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| Orb of Power |
1 CY
With his Declaration of Universal Peace, the first Overking was crowned
in Rauxes.
The Aerdy calendar dates from the crowning of the first
overking, Nasran of the House of Cranden, in Rauxes in
CY 1.
Proclaiming universal peace, Nasran saw defeated Suloise, Flan and rebellious
humanoid rabbles of no consequence and no threat to the vast might of Aerdy.
[Ivid - 3]
But for all his well-meaning words, all power
was to be his, and all Houses were to bend the knee to his magnificence.
However, it quickly
became clear to all the noble houses of the Aerdi that power in the Great
Kingdom was being centralized in the hands of the rulers of Rauxes, and that
the fortunes of the Great Kingdom would now rest with them. The needs and intrigues
of the Celestial Houses would soon become subordinate to the politics of the
Malachite Throne. [LGG - 23]
The Oeridians were all but invincible, it seemed, to those who stood before them, but they had artifacts of old, some taken by the fabled Johydee from the Suel. They used them well, and were served by them well, but such things should be handled with care, for they care not who wields them.
Crown, Orb, and Sceptre of Might:
According to tradition, great items of regalia were constructed for special servants of the deities […] when the gods were contending amongst themselves. Who amongst them first conceived the idea is unknown. The champion of each [ethos] - Evil, Good, Neutrality - was given a crown, an orb, and a sceptre. These items have been scattered and last over the centuries of struggle since they first appeared. [DMG 1e - 157]
And woe to he who should touch them who is not of its ethos.
Iron Flask of Tuerny the Merciless:
This artifact is reported to be a small and heavy urn, easily carried in o pack or by hand despite its weight. The Flask is stoppered with a turnip-shaped plug, engraved and embossed with sigils, glyphs, and runes of power so as to contain the spirit therein. The possessor need but know 3 words to have the Flask function properly, i.e. the word of OPENING, the word of COMMAND, the word of CLOSING AND SEALING. Tuerny's Flosk is rumored to imprison one of the following: a greater devil, a groaning spirit, a major demon, a night hag, or a nycadaemon. [No one can say which, for it is said that these are WORDS for each.]
It is generally conceded that the Servant of the Flask can be loosed only to perform evil deeds, and it must always kill before it can be commanded to return to its prison. [DMG 1e - 158]
11 CY
The Flan continued to be pacified. Theirs
was a futile struggle, as the lands of their dominion shrank and shrank, they
retreated into high valleys and the northern barrens. But still they fought
where such resistance could be gathered. Until they threw all their remaining might
into one last stand at Arrowstrand against the ever waxing Aerdian Kingdom.
They were brave. They were valiant. But fate was against them that day, and
they fell. But their fall was glorious.
c. 100 CY
The fell sword Druniazth, servant of Tharizdun, had
passed from hand to hand in its quest to release its master. Those who wielded
it were themselves wielded, used and discarded as each in turn were found
wanting, until, centuries after being lost by Baron Lum the Mad at the Battle
of the Bonewood, it came to one who would not be so used, and it was cast into
the Rift Canyon as she sought to rid herself of its influence.
108 CY
Overking Manshen desired to secure his
northern border. The Fruztii Barbarians were a constant threat, and he meant to
pacify the North once and for all.
In the spring of 108
CY, Aerdi forces massed in the frontier town of Knurl. With Knight Protectors
of the Great Kingdom in the vanguard, the force swept northeast, between the
Rakers and the Blemu Hills, in a march to the sea. By autumn, after having been
met with relatively light resistance, the Aerdi succeeded in uprooting most
Fruztii encampments, and the foundations of a great stronghold were laid at Spinecastle.
The Aerdi freed Johnsport in a pitched battle with the barbarians before the
onset of winter. Sensing that this would be only the first phase of a long
struggle, Aerdi commanders summoned thousands of contingents from North
Province over the objections of the herzog, a Hextorian who had wanted to lead
the forces into battle himself.
