THE GREYHAWK WARS
The Official History of the Greyhawk Wars
by David "Zeb" Cook
edited by J. Robert King
prepared for America Online by Roger E. Moore
(C)1995 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(R) and (TM) indicate trademarks of TSR, Inc.
The defining event in the recent history of the continent of
Oerik was the series of conflicts known collectively as the
Greyhawk Wars. This file presents, in its entirety, the actual
campaign history of the fighting, taken from the Adventurer's Book
in the GREYHAWK(R) ADVENTURES WARS boxed board game (1991). This
material should be common knowledge to any characters in a GREYHAWK
campaign who have paid the slightest attention to current events or
their history lessons. Any number of adventures may spring from
this material--but that is for the Dungeon Master to create.
Introduction
Philosophers say that war is always born of lust--lust for power
and loot. Perhaps this holds true for the petty forays and border
raids that have plagued the Flanaess through history. However, the
grand carnage of recent years cannot be explained by mere lust.
Rather, the complex alchemy of mortal passions, foibles, and
dementia is what hurtled nation against nation in the wars that
reworked the Flanaess.
To understand the so-called Greyhawk Wars, therefore, one must
understand the cast of characters. The cast ranges widely--from
demi-gods to outcasts and from heroic warriors to red-hooded spies.
Together they comprise a grand ((dramatis personae)), the cast of
a great tragedy.
Dramatis Personae: Antagonists
Iuz the Old
"His Most Profane Eminence, Lord of Pain, Fiend of the North,
Child of the Evil One, Master of the Dread and Awful Presences, Iuz
the Evil, Iuz the Old"--so was this foul demi-god hailed by the
corrupt and evil things that served him. Ruling from blood-black
Dorakaa, City of Skulls, Iuz harbored an undisguised desire to
dominate all of the Flanaess. He first gained notice, however, a
century before the Greyhawk Wars.
In 479 CY, the land now called Iuz was a fractious collection of
independent fiefs. The petty princes who ruled these plots of land
vied to inherit the lands of Furyondy, which at that time reached
far north. Among these princes was a paltry despot of the Howling
Hills, who died in that year and left the land to a son of
questionable origin--Iuz. Oddly, rumors alternately described the
"son" as an old man and a 7-foot-tall, feral-faced fiend.
After the incipient Lord of Evil reorganized his small estate
into a military camp, his attention swung to neighboring fiefs.
Feigning a merely defensive stance, Iuz worked covertly to pit his
despotic neighbors against each other. In time the resources and
wills of these princes were whittled away by conflict, and Iuz
seized the land. By the end of his first year on the throne Iuz had
assimilated the three fiefs surrounding his.
Iuz's domain began to spread like mold upon an overripe peach,
primarily due to his use of humanoid tribes. Most human princes
considered orcs and goblins vermin-ridden inferiors, an attitude
best typified by His Eminence Count Vordav, who swore to "burn on
sight any hovel of those miserable scum."<<1>> Though this attitude
allowed the petty princes to "maintain a false sense of purity for
the old Aerdi traditions,"<<2>> it also meant their armies were
quickly overmatched by Iuz, who made full use of orcish cruelty and
fecundity.
As more and more fiefs fell to the humanoids, a swelling stream
of refugees carried wild tales of Iuz's powers to Furyondy in the
south. According to such rumors, Iuz had constructed a road paved
with skulls between the Howling Hills and Dorakaa, his new capital.
The watchtowers guarding the road were said to be fueled on the
flesh of living men. Iuz himself had sloughed off his withered form
and grown to colossal size--or so the tales said. Though hindsight
may dismiss the most outlandish of such claims, the rumors at that
time spread panic along the southern shores of Whyestil Lake.<<3>>
The King of Furyondy, Avras III, shifted attention to his northern
frontier to prevent expansion of Iuz's power into the heartlands of
Furyondy.<<4>>
Yet King Avras's position was compromised by the independence of
his nobles--particularly the Great Lords of the south, who remained
unthreatened by Iuz. Many of these southern lords seized the
opportunity to wring concessions from their hard-pressed king,
depriving him of the taxes and control he was soon to need.<<5>>
Such concessions roused the ire of the northern-border margraves,
who felt betrayed by the Great Lords. In reaction, the margraves
infiltrated the Order of the Hart, a small religious faction at the
time, and patiently, deliberately transformed it into a military
brotherhood loyal to them.
So it was that Iuz's external threat sundered Furyondy
internally. By 505 CY, a three-way split had grown in the ranks of
the nobility. The most powerful faction was the Great Lords of the
south, who used Iuz's threat to lever their lands from the king's
control. Second in power was the Order of the Hart, which grew in
unity and strength to oppose Iuz's border raids. Least in power was
King Avras III with his estates and kin. Trapped in the lands
between the more powerful factions, the king futilely strove to
appease both.
At this crisis point, however, Iuz's growing power was checked.
Whether by luck, wisdom, or courage, a small party of adventurers
managed to seize the Lord of Evil and imprison him beneath the
towers of Castle Greyhawk. How or why they undertook this feat has
long been lost to the tides of time--lost along with all but one of
the heroes' names: the wizard Zagyg the Mad.<<6>>
Whatever the adventurers' motives and means, their labors
resulted in salvation for Furyondy. Deprived of their lord, the orc
and goblin armies massing on Furyondy's borders rapidly dissolved.
The barbarous creatures fought the regents of Iuz and won for
themselves the east and west shores of Whyestil Lake. East of the
lake, savage chieftains and unscrupulous humans founded the Horned
Society by 513 CY, but the depths of the Vesve Forest remained
untamed up to the Greyhawk Wars over half a century later.
Though the humanoid armies had retreated from the borders,
Furyondy was too wracked by internal dissension to give chase. As
pressure from the north ebbed, Prince Belvor III, King Avras's son,
energetically courted the Order of the Hart. By playing on the
suspicions of the Great Lords of the south, Belvor III swung the
Order of the Hart into the royal faction. After his father's death,
Belvor used his monarchial power to force the Great Lords back into
the fold as well. Though his reign was relatively short,<<7>>
Belvor's coalition lasted, holding the fractious kingdom together
during the years of his son's regency.
Since assuming the throne from Lord Throstin, Regent of the
Realm, Belvor IV has striven to strengthen Furyondy, planning the
eventual conquest of the Horned Society and Iuz. Relations within
the kingdom are far from settled, though. The rival factions,
though much weaker, still remain and have found new causes to
champion. In Belvor's efforts to reform and strengthen the empire,
he has undone much of his regent's handiwork. Disgruntled, Lord
Throstin has gained increasing control over the Order of the Hart
and thus slowed the king's reassumption of full power.
With all the turmoil within his borders, King Belvor IV
virtually ignored Iuz's return in 570 CY. Iuz, for his own part,
had not sought to draw the attention of the southern lands. His
sudden departure left disorder in the kingdom and until he could
reassert absolute authority over the quarrelsome humanoid tribes,
he was content to be ignored by his enemies.
The Mad Overking
Before the conflict between Iuz and Furyondy began its slow
festering, events of equal import developed in the east. In the
palace of Rauxes at the heart of the Great Kingdom, scions of House
Naelax swept through the halls, brutally slaying every last member
of the ruling House of Rax. Brought to power by blood and
treachery, the House of Naelax was destined to rule by terror, for
madness flowed in the blood of its progeny.<<8>>
The tale of the Great Kingdom of Aerdi begins almost 40 years
prior to Iuz's rise. In those days, the North Province was ruled by
Prince Ivid, a charismatic and able--though thoroughly
debauched--nobleman. Because decades of weak kingship under the
House of Rax had eroded imperial power, nobles such as Prince Ivid
grew bold in their claims, pressing demands upon the Malachite
Throne. The kingship, weak as it was, folded beneath the pressure
and the Great Kingdom plunged into the Turmoil Between Crowns.
When Nalif, the only remaining heir of Rax, was
assassinated,<<9>> a host of rival princes claimed right to the
Malachite Throne. Through a campaign of diplomacy, war, and
assassination, Prince Ivid solved the problem of succession by
eliminating all contenders and leaving himself the sole surviving
prince of blood. Thus, the House of Naelax achieved the throne and
Prince Ivid became His Celestial Transcendency, Overking of Aerdy,
Grand Prince Ivid.
Included in his chain of titles were Herzog of the North;
Archduke of Ahlissa, Idee, and Sunndi; Suzerain of Medegia;
Commander of the Bone March; and Protector of Almor and Onnwal.
Fate, however, quickly made these titles little more than grandiose
claims. The chaos unleashed with the assassination of Nalif did not
cease when Ivid seized the throne. Indeed, the peasants of Onnwal,
Idee, and Sunndi rebelled, and the Herzog of Ahlissa asserted his
own independence.<<10>>
Ivid hurried to deal with his southern cousin (the nobility of
the Great Kingdom were all related) only to find his lands
exhausted and ill-administered after years of civil war. Unable to
raise a sufficient army from his own fiefs, the Overking
reluctantly called upon his remaining cousins for aid. Like sharks
scenting blood, they closed in on the seemingly helpless king,
intent on a kill.
The history of this second wave of civil war is even more
confused and incomplete than that of the first. The sack of the
University of Rauxes in 449 CY destroyed all imperial records of
the war.<<11>> Likewise, Duke Astrin's considerable library at
Eastfair went out in rucksacks and up in flames during the final
imperial campaign. Though some fairly complete histories survived
in the monasteries of Medegia, they are heavily tinged with the
Holy Censor's degenerate philosophies. Their accuracy is highly
questionable, especially concerning their main topic: the battles
between Rauxes and Medegia.
Though reliable accounts of the battles are lost to time, the
results stand clear: the Overking retained his throne but suffered
losses of territory and power. A nephew that Ivid left as steward
of the North Province rebelled against his uncle and established
his fief as a sovereign state. So too, the chief prelate of Ivid's
empire--the Holy Censor of Medegia--defied the Overking and
established an independent see. The Sea Barons were not as
successful: though they gained control over the Aerdi fleet, the
Overking closed all mainland ports to them. Left with only hostile
nonAerdi neighbors, the Sea Barons sued for peace.
Little is known of the campaigns in the heartlands of the Great
Kingdom, though certainly Ivid earned the title "the fiend-seeing"
during these battles. When Almor rebelled, the Overking struck back
with a vengeance, demonstrating his "fiend-seeing" abilities.
Drawing upon hellish aid, the Overking's armies routed the rebels.
Even in the empire's weakened state, Almor could not stand to the
diabolical fury of the Companion Guard<<12>> until Nyrond sent its
aid. In the end, the exhausted armies fought to a draw along the
current borders.
