“He had an idea that even when beaten he could steal a
little victory by laughing at defeat.”
― East of Eden
 |
| Mordenkainen |
Not that he hasn’t tried. He’d
gathered the greatest web of informants ever amassed. The greatest of magi. He’d
also gathered to him the largest collection of evil tomes and artifacts ever
collected, to my knowledge. He’d scryed the minds of the highest Good and the
vilest Evil. Little escaped his eye or scrutiny.
But he may have gazed too
deeply. It had left a dark mark upon his visage.
His most impressive physical features are his
penetrating eyes. It is said that they hold hints of genius tinged with
madness, a volatile combination that usually gets Mordenkainen what he wants
from the easily persuaded. [LGJ#0 – 9]
But however vast his net might be, and however vigilant he
endeavoured to be, he could not be everywhere, could not see everything, nor
foresee every eventuality. Sooner or later, something, or someone, lurking in
the shadows, would rise unseen, unexpected.
581 CY
And one finally did.
An important though seldom noticed event took place in
581 CY, when an agent of Vecna, the Whispered One of ancient Flan legend,
struck down the entire Circle of Eight […]. The Circle had acted subtly as a
balancing agent for years, preventing any one power from dominating too much of
the Flanaess. [LGG – 15]
One imagines this must surely have devastated Mordenkainen. Surely it must
have! His closest friends had been killed! One imagines that he would have torn
the very Oerth asunder to avenge their deaths, then and there. But he did not.
Which brings us
to the second meeting of Mordenkainen and Elminster, this time with the
Head of the Order of Black Robes, one of the most powerful sorcerers on all
Krynn – the Fell
One, Dalamar the Dark. [Dragon #188
– 27]
Readers familiar with events in Oerth will note that
this evening occurs shortly after the events of module WGA4 Vecna Lives, and
well after the War of the Lance and the subsequent disappearance of Raistlin,
in Krynn. [Dragon #188 – 32]
 |
| The Wizards Three |
Mordenkainen’s arrives
at this meeting, described as bearing a dark expression [.] [Dragon #188 – 27]
We know why. So
does Elminster, it would seem.
“You
know what has befallen.”
It was a statement, not a question.
Elminster nodded. “Will the Circle form again, in years to come?”
Mordenkainen shrugged and said grimly, “They all had clones in
preparation, I have heard. They wisely confided little to anyone, though
perhaps a little more in me. Ask me in years to come, I suppose.” [Dragon #188
– 27]
He stared unseeing at the far wall for a moment, then
said slowly, “They were my oldest, dearest friends, El. Fellows in magic –
comrade-mages I could trust, and you know how rare those are.” [Dragon #188 – 27]
Dalamar arrives,
with as much pomposity as did Mordenkainen.
Elminster was calmly pointing, with the stem of his
pipe, at the empty chair between them. A darkness had gathered above it, a
gloom that was darkening swiftly and steadily. It was a listening darkness that
had grown eyes. [Dragon #188 – 27]
He arrives with
a chip on his shoulder, for which Elminster chastises him, and Mordenkainen all
but threatens him, saying: “[I]t’s doubtful that I’m the most powerful mage of
Oerth, highly doubtful – yet if it came to a test of magic between us, I know
who would prevail.” [Dragon #188 – 28]
 |
| A New Friend? |
“The ‘ring of ESP’?” Mordenkainen raised a finger to
show a light patch. “I wear one myself – except when meeting wizards, when it
might be considered impolite.”
[Dragon #188 – 29]
That is neither
here nor there here.
What matters is
their discussion about the state of their worlds, and their agreed cooperation.
Mordenkainen
declares: “Elminster and I came to agree that sharing lore about the
magic we wield, and the doings of all who work it in our various worlds, would
be of common benefit – and even entertainment. After what has befallen the
Circle, I see the need for the former more, and feel a strong present need for
the latter.” [Dragon #188 – 28]
That’s quite a
confession he makes to an evil archmage he’d just met. I suppose we’re to
understand that they must trust their invitee if he’s to trust them. More
important to our purpose here is their dialogue concerning those wizards that
might prove a clear and present danger to their mutual corners of the
multiverse.