With the defeat of the
Fruztii at Johnsport, the call went out that winter, and thousands of their
kinsmen poured south along the Timberway the next year. Marching through passes
in the Rakers, they assembled and attacked the works underway at Spinecastle, focusing
their assault on the heart of the Aerdi fortifications. The defenders,
including the bulk of the elite Aerdi infantry, were quickly outflanked and
surrounded. A young Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom, Caldni Vir, a
Heironean cavalier from Edgefield, commanded a large cavalry force patrolling the
hills when the barbarian force struck. As part of the contingent led by the
herzog into the north, he pivoted and headed back to Spinecastle while
anticipating orders from his liege to counterattack. When the courier of the
herzog delivered orders for Vir to pull back to the south in retreat, he spat
in disgust and ordered the standard of the Naelax prince to be trampled in the mud.
He then raised the standard of the Imperial Orb and charged.
Approaching the site
of the battle from the north, he descended upon the barbarians from higher ground,
and they were unprepared for the hundreds of heavy horse and lance that bore
down on them in the next hour. Their lines were quickly broken, and the
Imperial Army was rescued to eventually take the day in what would be called
the Battle of the Shamblefield. The
Aerdi drove the surviving barbarians out of the hills, controlling the land all
the way to the Loftwood by the following spring. Overking Manshen recognized
the courage of the young knight Vir, and raised him as the first marquis of
Bone March. The land was so named for the high price paid for its taking, as
the fallen imperial regulars numbered into the thousands. [LGG - 36]
Thus the Overking named Vir the
first Marquis of the Bone March. And thus were the Fruztii broken.
It is said that the blood of
those thousands of unsanctified and unburied Barbarian and Imperial corpses was
pressed into the mortar of Spinecastle. It is also said that the Fruztii laid a
curse on its unfinished walls.
122 CY
Further buffer was required if the new lands
were to be protected from further incursions by the Barbarians. The Fruztii
were broken, and the Overking wished to capitalize on their weakness. General
Sir Pelgrave Ratik of Winetha was commanded to lead an expeditionary force to
push the Aerdian frontier back to the foothills of the Griff Mountains.
Ratik and his forces
inaugurated their expedition by crossing Kalmar Pass, taking the town of Bresht
in a blustery winter campaign that cost the Fruztii dearly. After brokering an alliance with the dwarven lords of the eastern Rakers,
Ratik proceeded to force a retreat of the Fruztii up the narrow coast and into
the northern fastness of the Timberway. He wisely refused to follow them into
an obvious trap and instead broke off the pursuit and fortified his gains. He
was immediately hailed a hero in the south and his legend grew quickly. [LGG - 89, 90]
He established a fort
overlooking Grendep Bay at Onsager Point that he named Marner, and used it as a
base to solidify his gains. He fostered an alliance with the dwerfolk, with the
gnomes. And he was also fair with those Fruztii who remained on their freeholds,
so long as they declared fealty to the Overking.
128 CY
The Fruztii and Schnai pooled their strength
to launch a concentrated naval attack on Marner. And almost defeated Ratik and
his forces for theirs were far greater in number than his, but Sir Percival
Ratik knew that he could never defeat fuch a force in the field, so he set the
approaches to Marner aflame, forcing the Barbarians into a narrow salient where
they were cut to pieces by the siege engines of his fort and a squadron of the
Imperial Navy. Bruised, the Barbarians retreat, only to find their longships
ablaze.
130 CY
The Overking was pleased and elevated Pelgrave
to Baron, and gifted him the Timberway as his personal fief. His doing so was a
small thing, it cost him nothing. And the Timberway was hardly secure and he
and Sir Percival knew it; but Percival was pleased, too, nonetheless, and he
campaigned hard to defeat what resistance remained there. And so, again, the
Overking was pleased. The walled town of Bresht was renamed Ratikhill in honour
of Sir Percival’s victory. That too was another small thing that cost the
Overking nothing.
