Circle of Eight - Great Library of Greyhawk (2024)

"Who born in the last forty years can measure of themselves an ounce of the worth of Otiluke, Bigby, Tenser, or Robilar—or even Rary or Evard?" —Mordenkainen^[1]

The Circle of Eight, also known as the Council of Eight and the Eight Magi^[2]. (formed from the earlier Citadel of Eight) is an organization of wizards in the World of Greyhawk setting. They are based in the Flanaess, the easternmost portion of Oerik. The Circle of Eight's chief purpose seems to be the preservation of the balance of power between the forces of Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos in the Flanaess, ensuring that one does not dominate the other for an extended period of time. To this end, the Circle often works behind the scenes, especially when aiding the cause of evil.

Despite the organization's name, the Circle of Eight actually has nine members. The Circle consists of eight powerful wizards and their leader, Mordenkainen the archmage. In fact, the group is sometimes referred to as "Mordenkainen and the Circle of Eight."

History[edit]

The Citadel of Eight[edit]

The Citadel of Eight was formed at some point after 561 CY, and was dissolved in 569 CY. Its initial members were Mordenkainen and his apprentice, Bigby. The two decided to form a group to attempt to maintain the balance between the extremes of Oerth. They recruited Robilar, Riggby, Yrag, Tenser, Serten, and Otis.^[3] The name of the group was based on their number and Mordenkainen's Obsidian Citadel.

The group eventually dissolved for ideological reasons (in the case of Robilar and Otis), because of grudges between members (such as Tenser who blamed Mordenkainen for the death of Serten), or because of outright death in the case of Serten who fell in 569 CY fighting against the hordes of evil.

The Circle of Eight[edit]

The Circle was founded in 571 CY^[4] by Mordenkainen, from the remnants of the Citadel. The exact make-up of the eight has changed over time and has continued to remain somewhat of a secret to the general populace of the Flanaess. Gygax has said the original Circle of Eight was composed of his player characters—Mordenkainen, Yrag, Bigby, Rigby, Ziggby, Felnorith, Vram, and Vin. In the novels, the Circle was expanded to encompass other PCs such as Tenser (originally played by Ernie Gygax).^[5]

Among the group's original members were former Citadel members Mordenkainen and Bigby, and soon was comprised of the wizards Bucknard, Drawmij, Leomund, Nystul, Otto, Rary, and an unknown ninth mage.^{[citation needed]} In 574 CY, the unnamed member left to explore other planes of existence,^[4] and was replaced by former Citadel member Tenser.^[6][4]

In 576 CY, Otiluke, president of Greyhawk's Society of Magi and member of the city's Directing Oligarchy, joined the Circle, replacing Leomund, who had retired earlier that year. In 579 CY, Bucknard mysteriously disappeared,^[4] and was not replaced until 581 CY, when Jallarzi Sallavarian became the first woman to join the Circle of Eight.^[7] (Bucknard was eventually found to have died while exploring.)

Later, in 581 CY, nearly six months after Jallarzi joined, the group met with tragedy when all its members, save Mordenkainen, were slain by Halmadar the Cruel, a former Shield Lands tyrant under the control of the fabled lich Vecna, who had somehow achieved godhood. Mordenkainen responded by assembling a group of "small cadre of apprentice wizards, former companions. and long-time confidantes"^[4] to thwart Vecna's plans, and was able to recover the remains of his allies and clone them. The cloning took some time, which could otherwise have been used to prevent the Greyhawk Wars. (Cook, Vecna Lives!)

By 584 CY, the Circle was fully restored and working toward an end to the Greyhawk Wars. On the eve of the day when all parties involved were to sign the treaty bringing the wars to an end, Otiluke, Tenser, and Bigby discovered a plan by the Circle's own Rary to slay all the assembled diplomats via a great magical trap. Unfortunately, Rary witnessed their discovery, and a great magical battle ensued, resulting in the deaths of Otiluke and Tenser, and severely wounding Bigby, who was unable to pursue Rary as he escaped. Word later came that Rary's allies, among them former Citadel member Lord Robilar, had ensured Tenser's and Otiluke's deaths by destroying every clone they had prepared for such an incident. Rary and Robilar fled to the Bright Desert, southeast of Greyhawk, where they established the Empire of the Bright Lands. (Cook, "History of the Greyhawk Wars"[1])

By 586 CY, the Circle had returned to its full membership of eight plus one. Though Tenser had been returned to life via a clone he had hidden on Luna, he had no desire to rejoin the Circle. In his, Rary's, and Otiluke's places stood Warnes Starcoat, Alhamazad the Wise, and the high elf Theodain Eriason—the Circle's first non-human member.^[8] These members would remain the same through at least 598 CY.

Creative Origins[edit]

Circle of Eight in Gygax's Personal Game[edit]

Gygax was notoriously particular about not releasing in-game stats for his characters^[9] , but, in discussions in the years after his departure from TSR he gave names of the characters which had been in the Citadel and Circle in his home game before the World of Greyhawk was a published setting by TSR.

External link[edit]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Cook, David. "History of the Greyhawk Wars". Wars boxed set. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1991. Archived: [2] Accessed: Dec 19, 2019

———. Vecna Lives!. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990.

• Gygax, Gary. Artifact of Evil. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1986. ISBN 0-88038-279-1
• Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K. Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.
• Mona, Erik, and Gary Holian. "Wheels Within Wheels: Greyhawk's Circle of Eight." Living Greyhawk Journal #0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000. Available online: [3]
• Moore, Roger E. Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.

———. Return of the Eight. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.

• Niles, Douglas, and Carl Sargent. The City of Greyhawk. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989.
• Pryor, Anthony. Rary the Traitor. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.
• Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.
• Wood, Sam. "Window on the World." Dragon # 290. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.

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.