“Hateful to me
as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks
another.”
― The Iliad
― The Iliad
Wicked Is As Wicked Does |
Wicked is as wicked does.
The Great Kingdom was but a pale reflection of what it
had been. The far-flung protectorates were falling from the fold. Were that its
only concern. The Knights Protector had failed to safeguard the land they were
sworn to defend. Evil had risen from within their very ranks, and threatened to
overwhelm them. Hextor had risen in the east, and Heironeous had all but fled
the land of the rising sun, preferring the west, where virtue still reigned.
300-350 CY
As anarchy crept into the Great
Kingdom, more and more of its northern provinces became increasingly
independent. And in some case lawless. Petty fiefs sprang up, their rulers
declaring themselves kings and barons and dukes and such. And where ruffians
seized power, banditry prevailed. Those that banded together overwhelmed those
that did not and became known collectively as the Bandit Kingdoms, a loose
confederacy of tyrants that preyed upon one another and clung together to ward
against those who’d wish to annex them. They saw themselves differently. They
saw themselves as Free Lords.
The Bandit Kingdoms are a collection of petty holdings. Each little
kingdom is ruled by a robber chieftain claiming a title such as Baron, Boss,
Plar, General, Tyrant, Prince, Despot and even King. In all there are 17 states
within the confines of the area, ruled by 4 to 6 powerful lords, and the rest
attempting either to become leading rulers or simply to survive. [Folio - 8]
The Death Knights had become so
powerful in the Great Kingdom that they began to hunt down the Knights
Protector. Few came to the Knights’ aid. [Dragon #290 - 100 to 104]
311 CY
History
of the Orbs of Dragonkind
Another [Orb of Dragonkind], a larger one, was discovered and lost in
311 CY by explorers in the Hellfurnaces, though this report is confusing in
details. [Dragon #230 - 12]
c. 320 CY
Following the lead of the
Viceroyalty of Ferrond, the outer dependencies of Aerdy too began to claim
sovereignty. The Great Kingdom, ever riven by inner turmoil and its increasing
decadency, was shrinking. And in its lessened state, it could do nothing to stem
the tide.
Perranders, Velunians, Furyondians and Tenhas achieve success,
establishing independent status one after the other in a series of minor but
bloody wars. [Folio - 6]
Zagig had grown rich, and
powerful. He decided he needed a place that befit his rank, where he could do
what he will, away from these eyes who might disapprove. So, he set about doing
just that, and laid the foundations to Castle Greyhawk.
Centuries past, when Greyhawk
city was still a burgeoning riverbank trading post, Zagig was already a
powerful magician. His adventurous exploits had taken him the length and
breadth of Oerth and beyond—his command of magic had grown to heroic
proportions. Zagig built for himself an enormous castle complex north of young
Greyhawk. He used it to conduct his experiments, to build his personal guard of
soldiers, and to store the treasures of his career. [WGR1 - 2]
322 CY
Never say that the Aerdi were ever
uncivilized. Hygiene and social grace were, and still are, very important to
them. Vast public baths were built in Innspa. This is not to say that they are
not above enslaving an elemental or two to ensure their comfort.
They were built in cy 322 by an
eccentric wizard obsessed with personal hygiene, and the fire elemental he
bound to heat the waters is still at work here. [Ivid - 77]
356 CY
The founding of Nyrond marked the beginning of
the Great Kingdom’s decline. One might think that the founding of Furyondy
marked such, but in truth, though it did mark the beginning of its dissolution,
the Great Kingdom had not looked to their Western Provinces for decades, and
those provinces had not sought their aid or council for as long, so when the
Viceroyalty of Ferrond declared its sovereignty, the Great Kingdom hardly took
note. Its attention was firmly focused on the East; so, when its Eastern
protectorates began to secede, the Kingdom chose to take note, and to act.
The House of Rax, ruling
Aerdi dynasty, was at the time sundered by an internal feud, and the junior
branch, then known as Nyrond, declared its lands free of the rule of the
reigning Overking [Portillan] and sovereign. [Folio - 6]
[T]he ruling dynasty of Aerdy, the Celestial House
of Rax, had grown especially decadent. In response, the western province of
Nyrond declared itself free of the Great Kingdom and elected one of its nobles
as king of an independent domain. Armies gathered from all loyal provinces of
Aerdy to suppress this brazen act. [LGG - 14]
The subsequent inexorable
decline of the Great Kingdom can be seen in two stages. The first is the
beginning of the many secessions from the Overkingdom, with Furyondy the first
to establish independence in CY 254 and Veluna and Tenh following soon after
with Perrenland re-asserting its independence. The decisive blow was the
division of this royal house in CY 356 when the Nyrond branch rebelled.
The attempts of the
then-overking, Portillan, to reconquer Nyrond were stymied by an assault on the
North Province of Aerdy from Flan barbarians which forced Portillan to defend
his own lands rather than reconquer Nyrond. With the Urnst states and the
Theocracy of the Pale swiftly following Nyrond's path, Aerdy's dominance was broken.
