“But injustice breeds injustice; the fighting with
shadows and being defeated by them necessitates the setting up of substances to
combat.”
― Charles Dickens, Bleak House
The Schnai have always believed that Soull is the soul of
the Rhizians.
Were they not the most pure?
The Frost, Ice and Snow Barbarians are perfect
specimens of unmixed Suloise blood; the nearly albinoid Snow Barbarians are the
best example. [WoGA – 13]
They are also considered the best example of the
unmixed Suloise race, many being as pale as their namesake northern snows.
[LGG – 105]
Do they not build the strongest and most lithe ships?
The Schnai perfected the art of building longships[.]
[LGG – 54]
And are they not themselves the strongest?
The Snow Barbarians are the strongest and most
numerous of the northern peoples. [Folio – 15]
It matters not what any others think.
As a people, [the Rhizians] were always distinct from
the high culture of the civilized Suel. They were thought of as a mere rabble,
with a primitive dialect and no magic. In the north, they became the strong
masters of their own land, from which they would never be cast out. Thus, they
called it Rhizia, which means immovable. [LGG – 54]
The Cold Tongue: This dialect, also known as Fruz, is
primarily Suloise with Flan admixture. It is spoken commonly by the Ice, Snow.
and Frost Barbarians. It has no relation to Common, and even speakers of
Suloise find it hard to understand. [WoGA – 16]
The Schnai know who and what they are.
They are mariners.
[T]he Schnai explored the seas and the northern isles.
Their discovery of Fireland during the early years of Fruztii raids southward
was a great distraction. Rather than seek conquest in the Flanaess, they chose
to explore the Lesser and Greater Isles of Fire, while they built settlements
on the more habitable islands of Sfirta and Berhodt. [LGG – 106]
They are warriors.
The warriors of the Schnai are typical of the Suel
barbarians. They usually ply axe or sword in battle, and wear sturdy chainmail
coats. All use round shields, including the berserkers, who otherwise go
unarmored except for skins. Those berserkers dedicated to Vatun wield
shortspears or battleaxes, while the followers of Kord favor the broadsword.
The king himself favors Kord and has a company of berserkers among his
household. [LGG – 105]
They are the chosen of Vatun and Kord both.
For they live in a land that would cower most not born to
it.
The Corusks form a bow. the backbone of the
Thillonrian Peninsula which runs from the Solnor Ocean in the east, north and
west and then southwest where the range terminates (Hraak Pass). While the
lower parts of the mountains are inhabited by humans, various bands of evil
humanoids and monsters of all sorts dwell in the central fastness. It is
thought that this range possesses little in the way of valuable ores or gems. [WoGA
– 52]
Spikey Forest: This smallish woodland divides the
lands of the Frost and Snow Barbarians. Its tall pines are used by both peoples
for ship masts and spars. [WoGA – 59]
Schnabel: This river falls from the high Corusks north
of Soull and runs into the deep Schnafjord. [LGG – 152]
109 CY
Life has always been hard on the Thillonrian peninsula.
Survival was never certain, despite the shoals of plenty off their coasts, for
the tribes of Rhizia were forever vying for what might be had. The thanes of
Soull knew this. They were not destined to burrow into the oerth as others might
be: dwarves and gnomes, and those lesser men in the south; so if hard steel was
to be had, they must take it.
Several centuries after the founding of Aerdy, the
Suel barbarians began their sea raids. Apparently, they had been content to war
with each other through the dim years that preceded their attack on the Aerdy
coasts. The Fruztii were the dominant nation in these early raiding
expeditions, even going so far as to establish settlements south of the Rakers,
on the border of the Great Kingdom. Their raiding became so chronic that
eventually the Aerdi sent troops to deal with the settlements directly. Many
battles were fought over the years, but the Fruztii resisted all attempts to
dislodge them. Eventually, the armies of the Great Kingdom overwhelmed the
combined force of Suel barbarians, and the Frost Barbarians took most of the
losses. The Fruztii were never again dominant in the north. [LGG – 44]
128 CY
Nor were they to be displaced, either. Or kept from what
they might take. As the southerners sought to do.
