The First God of Greyhawk
The year is 1982. The World of Greyhawk had moved from OD&D pamphlet to the well received 1980 “Folio” edition, Deities and Demigods had released as well, and yet - people are wanting more, especially when it comes to Gods for the demi-humans and humanoids.
At that time, Gary Gygax was writing a regular column for Dragon Magazine called “Greyhawk’s World” and he decided to address this in Issue #64 called “Redefining deities of the Flanaess”
Interesting sidenote - In the Contents section, the article is listed as “Greyhawk’s World - Redefining deities of the Flanaess”, yet when you turn to page 13, there is no such title. I really do love the old days of editing.
It is in that article that Gygax acknowledges that Deities and Demigods addresses “Racial Deities”, but for the Flanaess there would be some slight changes:
Maglubiyet’s plane is Gehenna
Kurtulmak’s plane is Acheron
Gruumsh’s plane is Gehenna
Treat flinds as gnolls
Ogrillons as either orcs or ogres
Norkers as goblins for the purpose of selection of a deity
It is at this point, Gary makes this statement, a statement which (IMO) establishes the first published diety specifically for the World of Greyhawk:
“There is only one addition to the list of deities which I would recommend. That addition is the xvart deity, Raxivort.”
It would be a year before the Greyhawk Boxed set would release, and I have to wonder if Gary is outlining the above due to the lack of demi-human/humanoid deities in that set, and he was trying to get ahead of publish. It should also be noted that Xvarts were a fairly new monster, appearing in White Dwarf #9 1978 and the Fiend Folio in 1981.
White Dwarf “Svart” Field Folio Xvart
Either way, Raxivort is not included in Deities & Demigods, there are no gods mentioned in the Folio edition and this was Greyhawk pre-boxed set - so at a minimum Raxivort is the first non-human god created specifically for the world, and I would further add that he is the first published god as well.
So, who is Raxivort?
According to legend, Raxivort was once a humble xvart, but his exceptional abilities led him to become the leader of all xvarts. As a result of his loyal service to a demon, believed by some to be Graz'zt, Raxivort was granted special powers and appointed as the Master of Slaves for the demon. While pretending to be grateful, Raxivort patiently waited for the right moment to act.
After acquiring enough knowledge and power, Raxivort raided the demon's strong-room and amassed a great arsenal. He then attempted to seize control of the Abyssal Plane from its ruler, resulting in a fierce and lengthy battle that lasted for months with neither side gaining the upper hand.
In the end, Raxivort proposed a truce and left for the ever-changing planes of Pandemonium, relinquishing the portion of the Abyssal Plane he had seized but taking with him a vast amount of spoils. He now lives a life of luxury while being shunned by the demons, who are aware of his deceitful nature. One demon, in particular, plans to seek revenge against him.
