Greyhawk Creation Myths

[Scott]

My ideas start from the assumption that it is a multiverse and there are many primes and many gods. The primes are not infinite planes; they're bubbles in the Astral Plane. A group of beings, the demiurges of Oerth, were granted permission to, or decided to, go into the Astral Plane and create a new prime. These became the first gods and their servants. The original set of beings were good, or maybe good and neutral, but while they were shaping and forming the world the attracted the attention of several evil beings who crept into the primordial elemental stew and in secret they began adding their own touches. The gods involved in the creation process can tie themselves to the world and set some of the rules. They sealed the plane so that no outer planer beings could enter the world without aid and they had to choose whether or not they would make the new prime their home plane or if they would reyurn to the outer planes.
To be continued.

[Scott]

I think 12 - 15 gods in the original group, plus servants of varying power. Over time other divine beings enter the picture by different means: divine ascension or other existing gods have their attention drawn to Oerth somehow. Most of the gods listed in the guide were mortals originally and ascended into divinity, slowly building the various pantheons.

[geneweigel]

Everytime that I tried to comment somebody bursts in.

I see it as a good outline.

If you consider Tharizdun's pure adamantine chains taking the form of castle gates to the users in DANCE OF DEMONS (1988) then the shape of the planes of being finite or infinite is really just a way of putting it.

Alternate Earth astral bubble gateways are in my campaign as well but I also have astral adventures that went to other galaxies (STAR WARS, etc.) and other planets (Barsoom Mars, Invader/Tripod Mars, Invaders from Mars, Ymir Venus, "It Conquered the World" Venus, Planet X, Monolith Jupiter, ALIEN planet (pre-ALIENS)etc.) and I have some campaign adjuncts in the Astral that would probably be termed "pocket universes".

[GRWelsh]

I also like the outline. Keep it going.

The next time I read the Gord books, I am going to take very detailed notes -- the way Gene does -- and that way maybe I'll be able to answer some of my own questions.

I do believe that EGG created published Greyhawk to be the AD&D default world, and therefore as inclusive as possible, with everything writ large and vague, but that in the Gord novels he was moving towards his own ideas of a Greyhawk-specific -- or maybe I should say Gygax-specific -- concept of the planes and the gods.

[Scott]

A few other thoughts: Cuthbbert was originally a cleric of Rao that lived during the early migration period in the Veluna/Furyondy border area. It fits and it helps tie that Hommlet/Veluna//Cuthbert/Rao thing together.
The early, pre-migration Oeridians were like the early Franks, Saxons, etc. Hieroneous and Hexter were both sons of a powerful tribal chief/king who started warring with each other after their father's death. Hieroneous was a Charlemagne like figure to the ancient Oeridians.