The World of Greyhawk campaign will start in the Free City of Greyhawk.  Players may choose to be from anywhere on the Flanaess.  Player backgrounds should include where they are from and how they came to be in the City of Greyhawk.  Please bear in mind the following guidelines:

Characters begin the game as level 1, very inexperienced in adventuring and have virtually no pre-existing reputation.  No nobles or children of wealthy merchants or magical abilities, your adventures are ahead of you, not behind you.  I recommend waiting until you have generated your character race, abilities, class, age and alignment before writing a detailed background as some of those aspects may affect your history.

Please only make one post per character in this thread and edit as required.

A minor adjustment to player backgrounds and the beginning of the campaign.  Players can be from anywhere EXCEPT the City of Greyhawk.  You will arrive 2 days before Midsummer (Pelor's Day) through one of the 6 gates into the City (looking for a map to post ASAP and also some calendar info for this world).  As adventurers you will want make sure you have 3 gp to pay the Freesword Tax which will get you a written license to operate as a mercenary in the City :)

Korkas was born in the slums of Verbobnc, his mother a dish washer at this tavern known as the Gilded Wench, the only thing gilded there are the lies, his father some ruffian who only paid attention long enough to get his mother pregnant. He was put to work soon as they could, his was a big lad even among dwarves so at first it was carrying anything that was heavy, barrels of ale, new tables to replace the old ones, the like. It's here were he learned to gamble, wasn't very good at it but he did it. He liked to fight too, few bar fights later and he was told to get out. He grew up on the streets since then, getting shelter with the Red Hands, learning his trades there. During the day he worked the jewelers "shop" re-cutting some jewels that were "acquired" by the Red Hands under tutelage of Xaltor, a gnome jeweler who worked for the Red Hands but wasn't happy about it. In the evenings he worked the fighting pits as security and occasionally thrown in there when he wasn't doing what he was told. Red Hands always had side jobs as well, the usual breaking and entering or roughing up someone who owed a debt. His last job in Verbovnc, some noble's son had gambled a large sum of money away and failed to pay up, well he was sent to collect. Followed the noble back to the inn he was staying at and tried to break in, got in okay, kid couldn't take a hit though. Down he went, crumbling down the stairs. Korkas never liked hurting people much, was good at it, but always made sure to not go to far, he feared he may have gone to far this time, running with a heavy conscious he returned to Jhareel to let him know what happened and that the funds were not available. Jhareel was angry but seemed to let Korkas go for the night. Heard the next day, the kid would live but his high born father was paying good money to the guards for finding who did it. Korkas knew it was time to disappear for a bit so he headed for the hills. Jhareel told him of a place he could hide out in the Kron hills, well Jhareel was just looking to get rid of Korkas, tying up loose ends and all. Korkas made it out there, was doing okay for a day or two when a band of orcs, likely tipped off by Jhareel, fell upon him and captured him taking him to their encampment not to far away. He was to be stew the next day, cooks debated on a live roast or kill me before hand. Chieftain wanted the screams so live roast it was to be.

Fortune favors the bold, or in Korkas's case the lucky, Elkair and his mercenary group came upon the encampment to stop these raiders and were able to free Korkas. Korkas agreed to stay a time with him and served a few years with Elkair learning even more. Korkas and Elkair recently parted ways due to a difference of opinions.

Korkas looks up at the large gates to the free city, what would pass for a smile for Korkas was on his face. See what kind of work he could scrounge up here.

Osric "Ironheart" Zetaan of Rhennee decent, as seen by his black curly hair and short statue, was born to a family of peddlers in the town of Brotton, County of Urnst. He earned the nickname Ironheart when it came to haggling as he tended to have little compassion when it came to making a trade.

An unusual Rhennee, he is skilled in magic while almost all the other males of his race are skilled at fighting and thieving, leaving magic to the womenfolk. Magic came naturally to him as he spent much of his time reading when he was younger as he was a sickly child until he hit his mid teens. He also has a knack for languages as he knows over a half dozen of them, while the other males do not trust him, his language skills are rather handy.

