“I'm trying to think, don't confuse me with facts.”
―
Race is an obvious misnomer. Race
is an older, and rather unfortunate, tag from another age, a term that should
have only been applied to dwarves and gnomes, elves and halflings. And orcs and
goblins and gnolls. Am I forgetting half-elves and half-orcs? No. I expect we
could refer to them as hybrids, which then opens another, far more perplexing,
and possibly polarizing, discussion as to whether elves and humans and orcs are
really the same thing, seeing that they can procreate. The less said about that
the better, I imagine. It’s fantasy. ‘Nuff said.
What I wish to explore here is
Greyhawk ethnicity and not race: The Baklunish, Flannae, the Oeridian, and
Suloise. Little is said about the Rhennee, early on, less still about the
Olman, and nothing at all about the Tuov. I suppose that was because Greyhawk
was focussed on the Flanaess and not outlying regions like the Amedio and
Hepmonaland. Page count might have had a great deal to do with that, too, I
imagine. So who, or what, are these ethnicities? Building blocks: The stuff
that settings are made of.
Prior to world creation there
was no need to consider national or ethnic differences, not if all you were
doing was sallying forth from the Keep on the Borderlands to plunder the Caves
of Chaos. It was enough, then, to know that this PC is an elf, that a dwarf,
and this one a human.
Human characters are neither given penalties nor
bonuses, as they are established as the norm upon which these subtractions or
additions for racial stock are based. Human characters are not limited as to
what class of character they can become, nor do they have any maximum limit –
other than that intrinsic to the class – of level they can attain within a
class. As they are the rule rather than the exception, the basic information
given always applies to humans, and racial changes are noted for differences as
applicable for non-human or part-human stocks. [PHB 1e – 17,18]
Humans were what it meant to be unrestrained in levels or
attributes, but that also meant no special abilities or bonuses.
There was no need for ethnicity when the adventure is set
on the edge of an unnamed Humancentric Kingdom that apparently harboured elves
and halflings and dwarves. And gnomes; let’s not forget about them, although I
expect a great many did, especially if your game migrated over from Basic
D&D and there were none to speak of. It was only when the AD&D Dungeon
Masters Guide was released that a possible panoply of Human nations was
broached in the upcoming World of Greyhawk: Keoland and Ket and the Bandit
Kingdoms. Surely these nations were not homogenous; surely, they might be as
varied as Tolkien’s Gondor and Rohan and the town of Dale. Details were teased
in the Dragon magazine prior to its release. The World of Greyhawk would be
vast, indeed, a veritable continent as varied as your imagination might make
it; and that world was inhabited by peoples as varied as Europe was and is.
With
To divine what these people
were took a little work when the World of Greyhawk Folio was published. Their details
were scattered throughout. The salient and relatively contemporary history was
laid out at the beginning of the sourcebook, so too their aged disused
languages; but further inspiration had to be excavated from the paragraphs
detailing the individual nations.
One might say: In the
beginning, so far as the Flanaess is concerned, there was the Flan.
The Flan tribesmen were hardy and capable hunters but
not particularly warlike, and their small and scattered groups made no
appreciable civilizing effect. [Folio – 5]
But events were afoot in the west that would shake the
setting to its very foundation.
The Suel Imperium was located in what is now the Sea
of Dust. [LGG – 8]
-486 CY Beginning of the Baklunish-Suloise Wars
[Folio – 5]
It was fierce, and long. So long and fierce that people
fled it.
