The Obligatory Greyhawk Catchup Post

For those of you late or those who might have missed a post or two, I provide this post collating the post on my series extrapolating some meat for the bones of the Greyhawk Folio.

The project idea. It's drifted a bit since, but it showed you where I started and this post on inspirations will show you where I'm at.

The Bone March

The Horned Society

The Iron League

Onnwal

Ket

Keoland

Veluna

The Holy See of Medegia

North Province

South Province

The Pale

Rel Astra

The Duchy of Tenh

The Wild Coast

The Aerdian Church of Law

Some gods of the Suel and Oeridians.

And some real-world images for terrain inspiration.

[Greyhawk] Four Suloise Deities

In my last Greyhawk post, I presented some Oeridian gods. This time, a sampling of deities from the Suel.

Kord

One the most popular Suloise deities, at least in terms of folklore and tales he appears in, Kord is the hero god of strength and personal combat. He is said to have given mankind the art of wrestling and is credited with slaying numerous monsters.

Lendor

Lendor was perhaps seen by ancient Suel as the personification of time, but by the later Imperium he is the god of infinite space as well as time and the first cause that proceeded all existence. As such, Lendor is understood in some traditions as the supreme deity of Law or Divine Law's personification, though the Oeridian Church of Law (when it recognizes him at all) views him as the embodiment of the strictly mechanistic law of the material world, a flawed demiurge subordinate to higher, spiritual law. In folk belief he is again just the long-bearded Father Time.

Phaulkan

Phaulkan is a god of sky and storms among the ancient Suel, in latter times he is primarily invoked as a god of wind and weather, and of interest to sailors and travelers. Depictions in the current age more often show him as youthful and clean-shaven.

Wee Jas

Wee Jas is the goddess of magic and death. As a deity of Law, she was a frequently present but minor figure in Suloise religion, but as the patron of magic, she is frequently invoked at the start of magical rituals and shows up in the iconography of classic arcane works.

The Old World of Greyhammer

Despite their differences, the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy (at least as presented in WFRP 1e, which is the extent of my knowledge of it) and the World of Greyhawk have enough similarities, I think, to make a mashup both easy and interesting. Both have Andersonian/Moorcockian Law and Chaos alignments as a feature with Neutral a reasonable position, though it's not generally as militant a stance in the Old World as it can be in Greyhawk. Both have the Tolkienian compliment of races without the Tolkien-inspired epic. Both have an Empire that seems to take some inspiration from the historical Holy Roman Empire. 

The way history would go would be something like this: The technologically and perhaps magically advanced Old Slann open warp gates on Oerth, letting Chaos in and ultimately destroying their civilization. Their degenerate descendants are the scattered tribes of bullywugs. Human civilization arises relatively quickly through the rediscovered learning of this elder race, but the Baklunish and Suel eventually use that knowledge in mutual destruction.

Some centuries later, Oeridian tribes establish the Empire (combining the particulars or the Empire of Warhammer and the Overkingdom of the Flanaess). It persists to the present day, but it is a shadow of its former glory. Both all too human failings and the taint of Chaos have a hand in this decline.

I'm not sure what to do with the Chaos Gods, but I'd be inclined to replace them with Greyhawk deities, though I don't know exactly which ones.

I feel like this is a scene that could happen in both settings

The Old World has fewer countries, and they are more obviously analogous to earthly nations, but I don't think it would be particularly hard to map any particular aspect of the setting one wanted to a Greyhawkian surrogate. The default technological era is more advanced, too, but I don't really think gunpowder would spoil Greyhawk in any way. To honor the war game focus of Warhammer, one could also set the campaign during the Greyhawk Wars.

Neither setting is a stranger to punning humor, so there's that. Warhammer is grimmer than Greyhawk at standard, but I think the tones of both can sort of meet in the middle. 

[Greyhawk] Four Oeridian Deities

This post presents the deities as if they existed in a (pseudo-)historical context where people's understanding of them might have changed and evolved with time. Obviously, Greyhawk presents a world where gods are demonstrably real. I don't think that precludes the approach I take here, but it may not fit every readers' conception of how the gods interact with the world.

Pholtus

Pholtus seems to have originally been a solar god or dawn god. Likely coincident with the development of Aerdian Nomism, Pholtus came to be seen as primeval deity who "brought forth the light" of Law, separating Order from Chaos and giving birth to the universe. 

