check out the footnotes and commentary at the end of the article. Enjoy!

605 CY

Heavy assaults by the Horned Society had incited a war with the Shield Lands and Furyondy and after a year of bloodshed, the combined Knights of Hart and Holy Shielding had drove the aggressors back to their fortresses. Meanwhile, the elves of the Vesve began to strike out into the Lands of Iuz. The Old One had recently returned from a long absence¹ and rallied his evil forces to push the invading elves back to their forest borders.

To the east, barbarian alliances began to crumble after the discovery of the false Vatun, who was in fact Iuz in disguise. The alliance was miraculously held together due to a noble effort of diplomacy by the divinely chosen Night Shadows. The Hold of Stonefist though, ended up siding with Iuz after secret talks. Nyrond and Almor begin to call men to arms at the rumors of war. The Great Kingdom and the Sea Barons were already poised to attack their neighbors, however the North Province, Bone March and Medegia remained silent.

606 CY

The Great North War as it became known, broke out as Thillonrian raiders landed at the mouth of the Trask River and defeated the North Provincial army². Simultaneously, the northerners attacked Sea Barons waters in force. These naval clashes ended in no victor, yet the barony was quick to regroup.

In the south, Herzog Chelor answered the call to the arms by “mad” Overking Ivid V where the North Province refused to obey. At the same time, the County of Urnst and the Theocracy of the Pale allied to Nyrond’s side fearing the growing Aerdian threat. The Duchy of Tenh then allied with the Pale³ to fend off assaulting Fists led by Sevvord Redbeard.

To the west, the margrave of Bissel, Walgar supported Furyondy/Veluna with it’s Border Companies. Iuz made no moves, sitting in silence and gathering his forces to do battle again. Near the end of the year, the forces of Ahlissa swept into Almor, seizing the small prelacy at Chathold. Almor was not finished though, its remaining army was soon to be aided.

607 CY

Early in the spring, a now healthy King Belvor of Furyondy left his armies in the command of Prince Alaric and Grand Marshall Ulrich. Belvor travelled with other ambassadors to meet in the south, where Keoland, Gran March and Celene pledged material support to the king in the event Furyondy might fall.

In the Hold of Stonefist, Sevvord Redbeard was hit from two fronts. First his Fists were defeated at the Battle of Frozen River by Cruskii warriors⁴, while the Duchy of Tenh launched a surprise attack into Hold. Sevvord focused his strength here and held off the advance of the Tenha army.

In Almor, Chathold was quickly retaken by the alliance of King Archbold of Nyrond. The king wasn’t satisfied with just liberation, as he divided his forces into a second wave that swept into the South Province, doing much retributive damage to the Herzog’s armies.

608 CY

A coalition army of Furyondy, Veluna and the Shield Lands managed to break through enemy lines, striking for Iuz’s capital, Dorakaa where it was seized⁵. Despite this loss, the Old One was not finished as it was revealed he had amassed his main body of forces to the north in the Howling Hills for a counterattack. 

To the east, the Barbarian alliance led by Valkaun Dain continued to pillage and attack the Overking’s dominion, all the way to the capital, Rauxes⁶. Overking Ivid fled with much hatred to the See of Medegia. There, its holy censor was supreme and was not totally welcoming to the impetuous monarch. The Overking eventually escaped along with his escort to the isles of the Sea Barons. It then seemed, if Herzog Chelor would fall, that Censor Spidasa would be left in charge of the Great Kingdom. 

Nearby, Onnwal was the only Iron League member to come to Nyrond’s aid. Its naval fleet ensured that the Ahlissans wouldn’t be able to sail across the Azure Sea to seek help. Unusually enough, Keoland had negotiated with their old foe the Sea Princes into remaining neutral instead of entertaining an alliance with Herzog Chelor in the east. Eventually, Ahlissa folded once King Archbold set his boots upon the courtroom floor at Zelradton⁷.

609 CY

The Great North War was drawing to a close as Furyondy’s noble alliance spread further into Iuz’s domain, routing the remaining humanoid armies under the god of evil’s red banner. Iuz was never found. He went into hiding, waiting for another chance to rule the Flanaess. Almost a month later, the fortress of Molag was sieged and conquered, thus ending the remnant of the Horned Society’s threat to the region, sending the Hierarchs into hiding as well. The alliance’s victory was complete. 

