The North Province Primer

 

“Et tu, Brute?”

― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

The North Province

There is a taint on this land. Its forests fester; and its rocky outcrops glower with grim grey gloom, its stunted growth twisted and bent by the icy gales that howl from its ragged coasts.

It was always a dark and bleak land, even when shrouded under the breadth of the Adri Forest, when it harboured the darkest druids and wizards of the Ur-Flan, those perfidious and evil souls whose beliefs were old even when the Faith was young. Vile and decadent, the Ur-Flan preyed upon their neighbours for centuries until the coming of the Aerdi, who were welcomed as saviours instead of the conquerors they were.

The Ur-Flan

Had the Aerdi divined the nature of these their newly conquered lands, they might never have come. They might have fled, as did the Rhennee when they appeared; but they did not. They remained and grew ever more cruel as this land crept into their soul. They put the Adri to the axe, and the Ur-Flan to the sword. And before long, those Flan who remained were deemed savage and primitive, unworthy of the lands they had long tilled. The Flan were oppressed, their culture suppressed, illegal, eradicated, their children abducted, educated, civilised, and the Aerdi claimed the North settled and tame.

Were it so? Cities were raised, roads laid, the good grounds tilled.

But was it indeed tame? And if it were, was it truly the Aerdi to have done so as they claim, or might it have been some other?

In its favor, North Kingdom has an extensive system of dirawein, magical highways built by ancient Aerdi that allow quick transport over long distances. One dirawein runs south to Ahlissa and is carefully watched. [LGG – 73]

Before long, Hextor found a foothold and the Naelax and Torquann took up the sword against one another. And so it was until the Naelax gained ascendancy and peace was declared. Was it? Or were their swords replaced by subterfuge and whispered words? The North fell to the Atirr, and then to the Naelax again, who learned their lessons well. Had not the Celestial House of Naelax waxed with their sovereign lord Hextor? Had they not risen to even the height of the Malachite Throne?

And had not Grenell learned those very same lessons as had his cousins, those infamous Ivids? He had. He schemed, he betrayed, and he gathered in allies he soon regretted. His country is teeming with orcs that demand payment for services rendered, payment he shall never deliver, so long as he can keep their hatred and violence directed at any but his self.

A Veneer of Opulence

Campaigning in the North Province is not for the faint of heart. Or the unwary. Intrigue and betrayal abound. Cities appear civilised at first glance: a veneer of opulence. The streets boast men of magic and letters, men of the world, and fine feathered ladies; but on second glance, there are orcs and hard-eyed men aplenty, in the cities, in the countryside, to say nothing of those met on the road. How "friendly" they are is anyone's guess.

Inspiration can be had in "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," by Edward Gibbon, in Plutarch's "Roman Lives," and in "The History of the Franks," by Gregory of Tours. Further inspiration can be found in the film "Gladiator," and the TV show "Rome."

I might suggest that a great deal of inspiration can be found in Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich."

Country specific resources:

WGR Ivid the Undying.

Other pertinent information can be found in:

The Greyhawk Folio, The Greyhawk setting boxed set, Greyhawk Adventures, Greyhawk Wars, From the Ashes Boxed Set, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, and Dragon magazine #52,55,57,63

Adventures in this country include:

None specific to The North Province/North Kingdom

The City of Summer Stars; on Canonfire!

Monduiz Dephaar

-Urban adventures in Eastfair, Atirr, and Bellport, and the intrigue of cities that are at odd with one another.

-Morrkend of Eastfair.

-Celestial House intrigue

-Intrigue against (or on behalf of) the Church of Hextor

-Fighting against the menace gathering in Rinloru, led by an evil priest of Nerull

-The Lands of the Dreadlord, Monduiz Dephaar

-Forest Adventures in the Adri, and the Grandwood

-Fey adventures in the Adri

-Bitterness, in the Coldwood, in the Adri

-Sea adventures in the Grendep and Solnor

-Raiding  by Northern Barbarians

Worshipers of good deities would do well to keep their heads down, as the church of Hextor is the official state religion and the Herzog/Overking Grenell is the High Priest (he is in 3e sourcebooks, anyway)

Adventures in nearby areas include:

WG8, Fate of Istus, #2 Nyrond, #5 Pale

The Stolen Seal, World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, Ratik/Bone March

