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166-566: This is a list of deities from the Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game . Al'Akbar is the Baklunish demigod of dignity, duty, faithfulness, and guardianship. His symbol is a cup and eight-pointed star, images of the legendary Cup and Talisman that now bear his name. Al'Akbar is subordinate to the other Baklunish gods, remaining

332-663: A military history buff and pulp fantasy fan, was a central, founding figure in the Castle & Crusade Society . The C&C Society, as it was known, served enthusiasts of miniature wargaming in the Middle Ages and published an occasional newsletter known as the Domesday Book . Following up on a promise he made in Domesday Book #5, Gygax presented the "Great Kingdom" map c. June 1971 in Domesday #9, to be used as

498-503: A 34" x 44" (86 cm x 112 cm) two-piece color map of the Flanaess. Reviewers were generally impressed, but some remarked on the lack of a pantheon of Greyhawk-specific deities, as well as the lack of any mention of the infamous dungeons of Castle Greyhawk. Game designer Jim Bambra found the original set "disappointing", because "there is only so much information you can cram into a 32-page booklet, particularly when covering such

664-528: A balancing attribute created for earlier editions". Tresca opined that the introduction of eladrin "restored elves in Dungeons & Dragons to the mysterious, sometimes dangerous, and altogether powerful status they enjoyed in Middle-earth ". The elf was included as a player race in the 5th edition Player's Handbook (2014). Three subraces were introduced with it: the high elf, the wood elf, and

830-421: A battle axe, a battle pick, a longsword, a mace, and a falchion. His other form is that of an athletic young male, with dark hair and light skin. Hextor's realm is the citadel of Scourgehold on the plane of Acheron . Incabulos is the god of plagues, sickness, famine, nightmares, drought, and disasters. His unholy symbol is the magic icon called the "Eye of Possession," a green eye in a red diamond. Incabulos

996-632: A broad swath of the Flanaess known as the Empire of Iuz . Iuz was also named as one of the greatest villains in D&;D history by the final print issue of Dragon . His symbol is a grinning human skull, or a human skull with blood-red highlights. Iuz was created by E. Gary Gygax in his early Castle Greyhawk sessions in which Robert J. Kuntz 's character, Robilar was responsible for releasing nine demi-gods. Iuz emerged as one of these demi-gods. Jascar

1162-571: A cataclysm and adapted to live in caves in Mystara. The shadow elves are even paler than normal elves, with white hair and very clear eyes, usually a sparkling blue or gray color. The shadow elves are somewhat smaller and thinner than their surface cousins, standing about five feet tall and weighing about 100 pounds. Their ears are larger than those of wood elves, giving the shadow elves a sort of "walking radar" underground. Shadow elves have high-pitched voices—almost squeaky to human ears. High elves are

1328-701: A copy of every potion, spell, and magic item in existence. Bralm is the Suel goddess of Insects and Industriousness. Her symbol is a giant wasp in front of an insect swarm. Bralm was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Bralm's realm, known as the Hive Fortress , is in the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron , in

1494-867: A distinction is not made for the elves. However, the elven realms have different attitudes towards their neighbours and other Cerilian inhabitants. Those ruled by Rhuobhe Manslayer, also called the Elf, are encouraged to hate humans, sometimes participating in the Gheallie Sidhe, the Hunt of the Elves, which set out to slaughter humans. Other realms set up magical barriers on their borders to prevent unwanted visitors. The 2nd edition setting allows player characters to be elves or half-elves as adventurers but also as regents , giving them control of provinces, law holdings, guilds and magical sources. While humans have to be infused with

1660-523: A divine bloodline in order to cast true magic, the elves already have a connection to the land and can utilise the magical power of the land's mebhaighl without being blooded. However, the elven societies do not trust any deities, especially not those followed by humans, so there are no elven priests or temples. The world of Aebyrnis (of which Cerilia is a continent) was once joined with the Shadow World. On this plane of shadows and illusions, now exists

1826-462: A dungeon setting. He and Arneson agreed to co-develop a set of rules, and Gygax quickly developed a castle and dungeon of his own, "Castle Greyhawk", set within his portion of the Great Kingdom map. Castle Greyhawk is sometimes considered the first dungeon in Dungeons & Dragons and pioneered the roots of the mega-dungeon format of gaming. Two of his children, Ernie and Elise, were

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1992-531: A family of elven races — the sylvans, the drows, and the eladrins — in the fourth edition Player's Handbook (2008). This version of the elf returns in the Essentials rulebook Heroes of the Fallen Lands (2010). The elf appears in the fourth edition Monster Manual (2008). Tresca explained that this edition allowed elves and humans to be equal in height and "deemphasized their low constitution,

2158-589: A fantasy supplement for the Chainmail ruleset for medieval miniatures that he was co-writing with Jeff Perren . Released in the late spring of 1971, this booklet included rules for fantasy monsters, wizards and magical weapons. Around the same time, in Minneapolis–St. Paul, Dave Arneson , impressed by the " Braunstein " role-playing games of fellow wargamer David Wesely , developed the Barony of Blackmoor as

2324-450: A few evil deities to provide some villainy. In Chapter 2 of The Gnome Cache , which appeared in the second issue of The Dragon , a shrine to St. Cuthbert (spelled St. Cuthburt ) was mentioned, which was the first published reference to a Greyhawk deity. In 1976, Gygax invited the science fiction/fantasy writer Andre Norton to play Dungeons & Dragons in his Greyhawk world. Norton subsequently wrote Quag Keep , which involved

2490-533: A few of the adventure modules, were published by TSR. Although Gygax originally intended to immediately publish more details of Greyhawk in Dragon on a regular basis, other projects intervened, and it was not until the August 1981 issue of Dragon that Len Lakofka , in his column "Leomund's Tiny Hut", outlined methods for determining a character's place of birth and languages spoken. Gygax added an addendum concerning

2656-511: A fractious place where chaos and evil were in the ascendant and courageous champions would be needed. In order to explain how his world had arrived at this state, he wrote an outline of a thousand years of history. As a military history buff, he was very familiar with the concept of waves of cultural invasions, such the Picts of Great Britain being invaded by the Celts , who were in turn invaded by

2822-482: A freelance artist in Lake Geneva, developed a full color map on a hex grid. Gygax was so pleased with the result that he quickly switched his home Greyhawk campaign over to the new world he had created. Ultimately, the original Castle Greyhawk was never published for public play, instead with many of the elements of Gygax's original campaign becoming the seed for other adventures. In the late 1960s, Gary Gygax ,

2988-595: A game setting for the Society. Members thereafter began claiming territories, including member Dave Arneson , who was an officer of the organization, and frequent contributor to the newsletter. Arneson claimed a territory he named Blackmoor , a setting he had already begun developing in his home campaign, and Gygax reserved for himself a territory on lake Nyr Div. In addition to historically-based medieval wargaming, both Gygax and Arneson were enthusiasts of adding fantasy elements to their games. To this end, Gygax created

3154-533: A group of gamers who travel from the real world to Greyhawk. It was the first novel to be set, at least partially, in the Greyhawk setting, and according to Alternative Worlds , the first to be based on D&D . Quag Keep was excerpted in issue #12 of The Dragon (February 1978) just prior to the book's release. From 1976 to 1979, Gygax also shared some glimpses of his home campaign with other gamers when he set several TSR Dungeons & Dragons adventures in

3320-401: A hunt, wearing a velvet cloak and carrying an expensive crossbow. Keptolo is the consort of Lolth . He is polite and unctuous to Kiaransalee and Vhaeraun , but insincere in his flattery. He despises Zinzerena , who tricked a portion of his power from him in order to empower her own ascension. Kord is the Suel god of Athletics, Sports, Storms, Brawling, Strength, and Courage. His symbol

3486-567: A large area". Before the folio edition was released, Gygax planned to publish supplementary information, using his column "From the Sorcerer's Scroll" that appeared on a semi-regular basis in TSR's Dragon Magazine . In the May 1980 issue, Gygax gave a quick overview of the development of his new The World of Greyhawk folio. For players who planned to use large scale army tactics, he gave details of

