Greyhawk's Duchy of Tehn

[Havard]

I'm trying to compare Blackmoor's Duchy of Ten with Greyhawk's equivalent.

Some information on the Duchy of Tehn from the GH Wiki:

The Duchy of Tehn
The Duchy of Tenh is a political state in the World of Greyhawk.
....

GEOGRAPHY
Tenh is situated in the Old Aerdy West region of the Flanaess, nestled between the Theocracy of the Pale, the Bandit Kingdoms, and the Rovers of the Barrens.
Settlements

Notable settlements in Tenh include:

• Atherstone (pop. 4,500, occupied by the Pale)
  
• Calbut (pop. 14,500, ruined, occupied by Stonehold)
  
• Nevond Nevnend (pop. 25,200, ruined, occupied by Stonehold)
  
• Redspan (pop. 21,000, ruined, occupied by Duke Ehyeh's forces)
  
• Rutherton

PEOPLE
The native folk of Tenh are nearly full-blooded Flan, and fiercely proud of it. Their skin has a bronze hue.

• Region: Old Aerdy West ("Old Nyrond")
  
• Ruler: Duke Ehyeh III
  
• Government: formerly) Independent feudal monarchy whose royal and noble houses were strictly Flan; (now) court exile, lands fought over by several rival armies who are the only effective authorities
  
• Established Capital Nevond Nevnend
  
• Major Towns Calbut, Nevond Nevnend, Redspan, Atherstone
  
• Provinces Originally 18 noble fiefs, from counties to baronies, with lines of authority based on ancient intratribal conflics
  
• Resources Foodstuffs, platinum
  
• Coinage Magnus (pp), ducat (gp), marcher (ep), circle (sp), common (cp)
  
• Population Human 78% (Flan), Halfling 9%, Elf 4%, Dwarf 3%, Gnome 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-orc 1%, Other 2%
  Races (excluding invaders) 195,000
  
• Languages Common, Flan, Orc, Goblin, Dwarven
  
• Alignments LN, N*, NG
  
• Religions Iuz (Iuz's forces); Pholtus (the Pale's forces); Erythnul (Stonehold's forces); Allitur, Beory, Berei, Saint Cuthbert, Pelor, Zodal, Obad-Hai (original religions); old Wastrian temples
  
• Allies (of government in exile) County of Urnst (weak), Nyrond (weak)
  
• Enemies (of government in exile) Iuz (including Bandit Kingdoms, Stonehold, trolls from Troll Fens, the Pale

Source: http://www.canonfire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Tenh

One other thing I find interesting about Tehn is that it is home of the wizard Nystul from the Circle of Eight:

Nystul
Nystul is an archmage and member of the Circle of Eight. He is also the most famous native of the Duchy of Tenh.

• Homeland Tenh
  
• Gender Male
  
• Race Human
  
• Age Born 538 CY
  
• Class Wizard 17
  
• Alignment Neutral

Description
Nystul is 53 years old in 591 CY. He stands 6'7" tall and weighs 184 pounds. His lank, uncombed hair is mousy brown in hue, and his features are rather plain, with Flan features and an Oeridian's olive complexion. He has been described as a "ridiculous gangling beanpole," a condition which has inspired him to specialize in magic that disguises his appearance. He often travels disguised as a demure half-elven maiden, a form in which he flirts with chivalrous knights and paladins in order to gain their protection.

Nystul is a flippant sort with a preference for puns and quips that tend to annoy his colleagues Mordenkainen, Bigby, and Drawmij. Nystul is intelligent, subtle, and profound, however, with an unerring tactical sense.

Relationships
Nystul is a member of the Circle of Eight. At one time, Nystul had an apprentice named Janina. Nystul is allied with the Keepers of the Flan, a group of mages, druids, and loremasters of the Tenha clans currently dwelling in the Rakers or the Phostwood.

Nystul, unlike the other members of the Circle, believes that Rary's apparent betrayal of their group is only a ruse. He believes that Iuz and his servants are the true enemy of both the Circle of Eight and his homeland of Tenh.

