Robilar

Greyhawk Character

Lord Robilar
Lord Robilar, as depicted in Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk (2007).
Title(s):	Lord
Occupation:	Adventuring noble
Homeland:	Bright Lands, formerly Domain of Greyhawk, originally Wild Coast.
Class(es):	Fighter 24
Gender:	Male
Race:	Human
Alignment:	Lawful Evil
Age:	31 in 561 CY
Born:	530 CY

Robilar (also known as Lord Robilar or Sir Robilar) is a powerful warrior. Created as one of the very first half-dozen characters to explore the original Castle Greyhawk dungeons, Robilar eventually became one of the fictional world's most powerful and compelling characters. He served as commander of Rary's forces in the Bright Lands after the end of the Greyhawk Wars.

Description

Robilar is described in WGR3 Rary the Traitor (1992), Finger of the Wind (2000), and the Epic Level Handbook (2002), all almost in the same words: a grim-faced, saturnine man with a short goatee, black hair, and deep-set eyes. He wields the Blade of Black Ice, which is said to have been forged by Iuz himself, but which was given to Robilar by Mordenkainen.

Despite his evil alignment, Robilar is friendly, loyal, and charming, if somewhat gruff. He has a soft spot for adventurers, seeing them as the same sort of devil-may-care heroes he himself once was. This was true even during his "Bilarro" days (see below). Robilar's alignment was originally neutral, but as early as 1980 he "changed his alignment [to lawful evil] to satisfy his morbid tastes"

Mordenkainen described Robilar, saying he "always wore his sword, even in peaceful company, but carried a shield only in times of known danger."

Relationships

Lord Robilar rides his mechanical steed across the Bright Desert, as depicted in Rary the Traitor (1992).

Terik is Robilar's brother and adventuring companion. Quij and Otto were at one time his henchmen. Quij became Robilar's henchman in 560 CY.

Robilar has adventured with Tenser, Mordenkainen, and other members of the Citadel of Eight, as well as, occasionally, Rary. Later, he allied himself with Rary for a time, believing his other former friends had grown soft and weak.

Jornyra was once a follower of Iuz. She retired from his service and married. She settled in Furzehill - the small village near Robilar's manor - and became the village headwoman.

Robilar once ruled a castle west of the Free City of Greyhawk in which a large army under his control was garrisoned. When his castle was sacked by an army of Good led by Tenser, Otis, Rufus, and Burne, many of his high-level cohorts were slain. His surviving forces fled to the Pomarj, and were composed as follows:

• Heavy Cavalry: 50 (Regulars)
• Medium Cavalry: 100 (Regulars)
• Light Cavalry: 50 (Regulars)
• Light Horse Crossbowmen: 50 (Regulars)
• Heavy Infantry: 100 (Elite Orcish)
• Light Infantry: 100 (Levied)
• Heavy Archers: 50 (Elite Orcish)
• Light Crossbowmen: 50 (Regulars)
• Pole Armed Infantry: 100 (Regular Orcish)

The demigod Iuz counts Robilar as an enemy for trying to slay him. Iuz's sometime lover, Zuggtmoy, was also freed by Robilar in a separate incident.

Home

Robilar came out of the Wild Coast into the public eye as an adventurer in the late 550s CY.

Robilar's former home in the Domain of Greyhawk is now a gutted ruin, though the dungeons beneath, carefully warded and booby-trapped by Robilar, are still intact. The castle is a square construction set around a central courtyard; the outside walls are intact, though some of the inner walls have collapsed. It is rumored that in the dungeons is hidden a great hoard of treasure, or some artifact wrested from beneath Castle Greyhawk. Out-of-date maps of Greyhawk Castle also likely exist beneath Robilar's home.

Nearby is the hamlet of Furzehill.

Robilar owns the "Green Dragon Inn" in the City of Greyhawk, which he occasionally visited in disguise (as Captain Gallancz) after being declared persona non grata in the City.

History

Lord Robilar with the Blade of Black Ice, depicted on his mechanical steed in Epic Level Handbook (2002).

