“His descent was like nightfall.”
― The Iliad
― The Iliad
 |
| A Kingdom Grown Fat on Indulgence |
The Great Kingdom had reached its apex; and with it,
decadence. Its aristocracy had grown fat on indulgence; its throne even more
so. An omen of the coming days had streaked across the sky, predicting its
decline; of course, none had taken heed. Theirs was the time of unparalleled
wealth, and unparalleled power. Had they looked to the past for guidance… For
the Suel Imperium might have taught them the price of pride, hubris, and
cruelty.
c. 200 CY
The Viceroyalty of Ferrond looked
to the east, and so apathy. And a rising incomitance. The Kingdom had left
them; that much was sure. But the Kingdom still demanded its tithe, for the
Kingdom believed that was its due. The Viceroyalty was not as convinced of that
venerable seat of power’s claim. For, did not Dyvers determine their course,
did not Dyvers see to their affairs. What need did they have of the Malachite
Throne then?
For three centuries the Aerdy
held a vast empire which fluctuated in extent but little, until after the third
Celestial House (dynasty) when the borders began to close in upon the original
territory of the Aerdi. [Folio - 5]
As the power of the Malachite
Throne in Rauxes waned, the Viceroys of Ferrond ruled more by their own writ
and less by the leave of the Aerdi overlords. [Folio - 10]
The Kingdom, in its hubris, did
not heed the stirrings of independence to the west. Trade flowed. Riches
continued to arrive. But too slowly for its liking. So, Leukish was constructed
to facilitate the flow.
By 200, Aerdy coin had seen
to the construction of Leukish, at that time the richest and most splendid port
on all the Nyr Dyv. Thirty-seven years later, the duke moved the capital to the
new city, leaving Seltaren to degenerate into a swarm of old politics and
run-down buildings. The duke's family established Shorewatch, a beautiful
castle in the village of Nesserhead, just east of Leukish. [LGG - 125]
202 CY
"And it started like a guilty thing; Upon a fearful summons." [Hamlet]
During the reign of Overking
Jiranen, Lord Kargoth was reputedly the greatest knight of the day. So, when
the standard bearer of the Knights Protector passed into legend, Lord Kargoth
fully expected to be named his successor, a fitting tribute to his long and
illustrious career. When a much younger Sir Benedor was proclaimed successor,
the realm gasped in disbelief, despite it being rumoured that the youth had
been touched by the spirit of Johydee. Kargoth’s pride was much wounded. The
Banner should have been his, he seethed!
He challenged the young knight in the Court of Essences to a contest of
arms, and although fearful, the young knight accepted the challenge. The
clearly weaker young knight parried Kargoth’s attacks, never giving up the
floor, and held his own until sunset, upon which the challenge was called.
Stalemate! According to custom, Kargoth had lost. He refused the young knight’s
hand of truce and stormed from court and the sneers of his peers. He vowed
revenge.
 |
| He Came Upon a Ruin |
Monduiz Dephaar returned to the
Great Kingdom upon hearing of his mentor’s supposed disgrace, seeking to join
Kargoth in his revenge. Others joined him.Dephaar did not see Kargoth’s
disfigurement. Kargoth kept it hidden at all times. He kept his distance; he
held his meetings in darkened rooms, his incensed ravings woven with belching
clouds of acrid incense.
 |
| Saint Kargoth |
Sir Benedor rode hard to Rel
Deven upon hearing the news. He arrived in time to witness those thirteen
knights who’d accompanied Kargoth rise from their death sprawls, their clothing
scotched, their flesh burned, their eyes aglow with malevolence. He summoned
all of his courage and closed with Kargoth. He attacked with abandon, sure in
the knowledge that if he did not, he was lost. Near his end, he managed to
wrest the Orb from Kargoth, and instructed by it, he too spoke words of power
and he scattered those deathly knights that he once called peers, and began his
relentless quest to destroy them.
His victory came too late for
the royal family, though. They had fallen victim to the rampaging fiend.
Indeed, one had fallen and was raised by Kargoth in his own image to mock their
feeble power, and set him too upon the world.