Since that time, the Great Kingdom has seen a progression of
Overkings. Ivid ruled for 48 years and, though he never regained
control of his lost provinces, he bound the rest of Aerdi to him
through fear and debauched reward. His son, Ivid II, survived only
three years on the fiend-seeing throne. Unstable before his
coronation, Ivid II quickly lapsed into raving dementia upon
assuming the full regalia of office.<<13>>
Madness did not bring Ivid II's fall, however: he was slain by
a son who desired the crown. Ivid III immediately followed his
grandfather's example, exterminating his blood kin so none could
challenge him for the crown. With the blood of his father still
beneath his fingernails, Ivid III imprisoned his children in richly
appointed cages. He provided his heirs with tutors and countless
lavish debaucheries lest he seem the neglectful father. When he
reached advanced age, however, Ivid III declared that his surviving
child would succeed him. The announcement unleashed a bloodbath of
fratricide in his children's velvet prison. The sole survivor
became Ivid IV.
The new ruler of Aerdi emulated his father: those children not
slain at birth were imprisoned, and their mothers monstrously
tortured for the Overking's amusement. With their father's throat
out of reach, the children practiced their Naelaxan butcheries on
a succession of nursemaids and governesses. Some survivors of the
children sadly came to the Overking's attention and joined his
ever-changing stable of concubines. After a brief dalliance or
pleasing interlude, these women disappeared into the bowels of the
torturers' dungeons: the Overking loved pain more than passion.
Otherwise Ivid IV's reign accomplished little. The Overking
excelled in debauchery, not administration. He perennially launched
military campaigns to retake Almor and Nyrond and always managed
only to shift the borders a few miles in either direction. No
matter--the battles provided a summer spectacle to occupy the
Overking, who was more interested in fury and thunder than real
military gain.
While Ivid IV dallied, his someday successor, Ivid V, set to
work. Second among the Overking's sons, Ivid V thought to simplify
the appointment of an heir by exterminating his siblings.<<14>>
Though Ivid V completed this task with skill and dispatch, his
father still refused to yield the throne to him. The heir apparent
therefore hired the Overking's latest favorite to pour acid in the
emperor's ear.<<15>>
Ivid V ascended the throne and has held it for 28 years. Though
as a commander of armies he is dissolute and weak, Ivid V
ruthlessly governs his empire with a genius for political
machinations. Undeniably, the few campaigns he has fought ended in
disaster, but madness has not obscured his diplomatic skill. The
North and South Provinces have once again fallen into line behind
the Overking's banner and his emissaries have even brought the
humanoids of the Bone March closer to the imperial fold. With his
strength growing, the Overking looks for an excuse to again press
his claims on the rebellious western lands.
The Father of Obedience
The third and perhaps most decisive figure in the looming
tragedy of war was also the most mysterious. Known only by a
title--His Peerless Serenity, the Father of Obedience--the head of
the Scarlet Brotherhood purposely fostered secrecy and rumor about
himself and his followers. Most of what is known is only unfounded
speculation.<<16>>
Though this organization of the Suel humans is purported to be
ancient,<<17>> the Scarlet Brotherhood only came to the notice of
the rest of the Flanaess in 573 CY.<<18>> This year also saw the
abduction of the Prince of Furyondy and the Provost of Veluna. The
coincidence of these events seems significant, particularly to
conspiracy theorists who suspect the hand of the Scarlet
Brotherhood in all dark and mysterious deeds.<<19>> Whether or not
a connection exists, the Brotherhood has remained notoriously
silent on the subject.
Without question, though, the Scarlet Brotherhood is a fanatical
people. Their harshly monastic society has earned for them the
epithet "monks," though the religion practiced by the Brotherhood
remains a mystery. They deem all other races as inferior to the
Suel People, and with cold, methodic evil set these beliefs to
practice. Despite unfailing stealth and treachery when dealing with
those beyond the pale, members of the Brotherhood apparently obey
their leader--the Father of Obedience--unto death.
Though vague rumors of the Brotherhood had existed for
centuries, the first official act of the organization was the
dispatching of emissaries to the courts of the Iron League in 573
CY. Traveling robed and hooded in red, these strangers claimed to
be ambassadors from the Land of Purity. Most were excellent
scholars and sages who observed in the courts of the Iron League
and generously offered their talents to those who needed them.
Through this insidious process, the robed strangers patiently
wormed into sensitive and even vital offices in the courts of many
southern lords.
While the robed sages became confidants to kings, assassins of
the sect infiltrated the courts under subtler guises. The time when
this silent invasion actually began remains unknown, and estimates
of the number of assassins are pure guesswork. Some revealed
themselves prior to the war, advancing the Brotherhood's cause
through assassination and terror. Even in these strikes, though,
the extent of the Brotherhood's role remains in doubt: assassins
seldom proclaimed allegiance as they struck the blow. Was the roof
tile that slew the Steward of the Principality of Ulek wielded by
an assassin, or by the capricious hand of fortune?<<20>>
Of the Brotherhood's other prewar activities, only rumors speak.
In the last years before the war, reports reached the southern
Flanaess that red-hooded mystics were enslaving and martialing vast
savage empires in Hepmonaland. Travelers described these savages in
the most horrific terms, mercilessly detailing their cruel rites
and debased customs.<<21>> According to travelers' tales, vast
nations following the ancient ways of the Suloise were mustering in
the steamy gardens of Hepmonaland.
Still, Hepmonaland was too far from the beleaguered borders of
the Flanaess kingdoms to cause much concern. Travelers' tales fell
on deaf ears, and no one noticed the growing stranglehold of the
red-hooded sages. Had anyone taken note, countless lives could have
been saved.
The Course of the War
Given the delicate balance of good and evil in the Flanaess and
the tragically flawed natures of the land's tyrants and kings, the
question was not whether a war would erupt, but how, when, and
where it would. By 582 CY, these questions had met with some
startling answers.
Rise of Stonefist
In the frozen north, far removed from the power struggles of the
ancient Aerdi kingdoms, dwelt several tribes of barbaric folk: the
Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruski, and the raiders of the Hold of
Stonefist. For centuries these bands attacked anything or anyone
that moved across their barren lands or seas. Three of the four
groups--Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruski--claimed Suloise heritage and
common foes. Numbered first among their foes were the folk of the
fourth group, the raiders in the Hold of Stonefist.
The squabbling skirmishes of these small and primitive peoples
should have remained merely a parenthetical aside in the epic
chronicle of the Flanaess. Rumors surfaced, however, concerning an
ancient artifact--the Five Blades of Corusk: the barbarian
birthright of five swords imbued with otherworldly magic and lost
for all ages. Four of the blades had purportedly been found in the
heart of the Corusk Mountains. When the final sword was united with
its mates in the proper ritual, the Five Blades of Corusk would
combine their power and invoke the Great God of the North. This
supernatural being would then muster the barbarian tribes and lead
them to victory over the warm lands farther south.
Though countless young warriors died upon vision quests in the
high mountains, no one discovered the fifth blade. Regardless, in
582 CY, a leader of great power and charisma arose among the
barbarians. He called himself Vatun, Great God of the North--and
had the power to support his claim. Vatun's appearance surprised
even those most convinced by the rumors of the Five Blades,
including the barbarian kings who had used the rumors to further
their power. Vatun must have somehow proved his power to these
doubtful rulers, for the kings of Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruski each
surrendered their ancestral sovereignty to "all-powerful" Vatun.
Vatun, though, was hardly what he seemed: The entire episode was
a fraud. Iuz, with his evil cunning and demi-god powers, fabricated
the god Vatun and masqueraded as messiah of the barbarians. Perhaps
the Five Blades of Corusk were genuine and perhaps the Great God of
the North might really have appeared were the fifth blade found,
but Iuz's evil schemes ended all search.
Vatun wasted no time deliberating. War was imminent between the
barbarians and Stonefist. Even as Vatun appeared before his
dread-filled followers, the Fists converged upon them to stop the
ceremony. In the brief battle that ensued, Vatun easily routed the
Fists and thereby won the prostrate praise of the barbarians.
However, instead of completely crushing the Fists, Vatun sought
them as allies. Over the course of a few weeks, Sevvord Redbeard-
-once noted for his stubborn independence--underwent a radical (if
not magical) change of heart and joined forces with Vatun and his
barbarian hordes.
The Rovers of the Barrens, perhaps scenting the familiar stench
of Iuz's evil upon winds from the east, proved less pious toward
Vatun. Fiercely independent, the leaders of the few surviving
wardogs refused Vatun's offer to ally. Retreating into the great
plain between Stonefist and Iuz, the Rovers were both protected and
plagued by their icy and forbidding lands.
Though Vatun seemed inconsequential to sages in civilized lands
and though the Great God was in fact a sham, his appearing
irretrievable unbalanced the delicate scales of good and evil.
Iuz's alter ego clutched the northern tribes in a fist of iron, and
with a single gesture he flung them southward.
The Hold of Stonefist, now ally rather than enemy of the
barbarians, massed for an assault to the south. Demonstrating a
savagery that surpassed even his reputation, Sevvord Redbeard,
Master of the Hold, bloodily crushed all opposition to his rule. He
turned the yearly Rite of Battle Fitness into a massacre to prove
his ascendancy, then gathered his cowed forces for war talk. He
said the time had come for the Fists, robbed of their lands and
glory, to bring their southern neighbors to task.
With such demagoguery, the Master of the Hold assembled a huge
and loyal barbarian army. The Fists were hungry for war and Sevvord
Redbeard planned to let them feast. Under Vatun's orders, the
Master of the Hold led his army through Thunder Pass and swept down
on Calbut in the Duchy of Tenh.
The Fall of Tenh
For decades upon decades, the atamans of Stonefist had coveted
the Duchy of Tenh--a land warm and lush by the severe standards of
the barbarians. Yet for as many years, the Duke of Tenh and his
armies blocked the way into those wealthy lands. Based in the
walled city of Calbut,<<22>> Duke Ehyeh's patrols watched and
guarded Thunder Pass, repelling small forays and delaying larger
raids until reinforcements from the city garrison could arrive. For
centuries the walled cities and garrisons of Tenh limited the Fists
to minor border raids. Preoccupied by skirmishes with the Fruztii,
the Fists had not mounted a major attack through the pass for over
30 years.
In that time the Tenhas grew complacent. Believing the northern
frontier secure, Duke Ehyeh siphoned warriors from Thunder Pass to
more pressing assignments: patrols to intercept foul creatures from
the Griff Mountains and the Troll Fens, task forces to hunt down
desperados of Rookroost and the Bandit Kingdoms, and standing
armies along the increasingly hostile border with the Theocracy of
the Pale. With Thunder Pass quiet and the Hold preoccupied, Ehyeh
allowed the Tenhas guard in Calbut to dwindle dangerously.
