Veluna, Archclericy

Ruled by His Venerable Reverence, the Canon of Veluna, Hazen, Shepherd of the Faithful

The folk of Veluna have long represented the best aspects of humankind. Here, humans and elves live in harmony, farming arable land and working together to build a common culture founded upon the tenets of peace, reason, and serenity. The influence of the Church of Rao is everywhere in Veluna, gently enforcing their doctrine through the administration of fair, firm (but not overly harsh) laws. A land renowned for its scholars and seers, Veluna is also a pilgrimage site for those seeking wisdom and stability in their own lives.

Trade in Veluna runs along two primary corridors, the Velverdyva River and the Great Western Road. Though most of the truly important settlements along the Velverdyva belong to Furyondy's duchy of the Reach, Veluna claims a number of small ports along the southern banks. A long-cultivated tolerance for the Rhennee bargefolk, who are generally unwelcome on the northern shores, provides a willing flotilla of barges, and occasional protection for larger vessels when strange creatures crawl from the river deeps. The Great Western Road is well-fortified, and sees more traffic than the river. Most of this traffic flows west, anchored by caravans bound for Lopolla and the rich markets of Ekbir, Tusmit, Zeif, and beyond.

The geography of Veluna is generally unremarkable. All forests of importance have long since been clear cut, leaving only the Ironwood, on the southern border, the Dapple Wood and the Asnath Copse, a small woodland that, in former days, provided most of the lumber that built nearby Veluna City. Veluna claims the northern margins of the Lorridges and a sliver of the Lortmils, which house the nation's precious metal mines.

Veluna's army, based around a highly skilled core of heavy cavalry, also includes contingents of elven bowmen and gnome sappers. The bulk of the troop are pikemen, bulwarked by hundreds of clerics. The Knights of Veluna, a local branch of the Knights of the Hart, number just more than one hundred. These politically active men and women command smaller independent bands of sergeants and men-at-arms, and often can be found at the beck and call of any of the nation's seven secular ruling families.

History

The Word of Incarum, the most holy scripture to the adherents of Rao, teaches that the Lord of Peace granted the humans of Oerth the moons Celene and Luna, that they might gain guidance from the tyranny and darkness of an Age ruled by dread Tharizdun. When the Oeridian hordes surged east prior to the Twin Cataclysms, one tribe, the Vollar, came upon a large congregation of primitive Flan who dwelled in the lowlands between the easternmost reach of the Velverdyva and the great eastern bend of the lower Fals River. These Flan greeted the settlers warmly, welcoming their new brothers to the "Vale of Luna," most sacred of all lands protected by Rao.

Over time, the settlers worshiped this primitive god, who they interpreted as a power of reason and serenity. By 9 CY, when Oeridian divination magic had mixed with Flan legend to locate the legendary Crook of Rao, the culture of the valley had become as one. The place of discovery was called Mitrik, or "salvation," and a new nation was formed on the spot.

Centuries later, when the first Aerdi soldiers surged westward in a great drive to spread the empire, they came upon the people of Veluna, already a burgeoning culture. The High Canon of Rao met with representatives of the Great Kingdom, and explained to them the goals of his peaceful land. Mindful of the vast Aerdi host looming on his borders, the canon wisely agreed to support the Great Kingdom, seeing in the easterlings a passion for progress and innovation that could be tempered by conversion to the holy tenets of Rao. So it was that the Archclericy of Voll entered vassalage to the Viceroyalty of Ferrond under a banner of peace and great religious expectations. (If the Velunese did not care to emphasize their Oeridian heritage, the overking was only too eager to do it for them.)

In the years following the establishment of the Viceroyalty, Veluna acted as a sort of moral compass for Ferrond as a whole. Key adherents of Rao gained major positions in the court of the viceroy. Given the warlike Oeridian temper and the years of arrogance established in the west, the Velunese advisers had much work to do.

It was only after gaining the council and support of Canon Hermiod of Laudine that the man who would become Thrommel I initiated the plan to declare independence from the Great Kingdom. As Furyondy was born, in 254 CY, Voll (now officially recognized as Veluna) too declared sovereignty, though the two states remained close.

The strong relationship between Furyondy and Veluna entered a period of hardship fifty years later, as the Gentry of Dyvers began aggressively courting merchant caravans that once passed through Verbobonc and on to Devarnish, Veluna City, and points west. The trade war effectively choked all westward travel along the Velverdyva, saddling boatmen with ridiculous tariffs. Those who failed to comply with the taxes often found themselves mysteriously molested by "wandering" bands of bandits. Though the Raoan hierarchy to the north largely ignored the trade difficulties, the landowners in the Celestial Order of the Moons in Veluna City demanded action. Skirmishing between "unsanctioned" agents on both sides of the border resolved the issue in favor of Veluna, but a rift developed between Veluna City and Chendl.

