Living Greyhawk Journal 00

8/9/2019 Living Greyhawk Journal 00

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2/14

Greyhawk'sCircleof Eight.................... 4

By

Gary Holian and

Erik

Mona

Mordenkainen

and his

powerful companions have

plansfor

Greyhawk s

world

in the era of the

Living Greyhawk campaign. Discover their

history

an d

personalities within.

Campaign News 2

Th e

campaign,

the

magazine, character creation,

a nd more.

D i s p a t c h e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2

News

from around the Flanaess.

The

egonaTriads

13

Contactinformation

for

your HomeRegion.

Volume

I.

Number

0

Spring,591CY

August,

2000

Editor

Erik

Mona

Art

Director

Robert

Raper

GraphicDesigner

Leanne K errigan

Production

DonnaWoodcock

WorldwideRPGA

Manager

David Wise

Publisher

Wizards

of theCoast,

Inc.

On the Cover

ArtistMark Zug depicts theenigmatic

Circleo fEighta s

they attempt

to

summon an extra-planarally.

Ma p Illustrations

Bob Lazzaretti

The

World

of

Greyhawk created

by E.

Gary Gygax

Living Greyhawk Journal (tic official m agazineof theRoleplaying Game

Association"

Network's Living Greyhawk campaign),is published bi-monthlybyWizardsof the

Coast,

Inc.(WotC)PO Box707. Renton,WA

98057-0707. Phone:

800/324-6496. Fax:425/687-8287.Email:[email protected]. Web: www.rpga.com. Living Greyhawk Journalismailed freeto all

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effective date

change

to

ensure uninterrupted delivery. Unless special arrangements

to the

contrary

are

madepriorto publication, materials submitted for publicationin Living Greyhawk Journala reaccepted solelyon thecondition that the materialmay beedited and publishedin Living Greyhawk Journal.WotCand theRPGA Network

shall make

no

other

use of

materia lsunless

WotCand the

au thor

o r

ar t ist enterin to

a

wri t ten agreement regarding use.

WotCgrants

authors

a

non-exclusiver ight

to use

copyr ighted mater ials

ofWotC in

submissions

o WotC.An

author,

however, shall

havenorightto

publish

orpermit

someone

other

than

WotCto

publish

a

submission

that

includes

anycopyrighted

materials

ofWotC

without first obtaining written

permissionto do so.Letters addressedto theRPGA

Network

or

WotC.

Inc. will be considered submissions an d may be

printed

in

whole

or in part at the discretion of the editor unless the sender specifically requests otherwise in writing . Unless o therwise stated, the opinions expressed in Liv ing

Greyhawk

Journal

are those of the

ind iv idual

authors , not neces sarily the opinions of WotC, Inc.. the

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Network, or i ts staff. StandardD isclosure Forms. Writers Guidel ines. Scenar io RequestG uidel ines. Scenar ioRequest Forms,

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3/14

Living

Greyhawk

Taking

an

WorldIn New

Welcome

to the sneak preview issueo f

the

Living

Greyhawk

Journal

the

newest publicat ion from Wizards of the

Coastand the

R P G A Network. Living

G r e y h a w k

is an

in te rna t iona l shared -

world Dungeons6 Dragons campaign,

in

w hich players shape the

fu tu re

o f

Greyhawk's world through part ic ipat ion

in gaining events at conventions large

an d small, on the Interact, and in home

gaming groups. Thousands of players

wil l work

together to

create

a

massive

story,t ak ing

th e World of

Greyhawk in

exciting new

directions.

The

Living

Greyhawk

Journal pro-

vided as a

free

benefit

to

Guild- level"

me mb e r s

o f

the

RPGA,will

be

your bi-monthly

gu ide

to the

happenings

in the

Living

Greyhawk campaign.

The

magazine

will

feature all aspects of the background of

Greyhawk's

intr iguing

world,

providinga

greater understandingof where th e

world

of

Greyhawk

ha s

been,

a nd

where

it'sgoing.

Dragonscalesat

Moraingtide

By

Sean

K Reynolds

Strange black currentsan d

droves of beachedf i s t ar e

being linked

to a strange

new cult in the cityo f

Greyhawk. Are the cultist;

responsible,

o r

just part

o f

a

larger danger?

The

Living Greyhawk

The

Reckoning

By John Richardson

and

Sean Flaherty

A localmerchant asksyou

make asimple trip to retrieve

a n heirloomfrom his

family

f a r m

just

north thecityof

Greyhawk,

in the CairnHills.

What

awaits

is

more

than

you

had

bargainedfor.

campaign is inter-

national

in

scope,

with

heroes traveling

all cornersof

Oerthin

search

of adventure.

However,

a

pri-

mary focus

o f

the

campaign

lies

at the

regional

level.

The RPGANe twork hassplitthe United

States,Canada, Europe, and Asia-Pacific

into numerous regions, with

th e

rest

o f

the

world

soon to

follow. Each real-world

region

is

matched

with a region in the

Greyhawk campaign.

Each region

is

moderated

by

three

local administrators (known collectively

as

a

Regional Triad),

who

allow local

playersto takeo npositions of importance

and

affect eventsin their assigned parto f

the game world .Thisdecen tralized chain

of command allowsthecampaignadmin-

istrators (a

group

o f

RPGA members

knownas theCircleof Six) to oversee

the entire inte rnatio nal campa ign and

tackle major issues and problems.

Each player's real-world address deter-

mines

t he home

region

of his or her

char-

acter in the Living Greyhawk setting, and

each

home

regionh as particular adven-

tures assigned to it. If a player travels to a

convention in a state or country control-

ling

a

d ifferent

gam e region, that player's

character takes a trip to that part of the

Flanaess, too. Reg ional scenariosare not

available for ordering outside the real-

world areas to which they are assigned,

In

addition,

many Living Greyhawk

adventures are set in neutral (unassigned)

lands,

wild regions,

or

evi l

kingdoms.

Players fro m al l regions may part ic ipate

in these adve ntures , creat ing grand s tories

in the overal l campaignan d fo rminga

comm on ground for adventures al l p lay-

ers can

enjoy.

The charactergeneration

rules

on the

fol lowing pagewillhelp

you

locate your

home region.

The RP GANetwork

The

RPGA

Network is an

international

organizat ion of gam ing enthusiasts that

has provided top-quality game experi-

encesto

members

forover twenty years.

Members receive asubscription to

Polyhedron Magazine

a

bimonthly

publication filled with gamingarticles,

interviews, an dinsidetips;a free annual

professionally designed

limited-edition

adventure ;the chanceto play-testupcom-

in g Wizardsof theCoast roleplaying

products;andmuchmore.

Membersalso enjoy special benefits in

the Living Greyhawk campaign, including

the chanceto play special members-only

adventures and addi t ional character-

advancement

opportunities.

RPGA

BetheFirstto

Play

Living

Greyhawk at the GenCon

Game

Fair

Th e

Living

Greyhawkcampaign

gets it s

start

at

this

year's

Ge n

Co n

Game Fair.

Three

epic

adventureswelcom e players

to

th e RPGA'snewest campaign,

exploring th e streets of the

notorious

City of Greyhawk

and th e dangerous

Cairn

Hills

nearby

Create

a character,come

to the convention,and get

ready

to experience the best in organ-

ized playcampaigning

Netw ork mem bers a lso receive the

all-newLining

Greyhawk

Journal in

exclusive bimonthly magazine that

details the evolvinghistoryof the

campaign

an d

gives

n ew

insightsinto

the Greyhawk set t ing i tself.

To jo in th e

RPGA

Network, send

$20.00(U.S.)

to:

RPGA Ne twork

Memberships, P.O.

Box

707, Renton

WA

98058-0707.You can also join theRPGA

Netw ork online at : www .rpga.com.

ThisNovember,

th e

World

of

Greyhawk

comesalive

in the

Living Greyhawk

Gazetteer, a192-page com prehensive

sourcebook detai l ing more tha n

60

nations, dozens

of

gods,

an d

hundreds

of

adventurehooks.The product includes

ag iant poster map of the Flanaess, the

pr imary continent of the World or

Greyhawk,

an d

hints

at new

never-before-

revealed Greyhaw k locations.

