“The blade itself incites to deeds of
violence.”
― The Odyssey
― The Odyssey
 |
| The blade itself incites to deeds of violence |
The common people
go about their everyday lives; they live and die, make a living, and fret about
those same things people do, wherever they might be: the welfare of their house
and home, their children, their aged parents. And their state within the state,
without concerning themselves with the ado that forever spirals about the crown
and the Celestial Houses. They know that those doings go on regardless. It was
the way of the gentry. And it usually happens somewhere over there; unless one
had the misfortune to have it happen in their backyard.
557 CY
His
Most Lordly Nobility, Lord Protector of Rel Astra, Drax of House Garasteth becomes ruler of the city of Rel Astra.
Rel Astra is currently ruled
by Lord (actually Prince) Drax of House Garasteth, who has held sway over the
city since 557 CY. [LGG - 92]
The city and constabular fief
of Rel Astra extends from the precincts of the city northwards to the Lone
Heath south of the Mikar, including the town of Ountsy, whose mayor is subject
to Rel Astra. This trading and mercantile port city is held in hereditary fief
by a rival noble house of the Aerdi who are secretly conspiring against the
royal house of Naelex, although they are careful to allow no proof of this to
fall into their enemies' hands. They desperately seek close ties with Medegia
and the Sea Barons to balance the weight of the Overking' s kinsmen in North
and South Province. It is reported that the Overking views these machinations
with ill-concealed delight, for they are seen as check and balance, as the
monarch fears his own at least as much as he distrusts others. In any case, the
lord of Rel Astra at the same time desires to check the growth of the Censor's
lands and holdings, and secret plots with the freefolk of Grandwood Forest and
the Herzog of the South Province are rumored. [Folio - 14]
558 CY
The Kingdom of Shar was of two minds
regarding Ivid V’s ascension to the throne. It behooved them to have a stable
Kingdom to the north, but they lost their influence in his court and that did
not please them at all. It would be best if his tenure was short, they decided,
and took measures to ensure just that.
In the madness and infighting following Ivid I’s death, the Scarlet Sign
infiltrated the Aerdi court to keep a close watch on things, but with the
crowning of Ivid V in [6072 SD] the Great Kingdom settled for a time. The new
Overking banished all foreign advisors from the courts of his nation, and the
Brotherhood lost its foothold in Suundi.
In 6074 SD, the Scarlet Brotherhood set out to stir trouble for the
Great Kingdom. In the Raker Mountain range, members whispered into the ears of
humanoid leaders, encouraging them to raid the Bone March. The raids began the
spring of the next year, and by the year after that the raids became a full
invasion. [SB - 5]
559 CY
 |
| ...and have not guarded against you... |
They are not prepared,
the whispers said. They look to the barbarians to the north and have not
guarded against you, they said. But the orcs were cautious. For they knew
not what these red-robed whisperers hoped to gain. And because they had heard
the whispers of Men before, and knew that Men had always used orcish blood to
blunt the swords of their enemies. The gnolls were less cautious, for the
whispers promised them blood, and they do so love the smell of it.
560 CY
Finding resistance limited, the orcs and
gnolls made further forays into Bone March, striking widely and deeply so as to
keep the Marquis’ forces rushing to and fro across the breadth of his lands to
defend against them, never once conceiving that the orcs were acting far more
strategic than they ever had before. They were a savage species, after all.
In 560 CY, the northern Great
Kingdom province of Bone March was invaded by humanoids from the Rakers. [TAB - 19]
Hordes of humanoids (Euroz,
Kell, Eiger and others) begin making forays into the Bone March, and these raids
turned into a full scale invasion the next year. [Folio - 9]
In 560, nonhuman tribes from
the Rakers and Blemu Hills struck into Bone March, subjugating the land in 563
and slaying its leaders. [LGG - 90]
561 CY
 |
| ...and laid waste to all that stood against them. |
They spilled out into the Theocracy of the Pale, and into neighbouring
Nyrond. They flowed out into Ratik. That was what the agents of Shar instructed
them to do. But their greatest host spilled out onto the Bone March, for the
agents of the Brotherhood knew that turmoil within the Great Kingdom was so
great that it could not muster effective opposition. And because they had
parleyed with Herzog Grace Grennell of The North Province, and he had promised
to delay his defense. But also because they had parlayed with others, far darker
in purpose than Grennell.
 |
| ...the orcs and gnolls made great gains into the March |
Thus, the orcs and the gnolls made great gains into the March in so
little time. But not so in the Theocracy of the Pale, Nyrond, or Ratik, for
resistance there was stiff, swift and sure.