Migrating bands began settling the eastern portion of
the Oerik Continent, Flanaess, over a millenium ago. [Folio – 5]
The Oerid migrations were similar in cause to those of
the Suel, in that the Baklunish-Suloise Wars, and the hordes of Euroz and
associated humanoid groups used as mercenaries by both sides, tended to pillage
northwards and eastwards, driving the Oerids before them. [Folio – 5]
After inhabiting what is
now Ull for generations, barbaric Oeridians were driven east by orcs and
goblins employed as mercenaries by the Baklunish and Suel. [LGG – 6]
-447 CY Suloise migrations begin [Folio –
5]
The Suel Peoples, mainly fleeing from the great wars
in the Suloise Empire, moved northwards through the Kendeen (Harsh) Pass of the
southern Crystalmist Mountains (now known as the Hellfurnaces) and spread out
in all directions. [Folio – 5]
However heinous the war may have been, blows were struck
like none ever seen before. Or again.
One might surmise that the
Great Migration was launched by the Twin Devastations, but they had already
begun long before the lethal “exchange.”
The fierce Oeridian tribes likewise moved east,
thrusting aside Flan and Suloise in their path. [Folio – 5]
The migrating Oeridians were able fighters and battled
their way across the Flanaess, driving the Suel before them and allying with
the Flan, elves, dwarves, and other peoples. [LGG – 6]
As the migratory Oeridians ranged eastward in their
search for a land that would support them, they passed through many regions of
inhospitable climate, infertile land, and unfriendly local populations. Chief
among these lands were the rugged plains north of the Nyr Dyv, which resisted
meaningful human settlement for centuries, even as a strong Aerdi empire
created the Viceroyalty of Ferrond to the west. [LGG – 31]
Perhaps the biggest asset the Oeridians had, however,
was the vileness of the Suloise – for the majority lied, stole, slew, and
enslaved whenever they had inclination and opportunity. There were exceptions,
of course, such as the Houses of Rhola and Neheli – late migrants who settled
and held the Sheldomar as already mentioned. [Folio – 5]
What did we learn? That the Balkuni and Suloise destroyed
the ancient world, that the Suloise were largely evil, the Flan were of no true
consequence, and that the Oeridians were the heroic conquerors of the New
World. That’s well and good for a fairy-tale, but as things turned out, it was
and is more complex than that.
The Baklunish people have golden-hued skin tones. Eye
color is commonly gray-green or green, with gray uncommon and hazel rare. Hair
color ranges from blue-black to dark brown. [WoGA – 13]
The Baklunish, unlike the Suloise, retained much of
their culture after the fall of their empire. Honor, family, generosity, and
piety are fundamental virtues. Use of their classical language, Ancient
Baklunish, in religious observances, higher learning, and the fine arts has
preserved their ancestral traditions. [LGG – 5]
The Flan race have a bronze-colored complexion. This
varies from a lighter, almost copper shade to a very dark tone which is deepest
brown. Eye color is commonly dark brown, black, brown, or amber (in declining
order of occurrence). Hair coloration is black, brown-black, dark brown, or
brown. Also, Flannae tend to have wavy or curly hair. [WoGA – 13]
The Flan have broad, strong faces and sturdy builds.
[LGG – 5]
 |
| Oeridian |
The Suel race is very fair-skinned, some being almost
albino. They have light red, yellow, blond, or platinum blonde hair. Eye color
varies from pale blue or violet through deep blue, with gray occasionally
occurring. Curly to kinky hair is common. [WoGA – 13]
The Olman have skin of a rich red-brown or dark brown
color. Their hair is always straight and black, and their eyes are dark, from
medium brown to nearly black. Olman have high cheekbones and high-bridged
noses, a trait less strong in those of common birth. Some nobles still flatten
the foreheads of their young, for a high, sloping shape is considered
beautiful. [LGG – 6]
Rhennee resemble Oeridians except they tend to have
dark brown or black [curly] hair. They are shorter than average (about 5'
6" tall on the whole) and slender but quite [wiry] and strong. [WoGG –
6]
The Touv people have dark brown or black skin; blue or
brown eyes, with black eyes being rare; and straight or wavy hair. The have
rounded facial features and are typically shorter than most people of the
Flanaess, with the tallest Touv reaching about 5’10” in height. While most Touv
males do not have facial hair, certain subgroups can grow narrow beards from
the chins. Women’s figures are often rounded and lush. [SB – 36]
Details followed in the Dragon,
later republished in the World of Greyhawk Boxed Set:
The predominant racial strain and
particular admixtures of each of the major states of the Flanaess is given in
the list which follows. The first letter is the predominant strain. Thus,
"OSf" would mean an admixture of Oeridian with a strong Suel strain
and a weak Flan mix, as the "f" is uncapitalized. Had it been
"OSF" (with a capital F), the indication would be that the Flan
influence was only scarcely less than that of the Suel.