By 582 CY, Calbut lay completely unprepared for the storm of
barbarians sweeping through Thunder Pass. The once-great gorge wall
that sealed the heights of the pass toppled before the Fists'
onslaught and Tenhas runners bearing word of the attack fell
between footfalls. The relentless tide of Fists flooded through the
pass, inundated the walls of Calbut, and stormed the still-open
gates, catching the garrison commander completely unawares.<<23>>
Every man among the townsfolk was slaughtered and many women and
children carried off to captivity.
Though the loss of Calbut grieved the Duke of Tenh, he expected
the invasion to follow the course of previous incursions: the
advance would grind to a halt while the undisciplined hordes looted
Calbut. During the days--perhaps weeks--the Fists would spend in
savage plunder, Duke Ehyeh would carefully muster his army and trap
the barbarians in their camps. Slowly the duke drew the army of
Tenh together, secretly withdrawing troops from other fronts.
This invasion, however, did not follow the same course as past
attacks. While Tenh's forces mustered to waylay the Fists, Sevvord
Redbeard pushed his troops forward again. In the brief campaign
that followed, the Fists marched down a branch of the Zumker River,
easily overwhelming the thin ranks of the Tenhas militia in their
path. Within five days of the fall of Calbut, Sevvord's horde laid
siege to the walled capital of Tenh, Nevond Nevnend.
Without the assuring presence of Duke Ehyeh, the citizens
panicked. Rumors of empty granaries ignited a mob of fearful
peasants, who marched on the citadel. In grotesque overreaction,
the Council of Lords loosed the citadel guard upon the mob. The
protest festered into a riot that spread to every corner of the
city. As mob panic reach a rolling boil within the walls of Nevond
Nevnend, Sevvord Redbeard laid siege to the walls without. The
capital fell, and with it all authority in Tenh.
After the twin disasters of Calbut and Nevond Nevnend, the
armies of Tenh were decimated. Sevvord's Fists easily fanned out
through the countryside and into the Phostwood. The Duke and
Duchess, along with their children, fled their homeland, finding
refuge in the court of Countess Belissica of Urnst.
Diplomacy
News of the fall of Tenh spread through the Flanaess like a
rolling cloud of doom, triggering reaction on all sides. Sevvord
Redbeard's conquest rung like a death knell across the land. The
messengers whispered the news in the ears of kings and emperors,
saying "The hammer has fallen. The time has come." The great war
had drawn its first blood.
Most devastated by the fall of that hammer was deposed Duke
Ehyeh. In Radigast City, he and his courtiers cobbled together a
court-in-exile. The decisiveness of the defeat left the duke's
reputation hobbled. Miscalculations were magnified into character
flaws, misfortunes considered ineptitude, desperation labeled
despotism. The shattered duke appealed to his benefactress for
funds and an army to regain his homeland. The Countess of Urnst,
unwilling to abuse the age-old traditions and rights of the
nobility, provided him refuge and even funded his court, but
refused further aid.
Other nations were no more obliging. The Theocracy of the Pale,
though unhappy to have Sevvord Redbeard next door, had long
distrusted and disliked the Tenhas anyway. The Supreme Prelate of
the Pale refused to volunteer an army for Duke Ehyeh to command,
choosing instead to strengthen his own borders and prepare to seize
Tenh for himself. The king of Nyrond, though sympathetic to Duke
Ehyeh's cause, reserved his troops and funds to counter the ominous
rumbles coming from its old rival, the Great Kingdom.
At the same time, Iuz suffered his first reverse. The folk of
Fruztii, Cruski, and Schnai, long-time rivals of Stonefist, took
exception to Sevvord's bold stroke. Tenh had always supported the
barbarians in their struggles against the Great Kingdom and the
Bone March. As part of that support, Duke Ehyeh customarily turned
a blind eye to the arms trade traveling across Tenh from Rookroost
to Krakenheim. Now, however, the Master of the Hold closed the
caravan routes, seizing all weapon shipments for his own people.
Angered by their loss and feeling betrayed by the "Great God of the
North," the barbarians began to doubt Vatun. Iuz's alliance of
trickery had begun to erode.
The barbarian kings resisted Vatun's call to overrun Ratik and
invade the Bone March. Though the humanoids of the March were
bitter foes, the barbarians were loathe to swarm Ratik. The tiny
archbarony had cooperated with the barbarians for many years,
developing strong ties between it and the lands of the north.<<24>>
Though quite willing to launch sea raids against the Bone March and
Great Kingdom, the barbarians refused even Vatun's orders to march
through Ratik. As the first few months of the war drew to a close,
the northern alliance collapsed altogether.
And so the deception that triggered the great war met its end,
but not before Iuz had firmly allied Stonefist to his cause. Though
the alliance farther east collapsed, Iuz had successfully turned
the barbarians' attention away from the west: instead of pouring
though the mountain passes, the barbarians launched daring longship
raids along the coast of the Great Kingdom.
Martyrs of the Holy Shielding
In 583 CY, Iuz returned to his homeland. The short absence he
had taken to work his deceptions upon the barbarians threatened to
reduce his evil empire to turmoil once more. Stung by setbacks in
the east and determined to silence internal unrest, Iuz savagely
restructured his nation. The straggling human nobles from the old
Furyondy houses--worms of men, too weak to oppose Iuz and too
morally bankrupt to flee--were deposed or executed. In their stead,
Iuz placed unholy things from the Abyss: nabassu, cambions, hezrou,
mariliths, and vrock. Somehow he forced them to his will.<<25>>
Nor did the Lord of Evil stop at rebuilding his own lands, but
reached also into the Horned Society to replace leaders there. The
Dread and Awful Presences, the Hierarchs, made the task easy for
him. The Hierarchs reigned in veiled seclusion, hiding their human
identities from their humanoid minions. Rumors that the Hierarchs
were fiendish overlords arose among the humanoids of the Horned
Society--rumors the Hierarchs fostered to cement their power. Iuz
decided merely to make the rumors reality. In the month of
Coldeven, at the height of the Blood-Moon Festival, the citadels of
Molag ran red with blood as Iuz staged his coup. In less than a
fortnight, the Hierarchs became creatures of mere legend and Iuz
held absolute control over the Horned Society.
Iuz's assumption of power and armament for war did not pass
unnoticed. Furyondy's spies headed back to King Belvor IV with word
of the swelling humanoid armies. The news could well have been
written in the spies' blood, though, for most of the human agents
were discovered and slain, virtually closing King Belvor's eyes and
ears. When the few spies did reach him, though, the Furyondy king
heeded the fate of Tenh and immediately set to building his
defense. The citadels along the Veng River were stocked and
garrisoned in expectation of immediate attack. Belvor's vassals
raised militia and shifted troops to the Veng border. Emissaries
rode to the Shield Lands and Veluna to brace them for war. Belvor
was determined that Furyondy would not fall.
King Belvor's emissaries to the Shield Lands met with an icy
reception from Lord Holmer, Earl of Walworth and Commander of the
Knights of the Holy Shielding. Relations between the two rulers had
always been prickly. Though ostensibly allied with Furyondy, the
earl long suspected that Belvor intended to annex the Shield Lands.
Thus the messenger's news of the mustering of Molag struck Lord
Holmer as suspicious: he did not entirely dismiss the warning, but
suspected King Belvor of overstating the danger. Holmer felt it
more perilous to admit powerful knights of Furyondy into his lands
to aid in its defense than to face the rabble of the Horned Society
with his own knights.
In the coming of Flocktime, Iuz struck. In the dead of night
along the banks of the Veng and Ritensa, the humanoids of the
Horned Society launched probing attacks. None made more than small
headway against the knights of the Hart and Shielding, but the
attacks still achieved their aim. While King Belvor and Lord Holmer
peered myopically at their river frontiers, Iuz's true legions
marched east, fording the Ritensa north of the Shield Lands and
striking into the Bandit Kingdoms. The petty warlords were easily
cowed by Iuz's might and, given the number of spies recently
executed, the evil lord was confident that Belvor and Holmer were
blind to his maneuvers.
Indeed they were. Lord Holmer learned of Iuz's flanking march
only after the humanoid hordes had breached the eastern border.
Raging like a grass fire across the open fields of the Shield
Lands, they drove on Critwall. When this dark report reached Lord
Holmer, he pulled all but a screen of knights from the river
frontiers and personally fought his way back toward the undefended
capital, Admundfort. More than half of the knights fell in the
drive toward the island, but those who reached the Nyr Dyv set fire
to as many vessels as they could, then sailed across the channel to
the capital. Ragged and weary, the remaining knights could not hold
the capital before the onslaught of humanoids, though they came
across in dories and trawlers. Admundfort and Critwall fell, and so
too did Lord Holmer, borne away in clawed hands to the dungeons
beneath Dorakaa.
The fall of the Shield Lands left Furyondy's eastern flank
exposed, a threat King Belvor moved quickly to block. Lords scoured
the countryside, raising vast militias to complement the thin ranks
of the Order of the Hart and troops were hurriedly transferred from
the Vesve Forest frontier. The newly raised troops and
reinforcements confronted the advancing humanoids at the Battle of
Critwall Bridge, dealing Iuz's forces a severe blow. The armies of
Furyondy repelled the humanoids and held the Veng River line
against further advance.
Stroke and Counterstroke
Though ill-prepared, Furyondy was not complacent. King Belvor
IV, while raising troops at home, dispatched his most
silver-tongued advisors to the southern courts. Ambassadors bore
the alarming news to Celene, Bissel, Veluna, the Uleks, and--most
important of all--Keoland. With impassioned eloquence, the
emissaries warned of dire consequences should the northern kingdoms
fall. They urged the nations to ally and thus check the tide of
evil, finally and forever. Nor were their words in vain: most of
the leaders heeded the call, but wondered how little aid they could
provide and how long they could delay before sending it.
Meanwhile in the east, Archbold III of Nyrond finally rallied
himself from the shock of Tenh's defeat. Smarting from accusations
that he had allowed the troublesome dukedom to collapse, King
Archbold decided to undeniably prove his support for his former
colonies. Armed with reports that the Fists were mercilessly
pillaging the fallen duchy, Archbold marched north into the
Nutherwood. Elven contingents in his army allowed him to easily
infiltrate the Phostwood and overwhelm the few Fists posted there.
Without further warning, the Nyrondese burst from the forest.
