On Tang the Horrific

“But even for me, I tell you,

Death and the strong force of fate are waiting.

There will come a dawn or sunset or high noon

When a man will take my life in battle too--

flinging a spear perhaps

Or whipping a deadly arrow off his bow.”

― Homer, The Iliad

Tang, Tarkhan of the Purple Eagle Tribe

Tang. Hero? Villain? Barbarian? Warrior? Mercenary? Bandit? Opportunist?

All these are true. And not. That makes Tang one of the most enigmatic characters in all the Flanaess.

You might consider him a Baklunish Genghis Khan; but in that regard, you would be wrong. Tang cared nothing for conquest.

Horrific? Hardly.

So who was Tang?

Tang was a nomad of the Dry Steppes. 

The canyon you have entered is rugged going, but certainly no worse than the sea of sand you have left behind. Wild as the area might be, it is not deserted. Ahead, a lone sentry looks down on you from his perch atop a bluff. The figure seems to be a human dressed in a turban and a flowing robe. He carries a bow, but does not seem hostile. He regards you calmly, then gives a friendly wave, though you note that he maintains a firm grip on his weapon. From somewhere in the rocks below, you can hear another man's voice asking the sentry what he sees. The shout brings forth a bleating from an unseen herd of goats. [R7P (The Rod of Seven Parts, Book 2) – 4]

The Dry Steppes

Dry Steppes: West of the Crystalmist Mountains and the Ulsprue is an endless prairie called the Dry Steppes. The area was once fertile and blessed with abundant water, a veritable garden for the ancient Baklunish padishahs and sultans. The Invoked Devastation ruined the beauty of this land at the end of the Suel Baklunish War one thousand years ago, and destroyed the empire that existed here. The nature of the steppe changes toward the central region, becoming more pleasant and rich. Large hordes of nomads, herd animals, and centaurs roam the area, migrating north in summer and returning south with the rains of winter. Little rain falls here, and rivers and lakes are few. [LGG – 154] 

The Steppes' northernmost extent, the Plains of the Paynims, is unoccupied during much of the hot summer: the nomadic residents are poorly armored but highly mobile and fierce. Baklunish nomads breed beautiful horses famed for speed and endurance. [PGTG – 6] 

Only a small portion of the rolling plains inhabited by nomadic Baklunish tribes falls within the Flanaess. The [part] which is on our portion of the continent is sometimes nearly empty of human life, and at other times it is reported to swarm with horsemen. These nomads evidently move out of the Dry Steppes region when summer makes the area an arid waste, and return there in the rainy season. [Gold Box – 31]

The vast stretches of prairie north of the Sulhaut Mountains and west of the Crystalmists are known as the Dry Steppes. Rivers and oases here are scarcer even than the meager rainfall. […] It is said that the central part of these steppes is still pleasant and rich, and many Balkunish nomads roam there still. The so-called Horse Barbarians who roam the northern Dry Steppes are fine riders and warriors, employing composite bows, light lances, and a variety of scimitarlike weapons.

There are, of course, many legends of ruins and buried cities which have great wealth and wonders that survived the Devastation, but the nature of this terrain is such that few seek them. Most noted are the tales of the Stone Circles on the shore of Lake Udrukankar, reputedly sacred to the people of the lands and said to hold powerful magic and deep latent evil within. [FtAA – 61-62]

A Land of Savages

One might say that it is a land of savages. In that, one would be wrong.

Those who dwell upon the Steppes would say otherwise, that they are very civilized. Is not the Rite of Hospitality among their greatest beliefs? Do they not offer the water of life to those whom ask? Do they not serve bread and sweetmeats to their guests? And tea? And kumiss? And the pleasure of their company? Does not Ceremony suffuse their very lives? Prayer is a devotion; indeed, it is an obligation, morning and afternoon and evening. And are they not free, freer in fact than the infidels to the east? They are free to look to the horizon, and not only wonder what might lie there, but to crest that hill, and the next on the furthest horizon not yet spied.