Standing a short 5' 2", he is rather rotund, weighing 175 lbs. Wearing a robe, he tends to not wear stylish clothes due to his unusual size. He has a staff in hand in case he needs to defend himself. With limited access to magic, Osric hopes to become a great wizard but has a talent for bartering so he has something to fall back on.

Del'Cerys is from Highfolk, the daughter of an armor smith and a hedge witch, a proud sylvan elven family. She had apprenticed to her father, learning the craft of armor smithing, but dabble in magic as well, learning enough in her studies to become proficient with some minor magicks. She's also learned the very beginnings of sword play. In her people's fashion, she can be a bit blunt, and naive when it comes to interactions with non fey people, and her age relative to others makes relating a bit difficult. She arrives in Greyhawk green as far as worldly travels and experiences are concerned, the only real dangers she's experienced have been one or two patrols to fulfill her family's duty to the militia in Highfolk around the Vesve Forest.

Treakle hailed from just outside the slums of Verbobnc.  His family owned a feed store and he grew up helping them, lifting the sacks of feed, loading them in wagons.  It helped him develop a muscular physique.
Treakle had done some intensive training with the bastard sword and found that, despite his height, his strength allowed him to wield it effectively.  After many years of training, he felt that there were few that could match him.  Probably an internal boast, but time would tell.
He often visited the Gilded Wench.  He knew Korkas from his visits there.  No great love for his family, but Korkas was a good friend to have.  Eventually, it came time for Treakle to  escaped the life there, or lack of life.  He armed himself and outfitted what he could and ended up in Greyhawk.  Wasn't he surprised when he ran into his friend there, in line to pay his 3 gold coins?
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Mon 11 Jan 2021.

Birahu is 5'9" and 165 pounds. He wears black clothing, trousers and shirt as well as a black robe/cloak. He has a tattoo of a huge snake with dorsal fins down the left side of his face and around his left eye. He carries a staff in his hand and a dagger on his hip. His skin is deeply tanned and he appears about 30 years old.

He hails from the city of Nevond-Nevnend in the Duchy of Tenh where he is an aspiring Flan wizard. He was an apprentice of Nystul for awhile and then another less famous wizard he does not name. After becoming a Prestidigitator the realm of Tenh was invaded from the north by barbarians and he fled for his life. He went to Greyhawk and entered through the Druid Gate.

Salochin the Bold is as subtle as the sledgehammer he carries on his belt.  Not obnoxious or rude necessarily ... but often loud and painfully obvious.  He doesn't have an ounce of guile in him.  Broad shouldered and quick to laugh, this Suel tribesman has come down from the hinterlands to visit the great city of Greyhawk and see what adventures might be found there.

Around his neck he wears a crude 8-pointed star of wrought iron.

Arguuld Ula was born near the hamlet of Hommlett. A single child of a female priest and a male warrior. Arguuld's family moved closer to Verbobonc to escape the evil wilds that pervaded the area around Hommlett. Arguuld idolized her mother and took on the call of St Cuthbert and began the path of a acolyte. Her life has been very structured. She takes her daily devotions very seriously and will pray five times a day. Unfortunately, Arguuld's mother doesn't see much of a future for her daughter. Commonly questioning Arguuld on why she chose the path of an acolyte.

Nettle hails originally from the Hookhill area of Geoff. Born and raised in a small farming community, he follows Phyton and was initiated into his service when he was but a child.

Now an adult and finding his little community a bit too cramped he joined with a caravan that eventually made its way to the Free City of Greyhawk.

Thud hails from Geoff and is of Flannae descent. He was an orphan but had just what it took to survive the streets and learn from his experience. He is tough, strong, and very nimble which has gotten him out of more than one jam.

He is currently traveling to Greyhawk because he was no longer welcome in Geoff and is afraid trouble may be following him.

His name comes from his favorite way to celebrate his success in combat. Once all his opponents are unconscious or dead, he says or yells (if appropriate and sometimes even when it isn’t) “THUD”

Finnian grew up on the edge of the Hool marsh in the Southwest end of the Sheldomar Valley in the Yeomanry freehold.  His family lived across the Javan river in the foothills.  A pastoral setting, his hildhood was spent fishing and raking vegetation from the marsh to help fertilize the fields.  Temperatures were warm or evsn hot the year round.