Almor - OS
Bandit Kingdoms - OFSb
Bissel - OSB
Bone March - (SO)
Dyvers - OSfb
Gran March - SOf
Great Kingdom - OS
Greyhawk - OSfb
Idee – OS
lrongate - Os
Keoland - SOf
Lordship of the Isles - So
Nyrond - Os
Pomarj - (SO)
Ratik - Sof
Rel Astra - Os
Sea Barons - So
Sea Princes - SOf
South Province - Os
Spindrift Isles - So
Sterich - OFS
Ulek, County - OFS
Ulek, Duchy - (Sfo)
Ulek, Principality - (SO)
Urnst, County - SO
Valley of the Mage - OBf
Veluna - Osf
Verbobonc - Ofs
Wild Coast - Sof
Yeornanry – Sof
[Dragon # 55/WoGA – 14]
The Flanaess looks rather
Oeridian-centric, doesn’t it? Followed ever so closely by the Suel, with the
Flan a bit of a conquered afterthought (I’ll let you apply possible real-world parallels).
That’s all well and good; it displays a basic understanding how cultural groups
migrate and could mix over time.
The fleeing Suel folk were scattered in a broadcast
fashion across the Flanaess, so that most tended to mix with other groups. [WoGA
– 13]
But what good is it? The Folio
and Boxed Set, and later supplements informed us of what the Suloise and Oeridians
were, not what they are. Surely they would have evolved over time, adapting to
their new environments. Wouldn’t they?
The Flan were the first known humans to live in
eastern Oerik, and it is from them that the Flanaess gets its name. [LGG –
5]
Slaves are taken
when territories are conquered, women taken as booty, added to harems, taken as
concubines. Thus, one can only expect that the Flan would never be entirely
eradicated. They persist. They endure.
People of the Duchy of Tenh are pure Flan, proud of
their bronze color. [WoGA – 13]
Geoff and Sterich, despite mixture, show strong Flan
racial influence. [WoGA – 13]
The Rovers of the Barrens are of the copper-toned sort
of Flannae, although the western tribes show the golden skin color of the
Baklunish due to interbreeding with the Wolf Nomad tribes. [WoGA – 13]
The people of the Hold of Stone Fist and the citizens
of the Theocracy of the Pale are primarily hybrids, the former Flan/Suel, the
latter Flan/Oeridian. The inhabitants of the Pale are particularly handsome. [WoGA
– 13]
Large pockets of Flan live in what are now Geoff,
Tenh, and the Barrens. [LGG – 5]
The people of Geoff and Sterich also show strong Flan
heritage, as do the Stoneholders, Palish, and certain Perrender clans. [LGG
– 5]
Granted, one might define the ethnic mixes noted above as
the most predominant bloodlines and not the totally inclusive muddle that would
truly be.
A discriminating reader might
divine that the peoples of the World of Greyhawk had long ago moved on from
what was written about them. Indeed, new nations developed, as one would
expect. With new languages. And identities.
The strongest tribe of the Oeridians, the Aerdi,
settled the rich fields east of the Nyr Dyv and there founded the Kingdom of
Aerdy, eventually to be renamed the Great Kingdom. [Folio – 5]
Great Kingdom - OS [WoGA – 14]
The most powerful empire in the modern Flanaess was
created by a conquering tribe of Oeridians, the Aerdi, who subjugated and
assimilated all who opposed them. [LGG – 6]
In time, they no longer refer to their selves as
Oeridians.