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3652-478: A laughing Touv man carrying a great shield and a cluster of saplings. Kundo is the son of Xanag , goddess of metals, and Vogan , god of rain and storms. Xanag's beauty entranced Vonag. Greyhawk The World of Greyhawk is located on a planet called Oerth. Oerth has an axial tilt of 30 degrees, which causes greater seasonal temperature variation than on Earth and is controlled by wizardly and divine magic that shifts weather patterns to be more favorable to

3818-403: A map of North America, adding new cities and regions as his world slowly grew through ongoing adventures. The city and castle of Greyhawk were placed near the real-world position of Chicago, his birthplace; various other places were clustered around it. For instance, the rival city of Dyvers he placed in the area of real-world Milwaukee. Gygax also continued to develop the dungeons underneath

3984-622: A mere demigod out of respect for them. His faithful oppose the sadistic elemental cults of Ull . Al'Akbar is allied with Heironeous . Al'Akbar's priests use the Cup and Talisman as metaphors for the good life, urging their flocks to be vessels of kindness and emblems of devotion. Al'Akbar was the most exalted high priest in what are now the lands of the Paynims . After the Invoked Devastation , during that time of misery and suffering, he

4150-417: A new fantasy world of Yarth. The Flanaess is the eastern part of the continent of Oerik, one of the four continents of Oerth, acting as the setting of dozens of adventures published between the 1970s and 2000s. In late 1972, Dave Arneson demonstrated a new type of game to a group of gamers in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, including game designer Gygax. Gygax agreed to develop a set of rules with Arneson and get

4316-519: A new magical spell for the game, he would sometimes use the name of a wizard character from his home campaign to add verisimilitude to the spell name, such as Melf's acid arrow , Melf being a character created by his son Luke. Some of the characters who became synonymous with Greyhawk at that time included: Gary Gygax wrote a short story titled "The Expedition Into the Black Reservoir", subtitled "A Dungeon Adventure at Greyhawk Castle", which

4482-473: A new world for them afterward. With the release of the AD&;D Players Handbook in 1978, many players were intrigued by the connection of Greyhawk characters to magical spells such as Tenser's floating disc , Bigby's crushing hand , and Mordenkainen's faithful hound . The AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide , released the following year, also made references to the dungeons of Castle Greyhawk. Players' curiosity

4648-406: A pantheon of deities custom-made for humans in the world of Greyhawk. In addition to his original Greyhawk deities, St. Cuthbert and Pholtus, Gygax added seventeen more deities. Although later versions of the campaign setting would assign most of these deities to worship by specific races of humans, at this time they were generally worshiped by all humans of the Flanaess. Shortly after the release of

4814-478: A part of an evil country; and still others might take a neutral stance and simply try to collect gold and treasure from both sides. TSR originally intended to publish The World of Greyhawk (TSR 9025) early in 1979, but it was not released until August 1980. The World of Greyhawk consisted of a 32-page folio (the first edition is often called the World of Greyhawk folio to distinguish it from later editions) and

4980-518: A pegasus or a horse. He wields a great hammer, which is the bane of all undead. Jascar is the brother of Fortubo, and a close ally of Phaulkon. He is the sworn enemy of Beltar. Jascar associates little with other gods, who see him as driven and aloof. Johydee is the Oeridian goddess of Deception, Espionage, and Protection. Her sacred animal is the chameleon. Her symbol is a small stylized mask of onyx. Johydee can take any form, but usually appears as

5146-438: A player, and appointed Rob to be co- Dungeon Master of Greyhawk. This freed up Gygax to work on other projects, and also gave him an opportunity to participate as a player, creating characters like Yrag and Mordenkainen . In order to make room for Rob Kuntz's dungeons, Gygax scrapped his bottom level and integrated Rob's work into the Greyhawk dungeons. Gygax and Kuntz continued to develop new levels for their players, and by

List of Greyhawk deities - Misplaced Pages Continue

5312-407: A player, often going one-on-one with Rob Kuntz as Dungeon Master, Gygax immersed his own characters in politics and large-scale battles. Knowing that there would be some players looking for a town in which to base their campaign, and others interested in politics or warfare, Gygax tried to include as much detail as possible about each region, including a short description of the region and its people,

5478-463: A second level for the dungeon. At the next play session, Ernie and Elise were joined by Gygax's friends: Don Kaye , Rob Kuntz , and Terry Kuntz . About a month after his first session, Gygax created the nearby city of Greyhawk, where the players' characters could sell their treasure and find a place to rest. As Gygax and Arneson worked to develop and publish the rules for Dungeons & Dragons through TSR , Gygax continued to design and present

5644-469: A setting for Braunstein style games. Arneson based his game around the village, castle and dungeons of Blackmoor. The castle itself was represented on the table by an actual plastic kit model of a medieval castle. Arneson informed the players that instead of controlling regiments, they would each take one individual character into the castle of the Barony of Blackmoor to explore its dangerous dungeons. Arneson drew from numerous sources but quickly incorporated

5810-817: A soul and a spirit is that souls live one life on the Material Plane and then spend eternity in whatever plane their chosen deity resides, while spirits are eventually reincarnated back into the Material Plane". In several campaign settings , elves have their own pantheon often known as the Seldarine; this pantheon usually consists of the leader Corellon Larethian , as well as Aerdrie Faenya, Deep Sashelas, Erevan Ilesere, Fenmarel Mestarine, Hanali Celanil, Labelas Enoreth, Rillifane Rallathil, Sehanine Moonbow, and Solonor Thelandira. Other elven gods may be present in different campaign settings. Half-elves are

5976-511: A young red-haired thief. Dalt is a lesser deity, almost forgotten on the world of Oerth but slowly gaining more followers. He is primarily worshipped by the Suloise people in the southeastern Flanaess . Damaran is the Touv god of vermin and other creeping things, as well as the flight-instinct essential to survival. His symbol is ribbons of black metal. Damaran is the vermin that scuttles. He

6142-461: A young woman with grey eyes and honey-blonde hair. Though she comes off as mischievous and flighty, this is little more than a mask to hide her true intentions. Her allies are few, and she never sides with evil. Followers of Johydee are urged to protect themselves with many layers of deception, keeping their true intentions hidden from the knowledge of their enemies, and to know more of their foes than their foes know of them. They are taught to judge well

6308-488: Is a waterspout . Geshtai was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Geshtai is depicted as a young Baklunish woman carrying a clay jug. She stands in a pool of water with Gumus, her fish companion. In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting and the default pantheon of deities for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons , Heironeous

6474-467: Is a copper disk. Katay is the inventor of the Touv Calendar , and records all events on a metallic wheel given to him by Xanag . Katay is depicted as an elderly man with young eyes, wearing a decaying animal pelt and carrying a great copper disk inscribed with Touv runes. Katay is the son of Breeka , born without a father. Kelanen is the hero-deity of Swords, Sword Skills, and Balance. Possibly

6640-412: Is a headdress of wooden beads and animal teeth. Breeka is the manifestation of all aspects of nature, both helpful and harmful (unlike her grandfather Uvot , who represents only nature's bounty). Breeka is, by turns, helpful, indifferent, and harmful. She is troubled by the nightmares given to her by Vara . She is depicted as a middle-aged Touv woman with dark green skin and worry lines on her face. Breeka

6806-412: Is a red metal heart, preferably red gold. Berna is depicted as a Touv woman wearing the skin of a jungle cat. A red-gold heart shines from her chest. Berna is the third child of the serpent god Meyanok , transformed by the power of Xanag from a spirit of hate to one of passion. Her older siblings are Vara and Damaran . Her grandmother is Breeka and her great-grandmother is the sun goddess Nola , who

List of Greyhawk deities - Misplaced Pages Continue

6972-474: Is a stylized mushroom, which symbolizes intoxication and male fertility. He is intelligent, stylish, and exquisitely decadent; in all ways he is the ideal of the upper class male drow. His typical appearance is that of a young dark elvish noble, dressed in elegant silks of red, purple, jet black, and amber hues. He carries on his person a thin and elegant poniard and longsword, and in combat he wields them both simultaneously. Alternatively, he may be dressed as if for