Despite this important mythological role, Pholtus is seldom directly worshipped in the current era, with Pale as an exception.

Hieroneous and Hextor

Two of the best-attested tribal Oeridian deities, the two are an example of the Divine Twin motif. Many folk tales are legends are told about them. They are as popular among the common people as the hero gods.  Hextor represents the brutal side of war: destruction, bloodlust, and brutality. These traits might suggest he is more Chaotic than Lawful, but in the Oeridian mind, his actions are traits are a contingent and circumscribed chaos, only unleashed in service of Law. In fact, some Oeridian theologians argue that his actions are Lawful at their core, representing expression of the primal Law of Battle. In the modern era, Hextor has come to represent Law at its most obdurate and brutal, and so tyranny has been added to his portfolio.

Hieroneous represents the more positive aspects of conflict: justice such justice, valor, and skill at arms. He has also been associated with the knightly class and the cult of chivalry.

Zilchus

Zilchus seems to have been a minor, chthonic deity of the tribal Oeridians. He was associated with wealth and primarily riches drawn from the earth. While he developed as role as judge and ruler the dead (perhaps by extension from his existing role of ruling things in the ground) he has never been a god of death directly. Instead, he came to be viewed as the ultimate worldly power and his purview over wealth came to extend to markets and business.

In modern times, Zilchus is a commonly worshipped deity as he is believed to bring material prosperity to this faithful.

[Greyhawk] Veluna

The Velunans pride themselves on being the first people to adopt the faith of Nomism. Whether or not this is true, it is certain that the Velunan branch predates the Aerdian church. In fact, it may be that, as is popularly claimed, the religious communities of Veluna predate the nation itself. When Veluna was organized as a part of the Viceroyalty of Ferrond, the archimandrites of the church were treated as fiefholders.

In the Velunan version of the religion, Rao is considered the personification of divine law. He is a serene and distant god, and the monks spend much time in meditation upon his glory. The common folk are more interested in the earthier Saint Cuthbert who is believed to intercede with Rao and allow those who achieve less than spiritual oneness with the Law to enter Heaven.

The Canon is the spiritual and temporal head of Veluna. The Canons are held to delay their own spiritual perfection so that they may minister to the needs of the people. The Canon is supported in the task of managing the country a council by ministers, but also has a council formed from the remaining nobles of the country whose fealty the Canon commands.

Veluna has at times been controlled by Keoland, though that land too recognizes the spiritual authority of the church.

[Greyhawk] Onnwal

Occupying a narrow, rocky peninsula, Onnwal has ever relied on the sea and the hills for its livelihood. When it was an obedient part of the South Province of the Great Kingdom, it served as a convenient place for agents of the crown to oversee (and tax) trade looking to enter the Azure Sea from Gearnat Strait. 

It's capital, Scant, was not the largest port, but it was an important one. It was fortified town with a castle serving as a customs house on a rocky islet just offshore. After the Iron League rebelled against the crown, the castle periodically changed hands between the Onnwalers and the Overking's forces, causing its upkeep to be neglected, even as Scant itself stayed well-defended.  At the best of times, command of the isolated castle was a post few sought, though it did provide an opportunity for its occupants to collect bribes provided they weren't just killed by pirates.

Onwal's proximity to Pomarj and its raiders are part of why the coast is only sparsely developed, the other reason being its occasionally marshy terrain. The relationship Onnwal and Pomarj is not completely adversarial, however. Coastal villages have profited from wrecking and aiding smugglers. The Iron League as a whole takes a dim view of latter, and those that are caught are punished, but few are caught.

The hills of the Headlands were mined first for copper and tin and later platinum. Much of this was done by dwarf clans, though for the most part humans and dwarves have shared the region peacefully. The strong dwarven presence has led to human miners of the region adopting dwarven customs and superstitions to a degree.

I've conceived of Onnwal a lot like Cornwall, a bit like Romney Marsh, and with its Mediterranean climate, a little like Koroni, Greece during the Middle Ages, too.

Appendix G (for Greyhawk)

Art by Gary Gianni. Check out all those polearms!

