“Only after disaster can we be resurrected.”
― Fight Club
 |
| Medegia 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]
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
[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 |
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 |
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]
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.”
―
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
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
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