563 CY
The
Bone March fell to the humanoids and all humans in that area were either
enslaved or killed, Lord Clement among them, as he was held up within the walls
of Spinecastle, waiting for succor from Ratik and the North Province, when it
fell after a prolonged siege, virtually overnight. Survivors say that the orcs
and gnolls had nothing to do with its fall, that it fell from within, that dark
forces rose up from its very foundations, causing those within to throw open
the gates in their haste to flee, and only then did the humanoids gain entry.
It was the castles’ curse, they said, gesturing to ward off the Evil they claimed
to witness that day.
[Bone March] fell three years
later and has been in a barbaric state since. [PGtG - 10]
 |
| Knight Protector |
The Knight Protectors of the Bone March were overwhelmed by the hordes,
and those who could fled to Ratik, bolstering the defenses of Ratikhill.
[This] land fell to the horde
of invaders [Euroz, Kell, Eiger and others], its lord slain, and its army slain
or enslaved. Humans in the area were likewise enslaved or killed, and the whole
territory is now ruled by one or more of the humanoid chiefs. Exact
information is not available. The humanoids gained access to the area by moving
through the mountains, and they use them now to raid the Pale, Ratik, and even
Nyrond—although any movement through the Flinty Hills. Is at great peril due to
the gnomes still holding out there. There is continual border warfare along the
Teesar Torrent and in the Blemu Hills of Aerdy' s North Province, although some
say that the Overking would gladly make peace with the humanoids to the north
and enlist them in his own armies. [Folio - 9]
Most Knight Protectors of the
Great Kingdom live now in Ratik, refugees from Bone March, where Clement was a
powerful member of the order until the province's fall in 563 CY. Those Knight
Protectors stationed in Almor are now in Rel Deven. Some purportedly hide in
the Grandwood and Adri Forests, and a few joined the Iron League and are in
Sunndi. The order's old heraldry, showing the great crowned sun of Aerdy
guarded by a white axe and red arrow, is no longer used. [LGG - 158]
 |
| Blood Frenzy |
Grenell expected as much and was prepared. He met them within the
March, and drawing them into defensive redoubts, he slowed their advance, and
then halted it altogether; and having done so, he parleyed with them and allied
with them against Nyrond and Almor, for he believed that such a force could not
be defeated until it had blunted itself against hard resolve, and he much
rather it do so against that of other lands and not his. Then he would turn on
the humanoids, and take their spoils as his own.
In 560, nonhuman tribes from
the Rakers and Blemu Hills struck into Bone March, subjugating the land in 563
and slaying its leaders. Herzog Grenell of North Province reached out to these
usurpers, seeing an opportunity. Ratik and its baron, Lexnol III, had been
forewarned and deflected most of the invaders, but could not prevent the
disaster that befell the march. Lexnol, a skilled leader and tactician,
realized that he was now isolated and no succor would be forthcoming from the
south or the court of Overking Ivid V. He approached the lords of Djekul, who
had grown less wary of the proud Aerdi in the intervening years and were even
grudgingly respectful. With the Fruztii, Lexnol forged an affiliation called
the Northern Alliance. Ratik subsequently became fully independent of the Great
Kingdom and had the might to both hammer the orcs and gnolls of Bone March and
dissuade an invasion from North Province. [LGG - 91]
During the rule of the House
of Naelax, large standing armies have been maintained. This was primarily due
to the desire on the part of North and South Provinces, and Medegia, to have
security for their independence.
