The History of Obsidian Bay

About This History

As kingdoms and cities in the Flanaess go, Obsidian Bay is a relative newcomer. Founded in CY 513, the city is just over 80 years old, which is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the centuries-old Free City of Greyhawk or the millennium-old Kingdom of Keoland. Yet that short time, the city has managed to have a significant impact on its corner of the content, bringing an increasingly large slice of civilization to the savage lands of the Pomarj.

This document provides an overview of the city and its history. It attempts to highlight the major events in the city’s life, serving as a primer for newcomers and a refresher for oldtimers.

All dates are given using the “Common Year”, which is the number of years since the crowning of the first Overking of the Great Kingdom in Rauxes. The history of the Flanaess dates centuries before this.

CY 295-512: The Poor March

For most of its history, the Pomarj was a desolate land inhabited by a handful of humanoid and human tribes as well as numerous monsters.

In 295 CY, an alliance between the prince of Ulek and King Tavish I of Keoland sends an invasion force into the Pomarj and conquers the region. The land is carved into a dozen small baronies and awarded to favored families of the crown to be ruled as subfiefs under the protection of the prince of Ulek. Amazing material wealth begins to flow from the newly-founded realm. source: Living Greyhawk Journal, p. 88.

During this time, the dwarves of the Principality construct a wide variety of fortifications and minds. Foremost of these is the dwarven city of Khelez-mar, located deep within the Drachensgrab mountains and constructed upon a much older dwarven mining outpost. Khelez-Mar, as such, traces its founding back to CY 300.

In CY 305, Highport was constructed atop the foundations of a smaller town exporting the wealth of the Pomarj to the world. source: Living Greyhawk Journal, p. 88.

The fortress of Khelez-Mar fell in 495 CY, more than a decade before the Hateful Wars:

510 CY: Forced out of their mountian lairs in the Lortmils, the humanoids invade and conquer the Pomarj. source: Greyhawk Gazetteer

CY 513: The Founding of Obsidian Bay

As the invasion raged on the Pomarj, a new adventuring group known as the Griffins Guild was forming in the Free City of Irongate, a dwarven stronghold located near the throat of the Onnwal peninsula, across the Sea of Gearnet from the Pomarj. Founded in CY 594, the guild rose to fame fighting the orcs and goblins of the central Onnwal reaches, the pirates already operating out of Blue, and the horrors lurking deep in the Bright Desert.

By the time of the Pomarj invasions, they were also heroes of the Iron League, a loose alliance of free nations opposed to the increasingly sadistic and depraved actions of the faltering Great Kingdom of Aerdy. They engaged in various overt and covert actions on behalf of the League, missions which brought them into contact with heroes among the member states of Onnwal, Nyrond and the Lordship of the Isles.

As the humanoids raged, the greatest heroes of the guild, notably guildmaster Samuel "Battleaxe" Longriver, the archmage Robertson, the elven lord Willow Wind and Johann the Destroyer, militant cleric of St. Cuthbert, urged the league to intervene and prevent evil from gaining such a massive stronghold in the very heart of the Flanaess.

Their request was denied. "The Iron League is a defensive alliance," the leaders of Nyrond said, "and we have not been attacked by the humanoid scum there." Others argued invading the former Poor March might provoke the ire of the slumbering Kingdom of Keoland, and spark a war that Nyrond and her Iron allies could not afford.

The Pomarj Expedition

The Griffins Guild could not do nothing. Over the next several months, they planned their own private counter-invasion, drawing together hundreds of loyal men and heroes from around the central Flanaess, and on Coldeven 27, CY 513 this force landed on the southern shore of the Pomarj. The place they chose was an excellent natural harbor with a near by hill that could be shaped into a defensible plateau. Moreover, it was surrounded by rich volcanic soil, making it ideal for farming ... assuming it could be held.

The heroes immediately built a fortress and stockade on the central hill, ringing it with additional fortifications. They immediately took the fight to the Black Tongue gnoll tribe, which had conquered the area. Several bands of orcs counterattacked, thinking they could drive the heroes away as easily as they had the Poor March's previous defenders.

They were wrong.

The magical might of the Griffins Guild and their allies proved to be too much for the orcs, and the village of Obsidian Bay survived. The following years saw the arrival of dwarves from the Ulek and Poor March expatriates from Keoland who were eager to reclaim their fallen lands. The population of the village grew, turning it into a small town.

The Obsidian Maze

However, it was not until CY 521, and the discovery of the legendary Obsidian Maze in the depths of the Drachensgrabs that the town's future was truly secured. The Obsidian Maze's origins are lost to time, but it was believed built by a powerful -- but insane -- Ur-Flan archmage thousands of years previously. The Ur-Flan were an ancient people who ruled much of the Flanaess three thousand years ago until the rise of the lich-lord Vecna.

Adventurers from the Obsidian Maze spent years chasing rumors of the Maze in the Drachensgrabs, until it was finally found by Griffins Guild team led by the archmage Robertson and Johann the Destroyer.

Explorations of the Maze revealed all the legends about it to be true: it had dozens of levels, some of which lay deep within the UnderOerth, others of which extended to other planes of existence. Terrible horrors lurked within the Maze, but so did great treasures. As first the Griffins Guild, and then other bands of adventures, began exploring and plundering the Maze, a tremendous flow of riches began to pour into Obsidian Bay. It's fame grew, and suddenly hundreds of people were coming to seek their fortunes in the frontier city.

CY 588: The War of Exile

CY 590s: The Great Expansion==