Sea Princes

Proper Name: Hold of the Sea Princes

Ruler: Contested: (eastern isles and cities) Eider
Brother Hammandaturian, Shepherd of the Sea
Princes (LE malehumanMnk1 2); various local war-
lords, tribal clerics, and foreign armies hold the
remainder of the region
Govenuuent: see "Rtùer"; region in civil chaos
Capital: Monmurg
Major T owus: Hokar (pop. 21 ,000; controlled by
local folk), Monrnurg (pop. 15,<XX); Scarlet Brother-
hood controlled) , Port Toli (pop. 11,000; Scarlet
Brotherhood controlled), Wes tkeep (pop, 9,500;
Keoland controlled)
Provinœs: (preconquest) 30 separa te noble demains;
(post-conques!) unknown number of warring mili-
tary/religious demains
Resources: (preconquest) Foodstuffs, slaves; (post-
conques!) the san1e, though no experts of note
Coinage: O!d coinage used but greatly devalued:
highlord (pp), gold admiral (gp), bright ship (ep),
silver (sp), common (cp)
Population: 420 ,000 -Human 79% (Sofz), Halfling
8%, Elf 4%, Dwarf 3%, Gnome 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-
orc l%,0ther 2%
Languages: Common, O!man, Amedi, Keolandish,
Halfling
Alignments: CN*,CE, N, NE, LE
ReligiollS: Osprem, Xerbo, Procan, Norebo, Kelanen
(native Holders); Syrul, Bralm, Tharizdun? (SB);
O!man pantheon, esp. Chitza-Atlan (O!man)
Allies: None
Enemies: Native peoples of the Amedio Jungle,
Keoland, Yeomanry (miner)
Overview: The Hold of the Sea Princes is a land bor-
dered on all sides by the protection ofnatural terrain.
To tlle nortll , its re aches extend to tlle Hool River at
the he art of tlle marshland of tlle same name. To tlle
west and soutll, tlle lands of tlle Sea Princes are
walled in by d1e Hellfuruaces. The Hold's eastern
border, along tlle Jeklea Bay, accounts for tlle nation's
former prosperity.
That prosperity, however, is now gene, perhaps for-
ever. Now, tlle Hold is wracked by violent political
upheavals, invasion, and b itter ethnie conflict- a
beautiful, tropical land marred by tlle sins of the past
and the conflicts of tlle present.
 Despite the political climate, the Hold is renowned
for its beautiful weather and pleasant beaches. Before
the Greyhawk Wars, nobles from as far as Nyrond
flocked to Monmurg every winter, hoping to escape
the dreary north for a few months of relative paradise.
The land here is fertile and suitable for farming all
manner of crop. Fruit production is perhaps the
Hold's most famous industry, though a traffic in slav­
ery brought it the most prewar enemies (and whole
ships filled with coin, thanks to the greedy lords of
Ahlissa and elsewhere). In fact, the slave trade of the
Sea Princes was so lucrative that captains called their
captured Amedio slaves "two-legged admirals," refer­
ring to the platinum coinage of the realm.
The Sea Princes once commanded the grandest
navy in all the Flanaess. Now, most of these ships are
sunk or used by the Scarlet Brotherhood. Regardless,
few still dock along the coast. The Hold's small but
effective army fell early to the armies of Amedio and
Hepmonaland savages, imported by the Brotherhood
during the Greyhawk Wars.
History: In the mid-fourth century CY, as Keoland
made war in the north, the buccaneers of the Azure
Sea and Jeklea Bay grew courageous, correctly assum­
ing that the king's wartime ambition would leave
much of his southern holdings for the taking. Oper­
ating from hidden island and mainland bases, these
pirates harried the coastline as far as the Sea of Gear­
nat, from Monmurg to Gradsul, from Blue to Scant.
By 444 CY, the pirates had formed a loose confedera­
tion, naming themselves for the Sea Prince, the ship
of a successful pirate captain of noble Keoish blood.
The Sea Princes raided the mainland coast, con­
quering even Port Toli and finally Monmurg in 446,
breaking Keoish control of the southlands in a flurry
of naval actions. As Tavish III's northern holdings
crumbled, however, he ordered the eradication of the
Sea Princes, charging his military commanders to
regain all of the land lost to the seafaring oppor­
tunists. The Sea Princes' operations had expanded
even to the mainland, a fact that infuriated the king.
