Land of the Black Ice

[Havard]

In addition to Wolfgang Baur's adventures set near and in the Land of Black Ice, a few more items have come to light on this region:

Dragon # 146 p 15:

Obsidian dragons appear in most respects to be like silver dragons. The main difference between the two is that
obsidian dragons are black with silver highlights. Known only from the northern reaches of the continent of Oerik (in the WORLD OF GREYHAWK® setting), obsidian dragons are thought to be distant but more powerful cousins of silver dragons,
originating (some speculate) in the Land of Black Ice. All obsidian dragons are lawful.

Dragon #230 p 25:

Orb of the Great Serpent
Intelligence 13, Ego 13; Diameter 7”.
Powers: Speak with dragons at will (as above, but see “Curses”); charm (as
above) vs. any dragon of mature adult age (400 years) or less; cone of cold (12d4+12 hp damage) three times per
day; true seeing once per day; user is immune to all fire and heat attacks, continuously;
user gains +1 Intelligence, continuously; protection vs. normal missiles,
continuously (originally used as protection against humanoid archers).

Curses: Possession, as above. Evil wizards in the employ of the Fiery Kings also managed to introduce a “minor” magical flaw. Any use of the speak with dragons power causes the speaker’s words to change to vile insults in draconic tongues. There is a 50% chance after each such use that any dragon listening immediately attacks the orb user with intent to kill, using breath weapons or spells first. A second and more serious flaw exists in this orb, in that anyone using it must
save vs. spell (all Wisdom bonuses are applicable) once per round to avoid charming any dragon or dragonlike being he sees and forcing that creature to become his servant. This powerful compulsion extends to charming good and neutral dragons as well as evil ones. To make matters worse, each use of the charm power of this artifact permanently
drains one hit point from the user, and these lost hit points cannot be replaced except by the use of wishes (one hit point returned per wish used).

Disposition: Taken out of the Suloise Empire by Baklunish thieves long before
the Rain of Colorless Fire, this orb passed through many hands over the following centuries, generating many of
the tales now heard of the orbs of dragonkind across the Flanaess. After it was used by Zagig Yragerne in 361 CY, he dropped it off at a secret location far to the north, in the Land of Black Ice, just to make sure no one else would get it in the near future. (He never used it against any dragons; he wagered it in a ferocious poker game on another plane and won big.) The arctic location was one of Zagig’s special creations, on a level with the “Alice in Wonderland” partial plane described in modules EX1 Dungeonland and EX2 The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror. The Dungeon Master is encouraged
to design an area about 30 miles in diameter with a climate completely different from its arctic surroundings.
Possible themes for this setting include a dinosaur-filled “Jurassic Park,” Peter
Pan’s Never Land, or Frank Baum’s Oz.

The Dinosaur-filled realm within the Land of Black Ice is reminiscent of Mystara's Hollow World. I have long speculated that the artifact from the City of Father Dragon is an Orb of Dragonkind, perhaps the most powerful of all such Orbs.


-Havard

[BlackmoorBob]

Interesting. Could there be a Land of Black Ice beyond the realms of the Skandaharians even if your Blackmoor is not set in Greyhawk?

-Duncan

[Havard]

I just noticed this from the product list thread:

A lot of the elements in "Raiders of the Black Ice" come from Frostburn, which were both designed by Wolfgang Baur. Frostburn itself is generic, but "Raiders" largely exists to showcase Frostburn's rules while being set in a particular place on the Greyhawk map.

Are there more sources on this region?

I suppose they are somewhat different, but some ideas for the Land of Black Ice could probably also be borrowed from the thread on the Great Glacier.

-Havard

[ripvanwormer]

The Dinosaur-filled realm within the Land of Black Ice is reminiscent of Mystara's Hollow World.

It is, but note that it's probably a reference to Rigodruok.

Good find with the obsidian dragon.

[Havard]

The Dinosaur-filled realm within the Land of Black Ice is reminiscent of Mystara's Hollow World.

It is, but note that it's probably a reference to Rigodruok.

Good find with the obsidian dragon.

Ah yes. I think I learned about Rigodruok some time after making this post. You are probably right. I would not be surprised if Rigodruok is connected to the Hollow World though. Perhaps this is even where the idea for the Hollow World came from?

According to the canonfire wiki link you provided above, Sormod found the parchment describing the directions to Rigodruok which originated in the Blackmoor Dungeon. He later launched an expedition to that Valley in which the mage Henriki Ardand also took part.

This raises some more questions. Who brought the pachment to the Blackmoor Dungeon in the first place? Did Sormod expedition to Rigodruok pass through Blackmoor? Would the Blackmoorians have assisted in such an expedition?

-Havard