The Frutzii and Schnai launch a concentrated naval
attack on Marner. This force is defeated by General Sir Pelgrave Ratik of
Winetha. [LGG – 90]
In 128 CY, the Fruztii and Schnai allied to create an
invasion flotilla. They launched a concerted attack on Marner during the spring
that almost caught the Aerdi by surprise. In defense, General Ratik set the
major approaches to the port ablaze, forcing the armada through a narrow
approach where it was cut to pieces by the siege engines of the fort and a
squadron of the imperial navy. [LGG
– 90]
316 CY
As they ventured ever further south, their purity was
remarked upon; and noticed by those who would look to such a thing: The Scarlet
Brotherhood, for instance. They took note of these northern Suel; and soon established
relations with them. (SD 5831)
Travelers from the south came to call at the courts of
the barbarian Suel. Calling themselves the Brothers of the Scarlet Sign, they
claimed to be kin of the Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruski. By blood, perhaps they
were kin, though distantly—but, in spirit, they were the same devious
manipulators who claimed to rule the ancestors of the northern Suel. They came
with tales of the lost glory of the Suel race and its ruined empire. [LGG –
55]
We are your brothers, they said.
By 5831 SD,
relations were established with the Suel tribes of Schnai, Fruztii, and Cruskii
in the northern lands. The people of the Thillonrian peninsula had adapted
their original culture for their cold new homes, and the representatives of the
Kingdom of Shar (actually Brotherhood members) took some getting used to. The
southerners’ gifts of exotic woods and fine weapons eventually won over the
barbarian kings. Culturally primitive by Brotherhood standards, the northern
barbarians were beautiful examples of unpolluted Suel bloodlines, and many
specimens were lured to Shar as “emissaries.” With the intent of improving the
southern Suel stock. [SB –
4]
356 CY
The Rhizans took note that the peoples of Aerdi were not
content with their foothold south of the Timberway. Indeed, they spawned like
rabbits, and began to erect cities and palisades within those lands that the
Rhizians had long claimed to be theirs.
Barbarians from the North invade the Aerdy’s North
Province, forcing the Overking to divert troops from the western front thus
insuring Nyrond’s survival. [WGG3e – 3]
[A] massive invasion by a unified host of Fruztii and
Schnai threatened to overwhelm the nations and sweep into North Province in 356
CY. The Rax Overking Portillan was concurrently embroiled in a struggle over
the secession of Nyrond and had assembled an invasion force to head west, which
he was forced to divert north to counter the new threat. The attack was soon
turned back, though at great cost. So fierce was the defense of the men and
dwarves of Ratik that even the Fruztii were impressed. [LGG – 90]
When the Kingdom of Aerdy became an empire, its
leaders determined to crush the troublesome barbarians pushing down from the
Thillonrian Peninsula and settling in the strip of land between the Rakers and
Grendep Bay. Being indifferent sailors, the Aerdians opted to attack overland,
and began sending strong parties northward to drive the invaders from the north
back to their homeland. After many sharp skirmishes, a large contingent of
imperial troops was routed, and full-scale warfare began. [WoGA – 20]
A relief force fought a pitched battle with these
barbarians, most of whom were slain - along with several thousand imperial
soldiers. [WoGA – 20]
The barbarians counterattack the construction site of
Spinecastle in the winter but are defeated by the forces of Knight Protector
Caldni Vir in the Battle of Shamblefield. Overking Manshen names Vir the first
marquis of the Bone March. [LGG- 90]
They failed. The Fruztii had spent the lion share of
their strength in the endeavour. The Schnai had sent far fewer of their number,
and were thus spared the same fate.
490 CY
Orvung Eldgrimsen is born.
Conjecture on my part, as he is referred to as Old King Orvung in the
Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, and to be old, he ought to be…well…old.
522 CY
Orvung Tigerclaw ascends the Schnai throne at age 32.
Conjecture.
I have also taken liberty, suggesting that when a Rhizian
reaches maturity, he can claim his own name.
Their greatest kings and jarls have all been
seafarers, beginning with Schoffmund the Strong, who defeated the Kraken of
Grendep Bay. Since his day, all dead Schnai kings are interred in ships, which
are ignited and set adrift on the sea. [LGG – 106]
532 CY
Ingemar Hartensen is born.
Conjecture.
He is not Orvung’s son, else he would be named Orvungsen.
I have placed his birth before Hundgred Rälffson’s
(placed by me in 549 CY), as Hundgred is referred to as the “young” king of the
Fruztii in thre Living Greyhawk Journal.
Ingmar is noted as a CN male human Bbn16 in the
same work, and I would imagine that it should take a number of years to gain
that level of experience.
