-	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	World of Greyhawk

THE FOLLOWING wilderness
scenarios have
proven useful in
capturing the atmosphere of the
Flanaess.
Although apocryphal,
they are based on events suggested
by notes scribbled in the margins
of the original, recovered manuscript.
Specific details of each adventure must be
filled in by individual DMs.

QUEST OF THE
MIST GOLEM

Fifteen years ago, the city of Gryhawk
(or another city of the central Flanaess)
was plagued by a series of strange disappearances
among the youth of the noble
families. The children simply disappeared
at night, never to be seen again, though
sometimes they were replaced by simulacrums
that committed vile blasphemies
and had to be destroyed. After investigation
both magical and mundane, the city
magistrate determined that the wizard
Murq was behind these awful outrages.
(His exact purpose was never ascertained.)
When a grim and determined
group of high-level guardsmen was sent
to apprehend Murq, he had already fled,
leaving behind only another simulacrum
that was killed vowing vengeance upon
the magistrate and the city.

The magician Murq and his outrages
have almost been forgotten. Recently,
however, the respected magistrate's sleep
has been invaded by evil dreams. In these
nightmares, mad Murq appears surrounded
by a cold fen, threatening the
magistrate and city with doom. He
boasts of having found an ancient volume
of great power, whose secrets are enabling
the magci-user to create a mist
golem. This creature, Murq claims, can
slay others, but cannot itself be slain.
When the stars are right, the golem shall
be finished. Then it shall be sent to kill;
first  the magistrate, then anyone it can
find, until everyone is slain or driven out
of the city.

The court magicians, clerics and astrologers
have analyzed these dreams,
Murq's threats, and the appearance of the
area from which he "broadcasts" (including
the configuration of the sky behind
the wizard). They have consulted their
histories and star charts, and communed
with Celestian. All have come to the conclusion
that Murq's threats could be quite
real, and if they are, then the mist golem
will be completed in only 63 nights. They
have pinpointed the source of the dreams
as somewhere near the headwaters of the
Dulsi River, in the Cold Marshes.

For the sake of the magistrate, and
indeed the whole city, Murq's revenge
must be thwarted. A group of adventurers
(the PCs) has been asked to
take the job of tracking down the renegade
wizard and foiling his plans before
the mist golem can be completed. If they
are successful, they will receive a large
reward, as well as whatever they can
pick up from the evil encounters along the
way.

The first part of the journey will be relatively
easy, as the characters make their
way across the civilized Kingdom of
Furyondy to the town of Crockport, on
Whyestil Lake. However, from there on
the adventurers will be traveling in wild
territory. Going up the Dulsi River by
boat may seem fastest, but it is too dangerous,
as this would be sure to attract the
attention of the evil creatures of Iuz. The
party will have to travel north by land,
avoiding or defeating humanoid bands
from the northern Vesve Forest, the
scouts and spies of Iuz, and bold Wolf
Nomads. Then there is the perilous passage
through the Howling Hills: the eastern
portion is a spawning ground of evil
creatures for Iuz, and the west is the
sacred burial ground of the savage and
cunning Wolf Nomads. If these barriers
are passed, there remains the frigid and
monster-ridden Cold Marshes at the end
of the trail.

Murq himself is guarded by trolls, gnolls,
and invisible stalkers. Even if the wizard
is defeated before the 63rd night, the
party must still return to the South to
claim its reward.

It is up to the DM to create
encounters, Murq and the mist golem,
keeping in mind the relative character
level and experience of his or her
players.

THE WEREWOLVES
OF THE MENOWOOD

The Menowood, once a haven of safety
for elves, pixies, and others of their ilk,
has recently fallen victim to evil intrusions
from the south and east. In particular,
a ravenous band of werewolves seems
to have taken up residence somewhere in
the northernmost part of the woods.
These vicious lycanthropes have been
raiding the human settlements along the
river and the dwarves and gnomes of the
Hollow Highlands for several months.
The local inhabitants have decided that
enough is enough, and have pooled their
resources to hire the adventurers to eliminate
this threatl.

