Living Greyhawk Gazetteer Chapter 4: Celene to Ket

 

Okay, let's continue on with this massive chapter. The Faerie Kingdom of Celene is next on the list, ruled by Her Fey Majesty, Queen Yolande, Perfect Flower of Celine, Lady Rhalta of All Elvenkind, a CG female elf W13/F2. Celene is a hereditary feudal monarchy run entirely by elves. The capital is Enstad, which is the only major town. There's a total population of 140,000, 4/5 of which are elves and most of them are grey elves). The primary alignment in Celene is CG, and the primary religion is of course the elven pantheon led by Corellon Larethian. Celene is allied with the Duchy of Ulek and the Knights of Luna, and are opposed by the Pomarj and Iuz. However, Celene keeps to itself, not doing much in the way of diplomacy.

The Free Lands of Dyvers is ruled by Her Excellency Larissa Hunter, Magister of Dyvers, a NG female human F12. Dyvers is a 'democratic meritocracy', with a population of 128,000. Mostly human (most of whom are Oeridian), the common (and official) alignment is Neutral; Zilchus is the state deity. Despite its neutral alignment, Dyvers is allied with Furyondy, Veluna, Verbobonc, and Greyhawk City; its enemies include Iuz and the Pomarj, as well as the orcs of the Gnarley Forest. That sounds familiar; looking at the map, that's near where the Temple of Elemental Evil adventure was located. And yes, Dyvers is right there.

The Caliphate of Ekbir is next, ruled by His Sublime Magnificence, the Caliph of Ekbir, Xargun, a NG male human C16 of Al'Akbar. It's an aristocratic theocracy, so it's run by the priests. Obviously, its 2 million strong population is almost entirely Baklunish, and the Baklunish gods are the state-favored ones. ANd of course, the primary alignment is LG. They have an interesting relationship with both Tusmit and Zeif, both of which are sometimes allies and sometimes enemies. They also have issues with the Tiger Nomads and Ket on occasion. Ekbir is the oldest Baklunish state in the Flanaess, its capital boasting that it was founded by Al'Akbar himself before he became a deity.

Up borth we have the Frost Barbarians in the Kingdom of the Fruztii, ruled by His Most Warlike Majesty, King Hundgred Ralffson of the Fruztii, a CN male human Bbn13. I'm getting Conan vibes here. Like Celene, it's a hereditary feudal monarchy, although of course it's not an elven kingdom. The population is 96% human (almost entirely Suloise), and the common alignment is CN. The Suel gods Kird, Llerg, Norebo, Xero, Vatub, and Syrul are the most popular ones here, naturally.

The Frost Barbarians are allied with Ratik as well as the dwarf and gnome clans in Griff and the Corusk Mountains, and they are members of the Northern Alliance. Their enemies include Iuz, Stonehold, the Nort Kingdom, Bone March, the Sea Barons, and on occasion the Ice and Snow Barbarians.

Ah, the Kingdom of Furyondy. This one has a lot of history in the Greyhawk setting. It's ruled by His Pious Majesty, the King of Furyondy, Belvor IV, a LG male human P16 of Heironeous, and it is a feudal monarchy. The capital is Chendl, and the total population of the kingdom is almost 1.5 million. Mostly human (Oeridian in particular, with smaller Suel, Baklunish, and Flan minorities), the common and official alignment is LG; Heironeous, Rao, St. Cuthbert, Mayaheine, and Zilchus are among the most popular deities.

Furyondy is allied with Veluna, the Shield Lands, Highfolk, the Ulek States, Verbobonc, Dyvers, and the Knights of the Hart. Their enemies include Iuz, the Scarlet Brotherhood, the Horned Society, and the Rhennee, who are distrusted by the general populace. Furyondy is the classic medieval knights in shining armor kingdom, whose valor stopped Iuz from conquering the entire Flanaess in the Greyhawk Wars. However, King Belvor currently has no heir, so the kingdom is in trouble. Lots of adventure and intrigue are possible here, and it would have been great to play in the Living Greyhawk setting in Furyondy. Too bad I didn't live in Michigan, which was the only place you could play in Furyondy. Stupid regional setups.

The Grand Duchy of Geoff is a feudal monarchy ruled by His High Radiance, Owen I, Grand Duke of Geoff. Or at least, it was; he's in exile now, and Geoff is now ruled by giants and humanoids. Well, that sucks. The population is about 70,000, mostly humans (mixed between Flan, Suel, and Oeridian); these numbers do not include the humanoids and giants, though. You remember the old Giants series of modules? Well, the giants came back from those defeats and kicked the living crap out of Geoff in return. There have been attempts to reclaim the land, but they have been unsuccessful. The politics of the situation are a bit murky; some human nations want to take the giants out and claim parts of Geoff for themselves. Obviously, there is a ton of adventuring possibility in Geoff.

The Gran March is a feudal monarchy (lots of those in this entry, aren't there?) ruled by His Most Resolute Magnitude, Magnus Vrianian, Commandant of Gran March, a LG male human 9th-level evoker and C3 of Heironeous. Gran March is run along military lines, and has a population of just over a quarter million people (mostly Suel and Oeridian humans). It's a LN country, so very, very structured and bureaucratic. Heironeous is the top god, along with St. Cuthbert and Pholtus, so you just know it's going to be strict here. Their allies include Keoland, Sterich, Bissel and the Ulek States; their primary enemy is Ket, along with the nonhumans in Geoff and the Crystalmist Mountains. The primary source of adventure in the Gran March would be raids into Geoff and cutting a road through the Dim Forest.

