This series of maps comes with a BIG caveat, they are a VERY crude first draft. More of an attempt to see how I can go about tackle how the Flanaess came to end up where it did than an answer to that question. Now with that out of the way lest go back in history several thousands of years to try and see what The Flanaess could have looked like.
Map 1 - The First Suel Empire
The first human empire rose in the far north during Oerth's last warm period. A seafaring culture created a network of cities bustling with trade and innovation, exploration and resource extraction was widespread.
The Yorodhi, a people that would later split into the Bakluni, Oerid and others later forgotten in the east lived in the less fertile hotter southern shores and inland. They were mostly semi nomadic herders, and, in some places, they settled and trade towns along the Suel lands was established. These were calm and peaceful times. The climate was warmer and more humid than the Oerth we recognize today, and the oceans were much higher, splitting Oerik into several smaller continents. This meant that a lot of other folks that will play a vital part in the story are isolated on the center island of will become Oerik. Both the Yorodhi and the Suel began to raid these lands to take Orcs, Golls and others as slaves, a practice what would be important later.
In the east we find a Flanaess much smaller and largely a huge archipelago with two main actors running the show, the elves, and the Flan. The elves had a huge realm in the west, reaching from what would be the Vesve to the Southern Crystalmists. In the east there were two elven realms. One in what would become the Adri and was at this time a subtropical oceanside forest, and another on the Spindrift Lendore Isles.
The Flan roamed most of the rest of the Flanaess, from nomads to settled folks organizing around those who knew when and where the grazing was good to those who knew how to craft and wield the new wonder materials being invented and learned from the Elves and the Suel. Flan contacts with both the elves and the Suel was peaceful for the most part. Population levels where low and land was plentiful so very little reason for conflict, better to move when threatened.
The Suel brought the first Orc, Goblins, and other humanoids as slaves, bringing the first of these folks that would later play big parts in shaping the subcontinents. Runaway Orcs from the Suel settlements around the White Fanged Bay would later create Garel Enkdal, probably the first orc settlement in the Flanaess.
In the South the Olmans are spread out remnants of a culture that thrived in previous colder times. The Olmans are not a big part of the story now, but their time will come later, as one of oldest human cultures on the planet they are survivors.
Map 2 – End of the Warm Age
After many centuries of a warm Oerth cooler times are coming, with the change comes both opportunity and peril. Lands become more plentiful as the oceans recede, and a cooler planet offers more bountiful crops and pastures. Peril comes as well, to find and gather the riches you often had to migrate to new lands. The main victims of this were the Suel whose northerly empire now literary disappeared under ice and snow. An organized culture wide migration south was ordered and took place almost unanimously across the empire, it pays to be well organized at times.
The Yorodhi lands to the south the influx of Suel that often-had better knowledge and resources led to conflicts. To add to the problems in the west the shallow gap that kept the humanoids at bay disappeared and opportunistic Orcs, Goblins and others made good use of the changes with raiding eastwards.
The western threat lead to a need for the Sul and Yorodhi to cooperate, which soon turned out to be a good way to defend themselves. Yorodhi in the east where not impressed by tis and saw the Suel more and more as intruders and conflict broke out. This was the decisive moment where the Yorodhi started to split into what we today know as the Oeridians and the Baklunish. The western Yorodhi cooperated with the Suel and would later either blend in with the western Suel or migrate east as the Oerdian.
The Eastern Yorodhi descended into warlordism, feuding and conflict with the invading Suel. This is the first in what would be the most devastating conflict, so far, in the history of Oerth. Suel explorers had found a high plateau in the south, high up to be temperate and watered by rich meltwater from the surrounding mountains. Very defendable and large enough to hold a large population, the orders went out to set up a new empire on the plateau.
Not all Suel heard or followed the call. In the west most Suel was needed to defend cities and lands still very habitable, and with the help of the Oerids life was manageable. In the east a series of settlements was so far away that the message, if it ever came, was too late and the Suel in the northeast had an easier way to warmer lands in the south. The western Solnor is warm and habitable, and an eastern form of Suel culture was starting to take shape no longer under the gaze and spell of the old empire.