550s CY
The Schnai took pity upon their less fortunate brethren.
The Fruztii, always impulsive, always reckless, had wasted themselves in
vainglorious pursuits. They had spent themselves upon southern shields, and had
brought their selves low. The Schnai knew better. Sure in their supremacy, they
saw no need to conquer the southerners, when they could take what they wanted,
whenever they wanted.
Weakened, the Fruztii had proved themselves unfit to
guard Rhizian shores, as Vatun had decreed they should. So be it, the Schnai would
ensure the Fruztii do as they were destined.
The Frost Barbarians are the weakest of the three
nations (of Suel peoples) inhabiting the Thillonrian Peninsula, called Rhizia
by these peoples. They have never recovered from the Battle of Shamblefield,
and have been under the suzerainty of the Schnai for the past two decades - and
several times previously as well. [WoGA – 21]
561 CY
Kendyra of Soull is born.
[WGR3 Rary the
Traitor – 31]
More on her later.
575 CY
Kingdom of Schnai (Snow Barbarians): Orvung, F16
[WoGG – 17]
Orvung’s gambit had failed. When the Euroz fell upon the
Bone March in 560 CY, the Fruztii had demanded that the Rhizians attack Ratik
en mass while they were distracted. Orvung refused. The nerve, he thought, that
the Fruztii should demand anything of the Schnai when they could not defend
their own shores. He would not shed Schnai blood for Fruztii glory.
The Bone March fell.
And the Fruztii betrayed their kin! They treated with
their long-time enemy. And allied with them!
The newly proclaimed Archbaron of Ratik frantically
organized his forces after the joint Ratiker-Fruztii foray into the Bluefang-Kelten
Pass. 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]
Orvung waited,
sure the Fruztii would suffer defeat, their youth wasted in defence of the
Aerdi.
576 CY
His Bellicose
Majesty, King of the Schnai (Fighter, 16th level)
Capital: Soull
(5,400)
Population:
90,000 +
Demi-humans:
Some
Humanoids:
Many (in mountains)
Resources:
copper, gems (L II)
[Folio – 15]
The Snow
Barbarians are the strongest and most numerous of the northern peoples. Several
decades ago they captured the west coast below Glot and have managed to hold it
since. For a time the Frost Barbarians were under the thumb of the King of the
Schnai, but the Fruztii are now free except in pledge. This has not affected
general concord with either neighbor, as all three consider the Great Kingdom
and the Sea Barons as their most natural source of easy loot and profit.
Although fighting invading humanoids has become a national pastime. there are
sufficient men left to man the longships when campaigning season in the south
is at hand. It is rumored that the Baron of Ratik has sent messages to the King
of the Schnai proposing four-way cooperation to take the Hold of Stonefist and
the Bone March. Supposedly this proposal offers Glot and Krakenheim as possible
gains for the Schnai, while the Fruztii and Cruski would divide the Hold, part
of Timberway would be returned to the Frost Barbarians, and Ratik would rule
Bone March. The reaction to these proposals can not be guessed, but the Schnai
are undoubtedly keeping an eye on the joint Fruztii-Ratik ventures of late. [WoGA
– 35]
The Fruztii had not failed. If anything,
their alliance with Ratik had only grown more fast.
But they did not turn their backs on Soull
completely. Orvung saw the Fruztii’s duplicity. They would never be seen to
sever ties with their kin. Just in case their newfound ally ever saw fit to
betray them. Orvung kept watch on his brethren. Wisdom knew that one had to
keep enemies close.
Of late these
raiders have joined with Frost and Snow barbarians in order to counter the
growing strength of the coastal defenders of the Great Kingdom and the Sea
Barons. [WoGA – 26]
One never knew
when, or from where, betrayal might come.
[The Cruski]
will raid their cousins to the south, the Snow and Frost barbarians, or raid
with them into Ratik or the more tempting Great Kingdom. [WoGA – 26]
577 CY
Orvungs council
of thanes pondered the future. Fruztii was ever fast with Ratik, so Soull would
require allies. The King of the Cruski sent his envoy to Soull when bid, to
discuss what might be done should Fruztii prove false.
