Friday, 24 November 2023

Thoughts of LF1 The 9


“O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet”
– Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare


LF1 The 9
The Great Empire once stood as a testimony to the heights to which man might aspire – but no more. Decades of corrosion from within the realm and the weight of a terrible war left the once-proud nation’s common folk helpless prey for the nightmarish horrors that now stalk its bounds. While few remain to defend these innocents, one such group is the 9th Division of the Sign of the Crimson Wyvern.
This is their tale.
– The 9


Those who read my blog regularly will know that I’ve been doing a deep dive into the See of Medegia these past weeks; so it’s fortuitous that Carlos Lising has published a module – a bit if a gazetteer, really – set within the ill-fated province of the See of Vanthrace – that rose by any other name.
I’m pleased that he did, because modules set in the east map of the Greyhawk setting are few and far between; so sparse, in fact, that I’ve resorted to listing generic adventure modules from Dragon and Dungeon Magazines under the headings for “Adventures in this country…” and “… in nearby areas…” for more than a few of of my Primers for regions along the Solnor coast.
That lack has been addressed in The 9.
The rotting corpse of the Great Empire spans much of the continent’s eastern coastline, the vast expanse of the Sollonor Ocean lapping upon its rocky shores. At one time, this was a land of peace and plenty. […]
Horrors Aplenty Stalk the Land
Horrors aplenty stalk the land, now, picking the bones of the skeletal farms and homes for what scant valuables might remain within them. These humanoids, once set upon them by even more wicked men, have entrenched themselves in these places, ever eager for the fray – for the chance to kill and to take whatever might be of use from the cooling bodies of those so foolish as to challenge them. Worse, even the humanoids must fear the unspeakable horrors of that given birth in the most terrifying of places within this cursed land – that place known as the Womb of the Black Goat, which must be the very heart of darkness itself. [LF The 9 – 1]

That passage sums up what we know about the See of Medegia, doesn’t it?
Medegia passed into history. […] [T]he Overking ordered an orgy of brutality and destruction inflicted on it and its inhabitants. Rape, pillage, torture, and the suffering of every man and woman in Medegia were what Ivid ordered, and his army was pleased to obey. Medegia was utterly despoiled, and what remains of it is barren and underpopulated. Its few surviving inhabitants are bitter, twisted, and half-mad people tormented by fiends and petty despots.
Throughout the remains of the Great Kingdom, the ordinary people are wretched, desperate, and embroiled in chaos and madness. The rich resources of the lands are utterly neglected, despoiled, or ignored. Mutual trust is virtually nonexistent, even within the ties of blood and family in many instances. Aerdy is in utter turmoil, and perhaps even Istus herself knows not the fate of these lands in such times. [FtAA – 27]
Medegia is thus a land of absolute anarchy. Its population is decimated. Only the pathetically poor, feeble-minded, aged, infirm, and those too sunk into despair and stricken with terror remain.
Outside of Pontylver, not many fiends stalk the lands. However, there are orcs, deserting soldiers, and ex-mercenaries who have taken to a life of pillaging what they can from this land.
Fields are unsewn with seed and tuber here, and most livestock has long been eaten. Many of those left are close to starvation, and they suffer deficiency diseases (scurvy, rickets, and the like) as a result. Medegia is grim indeed. [Ivid – 104]

Beset by Chaos and Banditry
That paints a rather grim place to place a campaign setting. Who would wish to adventure there? None – or very few – I expect.
Perhaps one ought to, though. Why? Because The 9 is very much like an earlier adventure module we all know and love.
I speak of B2 The Keep on the Borderlands.
The Realm of mankind is narrow and constricted. Always the forces of Chaos press upon its borders, seeking to enslave its populace, rape its riches, and steal its treasures. If it were not for a stout few, many in the Realm would indeed fall prey to the evil which surrounds them. [B2 Keep on the Borderlands – 6]
The two bear striking similarities. They ought to because Carlos Lising has said as much. The 9 is his homage to that very adventure, to that lone keep on a hill, beset by Chaos and Banditry; and those who stand against it.
[T]here are always certain exceptional and brave members of humanity, as well as similar individuals among its allies — dwarves, elves, and halflings — who rise above the common level and join battle to stave off the darkness which would otherwise overwhelm the land. [B2 – 6]

The Keep on the Borderlands
Ahead, up the winding road, atop a sheer-walled mount of stone, looms the great KEEP. Here, at one of civilization's strongholds between good lands and bad [.]
[B2 – 6]
The place is known as Bulwark.
It is said that the edifice has gazed down upon the countryside within the region for hundreds of years. [LF – 10]
This whole place is well-organized for security and for defense. In time of need, many civilians will arm and help man the walls, while non-combatants bring ammunition, food, and water to the walls and help the wounded. Sentries are alert. A party of guards patrols the walls irregularly, and a commander checks every half hour to hour. [B2 – 6]
So it is that Bulwark still gazes down upon the lands of Vanthrace from the heights of the stones from which it was raised. But any joy or merriment that might be found there has long fled the fortification. Instead, it has been replaced by a grim, fatalistic reality. Vanthrace is yet overrun by bandit gangs, rapacious humanoids, fiends hailing from the deepest bowels of Hell itself, and unknowable creatures that seem to rebuke reality for their very existence. [LF – 10]

There are differences, obviously. The Keep on the Borderlands did not guard against such horrors as Bulwark does, but the intent is very much the same. Bulwark is the vanguard. Should it fall, the entire countryside would fall with it.
That said, The Keep… and The 9 are very much alike in that they are written for low level play. How might that be so?! Medegia… Vanthrace is overrun by devils and demons! How might low level characters survive against such foes? Because they shouldn't have to, not at first; because once upon a time there was a little thing referred to as the Flight of Fiends.
 Fiends Stalk the Lands
In Coldeven of 586 CY, word spread through Furyondy of an extraordinary event. [TAB – 19]
In a stirring private ceremony attended by the entire College of Bishops, Canon Hazen (along, it is said, with help from the archmage Bigby of Mitrik) employed the fabulous artifact to trigger the Flight of Fiends, a wholesale purge of demons throughout the Flanaess. [LGG – 130]
There are still fiends in Vanthrace, however. Not many, but some lesser fiends still stalk the land.
Although few fiends stalk the lands here, bloodthirsty humanoids, amoral deserters from the Emperor’s armies, and cutthroat bandit gangs are plentiful across the See’s landscape, pillaging what they can from this land in order to survive. [LF – 6]
It is against these that Bulwark stands: orcs, hobgoblins, bandits, mercenaries, slavers, and imperial soldiers. All low level encounters. And in that The 9 most resembles The Keep on the Borderlands.
The Keep on the Borderlands, INTRODUCTORY MODULE FOR CHARACTER LEVELS 1-3
Lord Morrow Lyrwick
The 9, INTRODUCTORY MODULE FOR CHARACTER LEVELS 1-3
The 9 has been designed to allow four to seven 1st level PCs to play out many adventures, gradually working up to second or third level of experience in the process. [LF1 – 8]
So yes, even the fiends and are low level encounters.

