The History of the Flanaess

The Twin Cataclysms

Over one thousand years ago, two ancient empires in the west—the Suel and the Baklunish—were locked in a great war, the origins of which are lost to time. After sixty-three years of deadlocked conflict, the Baklunish Mage-Priests called down the Rain of Colorless Fire, reducing the Suel Empire to ash. In retaliation, the Suel unleashed the Invoked Devastation upon the Baklunish, wiping out nearly every trace of civilization north of the Sulhaut Mountains. The Dry Steppes and the desolate Sea of Dust remain as monuments to these Twin Cataclysms.

The Great Migrations and the Rise of Kingdoms

Even before the Cataclysms, war had driven entire peoples eastward beyond the Barrier Peaks and Crystalmist Mountains. The tribal Oeridians, guided by prophecies of greatness, were the first to enter the lands of the Flanaess, encountering the Flannae peoples who had dwelt there since time immemorial. Suloise refugees followed, sometimes allying with the Oerids and Flan, but more often warring with them. For over two centuries, the Suel and Oeridians fought, with the Suel frequently defeated and pushed to the periphery, while the Oeridians claimed the richest lands. In the shattered west, Baklunish survivors migrated north and west to the shores of the Dramidj Ocean, founding the realms of Ekbir and Zeif.

Among the first major realms in the Flanaess was the Kingdom of Keoland, founded eighty years after the Twin Cataclysms. Suel noble houses allied with Oeridian tribes, pledging mutual protection along the Sheldomar River. In the east, the Oeridian tribe of Aerdi conquered lands along the Solnor Ocean, founding the Kingdom of Aerdy. Over the next two centuries, Aerdy dominated the eastern Flanaess, growing into an empire known as the Great Kingdom. Grand Prince Nasran was the first to adopt the title Overking of Aerdy, declaring a new era of Universal Peace and the first year of the Common Year Calendar (CY). The Great Kingdom expanded its dominion as far as Veluna and Perrenland, and included a small but significant trading outpost known as Greyhawk, located along the Selintan River.

The Decline of the Great Kingdom

As the Overkings grew increasingly decadent and ineffectual, the empire slowly crumbled as far-flung provinces asserted their independence. In 354 CY, the western Viceroyalty of Ferrond broke away, fragmenting into the realms of Furyondy, Veluna, and Perrenland. In 356 CY, the excesses of the Overkings of the Celestial House of Rax drove the Viceroy of Nyrond to renounce his oaths, crowning himself King of Nyrond. The assassination of Overking Nalif in 437 CY ignited a brutal civil war known as the Turmoil Between Crowns. Over a decade of conflict ended with the malevolent Ivid I of the Celestial House of Naelax ascending the Malachite Throne. As the empire descended into depravity, its remaining good-aligned fiefs seceded, further hastening its collapse.

The Brazen Horde and Keoland's Imperial Ambitions

In 290 CY, Sultan Melek II of Zeif sought to end the Paynim raids plaguing his borders by inviting the Brazen Horde, a federation of nomadic clans from Komal, to subjugate them. However, the nomads proved uncontrollable. In 316 CY, a confederation of displaced Bakluni and Oerid tribes, calling themselves the Relentless Horde, pillaged their way across Ekbir, before settling north of the Yatil Mountains. Though they later fragmented into the Chakyik and the Weigwur, these nomads still dominate the northern steppes.

Meanwhile, the Brazen Horde overran Zeif's provinces of Tusmit and Ket, permanently severing them from the Sultanate. For the next fifty years, nomadic raiders pillaged eastern lands, stirring Keoland into action. Under kings of the House of Rhola, Keoland launched imperial conquests, expanding from the Pomarj to Ket, and as far north as Veluna's southern provinces. However, military failures, including a humiliating retreat from Ket, defeat by Furyondy in the Short War, and rebellions in Ulek and Celene, ultimately ended Keoland's expansionist ambitions. In 453 CY, King Tavish IV shifted policies, granting Geoff, the Yeomanry, and the Uleks sovereignty, while Gran March and Sterich became autonomous, though still bound by oaths to the Throne of the Lion.

The Rise of Iuz and the Forces of Evil

In the northern reaches of the Flanaess, a new and terrible evil arose. The witch-queen Iggwilv and the demon prince Graz’zt produced a cambion named Iuz, who rose to power in 479 CY as the lord of a small domain in the Howling Hills. With astonishing speed, Iuz gathered an army of malevolent wizards, savage orcs, and wicked demons, expanding his dominion north of Whyestil Lake and somehow attaining demi-godhood.

However, in 505 CY, Iuz was imprisoned within the Godtrap, an eldritch device crafted within Castle Greyhawk by the mad archmage Zagig Yragerne, who sought his own apotheosis. In Iuz’s absence, other dark forces rose. The Horned Society, a cabal of devil-worshipers, seized control of his former lands, while in the Viscounty of Verbobonc, the Cult of Elemental Evil, servants of Zuggtmoy, Demon-Queen of Fungi, amassed a horde and constructed the Temple of Elemental Evil.

In 569 CY, the cult was crushed at the Battle of Emridy Meadows by the Righteous Host, led by Crown Prince Thrommel of Furyondy, a paladin of Rao. Four years later, Thrommel became engaged to Lady Jolene, daughter of the Plar of Veluna, in a marriage meant to unify their realms as a powerful bulwark against evil. However, Thrommel mysteriously disappeared, and with him, the dream of a united front against the forces of darkness.

Crowning of the Overking

Iuz the Old