The pirates openly scoffed at his decrees and chal­
lenged the monarch to a battle by sea. Tavish III
would not oblige.
Instead, in the spring chill of 453 CY, the king
himself led a large army of men through the tangles
of the Hool Marsh, intending to lay siege to the fort
city of Westkeep. The trek through the swamp
proved disastrous, however, and many of the soldiers
were forced to cast away their armor in the quagmire.
The army's wagon train suffered tremendous diffi­
culty, and many soldiers took sick within the first
two days of the march. Tavish seemed indignant.
Westkeep would fall, and he himself would hoist the
Lion Rampant upon its highest tower.
When finally the army arrived at the outskirts of
the fort city, the Sea Princes forces had been well pre­
pared. Those Keolandish soldiers who did not
mutiny were cut down by an unrelenting barrage of
arrow fire and magic. The Siege of Westkeep, as it
would soon be known, lasted a pathetic 70 minutes.
Tavish himself was slain in battle, and the forces of
the Sea Princes celebrated that night under the stan­
dard of the crowned caravel.
The Battle of Jetsom Island, in 464 CY, saw the
Keoish navy sink the Sea Prince, with all hands lost.
Though not a decisive military victory for Keoland,
the action marked a turning point for the holders.
Thereafter, many of the old captains retired from
piracy, settling the mainland and forming a more sta­
bilized government. The younger captains turned
from piracy to relatively legitimate pursuits, includ­
ing exploration of the Amedio coast and, eventually,
the sale of slaves captured within the fecund south­
ern jungles. Thus a chaotic nation of pirates and
scalawags turned their attention to mercantilism, and
the coffers of the Sea Princes swelled to bursting.
With this newfound industrial power, the Sea
Princes expanded their borders to the Hellfurnaces.
Vast plantations, worked by imported Amedio slaves,
provided shiploads of tropical fruits and sugar, goods
that could be exported to foreign ports for unheard­
of low prices. Though the sale of human beings drew
the ire of upstart radical nations such as the Yeo­
manry, the Sea Princes' slave trade was seen by most
of the Flanaess as a necessary evil on the road to fan­
tastic wealth.
As the years progressed, however, the practice of
slavery was less supported by the gentry of client
nations. When the moderate Prince Jeon II of Mon­
murg assumed the throne in 573 CY, most expected
the issue to come to a head. In 577, Jeon assembled a
grand council of his peers and demanded an end to
slave-taking. The prince of Toli, the plar of Hool, the
grandee of Westkeep, and the commodores of the
Isles shouted down his plan. Only the ineffectual
governor of Sybarate Isle and the duke of Berghof
supported him. In disgust, he withdrew his proposal.
He need not have bothered in the first place.
Within the next few years, the Hold of the Sea
Princes became a nation of slaves. Like many nations
during the Greyhawk Wars, the Sea Princes fell
victim to the Scarlet Brotherhood. Within a single
night in 584 CY, twenty-seven of the thirty nobles
making up the nation's nobility and government
were assassinated by killers loyal to the Scarlet Sign.
The remaining three nobles signed a notice of sur­
render, ceding all land to the Brotherhood. There­
after, ships, bearing red sails unloaded armies of
Amedio and Hepmonaland natives in Monmurg and
Port Toli.
The lands of the Sea Princes were forever changed.
Many non-Suel slave owners were imprisoned in
chains by the brotherhood, often in the same pens as
their former thralls, a situation that usually ended in
bloodshed. Among the most sadistic members of the
brotherhood "Herdsmen," creating power struggles
between slaves and their former owners became
something of a contest, with the creator of the most
violent clashes winning accolades among the
invaders. Such games fermented dissent, however.
Slave revolts became common occurrences. Unless
one wore robes of scarlet, the Hold became danger­
ous ground to tread.
The intense heat of summer, 589 CY, instilled a
great fervor in the land among the slaves, the few
remaining nobles, and even the ranks of the Herds­
men. Details remain clouded, but in that year, a great
and ancient temple was discovered in the Hellfur­
naces, near the Sea of Dust. For reasons known only
among the principals, and surely the Brotherhood's
leadership on the Tilvanot Peninsula, this discovery
triggered a bitter schism between the western Herds­
men and their kin in Monmurg, which in turn trig­
gered a brief war of assassination among the nation's
Brotherhood leaders.