Both B2 and LF1 are mini gazetteers, both are sandbox adventures, and both are designed for low level play.
Both have a keep on a hill, both have a number of overland encounters, and both have a dungeon to be explored. Carlos Lising’s The 9, to my mind, is a little more focussed than Gary Gygax’s Keep on the Borderlands, insofar as it appears that the residents of Bulwark are far more desperate and thus all are pulling together in the same direction (kind of); but that said, any sandbox gazetteer can be what you make it to be.
What The 9 has that Keep lacks is pregens. There are 7 all told, each with a backstory that helps fill in local lore. I love that; it reminds me of those in Tamoachan and Isle of the Ape.

Bulwark takes up a sizable chunk of the early pages. NPCs are named and detailed. They are given a backstory and motivation – something buried in subtext in Gygax’s Keep.
Beyond Bulwark...
Beyond Bulwark’s formidable walls are a number of encounter areas, none mapped but one. One could criticize this lack, but Carlos has focussed his energies on where he believes most of the action will revolve around: the Keep and the Dungeon. How are those maps? Serviceable. There are better out there (check out early TSR UK modules for those keeps I consider the best); and I have yet to encounter a D&D Mine that I would call realistic (mining was my stock in trade, so don’t argue with me; I know of what I speak); that said, the maps are at the very least on par with those in B2 (and I wonder how many people criticized those, then or now?).
Carlos does detail wandering monsters admirably, most of which are of the “Use Standard Encounter Table” variety, or Human in nature. Fiends are few and far between, as they should be – they will likely probably never even be encountered, in fact.
Most of this weighty tome features Caldera’s Burrow, the dungeon. It is there that this module heats up. And it is there that only the truly cautious should venture.
A word to the wise: This can be a very lethal module. Can be? It is. But it is a very satisfying one, too.
There are rumours to entice, new spells, new monsters, those aforementioned Lesser and Proto Fiends. Some are created for the DM, but there are tables on how to create new ones, too.
So, how can there be fiends in Vanthrace when they were put to flight? That is explained within. To mention how, here, would be to spoil Carlo’s adventure – and we can’t, and shouldn’t have that, should we.

The 9 was written with the OSRIC game system in mind, most easily adapted to AD&D 1e.
The 9 has been designed in such a way that it can be placed in any published or homebrewed Campaign Setting with little difficulty. It has been written so as to be usable with the OSRIC™ Role-Playing System and is thus easily adapted to many of the most popular fantasy RPG rulesets. It can easily be adapted for use as either a one-shot adventure or worked into an ongoing Campaign with little in the way of alteration on the part of the Game Master (GM). [LF – 1]

Hell-on-Oerth
The question is: Should one drop their hard-earned money on Carlo’s The 9?
Well… do you adventure in Greyhawk? Have you though about adventuring on the east side of the map? If the answer to either of those questions is yes, I would say the answer is yes. The 9 is more than just an adventure module. It’s a gazetteer. And it’s a teaching tool, too. It takes the terror out of the supposed fiend-infested province of Medegia and makes it manageable. Realistically. Imagine, if you will, if there truly still were fiends ravaging Medegia (or Vanthrace, if you will); how long then would it be before those fiends overwhelmed the whole of the Flanaess? Who could stop them? Most men-at-arms are only 0-level, and even most adventurers less than 5th (realistically); so, how long then could they stand against that unrestrained Hell-on-Oerth? Carlos levels the field, so to speak, but he does not make Medegia a cakewalk. Far be it. Doom looms over Vanthrace. You'll understand why when you read The 9.
I must say that you get a lot of bang for your buck in this publication! At the time of this posting LF1 is $20-26, depending on your choice of purchase. That’s cheap for over 100 pages of content. It does lack interior art, but which would you rather, a page or two of illustrations or text? It does have excellent regional and local maps, and exhaustive maps of both Bulwark and Caldera’s Burrow.
Perhaps the most important reason to purchase this publication is that Carlos Lising is creating new content that can be slipped into Greyhawk. Few others are.

So, what say you? Will you answer the call? Will you rise up and face the evil that has laid Medegia so low?
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
― Winston Churchill

Or is Medegia to be lost for all time?
“There are no heroes...in life, the monsters win.”
― George R. R. Martin






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.
Very special thanks to Carlos Lising, without whose efforts, this piece could never have existed.


The Art:
The 9, by Daniel Govar, from LF1 The 9, 2021
Fiends!, by Daniel Govar, from LF1 The 9, 2021
The Caves of Chaos, by Jim Roslof, from B2 The Keep on the Borderlands, 1980,1981
The Keep on the Hill, by Erol Otus, from B2 The Keep on the Borderlands, 1980,1981
Lord Morrow Lyrwick, by Cayde Anderson, from LF1 The 9, 2021
The Hermit, by Erol Otus, from B2 The Keep on the Borderlands, 1980,1981

Source:
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
2011A Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Ed., 1979
2010, Players Handbook, 1st Ed, 1978
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9032 C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, 1980,1981
9034 B2 The Keep on the Borderlands, 1980,1981
9153 WG6 Isle of the Ape, 1985
9577 The Adventure Begins, 1998
WGR7 Ivid the Undying, 1995
11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
OSRIC, 2006

Friday, 17 November 2023

The See of Medegia Primer

 

“Civilization is a hopeless race to discover remedies for the evils it produces.”
― Rousseau