In 350 CY, King Tavish II of Keoland exploited the problems between Furyondy and Veluna by marching an army across the Lorridges and Kron Hills and into the southern and western holdings of Veluna. Much as be anticipated, King Avras I of Furyondy protested loudly, but mustered no troops in the defense of his southern ally. By 355, the Second Expeditionary Force had taken Devarnish (and the fabled Crook of Rao along with it), halting all trade along the Great West Road. In face of a grave military threat, the secular government fled Veluna City for the safety of the canon's court in Mitrik. In order to ensure peace for his nation, Canon Turgen IV of Mitrik drafted and enacted the Treaty of Devarnish, an extremely controversial agreement that ceded the control of the Fals Gap, the great Western Road, and the control of several southern fortresses to Keoland in exchange for a halt in the invasion and the guaranteed independence of Mitrik and Veluna City.

The occupation gambit seemed to pay off for the canon, at first. In 415 CY, however, when the brutal Commandant Berlikyn of Gran March was named governor of the northern provinces, the situation became an unmitigated disaster. Berlikyn initiated a program of grim oppression in the occupied lands, and by 436 CY had publicly threatened to annex the whole of Veluna in the name of the Keoish crown. Whether the king of Furyondy decided to act due to the agents dispatched by the canon in that year, or because the looming threat of Keoland had simply become too large to ignore, act he did. In response to the commandant's public act of hubris, the armies of Furyondy surged into Veluna, battling south of the Velverdyva in a ferocious series of actions soon known as the Short War. By 438, the Keoish army had been dispatched from Velunese soil; Devarnish and the lands around it once again became part of greater Veluna.

This state of affairs lasted but briefly. In 446 CY, the Velunese College of Bishops convened to discuss the fate of their nation, which many religious men believed was controlled by greedy Furyondians driven by secular goals. Though cool heads opened the conference, a contingent of orthodox Cuthbertine Overseers rallied the more conservative Raoans to their cause, urging that Veluna formally cede from Furyondy to oppose the growing apostasy fermented by wartime expansion and imperialism. In an agreement known as the Concordat of Eademer, the members of the college voted overwhelmingly to break from the kingdom.

Veluna soon thereafter gained a reputation as a gentle neighbor, a peaceful, contemplative power that rarely engaged itself in battle or even fierce economic subterfuge. The nation roused troops and allowed itself to become embroiled in political struggle only in 569 CY, when the Horde of Elemental Evil threatened Verbobonc. After that victory for the forces of weal, talk soon spread of plans of marriage between the wealthy young Supreme Mistress of the Order, Jolene of Samprastadar, and Prince Thrommel IV, hero of Emridy Meadows. As an independent nation maintained on its own terms, Veluna forged stronger relations with Verbobonc and Furyondy.

The year 573 CY, however, brought grim news. While campaigning in the south, Prince Thrommel vanished without a trace. Courtiers in the Celestial Order claimed the abduction to be the work of the Scarlet Brotherhood, who had recently revealed themselves in the distant south. Jolene withdrew from the public eye in shock and sorrow, and talk of reunification ceased.

Of late, Veluna has become a beacon of hope, a center of stability in an unstable land. After the tumult of the Greyhawk Wars, a group of adventurers in the employ of Canon Hazen recovered the long lost Crook of Rao. In a stirring private ceremony attended by the entire College of Bishops, Canon Hazen (along, it is said, with help from the archmage Bigby of Mitrik) employed the fabulous artifact to trigger the Flight of Fiends, a wholesale purge of demons throughout the Flanaess.

Since that gracious event, the canon has made few public appearances. He is aged, and some claim that the ceremony enfeebled the once-great ruler. When he has appeared, it has been at moments of great political importance. He stood at his friend Belvor's side upon the calling of the Great Northern Crusade. Furyondy and Veluna's declaration of eternal war against Iuz was said to have been crafted by Hazen's own hand. Despite the state of its ruler, Veluna seems willing to endure whatever the future may bring.

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Government: Theocracy ruled by the Canon of Veluna, a powerful Raoan cleric advised by the College of Bishops and the Celestial Order of the Moons (congress of representatives from seven secular noble nouses and Verbobonc)

Capital: Mitrik

Major Towns: Devarnish (pop 7,900), Mitrik (pop. 16,200), Veluna City (pop. 11,100)

Provinces: Seven dioceses, each cogoverned by a noble (various titles; plar, count, baron, etc.) and a bishop. Veluna City is an eighth archdiocese, administered solely by an archbishop in the name of the Canon of Mitrik Resources: Foodstuffs, copper, silver, gold Coinage: Brilliant (pp), crook (gp), staff (ep), tower (sp), hand (cp) Population: 668,800—Human 79% (Osf), Elf 9% (high), Gnome 5%, Halfling 3%, Dwarf 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-orc 1% Languages: Common, Velondi, Flan, Elven, Halfling, Gnome Alignments: LG*, NG, LN Religions: Rao*, St. Cuthbert, Heironeous, Oeridian agricultural gods, Fharlanghn, Zilchus, elf pantheon Allies: Furyondy, Highfolk, Bissel, Verbobonc, Kron Hills, Ulek states, Shield Lands, Gran March (strained over control of Bissel), Dyvers (weak), all branches of the church of Rao across the Flanaess, Celene (distrusted), Knights of the Hart, Knights of Luna Enemies: Iuz, Ket, Pomarj (minor), Knights of the Watch (distrusted), Valley of the Mage (distrusted), Perrenland (distrusted)