Review & OSR Commentary For Castles & Crusades Rpg - Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing By Brian Young From Troll Lord Games

 "(2nd printing -- substantially updated and added to from 1st) The Celts dwelt in a world wholly separate from our own - of stone cromlech, wicker men, dark fey and wild gods. In their world, ancient trees bore the wisdom of time, and the world was alive with spirits. They possessed a language of such haunting beauty that its echoes stir memories within us of a people we once were. The Codex Celtarum delves into the myths of the Celtic peoples, the powers of the world around them, the monsters that hunted them, and the gods that watched over them.

Within the Codex Celtarum lies a wealth of information; gaming material that blows new life into the world of the fey, the druid, the ranger and all characters whose travels carry them through the wooded hills, broken crags and dark forests of our primeval imaginings."

When it comes to Castles & Crusades, a book by Brian Young is pretty much an automatic pick up for me as a DM. 'Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing' isn't any exceptions & when it comes to this book its for a solid reason. Originally the  Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing kickstarter passed me by. But luckly we were able to get in on the action for this book. So what's different about this book then the original edition? Pretty much just about everything:

1. 'Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing'  has expanded PC options,monsters, & spells. 
2. Beyond most people's awareness there's lots of expanded adventure options on the table top. 
3. The artwork is very well done & so is the cartography. 
4. The role of the Celtic spiritual, supernatural, & even realms of the gods have been expanded upon in the form of the mythological spirit realms. 
5. Lots more artwork in between the pages. .
6. The role of the Druid & other traditional Dungeons & Dragons classes has been expanded with the Celtic framework of 'The Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing'. 

The role of the Fey expands across the world of Celtic myth & its done right. The Fey are done right! They carry lots of opportunity for adventure. Not only that but this book is incredibly useful for a the Amazing Adventure rpg & even the Victorious rpg by Mike Stewart. 

'Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing'  is nice in  how modular the book is for campaign & adventure design. The overall book speaks volumes for a campaign that utilizes a Celtic or Druidic theme as its base. For example the 'Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing' is a perfect book to use for an Arthurian themed campaign. The material fits the mythos so well that it blend in perfectly. 

For a classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign such as Greyhawk, 'Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing' could add in an extra layer of material. This is  especially true if the dungeon master is using Castles & Crusades as his or her base system. 

The Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing gives Greyhawk a much more Celtic mythological edge to the campaign world. The Fey & the Celtic gods exist in a sort of uneasy relationship & the world of Greyhawk is changing. The Otherworld takes far more center stage with its influence both helping & hindering Greyhawk at turns. 

What takes this sort of a campaign arrangement over the edge from classic campaign into full on workable campaign is how the  Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing hands both the religious aspect of the material & how it balances the PC stuff. There's real tension here and it's not a full blown war or anything of the sort. But it makes it clear that not everyone exists with a campaign world vaccum within the Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing. Meaning that the forces of the Otherworld are very dynamic. 
Its this dynamic relationship that really drives the Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing within the Troll Lords house campaign setting of 'The  World of Aihrde'

Fey, Gods, etc. all fit within the slotted adventure holes of the  'The  World of Aihrde' & this makes the Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing valuable for the Castles & Crusades dungeon master. This means that the DM has at his finger tips the Fey, Gods, & monsters  relationships within  'The  World of Aihrde'. 

So is the  Codex Celtarum 2nd Printing worth getting?! Yes because the DM has the power to impliment the Celtic mythological material into a whole cloth book right within their campaign. The book is a fantastic addition to the Castles & Crusades line of products & I highly recoommend it! 

The City of Greyhawk (2e) By Rick Rose, Carl Sargent, & Douglas Niles & Castles & Crusades

 When it comes to Castles & Crusades Greyhawk there's 'the other box set' in my humble opinion and that's the AD&D second edition boxed set The City of Greyhawk. According to the The City of Greyhawk Wiki entry; "The City of Greyhawk is an AD&D second edition boxed set detailing the Free City of Greyhawk. Written by Douglas Niles, Carl Sargent, and Rik Rose, the boxed set was released by TSR in 1989, and was highly praised by Dragon magazine." 