During the
season of 577, much minor activity took place along the coast of North Province
and off the northern end of the Island of Asperdi. Some raiders were met and
actions were fought; some slipped through, some turned elsewhere. Reportedly a
squadron of seven Schnai longships were set upon whilst sinking the hulks of
two provincial merchants, the vessels Marntig and Solos. Guided by the smoke
and flames, a flotilla of Baronial warships surprised the barbarians. Three of
the Schnai were rammed and sunk. In hand-to-hand action, the flagship of the
barbarians’ fleet was captured, but the three remaining longships escaped after
jettisoning all of their captured cargo. The flagship
was occupied with the help of prisoners who broke free during the confused
fighting and set fire to the vessel’s sail. Jarl Froztilth, leader of the
Schnai, many of his men, and the captured ship were all taken to Asperdi. News
of this success was said to have greatly heartened the Herzog.
This event
notwithstanding, many of the vessels from the cold north did manage to avoid
patrolling warships and successfully raid North Province and the Baronial
Isles. Captured cargo and undesired weapons are said to find a ready market at
Dekspoint (at the easternmost tip of Loftwood Peninsula) or at Marner in Ratik.
[Dragon #63 – 16]
It came to pass
that Fruztii, and indeed Ratik, paid Suoll visit. We need to cooperate,
Krakenheim pled. We are surrounded by enemies, they said. We need to gather our
strength if we are to survive their coming. We need to fight them in their
lands, and not our own.
578 CY
Events amongst the Schnai were quite similar to those
of their cousins to the north, in that they generally raided southwards and
carried heaps of goods back to towns of their realm. Unsettled conditions in
the Great Kingdom made for rich loot; coupled with the payment made by the
Cruski for the return of Ustula, the men of the region were pleased indeed with
their wealth in currency, goods, and slaves (thralls). Mutual cooperation
between the Schnai and Fruztii, and the Schnai and Cruskii as well, was at a
high level, and the raids from the Hold of Stonefist at a very low level. [Dragon
#57 – 14]
The Fruztii sent raiding bands to sea with the Schnai,
but due to careful urgings, numbers of mercenary troops also moved southward
into Ratik and joined the Baron’s troops there. These Fruztii returned with
knowledge of organized warfare and good-quality arms and armor and formed the
core of a new standing army organized by King Ralff II in 578. [Dragon #57
– 14]
Without actually declaring independence from Schnai
overlordship, the King of Fruzti showed that he was again capable of fielding
an army capable of either defending his territory or taking another’s. The
Schnai conveniently ignored the resurgence, probably hoping that the involvement
in Ratik would again reduce the Frost Barbarians to vassal status. [Dragon
#57 – 14]
579 CY
Orvung had begun to see the wisdom in these new and
renewed allegiances.
The Snow Barbarians, or Schnai, are the most powerful
and populous group, dominating Grendep Bay and the northern Solnor Ocean with
their longships. Their marauding armies, along with those of the Ice
Barbarians, have made these savages a major force in the land. [WGS2 Howl
From the North – 6]
Lexnol had been working on a treaty with the Schnai to
shore up his position against Bone March and its allies in North Kingdom [….]
[LGG – 89]
c. 580 CY
A major raid
into Stonehold was mounted several years ago by a combined force of Schnai and
Cruski, though they were ultimately driven back. Since then, the young king of
the Frost Barbarians has finally declared his nation's independence from the
Schnai, Old King Orvung might have gone to war over such an action [….] [LGG
– 106]
But Orvung was
not given the chance.
Because, there
were others in the Great Hall of Soull who did not agree with Orvung’s wisdom.
580 CY
The Scarlet Brotherhood was not pleased by
this development. They were pleased that the old king, Orvung, had
always viewed Lexnol and the Ratikians with distrust. Th Ratikians were scions
of the Great Kingdom, Orvung had always said, and despite the fate its mother
country, its true allegiance lay with them, and not the Rhizians. Yet Orvung
was treating with Ratik, potentially undermining Shar’s influence on the
peninsula. The old man had to go. They panned for potential gold, and
discovered Ingemar Hartensen.
He is old, they whispered.
Ancient,
they said.
Venerable. Past his time, they said.
The old tyrant is assassinated at age 90 by Ingemar
Hartensen, who seizes the throne in Soul in his 41st year. Pure
conjecture on my part. He is not Orvung’s son, else he would be named
Orvungsen.