Medegia
Medegia was once the envy of the whole of the Great Kingdom. The sun rose upon gentle shores. Soothing showers dappled its fields. Crops swayed and seas of grass flowed to blissful breezes. Such a climate made Medegia rich, in the bounty of the sea, in foodstuffs; even its hills striated with glowing marbles. Medegia was truly blessed. It was also the heart and soul of the realm, its Holy Censor the conscience of the Overking. To be born in the See was, without doubt, a boon. One could go far if one hailed from there. How couldn’t one? The light radiating from Medegia, it could be said, charted the course of the realm.
Indeed, for long centuries, the Blinding Light of Pholtus guided the See, his gaze raising cornucopias of plenty, his vision the One true Way. Then, for long centuries afterwards, with Zichus’ thumb on the scales of commerce, its cities and ports could only be enriched as all trade found its way to its accommodating shores. Were that the tyranny of Hextor had not come to Medegia; were that its people hadn’t been instructed that the world was a dark and bloody place, where the strong ruled the weak, and power was the only reward.
Medegia played its power games, lest it be oppressed and destroyed, ironically only to be shattered, having done so, its cities razed, its fields set ablaze, and its once prosperous and cultured people scattered or driven mad.
Now, the gentle winds howl, dust and ash furrow in fallow fields, and orcs and bandits and armies of deserters gnash over what remains of the once opulent and envied carcass of war-torn Medegia.
If you stop and listen, you can still hear madness carried on the wind, the echo of the laughter of those fiends that gamboled across the greens, and the sullen, oppressive anguish left in its wake. And perhaps, if you listen very hard, you just might catch the stealthy footfall of what once was sneaking up on you, desperate for the few coins you carry in your purse, or the heel of loaf you’re saving for later.
One wonders: Who envies Medegia now?

Those who wish to set their campaign in a varied geography could not hope to find a more suitable place than the See of Medegia. In a relatively modest distance, it boasts access to the sea, tropical to semi-tropical coasts, rugged highlands, and dense forests. And depending on when you place your game, the See is either cultured or catastrophic, civilised or a haven of banditry.

Inspiration for Medegia’s earlier period can be found in all works Roman, especially Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”; in Ken Follett’s novel, “The Pillars of the Earth” and the miniseries adapted from it; and in Ellis Peters’ “Cadfael Chronicles” and the TV series adapted from it.
Further inspiration for Medegia’s latter banditry can be found in Daphne Du Maurier’s novel “Jamaica Inn”; in “Golden Age of Piracy”: “A General History of Pyrates,” by Daniel Defoe; “Pirates: A complete History From 1300 BC to the Present day,” by Angus Konstrum; and “Pirates: A New History, from Vikings to Somali Raiders,” by Peter Lehr.
I imagine any work on any genocide might inspire the torment of the fiend infestation following Ivid’s decimation.

Country Specific Resources:
There are none specific to See of Medegia, but most pertinent information can be found in:
The Greyhawk Folio, The Greyhawk setting boxed set, Greyhawk Wars, From the Ashes Boxed Set, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, and Dragon magazine #55,57,63,65
For the History of the Great Kingdom, I cannot recommend enough the free online supplement in the unpublished Ivid the Undying by Carl Sargent, available here. There is a chapter within specifying Medegia’s “troubles” following the Greyhawk Wars.
Carlos Lising's The 9, will be an invaluable resource if you wish to place your campaign in or about the Living Greyhawk era.

Adventures in this country include:
LF1 The 9, from casl Entertainment, 2021, Medegia (Vanthrace)
Dragon #78 – Citadel by the Sea, Generic
Dungeon #1 – Grakhirt’s Lair, The Elven Home, and Guardians of the Tomb, Generic
Dungeon #3 – A Desperate Rescue, Generic
Dungeon #4 – Escape from the Tower of Midnight, Generic
Dungeon #5 – The Stolen Power, and The Eyes of Evil, Generic
Dungeon #6 – After the Storm, Generic
Dungeon #9 – The Ghostship Gambit, and The Lurkers in the Library, Generic
Dungeon #10 – They Also Serve, Generic (Thieves)
Dungeon #11 –The Deadly Sea, and Wards of Witching Ways, Generic
Dungeon #12 – Light of Lost Souls, and Intrigue in the Deeps, Generic
Dungeon #13 – The Treasure Vault of Kasil, Generic
Dungeon #14 – Master of Puppets, and Stranded on the Baron’s Island, Generic
Dungeon #15 – The Wreck of the Shining Star, Generic
Dungeon #16 – Vesicant, and The Dwarves of Warka, Generic
Dungeon #20 – Tomb It May Concern, Generic
Dungeon #26 – Nine-Tenths of the Law, Generic
Dungeon #28 – Night of Fear, Generic
Dungeon #34 – The Lady Rose, Generic
Dungeon #35 – Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Generic
Dungeon #39 – Last of the Iron House, Generic
Dungeon #41 – Hopeful Dawn, Generic
Dungeon #47 – Shades of Darkness, Generic
Dungeon #49 – The Dark Place, Generic
Dungeon #50 – The Vaka’s Curse, Generic
Dungeon #66 – The Sunken Shadow, Generic
Dungeon #67 – Witches Brew, Generic
Dungeon #74 – The Scourge of Scalabar, Generic
Dungeon #88 – The Seventh Arm, Generic
Dungeon #95 – Lust, Generic
Dungeon #97 – Demonblade, and Heart of the Iron God (Greyhawk), and Blind Man’s Bluff, Generic
Dungeon #99 – Fish Story, Generic
Dungeon #105 – The Stink, Generic
Dungeon #107 – Dead Man’s Quest, Generic
Dungeon #111 – Srike on the Rabid Dawn, Generic
Dungeon #116 – Death in Lashmire, Generic
Dungeon #125 – Seekers of the Forge, Generic
Dungeon #130 – Within the Circle, Generic
Dungeon #132 – Wingclipper’s revenge, Generic
Dungeon #156 – The Last Breath, Generic
Dungeon #127 – Trust No One, Making a Conspiracy
Dungeon #130 – Behind Bars, List of Prisoners
Dungeon #132 – Down at the Docks, Encounters
Dungeon #138 – Urban Decay, Generic
Dungeon #144 – Unusual Burials, Generic (Campaign Workbook)