For a Castles & Crusades Greyhawk campaign this is where you want to set up your adventurers right within  'The Free City of Greyhawk, Gem of the Flanaess'. And this city certainly lives up to it's name and it's really the second book your going to want to use Folk, Feuds, and Factions. Folk, Feuds, and Factions has a bit of everything for the DM looking to get the PC's into the deep end of the city of Greyhawk; "The second book, Folk, Feuds, and Factions, describes a wide variety of NPCs, their fellowships and conspiracies, and their associated game mechanics, personalities, tactics, and loose narrative threads. Potential allies, patrons, informants, and enemies are available for any group of characters. External politics are intertwined in the city's internal affairs, and rival guilds compete for power and influence, while dark conspiracies are plotted beneath the streets. Folk, Feuds, and Factions also includes four adventure scenarios that develop themes and elements already presented in the city background." 
 The twisting & turning of the city's maps can be printed out. Because of this & other details baked into the urban landscape of the City of Greyhawk. This is a must box set for anyone running the low or high life grittiness of the Greyhawk campaign world. 
And 'The City of Greyhawk' box set is an excellent companion piece for James Ward's Greyhawk Adventure book. Seriously all of the campaign details spill over into each other. 

For C&C these two resources along with the Gygax Greyhawk Folio or boxset are enough to light the way into a successful campaign from the ground up! These resources give the Greyhawk setting the depth & breath it deserves especially when dealing with C&C's system asthetics. 

Castles & Crusades with Greyhawk doesn't suffer under its own weight of campaign setting history or legacy unlike the staleness of Forgotten Realms or what passes for a campaign setting today. But we  digress, Greyhawk's urban centers suit the full rank & treatment that Castles & Crusades provides even more so then the system's home campaign setting. Sorry, Trolls but its true even though there are place where the campaign setttings can & should overlap. And this is where Greyhawk Adventures and The City of Greyhawk shine. These old school resources blend & can be homebrewed into the mold that the DM needs & wants for his player's PC's. 
And these resources for   the AD&D second edition boxed set The City of Greyhawk box set tie into the urban encounter and tables that are in the Castles & Crusades Castle Keeper's Guide. 

Across The Gulf - A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David "Zeb" Cook & Castles & Crusades Greyhawk

 "It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids—as hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!" 

A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity By David "Zeb" Cook is set firmly within the Greyhawk region of Highport, a city south of the Wild Coast, in the Pomarj — a peninsula overrun by humanoids. Right out of the gate we've got the humanoid tribes and forces being incredibly organized & coordinated. And this goes back into the fact that A1 is perfect for bridging the gap between dungeon exploration and solid cooperative game play by the players. For 1981 or so A1 was a turning point in our campaigns with my uncle as DM. The humanoid armies of Chaos and Despair were on the move. Let's get A1 Slave pits of the Undercity's history out of the way;"A1: "Slave Pits of the Under City" (1980), by David "Zeb" Cook is the first of the "A" Slave Lords adventures. It was published in October 1980" 
The humanoid armies are highly organized and this recalls the  solid Sword & Sorcery style affair of A1  in the vein of a Robert Howard Conan story. There's lots & lots of Orientalist Hobgoblins throughout the A series. 

The Hobgoblin mercenary forces have been sent forth by the Orge Magi khanate and want to take slavers on behalf of the ruling Slavers council. These forces had crossed over from Castles & Crusades Mythos Earth
And all of the action is set around the fact that the PC's are going to get dragged into  the  middle of the conflict with the 'slavers' in the Drachensgrab Hills fortress in A2. This of course ties back into what we discussed yesterday on the blog here. 

