When the
hurly-burly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
When the battle's lost and won.
Shakespeare, MacBeth (1605), Act I, sc.1, l.3.
 |
| Stalemate |
Iuz controls the North. But his lands are poor and produce little. He gathers his strength. He watches. And waits.
The Scarlet Brotherhood, their gambit played and played out, have a stranglehold on the south. They issue forth yet more spies. They whisper. They watch. And wait.
585 CY
 |
| ..along its southern margins... |
Ratik is developing an
ambitious castle building 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]
The last we saw Lord Holmer, of the Shield Lands, he was hauled away in chains for a prolonged residency in Dorakka, A favoured guest of the Old One, himself. Most thought him dead. But there were rumours otherwise.
The last we saw Lord Holmer, of the Shield Lands, he was hauled away in chains for a prolonged residency in Dorakka, A favoured guest of the Old One, himself. Most thought him dead. But there were rumours otherwise.
A daring group of Furyondian
heroes rescued him in 585 CY, but he was a broken shell of a man by then and died,
insane, late that year. [LGG - 14]
Holmer is clearly and permanently a broken man. His mind is shattered,
and he is nearly 65 years of age. Years of malnutrition, torture, and torment
have ruined his body and his mind beyond recovery. The best healers and the
most powerful magic can not heal him. The awful truth is that Iuz had virtually
finished with Holmer anyway. Holmer is an empty man, and at the feast he will
say but a few words, very carefully cued and amplified by Belvor with a
triumphal flare. [WGR6 City of Skulls - 62]
Politics prevailed. Belvor had no love for Holmer. He thought him arrogant and brash. And it truth, Holmer was but a pawn in Belvor’s need to further his ends, to raise moral and his own stature in the eyes of Furyondiands and the Shield Landers in exile. Lady Katarina had no wish for his return to the Seat of the Shield Lands, either.
Politics prevailed. Belvor had no love for Holmer. He thought him arrogant and brash. And it truth, Holmer was but a pawn in Belvor’s need to further his ends, to raise moral and his own stature in the eyes of Furyondiands and the Shield Landers in exile. Lady Katarina had no wish for his return to the Seat of the Shield Lands, either.
Holmer is in no shape to be a ruler-in- exile. He will remain in
Chendl, in Belvor’s palace, for “security reasons” after he has been exhibited
to the people of the border lands. After a few months, an edict signed in
Holmer’s hand will announce that he has renounced leadership of the Shield
Lands to Countess Katarina. His edict will state that it is time for a younger
warrior to stand in his stead and provide the great leadership his people need
as they plan the recovery of their homelands. [WGR6 - 62]
Rumours flourished. As one might expect in these times of
war. Demons walked the land, after all; they dined on women and children, they
drank the blood of the vanquished. Therefore, it came as no surprise when Lake
Quag ran with "blood." The gods
are punishing us, the populace whispered and cried, sure that the divine and
malevolent were exacting the price for their having treated with foul Iuz.
 |
| Lake Quag ran with blood |
Lake Quag has been running
with blood! Just north of the Mounds of Dawn, the waters of the lake run dark
with blood; fish avoid the waters, superstitious nomads will not hunt or fish
in the area, and old tales of an evil curse in the hills are being recounted by
the Perrenland folk. [FtAA - 74]
The North had not known such conflict since Vecna had vied with Glitterhelm. None remained to tend fields. Those who did fled the fields and cowered in their cellars at the first sight of a stranger, the crops left untended and trampled underfoot. Roads clotted with jackboots and hobnails. Trade, and travel not martial, quickly ground to a halt. Want, hunger, and pestilence were soon to follow. Northern Nyrond lay under a blanket of what became the "Winter of Hunger."
The North had not known such conflict since Vecna had vied with Glitterhelm. None remained to tend fields. Those who did fled the fields and cowered in their cellars at the first sight of a stranger, the crops left untended and trampled underfoot. Roads clotted with jackboots and hobnails. Trade, and travel not martial, quickly ground to a halt. Want, hunger, and pestilence were soon to follow. Northern Nyrond lay under a blanket of what became the "Winter of Hunger."
