Monday, February 5, 2018

Ratik, as Far as that Goes.

Yesterday my brother was looking at the World of Greyhawk map and he noticed the land of Ratik. He was curious about the little nation, and I'll be honest here, I was too. In my years of running in Greyhawk I never ran across the province as I tend to focus south of the Nyr Dyv and out west towards the Sea of Dust.

Ratik was new territory for me to explore; and the thing is, Ratik appears to be new territory for everyone else too. As best as I've been able to tell it was only mentioned in four places: (1) the World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, (2) in an article in Dragon 57, (3) the Living Greyhawk website, and (4) the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. That's not a lot of information to go on.

Mounted Knight by Arthur Pyle

In the World of Greyhawk Boxed Set (pg. 32) the Archbarony is revealed to be an offshoot of Aerdi and to be a province ruled by the rather competent Ratik line. They have strong connections with the dwarves and gnomes of the area and are respected by the raiders and nomads surrounding them. When the hordes of humanoids began attacking Ratik not only weathered their advances but drove them out of their lands. Unfortunately this sent the humanoids south into the Bone Marches where they wrecked havoc.

Aside from the prosperous logging industry the only aspect of the Ratik description that I found worth noting was that in the north Ratik woodsmen were armed with bows and patrolled that boarder while in the south "hillrunners" were equipped with slings and watched the southern boarder. 

The article from Dragon 57, Developments from Stonefist to South Province by Gary Gygax, (pg. 13 - 16) is largely a battlefield report. While there are some interesting tidbits here it largely points towards the steady development of the fractious area without anything all that substantive given away. The only thing that I found interesting was that the dwarves in the Rakers (the mountain chain to the west of Ratik) are largely holed up in their mountainous fortresses as they are being besieged by gnolls and like-minded humanoids.



After this all I found on the area is from the Living Greyhawk website and Gazetteer (pg. 88 - 91) which largely express the same information though with the Gazetteer providing more depth to the reader. Our leader is now Lady Evaleigh of Ratik and the barony is now completely divested from Aerdi. To be perfectly honest, while this provides the reader with the most information on the area from any of the sources I have it's largely a mess. This brings up one of the problems that I have with the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. While it provides players with some of the most current information on the setting as of its publication it also tends to feel a bit like the authors are attempting to throw everything they can think of at the players. It makes things feel rushed and discombobulated at times (especially in less developed areas like Ratik). 

So that's as much information as I have on the nation of Ratik. If anyone else has anything to add from any of the official sources (Living Greyhawk, modules, the magazines, and so forth) please let me know because I would love to continue fleshing out the little nation-state. 

6 comments:

  1. Lady Evaleigh. Once the lover of Gord. Gord's bastard may be ruling the Barony, one day. Mwahahahahahahahahaha!

    "Saga of Old City," by Gary Gygax

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What?

      Shit. I've got to reread Saga of the Old City!

      Delete
    2. Darn, beat me to it. I loved Saga of the Old City when I was a kid!

