“The flowers left thick at nightfall in the wood
This Eastertide call into mind the men,
Now far from home, who, with their sweethearts, should
Have gathered them and will do never again.”
―
Was war
inevitable? Not so, philosophers might claim, citing that, War is the failure of discourse.
Were
that so.
But has
there ever been a time when the Flanaess has not been hung on tenterhooks? Not
poised on the brink of conflict, and perhaps disaster? Its majesty and gentry
would argue that peace and prosperity has reigned supreme under their husbandry.
Consider the state of the Sheldomar, Niole Dra would declare, dismissive of
their Short and Small Wars, and their continued discord with their kith and kin
of the Hold. Consider Pax Aerdia, the Celestial Houses of the Great Kingdom
would cite, blind to their own descent, and their endless parade of patricide,
fratricide, and indeed, their natiocide.
They cite
not what is obvious for all to see were they to look, but at their small
victories, and declare that today is the brightest of days. The first of many,
the first of centuries of bright days.
576-580
CY
 |
| The Terror of the Seas |
Original
Slavelords terrorize the coast. [Slavers – 120]
For several years, organized bands of pirates and
slavers have made a living by raiding the coastal towns on the Sea of Gearnat.
Ranging from Onnwal to the Wild Coast, they have descended quickly and
ruthlessly on the small towns and villages, and carried off innocent citizens
into the night. [A1 – 2]
Before
long, Stalman Klim’s Yellow Sails were the terror of the seas.
The lords have finally become determined to take
action, forgetting their petty squabbles to unite against the marauders of the
yellow sails. [A1- 2]
579
CY
(Early)
 |
| Ever at Odds |
Semiregular skirmishes between Aerdy's South Province
and Nyrond erupted into open hostilities in early 579, when Overking Ivid V
made war against the so-called "Golden League" (Nyrond, Almor, and
the Iron League). [LGG – 15]
(End)
In 579 CY, the Iron Alliance expanded to formally
include Almor, and together with its supporters in Nyrond was dubbed the Golden
League. A series of naval battles in Relmor Bay soon followed [.] [LGG –
58]
[I]n 579 CY, reacting to increased militarism on
behalf of Ivid and Herzog Chelor of South Province, Nyrond, Almor, and the Iron
League banded together to form the Golden League, a military union that
presented a declaration of war against the Great Kingdom in late Needfest. Not
to be outdone, Aerdy followed up with its own decree, stating that Rel Mord
would fall within the year and the treacherous King Archbold III would pay for
the sins of his rebellious ancestors [.] [LGG – 78]
580 CY
The Order of the Scarlet Sign watched the hostilities
with interest. And concern. A stable Great Kingdom had always served them well.
This is not to say that an unstable Great Kingdom did not invite thought that the
realisation of their destiny was at hand.
They had the tools to do so, they believed. They had
agents afield, and minions and mercenaries at hand. And artifacts of chilling
power, should they learn how they might be applied. Alas, they had fallen short
of divining how that might be, thus far. Their experiments upon the Weeping
Hexagram and the Ziggurat of Black had yet to yield results. Luckily, fate had
intervened before any could be reached. When I say fate, I mean Fate—Istus. She
sent the spirit of her minion, Morgoroth, to put an end to such doings; and
just to be sure, for she is always sure, she had set others on that same path.
No artifact, no matter how minor, linked to Tharizdun, shall be left to tempt
His faithful. It had to be destroyed.
[The Weeping Hexagram] was broken in 6096 SD when a
party of outworlders led by a paladin of Hieroneous infiltrated Hesuel Ilshar
and discovered the location of the hexagram. [SB – 86]
(End)
The Great Kingdom of Aerdy’s war with the “Golden League” had stalled.
[B]y the end of 580 Ivid V gained a minor victory
against the insurgents by preventing their further expansion and stalemating
their armies. [LGG – 58]
Had either combatant won? No. Neither side could claim as
much, although both did. Or so they told themselves.
Though this dreary war lasted through to the end of
580, it resolved nothing except to drain the coffers and manpower of both Aerdy
and Nyrond, leaving them weakened [.] [LGG – 15]
Early
580’s
 |
| Turrosh Mak |
In the early 580s, a new leader emerged to unite the
tribes, a rabble-rousing half-orc named Turrosh Mak. [LGG – 88]
c. 581 CY
Not all news was bad. The cause of Evil was dealt a blow
that raised the hopes and spirit of all souls who dwelt on the shores of the
Wooley Bay.
Mercenaries had been commissioned to deal with the
Slavelords, for once and all time, and Klim and his associates were put to the
sword. The Slavers were no more. Or were they? Klim and many of his allies
escaped, whence, none could say.
