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Saltmarsh

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Adventures in Saltmarsh:

a Brief Overview of Greyhawk

The last few years have been a time of turmoil and great change in Greyhawk. In 575 CY there was a border war between Bissel, Ket and Perrenland that at one time threatened to flare up into a larger conflict and continued to smoulder for several years. It is said a group of adventurers searching for the fabled treasures of Iggwilv in the heart of the Yatil Mountains were to blame for the conflict.

Further south and for more than two decades the pirates known as the Slave Lords of the Pomarj preyed upon the lands of the Central Flanaess; attacking whenever and whereever they wanted. However their depredation's were put to an end by a gallant band of adventurers led by Leah Ravenlock in 577 CY. Although defeated the Slave Lords were not completely destroyed and rumours abound that the Slave Lords are even now rebuilding their shattered strength somewhere in the heart of the Pomarj.

Earlier in the same year that the Slave Lords menace was put to an end bands of marauding giants began to plague the Yeomanry. Answering a call for adventurers to help the beleaguered Yeoman the bard Leah Ravenlock and his long time companion Dawn Darkwater, a paladin and follower of Bahamut aided by several other powerful adventurers travelled to the Yeomanry and joined the battle against the giants. The adventurers met with some success and managed to destroy two giant strongholds in the Crystalmist Mountains. Disaster struck in the Halls of the Fire Giant King and Dawn was slain. It was at this point Leah fled back to Loftwick and there gathered about himself a new band of adventurers who then headed off to destroy the Slavers.

While he was fighting his way into the Slavers stronghold in the heart of the Pomarj events were taking a turn for the worse in the Yeomanry. The giants, aided by numerous humanoids and some other foul force invaded the Yeomanry in the autumn of that year. The Yeoman border forts were quickly overrun and the capital Loftwick besieged. Within two short weeks in Ready'reat the giants and their humanoid followers conquered most of the Yeomanry. The invasion was finally halted in the Little Hills by the gallantry of the dwarven and human inhabitants of these highlands.

The following spring (578 CY) Keoland, who had quickly come to the aid of the Yeomanry and reinforced the defenders of the Little Hills, launched a campaign to drive the giants back into the mountains. Dawn, whose body had by now been recovered and successfully raised from the dead, and Leah led a regiment in the Keoish army. The army met stiff resistance but finally succeeded in defeating the combined host of the giants at the Battle of the Twin Banners (28th Flocktime 578). Dawn, however, was captured by the retreating giants when the cavalry he was leading foolishly charged a unit of trolls and was wiped out. Dawn was captured and taken with the retreating giants back into their mountainous stronghold. The battle however sundered the giants alliance and the road was open to Loftwick. Within a few short weeks the giants had retreated back into their mountain redoubts and the lands of the Yeomanry were free once more.

Leah left the Keoish army shortly after the Battle of Twin Banners and launched a rescue operation to free Dawn. He managed to penetrate a fire giant fortress and launched an expedition against the drow who had been responsible for organising the invasion. The adventurers managed to infiltrate the drow's subterranean city and penetrated as far as the Demonweb Pits, but were forced to flee after encountering numerous demons in this the dreaded lair of the Queen of the Demonwebs, Lolth herself.

Retreating to the Valley of the Mage to recuperate from their recent ordeal Leah enlisted the aid of the ruler of the valley, Grimrod the Grey, to help rescue Dawn. The archmage used powerful magic to recover Dawn from the clutches of Lolth. After this event the two companions retired to Keoland. Leah joined was joined by his long time girlfriend, Linden in Gradsul while Dawn built a keep and with the kings blessing formed an order of Paladins, the Order of the Dragon.

The following year (579CY) a band of adventurers, calling themselves the Wanderers, destroyed an evil cult on the northern borders of Keoland, the so called "Cult of the Reptile God," near the village of Orlane which lies between Hookhill and Hochoch. But this was but a small victory for the forces of good for the adventurers responsible for this deed disappeared later that year whilst searching for the fabled Forbidden City in the Amedio Jungle.

In 580CY a new threat emerged in the Dim Forest, an unknown force seemed to be organising the humanoids of the forest into an army. Several villages in the vicinity of Hochoch were sacked and the inhabitants enslaved or killed. A group of adventurers formed in Hochoch to deal with this challenge, the so called Silver Blades. They reported the finding of a large temple in the heart of the forest and then they too disappeared without a trace.

Lull Before the Storm

So it is in the spring of 582 that the new campaign begins. Events seem to be moving apace in the Flanaess, there are storm clouds on the horizon and talk of war is the topic of conversation in taverns from the Sea Princes to the Great Kingdom. Over the past few years tension has been building in many parts of the Flanaess to the point where it is almost as though the nations wait with baited breath for the first spark that will ignite the inevitable conflagration. North of Furyondy the evil cambion Iuz has been quiet for too long and day by day his humanoid, and some say demonic, armies grow. East of Iuz is the Horned Society, and here the Hierarchs plot the conquer the Shield Lands. While in the furthest reaches of the Flanaess, in the decadent and decaying Great Kingdom, the Overking dreams of past glory and threatens to march once more into his former territories. Only the proud and just the Kingdom of Nyrond stands in his way, a bulwark against the mad Overking of the East, and even here the armies are mobilising. It seems that the kingdoms of the Flanaess march inextricably to war and that throughout the lands people wait for the first blow to be struck, but where and when will it occur?

The Southern Marches

The Southern Marches lie between Dreadwood, the Hool Marshes and the Azure Sea. They are a sparsely settled border region, far from the main population centres, and trade routes, of the Kingdom of Keoland. The region is considered by many in Keoland to be a poorly developed backwater and the regions inhabitants are thought to be rustic to say the least.

The capital of the Southern Marches is the town of Burle (population 5,000) while the two other main population centres are Seaton (pop 3,500) and Saltmarsh (pop 2,000). Most people in the region are either farmers or fisherfolk, although there are some woodsmen living on the verges of Dreadwood. The soils of the region are quite fertile and the farmers usually grow a large surplus which is sold in the market at Gradsul.

The Southern Marches have long been thought of as being a relatively peaceful backwater little troubled by the outside world. However that reputation is beginning to change and the inhabitants grow more wary and watchful with each passing day. There have long been rumours that smugglers and pirates from the Sea Princes have secret bases in secluded coves along the sparsely inhabited coast, but these have never been proven. However, of late there have been more frequent sightings of vessels flying the colours of the Sea Princes in the coastal waters claimed by Keoland and these can but bode ill for the inhabitants of the Southern Marches.

Further north Dreadwood has always been a battle ground between the elves, who ward the place in return for the protection of the Keoish Crown, and bands of humanoids from the Hool Marshes, and beyond, that use the forest as a base to launch raids on Keoish villages. In the past the humanoids seldom turned their attention on the rather meagre pickings to be had in the Marches preferring to turn their attention to the more prosperous settlements north of the forest. Recently that has began to change and there have been reported sightings of humanoids along the forests southern edges and some outlying settlements have been raided. To counter these depredation's a bounty has been placed on the heads of all humanoids and notices posted throughout the lands advertising this fact.

As well as increased humanoid activity to the north the lizardmen of the Hool Marshes too seem to be restless. It is some thirty years since the Sakarath, the lizard king was defeated and his army destroyed at the Battle of Burle but it seems that the lizardmen have recovered from their losses and that their warbands are once again roaming the marshes verge. In recent months several caravans travelling along the trail linking Burle and Longspear have been attacked by lizardman war parties and trade between Burle and Longspear has ground to a halt. All in all it seems that dark times are ahead for the inhabitants of the Southern Marches...

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