The folk of Gamboge Forest
play a vital role in supplying the towns and villages of northern Nyrond with
tubers, nuts, winter berries, and other food with which the Nyrondese can
stretch their meager grain reserves. This supply of forage products is
declining; Gambogers say they have been ambushed by forces of the Theocracy of
the Pale who have stolen their goods, slain some of the woodsmen, and abducted
others. The forest folk are reluctant to travel now, and a Nyrondese trading
group that went to the forest has not returned. Starvation threatens many
villages and people. [FtAA - 76]
The military always becomes more powerful in times of
war. They need; they demand; they take. An army marches on its stomach, they
say. We need metal for swords, wood for pole arms, horses for cavalry and
cartage. And the government bows to them in their time of need, because they must,
so they say. We must support or troops, they say. Because they must. But the
free cities balked. We have tens of
thousands to feed, they said. The Furyondian Knights of the Hart were
displeased. Had they not saved the free cities from Iuz? The rulers of those
cities were not fit for office, they decided; and they called for the
annexation of Verbebonc and Dyvers, returning them to the fold of Furyondy. Not
all agreed.
Verbobonc was thrown into
tumoil in 585 cy when the Furyondian Knights of the Hart called for the
annexation of the viscounty and Dyvers as well. Though the people were calmed
by a representative from Veluna, great tension remained in the land, and it
increased dramatically when the Great Northern Crusade began in 586 CY. [TAB - 36]
In 585 CY, the Furyondian
Knights of the Hart called for the annexation of Verbobonc. Though
representatives from Veluna sniffed at such talk, the emergence of the Great
Northern Crusade, in which Veluna and Furyondy acted as a single political
unit, frightened many in the town who had long preferred the reason (and
liberal tax laws) of Mitrik to the zeal (and active monitoring of the finances
of the aristocracy) of Chendl. [LGG - 132]
Politicians beware, for the people will be heard, and appeased.
The people being those with a stake in what was to come: the lords, the
landholders, the trading houses and the captains of industry. Magister Margus,
Lord of Dyvers, did not pay heed to their call to be heard. And he paid the
price for such miscalculation.
 |
| Larissa Hunter |
Magister Margus, the Lord
Mayor of Dyvers dismissed the possibility of annexation and failed to address
the concerns of his constituents. He was recalled from office later that year. [Slavers - 6]
Larissa Hunter was appointed to
the seat of Dyvers in his place.
Larissa Hunter, First Captain
of the Dyvers Free Army, was an aggressive patriot. Her enthusiasm and
popularity forced King Belvor to send a representative to Dyvers in order to
assure the city that it had nothing to fear from the kingdom or the Knights of
the Hart, whom Belvor privately told to shut up. [Slavers - 6]
Belvor was busy. Not only did he have to fight Iuz, a
daunting task in itself, he had to play politics and suppress the squabbling of
his liege lords. He had to placate the leaders of the faiths, too. More
importantly, he had to send what support he could to what resistance still
existed in those fell lands; for as long as they were a thorn in Iuz’s side,
Iuz was not free to send the whole of his legions against his all to tenuous
front.
A few hundred men and
half-elves have withdrawn entirely into the small woods, and from 585 CY on
have gained assistance from clerics of a Trithereon sect in Furyondy, with
access to considerable magic. Attempts to destroy the Tangles from Hallorn and
Riftcrag have always failed, as the forest seems to regrow damage very swiftly.
[LGG - 30]
King Archbold III had saved Nyrond. He had rallied the
populace and led them to what some might call victory and others might call
stalemate. In either case, Nyrond was most certainly spared the long night the
Shield Lands and the Bandit Kingdoms were to endure. He deserved recognition.
He deserved praise. He deserved rest. He would receive none of those. Archbold writhed
and waned, poisoned by his youngest son, Prince Sewarndt, when the whelp tried
to seize the throne.
