History of the Oerth, Part 11: The Winds of War (579 to 589 CY)

The Hold of Stonefist

War can come from the most unexpected places. Who would have thought that the first blow to fall in a war that would engulf the known world would land in the Hold of Stonefist? No one.
But such was the case.

579 CY  

The mage sits down in front of the five Blades of Corusk and meditates for a minute. His hands move over the blades as he reads the magical writings. A frigid wind comes from the west, blowing the powdery snow in swirling whirlwinds. The words coming from his mouth sound like gibberish to you. As he reads the spell, a loud thunderclap sounds above you. As the echoes of the thunder die down, the swords shake and hum. Suddenly the swords disappear with an abrupt popping noise, and the snow turns to steam beneath them. You all hear a sharp “crack” behind you, and a sudden blast of wind pushes you forward. Surprised, the mage stops reading and spins around to see what happened.
As you turn about, you see a barbarian giant standing before you. Appearing perfectly human, except for his 12-foot height, the man smiles down at you with a kind face. Two huge wolves stand on each side of him: these four beasts eye you with amber eyes. Meanwhile, the troops from the north and the south-west continue approaching.
“Thank you, my children. You have awakened me from centuries of cursed sleep. In gratitude, I shall grant you your most intimate desires as long as they do not alter the path events are destined to follow. Speak to me.” [WGS2 - 41]

‘The deity looks over your heads toward the northeast. A smile breaks across his leathery face, showing pearly white, perfect teeth. “Look, the great armies of the Ice Barbarians come to fight at our side. Behind them, the Snow and Frost Barbarians prepare to join the fray. Our peoples are finally as one. This is the way it was meant to be since the dawn of Oerth.” As you turn to look behind you, the faint sound of seal skin drums and mammoth tusk horns reaches your ears. Riding on beasts ranging from horses to musk oxen, the barbarians approach just as the Great God said. The god turns and looks at the ap- proaching enemy armies. A glint of pleasure gleams from his night-black pupils. He heaves a sigh and turns to look at you. “It has begun.” [WGS2 - 42]

Vatun, Great God of the North had returned, and he had a plan for his people. They would conquer the North, as they had always been destined to do. And not just the North, they were destined to conquer the world.

Vatun

Vatun's appearance surprised even those most convinced by the rumors of the Five Blades, including the barbarian kings who had used the rumors to further their power. Vatun must have somehow proved his power to these doubtful rulers, for the kings of Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruski each surrendered their ancestral sovereignty to "all-powerful" Vatun. [Wars - 7]

All the barbarians were inflamed by a rumor that swept their lands: that four of five legendary magical swords, the Swords of Corusk, had been found, and that when the fifth was obtained, a "Great God of the North" would rise and lead them to conquest and greatness. The fifth sword never was found, but one calling himself Vatun and claiming to be the Great God of the North appeared before the barbarians of Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruskii, and they swept west into Stonefist under his leadership. [FtAA - 6]

It wasn’t Vatun. It was Iuz. And he set them upon the Holds of Stonefist.

The first strike was a stroke of unusual cunning and ingenuity. Constructing an elaborate fiction about a "Great God Vatun," Iuz managed to ally the barbarian nations together. Deluded by dreams of greatness, the barbarians subjugated the Hold of Stonefist. [WGR4 Iuz the Evil - 3]

The Barbarians swept across the Stonehold with fierce resolve. They would not be defeated. Vatun had returned and said as much. Sevvord Redbeard, Master of the Hold, desperately tried to fend off their assault, but he could not muster his forces fast enough.

Even as Vatun appeared before his dread-filled followers, the Fists converged upon them to stop the ceremony. In the brief battle that ensued, Vatun easily routed the Fists and thereby won the prostrate praise of the barbarians. [Wars - 7]

Redbeard was run down, and brought before Vatun for judgement. No one can say what the Great God of the North said to the Redbeard, Vatun cleared the hall of all but him and the vanquished leader, but when the audience was concluded, the Redbeard had committed not only his atamans, but his life to that northern god.

The Fists were overwhelmed and their leader, Seword Redbeard, underwent a dramatic, if not to say magical, change of allegiance. [FtAA - 6]

“I have seen the light of a Great Northern God, my brothers,” the Redbeard said to his atamans, “and he showed me the error of our ways! We have spent our strength against the barbarians and the horsemen of the Barrens for too long. We have dribbled it away in small raids, when we should have crushed them under our Fists! Let us not waste it any longer when there is greater loot to be had in the south! The riches of Tenh is ours for the taking! Who’s with me?”

And although they did not entirely trust the barbarians and their northern god, they trusted in the Redbeard’s strength.