141 CY
Kargoth
of Mansbridge was born, a fiesty lad, noted for his bravery and ambition from
an early age. He was destined for greatness, most said. They said as much again
when he was elevated to the ranks of the Knights Protector.
166 CY
The east coast of the Great Kingdom had never
truly been pacified. Barbarians raided the North Coast unmolested, and piracy
was ever a problem on the South Seas. The Overking was losing patience, and he
committed forces to deal with it, once and for all time. He set his sights upon
putting the Duxchaners to task for their misdeeds.
Following a
particularly terrible attack on Pontylver, during which the shipyards were set ablaze,Overking Erhart II was
determined to put an end to the marauding. In 166 CY, he committed the combined
navies of the Great Kingdom to breaking the power of the Duxchaners. Old Baron
Asperdi's young but powerful naval force from the Sea Barons was brought to
bear on them, led by Lord Admiral Aeodorich of House Atirr, then accorded the
finest naval captain of the time. The town of Dullstrand was specifically
founded to act as a base of operations for the invasion of these southern
islands by the Aerdi fleet. [LGG - 71]
167 CY
Monduiz Dephaar was born in Bellport to noble
lineage. He was elevated at a young age to its Barony when his family fell to
Fruztii raids along the Solnor Coast.
168 CY
The naval forces of the Great Kingdom defeated
the Duxchan forces in the Battle of
Ganode Bay with the naval power of the Sea Barons at the fore.
Thus the Duxchan Isles became The Lordship of the Isles.
Within two years of
hotly fought battles in the Aerdi Sea, Atirr and his armada, which was
outfitted with mages and powerful clerics of Procan, finally defeated the
Duxchaners and their allies at the Battle
of Ganode Bay. This won greater fame and praise for the Aerdi admiral, who
eventually rose to the throne of North Province some years later. The most
militant of the surviving Suel buccaneers retreated to the port of Ekul, on the
Spine Ridge of the Tilvanot Plateau, but were no longer a significant factor. The
Aerdi settled these islands in large numbers, founding Sulward as the capital, though
the population remained largely Suel, particularly on Ansabo and Ganode, where
local Suel lords were absorbed into the government of the realm. An Aerdi lord
was appointed prince of the new realm and he was made responsible to the herzog
of South Province, but given the right to carve up the islands into provinces
as he saw fit and award them to his kin. [LGG - 71]
189 CY
History
of the Pyronomicon
A large and powerful band of adventurers from the
Great Kingdom, having learned of the Legend of Harak col Hakul Deshaun and the
Pyronomicon, pushed all the way to the great wyrm’s lair intent on dispatching
the dragon once and for all, but when they entered the place, it was completely
empty. Apparently, Harak col Hakul Deshaun, crafty even by dragon standards,
had already relocated to parts unknown; an assumption based on the fact that,
without a corpse or sign of struggle to say otherwise, the dragon could not be
presumed dead. And with the disappearance of the dragon, so too did The
Pyronomicon vanish from the chronicles of men. [Dragon #241 - 78]
c. 187 CY
As a member of the Knights
Protector, Monduiz Dephaar distinguished himself defending against the seasonal
Barbarian raids, fighting alongside such heroes as Lord Kargoth. He fought with
a fierceness that was frightening to behold, and in time, as his reputation
spread up and down the coast, his name came to be known and then feared by the
Barbarians. His atrocities were initially overlooked; but eventually they could
not be ignored. He was censured by the Knights, but he carried on unabated,
then shunned; and in his fury, he left, and settled for a while among the
Schnai, where his sword was welcomed, and where he could continue to raid and
vent his rage upon the Fruztii.
198 CY
The Sage Selvor the Younger proclaimed a
coming time of strife and living death for the Great Kingdom. Those in power
had no ears for such words in their time of unprecedented contentment.
