Canonfire!

Fri Apr 24, 2020 5:02 pm Yarth Map

In part of S4, it says that "If the party chooses to leave the hall they will be stranded in the alternate dimension until they return to the hall. The DM must create a scenario if the party wishes to adventure in this dimension." So I've been thinking of making Yarth the other dimension.

The map at:

https://2ea8e53b-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/dndphilmont/yarth/yarth%20and%20flanaess.png?attachauth=ANoY7cpogEPFRUWJGTaaeiHqIypLwmLs1uPNUju2gaM-2eFFgch2i8CdTYWzcNBGKu8rYzddTZtpakny31TQRdTArBiGFBZLyNJih0o-Bq0CLh6Wk9Nf1R1rH-7D_f0ahONJgOFcwNS0ET88BmWPv-1M3Qwl6RtYSijeaGfo8T4pppPDIgd6hbUl-HETfJA8jgv6tZKbv7xDJjSIv5rS3G2gsQ2cPn155ahhZE9yvwVpXUsrFCFvMJo%3D&attredirects=0

shows the points for Ratikhill and Marner. Marner is northwest of Ratikhilll on the Yarth map while the Oerth map has it northwest of Ratikhill. So I'm wondering if Yarth is a version of Oerth that is tilted 45 degrees. That seems to make the Rakers Mountains line up better. But if I go with that, I'm left trying to decide where the poles and equator are.

I've thrown the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer map's inset map of Oerth in Google Earth. Because it became really fuzzy, I put the Living Greyhawk Gazeteer map on top of that in its correct position. Then I had tried to use the Yarth map. I roughly have figured out the following Google Earth map coordinates:
North: 41°36'12.89"N
East: 134°47'8.51"E
South: 28° 7'47.73"N
West: 123°41'33.82"E
Without any other references, I'm tempted to make the compass rose of the Yarth map to define where the equator might be.

If I do that, then the Oerth's North Kingdom becomes Yarth's Sea of Eternity. Not a very big sea for one named "Eternity."[/u]

Sat Apr 25, 2020 8:26 am Re: Yarth Map

Sat Apr 25, 2020 12:25 pm

Here's an alternate link to that Yarth map (since that link was asking me to download it as an attachment):

https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/dnd/map%20yarth%20%281%29.png

…as well as the maps from the Sagard books:

https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/dnd/map%20yarth%20%280%29.png

I've been meaning to do more with Yarth, myself, since I like the idea of there being a cubic gate that links to Ærth, Earth, Oerth, Uerth, and Yarth.

Mon May 04, 2020 3:44 pm Yarth Map of Crimson Sea

I bought the Sagard books a couple of years ago and just looked through all of them to see if they had maps. There is a map of the Crimson Sea which contains four islands. One of which is labeled Isle of Dread. But the shape of the island doesn't look very much like the island from X1...unless you decide to spin the island 90 degrees and even then it's an abstract kind of match.

So while these aren't probably supposed to the be the same island, I can see a DM wanting to use resources that are available to populate it with something.

Mon May 04, 2020 4:00 pm Islands

The Oerth placement of the Isle of Dread as described in "Dungeon Magazine" 114 is in the Peal Sea. So maybe Yarth has two islands known as the Isle of Dread.

Mon May 04, 2020 4:15 pm Re: Islands

Fri May 08, 2020 1:58 pm

Cool discussion gents. I have this book as well and always wanted to use it.

Sun May 10, 2020 6:36 am

A thought occurred to me: Ærth is meant to be a more magical, medieval alternate-Earth c.1000 years ago, and I recall that there was a fear of Oerth's magic gradually fading…

What if Yarth is a future, less magical alternate-Oerth (with some ecological issues explaining the differing maps)?

Tue May 12, 2020 11:36 am Could Be...

If that works for you, then I'm sure you can make it work. I was trying to play through The Ice Dragon and died again. But I keep encountering references to things that we know exist in Oerth. So how much farther are you thinking if you want to try and keep the continuity as correct as possible.

So far in trying to play through the book, I've recently logged references to:

Gondorians, Valkyrie, Amazons, Aerdians, Hitaxian Merchants, Priests of the Scarlet Brothethood, Tehn, Tehnites worship Nerull

Interesting that the Scarlet Brotherhood is a priestly order and not an order of monks. Am I splitting hairs that aren't there? If there are Amazons in the Aerth way, then maybe that's evidence to support an additional continent for Yarth. This is fun.

Tue May 12, 2020 7:20 pm

Well, you have the Glossography for the Guide to the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ Compiled by Pluffet Smedger, the Elder, of the Royal University at Relmord, CY 998, in whose time "magic was not a lost art, but, apparently, a fading one," and whose work "preserved a priceless relic from a world that no longer exists…"

…so I could certainly aim for some time after that, though I may have to double check the Sagard books myself to see how many references there are to the "Great Kingdom" (granted, there's a lot more differences between Ærth and Earth besides time, and I'd be setting up Yarth as an alternate-"future Oerth" instead of Oerth's actual future — in which I'm still amused by "Greyhawk 2000.")

Thu May 14, 2020 3:50 pm I-what?

Book 1, Section 32 includes "evil priest of Izu" and "cool blue light of the moon and stars"

So there's a version of Iuz which is Izu here and confirmation that there is a blue moon. This Sagard version of Yarth is starting to get a little more flesh.

Thu May 14, 2020 9:52 pm Section 117

In Book 1, "Section 117," it references Oerth. The copyright on this book is 1985. So either in the Sagard version of Yarth people think the planet is called Oerth or in 1985 this was Oerth and later Sagard books are a Yarth version.

I'm off to book 2 now...

Sat May 16, 2020 9:43 pm 1985

Book 2 doesn't seem to have anything specific to Oerth or Yarth.

It occurs to me that the weird Oerth references in book 1 may have been Gary's way of fudging TSR copyright. I'll have to see if Book 3 mentions Yarth specifically.