While my Greyhawk series of posts are all just sort of pseudo-encyclopedia entry sort of stuff, they are informed by a certain conception of Greyhawk, at least. I thought it was worth taking a post to outline the works that inform the way I'm presenting and interpreting what I read in the 1980 folio, and other "primary sources." 

As I mentioned, initially thinking of Greyhawk as a more firmly Medieval place was the impetus for this series, but as these things tend to do, my approach has drifted some with time. While my view remains more realistically Medieval elements are nice to bring in, I also don't want to lose site of the Gygaxian Implied Setting Recipe, because at the end of the day, a Greyhawk that feels like Greyhawk (if more rationalized) is more interesting to me than a straight pseudo-history.

Fiction:
Anderson, Poul. The Broken Sword — Fantasy in a historical setting with some science fictional rationalization.
Buehlman, Christopher. Between Two Fires, The Blacktongue Thief  — The first is a horror/fantasy novel in a Medieval setting, full of horrific monsters and historic detail. The latter is a secondary world fantasy in a world with interesting cultural detail and humor.
DeCamp, L. Sprague. The Reluctant King — Humorous fantasy with good worldbuilding. I've opined before about the relationship between De Camp and Gygax.
Chabon, Michael. Gentlemen of the Road — A historical adventuring duo, highlighting some less discussed areas of history like the Khazar Khaganate.

Howard, Robert E. Conan series, various historical adventure stories. — Pulpy historic adventure or pseudo-historic adventure, with a sweep of history element. "The Hyborian Age" essay seems to have been a strong influence on Greyhawk's presentation.
Jókai, Mór. Told by the Death's Head — Picaresque adventure.
Leiber, Fritz. Fafhrd & Gray Mouser stories — Picaresque-inspired fantasy with the archetypal fantasy city and active gods.
Potocki, Jan. Manuscript Found in the Saragossa  — Stories within stories that mix Gothic, picaresque, and a bit of secret history.
Smith, Clark Ashton. Averoigne stories — Pulpy pseudohistorical fantasy with a lot of atmosphere, humor.

Art by Marie & John Severin

The nonfiction is perhaps less definitive, but it has provided some inspiration to me in the course of the posts I've written so far.

Nonfiction:

Armstrong, Dorsey. Powerful Women of the Medieval World (Great Courses) — Vignettes on the lives of some figures of the Middle Ages.

Bale, Anthony. A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages — A fairly light, but informative series of examines of the stories of various travelers in the Middle Ages.

Devereaux, Bret. "Practical Polytheism," blog series  — A great read on how real polytheism worked.

Gies, Francis and Gies, Joseph. Life in a Medieval City — Street level (literally) view of life in the city of Troyes in 1250 CE.

Haywood, John. Historical Atlas of the Medieval World — Just the one I happened to have at home.

Hoffman-Becking, Dirk. History of the Germans (Podcast) — I particularly found this inspiring regarding the Great Kingdom.

Muesse, Mark W. Great World Religions: Hindusim (Great Courses) — useful inspiration for the thinking about the religions of Oerth.

Various. Osprey Publishing military books — mostly for the pictures of armors and armor of various cultures/eras.

[Greyhawk] Keoland

Proud Keoland is the oldest of the human nations of the Flanaess. Though diminished from its greatest glory, its rulers never bowed to lords of the Aerdi in the Great Kingdom. Its warriors have been successful in the main in protecting the land from invaders, though they have been powerless against the folly of its kings.

Keoland's origins are in the migrations following the war between Ancient Suel and Baklunish. Suloise refugees, harried by the humanoid warbands and reavers of their own people, fled across the Crystalmists and settled in the fertile basin formed by Sheldomar and Javan Rivers. The Flannae population of the region was small, owing to the depredations of the humanoids and a plague brought by earlier waves of Suloise fleeing war and destruction. The remnant Flannae and scattered demihumans were pushed to the fringes by the newcomers who sought to create a unified Suel kingdom but were thwarted by conflict with others and their own fractiousness.

In another century, the Oeridian Keogha peoples swept into the region, scattering the encircling humanoid tribes. The Oeridians came in friendship to the Suloise and demihumans alike, but they brooked no disagreement with their intention to share the land between the rivers. They expanded rapidly, soon claiming hegemony over all the human settlements, as they began to intermingle with the Suel peoples.

