TEXT: Rumours and Whispers from the 
  United Kingdom of Ahlissa  
   
  Spring and Low Summer 595 CY 
   
   
   
   
  The Marchland of Chathold: The Marquis of Chathold, Karn Serrand of the House of 
  Cranden has stepped up patrols along the Harp River to deal with bands of Almorians 
  crossing the river to explore the ruins of their former capital. More than one such 
  group has attempted to reclaim or settle portions of the shattered city, claiming them in 
  the name of the Prelacy of Almor. None of these so-called “Reclaimers” has survived for 
  more than a fortnight among the horrors that yet stalk the overgrown ruins. In a letter 
  to Younard, the Nyrondese Duke of Almor, the marquis stated that while he 
  sympathised with the sentiments of those who sought to recover something of their old lives, he had 
  sworn solemn oaths to ward and protect the borders of his fief and his realm. As such, further incursions 
  onto the sovereign territory of Ahlissa would not be tolerated and would be met with such force as was 
  required to bring them to an end.  
   
   
  The Marchland of the Grandwood: At the behest of Princess Bersheben of Darmen, a 
  series of armed camps are being established along the western eves of the Grandwood. 
  According to rumours in Forrin, the princesses’ seat, these encampments are designed to 
  act as bases for Ahlissan patrols to range into the forest against the “brigands and 
  outlaws” that infest its depths. The camps will also serves as centres for reaping the rich 
  bounty of the woodland. Already merchants in Torrich eagerly foresee great profits in 
  the trade of Grandwood timber as the reconstruction of Medegia progresses apace. 
  Ahlissan borderers have engaged in skirmishes with the olve and human woodfolk of the Grandwood for 
  the past several years. The current plan appears to be an escalation of the princesses’ determination to tame 
  her fief and rid it of, as she described them, “treasonous and lawless elements”.   
   
   
  The Capital Principality of Kalstrand: His Transcendent Imperial Majesty, Overking 
  Xavener of Ahlissa, today gave his blessing to a massive programme of road building to 
  be undertaken under the auspices of the Royal Guild of Merchants of Aerdy. Though 
  the magical dirawaen roads remain, without doubt, the finest in the Flanaess, many of 
  the realm’s secondary highways fell into disrepair during the anarchy that gripped 
  Aerdy in the wake of the Greyhawk Wars. In addition to repairs to these existing pikes, 
  a number of new roads will be constructed to aid the flow of trade throughout the realm 
  and draw its disparate principalities closer together in bonds of peace and prosperity. Foreign diplomats 
  have noted that several of the new highways run along the borders of the realm and could quite easily 
  serve as military roads, a point dismissed out of hand as “paranoid nonsense” by the officials of the Royal 
  Guild.  
   
   
  The Marchland of Medegia: Large consignments of lumber and other materials have 
  begun to flow into the Isle of Keritharn hard by the ruins of Pontylver. The isle, long 
  home to the docks and dockyards the great cityport, has finally been cleared of the 
  undead that infested it. Repair work continues apace on the dockyards, which were set 
  ablaze during the sack of the city in 584 CY. Prince Gartrel of Darmen, the ruler of 
  Medegia, has ordered that the construction of the Ahlissan Grand Solnor Fleet begin as 
  soon as possible. The prince has made Keritarn his seat and base for the reclamation of 
  the rest of the ravaged marchland. In the east, sporadic skirmishes and raids continue between mercenary 
  companies in the pay of Ahlissa, the forces of Rel Astra and the “brigand” armies of the so-called Council of 
  Medegian Elders, the self-proclaimed rulers of the ravaged city of Mentrey. The Council was responsible 
  for the humiliating repulse of a Rel Astran attempt to storm the city in 592 CY. While both Ahlissan and 
   
  
  Rel Astran raiding columns have approached within sight of the city, the capital of old Medegia strongly 
  held by a loose coalition of warlords and bandit chiefs who continue to defy the rightful claims of the 
  United Kingdom over the land, preferring to steep the land in further bloodshed and misery.  
   
