The Near Domain
The “near Domain” is that land immediately around the City of Greyhawk itself, within a distance of roughly 3 leagues (9-10 miles). This area is administered directly by the city and is catefully patrolled. The near domain includes a number of hamlets and farms, but no known major monster lairs. All of this region drains into the Selintan River, which winds southwestward from the city. The soil is not very fertile, having been overfarmed for centuries. The land is owned by Greyhawk and leased to farmers and herders for reasonable annual sums. Hunting is fairly good even close to the city, with wild deer, boar, and game birds in profusion.
The major locations in the near domain are described below, starting from the north and moving in a clockwise direction around the city walls.
The rolling, moderately forested region north of the city walls was designated as a park by Zagig Yragerne about two centuries ago. The woods and flower-filled fields here are very safe from predators except the occasional brigand, nearly always a criminal from Shack Town. Banditry is rare, as retaliation for it can be severe if a noble family is wronged. Several narrow walking paths run through North Hills Park, which marks the southernmost boundary of the Cairn Hills in this region. The Selintan River, which jogs away from the city to the northwest at Wharfgate, heads back in a northeasterly direction less than a mile north of the city. The park continues to the northeast of the Grand Citadel for another three miles before turning into farmland again.
The walls and towers of the Grand Citadel easily look out over the north parkland, which is secretly kept trimmed so that no trees or creek bed can hide a significant military or bandit force that might approach. Also a secret is the fact that the attractive ponds and streams in this area were carefully placed to slow an attacking army. A few spells cast on the area could cause the water levels to rise enough to create a broad, shallow lake that would greatly impede infantry and cavalry, especially with the collapse of a few minor dams and stream banks. The Selintan itself, just north of the city, could be briefly rechanneled to flood an army here, but this would mean the destruction of some farms and probably Shack Town as well — not that the Directing Oligarchy or most citizens would mind.
The forested hills turn into tree-dotted farmland south and east of North Hills Park. In the last decade, immigrants to the city have set up their own clusters of farms and fields in this area, most branching directly off High Road (favored for the high volume of caravan traffic passing through, providing a ready market for farm produce and locally made ale) or Ery Trail, which links Greyhawk with a number of manorial estates and villages on the west bank of the Ery River.
Immediately outside the city walls, just south of the Duke’s Gate, is the Grey College Observatory. This domed building is owned by Grey College (see C1) and is used by sages, astrologers, students, nobles, and others with an interest in the heavens. A small fee is charged for using the observatory, which features several small telescopes with finely ground lenses mounted on rotating stands, The observatory grounds are also used by followers of Celestian on various holy days throughout the year. The Observatory Tutor is Karol Zagan [N hf P2 — Celestian; hp 7; Int 17], a talkative middle-aged woman who got the job when her predecessor retired and moved away. Lord Wainwright’s Manor is the noble estate nearest to the city walls. It is a regular policy of the city to keep noble estates at least 5 miles from the city walls, River Road, High Road, and the Selintan River (to avoid messy property claims, tolls on merchant traffic, and the possibility that a rebellious noble might cut off trade to the city). However, Lord Wainwright's estate was originally a wagonmaker’s shop established here many centuries ago. The Wainwright family has held this land since then, making high-quality wagons and carts and serving well in the Greyhawk Militia. Today, they also make carriages and chariots. The Wainwrights were made nobles three centuries ago, but they have continued working as craftsmen since then.
Less than 300 feet from the Druids’ Gate, by Ery Trail, is the StoneRing. This very ancient double circle of monoliths has a stone altar in the center and sits atop a small, artificial hill. Many such rings of monoliths ate known across the Flanaess, but the StoneRing of Greyhawk is one of the oldest known, judging from the results of divination spells cast upon it. Flan druids are believed to have constructed this site. Though this is not a regular place of worship, passing druids of Beory and Obad-Hai often stop here for a moment of prayer and reflection before moving on. It is said that a person standing in the middle of the stone circles cannot be detected by divination magic; this appears to be true.
The Millstream that runs through the city emerges from a subterranean passage just outside the southeastern corner of the city walls. This minor cave begins in the center of Old City, where the Millstream disappears underground, Some wells in the Old City open into the tunnel, and certain people have used wells to dispose of unwanted bodies, poisons, or evidence that could be used against them in criminal cases. It is rumored that a fortune undoubtedly lies along the bottom of this little cave, as gems, coins, and other items (such as bones) occasionally wash out at the Millstream’s south exit. A few tiny farms are scattered around the cave, but the “farmers” here seem more like minor treasure hunters keeping a pretense of farming while they wait for something valuable to wash from the cave. The cave is too narrow, muddy, and unstable for direct exploration, though some have tried to crawl in (but never came back out in one piece). Wise folk do not drink the water here.
River Road, the most important land route into the city, ts lined with farms, taverns, stables, inns, and more. Some caravans make a habit of stopping just outside the city to dump any contraband they were carrying (including unwanted stowaways and pests in the wagons), and many small businesses are happy to cater to them at cut-rate prices, which causes great friction with businesses inside the city walls. River Road is well patrolled by groups of light cavalry and trained caravan guards, and residents along the road are known to take up their axes and spears to attack highway robbers. Only a fool or a very stupid monster would make trouble on River Road between Greyhawk and Ford Keep, about a day's ride to the west-southwest. A series of large caravans can create a long traffic jam at the Highway Gate as sentries check identification papers, have visitors sign the log, look for smuggled goods or banned items, handle complaints, and so on.
