Earl of Walworth

In the third year of his reign King Robert I of Thonia established the Northern Marshes as an outpost of his realm. To secure those lands, he ordered the construction of fortifactions there, which would later become the foundations of Blackmoor Castle. One of King Robert's staunchest supporters and an eager advocate for expanding the kingdom was the Earl of Walworth. For his efforts for the realm, Walworth was awarded with the Order of the Morningstar, one of the highest orders of the Empire. However, relations between the Walworths and the Royal Family were not always amicable. At one point Walworth even attempted to assume the throne himself! However, once Robert I had reclaimed the throne with the support from the lord of Blackmoor, Walworth explained that his actions were based on the rumour that the king had perished. Because of this, Walworth was able to avoid disgrace and his line remains strong among Thonian nobility even today.

Behind the Curtains:
Earl of Walworth was Gary Gygax' title in the Castle & Crusade Society. The story about his attempt to assume the throne is based on the fact that #10 of the Domesday Book lists Gygax as King rather than Kuntz. Other details of Walworth's story are also derived from notes from the C&C Society. While Walworth is never mentioned in any Blackmoor material, we know that Dave Arneson did incorporate much of the structure from the C&C Society as background for his campaign.




Image Source


-Havard

C&C Society Setting

In a blog entry from the 20th of Novemer this year, James Maliszewski writes that:

"Both Blackmoor and Greyhawk have at least part of their origins in the Domesday Book map of the Castle & Crusade Society of the International Federation of Wargamers. Issue #13 of that periodical included an early version of Blackmoor, well before OD&D was ever published."

The Castle & Crusade Society was a chapter of the International Federation of Wargamers and was formed in 1968 by Gary Gygax. In the First Fantasy Campaign, Arneson writes that he reserved a remote spot on the IFW's Castle & Crusade map of the Great Kingdom. The Great Kingdom is ofcourse the basis of Greyhawk's Great Kingdom and also the Great Kingdom of Blackmoor, which Dave Ritchie turned into the Empire of Thonmia in the DA series and beyond.

What is known about the original C&C World? At the Acaeum, Rob Kuntz describes how he was listed as King of the Great Kingdom. This is reflected in the Blackmoor timeline even today, as it is stated that Blackmoor was founded by King Robert I of Geneva.

Maliszewski further describes how the C&CS World can still be seen in both Greyhawk and Blackmoor:

"Echoes of this reality can be seen in the existence of a northern realm of Blackmoor within the World of Greyhawk and of a "Great Kingdom" in each -- a formerly good and noble realm that fell to evil and despotism and against which several nations rebelled. Likewise, there's also a Duchy of Ten(h) in each setting, whose name, legend has it, derives from its existence in section 10 of the C&C map, which was parceled into "land grants" to be given to C&C members to develop on their own."

The C&CS World map was roughly based on North America. More information about this setting can probably be learned from the Domesday Book, the C&CS Newsletter. Issue #13 has the first known printed information about Blackmoor.

 

An original map of the town of Blackmoor from #13 of the Domesday Book can be viewed here. A revised version of this map appears in the FFC.





Illustrations: Top: Reworked illustration of the Domesday Book Cover by Kevin Mayle. Bottom: Original Domesday Book #13 cover.



-Havard

BLACKMOOR MAPS

A few days ago, I asked the wise folks over at the Original D&D Discussion Forum about the origins of the Blackmoor map. Two rumours have been circulating about the maps as told by Finarvyn:

1. Both Blackmoor and Greyhawk campaigns were tied to the old C&C Society kingdoms map. (This certainly fits the Greyhawk=Chicago model that Gary has stated but, since the original Blackmoor campaign was not directly linked to the original Greyhawk campaign, it doesn't really explain Blackmoor's coastline. Also, I can't recall if Dave has ever made this claim, or if it was a Gary-only thing.)

2. Blackmoor was based on Dutch maps, only possibly inverted or reversed or somehow in a way that makes them hard to identify. (I've spent a lot of time looking at Dutch coastlines and haven't been able to match anything up close enough to match Dave's maps. However, since this is Dave's version of the story I'm inclined to put a lot of faith into it.)

Now, it didnt take long for replies to my query. James Mishler posted this excellent article on the connection between the Dutch maps and the original Blackmoor map.

I am still not convinced that the C&C Society maps are irrelevant to the shape Blackmoor took, but James certainly convinced me of the connections to the Dutch maps. His blog article is a real gem!

Havard