   
  The Principality of Nulbish: In response to unceasing raids by bandits and other lawless 
  groups, some masquerading under the Sunndian Sun Resplendant, Prince Harnnad of 
  Darmen has ordered columns of cavalry and footmen under Magister Vlent to pacify 
  the lands between the Thelly and the foothills of the Glorioles Mountains and the 
  Hestmark Highlands. The Prince has issued decrees offering grants of title to any who 
  will settle south of the river. In a letter to the Court of the Olvenking of Sunndi, he 
  reminded Hazendal of the peace that had been established between Ahlissa and Sunndi 
  by the Naerie Compact. As such, the prince solemnly declared he had no intention to threaten the 
  marches of Sunndi, but rather to re-establish the rule of Ahlissan law over lands that have traditionally 
  been in fief to the Princes of Nulbish. As with much of the realm, the region fell into anarchy, when the 
  insane aggression of the Naelax overkings severed the long-forged ties of fraternity and kinship between 
  the peoples of Sunndi and Aerdy. Prince Harnnad expressed his hope that once order had been restored to 
  the southern Thellylands, that these ties could be forged anew.  
   
   
  The Marchland of Rauxes: By decree of His Transcendent Imperial Majesty, Overking 
  Xavener of Ahlissa and with the solemn consent of the Imperial Council, the 
  Marchland of Rauxes has been reordered into three baronies under the overall rule of 
  Prince Halaster of Darmen, a loyal and beloved cousin of the overking.  From his seat in 
  the vital river port of Orred, the prince’s oversees a fief that is divided into three 
  baronies:   
   
  � The Barony of Carnifand, under Baron Oswalden of Cranden, who controls the lands from 
  the border of the Principality of Jalpa at Permanence to the Flamni and the disputed marches of 
  the Lands of Dustbridge.  
  � The Barony of Orred under Baron (formerly Prince) Lugrand of Naelax, controlling the strip 
  of land between the Imeda and the eaves of the Grandwood.  Baron Lugrand is one of the few 
  Naelax princes in the realm not to have vanished after the Naelax Conspiracy to assassinate 
  Overking Xavener. 
  � The Barony of Redegian under Baron Xeriquan of Ishanenn, a newly dubbed peer of the 
  realm, who wards the northern marches between the Flamni and the Imeda, his lands abutting 
  onto the disputed border of the so-called Great Kingdom of Northern Aerdy.   
   
  Prince Halster personally oversees the lands around the Shimmering Veil that surrounds Rauxes, from 
  Orred in the south as far as the town of Wendarn in the north.  In the wake of the Naelax Conspiracy, 
  many of the suddenly vacant Naelax fiefs around Rauxes were granted to young Darman princes, loyal to 
  the overking and eager to prove themselves. Foremost among these is Prince Halaster, a dynamic and 
  charismatic young man. Though he acknowledges himself that he is more an administrator than a general, 
  he has under his command, some of the finest (and most loyal) captains of the armies of the Darmens.  In 
  the spring, the prince ordered the construction of a line of forts and keeps between the towns of Karelford 
  and Parlad. Work is already under way, though raids by petty marcher lords loyal to the rebel Prince 
  Montand of Delaric have been reported along the marches.  
   