And are those hills not beautiful?

For part of the year, the valley is lush and green, making it a prime choice for travelers seeking good grazing for their mounts. The rest of the year, it is so hot and dry that caravans usually bypass it. [R7P – 3]

And do those restless souls not raise opulent yurts and walls alongside oasis, where the “civilized,” “settled” man might trade with them in comfort?

The dusty trail leading up the bluff broadens into a path covered in crushed marble that crunches under your feet. The outer wall, which has seen better days, is doubly high where the path passes through, forming a rounded arch over a gate made of horizontal iron bars and heavy, vertical timbers. The gateway is large enough for two or three mounted men to ride through at once. One of the gate's two halves is slightly ajar, but it slams shut with a creak and a thud as you approach. There doesn't seem to be anyone around. Perhaps a freak gust of wind closed the gate; there does seem to be a pretty good breeze blowing. Or perhaps it was your own footfalls that set the gate to swinging. [R7P – 5]

There seems to be some sort of patio or arcade in the corner of the building you are approaching. You catch a whiff of sulphurous smoke in the air, along with a more resinous scent that stings your nostrils. Upon a brief study of the shadowy interior, you conclude that it must be a smith's shop. There is an anvil and a forge with a fire roaring inside. Three outrageously dressed humanoids squat on the floor, looking quite out of place. They quickly spring to their feet and swagger to the edge of the arcade. All three creatures wear bright green turbans and loose robes with flowing sleeves—one caftan is orange, one red, and one has red and blue stripes. The robes are sooty and threadbare, and their open collars reveal sunken, hairless chests with mottled gray skin. Slits in the back of each creature's robes accommodate a pair of small, leathery wings. The creatures have enormous, pointed ears and long, hooked noses. One of them bows with a flourish.

"Welcome, travelers, to the province's only haunted caravanserai." The other two nod in agreement. "Say, is that a dagger in your armor or are you just glad to be here?" The joke causes the speaker's two companions to giggle. "Don't worry, the only spirits you have to worry about, other than the ones they serve in the dining hall, are the ones that glow in the dark. Yep, those are mean!"

Just at that moment, two faintly glowing figures rise from the forge. They are vaguely humanoid, but look to be composed of dancing flames. The creatures, who have been nodding, glance behind them and give startled gasps. [R7P – 7-8]

And do they not keep the alive memory of their past grandeur and folly to ward against its return?

Many nomadic Baklunish clans in the Dry Steppes are dervishes, devotees of mystical religious practices who defend their lands and beliefs by strength of arms. Their most powerful leader is called the Mahdi of the Steppes, a prophet and warrior. Dervishes in this region celebrate his divine insight, and others are well advised to do likewise if they wish to have the goodwill of these fanatics. Many nomads meet at the Stone Circles of Tovag Baragu (see Udrukankar, Lake). [LGG - 154] 

The nearest settlement to Tovag Baragu is a very large community of dervishes sworn to protect it from foreign meddlers. The human and centaur tribes of the Dry Steppes will be generally of a similar if less radical outlook, and will do what they can to discourage adventurers from approaching the spot. They will certainly not serve as guides (except possibly in the cases of some individual members of the tribe who are unscrupulous). [GA – 99] 

More than one scholar has remarked that whereas the destruction wrought by the Bakluni mages on the Suelites has been the longer lasting, having persisted to the present day as the Sea of Dust, the Invoked Devastation which the Suloise first unleashed against the Bakluni must have been the more thorough. Even a thousand years later, ruins of Suel cities may be found in the desolate Sea of Dust, whereas the Dry Steppes, which are far more habitable, seem to contain no remnants of the Bakluni cities at all. A notable exception is 'Ibvag Baragu, known in the East as the Stone Circles. This large feature still stands near the salt lake of Udrukankar at the edge of the Flanaess. [GA – 98,99]

There are few remnants there, despite the Devastation. Most are ruins, a few, where the Devastation meets those lands spared to the north, are inhabited; but theirs is a punitive existence, unlike those steppes and plains of the nomads, that drift as far north as Zeif.