A ll

adventureshave

a

set t ing,

and all

adventurers

have backgrounds. T he

Living Greyhawk Gazet teer provides

both,updating theoldestD&Dfantasy

setting to the new era of 591 CY. It'sa n

invaluable jumping-on

point

for home

gaming

and for

players

of the

Liv ing

Greyhawk campaign.

By Erik Mom

Th e

Millstream

runsred with

the bloodof the abductedchil-

dren

ofGreyhawk's lower

class, triggering

memories

of a

crisis thought

averted

long

ago.


4/14

CharacterCreation

These guidelines (version 1.0) give

you the

basic information you needto createa

starting

Living Greyhawk character. All

Living Greyhawk characters must comply

with the most curre nt version of the D& D

Player sHandbook

and these guidelines,

Some

aspects

of

character creation

might require information from your

RegionalTriad. Tofind your Triad's

contact information, consult the Living

Greyhawk homepage

in the

Campaigns

section at www.rpga.com.

To create your Living Greyhawk

character, follow these steps:

Step

I:

Ability

Scores

To put all players on an even footing, the

Living Greyhawk cam-

paign

uses the

Nonstandard Point

Bu y method of ability

scoregeneration,

found

in

Chapter 2 of the

D & D Dungeon

Master s Guide, Th e

Living

Greyhawk set-

ting

is

considered

a

"Tougher Campaign;"

hence,

each character

uses 28points distrib-

uted among all

six

statistics.

Fo r

example,

using the full 28

points,

a

characters attributes might be purchased

as

follows:

Str 15: 8 points Int 10: 2 points

Dex

13: 5

points

Wis 11: 3 points

Co n

14: 6 points

Cha 12: 4

points

Apply racial modifiers to ability points

after the

base scores

ar e

d etermined.

Thus,ability pointsrange from 8-18 for

humans,an d

6-20

fo r

nonhumans.

Ability points

gained

as your character

advances in level do not use this chart;

they

ar e full

points

and may be

added

as

explained

in theP layer s

Handbook.

Step

2 :

Race

a nd

Class

You

ma y choose an y raceand class

option described in the

Player s

Handbook, Th e Living Greyhawk

campaign also uses the following special

rules for character creation.

These

over-

ride

or

limit

th e

character options

in the

Player s

Handbook.

Yo u

mustchoosea nonevil alignment

that also meets al lrequirementsfor your

characters class.

A cleric must serve a specific nonevil

deity from th e

P layers Handbook

or the

Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. A paladin

neednot {but may) serve a patron deity.

A character may begin play at any age

from

Adulthood to Old Age, as defined

in the Age

section

of

Chapter

6:

Description,in theP layer s Handbook.

A ge mod ifiers to ability scores are not

used in the Living Greyhawk campaign.

The character may be of any height and

weight allowed

by the

height

an d

weight

tables

for the

charac ters race.

A

starting chara cter receives

th e

maxi-

mum amount

of

gold pieces

for its

class.

Step

3 :Hit Points

Assign your starting character

t he

maxi-

mum

hi t points possible for its class.

Fo r each additional character level,

assign

hi t points according to its classb y

taking half

th e

maximum value

for the

class, then ad ding 1 point. For example, a

character adds

3 hit

points upon gaining

a new level in the Sorcerer class.

Step

4:

Skills

andFeats

Alchemy Skill,Craf tSkill,

a nd

Item

Creation

Feats:

PCs willnot be

allowed to craft items until cam-

paign rules for

this

are determined

an dmade available

by the

R PG A

Network.

Knowledge

Skill:PCs may not

begin with extra-planar knowledge.

Profession Skill:Choose from

th e

examples listed

for the

Profession skill in the

Player s

Handbook.

If you prefer a

profes-

sion that is not

listed,

contact your

Regional Triad for approval.

Step 5:Equipment

Equipment may be purchased

from theP layer s Handbook withthe

exception of the following equipment:

No special, superior, masterwork, or

magical

items areavailableto charac-

ters except throug h campaign play.

Carrying Capacity isused in the

Living Greyhawk campaign, so keep

track of what your character is car-

rying and how much it weighs.

Step

6:

HomeRcgion

A ll Living Greyhawk charactersa re

based in one of the nations of the

Flanaess, asdetailed in the Living

Greyhawk Gazetteer.(There is no

such thing as a "regionless" charac-

ter.) The defaul t

tome

region where

your starting character

operatesis

determined by where yo u actually live.

You may choose a different

home

region

for

your starting character, but your

character

then suffers u t

o

r gio

penalties when

you use it in the

game

region assigned to where yo u live. If you

change

your address in real life, your

character's default home region moves

with you. If you move bu t

choose

not to

change

your character's home region,

your character

again suffers

penalties fo r

out-of-region play.

A player may not chose as a charac-

ters home region

th e

FreeCity

of

Greyhawk or any campaign nation not

moderated by a Regional Triad.

Consult the

table below

to

determine

your Living Greyhawk character's default

home region.American states and

Canadian

provinces

ar e

given

in

abbreviat-

ed form. Additional regions willbe

assigned asth e campaign grows.Visit

www.livinggreyhawk.com for the latest

regions

list,

and for

information

on how

to

contact your

Regional Triad.

Living Greyhawk

Ahlissa

(Innspa/Adri):

Austria, Germany

Ahlissa

(Naerie):

Sweden

Bandit

Kingdoms:

OK, TX

Bissel:CT, MA , ME, NH, RI, VT

Bone March (Knurl ) :Greece

Dyvers:

IA, KS, MO, NE

Efebir: France

Furyoody: M I

Geoff: DC, DE, MD, VA, WV

Gran March: NC, SC

Highfolk:W I

Keoland:

NJ, NY, PA

Ket:

M B, NB, NS, ON, PEI

Nyrond:AZ, SouthernCA,UT

Onnwal: United Kingdom

Pale:

Northern

CA, NV

Perrenland: Australia, New Zealand

Ratik:

H I

Sea

Barons: Italy

Shield Lands: MN, ND, SD

Sunndi: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg

Tusmit: PQ

Ulek,

Duchy

of: GA

Ulek,Principality

of: FL

Urnst.County

of: CO, MT, NM, WY

Urnst,Duchy of: AK , AB, BC, SK, ID, OR, WA

Veluna:OH

Verbobonc:

IL, IN

Yeomanry:AL, AR, KY, LA, MS, TN

AbilityCosts

Cost ScoreModifier

6 -2

x

7 -2

0

8 - 1

1 9 -1

2 10 +0

3 11 +0

4 1 2 1

5 13 +1

6 1 4 + 2

8 15 +2

10

16 +3

1 3 17 +3

1 6

18 +4

x 1 9

4

x 20 +5


5/14

P

erhaps noorganizat ionof

wizards

is asrecognized

by

DUNGEONS

6

D R A G O N S

players

as

GREYHAWK'SCircle

of

Eight.Some Circlemem-

berswere activein Gary Gygaxand RobKuntz's original

Greyhawk Campaign,and are as old as the game itself.

Many

of the

spells

an d

i tems

in thePlayer s

Handbook

and Dungeon

Master s Guide bear

their historic names.

Th e

contributions

of the

Circle

o f

Eight

are

woveninto

th e

fabr ic

of D&D campaigns everywhere.

M u c h

has changed since the orga nization was firs t

detailed,

in

T he City of Greyhawk boxed set.

The

Flanaess has suffered years of continental war, and the

face

of

this

pivotal group has changed forever .

In th e current era of theRPGA Network ' s LIVING

GREYHAWK

campaign,

th e

Circle

of

Eight

is

needed

more

than ever to counter th e forces that threaten to

upsetOerth'sdel icate balanceo f power.

A Balance isStruck

The Circle of

Eight 's

reputat ion spanst he breadtho f

th e Flanaess. It sname (if not its exact demeanor) is

comm on c urrenc y amon g noblemen an d villagers alike.

Despite this,t he

Circle's

ful l membership has never

been known

to those

outside

th e

organization.

