by Don Twistbuck
The Baklunish Pantheon
This penultimate installment of our tour
of the Baklunish gods includes one of the
two moon gods, the aloof Malthebaal, and
the foreign-born, murder-inspiring Nasri.
Nasri in particular is an interesting case,
being the sole example of an identifiably
foreign deity that has been integrated into
the Baklunish pantheon. While some of the
other “common” gods listed in the Guide to
the World of Greyhawk are known and
venerated in the Baklunish Basin
(particularly in the eastern reaches, and
doubly so in cosmopolitan Ket), Nasri
comes to the Baklunish from the distant
south; Zihindia.
The implications of this importation are
great. Not only does it signify the existence
of early and vibrant trade between the two
cultures (despite the intervening presence
of both the Suel and Celestial Imperiums,
but it also speaks to the dedication of
Nasri’s followers that they found fertile
ground for their cult in the north, when
none of her fellow gods and goddesses of
that pantheon (to be detailed in these
Venerable Pages at some future date)
were able to.
In addition to these two deities, statistics
are provided for a new type of Men as
found in the Monster Manual. The Alqana,
or Betrayers, are the followers of Nasri
who infiltrate groups of wanderers with the
intention of slaughtering their hosts as
sacrifices for their dark goddess.
MALTHEBAAL
(The White God)
Lesser God
Moon (Luna)
ARMOR CLASS: -7
MOVE: 21”
HIT POINTS: 231
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6 +3 (magic
weapon bonus) +1 (strength bonus)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 40%
SIZE: M (6’ tall)
ALIGNMENT: Lawful neutral
WORSHIPPERS’ ALIGNMENT: Lawful
neutral, neutral, lawful good, lawful evil
SYMBOL: Crescent moon
PLANE: Prime Material
CLERIC: 11th level rashaw
FIGHTER: 11th level fighter
MAGIC-USER.: 11th level illusionist
THIEF: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
Attack/Defense Modes: All/all
S:17 I:20 W:22 D:20 C:19 CH:20
Malthebaal is the god of the large white
moon, Luna. He is the brother of the other
Baklunish moon goddess, Waadi, and
though the two siblings love one another
very much, they could not be more
different. The two were born of the waves
of the sea, having been flung into the
heavens as the breakers crashed on the
primordial Oerth in the distant past.
Malthebaal dwells in a magnificent
marble palace on the great white moon,
Luna. The palace is bathed in a glow of
perpetual moonlight, even when the moon
itself is less than full. No color of any kind
can be seen within the confines of the
palace, which is called the Halls of Shining
Night; all are merely shades of gray and
silver. Malthebaal is attended by a
contingent of Modrons, on perpetual loan
as recognition of the god’s role as keeper
of time and months. He can also travel to
Nirvana, Arcadia, Acheron, or Concordant
Opposition, all in but a single round.
Malthebaal appears as an elderly man
with a long white beard. He carries a silver
sickle named Luna’s Gift which is detailed
below.
Being connected with the measurement
of time, Malthebaal can guarantee that he
will be in any particular place at any time
he specifies, from a split-second up to a
century in the future. He can also detect
any lycanthrope instantly, and no creature
infected with the disease will willingly harm
him.
As mentioned, Malthebaal gets along
very well with his sister Waadi, as well as
the eastern god Cyndor. The Suel god
Lendor despises Malthebaal, seeing him
as an upstart. Mat’ur, on the other hand, is
on good terms with Malthebaal, as are
Malakim and Zuoken.
Rashaws of Malthebaal wear robes of
white and grey, while his temples have
windows in the walls aligned to the rising
and setting of the moon Luna on different
significant days of the year.
Services consist mainly of long, slow,
sonorous hymns and chants. Offerings of
special incense and, on the night of the full
moon, pearls, are made to the god.
Large idols of Malthebaal always take
the form of a life-sized human with a long
beard holding a sickle. Small idols are
about six inches across, round, and show
the god’s face in profile.
Small idols can be used to invoke the
following powers:
DRAGONNE 27
 • Light (least)
• Slow (lesser)
• Moonbeam (greater)
Large idols can be used to invoke the
following powers:
• Darkness (least)
• Ultravision (lesser)