Once the most powerful force for order and good, the
Aerdians have declined over the last century to an unspeakable state of
decadency. [Folio – 10]
What language to they speak? The “common” tongue.
 |
| A "Common" Language |
Common – or Aerdi, as we call it – is only native to the
easter parts of the Flanaess, and to the north to a lesser extent. Why then, I
wonder, is Common a mix of Baklunish and Oeridian? The Oeridians migrated east
a millennia ago. Wouldn’t a predominately Oeridian with Suloise/Flan influences
be more likely, considering its locality, evolved from the Aerdi’s need to
communicate with those they conquered? Just as Keolandish should have sprung,
before it, from its cooperative cohabitation of a Suel nobility communicating
with a predominant Oerdian population, and its proximity to the elves of Celene
and the western Bakluni?
Keolandish: This widespread dialect of
Old High Oeridian has local admixtures. It is spoken in and around Keoland.
[LGG – 12] That’s the entire Sheldomar Valley, by the way, a tidy portion of the
western half of the map.
Sheldomar Valley ("Old Keoland") The fertile
Sheldomar Valley is almost completely enclosed by mountains until it reaches
the Azure Sea. Two great rivers, the Sheldomar and the Javan, water these lands
between the Crystalmists and the Lortmils. The climate here is warm and mild,
and many elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings live in peace alongside Suel,
Oeridian, and Flan farmers and lords. [LGG – 4]
Which nations are those, then? They would have been Gran
March – Sof, Keoland – Sof, Sea Princes – Sof, Sterich – OFS, Ulek, County –
OFS, Ulek, Duchy – (Sfo), Ulek, Principality – (SO), Yeomanry – Sof
The Pomarj – (SO) should also be included also, to
my mind, those who still survive still in that orcish nation.
Keoland held sway from the Pomarj to the Crystalmist
Mountains [.] [Folio – 12]
Geoff is not noted in the boxed set, amended later in the
Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. FSO [LGG – 48]
One can only presume that the Valley of the Mage – Obf
ought to be included due to proximity, and that fact that is must be
accessed through Geoff. To say nothing of Bissel, once a vassal state of
Keoland, a buttress to Ket. One might also wonder about Veluna, as its chief
deity is Flan and not Oeridian….
Perhaps not, though: Veluna and Furyondy were considered
part of the Great Kingdom (Ferrond) at its height.
Keoland[‘s] armies pushed into Ket and threatened
Verbobonc and Veluna City (c. 350-360 CY). [Folio – 12]
Regional dialects develop, becoming languages in their
own right:
Nyrondese: This High Oeridian dialect of
Common is spoken in rural areas of Nyrond. It is the primary language of
peasants, shopkeepers, and other common folk who distrust outsiders. [Folio
– 16]
Velondi: This Old Oeridian tribal tongue
is known to rural folk near the Furyondy-Veluna border. Those who speak only
Common cannot understand it. It has no written form. [Folio – 16]
Lendorian: This is an obscure dialect of
Suloise spoken in the Spindrift Isles. It has no relation to the Cold Tongue,
and is a secondary language to those who speak Common. [Folio – 16]
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. [Folio – 16]
Dragon #52 informs us which is spoken where, but that
article, “Adding Depth to the Flanaess,” by Len Lakofka, never broaches why
thousand-year-old languages like Flan and Oeridian are still in common use. They
would not be; no more than Latin is in common use today.
Why do new languages develop?
Because it is impossible that they would not, far removed from the administrate
centre of a vast empire. And with regional dialects, regional identity develops.
Then a shared independent culture.