The group has not always been so reclusive. Its precursor, the

Citadelof Eight, was a known opponent of darkness in its

manyguises. Its members

stood,

and fell, protecting the

balance

and defendingOerthfrom the influenceo f malign beings and,

rarely,

benevolent interlopers, as well.

The itadel

Th e series of alliances that

would

evolve into theCircle

of

Eightbegan simply, over

a

meal

of

venison

an d

Celenese

nectarwine in a posh inn

near

the

shores

of the

Wild

Coast.

At

that

table,

nearly

thirty

years ago,

Mordenkainen debated with

hi s

young apprentice, Bigby,

the merits of taking an active hand in maintaining the

celestial balanceof power. Thereafter, the two struck

upon

a

plan

to

gather

a

group

o f

like-minded individuals

that wouldact to hinder advancesby thosew ho would


6/14

dominate

the Flanaess. That their expected exploits w ould

impart upon

the mages no small amoun t of

lost

magicallore

only served tohastenthealliance.

Within months, Mordenkainen

h ad

brought

the

renowned warrior Robilar

to his

cause,

as well as the

cleric

Riggby,and his z ealous assistant, Yrag.From the shores of

th e

N yr

Dyv, Mo rdenka inen recruited the righteous Tenser,

who inturnintrod uced the dim-witted thou gh well-meaning

Serten

to the

assembly. Finally,

th e

young woodsman,

Otis,

rounded out the group.

They

calledthemselves theCitadelof

Eight,

taking the

name from M ordenkainens renowned

Obsidian

Citadel,

in the

Yatil

M ountains. In the

years

that followed, theiradventures

focused on

Greyhawk

and the

Selintan valley,

and the

crags

of

the Cairn

Hillsand

depths

of the

Suss

Forest

w ere opened

to

their prying vision.

In

th e yearso f

their

companionship, bothRobilar and

Yrag were ennobled by Greyhawk, and Riggby was

promot-

ed

speedily within the church of

Boccob

in Verbobonc.

Tenser,

Bigby,

an d

Mord enkainen likewise

advanced

in

their

ow n

wizardly ways,

gaining arcane

knowledge

and

power.

For a

g roup tha t

so

decisively defeated

it s

enemies,

there remained

several problems.

Robilar never quite

bought into

M o r d e n k a i n e n s

philosophy, and he

an d

Tenser often

bickered over mat-

terso f

morali ty .

Serten,though

seen

as

useful , wa snever

t ruly respected and

Otis, t i redo f

underground

excur-

sions and forays

intourban

territo-

ries,

left th e

group,

decrying his f r iends

ascave-delvers an d

treasureseekers

blind

to the

real

problems

of

th eworld.

Over th e

years,

th e Citadel played

home

to

such lumi-

naries

as Prince

Melf

Brightflame,

of theOlvenfolk,

th e

half-ore

Quij,

Fe lnor i th ,Robi lar 's

brother Terik,

and even, at one

point,

th e

Quasi -

Deity

Murlynd ,

in disguise.

Nearly

a

decade

after th e

Citadel 's formation,

Otis'

crit-

ical wordstookon the air ofprophecy.In 569 CY, when

th e

first arrow flew

atEmridy Meadows,th eCitadelwas

noticeablyabsent.

Whether

investigating magical

secrets

far to the

west

or

unearthing

lost

passages

in

Urnst's

Maure Castle, these self-absorbed celebrities were to o

preoccupied

to

influence

one of the

century's

most

critical

battles. A ll were absentsave Serten, who fought valiantly

at

the side of Prince Th r o m m e l againstthe hordes of

ElementalEvil.

When

Serten

fell, none

of his

friends

stood

at his

side.

Though

mostattended

his ostentatious

funeral

service

in

Verbobonc,

a

crucial rift

had

been torn

in t he

organization.

T he Citadelw as

crumbling.

Tenser blamed Mordenkainen for the death of his

friend, an d

ret i red

inward

to his

castle. Terik

an d

Yrag

vanished, some said to theanonymi ty of the Bandi t

Kingdoms.

Even

th eloyalBigby

left

th e

side

of his

one-time

master an d returned toOldridge,where he

adventured for a

t ime with

a band of boyhood

friends.

Mordenkainen ,

the man who had

b rought

th e Citadel

together, simply shrugged and returned, with cold eyes,

to his

studies.


7/14

Formationof

the

Circle

The chaos surroundingt he r e tu rnt o power of the demi -

god,

luz,

in CY 570 prompted M ordenkainen to consid-

era newparadigm.

Though

the Old One worked to

check

th e

growing power

of the

H orned Society,

an d

kept Furyondy's eyes

on its

northern borders ,

Mordenkainen knew well that the s i tuat ion would not

last.

T he

dissolution

of the

C i t ade l

left Mordenkainen

without a

tool

to shape events as he would and though

he hardly admit ted it to himself, he longed returnt o a

life of adventure.

The

Citadel 's

p r imary

fa ilure ,

he surmised, had been

it s inclusive

philosophy.

As its founding concept had

been

arcane, he had been foolish to assume that men l ike

Robilar

or

Riggby would rally

to his

cause without sub-

tl y

working against

it for

reasons personal, spiritual

o r

political.Men of intellect an dsorcerous skill , whose

primary interests were more than mater ia l , would

replace

them. Thus

w as

born

th e

Circle

of

E igh t .

Over

the nextyear, Mordenkainen invited

some

of

th e most

prominent magi

in the

Flanaess

to

jo in him.

By th e firstmonthof 571 CY, he had gathered

eight

mages to his

cause, among them Bigby,

Otto,

Rary,

Nystu l ,

Drawmij , and the

affable

Bucknard.

The

Circle

in thoseear ly days worked to check th e

power of influential beings in EasternOerik. When

they

could no t directly interven e, they sponsored

groups

of

adven tu re r s ,

as in the

sacking

o f

Iggwilv's

former haunt

at the

Tsojcanth

Caverns in the

mid-570's.

Whethe r or notthose agents always knew who set them

upontheir questsi s amat ter ofsome debate.

Privately, members of theCircle explored fantastic

corners ofOerth, including th e s t rangean d foreboding

City of the

Gods,

nearBlackmoor , fu r the r depths of

Cast le

Greyhaw k, and even the m anifold layers of the

infernal

Abyss.More important ly, through their ow n

adventurers

and the exploits of those related to them,

th eCircle

began

to formulate

what soon would become

one of the most impressive networks of informers and

agents th eFlanaesshas ever known.

TheCircleCompleted

The

membersh ip

of the

Circle changedlittle

in the

yearsbetween

it s

inception

an d

574

C Y,

when Tenser,

still

bitter over th e dissolution of the C i tadel , sought

membership. Af ter one of the found ing mages of the

group abandonedOerth to explore other planesof exis-

tence,

th e

petition

w as

granted,

an d

Tenser brou ght

hi s

unique, if less-than-subtle, ambitionto the ideology of

th e group.

Tw o years later, with th e addi t ion of the ma g e

Otiluke, th eCircle sol idified i ts reputat ion as apolit-

ical power

in the C en t r a l

Flanaess .

A s

president

of the

Society

of Magi,Otiluke

b rough t

with him a

seat

on

Greyhawk's Direct ing O l ig a rch y ,

and the

group ini t i -

ated its long-anticipated dr ive to influence the

policies

of

t empora l l eade r s th roug hou t

th e

Mark lands .

Ja l l a rz iS a l l ava rian w as inv i t ed to

join

in 581 CY,

replacing the much esteemed Buc knard , who had mys-

ter iously vanished two years ear l ier . The f ina l week of

he r

s ix-month trial membership

was to be a

baptism

by

f ire .

Th e Returnof

Vecna

Aler ted

to a

rising evil

in the

Flanaess,

th e

Circlehast i -

ly

gathered

for a

nearly unprecedented fie ld operat ion

in 581 CY. A new power sought to join

Oerths

vast

pantheon,

and its

efforts threatened

to corrupt the

magi-

ca l order of the known

world .