Like all Yeomanry citizens Finn spent time in the militia and was assigned to the Southern Keep on the Borderlands with the Sea Princes.  The patrols to keep the roads free of goblins was sometimes the easiest part of their job.  The lost adventures from the Caves of Chaos were often worse, especially encountering injured ones who needed help.

One evening their patrol encountered a party being attacked by a small group of trolls.  Using the lamp oil they managed to defeat them but then had to camp overnight.  Finnian made a promise to a dying dwarf that he would get a message to his family in the city of Greyhawk.

That was ten years ago.  Much of the dwarf's equipment is still with him, including a beautiful handled broken short sword since turned into a short but wide dirk.  He's made his way by working on boats through Keoland, eventually in passage along the Selintan River to the Sea gate at the Free City.

Kinza the Tracker hails from Saltmarsh, the son of a ranger and an elf woman who married and settled down in that swampy town. Mother dealt in herbs, spices and medicines while Father and his companions kept the local denizens of the swamp in check. Kinza had a quiet and relatively happy childhood though he never grew close to most boys his age. They have families, some expecting grandchildren soon while Kinza is comparatively about fifteen. Preferring the quiet of the wilds or the variety of life in the swamp to his human friends anyway, Kinza would often hunt for weeks without returning to Saltmarsh and rarely stayed long. Having heard tale of the great city of Greyhawk, a whim took him and he found his feet on the road to the fabled city, surprised to find a Druid's ring outside the Druids Gate, he suspects that his whim might not be so whimsical after all.

Inaya is a half-elf of Baklunish origins; the bastard child of a horse trader's wayward daughter and the elvish thief who was briefly her lover.   Her grandparents did their best to integrate her into the family, but were unhappy to find her temprement was much like her mother's. Even harder to understand with her fey blood, and unusual intuition.   Of the family, she became closest to her oldest cousin, Shimun.  Surprised but pleased by her interest, he agreed to train her in the skill at arms he had learned.  Her grandparents were not pleased, deeming this another instance of Inaya's willfulness, while she should be learning the family business, or preparing for marriage.  Neither well suited her; she had love for horses but no real knack for commerce, and no desire for loss of personal freedom.  And the spiritual side of her nature inclined to something else.  She had been attending the twilight-services at Xan Yae's shrine and found there a solace she'd not known before.  Learning the prayers and rites eagerly, she volunteered her time, and came to the attention of Xan Yae's clergy.

Years on, Inaya isn't the sort of priestess who goes about in robes and sandals, blessing the crops. Armed with the goddess' sacred curved blade, she's also an archer, happy to feather foes in the manner of the elvish ancestors she has never met.   And as likely to use spells of command, darkness, or a curse, as she is to heal wounds.  She has also been known to do a little gambling.  Just on the side.  As isn't uncommon, Inaya's superiors charged her to undertake a sojourn, so she may learn the wisdom that only the world can teach.  Her destination a place she'd always wanted to see: Greyhawk.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:48, Mon 18 Jan 2021.

Menion Pendrake is a young Human originally hailing from a small village in Furyondy near the Nyr Dyv in a small hamlet several miles south from the Barony of Willip. His father was the blacksmith who sought to have his son follow in his footsteps. Menion, however, demonstrated no inclination nor expertise in the craft which drove a wedge between their relationship. Menion did try to apprentice but failed quite miserably. Menion ever since he was a young lad was quite impressed by the travelling Bards who provided their music and ballads in turn for food and lodging and hopefully some silver. He would listen wide-eyed every night at the stories of heroes and their incredible adventures. His father, now angry over his disappointment with his son, finally demanded that he leave the hamlet. However, his father noticed that his son was adept with the sword. His son would wield the swords and test his father's work. His father sensed that he was a natural warrior but did not tell his son this information. He gave his son some money to help his way in the world. Menion travelled to The Free City of Greyhawk and used his small inheritance to buy a sword and armor and to start the life of an adventurer.