To the east, King Archbold and his allies began to occupy all the Aerdian states and counties. The war was effectively over as Censor Spidasa withdrew into Medegia, the Sea Barons sued for peace and the North Province still wouldn’t come to the aid of their Aerdian cousins. The Great Kingdom was no more. Post-war, there was a call for peace conferences, one in Chendl and one in Rel Mord. This would prove to be grim as the peace talks only initiated a new set of events.

Footnotes on the Great North War

1. Iuz posing as Vatun, spent too much time in the northeast deceiving the barbarian kings.
2. Valkaun Dain, renowned hero and representative of the Night Shadows, led the invasion.
3. Even though the two have had differences, neither liked the Stonefists.
4. The Fist’s fall might have been partially due to a huge white dragon that sided with the Cruskii forces. Why it did so is not clear to anyone.
5. In the dungeons of Dorakaa, many missing knights were rescued by Marshall Ulrich and Prince Alaric.
6. Rauxes was not occupied by the barbarians, but a lot of it left with them.
7. Herzog Chelor surrendered when news of the sack of Rauxes arrived in the South Province.

Commentary: Regrettably, I strongly recall this war was informed and conducted using the Greyhawk Wars board game. The Great (Northern) War is a suggested event in the rulebook of this boxed set. The fact that I hinged actual campaign events on the outcome of this silly board game is incredibly foolish in hindsight. At least I managed to write a narrative to make it all sound plausible.

My best guess is that I as DM played the Great Kingdom and Iuz, while my friend Jayson was Nyrond and the Barbarian alliance. Jayson was heavily involved with his character Valkaun, and his creation, the barbarian power group called the Night Shadows would go on to be pivotal in our 2E campaign (more on them in a future blog post). Our friend Brian was likewise the player of Furyondy's alliance since his character Angus Ulrich had rose in the ranks of the Knights of Hart and was their Marshall.

That the forces of evil lost this war is a testament at how easy it is for Good to win this board game in my opinion. Mind you, I am no slouch at war board games. If I might brag a moment, I have never been beaten at Axis & Allies (come at me challengers!) so having control over two evil Flanaess armies at once and losing both just isn't in character for me.

How the Horned Society started things off, I'm not sure. Driving the Hierarchs underground definitely sets up one of my favorite villains, Andrade Mirrius to become a major antagonists for my players.

One thing I did like about the Great North War was unlike published events of the Greyhawk Wars, the "Thillonrian North" did take part this time. Carl Sargent had originally set this up in the modules Five Shall Be One and Howl From the North where the five Blades of Corusk are used to summon Vatun and unite the north. But the following Wars boxed set failed to include them in any meaningful way except to say they were duped by Iuz. In our 2E campaign, the barbarians remained united and as you will see in the next several installments of this series they are important players in world events. Until then, thanks for reading!

Great North War 605 CY to 609 CY
Great Kingdom War of Succession 610 CY to 611 CY
Pomarj-Celene War 610 CY to 613 CY
3-Month aka "Scarlet" War 613 CY
Schnai Civil War 615 CY

Aerdy Civil Wars 615-616 CY
The Greyhawk Wars aka "The Bandit War" 617 CY to 618 CY
Battle of Bellport Harbor 623 CY
Iuz-Furyondy War 627 CY to 629 CY (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Update 06/27/2021: Added links to the entire War series for ease of reading.

Greyhawk News and Links

Howdy Greyhawk maniacs. It's that time of the week I throw out a few links to help promote Greyhawk content in the community. I'm sure you've seen most of these items already, but help me by boosting the signal. We need to keep awareness of the setting high in this new golden age of D&D fandom.

First and foremost is the exciting news that old-school publisher Goodman Games gets to do another 5E adaptation of a Greyhawk classic in OAR#6: The Temple of Elemental Evil. This is not an homage, or a mere reprint, but in the spirit of previous releases like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and the Into the Borderlands, this is a full 5E adaptation alongside a reprint of the original AD&D super-module T1-T4. These books end up pretty weighty, but in my opinion it's a must have. Goodman's press release says this will be out late 2020 or early 2021. I'm guessing it'll be in time for Gary Con 2021, which is where I will snag a copy!