These plains were Tang’s. Windswept, its grasses an ever-flowing golden sea. Hooves thunder upon it, as do storms that roll overhead. The eternal celestial dome glitters there, too. Such things formed Tang. They weaned him.

He sailed that golden sea, as all his people did, their caravans their caravels. But he was also a prince to his people. Tang knew all the luxuries his people could bestow upon their leaders: fine silks, embroidered pillows, figs and dates, and the whirling dance of veiled women.

Leaders of the royal rank are known as Tarkhan, Padishah or Kha Khan. [WoGG, Gold Box - 31] 

Ever restless, even for a nomad, Tang turned his back on his legacy, preferring the road and an uncertain future to the grandeur afforded him. He was drawn to next horizon, lured further still by the next venture. Of course, one might say that he was born to such a life. 

The Paynims preferred to dwell in tents and to carry their belongings with them as they moved. [LGG - 83]

He crossed the Dry Steppes, unto Urr, unto Ket; where his bow and his sword were first used against one, the latter, and then the former. This too was known to him.

The western states such as Ket, Tusmit, and Ekbir will often employ forces of mercenary Paynim nomads against each other or other marauding nomads. [Gold Box – 31] 

They were always willing to share their lifestyle with their neighbors, so they gladly raided and plundered not only their fellow nomads, but also those unfortunates living in the reemerging cities. Unfortunately, it would seem that the sedentary folk failed to understand that a thing is yours only as long as you can keep it, and fiercely resisted the nomad's forays. [LGG – 83] 

Among the Infidel

All the while, the high mountains called, and before too long, the prince found himself among the infidels of Bissel. From there, he migrated ever east, for the narrow valleys were not to his liking. A tarkhan desired the open sky, and planes of undulating grass, as much a sea as any of water.

New lands spilled out before him. Treed lands. Wet lands. Never had he see so many rivers and waters. So much water had made the people there fat. And sedentary. He found little glory among the Bisselites and the Furyondians. They covered their noses with perfume in his presence, called him savage, and dirty, and uncivilized. Laughed upon hearing that he refused to sleep in the dusty tombs they quacked within. What did those arrogant, haughty fools know, anyway? Had he not supped with the princes of the plains? Had he not drunk tea with shahs and caliphs and sheiks? Had they not brought him gifts? Those fools weighed their horses down in the same metal they too wore. It slowed them. It rattled their every step. They even waved brightly coloured pennants to declare their very presence to their enemies. 

So, I’ll ask again. Who was Tang?

A prince. A nomad. A wanderer. A soldier of fortune. Above all, he was an adventurer.

Horrific? I suppose that remains to be seen. 

Tang the Horrific

Tang the Horrific

Prince of the Clan-Dry Steppes

AC 6 (padded armor, shield, and dexterity bonus); MV 12” ; F 12; hp 80; #AT 3/2; Dmg by weapon type; Str 16, Int 12, Wis 8, Dex 15, Con 16, Cha 13; THACO 10; AL CN

[GA - 47 ]

Padded armour? Yes, padded armour. Light. Flexible. Light enough so as to allow his horse fleet foot. Speed would be his armour. And warmth against a northern wind that might turn chain link to ice.

Paynim warriors are lightly armored, the weight and confinement of metallic armor being more of a burden than a blessing in the heat of the day, but they are supremely mobile. Perhaps one quarter of the Paynims ply the light lance, as well as the mace or flail. The rest wield scimitars, and short, horned bows. Most are willing to serve as mercenaries for short periods, though the dervishes of the Dry Steppes and the lands surrounding Lake Udrukankar will normally go to war only under the leadership of their clergy, or for causes they see as righteous. [LGG – 83] 

Tang is skilled in the use of the knife, spear, hand axe, scimitar, short bow, horseman’s flail, spiked buckler, light lance, dagger, and javelin. He has the barbaric skills of his people: cliff climbing, hiding in natural surroundings, surprise, back protection, leaping and springing, illusion and magic detection, leadership, survival, first aid, outdoor craft, tracking, animal handling, horsemanship, long distance signalling, and yurt construction. He does not like magic, and uses no magic weapons, considering them unworthy of a true Tarkhan.