In truth,
despite their declaration the lords and ladies of the Wild Coast and the Wooley
Bay were ever mindful that yellow sails could once again sail their seas with
as much impunity as they had until then.
[The] Slavelords were defeated. Through their raids
harried only the Wild Coast and lands of the Bright Desert, reports of entire
villages disappearing made the Slavelords the scourge of the free lands. [Slavers
– 2]
581 CY
In 6096 SD, a small
band of foreign mercenaries reached the Brotherhood’s hidden city, penetrated
its defenses and seized a mysterious artifact that had been discovered months
before. [SB – 5]
The paladin’s holy sword broke the hexagram into three
pieces when the two made contact, but the Brotherhood was able to intervene
before the artifact was completely destroyed. Now they study the pieces and
their fragmented powers, and seeks way to repair the item. [SB – 86]
Had the Oerth been spared? Surely only Istus knows
whether it was, and by how near a margin. If only Istus understood gratitude.
But alas, Hers is a web of innumerable strands, and lives are such short things
to one so seemingly capricious.
Shaken by the
infiltration, the Brotherhood tracked down and killed the mercenaries before
they escaped the peninsula, but the artifact—the black hexagram that wept blood
during the daylight—was destroyed.
[SB – 5]
Despite creeping insanity, [Ivid V] ably defended his
realm from the combined forces of the Golden League (579-580) and civil unrest
during the Red Death plague of 581. After years of political maneuvering and
scheming, Ivid finally brought far-flung provinces together in an attempt to
launch a great war to reestablish the former glory of the empire of the Aerdi.
[LGG – 24]
Ivid was
never so insane that he did not see where threats to his rule might come from;
and act to extinguish them. Then again, there’s no saying that those threats
were, in truth, real…. Or, indeed, that he is sane, either….
Ishainken is not without interest; he knows some
hidden secrets concerning the Naelax bloodline. Specifically, he has carefully
concealed at his home castle a text written by Xaene himself. It states that
Ivid V was not the biological son of Ivid IV, but rather the son of a union
between a tanar'ri and an enchantress. While the claim may be wholly false, the
individual who owned the other copy was pursued for years by Ivid's agents and
finally slain (Stankaster of Stankaster's Tower; see From The Ashes, Campaign
Book). [Ivid – 33]
STANKASTER TOWER
This fire-blasted ruin once stood nearly a hundred and
fifty feet high, the marbled home of the Invoker Stankaster. What little
reliable eyewitness evidence exists reports that a great magical battle, with
fire, acid, meteor storms, and earth elementals, raged here for two days and a
night in 581 CY, until the tower was breached. What has become of Stankaster,
and who his assailant was, is a mystery. [FtAC – 30]
No one knows what happened to Stankaster [. He] may
have escaped, or [he] may have died. Stankaster was an invoker who fled the
Great Kingdom. He reputedly had information on Ivid’s genealogy. Ivid sent
fiends and mages to silence him. [Dragon #191 – 67]
581-582
CY
Let others die.
That was the purpose of hobgoblins and the lesser Suloise of Hepmonoland: to
sacrifice themselves for the Greater Destiny of the Suel.
And let others
toil: The Flan and the Olman and Touv. And yes, the Oeridians, too.
But realising
their plans was not going to be easy. Some, most, of the lesser cultures were
reticent about realising their place in the world.
Some, like to
descendants of the original Suels do:
The Zarii are
content with their lot; in exchange for goods and warriors, they receive exotic
(to them) clot, weapons and food. They ferry agents of the Brotherhood along
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 astep
above hobgoblins. [SB – 55]
Others, like the
Tuov Kunda Kingdom do not:
Emissaries from the Scarlet Brotherhood were slain and
sent downriver, which caused the Brotherhood to patrol the Jolan coast; Prince
Ilamo Alamo looks forward to testing the blades of his warriors against the
flesh of the white-skinned northerners. [SB – 50] (6096-6097 SD)
Korenth Zan was not dissuaded from his plan. If anything,
such failures were lessons learned.
More warrior, thief and wizard agents were deployed
into the outer world. [SB – 5]
But those agents were, if anything, more circumspect.
Korenth Zan ordered that agents in the field no longer
be tattooed with identifying marks: How can members of a secret society travel
undisguised when all bear a distinctive symbol on their forearm? [SB – 5]
Korenth Zan took further measures to ensure that the
secrets of the Scarlet Sign remained secret.