Eventually a monarchy was declared with the old Suloise town of Niole Dra as its capital. Over time, it would come to dominate the entire basin. This was not accomplished solely through conquest, however. Keoish kings shrewdly made allies of the demihuman lands Ulek and Celene.

The people came to embrace Nomism in the main (though pockets of folk religion still exist). In fact, it is possible the belief system may have coalesced here with the blending of Suel and Oeridian beliefs. Saint Cuthbert is the patron deity of Keoland, and the land's churches are adherent to Velunan doctrines and traditions.

Periodically over the centuries, Keoish kings have succumbed to dreams of empire. Such ambitions have tended to fare poorly beyond the two rivers. Indeed, Keoish entanglements elsewhere allowed the Sea Princes to gain a foothold to the South and lost the kingdom control of the Yeomanry. 

Though Keoland is currently at peace with its neighbors, it may be that it is being weakened by enemies from within. The ancient and entrenched noble houses game and scheme to see their house ascend the throne. Humanoid bands and human renegades lurk within the Dreadwood and the expansive [as in bigger than Ireland!] Hool Marsh. The coastal marshes rely on a brisk smuggling trade and secretly deal with the piratical Sea Princes.

Keoland's real world inspirations are perhaps not as distinct as many of the eras in the Aerdian East. The Mediterranean climate suggested by Anne Meyer's maps brought to mind for me the Iberian Peninsula. That might make the Keoish Oeridians the Vandals/Visigoths. On the other hand, it's position on the map, and its use of light cavalry reminiscent of the turcopoles are reminiscent of Byzantine Empire.

Greyhawk Rising

 

Last year, I was working on a blog series doing my own take on the world of Greyhawk. As it goes with these things, my interest petered out after a bit, and I moved on to other things. I'm feeling that Greyhawk jones coming on again, and I think I have at least a few more posts on that topic in me. We'll see, but if so it seemed a good time to revisit where I'd been. 

I summarized collated the posts summarizing what I wanted to do with the project and the first batch of posts here.

I had three posts after that:

The Wild Coast

North Province

South Province

The Apocalypse Now

Art by Jeff Easley

A lot has been written about the "Myth of the Frontier" underpinnings of D&D, and the games perhaps greater homology to Westerns than traditional fantasy in many ways. Interestingly, despite that clear element of the game's core assumptions, when we look at published D&D settings, we don't really see a frontier and expansion setup.

The implied setting of D&D, as a number of writers have pointed out, can also be said to be post-apocalyptic. That often conjures images of science fantasy writers from Appendix N, but of applies to in the literal sense if not the generic sense to the Hyborian Age of Conan and the 3rd Age of Middle Earth. Materially greater and in some ways more advanced civilizations must precede the current one for there to be so much wealth and magic to be looted in old ruins.

A post-apocalyptic setting allows the frontier to be closer at hand, and indeed really sort of obscures it even being a frontier, as no discernable border but instead the distance between "civilized points." Connecting these dots seems more reclamation than expansion.

That works, but in D&D settings like Greyhawk, Krynn, and the Forgotten Realms, the apocalypse is remote enough so that the current civilization doesn't seem post-apocalyptic, at least no more than the High Middle Ages seems to us recovering from the fall of Rome.

Yet, Greyhawk, for all its map full of named regions, heraldry, and rulers with elaborate titles, is really empty. Some of this exists to facilitate the desired game play, sure, but that's the Doylist explanation. I like the more Watsonian explanations of humanoid and demihuman groups that are not adequately censused coupled with events that have led to a decline in population.

As Chris Kutalik and other commentors suggested in his blog series of years ago, I think Greyhawk is best analogized not to some science fantasy post-apocalypse but to historical eras like the "Dark Ages" (or early Middle Ages) after the collapse of Rome, or the plague, famine and war riven period of the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages.

In many ways, I think, Greyhawk reads better as a setting where the apocalypse (or at least an apocalypse) is not the remote past but happening now or relatively recently. This isn't so much a total destruction kind of apocalypse but a "civilization is dealt a blow" sort of one. This allows for the breadth and complexity of social structures described in Greyhawk, but also for the population numbers and available real estate for enterprising adventures to carve out something for themselves. 

It's "points of light" to use the modern descriptor, but not (like so many of those settings) a rather static period, but one where there are still roving bands of invaders (humanoids, monsters, or armies of other human nations) and isolated communities that must either grow larger and more resilient or be wiped out. I should add, There's no one way the communities have approach this problem to survive. Orcs settling down to live in some sort of peace is potentially just as possible as driving them out and killing them.