Kari hails from the cold north, the sliver of land between the Land of Black Ice and the Icy Sea known as Tusking Strand.  Descended from the Suloise Zeai he was a outlier even among his people because of his mixed blood.  A few sea captains wanted him on their ships for his sharp sight but the men often spoke of bad luck from his bad blood so he never spent much time on board any one ship.  That led to him learning more about animal husbandry than sailing as he was given the unenviable job of tending to the herds that carried away raided goods that they wanted to sell.  Flitting back and forth between guarding the spoils to where they were sold to stealing from them occasionally he never seemed to find his place.  That eventually led the now much older Kari to steal from the caravan he was guarding when everyone was killed in a raid except him.  Burning a body so his people thought that he had died he left and headed south towards Greyhawk at the suggestion of a travelling Dervish he crossed paths with by the name of Kossoth Zan.  The two traveled for a time before parting ways.

The journey was long and as time passed he sold off more and more of the spoils without much thought to the long term.  By the time he finally made it to Greyhawk he had little left to his name (keeping him from choosing to take up the past-time of being a raider or brigand like the kin he had left behind long ago now) except the well made but also well worn bronze plate mail that made him stick out like a sore thumb...as if the pale skin with a light green undertone or long dark hair with almost black eyes that glistened deep purple in bright light didn't.

Taya is a Human magic-user, 5' 6" tall and 120 pounds. She wears the typical tunic, trousers, and boots of a regular person and not the traditional robes. She has a dagger on her left hip. She has a leather backback.

Taya is from a large town to the west. Always curious about how things worked and why things were as they were, especially things that couldn't normally be explained, she chose to learn the ways of magic, studying under a local wizard that was a retired adventurer.

Taya is a mixture of keeping her thoughts to herself and being direct and blunt when she speaks. She can sometimes have a naive view on the ways of things.

Orphaned at a very young age, Jori was taken in and raised in a monastery that trained both men and women in the disciplines of being a monk. At first she was frightened by the new environment, but once she moved forward from her grief, she quickly adapted to monastery life. She was a natural in her talents and was a quick learner. Now, as a grown woman, she has gone into the world to see what journeys she will find in life.

Jori is 5' 6" tall, with long, brown hair. She wears a tunic, brown pants, boots, and has a dagger on her left hip.

Gorn was born and reared in the Cairn Hills along the Nyr Dyv. With 3 siblings, he felt the burden on his parents was too much and at the age of 15 he left for the town they called Amundfort. Unable to find decent work he took to pickpocketing and five-fingering food from vendor carts in the market area. It wasn't long before other local thieves caught on to him and he was quickly pulled into one of the smaller gangs that were fronted by the Thieves' Guild. In time, the constant dodging of the authorities became frustrating and he took on with a group of bandits. It has been over 15 years since he had left Amundfort and the time on the road had taken its toll and he was now ready to ease the constant threat of being a bandit.

Vanorin hails from the village of Dariax, near Tringlee in the Duchy of Ulek. His family business is boat building on the Kewl River, and being a small community serving in the village militia is a matter of duty. Despite these humble beginnings and given his clear intellect Vanorin was invited to Tringlee to apprentice with a wizard of some repute. Whilst there he found an outlet in what free time he did have to study the craft of jewellery making, a trade for which the Elves are much renowned and in which he became quite adept, though not quite to the level of his dweomercraft. Thus he has lived a fairly quiet life in a community mostly of other elves, and is not always wise in the ways of the world.

And for some the road goes ever on. Where goes a newly qualified Fighter/Mage - back to the family business? Or on to new horizons and new possibilities, however dangerous they might prove?

A merchant caravan of cloth, foodstuffs and more material wealth made its way through the Celene Pass to the Faerie Kingdom for Midsummer, and Vanorin went with it as a guard, his first experience outside his own realm. He has seen the glittering towers and giant trees of Enstad but saw little of the capital, as even a caravan from an allied realm like the Duchy was watched day and night by the gray elven guards, and business was conducted in the market outside the city walls. From there they travelled east and north to Namburil, then across the border to the Domain of Greyhawk, crossing the Selintan at Two Ford before ending their journey at the Highway Gate, where Vanorin parted company with the caravan.

