“Civilization is a hopeless race to discover remedies
for the evils it produces.”
―
 |
| Medegia |
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.
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:
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 #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:
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 #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
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
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]
―
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