Of course, it was natural for
the overking to respond in kind, and the one area where the overking
undoubtedly had supremacy was naval (the Sea Barons being under Ivid's control,
unenthusiastically). Most of these armies had, in fact, relatively little to do
most of the time outside of North Province, where the need to secure the Bone
March and to maintain patrols and mount skirmish raids after its fall to
humanoids in CY 563 kept troops busy. [Ivid - 19]
What did the Scarlet Brotherhood think about their success? They were
elated. They were infuriated. The orcs slaughtered their agents along with all
the other humans, for the orcs understood that those red-robed whisperers were
not their friends. They understood that they were pawns in a greater game that
was not their own. And they recognized the scent of slavery when they smelled
it.
The Bone March fell to the humanoids in 6078 SD, and all humans in that
territory were slain or enslaved. The plot misfired. The Bone March’s new
rulers severed all ties with their human co-conspirators, and few Brotherhood
agents escaped with their lives. [SB - 5]
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. [LGG - 35]
The Death Knight Lord Monduiz Dephaar made good use of the chaos that
ensued, craving a kingdom for himself out of the lands surrounding his
stronghold somewhere in the Blemu Hills in the wake of the collapse of the Bone
March, and even now commands legions of humanoids and bandits, who call him
Dreadlord of the Hills. [Dragon #291]
Both Prince Grenell of the North Kingdom and the humanoids of
Spinecastle give the Dreadlord wide berth.
571 CY
Was Nyond safe? Was Nyrond secure? Nyrond
never assumed as much. There were those less high-minded or enlightened as they
might have wished within their fold.
The Celadon Forest lies
within Nyrond and the Duchy of Urnst, but is unclaimed by either. Duke Karll
enjoys great friendship with the generally peaceful elves and woodsmen of the
western woodlands, and southwest Urnst is well served by rangers from the
Celadon, mostly humans and halfelves trained at Stalwart Pines, the only known
"organized" ranger school in the Flanaess. However, the situation in
Nyrond now borders on civil war. The former baron of Woodwych conducted
extensive logging operations here, igniting an anti-Nyrond rebellion. The new
king has provided hope to the woods folk, but the new baroness appears every
bit as ruthless as her predecessor.
Mighty oaks and elms grow
here, tended by treants, sylvan elves, and similar beings. These folk prevent
the cutting of any live tree from the forest; the humans and elves who trade
with the outside world are generally herbalists. Keoghtom's ointment is said to
derive from reagents gathered here. A great fire of mysterious origin damaged
the western half in 571 CY. [LGG - 139]
Who started that fire? Did Baron
Bastrayne of Woodwych? I wouldn’t put it past him.
Why?
The rebellious Baron
Bastrayne of Woodwych had found the Celadon a fair source of bounty, and the
local Nyrondese people look at the trees burgeoning in spring, young tender
rabbits ready for the pot hopping in the woods, and they decide to take what
they can get. [WGR4 The Marklands - 62]
Because he did what he wished.
Without the knowledge and consent of the king.
Did his people support him? I
think they did.
The western lands comprise
the Celadon Forest, the lands around the city of Woodwych, and the Gnatmarsh
together with the southern lands around Beetu. These lands were farthest away
from the wars, which increases the anger of ordinary people at paying high
taxes and tithes since they haven't directly experienced the threat of war. [WGR4 - 69]
But I doubt that the elves let
him do as he wished. These were their woods, and not his; an opinion he
disagreed with. He might have wished to rid himself of them, once and for all.
[…] the flashpoint of the
Celadon Forest, where woodsmen and elves fend off the insurrections of the
brutal and corrupt Baron Bastrayne of Woodwych. [Dragon #191 - 66]
Taxes. It always comes down to
taxes, doesn’t it? Baron Bastrayne of Woodwych rebelled because of them. And
oddly, so did religion within the Duchy of Urnst.