Tang is still, for all his residence among civilized folk, a barbarian, and he holds fast to the tenets of his people, particularly their tradition of the vendetta. Despite his alignment, if he has sworn enmity toward someone, he will do anything in his power to bring them woe. Tang is a short, bandy-legged man with a round, flat face, snub nose, black hair streaked with gray, and black slanted eyes. [GA – 47,48]

Let’s begin at the beginning again, shall we?

Young Tang

Tang the Horrific, tarkhan of the Purple Eagle Tribe, was born in a yurt on the Dry Steppes. He had a normal Dry Steppes boyhood, learning to ride at a very early age, shooting the bow, hunting, and raiding neighboring tribes. Unlike other nomad boys, young Tang was restless. He wanted to see the wonders of the rest of Oerth, if only to inspire his people to descend on the sedentary peoples and conquer them. His father, the Khakhan of their tribe, gave his son his blessing, allowing him to spend time traveling among the nations of settled folk. He gave his son a one-man yurt and a bactrian camel, as well as a string of strong nomad ponies.

Since then, Tang the Horrific (a nickname given him by the first civilized folk he met) has roamed over Oerth, making a living as a mercenary. He still refuses to live indoors, pitching his yurt where he can. He has served many masters, both good and evil. For a while, the young nomad was in charge of training the cavalry of several of the local lords of the Shield Lands, as well as serving masters in places as varied as Iuz, the Great Kingdom, Greyhawk, Furyondy, and Tenh. When he was “between jobs,” he would accompany bands of bold adventurers on raids. [GA – 47] 

Tang the Horrific is unmarried, since he does not consider “civilized” girls to be proper company for a Tarkhan of the Purple Eagle Clan. He has become very good at repairing his yurt, and makes excellent kumiss (fermented milk). He is always glad to see fellow nomads, and will cheerfully sit up till the wee hours talking shop with them, arguing about what kind of bow is best, or discussing horseflesh, or comparing methods of hunting. [GA - 48] 

Tang did not remain in Furyondy long. They did not know his worth.

He has a few barbarian quirks and taboos: He does not willingly sleep anywhere but in a yurt, tent, or the open; and if he is forced to spend the night indoors, he feels trapped, and will often have terrifying nightmares. He also is forbidden by a personal taboo to ride anything but a horse or a camel. Donkeys, elephants, vehicles, and other modes of travel are forbidden to him. [GA - 48]

But the Old One did. The Old One never once called him a savage. And the Old One promised him great wealth and even greater glory. So, Tang fought for the Old One, against those very same fools who could more keep up with Tang’s ponies than they could keep silent as they glistened in the sun. 

Hang on. Let’s pause. Tang worked for Iuz? How could Tang possibly serve one such as Iuz?

Because Iuz paid well with promises and flattery. And because Iuz hid his true nature for quite some time.

When Iuz the Old came to power in the Northern Reaches of Furyondy, [he] claimed the territory between the Wolf Nomads and the Rovers of the Barrens, and sought with his nonhuman armies to bring the nomads under his sway. To them, he was yet another enemy, but one whose evil far surpassed any they had known before. They learned to avoid his lands east of the Black Water, though never forgetting their honored dead in the Howling Hills. Iuz menaced the nomads for a generation, but with his imprisonment, they returned to their former ways, battling the Rovers once more on the Dulsi plain. [LGG – 134]

[Iuz] flourished until 505 CY, when he appeared to vanish from Oerth. In truth, Iuz was imprisoned beneath Castle Greyhawk by the Mad Archmage Zagig Yragerne, former lord mayor of Greyhawk. In Iuz's absence, orc tribes and disloyal former subjects squabbled for control of his lands, allowing the forces of weal to rest for a time. [LGG – 14,15]