Diver Down, Greyhawk Adventures, Nyrond

Forge of Fury, Bone March

Fright at Tristor, Theocracy of the Pale

The Mud Sorcerer's Tomb, Dungeon #37, Bone March

Evil Unearthed, Dungeon #82, Almor

Playing with Fire, Dungeon #82, Almor

Deep Freeze, Dungeon #83, Theocracy of the Pale

Dungeon #84 - Demonclaw

Demonclaw, Dungeon #84, Nyrond

The Sharm’s Dark Song, Dungeon #87

The Witch of Serpent’s Bridge, Dungeon #96, Snow Barbarians

Heart of the Iron Golem, Dungeon #97, Almor

Tammerault’s Fate, Dungeon #106, Nyrond

The Styes, Dungeon #121 / Ghosts of Saltmarsh (5e), Nyrond

In the Shadows of Spinecastle, Dungeon #148, Bone March

FB1 While on the Road to Cavrik's Cove, casl Entertainment, 2021, Ratik

Although later retconned into the Yeomanry, B1 Into the Unknown (in the monochrome edition) was originally suggested as located in The Duchy of Tenh or the Theocracy of the Pale. That would make either an ideal location for B1 Keep on the Borderlands, as well.

-Adventures in humanoid overrun Bone March

-Explore the Cauldron of Night or the Causeway of Fiends

-The Sinking Isles

-Explore the ruins of Rauxes

The North Province:

The Great Kingdom (Kingdom of Aerdy): chaotic evil, lawful evil

Oeridian (Aerdian), Common, Suloise

[Dragon #52 – 20]

His Radiant Grace Grenell, the Herzog of the North Province

North Province, the: Grenell, A 15 [that would be 15th level Assassin, in 1e BTW]

Capital: Eastfair (pop. 29,100)

Population: 750,000

Demi-humans: Few

Humanoids: Some

Resources: foodstuffs, cloth, electrum

[WoGA – 29] [WoGG – 17]

Capital: Eastfair (pop. 26,000)

[FtAA – 27]

North Kingdom

Proper Name: Great Kingdom of Northern Aerdy

Ruler: His Righteous and Transcendent Majesty, the Overking of Northern Aerdy, Grenell I, Grand Prince of House Naelax (LE male human Clr19 of Hextor)

Government: Independent feudal monarchy with strong theocratic elements; current monarch is the highest-level cleric of Hextor in the realm, simultaneously commanding the forces of the church, the northern branch of the royal house (Naelax), and all feudal nobles and nonhuman leaders in his service.

Capital: Eastfair

Major Towns: Atirr (pop. 19,700), Bellport (pop. 9,100), Darnagal (pop. 6,400), Delaric (pop. 22,000), Eastfair (pop. 35,000), Edgefield (pop. 15,800, plus 4,000 orcs), Kaport Bay (pop. 5,800), Luvern (pop. 3,100), Rinloru (thousands of undead; besieged), Stringen (pop. 4,700), Winetha (pop. 19,300)

Provinces: Eleven principalities, with a few tiny counties, baronies, etc.; nearly all are centered around cities, towns, castles, or strongholds

Resources: Foodstuffs, cloth, electrum, whale oil; resources are not exported

Coinage: [Modified Aerdy] dragon (pp), crown (gp), noble (ep), penny (sp), common (cp), wheel (iron piece, 20 ip = 1 cp)

Population: 2,618,200—Human 83% (OFs), Orc 9%, Goblin 3%, Halfling 2%, Half-orc 1%, Other 2% Languages: Common [Aerdian], Old Oeridian, Orc

Alignments: LE*, NE, N, CE, LN

Religions: Hextor*, Zilchus, Erythnul, orc pantheon, various goblin gods

Allies: Bone March (weak)

Enemies: Ahlissa, Nyrond, Ratik, Frost/Ice/Snow Barbarians, Scarlet Brotherhood

[LGG – 72]

"Betrayal is the only truth that sticks."

― Arthur Miller

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

It has been expanded from the original postcard found in Canonfire’s “Touring the Flanaess” index, written by “Ashur”, and some passages from that scholarly work reside with this piece.

The Art:

The-Fear-Liath by rowye

The-Lost by aikurisu

Opulence by salix-tree

Monduiz Dephaar, by x, from Dragon 291, 2005

Demonclaw, by Michael Weaver, from Dungeon #84, 2001

The Great Kingdom heraldry, from The Greyhawk Folio, 1980

North Kingdom heraldry, from The Living Greyhawk Gazzetter, 2000

Sources:

2011A Dungeon Masters Guide, 1^st Ed., 1979

9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1981

1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983

2023 Greyhawk Adventures, 1989

1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992

9577 The Adventure Begins, 1998

9578 Player’s Guide to Greyhawk, 1998

11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000

Dragon Magazine

Living Greyhawk Journal

Greychrondex, Steven B. Wilson

Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda

Anna B. Meyer’s Greyhawk Map