Next, over at the blog Hall of the Mountain King, my fellow Legends & Lore historian, Jason Zavoda has been putting out posts galore. Zavoda is famous for his Greyhawk Index of course, but when he stopped indexing years ago, the content didn't stop. Since he has been more active in the community, Jason has been indexing Greyhawk references in both recent products like the Saltmarsh Encounters and relatively older ones like Dungeon Magazine #148 which featured Spinecastle.

Jason has also tirelessly been posting regular updates on his Blackmoor, Land of a Thousand Witches, a campaign in this region unlike any you've seen before and the final chapter in his ongoing fiction The Hill Giant's Chief: Nosnra's Saga. Tune in daily to see what tidbit JZ posts next on his blog!

Lastly, speaking of Legends & Lore, this Wednesday, Jay Scott, Anna Meyer and myself will be hosting special guests from former Living Greyhawk's Sultanate of Zeif region. Even after having many members of Living Greyhawk on the show previously, I cannot wait to hear how there people played and developed their stories in the Baklunish lands. Also, I cannot wait to mercilessly taunt them about my homeland of Ull! See you there, or if you can't make the live show see the replay through LordGosumba's regular channel.

Let's Pick Through Greyhawk Ruins

Hail fellow Greyhawkers! I'm taking a break from researching and writing about my old 2E campaign, but I'm still staying with a 2E classic, Greyhawk Ruins by Blake Mobley and Timothy Brown. In 1990, Ruins was for the definitive Castle Greyhawk to us. We knew WG7 Castle Greyhawk was a joke and back then I hardly knew anything about Gygax's original campaign enough to go it alone. This book for $15.00 was worth every penny. It boasted 1000 separate room descriptions, though the maps and art left much to be desired. Needless to say, we played every inch of the three tower ruins and then when the adventure was played out, my friends rebuilt Zagig's castle!

Greyhawk Ruins was a success in my book (especially since it got a semi-update in 3.5E), but even if you disagree and have no desire to use it, there is still some quite interesting, obscure stuff you can mine from these dungeons. Let's pick through the ruins. Beware though, there will be SPOILERS.

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The first one I'll throw out is the wizard group called the Ring of Five. Chat about this group came up recently on our show Legends & Lore and now digging back into the module I was thrilled to rediscover they are first mentioned in the "Rumors" section. That's right, rumor, it goes like this:

"Zagig, The Black One of the Vale of the Mage, Leomund, Melf and Serten, all powerful archmages and rivals to the Circle of Eight, watch the comings and goings of the Power Tower. They call themselves the "Ring of Five".

This entry is significant in hindsight because Len Lakofka (who guested on L&L) is adamant that his character Leomund was never in the Circle of Eight, but if not this celebrated group, why would Leomund be in this mismatched group either? The next problem is only Melf (an elf) would've been alive when Zagig Yragerne was a practicing mortal wizard. Since then, Zagig became a demigod, but for some reason he hangs out with a random assortment of other spellcasters from present day? Okay this part is true but Ruins aside, previous sources written by Gygax (the boxed set Guide and Dragon Magazine) clearly spell out who Zagyg the demigod hangs out with, and it's none of these guys for sure (his gang is Heward, Murlynd, Keoghtom, etc.). Also, I'm quite certain Serten was killed at the Battle of Emridy Meadows (an esoteric discrepancy). Now I could try to justify the Ring of Five's existence, but I'd rather the rumor is false. However, Ruins presents the Ro5 as a viable present day concern throughout the book. For example, it says if you steal too many magic items from the ruins, the Ring (or their minions) may come to Greyhawk to get them back! Indeed, there is many other clues of the Ro5 operating in the ruins, yet specifically working through representative wizards. More on that below.