From 213 CY on, the Aerdi overkings grew lax, caring
more for local prestige and wealth than for the affairs of their vassals in
distant lands. This period was called the Age of Great Sorrow. As each sovereign
passed, he was replaced with a more dimwitted and less competent successor,
until the outer dependencies of Aerdy declared their independence. The
viceroyalty of Ferrond led the way, becoming the kingdom of Furyondy. […] By
356 CY, the ruling dynasty of Aerdy, the Celestial House of Rax, had grown
especially decadent. In response, the western province of Nyrond declared
itself free of the Great Kingdom and elected one of its nobles as king of an
independent domain. [LGG – 14]
Aerdi, Keolandish, Nyrondese,
Velondi….
Why is it then that we cling to
the notion of the Oeridians and Suloise, and Flan? Probably because those
descriptives are raised constantly:
Nearly pure Oeridians are seen in Perrenland,
Furyondy, North Kingdom, Sunndi, and Onnwal. [LGG – 6]
The barbarians of the Thillonrian peninsula are pure
Suel, as are the elite of the Scarlet Brotherhood. The people of the Duchy of
Urnst and places in the Lordship of the Isles are nearly so. [LGG – 8]
The inhabitants of the Duchy of Ernst [sp] are nearly
of pure Suel race. [WoGA – 13]
Except for a notable few,
though, they are largely irrelevant as mentioned, for the most part.
The Frost, Ice and Snow Barbarians are perfect
specimens of unmixed Suloise blood; the nearly albinoid Snow Barbarians are the
best example. [WoGA – 13]
The Suel folk are quite predominant in the island
groups off the eastern coast of the Flanaess as well as on Tilvanot Peninsula,
in the Scarlet Brotherhood region. [WoGA – 13]
Those bands [of Suloise] that migrated into the vast
Amedio Jungle and Hepmonaland are so altered as to be no longer typical of the
race; they are tan to brown with heavy freckling. [WoGA – 13]
Of these, perhaps only the Order of the Scarlet Sign
still refer to themselves as Suel. The Thillonrians are Rhysians, the Lordship
Isles are Duxchaners. They may point to their Suloise heritage, much like
someone might say, “I’m Irish American,” but they are Rhysians and Duxchaners
first.
 |
| The Bakluni |
The Baklunish once held a great empire on the western
side of the Crystalmists and Barrier Peaks. [LGG – 5]
The Invoked Devastation ruined their empire, for which
the Baklunish retaliated with the Rain of Colorless Fire, burning the Suel
Imperium to ash. Most surviving Baklunish moved north or west, to the borders
of the old empire and beyond. [LGG – 5]
Even there, though, I expect that the new regimes,
regardless their citing the glorious past to cement their hold on the present,
have all but erased their pastoral Baklunish identity.
Ekbir, the Tiger Nomads, Ull, and Zeif typify the
straight Baklunish strain. [WoGA – 13]
Ket is so mixed with Suel and Oeridian blood as to be
the least typical of the Baklunish race, for the people of Ket are pale yellow
or golden-brown or tan in skin color, with virtually any hair color possible
save the lightest yellows and reds. [WoGA – 13]
Both the Paynim tribes and Tusmit show occasional
admixture, also. [WoGA – 13]
The Wolf Nomads are intermarried with the Rovers of
the Barrens, so they show the darker Flan blood. [WoGA – 13]
Perhaps the most
“pure” peoples might be the outliers, the Olman and the Tuov, mainly because of
their relative isolation.
The Olman originated on Hepmonaland, raising a number
of city-states from the jungles of that land. Through centuries of warfare,
they built an empire that spanned northern Hepmonaland and reached across the
Densac Gulf to include the Amedio Jungle. [LGG – 6]
Internal strife and wars with another human race, the
dark Touv, caused [the Olman] to abandon their old cities. [LGG – 6]
Olman migrated to the Amedio, where they maintained
their civilization for several more centuries. [LGG – 6]
The Olman are now concentrated in the jungles of Hepmonaland,
the Amedio, and their namesake Olman Isles. Others have escaped to otherwise
uncontrolled regions such as the western end of the Sea Princes' lands, which
they now control and defend. [LGG – 6]
People of Suloise descent are found through out,
particularly on the Tilvanot Peninsula, but other races of humanity are also
present (for example, the dark Touv of Hepmonaland). [LGG – 4]
Which brings us to the Rhennee, a conundrum upon the
Flanaess, if there ever was one.
 |
| The Rhennee |
Rhennee folklore claims that their race came to Oerth
by accident, their home plane being quite different. Thus, legend says, the Rhennee
roamed about on horseback and in wagons, but in their new home, conditions were
so dangerous as to force them to take to the water to survive. Nobles claim
descent from legendary leaders of the lost tribe, while the ordinary Rhennee
are descended from the common folk of the tribe. [WoGG – 6]
A third sort of Rhennee folk exist, although they are
most rare. They are land wanderers who claim to be the only "true"
Rhenn-folk because they have not changed their way of life since coming to the
Flanaess from Rhop, homeland of the lost Rhennee. [WoGG – 7]
Whomever they are, and wherever they may have come from,
they are no longer what they claim to be. They, like all others, are mutts and curs
upon the Flanaess.
When needed, Rhennee steal young children to fill
their ranks. Stolen children are raised as and become "natural"
Rhennee. Similarly, outsiders who do some great service for the Rhennee are
taken into the folk and sometimes accorded great status (equal to a noble.
possibly). [WoGG – 6]
Why then do we cling to those
antiquated ethnicities, part and parcel of a bygone age? Peasants would not
care a whit whether they were Suel or Oeridian. They might if they were Flan
and suppressed by their aristocratic overlords; not at all, if not. Aristocrats
might, and most definitely do if lineage guarantees their claim to rule.
European aristocrats do, after all.
But insofar as most of the
Flanaess is concerned, such lineage had to endure through a Dark Age of
migration and conquest, when little literacy would have endured, let alone
thrived. The Twin Cataclysms burned 1000 years ago, mayhap during the Iron Age,
judging from our presumed mediaeval-centric setting. Literally a millennium
past.
Let’s consider what nations
existed in Europe 1000 years ago.
A mere 500 years earlier, the
continent was in a state of flux.
The western Roman Empire had
collapsed, and Celtic and Gothic tribes were migrating across the land.
When then did those people
cease referring to themselves as Romans? How long did residents of the Holy
Roman Empire speak of their selves as subjects of Charlemagne’s demesnes, before
claiming citizenship of the panorama of Germanic states that followed?
It only stands to reason that
the identity of peoples of the Flanaess might have evolved as Europeans' did.
Originally, they were surely Oeridian and Suel; but as time passed, they must
have stopped identifying with those antiquated labels, seeing themselves –
defining themselves – as Kaoish, Kettite, Ferrondese, Velonese, Nyrondian,
Aerdian and Ahlissan. Rovers. Duxchaners.
“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.”
― Invisible Man
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:
Market, by Jeff Easley, from World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1993
Battle, by David A. Trampier, from Players Handbook 1st Ed, 1978
Migrations, from the World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
The Rain of Colourless Fire, by Erol Otus, from the World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
People, by Vince Locke, from Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
The Retaking of Grabford, by Vince Locke, from Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Countries, from the World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
The Ancient Flannae, by David A. Roach, from The Adventure Begins, 1998
The Scarlet Brotherhood, by Vince Locke, from Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Maps, Wikipedia
Sources:
1015
World of Greyhawk Boxed Set, 1983
1064
From the Ashes Boxed Set, 1992
2011
Players Handbook, 1st Ed., 1978
2011A
Dungeon Masters Guide, 1st Ed., 1979
9025
World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
11374 The Scarlet
Brotherhood, 1999
11743
Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Dragon
Magazine #52, 55
Greychrondex,
Wilson, Steven B.
Greyhawkania,
Jason Zavoda
The
map of Anna B. Meyer
