In remembrance of the 3rd IR

At the height of the 3rd IR in 2001, the world of Oerth (the Greyhawk Setting) was divided amongst many powers, and posters here on ENWorld controlled them.
Those were good times, and I wish to recollect them by denoting the powers and who controlled them, at the height of the IR.
So:

Alyx (Player)
Faction: Alliance of the Rising Sun
Races: Metallic Dragons, Xeg-Ya, Jann, Nature Elementals
Base Faction Strength: 449

Anabstercorian
The Planar Alliance
Gem Dragons, Planar Pseudeonatural Destrachans, Psuedeonatural Dire Sharks, Pseudeonatural Arrowhawks, the Solistarim)
237

Black Omega
The Coalition of Light and Shadow
Metallic Dragons, Faerie, Guardinals, Eladrin, the Circle of Eight
171

Creamsteak
The Delrunian Alliance
Metallic Dragons, Celestials, Good Nature Elementals, Good Giants
146

Dagger
Keoland, the Dwarves of Greyspace, Allies
Dwarves of Greyspace, Dwarves, Metallic Dragons, Celestials, Guardinals, Eladrin
160

Darkness
Baklunish Confederation and Allies
Baklunish, Gem Dragons, Dao, Fire Elementals, Dwarves of the Yatils, Nations of Erypt, Esmerin, Orcreich
237

Mr. Draco and Serpenteye (sharing)
The Union of Oerth
The Aerdi Empire, North Province, the Bone March, conquered Adri Forest, conquered Almor, conquered Sunndi, conquered Grandwood, conquered Rel Mord, parts of the conquered Iron League, Salamanders, Rakshasa, Zill, Devils, Yugoloths, Efreet, Lost Elves.
573

Festy Dog
The Underdark, Allies
Drow, Illithid, Grey Dwarves, other Underdark Races, Chromatic Dragons, Modrons, Earth Elementals
238

Forsaken One
Dark Confederation
Illithid of Greyspace, Neogi of Greyspace, Unseelie of the Flanaess, Illithid, Neogi, Underdark Races, Modrons, Formians
283

Gnomeworks
Technomancy of the Lortmils
Nations of the Lortmils, the Principality of Ulek, the Duchy of Ulek, the Principality of Ulek, Irongate, parts of the Iron League, Gnomes, Gem Dragons, Formians, Modrons, Earth Elementals
189

Kaboom
The Sky Sea League
Gnomes of Greyspace, Gnomes, the Sky-Sea League of Nations (east of the Flanaess), Air Elementals, Water Elementals, Djinn, Good Giants
235

Kalanyr
The Angelic-Seeing Throne, Allies
Ivid the Celestial King, Rauxes (and it's army of champions), Eladrin, Faerie, Slaadi, Good Undead, Empire of the Yuan-Ti (turned good), Good Drow of Earth, Good Dragons
186

Maudlin
The Scarlet Alliance
Acererak, the Minions of Acererak, the Scarlet Brotherhood, Chromatic Dragons, Dracoliches, Demons, Xeg-Yi
313

Lord Melkor
The Shadow Empire
The Shadow Empire (of the Demiplane of Shadow), Shadow Dragons, Undead Dragons
154

'O Skoteinos
The Mercenary Forces
Orcish Empire of the Pomarj, Gith of Greyspace, Githzerai, Dao, Earth Elementals, Evil and Neutral Giants
175

Rhialto the Marvellous
The Black Brotherhood
The Black Brotherhood of the Flanaess
89

Sollir Furryfoot
League of the Warlords
Slaadi, Demons, Chromatic Dragons, Undead, Quaggoth, northwestern Flanaess across the Burneal Forest and adjacent regions
137

Tokiwong (and John Brown, earlier)
The Empire of Iuz, Allies
Iuz, the Empire of Iuz, Rary the Traitor, Empire of the Bright Lands, Ket, Gem Dragons
199

Uvenelei
The United Alliance of the Northwestern Crescent
Nations to the west of the Celestial Imperium of a good and neutral nature, Planar Metallic Dragons, Metallic Dragons, Gem Dragons
139

Valkys
The Unseelie
The Unseelie (Oerth-wide), Planar Unseelie, Shades, Chromatic Dragons
122

William
The Kevellond Alliance
Perrenland, Calrune, Delrune, Swantmoor, Peoples of the Great Forest, Veluna, Furyondy, Bissel, Gran March, the Shieldlands, Peoples of the Kettish Hills, Celestials, Guardinals, Good Earth Elementals, Metallic Dragons
250

Zelda
The Thillronian League
The Frost Barbarians, Snow Barbarians, Ice Barbarians, Ratik, Storm Riders of Telchuria (from further north), People of Timberway Forest.