- Ancient crypts of the Flan
- Sea adventures on or under the Aerdi Sea and Spindrift Sound, pirates, sahuagin
- Aquatic Elves have begun interfering with fishermen
- Smuggling arms into and aiding rebels in the Hestmark Highlands and Grandwood Forest
- Fighting banditry
- Clearing cities of fiends
- Scarlet Brotherhood/The Lordship of the Isles and the Sea Barons, spies in the city
- Sedition of Lendore Isles refugees
- Northern Barbarians raiding south

Adventures in nearby areas include:
Greyhawk Adventures, Diver Down
I12 Egg of the Phoenix, Dullstrand (noted on Canonfire! It’s a bit of a stretch, but it you flip the map…)
World of Greyhawk Gazetteer (Gold Box) Werewolves of the Menowood, Idee
World of Greyhawk Gazetteer (Gold Box), Jungle of Lost Ships, Oljatt Sea
I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City, Hepmonaland
S1 Tomb of Horrors, The Vast Swamp
Return to the Tomb of Horrors, The Vast Swamp
L1 The Secret of Bone Hill, Spindrift Isles
L2 The Assassins Knot, Spindrift Isles
L4 Devilspawn, Spindrift Isles (available on Dragonsfoot)
L5 The Kroton Adventures, Spindrift Isles (available on Dragonsfoot)
Dungeon #4 – Kingdom of the Swamp, Generic
Dungeon #56 – The Land of Men with Tails, Generic
Dungeon #69 – Slave Vats of the Yuan-Ti, (Part 1), Hepmonaland, Generic
Dungeon #70 – Sscaly Thingss, (Part 2), Hepmonaland, Generic
Dungeon #71 – Dreadful Vestiges, (Part 3), Hepmonaland, Generic
Dungeon #56 – The Land of Men with Tails
Dungeon #71 – Priestly Secrets, Spindrift Isles
Dungeon #86 – Rana Mor, Generic
Dungeon #89 – Wedding Bells, South Province/Ahlissa
Dungeon #91 – Kambranex’s Machinations, South Province/Ahlissa
Dungeon #93 – Swamp Stomp, Generic
Dungeon #121/Ghosts of Saltmarsh – The Styes, South Province/Ahlissa
Dungeon #123 – The Salvage Operation, Tivenot Peninsula
The Scarlet Brotherhood
  • Thunder in the Earth, Hepmonaland
  • Fire of the Worlds Heart, Hepmonaland
  • Death on Black Wings, Hepmonaland
  • Sky of Mourning, Hepmonaland
  • Pray to a Different God, Hepmonaland
  • Shaman, Hepmonaland

- Oeridian Ruins and the Betching Vortex of Leuk-O (see: Kambranex’s Machinations)
- Trade caravans into Sunndi/South Province


Medegia, See of:
The Great Kingdom (Kingdom of Aerdy): chaotic evil, lawful evil;
Languages: Oeridian, [Aerdi], Suloise
[Dragon #52 – 20]
Alignments: N, NE, LE*, LN, CE, CN [adapted from Ahlissa – LGG – 21]

576 CY
MEDEGIA, SEE OF
His Equitable Nemesis, the Holy Censor of Medegia (Cleric, 15th level)
Medegia, See of: Spidasa, C 15 [WoGG – 17]
Capital: [Mentrey; the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ Gazetteer erroneously labels Rel Astra, a semi-independent city, as the capital) [Dragon #63 – 16]
Population: 250,000
Demi-humans: Sylvan Elves (see GRANDWOOD FOREST)
Humanoids: Some
Resources: foodstuffs, cloth
[WoGA – 28]

585 CY
See of Medegia
Pop.: 60,000
Capital: None (previously Mentrey)
Major Towns: Barrish (700), Dornelan ( 850), Mentrey (3200), Montesser (600 orcs), Pontylver (aprox. 3000) [Ivid 104 – 106]
Population: Unknown – Humans (OSf), Sylvan Elves (Grandwood), Humanoids (many), Fiends (too many) [Inferred]
Ruler: None
Rulership: Absent
[Ivid – 104]
Medegia, See of: Just as Almor is no more, so has Medegia passed into history. […] [T]he Holy Censor made the desperate mistake of heading for Rauxes in exile. Ivid's judgment was swift; the Censor received the delights of the Endless Death (being perpetually tortured while wearing a ring of regeneration), which he still endures. […] the Overking ordered an orgy of brutality and destruction inflicted on it and its inhabitants. Rape, pillage, torture, and the suffering of every man and woman in Medegia were what Ivid ordered, and his army was pleased to obey. Medegia was utterly despoiled, and what remains of it is barren and underpopulated. Its few surviving inhabitants are bitter, twisted, and half-mad people tormented by fiends and petty despots. [FtAA – 27]

591 CY
Ahlissa Proper Name: United Kingdom of Ahlissa
Ruler: His Transcendent Imperial Majesty, Overking Xavener I, Grand Prince of Kalstrand, Crowned Head of House Darmen (NE male human Rog15)
Government: Feudal empire with hereditary rulership; principalities are loosely governed by monarch whose powers are limited by written agreements with major nobles
Capital: Kalstrand
Major Towns: Kalstrand (pop. 24,000), Naerie (pop. 6,300), Pardue (pop. 4,100), Torrich (pop. 27,500)
Population: 3,836,100—Human 79% (OSf), Halfling 9%, Elf 5% (sylvan 90%), Dwarf 2%, Gnome 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-orc 1%, Orc 1%
Languages: Common, Old Oeridian, Orc, Halfling, Elven
[LGG – 21]

The major political subdivisions of the United Kingdom of Ahlissa follow, with their capitals, rulers, and ruling Houses.
[…]
Medegia, Marchland of
Nulbish (to be moved to Pontylver once it is cleared of undead and rebuilt)
Prince Gartrel (LE male human Ftr10), House Darmen
[LGG – 22]
Alignments: N, NE, LE*, LN, CE, CN [adapted from Ahlissa – LGG – 22]
Grandwood Forest, Marchland of the
Torrich
Princess Bersheba (CE female human Rog9), House Darmen [LGG – 22]


 “Societies in decline have no use for visionaries.”
― Anais Nin





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


The Art:
Cover art detail, by Jeff Easley, from "From the Ashes" Boxed set, 1992
LF1 The 9 cover, art by Daviel Govar, 2021
Dungeon #144 Unusual Burials, by Kyle Hunter, 2007
S1 Tomb of Horrors cover, art by Jeff Dee, 1981
Dungeon Magazine #56 cover, by Stephen A Daniele, 1995
Medegia heraldry, by Anna B. Mayer
Ahlissa heraldry, by Anna B. Mayer, adapted from World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980