The

Circle

traveled to thehillssouth of Verbobonc,

where they invest igated th e

t o m b

of along-dead

Oeridian tyrant

who was

though t

to

have possessed

th e

awesome artifacts known as theHand and Eye of

Vecna.F ind ing th e tyrant a l ive,af ter afashion,and

completely

controlledby the Whispered One, the

ill-preparedCircleof Eight panicked, and was defeated.

Vecna destroyed

th e

ent ireCircle,

save

Mordenkainen, who had elected to remain in Greyhawk

as asafeguard

against just such

an

occurrence. When

news reached th e archmage, he

mobilized

th e

Circle's

allies,

and a

small cadre

o f

apprentice wizards, former

companions,

an d

long-time confidantes embarked

on a

nearly hopeless bid to thwart Vecna's apotheosis (see

TSR9309

"VecnaLives ").

S o m eh o w

(it is whispered that they employed the aid

of

luz, who stood to losemu ch under the deificat ion of

the LichLord),the intrepid adventurers managedto

banish the Maim ed G od at the strange stone circles

known

as the

Tovag Baragu,

an dOerth

r e tu rned

to

relat ive normalcy,save for the absence of theCircle

of Eight.

ShatteredCircle

Mordenkainen addressed

th i s

absence by recovering

wha t

was

lef t

of his

fallen comrades

an d

cloning them.

Thisendeavor consumed

time

that

otherwise

might have

seen

him addressing the reports of theCircle's allies in

th eNorth,who warnedof a larming developments in

Stonefist and the

Barbarian

L ands. When

those

events

spiraled into the f irs t conflicts of the Greyhawk Wars,

th eCircle's

clones remained undeveloped

an d

half-aware.

By the time the clones reached ful l ma tu ra t ion , the

Circle

o fEighth ad

been forced

to

take

a

reactive stance

to the

tumultuous events unfolding before them.

Though

th e

Circle

never acted concertedly d uring

the Greyhawk Wars, certain"hotspots" received agood

deal of their a t tent ion. Mordenkainen Bigby andOtto

fought againstthe Old

One's

armyat the infamous

Battle of

Cr i twal l

Bridge, and Draw mij w as instrume n-

tal in

organizing

th e

flood

of

refugees f rom

th e

Lost

Lands to fastnesses in theGood

Hills.Nystu l

worked

primari ly a lone

in

besieged Tenh, whileOtto

an d

Bigby

left Mordenka inen in the Vesve

Forest

to do what they

could

for the

Iron League.Citing pressing personal

needs, Rary retreated to histower inLopollaan d

refused

to come to the aid of his companions.

When th epolitical rumblings that signaled the end to

th e

conflict reached

t he

Free

City

of

Greyhawk,

th e

entireCircle was on hand to ensure afavorable outcome


8/14

to the

peace process.

Thei r

ne twork

of

agents researched

th e

backgrounds

of key

diplomats

an d

participants

in

the proceedings, and magical divinations were conducted

to

unmask

an y

would-be saboteurs. Never

did the

view

of those

scrying crystals tur n inward, however, toward

th e plansof the single individualw ho could do the

most

h a r m to the delegates' cause.

Rary'streachery that d ay killed Tenser and Otiluke,and

gainedthe Archmage ofKetev erlasting infamy. Spurned

from hi s

family

by his brother and banned from Greyhawk

itself

by

Mordenkainen, Raryfled

to the

Bright

Desert,

to

uncover itssecrets andinauguratea nempire.

ComingFull Circle

Since

the

war,

the

Circle

h as

admitted three

new

members,

rounding

ou t

their number.From

the far

reaches

of the

ancient

lands of the

Baklunish,

they courted

Alhamazad

the

Wise.TheodainEriason, the Circle's first true demihuman

member, came from the Yeomanry. The firstpost-war

addition, however,

was the

most obvious. Warnes Starcoat,

Counselor

to theCourtso fUrnst ,had alread y dignified

himself by

helping

th e

Circlerecover

t he

powerful Crook

of

Rao from

the

clutches

of the

Mother

of All

Witches,

Iggwilv.

Canon Hazen's heroic use of thatartifact in 586

CY

vali date d Starcoat's inclusion,

as did thearchmage's

crucial role in the horrific circumstances surrounding

Tenser's

retur n from the realm of the dead (seeTSR9576

"The Return

of the

Eight").

In the years since the close of the Greyhawk Wars, much

has been done

to

restabalize

the

Flanaess' balance

of

power.

Much work remains, however, and Mordenkainen and the

Circle have resolved

to

ensure that

it is

completed.

Personalities

The following are

profiles

of the

individual

mages

comprising

the

Circle

of

Eight

as of

late

Spring, Common

Year

591.

Th e Circleis infact a much larger organization than

implied by its nine mages, and an enterprising DM should

develop retainers, apprentices, allies and agents as possible

aides andfoils for her players.

Fullstatistics and equipmentlistshave not been provid-

ed .Memb ers of the

Circle

can act asmentorsor foils, bu t

should not be set up as actual opponents of the PCs at any

time. The Circlecontrols a wide netwo rk of agents.

Should

an

adventurer

come into conflict with the organi-

zation,

s he

must deal with mid-level intermediaries

far

before enc ounterin g one of the puppetmasters. M embers

of the Circle of Eight haveaccess to a wide variety of

magical items, including several that modify attributes

(especially

Dexteritya nd Intelligence).

Such

itemsare

no t ref lectedin the baseline statistics provided below.

Alhamazad the

Wise,Wizl9:

HP

51AL

LN. Str 7. Dex

13,Con 10,I nt20, Wis 17, ChaR

Though he now calls th e grea tcityof Zeif hi s home,

Alhamazad

th e

Wise

was

born

in the

Ekbi r i

por t

o f

Kofeh nearly a century ago. When he came of age, his

family sent

hi m

away

to

Ekbi r

fo r

t ra in ing

in the

civil

service,

and Alham azad came to serve at the court of the

caliph,

where his apti tud e for the m ystical arts was rec-

ognized imm ediately. Alhamazad's magical training was

conducted at the magicalschoolkno wn as the Zashassar

of

Ekbir , under

t he

unforgiving Masters

of the

Elements. A hot-headed lad,h e rebelled againstt he

strictures of the place and emerged on his own as a free

magebe fore his education was complete.

A s a

young wizard,

Alhamazad

t rave led throughout

h is

homeland, gaining knowledge

an d

experience with

th e

mult ipl ici ty

of Baklunish

cultures

an d

peoples, from

th e Tiger Nomads in the north to the southern valleys

of

Ull.H e explored th e Yatils to pierce th e secretso f

th e

M o u n d s

of

Dawn with freebooting compatriots

an d

sailed th e warm watersof the D r a m i d j to lands only

spoken of in myths. Years of att end an t service in the

cour ts of man y local emirs an d pashas

alike wore heavily

on the

mage,

an d Alhamazad foun d himself increas-

ingly drawn

to the

tenets

of the

L a d y

of Fate. After a foray to the Pinnac les

of Azor 'alq

that resulted

in a fal l

that broke

his leg in 553

C Y ,

he

retired

to the

city

of

Zeif , where

h e

became an

unofficial

advisor to the

court of the sultan. He hasremained

there ever since, gaining a reputation

as awizened old sageo f Baklunish

history.

Whi le

hestilltravels broad-

ly, he

does

so

pr imar i ly

in

secret.

Alhamazad's ap pearance is elderly: he is

thin, frai l , and walks with a pronounced l imp. The mage

sports a decorated beard and typically wears the plain

robes of aBaklunish mendicant, donning a simple tur-

ban atop hi s shaved pate.He supports himself with a

staff and avoids melee at all

costs.

Alhamazad speaks the

common

tongue with a thick accent, but is f luent in a

dozen languages. He is shy and re t i r ing in the company

of

others,

part icula rly foreigners such as easterners,

whom he f inds clamorous. Alhamazad is a known expert

in th e f ieldsof summoning an delemental m agicks. He

is

k n o w n

to

associate with noble elementals

and is an

expert

on

geniekind.