Unfortunately, the party's employers
rarely venture into the Menowood and
can give the characters no clue as to
where to look for the werewolves' lair.
When the party ventures into the forest,
they are likely to encounter several of the
following:

-- A band of trolls who haved moved into
the woods from the Vast Swamp, finding
the forest creatures easier pickings. These
enterprising monsters have taken to
camouflaging themselves with green
branches and leaves and waiting by game
trails for their prey, surprising on 1-4
(d6). They will leap on their prey and
rend it or try to chase it into concealed
pits.

-- A group of 20-30 bandits who have just
established themselves in the area in the
last few weeks. This band was driven out
of the Rieuwood by the elves and rangers
there. Hearing of the werewolf raiders of
the Menowood, the leader of the bandits
decided upon a clever plan: the bandits
would dress up in wolfskins when the
group went on a raid. The victims,
already terrorized by the wolf-men,
would think the bandits were more of the
same, and flee rather than offer resistance.
So far this plan has worked twice,
and the bandits have gained quite a bit of
loot with no losses. Their only fear is of
running into the real werewolves. An
encounter with the party will most likely
be with a group of wolf-clad bandits heading
out on another raid. Among the bandits
is a 5th level magic-user and 7th level
thief, as well as the usual fighter leaders.

-- Two to five enraged treants who are
suspicious of any intruders into the forest,
and want all outsiders driven away. If
treated with respect, they may indicate
for the party the general direction of the
werewolves' lair, but they will not help
more than this.

-- Sylvan elves (11-20) on patrol. They
can tell the party where not to look, i.e..
what areas the elves control. The elves
only know of the werewolves indirectly,
since all of the raids have been outside the
forest.

-- Two dozen Minions of Wastri (q.v.)
from the Vast Swamp, with a pack of
giant toads, searching for demi-humans
to hunt down and slay. Included in the
group are eight: 1st level clerics and one of
7th level.

-- A blighted elm treant whose disease
has rotted its heartwood, causing it to
hate all animal life (including people) and
attack on sight.

-- The werewolf band, its members staying
near their lair until the time is right
for another raid. The lycanthropes have
appropriated a series of caves in a ravine,
and set up a small camp. They are masquerading
as simple woodsmen, and will
welcome any party of humans and demi-humans
who come around (only waiting
until the party is off guard and surrounded
to change shape and attack).
Deep in the caves is their treasure room,
where they have secreted all of the loot
from the raids. The treasure room is
also the lair of their leader, a powerful
werewolf who is also a vampire! (The
other werewolves tolerate their leader's
condition, and even consider it an asset,
since the vampire dislikes the curse-tainted
blood of the lycanthropes.) The
vampire will not come out during the day
(even if there is a battle) unless personally
disturbed.

DMs will note that this adventure
requires fairly high level characters. Even
normal werewolves are not easy for low
or mid levels to handle.

THE LOST PASSAGE OF THE SULOISE

When the Rain of Colorless Fire ended
the Age of Glory and brought down the
Empire, the tribes decided to seek their
fate to the east, in the lands of the
Flan. To expedite this migration, Slerotin,
the Last Mage of Power, caused
a great tunnel to be magically made
through the northeast mountains. One
by one the tribes passed out of the
Empire and into the East. When none
were left in the Sea of Dust, the Last
Mage sealed the tunnel at both ends
which a spell that would last a thousand
years.

... ancient Suloise folklore

Where the Crystalmists border the Yeomanry,
humans and demi-humans often
brave the terrors of the mountains for the
sake of the precious stones and metals to
be found there. Recently a band of
dwarves prospecting for silver discovered
a huge cave entrance in a place where
none should be. Being dwarves, they
investigated further, but were chased
away by a huge thundering creature with
glowing red eyes that seemed to be
invulnerable to their crossbow bolts. The
great black horror resembled an unbeatable
evil monster from dwarven lejend,
and so frightened the dwarves that they
refuse to go back. In fact, they have told
almost no one about the episode, but one
night a tipsy dwarf does relate the tale to
a certain party of adventurers...

With the dwarf's directions, the party
shouldn't have too much trouble finding
the tunnel opening. It is hidden by brush
and large trees, but not well enough to be
missed by determined searchers. The
opening, like the passage behind it, is 30
feet tall and 300 feet wide. The tunnel
passes through the mountain in a
straight line, keeping the same dimensions
throughout its entire length of over
200 miles.

