Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="haakon1" data-source="post: 6725438" data-attributes="member: 25619">To be clear, I didn't right most of that.  Most of it is a cut and paste, with some modification on my part, from an earlier discussion here.My view on variation by country within Greyhawk, combining in the original post.Baklunish West: -- Serfdom: Doesn't officially exist -- Slavery: All countries for war captives, but next generation is supposedly born free, at least in the civilized countries. In Ull, the Plains of the Paynims, and the Tiger Nomads, the rules on slavery are informal, and it's more or less hereditary. In the Sultan of Zeif, sons of slaves are often chosen for the military or bureaucracy, and can rise as high as the equivalent of Gentry within a generation.-- Nobles: Hereditary in all Baklunish lands. Great Kingdom: -- GK tradition was serfdom. Slavery was rare, typically for war captives.  The nobility is hereditary, but in some cases generals or other important followers of Overking were ennobled, a tradition the successor states have followed. -- In Ahlissa, many peasants gained freedom during Ivid's War as rulership lapsed for over a year in many areas, while others gave up freedom for protection. -- In the North Kingdom, serfs are being oppressed and losing rights and income. Slavery, however, is not common. -- Iron League abolished serfdom and slavery in their lands.  The nobility is relatively weak in Onnwal and Irongate, stronger in Sunndi. -- Rel Astra and the Sea Barons have mild and rare serfdom, and trade in war captive slaves. It's not uncommon for slaves to earn an income and eventually buy their freedom.  Nobility is relatively weak compared to the Upper Middle Class (merchants and ship owners) in both countries. -- In Ratik, most peasants are serfs, but with rights nearly equivalent to freemen, and most are happy with their lot. (Hey, gotta be like that somewhere.)  Ennoblement as a reward to service to the land is also more common in Ratik. Sheldomar Valley: -- Neither. Serfdom never existed, and slavery for war captives is no longer a tradition.  Nobility exists in all countries of the region except the Yeomanry and Gran March.  In the borderlands areas of Geoff and Sterich, self-made nobles are more common. Hold of Sea Princes, Cauldron, Sasserine, and Scarlet Brotherhood: -- Built on slavery, capturing prisoners from the Amedio Jungle and Olman islands. Slavery is inherited. -- Cauldron prohibits bringing slaves into the city itself. -- Maroons (escaped slaves in their own wildernesses villages) are common in the Hold and between Cauldron and Sasserine.-- The Hold of Sea Princes has traditional hereditary nobles (of Sheldomar origin) and self-made pretenders.  Sasserine and Cauldron have only the pretenders.  The caste system of the Scarlet Brotherhood has no nobility per se. Bitter North & Northern Reaches: -- Serfdom: GK tradition with significant additional rights in Blackmoor, near slavery with no rights in Stonefist.   -- Slavery: All of Iuz's possessions, everyone is essentially a slave. Slavery was a tradition before him in the Horned Society and Bandit Kingdoms, mostly for war captives, but it lasted for as long (multiple generations) as possible for the owner.-- Nobility is essentially extinct in this region, with the exception of the Archbaron of Blackmoor. Old Ferrond: -- Serfdom was abolished when Ferrond left the Great Kingdom -- that was one of the reasons for secession. -- Nobility remains strong throughout the region.  Furyondy's king's power is limited by the nobles.  Wild Coast: -- Greyhawk had serfdom as part of the Great Kingdom, but it was moribund by the time GK rule ended, and it's extinct now. Greyhawk has banned slaves. -- The rest of the Wild Coast has war captive slavery, and slaves like those of the Hold of Sea Princes in some cases. The Slave Lords of the Pomarj were also an important source of slaves. -- Nobility in this region exists, but it's weak and not typically taken very seriously by nobles of other lands, or the people of these lands.  Money talks in the Wild Coast; titles only matter if cash or force of arms back them, which is not always the case. Old Nyrond: -- Like Furyondy, Nyrond abolished serfdom at independence, and County Urnst, the Pale, and Almor followed suit. -- However, the Duchy of Urnst and the Duchy of Tenh have kept GK serfdom (with some rights, like Blackmoor) intact. -- Like Furyondy, the nobility of GK origin remains intact in much of this region.  However, Nyrond is more centralized -- with a strong king -- than Furyondy.  And in the Pale, nobility has been replaced by religious authority. Thillonrian Peninsula: -- Takes captives on raids against the North Kingdom. Some are sold in Dekspoint free city, and some end up working in the North Kingdom again, or sold in Rel Astra. -- Nobles are for the most part hereditary, but outstanding raid leaders are often promoted to nobility, sometimes by challenging a noble to single combat (often combat against a champion) to prove who is the better war leader.</blockquote>

Verification