The Hold of Stonefist remained a threat to Tenh for more than a century, and ultimately brought about its destruction. The first action of the Greyhawk Wars was an invasion of war bands from Stonehold, though this was unlike any previous attack. The Fists had new tactics, and demonic assistance, that overwhelmed the defenses of the city of Calbut, and soon thereafter, Nevond Nevnend. Had the duke been in the city at the time, perhaps he could have rallied his troops to stand; as it was, both citizens and soldiers gave way to panic—though in hindsight, many have suggested that this was demonically inspired fear. The duke and his family fled to the County of Urnst, leaving their nation to the Stoneholders, and the clerics and demons of Iuz.  [LGG - 113]

The men of Stonefist never conquered [the] castles [of Dour Prentress] and they have no living occupants now. The Fists have no desire to meet the ferocious fen trolls and the eastern lands are virtually unpatrolled by them. All that is known for certain is that madness and plague broke out among the thousands of defenders of these castles as the Fists stormed into Atherstone. Of course, Iuz had a hand in this. Some of the survivors say that fiends stalked the battlements and that black stinking fogs drifted across the walls for a week of unremitting horror. The defenders fled, some insane enough to flee even into the fens, and others from Dour Pentress went across the border to the Brilliant Castles where a few score now serve the Theocracy. The defenders left much behind such as wands, scrolls, magical weapons, magical arrows, and other valuables. Whether the minds and bodies of those entering could survive the ordeal they would face is most uncertain. To be sure, the Fists are wiser than to try. [WGR5 - 70,71]

The Subjection of Tenh

The Duke and Duchess of Tenh were as surprised by the fury of the assault as the Redbeard had been. Though their forces fought valiantly to defend their lands, they were stretched thin, having recently fought to clear the Troll Fens. Their army was entrenched upon the Theocracy, and by the time they had marched to face the Fists, their cause was already lost. The Duke and Duchess fled to the County of Urnst, and their people to the borders of Nyrond.

Within less than two weeks the capital of Tenh had fallen as well, and its duke fled to the County of Urnst. The rhelt of Stonehold was now overlord of Tenh, though under the supernatural control of Iuz, for a powerful and nearly undetectable charm had been placed on [Redbeard]. [LGG - 109]

All good things must come to an end. Iuz dared too much. He commanded the Barbarians to attack Ratik, and they began to doubt their newly returned northern god. Raiding the Sea Barons and the North Kingdom was one thing, so too striking Tenh, but they had kin in Ratik. And, for the Fruztii, a friend.

The Vatun ruse did not last long. Commanding the barbarians to strike into Ratik, a long-time ally of the barbarians, was a mistake by Iuz, some think. Others say that he wished to abandon this part of the Flanaess to confusion, since its role as a ruse and feint was played to the full. In any event, the barbarians began to slink quietly home, though the Fists remained in Tenh and occupy it still. Now Iuz could concentrate fully on the war. [WGR5 - 4]

581 CY

Not all things go as planned. Sometimes, the most unexpected things can happen, things that even the Old One could never have planned for.

Gradually, Vecna’s cult grew and he assumed the powers of a demigod. The process took a long time—gathering his power, responding to his worshipers, and settling himself among the greater powers. Vecna persevered and eventually reached the point where he was accepted as a minor demigod in the legions of evil.

Guaranteed immortality, Vecna was still not satisfied. With his scheming mind, he has devised a plan to ascend to greater godhood and humble his rival deities. With his usual long patience, Vecna has been working on this plan for centuries. Working through his avatar or others, the Whispered One has carefully found seven magical items. Each item has been placed in a secret location, the position strategic to his plans.

These items, when fully powered, will cast a mystical web of energy over all of Oerth, cutting off all other gods from their followers. Already they are creating interference on a local scale. Only Vecna will receive the adulation of his worshipers: the other gods will weaken and leave the path open for Vecna to rise to the fore. Then the Whispered One will open the gates of time and bring forth his faithful followers from the past. Feeding on their devotions, Vecna will become the greatest of gods.

There is only one difficulty that remains for Vecna—finding his Eye and Hand. They are the final keys to fully empower the web, the final keys that open the gate of time. He knows not where these are. In the final confrontation with Kas, when they were sundered from his body, the gods (perhaps foreseeing his powers) hid them from his senses. Vecna cannot detect their energies; he can only find them by seeing their effects on others, much like finding a boat by the wake it creates. Too many times he has come close, only to have them escape his grasp. This time, he is determined not to fail. [WGA4 Vecna Lives! - 7]

Tovag Baragu

The Circle of Eight sensed a great danger, but somehow their divinations were blocked. Mordenkainen sent some of his most trusted mages to investigate. And they died. Every last one of them: Bigby, Drawmij, Jallarzi Sallavarian, Nystul, Otiluke, Otto, Rary, and Tenser. Of course, death was not the end of all of them, but that is another tale. Mordenkainen sent others; their path led ever west and the name Vecna was raised time and again. And Kas. And Iuz.

