Greyhawk Musings: History of the South-East, Part 7: The Turmoil between Crowns (437 to 448 CY)

“By hook or by crook this peril too shall be something that we remember.”
― Homer, The Odyssey

What can be said of the Celestial Houses of Aerdy? History says that they were great and good, and that their benevolence had brought peace and prosperity to all the lands of the Flanaess. Were that so, then why did Furyondy secede? Why did Nyrond and Tenh? And were they so, why was there such turmoil between crowns?

437 CY

The Kingdom of Aerdy and the Great Kingdom were great as all empires are, through force of will. It had artifacts and artifice at its disposal, and the weight of arms, against which few nations, if any, could stand against. But it had grown myopic, sure in its omnipotence, and its longevity. Had not the Suel Imperium lasted centuries? But the Suel emperors had been vigilant, and watchful. And the Suel Imperium had not been cleaved from within. The Great Kingdom was. And as its great houses turned upon one another, those nations that until recently basked under its supposed radiant sun could only look on in horror as its sun set and it chose its new path to paradise through Hell.

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]

[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]

Faith understands that to truly affect change, it must have the support of the crown, the aristocracy, and if necessary, the people. All sects are as motivated in such regard. All sects courted those houses that could presumably sway others, and the plebeians if it should come to that, to see the true path. Hextor's Faith was no different. But not all of the Celestial Houses looked upon their vision with the same enlightened eyes as others; some did; some more than others; and thus when most turned their blind eyes from the true path, the Hextorians turned to the one that understood the only true path as one of strength: House Naelax.

Alone among the Oeridian faiths, the church of the Champion of Evil has grown in power as the Great Kingdom has declined. This rise was due in part to the departure of most of the church armies of rival faiths. Hextor’s faithful strongly backed the House of Naelax during the Turmoil Between Crowns that began in 437 CY. [Bastion of Faith]

Ivid I, House Naelax

War is wasteful. And its outcome is never certain. Great houses may band together against a common foe, only to betray one another at the most unexpected moment. Ivid I, House of Naelax, understood that. He also understood that whomever ascended the throne might only hold it for a short time if his house was exhausted in attaining it. The best course of action then, in his opinion, was to bypass all the uncertainty, and take a more certain, and decisive thrust. The other houses might not like it, they might even call foul, secretly wishing that they had landed that blow themselves. No matter. He had allies. And mercenaries. And the money to keep them.

Overking Nalif was the last of the Rax line descended directly from the overkings. A flock of misbegotten cousins, exiles and ne'er do wells of Rax could lay some claim to the title of overking when Ivid had Nalif assassinated, but after a century of hopelessly ineffectual Rax rule all of the royal houses agreed that another Rax overking was simply unacceptable.

Ivid proclaimed himself overking immediately and plunged the Great Kingdom into civil war. [Ivid - 4]

After the withdrawal of Nyrond from the Great Kingdom, the slide became precipitous. Buffoons and incompetents sat upon the Malachite Throne, and their mismanagement split apart the Celestial Houses. This period of degeneration culminated in the Turmoil Between Crowns, when the last Rax heir, Nalif, died in 437 CY at the hands of assassins from House Naelax. The herzog (great prince) of North Province, Ivid I, then laid claim to the throne. The herzog of South Province, Galssonan of House Cranden, broke with Rauxes and joined a widespread rebellion in the south. Years of civil war ensued, and only the intercession of dispassionate houses such as Garasteth and Darmen brought about the final compromise.

The Assassination of Nalif

The darkest chapter in the history of Aerdy began in 437 CY. In this year, the upstart House Naelax murdered the Rax overking, inaugurating a series of gruesome civil wars called the Turmoil Between Crowns. Within a decade, Ivid I of Naelax was recognized as the undisputed overking of all Aerdy. As Ivid was rumored to be in league with powerful evil Outsiders, the Malachite Throne of the Great Kingdom became known as the Fiend-Seeing Throne, and the once mighty and upright empire became a bastion of evil and cruelty. [LGG - 14]

The new "Grand Empire of Nyrond" watched, bemusedly at first, as Aerdy's House Rax degenerated. The failure to crush separatist movements in Ferrond and Nyrond had castrated the Rax overkings, who now seemed to exist only to appease the increasingly independent palatine states of Medegia, North Province, Bone March, and Ahlissa. The Turmoil Between Crowns, initiated in 437 with the assassination of Overking Nalif, changed bemusement to horror. Within nine years, the Malachite Throne had fallen to the debased House Naelax. With chaos and madness ruling from Rauxes, Nyrond's King Dunstan I knew that no enemy of Aerdy would ever be safe again. Nyrond, he noted, needed allies, and it needed them quickly.