Marsh Path, heading west from Marsh Gate, is becoming increasingly dotted with small huts and one-room homes inhabited by poor immigrant farmers, most from the Wild Coast or distant lands like Tenh or Nyrond. Many of these people make their living by hunting ef through the refuse at Garbage Hill just north of them, looking for things to clean up and sell “in the city’s Low Market. Stray dogs are everywhere here, but they keep down the rat and vermin population at Garbage Hill. (These mutts are called “Greyhawk purebreds.”)
Garbage Hill is the steep, forested slope south of the Dockway, by the Selintan, where inhabitants of the River Quarter and the wharves throw their garbage when they can’t wait for regularly scheduled pickups by the Union of Sewermen and Streetcleaners. The Directing Oligarchy has made many futile attempts to clean up the mess and stop the dumping, but this old habit has been impossible to break. The local winds usually blow from east to west, so the smell rarely bothers anyone but those living along the river. The rats here are bold and the ravens mean-tempered. The lowland marsh that once lay west of Greyhawk was long ago drained by priests and engineers for farmland, but the area still floods during heavy rains.
Off the map to the west is a huge stonework span across the Selintan called Zagig’s Bridge, built by Zagig and once used to transport supplies across the river to his castle to the north, Zagig’s Bridge is not used much these days, though it is wide enough for two wagons to pass each other. The bridge is only 2 miles from Marsh Gate. A few hovels are clustered on either side of the bridge. Some people fear the bridge, as it still radiates a magical aura, but it has no known powers or abilities. Many people use a ford just north of the bridge, but it is very deep and mounts (and walkers) must swim part of the way. The only people who cross the bridge regularly are either farmers or adventurers heading for Castle Greyhawk or places in the Cairn Hills on the Great South Peninsula.
Marsh Path branches off into several trails on the west side of the Selintan, one trail heading north to the old ruins. Another now-unused trail heads for what was once the estate of Lord Robilar, who betrayed the city and the Circle of Hight in 584 cy by allying with the archmage Rary. Robilar’s manor was burned and his lands are becoming wilderness; few go here for any reason, though it is said the dungeons below the manor were sealed without being explored.
The Selintan River’s east bank is lined with wooden wharves for about half a mile, creating what some cali the “Wharf Quarter” of the city. Many new docks were built after the Greyhawk Wars to accommodate the expanding river trade. A narrow dirt road called the Dockway follows the Selintan closely, used by those workers off-loading cargoes from boats, rafts, and ships that tie up here. Nearly all the rickety buildings here are warehouses, storage sheds, or Offices of the Cargo Inspectorate. The last are placed every 250 feet along the river in small shacks, each kept well lit at night and staffed by four City Watch sentries and two Cargo Inspectors. All city officials and guards here are highly experienced fighters, skilled at dealing with those who refuse to pay taxes levied against incoming cargoes. They function as a law unto themselves here, keeping order with brutal efficiency. Approved cargo is stamped and hauled into the city within 1d4 days of the proper taxes being paid (perishables are given priority), though bribes can greatly speed the approval process.
Most cargo flows into Greyhawk through the Cargo Gate, but some passes through St. Cuthbert’s Gate and a trickle goes through Wharfgate. Some contraband is sneaked through Marsh Gate or elsewhere. The east bank immediately adjacent to the city wall is called West Bluff, because it is west of the city wall. (It is not much of a bluff, being only 20 feet high at most.) Brush and weeds fill in the spaces where nothing is built. Rats, dogs, cats, and seagulls are commonly seen here, the last migrating from the Nyr Dyv or Woolly Bay.
The Selintan forms an odd bulge in its western bank near Wharfgate; the water in this bend is stagnant and (in the summer) mosquito infested. From Coldeven to Patchwall, the eastern bank — called Barge End — is filled with 4d10 Rhennee barges and boats that tie up to each other like a huge floating platform. The City Watch does not bother the Rhennee here, making this one of the few spots in the Flanaess where the Rhennee may live undisturbed, if not welcomed. As winter comes on, the Rhennee pole upriver to their annual gathering place on the Nyr Dyv, at an undisclosed location.
The most miserable part of Greyhawk is Shack Town, a growing collection of wretched, one-room buildings largely inhabited by about a thousand poor immigrants who came to Greyhawk during and after the Greyhawk Wars. They hail from places as far away as the Shield Lands, the Wild Coast, Nyrond, Furyondy, and even Tenh. Most inhabitants are loners, and many are fugitives, ctiminals, and outcasts. Any families that came to Greyhawk have long since moved away to local farms or into the city itself. The City Watch almost never goes into Shack Town, less out of fear of the inhabitants than complete disregard for their condition and any crimes committed here. Shack Towners occasionally get into fights with local Rhennee, but the two groups usually leave each other alone. Shack Towners sometimes hunt animals in North Hills Park for food, but this is a crime punishable by a long term in a Greyhawk work house. The nearness of Shack Town to the High Quarter and the vast differences between the two are noted by many visitors to the city. Chickens and goats roam the paths of Shack Town; dogs are driven off.
A few huts and sheds dot the far shore, creating a tiny hamlet called Far Bank. These people are penniless immigrants, most from the Wild Coast, who came here when the , Orcish Empire conquered their homeland in 584 cy. They survive by fishing and gathering food in the woods to the west. A few tell stories about caves in the western hills where monsters and “evil dwarves” lurk; possibly, these ate part of the same cave network used by followers of the Falcon during their failed attempt to conquer or destroy Greyhawk in 581 cy. A connection from these caves to Castle Greyhawk is possible, but has not been explored.
Several locations are of interest here, marked on the city map on the wrapper as W1-W5 (for “Wharves”).
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