I think this sort of implied framing could be fun to lean into. D&D settings need more Random Calamitous Event Tables and societies in flux (like we see in some epic fantasy like A Song of Ice and Fire). Christopher Buehlman's historical horror novel Between Two Fires and his fantasy series beginning with the Blacktongue Thief where human civilization is still dealing with the fallout from a disastrous (and still simmering) war with goblinkind are great inspirations, as well.

[Greyhawk] The Wild Coast

In the waning days of the Great Kingdom, folk who were faced with debts they could not pay or disagreements with the legal authorities that might see them imprisoned or facing the hangman often found it convenient to flee narrow area of flatwood, sandhill, and wetland along the Northwest edge of Wooly Bay. There, they would be, if not welcomed, at least accepted into the independent community that had grown up among the several, squabbling towns. The region had an infamous reputation and was known as the Wild Coast.

Primarily, the Wild Coast served as a safe haven for brigands and outlaws from the woodlands west and smugglers and pirates from Wooly Bay to the east. Trade went on between the groups without fear of Dyvers' or Greyhawk's tax agents. The towns grew up to crater to the needs of these clientele but also drew others in search of freedom: escaped serfs and slaves, political dissidents, fringe religionists, and more than a few nonhumans. 

The freedom of the Wild Coast was just as often manifest as lawlessness. Existence was precarious when local powers shift quickly and much of the population is transitory. Humanoids raided up from Pomarj and monsters driven out of other areas sometimes found this sparsely populated region ideal.

It seems like Gygax wanted the Wild Coast to evoke a bit of the American "Wild West." I drew inspiration from a number of places: the Romagna during the late Middle Ages/early modern period, Barataria Bay in the early 19th Century. Mostly, it's just a fantasy region though.

[Greyhawk] North Province

Art by Mihai Radu

The Overking was traditionally appointed by vote of the magnates ruling the constituent territories of the Aedi. One of these was the region now called North Province which was held by House Naelax since the Great Kingdom's founding.

In time, Naelax seized the Malachite Throne themselves after the period of strife known as the Turmoil between Crowns. This dynasty came to a end under Ivid V, sometimes called Ivid the Mad, though that epithet fails perhaps to distinguish him from his predecessors. Before his ascension, the young Ivid was hardly considered a likely candidate for the throne, given that he was not possessed of any exceptional qualities to make him standout from his numerous siblings. 

In the fullness of time, though, Ivid was proved to possess the most essential quality for rulership: he was still alive. Not a few of his siblings were likely murdered and these assassinations are laid at the feet of Ivid's cousin and staunchest supporter, Grennell, who was ultimately elevated to Herzog of North Province.

Grennell, born to a cadet branch of House Naelax, was not in line to inherit even a lesser holding, so he put his skills at the application of violence to use, first in skirmishes against the Northern Barbarians and orcs, and then as assassin for his cousin, first in secret, then more brazenly. In the end he was rewarded with a ducal throne. After the reign of terror perpetrated by the pair, there were few other potential claimants left.

By all accounts, Grennell is a man of perversity and sadism. People who had displeased him or even ones who provoked his interest for any reason were taken by his henchmen and brought to his Iron Tower where they were subjected to the art of a scarred hobgoblin who served as his chief torturer or the attentions of the Herzog himself. His passions excited by these horrors, he then joined his retainers in feasting, gambling and debauchery.

The commoners and lesser landholders of the area around Eastfair lived in fear of their Herzog. Many have taken to having their children and heirs moved to the hinterlands or even out of the province to at least save them from Grennell's appetites.

[Greyhawk] South Province

Under the enlightened rule of the Herzogin Eliamund, South Province could reasonably boast to being the most cultured and genteel realm of the Aerdi. The first Aerdian university was founded with her encouragement and patronage. The poets and troubadours who were welcome at her court composed ballads of chivalry, romance, and courtly love that then spread throughout the Kingdom. Perhaps owing to a culture dating back to the realm of Flan queen Ehlissa, women enjoyed a greater role in South Kingdom than in the more patriarchal north.