In the fall of 585 CY, King
Archbold III appeared to suffer a stroke, but his disability was revealed by a
priest to be the result of poisoning. Prince Sewarndt, Archbold‘s corrupt
youngest son, attempted to seize the throne at that time with a group of junior
military officers, but his plans went array when the whole clergy of Heironeous
in Rel Mord took up arms and attacked Sewarndt’s small force at the palace,
rescuing the king. [TAB - 30]
Only the intervention of the
capital's entire Heironean clergy saved the crown and the king. By the time
Archbold's older son, Crown Prince Lynwerd, could lead an army to his father's
side, Sewarndt and a handful of his cohorts had vanished into the Nyrondal
countryside.
Sewarndt's treachery
shattered whatever resolve Archbold had clung to during the difficult war
years. A wholly broken man, he abdicated in favor of Crown Prince Lynwerd in
Fireseek, 586 CY. [LGG - 78]
586 CY
Demons and devils walked the oerth. They brought mayhem and terror with them, misery and death. And where they took to the field, those nations of the world fell, riven and torn. The champions of weal searched for an end to their terror, and found it in Veluna.
Demons and devils walked the oerth. They brought mayhem and terror with them, misery and death. And where they took to the field, those nations of the world fell, riven and torn. The champions of weal searched for an end to their terror, and found it in Veluna.
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]
 |
| Crook of Rao |
The consequences of this event were twofold. First, chaos spread
through many humanoid armies of Iuz, who recognized the loss of their masters;
disorder even erupted among the mortal leaders of these forces, Iuz’s priests
and Boneheart spellcasters, who had no idea where the fiends had gone. Second,
and more importantly, the armies of Furyondy that were arrayed against Iuz took
heart. Northern lords, commanders, knights, soldiers, and commoners who dreamed
of bitter revenge against Iuz now saw it within their grasp. King Belvor knew
there was no chance to hold an offensive back without risking his throne in the
process. He thus sent out word to his nobles that a counteroffensive against
Iuz would begin on his command. He managed to suppress the usual squabbling
between the lords of Furyondy and direct their attention to calling up levies,
armed troops, requisitioning supplies, and laying hasty plans for attack. [TAB - 19]
Archbold could rule no more. The poison that coursed through his body had left him weak and sickly, old and bent as never before. Lynwerd assumed the regency, and then the throne as his now wizened father abdicated.
King Archbold recovered from the assassination attempt, but he never recovered from the knowledge that one of his sons had tried to kill him. He became deeply depressed and
ceased speaking with anyone, even his own family. During Fireseek 586 CY, the king
abdicated the throne and went into retreat at his estate outside the capital. [TAB - 30]
Sewarndt's treachery shattered whatever resolve
Archbold had clung to during the difficult war years.
A wholly broken man, he abdicated in favor of
Crown Prince Lynwerd in Fireseek, 586 CY. [LGG - 78]
After his father Archbold III's abdication, Lynwerd assumed throne of
Nyrond in 586 CY. He strengthened his country by restructuring the military, by
encouraging births among his people and by resisting a demand by
representatives of the Theocracy of the Pale to give up the North Lands of
Nyrond. Despite financial reverses and personal tragedy, he has been able to
expand and stabilize Nyrond's eastern borders, and to repair and strengthen his
kingdom's roads, armies, cities and trade links. [PGtG - 25]
The Pact of Greyhawk was but a piece of paper to King Belvor IV. His nation had been the vanguard to the world. He knew it was only a matter of time before Iuz attacked again. He knew Iuz aimed to lay waste to Furyondy once he rebuilt his hordes, no matter what those fools to the south thought.
The Pact of Greyhawk was but a piece of paper to King Belvor IV. His nation had been the vanguard to the world. He knew it was only a matter of time before Iuz attacked again. He knew Iuz aimed to lay waste to Furyondy once he rebuilt his hordes, no matter what those fools to the south thought.
The paladin King of Furyondy saw his nation lose land but survive
against the armies of Iuz during the Greyhawk Wars. In 586 CY, he disregarded
the Pact of Greyhawk to drive back Iuz's forces and reclaim the lost territory.