[Ivid - 3]
Fate Takes a Hand |
A coalition of Fruzt, Schna
and mercenary barbarians mounted a major foray into the Aerdian North Province.
The Overking's army, raised to invade Nyrond, swung northeast and soon the
invaders were crushed. The end of the campaigning season arrived before any
action could be taken against Nyrond. [Folio - 6]
Of course, Fate may not have had a hand in it, at all. Nyrond surely knew
that the Kingdom would not take their declaration of independence lightly;
surely, they knew that the Kingdom would retaliate. So, it isn’t out of the
realm of possibilities that Nyrond may have sent emissaries to the Thillonrian
Peninsula, informing the Barbarian tribes that the North Province might soon be
vulnerable. And the Northern tribes just may have listened. Stanger things have
happened. Of course, no one can say for certain if this really happened. But
the timing is suspicious. Then again, sometimes Fate takes a hand, doesn’t it?
The Battle of Redspan
Nyrond’s secession was just the
beginning. They pressed Tenh to join them in revolt, convincing them that this
was the time to rise, that true freedom could be theirs. Tenh did not need much
convincing. Tenh had always believed that they were independent of the Great Kingdom,
had always believed that they were self-determining, but until then, they had
never brazenly declared themselves so, fearing retribution, for the Great
Kingdom was vast and strong, and they were small. They saw that now was the
time to do so. The Aerdi were hard pressed, the Aerdi were weakened, so if not
then, when? They rose up with Nyrond, and the Tenha cavalry routed the Aerdian
forces at Redspan. And when that was done, the Duke of Tenh ended his fealty to
Aerdian Crown.
Eventually, the Great Kingdom showed signs of decay. When the Nyrondal
princes declared the end of their allegiance to the overking, the duke was
persuaded to follow suit. The Battle of Redspan signaled the end of the duke's
fealty to the overking of Aerdy. The Aerdy force was routed by the Tenha
cavalry and pushed down the "Red Road to Rift Canyon" in an action
made famous in the ballad of the same name. The army of the Great Kingdom was
not actually swept into the Rift Canyon, as the ballad proclaims, but they were
so thoroughly defeated that many of the Aerdi officers and soldiers chose exile
in the Bandit Kingdoms over the punishments awaiting them at home. [LGG - 113]
361 CY
History of the Orbs of Dragonkind
Everyone in the Flanaess must know the tale of the mad Zagig Yragerne,
who is said to have taken a large white crystal ball [an Orb of Dragonkind] with
him when he left this city one spring day in 361 CY and returned the following
week with a hoard of treasure such as only a succession of kings would know,
using some of these riches of course to build Castle Greyhawk. He returned here
without the white ball, however, and never spoke of it nor even acknowledged
its existence before or afterward.
I have counted about two dozen other confirmed or probable appearances
of the orbs between the fall of the Suloise Empire and the present day. The
location of only one orb is known for certain to our cozy group of the Eight:
The Orb of the Hatchling is unquestionably held in Rauxes, as Mordenkainen
himself was able to demonstrate to our satisfaction last year. It is almost
certainly the same orb held by Aerdy’s early overkings, but we do not know yet
where the orb was found, how it was recovered, the uses to which it is being
put, or the identity of its true owner or master.
Unlike the sections of the fabled Rod of Seven Parts, the various Orbs
of Dragonkind have never been reported to indicate the presence of any of their
fellow orbs, for which I am sure we can all be thankful. No spell, not even a
Wish, and some say not even a god, will reveal the location of an orb; you
simply have to be lucky enough to find one and know it for what it is. They
seem to function independently of one another, though tales circulate that
unexpected abilities become manifest when two orbs are brought into proximity
of one another. I believe most of these stories are exaggerations and
falsehoods, but I cannot discount the possibility. Time, perhaps, will tell. [Dragon #230 - 13]
c. 357 CY
Evil
and decadence corrupted the Great Kingdom. All knew it. They cavorted with
nether worlds and were thoroughly seduced by their promises.
It was at this time that the
evil began to grow within the rulers of the Great Kingdom. The House of Rax
became decadent, its policies ineffectual and aimed at appeasement. The powerful
noble houses took this as their cue to set up palatinate-like states, and rule
their fiefs as if they were independent kingdoms. [Folio - 6]
c. 375-399 CY
The
Long slow fall.
The Long Slow Fall |
Mercenary armies became more
common, and some princes conquered slices of other princes' lands. The drunken,
enfeebled, or effete overkings allowed this to happen.
The House of Naelax was the
first to use humanoid mercenary troops around the Adri Forest for provisioning
raids late in the fourth century. And it was this royal house which came
increasingly to the fore.
At this time, the Great
Kingdom still had a relative freedom and equality of many priesthoods, although
those of Lawful alignments were dominant. In Rauxes itself, the priesthood of
Pholtus still played a commanding role as advisers, judges, and mediators.
However, Naelax aligned itself firmly with the burgeoning priesthood of Hextor.