Mordenkainen:
“There is a certain wizard who mastered the ways between the
worlds, and the art of shape-shifting, while I was still an apprentice. […]
These days, he goes by the name of Daunskul, though I knew him long ago as
Iliphar Firemaster, and before that as Ilighar of Teflamm. […] He is evil, and
he does as his magical might allows him. […] A renegade wizard, ‘tis best to call him. […] This
Daunskul, whatever his nature, has in recent days taken to calling himself the
Lord High Necromancer.” [Dragon #188
– 28,29]
 |
| Elminster |
Their discourse
at an end after a great deal of rolling chuckles [Dragon #188 – 29],
they depart, presumably agreeing when
to meet again.
Elminster’s fingers
circled in the air, leaving trails of flames in their wake. Mordenkainen joined
in, and Dalamar looked startled for an instant, then frowned a little and moved
his own fingers. [T]he three archmages appeared to be engaged in a brief flurry
of silent signing that looked rather like children playing Scissors, Paper,
Stone. Suddenly they all nodded, together. “Until next, then,” said Dalamar.
A moment later, the study was empty [.] [Dragon #188 – 29]
Stripping away
the turkey sandwiches and chuckles, and ignoring the swapping of spells, one
might glean the true reason why these powerful archmagi have met: There’s
something rotten in Denmark; or in this case the Realms, Greyhawk, and Krynn –
indeed, in the whole of the multiverse. Why else would they risk sharing the
same space? They may express their concern about certain wizards and priests
who might stir up shit in their respective backyards, but their true concern
might be in what is undisclosed in what is reported. What might affect all
their respective worlds? Wild magic. Unpredictable magic. Dying magic. I may
opine that only a god might have that sort of effect. That god could only be of
unspeakably malign purpose, one imagines.
I might table a
possibility, the one I imagine, in any case. Who is perhaps the most fearsome
deity in all Greyhawk lore? Tharizdun? Tharizdun might indeed be a great enough
threat to draw together the 3 most powerful magi in all their collected worlds.
Mordenkainen is 72 years old.
582 CY
Let’s return to
Greyhawk, proper, shall we?
Where did we
leave off?
 |
| Vecna |
Mordenkainen may not have torn the Oerth asunder in the
aftermath, but he did not do nothing, either.
When news reached the archmage, he mobilized the
Circle's allies, and a small cadre of apprentice wizards, former companions,
and long-time confidantes embarked on a nearly hopeless bid to thwart Vecna's
apotheosis [.] [LGJ#0 – 6]
Mordenkainen wants the [allied adventurers] to
discover the fate of the Circle of Eight. [WGA4 – 18]
[S]ecrecy is vital. Mordenkainen and the other wizards
in Greyhawk are already having difficulty keeping the affair to themselves.
[WGA4 – 8]
Meanwhile, he will be spending his time investigating
the divination failure with his spells and library resources. [WGA4 – 18]
[Mordenkainen] elected to remain in Greyhawk as a
safeguard against just such an occurrence. [WGA4 – 17]
Why did Mordenkainen not go, himself? They are his
friends, after all! His colleagues! One might opine that Mordenkainen did not
go for the reasons given, but that would be unfair, to my mind. None knew
exactly what had happened, just then, after all. What occurred was all a blur
in the immediate aftermath, with little time to sort through the mess, if the
whole of the Oerth were under attack. Indeed, he did have to safeguard against
further possible tasks; and he did need to know why his divinations had failed
– what if someone, or something, was blinding him to their machinations. One
might also imagine that Mordenkainen dispatched more than one adventuring group
on various other desperate missions and needed to be on hand to coordinate and
lend aid to them. [I’m being generous. Of course he did not go. WGA4 Vecna
Lives! is railroad for pregenerated characters, and Mordenkainen was not
detailed among them.]
 |
| Iuz the Evil |
Somehow (it is whispered that they employed the aid of
luz, who stood to lose much under the deification of the Lich Lord), the
intrepid adventurers managed to banish the Maimed God at the strange stone
circles known as the Tovag Baragu, and Oerth returned to relative normalcy,
save for the absence of the Circle of Eight. [LGJ#0 – 6]
Thankfully, the Circle’s allies did not have to contend
with Iuz in the aftermath. Those two dark ones took care of one another.