202 CY
During the reign of Overking Jiranen, Lord
Kargoth was reputedly the greatest knight of the day. So, when the standard
bearer of the Knights Protector passed into legend, Lord Kargoth fully expected
to be named his successor, a fitting tribute to his long and illustrious
career. When a much younger Sir Benedor was proclaimed successor, the realm
gasped in disbelief, despite it being rumoured that the youth had been touched
by the spirit of Johydee. Kargoth’s pride was much wounded. The Banner should
have been his, he seethed! He challenged
the young knight in the Court of Essences to a contest of arms, and although
fearful, the young knight accepted the challenge. The clearly weaker young
knight parried Kargoth’s attacks, never giving up the floor, and held his own
until sunset, upon which the challenge was called. Stalemate! According to
custom, Kargoth had lost. He refused the young knight’s hand of truce and
stormed from court and the sneers of his peers. He vowed revenge.
Kargoth took refuge from the
deluge that accompanied his flight. He came upon a ruin, and a stair down into the
dry darkness beneath it. An ancient shrine greeted his torch upon reaching its
base, that and the whispered words of the demon Ahmon-Ibor, the Sibilant Beast.
Kargoth knew this beast, Demogorgon, to be a fell fiend worshipped by the
decadent Flan until they were pacified by the Aerdy.
The whispers promised a
plan of revenge and Kargoth was seduced by those whispers, and he swore a blood
pact to seal his deal. Tentacles sprung out of the darkness and tore out his
eyes, and Kargoth became the first Death Knight. He emerged to discover the
Knights Protector riven by the slight given him. And he was pleased.
 |
| Kargoth Takes Refuge |
 |
| Lord Kargoth |
Monduiz Dephaar returned to the
Great Kingdom upon hearing of his mentor’s supposed disgrace, seeking to join
Kargoth in his revenge. Others joined him.
Dephaar did not see Kargoth’s
disfigurement. Kargoth kept it hidden at all times. He kept his distance; he
held his meetings in darkened rooms, his incensed ravings woven with belching
clouds of acrid incense.
The whispers instructed him on
when it was time to act upon his vengeance. When it was time, he gathered those
who sided with him, and raided the Temple of Lothan, and taking its holy
artifact, the Orb of Sol, in hand, he bent the Orb’s power to his will. He
raised it high, and speaking words of power, summoned the draconic tentacle
demon beast Arendagrost, as he was bid. And set it free upon the world.
Arendagrost began to cut a swath of destruction from Rel Deven to Rauxes.
 |
| Temple of Lothan |
Sir Benedor rode hard to Rel
Deven upon hearing the news. He arrived in time to witness those thirteen
knights who’d accompanied Kargoth rise from their death sprawls, their clothing
scotched, their flesh burned, their eyes aglow with malevolence. He summoned
all of his courage and closed with Kargoth. He attacked with abandon, sure in
the knowledge that if he did not, he was lost. Near his end, he managed to
wrest the Orb from Kargoth, and instructed by it, he too spoke words of power
and he scattered those deathly knights that he once called peers, and began his
relentless quest to destroy them.
His victory came too late for
the royal family, though. They had fallen victim to the rampaging fiend.
Indeed, one had fallen and was raised by Kargoth in his own image to mock their
feeble power, and set him too upon the world.
Was Benedor successful? No. The
Death Knights were swift, and they laid a trail of undead in their wake to slow
him.
The Death Knights:
 |
| Monduiz Dephaar |
[History by Gary Holian, Dragon #290, 291]
213 CY
Royal Astrologers at Rel Astra proclaimed the
coming of the Age of Sorrow, vindicating the discraced Sage Selvor the Younger.
The new Overking Zelcor began to
distance himself from the Knights Protector, for public opinion had swayed
against them and their favour.
233 CY
The
fell sword Druniazth, servant of
Tharizdun, was discovered in the Rift Canyon “by a group of illithids, who traded it to drow merchants in 233 CY. Their
caravan, however, was attacked and destroyed somewhere in the Underdark between
the Rift Canyon and the Crystalmists and the blade passed out of living
memory.” [Dragon #294 - 92]
247 CY
Lord Kargoth’s castle walls were pulled down
by the Knights Protector, and its secrets have remained buried ever since.