Unlike the Tenhas though, the Fists did not simply crumble:
Archbold found himself facing a determined foe. Angered at the
surprise attack, Sevvord executed a few lackluster commanders as
examples to the others, then sacrificed Fists to delay the advance
as he mustered his forces outside the village of Ternsmay. Though
outnumbered, Sevvord held the advantageous ground. In the ensuing
battle, neither side could gain the upper hand. After fighting well
into the night,<<26>> the Fists withdrew farther and fortified
their position. Though Archbold had emerged victorious, the victory
was bitter, for he could risk no further advance into Tenh. He had,
however, forced Redbeard into a defensive stance as well. The
battle ended in stalemate and the armies spent the next tedious
weeks watching their enemies across a mile-wide no man's land.
Iuz had no intention of letting his string of victories end,
however. Using loot captured in the Shield Lands, Iuz hired
humanoid mercenaries in the Vesve Forest.<<27>> The mercenary army
descended from the Vesve, overrunning the frontier guard of
Furyondy and capturing Crockport. Furyondy's capital, Chendl, lay
open and unguarded across the belly of the land. But for a hasty
confederation of Highfolk and knights, Chendl would have fallen by
the next dusk. The ragged force of Highfolk and knights refused to
grant the orcs an open fight, harrying them instead. Though the
orcs' advance continued, it slowed sufficiently for the defenders
of Chendl to prepare. By the month of Reaping, however, Chendl lay
surrounded.
Furyondy Besieged
The news from Chendl struck a heavy blow on King Belvor IV. Iuz
held the Shield Lands, the Horned Society probed constantly across
the borders, and now Fairwain Province and Chendl--perhaps the most
beautiful city in the whole Flanaess--lay besieged.
Worse yet, no help had come. The reports from the ambassadors
were discouraging. Lord Kendall wrote from Celene to say that Her
Fey Majesty, Yolande, was "distinctly ambiguous when pressed on how
many troops she might consider as fulfilling her obligation, or
when she might think fit to mobilize them." Word from Bissel was no
better: the margrave expressed concern that the horsemen of Ket
might attack his weakened frontier. The Commandant of the Gran
March insisted it could only act in concert with Keoland and
Keoland remained maddeningly silent.
Internally, the Seven Families (the noble houses of Furyondy)
began to grumble at the costs of the war. In addition to the
revenues spent, they lamented the revenues lost. The new militias
had stripped the countryside of able young men, leaving the
ripening harvest to rot in the fields. Meanwhile Iuz's agents
permeated the land, stirring up unrest among the hungry poor. King
Belvor hardened his face to these setbacks where any lesser man
would have surrendered to despair.
Not all news was bleak, though. The knights had managed to stop
the orcish advance into Fairwain and the humanoids could do little
more than surround Chendl. The Horned Society's incursions across
the Veng occurred less often and grew less concerted. Best of all,
the Canon of Veluna sent word that his forces were hurrying to
Furyondy's side. The news from Nyrond, too--though not the best--at
least indicated that the Fists were contained. After considering
these encouraging matters, King Belvor rallied his spirit and
returned to the fight.
Furyondy's first task--more political than strategic--was to
sunder the siege of Chendl. Gambling on the chaotic nature of the
tribes surrounding the city,<<28>> Belvor left most of his strength
on the Veng border and personally led a picked command of elite
units against the siege force. Belvor's knights were severely
outnumbered, but by strategic cunning and sorcerers' aid, they
gained the upper hand. The knights sliced through the humanoid
lines and pinned the besiegers to the city walls. In short time,
the fields around Chendl became a smoldering graveyard of
goblinkind and the way to Chendl was open once more.
By this time both Iuz and Furyondy were stretched to their
limits. The furious pace of the war had exhausted their reserves of
trained manpower and supplies. Through the months of Patchwall,
Ready'reat, and Sunsebb, both nations scrambled to reprovision
their forces.
The Great Kingdom Wakes
To this point, the conflict that was to become the great
Greyhawk War was viewed by most nations as just another regional
dispute--albeit a particularly volatile one--between a few northern
nations. The states of the Iron League and those around Keoland saw
little reason to help the besieged nations, or even to fortify
their own borders against attack. But the rulers of these nations
were, as all mortal folk, blind to the plans of Fate.
Whether due to madness--as some have suggested--or political
ambition, the Overking of the Great Kingdom chose that moment to
enter the arena of war. The mad ruler had long coveted Nyrond and
Almor, but the two nations had always stood united against his
legions. The recent troubles in Tenh, though, provided the Overking
a perfect distraction for Nyrond: King Archbold was away in the far
north with a large contingent of his army, and the remaining
troops, though not helpless, would be matched two to one by the
Overking's forces.
Other factors convinced Ivid V that Nyrond and Almor were ripe
for harvest. For some time, the Overking had courted the humanoids
of the Bone March, but being blood-thirsty and primitive, they saw
no gain in his offers. Now an ambassador flew north on one of the
Overking's personal carpets to make a new proposal. In exchange for
alliance, the orcs of the Bone March would gain both land and
loot--all from Nyrond.
While the emissary delivered this proposal, the Overking drummed
up war fever in his own land to compel his independent-minded
cousins to join the fray. The North Province, sensing a dangerous
shift in the wind, stood by Ivid,<<29>> reasoning that though he
made an unreliable friend, he was a truly horrific enemy. The South
Province dithered, fearing retribution for its past failures
against Onnwal. The See of Medegia remained defiant, the Holy
Censor confident in his power to keep the mad Ivid in check. Though
the Overking was displeased by this refusal, he took no action
against his chief prelate.<<30>> To further expand
his army ranks, the Overking reached into the state's depleted
coffers and paid out huge sums for mercenary bands. News of his
largess spread beyond the City of Greyhawk. Even the ranks of
Furyondy and Nyrond thinned as hired soldiers sought better pay in
the east.
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.
Ivid's Aerdi Army marched slowly toward Chathold in Almor. His
Northern Army entered the Adri Forest near Edge Field, bound for
Innspa in Nyrond. Meanwhile the Grand Field Force of the South
Province marched into the Iron Hills, again intent on taking the
city of Irongate.
Osson's Raid
The Great Kingdom's intentions could hardly pass unnoticed. One
country that held an anything-but-casual interest was the Prelacy
of Almor. This small nation had long witnessed the brutal ambition
of the Overking at work and therefore knew not to be caught
unawares. The Prelate Kevont had personally organized an extensive
spy network to monitor the lands of the madman. That network now
reported the mustering and movement of massive armies in all landed
quarters of the kingdom. When he received this intelligence,
Prelate Kevont dispatched messengers to Nyrond and the Iron League
and sent the war banner throughout the country. With the speed of
a people ever poised on the brink of war, Almor's defenses were
fully manned.
A prudent ruler, Kevont did not personally take command of
Almor's troops. The old prelate had long led his country by wisely
recognizing the best man for every job. In this case, the best man
was the Honorable Osson of Chathold. Kevont appointed the energetic
young knight as Commandant of the Field, with every knight and
yeoman of Almor's forces under his command.
Commandant Osson had little difficulty assessing the grave
situation facing Almor. The Great Kingdom could squash the tiny
country through sheer numbers--and apparently intended to do so.
Though the dilemma was clear, the solution was not. Recognizing
that Almor could not be defended against such a foe, Osson decided
to take the offensive--committing a daring raid into the Great
Kingdom's lands to keep its forces from attacking. The plan would
have met with insurmountable objection from older and "wiser"
knights had the prelate wavered even momentarily in support of his
young protege.
The plan was simple and daring. Osson divided his army into two
forces, posting the first along the border with the Great Kingdom.
Too small to block a major attack, this army aggressively patrolled
and probed the frontier. Their rigor would make them seem twice
their actual number and thus hopefully forestall any major assault
by the Aerdians.<<31>>
The second half of the army consisted of all available cavalry,
riding under Osson's personal command. Baggage, notoriously
cumbersome and complicated for most armies,<<32>> was all but
forbidden. Osson ordered that each man live in the saddle,
forsaking all the comforts normally carried. For the outnumbered
forces of Almor, speed could make the difference between life and
death.
Having divided his forces, Osson set his plan in motion. 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. Almor needed time for Nyrondese aid to arrive, and
if Osson could fluster the mad Ivid like a wasp in the helmet, the
Overlord might never attack. Either way, Osson preferred to keep
the battle on Aerdian soil.
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.
The land fell quickly into disarray. The peasants, long oppressed
by their Herzog, welcomed the Almorian forces. The Herzog himself
was slow to respond, for the bulk of Ahlissa's troops were massed
on her western border, preparing to assault Irongate. Rushing
detachments of his army toward the east, the Herzog reluctantly
accepted offers of aid from the Overking.<<33>> The Aerdi army
marched southwest to engage the intruders, but before either force
could catch him, Osson advanced again.
Instead of returning to Almor, Osson led his horsemen into the
Rieuwood. The Glorioles Army of the Overking, though victorious,
had suffered badly in its conquest of Sunndi. Osson calculated that
a defeat in Sunndi would swing Ivid's attention from Almor. Once
through the wood, Commandant Osson found the Overking's forces
arrayed and ready for him. Even badly hurt, the Glorioles Army
would have proved an equal match for the Almorians but that the
Aerdians did not have a general of genius on their side. 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.
After a brief delay to reorganize, proclaim Sunndi's liberation,
and recruit volunteers, Osson set off again. Crossing the
Glorioles, the commandant made a stab at Nulbish on the Thelly
River. Sadly, the good fortune that had followed him to this point
fled. The garrison commander at Nulbish, Magistar Vlent, had the
military training that other Aerdi commanders lacked. Refusing to
fight outside the city, Magistar Vlent used a heavily armed river
flotilla to maintain supplies and harry the Almorians. After
several weeks of futile siege, Osson received word that the Aerdi
Army was descending from the north. Any return to Almor was clearly
impossible, for a massive army now blocked the path.
Many options--all of them grim--came under debate in Osson's war
council.<<34>> Some of the knights argued for fighting back to
Almor, others suggested wintering over in Sunndi, and a handful
even proposed a drive for Rauxes, capital of the Great Kingdom! In
the end, Osson chose none of these, calling instead for a march on
the See of Medegia. For Almor's sake, Osson argued, the cavalry
must continue to pressure the Great Kingdom. If reports held true
that the Lordship of the Isles and the Iron League were planning to
ally, surely the Lordship's fleet could provide an escape to the
Almorian cavalry.
Though the attack into Medegia surprised the Overking, his
reaction was equally surprising. As soon as Osson's intentions were
clear, Ivid ordered his armies to stop their pursuit. Rebellious
Medegia would receive no aid from the Great Kingdom. In a series of
stunning field battles, 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.<<35>>
Aid from the South
The coming of winter brought respite to all the warring states.