[T]he two [Vecna and Iuz] plunge into the darkness,
howling and tearing at each other. A great gout of flame rushes up and bursts
out of the gate, sending a fiery blast 40 feet long and ten feet wide.
[WGA4 – 67]
Were they gone for good? Any fool would realise that
their absence could only be a temporary reprieve, at best.
Longer story
shorter:
All hope was not
lost: Tenser, Bigby, and all the others […] took the precaution of leaving a
little bit if [their selves] to be cloned. [WGA4 – 13]
Mordenkainen addressed this absence by recovering what
was left of his fallen comrades and cloning them. [LGJ#0 – 6]
As he should!
The Circle had acted subtly as a balancing agent for
years, preventing any one power from dominating too much of the Flanaess. [LGG
– 15]
One imagines that the Cult of Vecna thence rose to the
top of their list of public enemies No.1.
The entire Circle of Eight was slain by an agent of
Vecna, and so would fear and hate this cult greatly. [TAB – 3]
That list was
long, indeed.
 |
| Overking Ivid V |
In the mid-sixth century, Ivid V ascended the
Malachite Throne. A series of subsequent unsuccessful skirmishes against
Nyrond, the Iron League, and other adjoining states did not suggest to the
distant Furyondians or Keolanders that the Great Kingdom offered much threat to
anyone. But Nyrond knew better. [FtAA – 5]
The location of only one orb [of Dragonkind] is known
for certain to our cozy group of the Eight: The Orb of the Hatchling is
unquestionably held in Rauxes, as Mordenkainen himself was able to demonstrate
to our satisfaction last year. [Dragon
#230 – 13]
To the south, the existence of the highly secretive
and paranoiac Scarlet Brotherhood was first confirmed by returning
travelers in 573 CY. It seems incredible that this monastic sect of religious
militarists could have escaped notice for so long, even given their isolation
in the closed city of Kro Terlep and the remote plateau south of it. But while
the secret of this land became more widely known, the existence of a veritable
army of spies and assassins in the imperial courts of the Flanaess was not.
[FtAA – 5]
To the north, the Horned Society menaced all
nations bordering them, combin[ing] the masses of humanoid troops with the
organization and powers of humans. Deviltry is the religion of the Society [.]
[Folio – 11]
Indeed, the years preceding the Greyhawk Wars saw the
Shield Lands fall in humiliating defeat to the Horned Society and Bandit
Kingdoms. [LGG – 159]
Then there is
the enigmatic Valley of the Mage.
[T]he vale is ruled by a powerful wizard who goes by
the names of the Black One, the Exalted One, and the Mage of the Vale. […]
Although area rulers fear the supposed power of the mage, believed to be as
evil as is possible for a man to be, they have left him alone. [WG12 Vale
of the Mage – 2]
Were that not
enough!
Increasingly Giants have been raiding
the lands of men in large bands, with giants of different sorts in these
marauding groups. [G123 Against the Giants – 2]
 |
| The Drow |
Somewhere deep beneath the earth there are rumored to
be vast caverns which house whole cities of these creatures, cities of natural
and carven stone and minerals, places of weird and fantastic beauty,
metropolises of the Dark Elves [.] [T]hese delicate crystalline cities are also
said to be the haunt of such monsters as the dreaded mind flayer and other
subterranean horrors. It is told that demons walk freely amongst the Drow, for
the Dark Elves regard them as benefactors and friends and so actually consort
with them gladly. [G123 – 30]
To say nothing
of all manner of under-oerthly beings of interest, of which little was then
known.
 |
| The Derro |
My dear Mordenkainen,
Your inquiries into the origins of the derro following
the recent discovery of them beneath our city streets will be satisfied in part
by the account herein, taken from my personal investigations. The heroes who
last month saw to the defeat of the serpentine Falcon and her derro followers
saved us all from an unspeakable fate.
Excerpt—letter from Otto to Mordenkainen [following] the
defeat of the Falcon, 22nd of Reaping, 582 C.Y [Dragon #241 – 40]
 |
| The Lerara |
Mordenkainen of the Circle, greetings.
It has been too long since I lust heard from you. Your
query is not unwelcome, but events of late leave me little time to reminisce
about my childhood, Still, here is a brief sketch of my origins and people.