In a land with increasing strife and struggle, this aggressive evil priesthood
became more influential as the decades passed. [Ivid - 3]
c. 376 CY
All great cities have a beginning.
Sometimes that founding is unassuming, a crossroads, a need of portage, the
discovery of riches nearby. Sometimes, it rises from necessity; Rel Mord began
as such.
Despite its location deep
within Nyrond, Rel Mord is heavily defended and maintains the appearance of a
huge fortress. Originally armored to protect itself against Nyrond's conquered
states (the County of Urnst and the Theocracy of the Pale), the city watch now
keeps its eyes toward the evil nations of the east. [WG8 - 14]
c. 430s CY
House
Naelex reached its zenith with the ascension of Herzog Ivid I in the North.
ouse Naelax reached its
nadir in North Province with the rise of Herzog Ivid I of the North in the 430s
CY. Over the intervening two centuries, the Naelax had grown to be the
strongest individual house in the kingdom, and by this time an undeclared war
was raging between Rax and Naelax. Unusual for Aerdi up until that time, the
Naelax employed orc and goblin mercenaries to augment their forces. [LGG - 74]
435 CY
Truth, Trust, and Transparency |
A despotic Garasteth ruler was
overthrown in a military coup, and the leaders of that coup instituted their
own despotism instead. To avoid assassination attempts, they kept their
identities secret, meeting at irregular intervals in the windowless marbled
keep known simply as Fortress. While The Five know who each other are, they
meet masked and disguised in Fortress. [Ivid - 99]
437 CY
The Turmoil Between Crowns |
This name is given both to
the decade of internal schisms under the rule of the last Rax overking, Nalif,
and to the civil war which followed Ivid's ascension. [Ivid - 4]
What can be said of those
houses? Who were they?
Naelax: Ruling
Royal House, major landholders, noted for their penchant for building
large-scale, formidable castles and fortifications—and for their vanity.
Rax-Nyrond: The
Rax line is officially extinct, but there are some illegitimate descendants of
Nasri who claim a line to the malachite throne, and historically the house is
of major importance because of its junior branch and the foundation of Nyrond.
Torquann: An
Oeridian-Flan-Suel mix, this house has dominated commerce and trade along the
eastern coastal provinces. Traditionally aloof in politics, this house has a
long, long history of dour, hard, depressive rulers whose lands suffer heavy
taxation and repressive laws.
Garasteth: The
House of Garasteth is feared for its mages and sages, and for its inscrutability and arcane knowledge. The house is not much given to temporal power, but sees
itself as a guardian of true Oeridian culture and wisdom. The house is
increasingly influential among local rulers given the threat of the Suloise
Scarlet Brotherhood to the south (and in the Lordship of the Isles). Garasteth
rulers are hard, cold, cruel individuals, but they are to be feared on account
of their devotion to learning and their formidable intellects.
Cranden: Once
the royal house, the Crandens have dominated Almor and Ahlissa for centuries. A
worldly, urbane aristocracy, their prestige plummeted with the secession of
Almor and the abortive attempt to ally South Province with the Iron League. The
House of Naelax moved swiftly to remove control of these provinces from
Cranden, but the other houses were not prepared to see Cranden wholly destroyed
and exerted pressure which even the overkings could not wholly resist. The
House of Cranden is important because it resists the more insane evils of the
overking, and the old affinity with the Iron League is not completely lost.
Irongate and Sunndi have friends they trust among the lesser princes of this
house.
Darmen: Often
thought flighty and trivial by the more powerful political houses, the House of
Darmen has devoted itself to trade and commerce and found its niche there.
Easily the richest house, Darmen has massive landholdings from eastern Ahlissa
through the central provinces with their rich and fertile plains, even as far
as North Province. The House of Darmen believes itself fated to be the next
Ruling Royal House, with its ambitious young Prince Xavener employing a
sensible long-term strategy. Xavener has no intention of wasting his armies
assaulting Rauxes. Instead, he bankrolls mercenaries for competing houses
elsewhere. Often, he bankrolls both sides. That way, he is certain to back the
winner—who will owe him a very large favor. When the time comes, with everyone
else's armies decimated, Xavener will call in those favors and march on Rauxes.
Such is his plan, at any rate. However, not all in the House of Darmen support
him. [Ivid - 10, 11]
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:
Zagig Tragerne, by Franz Vohwinkel (?), Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, 2007
Sources:
1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed
Set, 1983
1064 From the Ashes Boxed
Set, 1992
2011A Dungeon Masters Guide,
1st Ed., 1979
2023 Greyhawk Adventures
Hardback, 1988
9025 World of Greyhawk
Folio, 1980
9253 WG8, Fate of Istus,
1989
9292 WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins, 1990
9399 WGR 5, Iuz the Evil,
1993
9577 The Adventure Begins,
1998
9578 Player’s Guide to
Greyhawk, 1998
11374 The Scarlet
Brotherhood, 1999
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
The map of Anna B. Meyer