7138-475: Is an armed man standing atop a stone summit. Azor'alq is a tall, handsome warrior with a dark complexion. He wears fine chain mail and his helm is topped with peacock feathers. His long curved sword, of elven make, is known as Faruk . Azor'alq is a member of the Baklunish pantheon. In the past, he has been a foe of the demon lords Munkir and Nekir. Azor'alq's sanctum can be entered through the highest peak in

7304-407: Is an eight-pointed star composed of spears and maces. Kord is depicted as a hugely muscular man with a red beard and long red hair. He wears a fighting girdle made from a red dragon's hide, gauntlets from a white dragon's hide, and boots from a blue dragon's hide. He wields the greatsword Kelmar in battle. Kord is sometimes depicted by his urbanized faithful as a more civilized athlete or wrestler. He

7470-527: Is an iron mule, as sturdy and patient as himself. Bleredd was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Bleredd is the one who originally taught the Oeridians iron-working. He is a pragmatic sort, preferring work to idle talk. He created many of the artifacts used by his family, including his hammer of thunderbolts, Fury, and his wife's hammer Skull Ringer. In Bleredd's creed,

7636-609: Is believed to warn halfling adventurers of impending danger. Her holy symbol is a burning boot-print. Charmalaine is a young halfling woman with alert eyes, black oiled leather armor, and boots coated in mud. She carries a mace called Fair Warning and is usually seen with Xaphan, her ferret familiar. She is energetic, spontaneous, and fearless. Charmalaine preaches vigilance and attention to one's environment. Her followers are urged to hone their reflexes, to be quick on their feet, to enjoy exploration but also safety. They are taught that too many material things can be too much weight. Cyndor

7802-413: Is depicted as a brown-skinned, kindly-looking woman carrying a sickle. Berei can most often be found in the first layer of Elysium , in the realm of Principality . Berei tries to strengthen the ties of family and community, and urges care in the planting of crops. Berna is the Touv goddess of passion and forgiveness. Formerly, she was the goddess of hatred and vendettas, but she got better. Her symbol

7968-450: Is depicted as a strong Touv man with a skulking look about him, accompanied by rats and insects. Damaran obeys his father, Meyanok , unquestioningly, and is easily bullied into service by his older sister Vara . He often flees when confronted by enemies of any strength. The Touv gods inhabit the "spirit world" coterminous with the realms of the Touv, a somewhat hypothetical realm. Daoud is

8134-453: Is extraordinarily fine, always worn long, with the appearance and texture of exquisitely fine silk. The hair is silver, and eye color is a pale, almost ice-blue. They are androgynous in appearance, making it difficult for outsiders to tell males and females apart. "Rockseers have been separated from the rest of elvenkind since mythic times. Their own history tells that they were cowards at the great battle of Corellon Larethian and Lolth, fleeing

8300-767: Is known as the Many, and is worshipped by many gnoll, troll , ogre , and bugbear tribes, in addition to humans. His symbol is a red blood drop, or a bestial mask representing Erythnul's changing visage. Erythnul was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in "The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #71 (1983). Erythnul is called the Many, because in battle his features continually shift from human to bugbear to troll to ogre to gnoll and back to human again. His spilled blood transforms into similar creatures. Erythnul delights in panic and slaughter. He can spread fear through his eyes. Fharlanghn ,

8466-687: Is known as the Uncaring, the Lord of All Magic, and the Archmage of the Deities. All times and places are open to him, and he has visited many alternate realities and planes unknown to the wisest of sages, places even the Elder Evils avoid. His symbol is an eye in a pentagon; usually this is worn as an amulet. Boccob was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in "The Deities and Demigods of

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8632-485: Is known to the elves as "Ehlenestra." Her holy symbol is a rampant unicorn or a unicorn's horn. Ehlonna was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in "The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #68 (1982). Ehlonna is variously depicted as an elven or human woman, and often associates with unicorns and other sylvan creatures. Deep within the Beastlands layer of Krigala

8798-750: Is located on the first layer of the Gray Waste , Oinos. Istus is the goddess of Fate, Destiny, Divination, and the Future. She is known as the Lady of Our Fate and the Colorless and All-Colored. Her symbol is a golden spindle with three strands. Iuz (pronounced YOOZ, EE-uz or EYE-ooze) is the chaotic evil demigod of Deceit, Evil, Oppression, Pain, and Wickedness. Iuz is variously called "The Old One" and "Old Wicked," among other titles. Unlike most Greyhawk deities, Iuz makes his home on Oerth , where he rules

8964-625: Is seen by some as introversion or xenophobia . They were usually portrayed as antagonistic towards dwarves . There are numerous different subraces and subcultures of elves, including aquatic elves, dark elves ( drow ), deep elves (rockseer), grey elves, high elves, moon elves, snow elves, sun elves, valley elves, wild elves ( grugach ), wood elves and winged elves ( avariel ). The offspring of humans and elves are known as " half-elves " among humans and in sourcebooks, and as "half-humans" among elves. Gary Gygax claimed Dungeons & Dragons elves draw very little from Tolkien 's version of

9130-725: Is the Flan god of Ethics and Propriety. His holy symbol is a pair of clasped hands. Allitur was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Allitur is depicted as a Flan man riding a horse, Keph, who never tires. Allitur's realm is Empyrea , The City of Tempered Souls. Empyrea sits on the edge of a cold, clear mountain lake on Mount Celestia's fifth layer, Mertion. The many healing fountains and curative waters in Empyrea can restore withered limbs, lost speech, derangement, and life energy itself; those who ail need only find

9296-594: Is the Flan goddess of the Oerth , Nature, and Rain. She is also known as the Oerth Mother. Her symbol is either a green disk marked with a circle or a rotund, female figurine. Beory was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Beory is considered to be a manifestation of the Oerth itself. She does not care for anything else, and mortals or other deities only concern her if they threaten

9462-511: Is the Grove of the Unicorns , a realm she shares with the like-minded goddess Mielikki . Ehlonna teaches that the animals and plants of the forests are gifts, and are not to be stolen. She is often the goddess of rangers and druids and opposes hunters and anyone who would exploit the land for fun or profit. Erythnul is the Oeridian god of hate, envy, malice, panic, ugliness, and slaughter. He

9628-465: Is the Oeridian god of Time, Infinity, and Continuity. His symbol is a rounded hourglass set on its side, much like the symbol for infinity. Cyndor was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Cyndor is depicted as a towering, featureless humanoid with powerful block-like limbs. This form symbolizes the inevitability of time itself. Cyndor directs Merikka in her tasks. It

9794-419: Is the Oeridian hero-deity of defenses and fortifications. Daern's holy symbol is a shield hanging from a parapet . She is often associated with griffins. Daern's priests often advise military leaders on proper placement and construction of fortifications, castles, and keeps. Her priests are valued among rulers who wish to establish stronger borders. The priesthood favors the shortspear. In her mortal life, Daern

9960-470: Is the Suel god of Hills and Mountains, first detailed in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting . His holy symbol is a snow-capped mountain peak. Jascar appears as a muscular human male with a dark beard and breastplate of shining silver. He lacks the color and features of the Suel race, despite his origins. His visage is said to strike terror into the hearts of goblins and orcs. He is sometimes depicted as

10126-401: Is the Touv god of building, noise, music, and defense. His symbol is an ornate but functional shield or breastplate. Kundo is the union of storm and metal, a loud and boisterous guardian god obsessed with building and construction. He is the sound of metal on metal, or the roar of the summer rains on the roofs of shelters, or the happy songs sung by those who build and protect. He is depicted as

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10292-399: Is the dwarven hero-god of Fatalism and Obsession. His symbol is a waraxe bearing the dwarven rune for destruction. The Doomed Dwarf's appearance is said to be unremarkable except for his sandy blond hair and beard. His dwarven waraxe, Forgotten Hope , screams every time a community of dwarves is attacked. He is in many ways the picture of a dwarven stereotype: dour, taciturn, and focused on

10458-538: Is the Lawful Good Oeridian god of Chivalry, Justice, Honor, War, Daring, and Valor. His clerics' domains are usually Glory, Good, Inquisition, Law, and War. His holy symbol is a silver lightning bolt, often clutched in a fist. Heward is the god of Bards and Musicians. Heward is notable not only for his musical prowess, but also for his technological skills. Hextor is the Oeridian god of war, discord, massacres, conflict, fitness, and tyranny. Hextor

10624-409: Is the daughter of Nola , goddess of the sun, and Vogan , the god of weather and rain, and from this mixture of rain and sunlight was born all the world's plants and animals. She is the mother of Katay , who has no father. Her birthing pains mingled with the darkness to create Meyanok , the god of evil. While sleeping, she vomited forth the nightmares inspired in her by her granddaughter Vara to create

10790-549: Is the son of Phaulkon and Syrul, and the grandson of Lendor . He is a foe of dragonkind , especially lawful evil dragons. Kord's favorite heralds are titans. His allies include eladrin and huge earth elementals. Kord is the most popular of Suel deities, and his followers are found throughout the Barbarian States of the Thillonrian Peninsula , northern Ulek , Keoland , Almor, Aerdy , Hepmonaland ,

10956-711: Is the spirit of Mount Drachenkopf in the Pomarj . Its symbol is a coiled dragon. The Earth Dragon may manifest as a mottled serpent or a gargantuan dragon formed of variegated stone laced with precious ores. It may also manifest as an earthquake to indicate its displeasure. The Cult of the Earth Dragon is opposed by the Silent Ones . The Earth Dragon is said to live in a large underground lair beneath Mount Drachenkopf avoided by subterranean races. Especially faithful worshippers are brought to their deity's presence to bask in

11122-503: Is thought that Tsolorandril is his servant. Cyndor's faithful believe in predestination. All time, for them, is a path along a lifeline that Cyndor has already foreseen. Cyndor directs a small group of mortal chronomancers known as the Guardians of Infinity. Their duty is to defend Oerth 's timestreams from interference or damage by outside forces. Cyndor is also served by temporal dogs, time dimensionals, and more exotic beings. Daern

11288-584: The Drow series and the Giant series respectively. Numerous projects were planned to add more depth and detail to the setting after the publication of the initial folio, but many of these projects never appeared for various reasons. In 1983, TSR published an expanded boxed set of the campaign world, World of Greyhawk , which is usually called the Greyhawk boxed set to differentiate it from other editions. According to game designer Jim Bambra , "the second edition

11454-515: The Night Below boxed set campaign published in 1995. In a subplot of Night Below , the player characters can reintroduce the exiled Rockseers to the rest of elvenkind and reconcile them with their god, Corellon Larethian. The elves of Greyhawk include the standard aquatic, dark (Drow), grey, high, and wood (sylvan) elves described in the core rule books of various editions of the game. Additional elven types created for this setting include

11620-598: The Amedio Jungle , Lendore Isle, and in the Bandit Kingdom city of Alhaster. Kord was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax He was further detailed by Lenard Lakofka in Dragon #87 (1984), in the article Gods of the Suel Pantheon. He would go on to appear in 2nd and 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons. Kundo

11786-528: The Grove of Perpetual Spring , is in the layer of Brux in the Beastlands . She is also thought to spend time in the realm of Morninglory in Elysium . As Goddess of Spring, Atroa is the invigorating breath that awakens the world from its slumber. She gives the world new love and new life, renews old friendships, and plucks the heartstrings of lovers, travelers, and poets. Azor'alq is the Baklunish hero-deity of Light, Purity, Courage, and Strength. His symbol

11952-526: The Pinnacles of Azor'alq . There he dwells with his ancient paladins, the Thousand Immortals. Beltar is the Suel goddess of Malice, Caves, and Pits. Her holy symbol is a set of opened fangs poised to bite. Although often depicted as a haglike human female, Beltar is known to also appear as a beholder , red dragon , or marilith . Some regard the later form as a likely cause of rumors of

12118-625: The Romans . In creating a similar pattern of history for his world, Gygax decided that a thousand years before his campaign began, the northeast corner of the continent had been occupied by a peaceful but primitive people called the Flannae, whose name was the root for the name of that part of Oerik, the Flanaess . At that time, far to the west of the Flanaess, two peoples were at war, the Bakluni and

12284-556: The Sword Coast , the sun elves established Aryvandaar and Shantel Othreier, and the green elves established Illefarn, Miyeritar (along with the dark elves), and Keltormir. To the south, in present-day Vilhon Reach , the green elves also created the nations of Thearnytaar, Eiellûr, and Syòpiir. In the forests that once covered the Shaar , the moon elves established Orishaar, and the dark elves established Ilythiir and Miyeritar (along with

12450-674: The drow (dark elf). The Player's Handbook connects the high elves to the gray elves and valley elves of the Greyhawk setting, the Silvanesti and Qualinesti of the Dragonlance setting, and the sun elves and moon elves of the Forgotten Realms setting. They also connect the wood elves to the wild elves ( grugach ) of Greyhawk and the Kagonesti of Dragonlance. The 5th edition Dungeon Master's Guide (2014) also presented

12616-604: The eladrin (which appeared in 4th edition as a separate but related race) as an elf subrace, using them as an example for creating a new character subrace. The eladrin later appeared as playtest content in " Unearthed Arcana : Eladrin and Gith" (2017); this version was revised and eventually published the following year in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018). In early editions of Dungeons & Dragons , elves had spirits instead of souls which impacted some game mechanics such as various resurrection spells. This distinction

12782-569: The elf . However, academic Philip J. Clements sees certain aspects as directly traceable to Tolkien's portrayal. Similarly, academic Philippe Bornet in "Religions in play: games, rituals, and virtual worlds" said that elves in the game are based on Tolkien's version of the elf. Michael J. Tresca, in the book The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games (2014), stated the elven sub-types in Dungeons & Dragons can be traced to divided lines of Tolkien's elves – Noldor become high elves, Tawarwaith become wood elves and Sindar become grey elves in

12948-498: The grugach . He is depicted as an elf with sharp features, long yellow hair, and vivid green eyes. He wears rough clothing of fur and hide, of colors to match the season . Gadhelyn is still a potent hero among the grugach. Sylvan elves and even a few half-elves and humans revere him and participate in his rites. Followers of Gadhelyn prey on the wealthy who dare to cross their woodlands, but they are not truly dangerous unless attacked, or if their forests are despoiled. Gendwar Argrim

13114-552: The Drow, who are of standard D&D elven height. In Faerûn, surface elves call themselves Tel-Quessir which means "The People" in the elven language. In 4th edition, most of the elven subraces were classified into three broad families: drow, eladrin, or elves. In the 5th edition, these families were re-classified into four, with three being detailed in the primary campaign books: drow, high elves, and wood elves, with eladrin as their own lineage of elves whose ancestors never emigrated from

13280-551: The Dweller on the Horizon, is the Oeridian god of Horizons, Distance, Travel, and Roads. He is a well-known deity on the world of Oerth . He wanders that world in person, his petitioners present in spirit form at crossroads and in mysterious oases. His symbol is a disk with a curved line representing the horizon, and an upturned crescent above that. He is the brother of Celestian , and is said to make his home on Oerth . Fharlanghn

13446-437: The Earth Dragon's glory. The Earth Dragon is the great provider and the spirit of the earth. Those who worship it and obey it are promised protection. The Earth Dragon is said to know all the secrets of the land, favoring its chosen with power and knowledge. To please their god, the faithful must worship, sacrifice, and spread the faith to others. Ehlonna is the goddess of Forests, Woodlands, Flora, Fauna, and Fertility. Ehlonna

13612-578: The Elves , Elves of Evermeet and Elves of Athas . The elf appeared as a character race in the third edition Player's Handbook (2000), and in the 3.5 revised Player's Handbook . Elves were detailed for the Forgotten Realms setting in Races of Faerûn (2003). Elves were one of the races detailed in Races of the Wild (2005). The elf appeared as a character race and as one of three in

13778-508: The Faerie world to the Material world of Toril. The history of the elven race as portrayed in this setting is marked by great empires and a gradual decline and retreat from the mainland Faerûn. The elves first came to Abeir-Toril from the plane of Faerie more than twenty-five millennia ago. The first wave of elves to arrive were the green elves, lythari, and avariel. The second wave included

13944-420: The Great Kingdom map, which included local areas based on real-world maps, Gygax decided to create an entirely new and greatly expanded version of Oerth . Needing many more original names for all of the geographical and political places on his map for the new and expanded areas, Gygax sometimes resorted to wordplay. He had previously used Perrenland on the Great Kingdom map, named after Jeff Perren , who co-wrote

14110-610: The Great Library , is in Solania, the fourth of the Seven Heavens. Solania is a place with many scholarly hermitages and monasteries hidden atop high, steep peaks. Delleb's order teaches that the purpose of existence is the accumulation of knowledge, although they are careful to remind others that this does not supersede the sanctity of life. The Earth Dragon is a Flan spirit of earth, weather, and hidden treasures. It

14276-691: The Greyhawk campaign. Although it detailed new spells and character classes that had been developed in the dungeons of Greyhawk, it did not contain any details of their Greyhawk campaign world. The only two references to Greyhawk were an illustration of a large stone head in a dungeon corridor titled The Great Stone Face, Enigma of Greyhawk and mention of a fountain on the second level of the dungeons that continuously issued an endless number of snakes. The 2004 publication 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons suggested that details of Gygax's Greyhawk campaign were published in this booklet, but Gygax had no plans in 1975 to publish details of

14442-424: The Greyhawk world, since he believed that new players of Dungeons & Dragons would rather create their own worlds than use someone else's. In addition, he did not want to publish all the material he had created for his players; he thought he would be unlikely to recoup a fair investment for the thousands of hours he had spent on it. Since his secrets would be revealed to his players, he would be forced to recreate

14608-633: The Kagonesti or Wild Elves; and two races of sea elves: the Dimernesti or Shoal Elves, which inhabit the coastal areas and the Dargonesti or Deep Elves. The various elven subraces are more prominent in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and Faerûn boasts several major subraces. They differ physically from typical Dungeons & Dragons elves in that they are as tall as humans (5′9″ on average), or even taller. The exception are

14774-599: The Oeridians, the Aerdi, began to set up an empire. Several centuries later, the Aerdi's Great Kingdom ruled most of the Flanaess. The Aerdi overkings marked the beginning of what they believed would be perpetual peace with Year 1 of a new calendar, the Common Year (CY) Reckoning . However, several centuries later, the Empire became decadent, with their rulers losing their sanity, turning to evil, and enslaving their people. When

14940-497: The Oerth. She is distant even from her own clerics , who wander the earth to experience the different parts of the world. They spend their time communing with nature and often associate with druids . Berei is goddess of Agriculture, Family, and Home. Her holy symbol is a sheaf of wheat stalks. Berei was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Berei

15106-569: The Roman god Caelus , especially in his form as Caelus Nocturnus . The names Celestian and Caelus both derive from the Latin word caelum meaning " sky " or " heavens ". Charmalaine (TCHAR-mah-lain) is the halfling hero-goddess of Keen Senses and Narrow Escapes. She gained her nickname "the Lucky Ghost" from her ability to leave her body to scout ahead in spirit-form. In this form, she

15272-575: The Seelie who are more faerie-like than the sidhelien. The Cerilian lore hints that since the two worlds split, for every Cerilian sidhe, there is a corresponding member of the Seelie or Unseelie Courts. The elves are the largest political and military presence in space; at the time of the original Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space boxed set, the elves had just completed a remarkably successful extermination of interstellar orcs and goblins throughout

15438-548: The Suloise. The war reached its climax when both sides used powerful magic to obliterate each other, in an event called the Twin Cataclysms. Refugees of these disasters were forced out of their lands, and the Suloise invaded the Flanaess, forcing the Flannae to flee to the outer edges of the continent. Several centuries later, a new invader appeared, the Oeridians, and they in turn forced the Suloise southward. One tribe of

15604-419: The World of Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #70 (1983). Boccob is usually portrayed as a middle aged man with white hair who wears purple robes decorated with golden runes. He is described as carrying the very first staff of the magi with him at all times. In addition, he knows every spell ever created and can travel to any time and dimension. He is the possessor of the only magical library that contains

15770-482: The castle. By the time he was finished, the complex labyrinth encompassed thirteen levels filled with devious traps, secret passageways, hungry monsters, and glittering treasure. Although details of these original Greyhawk dungeons have never been published in detail, Gygax gave some glimpses of them in an article he wrote for the European fanzine Europa in 1975: Anyone who made it to the bottom level alive met Zagyg,

15936-485: The city of Sylvandretta. To maintain a pure bloodline, they have inbred for millennia, resulting in their lighter appearance and halving their lifespan compared to other Athasian elves. The elves of Cerilia are known as the sidhelien and control various realms on the continent. While the Birthright Campaign Setting makes a clear difference in the rules between five Cerilian human cultures, such

16102-506: The combat and taking refuge far below ground. They have no knowledge of surface elves. They know of the Drow and hate them, avoiding them whenever possible. They are extremely seclusive and shun the company of all other races, including the Svirfneblin . The only exception to this are pech , with whom Rockseers sometimes form friendships." The deep elves are found in 1996's Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three , but originated in

16268-555: The continent of Oerik and asked TSR's printing house about the maximum size of paper they could handle; the answer was 34 x 22 inches (86 cm x 56 cm). He found that, using the scale he desired, he could fit only the northeast corner of Oerik on two of the sheets. This corner of Oerik became known as "the Flanaess", so named in Gygax's mind because of the peaceful people known as the Flannae who had once lived there. Gygax also added many more new regions, countries and cities, bringing

16434-660: The dark elves, who arrived in the jungles of southern Faerûn, and the sun and moon elves, who arrived in the north. Not long after, the aquatic elves arrived in the Great Sea. After the second wave of elven immigrants arrived, the Time of Dragons ended and the period known as the First Flowering of the Fair Folk began. The elves settled into five major civilizations along the west and south of Faerûn during this period. Along

16600-418: The destruction of evil humanoids above all else. Gendwar preaches nothing less than utter destruction of the enemies of the dwarven race. Honor, glory, wealth, and love are all meaningless in the face of this crusade. His followers expect fully to one day die in battle, but strive to take a thousand foes with them to the grave. Geshtai is the Baklunish goddess of Lakes, Rivers, Wells, and Streams. Her symbol

16766-443: The dungeons and environs of Castle Greyhawk to his circle of friends and family, using them as playtesters for new rules and concepts. As the players began to explore more of the world outside of the castle and city, Gygax developed other regions and cities for them. With play sessions occurring seven or more times a week, Gygax did not have the time or inclination to create the map for a whole new world; he simply drew his world over

16932-866: The elf) were presented as distinct classes. The elf class is often seen as a blend of the fighter and magic-user classes. The Shadow elf appears as a character race in GAZ13 The Shadow Elves published by TSR in 1990 as a 64-page booklet and a 32-page booklet. The high elf appeared as a character race in the second edition Player's Handbook (1989). The high elf also appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989). Several elven races were detailed as player character races in The Complete Book of Elves (1992). Supplements focused on elves in specific campaign settings include Comanthor: Empire of

17098-531: The elves. The elven subraces of Faerûn include the following: Once the slaves of the giants of Xen'drik , the elves of Eberron are said to have immigrated over time to the continents of Aerenal and Khorvaire , establishing nations and distinct cultures on both. Most notable are the elves of Aerenal, whose culture revolves around the veneration of the Undying Court . In the post-apocalyptic setting of Athas, elves are nomadic desert runners rather than