He used much of his family's wealth to finance this war, and even now struggles
to recover financially. [PGtG - 24]
Belvor would not wait for Iuz. He would bring the war to the Old One. He declared his Great Northern Crusade to do just that. He had only to wait for those of like mind to rally to his banner. They did, as he knew they would.
Belvor would not wait for Iuz. He would bring the war to the Old One. He declared his Great Northern Crusade to do just that. He had only to wait for those of like mind to rally to his banner. They did, as he knew they would.
In the face of Iuz’s obvious
threat and the northern nobles’ determination to strike, King Belvor IV saw no
need to adhere to the Pact of Greyhawk, especially when the demigod’s empire
was suddenly weakened by the loss of the fiends. The king also received many
reports that Iuz’s forces were preparing an unpleasant surprise for his armies
in the conquered lands, specifically the raising of an undead army from the
remains of the thousands of humans slain during the war. Such an act was odious
in the extreme to Furyondian morality. Religious and sedar support for a new
offensive was nearly universal once news of the banishment of the fiends was
heard. [TAB - 20]
In Planting of 586 CY, Furyondy
discovered evidence that Iuz was preparing to raise an undead army against it.
Disregarding the Pact of Greyhawk. King Belvor and his nobles began a crusade
to reclaim Furyondian lands that Iuz had conquored. [PGtG - 12]
The Knights of Shielding living in Greyhawk joined crusade. Every last one of them. Of course, they did; they wanted their homeland back.
The Knights of Shielding living in Greyhawk joined crusade. Every last one of them. Of course, they did; they wanted their homeland back.
When King Belvor IV called the
Great Northern Crusade in Planting 586, the ranks of Furyondy swelled with
Shield Lands exiles. [LGG - 105]
The Shield Landers needed a leader were they to join the crusade (Belvor would have said a figurehead, but what’s in a name?). Holmer was no longer fit to lead them—Iuz had seen to that. In truth, Lady Katarina, cousin of Holmer, had been leading them since his abduction. Belvor approved. She was young, popular, brave; more importantly, she was under his roof, his guidance, and his authority.
The Shield Landers needed a leader were they to join the crusade (Belvor would have said a figurehead, but what’s in a name?). Holmer was no longer fit to lead them—Iuz had seen to that. In truth, Lady Katarina, cousin of Holmer, had been leading them since his abduction. Belvor approved. She was young, popular, brave; more importantly, she was under his roof, his guidance, and his authority.
Belvor appointed Lady Katarina, Earl Holmer's young cousin, as Lady
Marshall of an entire army of Shield Landers, Knights of Holy Shielding,
Furyondians, and foreign mercenaries. This force distinguished itself in early
victories and was instrumental in the recapture of Grabford. Thereafter, Lady
Katarina turned her attentions to her homeland, smashing into Critwall with
zealous military precision. [LGG - 105]
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
once proud 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.
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]
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.
 |
| 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.
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]
586-590 CY
Adumdfort was especially targeted for
raids by Lady Katarina since Iuz declared it the seat of governance in the
Shield Lands. Sacking one of his “capitals” would raise moral, proving to even
the most sceptical that the Old One’s martial power was not what it was.
Admundfort Island has been
the target of over a dozen raids by different military, mercenary, and
adventuring groups around the Nyr Dyv between 586 and 590 CY. The orcs of
Admundfort have held out quite well, however, though they are largely cut off
from their allies on shore by a Furyondian naval blockade. The city there is in
ruins […]. [TAB - 21]
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 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.
 |
| Skannar Hendricks |
The Fellreev Forest has increasingly become a
center of anti-Iuz resistance. However, the factions
here are mutually hostile and do not cooperate.
Human, nonhuman, and undead forces of the old
Nerull-worshiping Horned Society are gathered
under Hierarch Nezmajen (NE male human Clr15 of
Nerull) in the north-central Fellreev and across the
southwestern spur, particularly around Ixworth and
Kindell. A powerful alliance of Reyhu bandits and
sylvan elves rules the south-central Fellreev under a
Reyhu lord, Skannar Hendricks (CN male human
Ftr15). [LGG - 61]
Some might call Tang the Horrific a mercenary. Tang would
have called himself an opportunist. He believed the strong had a right to rule.