In the north, snow and ice covered the land and freezing wind
whipped across the plain. Along the south rim of the Vesve Forest,
Iuz's humanoids, far from their warm and secure caves when the
frigid winter blasts descended, dug crude shelters as best they
could. Once entrenched, the miserable humanoids refused to venture
beyond their warm dens. King Belvor used the resulting quiet in the
north to plan and reorganize.
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.
However, the worst setback for the alliance came when a sudden
coup replaced Prince Latmac Ranold of the Lordship of the Isles
with his distant cousin, 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. Though the Brotherhood's hand had
heretofore gone unfelt, its effect would become increasingly
undeniable.
In the west, the diplomats' alarms finally penetrated. Realizing
that Iuz's threat was neither quick nor contained, the southern
states consented to ally. First to sign the Treaty of Niole Dra
came the largest and most important nation--Keoland--quickly
followed by the Gran March, Yeomanry, Duchy of Ulek, and County of
Ulek. Celene was last to agree, the elves begrudgingly consenting
to send a token force. Citing threats on their borders, the
remaining countries declined to aid, although all vowed they would
give no aid to Iuz. With the treaty in hand, King Belvor returned
to Chendl with hope for his people.
In his own heavy-handed fashion, Iuz concluded alliances--all
obscenely lopsided in his favor. After the Bandit Kingdoms were
cowed into submission, agents traveled to Ket, Tusmit, and
Perrenland, urging them to take up the sword. Ket and Tusmit
responded favorably while Perrenland offered only mercenaries and
a promise of neutrality in the coming years. Other agents
penetrated into the Crystalmists, hoping to rouse the creatures
there to attack and harry the good lands.
When at last spring came, several new armies were on the march:
Keoland's main force moved through passes of the Lortmil Mountains;
a small but experienced army from the Gran March passed through the
Lorridges; Celene sent a small detachment north through the
forests; and the Iron League gathered in Idee and Irongate. Among
the evil forces, Ket was poised to strike into Bissel; the Bone
March threatened Ratik and Nyrond; and ships from the Sea Barons
and the Lordship of the Isles raced to Grendep Bay to end the
barbarians' longship raids.
An Empire Where None Has Stood
While fresh armies marched north, startling events unfolded in
a long-neglected part of the world--the Pomarj. Once part of the
Keoland Empire, this wild tangle of mountains and woods had long
since passed into the hands of savage humanoid tribes. Over the
decades, the Principality of Ulek made numerous attempts to reclaim
the region, but none could defeat the fierce resistance of the orcs
and goblins who now sheltered in this wilderness. The Pomarj
quickly earned the reputation of a place of death, slavery,
degeneracy, and treasure. Only corrupt or adventurous humans and
demihumans intentionally entered there.
This savage reputation hid from the neighboring lands of Celene
and Ulek the events unfolding in the Pomarj. A revolution had
occurred like none that land had ever seen: a half-orc leader had
emerged. After claiming chieftainship of the Nedla peoples, Turrosh
Mak seized control of the neighboring tribes.<<36>> Proclaiming
himself Despot, Turrosh Mak proceeded to forge the mismatched
collection of tribes into a single confederation. What might have
seemed folly to even attempt, Despot Mak achieved.
To gain a grip on this quarrelsome collection of orcs, goblins,
gnolls, ogres, and the like, Turrosh united them behind a common
cause. Tales of the Hateful Wars, which drove the tribes from the
Lortmils, still circulated around the council fires, so Turrosh
needed little persuading to convince his chieftains to reclaim
their "birthright."
By a stroke of fortune, Turrosh struck at the most opportune
time. Great crusading armies had just left the lands of the south,
taking with them some of their nations' ablest men and generals.
With others' attention focused to the north, the newly proclaimed
orc nation found time to organize and grow.
Boastfully proclaiming that he would "forge an empire where none
has stood," Turrosh fielded his savage armies in the month of
Readying. He chose his first conquests carefully, looking for easy
victories. In quick
succession Elredd, Badwall, and Fax fell to the humanoid armies,
and thus the southern Wild Coast was overrun. Flushed with victory,
the tribes turned southwest, marching through the dreaded Suss
Forest and into the Principality of Ulek.
As noted before, the stroke fell at an opportune time. Though
the Principality had not joined the alliance, any neighbor who
could have offered aid to the small nation had joined, sending the
picked troops well north of the Lortmils. The Principality's small
army, though determined and professional, was caught completely
unawares by the united mass of tribes that assaulted it. The
dwarven Warden of the Jewel, Augustos Clinkerfire, fought his best,
but in the face of such numbers, could only manage a careful and
organized retreat. Finally in the hills of the lower Lortmils where
his dwarves were at their best, Lord Clinkerfire could make a
stand, though by that time all of eastern Ulek was lost.
Recognizing the fragility of his tribal confederation, Turrosh
did not press the assault. His orcs needed victories to maintain
their enthusiasm and the Despot was determined to avoid a prolonged
and inconclusive battle. Satisfied with his gains, Turrosh
stationed his human contingents on the Ulek line and turned his orc
hordes north.<<37>> The time had come for the Despot to reclaim the
ancient birthright of the Pomarj.
Avoiding the large tracts of forest due north, Turrosh swung his
armies northwest, down the ridge of the Lortmils between Celene and
the County of Ulek. The gnomes, halflings, and dwarves of the hills
fought with courage and skill, but many of the boldest and best
trained soldiers were away in Furyondy. The orcs drove further
northwest, virtually unopposed until they reached Celene pass.
There a combined force of reservists--humans, dwarves, gnomes,
halflings, and even elves from Celene--made their stand.
The Battle of Celene Pass was bloody and hard-fought. The
advance scouts of the League of Right (as the defenders styled
themselves) had just reached a sharp bend in the pass when they
sighted the first orcs, advance scouts like themselves. By order of
Rourk Splinterstone of the Ulek dwarves, the scouting party, no
more than 200 strong, piled up a hasty barricade of dirt and
stone--a wedge-shaped redoubt along the far side of the pass.
Realizing his command was hopelessly outnumbered, Splinterstone
dispatched runners under the cover of night to both Celene and
Ulek. Though the messengers risked the dangers of the pass,
unknowing whether the orcs roamed there as well, those who remained
faced a grimmer fate. If the messengers were slain, or reached
civilized lands too late for relief parties to effect a rescue,
Splinterstone and his men could do nothing save fight to the bitter
end.
The first assault came under cover of darkness--a standard orc
tactic. The attack was nothing more than a wild charge, an attempt
to overwhelm the defenders by sheer numbers. Under Splinterstone's
cool command, though, the barricade held. Waves of orcs pounded the
bulwark through the hours of darkness, only retreating with the
dawn. The morning sun revealed a scene both stunning and
horrifying: countless orc bodies lay in gory heaps before the rocky
wall, as though adding their mass to the redoubt. The dwarven
casualties, though far fewer, were still severe. Despite his
troops' dire need of rest, Splinterstone ordered a second and even
a third wall erected behind the first.
For the next three days, the Defenders of Right clung to their
rocky position against wave after wave of orcs and goblins. When
the relief column from Ulek finally arrived,<<38>> the grim troops
were astonished to find Splinterstone and 30 of his men still
alive, tenaciously holding the pass behind the last redoubt. The
relief force's commander had long since given then up for dead. For
his bravery, Rourk Splinterstone received a small barony, and his
troopers were gratefully pensioned for the remainder of their
lives.
Rourk's defense halted the orcish advance. Once again the Despot
of the Pomarj broke off his attacks, this time to deal with
rebellious chieftains back home. Though Turrosh Mak could yet hold
his empire together, further expansion would have to wait.
With Turrosh halted, the Uleks prepared to counterattack, but
even combined their armies were too bruised and weak. Though Celene
on the other side of the Lortmils could have virtually assured
victory, Celene had no intention of assisting.
Long distrustful of outsiders, Her Fey Majesty Yolande now let
fears and suspicions paralyze her nation. To her mind, humans from
the north had "demanded" her aid and thus drained vital troops from
her lands. Now dwarves and gnomes, no friends of the elves, pressed
her for help in the mountains. No country offered to assist Celene
in defending its woodlands from the Pomarj threat, she reasoned, so
Celene would aid no others. In a brief and emphatic proclamation,
the Queen of Celene recalled her troops from Furyondy and closed
the borders of her nation. Others had started these wars and others
would solve them--without the loss of elvish lives.
Conquest of Almor
As the clouds of spring cleared in the east, Commandant Osson,
still encamped in Medegia, could little deny the fate dealt him and
his men. The hope he had posted on the Lordship of the Isles proved
misplaced. Ships of the Sea Barons--the sharks of Ivid V--patrolled
the waters of the Aerdi Sea while the rested and refitted Aerdi
armies awaited Osson across every border. Even the peasantry that
Osson hoped would arise remained quiescent, fearing retribution
when the Overking's legions returned. Thus, with certain knowledge
of their doom, the cavalry took the field one last time, in a
break-out attempt toward the Hestmark Highlands.
Though Osson planned an orderly dash for safety, it was not to
be. As the cavalry charged across the Flanmi River, most of its
officers fell to the bowmen of the entrenched Aerdi Army. So many
fell, in fact, that even the energetic and brilliant commandant
could not reign in the cavalry. Before even securing the field,
every horseman who still drew breath rode hard for the hills and
the safety of Sunndi. From there, the ragged line of cavalry wormed
its way home by way of the Iron League. Commandant of the Field
Osson of Chathold did not return, and his final fate remains a
mystery. The Great Almorian Raid had finally met its end.
Only after the fiends among the Aerdi legions had sated
themselves on the dead did the Overking occupy Medegia. Ivid
ordered the land--protected from looting during Osson's brief
tenure--raped and looted. Unsatisfied by the eternal punishment
meted out to his Holy Censor, Ivid wanted every man, woman, and
child of the upstart province to suffer. The Overking authorized
plundering and spoils for every soldier, and commanders even fought
minor battles over the right to sack each town. Ivid's commitment
to despoiling Medegia thus, removed his mightiest army from combat
for some time.
Osson's raid accomplished much for Almor: destroying the
Glorioles Army, redirecting the Aerdi army to conquest of Medegia,
and providing Almor time to raise armies and fortifications. Even
so, Almorian resistance ultimately proved futile. The
Overking--with Ahlissa, Medegia (what remained of it), the North
Province, and the Bone March at his side--unleashed all his might
against the hapless Prelacy.
Historians hesitate to call the invasion of Almor a battle: it
was more accurately a massacre. Armies from Ahlissa and the
heartlands converged upon Chathold from the south and east; the
Army of the North marched through the Adri Forest to seize the
border between Almor and Nyrond; and orcs of the Bone March boiled
through the Flinty Hills, cutting into the flank of Nyrondese
forces. Ivid thus overran Almor on three fronts and prevented
Nyrond from aiding the Prelacy.