Excerpt—letter from Otto to Mordenkainen following the
defeat of the Falcon, 22nd of Reaping, 582 C.Y [Dragon #241 – 43]
The list is too
long to detail here.
All these concerns
and threats paled, however, to that posed by Iuz.
After his release, Iuz was filled with a desire for
vengeance and conquest. Sixty-five years of banishment had concentrated his
mind wonderfully. With a savagery and cruelty allied to plans formed over many
long years of thought, Iuz acted to gather together the warring bandits and
humanoids of his land with an iron grip. He drew together his Boneheart, a
Greater and Lesser circle of spellcasters, six in each echelon. His agents
began to scour the Flanaess, seeking arcane evils and relics. Iuz readied his
forces for a great war. [WGR5 Iuz the Evil – 3]
Which were
Mordenkainen’s renewed Circle to tackle first? Much discussion, and argument,
was had concerning this.
[Mordenkainen] revels in the art of debate, though his
emotions can overcome him if he fears defeat. Luckily for him, this is a rare
occurrence (though allegedly the spike that tore a rift in his once-strong
friendship with Rary). [LGJ#0 – 9]
Mordenkainen was convinced that Iuz was the greatest
present threat. Not all were as convinced, but Mordenkainen would brook argument.
 |
| Rary of Ket |
The others held
their peace. But they would also not bow to Mordenkainen’s considerable will,
either. Each fled to their own corner of the Flanaess, each hoping to stem the
tide of the hostilities they divined were brewing under a façade of peace.
Though the Circle's leader, Mordenkainen, returned his
colleagues to life using powerful magic, the group was in disarray when war
again erupted in the distant north in 582. [LGG – 15]
This endeavor consumed time that otherwise might have
seen him addressing the reports of the Circle's allies in the North, who warned
of alarming developments in Stonefist and the Barbarian Lands. When those
events spiraled into the first conflicts of the Greyhawk Wars, the Circle's
clones remained undeveloped and half-aware. By the time the clones reached full
maturation, the Circle of Eight had been forced to take a reactive stance to
the tumultuous events unfolding before them. [LGJ#0 – 6]
 |
| Dalamar? |
Readers familiar with Oerth will deduce that this
evening took place shortly after the beginning of the events detailed in the
GREYHAWK® Wars boxed set. [Dragon #196
– 88]
What did they do?
Drink cider and trade spells. I’m being glib. Mordenkainen was very much concerned
about this war.
“I’m on blade’s edge
these days [,” he said. “] A great war rages in my world.”
Elminster and Dalamar raised eyebrows in unison. The
dark elf spoke first, choosing his words carefully so they did not sound as
stinging as they might have. “Isn’t there
always war somewhere on Oerth? It seems almost sport to some folk of your
world.”
Mordenkainen nodded. “This . .
. is different. Whole kingdoms march and fall, led by…” He waved a hand, as if
to clear away such matters. “But enough. It
seems I bring gloom with me whenever we three meet. I’d like a chance to smile from time to time.” He regarded the bottle in his hand thoughtfully. It seemed to
have emptied itself. [Dragon #196
– 88]
Did he smile,
though? I expect he – they – did not. In keeping with my earlier thoughts on
these meetings, they had graver concerns to speak on that mere war on the
Flanaess, however great it may be.
Cue discussion
on the state of magic and the Cult of Tharizdun….
582-584 CY
 |
| Mordenkainen & Bigby |
During the Greyhawk Wars, their attention focused on
three major threats: Iuz the Old‘s growing empire; mad Ivid V the Undying and
the military might of his Great Kingdom; and the subtler treacheries of the
mysterious Scarlet Brotherhood. [Rot8
– 2]
Though the Circle never acted concertedly during the
Greyhawk Wars, certain "hotspots" received a good deal of their
attention. Mordenkainen [,] Bigby and Otto fought against the Old One's army at the
infamous Battle of Critwall Bridge, and Drawmij was instrumental in organizing
the flood of refugees from the Lost Lands to fastnesses in the Good Hills.
Nystul worked primarily alone in besieged Tenh, while Otto and Bigby left
Mordenkainen in the Vesve Forest to do what they could for the Iron League.
