I figured, if I made a campaign based around the return of Iggwilv, say five years after the events of Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Would you find it interesting to play?
FYI: She features at the end of Isle of the Apes and has a more extensive role in The Savage Tide AP. Those I know off the top of my head, but she has also been used in several other adventures.
Iggwilv is a terrific villain, and she's got all sorts of interesting links with the rise of her son, Iuz. I did a series of videos on Tsojcanth that discussed it on my YouTube channel.
Iggwilv is a terrific villain, and she's got all sorts of interesting links with the rise of her son, Iuz. I did a series of videos on Tsojcanth that discussed it on my YouTube channel.
Yep, I saw them. Iggwilv's motivation must be lust for power. I wanted to bring her back in my campaign, as a way to defeat Iuz. Although I must admit that my campaign is still in planning.
Iggwilv successfully summoned and seduced the demon Prince, Grazz't. She had to be both incredibly powerful and meticulous in her work - not a trait normally attributed to someone who is Chaotic Evil.
She managed to defeat Grazz't again, this time in battle, when he escaped her magical confinement. Was it skill, luck, a combination of the two?
She did not raise Iuz. She gave him to an evil human lord with lands near the Howling Hills in what is now the northern portion of the Lands of Iuz. Being half-human, Iuz has agency and could have turned out to be good, but his mother made sure he never got a chance to make that choice.
Iuz does not love, or even care for, his mother. He considers her an ally only for her power and the influence she has in the Abyss with other demons, who are potential allies. Iuz has a closer, though I wouldn't use the term 'loving', relationship with his father, Grazz't. Again, though, as the two of them are Chaotic Evil, that relationship is based on mutual benefits. Neither one has any qualms about betraying the other for personal gain.
Iggwilv lost much of her personal power (at least temporarily) from her battle with Grazz't. This caused her to lose her grip on the Yeomanry. She left Oerth at that point, presumably to avoid confrontations with powerful enemies (Zagig and the Citadel of Eight?) who might come after her in such a weakened state.
She has many powerful demons under her thumb. This is in large part because she has discovered many of their True Names. This is why she can live safely within the Abyss.
It is likely that conquering and ruling a nation within the Flanaess is no longer of interest to her. With the power she has at her fingertips (literally), what are her new goals?
Iggwilv is definitely a favorite of mine too. Some other lines of thought to ponder:
- in the 1976 tournament version of S4, Iggwilv is male and her lair is near the Sea of Dust (using the original Domesday Book maps of “the Great Kingdom”—which later became Greyhawk), so she presumably used shapechange frequently, and may have had other lairs than just the S4 caverns in the Yatils
- the published 2 levels in S4 are clearly not the full- extent of her lair there; see my site at https://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_s4.html for further ideas on that, and other possible lairs
- Carlos Lising has written two modules that deal with Iggwilv: 1/ https://www.caslentertainment.com/product/c11-when-comes-the-witching-hour/29?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=UP2XTA565TSVSLN7BYEMWAQY and 2/ https://www.caslentertainment.com/product/g2thewitchqueenslament/164?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=UP2XTA565TSVSLN7BYEMWAQY and both are well-worth checking out
- Dungeon published some modules too, including a lower-level scenario. “Fiend’s Embrace” and the later Savage Tide “Enemies of My Enemy” multiplanar one (Carlos’ C12 builds on that one, as I recall)
- there were a bunch of Demonomicon of Iggwilv articles in Dragon, and at least one or two new books attributed to her in Dragons 336 (Demonomicon, by Owen KC Stephen’s and Gary Holian) and 225 ( Nethertome, by Robert Mullins)
- my Iggwilv-improved version of Spiritwrack will appear in Visions #4 :)
Allan. _________________ Allan Grohe<br />https://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html<br />https://grodog.blogspot.com/
I don't think she's suitable for use as a focus in a campaign.
She really too powerful, probably the most powerful mortal currently on Oerth, arguably she's on the order of a quasi-deity. That makes her pretty unsuitable for direct confrontations, and that's what D&D really focuses on.
Keep her as a mastermind for a scheme that the PCs can foil, but to have her as the focus of a campaign seems very unwise to me. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but it would require a lot of thought and a distinct plan. If you had either of those, I don't think you'd be asking here about it.
I don't think she's suitable for use as a focus in a campaign.
She really too powerful, probably the most powerful mortal currently on Oerth, arguably she's on the order of a quasi-deity. That makes her pretty unsuitable for direct confrontations, and that's what D&D really focuses on.
Keep her as a mastermind for a scheme that the PCs can foil, but to have her as the focus of a campaign seems very unwise to me. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but it would require a lot of thought and a distinct plan. If you had either of those, I don't think you'd be asking here about it.
I wouldn't worry about it, now. Sigh.
I won't be using Iggwilv. She has been thoroughly defeated and destroyed by Oerth's overseer. Which is a shame, but I'll be using Iuz most extensively in my campaign. One of my friends asked if he could play Iuz though. Since he's been "offline" except when he's in his public library, I'll have to ask somebody else to play him.
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