Was Benedor successful? No. The
Death Knights were swift, and they laid a trail of undead in their wake to slow
him. [Adapted from Dragon #290 - 100 to 104]
203 CY
The Order of the Knights Protector hunted the
Death Knights, their desire to eradicate them. They were blight upon the
kingdom they had sworn to protect; and truth be told, they could not abide the
thought that those who had fallen to that dark path had been so easily lured
from it. The Knights Protector failed. To their own detriment.
Few events shook the order as
greatly as the betrayal of the paladin Sir Kargoth, who made a pact with the
forces of evil and unleashed a demonic terror upon the Great Kingdom in 203 GY.
The abomination was destroyed at great cost, but the fallen knight seduced no
fewer than thirteen members of the order to his dark banner. Kargoth's
treachery cursed everything he touched, and sunlight turned all fourteen
traitors into the first and most powerful of the so called death knights.
The order went into slow
decline after this upheaval, as many loyal knights spent much time hunting down
the renegades. [LGG - 158]
The Death Knights:
St. Kargoth the Betrayer, Lord
Monduiz Dephaar, Lady Lorana Kath of Naelax, Prince Myrhal of Rax, Sir Maeril
of Naelax, Sir Farian of Lirthan [destroyed by Benedor], Lord Andromansis of Garasteth,
Sir Oslan Knarren, Sir Rezinar of Haxx, Lord Thyrian of Naelax, Sir Minar
Syrric of Darmen, Duke Urkar Grasz of Torquann, Sir Luren the Boar of Torquann,
and Lord Khayven of Rax. [Dragon #290]
213 CY
How complacent was Rauxes? How depraved? How
self-serving?
Upon the death of Overking
Jiranen, his son Malev auctioned off the throne to the highest bidder. For how
much? A princely sum, I would imagine, for few could meet the price Malev would
accept. His cousin Zelcor could, and did.
[With] the death in the
spring of 213 CY of the Overking Jiranen, a sovereign who had reigned many
years, succession became a matter of intrigue. His fatuous son Malev was
uninterested in the office and proceeded to secretly auction it off to the
highest bidder among his relatives. Malev did not care who took the throne, and
it came as some surprise when his cousin Zelcor reportedly met his price. [LGG - 23]
Royal Astrologers at Rel Astra
proclaimed the coming of the Age of Sorrow, vindicating the disgraced Sage
Selvor the Younger.
Selvor the Younger, an Aerdi
astronomer, extrapolated its path [of the comet that passed overhead in 198 CY]
back to its celestial origin and declared the fireball to be an omen of
“wealth, strife, and a living death.” This pronouncement caused panic in Rauxes
and throughout the Great Kingdom, where it was interpreted to mean the end of
the world. The subsequent incidents and unrest foreshadowed the Age of Great
Sorrow to come, in 213 CY [LT1 The Star Cairns - 2]
The Royal Astrologers
proclaimed it as a great portent, confirming the sign of a coming Age of Great
Sorrow prophesied by Selvor the Younger fifteen years earlier. Overking Zelcor
promptly abolished the astrologers' order for trying to recreate earlier
hysteria and banished the members to Rel Astra. So proceeded an inexorable
decline that began as the rulers of House Rax became progressively neglectful,
decadent, or dimwitted. [LGG - 23]
From 213 CY on, the Aerdi
overkings grew lax, caring more for local prestige and wealth than for the
affairs of their vassals in distant lands. This period was called the Age of
Great Sorrow. As each sovereign passed, he was replaced with a more dimwitted
and less competent successor, until the outer dependencies of Aerdy declared
their independence. [LGG - 14]
The new Overking Zelcor began to
distance himself from the Knights Protector, for public opinion had swayed
against them and their favour. Lord Kargoth had fallen, and had seduced
thirteen of their number to join him on his evil path, and the people had suffered
for it. What had the Knights Protector done to stop their fallen, they
asked? Nothing. Or so it seemed. The had chased that evil number hither and
yon, and yet the Death Knights continued to wreak havoc. What then, were
they good for, they asked? So too did Zelcor. [Dragon #290]
215 CY
Who was Wastri, the Hopping Prophet? The Malachite
Throne had no idea. Neither did the Scarlet Brotherhood. Some few in the
Brotherhood assumed him to be one of the original followers of Kevelli, but they
had no proof of such a claim. He was powerful, to be sure; a god some thought; most
believed him a heretic.