   
  The Principality of Rel Deven: With the lands surrounding its eaves increasingly 
  troubled by the strange and unnatural creatures emerging from its depths, the 
  Bonewood continues to be a matter of grave concern to the rulers of Rel Deven. 
  Investigations into the cause of the horrific transformation of the Bonewood continue. 
  Apparently even the mighty lore of the Eldritch Lords of the Aerdi seems confounded 
  by the mystery, for they seem no nearer to discovering its cause than they were over a 
  decade ago when the terrible blight began. Prince Carwend of Darmen is said to be most 
  eager to find some way to reverse the curse and restore the woodland to its former state. He has established 
  a congregation of mages of the city, to who he has set the task of uncovering the cause of the curse and, if 
  possible, reversing it.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  The Principality of Torrich: Rumours abound in Torrich of a secret meeting between 
  Prince Dilweg of Darmen and his aunt, Princess Bersheben. Prince Dilweg’s father, the 
  late Prince Dilrann, bequeathed the rule of the city and lands jointly to his son Dilweg, 
  then but a boy of 13, and Bersheben, Dilrann’s sister. During her short stewardship, a 
  deep personal rift developed between aunt and nephew, one which persists to this day. 
  Once Prince Dilweg reached majority, he attempted to banish Bersheben from the city. 
  The princess is said to have laughed heartily and mocked the boy for his impetuous folly, 
  but while she maintained her palace and townhouses in Torrich, thereafter she began to spend more of her 
  time in her country estates in Forrin, many leagues to the south-east. When last they met in person, at the 
  coronation of Overking Xavener in 586 CY, the pair did not exchange so much as a single word. Tidings of 
  a meeting between the two have sparked countless rumours of a reconciliation between Torrich’s rulers. 
  Some have said that Bersheben has even promised to cede her claim to the city in return for magical aid 
  against the olven Moonmages of the Grandwood. Prince Dilweg is the Founding Master of the Magistry of 
  Torrich, a college for the education of mages and the magical arts. 
   
   
  The Principality of Zelradton: Construction of the Ahlissan Grand Gearnat Fleet has been 
  completed in Prymp. The Lord High Admiral, Prince Llarnan of Naelax, surveyed a goodly 
  proportion of the flotilla from his flagship in the roadstead of Prymp recently. He read out a 
  decree issued by his brother, Prince Reydrich of Zelradton and sanctioned by the overking 
  himself, stating that the Fleet’s first standing order was to attack and destroy the vessels of 
  the Scarlet Sign and their allies on sight. According to the prince, the Scarlet Ones 
  represented the gravest threat to the sovereignty of Ahlissa and the common heritage of the 
  Oeridian peoples of Aerdy. Only their destruction could bring Ahlissa the security it deserved. The Royal 
  Fleet is comprised of three squadrons, based in Prymp, Shargallen and Trennenport. Its remit is to secure 
  the waters of Relmor Bay and the Sea of Gearnat for Ahlissan shipping. Elements of the fleet have already 
  seen action against the ships of the Scarlet Brotherhood at the Battle of Kildeer in 594 CY, when the 
  Trennenport Squadron drove off a Brotherhood fleet assailing the Onnwalon capital. They have also 
  proved effective in defending Ahlissan merchantmen against Pomarji pirates in Woolly Bay.  
  Meanwhile in Zelradton, the court of Prince Reydrich announced that possession and oversight 
  of the Calling Mines of the Hollow Highlands have passed from the Hexchancel - the ruling council of the 
  City of Hexpools - to the prince. The official reason for the transfer is said to be the dramatic drop in 
  revenues flowing to the prince’s treasury over the past dozenmonth. However, it is widely whispered  that 
  the discovery of Sunndian prisoners being used as slave labour in the Mines has caused such 
  embarrassment to the Nightingale Throne that the overking himself privately ordered the transfer of title. 
  Prince Reydrich stated that despite the abuses at the Mines, he would vigorously defend Ahlissa’s ancient 
  rights to the workings and the surrounding lands against the illegitimate claims of the brigand chiefs of 
  the Hollow Highlands who, in defiance of their own sovereign, King Hazendel, continued to launch raids 
  against the United Kingdom and its soldiery.  
   
   
   
  Footnote: Not all events mentioned here above will lead to will lead to a Living Greyhawk scenario, but if 
  prospective authors have a good idea concerning one or more of the mentioned events that they’d like to 
  develop into a Living Greyhawk Metaregional module, don’t hesitate to contact Paul Looby, the Circle 
  Representative for the Splintered Sun Metaregion at woesinger AT yahoo.co.uk.  
   
  Paul Looby, Circle Representative for the Splintered Sun Metaregion 
  Pieter Sleipen, Splintered Sun Metaregional Coordinator 
   
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Living Greyhawk/Metaorg Material/Ahlissa (Adri)/Background/Events from Ahlissa summer 595.pdf