Robilar's origins are unknown. Some claim he was born on the Wild Coast, though a few say he is a scion of one of the Celestial Houses of Aerdy, perhaps Cranden, Rax, or Naelax. A few even whisper that Robilar may be Mordenkainen's illegitimate son.

Over years of training and experience, Robilar developed an aggressive fighting style known as "Robilar's gambit" at some point in his life.

Robilar first came to prominence in the early 560s, when he joined Mordenkainen's Citadel of Eight. Later, he gained more fame in the Free City of Greyhawk in 565 CY, when he and Yrag captured Sir Bluto Sans Pite, the perpetrator of the River of Blood mass murders. For their efforts, both men were ennobled by the city directors.

In 570 CY, Robilar, with Riggby and his orc henchman Quij, released Iuz from his captivity in the Godtrap using magic supplied by Mordenkainen. Bigby, Tenser, and Neb Retnar attempted to stop the plan, but arrived too late. The six adventurers battled Iuz together and nearly succeeded in destroying the cambion with one of Bigby's Crushing Hand spells, but Iuz managed to teleport away at the last minute. The release of and failure to destroy Iuz would have grave consequences on the future of the Flanaess.

Nine years later, Robilar and Quij ventured to the Temple of Elemental Evil atop a carpet of flying. Leaving Quij outside to guard his carpet and griffons, he bullied his way into the depths, slaying vast ranks of monsters and freeing the demoness Zuggtmoy.

This incident resulted in Robilar's being forcibly evicted from the Domain of Greyhawk by Tenser's army and being named persona non grata throughout the region. It may have been around this time that Robilar took a journey to the eastern lands of the Empire of Lynn to study with the Dragonmasters, where he gained their respect through his own skills in handling dragons.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Greyhawk Wars, Robilar returned to the dungeons underneath Greyhawk Castle, where he encountered a potent artifact called the Orb of Opposition, which swapped him with a somewhat ideologically different double from an alternate Oerth called Uerth, named Bilarro.

In 584 CY, at the end of the Greyhawk Wars, Robilar/Bilarro, with Rary, betrayed the Circle of Eight. Whilst Rary (himself a Circle member), killed Tenser and Otiluke, Robilar helped destroy their clones in order to prevent the wizards from returning to life. Rary and Robilar were unmasked and have now fled to the Bright Desert where they established the Empire of the Bright Lands. Tenser in the meantime has returned to life, while Otiluke is still dead.

In 597, Robilar was returned from Uerth through the aid of adventurers who had foiled the plans of Iuz underneath Castle Greyhawk.

Late in 598 CY, after the events of Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, a solitary "tall, middle-aged, bearded warrior" was seen on multiple and frequent occasions in and around the former manor of Lord Robilar. Reports began in late 597 CY. Though the man was capable enough to be able to handle a band of adventurers by himself, he is reported to have been at least civil if not congenial to thoes who'd approached him. He politely insists he doesn't need any help, and continues going through and scouring the rubble and scorched remnants.

The obvious conclusion is that this is Robilar, returning after the defeat of Bilarro. The author has also indicated that was the intent when it was written.

Heraldry

Robilar's arms, as depicted in World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983).

Robilar bears as his coat of arms the following blazon: Or, a dragon rampant vert.

Robilar's heraldry, as played and written by Rob Kuntz, and how it differs from the official heraldry. art by Adam “Atom” Taylor (2023).

He has been known to use a "crest in the form of a black unicorn, Lord Robilar's personal sigil." But, this was only during the era of his "treachery" and association with Rary. Once it is found that Robilar is not Bilarro (in 597 CY), Robilar returns to keeping his original crest.

According to the character's author, Rob Kuntz, Robilar's heraldry when used as a PC (as opposed to the published World of Greyhawk™ version) was the same green dragon, but on a grey field instead of yellow or gold. The dragon is also reguardant and breathing a cloud of gas, as opposed to rampant. Across the top of the crest was a single black bar, above which was were three golden orbs.

