OK, this technically isn't a Dragon question. However, I am beginning a campaign set in the Flanaess and am running the Sunless Citadel module. The module is set around a town called Oakhurst. Here's the question: Is there truly an Oakurst on Oerth and if so, where?
I know I could put it wherever I want or change the name to another existing town, but before I do that I'd like to find out if it really does exist somewhere on Oerik. Thanks in advance!
PS - I've gone through the 1984 box set, the Player's Guide to Greyhawk, The Adventure Begins, From the Ashes, and the Gazatteer. Of course I may have missed something so if you know of something specific let me know. However, a general reference to check out these materials won't help me.
There is no Oakhurst on Greyhawk AFAIK, but then, I´m not the ultimate expert on Greyhawk. Perhaps Erik or Samwise do know more?
I can understand your desire to check if there is a location for this town Canon-wise, even if you can always place it somewhere else - I would want to know as well.
If there is no official place for Oakhurst, where could it be ? The Ashen Plain and the ravine don´t make placement easier IMHO. The Ashen Plain is probably a local wasteland and nothing big, like the Sea of Dust. Oakhurst would be too isolated if the Ashen Plain were part of the Sea of Dust, and there is a road through Oakhurst, so it feels unlikely to be too remote.
Nothing in the adventure points to anything unusual in weather, so it is probably not far north and not far south. So, on GH, it would probably be east of the Barrier Peaks, no farther north than, say, Perrenland or Tenh, and no farther south than Keoland or Ahlissa. The overall NG alignment points for me away from the Aerdy lands.
This still leaves a lot of options open, of course. From my gut feeling, I would place it somewhere in or around Keoland, or perhaps in the Urnst/Nyrond area.
Stefan
Well I do know that in the player's handbook one of the illustrations shows a little town in the horizon with the name of 'oakhurst', though I never found it where it is... Sunles citadel surely does bring back some good old memories, as it was my first adventure i've ever dmed...good luck
There is no Oakhurst on Greyhawk AFAIK, but then, I´m not the ultimate expert on Greyhawk. Perhaps Erik or Samwise do know more?
I can understand your desire to check if there is a location for this town Canon-wise, even if you can always place it somewhere else - I would want to know as well.
If there is no official place for Oakhurst, where could it be ? The Ashen Plain and the ravine don´t make placement easier IMHO. The Ashen Plain is probably a local wasteland and nothing big, like the Sea of Dust. Oakhurst would be too isolated if the Ashen Plain were part of the Sea of Dust, and there is a road through Oakhurst, so it feels unlikely to be too remote.
Nothing in the adventure points to anything unusual in weather, so it is probably not far north and not far south. So, on GH, it would probably be east of the Barrier Peaks, no farther north than, say, Perrenland or Tenh, and no farther south than Keoland or Ahlissa. The overall NG alignment points for me away from the Aerdy lands.
This still leaves a lot of options open, of course. From my gut feeling, I would place it somewhere in or around Keoland, or perhaps in the Urnst/Nyrond area.
Stefan
I was thinking Keoland as well if I couldn't find where it really goes. It seems the most logical. I also considered Furyondy but it's kind of close to Iuz and would be too militant for the feel I get from the novel.
I guess I will have this problem with all of these modules. I wish WOTC would do a better job locating things within their core world.
I "asked the sage" on the WOTC web site, but nothing yet. Do they actually reply to all inquiries?
Well I do know that in the player's handbook one of the illustrations shows a little town in the horizon with the name of 'oakhurst', though I never found it where it is... Sunles citadel surely does bring back some good old memories, as it was my first adventure i've ever dmed...good luck
I flipped through the PHB in hope of finding another hint, but to no avail. Did you mean the DMG like I was referring to in my original post?
Hmm... I can´t recall such an illustration, but I don´t really pay much attention to those little gems at times. The DMG could be more the place for it, I´d guess.
Placing those adventures on GH would be interesting for me as well, as I still plan to use them one day. So perhaps we can work something out if there is no other information.
Stefan
I once placed Oakhurst in Veluna, but it is such a generic little town that it can be inserted anywhere.
Ah, the sunless citadel, good times. Kobolds kick ass! When PC's are fleeing from kobolds you just know you're doing a good job.
I stuck Oakhurst south and west of Sasserine (and north and west of Cauldron) where I've carved the Elsir Valley (from Red Hand of Doom) out of the foothills of the Hellfurnaces.
The name Oakhurst, in this case, was a bit of wishful thinking/black humor on the part of the settlers from Western Oerik who founded the town in this tropical vale a few centuries back, like the naming of the gold rush towns in California.
I switched the recent Sunless Citadel history around so that the Kobolds are the long-term residents, and the goblins are the recent interlopers (driven from the mountains as outcasts or maybe an advance guard from the gathering horde). That way, I also get to drop hints about the potential threat of the disorganized hobgoblin and goblin hordes to the west.
Thanks everyone. It definitely seems there's no Oakhurst in Greyhawk, which I suspected. It looks like Keoland or Veluna will be my setting. Thanks again!
So almost 10 years later it turns out the same question came up for our group as we start Sunless Citadel.
And for all the other folks who end up here: Here's the answer!
http://www.canonfire.com/cfnew//modules.php?name=News&file=article& sid=353
A Cannonfire article discussing faiths in the County of Ulek. The interesting part is the last two sentences that talk about the Barony of Oakhurst in the center of the County of Ulek. Now with articles like this, I'm not sure how much is just made up on the spot by the authors, or how finely the details from other sources get incorporated, but the topography seems right. It has the right kind of remote-but-not-too-remote run down and woodsy feel. For my money, that's where the Sunless Citadel is.