Citing pressing personal needs, Rary retreated to his tower in Lopolla and
refused to come to the aid of his companions. [LGJ#0 – 5,6]
 |
| While the War Waged |
Mordenkainen
arrived “With the stink of spell-battle all over you, I notice”, Dalamar
said.
[…]
“Gloomy times on Oerth, it seems,” Elminster said [.]
[…]
Mordenkainen: “I watch and wait, as always.”
“While men and orcs carve each other all over Oerik,
as always,” Elminster added.
Mordenkainen gave him a long, expressionless look.
Then, slowly, he nodded. “I see no end to war on Oerth, even with so much death
this last time. It’s a matter of betting among my more cynical colleagues, just
how soon the swords’ll be swung again.”
[Dragon #200 –
22]
Why then did
they meet? One imagines they must have been greater need than to drink coffee and
eat cold lasagna, considering the events occurring on Oerth. What was occurring
on Faerûn and Toril? Ask other scholars; I’ve no notion what might be, so I’ll
keep silent on what that might be. In keeping with Greyhawk, one wonders what
the Cults of Vecna and Tharizdun were up to just then?
However
effective the Circle might have been during the war, their contribution was not
as sung as was Osson’s of Almor.
[I]n late 583 of Almor's Commandant Osson, who had led
most of Ivid's army on a distracting chase throughout much of the southlands,
away from Chathold. […] Ultimately, Osson's army was put to the sword, its few
survivors returning to the villages of Sunndi that supported them. [LGG –
111]
Should the Circle have moved to support Osson’s raid.
Surely they should have; but one imagines they were still reeling from the
Vecna affair and the sudden conflagration of war across the whole of the
Flanaess.
Where Mordenkainen presumably could not capitalise on
Osson’s dishevelling of the southern Great Kingdom, his old adversary Reydrich
was not so unprepared to act.
At the height of Osson's invasion, Chelor begged aid
from his cousin [, Ivid V]. [Ivid – 128]
That was a mistake.
The Herzog and most of his senior advisers were
brought to Ivid and summary justice was dispensed. [Ivid – 128]
 |
| Reydrich |
[M]ost nobles readily accepted that Reydrich was
clearly favored by Ivid. That gave Reydrich enough time to make sure he had
Ahlissa secure as his own fief. [Ivid – 128]
This could not have passed Mordenkainen’s notice. One
wonders what Mordenkainen thought of Reydrich’s sudden rise to power. I expect
he was secretly pleased. Not only was Reydrich occupied with the reigns of
power, but he was also betwixt mad Ivid to the north and the Scarlet
Brotherhood to the south. Let them occupy each other, Mordenkainen, must have
thought, thinking each then a lesser threat in the grand scheme of things.
Who then was that greater threat? Who else? The Old One.
Iggwilv. And that unmentioned threat to the whole of the multiverse.
Oddly enough, Iuz did more for the cause of Good than the
Circle never could: he removed the Horned Society from the equation, supposedly
once and for all.
When Iuz deposed the Hierarchs, he simply made their
dissimulation a reality. With the aid of the tanar'ri Lord Pazrael, Iuz struck
by magically transporting over two hundred fiends and elite phalanxes from his
Legion of Black Death into the palaces of Molag. The Hierarchs there never had
a chance of escape. [WGR5 – 35]
One wonders about that, truth be told.
584 CY
All wars end.
Usually due to exhaustion and bankruptcy. Who gained what was plain to see in
the aftermath; how long the “victors” would hang onto those gains is up for
debate. Time will tell. For some, though, the end came too late.
Almor presents the greatest tragedy in all the
Flanaess in some ways. [Ivid –
146]
Already, more than 50,000 Almorians have perished, and
many more die by the day. [Ivid –
146]
(17 Goodmonth)
On the 17th day of Goodmonth, 584 CY, mages and
priests in Ivid's armies razed Chathold by fire, lightning, acid, earthquake,
poisonous gas, and more. The Day of Dust, as it is now known, saw the nation of
Almor disappear from the maps of the Flanaess, probably forever. [Ivid –
145]
 |
| Nystul |
The famed mage Nystul, of the Circle of [Eight*], was
caught up in the exodus from Almor when Szeffrin was cementing his hold on the
land. This normally humorous and flippant man was almost speechless when he
fled to Mordenkainen and Bigby, and he shook with rage recounting what he had
seen here. He has vowed to destroy Szeffrin, and, while the Circle's current
ethos is strongly against direct action and for careful watching and learning,
it may be hard even for Mordenkainen and the ever-cautious Bigby to prevent him
from trying. [Ivid – 146] [*The test
says Circle of Five, not Eight, but as the tragedy to follow had not yet
happened, I have edited the above passage.]