The War Wagon: I'm no historian of Castle Greyhawk lore, unlike some in the community (and I drew a comic about the ruins!), but I'd like to know how much of this is part is in Gygax's original castle. Zagig's War Wagon is housed in the War Tower ruins, with its accompanying eight chariots. This is remarkable for a number of reasons. The "famed" (three axle?) War Wagon is big. It dominates a huge chamber. The chariots are made of bronzewood, trimmed in hornwood and adamantite. The chariots and wagon are worth a total of 65,000 gp to collectors. You wouldn't have to play past this first level and be rich. Of course, the army that originally piloted these vehicles still haunts the ruins. But why? Did Zagig bind them to this tower when he vanished? Seems cruel, but you'll see later on this is standard for the mad archmage.
And what foe was this deadly mobile force created to battle against? Zagig's reign was before Iuz and before the Temple of Elemental Evil. He may have intended to use it against the Great Kingdom or Furyondy, though there is no other mention I'm aware of involving Greyhawk defending itself against attack (though it is a walled city, with a huge citadel). Maybe it was to fight orcs and bandits in the Cairn Hills? There is some clues in the lowest levels of one tower that indicate Zagig was prepared to mass enslave ogres to use as an army, in addition to having stockpiles of magic items whose only use could be to utterly destroy an enemy and his land. One more thing, Zagig built the castle in 320 CY, which is 256 years before the start of the World of Greyhawk main storyline. I guess chariots were in style back then, because I can't think of any other instance of them being in a Greyhawk book!

The Purple Table: I'm going to spoil this magic item from the Power Tower because it's too damn cool to keep a secret, and in the module, they maintain only Zagig knows its full use, which is a travesty. Check it out:

"A large table made of purple marble laced with gold swirls fills most of this area...
The gold swirls of the table will seem to move if observed for long. In actuality this table is an artifact and thus is nearly impervious to harm. Its use is a secret that only Zagig knew...
If all in the room sit at the table, a gold symbol of an eye in a star will magically appear upon the table's center. A purple world with gold markings will form from vapor issuing from the eye...The world will begin rotating and ancient runes will start dancing across its surface.
The world is Oerth and the runes are names and numbers listing many things such as population density and type, mineral wealth, magical concentration, etc..."

This table is invaluable and is clearly tied to Zagig's patron, Boccob. Are you a ruler? The table sees all population figures (like troops?). You a merchant? It knows where all the best resources are at. You a wizard? It knows the best ley lines, magic gates, deposits of oerthblood, etc.

Zagig's Apprentices: According to the cumulative lore of Ruins, Zagig searched for ways to extend his life or become immortal. His ultimate success at becoming a demigod is known in the annals of Greyhawk lore, but what about those who helped along the way? Much like a pharaoh entombed in a pyramid, his servants (including those war wagon guys) seem to never get away from these ruins!

The Power Tower has a group of mummies who were once apprentices but their greed for life and magic made them undead after their passing.

In Zagig's Tower There is a lich in the ruins, also a former apprentice of Zagig who experiments on bodies of any creatures he can get his skeletal hands on.

There is another lich in this tower whose only duty is to log in those who visit Zagig's lowest levels.

And of course, there is also a demilich who guards a library. Naturally, Zagig's most trusted librarian wouldn't get to leave the ruins either!

Zagig/Zagyg has a present day apprentice who works with four other wizards tied to the Ring of Five to oversee the adventure. Their details are left to the DM to develop, but it's suggested the name of Zagig's rep is Kalbe and he is a neutral worshiper of Boccob. While "Kalbe" is specifically the most recent apprentice of Zagig here, there is many other evil wizards and spellcasters running around in Ruins that I won't get into (its a lengthy module). The point is, there is so much magic to be had and learned here, either no one wants to leave, or they can't leave!

The last topic I'll pick out of this adventure (there's so many I could write a regular column on just this module) is unique magic weapons. There's a couple nice ones in here that I highly doubt are known in the general Greyhawk community, so I'm going to spotlight them, so many you can introduce them to your campaign in some fashion.