And he believed that the strong could take what they wished. That was their
right. Such was the way of the Paynims. Tang rode where he wished. Tang fought
where he wished. If others paid him to do that, all the better. He even worked
for Iuz for a time. Until Iuz ordered him to slaughter Rovers. He refused,
because the Rovers were just like him, and he did not wish to kill those people
who wished to live as he did.
 |
| Tang the Horrific |
One of the most peculiar counteroffensives apparently began in the
Shield Lands when a unit of light cavalry mercenaries employed by a Shield
Lands’ lord managed to escape the armies of Iuz. This cavalry was led by a Tang
the Horrific, who was probably the finest mercenary in the area at the time.
According to unreliable folktales about him, Tang led a fighting
retreat to the Icy Sea, then crossed west to the lands of the Wolf Barbarians.
There, in the winter of 586-587 CY, Tang summoned a war council and told the
tribal khans that the time was at hand to deal Iuz a telling blow. Upon
learning that the ancient burial caves of the Wolf Nomads (Wegwiur) lay within Iuz's
main homeland, Tang proposed that an army be raised to go to these caves and
recover the ancient bodies and relics for reburial in safer regions. [TAB - 21,22]
The Theocracy of the Pale had weathered the war well. It were largely unbloodied. It was strong. But it was abut the Rakers, and the Rakers have always been home to a whole host of evil things. The Pale knew as much. Monsters had always descended from their heights. But not as they had begun to. What was stirring them? What was driving them out of the Rakers?
The Theocracy of the Pale had weathered the war well. It were largely unbloodied. It was strong. But it was abut the Rakers, and the Rakers have always been home to a whole host of evil things. The Pale knew as much. Monsters had always descended from their heights. But not as they had begun to. What was stirring them? What was driving them out of the Rakers?
The Pale is ruled by a
clerical hierarchy in the name of the god, Pholtus. The Pale has been living
under an inquisition for more than two centuries. Evil priesthoods and hostile
cults are actively routed and destroyed, while other faiths are suppressed.
Arcane magicians and other so-called “consorts of demons” are also closely
watched.
Despite these unpleasant
aspects, Pale has much to recommend it. Monasteries house some of the Flanaess’
most impressive libraries and respected philosophers. Their soldiers are among
the best trained and most disciplined in the Flanaess. Unfortunately, troll
invasions from the troll Fens have tripled in size the last two seasons, and
reports of a new “Troll King” are disquieting. [WoGG 3e - 13]
Nyrond
had been far less fortunate than the Pale had been. The Stonehold, Iuz, and
Ivid had set upon it on all sides, and though it had prevailed, it had done so at a
cost. It had lost many in those battles. Indeed, its citizens had fled the onslaught.
Its soldiers had fallen. Lynwerd needed to replenish his peoples. He encouraged
his people’s return, enacted a “baby bonus” for fertile families, and he
appealed to refugees and the nervous citizens of the County of Urnst to move to
Nyrond to aid in its rebuilding.
King Lynwerd I seized the moment and made every effort to revive his
declining realm. In his first year on the throne, he restructured Nyrond’s
military command and cut back the size of his armies, freeing many troops to go
home and farm their lands again. He reduced taxes almost to prewar levels, and
he even authorized a bonus of 1 gp from his personal treasury to each Nyrondese
family that celebrated a birth in 586 or 587 CY. (This latter project, though
dogged by fraud, had the desired effect of boosting the postwar baby boom to
record levels.) [TAB - 30]
When in 586 CY war flared
again between Furyondy and Iuz, Lynwerd appealed to nervous citizens in the
County of Urnst to move farther from Iuz’s empire and settle instead in
Nyrond’s western lands. More importantly. King Lynwerd stood up to
representatives from the church of Pholtus and the Theocracy of the Pale,
resisting calls to allow the North Lands of Nyrond to be given up to the Pale.