Regardless of
what befell Almor, exhausted Flanaess was ripe for peace. How it came about is
up for debate; suffice it to say that Mordenkainen and his Circle were not
instrumental in its arrival.
Nor were they untouched
by it, either.
(Harvester)
Then, at the very end of the wars, on the eve of the
Day of Great Signing in the City of Greyhawk, treachery nearly destroyed the
Circle of Eight. [EttRoG – 9]
When the political rumblings that signaled the end to
the conflict reached the Free City of Greyhawk, the entire Circle was on hand
to ensure a favorable outcome. [LGJ#0
– 6]
 |
| Betrayal! |
Rary had changed
in his absence. And not for the better.
Rary (NE) [WGR3 Rary the Traitor – 12]
During the Greyhawk Wars, two
members of the Eight, Tenser and Otiluke, were killed as a result of the
actions of Rary of Ket, now known as Rary the Traitor. [PGtG
– 21]
Rary's treachery that day killed Tenser and Otiluke,
and gained the Archmage of Ket everlasting infamy. [LGJ#0 – 6]
Even today a haze obscures the details: apparently
someone plotted to annihilate the entire diplomatic corps in attendance, but
the scheme misfired. A blazing explosion destroyed a good part of the Grand
Hall only minutes before the ambassadors assembled for the day. A fierce
magical battle immediately ensued, spreading havoc through much of the old
city. When the fire and dust cleared, constables discovered smoldering robes
belonging to two powerful members of the mysterious Circle of Eight—Otiluke and
Tenser. The murderer of these wizards, undeniably a powerful mage, was
discovered to be a third member of the Circle of Eight—Rary. Using secrets
gained in confidence, Rary not only vaporized his two fellows but also tracked
down and destroyed every clone the pair held in preparation. [Wars – 24]
 |
| His Greatest Friend |
With the plot discovered, though, Rary and his
co-conspirator Lord Robilar fled the city. Unable to return to Robilar’s
castle, which was immediately seized by the troops of Greyhawk, the pair
escaped into the Bright Desert. There they conquered the savages and
established a kingdom of their own. Though small and mysterious, this growing
state could someday threaten the very borders of Greyhawk. [Wars – 24]
Spurned from his family by his brother and banned from
Greyhawk itself by Mordenkainen, Rary fled to the Bright Desert, to uncover its
secrets and inaugurate an empire. [LGJ#0
– 6]
 |
| Lord Robilar |
Many suspected that the former Archmage of Ket had
hoped to hold the ambassadors hostage, perhaps capturing Greyhawk itself in the
process. Instead, he and his cohort, Lord Robilar, went to the Bright Desert to
form their own kingdom. Fearing further disruptions, the delegates hurriedly
signed the Pact of Greyhawk. Ironically, because of the site of the treaty
signing, the great conflicts soon became known as the Greyhawk Wars. [LGG –
16]
Regardless how important this betrayal was to
Mordenkainen and his Circle, it was small beer in the grand scheme of things – as
Mordenkainen surely understood it to be.
Indeed, so too was the war…. It was over and done with,
for the time being, after all.
The nations of the Flanaess were spent. There would be no
more war – or so a great many believed, in its wake – but wars persist. They
never end. The Hot War became a Cold one.
The Greyhawk Wars were only part one of the great
struggle. The Great Kingdom is virtually certain to disintegrate. Iuz will wage
war on Furyondy again, and nations such as Veluna and the Ulek states will have
their fates decided by what happens in Furyondy. The Scarlet Brotherhood will
strike again to conquer nations, because there is no power to stop it doing so.
The Flanaess will be plunged into war again, and what happens during that war
will be decisive. There will be no stalemate next time around. [Ivid –
156,157]
Is there no
hope? Will Evil win? Time will tell.