[Orvung is king of the Schnai as of 576 CY,
as noted in the Greyhawk Boxed Set, and Ingemar Hartensen is king in 584 CY, as
noted in the from the ashes Boxed Set. References in the Living Greyhawk
Gazetter hint that the Fruztii and Cruski thrones are passed down through the
ruling family, and I would assume the Schnai no different. No mention was made
of Ingemar’s ancestry, so I took the liberty to add a little drama to the
succession.
I have placed Ingemar’s birth (in 532 CY)
before Hundgred Rälffson’s, because Hundgred is referred
to as the “young” king of the Fruztii in the Living Greyhawk Journal.
Ingmar is noted as a CN male human Bbn16
in the same work, and I would imagine that it should take a number of years to
gain that level of experience.]
Few rejoiced at the old king’s passing. Fewer
still protested. Even fewer too measures afterwards. To no avail. Few mourned
their passing, either.
582 CY
By this time, the
Cruski had regained Utsula from the Schnai, to whom they had lost it several
decades before.
The Schnai
also made war on the Ice Barbarians, wresting the Ustula region from them and
holding it for several decades. They never conquered the Ice Barbarians as they
did the Frost Barbarians, however, for the Cruski are nearly as able seafarers
as the Schnai. The Ice Barbarian warriors were also extremely fierce,
particularly the berserkers of Llerg, who know no fear—nor much of anything
else, being little more than human beasts.
By the time of
the Greyhawk Wars, the Cruski had regained Ustula, and the Fruztii had nearly
regained their independence. [LGG – 106]
One must never
say that the Schnai do not honour their word. They do. The sent a token force
north into the Hold of Stonefist, and another into the Loftwood. However, they
sent more of their scions asea, where they and the Cruski harried shipping and raided
the coastlands of the Great Kingdom with abandon.
The Snow
Barbarians have concentrated their attacks on the Great Kingdom and Sea Baron
shipping, although some of the Schnai are assisting the Frost Barbarians in the
Hold of Stonefist.
Rumors say
that the King of the Snow Barbarians was not pleased by a plan for the three
barbarian groups to ally with Ratik. Not that he didn’t trust the Baron of
Ratik, who proposed the plan, but for simpler reasons. Major invasions in the
Bone March would drive tens of thousands of humanoids into the North Province
and might precipitate an attack from the Great Kingdom. The King, being wily
and crafty, prefers not to attract the Great Kingdom’s full attention just now.
[WGS2 – 6]
All the
barbarians were inflamed by a rumor that swept their lands: that four of five
legendary magical swords, the Swords of Corusk, had been found, and that when
the fifth was obtained, a "Great God of the North" would rise and
lead them to conquest and greatness. The fifth sword never was found, but one
calling himself Vatun and claiming to be the Great God of the North appeared
before the barbarians of Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruskii, and they swept west into
Stonefist under his leadership. [FtAA – 6]
Under Vatun's
direction, the [Rhizians] swept into the Duchy of Tenh in 582 CY and conquered
it quickly. [FtAA – 6]
583 CY
Iuz’s deception
of Barbarians revealed, Iuz returns home.
[The Rhizians
were] drawn in by the false Vatun that briefly deceived them all. [LGG –
106]
The alliance
forged by Vatun soon collapsed. The Great God instructed the barbarians to
invade the small state of Ratik, but their chiefs refused; they had long allied
with Ratik against the humanoids of the Bone March and indeed against the Great
Kingdom itself. They began to doubt Vatun; very wisely, since Vatun was a sham
and a lie, a mask worn by Iuz the Old. [FtAA – 6]
When it was
revealed that this was a deception of Iuz the Old, the Suel barbarians withdrew
from the alliance created between their nations and the Stonehold. [LGG –
106]
584 CY
Ruler: His Bellicose Majesty, Ruler: His Bellicose Majesty, King Ingemar Hartensen of
the Schnai
of
the Schnai
Capital: Soull
(pop. 5,500)
[FtAA – 37]
Snow Barbarians
Population: 95,000
[FtAR#2]
Population: Human
79%, Dwarf 8%, Halfling 6%, Elf 3%, Gnome 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-orc 1%
Law: CN
Allies: Ice
Barbarians (sometimes), Frost Barbarians (sometimes), Ratik (sometimes)
Enemies: Empire
of Iuz, evil humanoids and giants in the Corusk Mountains, North Kingdom, Sea
Barons, Bone March, Stonehold, Frost Barbarians (sometimes), Ratik (sometimes),
Ice Barbarians (sometimes) Gnome 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-orc 1%
[WGG3e – 15]
The Snow
Barbarians are the strongest and most numerous of the northern Suel peoples.