In the North, legends painted Ehlissa as a wicked enchantress, cruel to her subjects. The Southron troubadours, however, sang of her as a wise and benevolent, an interpretation encouraged by Eliamund.

This bright age did not last. The Turmoil Between Crowns saw Eliamund forced from the throne. She lived out her remaining days in an abbey. 

The South Province of 576 CY was not the land it once was. An ill-favored cousin of the Overking, Faastal, sat upon the ducal chair, a man incompetent as he was arrogant. He had been given a task that would have challenged someone of greater talents: to put down rebellion in the South and return the cities of the Iron League to royal control. Faastal crushed the people with taxes to fund his military blunders and dealt over-harshly with any dissent. His efforts only served to stoke the fires of rebellion he had been sent to quell.

For the rebel bands hiding in the forests and the towns barricaded against the Herzog's men, Eliamund became a symbol of their struggle and was given devotion like a saint or hero-god. 

Greyhawk So Far

I've got more posts to come, but I figured it was a good time to put all the posts I've written so far together in one place:

The project idea (though it's perhaps become a bit less Medieval over time than I initially intended. It's still a large part, but not the sole focus).

The Bone March

The Horned Society

The Iron League

Ket

The Holy See of Medegia

The Pale

Rel Astra

The Duchy of Tenh

The Aerdian Church of Law

And some real-world images for terrain inspiration.

[Greyhawk] The Bone March

Art by Keith Parkinson

The barbarians swept out of the hills in a ravening horde, without warning, and stormed Venarium with such fury none could stand before them. Men, women, and children were butchered. Venarium was reduced to a mass of charred ruins, as it is to this day. The Aquilonians were driven back across the marches and have never since tried to colonize the Cimmerian country. 

- Robert E, Howard, "Beyond the Black River"

The Bone March comes by its ill-omened name due to the number of bodies fallen and carelessly interred in its plains and forested hills. The Aerdi added it to their kingdom but paid dearly to wrest it from the Fruztii. The new margravate was awarded to the hero knight Caldni Vir, who led the charge that broke the siege of Spinecastle. For over 400 years, the Aerdi presence grew in the region, and the Overkingdom's greater concerns were elsewhere.

The so-called humanoid presence in the Raker Mountains had long been known. They had been pushed there by conflict with the Flan and Frustii. The Flan in particular made a regular practice of harrying them so that their numbers didn't grow too large. Many a Tenha youth found first glory in a raid on an orcish settlement.

After an increase in assaults against Aerdian villages and sorties against outposts, orcs and their allies launched a full-scale invasion in 561 CY. By 563, Aerdian Bone March had fallen, and the Markgraf Clement was slain.

An account by a priest of the Church of Law at Spinecastle who escaped alive is recorded in the annals of the Aerdi Chronicle: "The inhumans came forth into the March in terrible numbers, inflamed with fury. This followed long months where raiders attacked with most savage frenzy manors and villages of the hinterlands, and the horde exulted in fire, pillage, and slaughter. They were utterly cruel in inflicting torture, greedy in plundering, most insolent in abuse, even unto the sacred Houses of Holy Law."

Reports such as these fed the popular idea of the orc as a unique threat to the Overkingdom and the Realms of Law in general. In fact, humans were able to interact with orcs peaceful to a greater degree than other humanoid species due to their greater intelligence and relative lack of desire to use humans as a food source. Though their day-to-day existence was precarious, humans did remain within the March, and some less scrupulous and more daring individuals even prospered as intermediaries between human and humanoid societies.

It is true that orcs often tend to reserve a particular disdain for the clergy of Law who they seem to view as witches and agents of oppression. Native orcish religion is dualistic with two "houses" or "tribes" of deities, one of which is fiery, aggressive, or volatile and another that is serene, defensive or stable. Deities have been known to move from one group to the other and some deities are difficult to qualify. Human scholars have historically struggled with translating this distinction and have tended to default to their own dichotomies of "law and chaos" or "good and evil." Protracted conflict with humans over their time in the Flanaess has led orcs to turn to the fiery gods and promoted the importance of the Gruumsh cult.

[Greyhawk] The Duchy of Tenh

Tenh (the nh diagraph is pronounced as a voiced palatal nasal like the Spanish ñ) as the heir to the proud culture of the Flannae. Its people have managed to only partial assimilate to the culture of the Oeridians even though their ruler was forced to accept the suzerainty of the Overking. 