At that time, here were the following stats in the technological arms race between the powers:

Alyx 16, Alzem 16, Anaberstercorian 8, Black Omega 16, Creamsteak 16, Dagger 16, Darkness 16, Mr. Draco and Serpenteye 14, Festy Dog 14, Forsaken One 14, Gnomeworks 28, Kaboom 16, Kalanyr 16, Maudlin 11, Lord Melkor 23, 'O Skoteinos 16, Rhialto 7, Sollir 11, Tokiwong and John Brown 16, Uvenelei 16, Valkys 8, William 16, Zelda 16.

Every power was in the throes of the Industrial Revolution, but some had made it to the 20th century in terms of technological power.

A magical arms race was also underway, and magic and technology were being combined, creating the new term of Technomancy.

Every part of northern Oerth was claimed by one faction or another, and much of the southern hemisphere as well, along with factions in Wildspace (outer space) within the Crystal Sphere (the solar system) of Greyspace.

I do not seem to be able to locate a map of this arrangement, of who held what, but it was most colorful and interesting.

For those of you who are curious, although Ivid had become a good guy, the Empire of Aerdi around him had not, and it had grown and multiplied in power, and was this vast realm now known as the Union of Oerth.
It held Nyrond, the Principality of Urnst, the Duchy of Urnst, Almor, much of the Iron League, Sunndi, Medegia, the Free Cities (including Rel Mord), and Adri Forest.
It did not at first include the Grandwood, but that fell to it's power soon enough.

The Empire of Iuz had expanded greatly, and had opened it's borders to all, becoming a vast trade center under the control of the Old One. It was in fact a kind of Dark Byzantium Empire.
It included all the lands north and east of the Whyestil, north to the arctic coast, south to the Nyr Dyv, and east to the borders of the Union of Oerth.

Acererak had come out of his Tomb, the Great Swamp was his, and he had gathered the Suel Peoples, the Scarlet Brotherhood, under his banner (Acererak was, after all, a Suel human himself.)
With their great fleets, the Scarlet Brotherhood's prowess, and Acererak's great magic, they held their own against all comers. The Tilvanot Peninsula was their base.

In the west was Gnomeworks, and the Lortmils were his, and thundered to the labors of the inventive gnomes. The Technomancy of the Lortmils was the most technologically advanced of all the nations of Greyspace, and with their aircraft and mechanized units the gnomes wielded a military juggernaut.

In the west also was William. His alliance composed the nations who had suffered heavily during the Greyhawk Wars, had recovered, and allied to stop any and all further incursions. Thus you see Veluna and Furyondy there, along with the reconquered Shieldlands and Bissel. Other nations (both those that exist on the map and some that do not) also joined this alliance, along with a lot of other good aligned beings. Highfolk was solidly with this alliance.
A notable, Exalted, priest of Veluna ran the show here.

In the Northeast was Zelda, and all the barbarians there of Suel heritage had united, along with Ratik, and reinforced by a great force from the continent of Hyperboria across the northern sea.
Thus, the Union of Oerth was halted, and could not extend it's power northward. The great fleets of the barbarians were a very real threat to everyone along every coast, the cold of the north no hindrance to them.

In the northwest was Sollir Furryfoot.
The quaggoth were an intelligent race that lived in the Burneal Forest. Backed by other forces, a new nation arose in the wilderness between Perrenland and what is shown on the map as the Black Ice, and filled all the space between.
This power was a wild card, could go any way, a threat and a lure to all it's neighbors.

A tremendous threat emerged out of the Demiplane of Shadow in the form of Lord Melkor, and his forces of the Shade.
It could be argued that Melkor won the 3rd IR, or at least it was a draw between him and all the other powers. They are still debating the matter today.
After their rise to power, thanks partially to - of all people, the illithid - the Shade of the Demiplane of Shadow built great fortresses and assembled vast armies from which to assail Greyspace. Their goal was not one of conquest, but instead was one of annihilation.

In the Pomarj, 'O Skoteinos was managing Turrosh Mak and his orcs, who had held since the Greyhawk Wars. The orcs got smart: Seeing they were vastly outnumbered, they used their ore to bribe the immense mercenary guilds of Gith into aiding them, while others were not paying attention. Later, they brought the extra-planar Githzerai on board, and suddenly Turrosh Mak was not just a threat to places like Celene and Ulek anymore. He had become a force for the whole world to reckon with.