The dynasty of House Lorinar
began in 497, and has provided Urnst with a number of capable rulers. The
primary exception to this was Justinian, Karll's older brother, who ruled
briefly in 570-571 CY. A devotee of the philosophical school of
"Skepticism," realized in the writings of Urnst-born scholars Daesnar
Braden and Elbain Hothchilde, Justinian questioned the divinity of the gods,
increasing temple taxes some three hundred percent upon gaining office. The
duchy had never been a particularly religious place, but the subsequent razing
of Leukish's defiant temple of Zilchus triggered the Temple Coalition Revolt,
during which great riots embroiled the capital. In 571, most churches withdrew
from Urnst, declaring the duke and his noble advisers, the Honorable Chamber,
heretics. When Justinian found himself sorely wounded in battle with Bright
Desert dervishes later that year, no cleric in the land would heal him. His
youngest brother, Karll, a ranger at Stalwart Pines, reluctantly gained the
throne in 572 CY. [LGG - 125]
572 CY
Who rules the eastern seas? The elves? They
had never laid claim to its vast expanse, despite their having sailed its
waters for millennia. The Flan? They were the first men to lay eyes on the
Solnor, but they were content to do little more than cast nets into its banks.
The Suloise? They, like the Flan before them, colonized coast and island alike,
and for a time, it was they who ruled its waves. But it wasn’t until the Aerdy
laid eyes on it did anyone truly laid claim to it. Ivid commanded the Sea
Barons to secure his coasts, and tame those who raided it. Did they ever truly
tame the Barbarians of the north? No. But they did put an end to the piracy of
the south, for a time.
 |
| The Lordship of the Isles |
The Duxchaners are still
smarting from the battle, wherein the Sea Barons sank four of their warships
and made prizes of three loaded cogs before they could gain safety in
Pontylver. [Folio - 12]
More than a century and a
half of conflict has ensued between the [Sea Barons and the Lordship of the
Isles], and while the names and faces have often changed, the contests are
still hotly fought. The Sea Barons won the most recent encounter, the massive
Battle of Medegia, fought in the Aerdi Sea in 572 CY. [LGG - 100]
The last century and a half
have seen many battles between the two naval powers, culminating in one of the
largest in 572 CY. The Duxchaners and their Suel duke had grown increasingly
powerful during the intervening years and finally, when an internal squabble
among the Oeridian lords on Diren failed to produce a successor in 564 CY,
Latmac Ranold of Duxchan became the new prince. He took an increasingly
provocative stance among the lords of the Iron League, favoring open conflict
against the Great Kingdom to negotiation and subterfuge. Ranold built up the
navy of the Lordship and began harassing the shipping lanes of the Great
Kingdom as his forebears had done centuries ago. However, this led to the
Battle of Medegia in 572 CY, in which the Duxchaners suffered their greatest
defeat by the Sea Barons. This action failed to get the approval and support of
the Iron League, and the debacle deflated Prince Ranold greatly. As the lord
grew older, he appeared to lose his once-tight grip on the islands. [LGG - 71,72]
573 CY
Emissaries of Scarlet Brotherhood appear in
the courts of the Iron League.
 |
| Emissaries of Shar |
In 573 CY, a secretive
monastic group called the Scarlet Brotherhood was discovered living on the
Tilvanot Peninsula, south of Sunndi. Despite dark rumors of this group's aims
(control of the Flanaess by Suloise-descended peoples) and forces (monsters,
assassins, thieves, and martial artists), the Brotherhood was ignored for a
decade. [PGtG - 10]
In 6088 SD […] red-robed
members of the Scarlet Brotherhood appeared in the cities of the Iron League,
describing themselves as sages from the Land of Purity and offering their
services. These advisors were accepted by the member-countries’ rulers, albiet
with some hesitation, and soon the Scarlet Brotherhood moved into sensitive and
vital offices in a handful of other nations, as well. Simultaneously,
Brotherhood assassins eliminated intractable foes of the Brotherhood. In most
cases care was taken to dissociate the acts from the instigators, but the
removals often accelerated the advisors’ advancement. [SB - 5]
575 CY
Blood is thinker than water. Or so the old
saying goes. Far be it of Ivid to refute such a claim. He raised his family
high, where and when able, and thus supported House Naelax-Selor’s claim to the
throne of the South Province.