Dryanon "the Greatest", is a sentient, vorpal two-handed sword +5 with an ego of 35 and an alignment of neutral (Zagig made it?). Besides the usual speech and telepathic features, Dryanon can detect magic, secret doors and invisible objects. It can teleport once a day. It can also cast Fly and Heal. What fighter wouldn't want this sword? Well Dryanon's special purpose is to defeat all diametrically opposed alignments. Yes you read that right. it opposes all alignments except neutrality.
The fun part is how Dryanon starts off subtle and helpful to its wielder, slowly introducing more of its purpose to the PC and the party. It will eventually want all PCs to change to neutral, convert to Boccob or become druids and make it the leader of the party. This is the sword version of militant Balance obsessed Mordenkainen. That's not all, Dryanon has a friend...

Onik aka "Thunk" is a sentient warhammer +2 that is lawful neutral (good) and has a measly ego of 6. Onik is bullied by Dryanon and because of this, it is prone to sobbing, whimpering and moaning about it's uselessness. The hammer is manic-depressed and mercilessly mocked by the sword who calls it Thunk. These two items can definitely be entertaining if not disruptive to a group!

Finally, there is a less obnoxious sentient magic weapon in Greyhawk Ruins named Harlrun. This neutral blade +4 empathically communicates that it was forged for the house of Yust in the Great Kingdom (obscure and wholly undeveloped outside this mod!). Harlrun can detect traps and cast strength, but its main purpose is to defeat non-human monsters (a very broad category). This blade is not a detriment to a party and it could open up a good intrigue subplot for any campaign set in Aerdy.

That's all for now. More next time!

2E Greyhawk Wars Campaign:Prelude to the Series

Hail to thee, Greyhawk mavens! I hope you enjoyed my recent three-part epic Iuz-Furyondy War report. For those who missed out, I've been going through old 2E Greyhawk campaign notes of mine, and boy did I do A LOT OF WARS, but really isn't that what Gygax wanted? Back in AD&D's heyday, Gary supplied troop numbers in the setting books and he kept adding battles with Flanaess troop info in the pages of Dragon Magazine. War was inevitable and Carl Sargent is who brought it to us via a host of 2E supplements like the questionably useful Greyhawk Wars board game, Iuz the Evil, The Marklands, and the unprinted Ivid the Undying. To wage the many wars for my World of Greyhawk campaigns, I tried a mess of mass combat systems that all came out in the 80's and 90's, such as Companion Set's: Warmachine (my favorite), Battlesystem (I still use their counters), Birthright (loved those troop cards), and yes, even the Greyhawk Wars board game I'm afraid. This "silver age" of D&D gaming was probably our longest running campaign in terms of one continuous storyline. Ah, to be young again!

The upcoming series of wars I plan to present was recently rediscovered AFTER I posted my Iuz-Furyondy War on Greyhawkery. Chronologically however, that war is one of the last in our 2E campaign, so I'm going to pull a Star Wars prequel on you guys and go back to the start now. Disclaimer, I probably only remembered the huge Iuz-Furyondy War because I had done detailed maps and kept meticulous track of casualties. These remaining wars, timelines and assorted notes were written mainly in a narrative fashion, so battle data will not be as forthcoming. The upshot is there will be more detail in what was going on with my player's heroes during these worldwide events.

Here is a preview of the war chronology so you can see what I'll be writing about. You'll notice that my timeline was well ahead of published timeline of Greyhawk products (576-591 CY). I usually adapted new material to our ongoing campaign as it came out:

Great North War 605 CY to 609 CY
Great Kingdom War of Succession 610 CY to 611 CY
Pomarj-Celene War 610 CY to 613 CY
3-Month aka "Scarlet" War 613 CY
Schnai Civil War and Aerdy Civil War 616 CY
The Greyhawk Wars aka "The Bandit War" 617 CY to 618 CY
Battle of Bellport Harbor 623 CY
Iuz-Furyondy War 627 CY to 629 CY (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Having dredged up material for eight more wars (wow) I have additional 2E campaign material I may write up that coincides with these events:

Final 2E Campaign Map of the Flanaess 638 CY
The High Ring (magocratic power group)
Revealed Land of Black Ice Colonization and Map
The Night Shadows (barbarian power group)

I hope this ends up a good trove of game material and ideas for your own Greyhawk campaign. Stay tuned!

Update 06/27/2021: Added links to associated articles that followed this prelude, for ease of navigation. Or you can find them all in the page tab for Best of Greyhawkery.