History
Nystul was born to a family of well-connected nobles in the city of Nevond Nevnend. His family's better-connected enemies brought them low, however, charging them with sedition and insurgency in the court of the then-ruling Duke Pet'yeu of Tenh. The nobles in Nystul's house were tried for treason, and the house was disbanded. Nystul was secreted away by servants and raised in a small monastery of Pholtan monks on the border of the Pale, near the Phostwood. A clever old cleric called Friar Nemonicus, obsessed with the powers of light and darkness, encouraged young Nystul's gift for magic and provided him with a permanent protection from evil enhancement. When he came of age, the monks paid for Nystul to study in the Sorcerous Union in Radigast City. There, Nystul befriended Otto. After graduating, Nystul built a home in Redspan and took on apprentices of his own. It was not long before Mordenkainen offered him membership of the Circle of Eight in 571 CY.

During the Greyhawk Wars, Nystul did his best to help evacuate refugees and arm his countrymen against the invaders.

The Duchy of Tehn doesnt seem to have much in common with Blackmoor's version. Of course it may have looked quite differently before the Greyhawk Wars. In spite of the differences I would actually be tempted to include some of these ideas in my version of the Blackmoor Duchy of Ten, including a Blackmoor version of Nystul.

Suggestions?

-Havard

[Havard]

From the Living Campaign:

The Tenhas
The survivors of the Tenha people now huddle in the havens of Redspan and Atherstone or in unnumbered camps scattered throughout the Phostwood. Fewer than 33,000 Tenhas survive in the land of Tenh itself. Others have fled east or south to the Pale, Nyrond, the Urnsts and beyond. The Tenha people, decimated by a decade of death and disaster and strewn far and wide by the winds of fate, stand now on the verge of extinction.

Tragically, though their survival depends on unity, the loyalties of the Tenha people are now bitterly divided. Many of those who fled to the Pale converted to the One True Path of Pholtus. Calling themselves the Faithful Flan, they now strive to bring the Blinding Light to Tenh and create a theocracy allied (and subservient) to the Pale. Ranging forth from their base at Atherstone, the Refulgent Companies of the Faithful Flan are superbly equipped and trained by their Palish masters, fighting mainly as infantry, relying on Palish heavy cavalry for support. Their morale and discipline is superb, though even some conservative clerics in Wintershiven have expressed disquiet at the extreme fanaticism of some Tenha converts.

Many Tenhas have remained loyal to Duke Ehyeh and the warriors of the duke's Tenha Host are drawn from their ranks. Led by Marshal Laba, the Loyalists fight to reclaim their birthright in the name of their liege lords and the old customs of the realm. Laba has managed to reassemble several squadrons of the medium cavalry for which the Tenha Host was once famed and feared. Clad in mail and wielding bow, lance, longsword or kathach, they wear the red cloaks and kukris of the Host with pride. The kukri and the kathach, (a long-bladed kukri), are traditional Tenha weapons, often worn as symbols of authority by nobles and officers.

There is bitter hatred between the factions. While the Faithful Flan consider the Loyalists as heretics blindly following false gods and a fallen apostate (Ehyeh), the Loyalists see the Faithful as traitors to their traditions, their people and their realm, aiding foreign invaders in the conquest of Tenh. Clashes are frequent and bloody, with quarter rarely being asked or given.

Source: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=lg/lgmp/20040629a

-Havard

[Havard]

Recently I have come to consider Greyhawk's Duchy of Tehn to fill the same niche as the Eastern Marshes from my campaign. Instead of trying to somehow make that work within Arneson's context, it could be the original home of nobles settling near Blackmoor.

Greyhawks history seems to provide plenty of reason why people would want to leave the Duchy...

-Havard

[aldarron]

Yeah there really seems to be no points of contact between the two. Interestingly, I noticed in the Oerth Journal Vol.1 #5 article Ten was mentioned as Land of Tin, which seems a pretty good way of handling it.