Rumours persist that he settled on the Isle of Cursed Souls, but if truth be
told, Kargoth had only been seen once upon that northern coast, and that during
the Flan Festival of the Bloody Moon.
254 CY
Far from the influence of the Malachite
Throne, the Viceroyalty of Ferrond declared independence from the Great
Kingdom, and was thereafter called Furyondy. This marks the beginning of the
dissolution of the Great Kingdom. Never again would their influence reach as
far. But in truth, its influence had not swayed Ferrond for some time.
The migration of Pholtusians from
the Great Kingdom increased with the independence of Furyondy, citing religious
persecution. The people there had turned away from the Flan gods, remembering
the time of the Ur-Flan and Occluded Empire, and having embraced the gods of
Oerid, they no longer wished to be reminded of those times and of Pholtus’
failure. Most travel through Nyrond and settle in the western valleys of the
Rakers among the Flan in a semi-independent Flannae state.
Tenh, still independent of mind,
wished a return to their own dominion. They had heard of the Great Kingdom’s
fall into depravity and despotism, and encouraged by the its attention being
drawn increasingly inward as the Death Knights ran amok and its provinces
gradually sought their own council, they declared independence. They prepared
for what response might come. And waited.
300-350 CY
As anarchy crept into the Great
Kingdom, more and more of its northern provinces became increasingly
independent. And in some cases lawless. Petty fiefs sprang up, their rulers
declaring themselves kings and barons and dukes and such. And where ruffians seized
power, banditry prevailed. Some banded together and became known as the Bandit
Kingdoms, a loose confederacy of tyrants that preyed upon one another and clung
together to ward against those who’d wish to annex them.
The Bandit Kingdoms are a collection of petty holdings. Each little
kingdom is ruled by a robber chieftain claiming a title such as Baron, Boss,
Plar, General, Tyrant, Prince, Despot and even King. In all there are 17 states
within the confines of the area, ruled by 4 to 6 powerful lords, and the rest
attempting either to become leading rulers or simply to survive. [Folio - 8]
The Death Knights had become so
powerful in the Great Kingdom that they began to hunt down the Knights
Protector. Few came to the Knights’ aid.
 |
| Veralos |
Zagig Yragerne sought to find the fabled city
of Veralos, for he believed that a culture that could produce Vecna and sunder
the Elven Empire must have produced something worth seeking in their time. He
and his Company of Seven, a young Murlynd and Keoghtom among them, left to much
fanfare, and returning a year later, they claimed to have found and plundered
the city, producing a wagon laden with treasures to prove their claim. Their
expedition revived the legend of the lost citadel, and indeed, that of the
Ur-Flan and their civilization, which had all but been forgotten since their
Aerdy conquerors pulled down their ancient settlements and built their new ones
on top of them, laying waste to Flan magic, art, and writings.
320 CY
Nomads began to appear in the North, coming
into conflict with the Rovers of the Barrens, but indeed, the northern steppes
were so vast, the Rovers remained unaware until what came to be known as the
Relentless Horde had already gained a foothold. And, by then, it was already
too late to stop them.
Mixed Oerid-Baklunish nomad bands had gradually moved into and laid
claim to the steppe lands beyond the Yatil range, pushing eastwards as far as
the Griff Mountains. Border skirmishing with the southern nations went on as
these wild horsemen pushed into the Flanaess. Perhaps the civilized states
could have stopped their eastward progress had they not been busy fighting with
the Aerdi for their independence. [Folio - 6]
Forced east by the Brazen Horde, the Baklunish
Relentless Horde entered the Flanaess, sweeping across the Northlands. They
pressed the Rovers of the Barrens east. Victorious, Ilkhan of Tiger Nomads
ruled the western steppes under Kha- Khan Ogobanuk, ruler of the Restless
Horde. The Wolf Nomads pressed on but could advance no further than the Cold
Marshes and the Howling Hills. Their horses could not race across the former,
and they met with the Rover’s resolve in the valleys of the latter.
