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Gemof the Flanacss:Clcrkburg .... o ...... ◄ By Erik Mona More tales of crookedprofes sors and schemings tudents th.isi ssue. as wedelve further into the district knowna s Clerkburg.Grab a stack o'f scrolls and your best set of armor-w hetherstu dyingfor exams or Volume1. Number 5 workingoff a criminalse ntencein the Free City Arena.you won't want to be caught unprepared. Spring.591 CY July 2001 '-· Zcif: Rock of the Wcst•.••..... , •••••••••••••••••••••••10 Editor By Fred Weining Erik Mona Explore the far reachesof the Sultinate of Zeifwith one of the Art Director co-authors of the LivingCreyhawk Ga zetteer!For mor,ethan a thousand Robc:rtR aper years. Zeif has stood as the largest successor state of the once-great BaklunishEmpire. Controlled by a crafty sultan ne/d ill checlcby his GraphicDesigner cabinetand manipulative mother. the nation actr;s an anchorto the Wendy Beth Johnson Baklunish West inpolitics. trade.and religion. Production Donna Woodcock WorldwideRPGA Man.ager David Wise The ·Lost .. Issue...... 2 Publisher Wizards of the Coast. Inc. By Stephen Radney-MacF arland On the Cover Liwng Greyhawks Campa~n Director explains wherethe campaign bas A A brazen gladiator squares off against a chuul beenso far. and whereits going. ... imported from distant Hepmonaland in Scott Fischer's rendition of a day in the life of the Eachiridioaof the Ficnd-Sagc ...... 22 newly refurbished Free Cit y Arena. By SeanK Reynolds Map111ustrations A magic-resistant humanoidfrom the V,esve Eorest poses a challenge Rob Lazzaretti, Sean Glenn (Zeif} this month to the elusioe~nd-Saje of Rel Astra, See his missive to Lord Drax discussingthe creature. as wella s three other recent The World of Greyhawk created by E. Gary Gygax discoveries in our regularmonster column. Dispatchcs...... ~ .•.. 18 News from aroundthe Flanaess. Contact List...... •...•..•..•...... •..•..••:Ji Contact informationSamplefor your homeregion and the world. file

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«-ad...,~ wlkftl'l:M-dlrv W-tu:r.ol 11.;Cout. lac. All RipJSlca:rw,d. Otlio ~• aa.mpiJC mdcmuks owlltd by rbt c~ic:s pd:ilislu•g 1bo,c produus. U..::of, produc1·s iwnc: Ytlbc.1 ffKDltOI of tndein:uh shot.~ 001 bccomtrocd u, ch.l.l~ to Slltbstuld... downside to that success is that it gen­ erated 500 person-hours of slow and tedious work in order to process results from all those tables. Still. I am happy to say that it got done, with as few snags as humanly possible. I thank everyone for your patience and understanding while weathering The Fright at Tristor. We arc re-releasing the adventure in the near future, and in that re-release, the DM will be given the tools he or she needs to distribute rewards to characters. so if you have not played Tristor yet. I am happy to stay that in this next incarnation you'll receive your experience points and goodies in a fraction of the time it took your friends to get theirs. We also weathered major rules changes, as we moved forward with the Adventure Certificates. Though I BY STEPHEN RADNEY-MACFARLAND know the changes are not popular with some, and I have to apologize at the Scarcely a year and a half ago I got Evil events. but even more fell valiant­ speed in which they were released. my first real taste of the LIVING ly in whatever games occurred at their their implementation was necessary to GREYHAWK campaign. It was my first weekly events. LIVING GREYHAWK has the continued growth and well being day of work at Wizards of the Coast. outstripped everyone's expectations. It of the campaign. There will be changes My computer had not arrived, and my took LIVING CITY years to grow to to these rules along the way. such as new boss, David Wise, was not sure similar numbers. and the momentum the recent changes that put the original where my cube was going to be. I of LIVING GREYHAWK shows no sign rules for using magic item creation remember that Erik Mona, then the of slowing any time soon. feats much closer to the core D&D LIVING GREYHAWK campaign director. With growth comes pain and rules. but it remains the campaign was poring over the last printer proofs learning. Due to the ambitiousness of staff's goal to introduce as few of TheFright at Tristor, and finishing the LIVING GREYHAWK project. we "house" rules as possible for LIVING the first issue of this magazine. He have experienced a lot of both in the GREYHAWK play. I am a strong believer needed immediate help with another last year and a half. in one of the original tenants of the LIVING GREYHAWK issue-the small I'm