He also revised their policy of allowing rare visitors
into their secret city – thereafter outsiders in the forbidden city would never
leave, even if it meant blinding, amputation, or death. [SB – 5]
One might say that events were afoot.
What did the Elves know of what was to transpire?
Who can say? They see much and say little. Whatever they knew, they were taking
steps. To the west, the Highfolk of the Vesve were taking up arms; Celene was
closing its borders. So too the elves of the Spindrifts who began to debate the
wisdom of ever having allowed humans to settle upon their shores.
582 CY
War had come to the Flanaess, though few knew it. Of
those who did, few paid it much heed then. It began far afield. It was a
northern affair. It was none of their affair. Barbarians raiding, they reasoned.
They were an unruly lot, and they would scatter in due time, as they always
had.
But the Barbarian’s conquests gave others ideas.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Ivid V ordered the
Great Kingdom's armies to muster, with the intention of paying back his foes
for centuries of impudence. The war that followed was staggering in scope and
consequence. [LGG – 15]
While one thought to act, another power, far more patient, thought to bide their time, and wait, and see.
Throughout the first year of the war, one faction had
remained notably silent—the ominous Scarlet Brotherhood of recent legend. While
other nations hurled massive armies against each other, the Brotherhood
insidiously wormed advisors into courts of kings. Against armies the Father of
Obedience sent agents. Though the isolated Brotherhood seemed a mere bystander
in the wars, nothing could have been further from the truth.
The first phase of the Scarlet Brotherhood’s plan was
simple-wait and watch. The Father of Obedience spent the opening months of the
war assessing who would fight whom and where the true centers of power lay. So
long as the war stayed in the north, the Father of Obedience contented himself
with reports from agents in all camps. These men, posing as tutors and learned
sages from before the start of hostilities, advised lords and commanders and
thereby added the Brotherhood’s invisible hand to every battle. In all things,
these spies worked to assure that neither side came too close to victory or
treaty. The Father of Obedience commanded that the war continue, and so it did.
Another group of the Brotherhood’s agents work even
further afield, in desolate and horrible places. These men sought out foul
things and whispered promises in their ears. “Arise, take the lands of men as
your own, and you shall find great reward,” was their song. From the
Crystalmists to the Troll Fens, fell creatures responded. Thus, like the silent
and inexorable tug of the moon, the Father of Obedience raised the tide of
evil. [Wars – 22]
583
CY
And the Elves of the Spindrifts were taking steps
to safeguard their mysteries. And to finally withdraw from the trials and
tribulations of humans.
For centuries the Spindrift Isles maintained their
independence from all foreign powers, both through strength and through
cunning. Perhaps the Scarlet Brotherhood made incursions into the Council of
Seven in the years leading up to the Greyhawk Wars, but they were given no time
to take advantage of their gains before the high elves took control of Lendore
Isle. Elves have always been plagued with mysticism, and those of the
Spindrifts had finally succumbed to the cult of Sehanine. The Final Calamity,
it seemed, had arrived.
 |
| A Bloodless Revolution |
In 583 CY, the elves moved swiftly to subjugate
Lendore Isle, offering the humans safe passage to the Sea Barons, the Lordship
of the Isles, Medegia, or elsewhere along the east coast of Aerdy as it then
was. They simply informed the humans that the time had come for the elves to
use the whole island chain for religious purposes, and no mere humans would be
allowed to get in the way. A minority were permitted to stay as humble
fisherfolk and laborers. [FtAA
– 30]
Nonhumans are very rare here except in the Lendore
(Spindrift) Isles, where elves were as common as humans until they took over
the cluster in 583 CY and forced almost every other race out. The southern
islands are subtropical in climate, while the northern isles are temperate. [LGG – 146]
Ivid struck north and south. This time the Golden League
would collapse without upstart Nyrond to buttress them. His Glorioles Army pressed
into Almor, and ultimately into Sunndi.
With sizeable but unreliable armies, the Overking
struck in several directions at once. His Glorioles Army crossed the Thelly
River and entered the Glorioles. After hacking through stiff resistance there,
the army broke south into the County of Sunndi. [Wars – 13]
By 583 CY, the heavily bulwarked Ahlissan presence in
the area coupled with extreme attrition among the elf and dwarf protectors of
northern Sunndi made for a disastrous combination. With the full might of the
Glorioles Army, Herzog Chelor pushed south all the way to Pitchfield, burning
the count's estates and ravaging the central countryside. Thousands of Sunnd
perished in battle against one of Ivid's most skilled armies. For a time, it
seemed as if the entire nation would be lost. [LGG – 111]
Months later, as Ivid's Northern Army converged on
Innspa and Almor seemed certain to fall before the might of the Glorioles
regiments, Archbold called upon his lords to provide him with an army never
before seen in Nyrond's long history. Crops would wither in the fields, bandits
would be free to prey upon the roadways; to Archbold, the very survival of
Nyrond was at stake. [LGG – 78]
The Glorioles Army of the Overking, though victorious,
had suffered badly in its conquest of Sunndi. [Wars – 14]
Ivid’s
ambition was beyond his reach, it would seem.
