Relations with Surrounding Lands

Greyhawk’s most important problem of diplomacy is simply explained. The Free City feigns studied neutrality and, as a major trade center, it cannot afford to alienate major forces in Oerik. On the other hand, the real rulers of the Free City (Nerof and his inner circle) are scared of the Scarlet Brotherhood. Nerof and his team are well aware that if Iuz ever extends his bony hand across the Nyr Dyv, Greyhawk will be his first target (after all, Zagig built Castle Greyhawk and imprisoned Iuz below it).

The city fathers would really like all these damnable politics to go away; nothing would make them happier than for the Brotherhood spies, Iuz’s cold eyes, Furyondian and Nyrondese beggings, and the worries of the Pomarj to disappear into history. Realizing that this is but a fantasy, they settle for the next best option.

Greyhawk secretly funds Furyondy; the monies are used to strengthen the Furyondian naval presence on the Nyr Dyv, sailing from Willip. This keeps this vital trade route open.

Greyhawk also secretly funds Nyrond, out of fear of a vast stream of Nyrondese exiles heading for the city (enough have arrived already). This financial support comes with the urgings of the Duchy of Urnst, which likewise fears the fall or disintegration of Nyrond.

Greyhawk can’t afford much support for Nyrond, however, and must fight off demands that are becoming increasingly desperate. It’s a nightmare situation; the fear that really grips Nerofs heart is that Greyhawk‘s existing trickle of support for the eastern state will become known. It could even be used by the Nyrondese ambassador as a blackmail lever, if things get sufficiently bad in Nyrond itself. No wonder Nerof gets chest pains from time to time.

In public, of course, the ambassadors of Furyondy and Nyrond pretend that their pleadings for aid have gone unheard. It’s doubtful that their enemies believe a word of it, but matters haven’t come to a head yet.

Greyhawk regards Veluna, Urnst, and the Ulek states with warmth, because they have funds that can take the pressure off the Free City in supporting beleaguered states. Relations with the Duchy of Urnst are especially good after the treaties concerning the Cairn Hills, but this leads to complications with the County of Urnst, which strives to have an independent voice among the Directors. Nerof must maintain a difficult balancing act here. He usually meets with Count Reichart Petrides, the Duchy ambassador (FFF, p.7) in secret for their most important discussions, in fear of upsetting the County’s volatile diplomat. More twinges for Nerof.

Veluna and the Ulek states do not have ambassadors, but they have ex officio representatives in the Free City. Scherrin Marizian of the Ulek states is the better received of the two; the thieves of Greyhawk are suspicious of Veluna’s outwardly lawful Porias Venturian for all his charm and courtesy!

Nerof and his colleagues are impelled to have occasional meetings with the representatives of Iuz and the Scarlet Brotherhood as a matter of protocol. Elder Brother Ghrigiel is constantly proposing plans for increasing trade, and with the resources of the southern lands, he has much to offer. Ghrigiel has made efforts to be very oleasant to the Directors. who trust him as far as they could throw a mastodon. However, trade with the Brotherhood is steady, and their goods, especially spices and woods, are in demand in Greyhawk. Taxes on their importation are a vital source of revenue.

The Directors are convinced Ghrigiel has a nest of spies, and they keep a strict watch on him and his attachis (see “The Brotherhood in Greyhawk City” for details of this cat-and-mouse game).

Iuz’s grim representative is barely tolerated by the Directors. The ghastly priest does little more than whine about Greyhawk being allied with Furyondy, complain that exports of furs from Iuz are interfered with in the Free City, and generally behave abominably. Relations could be de- scribed as icy at best. Neither side has any enthusiasm for the contact and protocol meetings. Similar circumstances apply to the half-crazed ambassador of hid, whose megalomania is barely tolerated at all. Contacts with Count Nauxanth are kept to the bare minimum demanded by protocol.

The Free City has distant, largely unconcerned relations with Keoland and its allies, Its ambassador is present as a matter of protocol.

Finally, the stipulations of the Pact of Greyhawk make life very awkward all around for the various ambassadors and interested parties. The Pact prohibits any ambassadors or diplomats from spying on each other, from recruiting mercenaries, and from acting in ways deemed “incompatible with diplomatic status” (the fine print of the Pact here is endless). This applies within the Free City, but nothing stops the diplomats from trying their luck outside its walls.

By convention, no one is trying to recruit mercenaries or foment sedition in Hardby, Safeton, or other major centers of the Free City’s power. However, it is well known that some folk recruiting mercenaries in the Free City are not exactly unallied with the nations who have ambassadors there. So, there is a delicate balance of legal exclusion that operates on the prounds of convention and acceptable recruiting and influencing. This promises a very different future for Greyhawk's rulers.

Pyremiel Alaxane of Iuz has already lodged two official complaints concerning Furyondian recruitment of mercenary seamen and infantry in the Free City, claiming these were sponsored by an agent of the Furyondian ambassador (who hotly disputes this). Such diplomatic thrusts and feints certainly complicate the lives of an already hassled Directing Oligarchy. Nerof has taken to sousing his symptoms with brandy of late.