Tag: Crook of Rao

The Book of Incarum

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Flight of Fiends: Chapter 1

Thomas Kelly

The time is come that you should know my name. Or at the least, the name by which I am best known. Have you not already guessed the truth? Is my seeming so cunning?

Yes. I am called Bigby.

You have heard that name before. If not the man himself, then the work of his hands. And since this night is given to truth, and you have returned unscathed from the malice of Molag, let there be no more riddling between us. If you can abide a sober telling, I shall unfold for you the hidden cause of your perilous errand. Hear now the tale of the Flight of Fiends. Fear not. I shall be brief, for I am no minstrel, nor gleeman. Yet inasmuch as you have now set your foot upon this chessman’s board and played your stroke in the great game, it is meet and right that you should know the part appointed to you and how Istis weaves your fate in her designs.

First, hear what is written in the Word of Incarum. Therein the Bishop of Veluna showed me the whole tale in words brief and obscure. This is the bones of it.

When the gods yet walked upon Oerth, and the powers of truth and right yet strove openly against the One that Slumbers, that dread contest of wills waxed so grievous that even the blessed Rao—lover of peace and keeper of stillness—was drawn forth from his meditations and compelled to light upon the field of battle.

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Flight of Fiends

I consider the “flight of fiends” that occurs between the Greyhawk Wars and the declaration of the Great Northern Crusade to be the most significant event to occur in the Flanaess. It’s scope and implications for the world of Greyhawk are enormous. In my mind, it’s on the scale of the War of the Rings and the destruction of the One Ring, a watershed moment when the plots of Iggwilv and Graz’zt (lived vicariously though their son Iuz) and the deviltry behind Ivid’s undead fever dream of an empire all go down the dung hole at once.

It doesn’t mean the end of great adventures and heroic deeds in the struggle against evil and malice, but rather the beginning of real hope in such ventures. It’s the turning of the tide. Only after the flight of fiends does the balance tip toward hope for pushing back the foul armies of Dorakka, prevailing against the arrogance of the Hierarchs, liberating the fallen lands from the giant hordes that stormed Geoff, shaking free from the conspiracies of Scarlet brotherhood, and putting a stop to cancerous corrupting collapse of the Malachite Throne.

But the story does not begin in the Carl Sargent Era. It begins in primordial times with the gift of Rao: a simple shepherd’s staff. I’ve been collecting the lore and putting it together in my head. Now its time to start writing it down.

Greyhawk Stories Patreon members are invited to enjoy early access to an initial draft of chapter one (audio version and text) from from the new saga, Flight of Fiends. The story begins with the a tale from The Book of Incarum that describes a long-forgotten battle between Deva Incarum and the spawn of the Slumbering One.

Again, this is a rough draft version, and initial pass at the tale. There’s room for lots of improvement. I’m always eager to entertain thoughts, suggestions, and corrections. Eventually, a finished draft will make its way to the free content hosted here on Greyhawkstories, but Patreon gives me a chance to test drive the material before committing to a final form.

Thanks for reading Greyhawkstories.com

Tasha’s Hot Cauldron of Everything!

Thomas Kelly

Not ashamed to admit I’ve already pre-ordered my copy of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. How could I not?

Iggwilv, the notorious witch of Greyhawk, was originally a girl by the name of Natasha the Dark, raised alongside her sister Elena the Fair in the dancing hut of Baba Yaga. That little piece of information fueled my imagination and sent me on a mission to create tales from Natasha’s girlhood, providing Greyhawk’s most infamous witch with some backstory. As a fan of Russian folk tales, I cast the Natasha tales in the same style as the source material, mimicking and borrowing heavily from Russian fairy tales about Baba Yaga and her daughters. You can read my small and still-growing collection of Tasha stories here: Iggwilv Mother of Witches

If it’s not clear to you already, “Tasha” is just the diminutive form of the name Natasha. And speaking of nomenclature, it should be obvious to everyone that “Baby Yoda” is really just a clever cipher for the old witch of Russian folklore.

BABy YodA = BABa YagA

Well, maybe not. But it looks suspiciously similar to me.

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