A History of the
A History of the
Sheldomar
By Kirt Wackford (wackford@biology.utah.edu )
Edited by Scott Rennie (scott.rennie@virgin.net) for 'Black Hart' campaign consistency, and
subject to revision.
Introduction
What was behind the unparalleled
success of the Keoish monarchs? What was the driving force which
transformed a few hundred horsemen guarding rice fields into a
single nation dominating a quarter of the Flanaess? This
expansion was, remarkably, accomplished through the willing
incorporation of disparate peoples into the Kingdom, not by their
conquest. In fact, all Keoish attempts at conquest have
ultimately ended in failure. The expansion of the Kingdom has
come from people seeking to join, not their being forced to
submit. What is behind this remarkable history?
To answer these questions, one must fully understand and
appreciate the Suel identity. The Suel had a strong and
unyielding belief in the superiority of their culture over that
of all other humans. In art, technology, magic, dress, manners,
government, and a thousand other things they considered the
Oerid, Baklunish, and Flan to be inferior to the glory that was
the Suel, the most civilised, most advanced race of men. This
belief was universal, held by all Suel, but the results of it
have shaped the behaviour and fates of different Suel in
different ways.
The majority of the Suel migrants, both before and after the Rain
of Colourless Fire, were neutral wanderers, opportunistic nomads.
Their superiority, they believed, gave them moral license to
treat non-Suel in any manner they wished. These Suel lied,
cheated, stole, and enslaved others for the simple reason that
non-Suel, as inferior beings, deserved no better treatment [1,2].
Evil Suel, exemplified by the group which calls itself the
Scarlet Brotherhood, take this notion even further. As a superior
race, they believe that they are destined to be the masters of
the world. All inferior races owe them obedience, and they work
ceaselessly for the global domination that is their due. To this
end, any and all means are acceptable - and are used - even
against Suel who oppose them. [3,4,5].
Good Suel, such as the houses of Rhola and Neheli [1,6], did
believe in the absolute superiority of the Suel culture. But for
them, this superiority came with responsibility. As a superior
race, they held themselves to a higher moral standard than they
used for others. Thus they were always fair and honest in their
dealings, often even self-sacrificing, if condescending. How
could they display their superiority, if not through their
unimpeachable honour? They considered it their duty to help the
other races of humanity live in a civilised manner, through
giving them the fruits of the Suel Culture. Active conquest was
not deemed necessary to spread enlightenment to the barbaric east
- the Suel need only defend themselves and the other races would
eventually recognise their superiority. Doing so, they would of
course pledge loyalty and ask for assistance, at which point the
Suel were obligated to instruct, protect, and defend them, all
for the glory of the Suel culture [7].
Of course, no group of people is entirely of one alignment,
including no group of Suel (with the possible exception of the
fanatical Scarlet Brotherhood). While the houses of Neheli and
Rhola, and the later monarchs and nobles of Keoland, were by and
large good, many of them were more neutral or even evil. Evil
lies within the potential of all men, waiting for the right
conditions to express itself. Many individuals with power during
Keoland's Imperialist times embraced evil. But the evil goals
they strove for, conquest and domination, and the reasons they
gave to justify their actions, national and cultural superiority,
did not arise from nowhere. They were simply the dark side of
values typically Suel that had ennobled many others of their
brethren. This is why it is essential to understand the Suel
viewpoint, for it has informed all their descendants, whether
good, neutral, or evil.
When the Neheli and Rhola first came to the Sheldomar and made a
place for themselves, the Flan were impressed with their honesty,
generosity, and technology. When desperate Flan refugees sought
their protection, the Suel took them on as subject people to be
aided and trained, not exploited. Their rule was always fair and
capable, and in those troubled times many Flan came to their
banners, even entire tribes. Eventually, the remnants of defeated
earlier Suel and Oerid migrants were incorporated, and the Suel
rulers treated them justly as well. Thus the good Suel nations
grew through a policy of benevolent and beneficial treatment of
subjects, a policy which was based on a philosophy of the
obligations of a superior race and culture.