Gallery

• 

  Spellfire Card #32 (1996)

• 

  Citadel of Eight GenCon Tournament Adventure (2000)

• 

  by Kristoph Nolen, Oerth Journal #29 (2019)

Creative origins

Castle Greyhawk sessions

Robilar was originally the creation of Rob Kuntz, rolled up on Gary Gygax's kitchen table in late 1972 for the second-ever session of the game that would become known as Dungeons & Dragons. Gygax even suggested the name "Robilar", after a minor character in The Gnome Cache, a novella Gygax was writing that eventually would be serialized in the first few issues of The Dragon starting in June 1976. Kuntz quickly grew impatient with play when it involved more than a couple of players, often playing solo adventures one-on-one with Gygax; their constant (almost daily) play meant that Robilar rapidly gained power and possessions. As the city of Greyhawk was developed and fleshed out, Robilar also became the secret owner of the Green Dragon Inn in the city of Greyhawk, where he kept tabs on happenings in the city. Robilar was not only the first to reach the 13th and bottom level of Gygax's Greyhawk dungeons, but on the way, he was also responsible for freeing nine demi-gods (whom Gygax revived a decade later as some of the first deities of Greyhawk: Iuz, Ralishaz, Trithereon, Erythnul, Olidammara, Heironeous, Celestian, Hextor, and Obad-Hai).^{[citation needed]}

Temple of Elemental Evil sessions

Robilar was also the first to enter Gygax's Temple of Elemental Evil, and trashed it from top to bottom, even freeing the demoness Zuggtmoy from her prison at the centre of the Temple. Kuntz later related that Gygax was very dismayed that his masterpiece dungeon had been destroyed by a single adventurer, and as punishment, Gygax had an army pursue Robilar all the way back to his castle, which Robilar was forced to abandon. Robilar even lost possession of the Green Dragon Inn. Robilar's various adventures were mentioned by Gygax in his column in Dragon magazine.

Later publications

Robilar was also profiled in The Rogues Gallery, a 1980 TSR publication, along with other notable characters mentioned in Gygax's works such as Tenser and Erac's Cousin. He was described as a world-weary warrior and survivor of many adventures who had changed his worldview from neutral to evil to satisfy his morbid tastes. His three passions in life were adventuring, magic items, and information.

After Gygax was no longer with TSR near the end of 1985, TSR took over the official creative rights to published versions of all characters mentioned in Gygax's articles, adventures, and stories, including Robilar. Later, in 1998, TSR created a new storyline for the World of Greyhawk™ that featured the murder of members of the Circle of Eight by Robilar and the archmage Rary. Kuntz, as the creator of Robilar, was unhappy with this, stating that Robilar would never turn on his old adventuring companion, Mordenkainen (Gygax's own D&D character). Though Kuntz wasn't at TSR and was unable to control Robilar's published life, he suggested in the Oerth Journal and on the Pied Piper Publishing website (his publishing company at the time) an "'alternate history' to bring the 'official' Robilar more into line with the Robilar as run by him." He suggested the person responsible for aiding Rary was in fact a clone or evil twin of Robilar's who had "taken over" Robilar's apparent life while Robilar was off adventuring on a distant plane. This suggestion became a "fact" in 2007 with the publication of Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, where it is revealed that Robilar had been "cloned" in a sense: he had "somehow touched the Orb of Opposition and swapped places with his evil double" from another plane (Uerth) named Bilarro. This "evil. twin" had then impersonated the hero while he aided Rary in his betrayal.