Their investigations led them to Tovag Baragu, where they came upon an avatar of Vecna, who had opened a portal to Vecna’s past, the ruins of the palace of the Spidered Throne.

Through the gateway can be clearly seen a great mass of people. They are all surging and milling forward, their attention focused on the window as if they can see through into the present. They, too, seem drawn by Turim’s chant. The first are just preparing to step through the opening. [WGA4 - 66]

Against such odds, the Circle’s heros couldn’t hope to win, so they did the unthinkable, they summoned Iuz, for only a demigod could hope to defeat a demigod.

Iuz came, and Iuz battled Vecna, and very nearly perished. He didn’t perish, though, but had had he, the world might have been in very dire straights. Had Vecna won, he would have severed Oerth from the celestial and outer planes, and it would certainly have plunged into an age darker than it had ever known, an age from which it would never be freed. But, he hadn’t; and it hadn’t. But Iuz didn’t win either. He and Vecna plunged into the portals of Tovag Baragu. What became of them? The heroes couldn’t say.

And so, strangely, to our most beleaguered incredulity, we owe a debt of gratitude to Iuz, for if it were not for him, the universe would have been plunged into darkness. But let’s not get carried away, his confrontation with Vecna gave Iuz ideas. He imagined a world which bowed to him, and him alone.

584-585 CY

The Loftwood burned. The orcs had attacked Ratik and been thrust aside. Little Ratik! In their rage, the orcs set their wood ablaze. And when the men of Ratik rushed to save their precious trees, the orcs meant to set them ablaze, too.

The site of a great Ratikkan victory over Bone March orcs (578 CY), the wood was partly despoiled by nonhumans setting fires (584—585 CY). It is once again a battleground between Ratik in the north and orcs and gnolls in the south. [LGG - 141]

584 CY

The Bone March skirmishes with Ratik and Nyrond.

Grennel

Bone March is now steeped in discord, ruled by a coalition of invading nonhuman tribes, particularly orcs, gnolls, and ogres. Humanity, which once thrived here, is generally enslaved and subject to the capricious whims of petty bandit chiefs and nonhuman warlords who raid Ratik and even North Kingdom at will, going as far as Nyrond and the Flinty Hills to pillage. [LGG - 35]

Despite the fact that those tribes abut the North Kingdom still raided those towns with impunity, the Bone March still expected the debt of their having helped the North Kingdom by attacking Nyrond to be paid: "We helped you fight Nyrond, now you help us storm Ratik." They and the North Kingdom shared a border, and common interests, were mentioned. Grennell could not help but notice the implied threat.

For himself, Grenell doesn't give a fig about Ratik. Unfortunately, no few of his most powerful local rulers care a great deal about Ratik—as do many ordinary folk. Many of them share the same Oeridian-Flan racial mix as the men of Ratik, and they admire the rugged bravery of Ratik's warriors in having kept the humanoids at bay for so long. They are opposed to any plan to conquer Ratik, and some of them are ready to go and fight for Ratik should Grenell dare act against that nation.

There is another twist to this. The barbarian nations are strongly allied with Ratik. At the present time, their raids are focused on the Sea Barons and they do not often raid most points along the eastern North Province seaboard, save for Bellport. This is because many of the rulers and armies of that eastern seaboard have managed to make a peace of sorts with the fierce [Suel] barbarians, Prince Elkerst of Atirr being a notable example. Indeed, the barbarians increasingly trade with some North Province coastal towns and villages, and that trade brings much needed wood, furs, and other commodities in short supply in North Province. [Ivid - 44]

Kaport Bay

Kaport Bay is the most rugged of North Province's towns, a whaling station and fishing town of 5,200 souls. Together with its twin satellite villages of Low and High Scarport, this town has a characteristic atmosphere. The people here are hardy men and women with little time for frivolity—or outsiders. They term themselves "Kaportlanders" and are proud of this. Flan blood is strong, and the Kaportlanders are no friends of Grenell and his court. Kaport Bay maintains three stout war galleys used to protect its whaling fleet, not least against the attacks of deep-sea kraken in the Solnor Ocean. Barbarians rarely raided here in the past, given their blood ties with the fair-haired Kaportlanders, and they do not do so now. [Ivid - 56]

Grennel thought on what might happen if he honoured his debt to the orcs. If he attacked Ratik, the Barbarian raids would surely recommence. His was a precarious balance. And besides, he’d already aided the orcs when he sent agents to liberate the Seal of Marner from the Baronial Vault. And they did, and they passed the Seal on the orcs waiting in the Kelmar Pass. It wasn’t his fault the orcs had lost the Seal to the Ratikkans pursuing them.

Besides, hadn’t he already helped them enough?