sure that you know that this campaign-any player should be able to stack of regional adventures that had special issue of LIVING GREYHAWK join the campaign with only the grown since GEN CON 2000. In an fournal is the last stand-alone version Player'sHandbook and the current abandoned corner cube, using Robert of the magazine. If you didn't know, character creation guide. While rules Wiese's spare laptop. I began work on this magazine now dwells in the larger from other D&D sources are the LIVING GREYHAWK campaign. and whole that is Dragon Magazine. It constantly added to the campaign. have never really stopped. seems a pity when the offerings of our those two documents are all a player And when I say small stack. I mean favorite fantasy world are affected by needs to start. small stack-you could count them on the economic reality of the real world. Making sure that the campaign is one hand. That stack was the molehill but it happens. Still. having LIVING viable and fun to new and old players that turned into a mountain. Since that GREYHAWK Journal in Dragon has a alike is an extreme challenge for any day. the LIVING GREYHAWK campaign great upside-it lets other D&D and organized play program. and extremely has brought fun to more than 10,000 LIVING GREYHAWK fans know about difficult for a long-term worldwide players. We've produced almost 250 this campaign. which will drive even rolc:playing game campaign. New adventures, hundreds of interactive more folks to RPGA Network events. players are overwhelmed by new events worldwide, and a path of fun Ah. Tristor! No conversation about sources. while seasoned players are Sampleand carnage that starts at the far the growing pains of this campaign reinvigoratedfile by their added options. reaches of the Udgru Forest and would be complete without bringing Most supplementary product produced travels to the bustling docks of up The Fright at Tristor at-home play for the D&D game assumes that an Oakenheart. The campaign has been adventure. The great news is that individual Dungeon Master is being the death of hundreds of characters: Tris tor was an overwhelming success, very picky with what she allows in her many falling in both of the special generating play from a third of all campaign. but even in a home campaign Return to the Temple of Elemental LIVING GREYHAWKplayers. The with six or so players, a DM can easily

£ivi25'5reyh&Wh cfournal feel overwhelmed with the number of Wego forward with these plans with I understand that's a tall order. and variables involved. Planning goes out a restructured Circle. The current it's going to be tough to fulfill. Still. - the window, as the players pull Circle. which will be fully in place by you can bet when hundreds of RPGA something unexpected out of their this year ·s Origins, administers five DM s start talking to one another. they character's hat. A good friend of mine meta-regions. and the Regional Triads are going to come up with some said that PC doesn't stand for player that make up each of these mcta ­ wicked and fiendish ways to test your character, it stands for plot corruptor. rcgions. Each Circle member is also in character's mettle. But if you weren't and in a very cynical way. he is charge of one long-term (2-ycar cycle) into challenges. you wouldn't be right. Compound those problems core adventure plot. and a group of playing DoD. would you? With these by the thousand. and you have the meta-region adventures that arc slated challenging times ahead. I predict that plight of the typi cal LIVING for release in the 593 CY campaign you'll look back on 2002 and 2003 as GREYHAWKDM. year ( that's 2002 CE by the current cal­ some of the best years of gaming Help is coming. though. with the endar you are probabl y used to). you· ve ever had. Just in case you don't creation of a new GM Program which These meta-region adventures support know it already. GREYHAWK is the will greatly benefit the LIVING play for characters 12th level and best campaign that has ever graced GREYHAWKcampa ign. In the next higher. We hope creating a campaign fantasy rolcplaying. and future couple years. the primary emphasis of structure with a regional emphasis can LIVINGGREYH AWKplay will only the RPGA Network will be on decrease the number of information reconfirm that fact. If you"ve any Dungeon Master support. Part of this bottlenecks the old system had. and doubts about those statements. come program involves opportunities for create a better connection of interesting join us at your next local RPGA event. regional DMs to hook up. exchange core and meta-regional