Ironically, both the attack and fall of Almor came within
Goodmonth. Though Chathold contained a large garrison,
well-provisioned for conventional siege, its defenders fell to the
magical fury unleashed by the Overking's wizards and clerics. In a
single day, now called the ((Day of Dust)), fell mages and priests
leveled the walls, buildings, and citizens of Chathold with an
onslaught of ((earthquakes)), ((fireballs)), floods, clouds of
poisonous gas, and worse. When the smoke cleared, nothing remained
of Chathold to loot and despoil. Ivid did order, however, that the
body of Kevont, Prelate of Almor, be hunted out and exposed for a
month on the toppled city gates. Thus, the nation of Almor passed
from the face of the Flanaess.
The Horsemen of Ket
Meanwhile in the west, Iuz faced a powerful coalition of
good-aligned armies. Furyondy, Veluna, Gran March, the Uleks (news
of Pomarj had not yet reached the treaty troops), Keoland, and the
Yeomanry all arrayed their banners against the Lord of Evil. With
the Horned Society and Stonefist as his only willing allies, Iuz's
doom seemed certain.
The Lord of Evil's own diplomacy finally bore fruit, however. At
the beginning of Goodmonth, Bissel guardsman in watchtowers along
the Fals sighted banners of Ivid's new ally, Ket. The vigilant
armies of Bissel moved to block the enemy advance and held the
riders for several weeks along the river line.
Veluna, fearing the horsemen might turn and march on Mitrick,
withdrew troops from the Furyondy frontier. At the same time, news
of the Pomarj's attack reached the commanders of Ulek. Torn between
promises to King Belvor and needs of their homeland, the Duke of
Ulek (supreme commander of the two states' armies) divided his
forces, hurrying one back home and keeping the other in Furyondy.
Atop these other setbacks came a new threat from the
Crystalmists: giants, ogres, and other hideous creatures, long held
at bay, surged into the mountain vales of Geoff and Sterich. The
rulers of these lands sent frantic appeals to King Skotti of
Keoland, but, with the bulk of his army gone, the king had little
help to offer. Even his reserves were largely committed to the Ulek
frontier. Nonetheless, King Skotti scraped together what forces he
could and offered them to Earl Querchard of Sterich, provided the
earl recognize Keoland's authority over him. Negotiations wasted
precious time: before the two could come to terms, Sterich and
Geoff were overrun.
Giants and ogres also descended from the mountains to attack the
Yeomanry, which--unlike its northern neighbors--repulsed the
beasts. The solid Yeomanry peasants were long accustomed to
mustering in defense of their land. By becoming an armed camp, the
Yeomanry repelled its attackers, but lacked the strength to uproot
the creatures from their mountain strongholds. These ((giant
troubles)), as they came to be called, prevented the Yeomanry from
sending more reinforcements to Furyondy.
To the minds of some statesmen and sages, the forces of evil
seemed united in some grand scheme:<<39>> in the aftermath of the
Pomarj invasion and the giant troubles, Iuz launched a new round of
attacks. The Lord of Evil first drove on Chendl, but when his
armies were repulsed he quickly shifted the attack east of
Crockport. At the same time, the Horned Society forded the Veng and
laid siege to Grabford. Pressed hard by these assaults, the
Furyondy forces fell back and Iuz's armies took the shores of
Whyestil Lake. The Whyestil fleet, which had long assured Belvor's
dominance on that water, barely escaped, sailing down the Veng to
the Nyr Dyv.
The forces of evil also tasted defeat, however. While Iuz
marched east, Belvor counterattacked into the Vesve Forest. Aided
by the elves of that wood and the rangers of Highvale, he
systematically decimated the old orcish tribal grounds. With the
destruction of each petty chieftain's lair, Belvor eliminated a
little more of Iuz's ability to reinforce and rebuild. Meanwhile,
the forces of Veluna checked the Ketish advance on Mitrik.
Bissel was not so fortunate: its soldiers could not hold the
frontier against the mounted warriors of Ket. After breaching the
Fals River line, Beygraf Zoltan, Shield of the True Faith, forced
the Margrave of Bissel to accept his terms of surrender. With the
peace that was concluded, Ket controlled the vital trade routes
through the Bramblewood Gap.
The Mad King Takes the Field
Though the tide of evil seemed certain to flood the land--even
to the gates of Greyhawk City--fate intervened, wearing the guise
of madness. The mad Overking Ivid V compared the success of the
Almorian campaign, in which he had played a small part, with the
previous handling of Osson's raid. He concluded not that Osson had
been a brilliant commander, but that his own generals were
incompetent bunglers,<<40>> requiring his aid to be successful. In
short, Ivid decided he was a military genius and all his generals
were fools.
After this realization, Ivid personally assumed complete command
of all the armies of the Great Kingdom, despite the counsel of his
best advisors. Ivid did not just overrule or even sack his
generals: he executed them, sparing only his favorites.
The military campaign that followed was, predictably, a
disaster. Flushed with victory over Almor, Ivid pushed his
leaderless armies into Nyrond, believing that through magic and
messengers he could command them from the distant Malachite Throne.
The first efforts to cross the Harp River near Innspa ended in
disaster. The few commanders who had escaped Ivid's wrath feared to
act on even the smallest tactical details without explicit commands
from Rauxes. Such orders required hours to arrive, if they came at
all, and even then were illogical or clearly surpassed by
battlefield developments.
Ivid responded to these failings with more executions. Fear
began to spread through the nobility: the death of a commander led
to the appointment of a "trusted" noble, who was placed in an
impossible situation and thus became the next candidate for
execution. Intended as an honor, command appointments became the
mark of death. Generals quickly learned the only way to survive was
to do nothing. All progress in Nyrond ground to a halt, but the
armies continued the futile attack, mindlessly following the
Overking's orders.
Nor did Ivid stop there. Believing--with good reason--that his
generals conspired to mutiny, the Overking sought even greater
control over them. The priests of Hextor, seeking favor in the eyes
of the mad Overking, devised a solution to his problem.<<41>>
Through secret rituals, the priests revived each dead general as an
((animus))--a being that, though dead, retained its intelligence
and abilities. Perhaps the Overking believed such beings would
serve him better or be more amenable to his will. In fact, Ivid was
so taken with his animus generals that he broadened the program,
first slaying and reviving those nobles who offended him and
eventually working the death and revivification as a reward for all
his favored courtiers.
Though Ivid's nobles were undeniably decadent, they were not
mad: they considered Ivid's gift an unenviable "reward." Because
winning the Overking's favor had become as deadly as incurring his
wrath, most nobles sought refuge in mediocrity, obscurity, and
anonymity. A few of the more courageous and less astute nobles
attempted to dissuade Ivid from his insane schemes, but succeeded
only in convincing Ivid to "reward" them on the spot. Fear gave way
to defiance as the nobles plotted against their mad lord. Thus,
Ivid's prediction of mutiny became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The crisis reached its climax during the Richfest celebrations
of that year. An assassin emerged from the thronging crowds and
struck Ivid a mortal blow with a poisoned dagger.<<42>> When news
spread of Ivid's death, the gloom over the land lifted. The nobles
stoked the fires of celebration, joyously preparing for the power
struggle to come.
The Great Kingdom was spared that turmoil, however, by an even
greater one. Just as the cunning of the mad Overking had saved Ivid
from countless threats past, it saved him now from the grave.
Secret arrangements, perhaps made with fiends summoned while on the
Malachite Throne, resulted in the Overking's revivification. Ivid
V--who had seemed cold and soulless in life--seemed doubly so in
death.
The vengeance visited by the animus Ivid was swift and terrible.
The orgy of execution and revivification soared out of control.
Ivid rewarded even the slightest suspicion with death. Nobles
falsely implicated enemies, seeking to settle old scores, but Ivid
cared little whether the accusations were false or true. The mad
Overking, now styled the Undying One, revelled in the chaos and
destruction in his lands.
Hearing of massacres in Ivid's lands, King Archbold in Nyrond
counterattacked the Army of the North between Womtham and Innspa.
Though Ivid's animus generals fought well--being themselves
unafraid of death--the chaotic heartlands of the Great Kingdom
offered no support to the Northern Army.
Grace Grenell, Herzog of the North Province, rebelled against
his cousin in a desperate attempt to hold his lands against the
march of King Archbold. Freed of the mad king, the Herzog and the
orcs of the Bone March halted the Nyrondese armies in the rugged
Flinty Hills. The Herzog callously sacrificed both human and orcish
troops to grind King Archbold's advance to a halt. Though the
Nyrondese could advance no further against the combined armies,
Archbold, tantalized by the prospect of ultimate victory, refused
to break off his assault.
The North Province's defection from the Great Kingdom unleashed
the pent-up fears and ambitions of all nobility in the Great
Kingdom, both living and animus. The Herzog of the South, among the
first nobles rewarded with death and revivification, reasserted his
claim to the South Province. The wave spread outward from there:
living nobles turned their fiefs into armed camps and animus lords
sought to expand their realms. The Overking's authority collapsed
entirely, leaving Ivid with only his personal estates. Thus, the
always-fragile Great Kingdom shattered into a hundred petty
principalities, dukedoms, baronies, counties, and earldoms. The
Aerdi Empire was no more.
The Scarlet Brotherhood Strikes
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.
When the Great Kingdom awoke from its slumber, the Brotherhood
initiated the second phase of its plan: to shift the power bases to
its advantage. The Father of Obedience considered certain countries
and alliances vital to his plans. Chiefest among these was the Iron
League: the Brotherhood neither wanted the neighboring League to
prosper nor to die. As long as the little states remained sovereign
but impotent, they acted as a useful buffer between the Brotherhood
and the menacing Great Kingdom to the north. Though he equaled or
exceeded Ivid in evil, the Father of Obedience held no love for the
mad Overking.
Because of its ambivalent position in the Brotherhood's plans,
the Iron League received strange helps and hindrances in the war.
Irongate, threatened by armies of the South Province, received
secret support: equipment, money, advisors, and mercenaries all
flowed into the city, evidently from diverse sources. In truth, the
Scarlet Brotherhood guided everything to the city. Apparently
unsuspecting of the source of this aid, Cobb Darg, Lord High Mayor
of Irongate, put it to good use. The mayor, an able and energetic
leader with good sense and tactical cunning, used the resources to
repeatedly trounce the South Province's Grand Field Force with his
drastically outnumbered Army of Irongate. Cobb Darg, aided by many
wise advisors, made astute use of deceptions, magic,
fortifications, and traps--luring more than one Ahlissan army to
destruction.