Far off the map to the west, beyond the great Celestial Imperium, Uvenelei had assembled a massive alliance of elven and demi-human nations on Oerik's northwest side. To their aid had come a whole slew of Draconic allies. This became the greatest of all the Elven Powers on Oerth, and was ready to send it's forces east to protect Celene, the Lendores, Varnaith, Highfolk, and other places threatened once more by human (and otherwise) aggression.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, Ivid the Undying had become a good guy, his city a City of Exalted, and a holdout against the general evil all around (even if Ivid was the original cause of that evil.)
The Yuan-Ti saw the light, and joined the Exalted cause. Rapidly, the whole of Hempmonaland followed. Others joined in. This Exalted Alliance withstood the Union of Oerth and the other evils, throwing the balance of power completely wild on Oerth.

In the bowels of the Hellfurnaces was the heart of Forsaken One's power, and it is here that the Swarm originated, an unstoppable insect-like swarm of beings linked by a common conscious, planning total conquest and assimilation of all other beings in the world (and almost succeeding.)
The Underdark Races spawned this Swarm, then were consumed by it, became a part of it, as it systematically absorbed race after race, nation after nation, under the Western Mountains.

In the far east, off the map, was an Island of Fame (and the source of the R modules.) Here, Kaboom founded his nation, and his peoples explored a continent yet further east and colonized it.
Creating vast aerial platforms and floating cities, as well as armadas of ships and hosts of underwater allies, Kaboom's Sky-Sea League became the premiere power of the Eastern Ocean, a grand rival to the Union of Oerth for dominance of the trade routes.

Not to be overshadowed, the peoples of the northeast Flanaess assembled under Creamsteak, where the Duchy of Tehn and the Theocracy of the Pale are shown, and many things not shown, and all the giants in the mountains, to form a stubborn and unyielding power, an outpost and beacon of light in the generally evil eastern world.
Threatened by Iuz on the west, the Union of Oerth on the south, this power made common cause with those in the far west, and a new world spanning alliance (the Confederacy of Oerth) was created.

Darkness served as a major anchor in this Confederacy, since the Baklunish were under his control, and they had all banded together.
The nation of Erypt, far to the southwest, joined. The nation of Esmerin, west of Zeif and off the map, joined, and the Celestial Imperium found itself facing a power northeast, east, southeast, south, and even southwest.
Rising from the ashes, the Spirit Empire of Garnak and Istivar held all the former Dry Steppes, with power to match anything threatening, be it from the Celestial Imperium or the Flanaess.

And so each nation or bloc of nations, and blocs of beings, joined together in great confederations, until the entire world and Crystal Sphere were locked in an Arms War, in the Technological Race and the Magical Race.

Welcome back. What was your main character like at that time?

Sorry, but, stupid question, what's an "IR"?

Mark said:

Welcome back. What was your main character like at that time?

Click to expand...

I had no main character by that time. I had retired from AD&D pretty much.
My efforts went into running the 3 IRs, especially the 3rd IR.

Remember that the 1st IR started as a frivolous question, and it evolved into a story, and later a game, quite without my prompting. I never expected that to happen.
I am glad it did, though.

The first and second IRs occurred in Realmspace, and completely transformed that Crystal Sphere (and saw the complete obliteration of all elves in that Crystal Sphere also, except only for the Elves of Evermeet who melded with Forrester's Orcs into one people, accepting his Overlordship.)
The spelljamming, planewalking, highly technomantic Commonwealth of Realmspace dominated most of Toril and most of Realmspace.
It's one main rival was the (also highly) technomantic, spelljamming Common Union of Realmspace, based in Kara Tur.

Only the Chosen of Mystra and their respective powers and lands, basically, stayed out of this great change, maintaining the neutrality dictated by Mystra.
Pretty much every other power on Toril, as detailed in the 2nd Edition Cloak and Dagger, and in other supplements, joined one faction or another, and was elevated or eliminated, in the colossal struggle and change that ensued after the Gnomes of Lantan had gone through their Industrial Revolution, and had begun spreading it to all the other lands.

Hussar said:

Sorry, but, stupid question, what's an "IR"?

Click to expand...

Industrial Revolution.

It was a question of mine in 2000, and it basically went like this:

What would you do, if Gnomes invented the Industrial Revolution on Toril?

I detailed that the gnomes of Lantan had gone through the Renaissance and Enlightenment, created a melding of technology and magic, known as Technomancy, and now many lands were trying to take advantage of this new concept.
Nations that quickly jumped on the new idea of Technomancy were Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan, the Vilhon Reach area, Chondath, Uther (sp?), Thay, and Thesk.
Nations north of there, such as Baldur's Gate, Westgate, Waterdeep, and Cormyr, had not yet shown an interest in the goings on. Nations to the south, such as those in the Chult area, Dambrath, and Var the Golden, also had overlooked the new developments.