Mordenkainen met Alhamazad almost 20 years ago,

when

a

crisis

in

Zeif drew

th e

Archmage

of

Greyhawk

to the assistance of the old mage. Th e

a f f a i r

ended with

the departure of Alhamazad's trai torous apprentice,

Kermin Mind-Bender. Mord enkainen an d Alham azad

havebeen

fast

al lies ever since. Alhamazad's primary

interest is in maintaining Baklucishculture, influence

an d

power. As such protection often requires defeat ing

th e plotsof

evil mages, cults,

an d

extra-planar menaces,

he has

found

common cause with th e Ci rcle of Eight.

Alhamazad th e Wise is new to theCircleand its poli-

tics and assuch ha skept hi s distance from th e other

mages.

He is

wary

o f

Drawmij , though

the two

share

many

common interests. Alham azad has displayed

antipathy

fo r

Warnes Starcoat , though there appears

to

be no obvious explanation for the cause of his feelings.


9/14

Bigby,

Wizl9:

HP 89, AL N. Str 9, Dex 17, Con 15.

Int 21,Wis15. Cha 12.

Th e

name Bigby

isfamous

within sorcerous circles across

the

Flanaessironic,

considering the shy, ascetic nature of

the mage who bears it, whose penchantformanipulat ing

the world around him from a distance is legend. Before

th e

wars, Bigby

ha d

been

th e

most reclusive member

of

th e Circle of Eight, atte ndin g group meetings, but rarely

accompanying

th eCircleo n adventuresor

missions.

The

treachery of Rary,against which he w as the only survivor,

has changed all of that.

Once

timid and cautious, Bigby

now acts as an ambassador for theCircle,traveling the

Flanaess in search of new contacts or inform ation.

Bigby hai ls from the Great Kingdom, where he was

born in the town ofOldridgenearly 58 years ago.

His featuresar e

Oendian,

with l ight brown haira nd

dark brown eyes.

His

skin

is

pale,

and his

exceeding-

ly picky diet has resulted in an almost

unhealthy gauntness.

Early in life, Bigbystravels found him in the

WildCoast,whe re he eventually gained the

notice

of

Mordenkainen. Bigbyis knownto be amem-

ber of Aerdy'sHouseCranden, and rumors

have

long placed Mordenkainen as a d istant scion of the

same

bloodline.

Fo r thatreason, and becauseof

their shared experiences

and

ad ventures, Bigby

a nd

Mordenkainen shareafriendship unique among the members

of the

Circle.

When intrigue with Ivid'sCourtW izard, Xaene,

forced

Bigby from hi s tower in

Oldr idge

in 573 CY, i t

wa s

t o

Onnwal's port

of

Scant

that he

turned

hi s

atten-

t ion.There,

he

posed

as a

merchant specializing

in

r a re

commodi t ies ,

a l l the while bui lding important a l l iances

within th e

Iron

League.Theseconnections ar e especially

strong in Irongate , where he has the fr iends hip ofCobb

Darg and the counsel of the city's art if icers , th e c r af ty

Elayne

M yst ica

chief among them.

Still the ever-thoughtful mage of years past, Bigby

has seen that extreme amounts of caution often lead to

inaction, which does

l i t t le

good fo r anyone.H is recent

travels

have brought him into increased contact with the

forces of the Scarlet Brotherho od and, thoug h he now

resides

in

Mi t r ik ,

h is

love fo r

th e

Brotherhood-occupied

town of Scant has never

fal tered.

Drawmij, WizlS:

HP 81, AL N. Str 7, Dex 16, Con 15,

Int 22, Wis 17. Cha 9.

Drawmi jis 63 years old, though he appearsin his late

twenties

or

early thirties.

H is

hair

is

sandy blond,

hi s

eyes

blue, nearing purple.Thereis an unsettling quality to his

features, and more thana few acquaintances have

noticed that something about

hi m

seems d ifferent

eachtime theyare in his presencethe shade of his

eyes,h is height, or even the thickness and curl of hi s

hair.

Still,

the mageis

affable,

andgivenhisprofession,

littleattention ispaid to what Rary

once

termed

"trou-

bling inconsistencies."

Drawmij spends asl i t t le time in Greyhawk as pos-

sible,

finding

th e

place stifling

an d

distasteful.

He

prefers the cu l tured ant iqui ty of southern Keoland,an d

his pr ivateundersea demesnet o that.H is only regular

terrestr ia l haunt

is the

Keoish city

of

Gradsul,

at the

mouth

of the

Sheldomar River .

Drawmi jhas a

close

connection to Duke Luschan of

Gradsul, a distant cousin to the King of Keoland. The two

may be kin, evenclosefamily.Reportedly, Dr aw mij also con-

sorts

with the Hierophant Sverdras

Meno,

a

powerful

being

who

oversees

the

vast Az ure Sea. Meno

i s

thought

to be a

member

of the

mysterious Cabal,

a

congregation

of the Old

Faith

even

more enigmatic than theCircleof Eight. Few

know that it is the one-time fastness of the hierophant that

Draw mij has made into his private residence.

The mage speaks of contacts within the realm of

Celene,a nd offersth e weaveo f hi sfine robes an dvarious

artifacts displayed abouthi s home as proof of hisolven

connections. Whether for reasons of

politics

or something

more sinister, however, few in Enstad admit to any sort of

relationship with theman.

Somehow,

thoughDrawmijha s

fe w

know n agents, he manages to report ably to the circle

on m atters involving Keoland and its client states.

In

th e lasttenyears, Draw mij hasfocused his magical

study upont he scienceof travel and, more specifically, upon

theories of the manipulation of time. Though he has not

admitted to ultimate

success,

there can be nodenying that

Drawmij,

once merely enigmatic, has grown quite eccentric

of late, perhapsas areaction to anexperiment gone

awry.

Jallarzi

put as

much forward

to the assembledCirclein

their

mostrecent meeting, but she received only acoolsmile

from

the mageand aharsh reprimand from M ordenkainen.

Drawmij

met the

news

of the

treachery

of

Rary with

classic

dispassion. Indeed,

the

nascent

archmage

appears

to

havebeen

the

Circlemember least

affected

by theeventsof theGreyhawk

Warsan dReconstruction. He only grudgingly agreedto the

additionofWarnesandAlhamazed,and

argued

steadfastly

againstexpanding the purview of theCircleto include non-

humanmembers. Finding Nystul his only ally in the matter,

however,

he has

sincetreated

the

olve Theodain Eriason with

blandacceptance.

JallarziSallavarian,WizlS: HP 47, AL NG. Str

10, Dex 18. Con 10. Int 19, Wis 17. Cha 17.

Jallarzi,

at 4 2, is theCirclesyoungest mem- .

;:v

,

her,

and its only

female.

Born into minor

nobility

in the

Duchy

of

Urnst,

she studied magica s a teen under

th e mysterious Seer of Urnsta nd

th e redoubtable WarnesStarcoat.

Later travels brought

her to

Greyhawk.

There,

undert he tutelage

of Tenser, she became the youngest

mage ever inducted into th e Society

ofMagi.

Often considered soft-spoken, her d emeanor has hard-

ened

noticeably since she was the first to discover the

devastation

on the Day of

Great Signing

s ix

years ago.

She has sworn vengea nce against

Rary,

though she has not

takenany public action against her one-time com rade. The

treachery of one so even-mannered as the former


10/14

Archm age of Ket has triggered paranoia throughout the

Circle,a nd

these feelings have affected evenJallarzi.

Since Tenser was probably her

closest

ally in the

Circle,she now spends less

t ime

with he r companions

than before

th e

wars,preferring instead

to

conduct

he r

research a ndCirclebusiness alone. She hasretained he r

villa

in Greyhaw k, and rumors suggest that it is perhaps

th e

most heavily magicked building

in the city,

outside

of

the guildhall itself. She

stil l

spends a great deal of t ime

with

he r

f r iends Derider

Fanshen and

Matriarch Sarana,

and

the dark t imes

have

bolstered her

fa ith

inPelor.

Jallarzi

is an

extremely busy woman;

t he

last year

h as

seen he r

travel

th e

Flanaess

f rom

Loftwick

to RelMord.

