And now for the News from the Sunset Realm

The Sands Are Alive With The Living Dead!
All over the Zaar, the dead have been returning to life. Corpses both fresh and old have started to traipse about since a few weeks. The source of this mysterious reanimation as yet remains unknown.

A change of course at the Cartographer's Guild
It has come to light that the chief cartographer at the Cartographer's Guild has not been doing a good job. His charts are a mess and increasing mismanagement of guild members has irked the ire of traders, generals and adventurers alike. A new head cartographer has been instated and he has immediately set out to correct his forebear's mistakes.

Infestation at Ironguard eradicated
In the turn of a moon, a hardy party of adventurers has cleared the infested depths of Ironguard from all manner of monstrous vermin. Aberrations, fiends and iron-eating monstrosities were reported to have inhabited the depths, blocking the flow of iron from the realm's major source. A mountain dwarf by name of Ferrek Hammerhold has claimed the mountain and has promised to resume the production of iron on short notice.

The Bright Sands beckon

Rary the Archmage, Rary the Traitor. 

When my brother introduced me to AD&D, he lended me the campaign materials he had collected. These consisted of the old 2nd Edition Greyhawk Boxed sets, accompanied by Sargent-era sourcebooks. One of those was Rary the Traitor. 

At the time, I didn't "get" Rary. A powerful wizard who for no reason at all betrayed his friends and allies, even murdering two of them and setting up his own empire for the evulz? No. Sure, the World of Greyhawk is filled with megalomaniacal villains, but at least Iuz the Old and the Scarlet Brotherhood were interesting. Rary was just... lame, I guess.

Until I discovered the amount of lore produced for the Living Greyhawk storyline Blight On Bright Sands. Suddenly, Rary became a well-intentioned extremist. His nemeses misguided. The goal of the story arc, salvation for an ancient kingdom and thwarting the machinations of a dark god. 

Yesterday, I mentioned that my next campaign must be set in the Flanaess. Now, I have my master villain and my sandbox.

Coming Home

While creating the ARCANA setting, something clicked. I was looking for a way to justify all the spells and magic items named after major NPC's. Then I stumbled upon Greyhawk Grognard's version of Western Oerik (the lands beyond the Greyhawk setting) and then it dawned on me: what if, instead of developing an entire new world, I'd use the undeveloped lands west of the Flanaess as the setting for Aurora, Palladium and the magical races and places I designed? It would explain why Floating Disc is named after Tenser and the Iron Flask bears the name of Tuerny the Merciless.

In doing so, I started reading up on Greyhawk again, the first AD&D setting I DM'ed and I immediately fell in love all over again. Since then, I have reread the Greyhawk sourcebooks I own, researched online, joined Canonfire and perused the enormous catalogue of adventures developed for the Living Greyhawk campaign.

I will continue to develop the lands of Aurora and Palladium, this time in Western Oerik. But my next campaign has to be set in the Flanaess.

I made a thing!

The Trader Rogue Subclass has been altered and is now for sale on DM's Guild. It is my first officially published title on DM's Guild and I expect more to follow.

Get it here!

Greyhawk, Birthright, The Balance and the Old Faith

When searching the blogosphere on what makes the World of Greyhawk unique as a setting, sometimes the answer "militant neutrality" is given. See this thread and here as examples. In the EN World thread, this passage in particular summarizes it best:

Greyhawk is not concerned with the triumph of good over evil. The very nature of the evils loose on Oerth makes such triumphs fleeting at best. Greyhawk endures evil and circumvents it. It does not defeat it.

And:

Perhaps accounting for all of this, Oerth has strong and active neutrally aligned forces, working to preserve a balance between good and evil. While hardly organized, these forces nonetheless manage to be quite effective. The Circle of Eight, mighty wizards all, seeks a middle path. Istus, the divine Lady of Fate, tests all but favors none. Druids are a quiet but ever present presence. Indeed, many of Greyhawk's deities reflect a distinct neutral bent.

In Gygax's Gord novels, the hero is heralded as Champion of Neutrality. And other protagonists are all of a distinctively neutral bent. What is more, Mordenkainen, Gygax' original Player Character, is an active proponent of the Balance and leader of the Circle of Eight. The demigod Zagyg, Gygax' author avatar in the infamous Castle Greyhawk, is Chaotic Neutral and serves Boccob, the god of magic and non-interventionism.

