River of Blood

For the speech by Enoch Powell, see Rivers of Blood speech

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the River of Blood, or more properly, the River of Blood Murders, refers to the mass murder/ sacrifice of eight children of wealthy Greyhawk families in 565 CY by Sir Bluto Sans Pite, a local knight. The event was so named because Bluto performed the grisly ritual in a cavern beneath his home where the Millstream enters Greyhawk City, causing the stream to run red with his victims' blood.

Bluto was brought to justice by the adventurers Robilar and Yrag, though some accounts say that the villain turned himself in. Nonetheless, Bluto escaped soon after with a band of renegade Rhennee bargemen. Reports placed Bluto a decade later at White Plume Mountain, presumably in the service of Keraptis.

Bluto's reason for committing the crime has never been revealed, though a band of adventurers exploring his vacant home in 591 CY found documents hinting that Bluto was somehow involved with the Horned Society, and that he was seeking an artifact known as an Octych.

COR1-03 River of Blood

COR1-03 River of Blood is an RPGA adventure for the Living Greyhawk campaign taking place in Bluto's vacant house in 591 CY. Bluto himself does not appear in the adventure, but details of the River of Blood murders are given in the backstory.

References

• Mona, Erik. River of Blood (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
• Schick, Lawrence. White Plume Mountain (TSR, 1979).
• Tetreault, Dennis, and Erik Mona. "The Artisans' Quarter." Living Greyhawk Journal #2 (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).