Plain of Greyhawk

This grassy reach surrounds the city on all sides and runs the length of the Selintan River valley. The plain is characterized by low, gently rolling hills that gradually climb away from the river. Though travelers can see great distances across the grassy swales, it is also possible to be unobserved by remaining in the low places.

The land is not particularly fertile, but the hungry mouths of Greyhawk city have made farming a profitable endeavor. Many tenant farmers work small fields, or tend flocks of sheep, goats, or chickens.

The land itself is claimed by the Free City. though the terms granted the farmers are not miserly. Each farmer is granted only a large enough plot to gain a comfortable livelihood.

The farms tend to cluster in the more sheltered low places, with three, four, or more often gathered around a single well or creek bed. These gatherings are not actually towns, but such communal collections dot the landscape in all directions, with one every few miles.

In places there are larger holdings, manor houses built by some warrior or mage who has done great service to the city. Such grants of land are few, reserved only for the greatest of accomplishments.

These lords in turn gather tenant farmers to their plots, which usually extend a mile or so from the manor in all directions.

The manors, perhaps two score in all, are scattered all about the countryside, though none lies closer than five miles to the River Selintan and the River Road. The lord mayors of the city have taken care to see that no lord gains too much control over the city's economic lifelines.

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The rolling lands of the Plain of Greyhawk are characteristically very low hills that gradually climb away from the Selintan. The soil is not especially good for growing grain or fruit, so livestock farming and vegetable cultivation is the staple of the many tenant farmers who live here. The land is claimed by the Free City and leased to farmers who pay tithes in kind for their rent, and who now also pay a little in the way of taxes to support the militia who pay them infrequent visits.

Individual farms are small, typically no larger than is sufficient to feed a large family and produce a little surplus for sale and trade.

Farms are often grouped around manor houses occupied by retired merchants or very minor nobility who administer Greyhawk‘s rule in the area, collecting taxes and tithes and reporting to the militia of towns and keeps in the area. The distribution of farmsteads follows a ribbon pattern, the large majority being within 15 miles or so of a river, road, or track. More central land is usually communal grazing land. The general standard of life here is comfortable.

One specific example of a manor, Lord Blackfriar’s manor, is detailed in GoF, p.32.

During the springs of 583 and 584 CY, lizard men from the Mistmarsh became unusually active and attacked livestock and some outlying farms. This has resulted in the drafting of more militia into the area, and the construction of two new tower keeps to the north and south of the marsh: Marsh Keep and Blackwall Keep (technically part of the Cairn Hills force, and described in the following section).