• Globe of Invulnerability (greater)
Luna’s Gift
This enchanted silver sickle was was a
gift to Malthebaal from the eastern god
Cyndor. It’s strength and powers wax and
wane with the phase of the moon, Luna.
Each of the phases below lasts for one
week.
New moon: +1 to hit and damage, moon
beam once/turn
Half moon, waxing: +2 to hit and
damage, time stop once/day, moon beam
once/round
Full moon: +3 to hit and damage, time
stop 3 times/day, moon beam once/round
Half moon, waning: +2 to hit and
damage, time stop once/day, starshine
once/round
NASRI
(The Black Mother)
Lesser Goddess
Murder, assassination, banditry, terror
ARMOR CLASS: -2
MOVE: 24”
HIT POINTS: 199
NO. OF ATTACKS: 4
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon, +8
(strength bonus/magic bonus)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 66%
SIZE: L (7’ tall)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
WORSHIPPERS’ ALIGNMENT: Any non-
good, non-lawful
SYMBOL: Curved dagger
PLANE: Pandemonium
CLERIC: Nil
FIGHTER: Nil
MAGIC-USER.: 9th level illusionist
THIEF: 15th level assassin
MONK/BARD: 13th level monk
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
Attack/Defense Modes: All/all
S:23 I:22 W:23 D:25 C:20 CH:6
Nasri is one of those few foreign gods
who has made her way into the regular
pantheon of Baklunish deities. Brought to
the north from distant Zihindia by far-
reaching caravans traversing the eastern
reaches of the Celestial Imperium, Her cult
FLOCKTIME 580
has become a fixture in the Baklunish underground or hidden in abandoned
Basin, and many have taken to offering the structure in more civilized locales. As
goddess votive sacrifices in order to members of the cult are almost always
appease her and avoid her attentive gaze. secret, they can be sure to place
Nasri is an enigmatic goddess. Neither themselves in positions where they can
she nor her followers are necessarily evil, protect the secrecy of the temples’
but they see the culling of sacrificial victims locations.
to be a necessary function of the smooth Large idols of Nasri depict the goddess
operation of the multiverse. The cult claims in her ogre mage form, usually with a
they are merely enacting the will of Istus as necklace of skulls. Small idols are skulls
set down in the strands of Fate. The priests intricately inscribed using scrimshaw with
of Istus resist this implication, although various scenes of human sacrifice,
they do not explicitly condemn it, and the assassination, murder from behind, and
goddess herself is, naturally, silent on the the like.
subject as she is in most things. Small idols can be used to invoke the
Nasri has two main guises; the one is an following powers:
innocent, wide-eyed maiden of Zihindi • Friends (least)
descent. The other is a black-skinned ogre • Feign death (lesser)
mage with four arms, each wielding a • Polymorph self (greater)
different weapon. According to the
Baklunish, she wields a scimitar +3, a Large idols can be used to invoke the
wavy-bladed dagger of venom +4, a following powers:
footman’s mace +2, and a glaive +2/+3 vs. • Rope trick (least)
lawful creatures, which she can use with • Phantasmal killer (lesser)
but one hand. If she uses both hands for • Dream (greater)
the latter weapon, it will do double damage
if it hits.
She has the power to cause any
creature to sleep (as per the spell) if she
meets their gaze. She can also turn any
liquid to Type A Poison within 30’ at will,
once per turn.
Nasri and Duhl Parath have a complex
relationship. On the one hand, he is a
natural ally of a goddess whose chief
sacrament is the murder of innocent
travelers, but on the other hand she
resents the fact that he wishes to make her
his vassal. Mouqol and his followers loathe
Nasri and her cult, as they use caravan
trade routes to ply their vicious trade.
Al’ydor is, somehow, a good friend of
Nasri; their mutual disdain of convention
and order has much to do with their
relationship.
Nasri’s vast dwelling rests in the vast
tunnels and caverns of Pandemonium,
known as the Skull Palace, and
constructed of the millions of skulls of
those who have been sacrificed to her. As
more sacrifices are made, the Skull Palace
grows, adding new rooms, galleries, and
wings as her cult thrives on the Prime
Material Plane. The work is done by lesser
demons and slaadi in thrall to Nasri. MEN
Nasri’s rashaws are completely non-