The influence of North Province (now North Kingdom) has led to greater organization and military effectiveness among these barbaric tribes. [LGG - 35]

Trade shrank as the Tilva Strait closed, and piracy had plagued the seas north of it since, if the reduction of trade could actually be conceived as its cause, for indeed, the Solnor Coast had always been beleaguered by pirates and privateers.

In truth, the Scarlet Brotherhood controled the sea lanes between the Aerdi Sean and the Densac Gulf, and the Azure Sea.

Spindrift Sound itself is navigable, but shipping is menaced by the Scarlet Brotherhood and the activities of a few pirates based on the eastern Medegian coast. [LGG - 68]

Frolmar Ingerskatti

The Lordship of the Isles quickly became a hotbed of intrigue. The new prince, a little-known Suel lord named Frolmar Ingerskatti of Ganode, immediately withdrew the Lordship from the Iron League and set about lending his naval forces to the maneuvers of the Scarlet Brotherhood, including the blockade of the Tilva Strait that continues to the present day. [LGG - 72]

The Brotherhood commands the southern seaways, with naval blockades in the shark-infested waters of the Tilva Strait, and in the so-called "Southern Gates" of the Azure Sea, between the Amedio Jungle and the Tilvanot Peninsula neat the Olman Isles. [LGG - 98]

Ratik understood its peril, and it began an ambitious project, one that taxed its resources, but was deemed essential by Luxnol. What good would minding the nations finances do were they slaughtered by the orcs and gnolls to the south, and the Fists to the north. Castles and fortresses and redoubts sprang up along the Kelmar Pass and the Flinty Hills, and in the northern Timberway. More rose up within the Kelten Pass, for surely the Fists would come again.

Ratik is developing an ambitious castlebuilding program, constructing strong keeps along its southern margins not far from the foothills of the eastern spur of the Rakers. They are digging in for a long struggle against the humanoids of the Bone March. Ratik is seeking mercenaries to defend the builders during the coming spring and summer. [FtAA - 73]

c. 586-591 CY

Grennell wondered about the tactics of the orcs, for in truth, they had developed a cunning and patience hitherto unknown to those savage tribes, and strategies he had not taught them. Rumours abounded that the hierarchs of the Horned Society were not dead after all, that a few, if not all, had escaped Iuz’s wrath, and were now headquartered along the coast of the Pomarj, or even in the Bright Desert or Rift Canyon. Rumours persisted that they had found their way into the Bone March.

The Hierarchs of the Horned Society

The Hierarchs and the rest of the leadership of the Horned Society were presumed destroyed in Coldeven 583 CY, during the night of the Blood-Moon Festival. Demonic forces sent by Iuz slew the Hierarchs there and allowed Iuz to quietly take command of their nation. It is possible that one or more Hierarchs survived the incident and is attempting to rebuild the organization, but most assume that the group is no longer a threat. Still, Arkalan Sammal, the renowned sage of Greyhawk, made an interesting appraisal based on reports gathered by the old sage in recent years. The society, he claims, survives in the present day and has metamorphosed from a group centralized within a single nation to one with its secret tendrils buried across the Flanaess. "The Horned Society must surely have known that the return of Iuz would spell its ultimate downfall," he reasons. "It would have planned for this eventuality, most likely by moving its operations out of Molag before the Old One's axe fell." Rumors during the last five years have placed the group's headquarters along the coast of the Pomarj, in Bone March, or even in the Bright Desert or Rift Canyon. Most people no longer care, for Iuz is now perceived as the true threat. However, suggests Arkalan, the Horned Society has become even more dangerous since its dispersal. As the Archmage Mordenkainen was heard to comment last year during a conclave in Greyhawk, "Are their members now dozens, hundreds, thousands? Where are they headquartered? What do they plot? Can we rest assured of the death of the Unnamable Hierarch? To the one who could answer these questions would go the thanks of a free people." [LGG - 156,157]

Fellreev Forest: This entire expanse of birch and scrub oak is claimed by Iuz, though the Old One enjoys little power here. Most of the forest is ruled by clans of sylvan elves allied with Reyhu refugees since the Greyhawk Wars. A significant force of undead is also here, rumored to be led by an escaped Horned Society Hierarch. Iuz gains little by sending traditional soldiers here, so he uses the Fellreev as a hunting ground for trained monsters. [LGG]

586 CY

The Flight of Fiends

In Coldeven 586, Canon Hazen of Veluna employed the Crook of Rao, a powerful artifact, in a special ceremony that purged the Flanaess of nearly all fiends inhabiting it. Outsiders summoned by Iuz, Ivid, or independent evils fell victim to this magical assault, which became known as the Flight of Fiends. [LGG - 16]

No one knows how many demons survived the Flight of Fiends in 586 CY; few have surfaced. [LGG - 61]

Alain IV, Archbaron Lexnol’s son, was never a patient man. He had a vision the Bone March and Ratik as one, just as his father and the Marquis Clement had intended, and had discussed. He vowed to make it so. And thus, he launched a raid to repatriate Bone March.