Throughout A1 the PC's are going to have to cooperate because of the fact that the humanoids are of a slightly higher technological axoim and hit the skids at a late Roman Empire. So there are shades of Adventurer, Conqeuror, King here. We've got the party struggling through monsters, several puzzles, and perhaps a side quest in A1. 
Dungeon #221 (December 2013) contains the adventure " Lowdown in Highport" and this is the prequel adventure to A1. Here we get an overview of the machinations of the humanoid forces that come to dominate Highport. Again the Slavers series is firmly set within Greyhawk. 
All of these events are set firmly within Greyhawk meaning that we have the perfect blend to present the beginnings of a Castles & Crusades Sword and Sorcery Greyhawk campaign set within Highport. Since there's very little written about Highpoint its the perfect opportunity for the DM to make the city thier own. They could return to it after the 'Slavers' series to rebuild. 
But why would the humanoids descend on highport? And the answer is the human resources found within the city. Both as a slave and food source for the coming days. The Slavers crossing from one plane to another descending on highport smacks of desparation. 
Hobgoblins and the humanoid armies are perfectly suited to raiding the humans and then dominating the lands around them. There's plenty of time for adventurers to get way in over thier heads. Especially since the humanoids dominate  the Drachensgrab Hills 

 The humanoid tribes of   the Drachensgrab Hills pave the way for the hobgoblin armies with orcs, flinds, and gnolls playing thier part in the take over. They get thier share of human slaves and chattle.. 

Across the Gulf - In A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade By Harold Johnson & Tom Moldvay & Castles & Crusades Greyhawk

 The battle against the slavers continues! You and your fellow adventurers have defeated the slavers of Highport, but you have learned of the existence of another slaver stronghold, and you have decided to continue the attack. But beware! Only the most fearless of adventurers could challenge the slavers on their own ground, and live to tell of it!

Secret of the Slaver's Stockade was the Summer of 82's most dangerous module for me where five PC's died and the spider cult wasn't doing resurrections. A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade puts the party in the middle of the conflict with the 'slavers' in the Drachensgrab Hills & one of their fortresses

"Secrets of the Slavers Stockade was published by TSR in 1981 as a thirty-two page booklet with an outer folder, and was written by Harold Johnson and Tom Moldvay.^[7] The cover artwork by Jim Roslof features a drawing of two hobgoblins, one of which is a sergeant with a leashed boggle, and a party of adventurers."

The entire module smacks of a solid Sword & Sorcery style affair in the vein of a Robert Howard Conan story. There's lots & lots of Orientalist Hobgoblins throughout A2. This is one of those modules that has a strange other wilderness feel that ties in with the pulpy corruption of T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil. This makes A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade perfect for using with a Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign. The fact is that hobgoblins are a perfect up tier monster from the traditional 'pig faced orcs' that most starter AD&D first edition adventures seem rife with. I've always thought of Dungeons & Dragon hobgoblins as semi demonic left over monsters from the Pre- Biblical Flood years who had a Mongolian style empire ruled by elite 'demonic Orge Magi wizard tyrants'. The society's Fall came with the Flood & they've never quite recovered. This ties right into both a Greyhawk's Slavers reaching into other worlds and having  A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade tie into a Castles & Crusades Mythos Earth jumping over to Greyhawk to steal slaves and resources. 


 Now given some of aspects of A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade its easy to see that the technological levels late Roman Empire of ACK's easily though out the module. Its quite easy to see that the PC's are going to have several adventure messes through out the module with some side puzzles & minor side quests. There are several locations in A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade module that could be seized as holdings by the PC's. They'll need to leave behind trusted hirelings to control them. These are perfect areas to act as tribal ins for warriors to breech into the lands that the hobgoblins have seized control of. These wildernesses areas of Drachensgrab Hills seem the type of areas that have been infected with the Chaos energies of the Temple of Elemental Evil. There are tons of monsters that seem to dip on the pulp bucket; things such as the the boggle, the cloaker, the haunt, and the phantom. These would later feature in the Monster Manual II & could be used to highlight adventure encounter to foreshadow the next adventure Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords.


A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade is one of those modules that's completely centered & plugged into the Greyhawk campaign setting's wilderness. The adventure features an overland wilderness  of 110 miles (177 kilometers) through the Drachensgrab Hills  and offers plenty of opportunities for adventurers to get in way in over their heads. If we're using Castles & Crusades then the the Drachensgrab Hills becomes the center of the Sword & Sorcerous action easily. And it can also be used as the basis for the character's campaign setting. 