Though he could not pledge public support due to the threat of retaliatory strikes from Ivid I's Northern Army, amassed near Innspa, Dunstan I attended the conference in Chathold that resulted in the formation of the Iron League. There, he privately assured the new partners that any enemy of the League was also an enemy of Nyrond. Dunstan made good on that pledge, sending weapons and warships (though no troops) to aid besieged Irongate at the Battle of a Thousand Banners, the following year. [LGG - 77]

By 437 CY, tensions within the Great Kingdom threatened to tear it apart. House Naelax delivered the sundering blow by assassinating all rivals in House Rax, after which nearly a decade of civil war ensued. Ivid I finally secured the Malachite Throne after Prince Malchim III of House Garasteth, lord mayor of Rel Astra, sided with House Naelax and negotiated palatinate status for the major provinces of the Great Kingdom, including his own. Thereafter, Rel Astra guided its own course. Rel Astra became the primary destination for those who fell out of favor in the former Great Kingdom, a trend that continues as political refugees arrive from Ahlissa, the Sea Barons, and even North Kingdom. [LGG - 93]

c. 440s-460s CY

Torn by turmoil, the Great Kingdom began to break apart. At first the Throne took no action. But as the tapestry of state continued unravelling, it had little choice but to rise from its stupor and take action, lest it lose the entirety of its lands. But try as it might, it could not stem the tide. The Iron League formed. Alain II of Ratik declared his fief an arch-barony, not entirely willing to completely sever ties with the mother country, as yet. But in truth, he ruled Ratik as though it was indeed independent, as did the Marquis of Bone March. What choice did they have? The Crown was embroiled in what came to be known as the Turmoil Between Crowns, and it took no interest in the administration of its provinces.

443-446 CY

The Fiend-seeing Throne

Much like all rulers, Ivid I wished to commemorate his reign. He commissioned a throne as none had ever seen before, crafted from a single, unblemished block of malachite. Over the next three years, a coven of mage-artificers and priests of Hextor worked on the block, shaping it into a mighty throne and drawing upon the malign eldritch energies of the Cauldron to imbue it with its terrible powers.

There is ample reason the malachite throne is known as the "Fiend-seeing Throne." The throne which the Naelax overkings have ascended was crafted between 443 and 446 CY from a great crystal chunk found in the Cauldron of Night. The throne itself, fashioned by mages and priests, has magical properties (see the chapter on Rauxes). Its abilities include providing a gate to the Nine Hells. [Ivid - 22]

443 CY

Payment Due

Debts must be paid, and the Hextorians would have what was due them. They demanded that the Heironians be expunged from Ivid’s domain, the Knights Protector with them. What of those knights devoted to Hextor? It was but a simple thing for them to forsake their vows for the greater good of having rid the Kingdom of weakness. Wasn’t it that weakness which shackled their attempts to rid the land of the Death Knights? Hextor surely favoured those very same Death Knights. The Hextorians turned on their brethren with Ivid’s approval.

In 443 CY, Ivid I set about hunting down and destroying the remaining Knight Protectors, for they opposed his ascension to the throne after he assassinated the last Rax overking. He did not succeed in destroying them, but they were widely dispersed, and some disappeared from the courts of the provinces to go into hiding. [LGG - 158]

446-447 CY

Wars are expensive endeavours. So too interests due. Ivid I raised the stipend expected of those he protected, even if that protection had never been needed.

The third recent split in the Great Kingdom came in the south, in 446-447 CY. Extreme repression and taxation of the population led to a general rebellion among commoners and nobles alike. [TAB - 18]

446 CY

The tyrannical Ivid I assumed the Malachite Throne at the price of granting greater autonomy to the provinces, notably Medegia, Rel Astra, and Almor. The recalcitrant herzog of South Province was quickly deposed and replaced by a prince from House Naelax, who sought immediately to bring the southern insurgents back into line. In 446 CY, the herzog granted an audience to representatives of Irongate, who went to Zelradton to air their grievances. The offer turned out to be a ruse, and the ambassadors were imprisoned, tortured, and executed for Overking Ivid's enjoyment. The whole of the south arose again in violent rebellion, and one year later formed the Iron League and allied with Nyrond. [LGG - 24]

Paradoxically, the disintegration of the Great Kingdom paused a while, despite a wretched change at its very crown. The House of Rax became decadent, self-absorbed, weak, and ineffectual. Petty nobles began to scheme, to openly flout the Overking's edicts, and to enact their own laws and pursue their own mean-minded grudges. It was only a matter of time before Rax was overthrown and a new tyrant installed as Overking and, in truth, many petty nobles were glad when it happened. After decades of pointless strife, it was almost a relief to have central power and authority again. However, few of them would have chosen Ivid I as their new master.