It failed.

Disastrously.

Bone March is now steeped in discord, ruled by a coalition of invading nonhuman tribes, particularly orcs, gnolls, and ogres. Humanity, which once thrived here, is generally enslaved and subject to the capricious whims of petty bandit chiefs and nonhuman warlords who raid Ratik and even North Kingdom at will, going as far as Nyrond and the Flinty Hills to pillage. Nomadic bandit gangs, survivors and descendants of the onceproud human culture, prey on one and all. Only the small, autonomous county of Knurl is secure at present, aside from a handful of nearly forgotten gnome strongholds in the Blemu Hills. [LGG - 35]

Infighting soon broke out between several of the nonhuman tribes, and the sides remained stalemated until 586 CY, when Alain IV, Archbaron Lexnol's son and heir, launched a raid into the fallen realm that was composed in large part of expatriates of the march, it was a doomed mission. The unusually organized nonhumans laid a trap for the force in the hills north of Spinecastle. Horrified survivors who escaped back to Ratikhill reported that the trapped raiders were dragged from their horses, torn apart, and eaten alive before their eyes. Raids into the archbarony from Bone March have resumed. [LGG - 37]

Baron Lexnol collapsed from the news and was rendered unfit to rule. Lady Evaleigh, Alain’s wife, understood that were he to fail, Ratik would be lost, so she hid his infirmity at first, ruling in his proxy. But the state of his health could not be hidden forever. And soon, she dropped the pretence of her speaking on his behest and became Her Valorous Prominence, Evaleigh, the Lady Baroness of Ratik. Not all were pleased. The Fruztii had loved the old Baron, and the Schnai were less inclined to treat with a woman, especially one as young as she.

Upon hearing of his son's demise, old Baron Lexnol collapsed. He awakened the next morning with a shock of white hair and a palsy that confined him to bed. Lady Evaleigh, now widowed, assumed the throne and has guided Ratik through the trouble that has befallen it. Raids from Bone March have become progressively stronger and more organized the last few years. Her father's realm, the county of Knurl, was attacked a few months ago and was only saved by the snows of winter. [LGG - 91]

Across the Solnor Sea

Trade need be found if the markets to the west were closed to the East. Maybe there were markets to the east? There was the rumoured Fireland. And there had to be other lands east of there. There was only one way to find out. Small Fleet from Asperdi (Sea Barons) sets sail across the Solnor Ocean.

Ships from resource-hungry lands of the eastern Flanaess are striking out in search of trading partners, hoping to rebuild from the wars. The Sea Barons and the east coast city-states of Rel Astra, Ountsy, and Roland are now exploring the mini-continent of Hepmonaland, returning with fantastic tales and riches. (Many fall prey to disease, pirates, monsters, and privateers from the Scarlet Brotherhood and Lordship of the Isles, however.) Several major kingdoms full of new peoples are said to lie in this tropical land, some rumored to be at war with the slave-taking Brotherhood. [TAB - 38]

Several ships captained by half-elven smugglers joined a flotilla of the Sea Barons in their journey over the Solnor. They had an ulterior motive. The half-elves were reportedly searching for the last members of the dispossessed Council of Five of Lendore.

In the years since the Greyhawk Wars, some of the surviving exiles have joined together with half-elven captains on the Medegian coast. It is an open secret that they are smugglers, willing to transport any cargo for a price. Several of these ships secretly accompanied the flotilla of the Sea Barons in their voyage over the Solnor in 586-589 CY. The Spindrift exiles were thought to be searching for the last members of the Council of Five, who had fled across the waves when the clerics of Sehanine usurped their authority. It is not clear what benefit they seek by contacting their deposed leaders, but the half-elves clearly wish to return to their birthplace and free it of the magical affliction of Sehanine. [LGG - 69,70]

588 CY

What became of Vecna and Iuz? Who can say? But where Vecna could not be scyed, Iuz somehow remained upon Oerth. Iuz’s empire remained intact. And his tyranny marched on, unabated.

But, all good things must come to an end. The fiends had fled and Iuz was stretched thin, tasked not only with administering his newly acquired empire, but beset with rebels and banditry and the persistent attacks of those who didn’t appreciate his desire to remake the whole of Flanaess in his own image.