Castles & Crusades can help with the NPC factions of  A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade. These include several references  to help flesh out the plunder, tribal status, & how it affects both the party & community. A2 Secret of The Slaver's Stockade remains an old favorite because its very easy to adapt as an adventure to many classic AD&D first edition games as well as BECMI D&D with some adaption on the dungeon master's side of the screen.  For Castles & Crusades the jump of the Slavers into Greyhawk makes a certain amount of sense. They're expanding thier empire one campaign setting at a time. 
The Greyhawk  settting is simply another point on the compass to these bastard slavers. 

Dungeon stairs by Erol Otus, from AD&D module A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade

Some OSR Thoughts On James Ward's Greyhawk Adventures & Castles & Crusades

  If there's one book that a DM has to have if their going to run Greyhawk in the minds of many players of AD&D or Castles & Crusades. It has to be James Ward's Greyhawk Aventures! Why?! Because of the fact that Greyhawk Adventures expands Greyhawk of course! Expands upon the dieties, the monsters, Hall of Heroes places, persons, & things of Greyhawk, huge nimber of magical spells, new Greyhawk magic items, the geography of Oerth, adventures on Greyhawk, zero level PC options & available customization, and a Greyhawk spell list. 

So while all of this is packed into here running Greyhawk with Castles & Crusades is going to be a bit of a challenge. Greyhawk Adventures helps a ton because it gives the dungeon master the first real expansion on Greyhawk since the classic box set. 

Greyhawk is the down & dirty fantasy Europe that never existed & yet its influence within modern campaigns is still felt. Forgotten Realms might get all of the credit as one of the most influencal campaign settings. But its Greyhawk that has such a devoted following. Geyhawk still retains its cult following as the oriinal iconic campaign setting unto itself. And Greyhawk Adventures follws right there the original box set's footing. The adventures within? The adventures are easily adaptable to your own campaign settings. 

What about the Castles & Crusades rpg system? Depending upon Greyhawk era & local setting C&C adapts quite easily with Jim Ward's Greyhawk adventures. The rounded out campaign elements of Greyhawk Adventures can easily be molded by the DM to their Greyhawk campaigns. This is one of the strengths of the classic era TSR AD&D first edition books. 

Greyhawk works for C&C because of its scope, adaptability, and use as a campaign world that fits your world campaign. The potenial there is to take the classic Greyhawk folio & using Greyhawk Adventures to mold the fluff to fit your own worlds of adventure. The reason why this works is that Greyhawk Adventures is a tool kit of adventure elements that can be added or subtracted from as needed in your C&C campaign world. 

WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins (2e) By Timothy B. Brown, & Blake Mobley With The Castles & Crusades rpg - Updated

  "Enter the infamous ruins of Castle Greyhawk, the most formidable and expansive dungeon on Oerth. Its mazes and catacombs have drawn hundreds of adventurers from around the Flanaess. They are intrigued by tales of its riches, undaunted by its reputation for death in countless unspeakable ways. Getting there is no trick-it's a well-traveled path. The trick is getting in and out again with your own hide intact!"

"Try your hand at the busiest dungeon ever created. There are more than two dozen levels of horror and treasures. Run into brutal foes and gain uncountable wealth-nearly 1,000 separate room descriptions in all!"

Greyhawk Ruins is a complete guide to the most famous dungeon in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. All you will need is the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition role-playing game, nerves of steel, and the resolve to challenge the puzzles and powers the ruins have to offer!"

WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins (2e) By Timothy B. Brown, & Blake Mobley is one of Greyhawk's most underrated dungeons. Oh sure there are better known & far more deadly classic mega dungeons but Greyhawk Ruins returns to the fold one better & dangerous ones. And it's with no irony that I bring Greyhawk Ruins up with Troll Lords whose  Castles & Crusades deals with "Castle Zagyg" (2005-2008). And while that set of dungeons is solidly done & easily one Troll Lords best. This blog entry is going to pick right from this blog post here. 
Greyhawk Ruins deals with something else entirely and that's Greyhawk. And yes, you can transfer "Castle Zagyg" to Greyhawk. Greyhawk Ruins does something else entirely & that's to ground this version of the famous mega dungeon in Greyhawk entirely. Is this Gary Gygax's creation? No. Is it his "Castle Zagyg"? No. Greyhawk Ruins is a mega dungeon that ties itself in deep to the lore of Greyhawk. And this works very well for Castles & Crusades rpg. 