Ivid launched an attack upon Nyrond, Almor, and the
Iron League states, but the conflict served only to bring ruin to the
heartlands of the Great Kingdom and destruction to many tens of thousands of
citizens. Ivid made terrible enemies of his kinsmen. [LGG – 24]
Indeed,
the heroism of a select few were the inspiration that even the defeated could
strike a blow for freedom.
Osson’s Raid
 |
| Commandant Osson |
The plan would have met with insurmountable objection
from older and “wiser” knights had the prelate wavered even momentarily in
support of his young protégé. [Wars – 13]
Knowing that neither of his armies could long
withstand the full attention of the Great Kingdom, the commandant hoped to
divert Ivid’s armies away from Almor. [Wars – 13]
Osson first struck south, passing through the Thelly
Forest. With speed and surprise on their side, the horsemen brushed away
Ahlissa’s ill-trained troops and plunged into the South Province. [Wars –
13]
Instead of returning to Almor, Osson led his horsemen
into the Rieuwood. […] At the Battle of Rieuwood, Osson initiated the tactic of
false retreat that was to become his hallmark. Believing the cavalry routed,
the Aerdians gave chase, only to blunder into a deadly trap. The Glorioles Army
was decimated. [Wars – 14]
Osson chose [to] a march on the See of Medegia. For
Almor’s sake, Osson [reasoned], the cavalry must continue to pressure the Great
Kingdom. [Wars – 14]
Osson’s army crushed the forces of the Holy Censor and
seized the land from Pontylver to Lone Heath. Spidasa, the Holy Censor, fled to
Rauxes to beg his imperial majesty’s forgiveness. Compassion failing him, Ivid
V arrested the chief cleric and sentenced him to the Endless Death. [Wars –
14]
(Winter)
It was
then that the Scarlet Brotherhood took measures in the Duxchans.
The Duxchan
Isles had always been an unpredictable port of call. One always had to wonder
where its allegiances lay. The answer to that question had always been obvious
to any who had laid foot upon its beaches: With itself, for the most part.
This chain of islands has been occupied by the Suel
for nearly one thousand years, and this race remains the most dominant
population of the isles, most notably on Ansabo and Ganode. [LGG – 70]
These pirates and buccaneers were the terror of the
south, holding a near stranglehold over traffic through the southern straits
and raiding the southern coastal cities with ease. [LGG – 71]
But they had been put to rights, brought into the fold,
and once the Aerdi had placed one of its own upon its throne, flown the colours
of the Kingdom.
The island lords became very rich over the next few
centuries, profiting from the trade that flowed through their islands, a
portion of which was due the herzog of South Province. [LGG – 71]
But one always had to wonder, even if it had been
properly cowed and held at bay….
And so it had been. Until it joined the Iron League. And
so it seemed it would remain. Would the Lordship have stood with the League? It
might have, but it was never given the chance to prove what faith might have
been laid upon that decision.
During the Greyhawk Wars, the wintry Latmac Ranold was
abruptly deposed and an unheralded successor immediately took his place. [LGG
– 72]
 |
| Frolmar Ingerskatti |
It is clear to most that Ingerskatti is a puppet of
the Scarlet Brotherhood, but little can be done about it, as these cultists are
very successful at putting their operatives in key positions within the realm,
deposing Oeridians whenever possible in favor of loyal Suel. [LGG – 72]
The Lordship of the Isles quickly became a hotbed of
intrigue. The new prince, a little-known Suel lord named Frolmar Ingerskatti of
Ganode, immediately withdrew the Lordship from the Iron League and set about
lending his naval forces to the maneuvers of the Scarlet Brotherhood, including
the blockade of the Tilva Strait that continues to the present day. [LGG –
72]
Prince Frolmar Ingerskatti [, the] new ruler
surprisingly proclaimed his support of the Great and Hidden Empire of the
Scarlet Brotherhood. This proclamation not only pulled the Lordship from the
alliance, but effectively trapped Commandant Osson of Almor in Medegia. [Wars
– 15]
583-584 CY
While the war would be decided afield in the north, with
great armies waging great battles, the lifeblood of its youth spilled upon the
land, the fate of the south was decided upon the seas, for the most part.