While defending Irongate, and thus Onnwal, the Brotherhood
worked elsewhere to destroy the unity of the Iron League. Confident
the Vast Swamp would block any overland attack, the Father of
Obedience did not lift a finger when Osson liberated Sunndi. Under
Ivid's rule, the courts of Sunndi were impervious to the
Brotherhood's advisors, but liberated from the yoke of the Great
Kingdom, the people would welcome the Scarlet Brotherhood--at least
for a time.
One other part of the Iron League held particular interest for
the Scarlet Brotherhood--the Lordship of the Isles. The Father of
Obedience's plans necessitated that he gain control of the southern
waters, and this was best done by capturing an existing fleet. True
to form, the Brotherhood did not attempt to conquer the islands
from without. Instead, agents of the Scarlet Sign corrupted a
distant cousin to the throne and then, through their secret
connections, engineered the overthrow of Prince Latmac Ranold. Once
the puppet Prince Frolmar Ingerskatti was securely on the throne,
the Brotherhood signed him to a favorable treaty and then took
over. By the Father of Obedience's demand, Ingerskatti installed
Brotherhood agents in powerful offices. Priests of the Scarlet Sign
opened temples and preached to the disaffected. New laws suppressed
the old nobility. In short, the Scarlet Brotherhood swiftly remade
the isles in its own image.
With the Iron League under control and the Great Kingdom headed
for certain decline,<<43>> the Father of Obedience initiated the
third phase of his plan. A red-hooded ambassador arrived at the
court of the Sea Princes, bearing an ultimatum: "Submit to the
Scarlet Brotherhood or be destroyed." When the lords of the land
mocked the messenger, he presented them with a list of 30 names,
all petty nobles of the Sea Princes' lines. Before the next
sunrise, 27 of those names had been crossed off the rolls of
heraldry, slain by red-hooded assassins. Only three of the listed
nobles survived the attacks, and two of them were seriously
injured. The mockery stripped from their ashen faces, the Sea
Princes surrendered and signed a treaty stating as much. Within a
fortnight, ships bearing the Scarlet Sign docked at Port Toli and
Monmurg, off-loading strange, savage warriors from the jungles of
the south.
With a newly enlarged fleet and armies from the steaming
jungles, the Brotherhood struck fast and hard. Idee and Onnwal
collapsed in a single stroke, undone by traitors within and
invaders from the sea. Irongate proved stronger. Despite
appearances, Cobb Darg had known the precise origin of the aid that
Irongate had received, and used that knowledge to his best
advantage. Just before the Brotherhood armies closed in, Darg
expelled or executed every agent he could find. When the armies did
arrive, Darg met them with his customary skill and energy. Safe
from betrayal, Irongate stood, the last bastion of freedom in the
Iron League.
In the west, the Brotherhood blockaded Gradsul, but the Keoland
fleet prevented their landing. The Father of Obedience sent a
savage army through the Hool Marshes and into the Dreadwood. There
a strong force of
Keoland elves fought the savages to a stand-still. Though the
defenders held, fresh reinforcements from the Hold kept tight
pressure on Keoland.
Unlike other nations in the war, the Brotherhood did not press
its gains or attempt to overreach its resources. The Father of
Obedience, again taking the long view, halted further advances to
develop governments in the newly conquered lands. Brotherhood
agents replaced key officials, priests of the Scarlet Sign
established temples, and new laws slowly tightened the stranglehold
of the Father of Obedience over the new lands.
The War's End
For two long years (582 to 584 CY), the nations of the Flanaess
had schemed, murdered, and warred against each other until nearly
all sides lay bloodied and beaten: war had exhausted the land and
the people. Furyondy and Iuz ground to a stalemate; Nyrond's vast
coffers were drained dry and its overtaxed peasants were
rebellious; the Great Kingdom was shattered into a swarm of petty
landholdings vying for power; Keoland fought invasion on all sides;
countless men, dwarves, elves, and orcs marched off to war, never
to return; farms stood empty; fields lay fallow. . . . The Flanaess
could make war no longer.
Proposals for a peace conference met with greater and greater
acceptance. The puppets of the Scarlet Brotherhood, taking orders
from the Father of Obedience, issued a call for a grand
truce:<<44>> every nation would cease hostilities and put its own
house in order.
In the end, through negotiation, intimidation, and even
assassination, the Brotherhood's proposal found acceptance.<<45>>
The City of Greyhawk, untouched by the war, became the site of the
conference.<<46>> In the month of Harvester, the Great Council (as
it came to be known) convened.
The proposed truce, though simple in theory, proved an enormous
undertaking, what with the countless ambassadors present. In the
six months of the Great Council, intrigues abounded as each side
attempted to gain the upper hand. The conference nearly collapsed
more than once when ambassadors took umbrage over some real or
imagined slight.
The final act of the immense drama of war occurred on the Day of
the Great Signing. A pact had been resolved and nearly all the
nations had agreed to sign it. As this solemn ceremony got
underway, however, a tumultuous event occurred.
Even today a haze obscures the details: apparently someone
plotted to annihilate the entire diplomatic corps in attendance,
but the scheme misfired. A blazing explosion destroyed a good part
of the Grand Hall only minutes before the ambassadors assembled for
the day. A fierce magical battle immediately ensued, spreading
havoc through much of the old city. When the fire and dust cleared,
constables discovered smoldering robes belonging to two powerful
members of the mysterious Circle of Eight--Otiluke and Tenser. The
murderer of these wizards, undeniably a powerful mage, was
discovered to be a third member of the Circle of Eight--Rary. Using
secrets gained in confidence, Rary not only vaporized his two
fellows but also tracked down and destroyed every clone the pair
held in preparation.
The motive behind Rary's treachery remains clouded. According to
many who knew him, the wizard probably saw an opportunity to seize
power and land in the confusion that would follow the
assassinations. Others suggest Rary was a pawn of the Scarlet
Brotherhood.
With the plot discovered, though, Rary and his co-conspirator
Lord Robilar fled the city. Unable to return to Robilar's castle,
which was immediately seized by the troops of Greyhawk, the pair
escaped into the Bright Desert. There they conquered the savages
and established a kingdom of their own. Though small and
mysterious, this growing state could someday threaten the very
borders of Greyhawk.
Fearing further disruptions, the delegates hurriedly signed the
Pact of Greyhawk, and so the wide-ranging war of the Flanaess came
to an end, and gained the misleading title, the Greyhawk Wars.
Footnotes
<<1>> ((Annals of the Family Vordav.)) Count Vordav's fief
included large portions of the Vesve Forest, an area well-known for
its vicious humanoid population. The quoted command appeared in an
order to one of Vordav's knights guarding the frontier. The knight,
now unknown, apparently carried out the order to the letter, for
Iuz rallied the goblins and orcs of the Vesve several years later
simply by reminding them of Vordav's butchery.
<<2>> The Savant-Sage, ((A Catalogue of the Land of Flanaess,
Being the Eastern Portion of the Continent Oerik, of Oerth)) (Vol.
III); A Guide to the WORLD OF GREYHAWK(R) Fantasy Setting.
<<3>> Quite possibly--as P. Smedger the Elder has suggested--Iuz
himself concocted and disseminated these rumors. G. Ivril argues,
however, that such speculation has only poetic, not historic,
significance.
<<4>> This distraction prevented Avras III from his planned
assimilation of the Shield Lands. Freed from the threat of military
action, the Earl of Walworth resisted the demands for fealty to the
Furyondy crown. This resistance produced grave repercussions a
century later.
<<5>> Earl Kirhk of Attstad was the most aggressive and
effective in pressing his demands. In exchange for a mere 20
knights and his signed pledge of assistance, the earl secured
rights to assess and collect taxes within his demesne, freedom from
royal levies, the right to collect tolls on the Att River, a
bishopric for his nephew, and even a favorable marriage between the
king's third son and Earl Kirhk's daughter!
<<6>> Tales of Zagyg's capriciousness and power suggest that he
may have performed the kidnapping alone. More likely, however,
Zagyg was assisted--possibly by St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel or one
of his priests. St. Cuthbert's participation in the capture could
certainly explain Iuz's great hatred of that faith.
((Note:)) The author of this tome has chosen to use the "Zagyg"
spelling, though "Zagig" also has full acceptance among sages.
Documents unquestionably penned by Zagyg bear signatures of both
spellings, hinting that the madman himself was uncertain which to
use.
<<7>> Belvor III died in his sleep in 537 CY after a reign of 15
years. Some nobles accused the Great Lords of assassination despite
the fact that the Dread and Awful Presences--the Hierarchs of the
Horned Society--claimed their magic wrought the king's death. A
commission of wizards and priests led by Lord Throstin of the Hart
determined that King Belvor died naturally in his sleep. The Great
Lords were exonerated, but the Hierarchs never withdrew their
claim: the deed only increased their standing in the Horned
Society.
<<8>> The precise cause and nature of that madness has sparked
much debate among scholars of the Great Kingdom. Pomfert the Elder,
one of the Eight Sages of Rel Mord, considers the Overkings'
madness magical in nature. Citing the Overking's epithet "the
fiend-seeing," Pomfert argues that the lunacy of the Overkings
arises from their trafficking with fiends of the Abyss. He
continues to state that no similar hereditary madness has ever been
witnessed, arguing strongly against congenital causes. Lorall of
Almor postulates another source: the madness is a curse from the
gods for the Overkings' evil treacheries. As Eye of the Faith for
the clergy of Almor, however, Lorall's judgement in the matter must
be considered suspect: the Almorians have long preferred to see the
gods' support in their struggles with the Great Kingdom.
Furthermore, as a curse, the madness has done far more to harm the
foes of the House of Naelax than its members: the Ivids seem almost
to relish their insanity.
<<9>> Though commonly credited to Prince Ivid's hand, no direct
evidence links the future Overking to the assassination.
<<10>> The Herzog of Ahlissa gambled that his army alone could
crush the nascent Iron League, formed in 447 CY and consisting of
Onnwal, the Free City of Irongate, Idee, Sunndi, and the Gloriole
and Hestmark demihumans. By defeating this economic and military
alliance, the Herzog of Ahlissa hoped to create for himself an
empire.
<<11>> The principal surviving source is ((The Death-Code of
Eeas)), a pithy listing of crimes for which execution was mandated.
Though this corpus displays early tinges of the madness that would
infect the Naelax line, it offers only limited vision into the
political events of the era.
<<12>> G. Ivril has indisputably shown that some but not all
units of the Companion Guard were barbazu, lesser baatezu from the
Nine Hells. This fact accounts for the highly erratic performance
of the Overking's armies.