Greyhawk Ruins connects deeply into the Greyhawk 2nd edition setting as a way of covering over the foulness that is Castle Greyhawk. The Greyhawk Ruins is a part of the 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragon mega dungeon trend. And for the Castles & Crusade rpg style suits both the Greyhawk Ruins & even Robert Kuntz's  RJK1: "Bottle City" (2007) and "The Original Living Room" (2007) adventure modules.
The mega dungeon ideal is time tested & very well defined by the time we get to the second edition era. Its definition that was the megadungeon's undoing in a way. There were never enough adventures set witin the megadungeon settings to show DM's & players their real campaign potential in my opinion. 

Greyhawk Ruins doesn't see this out and instead present a series of mini adventures & campaign seeds within. We see this ideal expanded upon within,"Castle Greyhawk in Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk (2008), which revised some of the levels from "Greyhawk Ruins" and also invented new ones. " And this further makes it perfect for a C&C campaign. 

And these are adventure & campaign ideals that we saw previously within The City of Greyhawk & Greyhawk Adventures by James Ward. 

Retro Review WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun For AD&D 1st Edition & Your Old School Campaigns

 

 WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun is one of my all time favorite modules hands down, there is so much occult bleakness and darkness set within the bounds of Greyhawk. Perhaps the over all sense of menace and dread hanging over the temple itself.  WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun is flat out creepy and dangerous even more so then the Tomb of Horrors. I dug out my copy of  WG4 as soon as I had picked up the Hyperborea rpg.  This adventure is basically a prequel to the legendary S4, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. This adventure is a grinder in some respects and does a quite nice job of featuring monsters from the Fiend Folio.

 It was designed for characters levels five to ten and there are clear reasons why this logic was used.
GRAB IT RIGHT HERE



Once again according to D&D classics site; "Though "Tharizdun" was labeled as WG4, there were no previous "WG" adventures (and never would be). In the Glossography for the World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983), TSR indicated that T1: "The Village of Hommlet" (1979) was meant to be WG1 and that S4: "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" was meant to be WG3. Meanwhile, in Dragon #71 (March 1983), Gygax revealed that the adventure formerly known as T2: "The Temple of Elemental Evil" was to be WG2 - but he now said it was to be published in two parts.

As it happens, Temple of Elemental Evil would be delayed a few years more and eventually published as the T1-4 supermodule (1985).

In the forward to Dungeons of Dread (2013), Lawrence Schick further underlined the continuity between the modules intended to be WG1-3, writing, "there's evidence that Gary considered Tsojcanth part of a longer Greyhawk campaign, placing the adventure between T1-T4: The Temple of Elemental Evil and WG4: 'The Forgotten Temple oF Tharizdun'." When seen in that light, the four modules do form a nice adventuring continuity: T1 is "introductory to novice level"; T1-4 carries that up as high as level 8 (and possiblly higher); S4 runs levels 6-8; and WG4 goes from levels 8-10.

In his "Greyhawk Grognard" blog, Joseph Bloch suggests that Iuz might have been the lynchpin holding the arc together, since he's involved with the Temple of Elemental Evil and is also the son of Iggwilv from "Caverns."

The over all look and feel of WG4 is completely Weird Tales. From the cover art and interiors all the way to the essence of the adventure. There's a uniformity of Lovecraftian horror about The Forgotten Temple. According to D&D Classics there are several key reasons for this;"Temple of Tharizdun" was reportedly produced very quickly by Gygax himself, rather than the company's design department. Much of the work was done by Gygax's new Greyhawk cadre. Thus Eric Shook drew the maps, while Shook's mother, Karen Nelson, drew the evocative artwork. Gygax later said that he choose Nelson's artwork to highlight the "melodrama and pathos" of the adventure. An adventure being done by someone other than the design department was very unusual by 1982, as was having a single artist illustrate an adventure - that is, rather than the usual teamwork illustration done by TSR's art department"

