March 12th, 2009: By now everyone should know about the rivalry
between demonlord Graz'zt and Raxivort god of xvarts, so instead of a punchline I present a
sight gag involving one of the often overlooked and underappreciated elements of old school Greyhawk; namely
Portentous Runes and Glyphs. These runes were first found in the World of Greyhawk Folio,
followed by the 1983 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, then in From the Ashes and Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins. But
somehow they were left out of the most recent edition's Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. An oversight or editorial cut?
At any rate, as far as I've found the runes have mainly been used in canon for deity holy symbols such as
Trithereon's Rune of Pursuit or Zagyg's symbol of Insanity. Those with a copy of the '83 Guide will also see the runes used
on page 45 for the Regional Products map of the Flanaess. Other than that I believe they've been underused in Greyhawk
art and adventures. I myself have used them many times in my own campaigns for riddles and warnings. Speaking of riddles,
kudo points to anyone who can decipher some kind of meaning out of the graffiti on Graz'zt's wall. ;)