The use of the Crook of Rao by Canon Hazen of Veluna, in 586 CY, had dire repercussions for Iuz's armies. Bereft of their powerful masters, many lesser nonhumans and ambitious human generals attempted to stage coups throughout the occupied lands, even as rebel bandits and indigenous populations took advantage of the Flight of Fiends to strike back at their oppressors. [LGG - 62]

It was inevitable that he would lose control of Sevvord Redbeard of Hold of Stonefist. He cared not for that cold and distant land. It had little of value, except grist for the mill. And he knew that it would continue to slip into the state of chaos it has always courted. So, he turned his back on the Stonehold, so as to focus on the conflict that really mattered, Furyondy.

Sevvord flew into a rage when he awoke and realised that he’d been played a puppet to another’s schemes. He fumed! He raged! And all those within his gaze cowered from his anger. He gathered Fists from across Tenh, and killed every cleric of Iuz he could find, impaling them on posts and leaving them to rot in the wind. He and his slaughtered hundreds, if not thousands, of Tenha slaves when he could not find enough Iuzian clerics to sate his need. He wished to kill more, to line every road with the spiked corpses of an entire nation as a warning to any who might ever try to subjugate him again. However, he had not the time. He need return home. When he ran out of slaves, he left a rearguard to occupy Calbut and marched to drive the hated barbarians from his homeland. He would paint the Kelten Pass with their blood, he promised, and its flowing would thaw the Frozen River for all time.

For six years after the invasion, the Stoneholders held the Tenha enslaved. The evil of Iuz was present throughout the land as well, though never in plain sight. Perhaps this state of affairs would have persisted indefinitely had not an unnatural rage come upon the rhelt of Stonehold, during a meeting in the ruins of the duke's palace at Nevond Nevnend. [LGG - 113,114]

By means not yet known, Iuz's charm-like control of Sevvord Redbeard was broken in mid-588 CY. Enraged at the abuse he suffered, Redbeard vowed revenge. [TAB - 22]

In an astonishing turn of loyalty, he gave the command to put the clerics and agents of Iuz to the sword, also letting his warriors murder Tenha slaves out of hand. [LGG - 114]

Iuz priests, soldiers, and advisors in the area were slaughtered on sight, and Tenh was plunged into bloodshed once again. The Master then ordered a looting of Tenh and a retreat to Nevond Nevnend and Calbut. Stonefist warriors meant to keep this area so as to guard Thunder Pass (called Rockegg Pass by the Tenha), the route through the Griff Mountains back to Stonefist. Reports were already filtering back to the Stonefist troops that a force of Ice and Snow Barbarians was raiding and burning its way across the Hold, and all wished to go home and do battle. [TAB - 22]

The Fists then withdrew from all but the northernmost part of Tenh, which they still hold. Armies from the Pale and forces loyal to the exiled duke quickly crossed the borders, battling each other for possession of the southern and eastern regions of the duchy, including the Phostwood. [LGG - 114]

There are 20,000 Stonefist men in Tenh, with conflicting desires. On the one hand, rulership of this fertile land is good, but on the other, their instincts are to pillage, maraud, decimate, and then go home with all the loot they can carry. Instead, they stay here as slave drivers. Spending days overseeing slave farmers is not exactly what Fist men find exciting. The Stonefist nation is young, born in adversity and constant marauding. Constant movement on attack and retreating to defensive fortifications after that attack, not occupying their conquests, is what makes the Stonefist men feel comfortable. There is another problem weighing on the minds of the Fists. Since the sham of the "Great God Vatun” was exposed and barbarian shamans and priests have begun to see that Iuz was behind it all, the Fists face more hostility and raids from their traditional foes, the eastern barbarians. No longer are these two uneasy allies. Having occupied Calbut and secured Thunder Pass is useful to the Fists, but keeping men in Tenh when they are needed to defend Stonefist against the barbarians is irksome. Many seek to go home, putting Tenh through one last ordeal of slaughter and pillage before they go. In the interim, many are restless and bored, prone to drunkenness and mindless violence against the Tenhas. [WGR4 - 67]

[A] many-sided war began in Tenh, involving the mutually hostile forces of Iuz, Stonehold, the Pale, and Tenha expatriates. The war goes on today. [LGG - 16]

From Distant Fireland

The fleet from the Sea Barons had set sail three long years earlier and had not yet returned. Had they found Fireland? If they had, that is a tale for another day. But in truth, whether they had found Fireland or not, Fireland found Ratik. One day, much to Marner’s surprise, a longship from Fireland sailed into its port, its flanks scorched, its sails torn and tattered.

