Brief History of the Flanaess
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Introduction In the past thousand years, the cultural landscape of the Flanaess has evolved from a lightly populated region of primitive human, demihuman and humanoid tribes to its current status: a crowded, war-torn land of civilized feudal states armed with powerful magic and armies. Ancient
History Though
little information is available on early times, historians believe that
until just over a thousand years ago the Flanaess was uncivilized and
relatively peaceful. No high political states unified the inhabitants or
gave them a great purpose or broad view of their world. The only humans
known to have lived here were the bronze-skinned hunter-gatherer Flanae. However,
to the west two titanic magical empires drifted into war. Southwest of the
Flanaess was the evil Suel Imperium; directly west was the Baklunish
Empire. As the Baklunish-Suloise Wars stretched over sixty years, both
sides employed humanoids as mercenaries; civil order broke down; and
increasing numbers of refugees fled to the relative safety of the east.
Many ivory-skinned Suloise crossed the great Crystalmist Mountains into
the western Flanaess, some passing through the mountains in a magically
carved tunnel. The gold-complected Baklunish and a fierce human tribe
called the Oeridians crossed the plains to the north of the Crystalmists,
moving north along the Dramidj Ocean coast or through the pass between the
Barrier Peaks and the Yatils, directly into the heart of the Flanaess. The
war ended with an exchange of sorcerous hostilities that ruined the
homelands of both empires. The Suloise cast the Invoked Devastation,
laying waste to the whole of the Baklunish lands; in retaliation,
Baklunish spellcasters began the Rain of Colourless Fire, which reduced
the Imperium to a desert now called the Sea of Dust. The few Baklunish who
survived established new states along the eastern shores of the Dramidj
Ocean. Oeridian and Suloise survivors, along with humanoid mercenaries
from the wars, spread across the central Flanaess, battling each other and
the land's original human and demihuman inhabitants. Rise
and Fall of the Great Kingdom After
two centuries of war, the olive-skinned Oeridians dominated much of the
Flanaess, allying with native Flanaess and scattered demihuman enclaves
against the Suloise and armies of rapacious humanoids, particularly orcs.
The Aerdi tribe of Oeridians established the Kingdom of Aerdy in the far
east which grew until it controlled most of the Flanaess, from Sunndi in
the southeast to Ratik and Tenh in the northeast, and westward as far as
what is now Furondy and Veluna. This vast empire. called the Great
Kingdom, lasted for three centuries. The
first major crack in the Great Kingdom was the loss of the Viceroyalty of
Ferrond, which became the Kingdom of Furyondy in 254CY. Ferrond eventually
split into thc states of Furyondy and Veluna; the City of Dyvers and other
areas broke away later. In
356CY, internal feuding ripped at the ruling Aerdi dynasty; the House of
Rax. The Junior branch, Nyrond. rebelled and declared its lands free of
the Overking's rule. A barbarian invasion in North Province prevented the
Overking from punishing this, and eventually these lands became known as
the Kingdom of Nyrond. Nyrond later went through an imperialistic phase.
annexing and then losing the County of Urnst and the Pale. In
446CY, repression and excessive taxation led to a general rebellion in the
southern Great Kingdom. The city of Irongate was the first to secede,
joined by the Idee, Onnwal and (in 455CY) Sunndi. (Later, the Lordship of
the Isles joined the Iron League.) Operating from South Province and the
Sea of Medegia, the armies of the Overking tried without success to regain
the lost territories for over a century. Greater
disaster was on the way. The House of Rax became decadent and weak, and
certain regions in the shrunken Great Kingdom were ruled by nobles of
other houses as if they were minor independent kingdoms. In the first half
of the fifth century, the House of Naelax destroyed the House of Rax in a
conflict called the Turmoil Between Crowns, and Naelax took the Malachite
Throne. A century later, the nobles of the House of Naelax are regarded as
having been either insane or evil fiend-worshipers - or both. To
the West Simultaneous
to these events, the Kingdom of Keoland reached its zenith in the
Sheldomar Valley far to the west. Founded by Oeridian and Suloise tribes
less warlike and more tolerant than their fellows, Keoland grew rapidly
until it ruled the entire region from the Pomarj to the Crystalmists. Its
armies pressed into Ket and Veluna around 350-360CY; but were later pushed
out. Within a century, Keoland lost its frontier regions the Ulek states,
Celene, Bissel and the Yeomanry. Keoland relinquished its imperial
ambitions and stabilized, with the semi-independent lands of Gran March
and Sterich supporting its army. While
the Great Kingdom and Keoland grew and shrank, other parts of the Flanaess
were taking shape. During the late third century, Baklunish horse
barbarians claimed much of the northern steppes. A hundred years later,
the Sea Princes and Bandit Kings looted and pillaged their way to
political autonomy. About 375CY, the Free City of Greyhawk reached its
first period of greatness under the leadership of Zagig Yragerne. Some
regions such as Tenh and Geoff remained relatively independent for many
generations. Evil
Gains a Foothold However,
the humanoids, especially the ores, were on the rise. As demihuman and
human armies drove humanoids from the Lortmil Mountains, the humanoids
fell on the Pomarj Peninsula and destroyed the human states there, taking
the land for themselves in 513CY. In the north, the half-demon child of a
human female necromancer, Iuz the Old seized his own kingdoms and brought
humanoids into his armies. In 560CY, the Great Kingdom's northernmost
province Bone March was invaded by humanoids from the Rakers: it fell
three years later and has been in a barbaric state since. In
573CY a secretive monastic group called the Scarlet Brotherhood was
discovered on the Tilvanot Peninsula. Despite horrifying rumors of this
group's aims - no less than control of the Flanaess by Suloise-descended
peoples - and the forces it utilizes (monsters, assassins, thieves and
martial artists), the Brotherhood was virtually ignored for a decade. The
Greyhawk Wars and the Fall of the Circle of Eight In
582CY, a series of conflicts collectively called the Greyhawk Wars began.