The elves noted that the climate was cooling, and Suel challenged them over the southern Crystalmists, so the elves retreated north. The Flan got along surprisingly well with the Suel in the north and the first settlements of Blackmoor and Kelten became a mix of Suel Flan culture. Both places had to be abandoned later due to the oncoming cold, but their mixed traditions held on into the future. The Orcs and other humanoids at Garel Enkdal either moved south or dug deep and survived. The Suel realms of the Thillonrian and islands in the northern Solnor was established at this time.
Flan culture was on the rise, more lands and more fertile lands meant that populations numbers grew and contact with the Suel and the elves gave them knowledge. The first true Flan realms where created at this time, names like Sulm, Ithar and others are emerging at this time.
The Olman also benefitted from the cooling climate and newly exposed landmasses. Old connections were reestablished, and new ones were made, a renaissance for Olman society.
Map 3 – Cold Age Peak
Oerth is now a much colder and drier place, and the Flanaess is both largely covered in, and isolated by, snow and ice. The Flan retreated south on the vast expanses of new land available to settle, all thanks to the record low ocean levels. Both Flan and elven societies thrive, and the first true Flan rulers and kings hold court.
The newfound highs soon have its first backlash, greedy rulers who want more power and keep it for longer. The ability to harness undeath becomes their way to do so, an old Suel tradition has gotten a Flan upgrade.
The diverse scene of chaos that has always been Olman society has grown rapidly and a shift between north and south is emerging, the Touv are coming onto the stage of history. In the east the newly formed Suel communities are suffering but holding on to their lands even on the fringes of the Thillonrian.
On their newly settled plateau the reformed Suel Empire is taking shape, weak and wounded now but it only takes a century before the industrious and disciplined Suel are on track to greatness once again. Two other remnants of the old Suel empire remain, one in the west guarding one of their biggest cities, Lankhmar, and one on the Gulf of Ghayar estuary. Lankhmar and its surrounding lands will soon be run by a Suel – Western Yorodhi blended culture of defenders determined to hold against marauding humanoids. The Suel remnants at the mouth of the Ghayar are soon absorbed into Oeridian society and forgotten.
The Baklunish build a new capital in Kanak on an island in Lake Udrukankar. The land is dry but provides a steady supply of water and the surrounding mountains provides timber and metals needed to build the best Bakluni realm the world have ever seen. Their perceived victory over the Suel that they made flee have given them a newfound pride in themselves. Both the Suel and the Bakluni are now harsh societies that make use of slavery and mercenaries, this means that weak humanoids are forced to serve as slaves, stronger ones are employed as mercenaries.
Map 4 – End of the Cold Age
This is the age of Flan culture, the age of Ehlissa, Vecna, Acererak, Woe, the height of the Flan. Vecna’s Empire is soon the most powerful realm the Flanaess had seen to date. In the east Queen Ehlissa rules with a much gentler hand, and the brutality of Vecna’s reign will soon come back to haunt the Flan in the next era.
The elves consolidate and endure, making sure to survive against Vecna and his thugs, using their best weapon, time. In a century or two most human enemies will perish, and the few that linger on to be dealt with using other means. Those other means are a topic for another day when I cover all the ones left out of this very incomplete first look, like Dwarfs, Gnomes, Dragons, Aboleths, Drow and many more.
Olmans have peaked and are yet again busy moving further inland away from rising sea levels. Long term institutional and cultural memory seems to elude the Olmans. Maybe having long lived elven neighbors can be handy at times. The Flan seems to plan ahead with much more foresight than the Olmans are able to muster.