In Marner, capital of Ratik, a lone long ship sailed into port in late 590 CY. The pale barbarians aboard the ship spoke a dialect of the Cold Tongue and claimed to be from a distant northeastern island called Fireland. They came with four other ships in search of help for an undisclosed problem facing their people; their other long ships were sunk by sea monsters or Ice Barbarian raiders. The aged explorer Korund of Ratik can supply maps and some information to anyone wishing to return to Fireland with these barbarians, but he is too infirm to travel and is growing senile as well. Frost Barbarians believe “Firelanders” are descended from sailers from the Thillonrian Peninsula who settled there centuries ago; the barbarians wish to establish contact with them. The glaciated land is called Fireland for its volcanoes, visible for many miles at night as red fountains in the sea. [TAB - 38]

Ratik:

Alain was not the only one to desire the freedom of the Bone March. Lady Evaleigh wishes the same, for her father’s city of Knurl is hard pressed and in need of succour. And in truth, war will continue between the Bone March and Ratik, as it must, for each cannot rest while the other exists. The Bone March shall never forgive Ratik or the Frost Barbarians for their incursions into its territory.

In 590 CY, a full-scale assault over the Blemu Hills into Knurl was also attempted, but failed. Thus far, the defenses of the count have held firm, but he expects another wave of attacks this year. [LGG]

Humanoid tribes and bandit gangs appear to be cooperating of late. Masked advisors were seen by spies in the councils of the orcs and gnolls at Spinecastle. Treasure seekers have entered the abandoned keep at Spinecastle, but few have returned alive. Without aid from Ratik, Count Dunstan of Knurl might ally with Ahlissa or North Kingdom to save his realm. [LGG - 37]

Ambassadors from the Scarlet Brotherhood were spied in Djekul. Ratik wants to expand the alliance against Bone March and North Kingdom to include the Snow Barbarians, but the Schnai will negotiate only with Lexnol. Agents of the Sea Barons have approached Evaleigh to gain access to Marner. A half-orc spy working for North Kingdom was discovered in Ratikhill but escaped. [LGG - 91]

Frost Barbarians:

Nobles from Ratik have great influence at court but are not always trusted. Scarlet Brotherhood agents are well received but bring strange news and promises. Merchants from the Lordship of the Isles have a growing presence, offering unusually generous trade deals that make some jarls suspicious. Hundgred's court is growing isolated from other northern barbarian nations. [LGG - 45]

Snow Barbarians:

An intermittent war smolders with Stonehold. King Ingemar generously feasts and rewards his chaotic jarls to insure their loyalty. Frost Barbarian jarls also being feted to gain their friendship and influence; this is viewed as blatant bribery, but it works. The king receives Scarlet Brotherhood agents at court, but privately says he does not trust them. [LGG - 106]

Ice Barbarians:

Royal hatred of the Scarlet Brotherhood grows, as does distrust of the Frost Barbarians. Stonehold accuses the Ice Barbarians of attacking Vlekstaad. There are secret parlays between the Snow and Ice Barbarians for raids against the Sea Barons and possibly the Lordship of the Isles. [LGG - 55]

Stonefist:

Rhelt Sevvord is the absolute master of these people, and his troops are expected to obey him without question. The punishment for disobedience is slow death, though the rhelt always rewards his loyal troops with plunder and captives. So far, Reword Redbeard has maintained his personal authority and become the most important figure in his nation's history since Stonefist himself. Still, many feel that his time has passed, and wait for a leader who will be strong enough to challenge him. [LGG - 109]

Revenge is widely sought against the northern barbarians for the burning of Vlekstaad, but Iuz's forces are hated even more. Conspiracies are suspected between Iuz and several war band leaders to gain control of Stonehold. Murders of war band leaders (by their fellows) are on the rise. [LGG - 110]

The Sea Baron Fleet returned from expedition across the Solnor.

Ships from resource-hungry lands of the eastern Flanaess are striking out in search of trading partners, hoping to rebuild from the wars. The Sea Barons and the east coast city-states of Rel Astra, Ountsy, and Roland are now exploring the mini-continent of Hepmonaland, returning with fantastic tales and riches. (Many fall prey to disease, pirates, monsters, and privateers from the Scarlet Brotherhood and Lordship of the Isles, however.) Several major kingdoms full of new peoples are said to lie in this tropical land, some rumored to be at war with the slave-taking Brotherhood. [TAB - 38]

The Sea Barons do not desire a permanent alliance with the Cities of the Solnor Compact, distrusting Drax's motives, but they feign friendship. The Sea Barons fear assassination or worse by the Scarlet Brotherhood, and treat with strangers in their lands harshly. Expeditions launched to the mysterious south in the last few years have returned with tales of fantastic wonders and riches. [LGG - 100]

Rovers of the Barrens:

The Rovers are a feeble folk now, but they still mount small raids into neighbouring lands. They spend most of their time hunting bear, wolf and northern deer. They fish the Icy Sea. They harvest pine and fur from the Forlorn Forest. They hunt deer and bison. They lay low. As they must. For they must rebuild their strength, as they did after the Battle of Opicm River.