adventures. The and you'll see what I mcan ... just don't ideas and tactics. and gain special Triads will continue to function the get too attached to your characters, or information and insight from their way they do now. but with more timely at least save enough gold for at least regional Triads. all away from the and comprehensive support within the one resurrection. prying eyes of players. This kind of new structure. DM networking should only increase How docs all of this affect the STEPHENR ADNEY-M ACFARLAND the quality of the LIVING GREYHAWK average LIVING GREYHAWKplayer? Living Grcyhawk Campaign Director game experience. With the forth ­ Well. we arc striving to give you the [email protected] coming GM Program. we are also best DoD experience you can have. looking into ways to expand LIVING GREYHAWKhome play by offering experienced and creative DMs a chance to expand play in their own ways. and grant their players interesting and unique game experiences. THE"Losr" ISSUE While the GM Program is designed As you"ve mo st likel y puzzled out by now, you' re holding a copy of to increase the quality of gaming at a Living Grey hawk Journal #5. whi ch was supposed to have come out very grassroots level. you arc also way back in Jul y. 2001. Seei ng as how the magazine is no w a part of going to sec some exciting changes to Dragon and that the last issue was somewhere in the early teens. it's your convention experience. Thi s year fairly clear we're runnin g a li tt le behind on getting this iss ue to at the Origins Game Expo. we will press. The whole tangled sto ry involves transfer s. reorganizations. present a special event related to the disorganizations, and wo rse. and would tak e far more time to cover mysterious Isles of Woe, said to have than I've been afforded here. Grab me at a convention some time fallen beneath the waters of the Lake and I'll happily tell you about it, provided I'm already on my six th of Unknown Depths in antiquity. This or seventh beer. dungeon delve is the fir st offering of a I'm thrilled that we're finally able to bring thi s issue to you. You year-long plot. While a smaller version don't kn ow how difficult it's been to sit on great material with no of the premiere Isles of Woe outlet for it. Finally. Fred Wcinin g's secrets of Zcif can wind th eir adventure will be made available for way into your campaig n. we sec a little more of C lcrkburg , and local conventions or smaller events, we get a few more creatures from t he mysterious Fi end-Sage. I'd some future special events will be lik e to specia ll y thank Wendy Joh nson for some last minute offered and playable only at select layout assistance . shows. WeSamplearc also in the process of We'll keep bringi ng you this sort of Grcyhaw k goodness.file now on creating event packages for larger a monthl y basis, in the pages of Dragon Magazine. Check the shows and conventions. including tools inside front cover for det ail s on how you can subscribe. In the to advertise and present your LIVING meantime, we'll sec you in the Cairn Hill s. GREYHAWKevents. (Erik Mona, March, 2002]

-Spri23. rnC 3 e/ulqZOO/ 0 e,em of [he&Janae-5-5 CITY OF GREYHAWK-CLERKBURG (PART 2)

BY ERIK MON A AND D ENIS TETREAULT ILLUSTRATIONSBY MATTHEW MITCHELL M AP BY DENIS TETREAULT

Our surveyof Clerkburgcontinues thi s month witha look at a business of Director Vcspariao Lafaocl led to the capture of six more than a half-dozenbuilding s that form the core of members in late 590 CY, and Brax appearsr eticent to risk Greyhawks educational di strict. See the map on the inside back further capture and possible discovery with another such blunder. cover of the magazine. PCs showing a public hatred for the government might find themselves contacted by a member of the Duofakoo Alliance C4.Black Dragon Inn and, after a simple test of loyalty. indoctrinated into their ranks. After Clerkburg's bustle of young scholars shuffling from hall Few question how Brax managesto afford his rather comfort­ to hall dies down to the comfortable din of early evening. able lifestyle. He claims to have inherited a generous sum from students. young professors. political agitators. and weary menials an uncle slain while fleeing from the destruction of Elredd. but crowd the Black Dragoo loo for rest. food. and the strongest the source of his wealth can be found far closer to home. drinks east of the Processional. Managed by a gregarious. bear­ Regaliao Brax is in the employ of Mayor Nero£ Gasgal, whom life retired adventurer named MiklosDare [LG Ftr4]. the Black he met while a least master in the