S he

avoids

t he

lands

of the old

Great Kingdom,

bu t

urges

her political

f r iends

to support both Nyrond and the

Urnst Statesagainst

the

tyranny

to the east.

Regardless

of her increased responsibilities, however,

Jallarzi still takes time to encourage younger mages.S he

often issoughtout for training purposes. She prefers th e

coin of Greyha wk in excha nge for tra ining , but she also

fancies

magical wands,

and any

addition

to her

consider-

ablecollection would be greatly rewarded.

Jallarzi

is a tall

5

ft. 7 in.) woman of striking features.

She is nearly purebred

Suel,

and her pale skin and curly,

honey-blonde ha ir have turned the head of more than one

novice in the

corridors

of the guildhall. Sheprefers to

dress com fortabl y in silks and satins imported from the

Fa rWest, and though the material would seem to belie an

opulent lifestyle, sheprefers function over

style

in

cloth-

ing, often eschewing

the flowing skirts so

popular

in the

Garden Quarter for simple breeches.

Jallarzira rely travels alone,fo r

th e

pseudodragon,

Edwina,

constantly flutters at her side, occasionally

acting as amessenger int imesof need.T he creature

is

fiercely loyal,

and the few

attempts that havebeen

made

t o

abduct

i t

have

met with

dismal failure and, given

Jallarzi's

extensive contacts

in theCity

Watch, unusually

harsh sentences.

Jallarzi remains dedicated to her duty as aliaison

between

th eCirclean d

other powerful mages

i nNyrond ,

and

the new

leadership

of

King Lynwerd

ha s

given

h er

reason to hope fo r that embattled nation. Th e Flanaess

remains

factionalized, however,

and few aremore

aware

o f

this than Jallarzi.He r greatest

fear

is that by choosing a

single enemy,th eCircleopens itself to severalmore. The

Greyhawk Wars

an dtheir

aftermath have frozen every-

thing in a kind of

l imbo.

It is her belief that the best

course of action is to wait, and see what starts to thaw.

Mordenkainen,Wiz20+:

HP

106,

AL N. Str 10,

Dex 17,

Con 17.Int23,Wis15. Cha 18.

Mordenkainen

is one of the

mostfeared

and

respected living

mages in the Flanaess.Oncea resident of the

Wild

Coast,

Greyhaw k, and Highfolk, respectively, he has traveled to the

reaches

of theexoticFar W est and ventured extensively across

the

Flanaess,

from thelandsof the

Northmen

to the

shores

of

the Amedio Jungle. There is scarcely a mage who has not heard

ofhis exploits or recognized his skill and knowledge of mat-

ters

both magical

and

political.

Perhaps

no

individual

in all

Oeriksees himself

as

embodying the spirit of Balance as does Morde nkainen the

Archmage.Hi s philosophies are

almost

entirely one-sided

on the

matter,

an d

many

a

worthy cause

ha s

gone

unan-

swered by the

mage's private army,

th e

O bsidian Citadel

(sharing the name of his hidden fortresshome)because of

hi s

neutral-minded convictions.

Mordenkainen's view of balance is no tit-for-tat equal-

ity, but a highly detailed and extremely th eoretical phi-

losophy derived from decades

of

arcane research.

He has

fought

ardently

fo r

th e

forces

of

good

(most

recently

dur ing th e

Greyhawk Wars),

but just as

often

he has

been known to work as a shadow player fo r malevolence.

In

al l

things, Mordenkainen prefers

to

maneuver behind

th e scenes, subtly manipulating events to ensure that no

side gains the upper hand . As a result, the

a rchmage

is

t rusted l i t t le, even among

th e

l ikewise-neutral

Hierophants of the Cabal,w ho

f ind

hi s vision of

Balance

who l ly self-centered

an d

somewhat arbitrary.

This philosophy has gained the archmage a virtual

army of enemies,not a

fe w

of whom once considered

him agood fr iend.A m o n g these last can be counted

Evard

th e

Black,

Terik

and,

of

course, Rary.

l uz and his

underl ings,

particularly

Kermin

Mind-Bender, have hated

Mordenkainen

f rom

their

f i rst

meeting.

In

recent years, Mordenkainen has turned his full

at tent ion to hisposition as leader of the

Circle

of

Eight.

The events of the Greyhawk Wars an dtheir afterm ath

strike

him as

prophetic

of the

da rk

t imes

revealed

in the

Tome of the

Black

Heart

discovered so very long ag o

beneath

M au reCastle.

F or decades,he hasbeeiicollect-

in g

his thoughts in a work known as the Codex of

Mordenkainen. Archmages across th e Flanaess would

give anything to peruse it s pages.

ance-

Mordenkainen s tands 5 ft. 11 in. tall, an d appearshalf-

again younger than his tru e 82 years of age. He wea rs a

dark beard trimmed to a

point,

a nd usually favors black

satin

coats, lined in red, over traditional robes. Two years

ago, Mordenkainen shaved his head, and he has remained

bald

bychoice

ever

since.H is

mostimpressive physical

features are his penetrating eyes. It is said that they

hold

hints

of

genius tinged with madness,

a

volatile combina-

tion that usually gets Mordenkainen what

he

wants

f rom

the easily persuaded . He revels in the art of debate,

thoug h his emotion s can overcome him if he fears defeat.

Luckily for him, this is a rare occurrence (though alleged-

ly the

spike that tore

a

r if t

inhi s

once-

strong friendship with Rary).

Little is known about

Mordenkainensorigins,particularly;

th e

place

of his birth.

Rumors place

him asOer id ian ,perhaps

Aerdi .

Someeven say he is of the line of

Ganz

Yragerne, making him distant-

ly relatedto such notablesasZagig j

Yragerne

and Heward. He has fe w

friends,

and no one in whom he

completely

confides.

H is

greatest

passions are for his Art.


11/14

Nystul.

Wiz l7: HP 76. AL N. Str 7, Dex

10,

Con 15.

In t

22 ,Wis1 7.Cha 15.Note:

Nys tu l

isprotected by a

per-

manentprotection from

evilspell.

The

mage

Nystuli s a

rare

sort.A man of

allegedly comical

appearance,

he

uses obfuscating magicks

to

alter

his

appearance

to something suitable for anygiven situation. Beneath the

illusion,hi s features are

atypically

Flan,

with

anolivecom-

plexion more common

mOendians

and a tall, spindling form

that towers over six and a half feet high. His intellect is keen

and

his insight piercing. Subterfuge and intrigue are his

fortes. Mordenkainen often notes that

Nystul

seems some-

times to

lack

a

well-grounded, rational temperament.

Nystul

is not aswell-known asMordenkainen, Bigby, or the others,

even in hisnative Tenh, where prior to the Great Wars he was

seenas analoof and eccentric mage from

Redspan,

o fpassing

interest

to

Ehyeh

or his

court.

Nystul was born in Tenh 53 years ago to a

family

of

well-connected nobles

in

Nevond Nevnend

w ho

unfor-

tunately

were ambitious

an dfaced

with better-connected

enemies. Despite a good rep utation among man y fellow

nobles, they could not prevent their

downfall

when an

intrigue with

the

court

of

Duke

Pet'yeusaw the

proud

clan

brought low on charges of sedition and insurgency.

The

nobles

of

Nystul'sHousewere

tried

for treason,

a n d

the

House

was disbanded. Nystul was taken

a w a y

from his parents by servants and raised in a small monastery

bordering the

Pale. There

he was taken in by a small sect of

pacifist Pholtan

monks living

n e a r thePhostwood.

The

monks raised

Nystul

well,

and

encouraged

the

oft-mis-

chievous student's talent formagic, particularly that of illu-

sions. He was given rudime ntary instruction by a wily old

cleric named Friar

Nemonicus,

himself obsessed with the

powers inherent to light anddarkness.Nystul'spermanent

protectionfrom evilspell was in

f a c t

a gift fromNem onicus.