Sources:
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1981
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
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
Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda
Anna B. Meyer’s Greyhawk Map

Friday, 10 November 2023

The See of Medegia, Part 3


“Only after disaster can we be resurrected.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club


Medegia Ablaze
Medegia was ablaze.
Ivid had passed judgement on the See as a whole when he condemned his Holy Censor to Eternal Death. What was Spidasa’s crime? Hubris? Disloyalty? Failure? Does it matter? Spidasa had presumed to lure the gentry of South Province to his cause, he had presumed to treat with the seditious Drax of Rel Astra, presumed to claim a portion of the Grandwood forest. More damning, Spidasa had the audacity to deny Ivid troops in his war against Nyrond, Almor, and Sunndi. And perhaps worst of all, Spidasa had allowed his See to fall to Osson’s ragtag vagabonds. Spidasa was guilty, as far as Ivid was concerned; and Spidasa deserved Eternal Death.
But did Medegia deserve its fate, to be razed by orcs and bandits? Did Medegia deserve to be rent by demons and devils? Surely it must have, or it would have prevailed against what had come, and what it obviously deserved. So decreed Ivid. And who in their right mind would presume to contradict Ivid? Who would dare? None. Any who had paid the price for their folly. For their failure. Their bravery.
The dungeons of the royal palace contain an unknown number of wretches suffering the Endless Death. Here, they are tortured by priests of Hextor, given a ring of regeneration, and then tortured all over again. Such treatment renders the victims insane very swiftly. The current victims include Spidasa, Censor of Medegia, and it is possible that Chelor, Herzog of South Province, is similarly tormented—though some say he is dead. Some folk believe that Osson of Almor is similarly imprisoned in the unspeakable dungeons, swarming with evil priests, lesser and least baatezu, undead of most kinds, and worse. [Ivid – 32]

Those not eternally interred were treated to what began to be called “Ivid’s Kiss.”
Believing – with good reason – that his generals conspired to mutiny, the Overking sought even greater control over them. The priests of Hextor, seeking favor in the eyes of the mad Overking, devised a solution to his problem. Through secret rituals, the priests revived each dead general as an animus-a being that, though dead, retained its intelligence and abilities. [Wars – 21]
Though Ivid’s nobles were undeniably decadent, they were not mad: they considered Ivid’s gift an unenviable “reward.” [Wars – 21]
So much so that someone took extreme measures to avoid it.
An assassin emerged from the thronging crowds and struck Ivid a mortal blow with a poisoned dagger. [Wars – 21]
Success must be measured in the outcome, however: Ivid “survived.”
Ivid V
Just as the cunning of the mad Overking had saved Ivid from countless threats past, it saved him now from the grave. Secret arrangements, perhaps made with fiends summoned while on the Malachite Throne, resulted in the Overking’s revivification. Ivid V – who had seemed cold and soulless in life – seemed doubly so in death. [Wars – 21]
The vengeance visited by the animus Ivid was swift and terrible. The orgy of execution and revivification soared out of control. Ivid rewarded even the slightest suspicion with death. Nobles falsely implicated enemies, seeking to settle old scores, but Ivid cared little whether the accusations were false or true. The mad Overking, now styled the Undying One, revelled in the chaos and destruction in his lands. [Wars – 21]
None were spared.
While Rel Astra did not fall to Osson during the war, the Overking's pillaging army in Medegia didn't worry much about technicalities, and tried its best to sack and loot the town anyway. […] n, Drax was blessed by his Overking with the gift of undying, and he is an animus and none too happy about it. He, too, longs for revenge. So, Rel Astra wants money and plenty of it. Armies of revenge are not hired without bulging coffers. [FtAA – 47]
One imagines that Ivid sought to remake his realm in his own image.
Ivid the Undying is dying by the day. [Ivid – 5]
He succeeded it that, if anywhere, in Medegia.

585 CY
Was Medegia indeed Hell on Oerth? It might have been.
Medegia is thus a land of absolute anarchy. Its population is decimated. Only the pathetically poor, feebleminded, aged, infirm, and those too sunk into despair and stricken with terror remain. [Ivid – 104]
Decimated. Destitute. And stricken.
Pontylver more than most.
The horrors of Pontylver impress themselves on any who enter it. The awful sights of the city, and the wretched ghosts who infest some of the sites of massacre, are bad enough.
However, the minds of those who venture here become obsessed by the carnage. Growing homicidal mania, delusional insanity, and worse have afflicted those who have visited even briefly, growing stronger over the months after they leave. Even spells as powerful as heal or remove curse seem only to delay the onset or development of these mental symptoms.
Thus, those entering this ruined place take more than their lives into their hands; their very souls may be lost in this citadel of holocaust. [Ivid – 106]

Pontylver is a special case, though. Nowhere else was as stricken as that ill-fated port city.
Outside of Pontylver, not many fiends stalk the lands. However, there are orcs, deserting soldiers, and ex-mercenaries who have taken to a life of pillaging what they can from this land. [Ivid – 104]
Fields are unsewn with seed and tuber here, and most livestock has long been eaten. Many of those left are close to starvation, and they suffer deficiency diseases (scurvy, rickets, and the like) as a result. Medegia is grim indeed. [Ivid – 104]

See of Medegia
Pop.: 60,000
Capital: None (previously Mentrey)
Ruler: None
Rulership: Absent
[Ivid – 104]
Medegia passed into history. When Osson veered into Medegia and conquered large swaths of that land, the Holy Censor made the desperate mistake of heading for Rauxes in exile. Ivid's judgment was swift; the Censor received the delights of the Endless Death (being perpetually tortured while wearing a ring of regeneration), which he still endures. When Ivid's armies finally crushed Osson's troops in this land, the Overking ordered an orgy of brutality and destruction inflicted on it and its inhabitants. Rape, pillage, torture, and the suffering of every man and woman in Medegia were what Ivid ordered, and his army was pleased to obey. Medegia was utterly despoiled, and what remains of it is barren and underpopulated. Its few surviving inhabitants are bitter, twisted, and half-mad people tormented by fiends and petty despots.
[FtAA – 27]

