The Rift - formerly of the Bandit Kingdoms
In the lands north of the Artonsamay, amidst the rough and broken ground and jutting crags of the badlands there, a deep canyon of tremendous extent is found. This strange rift in the floor of the oerth is over 180 miles in length and from 10 wide at its end to about 30 in its midsection near the bandit town of Riftcrag. Tales tell us that this rift is more than a mile deep and pocked with caves and caverns. Much of its length has been cleared of monsters, although they still issue forth from the tunnels, it is said. The Plar of the Rift, as the bandit lord styles himself, report edly uses humanoid troops and monsters to hold the place against their kin, and rich loot is taken by such action. The floor of the rift at its western end is shunned, however, due to the particularly fierce monsters dwelling there. Attempts to clear this area have ended in disaster. Parties from the Shield Lands taking punitive actions against the bandit kinglets report that this state of affairs is indeed true, relating that attempts to surprise the brigands by moving through the Riftcanyon from its western end have proven to be impossible.
Just south of the Riftcanyon is the lonely volcanic cone of haunted White Plume Mountain, avoided by both knights and bandits.
The Living Greyhawk Gazetter (LGG) is a sourcebook for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Setting is 591CYProper Name: Plardom of the Rift
Population: 10,500 (67% various humanoids, 38% human, 20% half-orc, 9% halfling.)
Ruler: His Lordship, Cranzer, Archmage of Riftcraig (illegitimate: Durand Grossman, Plar of the Rift)
Government: Military dictatorship, indirectly controlled by Iuz.
Capital: Riftcraig (SC)
Other Settlements: The Leering Keeps
Resources: Silver
Religions: Erythnul, Ull
Law: NE
In the shadow of White Plume Mountain, the Rift Canyon is among the most barren strips of land in the Flanaess. According to legend, the 200-mile long fissure was cut from the earth by Heironeous’ axe during one of his many battles with his brother, Hextor. The walls of the canyon are sheer and treacherous, honeycombed with warrens and caverns throughout. The landscape is dry, with isolated patches of scrub and a few pitiful trees. The weather is unpredictable at best. Freak windstorms are a constant threat, as are rockslides and cave-ins. In the winter, bitter frosts can make the already treacherous footing of the canyon passes impassable. In the spring, drifting morning mists leave a damp cloak on the sheer cliffs for a similar effect.
Settlements and Locations within the Plardom of the Rift:
Ankheg Springs
Centaur Mesa
Dragon Rift
Dragotha’s Lair
Garusk’ka Mines
Hellstone Tower
Kongen-Thulnir
Lookout
Lost Citadel of Veralos
Nebjanow Mines
Riftcrag and the Leering Keeps
Rift Canyon and the Barrens
Screaming Reach Manor
Wormcrawl Fissure
Wraithkeep
Once home to dark things, many of the canyon’s cavern systems have become home to thousands of bandits, refugees from throughout the Combination hiding from the forces of the Old One. Some 6,000 bandits make their homes here, the majority of whom are displaced Reyhu folk, eager for vengeance against Iuz. The bandits have made the best of their situation, managing to survive the hazards of the Rift against all odds. They have devised a complex system of communication, rock-markings and plant-stains among other techniques, to mark safe or hazardous passages and the presence of Iuz’s forces. To fight the constant forays into the Rift from the Old One’s armies, the bandits have taken to sabotaging key paths into the canyon, then later restoring them for their own use. Yet despite all the obstacles of the Rift, hunger is by far their greatest adversary. There are plenty of water sources in the caverns of the Rift, and small game is prevalent. Still, raids must be forged into the neighboring fiefdoms to procure enough for the brutal winters in the Rift.
Rift Canyon and nearly all the rough lands around it (the Rift Barrens) were ruled from the town of Riftcrag, which long had a notable nonhuman population of orcs, gnolls, bugbears, ogres, and the like. The original bandit force here largely abandoned the city to Iuz’s forces in 583 CY, gathering in the deep recesses of the Rift and planning a dark revenge. These forces are augmented by many refugees from Iuz’s attacks (notably Reyhu), and they are led by the charismatic self-proclaimed Plar of the Rift, Durand Grossman (NE male human Rogue L11). His growing power among these refugees have drawn even the indigenous orc and hobgoblin clans of the Rift to his banner. Grossman has assembled many powerful allies, including the mage Menfri Rauveen (LN male human Wizard L9/Loremaster L3), whom concerns himself with the study of the ancient lore of the Rift Canyon. A pair of tamed hippogriffs are used to monitor the Rift, and the Plar keeps a dozen displacer beasts as pets. It is important to note that while not all cells bend to the Plar, all are united in their opposition of Iuz and cooperate against the invading warbands on occasion.
Native nonhumans and a few magically controlled monsters round out what is one of the three most active and well-defended resistance forces in the Bandit Kingdoms (the others being in the Fellreev Forest). Rift folk are mostly as chaotic and evil as the nonhumans, but they are clever and skilled at mountaineering and trap-setting. Many thieves and berserkers are among the warriors here, and Erythnul worship is widespread.
Iuz’s interests in the Rift are seen to by the Archmage Cranzer, a lesser member of the infamous Boneheart, who “controls” the fiefdom from the city of Riftcrag. More a military fortress than a city, Riftcraig is nearly impenetrable. The two walls that protect the heart of the place are lined with watchtowers, and the battlements are armed with an assortment of catapults and ballistae. The innermost wall is 12 feet-thick throughout. The streets of Riftcrag crawl with humanoid soldiers: orcs, hobgoblins, goblins, and a few small ogre companies. The human population, once sizable, has dwindled to 2,500, leaving a great shortage of labor for the silver mines the city controls. This seriously restricted the productivity of the mines which are, arguably, Iuz’s chief interest in the Bandit Kingdoms. The sporadic bandit raids saw considerable decline after the completion of the Leering Keeps along the length of the Rift Canyon. Tired of years of battling the forces of the Plar, Cranzer has finally agreed to terms to insure a steady supply of silver from the mines without interference from these men. Yet even this has not quelled all the raids.
Despite all the activity in the Rift, the lowest recesses are still extremely dangerous and relatively unexplored. The caverns near Sheerwatch are avoided as it is well known several ogre clans den there. At the westernmost edge of the canyon lies the dreaded Wormcrawl Fissure, a place of legendary dark magics where some speculate the priest Kyuss lived his last days on Oerth. The deeper caverns hold far too common horrors and are best avoided: behirs, carrion-crawlers, cave fishers, giant lizards, and not a few gelatinous cubes have been encountered therein. Still some, including the Plar’s wizard, brave these hazards in search of the deeper secrets of the Rift. In days long past, it is believed a primordial race of giants used the recesses of the canyon as a burial ground. A few immense tombs have been uncovered, filled with artifacts of these ancient peoples. These cairns are not unlike those discovered in the distant Cairn Hills, leaving some scholars to wonder if a connection does not exist
Iuz’s agents inhabiting Riftcrag made it a regional capital in 584 CY. They keep watch over the canyon from the city and from the Leering Keeps, five citadels perched on the northern edge and eastern end of the enormous chasm. Led by Cranzer, a powerful member of Iuz’s Lesser Boneheart, these forces patrol the Rift, attempting to contain the plar’s growing army while continuously assaulting the Tangles with axe and fire. The Rift holds mines that provide the region’s best silver veins. Of late, Cranzer has made deals with the Rift bandits in order to make the regular silver shipments personally demanded by Iuz.
Bandit Kingdoms
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