Eventually,

th e monks

raised

sufficient

monies

to

send

Nystul south

to a

proper magic

school at

RadigastCity's

well-regarded

Sorcerous Union,

There he befriended a

young

Otto,

resting

from one of his

occasional sojourns

to

the Nyr

Dyv.Despite

th e

arduous experiences

of his

youth,

Nystu l

managedt o

come

away from them witha

deep concern fo r

his homeland, and it was to

Tenhthat

h e

eventually returned when he consumed hi swanderlust .H e

constructed a home in

Redspan

and

took

on young

appren-

tices.

It w as not

long before

h is

exploits brought

the

attention

of

Mordenkainen and an

offer

of membership in the

Circle

of Eight in 571 CY.

When theWars came to Tenh,

Nystul

did his best to

evac-

uateRedspanersto

Urnst

aswellas to arm his kinsfolk

against the surprising onslaught from thenorth andeast. Hi s

visibility rose considerably duringthis time,even

as

Ehyeh

and

the court made a hasty retreat to RadigastCity and the

protection

of

CountessBelissica. Nystul already

ha d

allied

himself with a little-known organization calling themselves

the

Keepers

of the

Flan, comprising mages, druids,

and the

archaic

loremasters

of the

clans,

mostof

whom escaped luz

and th e barbarians to the

Rakers

or the

Phostwood.

Nystul

has

been working

to

recover

his

homeland ever since.

Alone

among the other members of the Circleo f Eight,

Nystul

holds

thebelief tha t Rary's so-called traito rshipi s

nothing but a ruse perpetrated either by the Archmage of

Ke t himself or some greater enemy of the

Circle,

with the

archmage as a dupe. To this end, he has contacted Rary's old

companion, Torik Redaxesson of Highfolk, who has been

pushing

for an

investigation into

the

cause

of the

archmage's

alleged corruption.

Nystulperceives

the Old One and his diabolical

retinue

a s

the

Circle's

true enemy,and he iseagerto increasethe

Circle's

number,

beyond eight

if

need

be, to

combat this menace.

The

tide

of

evil

and

tyrann y must

be

turned,

and he

believes

it

should begin where it first

began

last time, in Tenh.

Otto, Clr3 Boccob)/Wizl5:HP 78. AL N. Str16.Dex

10.Con 15.Int 17. Wis 15.Cha 17.

Otto hasbeen involved in the a f f a i r s of the Circleof Eight

since before

the

group's existence.

In

570, with Robilar's part

in

the

release

o f

luz revealed, Mordenkainen sought

to

keep

tabson the

noble's activities. Since Lord

Robilar was

said

to

have

t he

ability

to

discover magical scryes placed upon

him,

it was

necessary

to

plant

a spy

within

his

sizable

host.

Having

found

Robilar's servant,

th e

euroz

Quij ,

wholly

incorruptible (insofar as loyalty to his master was

concerned), the Archmage of Greyhawk set upon a more

mundaneplan. Working through contacts

in the

Prelacy

of

Almor,h e

drafted

an aspiring magic-wielding priest of

Boccob as hismole.So it was

that

Otto

worked

his way

into

Robilar's organization,

an dontothe

path

of

ev ents that

would see him as a founding member of the

Circle

of

Eight.

Otto

is arotund 53year-oldOeridian with long hair,

dyed light orange andworn in

curls.

A t first glance, he

appears

foppish, as suggested by the intricately designed

silk

and

satin robes that round

out his

voluminous wardrobe.

Further study, however, reveals that he is possessed of the

sharpest of minds, tinged only slightly byeccentricity. At

times, he acts like the very image of Zagyg, and some have

suggested that the attention ofthat

demipower aided

greatly

in his rapid adv ance men t in the field of

a r c a n e

study.

1 he magesfirst callingw as to the

clergy

of the

Uncaring

One,anditwas

a s

a Loremaster, in the

vaunted

temple

of

Boccob

inChathold,

that

he

spent

most

of his

life prior

to

being drafted

by Mordenkainen. For this reason,h e

is agood friend of both

Ravel

Dasinder of G reyhawk and Riggby,

who has long since retired

from

hi s

position

of eminence in Verbobonc.

Ottoloves

traveling. Before the

wars, he

boasted

of

having visited every civilized nation

in

the Flanaess (and some considerably less

civilized,

for good

measure).

He

claims that

hi s

adventures

are due to his

love

of seeingnew and exciting things.Those wh o know him

well explain that, more than

t he

sights,

Otto

travels

to

exotic lands for the tastesthat might be discovered there.In

fact, the mage has a specially enchanted cornucopia that will

reproduce any one meal once per year, with the exception

that itmust be ameal that

Otto

hasingested in the last 36 0

days.

Otto

cherishes

this item,a nd often willbrave

hazards

both

magical and mundane to expe rience some new culinary

delight.

Such

travels

have

brought

hi m

further west than

an y


12/14

other me mbe r of theCirclesaveMor denka inen , andda rk

secrets

learned there have caused him attimes to wonde r at

the truedr iveof the

Circle's

founder .

Ultimately,Otto's studies have remainedclose to the

rootshe fol lowed before th e Greyhaw k W ars. He is

obsessed with

th e

s t ruc ture

of

magic

onOerth,

but , unl ike

Morde nka i ne n , het akes th e

unor thodox

opinion that th e

form of magic and the form of

music

have

some tel l ing

sim-

ilarities.H is first experiments inthis arena involved mixing

musical

effects

with

mundane

magical

spells,

but he

has,

of

late, taken

to

composing

chi l l ing

arias, such

as hisAestrella

which produce s tunning magica l e ffec ts when sung to perfec-

t ion. His latest endeavor is a piece for a chamber orchestra

that ,when played correctly,will open a visual-only gate

depicting

th e

wild forests

of

Arborea .

It isslow

w ork ,

bu t

the commiss ion paidby the Greyhawk Opera Househa s

allowed him to continue in lieu of ac tua l adventuringor any

other

f o rm

of income.

Tkodain Eriason,Wizl7: HP 79. AL CN. Str 15. Dex 17.

Con 13.In t22 . Wis 15. Ch a 16.

Theodain Eriason

is the

f i r s tde mi huma n

ever

to

join

th e

Circle

of

Eight,

though

close

associations

have

been

,jp.

maintainedby theorganization with II

Prince

Br ightf lame

and the Knights

of Luna, as well as the leadership of

the Fairdells.

Eriason is atall,gaunt high el f with

long black hair streaked with silver.

His

complexion is typically pale and his

dress conspicuous,comprisedof asuit of

blackand silvercloth embroidered with magical

runes.H is manner is cold and his mood is often d escribed as

disagreeable,even

baneful .This

appearance

masks

a

keen intel-

lect

and a

passionate desire

to

protect

hi s

homeland

and the

rest

of

th e

Sheldomar

Valley. His recollection of people and events

over the last two cen turies is considere d encyclopedic.

Theodain was born in the western verges of the Dreadwood

almost three centuries ago. When

th e

Yeomanry League wi th-

drew

from

Keoland

during their wars

o f

aggression

a nd

declared

i ts indep endence, his family crossed the Javanand set-

tled near

Loftwick.

Theodain began life as a warrior and spent

much of his youth patroll ing the Jotens and

Little

Hillsf or

incessant incursions. His father became a

Grosspokeman

of the

league,

and i t was not unti l the elder Eriason's death in

470

CY

that Theodain

took

up magecraf t .He learnedat the feet of the

elven

wizard s of the Dreadwo od and spent

some

time at the

magical

school

inGradsul before embarking on an

adventuring

career

that would span decades.

While

based for

some

time in

th e

independent town

ofMelkot in the

Tors, Theodain

explored

th e

Hellfurnces, defeated

th e

plots

o f

assassin's guilds

an d

elemental cults

in theHool

Marshes,

an d

even

w as

among

the

firstto

explore

the

LostPassage

of the

Suloisewhen

it was

discovered in 576 CY.