The question assumed that suddenly everyone was paying attention at last, as it were.

So, I asked, what would they - as individuals or nations, or just as individual characters run by the player - do, in reaction to this development?

It was just a question asked in humor, and all I expected was a minor response, if any.
However, the response was a little bigger than minor. The rest is history.

If the Admins can provide a link, you can go to the 1st IR thread, and have a look for yourself. It should still be there, near the very beginning of the historical log of ENWorld.

On Toril, the first thing that happened - was assumed from the start - was that the Deities of the setting did not directly interfere. Mystra had her Chosen remain neutral.
With that given ...

Elven, druidical, and other natural opposition to Lantan and other nations caused them to band together into the Technomancy, a single nation that stretched from the Trackless Ocean to eastern Thay, holding all of the southern Inner Sea.
The Technomancy, then embarked on a crash version of the Industrial Revolution.

To the north, an orc named Forrester united his peoples, conquered the other humanoids and forged an enormous army.
Forrester then conquered many places in the north, and bought off the rest. Unable to conquer Waterdeep, he made alliance with it, and eventually subverted it. Cormyr, Sembia, and the Great Dale were likewise subverted, while Rashemen was glad to join in.
Forrester hated elves, and made a point of slaughtering elves whenever and wherever he found them. He found many allies in this endeavor, even allies that otherwise would not have joined him, and eventually he laid siege to Evereska, the great and almost impregnable elven city of the North.

To the south, the now alarmed nations that way formed a confederation based on magic. Halruaa and Dambrath had always been centers of mighty magic, Var the Golden was a trading crossroads that imported from Kara-Tur, and to them magic made more sense than the strange leanings of the northerners.
They did not particularly care for each other, but the idea of the Technomancy storming down into their lands wasn't a pleasant prospect either. With Calimshan gone over to the other side, and the Shaar being overrun, they felt they had no choice. Even Luiren joined in, the land of the halflings, when they saw what happened to their brethren in the Chondalwood when those halflings dared to incur the wrath of the Technomancy.

Kara-Tur? The people there did not join any faction, but were willing to trade with all factions (go figure ... that's Kara-Tur for you.)
The powerful Tuigan saw the division as an opportunity for attack, but they were defeated. Seeing what they faced, they adopted Technomancy themselves. (An alarmed Kara-Tur suddenly started having to deal with these weapons of Technomancy, and so they were forced into the Technomancy Arms Race as well.)
Across the Trackless Sea, Maztica rose up and joined with Evermeet, and they joined with all the powers in Faerun (and elsewhere) that opposed the Technomancy. Of particular note, the Faerie of the World of Toril ALL joined the anti-Technomancy forces, along with nearly all of the gem (neutral) dragons.

In the Underdark, Forrester's main rival had risen to power: Phasmus.
The illithid had conquered the drow (Menzoberranzan included) and assimilated or annilhilated all other races underneath northern Faerun.
Phasmus appreciated immensely the value of Technomancy, and to the Technomantic Arms Race he put to work the kobolds, masters in their own right on this subject. With the aid of the kobolds, the illithid surged forward in the race, and they added a new component, a third component, psionics, to technological and magic, to devise new and even more exotic devices of wonder and power.
There were many clashes between the forces of Forrester and Phasmus, but the result only encouraged both powers to hasten their Arms Race, until each was a rival to the mighty Technomancy itself.

Meanwhile, Evereska was screaming for help.
Forrester and his titanic army was crushing through the Evereskan defenses, nobody was coming to their aid, and the Technomancy was quietly cheering Forrester on (since the elves had been a crucial part of the early attacks on their individual countries.)
The Chosen of Mystra and their nations remained neutral, under direct orders, so no help came from there. Waterdeep, Cormyr, and other nations bought off by Forrester, or under his control, sent no aid.

In the end, Evereska fell. Forrester then held a great feast for his people, with the elves as the main course in the banquet.
To this banquet, the Technomancy respectfully sent it's representatives, and the two great powers toasted each other over the vanquished elven peoples.

This fall of the last bastion of the elves, and that feast, set the stage for all that happened afterwards.
What happened afterwards, forever altered Toril.

For Forrester would never be satisfied with just Evereska. ALL elves had to perish.
There, in the Trackless Sea to the west, lay Evermeet, Isle of Elves, the truly invincible and ancient Elven Homeland.
Forrester prepared his armies, his fleets, his aerial assault, his allies from Realmspace, his allies from other planes, his allies from the sea itself, and began his attack.

