Abbarra

Greyhawk Realm
Abarra
Motto/Nickname
Region	Empire of Iuz (Bandit Lands)
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Abbarra is one of the Bandit Kingdoms.

History

The plains of Abbarra have always been rugged wilderness – presenting the prospective settler with poor farmland, but excellent pasture for cattle. For centuries, Flan herdsmen fought skirmishes with hobgoblin raiders intent on stealing their stock. Then came the Great Migrations from the west, with waves of Oeridians pushing through the area in search of a new home.

After founding their Great Kingdom far to the east, the Aerdi returned. Pushing the humanoid tribes to the north, they founded the viceroyalty of Ferrond and claimed hegemony over all the lands south of the Fellreev. However, the lands around the Great Rift would not be tamed, instead attracting the empire's cast-offs - those out of favor at court, or just down on their luck. For two centuries, many of these men and women came, mixing with the local Flan groups. These exiles formed the nucleus of what would one day become the Bandit Kingdoms.

Abbarra has long been run by a syndicate of skilled assassins. In a land as lawless and chaotic as the Bandit Kingdoms, trained killers are highly prized. Therefore, the people of Abbarra have managed well for the most part, despite the poor quality of their over-farmed soil.

Little is known about what political ties Abbarra might have had in the past. Warfields and Wormhall, to the west, were actively allied with the Horned Society for years, but it appears that Abbarra did not get involved until 578 CY, when a horde of Rovers entered Society territory from the north. Kor, Rhelt of Abbarra, was approached for aid by none other than Hierarch Blontug himself, who requested Kor provide troops to repel this threat. The end of negotiations saw a force of Abbarrish horsemen ride north to Dingaverge, a small town on the edge of the Fellreev, under the Society's banner.

The campaign against the Rovers went relatively well, but before actions could be undertaken to remove them from the northern Fellreev, word came from Rookroost that Duke Ehyeh of Tenh had crossed the Zumker River in force, his troops sweeping across the Bluff Hills to end resistance there, before pivoting south to the open country beyond. The Combination of Free Lords summoned all members to arms to defend the east, and the Abbarrish units with Blontug's army rode off, ignoring the Heirarch's threats and imprecations.

When even the western states responded, the Hierarchs were enraged, for they needed the bandit troops to eject the nomad and Rover invaders from the Fellreev Forest and the steppes of the Opicm. In a punitive invasion, the Hierarchs’ forces crossed the Ritensa, seizing and occupying both Warfields and Wormhall. A very tenacious defense by the Abbarrish, reinforced by the survivors from the conquered territories, and scrapings from the Tangles and Freehold, caused the halt of the Society’s penetration in the autumn of CY 578.

A truce was negotiated with the Duke of Tenh; Grosskopf ceded the land between the Griff Mountains and the Zumker to Tenh, and all of the Free Lords of the Combination swore to refrain from raiding Tenh. Thus freed of immediate warfare on their east, all of the leaders turned westward to confront the Horned Society, with the express aim of recovering the lost states and taking reprisals in addition.

Abbarra was relieved by Combination forces in the spring of CY 579, with Warfields and Wormhall seeing liberation later that year. Flush with victory over the Hierarchs, Kor joined the other Bandit Kings in a campaign against the Shield Lands to the south. For two years, the armies of the Combination ravaged the northern shores of the Nyr Dyv. In CY 581, however, the Abbarrish retired to their homeland, readying themselves for what looked like an inevitable confrontation with the demonic forces of the cambion Iuz.

When Iuz crossed the Ritensa in CY 583, Abbarra again stood in the way of an invading army. This time, however, not even the combined strength of the Free Lords was enough. The cambion’s forces swept through the Bandit Kingdoms and turned south into the Shield Lands. Abbarrish independence had come to an end.

In late 584 CY, news from Greyhawk declared an official end to the war, and many warriors gathered in northeast Wormhall to confer with their leaders regarding plans for next year's summer raiding season. After many nights of drunken Brewfest revelry, more than ten thousand bandit men from Abbarra, Freehold, Midlands, Warfields and Wormhall were attacked as they slept by a treacherous (and probably mad) cleric of Iuz, using magic, assassins, and demonic servants (see Bernal). About half of these men escaped, most badly wounded, and fled overland to refuge in Greenkeep, Tangles, or the Rift. All nurse a grim hatred for Iuz and his forces in their homeland.

Abbarra lost most of its able fighting men at Steelbone Meadows, but some assassins survived - perhaps organized by their former leader, the ruthless Kor - and now prey on Iuz’s rare patrols in this area. These "terrorists" strike from hidden bases and live off the land. Abbarra is technically governed from Hallorn, but it is generally ignored by the empire.

Geography

Abbarra is consists of rugged plains laying between the Tangles and Fellreev, just west of the Stronghold of the Midlands.

Bibliography

• Gygax, Gary. "From the Sorceror's Scroll." Dragon #56. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
• -----. "Where the Bandits Are." Dragon #63. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1982.

• Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K. Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.