Many tribes joined these Suel nations for the benefits they
offered. Those who attacked were soundly defeated by the joint
co-operation of the several nations and the many peoples within
them. Those defeated either withdrew or joined as well.
Unlike neutral or evil Suel, good Suel houses could and did
acknowledge the worth of demi-human cultures without feeling
their own identities threatened. The non-human nature of
demi-humans meant that good Suel could treat them as equals, at
least dwarves and elves (less so gnomes and halflings, as they
were believed to be less cultured). Thus, demi-humans living
within the new Suel nations were invited to make alliances as
equals, for trade and mutual protection. When Keoland emerged as
a significant power, it assumed that the duty of protection fell
mostly to it, and regularly sent troops to defend the demi-human
states on its periphery. In return it asked only for their simple
friendship. These good Suel were also appalled by the employment
of humanoids as mercenaries by the other Suel [6]. To the good
Suel, humanoids were the lowest forms of life, and could only
sully and corrupt all who dealt with them. These Suel waged
unceasing war upon humanoids, another factor in the ready
acceptance of the Suel states by Flan and demi-humans.
Through the centuries, Suel intermarried with Flan and Oerid,
improving the bloodlines of the inferior races, as many Suel saw
it. In time the idea of the cultural superiority of the Suel
passed, for pure Suel were no longer; no distinctly Suel culture
remained. The legacy of Suel ideas was an equally strong belief
in the superiority of the nation of Keoland. As the oldest modern
eastern nation, the Keoish held themselves to be the most
civilised and socially advanced state in the Flanaess [8].
Under the enlightened rule of these new Keoish, the country grew
and prospered, and was willingly joined by the Sterish, the Ulek
States, and many of the tribes of Gran March and Bissel. This
gradual expansion was halted in the 4th Century CY when Keoland
had grown to border Ket and Veluna. For the first time in its
long history, Keoland faced not scattered tribes but powerful
nations. These nations, one Baklunish, one Oeridian, did not
acknowledge, and in fact emphatically rejected, the claims of
Keoish superiority. Rather than reassess their identity, question
their central truths, the Keoish spent a century at war to prove
their superiority, as much to themselves as to the other nations.
The resulting external failures and internal disillusionment tore
the nation apart, though it was many years before a monarch
emerged with the wisdom to see the new reality. He led the Keoish
bravely into peace, and they have been reassessing themselves
ever since.
For a time the nation, shed of its dependencies, held fast -
secure in its renewed goodness, but content to let others work
out their destinies on their own. The Kings and the people had
given up the idea of a continually expanding Keoland, always
generously extending the benefits of its rule to others. Now aid
was given more pragmatically. It was, to be sure, good faith
assistance, but was given in times and ways and with conditions
admittedly advantageous to Keoland. When Belvor IV of Furyondy
called for Keoish assistance at the beginning of the Greyhawk
Wars, it was only after much careful thought that Kimbertos
Skotti, King of Keoland, entered into allegiance. And when
invaders beset Bissel, Geoff, Sterich, the Yeomanry, and the
Principality of Ulek, the King hesitated and sought gainful terms
and conditions for aid to these countries, all but Geoff former
Keoish provinces. While the King sought advantage in the
misfortunes of others the wars went on. His penny-wise,
pound-foolish shrewdness eventually caused many of these fair
lands to be lost completely [9,10,11].
The Imperial Keoland is past - none wish to return to conquest in
the name of culture and empire. Yet reluctance to aid friendly
neighbours has cost the country greatly, and all recognise that
an isolationist, self-serving Keoland cannot survive these dark
times. The Keoish leadership is now a class in search of a
unifying idea, a world view which includes the proper role of
Keoland in the affairs of other nations. But that is a matter for
now, and for the future. Let us turn back to the past, to the
very beginning of things....