The disappearance of Iuz from his land in 505 CY allowed the Rovers to resume their raids against not only the Wolf Nomads, but northern Furyondy as well. However, in the absence of Iuz rose the evil Horned Society, whom the Rovers fought at the great Battle of Opicm River (515 CY). The Rovers were sorely defeated there by the Society and forces still loyal to Iuz; despite later alliances with elves of the Fellreev, centaurs, and the Wolf Nomads, they began a decline that continued for many decades. [LGG – 95]

Decades passed. The Horned Society waxed in Iuz’s absence. And then, in 570 CY….

Iuz returned to the north in the years prior to the Greyhawk Wars, and after a period of rebuilding, he attacked his neighbors once again. His first major offensive against the Wolf Nomads was a siege of Eru Tovar. The tarkhan himself led two full tumans of nomads against Iuz, breaking the siege and trapping the Old One's northern army at the great north bend of the Black Water River. The Battle of Black Water Bend, as it was called, was a great victory for the Wolf Nomads, though Iuz continued to make progress in the Howling Hills. [LGG – 134]

In the Service of the Old One

When did Tang “serve” The Old One? Who can say? It’s not like the cambion, or Tang for that matter, kept meticulous records. But there were whispers among the Shieldlanders and Furyondians of eastern horseman raiding their borders from whence the nomads had not since the Old One’s return. The Shield Lands and the Furyondians were no strangers to raids by nomads, so Tang and his horseman were likely passed off as just that. The nomads were not particular who they raided. Even if their preference was the Horned Society and Iuz.

[The Rovers] had some success against the Horned Society in 580, taking part of the northern frontier, but the gains did not last. The Greyhawk Wars brought them to the verge of annihilation; demons of Iuz stalked the plains, and wicked human mercenaries hunted Rovers for bounty. Though Iuz was soon bereft of his demonic servants, bandits remained a threat to the Rovers. However, the Rovers also gained a new ally: Tang the Horrific. [LGG – 95] 

Iuz Shows His Worth

It was then that Iuz desired that he be rid of the Rovers once and for all. He summoned Tang and commanded him to do as he was bid: End the Rovers. To their last. Women. Children. Until the Rovers were but a memory.

Tang’s obsessive hatred of Iuz is unusual for him, since he is usually friendly and easy going. His hatred of Iuz started while Tang was serving as a mercenary commander of Iuz’s cavalry. With his contempt for “civilized” folk, Tang didn’t much mind riding with Iuz’s horsemen against the settled folk. When Iuz wanted to send him and his command against the Rovers of the Barrens, though, Tang rebelled. There was too much resemblance between the Rovers and his own people, and he couldn’t bring himself to slaughter people so like his own. Iuz sent orders to arrest the young nomad, but Tang managed to persuade his command of cavalry to slaughter the messengers, and he defected with his cavalry to the Wolf Nomads.

The young nomad’s impertinence in refusing to be arrested sent Iuz into a raving fury. He has not stopped searching for Tang, and if he were to be brought before Iuz, the nomad could expect no mercy. Iuz had planned to use the cavalry Tang was training against the nomadic peoples on his northern borders, and seeing the nomads strengthened by his own men enraged him. [GA - 48]

Tang left Iuz under a great cloud, and he is consumed with insane hatred for Iuz. He has sworn a vendetta against Iuz, and will attack any evil humanoid he sees, believing it to be an agent of Iuz. If any one asks him what he most wants to do, he launches into hours of talk about how he would like to bring in a huge horde of his people, along with the Rovers of the Barrens and the Tiger and Wolf Nomads as allies, to lay Iuz’s entire kingdom to waste and kill every creature in it. He pores over his maps, and if he can find a way, he will go back to his homeland to summon a barbarian horde of his own folk, to lay Iuz in ruins. [GA - 48] 

Until then, Tang did as he would. Much like Iuz, he plotted. He schemed.

