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.
The Setting
At the dawn of the 52nd Century by
Suel Date [19], the fertile Sheldomar Valley was a populated, if
chaotic, place. Flan tribesmen lived throughout the land; in the
dry eastern hills, along the rivers and on the marsh edges, on
the northern prairie, and inside the borders of the vast southern
and western forests [12]. These tribes were politically
independent of one another, though related through family and
clan. Alliances between them were shifting, temporary events -
usually begun on the arrival of a tribe to some locale, and ended
upon their departure. Forest folk practised a competent
agriculture, unaided by plough beasts but supplemented with the
prizes of hunting. Those in the forestless hills herded sheep or
goats. The nomadic plains people hunted the wild herds and
followed their migrations [13,14,15].
Roaming throughout the northern plains and eastern hills were
bands of Oeridian and Suel hunter-warrior horsemen, the remnants
of earlier migrations through the region. In the dryer portions
of the land these people could make a fair living hunting the
wild ungulates. Most of them, however, survived in part through
continual raids against the Flan tribes. The Flan, though fierce,
lived in bands few and far between, and themselves lacked both
horses and extensive iron technology [13,14,15]. Thus, they were
on the defensive, and over the past decades [19] had mainly
received the worse end of these conflicts. Only fighting among
and between the Oeridians, Suel, and local humanoids had
prevented the complete destruction or enslavement of the Flan
peoples in the places the Oerid and Suel nomads raided. Many Flan
would have gone deeper into the southern and western forests to
escape the horses of the Suel and Oerids but for the great
numbers of humanoids in such places.
Humanoid bands were well dispersed throughout the lands,
outnumbering the scattered humans, particularly in the west and
south. Gnolls roamed the hills and prairies and were as much a
plague to Flan herders as the Suel and Oeridian horsemen were.
Orcs, goblins, and kobolds hunted the vast forests and the
northern plains and raided human settlements and one another.
The lands also sheltered many independent demi-human communities.
Gnomes had settlements in the hills, halflings in the hills and
valleys, dwarves in the more rugged hills and mountains. Elves
lived in small communities throughout the forests and glades of
the eastern river valleys and more rarely in the thicker southern
and western forests. Flan contact with demi-humans was rare, for
these primitive folk tended to regard demi-humans with
superstitious awe or fear.
The Suel and Oerids raided humanoids and demi-humans on occasion,
but less often than they did the Flan. Most demi-humans lived in
communities that were too well defended to attack, or too well
hidden in the case of elves. Humanoids, on the other hand,
generally had too few possessions to be worth the trouble of
battle and looting. Sometimes Suel would ally with humanoids for
mutual attacks on other humanoids, Oerids, strong Flan tribes, or
even one another [16]. Sometimes Suel and Oerid would trade goods
with humanoids or demi-humans. In both war and trade the Oerid
were arrogant and domineering [17,18] while the Suel were simply
untrustworthy - lying, cheating, and betraying allies on many
occasions [1,2].