17264-400: The existence of a Suloise snake-cult. Beltar was formerly a goddess of earth and mines, but was supplanted by other Suel gods until her only worshipers were nonhuman slaves. It is perhaps for this reason that Jascar is one of her greatest enemies. Beltar will often take mates in her various forms, but few survive, as she eats them afterward, as well as any young born from such a union. Beory

17430-573: The fact that Gygax was increasingly involved in other areas of the company, meant that of the seventeen Greyhawk adventures published in the two years after the folio edition, only four were written or co-written by Gygax: In 1981, TSR also published the super-modules D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth and G1-2-3 Against the Giants , both being compilations of previously published modules from

17596-528: The fantasy supplement of Chainmail into his games. After about a year and half of play, Arneson (Blackmoor) and fellow gamer David Megarry ( Dungeon! boardgame) traveled to Lake Geneva in November or December 1972 to pitch their respective games to Gygax, who at that time was a representative of the Guidon Games company. Gygax was immediately intrigued by the concept of individual characters exploring

17762-466: The first players, and during their first session, as Tenser and Ahlissa , they fought and destroyed the first monsters of the Greyhawk dungeon; Gygax recalled them as being either giant centipedes or a nest of scorpions. During the same session, Ernie and Elise also found the first treasure, a chest of 3,000 copper coins which was too heavy to carry, much to the children's chagrin. After his children had gone to bed, Gygax immediately began working on

17928-551: The folio edition, TSR released the adventure module C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan , designed to familiarize players with the Olman race of the Amedio Jungle . Largely based on Aztec and Incan cultures, this adventure introduced the first published deities of the Greyhawk campaign: Mictlantecuhtli , god of death, darkness, murder and the underworld; Tezcatlipoca , god of sun, moon, night, scheming, betrayals and lightning; and Quetzalcoatl , god of air, birds and snakes. This area

18094-473: The game published; the game eventually became known as Dungeons & Dragons . Gygax designed a set of dungeons underneath the ruins of Castle Greyhawk as a testing ground for new rules, character classes and spells. In those early days, there was no Flanaess; the world map of Oerth was developed by Gygax as circumstances dictated, the new cities and lands simply drawn over a map of North America. Gygax and Kuntz further developed this campaign setting, and by 1976,

18260-440: The game. The elf first appeared as a player character race in the original 1974 edition of Dungeons & Dragons . The aquatic elf was introduced in the 1975 Blackmoor supplement. Elves in Dungeons & Dragons are immune to paralysis as a holdover from a game balance adjustment in Chainmail . Players with elf characters could chose either the "fighting-man" or "magic-user" class to start with; multiclassing

18426-483: The game. Elves are described as renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the bow and sword . Becoming physically mature by the age of 25 and emotionally mature at around 125, they are also famously long-lived, capable of living more than half a millennium and remaining physically youthful. Possessed of innate beauty and easy gracefulness, they are viewed as both wondrous and haughty by other races in-universe; however, their natural detachment

18592-447: The gifts of the earth exist to be taken and used to create practical works. Bleredd's followers are expected to be strong of body and will. Bleredd encourages the free flow of information; the knowledge of smithcraft should never be hoarded, but taught freely to anyone with a talent for it. Those who are miserly in sharing what they have learned ought to be punished. Boccob is the god of magic, arcane knowledge, balance, and foresight. He

18758-462: The green elves). All of these realms were gradually destroyed as a result of the Crown Wars, which made way for other elven realms. Their once expansive realms have shrunk back in territory and prestige due to the influence and expansion of the younger races, particularly humans. They remain influential, however; much of the shape of Faerûn is influenced by conflict between the various subraces of

18924-725: The heavens to take his place among the gods. Al'Akbar is revered primarily in Ekbir , Ket , the Plains of the Paynims , Tusmit , and Zeif . “Akbar” was first mentioned in The Strategic Review #7, wherein Neal Healey described The Cup and Talisman of Akbar [sic], and associated them with worship of Allah without mention of whether “Akbar” (Arabic for “greater”/“greatest”) was a person, place, or descriptor. Allitur

19090-499: The hero-deity of Humility, Clarity, and Immediacy. His symbol is a multi-colored patch of cloth or tangle of yarn, with seven threads, one of each color of the spectrum, extending from the bottom. Daoud is depicted as an old man with leathery skin and heavy, dark brows. His eyes are black and piercing. He wears the simple, worn clothing of a shepherd, a turban wrapped around his head and a staff in his hands. Daoud's followers are urged to seek out both good fortune and bad in order to unravel

19256-431: The horizon for inspiration. Fortubo is the god of Stone, Metals, Mountains, and Guardianship. Originally a member of the Suel pantheon, Fortubo abandoned the Suloise upon discovering that the Suel were behind the creation of the derro. Fortubo now favors dwarves above any other race, and has relatively few human worshippers. Fortubo's holy symbol is a warhammer with a glowing head, though any hammer will serve. Fortubo

19422-414: The insane architect of the dungeons. Zagyg is a reverse homophone of Gygax , and it was Gygax's inside joke that the person who had designed the dungeon—himself—must be insane. Only three players ever made it to the bottom level and met Zagyg, all of them during solo adventures: Rob Kuntz (playing Robilar ), Gygax's son Ernie (playing Tenser ), and Rob's brother Terry (playing Terik). Their reward

19588-449: The lands within a radius of 50 miles had been mapped in depth, and the lands within a radius of approximately 500 miles were in outline form. Following yet more work, in 1978 Gygax agreed to publish his world and decided to redevelop Oerth from scratch. Once he had sketched out the entire planet to his satisfaction, one hemisphere of Oerth was dominated by a massive continent called Oerik. Gygax decided to concentrate his first efforts on

19754-438: The layer of Avalas. Bralm teaches that everyone in society has their proper position that people are obligated to master even if they don't understand their importance in the greater scheme. She instructs her followers to obey those with higher social positions and greater knowledge. She urges contentment in hard labor, and compares her followers to insects in a hive. Breeka is the Touv goddess of Living Things. Her holy symbol

19920-480: The living things that bring fear and danger to the night. Celestian is the god of Stars, Space and Wanderers. His symbol is a black circle set with seven stars. His color is black. An Oeridian god, he is called the Far Wanderer, and is brother to Fharlanghn . It is said that the two followed similar but differing paths. Celestian is Neutral Good , but his worshipers may be any alignment of good. Celestian

20086-408: The more common image of forest-dwellers. Athasian elves are portrayed as hostile nomads, marked by savage dispositions and a deep distrust of outsiders. An Athasian elf stands 6½–7½ feet tall. They are slender, lean, and generally in terrific physical condition. Their features are deeply etched into their weather-toughened faces, and their skin is made rough by the windblown sands and baking sun of

20252-413: The most popular hero-deity in the Flanaess, Kelanen's symbol is nine swords arrayed in a star shape, points outward. Keoghtom is the hero-god of Secret Pursuits, Natural Alchemy, and Extraplanar Exploration. His symbol is a round disk, bisected by an upward-pointing arrow. Keptolo (kep- toe -low) is the drow deity of drow males, expressed in flattery, intoxication, rumor, and opportunism. His symbol

20418-412: The number of Greyhawk deities to an even fifty. For the next eight years, Greyhawk would be primarily defined by the information in this publication. Elf (Dungeons %26 Dragons) The elf is a humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game , one of the primary races available for player characters , and play a central role in the narratives of many setting worlds of

20584-488: The number of political states to 60. Needing original placenames for all of the geographical and political places on his map, Gygax sometimes resorted to wordplay based on the names of friends and acquaintances. For instance, Perrenland was named after Jeff Perren , who co-wrote the rules for Chainmail with Gygax; Urnst was a homophone of Ernst (his son Ernie); and Sunndi was a near-homophone of Cindy, another of Gygax's children. From Gygax's prototype map, Darlene Pekul ,