Following the lead of the
Viceroyalty of Ferrond, the outer dependencies of Aerdy too began to claim
sovereignty. The Great Kingdom, ever riven by inner turmoil, and its increasing
decadency, was shrinking. And in its lessened state, it could do nothing to
stem the tide.
Perranders, Velunians, Furyondians and Tenhas achieve success,
establishing independent status one after the other in a series of minor but
bloody wars. [Folio - 6]
342 CY
The Council
of Nine selected its first Theocrat to rule as a semi-independent leader of the
Pale.
356 CY
The founding of Nyrond marked be beginning of
the Great Kingdom’s decline. One might think that the founding of Furyondy
marked such, but in truth, though it did mark the beginning of its dissolution,
the Great Kingdom had not looked to their Western Provinces for decades, and
those provinces had not sought their aid or council for decades, so when the
Viceroyalty of Ferrond declared its sovereignty, the Great Kingdom hardly took
note. Its attention was firmly focused on the East; so, when its Eastern
protectorates began to secede, the Kingdom chose to take note, and to act.
The House of Rax, ruling Aerdi dynasty, was at the time sundered by an
internal feud, and the junior branch, then known as Nyrond, declared it lands
free of the rule of the reigning Overking [Portillan] and sovereign.
[Folio - 6]
[T]he ruling dynasty of Aerdy, the Celestial House
of Rax, had grown especially decadent. In response, the western province of
Nyrond declared itself free of the Great Kingdom and elected one of its nobles
as king of an independent domain. Armies gathered from all loyal provinces of
Aerdy to suppress this brazen act. [LGG - 14]
Just as the Aerdi dynasty was marching troops
north to deal with Nyrond’s illegal declaration of independence, an allied
host of Fruztii and Schnai invaded, threatening to overwhelm the Bone March and
Ratik and sweep into the North Province. The Rax Overking Portillan had no
choice but to divert his forces headed to contest Nyrond to counter the
barbarian invasion. They were successful, but at a great cost. So many perished
at in the kingdom’s defence that it had to accept Nyrond’s independence.
A coalition of Fruzt, Schna and mercenary barbarians mounted a major
foray into the Aerdian North Province. The Overking's army, raised to invade
Nyrond, swung northeast and soon the invaders were crushed. The end of the
campaigning season arrived before any action could be taken against Nyrond. [Folio - 6]
The Battle of Redspan.
Tenha cavalry route Aerdian forces, Tenh duke ends fealty to Aerdian Crown.
Eventually, the Great
Kingdom showed signs of decay. When the Nyrondal princes declared the end of
their allegiance to the overking, the duke was persuaded to follow suit.The
Battle of Redspan signaled the end of the duke's fealty to the overking of
Aerdy. The Aerdy force was routed by the Tenha cavalry and pushed down the
"Red Road to Rift Canyon" in an action made famous in the ballad of
the same name. The army of the Great Kingdom was not actually swept into the
Rift Canyon, as the ballad proclaims, but they were so thoroughly defeated that
many of the Aerdi officers and soldiers chose exile in the Bandit Kingdoms over
the punishments awaiting them at home. [LGG - 113]
Theocracy
of the Pale, already self-determining, proclaimed its autonomy.
As the rot of cultural and social decay started to penetrate the Great
Kingdom, many of the more devout and outspoken followers of the god Pholtus
withdrew from the increasingly corrupt core of the land. Some of these settled
between the Rakers mountain range and the Yol River. When Nyrond declared its
independence from the Great Kingdom, so did these religious refugees. Thus was
the Theocracy of the Pale formed. [WG8 - 47]
359 CY
Nyrond, unfortunately for the Theocracy of the
Pale, did not recognize the Pale’s right to independence. Nyrondal forces marched
into Wintershiven, and annexed the newly formed Theocracy of the Pale, and,
later, the County of Urnst. While occupied, Wintershiven was burned to the
ground, and ultimately abandoned. And so it came to pass that New Wintershiven
was founded twenty miles north of the old.