The Suel Empire is now established, and even a mentioning of the old empire and the flight from the north and Baklunish a few centuries ago are on the pain of death. This is the time of the Suel and their might, the Baklunish in the north are managed and the disorganized Olman neighbors are simpletons that can be coerced, bribed or worse to do the biddings of the Suel. With a secure coast, plans were drawn up for future widespread expansion. The plans where never going to be implemented, history, ambition, and the ill-tempered planet itself was going to see to that in the next chapter.
In the northern Solnor the Suel descendants are keeping up their ancestors’ traditions as sailors, fishermen and whalers. The rich waters of the Solnor provides well and the new colonies on the northern Mentzeri islands are now established and their eyes are yet again looking north for new lands to settle as the world get warmer.
A distinct proud and ambitious new era was brooding in the Baklunish realm north of the Sulhaout Mountains. Being a stable society with a history they where proud of made them feel like winners for the first time. The humanoid menace from the Tyurzi foothills was manageable and, in some ways, even usable, slaves and mercenaries needed to come from somewhere.
The Oeridians where now truly its own society separated from the Bakluni, centered around the Gulf of Ghayar. The Oeridians at this time where still a society which valued moderation, compromise and trying to make reasonable political decisions. They would gain their imperial instincts later than their neighbors, but surpass them all in ambition, vanity, and success.
In the west the Suel-Yorodhi had become a merged society with a new culture of interdependence, trust and cooperation in harsh conditions.
The peak of the cold Age was in many ways the calm before the storm that was about come in soon.
Map 5 – Migrations Begins
A world waking up from the cold times means new opportunities opening, and first out to make use of if this was the Oeridians. Settling the northern Bakluni basin and even exploring the newly ice free Thornward gap.
The Suel began exploring east around the Jeklea Bay and ruthlessly confronted the Olmans who retreated inland, or fled across the ocean rather than putting on a fight. This would lead to the creation of places like Sasserine, Port Toli and Monmurg later on.
The Flan in the west was under the spell and whip of Vecna, which meant that most of the population was to scared to even raise the alarm that strangers in the north was starting to roam the countryside. The arriving Oeridians quickly found a group of eager allies, the enemies of Vecna who had been living in destitution on the fringes of Flan society for a long time. They saw hope and a future with the newcomers. The early Oeridians where unafraid of the Vecna’s thugs, being well trained and equipped, and many of them where veterans of war in the humanoids in the west.
Oeridian diplomacy even worked with the elves who also saw the newcomers as an opportunity, and a first acceptance of passage was established in Mitrik, a newly created settlement housing Flan refugees and Oeridian settlers. This agreement would later lead to the creation of Veluna, Furyondy and even Highfolk, a testament to the early diplomacy between unlikely allies.
New lands and all the opportunities that these first explorers related back to the west started a new movement in Oeridian society. Squabbily and warlike humanoids in the west, and Baklunish in the south who sounded more and more like imperial overlords. New lands ad opportunities in the west gave new hope and energy.
The Olmans at the time showed very little outwards ambition, being occupied with internal squabbles, Yian-Ti incursions, and various cult activities. The Touv on the other hand was busy exploring Southern Solnor, sending fleets of ships with people to settle on Ana-Keris in the south and Mentzeri in the east. Optimism and the promise of prosperous lives in new lands and few enemies made the Touv rise to new heights.
The Thillonrian Suel was also experiencing a golden age of exploration and growth. The thawing lands offered more and more each year, and vast new lands in the Northern Solnor was found. This gave a spark to the now hardened seafarers.
Stability was also the order of the day in the far west. With a secure hold on their center island, they kept hold of the lands along the major rivers inland and slowly expanded north as the temperatures rose. Carefully managed their borders and became very adapt at building and using defenses.
Map 6 – Cataclysms
A warming world can be a boon when it means you can make use of lands that was previously too cold. There where plenty of that going around, the Flan was busy resettle the north and a culture of nomadism and herding was re-emerging. Settled farming had become almost ubiquitous during the reign of Vecna in the west, who feared people that vas vagrant hard to control. In the Ehlissan east it was prosperity that almost put an end to old ways, but so much new land and not enough lords to control everything old ways was coming back. The unruly mentality of the Bandit Kingdoms was probably a product of this.