20750-421: The offspring of humans and elves. They look like elves to humans and like humans to elves. Half-Elves have curiosity and ambitions like humans but they have sense for magic and love for nature like their elven parents. Their skin is paler than human skin and they are taller and bigger than elves. Half-Elves have long ears like elves. They live about 180 years. The half-elf appeared as a player character race in

20916-625: The original Player's Handbook (1978). Subraces of elves include Dark Elves and Deep elves. These elves are the most noble of elves, yet also the most arrogant. They are of higher intellectual capabilities than other elves, but, despite the fact that they are taller than high elves, they are physically weaker. They live in isolated mountain strongholds, and rarely allow access to outsiders. They have silver hair and amber eyes, or gold hair and violet eyes, and wear clothes of white, silver, yellow and gold, and usually wear regally colored cloaks. These elves are an isolated race of elves that survived

21082-440: The original World of Greyhawk folio (1980), Gygax was asked to produce a map of the world and decided to create something new which still featured many of the locales from his original world of Oerth but with new geography. Gygax also connected Dave Arneson 's Blackmoor to his world by including a country by that name in Oerth. In his later novel Dance of Demons (1988), Gygax destroyed Greyhawk's Oerth and replaced it with

21248-633: The original eladrin and the original elves that came Abeir-Toril from the Feywild (dark, sun, moon, green, lythari and star elves), and most commonly encountered by other races, and the most open and friendly of their kind. They travel to other lands more than other elves. They are generally dark-haired and green-eyed, with very pale complexions the color of new cream. They simply do not tan, no matter how much time they spend under Oerth's sun. High elves prefer to wear light pastels, blues and greens and violets, and often dwell in homes built into living wood, high in

21414-433: The overking Ivid V came to the throne, the oppressed peoples rebelled. It was at this point, in the year 576 CY, that Gygax set the world of Greyhawk. As Gygax wrote in his World of Greyhawk folio: "The current state of affairs in the Flanaess is confused indeed. Humankind is fragmented into isolationist realms, indifferent nations, evil lands, and states striving for good". Gygax did not issue monthly or yearly updates to

21580-561: The physical appearances of the main Greyhawk races. In the November 1981 issue, Gygax gave further details of racial characteristics and modes of dress. In the December 1982 issue, David Axler contributed a system for determining weather in the world of Greyhawk. Gygax later said he thought a system of fourteen charts for determining the weather was too cumbersome, and he personally did not use it in his home campaign. The folio edition had thirty two pages, and information about each region

21746-468: The players wanted Gygax to create and customize a specific deity so that cleric characters could receive their powers from someone less ambiguous than the gods . Gygax jokingly created two gods: Saint Cuthbert —who brought non-believers around to his point of view with whacks of his cudgel —and Pholtus , whose fanatical followers refused to believe that any other gods existed. Because both of these deities represented aspects of Good, Gygax eventually created

21912-543: The populace. Castle Greyhawk was the most famous dungeon in Oerth, the home campaign world of Gary Gygax. Players in the earliest days of this campaign mostly stayed within Castle Greyhawk's dungeons, but Gygax envisioned the rest of his world as a sort of parallel Earth, and the original Oerth (pronounced 'Oith', as with a Brooklyn accent) looked much like the real-world Earth but filled with imaginary cities and countries. Several years later, when TSR produced

22078-503: The private armies that were commanded by some prominent Greyhawk characters from his original home game: Bigby , Mordenkainen , Robilar , Tenser and Erac's Cousin . Gygax also mentioned some of the planned Greyhawk publications he was overseeing: a large-scale map of the city of Greyhawk; some adventure modules set in Greyhawk; a supplementary map of lands outside the Flanaess; all fifty levels of Castle Greyhawk's dungeon; and miniatures army combat rules. None of these projects, other than

22244-463: The remaining forty three regions in the March, July and September 1982 issues. In the August 1982 issue of Dragon , Gygax gave advice on how to adapt deities from the previously published Deities and Demigods for worship by non-human races in the Greyhawk world. A few months later, he published a five-part series of articles in the November 1982 through March 1983 issues of Dragon that outlined

22410-419: The right fountain. Empyrea is also known for its healers and hospitals, and many a pilgrim seeks to reach this legendary site of perfect health. Allitur teaches respect and understanding for laws, rituals, and other cultural traditions. Atroa (ah-TRO-ah) is the Oeridian goddess of Spring, East Wind, and Renewal. Her holy symbol is a heart with an air-glyph within, or a kara tree full of ripe, red fruit. Atroa

22576-622: The rules for Chainmail with Gygax, but for the new Greyhawk map he added many more such names of friends and acquaintances. For instance, Urnst was a homophone of Ernst (his son Ernie) and Sunndi was a near-homophone of Cindy, another of Gygax's children. Gygax gave only the most basic descriptions of each state; he expected that DMs would customize the setting in order to make it an integral part of their own individual campaigns. His map included arctic wastes, desert, temperate forests, tropical jungles, mountainous cordillera, seas and oceans, rivers, archipelagos and volcanoes. Gygax set out to create

22742-562: The snow elves, valley elves, and wild ( grugach ) elves. The depiction of the elves in Dragonlance fiction is strongly influenced by Tolkien 's elves . One of the major character types in the setting, they are presented as aloof and isolationist as a group, but also as caretakers of the natural world. Like in other settings, they are split into several peoples, again echoing the splits among Tolkien's elves: Silvanesti and Qualinesti, two races of high elves estranged from each other;

22908-600: The state of affairs as presented in the folio since he saw 576 CY as a common starting point for every home campaign; because each would be moving forward at its own pace, there would be no practical way to issue updates that would be relevant to every Dungeon Master. Gygax was also aware that different players would be using his world for different reasons. When he was the Dungeon Master of his home campaign, he found that his players were more interested in dungeon-delving than politics, but when he switched roles and became

23074-622: The third edition of Dungeons & Dragons ". The elf appeared as a player character race in the original Player's Handbook (1978). The elf also appeared in the original Monster Manual (1977), with subraces including High Elf, Gray Elf (some of whom are also called Faerie), Dark Elf (also called Drow), Wood Elf (also called Sylvan), and Aquatic Elf. The grugach , valley elf , and cooshee (an elven dog) first appeared in Dragon issue #67 (November 1982) in "Featured Creatures", an ongoing series of articles where Gary Gygax released information on official creatures before their release in

23240-425: The threads of destiny. They strive to be content with what Fate allows and demands of them, no more and no less. They cut lies with sharp words. Delleb is the Oeridian god of Reason, Intellect, and Study. His symbol is a phoenix -feather quill, or an open book. Delleb was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Delleb's realm,

23406-579: The time the Greyhawk home campaign drew to a close in 1985, the castle dungeons encompassed more than fifty levels. While many players participating in the Gygax and Kuntz home campaign were occasional players, sometimes not even naming their characters, others played far more frequently, and several of their characters became well known to the general gaming world before publication of the Greyhawk campaign setting. Some of these characters became known when Gygax mentioned them in his various columns, interviews, and publications. In other cases, when Gygax created

23572-472: The time to strike and the time to flee. They are also expected to help those they are sworn to protect. Joramy (also called the Raging Volcano and The Shrew) is the goddess of fire, volcanoes, wrath and anger. She is neutral, and even tending towards Neutral Good. Her holy symbol is a stylized volcano or pillar of flame. Katay is the Touv god of decay, inevitability, order, and time. His symbol

23738-452: The title of its ruler, the racial makeup of its people, its resources and major cities, and its allies and enemies. For the same reason that he had created a variety of geographical, political and racial settings, he also strove to create a world with some good, some evil, and some undecided areas. He felt that some players would be happiest playing in a mainly good country and fighting the evil that arose to threaten it; others might want to be

23904-577: The trees. In 4th edition the Eladrin are the High elves. This subrace resides in painted deserts and petrified forests, preferring a druidic lifestyle. "Rockseer elves are the rarest of all elvenkind. They are far taller than most of their kin, with a few reaching almost to eight feet in height. An average weight for a Rockseer is between 120 and 140 pounds, with little gender difference. Rockseers are very pale skinned, and they have no body hair. Head hair