Currently, Tang is between jobs, and is living on his savings. His yurt is pitched in the Shield Lands, and he soon expects some local lord, dissatisfied with the state of his light cavalry, to contact him to arrange for training. Meanwhile, he relaxes in the way he loves best, riding his pony, practicing his archery and scimitar work, and learning new woodslore. […]

He is almost always smiling, and is very friendly with anybody who he knows is not evil, or connected with Iuz or his evil allies. He owns many maps of Oerth, and pores over them frequently, trying to figure out how a barbarian horde of Dry Steppes nomads could travel to Iuz without having to traverse so much hostile territory in-between. He can read, and speaks several languages fluently. [GA - 47,48] 

Use of His Skill

Tang was not between jobs for long. The Shieldlanders had use of his skill. Were they aware that Tang had once raided their borders? Unlikely. But even if they were, the wisdom of “the enemy of my enemy” would most certainly have applied then.

One of the most peculiar counteroffensives apparently began in the Shield Lands when a unit of cavalry mercenaries employed by a Shield Lands’ lord managed to escape the armies of Iuz. This cavalry was led by a renegade Dry Steppes nomad warrior named Tang the Horrific, who was probably the finest mercenary in the area at the time.

According to unreliable folktales about him, Tang led a fighting retreat north to the Icy Sea, then crossed west to the lands of the Wolf Barbarians. There, in the winter of 586-587 CY, Tang summoned a war council and told the tribal khans that the time was at hand to deal Iuz a telling blow. Upon learning that the ancient burial caves of the Wolf Nomads (Wegwiur) lay within Iuz's main homeland, Tang proposed that an army be raised to go to these caves and recover the ancient bodies and relics for reburial in safer regions.

The Wolf Nomads were reportedly astonished at the audacity, courage, and natural charisma of this fellow nomad. The council and the tarkhan himself agreed to the attack immediately, perhaps sensing the importance of this moment in history. In the late spring of 587 CY, the Wegwiur's Relentless Horde rode from Eru-Tovar, and attacked the unsuspecting orcs of the Howling Hills, driving than back in chaos from the Wegwiur Thralls caverns and surrounding area. Shamans, carefully removed the bodies of their forefathers and packed the caves' many treasures, whiIe Tang and Tarkhan Bargru hounded the humanoids of this miserable land. Two days later, a retreat was called and the cavalry force returned home in triumph. By chance, this attack came just before the Shield Lands assault began to the south, and Iuz's attention was thus diverted from the important action at Critwall. Iuz lost no land in the fighting, but his orcs suffered many casualties and a stupendous loss of face in the eyes of Iuz and the Wegwiur, who thereafter raided the border more frequently. Tang and a small force of cavalry were last seen riding into the Lands of Iuz, leading an advancing orc army away from the retreating Wegwiur. [TAB - 21-23] 

The Barrens

Tang, the Horrific

Tang was very pleased to find himself among the Wolves. He understood such people. And they understood him. After so many months of plotting and scheming among the “settled,” Tang finally found himself among people who were all too eager to strike against the Old One.

Following the wars, the Wolf Nomads were incited to attack Iuz in the Howling Hills by a mercenary Paynim named Tang the Horrific. Appearing before a gathering of tribal khans, the charismatic Tang stirred even the aging tarkhan with his words, and a horde was gathered to invade the territory of Iuz. The victory was by no means as decisive as the Battle of Black Water Bend, nearly a decade earlier, but many of Iuz's nonhuman troops were slain in the invasion. Tang was separated from the horde, fleeing eastward through the Land of Iuz and beyond. The Wolf Nomads returned home to the steppes and continue to raid the realm of Iuz with newfound daring and boldness. [LGG - 134] 

It was then that Tang was reunited with the Rovers. He decided that if he could not return to his homeland to raise his Relentless Horde, he would mold one from those peoples he had at hand.