The Tenha culture is not feudal in nature but structured around matrilineal clans. In the past, there was no organization higher than local chiefs (almost always male) who were selected by clan matriarchs, but pressure from invaders led to a more centralized structure and a Great Chief or King rose and forced all the local chiefs to swear fealty to him. The Clan Mothers still play an important role, but it is more ceremonial than in the past. The king is not appointed, but rather the title is inherited by the male child of his choosing of one his sisters, and that heir has the position of tanist conferred upon them while the king still lives.

The Tenha were nominally converted to the Church of Law, though Aerdian missionaries wisely incorporated the native Flan deity, Allitur in a prominent role. The missionaries were less successful in casting solar deity Pelor as a servant of Pholtus. Pholtan iconography, in fact, has been appropriated by the Tenha to represent their Sun God, and the festival at midsummer in his honor is still observed.

Druids are still a feature of Tenha society though they have mostly abandoned priestly duties and serve mainly as healers, diviners, and carriers of oral tradition. Druids in the modern Duchy are predominantly women.

The Oeridian term knight is used to refer to Tenha warriors who are part of a warrior society. Each society observes its own secret rituals and has special taboos. Most warrior societies are male only, though there is a group of unicorn riders which exclusively admits women. Their mounts are not the horned horses of popular imagination but rather a species of goat-antelope.

Imagine she's on a unicorn

[Greyhawk] Theocracy of the Pale

The area known as the Pale, as the name would suggest, once served as the border of Aerdy with the holdings of the Flan and the humanoid tribes. As the Great Kingdom declined, a Pholtan sect, the Followers of the Blinding Light, migrated to the region in a bid for self-governance and the freedom to practice their religion without suppression by the Aerdian Church of Law.

The settlements they established grew into the Theocracy of the Pale. The society of the Theocracy is still arranged along the lines of the original Blinding Light religious communities. The people are divided into the Elect, who have taken vows, and the Believers, who are the laity. The Elect are called to separate themselves from Chaotic world and so do not eat meat, abstain from alcohol, and remain celibate, among other restrictions. It is the Believers' duty to grow and prepare food and to bear children to grow their community, and the Elect pray for them so that they may be cleansed of these necessary sins of worldliness.

In the name of the defense of their country and faith, a third group has emerged. The warrior monks of the Sword of Radiance are counted among the Elect but are allowed to partake of meat if necessary to sustain their fighting strength, and most importantly, to commit acts of violence in Pholtus' name. 

The Sword defends and expands the borders of the Pale into the lands of the heathen Flan and nonhumans. It can also be turned inward, acting to enforce the will of Pholtus as revealed by the Theocrat and to root out blasphemy and wickedness, particularly as accompanies the practice of magic.

Inspired by the Runequest style cult format, here's more information on the Church of the Blinding Light:

[Greyhawk] The Aerdian Church of Law

Nomism (not to be confused with Gnomism!) is the umbrella term for the doctrinally diverse and often competing churches of Law in the Flanaess. These traditions all hold the belief that cosmic order derived from the divine force of Law must be maintained and supported against destructive Chaos which threatens all existence.

Nomism in the Eastern Flanaess developed from Oeridian polytheism and philosophical ideas borrowed from the Bakluni and Suel. The various traditions hold in common that Law is divine and transcendent and has transmitted through holy writ a body of rules for orderly society and virtuous living. Faithful adherents are promised an afterlife in a Lawful Plane. The traditions often differ in regard to cosmogony, the status of gods, ordination of priests, and interpretation of scripture. 

The primary canonical text of the churches of the Eastern Flanaess is the Book of The Eternal Law, which is a liturgical manual, code of clerical behavior, and collection of aphorisms. Also important are the Twelve Tablets of the Law of the Aerdi which lay out the foundations and principles of Aerdian society and jurisprudence. Various commentaries on both the Twelve Tablets and Aerdian common law are also considered canonical.

The hymns and verses of the Book of The Eternal Law reveal a cosmology wherein certain gods of the Oerid tradition are viewed as "Lawful" and so worthy of veneration as "of the substance and essence" of Law. Chief among these is Pholtus, the Oeridian polytheistic god of heavenly light, though many others are considered important.

