by Skip Williams

cartography by Dave Sutherland



Ever wonder what the world Oerth looked like beyond the borders of the Flanaess?
Wonder  no more!  The TSR staff and the GREYHAWK  setting's original creator
sketched out this map of Oerth in the early 1980s.


My Dear Mordenkainen,
I'm glad you found my doodles enlightening!  I cobbled the map together from diverse
sources - mostly the recollections of some the "old guard.." I can't vouchsafe the place
names; doubtless the locals have their own names for many of the areas.  Enclosed are
some more excerpts from my journals.
Heward



Baklunish Empire: More properly called the Baklunish Basin these days.  A land of
steppes populated by nomadic horsemen.
Barbarian Seameast: A windswept land covered with primeval forests where fiery but
convivial tribesmen dwell.
Celestial Imperium: A vast nation peopled with a hard-working peasantry ruled by a
complex bureaucracy.
Dragons Island: Tales from the Celestial Imperium speak of a land ruled by a dragon
prince.  If such a place exists, it probably lies here.
Elvanian Forest: An enclave of lofty trees clinging to foothills rising from the desert
below.  Elves and other wild sylvan races dwell here.
Elven Lands: It seems that eleven seafarers crossed to (the? RH) Solnor Ocean
millennia ago and established a kingdom upon this peninsula.
Empire of Lynn: A sea of burning sands fill most of Oerik's western end.  The fabled
city of Lynn, perhaps settled by seafarers from the Flanaess, has grown rich from
coastal trade and the desert's mineral wealth.
Erypt:	An arid land ruled by a dynasty of priest kings.
Fireland: A land not unlike the Hellfurnaces region of the Flanaess.  Volcanoes and
geysers sprout amid glaciers.  A hardy folk dwells among the coastal fjords.
Gigantea: A land populated by giants, or so I've heard tell.
High Khanate: An and land peopled by two tribes of sturdy nomads.  The inlanders
resemble the horsemen of the Balkanish (Baklunish? RH) Basin, but on the coast they
take to boats.
Hyperboria: My own name for an icy continent whose interior holds Oerth's north pole
and secrets even I have not fathomed.  A semi-permanent bridge of ice connects the
land to Oerik proper, but the crossing is treacherous at best.
lshtarland: A land watered by southern storms and at least two great rivers.  The city of
Ishtar vies with the merchants of Lynn and the warlords of Tharquish for control of
coastal trade.
Kingdoms of the Marches: A temperate land filled with princely states.  Perhaps
another locale colonized by seafarers from across the Solnor.
Low Khanate: A companion realm to the High Khanate; named more for its location in
a deep vale below the mountains than for any inferior status.  A hidden valley reputedly
contains the tombs of khans from both realms.
Nippon: A densely populated island nation of fishermen, warriors, and poets.  Unsure
of the place's real name.
Nippon Dominion: A protectorate only recently conquered by the warriors of Nippon.
Orcreich: A nation of orcs ruled by a tyrannical king.  The orcs seem to thrive under
the brutal regime.
Polaria: Not a land mass at all, but a collection of islands locked in a semi-permanent
ice cap.
Red Kingdom: This land is so named for the color of its rocks.  It's inhabitants remain
unknown to me.
Suel Empire: You know this area as	the Sea of Dust.  Tales of its former glory is
known to you.
Tarquis Dominions: An ancient protectorate of the Tharquish Empire.
Tharquish Empire: An island nation of seafarers who have ambitions that extend to the
neighboring continents.
The Tribes of Enllaves: A land of proud desert nomads who eke out a living on a high
plateau that escapes the worst heat of the sand sea.  A few tribes-men live in mud-brick
towns built around central squares that contain steep-sided pyramids.  I have never
learned whether the pyramids serve as monuments, tombs, temples, or something else
altogether.
Wall of Tsian:  A massive fortification separating the Celestial Imperium from
Orcreich, a formidable deterrent to anyone but the king of Orcreich.  The Imperium
has begun another, even grander wall farther west.
Zindia: A tropical land where rich cities rise from steaming jungles.
Celestial Sea: A warm shallow gulf where merchants from Erypt and the Imperium ply
their trades.
Gulf of Ishtar: The privateers of Tharquish and the fleets of Ishtar vie for control here.
Gulf of Ra: A deep body reputed to	hide a kingdom of sahuagin.
Jothunheim Sea: A frigid body of water littered with icebergs.  Giants ply
the waters in great drakkars.
Mare Mysticum: A mystery to me. 
Ocean of Storms: A region of gray sea lashed by endless tempests. 
Oceanum Titanicum: The eastern-most extent of what you know as the Solnor ocean.
Pearl Sea: So named for the rich pearl beds found on Nippon's eastern shores.
Sea of Hyperboria: An ice-choked stretch of deep water where the coastal tribesmen of
the High Khanate hunt and fish from hide boats.
Sea of Nippon: A body of water made infamous by freak storms and enormous sea
monsters - if the tales prove true.
Sea of the Dragon King: A deep arm of the pearl sea noted for its cobalt blue waters
and teeming coral reefs.
Sea of Thunder: A smaller, but no less violent, companion to the Sea of Storms.

Skip Williams is a veteran of the original GREYHAWK campaign.  Rufus, the
red-bearded warrior from the village of Hommlet featured in the Temple of Elemental Evil

Annual 1996