Some still claim that the invaders razed the city to the ground. Calmer
heads disagree, citing nothing more than carelessness: apparently some drunken
Nyrondese soldiers set fire to a barn, and the fire spread to destroy the city.
[WG8 - 47]
The occupation was short. Nyrond chose to accept Theocracy and Urnst
independence after the treaty of Rel Mord, in return for pledges of mutual
protection. The Pale celebrates this day as the Emancipation.
c. 390 CY
History of the Pyronomicon
The Pyronomicon’s absence from recorded history lasted
roughly 200 years before turning up again circa CY 390. This time, the owner was Foltyn, a capable Water
Elementalist residing on a small island along the east coast of the Nyr Dyv.
Though brilliant within his specialty, Foltyn was not known for his common
sense, and he foolishly announced to the world his intention to destroy The
Pyronomicon before the Joint Courts of Urnst during Richfest, when both Luna
and Celene were full. Needless to say, it seemed like every powerful Fire
Elementalist in the Flanaess descended upon Foltyn’s island abode exactly one
week before the Midsummer festival, and in a spectacular, fiery display that
lit up the night sky over an area some 100 miles in diameter, Foltyn and his
island were wiped clean from the face of Oerth. [Dragon #241 - 78]
403 CY
History
of the Pyronomicon
Although there is no record indicating which Fire Elementalist made off with the tome, it eventually found its way to the city of Greyhawk in CY 403, and into the possession of the sage Warfel II, the head of a generations-old family of scholars. When Warfel II died some years later, The Pyronomicon was passed on to his eldest child, Warfel III, who passed it down to his eldest child who, in turn, passed it on to the next generation, thus quieting the tome’s storied existence. [Dragon #241 - 78]
Although there is no record indicating which Fire Elementalist made off with the tome, it eventually found its way to the city of Greyhawk in CY 403, and into the possession of the sage Warfel II, the head of a generations-old family of scholars. When Warfel II died some years later, The Pyronomicon was passed on to his eldest child, Warfel III, who passed it down to his eldest child who, in turn, passed it on to the next generation, thus quieting the tome’s storied existence. [Dragon #241 - 78]
Skipping ahead …
576 CY
576 CY
History of the Pyronomicon
So it was until CY 576, when a new wrinkle appeared in the tapestry that is The Pyronomicon’s history. Warfel VI reported that, while poring over an old adventure journal, the very shadows within his study began to coalesce and solidify at a frightening pace, eventually leaping off the walls as twisted and deformed gnomes. With no reason to expect an attack in his very home, Warfel was quickly overwhelmed by the diminutive invaders and rendered unconscious. Upon waking, he found that his entire abode had been ransacked, but upon further inspection, nothing had been taken, save for The Pyronomicon.
This strange twist of fate did not end there. Elsewhere in the city, and at roughly the same time Warfel’s home was assaulted, a trio of powerful magical items (a sword, a hammer, and a trident, respectively) mysteriously vanished from the magically-protected vaults of their owners. In place of each weapon was a taunting riddle daring the owners to retrieve the items from a hidden location beneath haunted White Plume Mountain. Even more shocking than the weapons’ theft was the individual claiming responsibility. The archwizard Keraptis, thought to have died more than a millennium before, had apparently returned, for the riddles bore his personal symbol. Not surprisingly, Warfel assumed the theft of The Pyronomicon was linked to the theft of the weapons, so when adventurers were recruited in order to recover the weapons, the sage made sure that they kept an eye out for The Pyronomicon as well. But of those few intrepid adventurers who escaped White Plume Mountain with their lives, none indicated that The Pyronomicon was there, or even Keraptis for that matter.