No direct evidence links Ivid, ruler of the North Province at the time, with the assassination of the entire House of Rax in 446 CY. But Ivid ensured his ascension by the simple expedient of killing every other minor princeling who made a claim on the throne, and plenty more besides. Madness had gripped the Malachite Throne when Ivid I, scion of the House of Naelax, was proclaimed His Celestial Transcendency, Overking of Aerdy, and many knew it.

A Dark Pact

The Malachite Throne became known as the "Fiend-seeing Throne." It was whispered that the House of Naelax had willingly entered into a pact with fiends—lords of the infernal tanar'ri—a pact that would endure down all the generations of their descendants. A time of terror had begun. Blood would wash the feet and hands of the madman enthroned in Rauxes. Little wonder that further secessions beset his lands.

Civil war erupted in the Great Kingdom. The North Province, now ruled by Ivid's nephew, soon established independence, as did the wily Herzog of Ahlissa in the the South Province. He allied himself with the seceding Iron League: the lands of Onnwal, Idee, Sunndi, and the Free City of Ironwall.

The Holy Censor, High Priest to the Overking, sought freedom for the See of Medegia. Almor grew in strength and freedom, supported by Nyrond as a buffer state between itself and the declining power of Rauxes, although Ivid managed to drag it back under his influence in later years. Momentous change beset the Great Kingdom. Not until Ivid V ascended the Fiend-seeing Throne would the Great Kingdom appear to increase in might again. This would take a century to happen and also be ultimately a temporary hiccup in the terminal decline of Aerdy. If all eyes were on the Great Kingdom for decades after Ivid's rise, it would help explain why they missed seeing the rise of a new power far to the west and north. [FtAA - 4,5]

[The alliance between the Hextorians and the House of Naelax] led to the faith’s ascendancy over all other faiths in the Great Kingdom as of the coronation of Ivid I in 446 CY, but also resulted in the church of Hextor falling under the thumb of successive overkings. [Bastion of Faith - 90]

The Displeasure of Ivid

It came to pass that the rumblings of the frontiers reached the ears of the Overking. Ivid I understood that such rumbling had led to the formation of Furyondy and Veluna, of Nyrond and Tenh. Ivid I also understood that if those rumblings had been silenced early on, those nations would still be apart of the greatest kingdom to have ever graced the Oerth. Examples must be made, lest the south follow the way of the west.

As the rule of the Overking grew more despotic, the people of the city began to murrnur, and the Lord Mayor headed a deputation bearing grievances to the Herzog. These emissaries were thrown into prison, given a mock trial, and executed by ritual torture for the Overking' s entertainment (446 CY). [Folio - 11]

Onnwal was shocked. Onnwal was incensed. Onnwal declares itself a Free State.

Onnwal was originally a lesser fief of the Herzog of South Province, to be granted as he saw fit to his faithful followers. The oppressive rule of the Great Kingdom brought great discontent and instigated open rebellion, the whole of the South Province being in arms. All of the lower portion was lost to the empire when the Iron League was founded. [Folio - 13]

Long-standing pressures upon South Province to bring the southern fiefs into line drove Damalinor of Naelax, the new herzog appointed by Ivid, to attempt to break the rebellion with an infamous act of villainy. In 446 CY, the lord mayor of Irongate petitioned to have his grievances heard in Zelradton and accepted an invitation to attend the herzog at his palace. When he and his party arrived, they were imprisoned and tortured to death for the overking's entertainment. Their remains were on display for weeks in the Traitor's Garden in Rauxes. So horrified were the people of Irongate by the account of the mayor's demise that the city revolted against the herzog and the overking. South Province was plunged into civil war and chaos. [LGG - 57]

Ivid must be mad, some said. Ivid must be deposed others said. And thus civil war broke out within the Great Kingdom. I suppose some few must believe that was how the war began, but in truth, the war had been brewing for some time, steeped in a cauldron of ambition, avarice, and hate.

Among the competing houses, the House of Cranden opposed Naelax, as did many elements of the House of Garasteth and the remnants of Rax. But in all houses’ princes were busy using the civil war as a cover for settling old scores and attacking their inhouse rivals. Ivid certainly had some such princes assassinated; the blame would be laid upon their own blood for this, increasing within-house divisions and making opposition to him less organized. [Ivid - 4]

447 CY

Ivid’s treatment of the envoys shocked the entirety of the Great Kingdom. How dare Ivid! Onnwall screamed. So too the other southern provinces. The entirety of the southern Great Kingdom rebelled, with only the core of the South Province, Ahlissa, remaining loyal to Rauxes.

