Player's Guide to Saltmarsh

Player's Guide to Saltmarsh Compiled by Robert John Michael Whittaker Heavens and Oerth p.2 Folk of the Flanaess p.5 • Humans p.5 • Elves p.10 • Dwarves p.11 • Gnomes p.12 • Halflings, Gnolls, Hobgoblins, and Orcs p.13 • Goblins, Kobolds, and Other Folk p.14 Languages p.14 The Path of History p.16 The Kingdom of Keoland p.19 Saltmarsh p.25 • Politics and Factions p.26 • Law and Order p.28 • Commerce p.29 • Docks p.30 • Mood of the Town p.30 • Locations in Saltmarsh p.30 • Downtime Activities p.36 • Saltmarsh Region p.38 • Saltmarsh Backgrounds p.43 Power Groups p.50 Gods of the Flanaess p.59 Spells of the Archmagi p.92 Primary Sources: The LIVING GREYHAWK™ Gazetteer Ghosts of Saltmarsh Additional Sources: WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ Fantasy Setting The LIVING GREYHAWK™ Journal Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes Player's Guide to Greyhawk Volo's Guide to Monsters The Scarlet Brotherhood DRAGON Magazine #225, #241, #268, #269, and #270 Additional Maps: Anna B. Meyer https://www.annabmeyer.com/ Version 1.3 1 Player's Guide to Saltmarsh The GREYHAWK® campaign depicts a magical land the fragile veils of reality. The craft and at the crossroads of countless possibilities. The persistence of magic defines the nature of Oerth. most fantastic of many worlds, Greyhawk's world Throughout recorded history, magical conflict of Oerth is a place where powerful creatures and restoration have shaped this world. Some of contest with humanity and other races, where these magic-driven events touch upon the good folk struggle against evil, and Law wrestles history of other worlds, and portals sometimes with Chaos, Oerth is a world of magic, mystery, open between Oerth and alien spheres. Few and the imagination. other worlds boast the magical profundity of The gem of this world is the city of Greyhawk, a Oerth, and many strange beings are found there, teeming metropolis that attracts heroes and drawn by the lure of the supernatural. The villains alike. Warriors, merchants, wizards, majority of such entities make their homes far beggars, clerics, sages, and thieves fill its streets from the sunlit skies of Oerth's surface, in search of high adventure. preferring to live secretly in lightless caverns The GREYHAWK® campaign centers on the below, where they may thrive and plot unseen. Flanaess, a multinational land heading into a If the paths of the underworld are hidden from dark period of war. Its people face each new day view, the wise may still turn their attention to the with growing apathy, as evil lurks in shadowed heavens. All know that the sun travels once caverns and decadent courts. The final outcome around Oerth every 364 days, visiting the Twelve of this intrigue is ever in question, and new Lairs of the Zodiac in an appointed round that heroes must always be found to keep their never varies. The pale Great Moon, called Luna, realms from destruction. waxes and wanes in fixed cycles of 28 days each, upon which the months are based. The aquamarine Lesser Moon, Celene, follows a path Heavens and Oerth that reveals her full beauty but four times each year, thus showing the time for civilized festivals. The world of GREYHAWK® encompasses the Both Mistress and Handmaiden, as the greater Flanaess, the easternmost portion of the vast and lesser moons of Oerth are also known, are continent of Oerik, on the sphere of Oerth. held to be worlds in their own right, though few Scholars from the Flanaess are certain that Oerik claim to have met any visitors from those lofty is the greatest of Oerth's four continents, and realms (or, for that matter, to have visited those that four great oceans surround these lands, as alien worlds personally). do four layers of the heavens and four depths of the underworld. Yet, even in this benighted age, almost nothing is known of the lands beyond the Flanaess, and little is understood of the regions TABLE 1: STANDARD WEEK (FLANAESS) above and below. Such knowledge is of small Day Task importance, claim the high and the mighty, for Starday Work clearly the lands around Greyhawk form the Sunday Work center of all enlightenment and civilization. Some Moonday Work folks question this assumption, and they yearn to Godsday Worship explore their world and its challenges. Waterday Work Oerth is but one world among many, separated Earthday Work either by the gulfs of space, the invisible ether, or Freeday Rest Version 1.3 2 Player's Guide to Saltmarsh TABLE 2: DOZENMONTH OF LUNA AND THE FOUR FESTIVALS the north-east in the winter and autumn, and the Common Elvish Nomads Season east and south-east at other times. Most areas of Needfest Midwinter the Flanaess have sufficient rainfall to assure Fireseek Diamondice Tiger Winter abundant crops. Readying Yellowillow Bear Spring Coldeven Snowflowers Lion Spring Geographic Divisions ® Growfest The focal point of the