Erik Mona, in Living Greyhawk #0, describes Mordenkainen's militant neutrality as follows:

Mordenkainen's view of "enforced neutrality" is not a tit-for-tat equality but rather a detailed theoretical philosophy derived from decades of arcane research. He has fought ardently for the forces of Good, most recently during the Greyhawk Wars, but just as often has worked on darker plots to achieve his ends.

Ever since reading that quote, I wondered what this theoretical philosophy composed of arcane research would be. As I am preparing to shift my campaign over to Oerth after completing my current campaign in the Sunset Realm, my attention was drawn to this conundrum.

I have concluded that, in *my* Greyhawk, the Balance propagated by both Beory and Boccob is one and the same: a balance of nature and natural forces, neither good nor evil, necessary for the flow of lifeforce and arcane magic. Mordenkainen's arcane research delved into ley lines, arcane energy and the necessity for not one civilizing power to gain dominance, for the development of civilization on a grand scale would limit the flow of arcane energy. The druids of the Old Lore agree with this basic insight, but disapprove of the sole focus on arcane magic, rather taking the perspective that all natural life must flow unopposed by civilization.

What do you think is at the foundation of Mordenkainen's philosophy? And why do the Druidic Hierophants disagree with him? I would love to read your views in the comments!

Once more into the breach

Greetings!

So the past two months have been slow. Combination of beginning a new job and a second baby being born. But my werewithal to our roleplaying hobby has not faltered! This blog is not dead, expect more content soon (if intermittent).

Parley between a Gold Dragon and two Elves

"A dragon! An ancient one, by the looks of it. Gold." Prince Leolar's eyes went wide. Although he had seen dragons before in his years, even fought and survived them, never before did he witness as magnificent a creature as now descended from the twilit sky amidst the Elven forces. All around him, the Elven Citizen Guards threw down their polearms and shields as they fled in terror from the great golden foe. Leolar felt his legs beginning to quiver, an acid taste at the back of his mouth. His shield slipped from his grasp. He became aware of a warm feeling in his groin area.

"Don't worry, its perfectly natural, it could happen to anybody." The voice was cool, distant. The voice of his Queen, his Lady, Ylsandre of the Ageless Ashtree. Leolar didn't know if the comment was referencing him wetting his breeches or their men fleeing the field.

The dragon landed ahead of them, generating a gale that threw the Elven siege engines on their sides. When it landed, it crouched low to the ground, flattening its wings. But then it rose, sitting back on two feet and uncoiling, like a great golden serpent spreading the dawn. The red twilight sunlight gleamed on the golden scales of the dragon. Its eyes blazed with an azure light. Golden radiance filled the fields around Antissa, a feeling equal measures serenity and dread spread from the dragon. As fear of the dragon and panic spread throughout the besieging Elven forces, Leolar felt increasingly lonely.

"It seems we are not left a choice," Queen Ylsandre said. Her violet eyes gazed adamantly upon the gold dragon. "We should..."

A roar boomed, echoing off the walls of Antissa, the dragon, finally announcing its presence.

"GREETINGS, MORTALS. I HAVE BEEN SENT BY HE WHO JUDGES. MY NAME IS GRUEMAR, I AM THE VOICE. AND I HAVE ONE REQUEST. WITHDRAW. CONCEDE TO THIS REQUEST, OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES."

Leolar found it increasingly hard to swallow. "What should we do?" The possibility of defeat hadn't entered his mind when they encircled Antissa, home of the hated humans that left the Elven people to rot. But now...

Ylsandre answered. "What else can we do? We should give noble Gruemar what he wants. After all, he is an emissary of the gods. I will offer myself up as hostage."

That took Leolar aback. "Hostage? But you are of the old blood! What about..." Ylsandre interrupted him.

"Indeed I am. But it will secure free passage for our kin. And as one door closes, other doors may open." Ylsandre, Queen of the Ageless Ashtree, strode forward into reach of Gruemar the Voice of Bahamut, the imposing ancient Gold Dragon. Leolar found his shield, preparing for a new journey.