Gary Gygax borrowed the god Tharizdun from Kuntz's Kalibruhn campaign and you can get more of the back history on that here This is one of the modules that I've DMed and played since the Seventies and it was a gift from a family friend whose now long gone. Because of this module's connections with the Southern Yatil Mountains its been a fairly easy fit to customize the entire module to other campaign settings one of the reasons for this was;" It is a combined wilderness and dungeon adventure set in the Southern Yatil Mountains, focused on a temple dedicated to the evil and insane Greyhawk god Tharizdun" Because of this  WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun can easily be used within the confines of AS&SH with a bit of work, this module could be used as a part of the centerpieces of the Spiral Mountains. Gods exist in multiple planar locations enabling a DM to port them into a wide variety of old school campaign setting set pieces. In fact I've connected Ksarul, Ancient Lord of Secrets, Doomed Prince of the Blue Room, Master of Magic and Grammarie from Empire Of The Petal Throne to Tharizdun

The battles with the humanoids and the epic uptick in the over all Lovecraftian feel of this adventure piece enables it to be used with other a gaming campaigns including Stormbringer style games with the Deities and Demigods style rules. I've also used this module with both Lamentations of the Flame Princess and as design fodder for the Dark Albion system. It is one of Gygax's most  demonic, sinister, and dangerous Gothic adventure, followed closely only by T1-4.

Over all this is still one of my favorite adventures to customize and play around with because its such a corner stone of a sword and sorcery campaign. There are so many ways that it can be used and go with WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun

Thoughts on WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun & The Cults of Tharizdun For A Modern Day OSR Campaign.

  It has many names The Dark God, The Ender, He of Eternal Darkness, the Ebon God, the Black Sun, the Patient One, He Who Waits, the Anathema, the Father of Elder Evils, the elder elemental god, the Author of Wickedness, the Eater of Worlds, the Despised, the Undoer, the Chained God, the Chained Oblivion & it has made the crossing. Since dealing with both my Castles & Crusades Wilderlands of High Fantasy & Victorious rpg campaigns. Veterans of the Supernatural Wars rpg has generated a ton of interest among my players. So an old campaign notebook entry reared its head. Could the cult of Tharizdun present a dangerous and viable threat within a modern day Earth?! "WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun was written by Gary Gygax and published by TSR in 1982 as a thirty-two page booklet with two outer folders; there are no modules with the codes WG1-WG3. ", this is the publication history that we all know. 

We know that the release of Iggwilv & her daughter is going to create two cults at least upon the world both demon worshippers & a vampire cult. But the greater evil maybe lurking in the background of the campaign yet to rear its head & that's Tharizdun. 

Iggwilv is one of the keys to this & to this end I've placed an alternative version of her temple from S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth within  Maple White Land. Her black witch covens would have spread across South America, the lower half of the United States, & even up into the New England States. Why?! Her description gives her ambitions as not being seditary at all; "Iggwilv is said to have two forms, one of which is that of an old crone (said to be her true form), and the other, a human female of dark beauty. In the latter form, Iggwilv has long black hair and pale skin. It is said none who have seen her in her true form still live.^[16]

She has many alternate names. On Oerth she has been called the Witch Queen of Perrenland and the Mother of Witches. She is known as Louhi on one alternate Prime Material Plane world, and as Ychbilch on another. Those close to her sometimes address her as Wilva." 

The real goal would be to suck Earth dry & then move on while releasing  Tharizdun. What would slow both Iggwilv & her daughter would be the fact that they don't share power easily with one another. Gary Gygax's version of Grayhawk had Gord The Rogue travelling the planes as a champion of Balance after a new cat lord was inserted into his place; ""Evening Odds" appears as story 14 in Pawn of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion, an anthology of fiction inspired by Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion mythos. The story takes place some time after the events of Dance of Demons. Gord has apparently been deposed from his position as the new Catlord and is traveling the alternate realities as a Champion of Balance. In the course of the story he upsets a plot by the archfiend Baphomet on modern Earth." 

This places Gary Gygax's Greyhawk near to the Prime Material plane.  In fact that it also places The Wildlands of High Fantay near the planes Prime as well.
 Several magazine articles in Peagus magazine the Judges Guild house magazine have the Wilderlands cross over near Earth's sphere. This very idea makes Earth a prime hunting ground for a number of Dungeons & Dragons monsters. 