Thieves' Guild several years Dragoo boasts 60 private rooms for rent. one of the city's largest ago. Brax had spent most of his time since then as a sleeper agent common sleeping rooms. and an uoosteotatious but skillfully in Dyvers, and when Gasgal assumedleader ship he recalled his delivered menu for breakfast. lunch. and dinner. More than the former friend. a skilled liar and actor. to serve as his spy among food or accommodations. however. the Black Dragoo is known the all-too-idealistic students of the Halls. Gasgal and Brax use for being open at all hours of the day and night. and for the the Duofalcoos to weed out those students and malcontents who eclectic clieotele attracted by such forgiving hours of operation. pose the most serious ideological threats to the government,as Students from the surrounding colleges serve as bouncers. well as to attract any rival agents from Dyvers. with whom maids. bartenders. and housekeepers. and make up the bulk of the relations have never been cordial. Once a "critical mass" of Black Dragoo·s customers. Traders from the Low Market. city threats has been assembled. Brax sends them as a team on some watchmen. former students still caught up in the allure of mission in which they inevitably are betrayed. The six members intellectual debate. and Bakluoish inhabitants of the '"Little Ket" captured last year, including the infamous Reductionist pam­ neighborhood across the Processional augment the youthful phleteer Liargo Kline, were captured by agents of the Assassins' atmosphere. Walking from the bar to the private toilet off the Guild and dissolved in the acid vats of the city workhouse taproom. it's possible to hear a heated argument over the rights (Area F7). A poor. borderline-insane "guest" of the workhouse. of Wild Coast slaves whose masters were killed by the warbaods an alcoholic halfliog carter named .Alama.otBounder [NG hlm of Turrosh Mak. bitter complaints about unfair business Com2]. overheard Lafaoel's agents talking about the mayor's tics practices in the Petit Bazaar.and rampant speculation on the to the Alliance as they disposed of the bodies. He has been whereabouts of the dastardly Lord Robilar. Miklos Dare listens living as a veritable shut-in in his home in Burrow Heights to all of this talk. and has established a significant body of lore ( Area FI4) ever since. and rumors. some of which happen to be more than the simple blustering of a young pedant striking an intellectual blow against C5:Jewelers and Gemcutters' Guildhall a hated fellow. Consisting of three attached buildings, this ornate yet fortress­ like structure is the headquarters for one of Grcyhawk's most DM"S Notes: Among the various student social clubs or '"liter­ self-important guilds. Inside the buildings arc numerous secure ary societies" who congregate here can be found the Duofalcoo storage rooms, workshops. and meeting chambers so overdeco­ Alliance. a secretive body of young would-be revolutionaries rated with riotous collections of rich draperies. elaborate tapes­ who believe that the mayor and oligarchy are irredeemably tries. exotic carpets, and miscellaneous miss-matched artwork as corrupt puppetsof the city's Thieves· Guild. Through the posting to bring tears to the eyes of the most devout cleric of Zilchus. of seditious tracts, calumnious graffiti. and secret meetings, the Though the guild wields influence in the city befitting its mem­ Alliance seeks to undermine the authorit y of the city's rulers. bers' roles as wealthy citizens and the guildmaster even serves as Eventually.Sample they'd like to depose the directors and mayor, a city Director. the extent of cerefilemony at their hall can only be replacing the system with a meritocracy similar to that found described as pompous. in Dyvers. Their charismatic leader, the thirty -two-year-old Fortificd beneath the guildhall are extensive vaults that hold RcgafunBru: [CN hm Rog6], emphasizesthe need for secrecy an incredible wealth in gems (both cut and uncut). The impene­ among the order. and personally interviews potential recruits trability of the guild's vaults is legendary.and certainly includes before allowing them into the fold. Thus far. the society has both magical and mechanical protections. Periodically, trustwor­ undertaken few direct actions- a midnight attack on the thy adventurers arc hired (sometimes indirectly) to test the secu-

.£..ivi~ <8reyhawhef ournal rity of the vaults. Guildmaster GerdaHolhrdcl [CN hf Rog3]. daughter of the previous guildmaster, has a good businesssense - and is popular, if a bit headstrong and conservative.