Consequently, as of CY 585, the location of The Pyronomicon remains a mystery. [Dragon #241 - 78, 79]
Art:
So it was until CY 576, when a new wrinkle appeared in the tapestry that is The Pyronomicon’s history. Warfel VI reported that, while poring over an old adventure journal, the very shadows within his study began to coalesce and solidify at a frightening pace, eventually leaping off the walls as twisted and deformed gnomes. With no reason to expect an attack in his very home, Warfel was quickly overwhelmed by the diminutive invaders and rendered unconscious. Upon waking, he found that his entire abode had been ransacked, but upon further inspection, nothing had been taken, save for The Pyronomicon.
This strange twist of fate did not end there. Elsewhere in the city, and at roughly the same time Warfel’s home was assaulted, a trio of powerful magical items (a sword, a hammer, and a trident, respectively) mysteriously vanished from the magically-protected vaults of their owners. In place of each weapon was a taunting riddle daring the owners to retrieve the items from a hidden location beneath haunted White Plume Mountain. Even more shocking than the weapons’ theft was the individual claiming responsibility. The archwizard Keraptis, thought to have died more than a millennium before, had apparently returned, for the riddles bore his personal symbol. Not surprisingly, Warfel assumed the theft of The Pyronomicon was linked to the theft of the weapons, so when adventurers were recruited in order to recover the weapons, the sage made sure that they kept an eye out for The Pyronomicon as well. But of those few intrepid adventurers who escaped White Plume Mountain with their lives, none indicated that The Pyronomicon was there, or even Keraptis for that matter.
Consequently, as of CY 585, the location of The Pyronomicon remains a mystery. [Dragon #241 - 78, 79]
One must always give credit where credit is due. This History is made possible primarily by the Imaginings of Gary Gygax and his Old Guard, Lenard Lakofka among them, and the new old guards, Carl Sargant, James Ward, Roger E. Moore. And Erik Mona, Gary Holian, Sean Reynolds, Frederick Weining. The list is interminable. Thanks to Steven Wilson for his GREYCHRONDEX and to Keith Horsfield for his “Chronological History of Eastern Oerik.”
Special thanks to Jason Zavoda for his compiled index, “Greyhawkania,” an invaluable research tool.
Art:
Wizard by andrebdois
The-Secret-Place by freelex30
No-rolling-back-Dark-souls by anatofinnstark
Lord Kargoth, by Greg Staples, Dragon 290
Monduiz Dephaar, by Adam Rex, Dragon 291
Veralos, by Kelman Andrasofszky, Dragon 293
Sources:
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1043 The City of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1989
1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
1068 Greyhawk Wars Boxed Set, 1991
2011A Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Ed., 1979
2023 Greyhawk Adventures Hardback, 1988
2138 Book of Artifacts, 1993
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9253 WG8, Fate of Istus, 1989
11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Ivid the Undying, 1998
Dragon Magazine
OJ Oerth Journal, #1, #11
LGJ et al.
Greychrondex, Wilson, Steven B.
Greyhawkania, byt Jason Zavoda
The map of Anna B. Meyer
The-Secret-Place by freelex30
No-rolling-back-Dark-souls by anatofinnstark
Lord Kargoth, by Greg Staples, Dragon 290
Monduiz Dephaar, by Adam Rex, Dragon 291
Veralos, by Kelman Andrasofszky, Dragon 293
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1043 The City of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1989
1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
1068 Greyhawk Wars Boxed Set, 1991
2011A Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Ed., 1979
2023 Greyhawk Adventures Hardback, 1988
2138 Book of Artifacts, 1993
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9253 WG8, Fate of Istus, 1989
11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Ivid the Undying, 1998
Dragon Magazine
OJ Oerth Journal, #1, #11
LGJ et al.
Greychrondex, Wilson, Steven B.
Greyhawkania, byt Jason Zavoda
The map of Anna B. Meyer
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