The northeastern terminus of the passage
is guarded by a large black juggernaut,
that "sees" through glowing red gem
eyes. Its low AC causes most missiles
to merely bounce off. Over the centuries
its magical energies have run down
to the point where an unencumbered man
can outrun or outmaneuver it. If it does
catch any intruders, however, it will
crush them flat. It was placed there to destroy
any might find and dispel the
magickal seal.

As the lejend states, the tunnel was magickally
sealed for a thousand years. The
magick of the seal has been wearing off for
the last few decades, and is now entirely
gone. The Suloise lejend is bassically true,
but what it omits is that, unbeknownst to
Slerotin, there was one tribe of Suloise
that had not quite escaped the passage
when it was sealed. The Lerara tribe was
trapped in the giant tunnel, but they and
their animals have adapted to the underground
environment, and a complete subterranean
ecology has developed.

A party advancing down the tunnel will
find that most areas are dry and empty of
anything but dust, but some are damp or
even wet, and fungi of all types (including
edible and phosphorescent) grow in these
areas. After 25 miles or so, travelers will
encounter the first outposts of Lerara
society. Fair to begin with, the Lerara
have now become near-albinos, with pale
bluish-white eyes and silver-white hair.
These degenerate and inbred Suloise
cultivate various types of fungi for food, and
use giant millipedes as draft animals. The
warriors of the nobility use the giant millipedes
for mounts, and this squiggly
cavalry makes up about 1/4 of
their troops. All of the Lerara's weapons
are coated with a paralytic fungus poison.

The Lerara have not been completely cut
off for the millenium. When the migration
tunnel was originally made, it intersected
a much smaller tunnel about half-way
through the mountains, and since
then, strange boring creatures have made
new tunnels. The smaller tunnel cnnects
to the deeper maze of tunnels below the
Hellfurnaces to the south. Eventually the
Lerara established some trade with the
Drow society there, exchanging fungus
poison for weapons, goods and animals
(such as the millipedes). However, even
with the Drow contacts, the Lerara might
have eventually died out in their dismal
underground domain, if they had not
found something else in the tunnels
below the major passage. In a place where
no foot had trod for an eon, they found a
thing they could worshp, and a reason
for existence -- the Mother.

The Mother is virtually a physical
embodiment of evil, radiating vileness
and wickedness that is somehow strangely
attractive. Physically, the Mother looks
like a huge, white, glowing ooze that
covers the walls and ceiling of its large
cave, with complicated ripples and waves
continually flowing back and forth across
its surface. The floor of the Cavern of the
Mother is littered with the Lerara's
ancient treasure, which they were carrying
when trapped, and which they offered
to the Mother when they discovered her
divine evilness. Among this treasure are
the bones of previous sacrifices.

The Lerara are as yet unaware that the
tunnel seals are open. When they
encounter a party of intruders, they will
initially be very surprised and their first
impulse will be to retreat down the tunnel.
After a little time their attitude will
change and they will welcome the  party,
apparently delighted to finally meet people
from the outside world. They will
offer to lead the party to their chief, a trip
which will take many "sleeps." If the
party goes along, the characters will
receive every evidence of hospitality.
Actually, the Lerara warriors are leading
the party to the tunnel intersection, and
then below the passage to the Cavern of
the Mother, while always pretending to
go to the chief's cave. When they near
the Cavern of the Mother, the Lerara
warriors plan to attack the party, paralyze
them, and cast them into the Mother's
body, which will then gradually drain
their life levels.

Depending on the levels, number, and
experience of the adventurers' party, the
DM will have to decide how tough to
make the juggernaut, the Lerara, and the
Mother. The DM should also create the
Mother's treasure to fit the campaign.

THE JUNGLE OF LOST SHIPS

While in Sulward, the capital of the
Lordship of the Isles, the adventurers are
approached by an aging merchant who
has a business proposition. He tells the
party that one of his ships on a regular
trade run to Hepmonaland was caught by
a sudden storm, and blown hundreds of
leagues off course to the east. Then the
wind died, and the ship was drawn by a
strange current to a place where there
was a great mass of incredibly dense and
tangled seaweed. Some of this seaweed
had seemingly formed into great floating
mounds. As they drifted closer, the captain
realized that the floating mounds
were actually derelict ships, trapped and
overgrown by the weed. The captain saw
ships of all nations even ships of types
that had been out of use for decades or
that he had never seen before. Most
importantly, he recognized two as being
from the lejendary Lost Treasure Fleet of
the Sea Princes. <Sea Barons> Fortunately, another
storm blew up and the ship was able to
escape before becoming permanently
mired. The captain reported all this to the
merchant and then retired, since the
Hepmonaland run was to have been his
last voyage anyway.