descript. They appear as ordinary people Alqana “Betrayers”
at all times; even when performing rituals
in their temples they could look like FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-5 or 10-100
merchants, beggars, scholars, tradesmen,
etc. All rashaws of Nasri have the ARMOR CLASS: 8
HIT DICE: 1-6 hit points
assassin’s ability of disguise, but must
sacrifice 5% of their earned experience % IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Individuals M, leader
points in recompense. Her followers in
general are referred to as the alqana, types M, Q
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
which means “the betrayers.”
Nasri’s temples (in the Baklunish lands, DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Leader types
at least) are hidden places, usually
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Leader types
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average to very
ALIGNMENT: Any non-good, non-lawful
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Alqana (“betrayers”) are worshipers of the
Zihindian/Baklunish deity Nasri. They are
never found alone in large groups; rather,
they infiltrate merchant and pilgrim
caravans, joining their host in small groups
of 2-5 (occasionally larger groups will have
already banded together). No two groups
will look the same; one might be a tin
smith’s family traveling to visit relatives in
another town, another might be a group of
out-of-work mercenaries, while yet another
might appear to be a mendicant beggar-
preacher of Istus. They will all recognize
one another, however, through means of
secret signs of recognition whose
interpretation has baffled outsiders for
centuries.
Once the alqana have achieved sufficient
numbers in the caravan, they will strike in
the night, butchering as many of their
fellow travelers as possible, all the while
shouting their chilling war-cry, “Souls for
Nasri!” Once the slaughter is complete and
any valuables burned or broken, they will
melt into the countryside, leaving
smoldering carts and wagons and bodies.
They take nothing that might even
remotely link them to the attack.
Smaller groups of travelers can be
similarly infiltrated by the alqana. Such will
simply happen on a smaller scale. Some
alqana will wait in caravansaries and by
city gates, hoping to join a small group of
travelers who “just happen to be traveling
in the same direction”, so they can travel
together for “safety.” The confounding
thing is that such arrangements, done
legitimately, are an everyday occurrence,
and there is no way to tell the good from
the bad, save through constant vigilance.
For every 20 alqana there is a 25% chance
there will be a cleric of level 4-7, with an
assistant of level 1-3.
For every 40 alqana there will be an
assassin of level 5-8, and a 35% chance of
1d3 fighters of level 1-4.
Ordinary alqana will be unarmored, but will
carry a bladed weapon (usually a scimitar
or dagger) on their person unobtrusively.
Sometimes caravans will insist on taking
weapons from newcomers to help stave off
such attacks; an alqana will do so
cheerfully and with understanding, and will
always have another weapon hidden away
somewhere where they can get to it
quickly.
New Rules for Caravans
Any caravan of merchants or pilgrims can
run into smaller groups of travelers, who
will often seek to join the larger group for
mutual protection.
For every day a caravan travels, there is a
10% chance of encountering such a group
(this chance is over and above normal
chances for random encounters).
Roll to determine type using the standard
encounter tables. If a monster or non-
intelligent animal is indicated, the group
will consist of ordinary tradesmen, farmers,
etc., on some journey for personal
business.
Whether ordinary people or soldiers,
merchants, pilgrims, etc., the number
appearing will be as follows; 1-4 (35%
chance), 2-5 (25% chance), 2-8 (20%
chance), 2-12 (20% chance).
In the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting,
there is a 10% chance that such hangers-
on will actually be alqana in disguise, if
encountered in the Baklunish Basin or
other regions where the worship of Nasri is
common.
DRAGONNE 25
Peregrinations of the
1. Kilali: Badshah/Shah Yaheed (14th level fighter; his title is disputed). 15,000
warriors. Four subject tribes (500, 400, 450, 350 warriors). Tribal totem is a falcon..

