Conquored by Mischance
The Grekelski are a small statured people of reptilian descent, members of the people of the short, and followers of
Crwydryn. Originally dwellers in the swampy area of the inland sea on the west side of the
Spiral Mountain Range, as the waters in the inland sea rose as a result of major environmental and terrestial changes wrought by the
The War of Light and Dark, the
Dragon War and
the Cataclysm, the grekelski were forced out of their homes and into the lands of the elves. This set up an immediate conflict between the two people groups as the grekelski took over the elven territory and the elves resisted, a conflict that resulted in
the Swamp Battle and the subjucation of the grekelski.
Living in Exile
After
the Swamp Battle, the elves cleared the area around the inland sea of any of the grekelski and moved the bulk of them into swamplands outside the city of
Fellalond. This seemed like a good idea at the time - the habitat was reasonably close to the swamplands the grekelski were attempting to create, and the elves, though they disliked the grekelski, recognized that they were simply attempting to survive with their aggressive actions against the elven farmers in the inland sea region. The move of the grekelski to the Fellalond swamp was a clear attempt on the part of the elven government to come to a workable solution for both peoples.
But life was not all water lillies for the grekelsi in their new home. The well established ecosystem had little place for a new large sentient being, and the swamplands of the
Echovad Forest have very large viper predators who regularly made an easy meal of grekelski children and the old. Grekelski warriors could have protected the people when they were gathered in larger communities, but the elven government had understandably disarmed the native military and police forces to curb insurrection. Appeals for support to the elven government did not help, as the priorities always seemed to be elsewhere - the elven government at the time was dealing with armed conflict with the humans near the southern border of the Echovad Forest, and had little patience for protecting a people who had proven themselves to be fractious. The grekeski saw this negligence as a deliberate and malevolent attempt to kill off their race. Prohibited from having magical or steel weapons, the grekeski resorted to arming themselves with primitive weapons and training themselves to fight effectively with these. These weapons were illegal, of course, and the elves and grekelsi played a continual cat and mouse game of hide and seek over these illegal armaments.
The Evolution of Monsters
Some of the grekelsi males, getting tired of the unresolved problems, or fleeing when their illegal arms were discovered, formed bands in the wild swampy regions and led the life of outlaws and bandits, robbing travelers on the highways, and ambushing elven government officials and citizens. Thus, the reputation of the grekelsi became synonomous among the elves with a sub-sentient aggressive reptile, even a weak monster, and strong unreasoning racist attitudes developed in the elves against the grekelsi. This racism is particularly pernicious because once established, elves live hundreds of years and it is difficult to change an individual's mind when their personal experiences support their prejudice. The failure of the elven government to prioritize or address the captive's difficulties in their new home created resentment and hostility on the part of the grekelski, and spawned intense racism and resentment in them against the elves, feeding back into the culture and behavior of the grekelski people who extended their anti-social behaviors and became highly aggressive against all outsiders, not just elves.
Today
There are grekelski and elves who have a wary friendship - or at least tenuous respect for each other, but this is the exception, not the rule. The grekelski submit externally to the laws of the elves, but outside the immediate borders of their larger settlements, they support renegades and foster rebellions against the elven government at every opportunity. The problem remains intractable from the point of view of the elven government and people. The grekelsi are now endemic in the elven homeland, and are actively subversively rebellious and violent, but hiding that rebelliousness beneath a surface of complacent compliance. Short of genocide, which the elves are understandably reluctant to pursue, they perceive no win path forward. The general elven population despise and fear the grekelski who are seen as violent, disruptive, stupid, dirty and dangerous. For the grekelski, their strategy of rebellion and violence is self defeating as it hinders them from integrating into the society in which they must now live, and discourages them from expoiting any opportunities that would allow them to progress into a better life for themselves and their offspring. Unfortunately, their rebellion feeds a strong emotional need for vindication and revenge for their perceived and real wrongs. The journey out of this quagmire, if there is any, will inevitably be frought with misunderstanding and setbacks, and will take longer than a single generation to implement, a timeframe that both parties, elves and grekelski, are unlikely to sustain for the reward of improved social and cultural dynamics between the two races.
Bulletin for Travelers
The prognosis as things currently stand and for the foreseeable future is not good, and we expect travel to
Fellalond to continue to be dangerous. An armed guard, on alert, is highly recommended when traveling on the highway near the Amphitheater of Song, a favorite grekelsi gathering place.
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