Other old gods are deemed "Chaotic" and deprecated if not outright suppressed as "antinomian" and thus, anathema. The faith also recognizes hosts of "rebel angels," beings of "the substance of Law" who broke their oaths of fealty and now work to establish their own, flawed order in the universe. These are the Devils.

Nomism views no law as entirely secular, though it does differentiate between immutable, divine principles and customary law. Nomist priests act as advisors for temporal rulers and higher-level clerics serve an appellate function for decisions of local temporal powers. The Aerdian Church which co-developed with the Great Kingdom of Aerdy, has a supreme Hierarch who is elevated above the others in their role as "Holy Censor," the highest religious authority and (theoretically) final arbiter of legal disagreements within the churches sphere.

Commentary: This is admittedly a fair bit of additional material when compared with the sparseness on this topic in the Folio and is fairly divergent in some details. Canonical Greyhawk is polytheistic (or henotheistic) with religious institutions that gesture toward historical, monotheistic models. I chose to adapt the polytheism to something more like the implied D&D setting monotheism, and got a religion that has elements of, well, a lot of real-world belief systems but in a way a think seems plausible and playable.

Setting Presentation Again

 Not for the first time, I've been thinking about the best presentation style for setting material. This time it was prompted by re-reading the Greyhawk Folio and noting it's ergodic nature. While I'm partial to the format I used in Strange Stars, it is very picture heavy and probably works better for science fiction than for fantasy. I am fond of the approach Jack Shear took in Krevborna and here's an attempt at the Holy See of Medegia (which I've covered before. Sorry!) presented in a format that borrows a bit from that and a bit from other places like Fabula Ultima and Strange Stars OSR.

MEDEGIA

The Holy See of Medegia

Theocrat fiefdom ruled by a corrupt cleric allied to the Overking of Aerdy

While nominally still the supreme religious authority in the Aerdi lands, the Holy Censor has seen his clerical authority decline with the weakening of the Great Kingdom, even as his temporal power has increased over holdings granted and seized around the city of Mentrey. The Censor remains an ally to the Malachite Throne, if a cautious one, he cares little for the moral or temporal restoration of Aerdy so long as he can continue to fill his own coffers.

Aesthetics: High-spired temples; imposing and stern marble statues of Lawful gods; clergy dressed in finery, the poor groveling for alms outside the temple doors; swaggering mercenaries in livery of the temples, chained debtor in public stocks

Locales: forbidden, hidden library of the Holy See, reliquary with the remains of saints of heroes, secret site to worship chaos gods in the forest

People:

• Spidasa, His Equitable Nemesis, Holy Censor of Medegia. Unimaginative as he is venal and grasping.
• Sister Hildegrund, Imposing, scarfaced former paladin with a vow to aid the poor. Abbess of a hospital in Pontylver.
• Captain Ribaldo Belswagger, Captain of the City Guard, mustachioed dandy who is always looking for a bribe.
• Delienn Goodfellow, Wood elf bandit, Robin Hood-type figure to the rural peasantry.

So with this I was looking to convey the basics of the area so that a DM could understand it quickly and know how to convey it features in game. I also wanted adventure seeds to immediately come to mind. I probably would even suggest some possibilities, but I also want to keep it short. The bit of history paraphrasing the Folio might be unnecessary, but I feel like it helps the entirety of the setting cohere, maybe.

Postcards from the Flanaess

 In thinking about Greyhawk for my recent posts, I've been inspired by Anna Meyer's great maps. Particularly her climate map which has challenged me to consider locations in the context of not just their historical European cultural inspirations, but their often not-European climate.

Ket

I didn't mention it in my post on Ket, but Meyer places it in the Dfa (humid continental) region which would make it like much of the American Midwest, perhaps Nebraska as pictured above.

Perrenland

Greyhawk's Switzerland Meyer puts in the Bsk (cold, semi-arid) Köppen climate region. Something like Denver or Boulder CO would be similar.

Lordship of the Isles

On Meyer's map, these islands fall into the Cfa (humid subtropical) region like the American Southeast or Bermuda. Given that they are in the tropics, though, I wonder if they might be better represented by Cuba or the Florida Keys and be mostly tropical savanna (Aw)

Keoland

Though the U1 describes the area of Saltmarsh being like the coast of Southern England, its location would put it in a climate region Af (tropical rainforest).