White Kingdom
| Greyhawk Realm | |
| The White Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| Motto/Nickname | |
| Region | Underdark (Sheldomar Valley) |
| Ruler | Doresain, King of the Ghouls |
| Government | Feudal monarchy |
| Established | 491 CY |
| Capital | Kilenor (pop. 2413+) |
| Major Towns | Kilenor, Angrimm, Glimmerfell |
| Provinces | |
| Resources | Constructs, slaves |
| Coinage | |
| Population | 2849+ (2372 true ghouls, 300 goblin slaves, 80 hobgoblin slaves, 2 deep dragons, 2 yugoloths, 15 mountain dwarves, 2 vampires, 48 ghasts, 31 shadows, unknown number of wererats) |
| Races | True ghouls, ghouls, ghasts, zombies, wererats, goblins, hobgoblins, yugoloths, deep dragons, mountain dwarves |
| Languages | Undercommon |
| Alignments | Neutral evil |
| Religions | Nerull, Mordiggian |
| Allies | The Cloaker Rift |
| Enemies | Illithids, kuo-toans |
The White Kingdom, also called the Kingdom of the Ghouls and the Great and Potent Kingdom of White Bone, is an undead-ruled realm in the Underdark beneath the Hellfurnaces.
History
In 491 CY, a cabal of seven mages from the distant West activated an artifact called the Orb of Shadows with which they hoped to channel the power of the Negative Energy Plane. With this energy they planned to create an army of undead and increase the might of their necromantic spells. Gathering in the depths beneath the earth, far from human habitation, they activated the Orb with great care, with wards and protections, after years of study. Still everything went wrong.
Their wards failed, and a being known as Doresain (described differently than, but possibly identifiable with, the demigod King of Ghouls) stepped through their portal. Doresain, the first of the true ghouls known to the world of Oerth, paralyzed all seven of the mages. He devoured one of them and transformed the other six into true ghouls like himself, the first of his followers. Together they spread their condition further, establishing the White Kingdom.
The true ghouls' first conquest was an enclave of drow, refugees from House Eilserv in Erelhei-Cinlu. Bolstered by their freshly undead drow allies, they conquered a duergar city, and whole tribes of troglodytes.
The seemingly unstoppable expansion of the White Kingdom was at last checked by an alliance between the illithids and kuo-toans. The kuo-toans were immune to ghoul paralysis, while the illithids used their psionic abilities to appear without warning and control armies of umber hulk slaves.
The White Kingdom was nearly defeated by this alliance, but the long-time enemies of the illithids, the cloakers, offered to come to the ghouls' aid. The cloakers attacked the kuo-toans while the ghouls, immune to psionic mind-control, assaulted the illithid cities. The White Kingdom expanded once again. Some of the ghouls paused in their conquests and constructed their capital city of Kilenor near the Cloaker Rift.
Lately (as of 591 CY), the expansion of the White Kingdom has driven many of their enemies to the surface, where they are creating havoc as far away as the Jotens. Hundreds, even thousands of svirfneblin and dwarven refugees have settled in Loftwick, where the surfeit of nonhuman smiths have been wreaking havoc with the local economy. The Loftwick Smith's Guild has registered complaints, and mobs are threatening to form.
Geography and climate
The White Kingdom is spread among tunnels and caverns on the north shore of the Sunless Sea, northwest of the Vault of the Drow. It borders the Cloaker Rift on all sides, enforced by various military outposts each commanded by a marquis.
People
The primary inhabitants of the White Kingdom are true ghouls, who use zombies and skeletons as cannon fodder and emergency food. They breed goblin and hobgoblin slaves as cattle and have enslaved dwarves for skilled labor. They use wererats, comfortable among the filth and disease the ghouls spread, as guards patrolling their city for intruders. Many ride giant bats. They dislike standard ghouls. The true ghouls originally belonged to many different races, including humans, svirfneblin, derro, and drow.
Religion
The ghouls are worshippers of Nerull. While most fear Nerull, for some reason the Reaper has decided to accept the worship and offerings of the true ghouls. The priests of Nerull create more true ghouls with their magic, and so have a disproportionate influence over their culture. Some have claimed that they are the true rulers of the White Kingdom.
The true ghouls are also said to worship an ancient and mysterious god known as Mordiggian. Some in other realms are even said to worship Orcus and other powers of undeath.
Languages
The ghouls speak the languages they did in life, and seem to make themselves understood perfectly well. The primary language of the White Kingdom is Undercommon, the Underdark trade tongue.
Government
The unquestioned leader of the White Kingdom is Doresain, its founder. Beneath him are his nobles, who are normally bear the title of marquis or marquess. A group of nobles who have lost their corporeal bodies, known as the Ghastly Court, advises the others. One marquess, Maerynae, is actually a Suel lich. She gained her title within the White Kingdom by becoming Doresain's lover long ago. A pair of vampires also seek to be accepted into the nobility, so far without success.
Kemehdra "the Carver," a drow priestess of Kiaransali from Erelhei-Cinlu, has invited an embassy from the White Kingdom to pursue the possibility of a ghoulish trading outpost in the drow city's Ghetto of Slaves.
Bibliography
- Baur, Wolfgang. "The Ecology of the Ghoul." Dragon #252. Renton, WA: TSR, 1998.
- Weining, Frederick. "Playing Pieces: Denizens of Darkness." Dragon #300. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2002.