      Delete
  2. Council of Great Lords (Ratik); Living Greyhawk Gazetteer; 89
    Hill Road (Ratik); Sagard the Barbarian #1 The Ice Dragon; 6
    Korund of Ratik; The Adventure Begins; 11,38
    Lexnol III (Lord Baron of Ratik, Archbaron Lexol); Dragon Magazine #57; 14,15
    Lexnol III (Lord Baron of Ratik, Archbaron Lexol); From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess; 34
    Lexnol III (Lord Baron of Ratik, Archbaron Lexol); Living Greyhawk Gazetteer; 36,37,89,91
    Lexnol III (Lord Baron of Ratik, Archbaron Lexol); Living Greyhawk Journal #3; 29
    Lexnol III (Lord Baron of Ratik, Archbaron Lexol); Players Guide to Greyhawk; 16,25
    Lexnol III (Lord Baron of Ratik, Archbaron Lexol); Saga of Old City; 241
    Lexnol III (Lord Baron of Ratik, Archbaron Lexol); World of Greyhawk Boxed Set: A guide to; 32
    Lexnol III (Lord Baron of Ratik, Archbaron Lexol); World of Greyhawk Boxed Set: Glossography; 17
    Mountain Way (Ratik); Sagard the Barbarian #1 The Ice Dragon; 6
    Pelgrave Ratik (General, Sir); Living Greyhawk Gazetteer; 89,90
    Ratik (Baron); World of Greyhawk Boxed Set: A guide to; 32
    Ratik; Come Endless Darkness; 216,217,222
    Ratik; City of Greyhawk: Folk, Feuds and Factions; 23,75
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #52; 18,19,20
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #55; 18
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #57; 13,14,15
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #63; 16
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #191; 67,68
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #206; 35
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #241; 77
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #243; 89
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #291; 93
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #293; 88,89
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #294; 95
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine #297; 92
    Ratik; Dragon Magazine Annual #3; 20,96
    Ratik; From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess; 6,7,10,12,19,21,24,25,27,28,34,36,37,47,48,56,73
    Ratik; From the Ashes: Campaign Book; 6
    Ratik; From the Ashes: References Card 2;
    Ratik; From the Ashes: References Card 10;
    Ratik; Greyhawk Wars: Adventures; 8,9,15,17,27,31
    Ratik; Ivid the Undying;
    Ratik; Living Greyhawk Gazetteer; 9,36,37,44,45,54,59,72-74,81,88-91,105,106,141-143,147,148,158,IBC
    Ratik; Living Greyhawk Journal #0; 3,13
    Ratik; Living Greyhawk Journal #1; 4,30,32
    Ratik; Living Greyhawk Journal #2; 30
    Ratik; Living Greyhawk Journal #3; 29
    Ratik; Living Greyhawk Journal #4; 8,30
    Ratik; Living Greyhawk Journal #5; 30
    Ratik; Players Guide to Greyhawk; 7,9,10,16,25,38
    Ratik; Sword and Fist; 46
    Ratik; Sagard the Barbarian #1 The Ice Dragon; 6,7,8,9,34,77,88,108,152
    Ratik; Saga of Old City; 7,228,241-243,258
    Ratik; The Adventure Begins; 11,18,29,38,77,102
    Ratik; World of Greyhawk Gazetteer; IBC,2,7,9-11,14,15
    Ratik; WGR5 Iuz the Evil; 4,49
    Ratik; WGS1 The Five Shall Be One; IBC,4,31,34,37
    Ratik; WGS2 Howl From the North; 6,15,54,58
    Ratik; World of Greyhawk Boxed Set: A guide to; IC,14,20,21,26,32,35,59
    Ratik; World of Greyhawk Boxed Set: Glossography; 10,17,29,30-32
    Ratik (House of); Living Greyhawk Gazetteer; 90
    Ratikers (Ratikkan); From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess; 35
    Ratikers (Ratikkan); Living Greyhawk Gazetteer; 91,141
    Ratikers (Ratikkan); Living Greyhawk Journal #3; 29
    Ratikers (Ratikkan); Sagard the Barbarian #1 The Ice Dragon; 9,20,27,28,30,32,33,34,39,40,47,50,53,54,56,58,61,64,65,75,77,79,81,83,85,87,89,93,94,96,97,98,134,135,138,173,177
    Ratikhill; From the Ashes: References Card 3;
    Ratikhill; Living Greyhawk Gazetteer; 37,89,91
    Ratikhill; Living Greyhawk Journal #2; 30
    Ratikhill; Living Greyhawk Journal #4; 30
    Ratikhill; Living Greyhawk Journal #5; 30
    Ratikhill; Sagard the Barbarian #1 The Ice Dragon; 6
    Ratikhill; Saga of Old City; 7,228
    Ratikhill; WGS1 The Five Shall Be One; IBC
    Ratikhill; World of Greyhawk Boxed Set: Glossography; IBC
    Ratikinn Durvan; Ivid the Undying;
    Ratikkans; Saga of Old City; 227,241,258
    Volunteer Borderers (Ratik); Dragon Magazine #57; 14


    a quick search. probably more if i cross reference.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heck yeah, Tom! Thank you so much!

      Delete
    2. Also, while I have not yet added the Greyhawk related content from the Spelljammer books & modules to my database, Ratik is one of the Flanaess' major spaceports because the Timberway provides excellent lumber for ship construction & repairs. (the others are Greyhawk, Irongate & Dyvers)

      And ironically, it's also the alleged starting point for my latest campaign. But the PCs will be shipwrecked enroute, so if they ever actually arrive in Ratik it will be after many other adventures.

      Delete

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