Truth be told, few places within the See are what one might call safe.
The old Medegian lands offer a soft target and the Barons raid there, but apart from the occasional foray into Hepmonaland to loot that vast land’s spices, ivory, and furs, the Barons’ current exploits are very limited. [Dragon #206 – 35/Ivid - 88]
Barrish
The city was raided by pirates (possibly disguised Duxchan men testing the strength of what is left of Medegia) in Flocktime. [Ivid – 104]
As for their ruler, Prince Alaern, the people here could not be more unfortunate. Alaern seeks only to escape—with enough gold and loot to guarantee a comfortable survival in whatever city he comes across. […]
He would sell this community to the Scarlet Brotherhood if they guaranteed him safe passage far away. And it is only because they have never sent an emissary here that he hasn't done so. [Ivid – 104]
Dornelan
Dornelan is a village of 850 people occupied by remnants of the Glorioles Army and subjected to military rule with nighttime curfews. […] They remain here only because the surrounding land is fertile and the village has enough food to support them. These army deserters fear that some imperial force will turn up and have them executed for desertion. […]
[T]he cavalry is growing in arrogance and the frequency of its raids increases. They are inviting a determined strike against them by the princes of Darmen across the border. [Ivid – 105]
Mentrey
Euroz Orcs
Mentrey is now a city divided into occupied zones, east and west, by two armed groups who regularly skirmish in the city center. One group is a faction of Euroz orcs led by a one-armed orog said to be as strong as a cloud giant. The other is a force of around 800 mercenaries, bandits, and army deserters with no effective leadership. […]
City folk still mostly side with the humans, of course, but the orcs have enslaved the people in the areas they occupy and force them to construct barricades. [Ivid – 105]
Montresser
This is an extraordinary place. There are 600 or so orcs permanently encamped by the sea. That's not so unusual, but the fact that they are building their own wooden huts using materials from razed villages nearby is surprising. The orcs have sewn crops (very haphazardly, admittedly) and have two fishing boats which have, despite all the odds, not yet sunk. [Ivid – 105]
These orcs simply tired of war. Orcs are mostly warlike, to be sure, but a lifetime of being kicked around by other, more powerful, orcs got to be wearying. They deserted their brethren in Mentrey and settled here. [Ivid – 105]
Recently a Sea Barons vessel was blown off course and sighted the camp; an initial attempt to loot it was swiftly fought off by the well-drilled orcs, and the captain of the Asperdi vessel was sufficiently impressed to make peace with them. Now, the Sea Barons ship goods here, as the orcs desperately want better weapons and armor to defend themselves and tools to work their gardents. In exchange for the goods, the orcs provide foodstuffs and information about events in Medegia. [Ivid – 105]
Pontylver
Now, Pontylver is a nightmare city, only Chathold equalling the horrors here. The people who remain are mad, autistically depressed, or even animated as zombies. The city is stalked by 50 or more fiends of varying levels of power who prey on whoever they find. There are also considerable numbers of deserters, bandits, and orcs who seem consumed by a blood craze inspired by the mass slaughters they inflicted on the city. Horribly, there are several places in the city where great mounds of skeletons or decomposing bodies lie, and vermin, undead, and disease are rife.
Even the temple of Pyremius was sacked, and a thousand souls were crammed into the building which was then razed with fire so that only blackened stone and charred remnants of bodies remain. Even the Abyss itself has few sights as ghastly as this dreadful place. [Ivid – 104]

Indeed, who in their right mind would live here, if given the choice.
It’s not likely that many players will want to be right in the middle of [the Great Kingdom’s ocean of madness – they don’t have to be. They can live in the vast realms of the Grandwood or the Adri, or among the free people of the Lone Heath. [Dragon #191 – 67]
Come to think on it, anyone living within striking distance of the once opulent province isn’t particularly safe, either.
Megedia is not self-contained, however, the rogue elements here threaten the Grandwood and the lands around Nulbish and Torrich. Still the evil forces have learned not to push too close to Rel Astra. The Iron Nation knights there have inflicted heavy casualties on raiders, and the knights use a particularly nasty form of slow quartering for bandits they capture; this encourages others to keep away. There are also several important places, ruins and the like, scattered about this land. And much that has been lost has not been pillaged—and remains to be retrieved. [Ivid – 104]
For border skirmishing, guerilla warfare, etc.: Grandwood Forest; Adri Forest; Sunndi margins [Dragon #191 – 68]
Pardue
Built where the Mikar and Thelly rivers slowly meander toward each other, Pardue is another tradeplace quieter than it once was. Its 3,300 people still find fishing and farming lucrative, however, and the 600 soldiers posted here to protect against the threats from Medegia and from the lands south add security to their lives, even if they also add an element of brutishness. [Ivid – 125]
Spiral
This highly unusual castle has the form of a double square keep with internal mirror imaging and a nest of spiral staircases, many of which descend to labyrinthine dungeons below. Bersheben uses it as a garrison for troops patrolling the Mikar's banks, keeping careful watch over Medegia. Harnnden of Nulbish, and Dilweg, both pay monies to support this castle since they have a vested interest in keeping Medegian madmen or fiends well away from their lands. [Ivid – 124] The safest stretches are the most rugged, the Hestmark Highlands and the Grandwood Forest. Perhaps because the dwarves and elves make it so.
Hestmark Dwarves
Hestmark Highlands:
Since Sunndi's brief conquest by the Great Kingdom during the Wars, and the Scarlet Brotherhood's swift conquest of much of the Iron League, the dwarves have been more ready to ally with the humans and elves of Sunndi and work closely with them. [FtAA – 58]
This isolation has increased since the fall of Medegia, as expeditions south of the Thelly river have become too costly for the Aerdi to mount. East of these hills, along the coastline, lies the independent port of Dullstrand, which has an informal alliance with the men and dwarves of the hills and also sends goods to Sunndi. [LGG – 145]
GRANDWOOD FOREST
Wood Elves
The Grandwood is perhaps the only part of the old Great Kingdom with some claim to being an enclave of the fair and good. It has been for over a century the refuge for those fleeing the cruelties of the Overking or the Herzog of North Province. [FtAA – 53]
Now that Medegia is a ruined land, and the ruler of Rel Astra is concerned with revenge on his Overking, the Grandwood folk are arguably more secure than ever before. Certainly, the natural defenses of the Grandwood are formidable, with great tangles and thickets of vegetation and excellent branch perches for elven archers. [FtAA – 53]
The wood elves of this forest, some 7,000 in number, take care to establish the credentials of those who seek refuge here, challenging them to swear oaths by the gods of good, and magically testing their alignments. [FtAA – 53]