Iuz had escaped magical imprisonment beneath Greyhawk Castle in 570 CY and
returned to his homelands. By pretending to be their god Vatun, he tricked
the northern barbarians of the Thillonrian Peninsula into attacking the
Hold of Stonefist. He apparently gained magical control over Sevvord
Redbeard, the evil Master of the Hold, and used the Fists (as the
Stoneholders are called) to sweep into Tenh in 582CY. When Iuz as Vatun
tried to pressure the northern barbarians to attack Ratik, they balked,
due to the longstanding alliance between the lands. Iuz then hurled his
armies into the Horned Society, Shield Lands, Bandit Kingdoms and even
Furyondy. The Great Kingdom, under the insane rulership of Ivid V, chose
this time to attack Nyrond and Almor. The turmoil in the Great Kingdom
turned into mad chaos, as the realm's own provinces were despoiled and
ruined. An army of giants and humanoids conquered Geoff and Stench. After
its beygraf signed a treaty with Iuz, Ket attacked and conquered Bissel. A
half-orc named Turrosh Mak arose in the Pomarj and led orc and goblin
armies to conquer the southern half of the Wild Coast and half of the
Principality of Ulek. Finally, the Scarlet Brotherhood conquered several
states from within, adding the Hold of the Sea Princes, Idec, Onnwal and
the Lordship of the Isles to its territory. Barbarians from the
Brotherhood's holdings in the Amedio Jungle and Hepmonaland were used as
soldiers to hold newly captured lands. For
three years, the fires of war raged over the lands. Kingdoms were invaded
or thrown down, fiendish monsters from the outer planes were summoned to
do battle, and many thousands of humans and demihumans were killed,
wounded or driven from their homes. At last, exhausted from their
struggles, the surviving states decided to declare peace. The City of
Greyhawk was largely untouched by the war and became the site of the peace
conference. In the autumn of 584CY the Great Council of diplomats from the
surviving states convened to sign the Pact of Greyhawk which would end the
war. Strangely the pact was suggested and presented by the Scarlet
Brotherhood, which may have sought to consolidate its gains from the war. On
the day of the Great Signing, a plot to annihilate the entire attending
diplomatic corps misfired. Just minutes before the ambassadors assembled
for the day, a great explosion destroyed much of the Grand Hall. A fierce
magical battle ensued, spreading havoc through the old City. When the fire
and dust cleared, constables found the smoldering robes of two powerful
members of the mysterious Circle of Eight - Otiltuke and Tenser. To the
astonishment of all, the murderer of these wizards was yet another member,
Rary of Ket. Using secrets gained in confidence, Rary not only vaporized
his two fellows but had every magical clone of the pair destroyed, barring
their return. Why of all the Circle these wizards were singled out is
unknown, though it is possible the explosion was meant to destroy other
members. Fearing further disruptions. the delegates hurriedly signed the
Pact of Greyhawk. Rary
and his co-conspirator Robilar escaped into the Bright Desert southeast of
the City of Greyhawk, where they conquered the local savages and
established a small kingdom of their own. When peace came in Harvester
584CY, the world was weary of war. Many hoped that this marked the end of
marching armies, bloody fields and burning cities. But the Pact of
Greyhawk marked the end of only the first part of a great conflict that
has reached into every part of the known world and affected every being,
from the highest prince to the lowest peasant farmer. From
the Greyhawk Wars to the Present Seven
years have passed between the signing of the Pact of' Greyhawk and the
present day, 591 CY - seven years of change and conflict. Following is a
brief catalogue of events. The Return of the Eight: In mid-585 CY, the Circle of Eight was brought back to its full numbers. This brought hope to the hearts of many residents of the Flanaess, as did the news that one of the assassinated members of the Eight. Tenser the Archmage, had been brought back to life. However, Tenser left the Eight and now follows his own course in protecting the Flanaess. The
Flight of the Fiends: In Coldeven of 586 CY, many of the demons in the
Flanaess were banished by Veluna's Canon Hazen (a priest of Rao). the
archmage Bigby and others. They used a powerful artifact known as the
Crook of Rao, retrieved some years before from a demiplane where it had
been lost. This decimated the armies of Iuz, which relied heavily on
demons, and gave beleaguered Furyondy the chance for a counteroffensive. A
few highly protected fiends resisted the banishment and remain in the
Flanaess. The
Great Northern Crusade: In Planting of 586 CY, Furyondy discovered
evidence that Iuz was preparing to raise an undead army against it.