 |
| Wastri |
It is he who preaches the
ultimate superiority of humankind. While humanoids can serve, demi-humans are
fit only to be slain — especially dwarves, gnomes, and halflings. These, with
the aid of his gray-clad “Servants,” he hunts with his toad packs and
exterminates whenever possible. [Dragon #71 - 56]
Orcs, goblins, bullywugs, and
such are sufficient to serve humans [….] Those who disagree […] are wrong and
must be convinced of their error, with a weapon if need be. [LGG - 187]
Was Wastri Iuz? Is that possible?
Might that master of mayhem and deceit begun to weave his web that far south of
his domain?
When Tarkhan [of the Wolf
Nomads] arrived to raise the siege [of Eru-Tovar], Lord Choldraf was
forced to screen the withdrawal of the luzites, since the humanoids under the
wizard Mellard-Plict were too undisciplined and unreliable to handle the
assignment. In fact, most of the wizard’s troops had deserted, or merely
decided to wander off on a raid of their own, by the time the Battle of Black
Water Bend was fought. The high priest is in disgrace now, but it is likely
that Choldraf will find some way to redeem himself with luz. It is reported
that the wizard fled immediately upon the loss of the battle, going far south
and now raising companies of bullywugs in the Vast Swamp, supposedly at the
behest of Wastri, the Hopping Prophet. [Dragon #56 - 19]
This beg the question to be
asked: Why did Choldraf flee to the Vast Swamp of all places? To redeem himself
there? Why there, unless that was where Iuz was to be found.
There are those who say that
Wastri was a but a man, a zealot dent on finding the path of spiritual
perfection through isolation, privation, and meditation. In this he was
encouraged by all who met him, for he was unpleasant and out of place in any
normal society. It was as much ostracizing as choice that sent the zealous
seeker forth to find the path to his “enlightenment.” The religious hermit
found what he was seeking in the vast wilderness of mires and marsh. The
experience was not what he expected. Wastri found he disliked being alone, so
he made friends with the denizens of the swamp and sought converts—simply
because he wanted the company of servants. Instead of contemplating the
mysteries and seeking the greater truth, the fellow grew bored, since all he
discovered within himself was shallowness.
Rthe community of his
followers grew, and as things developed, Wastri’s main interest centered on the
first friends he’s made in the bogs, the giant toads. Over the course of
decades, the Hopping Profit grew more powerful, even as he and his faithful
following assimilated certain characteristics of a strange sort as a result of
their mingling.
To this day, Wastri has
continued to evolve to a point where he is no longer human. [Dragon #300 - 16]
230 CY
Zelcor looked ever inward, slowly withdrawing
those imperial troops that had stood steadfast upon the Kingdom’s borders. Did
he believe his borders secure? I doubt he gave them much thought, what with his
having ignored the prophesy of doom that preceded his “ascending” to the
throne—ascending?—suppressing said prophesy might be a better description. I
would make the brazen assumption that he recalled his forces in hopes of
protecting Rauxes, any himself, from the Death Knights that had plagued his
kingdom for decades.
This period was […] marked by
a noticeable decline in the quality of Aerdy rulership from Rauxes. This time,
called the Age of Great Sorrow, led to an important change in 230 CY, when
Aerdy soldiers were withdrawn from Greyhawk [City] and the landgraf was charged
with defending the Selintan region using local militia. [TAB - 58]
233 CY
Was Zelcor a good and just king? Was he
competent? Was he corrupt? As to the fist two questions, who can say; he had sat
upon the Malachite Throne for decades, so he was certainly proficient at
keeping that seat. As to the third? Most certainly. And that would certainly
call into question the veracity of the first two.