Safe is a relative term, though, as much of the Great Kingdom is in disarray, of late.
[T]he sheer terror which Ivid still inspires prevents many of the princes from acting directly against him. The legacy of more than 130 years of Naelax rule through fear cannot be shaken off in a few years. [Ivid – 5]

GREAT KINGDOM (THE KINGDOM OF AERDY)
Ruler: (in name only) His Celestial Transcendency, Overking of Aerdy, Archduke of Ahlissa, Idee, and Sunndi; Suzerain of Medegia; Commander of the Bone March; Lord of the Sea Barons; Protector of Almor and Onnwal; Hetman of all the Aerdi (etc., etc.), Grand Prince Ivid V
Capital: (in name only) Rauxes (pop. 22,200)
[FtAA – 26]
The mad overking can claim direct control over not much more than a few hundred square miles around Rauxes. And his leigemen find pursuing their own squabbles—building their own empires within old Aerdy—much more interesting than sending their armies to Nyrond. They have no intention of leaving their own landholdings vulnerable to opportunistic conquest by their neighbors.
Ivid believes himself to command great provincial armies, which have in actual fact long marched homewards.
Aerdy is now a nation-state no longer […]. The greatest of all empires of the Flanaess has passed into history. [Ivid – 4,5]

You would think, then, that the Great Kingdom would be easy prey to any who might wish to conquer any part of it. But who would wish to?
Despite rumors to the contrary and the fears of the Overking, the [Scarlet] Brotherhood is not currently trying to control the former Great Kingdom province of Medegia – a monster-infested and unclaimed land is not a pleasant prospect for an organization that works best by influencing established officials. [SB – 6]

586 CY
Who indeed would want Medegia? Demons and daemons and devils still stalked the land, and had since Ivid sought to desecrate the once bucolic province.
Lesser and least fiends and hordlings were used as shock troops to demoralize and terrify the small levies which opposed them, making it easier for the armies to despoil the lands they came to ruin. [Ivid – 104]
And still did.
[F]ree fiends still stalk many Medegian lands, with no one to control them. [Ivid – 104]
One imagines what torment was visited upon those who could not flee. That torment must have been horrific.
But before long, only Pontilver was still beset by fiends. Might the Walker have had anything to do with that?
The Walker
The Walker
He is one of Johydee's Children.
[Ivid – 106]
[H]is purpose in Medegia remains unknown. [Ivid – 106]
The Walker is a mystery, and the sightings of him in Medegia would be nothing more than the retelling of an old myth if it were not for the fact that his travels have left behind him a growing and developing trail of magical force. [Ivid – 107]
[T]all, stark, utterly smooth stone monoliths 12' or so in height have sprung up at nexal points in the web pattern, and these radiate the same pattern as the trail The Walker has left behind. Wholly impervious to physical or magical damage, these silent stones stand as physical evidence of The Walker's passage through the world, and the magic they radiate is stronger than that of the trails. Again, their purpose—if they have one—is unknown. [Ivid – 107]
The Walker is often said to be a being verging on demipower status, perhaps a human who is undergoing divine ascension and in the last stages of a sublime enlightenment. Some say he is an aspect of Fharlanghn, but this is surely only a partial truth at best. [Ivid – 106]

Those who survived the initial fiendish onslaught must have thought it would never end.
But it did. Unexpectedly. Suddenly.
Coldeven
In Coldeven 586, Canon Hazen of Veluna employed the Crook of Rao, a powerful artifact, in a special ceremony that purged the Flanaess of nearly all fiends inhabiting it. [LGG – 16]
Did the people of Medegia rejoice? Or were they so traumatised by their ordeal that they were wholly unaware that their torment had come to an end?

586 to 591 CY
Did the See of Medegia recover for that year-long nightmare?
Well, it was no longer tormented by fiends. It could boast that. But it was still a lawless place, beset with banditry.
Ship captains in the Aerdi Sea avoid coming close to the ruins of Pontylver, at the mouth of the Flanmi River; the city is said to be haunted and filled with unspeakable things that once lived. [TAB – 27]
The See of Medegia, depopulated and broken by Ivid Vs armies in the Greyhawk Wars, later went ungoverned except by bandit lords, military deserters, and orc chieftains, The former capital of this religious province, Mentrey, is said to be brutally ruled by all three. [TAB – 27]
[T]hose entering this ruined place take more than their lives into their hands [.] Some are those so ineffably evil that they seek to despoil the treasures undoubtedly left in temples [.] Others come to fight with the bandits or orcs of the cities. [Ivid – 106]
In the years since the Greyhawk Wars, some of the surviving exiles [from Lendore isle] have joined together with half-elven captains on the Medegian coast. It is an open secret that they are smugglers, willing to transport any cargo for a price. [LGG – 69,70]
Aerdi Sea: The Aerdi Sea is a stretch of water between the east coast of the Flanaess and the Asperdi-Duxchan isles. […] The destruction of Medegia, the fall of the Lordship of the Isles to the Scarlet Brotherhood, the isolation of the elven Lendore Isles, and the turmoil in North Kingdom depressed sea travel for a time. Trade is rebounding, thanks to Ratik's treaty with the Frost Barbarians, the exploration of Hepmonaland, aggressive trading by Rel Astra and its allies, and the Lordship's attempts to maintain its status as a major seafaring power. The Aerdi Sea is infamous for its variety of sharks, some of which are man-eaters. Piracy is common here, as the Sea Barons no longer patrol the southern waters. [LGG – 147]
Sprindrift Sound
Spindrift Sound itself is navigable, but shipping is menaced by the Scarlet Brotherhood and the activities of a few pirates based on the eastern Medegian coast. [LGG – 68]

