For the speech by Enoch Powell, see Rivers of Blood speech

Rivers of Blood speech

The "Rivers of Blood" speech was a speech criticising Commonwealth immigration, as well as proposed anti-discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom made on 20 April 1968 by Enoch Powell , the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West...

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting

Campaign setting

A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...

 for the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

 role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

, the River of Blood, or more properly, the River of Blood Murders, refers to the mass murder/ sacrifice of eight children of wealthy Greyhawk families in 565 CY by Sir Bluto Sans Pite, a local knight. The event was so named because Bluto performed the grisly ritual in a cavern beneath his home where the Millstream

Millstream (Greyhawk)

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, the Millstream is a wide stream that runs north to south through the Free City of Greyhawk...

 enters Greyhawk City, causing the stream to run red with his victims' blood.

Bluto was brought to justice by the adventurers Robilar

Robilar

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Robilar is a powerful warrior who serves as commander of Rary's forces in the Empire of the Bright Lands...

 and Yrag, though some accounts say that the villain turned himself in. Nonetheless, Bluto escaped soon after with a band of renegade Rhennee

Rhennee

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, the Rhennee are one of the major races of humans inhabiting the Flanaess....

 bargemen. Reports placed Bluto a decade later at White Plume Mountain

White Plume Mountain

White Plume Mountain is an adventure module for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, written by Lawrence Schick and published by TSR in 1979...

, presumably in the service of Keraptis.

Bluto's reason for committing the crime has never been revealed, though a band of adventurers exploring his vacant home in 591 CY found documents hinting that Bluto was somehow involved with the Horned Society

Horned Society

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Horned Society is a secret society devoted to evil and Devil worship...

, and that he was seeking an artifact known as an Octych.

COR1-03 River of Blood

COR1-03 River of Blood is an RPGA

RPGA

The RPGA , is part of the organized play arm of Wizards of the Coast that organizes and sanctions role-playing games worldwide, principally under the d20 system...

 adventure for the Living Greyhawk

Living Greyhawk

Living Greyhawk was a massively shared Dungeons and Dragons living campaign administered by RPGA that ran from 2000 to 2008. The campaign setting and storyline were based on Gary Gygax's World of Greyhawk setting, and used the Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition rules...

campaign taking place in Bluto's vacant house in 591 CY. Bluto himself does not appear in the adventure, but details of the River of Blood murders are given in the backstory.