The merchant is planning a trip to the sea
of weeds to loot these last treasure ships.
He tells the party that he wants to hire
them to deal with the many strange
monsters that live in and around the seaweed,
if they should try to interfere with
the salvaging. In payment, the adventurers
can have any treasure they themselves
find and personally carry. However,
they must realize that the entire mission
must be kept secret to avoid competition.
In fact, their shp is leaving tonight at
midnight before talk can spread, from a
point a few miles down the coast.

Most of the merchant's story is valid. Its
major deviation from truth is that the
teller is no merchant at all, and is in fact
the Sulward Guildmaster of Assassins in
disguise. The information about the
trapped treasure ships was obtained from
pirates who robbed and sank the merchant
vessel, but not before the captain
tried to buy his life with the story.

All he bought was a quick death.The
pirates needed money for repairs, so they
have teamed up with the Sulward Assassins'
Guild, whose leader was once a
pirate himself. The Guild put up the
money for the mission, having just been
paid a large sum by the Sea Barons for
assassinating the Lordship's Grand
Admiral. For this deed the Prince of
Duxchan is attempting in earnest to destroy
the Guild, so most of the assassins
(including the Guildmaster) are going on
the voyage, hoping the heat will have
cooled down by the time of their return.
The shp the adventurers are to meet
down the coast is actually the refurbished
pirate craft, disguised as an armed merchant
vessel.

The Merchant/Guildmaster's job offer to
the party is quite real. However, he has
neglected to mention that, once the raid
on the treasure ships has been successfully
completed, the assassins (disguised
as sailors) will attempt to do away with
the party. The assassination attempt will
come under the most favorable conditions,
i.e., at night, when all or most of the
party is is asleep.

The pirates and assassins are all under
orders to pretend to be nothing more than
normal rough-and-tumble sailors, and
have been threatened with dire punishments
should they give away their true
natures. If the ship is attacked by sea
monsters on the way to the weed-sea, the
crew is to let the adventurers do the bulk
of the fighting.

The seaweed jungle is at the center of a
giant, slow, whirling pool of ocean currents;
when the ship reaches its destination,
it will not be able to find the treasure
ships immediately, due to the slow
rotation of the colossal weedpatch. The
weed-mat is navigable around the fringes,
but the sailors will have to work very
hard to avoid being trapped. Most of the
trapped ships were originally crippled by
storm damage, and a healthy ship should
be able to keep out through hard work,
although oars will help.

The 1st the characters will notice
about the seaweed jungle is that it is
swarming with life of all sorts: fish, birds,
crustaceans, eels. It is a floating reef, a
haven for all sorts of creatures. This
includes predators such as octopi and
squids (some quite large), portuguese-men-of-war,
barracudas, giant sea snakes,
sharks, sea crocodiles, etc. The seaweed
itself is dangerous, as strangle weed
abounds, always ready to trap the
unwary.

Over an area of several square miles,
there are dozens of the great weed-mounds
that mark the corpses of trapped
ships. All of them look roughly similar,
so the sailors and the characters will probably
have to search at least several of them
before finding the lost treasure ships. Getting
into the center of the weeds will be a
problem, since no ship's boat can push its
way through the matted plants. When
they do get in, they will find that many of
the ships are inhabited!

The inhabitants fuond here are varied
and strange. There is a shp occupied by a
hunting band of lizard men, a ship
haunted by lacedons (sea ghouls) and
drowned zombies, and a ship that serves <link>
as a kelpies' lair. Kopoacinth lurk just
under the surface, waiting to snatch the
unwary straggler. There is a ship made of
metal, with no mast or oars, and charts of
unknown seas. Finally, there are eight
ships that are home to a strange society of
half-mad humans, a mongrel group of
remnants from centuries of shipwrecks.
Now they survive by fishing through
holes cut in the seaweed. They travel by
walking across the matted plants on
snowshoe-like footgear made of light
planks. Most are armed with spears.
They worship a spirit of the ocean, and
believe that all the land beyond the
horizon has sunken beneath the waves,
leaving a world covered by seas. All new-comers
must the truth of this doctrine
or be slain as blasphemers.