The Free City of Greyhawk. This should be quite the entry. It's run by His Solemn Authority, the Lord Mayor of Greyhawk, Nerof Gasgal, a LN male human Rog12. Greyhawk is an oligarchy; the guilds run things here and elect the Lord mayor. Even though it's called the 'Free City' of Greyhawk, it encompasses several smaller cities and towns in the surrounding area, totaling a poulation of 160,000. Despite its neutral alignment, Greyhawk is allied with the surrounding good nations such as Furyondy and Veluna, and has enemies in the Pomarj, Iuz, the Bright Lands, and the Scarlet Brotherhood.

Greyhawk City is the center of the Flanaess, both geographically and culturally. It's most famous residents include members of the Circle of Eight, and at one point the Mad Archmage himself, Zagig Yragerne. Man, Gary just loved doing anagrams and plays on his own name, didn't he? Since this was the center of the original Greyhawk campaign, there are tons of ruins and dungeons to explore in the area, most especially including the original dungeon itself, Castle Greyhawk. I'm surprised the entry for Greyhawk doesn't even take up two whole pages, but then...it's one of the places specifically mentioned as 'you can't be from here or play here' for the Living Greyhawk setting. Why in the hell would they do that? It's literally where D&D begins.

Alright, fine. Moving on to the Free Town of Highfolk, ruled by The Worth Sir, Tavin Ersteader, Mayor of Highfolk Town (NG male human W11) as well as His Most Excellent Highness, Kashafen Tamarel of FLameflower, Lord of the High Elves of the Vesve (CG male elf W14/F4). Yes, there are two rulers here, because...well, I'm not entirely sure. But this is a mostly elven community (79%); humans aren't even 10% of the population. The two groups do get along well enough, though. Obviously, the elf pantheon is dominant here, but some human deities such as Ehlonna and Fharlanghn are well-represented as well.

The Ice Barbarians, or the Kingdom of the Cruski, are another independent feudal monarchy ruled by His Most Ferocious Majesty, Lolgoff Bearhear, the King of Cruski, Fassal of all the Suelii, a CN male human Bbn15. However, he doesn't really have much control over the seventeen jarls of the Cruski; they operate more or less independently. Like the Frost Barbarians, they are a wild bunch who worship the Suel deities, particularly Kord, and they have the same enemies list as the Frost Barbarians. They do, however, ally with the other barbarians when a common enemy threatens the clans.

The Free City of Irongate (there are a lot of free cities in Greyhawk, aren't there?) is ruled by His Resolute Honor, Cobb Darg, Lord High Mayor of Irongate. It's a single city-state with about 1,500 miles of surrounding lands. The total population under Irongate's dominion is about 71,000, mostly Oeridian humans with a strong dwarven presence as well. It's notable for the gems and iron ore that are mined in the area. And its government is LG, though LN is the most common alignment. Heironeous, Zilchus and Procan are the most common deities, with the dwarven pantheon also well represented. The city is located at the bottleneck of a peninsula on the Azure Sea, basically isolating Onwall from the mainland.

The Empire of Iuz is pretty much the Big Bad of the Flanaess; it's ruled by the evil demigod Iuz the Old, a cambion demon whose priesthood handles most of the administration since Iuz is...let's say inconsistent. Needless to say, in this empire, you worship Iuz. Period. Any other faith, particularly those of evil gods such as Nerull and Vecna, are ruthlessly stamped out; Iuz doesn't want competition. The population is about 700,000, 45% of which are orcs and 25% humans. Iuz has no allies, and their list of enemies is pretty much everybody. Even the evil countries want nothing to do with this place. And yet, during the Greyhawk Wars, Iuz was on the march, conquering large chunks of territory and expanding his empire. It took a lot of effort to reign him in and keep the Empire to a manageable size, driving Iuz's armies back and especially banishing his many demonic servants.

The Kingdom of Keoland is another feudal monarchy ruled by His Peerless Majesty, the King of Keoland, Kimbertos Skitto, a LG male human Rgr15. The rulership of Keoland actually passes back and forth between two or more royal houses descended from ancient Sueloise nobility, while there are plenty of Oeridians and demihumans on the ruling Council. Keoland is big, with a population of 1.8 million. The common alignments are LG and NG (the latter being the government's overall alignment), and the good gods are ascendant here, particularly Heironeous, Phaulkon and St. Cuthbert. One of the more notable things about Keoland is that wizards aren't particularly welcome; in fact, for most of Keoland's history, it was forbidden to study magic at all.

Ah, Ket. No fancy name, just 'Ket'. This is where I would have to be from if I were playing in Living Greyhawk. It's a feudal monarchy with a semi-hereditary rulership structure; the Beygraf (ruler) must have proven fighting ability, with magical ability being a plus. The current ruler is His Illustrious Glory, Nadaid, Beygraf of Ket and Shield of the True Faith, a LN male human F10/W5 (diviner). Its population is about 275,000, mostly Bakluni humans. It's a LN country that worships the Baklunish gods, and it's enemies with all the countries I would have liked to play in. During the Greyhawk Wars, Ket got drawn into the fighting, and when the opportunity to take control of their ancient rival Bissel, the ruler of Ket actually allied with Iuz to get what he wanted. His actions were so unpopular that when he was assassinated, the mullahs chose not to have him raised. Now civil war is brewing in Ket, and there are questions about the new beygraf's past association with the fallen archmage Rary. Man, I would not have been happy to be playing in this region. At all.

And on that somewhat sour note, I'll leave it here for the time being. Good progress has been made on this chapter, but I'm still seventy pages away from the end. There is a lot of info here.