They claim suzerainty over all the barbarian peoples, especially the Cruskii,
and are rather patronizing toward them. However, they have allied with their
fellows against the Great Kingdom for many decades and have been known to make
occasional forays against the Sea Barons.
Their alliance
with Ratik is less cemented than that of the Cruskii, but Ingemar seems
amenable to continued cooperation after the events of the Wars. He also has
great hatred for the Stonefisters, and wishes to mount a joint expedition with
the other barbarian races through the Griff Mountains to lay waste to Kelten.
Time will tell if this comes to fruition.
The Snow
Barbarians share many characteristics with their brethren, but are the palest
of all, many being almost albinoid. Platinum-blond hair is not unusual. [….]
This is a proud and strong race. [FtAA – 37, 38]
588 CY
(Mid-Year)
Where the Fruztii
and Ratik attacked the Hold if Stonefist from the Kelten Pass, Soull and Glot did
what they do best and sailed the open Icy Sea, landing where the Fists clung to
the coast, burning their shelter and driving them into the tundra.
Few stood against
them. Who could? Sevvord had led his Fists into Tenh.
Wars on the
border of Iuz's empire burned in the east as well. Iuz's control over the ruler
of Stonehold ended in 588. [LGG – 16]
In 588 CY, Iuz
lost his magical hold over Sevvord Redbeard [, who] largely abandoned his
occupation of Tenh and restructured his land […] to better fight against
outside threats. [PGtG – 12]
Reports were
already filtering back to the Stonefist troops that a force of Ice and Snow
Barbarians was raiding and burning its way across the eastern Hold, and all
wished to go home and do battle. [TAB – 22]
Many [of the
Fists] returned to Stonehold to defend their lands from attacks by other
barbarians. [TAB – 22]
The Schnai were
never engaged. They had not secured Kelten. Indeed, they had only remained
where they landed upon the Stonefist’s shore long enough to put those they
found to the sword, before setting sail again.
His army drove
the barbarians back from Kelten and secured the pass, while he returned to
Vlekstaad with his personal guard. The town was a smoking ruin, its inhabitants
dead or fled away. The Suel barbarians he blamed for the attack left no
survivors to describe the onslaught. A picked force of warriors pursued their
trail into the lower Griffs, where it disappeared. He decided the Suel had
obviously escaped through the mountains back to their homelands in Rhizia.
[LGG – 109,110]
Who had set
Vlekstaad aflame, Ingemar wondered? Surely not his fleet, although he would not
deny having done so if asked.
590 CY
Capital: Soull
(pop, 5,600)
Population:
209,000—Human 79% (S), Dwarf 8% (mountain 60%, hill 40%), Halfling 6%, Elf 3%,
Gnome 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-orc 1%
Languages: Cold
Tongue, Common, Dwarven, Halfling
Government:
Independent feudal monarchy with hereditary rulership, loosely governing
powerful jarls; jarls meet yearly at the Assembly of Knudje (without king
present), then send representatives to Soull to negotiate with king or have him
resolve judicial disputes; king and jarls each have a retinue of advisers
(clerics and skalds). [LGG – 105]
The warriors
of the Schnai are typical of the Suel barbarians. They usually ply axe or sword
in battle, and wear sturdy chainmail coats. All use round shields, including
the berserkers, who otherwise go unarmored except for skins. Those berserkers
dedicated to Vatun wield shortspears or battleaxes, while the followers of Kord
favor the broadsword. The king himself favors Kord and has a company of
berserkers among his household. They are usually kept at Knudje, rather than at
the king's court in Soull, though the king sometimes sends them to guest at the
halls of particularly troublesome jarls. The king's other troops are of a more
standard variety, including companies of good archers. He has a few horsemen as
well, masters of the long, scything axe. [LGG – 105]
Longships of
the Frost Barbarians, often in cooperation with the other Suel barbarians, raid
southward in spring to pillage along the coast of the new Great Kingdom of
Northern Aerdy and sometimes further south. The crews are typical examples of
barbarian warriors, wildly brave but rarely disciplined. No lack of discipline
afflicts the soldiers of the king of Fruztii, however; his standing army is highly
organized and well trained. The king's men are also well armored with chainmail
and shield, bearing swords or battle-axes. Several companies of archers and a
small force of cavalry based in Djekul are present. The Fruztii
are strongly allied to the Archbarony of Ratik in the south. Their young king
has even married a beautiful but headstrong Ratikkan noblewoman eight years his
senior. Changes are already apparent in the royal court at Krakenheim, with
more formal (or "civilized") trappings in the organization of the
government and the military. These changes do not meet with the approval of
many of the older jarls, but they remain loyal to Hundgred out of respect for
his noble father. [LGG – 44]
Ingemar and his
jarls pondered their future.