The leader of the seaweed-tribe is their
high priest, Narawa, whose most notable
attributtes are intolerance and insanity (as
well as high charisma).

How much treasure remains on the Lost
Treasure Fleet is up to the individual
DM. The reward should be commensurate
with the difficulty of the adventure.

THE COPPER RAIDER

The Voorman of Perrenland is worried.
The Cantons export a great deal of copper
to the south, but for 10 weeks no copper
caravan has reached the town of Highfolk
safely. 3 caravans were completely
destroyed, the caravaneers slain, and the
copper and other wealth stolen. The 3rd
catavan was protected by 24 men-at-arms
but all were killed and looted. Much
other trade has passed between Schwartzenbruin
and Highfolk without a sign of
trouble, but the copper trade has ground
to a halt. None of the locals are willing to
risk taking a copper shipment through, so
the Voorman is looking for a group of
outside adventurers. Their mission will
be to take the copper through to Highfolk.
If they are able to destroy whatever
has been attacking the copper caravans,
they will reap a rich reward. (And if they
find and keep some of the loot stolen
from the previous caravans, no one will
complain.)

The road from Schwartzenbruin to Highfolk
follows the Velverdyva River, winding
through a deep canyon where it pierces
the Yatil Mountains.Travelers will
occasionally be attacked by humanoid
raiders in this area, but the Perrenlanders
have driven most of these groups away.

Progress through the canyon is slowed by
the occasional rockfalls and landslides
that block the road. The river flows sometimes
on the east side of the canyon,
sometimes on the west, so the road
bridges the river here and there, and
sometimes passes through runnels in the
canyon walls.

As the party will discover, the creature
responsible for the attacks on the copper
caravans is Clonoc, a large, old copper
dragon. Clonoc lost a duel with a demon,
and is now possessed. However, the dragon's
body and brain were too large for the
rather small demon to possess completely,
so the demon's attempts at control have
resulted in a somewhat deranged, split
personality. The demon's plans to make
the dragon attack all passing trade have
been most circumvented, except when a
copper caravan passes, a thing which the
dragon's tortured brain somehow perceives
as a deliberate insult. Then the
demon takes control, and the caravan is
assaulted. Once the caravaneers are all
slain, the dragon's natural greed
(enhanced by demonic avarice) takes
over, and the loot is hauled back to the
dragon's lair. Somewhere inside him, the
dragon regrets his actions, but can do
nothing about it.

When he is about to attack a caravan,
Clonoc (who is a magic-using dragon)
casts invisibility on himself, and then
glides down from the canyon heights to
the attack, becoming visible only when
he rakes the party with his 1st acid
breath. From this point until the battle is
over, the demon is in full control of the
dragon's  fighting faculties. This loosens
its control of other areas, allowing Clonoc's
personality some leeway, so that as
the dragon is trying to slay everyone in
the caravan, it will be roaring, "Help me!
Save me! I'm possessed!." etc., in Common.
The dragon cannot be subdued
while demon-possessed, but if it is captured
or incapacitated, the demon will
assume control over the dragon's speech
center and respond to questions with
insults and threats. If the demon is exorcised
from from the dragon, Clonoc will gratefully
give up the copper caravans' loot,
perhaps even with something extra added
from his own hoard.

As with the other adventures, the DM
must decide on the amounts of treasure,
to best suit his or her individual
campaign.

THE STOLEN SEAL

The successful alliance of the Barony of
Ratik and the Frost Barbarians has
caused much consternation in Bone
March (and among the Baron of Ratik's
political enemies in Rauxes). The tribes
of the Bone March are still smarting from
the drubbing they received last year from
the combined Ratik-Fruzii armies, so
the evil leaders of the humanoids have
determined that the northern alliance
must be dissolved. Certain espionage
elements in Marner that usually work for
the Overking were contacted, and an
agreement was reached. In a daring raid,
the Seal of the Alliance was stolen from
the Baronial Vault. This symbolic
parchment was endorsed and blessed by
the gods of both Ratik and Fruzii, and
the superstitious Frost Barbarians place
great store in its continued safety. Once it
is learned that the men of Ratik were
unable to keep it safe, the alliance will
probably fall apart, or at least be greatly
damaged. The seal is now being taken to
Spinecastle, where it will be displayed
and its theft publicly announced.

