Alfric
| Duke Alfric | |
|---|---|
| General info | |
| Home: | Caer Sidi |
| Alignment: | Neutral (evil tendencies) |
| Gender: | Male |
| Species: | Elf |
| Ethnicity: | Faerie (Pharisee) |
| Class: | Fighter 7/Magic-user 11 |
Duke Alfric is the ruler of Caer Sidi, a land on another world found through a portal in the Demonweb Pits.[1]
Description
[edit | edit source]There is no official description of Alfric's physical appearance. However, Alfric takes almost direct inspiration from Three Hearts, Three Lions by Poul Anderson. In Poul Anderson's novel, Alfric is described as supple-bodied and black-clad, with white skin and blue-silver hair. His eyes, though sharp and penetrating, were blank azure orbs without iris or pupil. He was not very surprised to learn of the existence of other worlds.
Relationships
[edit | edit source]Alfric's consort is the lady Meriven. He has recently negotiated a treaty with the demoness Lolth, whose armies have invaded his world, but he still seeks to undermine her at every opportunity. He will offer magical items to aid others who oppose the Spider Queen, though he will just as quickly betray them to curry Lolth's favor.
Home
[edit | edit source]Alfric lives in the castle of Caer Sidi. Caer Sidi is a fairytale-like land with similarities to Arvandor (it seems to be stuck in permanent twilight, etc.).(p.13-14). It delves into old folklore about the fey (being damaged by iron, etc.). It is ruled by neutral aligned elves known as the Pharisees. The name "pharisees" is a dialect reduplicative plural of 'faeries' or "phaerees" which was used in some southern British regions).[note 1][note 2]
Creative Origins
[edit | edit source]Duke Alfric, his consort Meriven, and Caer Sidi were created by Poul Anderson, and first appeared in his novel Three Hearts and Three Lions, which in turn takes its inspiration from Middle Welsh mythological poems in the Book of Taliesin (14th century). David C. Sutherland III included them in the adventure Queen of the Demonweb Pits.
References
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Farisees, Pharisees. Oxford Reference, from A Dictionary of English Folklore. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 29 December 2023. "In the dialects of Herefordshire, Suffolk, and Sussex, fairies were called farisees, to the amusement of educated listeners, who assumed the term arose through stupid confusion with the Pharisees of the Bible, and often spelled the word accordingly. It is simply a reduplicated plural, like waspses for wasps, or ghostses for ghosts."
- ↑ Notably, Gygax uses the spelling "phaeree" to refer to his version of the Plane of Faerie/Feywild in his other works, specifically in Epic of Aerth.
Citations
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980), p.13-14.
Bibliography
[edit | edit source]- Anderson, Poul. Three Hearts and Three Lions. Fantasy House, Inc., 1953.
- Baur, Wolfgang, and Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel. Expedition to the Demonweb Pits. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007.
- Gygax, Gary. Queen of the Spiders. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1986.
- Stark, Ed, James Jacobs, and Erik Mona. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2006. Page 125.
- Sutherland III, David C, and Gygax, Gary. Queen of the Demonweb Pits (TSR, 1980) ISBN 0394515412.
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfric | Non-player character | Elf, [F7/M11], | GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders | 107, 108 |
| Alfric | Non-player character | Elf, [F7/M11], | Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits | 14 |