Herzog Chelor, third of that
name to rule the once-greatest fief of Aerdy, scion of the House of
Naelax-Selor, spent two years securing his base of power. [Dragon #57 - 15]
For nearly 30 years, three
rulers of the same name —Herzog Chelor—kept Ahlissa stable. They did this
through repression and fear of the magical power and fiendish aid which both
they, and their relative the overking, could bring to bear on any rebelling
against them.
Since South Province lacked
any truly powerful nobles, with large landholdings and powerful armies, the Chelors
stayed in control. [Ivid - 128]
 |
| Lost Zar |
The arrival of pure Suel from
the Scarlet Brotherhood in 6090 SD was a surprise to the people of Zar, who had
largely forgotten their heritage and lived in a state of barbarism. The
Brotherhood won over the Zarii with gentle words, promises of power and gifts,
so the people of Zar taught the Brotherhood what was necessary to survive in
the jungles of Hepmonoland. In less than a year, Zar became a primitive
daughter state to the kingdom of Shar, sending resources and warriors north to
the main Brotherhood lands. The city of Zar is being revovated and restored
from ruin.
The Zarii are content with
their lot; in exchange for goods and warriors, they receive exotic (to them)
cloth, weapons and food. They ferry gents of the Brotherhood along the newly
built roads to Lerga, travel to strange lands, fight and pillage; most don’t
realize that they are second-class people to the Brotherhood—barely above
Hobgoblins. [SB - 55]
576-582 CY
The alliance between Ratik and the
Frost Barbarians was mutually beneficial. Not only had they begun to secure the
Fruztii’s northern pass, they had begun to make gains against the Bone March to
the south, too. But at a cost. They were small nations, their resources were
limited, and were the orcs not soundly defeated, and soon, they knew all might
be lost.
The humanoids so soundly defeated in the
campaign of 575 were again raiding over the border, and the gnomes of the
Lofthills (west of Loftwood) were being continually besieged. Losses from the
campaigns in Bone March and with the Frost Barbarians could be replaced by
mercenaries and volunteers from foreign lands only. [Dragon #57 - 14]
The Frost Barbarians had not turned their
backs on their cousins, the Schnai and Cruski, for they had common cause. They
each hated the Hold of Stonefist, as did their distant cousins, the Zeai, the
whaling Sea Barbarians who dwelt upon the far Brink Isles and Tusking Strand,
east of the Black Ice. And the Snow and Ice Barbarians shared common cause
against the North Province and Sea Barons, for life was harsh upon the
Thillonrian Peninsula, and thought their seas were plentiful, their slim
growing season could not support them.
The Schnai noticed their Fruztii cousin’s
absence from the seas. And they saw their cousin’s increased reliance upon
Luxnor of Ratik. But they were not worried. Let them break themselves upon the
Fists and the Bone March, the Schnai said. They will weaken beyond recovery,
and will be forever under our suzerainty when Ratik finally fell, for fall it
must, in the end.
And in the Fruztii’s absence, the Schnai
increased their raids on the Great Kingdom, knowing that they needn’t share the
spoils with them.
The Schnai weren’t the only ones to note the
Fruztii’s increased presence in the northeastern theatre. Tenh had heard of the
Frost Barbarian’s alliance with Ratik, and they’d heard of their joint strike
into the Bluefang-Kelten Pass, and they sent emissaries to treat with them,
for, as they explained to them, we have common cause against the Fists of
Stonehold, and the Fruztii listened.
One must always give credit where credit is due. This piece 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:
Orc by pierrick
Ms-Orc-Queen by bayardwu
Gnoll by fredrikeriksson1
Pronoiarii by cilindr0
The-prey by benwootten
On-A-Tropical-Island by tohdraws
Study by pho001boss
Jungle-Temple-Landscape-1 by lloydpariseagle
Sources:
1015
World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1043
The City of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1989
1064
From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
2011A
Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Ed., 1979
9025
World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9398
WGR4 The Marklands, 1993
9399
WGR5 Iuz the Evil, 1993
9577
The Adventure Begins, 1998
9578
Player’s Guide to Greyhawk, 1998
11374
The Scarlet Brotherhood, 1999
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
Anna
B. Meyer’s Greyhawk Map
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