His mentor had told him to come here, the Gem of the Flanaess, to widen his horizons. Hopefully it doesn't prove too much.

  Valenthia was conceived, born, and raised in Magepoint.  The circumstance of her birth was not terribly unusual, for every year Magepoint celebrated the spring fertility rituals which often resulted in children being born out of wedlock.  What was different about Valenthia is that her father had happened to arrive in Magepoint that very week aboard a beautiful elven ship.  He was elven, of course, but celebrated with the community nonetheless.  He left thereafter, thinking little of it.  Fine wine and frolicking, he had no idea he had left the pretty redheaded fishergirl with child.

  Valenthia grew up as a fisherwoman's daughter, learning her mother's craft.  The long summers of her early childhood spent coaxing fish to take her hook, swimming in the sea, and learning about the boats they sometimes fished from was lovely, but too simple for this brilliant child.  She had potential, and eventually a mage took her under wing and taught her the beginnings of the ways of power.  Then, at the time of her coming into her womanhood, she heard the calling of faith.  Her faith was not well represented in Magepoint, only a small chapel with a single priest, but she was devout and set to taking on the trappings of faith of the elven god Corellon Larethian.

  As she grew she faced many difficulties.  Other girls were jealous over her exotic looks, and many boys and even men tried to find ways into her breeches.  Some pushed the issue too far, and it resulted in her getting into many fights.  Between her spells, her fists, and a few sharp upward knees she made them see the error of her ways.  Her virtue would be given when she saw fit, and not a moment sooner.

  One of the old gaffers, a retired guardsman, saw her struggles and admired her moxy, so he taught her to fight with longswords and daggers.  She wouldn't be conscripted into the town militia because she was a girl, but he thought she should be able to protect herself in the event of raiders.

  Valenthia lived in Magepoint until just recently when her mother passed at the age of 66 years.  After her passing, along with the passings of all those humans that had cared for her, Valenthia sold everything and left Magepoint to find her place in the world, perhaps to find her father.

  Valenthia is 5'4", 105 lbs, with green eyes and red hair that hangs just below her shoulders.  Her half-elven heritage is clear though from her high cheekbones and exotic beauty.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:19, Thu 24 Nov 2022.

Hamenclar is the son of an orc male whom he never met and a human female druid named Orlaith. Ham and his mother lived in a small cabin near the eastern border of the Welkwood, south of the Jewel River, near the Wild Coast. Ham knew nothing of his father, for Orlaith had never spoken of him. Unlike most half-orcs, Ham did not even learn to speak orcish.

But that is not to say he did not receive an education in other topics. Orlaith imparted her druidic knowledge with him, even though half-orcs are not eligible to become druids themselves. She taught him the basics of forestry, how to fight with blunt weapons, and the ethics of the neutral alignment.

Ham’s face is grotesquely misshapen: off-center nose with clusters of moles on both sides, asymmetric eyes, a grey splotchy complexion. Perhaps his mother was trying to protect him from ridicule, or perhaps she was ashamed of him. Either way, she did not allow him to wander far from their isolated home. Consequently, he never learned much by way of social graces.

However, one day, when Orlaith was away fulfilling her Druidic duties, a stranger paid Hamenclar a visit at the cabin. The stranger spoke of far-off and wondrous places, of the benefits of the adventuring life, and of the dangers of becoming stuck in one place for too long. Over the course of several secret visits, the stranger instilled in Hamenclar a desire to leave the cabin and explore the world.

Not too long ago, the stranger paid one final visit to Hamenclar. He bestowed upon him a circular wooden carving with a depiction of the horizon emblazoned upon it, the holy symbol of Fahrlanghn.

“Go now and protect my roads,” the stranger said. “Make them safe for all travelers.”

Hamenclar wrote a letter to his mother: “Don’t worry for me, I have found a purpose.”  He ran away from their cabin, the only place he had ever known, and he followed the first road he found. A road which led him now to the Druids Gate of the Free City of Greyhawk.