The Oeridians cut across the Flanaess on their dashing quest for new opportunities. East of the Relmor Bay they connected with the elves of the Adri and the Ehlissan Empire, and again diplomacy established at least a modicum or trust. The Ehlissan’s where the first Flan that impressed the Oerids, expansion would instead continue north and east settling the Flamni basin. Few Oeridians at the time realized that they where laying the foundations for the grandest empire the planet has ever seen.
The Suel Empire was now facing the negatives of a warming world. Living on a mesa in the tropics meant that it was getting warmer and warmer. The waters that had once been plentiful now evaporated sooner and sooner every year. Magic and storage could mitigate some but at a higher and higher cost in manpower magic and effort.
North of the Sulhaouts the situation was in many was even more dire, thankfully the Baklunish had room to move north, which started to happen. One thing that didn’t happen was letting their guard down at their southern border. Almost all Bakluni knew who their real enemy was, and they were determined to keep the Suel south of the Sulhauts. This is the time when the range got its name, a form of derogatory slur for the Suel in ancient Baklunish.
Tension rose with the temperature, and murky minds started to seek for solutions in the darkest corners of Suel power. The first strike came from the Suel Empire across a large part of the Bakluni held lands. Thankfully the Suel powers that orchestrated this magical assault concentrated it to the Bakluni settlements they knew about so the new ones in the north was spared. But the attack was enough to lay waste to a majority of the Bakluni world.
Surprisingly quickly and with the forces of the planet on their side the Bakluni counted and literary laid waste to the Suel Empire. The Bakluni Rain of Colorless Fire wiped out not only the lands of the mesa it turned it into a dustbowl surrounded by tall mountains that spewed out the ash covering most of the bowl in hundreds of feet, or more, of fine ash, making the whole area completely unlivable.
In an historic blink of an eye the Second Suel Empire perished, and most of the Baklunish lands devastated. The Suel plateau turned into the Sea of Death, and the Bakluni lands into the Dry Steppes. The Bakluni would rebuild fairly quickly again in the north and west of the basin that henceforth bare their name. The Suel reduced to a single city Lo Nakar, and the descendants who fled and more of less successfully reestablished themselves in various other places. Notably so on the Tilvanot Peninsula and the Sheldomar Valley.
Conclusions
This is a first draft at making an attempt at recreating the history that created the World of Greyhawk Setting as we know it from published and fan lore. The scenario is based on the people we know from the lore, Flan, Suel, Bakluni, Olman, Touv, Elves and their ancestors.
Lots of others of various kinds of creatures have played a role in this, and history is, in my opinion, much older than this. Humans, Humanoids and not even the elves where the first ones with intelligence, wisdom, and the ability to form societies, conquer, rule, and govern. I have ideas around that and more. Factors like evolution, planar influence, magic, and the divine shaping history.
In this I’ve also wanted to open up to include other content, like Lankhmar, that I think works well within a widened Greyhawk campaign. The lords of Lankhmar can be turned into variants of Suel Liches, and you can keep as much (or little) as you like of the lore of the Lankhmar Setting.
I hope you find this type of content as interesting to read as I like to create it, maps and worldbuilding combined with history is what I love to do more than anything else. This chapter will need to refinements, making sure I’ve properly honored lore and then its time to look beyond the common people of the Flanaess and look further back in time, place, and actors. To the time of the first gods, the time of the Wyrms, Witch Kings, and the chaos of the Fey and the first rulers from the depths..
You can get all the maps in a single zip file here (4.5MB): https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/6%20historic%20maps-%20draft%201.zip
Credits
Thank you again for all your support, and patience, I’m in the middle of a commission for GameHole Con that taken way more time that I first thought. It was going to be a simple update to a map I did back in 2017, but due to sloppy backup standards (I’ve improved since then) I lost my source-files and need to re-create everything.