The Snow Barbarians, or Schnai, are the
most powerful and populous group, dominating Grendep Bay and the northern
Solnor Ocean with their longships. Their marauding armies, with those of the
Ice Barbarians, have also made themselves into a major force in the land. [WGS1 Five Shall Be One – 4]
The
Fruztii and Cruski had slipped from their grasp, for the present. But they had
before. And likely would again. But the Cruski were few. And the Fruztii brash.
Neither could stand without the Schnai for long. They never had. And never
will.
The other barbarian nations, once strong
allies of the Frost Barbarians, have begun to pull away from their more
sophisticated cousins. As the Scarlet Brotherhood and Ratik nobles gain more
influence at court, old allies feel less welcome. [WGG3e – 8]
An intermittent war smolders with
Stonehold. King Ingemar generously feasts and rewards his chaotic jarls to
insure their loyalty. Frost Barbarian jarls also being feted to gain their
friendship and influence; this is viewed as blatant bribery, but it works. The
king receives Scarlet Brotherhood agents at court, but privately says he does
not trust them. [LGG –
106]
Nor should he.
Ingemar watched his southern “kin.” They
professed that they were true to the Schnai. But they had been rumoured to have
been seen in Djekul. And Krakenheim. Did they whisper those same promises there
that they had to him? He also took note that he was not the only jarl in his
hall they lingered nearby.
He recalled when they had first approached
him. And pondered whether they might be plotting against him even now.
The Schnai are a restless people. Mariners.
Inclined to see far shores.
Not all born in Soull are invited to glory,
either.
Their
womenfolk have an unearthly beauty and are often found as a trainers (dogs and
dog-wolf hybrids), scouts, rangers, druids, or the like, despite the dominant
chauvinism of their men. [FtAA – 38]
So, there are
those who find glory where they might.
Kendyra of
the North
This
mysterious individual was born 25 years ago [assuming Rary the Traitor is set
in 586 CY, this would place her birth in 561 CY] to the Snow Barbarians of
Soull. Dissatisfied with the simple northern life, she left with a merchant
caravan and made her living as a mercenary warrior and scout, finally arriving
in the City of Greyhawk. After making a name for herself in several celebrated
adventures, she was contacted by the wizard Mordenkainen, and recruited as a
special agent. Mordenkainen's somewhat suspicious nature led him to keep
Kendyra's services secret from several members of the Circle, including Rary.
After serving Mordenkainen well, Kendyra was eventually allowed to visit the
Obsidian Citadel, the wizard's secret fortress. When Rary
founded his new kingdom in the Bright Lands, Mordenkainen immediately
dispatched Kendyra to the region, with orders to gather information on Rary's
progress and to organize what resistance she could to his rule. So far, she has
won the friendship of a tribe of desert centaurs, as well as some of Rary's
more fanatical dervish enemies.
Kendyra is a
tall, slender woman, her hair bleached near-white by the sun and her once pale
skin now dark, in contrast with her pale blue eyes. She dresses in buckskin and
desert robes and rides a gray horse named Tinhead (her fondness for the horse
is tempered by its rather stubborn nature). If encountered, she does not
discuss her mission unless she is sure that the party is opposed to Rary. [WGR3
– 31]
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.
Special thanks to Jason Zavoda for his
compiled index, “Greyhawkania,” an invaluable research tool.
The Art:
World of Greyhawk map detail, by Darlene, from the Folio, 1980
Sources:
1015
World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1064
From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
9317
WGS1 Five Shall be One, 1991
9337
WGS2 Howl From the North, 1991
9386
WGR3 Rary the Traitor, 1992
11742
World of Greyhawk Gazetteer 3e, 2000
11743
Living Greyhawk Gazeteer, 2000
Dragon
Magazine 57,63
Greyhawkania,
Jason Zavoda
The
map of Anna B. Meyer
