Lendore Isles

In the Dungeons and Dragons World of Greyhawk campaign setting, the Lendore Isles, also known as the Spindrift Isles, are a collection of five large islands in the Solnor Ocean, just off the eastern coast of the former Great Kingdom. This portion of the World of Greyhawk served as the base of Len Lakofka's campaign, and is the setting of the L series of modules authored by Lakofka: L1 The Secret of Bone Hill,[1] L2 The Assassin's Knot,[2] and L3 Deep Dwarven Delve.[3] Lendore Island began the inclusion of material from an author other than Gygax or Rob Kuntz to become incorporated into the Greyhawk setting.[4] Previously unpublished materials from Lakofka's gaming sessions in the late 1970s and early 1980s were released in an article in issue 5 (August 2005) of the Footprints e-zine.[5] Additional material, originally intended for release in L3 Deep Dwarven Delve was released by Lakofka in an article in issue 9 (December 2006) of Footprints.[6] In 2006, Lakofka announced on the Pen & Paper website that he will be releasing L4 and L5 through the Dragonsfoot website, introducing additional material and adventures set in the Lendore Isles.[7] A subsequent threaded discussion on the Dragonsfoot forum gave the title of L4 as "Devilspawn".[8] Both L4 and L5 are now available on Dragonsfoot. L4 is indeed titled "Devilspawn", and includes a second book, "The Lendore Isle Companion". L5 is a three-book set: "The Kroten Campaign Guide", "The Kroten Adventures", and "The Kroten Campaign Companion", plus a separate Map Pack.

In their earliest published form[9] the Lendore Isles are named the Spindrift Isles. The southernmost island was named Lendore Isle after the fictional Suloise Arch Mage who led the human settlement of it. The northern islands are described as being inhabited by elves who hold an isolationist foreign policy. It is notable that the northern islands are described in this source and the one following[10] as being three in number though the map included in the sources show four northern islands. This earliest form is the setting for the L series, which takes place on Lendore Isle. The town of Restenford is detailed in L1 and the town of Garroten (Lake Farmin) in L2.[11] L3 is set in the Restenford/Lake Farmin area but no details are given other than of the dungeon in which the adventure takes place.

The setting changed dramatically in 1992 with the publication of From the Ashes [12] which advanced the World of Greyhawk's fictional timeline to the year 585 CY, and detailing the aftermath of the Greyhawk Wars. In this iteration the name of the isles is changed from the Spindrift Isles to the Lendore Isles, though the former is still used as a common name. In this description the elves of the northern isles have taken over the southern isle of Lendore, expelling the majority of the human population in 583 CY, so that the elves might form a theocratic society. The elves protect the islands with magical fogs and illusions to prevent any contact with outsiders. Lendorian Elvish, a language unique among the other fictional languages in the World of Greyhawk, is also introduced. Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins,[13] published in 1998, and which advances the fictional timeline further, gives few details about the islands themselves due to the isolationist policies of the inhabitants but makes note of increased activity by elven mariners from the Spindrifts.

In the latest official published work describing the Lendore Isles,[14] more details are given of the islands, including that they make up a nation officially known as the Radiant and Transformed Domain of Sehanine of the Lendore Isles. The focus of the theocracy is revealed to be the cult of the elven goddess Sehanine Moonbow, which is tied to the increasingly widespread elven mystery cult known as the People of the Testing. The issue of the total number of islands is addressed by the authors in-universe by explaining that some older charts in the World of Greyhawk only showed four islands.

References

  1. ↑ Lakofka, Lenard (1981). "The Secret of Bone Hill". TSR, Inc.
  2. ↑ Lakofka, Lenard. The Assassin's Knot (TSR, 1983).
  3. ↑ Lakofka, Lenard. Deep Dwarven Delve (TSR, 1999).
  4. ↑ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  5. ↑ Lakofka, Lenard (August 2005). "The Nystul and Lendore Isle Campaign", Footprints e-zine, (5), 11-19. Available at www.dragonsfoot.org.
  6. ↑ Lakofka, Lenard (December 2006). "The Church of Osprem", Footprints e-zine, (9), 5-7. Available at www.dragonsfoot.org
  7. ↑ Lakofka, Lenard. "Lendore Island modules". Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  8. ↑ "L4 Bonehill sequel". Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  9. ↑ Gygax, Gary. The World of Greyhawk (TSR, 1980).
  10. ↑ Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (TSR, 1983).
  11. ↑ Lawrence Schick. Heroic Worlds (Prometheus Books, 1991).
  12. ↑ Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1992).
  13. ↑ Moore, Roger E. Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins (TSR, 1998).
  14. ↑ Holian, Gary; Erik Mona, Sean K. Reynolds, Frederick Weining (2000). Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1743-1. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help)
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