Several junior members, allied with the western-
ers, revealed themselves as the so-called Black Broth­
erhood. In the name of entropy, they triggered an
armed revolt in the capital, leading brutish Hepmon­
aland soldiers through the streets of Monmurg. The
action was crushed within a single day, but telling
damage was done to the hierarchy of the Scarlet
Brotherhood Herdsmen. The cry of revolution
spread throughout the nation, and all descended into
total chaos.
In early 590 CY, King Skotti himself led the Keoish
army to Westkeep, taking advantage of the chaos. It
was a move many criticized, hearkening back to the
sad fate of Tavish III. As if to fulfill this historical
prophesy, Westkeep is a squalid, ill-supplied locale.
Disease runs rampant, morale is low, and agents of
the Brotherhood are thought to be everywhere.
The Brotherhood still controls key settlements in
Monmurg, as well as Jetsom, Flotsom and Fairwind
Isles. Olman ex-slaves control the western half of the
hold. Among these folk, newly appeared Olman cler­
ics stir up long-lost tales of ancient gods of the jungle,
allegedly inciting their converts to acts of grim
butchery and human sacrifice. The city of Hokar is
the center of a new government formed by an
alliance of commoners, middle-class folk, and eman­
cipated slaves. This alliance is governed (badly) by a
coalition of minor nobles who, through their
intrigues and assassinations, seem set to complete the
job of complete civil destruction started by the
Brotherhood some seven years ago.
Conflicts and Intrigues: Minor nobles of the old
regime are currently united in the Fraternity of the!
Brazen Blade, ostensibly a religious order dedicated
to Kelanen but in fact a vicious revenge society. Dis­
ease is rampant throughout the northwestern lands,
Violent, organized attacks on Brotherhood shipping
by merfolk and tritons are increasing across the
Azure Sea.
Shield Lands
Proper Name: Restored Holy Realm of the Faithful
of the Shield Lands
Ruler Her Most Honorable Ladyship, Countess Kata­
rina of Walworth, Knight Commander of the Shield
Lands (LG female human Pal15 of Heironeous)
Government: Commonwealth of local lords ruled
by highest ranking noble of Walworth Isle, who is
also Knight Commander of local religious army
Capital: Critwall
Major Towns: Admundfort (pop. 5,000? [occupied
by Iuz]), Bright Sentry (pop. 2,700; Scraghohme
Island), Critwall (pop. 14,300); all other towns
destroyed
Provinces: (Formerly) twenty-three petty noble
domains on the mainland, ruled from Admundfort
(the island was its own separate domain); (now) two
free domains (mainland area controlled from Crit­
wall, and Scragholme Island), with the remainder of
the land overrun but badly controlled by Iuz's forces
Resources: Livestock and foodstuffs in northern
occupied lands, not exported; few resources in free
lands
Coinage: Currently none, but a mint is being pre­
pared; old coinage is used when found: knight (gp),
axeman (ep), shield (sp), sheaf (cp)
Population: 27,000—Human 79% (Osf), Halfling
9%, Elf 5%, Dwarf 3%, Gnome 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half­
orc 1%
Languages: Common, Halfling, Elven
Alignments: LG* LN, CG
Religions: Heironeous*, St. Cuthbert, Mayaheine,
Pholtus, Trithereon
Allies: Furyondy, Veluna, Verbobonc, Dyvers, Grey­
hawk, Duchy of Urnst, County of Urnst, Highfolk,
church of Heironeous
Enemies: Iuz, all remaining forces of the Hierarchs
of the Horned Society, all remaining forces of the
Bandit Kingdoms; disliked greatly by Knights of the
Hart
Overview: The Shield Lands consisted of two dozen
provinces of various size, stretching from the Ritensa
River in the south to the Vigilant Highway, from
Plague Fields to Alhaster (which joined the Bandit
Kingdoms in 577 CY as part of Redhand). The
nation's northern border has shifted throughout the
centuries, but it was generally defined by the south­
ern margins of the Rift Barrens.