Disregarding the Pact of Greyhawk, King Belvor and his nobles began a
crusade to reclaim Furyondian lands that Iuz had conquered. By the end of
588 CY, they had succeeded, but the king nevertheless declared permanent
and unalterable war on Iuz. As part of this crusade, a small portion of
the Shield Lands was also reclaimed. Chaos
in the North: The troubling reverses in the Furyondian lands were
hardly mortal to Iuz's great empire, but over several years other
counterattacks and rebellions also whittled at Iuz's borders. In 587 CY
Wolf Nomads successfully raided Iuz's homeland. In 588 CY, Iuz lost his
magical hold over Sevvord Redbeard, leader of the Hold of Stonefist;
Sevvord largely abandoned his occupation of Tenh and restructured his land
(now called Stonehold) to better fight against outside threats. Iuz's
control over the Bandit Lands continues to slip. Tenh is a war torn land,
invaded by Iuz, Stoneholders, the pale and returning Tenhas. A
New Great Kingdom?: When the Great Kingdom collapsed. it left a number
of struggling provinces, great and small, to determine their political
state. By mid-586 CY, the former North Province declared itself the Great
Kingdom of Northern Aerdy, and crowned an Overking, Grenell I. The
"little" or "new" Great Kingdom has spent the time
since strengthening its infrastructure and putting down a civil war. The
Unknown Fate of Rauxes: Ivid V the Undying, Overking of the former
Great Kingdom, had retreated to his capital city of Rauxes during the
Greyhawk Wars. There, in his madness, he allowed the kingdom to dissolve,
focusing instead on the unfortunate residents of the city. In early 586
CY, a high priest of Hextor mysteriously declared that Ivid V was no
longer Overking; battles for the Malachite Throne began immediately. The
city was reportedly devastated by fires and rioting. Since then, the
status of Rauxes and the throne are uncertain, though there are reports
that strong and bizarre magic dominates the lands around the city. A
New Empire is Born: The South Province also sought to step into the
vacuum left by the Great Kingdom's collapse. Under the aegis of its
provincial graf. Reydrich, South Province restructured itself as the
Kingdom of Ahlissa. Reydrich conquered much of Idee, which had been taken
by the Scarlet Brotherhood, and planned to move into Onnwal. Reydrich
vanished briefly thereafter. Partially in response to the founding of the
Great Kingdom of Northern Aerdy, Ahlissa's rulers allied it with other
provinces to the east and restructured their realm again, this time as the
United Kingdom of Ahlissa, declaring its Overking to be Xavener I. By 590
CY, Ahlissa's expansion northward ran into the northern Great Kingdom's
southward expansion. Currently, Ahlissa is a hotbed of cutthroat politics. The
Rest of the Old Great Kingdom: While some portions of the former Great
Kingdom have fallen in with one or the other of the new Great Kingdoms
(whether voluntarily or not), others remain independent. The County of
Sunndi declared itself a self-ruled kingdom in 589 CY. Though Overking
Xavener has invited them to join, the independent cities of the Solnor
coast cling to their autonomy; though their economies are threatened by
the Scarlet Brotherhood's stranglehold on certain waterways. The Lordship
of the Isles remains a puppet of the Scarlet Brotherhood. The realm of the
Sea Barons remains largely unchanged, and the elf population of the
Spindrift Isles have isolated themselves from larger events. The
Wounded Giant, Nyrond: Gravely weakened by the Greyhawk Wars, Nyrond
suffered further reverses. However, under the guidance of a new king (Lynwerd
I), it cleared and claimed the lands of old Almor, and is now rebuilding
its war-damaged roads and towns. Reversals
and Change for the Scarlet Sign: In the years before the Pact of
Greyhawk, the Scarlet Brotherhood focused its attention on two forms of
conquest: the subversion of nations using treachery, sabotage and
assassination, and domination of the seaways. Once the Pact of Greyhawk
was discarded by Furyondy and Veluna in 586CY, other nations also
disregarded it and began claiming or reclaiming territory they desired.
Shortly afterward, the Scarlet Brotherhood lost control of Idee to Ahlissa.
The Brotherhood retains control of portions of Onnwal and the Hold of the
Sea Princes, but at great cost. Victories
in the Sheldomar Valley: By 588 CY, Sterich was freed from the
humanoid armies that had overrun it. The battle for the lost land of Geoff
continues. Celene remains officially neutral; the Valley of the Mage
remains a puzzle. Following the assassination of its beygraf Ket has
largely withdrawn from Bissel, though Thornward now marks Ket's eastern
border. It is now 591 CY. While the Flanaess still suffers from internal disputes and battles, times are slightly more stable than they have been. Nations and individuals still fight for freedom and survival against threats old and new; but some are able to focus their attention elsewhere even beyond the borders of the Flanaess. Sources of new trade and wealth are needed at all cost for rebuilding, and the age is fired with a spirit of curiosity' and exploration. |