EDIT:

It is worth noting that a Sanctuary was established, on Nimbral Island (the mages there acquiesced, and later fell out of power to the newcomers) for all who wished to escape the troubles on the mainland.
I have forgotten the name given to this sanctuary, but another player might remember it. Nimbral was renamed, and was known by this new name everafter.

A group of quietly benevolent people (some would say Exalted, even) grew up here, and spread worldwide during the Siege of Evereska.
This group came to be known as the Psionic League.
Their goal?
To help struggling peoples find peace through diplomacy, for the harried to escape, for the homeless to find shelter, for peaceful relations between the nations, for the peaceful and productive use of technomancy, and the minimalization of it's misuse.
It is well for the World of Toril that the Psionic League came into being: When Evermeet was destroyed in a titanic blast by it's own people, rather than fall to Forrester, that blast would have ended all surface life on Toril. The Psionic League sacrificed itself, en mass, to stop that from happening, to return the atmosphere, seas, and Weave to something resembling normalcy.

However, nothing they could do would staunch the fury and dismay of those elves in Wildspace, who saw what had befallen.
The Elven Edict came down: Death to Forrester, and death to all on Toril who had refused to stop him. In short: Death to Toril.
The Elven Imperial Armada of Realmspace readied itself, and it was joined by vast forces from other Crystal Spheres.
The entire world of Toril united against this threat. As fate would have it, the Technomancy emerged as the leader of the united resistance, and this was the beginning of the United Commonwealth of Toril, which would one day become the United Commonwealth of Realmspace.

In a strange twist of fate, the ghosts of the Elves of Evermeet sought redemption from damnation (for nearly destroying Toril with their blast) by joining Forrester ... who, equally amazingly, accepted their help.
Why?
Who knows? Forrester went through some sort of immense change of heart, concerning these ghosts. Instead of eschewing them, he fully embraced their help.
After the Elven Imperial Armada was crushed and the Elves of Evermeet freed from damnation, most returned to life, and integrated with the orcs as continued penance. Again, Forrester acquiesced. Elves and orcs merged into one race, as Forrester took Queen Amlaruil's eldest daughter as his mate.

Other great changes occurred.
The Neo Illithid arose, a race not dependent on brains for sustenance, but with all the communal nature of normal illithid. These forged ties with the Technomancy. Eventually, the Neo Illithid broke away from their original creators, although some illithid were magically changed by other means and also joined them.
Since most of the original illithid were darker than ever, and plotting with the Shade, the Neo Illithid joined the Technomancy and lent all their strength to it's development. While Forrester fought in the north and the southern nations wrestled with their magic, the Neo Illithid nurtured the growing Technomancy.

After the sacrifice of the Psionic League, the Technomancy grew into the mightiest power the world of Toril had seen since the days of Netheril. Under the leadership of those who represented it, it became non-feudal, transformed into an early version of a Republic, became a vast market and consumer society (just as it's founders, Lantan, Amn, Tethyr, and some of the others had always tended towards mercantism, so the consumer revolution finally came to the Technomancy.)
Very unfortunately, very sadly, the Faerie just ... disappeared. The Psionic League made it's sacrifice, the Technomancy grew and invaded and occupied Maztica, and the Faerie ... just seemed to give up. One day, they were all gone. They were gone, and they never returned. Countless things, from forests and fields to giants to humble halflings in their burrows, suffered and withered away, no longer sustained by the magic of the Fey.
Most druids, and all the major druidical organizations, also faded away.

The Technomancy did make a major effort to address the loss, to return the Faerie, to offer representation to the druids, even to bring back the much lamented Psionic League, but they could not succeed. So they, under the leadership of altruistic persons, drew up a blueprint for a world based on Technomancy, a great Republic of Technomancy.
Unopposed for the moment by any major force, they succeeded, and the United Commonwealth of Toril came into being.

Forrester still held the north, the southern nations still had their own league, Zakhara, the Hordelands, and Kara-Tur were still independent, but it was the beginning of a new world Republic.
All of Faerun from Baldur's Gate to the Lake of Steam, from Thesk to the eastern Shaar, and much of Maztica, were already in it.

We had a lot of great people post to the 1st (and 2nd) IRs.
I would give them all if I could. Certainly, they put a lot of thought and effort into what they said and did (and thus, in that way, affected what happened.)

I wanted to mention Venus.
And I wanted to mention Bugbear.

Both were also in the 3rd IR, although which powers they played have slipped my mind.

Venus and Bugbear, I remember, were both really good players.