The above information was obtained
(under duress) from one of the spies who
was captured in the raid on the vault. The
PCs have been asked by the
Baron to accompany a platoon of troops
in pursuit of the thieves. Their purpose is
to capture the conspirators and retrieve
the Seal, following them into Bone
March, if necessary.

The party will be provided with fast
horses (if they have none of their own)
and hurried along to join up with the platoon.
On the road, a group of bandits
hired by the conspirators will delay the
pursuers just long enough to enable the
thieves to get across the border. The road
at the border (high in the hills) is guarded
by 2 companies of orcs, too much for
the platoon to handle. The officer of the
platoon will suggest the party abandon
the road and sneak across the border to
the east or west, while the horsemen set
up a diversion for the orcs. From here on,
it is up to the party to catch the conspirators,
retrieve the Seal, and bring it back to Marner.

Despite the diversion, the party will
encounter a few orc guards. If these are
not silenced properly, they could bring
many reinforcements. Once they get over
the border and back to the road, the party
should be able to catch up with the now
slow-moving conspirators after a couple
of hours of hard riding. However, regaining
the Seal will not be easy, for the
thieves and assassins from Marner are
now riding with an armed group that was
waiting for them with the border guard.
This group includes:

-- 24 orcs, including some leader types.

-- An evil human..magic-user of high
level, with appropriate magic items.
(He now carries the Seal.)

-- 5 ogres, all well-armed and armored

-- A charmed minotaur which protects
and obeys the magic-user.

The DM should add or subtract enemies
where necessary for balance.
The minotaur is very alert, so the group
will not be easy to surprise. In fact, if the
monsters hear the horses of their pursuers
at a sufficient distance, the hunters may
themselves be surprised by an impromptu
ambush.

If the party is successful in regaining the
Seal, they must still escape back through
the enslaved countryside to Ratik. In particular,
the orcs at the border could be a
lot of trouble. They are by this time
aware that somebody has sneaked past
them, and they will be waiting for similar
tricks from either direction. They are
commanded by a half-orc..fighter/assassin,
who will make clever use of his savage
troops.

The reward for the retrieval of the Seal is
of course up to the DM.

ADVENTURE
LOCALES

Many famous adventures have occurred
ni the World of Greyhawk, and much
remains for the intrepid adventurer.
Many of these heroic exercises have been
published, and are available for those who
wish to study the exploits and evils of the
Flanaess. The locations of these adventures
are listed below.
 
 

Q: Which areas of the WORLD OF
GREYHAWK setting are the most
suitable for adventuring? I want to
start a campaign using the most
mysterious and intriguing areas.

A: I won?t make a value judgment about
which areas of the Flanaess are the ?most
mysterious and intriguing.? Read the
descriptions and decide for yourself; that
is what DMs are supposed to do. The
individual area descriptions and the
random-encounter charts will tell you
what sort of creatures live in each area.
When searching for the mysterious and
intriguing, don?t overlook your own
options as a campaign designer. The
WORLD OF GREYHAWK setting is a playaid;
you are free to develop it as you wish.
Even the most humble village or manor
can be mysterious if you, the DM, choose
to make it so.
(141.14)
 

Q: Which of TSR?s modules are set in
the WORLD OF GREYHAWK setting?

A: The following AD&D® game module
series are set in or related to the WORLD
OF GREYHAWK setting:
The ?WG? series
The ?A? series
The ?G? series
The ?D? series
The ?Q? series
The ?S? series
The ?T? series
The ?EX? series
(141.14)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Mouser
Hey Gary, I was just wondering something about the adventure ideas that you included in the Greyhawk boxed set (Werewolves of Menowood, the Mist Golem, Jungle of Lost Ships, etc.). Were any these scenarios ever played in your campaign? (They seem like a great bunch, imho, and I have been thinking of adapting a couple for my online game.)

Gray Mouser

We never did play them, and when the World of Greyhawk left my perview, I was not about to base any work on what was contained therein, so those springboards are virgin territory.

Cheers,
Gary