The Lordship of the Isles and its new lord declared
support of the Brotherhood during the winter of 583-584, and Irongate reacted
with revulsion at the activities of its former ally. These included raids on
ports of the Iron League and assisting in the subsequent isolation of Irongate
by blockading the city. The city's fleet suffered greatly at their hands, and
now has standing orders to attack the ships of the Lordship of the Isles upon
sight. [LGG – 58]
Straits
were blockaded. And trade and supply waned to a trickle, and what little that
did find its way to port was paid for dearly. If at all.
The Lordship of the Isles long collected tribute from
states wishing to use this long, tropical, shark-infested passage between the
Tilvanot Peninsula and northwestern Hepmonaland. Such tribute was negotiated
through diplomats and paid in advance, and Lordship vessels patrolled the
straits, hunting for vessels whose home states had not paid the fee while also
ensuring that those who had paid made the journey safely (i.e., were not
attacked by pirates, rumored to actually be Duxchaner privateers). When the
Lordship fell to the Scarlet Brotherhood in late 583 CY, the nature of the
tribute changed. A complete blockade of the straits was applied, with only
ships of the Scarlet Brotherhood or Lordship of the Isles being allowed free
passage. Cargo from other states could be shipped by Lordship vessels through
the straits for an exceptionally high fee. It is heard that piracy here has
fallen dramatically as a consequence. The Brotherhood may have charmed sea monsters
into aiding the blockade, but details are not available. [LGG – 150]
The
great battles of the Greyhawk Wars were indeed waged in the north. But there
were other battles waged, less grand in scope, but as significant. The Scarlet
Brotherhood took steps that would ensure their stranglehold over the entirety
of the south when they invaded Hold of the Sea Princes.
Farther south is the Hold of the Sea Princes, once
ruled by slave owners and former pirates, now torn by civil rebellion against
the Scarlet Brotherhood, which invaded in 583 CY. [PGtG – 5]
 |
| “Submit to the Scarlet Brotherhood or be destroyed.” |
Who
could stop them? Keoland? Keoland was watchful of Ket and of the giants who
were then boiling out of the mountains into Geoff. And of Turrosh Mak in the
Pomarj.
The Iron
League? They were pitted against Ivid, themselves blockaded, and fighting for
their very existence.
As 583 came to a close, the king met in Oldred with
representatives of Almor, Onnwal, Idee, Sunndi, the Pale, the County of Urnst,
and Irongate. There, all but the Pale signed the Eastern Pact of Alliance, a
treaty meant to ensure the containment of Ivid's armies. [LGG – 78]
The coming of winter brought respite to all the
warring states. […]
In the east, rains had an equally retarding effect.
Mired in mud and hamstrung by the Overking’s pettiness, the Great Kingdom’s
armies massed on the borders of Medegia, Almor, and Nyrond. Osson’s raid and
the coming of the rains bought the Almorians time to fortify their borders and
gather new reserves. Nyrond also raised new armies to meet the threat from the
Great Kingdom.
Though the winter halted armies, it seemed to spur
diplomatic efforts forward. The Bone March, fairly reeling from promises of
gold and land, cast its lot with Ivid V, pledging to march when the snows
lifted. Ahlissa, sensing its fate could have been like Medegia’s, affirmed its
intention to fight at the Overking’s side. The Sea Barons too expressed their
steadfast resolve, while the North Province crowed about its ever faithful
loyalty to the crown.
The Overking’s entry into the war simplified one task
for Almor and Nyrond—persuading the Iron League to join the alliance. With
Irongate, Idee, and Sunndi threatened, the land-based members of the League met
in Oldred at Archbold’s invitation and signed the Eastern Pact, formally
allying themselves against “the mad aggressions of the Great Kingdom.” The County
of Urnst also signed the pact, but the Theocracy, citing Nyrond’s many
heresies, refused to join. [Wars
– 14]
“Though the object of being a Great Power is to be
able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to
fight one.”
―
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:
Turrosh Mak detail, by Wayne Reynolds, from Slavers, 2000
Hesuel Ilshar map, by Sam Wood, from The Scarlet Brotherhood, 1999
Plague, by Karl Waller, from WG8 Fate of Istus, 1989
Amedio Suel, by Ken Frank/Charles Frank, from Greyhawk Wars box set, 1991
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
9025
World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9039
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity, 1980
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, 1995
Dragon
Magazine, 191
OJ
Oerth Journal, appearing on Greyhawk Online
LGJ et. al.
Greychrondex,
Wilson, Steven B.
Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda
The map of Anna B. Meyer
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