References

Bibliography

• Blume, Brian, Dave Cook and Jean Wells. The Rogues Gallery. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980. Item code TSR9031.
• Broadhurst, Creighton. "Into the Bright Desert." Dungeon #98 (Paizo Publishing, 2003).
• Brown, Anne. Player's Guide (TSR, 1998).
• Bulmahn, Jason, James Jacobs, and Erik Mona. Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007.
• Collins, Andy and Bruce R. Cordell. Epic Level Handbook. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002.
• Cook, Dave "Zeb". "History of the Greyhawk Wars." Wars (TSR, 1991). Available Online:
• Gygax, Gary, and Frank Mentzer. The Temple of Elemental Evil (TSR, 1985).
• Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
• Kuntz, Robert J. and Douglas J. Behringer. "Robilar Remembered: Lord Robilar and Company." Oerth Journal #7. Council of Greyhawk, 1998. Available online:[1]
• Kuntz, Robert J. "Robilar Remembers: Journey to the City of the Gods." Oerth Journal #6. Council of Greyhawk, 1997. Available online:[2]

———. "Chambers of Antiquities." Dungeon #124. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005 (pp. 70–101).

———. "Robilar Remembers: Robilar's defeats" (Pied Piper Publishing; 29 January 2007).

———. The Return of Robilar. France, Three Line Studio. 2023.

• Looby, Paul, and Creighton Broadhurst. "Mysterious Places: The Lands of Robilar." Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2008. Available online:[3]
• Mona, Erik and Gary Holian. "Wheels within Wheels: Greyhawk's Circle of Eight." Living Greyhawk Journal #0 (Aug 2000). Available online:
• Moore, Roger E.. The Adventure Begins (TSR, 1998).

———. Return of the Eight (TSR, 1998).

• Pryor, Anthony. Rary the Traitor (TSR, 1992).
• Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1993).
• Wiese, Robert. Finger of the Wind. Gencon 2000 "D&D Open" tournament adventure. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Index is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, and his work as continued and updated by Eric Johnson, Richard DiIoia, Jason "PupickDad" Jacobson, a French fan group, and numerous other fans over the years. The wiki page for the EGI has a list of sources, full product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic	Type	Description	Product	Page/Card/Image
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #037	11
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #249	92, 94
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #290	22
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #291	20
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #294	95
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #295	20
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #301	16
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #351	42
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #359	76
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Dragon magazine #AN2	96, 97, 98
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e	108
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Epic Level Handbook, D&D 3.0	307, 308
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	El Raja Key Archive (Standard Edition)	11, 14, 16, 24, 42, 92, 95, 104, 105, 106, 109, 112, 113, 117, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 187, 188
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess	7, 9, 10
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	From the Ashes: Campaign Book	85
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Greyhawk Wars: Adventures	24
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Living Greyhawk Gazetteer	15, 16, 37, 38, 63, 126
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Living Greyhawk Journal #0	5, 6, 10
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Living Greyhawk Journal #2	2, 8
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Living Greyhawk Journal #5	4
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Player's Guide to Greyhawk	11, 23, 24, 26
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	The Rogues Gallery	46
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Return of the Eight	3, 35, 42, 54, 57-59
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	Return to the Tomb of Horrors	3
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil	28, 34, 111
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	The Adventure Begins	4, 37, 38, 61, 71, 76, 77, 98, 99, 111
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	WG6 Isle of the Ape	6
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	The World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting (Folio)	IC, 12, 19
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	WGR3 Rary the Traitor	4, 7-12, 16, 20, 21, 26, 31, 45, 48-53
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	WGR5 Iuz the Evil	5
Robilar (Lord)	Non-player character	Male, Human, [F1-20],	World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983)	27, 42, IBC
Robilar's Metal Destrier	Item		Epic Level Handbook, D&D 3.0	308
Robilar's Metal Destrier	Item		WGR3 Rary the Traitor	6
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Dragon magazine #290	22
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Dragon magazine #291	20
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Dragon magazine #292	24
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Dragon magazine #293	18
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Dragon magazine #294	95
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Dragon magazine #295	20
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Dragon magazine #AN2	96, 97, 98
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Living Greyhawk Journal #0	5, 9
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Oerth Journal #03	18
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Oerth Journal #07	41
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Oerth Journal #25	16
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Oerth Journal #29	8
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		Oerth Journal #32	12
Terik {Teric} (Robilar's brother)	Non-player character		WG6 Isle of the Ape	6