Tang is an excellent general, in the nomad style, and is accustomed to commanding all types of troops. Iuz is correct in feeling that he poses a threat, for if he manages to bring a horde of his people to Iuz, along with the northern nomads, there would be little that could stand against him except the cities, which would starve without supplies. [GA – 48] 

A former servant of Iuz and now the demigod's implacable foe, Tang had escaped with a small band of cavalry after a daring raid into the Howling Hills with the Wolf Nomads. Crossing the open plain to the Fellreev, Tang and his mercenary band encountered small groups of Rovers, gathering them at the village of Sable Watch. With their aid, together with Wardogs from the Forlorn Forest and beyond, he successfully attacked Iuzite forces in the Barrens, eventually capturing the fort of Hornduran. Most of the Rovers were still without mounts, so Tang made a fateful decision to raid into Stonehold for horses.

The Funeral Pyre

The town of Vlekstaad was chosen as the target of the Rovers' nighttime strike. With most Fists either in Tenh or fighting the Suel in eastern Stonehold, Vlekstaad had almost no able soldiers in residence. Such defenses as they had were quickly penetrated, thanks to the Wardogs' amazing stealth. The stables of Vlekstaad provided a trove of horseflesh, but escaping with them proved more difficult than Tang had anticipated. He and his companions were trapped by a patrol of Fists and forced to battle for their lives. The expedition might have been lost there had not a young Wardog, Nakanwa Daychaser (CG male human Rgr8), led his own band of warriors on Tang's trail. Trapped between the two forces of Rovers, the Fists were slaughtered, but Tang was mortally wounded. Nakanwa quickly assumed control of the surviving Rovers, ordering them to seize everything of value in the town, including its citizens. The remains of the town were set ablaze, becoming the funeral pyre of Tang the Horrific. [LGG – 95]

His Final and Everlasting Punishment

While Tang and his forces were successful in the sacking and raising of Vlekstaad, He was mortally wounded in the battle. According to the Rovers, Tang's body was placed on a pyre in the center of the city when the whole place was set ablaze. What the Rovers didn't realize was that Tang's ceremonially wrapped body had been switched by a spy of Iuz before the city was burned, and taken to the Old One's domain.

Knowing of Tang's displeasure of being indoors, and the doctrine of his people to either burn or leave the bodies of the dead for scavengers, Iuz chose to bury him instead in a tomb as his final and everlasting punishment. [A Horror Resurgent, by William Henry Dvorsak] 

Republished as Tomb of Zhang the Horrific on DriveThruRPG.

You shall not honour men more than truth.

So, was Tang horrific? Hardly.

Capricious? Maybe.

Honourable? Surely. It’s just that his definition of such was very different from yours. 

“You should not honor men more than truth.”
― Plato 

 

 

One must always give credit where credit is due. This piece 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. 

Special thanks to Jason Zavoda for his compiled index, “Greyhawkania,” an invaluable research tool.

 

The Art:

mongol-gengis-kan by israelrivas1988

Steppes-of-Lothal by mythgundam

Sirun-Min-Amas-10a-Ana-Sophia by talesofbraveulysses

Illustrations from The Rod of Seven Parts, Book 2, 1996

Warriors-of-men by kiabugboy

Steppe-Archer by mrdream

Gengis-Khan by kucingkecil-cabin

Mongol by weerwulf

Red-and-Dead by reeks

Mongol-Warrior-on-Horseback by wiplash911

Steppe by laurensspruit

Mongol by aleksei-liakh

See-you-in-Valhalla by narholt

Cuween-Hill-Cairn-Entrance by barefootliam

Genghis-Khan-aka-Temujin by pepe09

Sources:

1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983

2023 Greyhawk Adventures Hardback, 1988

1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992

9577 The Adventure Begins, 1998

9578 Player’s Guide to Greyhawk, 1998

11742 Gazetteer, 2000

11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000

The Rod of Seven Parts, 1996

Dragon Magazine 55,56,57

A Horror Resurgent, by William Henry Dvorsak, 2015

Tomb of Zhang the Horrific, by William Henry Dvorsak, 2021

Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda

The map of Anna B. Meyer