House Naelax finally regained
the throne of North Province in 223 CY, after the untimely death of Herzog
Atirr Movanich. Some say this was accomplished by paying off the heavily
indebted Overking Zelcor I, who had no aversion to procuring his own berth over
a decade earlier. [LGG - 74]
237 CY
One might think that Seltaren was well
situated upon the Plains of Palentine, central to all it oversaw. A bastion of
Suloise culture. And so it was, and had been for centuries. [Gifted] with a
moderate climate, the farms of [the Dutchy of] Urnst produce crops in all but
the deepest winter Summer rains commonly flood the banks of the Nesser well
south of the capital; wise farmers construct low stone walls around their
fields, building outbuildings on short stilts. The famous rolling foothills of
the north prevent serious flooding there, and make for breathtaking landscapes
remembered in travelogues read across the Flanaess. [LGG]
Despite all that, the cool
breezes flowing off the Nyr Dyv called to the Duke of Urnst. He moved his
capitol from Seltaren to Leukish and established the castle of Shorewatch, in
Nesserhead just east of Leukish.
Thirty-seven years [after the
the construction of the port of Leukish], the duke moved the capital to the new
city, leaving Seltaren to degenerate into a swarm of old politics and run-down
buildings. The duke's family established Shorewatch, a beautiful castle in the
village of Nesserhead, just east of Leukish. [LGG - 124]
247 CY
The Knights Protector persevered, despite
their having failed to destroy Kargoth and his chosen few. Lord Kargoth’s
castle walls were pulled down by the Knights Protector, in a desperate bid to
deny Kargoth any haven, any succor within the kingdom. Were that true; they
razed it to erase the his memory from those who dwelt under its shadow. Were
that possible. What secrets it may have held have remained buried ever since.
Rumours persist that he settled
on the Isle of Cursed Souls, but if truth be told, Kargoth had only been seen
once upon that northern coast, and that during the Flan Festival of the Bloody
Moon. [Dragon #290]
252 CY
Some seed take decades to germinate: the
Theocracy of the Pale, for instance. Who would have thought that its first seed
was planted a century prior to its Emancipation? But it was. And it was first
seed was sown by Overking Toran II, a paranoid, suspicious soul, if there ever
was one. He saw enemies everywhere, he heard whispers in the far corners of his
court. And knew that he had tenuous hold on the length and breadth of his Great
Kingdom. None should rule but him. And to that end, those with any influence
need be uprooted. Replaced. With those more loyal.
Centuries before the founding
of the Pale, when the Great Kingdom spanned nearly the length and breadth of
the Flanaess, the church of Pholtus had the appointed task of administering the
courts for the realm on behalf of the overking and the Celestial Houses. Its
highest ranking member was given the title of Holy Censor and granted a fief to
administer from the old city of Mentrey in Medegia, where judges of the law
from all faiths were trained and appointed. When the order of Pholtus fell out
of favor with the overkings of House Rax in the mid-third century CY, it was
largely due to the perception that its leaders were attempting to impose their
doctrine on the kingdom and create a theocracy through their control of the
courts. While this may have been true of some its more outspoken leaders, the
accusation undoubtedly owed more to the apathy of the Pholtans to the evolving
politics at court. So it was with the near concurrence of all other sects, that
its highest ranking cleric was removed from the Holy Censoriate by Overking
Toran II in 252 CY and replaced with the priesthood of Zilchus, which was then
closely allied with the Houses of Rax and Darmen. This was considered a
reasonable compromise, as no consensus could ever be achieved between the faiths
of Heironeous and Hextor, the most individually powerful sects of the Great
Kingdom at the time. [LGG - 81]
254 CY
 |
| The Crowning of Thrommel I |
And thus it began. Far from the
influence of the Malachite Throne, the Viceroyalty of Ferrond declared
independence from the Great Kingdom, and was thereafter called Furyondy. This
marks the beginning of the dissolution of the Great Kingdom. Never again would
their influence reach as far. In truth, its influence had not swayed Ferrond
for some time.