24070-414: The upcoming Monster Manual II . The grugach, valley elf, and cooshee then appeared in the original Monster Manual II (1983). A number of elven subraces were presented as character races in the original Unearthed Arcana (1985). The elf appeared as a character race in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977). In subsequent revisions, in order to streamline the game, the non-humans (including

24236-583: The wilderness. The dunes and steppes of Athas are home to thousands of tribes of nomadic elves. While each tribe is very different culturally, the elves within them remain a race of long-limbed sprinters given to theft, raiding, and warfare. The 2nd edition product Mind Lords of the Last Sea introduced a new offshoot of Dark Sun elf. The people of Saragar call them "ghost elves" for their fair complexions, light blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Ghost elves are elitist and xenophobic, and live almost exclusively in

24402-416: The world of Greyhawk: In addition, Lawrence Schick set his 1979 TSR adventure S2 White Plume Mountain in Greyhawk. Despite fan curiosity, the original Castle Greyhawk was never officially published outside of Gygax's home campaign. In 1975, Gygax and Kuntz published a booklet called Supplement I: Greyhawk , an expansion of the rules for Dungeons & Dragons based on their play experiences in

24568-575: Was a character that had been created by Gygax's childhood friend Don Kaye before Kaye's untimely death in 1975. The fourth, a hero-deity named Kelanen , was developed to illustrate the "principle of advancement of power". Of the ten adventures set in Greyhawk published by TSR before the folio edition, all but one had been written by Gygax. However, the new availability of information about Gygax's campaign world and TSR's desire to make it central to Dungeons & Dragons encouraged many new writers to set their adventures in Greyhawk. This, combined with

24734-501: Was allowed, however, elf characters could only take a max of four levels in fighter and eight levels in magic-user. Tresca described the Tolkien style of elf as "a burden for game designers" as they were seemingly "more capable than humans". Tresca commented that "Gygax worked hard to curb their power, by giving the race a weak constitution and putting limitations on how high they could level. These limitations would not be removed until

24900-425: Was awakened by the creator god Uvot . She is a member of the Touv pantheon, which also includes the gods Katay , Kundo , Meyanok, and Vogan . Berna is now the patron of all small emotions, both positive and negative. She also represents the forgiveness of wrongs. Berna is named for a college friend of Sean K. Reynolds's named Bernadette. Bleredd is the Oeridian god of Metal, Mines, and Smiths. His holy symbol

25066-565: Was condensed into a short paragraph or two. Gygax realized that some players needed more in-depth information about the motivations and aspirations of each region, and the history of interactions with surrounding regions. With this in mind, Gygax decided to publish a much longer description of each region in Dragon . The first two articles, covering seventeen regions, appeared in the December 1981 and January 1982 issues. Due to his involvement in many other TSR projects, Gygax handed responsibility for completion of this project to Rob Kuntz, who covered

25232-480: Was created by E. Gary Gygax , and was first detailed for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition game in "The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #67 (1982). Hextor is often depicted as a hideous, gray skinned, six-armed humanoid bearing two large tusks jutting from its lower jaw wearing armor clad with skulls. He wields a weapon in each hand: a spiked flail,

25398-525: Was dropped in the 3rd Edition. Christian Hoffer of ComicBook.com commented that "while there are lots of theories about the technical reasons (many believe that D&D co-creator Gary Gygax was not a fan of non-human characters, and thus placed the restriction on them when writing up Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,) the only 'official' explanation appears in Deities & Demigods , a D&D supplement released in 1980. [...] The major difference between

25564-400: Was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Atroa appears as a fresh-faced blonde woman, often with an eagle perching upon her shoulder. With her sling Windstorm , she can strike the most distant foe, and with Readying's Dawn , her spherical glass talisman, she is able to melt all ice in sight. Atroa's realm,

25730-442: Was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in "The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #68 (1982). Celestian encourages his followers to wander far from home, just as the stars do. Astrology is as much a part of Celestian's faith as astronomy is, and his worshippers are encouraged to discover the secrets within the patterns of the stars and other celestial bodies. Compare Celestian to

25896-587: Was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in "The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #68 (December 1982). Fharlanghn appears as an elderly man. His skin is wrinkled and weathered, but his green eyes sparkle with life. He wears unremarkable, travel-stained clothing of leather and unbleached linen. He carries the Oerth Disc , a magical version of his holy symbol. Fharlanghn insists that everyone travel in order to discover and learn new things. He urges people to look to

26062-478: Was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in "The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax in Dragon #71 (1983). Incabulos's appearance is said to be absolutely terrifying: a deformed body, skeletal hands, and a face from the worst nightmare. Incabulos hates all other gods except for Nerull , the death-god who finishes the work Incabulos starts. Incabulos regards him with total indifference. Incabulos's realm, known as Charnelhouse,

26228-514: Was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax . Gadhelyn the Archer (Gad-THEL-en) is the elven hero-god of Independence, Outlawry, Feasting, and Hunting. His symbol is a leaf-shaped arrowhead. Gadhelyn is a very old figure in elven myth, once a part of the Fey Mysteries but now largely forgotten except among

26394-532: Was further explored in The Scarlet Brotherhood (1999), which expanded the Olman pantheon, and newly introduced the Touv people, including their nine gods. Also included in the March 1983 issue of Dragon was an article detailing four unique Greyhawk characters. The first two quasi-deities — Heward and Keoghtom—had been created by Gygax as non-player characters (NPCs). The third, Murlynd ,

26560-401: Was further piqued by the ten Dungeons & Dragons modules set in Greyhawk that were published between 1976 and 1979. Several of Gygax's regular columns in Dragon magazine also mentioned details of his home campaign and characters that inhabited his world. Gygax was surprised when he found out that players wanted to use Greyhawk as their campaign world. Rather than using his own version of

26726-448: Was given the Cup and Talisman by Al'Asran to help heal his people's ills and return them to the traditional Baklunish faith. Al'Akbar founded the city of Ekbir and, for the last decade of his mortal life, ruled the nation of Ekbir as the first of its caliphs. Eventually he had a mosque to himself built and allowed his followers to call on his name in their prayers. Soon after, he ascended to

26892-501: Was much larger than the first and addressed itself to making the World of Greyhawk setting a more detailed and vibrant place". This edition quadrupled the number of pages from the original edition to 128, adding significantly greater detail. One major addition was a pantheon of deities: in addition to the nineteen deities outlined by Gygax in his Dragon article, another thirty-one new deities were added, though only three received full write-ups of their abilities and worshipers. This brought

27058-418: Was organized religion. Since his campaign was largely built around the needs of lower-level characters, he did not think specific deities were necessary, since direct interaction between a god and a low-level character was very unlikely. Some of his players took matters into their own hands, calling upon Norse or Greek gods such as Odin or Zeus , or even Conan's Crom in times of dire need. However, some of

27224-468: Was published in the August 1974 issue of Chicago small press magazine El Conquistador . In the first issue of The Dragon published in June 1976, Gygax prefaced Chapter 1 of his serialized novella The Gnome Cache with a note that the story's setting, Oerth , was very similar to Earth in terms of geography. One facet of culture that Gygax did not address during the first few years of his home campaign

27390-531: Was responsible for the construction of a number of famous fortifications, including Castle Blazebane in Almor and Tarthax near Rel Deven . Dalt is the Suel god of Portals, Doors, Enclosures, Locks, and Keys. His holy symbol is a locked door with a skeleton key beneath it. Dalt wanders the Outlands , having no permanent realm of his own. Dalt is depicted as either a white-haired old man with piercing eyes or as

27556-498: Was to be instantly transported to the far side of the world, where they each faced a long solo trek back to the city of Greyhawk. Terik and Tenser managed to catch up to Robilar along the way, and the three journeyed back to Greyhawk together. By this time, a dozen players crowded Gygax's basement every night, with over 20 at times on weekends and the effort needed to plan their adventures took up much of Gygax's spare time. He had been very impressed with Rob Kuntz's imaginative play as

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