Tharizdun might already be touching a piece of the Earth's plane within this campaign world version of  WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. The cult of Tharizdun would rely on its inner circle members to be nilistic & dangerous undead fantics. Fanatics who would do anything to further their various masters agendas. There are plenty of idiots who would fall for the false promise of immortality that undeath brings. So the ranks of these cults would swell like a disease sweeping across the world. We've seen this type of event time & again within our modern world. Right now its just spit balling ideas out here: 

1. A party of adventurers is brought together from  across the planes & Earth by the powers of the Balance to stop the destruction from happening. 
2. These cults go to war against one another because of each one wanting to seize power.
3. Those who make a cross over unto Earth risk being stuck here for the rest of their lives.
4. The powers that be use Earth as testing ground for young adventurers. 
5. The hidden & lost places of Earth allow one to cross over into Greyhawk & the Wilderlands. 
6. The minor gods of the Wilderlands can have influence on their agents on Earth. 
7. The occult & the supernatural are a cancer on the planes allowing Chaos & Law to gain foot holds that cause the planes to go out of balance. Thus bringing in exterterminators to hand the problems. 
8. The Gord The Rogue novels show a clear campagin path to bring in classic D&D elements into a campaign setting. 
9. Greyhawk has some excellent campaign points to exploit for the player's PCs & they won't be expecting it. 
10. Standard D&D magic may be much more dangerous on Earth. 

Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk Part 15 - " The Eye Is Opening." AX5 Eyrie of the Dread Eye By Courtney Campbell Commentary On The Lands of Greyhawk

Now let's pick this up where we left off on the blog the other day on the blog here.  The player's PC's have meet the enemies of "Five Shall Be One" & brought the multi tribal mess of Greyhawk into a focussed series of united armies. Has Chaos been idle?! The answer is no because the Chaos worshipping Elves have been on the move & sacrificing various pawns & knights in their chess game on the chess board of Greyhawk. And this is because events of  T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil have already taken place! And the PC's have secured the Keep from B2 Keep on the Borderlands & put down the forces of the village of Hommlet. 

And this proceeds the coming of the main event 'The Eye Opening!' Because this follows on the heels of AX5 Eyrie of the Dread Eye; " The Eye Is Opening."

"Thousands of years ago, living gods named Khepri wielded powers beyond understanding. Their bizarre magics rived a rent in reality itself. This portal—the Oculus—led to the deepest realms of Chthonic Darkness, but it was not yet fully open. Malign forces, opposed to all life, infested the Oculus, and waited. The Khepri kept vigil over the Oculus till time moved her hand. When the Khepri vanished in the Day Without Night, their Elven epigones took up the watch. In time, the Elves were conquered by the diabolic Thrassian race, and they in turn were subjugated by the Zaharans. Through the millennia, the caretakers of the Oculus studied, waited, and watched."

"Now the Awakening is near, the Spheres are coming into alignment, and the Oculus is beginning to open. The dark power is reaching out and for the first time in an age the Eyrie of the Dread Eye is accessible again. As the Eye opens, reality itself comes under further and further  strain. And as rumors of a new valley containing an underground forgotten city filled with untold riches spread out from the Dark Wall, the Oculus continues to open ever wider. " That's right the  living gods named Khepri are coming to call once again on Greyhawk! The events of T1 Village of Hommlet were only the start! The awakening of the Elemental Evil cult has lead to one of the other forces behind the cult  the living gods named Khepri!  These Khepri living gods are served by armies of sword wraiths so devoted to thier alien masters that even in undeath they continue to serve thier alien masters! 

We get hints of all of all this in Matthew Skail,  & Alexander Macris's AX1 The Sinister Stone of Sakkara as well as the first hints located within B2 Keep of the Borderlands By Gary Gygax.              

These two modules are key to keeping the borderlands secure & the PCs are by now witnin the 'conqueror' or 'king' level allowing them to take the leadership roles in the Greyhawk military that they were meant to be. And remember Greyhawk's Suloise barbarians are key to saving the Borderlands themselves. And PC's being a part of the marshalling of them is a key pivot point within this campaign. The return of the Khepri was hinted at within the AX2 The Secrets of the Nethercity & those were only some of the living god royals. AX5 is one of the main shows then in the Barbarian Warlords of Greyhawk campaign but it's not the only one!