The viceroyalty of Ferrond [was
the first of the Great Kingdom’s outlying protectorates to break from the fold],
becoming the kingdom of Furyondy. Other regions also broke away from the
ineffectual government of the overking over time, creating their own governments
after achieving success in their wars of rebellion. [LGG - 14]
The heir to Viceroy Stinvri
(the Viceroyalty had become hereditary some years previously) was crowned in
Dyvers as Thrommel I, King of Furyondy, Prince of Veluna, Provost of the
Northern Reaches, Warden General of the Vesve Forest, Marshall of the Shield
Lands, Lord of Dyvers, etc. [Folio - 10]
[The withdrawal of Aerdy
troops from Greyhawk] was briefly rescinded in 254 CY when Furyondy declared
itself independent of the Great Kingdom, putting Greyhawk right on the Great
Kingdom’s border with the Former viceroyalty. A large imperial force was
stationed at Greyhawk, with a smaller force camped outside Hardby, but their
skirmishes with the Furyondian army came to nothing. [TAB - 58]
The Pholtans had been betrayed. They
felt supressed, banished to the fringe of the society they had guided and nurtured.
And lost under the weight of the depravity that hung over the land like a
shroud. The dreamed of a new land, a pure land, one free of persecution.
In the aftermath of this
episode, many of the most zealous members of the faith of Pholtus began
abandoning the heartlands of Aerdy, citing religious persecution and rising
decadence in the empire, accelerated by the withdrawal of Ferrond in 254 CY.
While there was some truth to their claims, these were largely exaggerations
and considered by most the protestations of a group suffering waning power and
influence.
Most of these religious
emigrants traveled through provincial Nyrond, eventually settling in the
western valleys of the Rakers in the Flan hinterlands. These lands were desired
by few, being at the very frontiers of the Great Kingdom and located in the
severe climes of the north. Here these Aerdi clerics and devout followers made
a home for themselves among the native Flan, who held an old semi-independent
realm to the northwest in a place called Tenh. These early pioneers struggled
greatly against the depredations of a harsh land and its denizens to carve out
a nation for themselves, calling it the Pale and dedicating it to their god.
[LGG - 81,82]
mid-250s
 |
| Court Intrigue |
The Naelax grew powerful
after the mid-250s CY, when their primary rival, the Heironean church, achieved
independence in far-flung provinces such as Ferrond and the Shield Lands. Many
of them withdrew from the increasingly decadent Great Kingdom, and no longer
would these two rival orders contend equally for the attention of the Malachite
Throne. [LGG - 74]
The rise of the Hextorians made
the satellite states wary. So too the persecution of those deemed too powerful,
too independent, in the eyes of the Malachite Throne. So too the Death Knights.
They began to retreat from the core, and sometimes that meant past persecutors
might become present protectors.
A half-century after the
Great Council of Rel Mord, the County of Urnst became a palatine state under
the protection of the richer and more powerful Duchy of Urnst, a political
situation that continues to this day. [LGG - 123]
261 CY
 |
| The War That Never Was |
The Overking withdrew most of
the [imperial forces from Greyhawk] in 261 CY, leaving a small garrison at
Hardby until 277 CY.
As the Aerdy army left, the
Landgraf of Selintan was ordered to bring his militia up to imperial standards
and defend the Great Kingdom’s border with the Kingdom of Furyondy. However,
the landgraf […] had been holding secret talks with […] Dyvers [and he] knew
Grehawk was in no danger from the new kingdom, which believed that the seizure
if Greyhawk would provoke a swift counterattack from Rauxes [….] [TAB - 58]
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:
Saint Kargoth, by Greg Staples (?), Dragon Magazine 290, 2001
Wastri, by Jeff Easley, Dragon Magazine 71, 1983
King-of-the-Britons by thedurrrrian
Court-Intrigue by petite-licorne
Lay-down-your-weapons by quintuscassius
King-of-the-Britons by thedurrrrian
Court-Intrigue by petite-licorne
Lay-down-your-weapons by quintuscassius
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
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
Incredibly good entry. You certainly have me second guessing about Wastri now!
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