The oppressive rule of the Great Kingdom brought great discontent and instigated open rebellion, the whole of the South Province being in arms. All of the lower portion was lost to the empire when the Iron League was founded in 447 CY. This alliance joined Onnwal with the Free City of Irongate (which barred the Onnwal peninsula), Idee, Sunndi, and the demi-humans of the Glorioles and the Hestmark Highlands in economic and military alliance. Onnwal and Irongate supplied the sea power, while the other members furnished troops for land actions -- although strong contingents from both of the former places were also sent into battle. [Folio - 13]

Onnwal and Irongate provided the primary naval support for the Iron League, with the Szek responsible for shuttling league business between the Azure Sea and their allies in Nyrond and the north. [LGG - 80]

[The] whole of the south was in arms against the realm, and after a brief struggle the Iron League was founded, an alliance of mutual support which aided the rebellious states to throw off the yoke of the Aerdi tyrants. [Folio - 11]

When the Turmoil of Between the Crowns sowed rebellion and caused widespread division in the Great Kingdom, Onnwal joined the other southern states who broke from the Malachite Throne. The herzog of South Province failed to force them back into line, and Szek Parmus Destron became an independent lord in the aftermath. [LGG - 80]

Onnwal had to pay. Ivid and the South Province believed that if Onnwal’s sedition was put to task, the city and its allies would fall and come to heel. Forces were gathered. Ships put to sea. Never before had such an armada been raised by the Great Kingdom against one of its own.

The Battle of a Thousand Banners

In response, Herzog Damalinor declared open season on the rebellious states. He targeted Irongate in particular as the keystone of the rebellion. He called up a force composed of hundreds of his vassals and kin (most of whom were landless, errant princes) and as bounty, he offered them a piece of the conquered states as spoils. So numerous were the so-called "privateers" and their men-at-arms that the ensuing siege of Irongate would be called the Battle of a Thousand Banners. However, the force was stymied by the success of the kingdom's own design of the fortress-city. Irongate was impregnable, designed to withstand siege and repel invaders like no other city. The herzog's commanders failed to quickly penetrate the city, and the Provincial Expeditionary Force was slaughtered by a combined host of men, elves, and dwarves; the surviving invaders were hunted down in the hills and slain over the next few weeks. [LGG - 57]

lrongate was besieged by Aerdian forces for several months, but in the Battle of a Thousand Banners the siege was lifted when a ruse panicked the northerners, and great numbers of them were subsequently slain by a combined host of men and gray elves of the League. While never invaded, Onnwal is subject to periodic sea raids from the Herzog's squadrons. [Folio - 13]Word o

f the success of Irongate's defense quickly spread, and a great conference was called in the city, including representatives of other various rebellious states once a part of or governed by the vast South Province. Irongate, Onnwal, Idee, Sunndi, and the Lordship of the Isles declared independence from the Great Kingdom, witnessed by ambassadors from Nyrond and dwarf nobles from the Glorioles, Hestmark Highlands, and Iron Hills. This was followed by the formation of the Iron League by Irongate, Onnwal, and Idee in late 447 CY.

Irongate became the headquarters of the alliance, accepting ambassadors from the other states. [LGG - 57,58]

448 CY

Lordship of the Isles declares independence from the Great Kingdom Lordship of the Isles.

The Iron League was quickly joined by the Lordship of the Isles in 448, and eventually the county of Sunndi in 455.

The Iron League became very successful at keeping its enemies in the Great Kingdom at bay, using spies and subterfuge to resist the efforts of all herzogs to reclaim it [.] [LGG - 58]

Ivid I of House Naelax brought pressure on the southern princes to fall into line, but the outrages committed by the new herzog of South Province, which included seizing Lordship vessels anchored in Prymp Town, drove the lords of the isles to declare independence along with the other states. The prince of the Isles joined the Iron League in 448 CY, providing naval support and conveyance for traffic between Irongate, Onnwal, and their allies in Nyrond. In so doing, the lord of Diren was forced to deal more plainly with his fellow lords on the other islands, sharing additional power and ceding more local autonomy to them over the ensuing years. [LGG - 71]

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:

Roman-Hunter-wallpaper by dusanmarkovic

Ben-Barnes-Dorian-Gray-cut-Version by astoko

Empty-Throne by dominikmayer

Dragon-Throne by nele-diel

Blood-of-Malice by italianrecluse

Summoned by janus3003

Shiki-eye by galaxyokami

Roman-warship by radojavor

Sources:

1015 World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983