<<13>> The Overking's symbols of office are the Staff of Naelax
(((staff of thunder and lightning))), the Orb of Rax (equal to a
((brooch of shielding))) and the Aerdian crown (a ((helm of
brilliance))). In addition, the Malachite Throne itself is believed
to be a minor artifact. Fashioned from a piece of star-fallen
crystal, the throne was built by an imperial wizard centuries ago.
Its powers have remained a closely guarded secret of the Overking.
When the last heir of Rax took the secrets of the throne to the
grave with him, Ivid I consulted the finest sages to deduce the
throne's power. The sages served him well, and as reward, he slew
them, jealous of his new-found secret.
The Ivid line has learned that the throne allows anyone sitting
on it ((true sight)) and surrounds him with an invisible ((globe of
invulnerability)). In addition, anyone knowing the command word can
open a ((gate)) once per week. This gate leads to the uppermost
level of the Nine Hells. The throne does not offer protection from
creatures passing through the gate, however. Using the gate power
of the throne is also dangerous because each use carries a 5%
chance of causing insanity--a bitter curse on a line already
plagued by madness.
<<14>> Ivid IV had been a prolific sire. Before his ascension
could be assured, Ivid V had to dispose of 123 brothers and
sisters. Though suckling babes proved easy prey, Ivid V's older
brother easily matched him. For many years the pair waged a war of
assassination and intrigue in their prison-palace before Ivid V
prevailed.
<<15>> Ivid V's role in the affair is doubtless: the new ruler
boasted of the ruthless deed. Recognizing the danger of keeping a
treacherous concubine on hand, however, Ivid V sentenced his
accomplice to the Wheel of Pain.
<<16>> By far the best source on the Scarlet Brotherhood and its
activities is L. Marquel's ((An Honest Traveler's Strange Tales of
the South)). Marquel, a paladin of Nyrond, accepted a commission
from King Archbold III to investigate rumors coming from the Densac
Peninsula. Traveling in disguise, Marquel wandered in his
investigation into lands even farther south. Although unable to
penetrate the forbidding ranks of the Scarlet Brotherhood, Marquel
faithfully recorded every rumor, tale, and experience of his
journey. The result is an odd admixture of petty details and grand
impossibilities, but once again, it provides the best source of
information on the Scarlet Brotherhood.
<<17>> Rumors that the Scarlet Brotherhood is a nonhuman order
(e.g., that they are surface-adapted drow or creatures that arrived
through a magical gate) fail to account for the easy infiltration
of Brotherhood spies and assassins into human courts.
<<18>> According to the chronologies of P. Smedger the Elder and
the Savant-Sage, in 573 CY emissaries from the Scarlet Brotherhood
appeared in the courts of the Iron League, offering their sagely
services.
<<19>> Morrev Ironseeker of Scant has gone to great lengths to
connect the Scarlet Brotherhood to most major prewar events. He
ties the group to the kidnappings previously mentioned, the release
of Iuz from Zagyg's prison, the Great Fire of the Celadon, and the
tribulations that plagued the city of Greyhawk. Unfortunately
Ironseeker's "proofs" are as fabricated and groundless as they are
interesting and popular.
<<20>> M. Ironseeker ascribes almost all prewar deaths of nobles
in the good lands to the hand of the Scarlet Brotherhood. His
proofs, though lacking in research, bespeak an unequalled (and
unbridled) imagination.
<<21>> The paladin wanderer L. Marquel was particularly
disgusted by the rituals he witnessed in the jungles of
Hepmonaland. Underlying his vehement protestations of disgust,
however, the reader may note a fascination with the myriad indecent
details of the rites. Amusingly, after leaving Hepmonaland, Marquel
spent two months in a Sunndi monastery "seeking respite from dark
thoughts and tortured dreams."
<<22>> The fortification of the frontier actually predates the
founding of the Duchy of Tenh. The first defenses were built by the
Aerdi, a towered wall at the top of the pass. Calbut evolved
naturally at the base of the pass and was already fortified at the
time of the Tenhas Rebellion.
<<23>> The less-than-illustrious career of Margeist of Redspan
won him the back-waters post of Steward of Calbut, a position in
which he "could cause the least harm." Vain and incompetent, the
new garrison commander quickly came under investigation by the
Knight-Magistar of Tenh for supposedly diverting funds from the
garrison treasury. Margeist's guilt or innocence became moot when
he disappeared in the sack of Calbut. Rumors suggested Margeist
betrayed Calbut, using the capture to screen his escape.
<<24>> In particular, the king of the weakest barbarian nation,
the Fruztii, profited greatly from his pact with Ratik. The
archbarony aided the Fruztii in clearing the northern pass of the
Fists and in amassing enough strength to virtually pull free from
the domination of the powerful Schnai.
<<25>> A. Yamoskov, a sage of Rel Mord, theorizes that according
to the ((Codex of Mordenkainen)) Iuz held the life-force items of
his minion fiends and could thus force them to his will. He argues
that during Iuz's "imprisonment" in the dungeons of Zagyg, the
demi-god was actually banished from the Prime Material plane.
During this exile, Yamoskov suggests, Iuz collected the items he
needed.
<<26>> Sevvord Redbeard defied the normal custom of breaking off
at nightfall, instead relying upon troops with infravision to press
the attack.
<<27>> Indisputably, the money came from the Shield Lands. An
adventuring party from Perrenland looted the treasure of a Vesve
orc chieftain and found silver from Lord Holmer's table!
<<28>> G. Ivril believes the siege force consisted of at least
five major orc tribes: the Vrunik, Faarsh, Jukko, Haggnah, and
Karaki. However, the Vesve army must certainly have included other
races, particularly goblins and hobgoblins, and so Ivril's list of
tribes is surely incomplete.
<<29>> Though not too close, lest the Herzog of the North find
a dagger in his side.
<<30>> Tales say that, livid at his impotence to force the Holy
Censor of Medegia into alliance, the mad Overking ordered the
assassination of 100 of the Holy Censor's concubines to soothe his
anger.
<<31>> Osson correctly measured his foes. The Aerdi Army,
strongest in the Great Kingdom, was staffed not with warriors, but
courtiers--experts in pandering and fawning to the Overlord. The
Grandee Despotrix of the army, his Highness Yimdil of Jalpa,
customarily commanded his regiment from the comfort of his palace
at Jalpa rather than endure the rigors of an actual campaign 200
miles away. His subordinates were no better, vying among themselves
more than against the enemy and each seeking to discredit his
colleagues and thus gain favor in the eyes of the Overking's
dreaded censors.
<<32>> The Aerdi Army provided a fine example of wasteful
military baggage. Though no accurate counts were made, the provost
of the Aerdi Army estimated in a letter to his wife that the
baggage train for his troops stretched 40 miles behind the back
ranks and took three days to properly assemble in any one place.
Among the notable items in the train were 5,000 women, 500 young
boys, two theater troupes, and 50 nightingales in gilded cages!
<<33>> Ivid extended these offers not out of friendship or
kinship, but because the Overking saw a chance to secure a grip
over his wavering cousin.
<<34>> Thredus, Commandant Osson's personal wizard and
chronicler, faithfully recorded these war councils. Thredus' ((True
Account of the Great Almorian Campaign)) spans five volumes and
provides both historical accounts of battles and biographical
information about Osson himself.
<<35>> Victims of the Endless Death are forced to wear a ((ring
of regeneration)) while torturers endlessly perform their arts on
them. These torturers, trained from youth to perfectly gauge the
intensity and extensity of pain, always stop one step short of
inflicting death. Rumors tell that victims of this punishment have
been tortured by grandfathers, fathers, and sons of the same
executioner families.
<<36>> How a half-breed--normally ostracized by orcs--gained
command of one of the largest tribes in the Pomarj is a mystery.
Some scholar speculate that Mak was aided by a wizard or perhaps by
the Scarlet Brotherhood.
<<37>> The Despot both loathed and needed his human troops.
Though he despised them as weak and lacking in savagery (when
compared to his orcs), he knew they had more patience for a
protracted campaign. The orc forces, on the other hand, would
dwindle if not constantly provided with battles and victories.
<<38>> No relief ever arrived from Celene. The elves at the time
claimed they never received word of trouble. Several weeks later,
however, a messengers returned to the pass saying he personally
delivered news of Rourk's plight to the Luminous Elf-Commander
Jevrail. No evidence exists to support the messenger's claim, and
many (certainly the elves) believe he was lying to hide his own
desertion from duty.
<<39>> G. Ivril, more than any other, has championed this view.
He holds that the precise timing of attacks from Iuz, the Pomarj,
and the Crystalmists bespeaks a central plan. To be sure, Iuz's
agents sought to incite the inhabitants of the latter two regions,
but inciting goblinkind and giantkind is far easier than martialing
them for coordinated attacks. More likely, as Pomfert suggests, the
attacks were roughly simultaneous because the beasts of the Pomarj
and the Crystalmists simultaneously noted their neighbors'
preoccupation with Iuz and decided to strike. According to Pomfert,
therefore, Iuz's agents merely incited attacks rather than leading
armies of beasts on precisely plotted invasions.
<<40>> More than a few were, in fact, incompetent, but Ivid also
included many able commanders in his assessment.
<<41>> With the arrest and "living execution" of Holy Censor
Spidasa, the cult of Hextor suffered a grievous loss of prestige
and power in the Overking's court. Logically, the surviving members
of the cult sought to curry Ivid's favor by assisting the Overlord
in "restructuring" his army.
<<42>> The identity and political alignment of this assassin
remains a mystery: the blow was only seconds old when Ivid's
bodyguards blasted the assassin into dust.
<<43>> G. Ivril confidently asserts that the Scarlet Brotherhood
engineered the Great Kingdom's eventual collapse. Most other
historians consider Ivid V's insanity reason enough for the
kingdom's fall.
<<44>> Why the Scarlet Brotherhood sought a universal peace
remains unclear. Peace would certainly allow the Father of
Obedience to establish governments in Onnwal, Idee, and Hold of the
Sea Princes as well as infiltrate new agents into other lands. The
true motivations, however, remain unknown.
<<45>> For example, the Yeomanry signed the truce only after the
border between it and the Sea Princes was clearly defined. The Hold
of Stonefist signed following the mysterious deaths of several
atamans.
<<46>> Greyhawk actually prospered immensely from the war.
Refugees fled to Greyhawk to escape the war-torn lands--among them
the world's greatest scholars, artists, and wizards. Having fled
with their gold and little else, the refugees needed food,
clothing, and shelter--and had the money to buy them. This influx
of people expanded Greyhawk's small borders to include the northern
Wild Coast and the hills as far as the Duchy of Urnst.
Greyhawk Legacy Campaign webpage
Home