GREYHAWK setting is the Planting Blossoms Frog Low Summer Flanaess, with the city of Greyhawk near its Flocktime Violets Turtle Low Summer center. The Flanaess can be divided into nine Wealsun Berrytime Fox Low Summer broadly defined geopolitical territories, most of Richfest Midsummer which coincide with old national identities that Reaping Goldfields Snake High Summer once dominated those regions. The exception Goodmonth Sunflowers Boar High Summer here is the southern region of isolated lands, Harvester Fruitfall Squirrel High Summer some of which are not part of the Flanaess Brewfest proper (for example, Hepmonaland). Patchwall Brightleaf Hare Autumn Ready'reat Tinklingice Hawk Autumn Baklunish West (former Baklunish Empire) Sunsebb Lacysnows Wolf Winter Survivors of the Invoked Devastation settled these temperate prairies, forests, and coastal Each month has 28 days. Each festival is seven days long. lands about one thousand years ago. Largely separated from the rest of the Flanaess by the great Yatils, Barrier Peaks, and Crystalmist Mountains, these realms are a stronghold of Baklunish culture. Climate and Seasons The Flanaess is exceptionally blessed in regard to Bitter North (“Old Blackmoor”) its weather. Outside of the norther latitudes, the The lands north of the Yatil Mountains, from the winter temperatures seldom fall below freezing, Dramidj coast to the Dulsi River, make up the except during the two winter months, and at Bitter North. The climate in this region of steppes night during early spring and late autumn. In the and coniferous forests varies from cool to frigid, depths of winter come a few days when the making this a sparsely settled area home mostly temperature reaches the freezing point, then to nomads, orcs, and goblins, except in gradual warming begins. The northeast and Perrenland. north-central regions tend to be considerably colder, for the seas of those regions cause winter Western Nyr Dyv (“Old Ferrond”) to linger about twice as long as it does in the The lands from the Nyr Dyv to the Yatils are an heartland of the Flanaess. An important old stronghold of Good in the Flanaess. Humans exception to this is the Dramidj Ocean, whose of Oeridian and Flan descent, dwarves, and elves strange, warm currents moderate the climate of contribute to the vigor of these nations. The rich the lands that border it. soil and the pleasant climate, combined with Autumn, winter, and spring are rather short healthy trade relations with their neighbors to seasons, but summer in the central Flanaess lasts the east, south and west, make this a strong and five or more months. Prevailing winds are from wealthy region. Version 1.3 3 Player's Guide to Saltmarsh Sheldomar Valley (“Old Keoland”) of the Vesve Forest across the north-central The fertile Sheldomar Valley is almost completely Flanaess to the current war zone of Tenh. These enclosed by mountains until it reaches the Azure lands are generally wilderness dotted with Sea. Two great rivers, the Sheldomar and the ruined human towns and active orc lairs, with a Javan, water these lands between the cool to temperate climate. Crystalmists and the Lortmils. The climate here is warm and mild, and many elves, dwarves, Thillonrian Peninsula (“Barbarian North”) gnomes, and halflings live in peace alongside This isolated, mountainous region at the Suel, Oeridian, and Flan farmers and lords. northeastern edge of the Flanaess is home to many barbarians. These northern Suel call their Empire of Iuz (“Northern Reaches”) land Rhizia, which has a ruggedly beautiful The evil demigod Iuz has expanded his territory landscape of high mountains, coniferous forests, from his original realm north of Lake Whyestil to and deep fjords. The climate is subarctic, with include most of the land from the western edge rocky soil and a brief growing season. Version 1.3 4 Player's Guide to Saltmarsh ago in isolation from all others, with its own Old Aerdy West (“Old Nyrond”) pantheon of deities, language, and culture. In These lands between the eastern Nyr Dyv and practical matters of exploration, trade, the line marked by the southern Rakers are adventure, and war, color and race have little temperate and fertile. Folk of Oeridian, Suloise meaning. and Flan heritage dwell in relative harmony here. Baklunish Old Aerdy East (“Great Kingdom”) The Baklunish have skin of golden tones, and The lands south and east of the Rakers and north straight, fine-textured hair that is universally of the Vast Swamp, off to the Solnor coast, are the dark, ranging from dusky brown to bluish black. heartland of Aerdy, the Great Kingdom. These Their eyes are usually green or gray-green; hazel lands are rich and their climate pleasant. Many and gray eyes are rare. They tend to be long of orcs and goblinoid races live among the limb and facial feature, with high cheekbones.

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