DMs Notes:Gerda is secretly a low-level member of the Thieves' Guild. She and another Director, DernenNathane [N hm Ftr 2/RogS], have shared a romantic relationship for years ( the two met while training in the Thieves' Guild. an organiza­ tion to which Nathaoe also belongs). Nathaoe is a high-ranking member of the Merchants and Traders' Guild. Gerda is not the first master of the guild to have regular dealings with the city's underworld. lo his day. her father Bodmi (a personal friend of Nero£ Gasgal and Org Neoshen) provided the thieves with information on the shops of fellow guildsmeo in exchangefor protecting his own holdings and the guildhall itself from intrusion by thieves. lo 589 CY, a fellow jeweler was killed when a group of junior thieves bungled a burglary at his shop. and though Bodmi Hollardel was never implicated for providing information to the thieves, he nonetheless retired in anguish. His daughter has continued the practice. If his role in the affair were to come to light, the resulting scandal would rock the Directing Oligar chy. The entire guild has been atwitter for much of the past month after the guildhall suffered a major theft, despite the unofficial protection from guild thieves. Somehow, a single rogue penetrat­ ed the guild's most secure vault. Ignoring items of astounding value, the interloper stole only a single unremarkable ruby with a weak enchantment (previously identified as Nystufs magic main floor. and as they progress in study. students move on to aura). leaving behind a white glove featuring a monogrammed higer floors and more rigorous curricula and tutors. The floors "Z". Gerda has made no official comment on the theft, but the get smaller and smalJer as they approach the pyramid's zenith. A more vociferous jewelers in the guild have taken the occasion to mess hall takes up a large portion of the ground floor. as do call for new leadership. citing Hollardel's negligence in allowing dozens of small dormatories for the use of students in their first the guild's vaults to be plundered. through fifth year of study. More experienced students and instructors are expected to keep quarters in the city proper, or on C6: Universityof MagicalArts some demiplane parallel to the university's metaphysical axis. Across the whole of the Flanaess, the rich and the humble alike Though instructors and senior students pass in and out of the dream of sending their children to Greyhawk's prestigious university with regularity, the youngest and rawest applicants do University of Magical Arts. Rightly considered the finest not leave the pyramid for at least two years after their initial training institution of the arcane arts on the continent. the uni­ visit. During that time, the would-be arcaoists study the funda­ versity accepts applicantsb ased on merit and potential magical mentals of magical theory. Graduates of this strict regimen. aptitude. paying little heed to such meaningless trifles as social during which no spells are actually taught, liken the process to a class, race, or familial connections. Both wizards and sorcerers test of endurance-a weeding out of dilettantes and those who are accepted. though many of the more traditional instructors lack the discipline required to channel arcane magic appropriately. favor wizardly hopefuls, finding it easier to confer magical The college expels students only under the most dire circum­ teachings through rote study of arcane formulae than to guide a stances ( theft of a magical treasure from the vaults. destroying would-be sorcerer through the process of tapping her inherent university lore, and murder top the short list of exile offenses). potential for magic through far less tangible means. Nearly every student who leaves the university does so by her The university is situated within a massive pyramid that many own volition (the longest apprenticeshipon record was that of scholars consider one of the greatest architectural marvels of the Baodul the Keen, an indolent lout who dithered at the lowest modern Flaoaess. Each of the structure's three sides is exactly levels of the college for 27 years before accepting a position as a 222 feet Jong and 181 feet high. No doors, windows. or marks of minor functionary in Hardby's unremarkable guild). If an any kind mar the pyramid's walls-low -level students announce apprentice leavesthe university for any reason, she may never themselves at a pre-arrangedspo t and are taken within by tutors Samplereturn to it unless she does so as an accomplishedfile mage. armed with magical means to bypass the pyramid's many Students reaching the end of their apprenticeship (gaining a protections. A six-foot-high wall surrounding the pyramid is first level in either the wizard or sorcerer class) are encouraged likewise featureless. to leave the school and "explore the world" (read: roam about The pyramid features an immense underground auditorium violating ancient tombs and vanquishing monsters with magic). and nine floors. each representing a specific level of arcane Such encouragement has Jed some of the more staunch magical magical study. Initiates learn cantrips and 1st-level spells on the

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