But there is
hope. There is always hope.
 |
| Canon Hazen |
Mordenkainen is 75 years old.
At the End of
the War
Let’s pause to
take stock, shall we?
 |
| Tenser |
Using secrets
gained in confidence, Rary not only vaporized his two fellows but had every
magical clone of the pair destroyed, barring their return. [PGtG – 11]
The treachery
of Rary in 584 CY saw the destruction of Tenser and Otiluke, leaving the Circle
at five. [LGG – 156]
The treachery left the Eight (now Five: Bigby,
Drawmij, Jallarzi Sallavarain, Nystul and Otto) reeling. [Rot8 – 3]
Who were left?
Current members include Bigby of Mitrik (N male human
Wiz19), once Mordenkainen's apprentice and now an archmage in his own right;
the rotund and jovial Otto (N male human Wiz15/Clr3 of Boccob), who favors the
kitchen over the laboratory; Jallarzi Sallavarian of Greyhawk (NG female human
Wiz15), one of the most dynamic wizards in a city of mages; the reclusive
Drawmij (N male human Wiz18), who oversees Keoland and the south from his
undersea lair near Gradsul; and Nystul (N male human Wiz17), a Tenha expatriate
who wishes to expand the Circle, beyond eight if need be, to combat the growing
threats presented by Iuz, Turrosh Mak, and the consolidating factions of the
former Great Kingdom. [LGG – 156]
 |
| Mordenkainen |
Never did the view of those scrying crystals turn
inward, however, toward the plans of the single individual who could do the
most harm to the delegates' cause. [LGJ#0 – 7]
What had possessed them to? They were his friends! Now,
it appeared, they would be his enemies, forevermore.
“Real courage is when you know you're licked before
you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
― To Kill a Mockingbird
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:
Mordenkainen, by Wayne Reynolds, from Players Handbook 5e, 2014
The Circle of Eight, by Ken Frank, from FtA Reference Card #13, 1992
The Wizards Three, by Dan Burr, from Dragon #188, 1992
Dalamar the Dark detail, by Larry Elmore, from The Art of the Dragonlance Saga, 1987
Elminster detail, by Tyler Jacobson, from The Herald, 2014 (also in Dragon+ #2)
Vecna, by D. Cramer & B. Snoddy w/J. Norman, from Deities and Demigods 3e, 2002
Iuz, from Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, 2007
Ivid V, from Players Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
The Drow, by Bill Willingham, from D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth, 1981
The Derro, by R.K. Post, from Dragon #241, 1997
Elayne Mystica, by Valerie Valusek, from Dragon #139, 1988
Rary detail, by Valerie Valusek, from WGR3 Rary the Traitor, 1992
Three Wizards Too Many, by Dan Burr, from Dragon #196, 1992
Mordenkainen and Bigby, by James Ryman, from Dungeon #112, 2004
The Wizards Three-Once more the three, by Dan Burr, from Dragon #200, 1993
Rary the Traitor, by Ben Wooten, from Dragon #405, 2011
Robilar, from Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, 2007
Lord Robilar, by Ken Frank, from WGR3 Rary the Traitor, 1992
Canon Hazen, from Living Greyhawk Journal #10
Tenser, Greyhawk Trading Card #213, 1992
Mordenkainen, by Jeff Easley, from WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, 1985
Sources:
1015
World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1064
From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
1068
Greyhawk Wars Boxed Set, 1991
9025
World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9058
G123 Against the Giants, 1978,1981
9309
WGA4 Vecna Lives!, 1990
9360
WGR2 Treasures of Greyhawk, 1992
9386
WGR3 Rary the Traitor, 1992
9399
WGR5 Iuz the Evil, 1993
WGR7
Ivid the Undying, 1998
9576
Return of the Eight, 1998
9577
The Adventure Begins, 1998
9578
Player’s Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
11743
Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Expedition
to the Ruins of Greyhawk, 2007
Dragon
Magazine #188, 196, 200, 230, 241
Living
Greyhawk Journal #0
Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda
As always I like how you've wound the Wizards Three into Mordys' ongoing timeline. It's alot to digest but your narrative is bringing it closer to present day. Seeing all this makes me wonder, is Mordenkainen the "main character" of the World of GH? Every one else is merely NPCs in his story! Good stuff. Ready for part 5.
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