This policy produced bad feelings in the Pale for the young king, but the
Theocracy is now preoccupied with the war in Tenh and does little but sow
dissension among Nyrondese peasants through temples and clergy of Pholtus. [TAB - 30]
Ket was pleased
with the gains it had made. But Ket was wise in that it knew that Veluna and
Furyondy and the Gran March would see to it that it would not hold it for long.
So Ket made peace with those august powers, retreating from Bissel, keeping
what it knew it could hold.
Beygraf Zoltan was
assassinated within four years of the first occupation of Bissel;
significantly, the judgment of the mullahs was to not attempt his
revivification. The political aftermath in Lopolla was considerable. As the
struggle for power unfolded, army forces were withdrawn from Bissel, and civil
war threatened Ket. A new beygraf took power by forming a coalition between many
military leaders and a significant minority of the clergy. [LGG - 68]
What of Vecna? Last we saw of him, he and Iuz had spun into the Shadowfell, clawing at each other’s throats. But Iuz had returned to walk the Oerth. So, I ask again: What of Vecna?
What of Vecna? Last we saw of him, he and Iuz had spun into the Shadowfell, clawing at each other’s throats. But Iuz had returned to walk the Oerth. So, I ask again: What of Vecna?
 |
| Vecna |
The Serpent tells Vecna that
nothing lies beyond his grasp. Vecna knows he is destined to be master of
everything. Death had not stopped him; betrayal at the hands of his lieutenant
had not stopped him; even confrontations with other gods had not stopped him.
Thus, when the forces of
Ravenloft brought Vecna to the Demiplane of Dread, imprisoning him there, he
simply laughed. Oh, he pretended to rage. He shook his chains and rattled his
cage and cried out to be set free, but deep down he knew that this would not
stop him. He knew that he and the Serpent would overcome this obstacle-perhaps
even use it to his advantage and conquer this interesting little demiplane. The
other domain lords trapped alongside him raged similarly in their own pitiful
domains, yet the Whispered One learned quickly that they did not know what
power held them prisoner. They did not see the strings behind the puppets. He
was the newest among them, yet he was already their master. His knowledge had
already made him greater, for the Serpent had told him the secrets of Ravenloft.
[Vecna Reborn - 4]
The Art:
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:
Pat by nidraj-rion
Daybreak by forty-fathoms
"King Lynwerd of Nyrond and his father, Archbold," by Joel Birke, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
"King Lynwerd of Nyrond and his father, Archbold," by Joel Birke, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Crook of Rao, by Richard Pace, from Dragon #294, 2002
"The Death of Prince Alain IV, " by Joel Birke, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Lupus-Dei by bobgreyvenstein
Mongol-poster-study by funky-fubuki
Vecna by maradraws
Sources:
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
1068 Greyhawk Wars Boxed Set, 1991
2011A Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Ed., 1979
2023 Greyhawk Adventures Hardback, 1988
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9253 WG8, Fate of Istus, 1989
9399 WGR 5, Iuz the Evil, 1993
9577 The Adventure Begins, 1998
9578 Player’s Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
11621 Slavers, 2000
11742 Gazetteer, 2000
11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Ivid the Undying, 1998
Dragon Magazine
OJ Oerth Journal, appearing on Greyhawk Online
LGJ et. al.
Greychrondex, Wilson, Steven B.
Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda
The map of Anna B. Meyer
Mongol-poster-study by funky-fubuki
Vecna by maradraws
Sources:
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1064 From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
1068 Greyhawk Wars Boxed Set, 1991
2011A Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Ed., 1979
2023 Greyhawk Adventures Hardback, 1988
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9253 WG8, Fate of Istus, 1989
9399 WGR 5, Iuz the Evil, 1993
9577 The Adventure Begins, 1998
9578 Player’s Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
11621 Slavers, 2000
11742 Gazetteer, 2000
11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Ivid the Undying, 1998
Dragon Magazine
OJ Oerth Journal, appearing on Greyhawk Online
LGJ et. al.
Greychrondex, Wilson, Steven B.
Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda
The map of Anna B. Meyer
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