But why persist in calling that stretch of ravaged land Medegia when it was no more. It was only a carcass fought over neighbours who had come out of the fray far better than it.
587 CY
Greater things were afoot in Ahlissa. […]
These lands had survived decades of struggles between South Province, North Province, Rauxes, and the See of Medegia; their nobles were hard, practical, and ruthless. [TAB – 25]
Xavener of Kalstrand
One came to the fore: Prince Xavener of Kalstrand (NE). Wealthy, militarily powerful, Xavener is a brilliant diplomat. At present, he has skillfully gained increasing acceptance by the priesthood of Zilchus as "their man." [Ivid – 118]
During Growfest 587 CY, it was announced that these nobles and their houses were allied in a new political body called the United Kingdom of Ahlissa. [TAB – 25]
Dozens of minor duchies, baronies, counties, and so forth presently exist all across the Ahlissan empire, most governed by small noble families or loyal local rulers […]. Many of these minor realms lie near the Adri Forest or by the Thelly River between Ahlissa and old Medegia, encompassing one or more river towns or wedged between or on the edges of larger principalities. [TAB – 26]
The great Adri and Grandwood Forests were claimed for the [Ahlissan] empire as Imperial Marchlands, administered at first directly from Kartrand. [TAB – 26]
[The] Grandwood was declared a Marchland in 587 CY. [TAB – 29]
The Medegian lands are now known as the Marchland of Medegia. This realm is being explored by military units from Torrich and and Nulbish, with an eye toward restoring that region as a (probably renamed) principality once it has been resettled. [TAB – 27]
[S]trange encounters and dreadful monsters are talked of by incautious soldiers returning from Medegia, though such talk is strongly discouraged by commanders. It is said that Overking Xavener wishes to gain military control over this area quickly, fearing movements here by the Kingdom of Sunndi or – worse – the Scarlet Brotherhood which may have already made inroads into this chaotic region. [TAB – 27]
Clearing Pontylver – or at least its riverfront – is widely recognized as critical to Ahlissa’s trade and military future, as the Flanmi River and all of its many tributaries reach the Solnor here. Opening Pontylver to shipping opens all ancient Aerdy lands to the world and would solidify the young kingdom, giving it a powerful edge overall rival states – particularly the Scarlet Brotherhood. [TAB – 27]
Flanmi: The most important river in the former Great Kingdom, the vast Flanmi basin drains nearly the entire region. It forms near Eastfair in North Kingdom, and it flows south all the way south to empty in the Aerdi Sea at Pontylver. It is navigable from Pontylver all the way to Orred and Rauxes, but little traffic goes so far north. The cities of Torrich and Jalpa are prime destinations of Flanmi shipping; if Pontylver is restored, trade here will quickly boom. [LGG – 151]
Mikar: The Mikar flows from Lone Heath to the Grandwood Forest to join the Flanmi north of Pontylver. It forms the western border of ravaged Medegia. [LGG – 152]

Lord Drax
Lord Drax contested Ahlissa’s claim. Obviously. Had he not Rel Astra would have been gobbled up shortly afterwards.
Sharp conflicts with Rel Astran units are rumored but not proven: the Rel Astrans are known to hold a swath of land within 30-40 leagues radius of that city-state. [TAB – 27]
Rumors circulate that Rel Astran soldiers are expanding their territory into the northern part of the ruined See of Medegia, but are encountering horrors, ruins, and strange magic along with fertile land for the taking. [TAB – 29]
Rel Astra’s soldiers claim to have explored much of the north and east of Medegia, and Drax has laid claim to part of it, but no one apparently oversees the whole. [TAB – 27]

590 CY
It had taken years, but Overking Xavener appears to be making headway within ravaged, lawless Medegia.
Medegia, Marchland of
Nulbish (to be moved to Pontylver once it is cleared of undead and rebuilt)
Prince Gartrel (LE male human Ftr10), House Darmen
[LGG – 22]

Indeed, Xavener continued to rebuild the whole of his Kingdom of Ahlissa.
In 590 CY, Overking Xavener directed his kinsmen, assisted by the priesthood of Zilchus, to create a new path for the Windmarch, an ages-old annual trade route that once ran from Chathold downriver to Nulbish and Pontylver, then upriver all the way to Eastfair. [LGG – 24]

He even reports to making headway in taming the Grandwood.
In 590 CY, the administrative capital [for the Grandwood was] moved to […] Torrich [.] [TAB – 26]
Grandwood Forest, Marchland of the
Torrich
Princess Bersheba (CE female human Rog9), House Darmen [LGG – 22]
Grandwood Forest:
The dissident folk wish to consolidate themselves and form a government, but Ahlissa's Overking Xavener, who has the strongest extant claim here (calling the forest a marchland of Ahlissa), will have none of that. The wood elves are the most powerful inhabitants and are wary of outsiders. [LGG – 141]
The long-time inhabitants of these two forests are reportedly terrified at being brought into the empire, and considerable resistance is expected from them [.] [TAB – 26]
It might be said that few actually believe Xavener’s claim.

591 CY
Lord Drax had not relinquished Medegia, regardless Xavener’s claims to the whole of the See.
Both Ahlissa and Rel Astra claim the chaotic lands of Medegia. As of 591 CY, forces from Rel Astra have captured nearly a quarter of the old See, and intend to hold it despite the efforts of Prince Gartrel of House Darmen in Pardue. Life in Medegia has been hard going, however, and many dreadful discoveries surface there every month. [LGG – 94]

What will become of Medegia? Its demesnes will surely be tamed again – it’s only a matter of time – but it will no longer be the Medegia of old. That Medegia has passed into history. It will be split in twain, likely, half claimed by Rel Astra, the other by Ahlissa; and I expect it will be riven by war for as long as we live and breathe, or at least for as long as either Xavener or Drax lives and breathes – insofar as Drax does either – for surely neither will ever cede what they both claim, no matter how much blood they spill in their pursuit to gain what they desire.


“Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again.”
― Henry Ford






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


The Art:
Ivid V, from Players Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
Cover art detail, by Jeff Easley, from "From the Ashes" Boxed set, 1992
1 by dron111
Xavener of Kalstrand, from Players Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
Overking Xavener of Ahlissa, by Vince Locke, from Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000

Sources:
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1068 Greyhawk Wars Boxed Set, 1991
1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9398 WGR4 The Marklands, 1993
9576 Return of the Eight, 1998
9577 The Adventure Begins, 1998
9578 Player’s Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
WGR7 Ivid the Undying, 1995
Dragon Magazine #191,206
Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda
The map of Anna B. Meyer