A secret alliance with the Wolf Nomads is being negotiated. Scouts are searching for survivors from the scattered war bands, including allied centaurs and elves. Horses are supplied to tribes loyal to new war sachem, Nakanwa. All forces of Iuz that hunt Rovers (including Grossfort) are closely watched, to be either avoided or destroyed. [LGG - 95]

Iuz:

Iuz retains a precarious hold on the East. The Bandit Kingdoms chaff under his rule. The remains of the Rovers of the Barrens and the remnents of Tenh strain against his rule. Stonehold has no love for Iuz, and he must resort to influence and stratagems to retain control when that does not appeal to his paranoid and visious self, who’d rather rule by bane magics and brute force.

Though some remain, the loss of the bulk of Iuz's fiends has resulted in low morale, revolts, and disorganization within an already chaotic regime. [LGG - 63]

Now embroiled in what Furyondy has termed a "permanent and unalterable state of. war," Iuz's attention has been drawn to his southwestern border, perhaps at the expense of holding in Tenh, the Barrens, and the old Bandit Kingdoms. Though bereft of the bulk of his demonic aid, Iuz's armies are far more numerous than those of his enemies. They not only follow the Old One, but worship him, believing that to fail their infernal master is not only to fail their liege, but their god, as well. [LGG - 62,63]

Vecna

Did I not mention Vecna? How thoughtless of me. Last we saw of him, he was imprisoned in the Shadowfell after an epic battle with Iuz back in 581 CY. But, ever the paranoid soul, Vecna would never have lived as long as he had were he not a cagy one. He knew that one day he might be defeated. He knew that one day he might need a means of return. And he prepared for such a day. And that day had come.

He’d been plotting. He’d been scheming.
And he wanted revenge. Against Iuz.

"No matter how powerful a being is, there exists a secret that can destroy him. In every heart is a seed of darkness hidden from all others; find that evil seed, and your enemies are undone. Strength and power come if you know and control what others dare not show. Never reveal all that you know, or your enemies will lake your seed, too." [LGG - 186]

Despite Vecna’s entrapment in the Demiplane of Dread, long-laid plans have come to fruition. In Vecna’s quest to achieve full and permanent godhood, he instigated several alternative strategies in the millennia of his existence. Many of these designs have played out with little to recommend them, but elements of more sinister schemes continue to move unnoticed.

One such plan has promise at this point. Sometime during the span of years before his imprisonment, Vecna went to a lot of trouble secretly fabricating two tablets inscribed with a true dweomer in the Language Primeval. Then he buried them in a plausible archeological site. […]

Though any of a handful of demipowers would have served Vecna’s purpose, the corpse king Iuz took the bait. Having stolen the tablets from their original discoverers several years ago, Iuz has slowly brought his considerable resources to bear on the tablets. The more Iuz learned, the more the ancient formula seemed, to him and all his divinatory means, an ancient dweomer of stupendous strength, whereby a demipower might bootstrap itself to full ascension! […]

The tablets lie. [Die Vecna Die - 2,3]

Iuz enacted the formula, and the formula drew the power from him, a conduit to Vecna, who then had the means to break free from the Shadowfell and emerge with the power of a greater god. Vecna then entered the city of Sigil, where he came perilously close to rearranging all existence to his whims. When Vecna was ejected from Sigil by a party of adventurers, Iuz was freed and Vecna returned to Oerth greatly reduced in power, though still a lesser god.

One must always give credit where credit is due. This History is made possible primarily by the Imaginings of Gary Gygax and his Old Guard, Lenard Lakofka among them, and the new old guards, Carl Sargant, James Ward, Roger E. Moore. And Erik Mona, Gary Holian, Sean Reynolds, Frederick Weining. The list is interminable. Thanks to Steven Wilson for his GREYCHRONDEX and to Keith Horsfield for his “Chronological History of Eastern Oerik.”

Special thanks to Jason Zavoda for his compiled index, “Greyhawkania,” an invaluable research tool.

The Art:

Stillness-And-The-Fading by ardak
Failed-Crusade by seven-tenth

Vatun, by Ken Frank, from WGS2 Howl from the North, 1991
Tovag Baragu, by Ken Frank, WGA4 Vecna Lives!, 1990

Portrait-of-a-Rogue by kirin12090

Pirate-Wizard by kashivan

Battle Looming by David Shong

The Death of Alain IV, by Joel Biske, from Living Greyhawk Gazatteer, 2000
Ocean-Wind by nele-diel

Arrival Again by David Shong

Vecna by juliedillon

Sources:
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
2138 Book of Artifacts, 1993
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9317 WGS1, The Five Shall be One, 1991
9337 WGS2, Howl from the North, 1991
9399 WGR 5, Iuz the Evil, 1993
9577 The Adventure Begins, 1998
9578 Player’s Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
11742 Gazetteer, 2000
11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Ivid the Undying, 1998
Greychrondex, Wilson, Steven B.
Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda