“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who
will survive but those who can best manage change.”
―
 |
| Hepmonaland |
For several months, possibly even years, there have
been reports of banditry in the jungles to the south. Merchants carrying
precious loads of rare goods from the jungle lands have been way laid, their
goods taken and their men captured or killed. Even then, those who survived
these raids had to face headhunters, brain fever, giant leeches, cannibals, and
leopards. Few men ever returned.
The stories they told were fantastic and addled,
surely brought about by disease and the horrors with which they had to deal.
Singing snakes, twisted and deformed ape-men. men who were not men, and
writhing, horrid flowers filled their tales – surely such things were not to be
believed. […]
Trees grow 100 to 200 feet high and are draped with
lianas, orchids, ferns, and moss. More ferns and fungus grow heavily on the
Jungle floor. Streams cascade down the slopes to fill swampy areas in the
valleys. Snakes, birds, spiders, and insects populate the area. [I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City – 2]
To paint Hepmonaland with that singular brush would
be in error. There is more to Hepmonaland than jungle, more than mystery and
fear. It is a body as varied as the Flanaess.
Hepmonaland is actually a minor continent, the
smallest of the four on Oerth. [LGG – 4]
One imagines that few have braved its dark depths; in
that you would be wrong. It is a cradle of civilisation, mayhap the first, home
of the Olman and Tuov and their nations and empires. But the mighty nations of
the Flanaess could never imagine such possibilities, gazing at the dense mists
that veiled the tall, formidable jungle across the Tilva Strait, from whence those
howls and crackles and chittering drift.
How long ago did civilisation bloom under that canopy? Long
ago, long before the Olman’s and the Tuov’s.
Indeed, the first hint of civilisation is not even human.
They say that troglodytes ruled the jungles, and beastmen.
 |
| Dakon - Beastmen |
Beastman tribes tend to keep to themselves,
communicating only with other beastman tribes. They use and produce few
artifacts, and hence have little interest in trade. They speak their own
language, but a few individuals can converse haltingly in the common tongue.
The bulk of their population seems to be in the Amedio Jungle, although there
are reputed to be beastmen tribes in the jungles of Hepmonaland as well.
[GA – 21]
How civilised were they? One wonders. The jungle decays everything
but stone. And even stone is soon invaded by a persistent growth, the roots
finding purchase, inveigling, penetrating, cracking and crumbling all but the
most enduring of construction.
Were those
beastmen the first to pile one stone upon the other? I doubt it. They may have
only squatted in what came before.
c. -8000 CY
Who then did?
Legends say the Torhoon, the Tall Walkers.
Their earliest
mention is by Andy Miller in Ex Keraptis Cum Amore, in Dungeon #77 (December
1999):
 |
| The Torhoon |
Only a
comprehend languages spell or similar magic allows the PCs to decipher the
ancient, dead language of the Torhoon. [Dungeon #77 – 34]
Who were these
Torhoon? According to Andy Miller, they were human:
A [7’] tall
man suddenly appears in front to you. He is human, although his body is
hairless and his features are slightly elongated. He wears a loose, black toga
and watches you with large, unblinking eyes. [Dungeon #77 – 48]
One such was the
despotic sorcerer Kellex Zyrrinyth, who lived more than 8,000 years ago.
[Dungeon #77 – 47]
Little else is
mentioned. There are references to Torhoon writings and pyramids and Torhoon
wights and mummies and mists, of Torhoon magic and alchemy, although none of it
differs much from contemporary versions, except that Orlysse could not duplicate
all of the spells known to the ancient Torhoon sorcerers. [Dungeon #77 – 53]
Andy Miller is
somewhat vague as to who and what they were. It’s all well and good to make
references to the past, but those references ought to have some concrete anchor
in canon, to my mind. One wonders – I do, anyway – whether Mr. Miller and Mr.
Sean Reynolds were working hand in hand when Sean made these comments in his The
Scarlet Brotherhood accessory, of the same year:
 |
| Southern Hepmonaland |
[A]n
oddly-constructed ruin near the [Okeo] hills is said to have been built by an
ancient race of people that predate the Tuov, possibly the ones the people of
Banyo call “The Tall Walkers.” [SB – 58]
Reports
surface from time to time of unusual ships on Byanbos shores piloted by beings
the locals call “The Tall Walkers.” [SB – 48]
Are the Tall
Walkers and the Torhoon one and the same? Maybe. They could very well be.
The Tall Walkers
could, in contemporary times, presumably be the Suel, seeing that there are no
other mentions of the Torhoon ever again, but they are most likely not. The
Suel are referred to as the white-skinned northerners [SB – 50] and the ”white
demons” [SB – 48] by the Tuov.
So, who then were
they?
I shall table a
theory, seeing that no other writer of Greyhawk lore chose to address this: The
humans of the southeast are all descended from one stock, the Torhoon. Where
did they come from? That is lost to time. Speculate as you will, by I like to
think that they were servants of a long-ago departed or deceased
proto-reptilian species that tinkered with genetics. Nothing is known now of
either, but the very sight of their artifacts still cause terror in the minds
of humans and demihumans, alike. The Suel, in their strange aspect and cruelty,
terrify the Tuov, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the Tuov
are applying their ancient “boogieman” to these newcomers.
-6233 CY
What became of the Torhoon? Your guess is as good as
mine; but, as is usually the case, Torhoon civilisation collapsed, whether by
war, internal strife, by the maleficence of their most powerful and misguided.
Left to their own devices, those who survived invariably rose again, if by a
new name.
 |
| The Kersi |
Could the Kersi
be the Olman?
The Olman of
Hepmonaland have rich red-brown or dark-brown skin, straight hair and dark
brown eyes. They have high sheekbones and high-bridged noses, although those of
more common stock have less definition in these characteristics. [SB – 36]
Why not? It’s
not like the Olman appeared out of thin air. Unless they did, that is, which is
unlikely, but stranger things have happened. The Rhennee did, after all; so it’s
not without precedence. But I imagine that the Olman did not, that the Olman
had always been there, whether called Almek or Olman or Kersi.
-6067 CY
Time passes and the Kersi will not be contained under
their canopy. Plentiful azure seas lured them out from their coasts. An open
sky, strings of islands, banks and shoals. Then to the Tilva, the Tilvenot, the
Duxchans, the Olmans. And upon those southern seas they were sure to meet
others as eager to explore as they.
The Se-Ul
began systematized trading with the tribes to the north and east. The Baklun in
the northern plains, and the Flan who dwelt just west of the mountains were
among these. Sea trade routes to AnaKeri are developed. The Thirteen Cities of the Suel develop into
separate city-states, but all are ruled by a single council of lords under the
watchful eye of the grey elves, watchfulness that men begin to dislike
intensely. (-551 SD)
[OJ1 – 5]
 |
| The South Seas |
Were the Suloise more advanced than the Kersi? Possibly.
The Suel had been tutored by the Grey Elves. One might imagine, however, that
the Kersi had a history, a Torhoon history, and that they had skills of their
own. But that is speculation. What is known is that the Suel saw the world they
ventured out into as a place to be conquered.
After a
series of strong "First Protectors" and the development of the
interior lands, First Protector Alianor-b-Hurn turns his eyes outward, and
desires more control of the trade goods. He first attacks the settlements of
the Kersi to the south, and proclaims their lands forfeit to the Seul peoples.
He then begins planning "The great invasion" of AnaKeri. (-15 SD) [OJ11 – 56]
-5528 CY
 |
| A Maelstrom of Wind and Wild Seas |
Alianor sends
a large naval force to invade AnaKeri.
The outriggers of the AnaKeri are no matches for the mighty warships of
the Suel. As the massive armada
approaches the clerics of the AnaKeri call upon the elemental princes for
protection. The princes encircle the island
continent with a maelstrom of wind and wild seas and much of the invading fleet
is destroyed. Those that do land are met
with upheavals in the land itself and, at last, by beings of elemental fire. A few of the invaders return to tell the
tale. The wall of wind and water remains
behind circling the continent of AnaKeri to this very day. (-12 SD) [OJ11 – 56]
c. -2400 CY
 |
| Troglodytes |
The Olman and the Amedian are not the first
intelligent races to rule the Amedio jungle. Fragmentary records from the Olman
city of Tamoachan and other sites indicate that the earliest civilization of
this region belonged to a race of reptiles almost identical to modern-day
troglodytes. These beings lived more than three thousand years ago and were
evil and quarrelsome. Worshipping various demon princes, they claimed trophies
such as skulls and skins from their enemies—normally rival tribes that
worshipped demon princes—and developed advanced means of mummification;
preserved bodies of animals and the ancient troglodytes appear in certain
sites, and writings imply that their sorcerer-kings had themselves mummified in
hopes of continuing beyond death. [SB – 62]
c. –2400s
 |
| Quetzalcoatl |
The Olman gods are not native to Oerth, having been
worshipped first by beings on another prime material plane. At some point
around 3000 years ago, these gods discovered Oerth and the Olman people, and
revealed themselves as supernatural beings to the primitive Olman. [SB –
42]
 |
| Mictlantecuhtli |
Huhueteotl, god of Fire and Motion of Time
Mictlantecuhtli, god of Death
Quetzalcoatl, god of the Air, Birds, and Snakes
Tezctlipoca, god of the Sun, Moon, Night, Scheming and
Betrayals
Tlaloc, god of Rain
[SB – 42,43]
Who are the
Olman People, anyway? They are an old people, indeed, as old as the Suel, as
old as the Flan. Are they an off-shoot of the Flan? Have they the same
ancestral root?
Some consider the
Olman to be distantly related to the Flan, but there is of yet little evidence
to corroborate this. [SB – 36]
Who can say? The
origins of man and elves, as are the origins of Oerth and Oerik, a mystery.
Most agree on
this: The gods created Oerik. The gods created Man. The gods created etc.
Maybe. Then again, maybe not.
The Olman might
have shared a common ancestor with the Flan, but they are not Flan.
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]
Pure Flan have bronze skin, varying from a light
copper hue to a dark, deep brown. Flan eyes are usually dark brown, black,
brown, or amber. Hair is wavy or curly and typically black or brown (or any
shade between). The Flan have broad, strong faces and sturdy builds. [LGG –
5]
A little. But not entirely.
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]
Were these Olman civilised? Did they erect ziggurats to
their gods? Or did they still cling to those few clearings in their jungle, or
upon reed rafts in vast swamps and estuaries, eking out existence where
beastmen and troglodytes did not still reign?
Savages from the Amedio Jungle or Hepmonaland would
have skills in long distance signaling, running, possibly paddled small craft,
sound imitation, and trap building. Their required initial weapons would also
include the blowgun or short bow, club, and dart or javelin in the Amedio. With
respect to Hepmonaland, the atlatl and javelin, club, and short sword are
typical weapons. [Dragon #63 – 11]
Tied to the
land, they sought to tame it.
Jungle
Druid
WG: Amedio Jungle, Hepmonaland [Dragon #209 – 14]
And in time master it.
Skull-Staff of Hepmonaland (C, M): This is a 7‘ long
pole that is topped with a skull with a wild mane of white hair and sharp,
demonic features. The shaman who uses the staff claims that it is the skull of
an ancient demon, though many suspect that it belonged to an evil wizard who
died in the hands of head-hunters in Hepmonaland. [GA – 74]
Cloak of the
Couatl
This item is
a short cloak made of couatl feathers. [It allows] the wearer to fly [, and]
become invisible at will [.] This item is normally only found in Hepmonaland
and the Amedio. [SB – 86]
-2269 CY
The Suloise claimed dominion over dragonkind, and command
of all humanity was within their grasp.
The years of Conquest and Prosperity begin. No major
foe opposes the might of the empire of the Seuloise, although they do not push
Eastward, because of some fear of the Elven hosts. Magic is rigorously pursued.
Old Grey Elven texts are discovered and studied. The might and haughtiness of
the Elves is copied in manner in the courts; their wisdom is not. Slavery
becomes common and widespread in the Seuloise lands; this continues for many
centuries. The Flanae in the southeast (just west of the Hellfurnaces), the
Oerid to the east, the Kersi (the long distant descendants of those who first
sailed from AnaKeri) to the south, and the Baklun to the north, and several
unnamed small tribes to the west all fall under the grip of the Seuloise fist.
The entire of the western half of Oerik, is controlled by the Seul. But the
drow and darker forces, and a fear of other elves, halt the eastern expansion.
(3247 SD) [OJ1 – 57,58]
-2266 CY
Did the Flan find birth in the West? Or the East? Did
they spill out upon the Flanaess, or had they venture west until they found and
scaled the mountains there, only to discover the cruelty of the Suel? Wherever
and whatever their long-lost origins, the Flan escaped Suloise dominion. Those
who did poured over the Hellfurnaces, where history tells us that they met the
elves, and the dwarves.
The Flanae,
under the protection of Beory, Pelor and Rao flee their lands in mass, making a
perilous crossing of the Hellfurnaces. They move North into the lands of
Eastern Oerik, later called the Flanaess, as the first human inhabitants of the
area. Initially, they are well received by the demi-humans. (3250 SD) [OJ1 – 13,58]
-1932 CY
Before long, they found waters that spanned the whole of
the Oerth. Or perhaps they had always been there. It was upon the shores of
these waters, they would soon discover that there were more peoples upon this Oerth
than they had hitherto believed to be true.
The first reports of strange cities to the south
worshipping strange gods are reported by the Flanae. These people (according to
Flan sources) call themselves Almeks (Olmec in the Common tongue). (3584 SD/215
FT) [OJ1 – 13]
These Almek were not the Kersi, they discovered. Nor
were they native to the Flaneass. They had sailed from a far-off land, a hot,
jungled land, one they gestured to lay many days journey to the east. Although
great effort was made, neither could make themselves understood, except in the
most rudimentary way, as neither spoke the tongue of the other.
Where were these shores? One imagines they were close to
where the Flan had presumably first settled in the Flanaess: Keoland.
 |
| The Azure Sea |
c –1900s
These Almek were indeed from a far-off land. They were
not alone there, either.
As in most places
on Oerth, the first human occupants [of Hepmonoland] are lost to the mists of
time. By two and a half thousand years ago, the tribes of Touv wandered the
[savannah] and lower jungles of Hepmonaland, farming small plots and chasing
herds of wild cattle. In the deeper jungles to the north, similarly uncivilized
tribes of Olman warred with each other and built shrines to their gods,
occasionally discovering or destroying a ruin their legends said had been built
by a bat-like humanoid race that had left or been exterminated several hundred
years before. [SB – 36]
 |
| The Tuov |
The Touv people as a whole avoid traveling the sea.
[SB – 37]
They too had their gods, gods that painted or mirrored their perception of their world.
Berna, demigoddess of Passion and Forgiveness
Breeka, goddess of Living Things
Damaran, demigod of Vermin and Cowardice
Katay, god of Decay, Inevitability, order and Time
Kundo, god of Building, Noise, Music, and Defense
Meyanok, god of Serpents, Poison, Discord, Darkness,
and Famine
Nola, goddess of the Sun
Uvot, god of prosperity
Vara, demigoddess of Nightmanes and Fear
Vogon, god of Weather and Storms
Xanag, god of Metals and Beauty
[SB – 40,41]
 |
| Meyanok |
But where the Suel and the Flan had discovered the secret
of bronze, and the fashioning of weapons with it, the Olman of Hepmonaland had
not. But they marvelled at the slim, shining stone that the Flan had carried;
and they sought to divine the secret of it themselves. Its discovery changed
them. Their weapons were no longer blunt wood and stone. They were sharp, and
their keen edge allowed those tribes that wielded them to conquer the others.
Over the next 400
years, the Olman learned to work stone and bronze and built great cities in the
heart of the jungle—clearing land around them for farming—and raising great
temples to honor their deities. Four Olman city-states formed from the original
tribes, and all delighted in warring on each other, claiming prisoners as live
sacrifices. The northernmost nation, Xuxulieto, was broken by a combined effort
of two of its neighbors, and the resources were divided up among the survivors;
its capital was abandoned and soon overrun by humanoids. [SB – 36]
Dwellers of the Forbidden City (I1) is set within
Hepmonaland at hex Y-109. [FtAA – 72]
-1408 CY
Long had the Tuov wandered the savannah, tending their
herds before they too settled, raising cities of their own, crowning their
first king in Kundanol. Thus was the kingdom of Kunda born.
The start date for the Touv calendar is the crowning
of the first Touv King in Kundanol; this date is year 1 to the Touv, […] or
approximately 1408 years before 1 CY. Before the uniting of the Touv tribes,
several families or priesthoods employed unique calendars, but these
alternatives have fallen from usage and been forgotten in the intervening
millennia. (4108 SD/ 743 FT) [SB – 38]
Onatal consolidated his power, and decreed those beneath
him to increase those lands he deemed should be his. For was not his the
strongest of the Tuov tribes? Before long, the whole of the savannah should be
his, unto and into the jungles in the north, unto the sea. And beyond. Where he
faced those who took umbrage to his claim.
When Onatal, First king of the Kunda, defeated his
brother Onak for rulership of the Touv people, he sent his brother northward to
start a new city. Onak found a fertile plain inhabited by wild cattle at the
foot of the river Ake, and claimed it in the names of himself and his brother.
The city he built prospered despite occasional attacks by sahuagin, and tribute
flowed regularly back to Kundanol [.] [SB – 50]
When the first king of the Kunda was crowned, Onave,
the youngest son of King Onatal, was sent to the hills of Imianme to discover
what creatures lived there. He and his family found curious beasts, strange
writings in the earth, and great caves that were the source of many precious
stones After sending his eldest son back to the king to tell of this place,
Onave and his wife built the first houses of Kundaxi. [SB – 51]
There they are, those strange and ancient writings.
Etched by an unknown “hand.” By the Torhoon? Perhaps. But might this writing
find its origin in something even more ancient? Something more sinister?
Something serpentine?
-1400 to -1200 CY
The Kundali began to settle a larger and larger area,
eventually coming into contact with the martial Olman states to the north.
Replused by the Olman use of human sacrifice and their worship of a serpent god
– the primary Touv evil god was Meyanok, a serpent-deity – the Kundali declared
war upon the Olman. [SB – 36]
Might the Tuov’s oldest legends be replete with Tall
Walkers, with snakes and serpents and elder reptiles so evil that they could not
help but be repulsed at their first sight?
-1250 CY
Not all Tuov wished to live under the benevolent rule of
the kings of Kunda. Few were allowed the luxury not to, but there were a few
who proved the exception. (159 TC)
Iyapo was created as a private woodland retreat by
Arakay, one of the rare Kunda wizards. When logging encroached on the retreat,
the wizard moved on but left his fortifications behind, and the loggers moved
in. Extensive logging eventually cleared the forest, but by that time it had
become a well-developed city with many secondary businesses and farms, ranches
and villages sprang up along the road to Kundaxa. Iyapo was declared an
official city-state by the kingdom in -1250 CY. It still supports a disproportionate
number of wizards. [SB – 50]
One wonders why Kunda wizards are so rare? It’s not that
they are not able. Might memory of the Torhoon be at that root?
c. -1125 CY
The ancient kingdom of Ahlissa, ruled by the Flan and
easily conquered by Aerdy, is known today only for its founding wizard-queen,
Ehlissa the Enchantress, and a magical nightingale she made. [LGG – 13]
[T]he Flan […] inhabitants […] had controlled these
islands and plied the surrounding waters for centuries. [LGG – 70]
Were the Olman aware of what transpired north of their
canopied continent? Of Flan domination of the Flanaess? Ahlissa, after all, was
but a stone throw away. And had not Ahlissa’s ships plied the waters for
centuries. Had not the Olman? They had; indeed the “Almek” had long ago landed
upon Flan shores as far flung as those that would one day be Keoland’s.
-1100 CY
 |
| Yuan-ti |
Approximately -1100 CY, a century before the great
Olman migration into the Amedio jungle, the high priests of the city-states of
Alocotla and Xapatlapo made a pact with the god Tlaloc. After a ceremonial
sacrifice and the consumption of a thousand infants, all who partook of the
grizzly feast were reshaped into snakelike forms, with those who consumed the
largest portions most changed. These
changes bred true, and the ophidian priests continued to rule the two cities,
passing the mantle of leadership to their direct descendants. The monsters of Alocotla spread into the countryside,
diluting their tainted blood with the remaining humans, eventually drawing all
of them into the cold embrace of the serpent-men. The human aspects of the
yuan-ti of this nation have Olman traits, while their snake parts are
predominately dark green with red or black patterns. [SB – 47]
Like its sister city Alocotla, Xapatlapo was turned
into a city of Yuan-ti after swearing a dark pact with Tlaloc. They, too,
crawled and slithered into the most remote villages of Xapatlapo and corrupted
the flesh of the people. [SB – 54]
Had the Olman not sailed into the unknown west they might
had long ago been lost. Subsumed.
-1100 to -1000 CY
Subsumption was not their only threat. The Kundali had
every desire to rid the world of a people that would court ancient elder evils.
Little did the Kundali know that most Olman city-states were of the same mind.
[T]he war [with the Kundali] did not stop the Olman
states from fighting each other [.] [SB – 36]
The capture and conversion of two of the Olman
city-states into yuan-ti communities wounded the Olman morale, and eventually a
large number of Olmani migrated to the north end of Hepmonaland and onto the
Tilvanot peninsula and Olman Islands, with most settling in the Amedio jungle. [SB
– 36]
c. -1050 CY
 |
| The Yuan-ti |
Ichamamna was originally an Olman city dedicated to
the god Quetzalcoatl. The decadence and snake-worship of this city first
attracted the attention of the Touv people, and Ichamamna was the first city to
fall to the might of the warriors of the Kingdom of Kunda. The Touv took over
the city and reconsecrated it in the name of their own gods, then attacked
their northern neighbor, Xapatlapo, with aid from the Touv warriors of Tolanok.
When the yuan-ti proved intractable, the Touv continued westward around the
serpent city to drive the remaining Olman out. [SB – 49]
It was only a matter of time before they were in full
retreat.
Jolan was […] the second territory conquered after
Ichamamna. Early skirmishes against Tolanok convinced most of the Olman there
to abandon their homes, and the settlers of Jolan quickly turned to working
their land instead of fighting for it. [SB – 50]
c. -1000 CY
Just as the Flan were migrating into the Pomarj, so too
were the Olman beginning their mass migration from Hepmonaland unto the Olman
Islands, and into the Amedio jungle, and beyond, into the southern seas.
They had little choice. The Tuov struck back at the
warlike Olman, loath to accept their northern neighbour’s raids and subsequent
slaughters any longer. And as the Tuov pressed the Olman ever further back into
their jungles, they were horrified to discover the dark depravities the Olman
had sunk to.
 |
| An Abandoned Civilisation |
The Kundali had little trouble sacking the remaining
Olman cities, usually driving the survivors into the wilderness. [SB – 36]
Although most Olman fled Hepmonaland when invading
Tuov proved too strong, those of Alocotla stayed and fought, managing to retain
control of much of their territories. They fought occasional wars against the
neighboring city-states, spied on their Xapatlapoan cousins, and seemed mostly
content to rule their own lands. [SB – 47]
Cuhuetla was one of the last Olman holdouts in
Hepmonaland. When its defending warriors were overwhelmed by Touv forces, the
city surrendered and was immediately occupied by Touv forces. Generally a
benign man, the King of Kunda’s edicts to the occupied nation mainly banned
worship of Olman gods and violent acts. [SB – 49]
The last Olmani to traverse the seas were the men and
women who fled to the Amedio a thousand years ago. [SB – 37]
Not all Olman abandoned Hepmonaland, though. Some
remained. Presumably those who could not escape.
-720 CY
 |
| Newly Conquered Lands |
As the Tuov swept north to drive out the Olman, they
built fortifications to defend their newly conquered lands. The northernmost
fort was Anatal, built in -720 CY at the base of the Fyalo hills, at the edge
of the jungle close to the sea. [SB
– 47]
The Xapatlapoans resisted the Tuov attempts to drive
them out during the Olman exodus [.] [SB – 54]
-700s CY
In the course of
time, the Olman were depleted, with only a remnant remaining of the nation that
was. So few remained that many Tuov believed that they were no more.
After several years
of encountering no hostile Olman, [Touv] prospectors discovered a strong vein
of platinum. This caused a huge influx of prospectors and miners into [Anatal’s]
environs, and in short order the place grew into a small city. While the
platinum ran out more quickly than expected, several stable gem mines had been
established and kept the city alive, supplemented by trading rare spices and
plentiful food grown in the rich soil. [SB – 47]
-505 CY
Without a common
enemy it was only a matter of time before Kundi would fall upon their own.
[T]he Prince of Vay
Nama (“ugly border”) has always had an eye toward acquiring more land, and has
attacked the southern border of Kevot on more than one occasion, which resulted
in its prince being replaced and the city put under martial law by the King in
-505 CY. [SB – 54]
-447 CY
Events in the
west were soon to affect the east. Some Suel were disenchanted with the state
of their State and sought refuge far from their beloved emperor and his war.
Zellifar-ad-Zol, son of the Emperor, mage/high priest
of Beltar, breaks with his father and takes over 8,000 Suloise loyal to
himself, and flees the kingdom, eastward. [OJ11 – 59]
Where would he lead these 8,000 refugees? Into the
unknown? Perhaps. But doubtful. The Suel had long ago ventured out of their
vast valley, to explore, to trade, to conquer and enslave. Surely theu had
ports and post, waystations and settlements. Surely these Suel would have fled
there. Wouldn’t they?
-441 CY to -423
CY
Zellifar’s
refugees headed east. Along the Keoland
coast, the shores of the Woolly Bay, onward to Onnwal and Idee. Even unto the
Tilevnot.
The Zolites scatter the Flannae before them, and move
south to the Tilvanot Peninsula. [OJ11 – 59]
-422 CY
 |
| The Rain of Colourless Fire |
Invoked Devastation and Rain of Colourless
Fire Strike
When the
Invoked Devastation came upon the Baklunish, their own magi brought down the
Rain of Colorless Fire in a last terrible curse, and this so affected the
Suloise Empire as to cause it to become the Sea of Dust. [Folio – 5]
When the Rain
of Colorless Fire ended the Age of Glory and brought down the Empire, the
tribes [of the Suloise] decided to seek their fate to the east, in the lands of
the Flan. [WoGG – 61]
“Nothing is
so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
― Frankenstein
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.
Special
thanks to Jason Zavoda for his compiled index, “Greyhawkania,” an invaluable
research tool.
The Art:
Jungle, from Tomb of Annihilation, 2017
Dakon, by Alan Hunter, from Fiend Folio, 1981
Southern Hepmonaland map, by Sam Wood, from The Scarlet Brotherhood, 2000
The South Seas detail, by Darlene, from World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
Troglodyte, by David C. Sutherland III, from Monster Manual 1e, 1977, 1978
Quetzalcoatl, from Deities & Demigods, 1980
Mictlantecuhtli, by Jeff Dee, from Deities & Demigods, 1980
The Ancient Flannae, by David A. Roach, from The Adventure Begins, 1998
The Azure Sea detail, by Darlene, from World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
Serpent god, by David C. Sutherland, from Deities & Demigods, 1980
The Yuan-ti, by Erol Otus, from I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City, 1981
The Rain of Colourless Fire, by Erol Otus, from World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
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
2023 Greyhawk Adventures, 1988
9025 World of Greyhawk Folio, 1980
9046 I1
Dwellers of the Forbidden, 1980
11374 The Scarlet Brotherhood, 1999
11742 Gazetteer, 2000
11743 Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, 2000
Dragon Magazine #63, 209
Dungeon Magazine #77
Oerth Journal #1, 11
Greychrondex, Wilson, Steven B.
Greyhawkania, Jason Zavoda
The map of Anna B. Meyer