Theodain has taken to the affairs of theCircle with avid

enthusiasm. He f inds Drawmi j , Nystul,Otto,a nd Jallarzi par-

t icularly

to his

l iking,

and he has

enjoyed

h is

infrequent visi ts

to the

Free

City. He has

treated coolly withA lh amazad

th e

Wise and Warnes Starcoat, w hom he views with suspicion

(they, in turn, consider him a

firebrand

who all-too-often

resorts tomorally questionablemethods). In his shorttime

with theCircle of Eight, Theodain has shown a tendency to

openly question M ordenk ainen's leadership, suggesting alterna-

tives and sarcastically pointing out perceived weaknesses, much

to the

irri tat ion

of the

elder mage. Theodain pushes

for the

Circle of Eight and their all ies to take a more active

role

i n

managing

conflicts in the Flanaess, particularly in the

Sheldomar

where he

supports

action in

Geoff

an d

Sterich,

as

well as interven tion in the Scarlet Brotherhood-created chaos

enveloping the

region

of the

HoolMarshes.

Bigby has

of ten

joked that in taking in Theodain they have replaced one Tenser

with

another.

WarnesStarcoat.Wiz20:HP 86. AL N. StrH.Dex 18, Con

16. Int 24. W is17. Cha

17.

The man who

would become Warnes

Starcoatwa s

born

57

years

ag o

in the city of L eukish to m erch ant parents of

moderate wealth and influence.When he came of age, being the

third son of four and showing some inclination toward scholarly

pursuits rather than matters mercantile, Warnes

was sent south

to the old

city

of

Seltaren.

There

h is

education

began in

earnest

at the

Wizardholme

ofUrnst ,a

small magical

sor'etya nd school

founded

by

wanderingSuel

mages

many cen-

turies ago. Warnes progressed quickly, becoming a well-regarded

generalist

w izard before his

thirtieth winter.

This

recognition soon brought him anappointmenta s ajunior

assistant

to the

Chief Magical Councilor

of the

Duke,

an

enig-

matic figureknow n only as the

Seer

ofUrnst. The two quickly

camea todds (it issaid tha tt he latter practiced dark, forbidden

rites)

and Warnes left Urns t fo r the Flanaess and adven ture,

coming to livein the Free

City

o f Greyhawk fo rsome time.

Warnes

came to real prominenc e in CY 575,

after defeating

the

plots

of a certain mysterious magus, known

only

as the

Weird of

Gnatmarsh.This

sorceress and her cult had grow n

wicked and

powerful

over the previous

f ew

years, espousing the

worship of various depraved, croaking powers of the

swamp.

H er grotesque retinue plaguedthe surrounding

. . . ,

, ; . ,

territory, killing

and

maiming men, dwarves,

and

elves,

H

even

delving into the

Celadon.

When her finaloutrage,

absolutecontrolof themouthofNesser,proceeded

unchallenged

after

he r

destruction

of a

royal squadron,

Warnesand acompanyo f allies

went

after her.I nwhat

ha sbecome alegendary m agical duel,he defeatedt he

Weird i npersonal combat, sinking he rperverse towerinto

th e

swamp

in a

display

o f

crackling energy that drew W arnes into

the Astral Plane.

There,

in an adventure he has yet to speak of, he

gained

h ismostprized possession and his namesake,th eStarcoat.

In 576, Warneswa sappointed Chief Sorcerous Councilor to

Duke Karll,fillinga vacuum left opena few years earlier by the

mysterious

disappearanceof theSeerofUrnst .S ix

months later,

he was

welcomed

inCountessBelissicas courta swell.

Warnes

appearsas agentlemano f great

refinement.

His typi- .

callySuelcomplexion is tanned from many years spent outdoors.

He wearsa short, well-trimmed beard and afine blackh at with

adark blue stripe. His m agical coat is black as midnig ht, and

glimmers like

the sky on a

cloudless n ight. -J^-


13/14

Inz

Wizards

in the

Furyondian province

of

Crystaireach

are ab uzz at th e

appearance of a magical helix over the

ruined

cityofMolag,across the

Veng

River. Formerly th e

capital

of the

Horned

Society, Molag

ha s

been occupied

by

the

forces

of luz

since

the

earlymonths

of the

Greyhawk Wars. Thehelix, a huge ghostly shape f l o a t - -

ing just below

th e

clouds,

is

said

b y

sages

to

ma r k

th e

location of a powerful magic event, such as the summon-

ing of a

greater demon

or a

sacrifice

of

nearly unimagin-

able numbers

o f

innocents.

Th e

exact cause

of

this helix

remains

unknown.

Nyroad

The

Court

of His

August Supremacy,

Altmeister

of All the

Aerdi , King

Lynwerd I of

Nyrond,

has announced

Grand Celebration of the f if th yearo f

His

August

Supremacy's coronation.The

celebration will be held in the Roya l

Capital

of

R elMord,

du r ing

Growfest.

Invi ta t ions

ar e

being pre-

paredandwillwesentout by the newly expanded Royal

MailService. All

Nyrondese nobil i ty

an d

that

of

allied

states

will

be

invited

to

par t ic ipate

in

this regal event.

nelsh e

constructed.

Brotherhood

agents slew

th e

incum-

bent

count and

occupied

the

manor

in 583 CY.

Since

5 86

CY, rebelliousOnnwallers had tried to recapturet he

manor unsuccessfully, until

a

stormraging

in off the

Gearnat veiled their assault.Inside, they discovered a

sceneof unrivalled butcheryamongstthe

Brotherhood's

troops.Several

of the Onnwallers

remained inside

overnight

to

investigate an dwere found dead

th e

fol low-

ing morn.Both sidesn ow avoid thearea, unsure of what

lurks below

th e

house.

Perrenland

A group of adventurers recently

reported capturing

a

basilisk with

th e

stripes, paws

and face of a

tiger

The

fabulous beast is said to havebe en cap-

tured

in the western Yatil Mo untains , just

last

month .

If true, the beast mig ht have considerable

resalevalueif

sold

to the

TigerNomads.

The leaderof

th e

capture party,

th e

gnomish adventurer

S ir

Ignat ius

Nobnose,claims

th e

beast

wa s

docile when found.

"Darned

if I

know wha t

the

thing is,"

he is

reported

as

saying, "but the Tiger lads will likely pay a pre tty

penny

or two for

it."

S ir

Nobnose

is

currently seeking adven-

turers

to

escort

th e

monster

to its

prospective

ne w

home.

Sea Princes

A magical comm unicationto the Scarlet

Brotherhood, intercepted b y aprivateer

in

service to the Iron League,

warns

of a

new

power

in the

chaoticHold

of the

Sea Princes. A former Touv slaveknown

asUtavoth e

W ise holds

the

southern Duchy

of Berghof as asanctuaryfor hundredsof

freed

slaves and

so-called

savages,

imported by the

Brotherhoodduring

the

Greyhawk Wars.Utavo

and his men

slew

th e

Brotherhood

agents

in

th e

lakeside town

of Kusnir, andhave

sent peace

envoys to the

marodin,

theinhuman lake-people who

inhab-

it the

depths

o f

Lake

Spendlowe.

Verbobonc

Political

unrest between

th e

Viscounty

and

t he

gnomishFreeAssembly

of

the KronHillsh as

reached

n ew

levels.

With th e Free Assembly's recent with-

drawof support, it is unlikely Langard

willbe capable of mendingthisr if t quickly.

Trade continues

to

thrive between

the

Kron

Hillsand the

Viscounty. Guildm aster Eslabone N ervan our announ ced

the winner of the woodcraft com petition. Jacob

Hangerstand's work, amarvelous chest witha carvedrelief

of

the olven

father,

Corellon

Larethian,

has been declared

the finest work produced in a decade.

Silverthorn

of

Obad-Haih as

blessed

this

gift

of

beauty

for Her Fey

Majesty

of

Celene."#-

Oaawal

The

demesne

of

CountCadwale,

the

"TunnelingCount,"h as again risen to

prominence

i n

Onnwal.

T he

long

dead

noble (thought to beh orrif ically ugly

diseased

but in

fact handsome

an d

fanati-

ju t his privacy) w as renown for

th e

tun-

or

:al

ab c


14/14

Living Greyhawk Journal 00

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Transcript of Living Greyhawk Journal 00