Paynims
Openly hostile to the Udhfan, allied with the Yamifa.
2. Hekrodeen: Amir Jafar (12th level fighter). 12,300 warriors. Five subject tribes
(250, 300, 350, 250 warriors). Tribal totem is a griffon. Friendly towards the Udhfan,
One of the limitations of the WORLD OF hostile towards the Yamifa.
GREYHAWK™ Fantasy Setting has been 3. Zahila: Padishah al-Mutadi (13th level barbarian). 15,500 warriors. Three subject
a distinct lack of clarity regarding one of tribes (600, 500, 400 warriors). Tribal totem is a scorpion. Formerly allied with the
that world’s most powerful nations; the Kilali, currently they spurn and mock their former allies.
Paynims of the Plains. While those 4. Yamifa: Shah al-Maryah (11th level barbarian). 13,750 warriors. Four subject tribes
interested in such matters have learned (200, 250, 250, 300 warriors). Tribal totem is a whip snake. Allied with the Kilali,
about noble titles and a general population hostile towards the Hekrodeen.
of half a million, few specifics as to the 5. Udhfan: Udhfanishah Sulazid (15th level fighter). 17,100 warriors. Six subject
tribes themselves and their locations have tribes (300, 350, 350, 400, 400, 450, 500 warriors). Tribal totem is a bat. Friendly
been forthcoming. towards the Hakrodeen, hostile towards the Kilali.
The map on the page opposite shows 6. Mushneera: Tulbuga Orakhon (13th level thief). 16,900 warriors. Four subject
the summer and winter fields of the eleven tribes (400, 450, 500, 550 warriors). Tribal totem is a fox. Hostile towards both the
major tribes of the Paynims. As a rule, the El Alla-Druffi and Jalwedreen, friendly towards the Shebnuli.
tribes summer in the north, along the 7. El Alla-Druffi: Urus Beg Ilkhan (12th level fighter). 12,800 warriors. Three subject
borders of Zeif, Tusmit, and Ket, and tribes (350, 400, 450 warriors). Tribal totem is a flamingo. Allied with the Jalwedreen
winter in the south, when the rains coming against the Mushneera. Friendly towards the Yazprimi.
in from the Gulf of Ghayar make the Dry 8. Pashwiri: Nawbuga Khan (14th level barbarian). 15,600 warriors. Four subject
Steppes habitable for them and their tribes (400, 450, 450, 500 warriors). Tribal totem is an eagle. Hostile towards the
innumerable horses. Yazprimi.
Each major tribe will have up to a half- 9. Shebnuli: Tudbeg Kha-khan (10th level rashaw). 11,900 warriors. Three subject
dozen much smaller tribes as tributaries. tribes (250, 300, 325 warriors). Tribal totem is a viper. Carefully neutral between
These smaller tribes, though nominally their neighbors the Pashwiri, Yazprimi, and Jalwedeen. Friendly towards the
independent, pay homage to their larger Mushneera.
masters, and can be called upon in time of 10. Yazprimi: Malee Beg Tarkhan (12th level fighter). 14,800 warriors. Four subject
war. Such arrangements are often tribes (400, 400, 450, 450 warriors). Tribal totem is a lizard. Hostile towards the
cemented with multiple marriages, Pashwiri, friendly towards the El Alla-Druffi.
sometimes in the hope that the ruling 11. Jalwedreen: Sardir Khan (11th level barbarian). 12,400 warriors. Three subject
family of a smaller tribe may come to tribes (300, 325, 350 warriors). Tribal totem is a scarab. Allied with the El Alla-Druffi
power over the larger, through skillful against the Mushneera.
arranged marriages.
Naturally, each marker represents only For identification, each tribe has a unique method of tying their turbans which is as
an approximation of the range across distinctive to another Paynim as heraldry is to an Easterner. In addition, the tribes will fly
which the tribe in question will roam. banners bearing their tribal totems. The colors of the banners will change depending on
Territories in the north and west tend to be the clan within the tribe to which it belongs, but those belonging to a clan or tribal leader
smaller, owing to the greater crowding, but will be trimmed in silver or gold, respectively. Skilled riders with keen eyes can determine
that is also occasion for more warfare and the exact identity of a distant group by the banners they bear across great distances on
raiding between tribes, which is seen as a the flat plains or steppes.
pleasurable thing for its own sake.
The listing below is accurate (or as
accurate as an accounting of a half-million
nomad horsemen can be) as of the spring
of CY 580; these spots in summer and
winter tend to drift slightly from year to
year. On the map, the numbers indicate
which tribe makes its camp in the area,
and the letter indicates whether that area
is used in summer or winter. Thus, 3S
means that the Al-Shasri tribe spends
there summer in and around that location.
Naturally, the migration process is a
relatively gradual one, and not every tribe
will begin to move on the same date.
Collectively, the Paynim tribes can be on
the move for six weeks or more at the start
of both summer and winter. It is also true
that such movement does not represent a
100% evacuation; there are always
stragglers, outcasts, the sick and
wounded, and the like who remain behind
for various reasons of their own, so that
even in the depth of high summer the Dry
Steppes are never completely empty.

FLOCKTIME 580
 4S 2S

5S 3S
1S

6S
3W

1W
8S
9S

2W

11S
4W

5W
7S
8W
10W
6W
10S 9W
7W

11W

DRAGONNE 31
 Dragonne magazine is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not
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Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. The rest is Copyright © Joseph Bloch, all rights reserved.