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{{Realm
|image         = [[Image:Great Kingdom02.jpg]]
|caption       = The arms of the Great Kingdom, as depicted in the ''[[World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting]]'' (1980).
|name          = The Great Kingdom of Aerdy
|motto         = 
|region        = Old [[Aerdy]] East, Old Aerdy West
|ruler         = Ivid V
|government    = Feudal monarchy
|established   = -110
|capital       = [[Rauxes]]
|major_towns   = [[Rel Astra]], [[Kalstrand]], [[Eastfair]]
|provinces     = 
|resources     = 
|coinage       = 
|population    =  
|races         = 
|languages     = 
|alignments    = 
|religions     = [[Baalzy]]*, [[Pholtus]], [[Zilchus]], [[Sol]]
|allies        = 
|enemies       = 
}}

The '''Great Kingdom of Aerdy''', commonly referred to as the '''Great Kingdom''', was a major nation-state which dominated the south-eastern [[Flanaess]] from [[1 CY]] until [[586 CY]]. It was heavily influential, originating the Common language, Common Year calendar, and the gold/silver/copper coinage standard used throughout the Flanaess.

==History==
===Great Migrations===

In the year 1 OR ([[-644 CY]]), conflict between the [[Baklunish Empire]] and the [[Suel Imperium]] threatened to engulf the regions inhabited by the [[Oeridian]]s tribes. The Oeridians headed east through the [[Fals Gap]] and into the [[Flanaess]], and migrated eastward until they reached the great ocean and could go no further. They named this ocean the [[Solnor Ocean|Solnor]], meaning "the birthplace of the sun", and settled along its shores.{{:LGG|23}}

The dominant tribe among the Oeridians was the Aerdi, whose name meant "sky people". The settled lands were divided among individual Aerdi noble families, notably the houses of [[Garasteth]], [[Cranden]], [[Darmen]], [[Rax]], and [[Naelax]]. Coming into conflict with the [[Ur-Flan]] and [[Suel]] peoples in the region, they discovered a pressing need to unify the scatterned Oeridian tribes under a single leader.{{:LGG|23}}

===Kingdom of Aerdy===

In 428 OR ({{Date|428|OR|CY}}),<ref>Note: This date is incorrectly translated in LGG p.23 as -216 CY. Accounting for the lack of a year zero in the Common Year calendar, 428 OR should be -217 CY.</ref> Lord [[Mikar]] of House [[Garasteth]] was crowned the first Grand Prince of Aerdy. The lands within his rule were known as the the Kingdom of Aerdy, and their capital in [[Rel Astra]].{{:LGG|23}}

The Kingdom of Aerdy set about expanding throughout the Flanmi Basin, spending its early decades conquering the neighbouring Flan and Suel. They pushed south the Suel, crushed the old Flan kingdom of Ahlissa to the southwest, and conquered rival Oeridian tribes to the north who had settled there after them.{{:LGG|23}}

===Great Kingdom===

In 535 OR ({{Date|535|OR|CY}}), during the reign Grand Prince [[Almor II]], House Rax defeated its western rival [[Nyrond]] in the [[Battle of a Fortnight's Length]]. With the conquest of Nyrond, Aerdy nearly doubled in size, declaring itself the ''Great Kingdom of Aerdy'' and beginning the nation's imperial era. House Cranden rose to prominence over the next century.{{:LGG|23}}

In 645 OR ({{Date|645|OR|CY}}), Grand Prince [[Nasran]] of House Cranden declared universal peace throughout his empire. He established the [[Common Year]] calendar, with the new year established as 1 CY. He took the new title of [[Overking]], which would be used by all subsequent rulers. This move centralized power in the capital at [[Rauxes]], which initially posed challenges to the Overking due to the difficulty of governing such a large realm.{{:LGG|23}}

To solve this, he appointed largely autonomous viceroys to rule over each province. by 100 CY, during the reign of Overking [[Manshen]] of Rax, there were four viceroys, with House Cranden ruling South Province from [[Zelradton]], and House Naelax controlling North Province from [[Eastfair]]. Manshen divided the western marklands into the Viceroyalty of [[Nyrond]], ruled by a junior branch of House Rax from [[Rel Mord]], and and the Viceroyalty of [[Ferrond]], ruled from [[Dyvers]].{{:LGG|23}}

By 100 CY, the Great Kingdom stretched the entire breadth of the [[Flanaess]], from the Solnor Ocean to the Fals Gap, and as far north as Perrenland and the north and northeast of the [[Vesve Forest]]. It continued to grow over the next century under the rule of the Overkings of House Rax, notably the ambitious [[Erhart I]] and [[Toran I]].{{:LGG|23}}

===Age of Great Sorrow===

In [[198 CY]], [[Selvor the Younger]] prophecied an Age of Great Sorrow. A brief hysteria occurred among the superstitious Aerdi.{{:LGG|23}}

In [[213 CY]], Overking [[Jiranen]] died after the end of a long reign. His son [[Malev]] rejected the throne, secretly auctioning it off to his cousin [[Zelcor]]. A total solar eclipse occured during Zelcor's coronation, taken by the [[Royal Astrologers]] as a confirmation of Selvor's prophecy. Zelcor ignored the warning, and simply disbanded the Royal Astrologers and banished them to [[Rel Astra]].{{:LGG|23}}

This began an era of decline for the Great Kingdom, with successive Overkings being increasingly decadent and incompetent, leading to the gradual collapse of the Great Kingdom. [[Ferrond]] declared independence in [[254 CY]], and [[Nyrond]] in [[356 CY]] during the reign of Overking [[Portillan]].{{:LGG|23}}

===Rise of Ivid===

In [[437 CY]], Overking [[Nalif]] of House Rax was assassinated by House Naelax. The herzog of North Province, [[Ivid I|Ivid]] of Naelax, made a claim to the throne, which was contested by the herzog of South Province, [[Galssonan]] of Cranden. The resulting civil war, which would come to be known as the Turmoil Between Crowns, lasted nine years, ending in [[446 CY]] with the crowning of Ivid I and the granting of greater autonomy to the provinces of [[Medegia]], Rel Astra, and [[Almor]].{{:LGG|24}}

Ivid I soon gained a reputation as a tyrant. He deposed the herzog of South Province and replaced it with a prince of his own House Naelax, who in turn sparked outrage when he imprisoned and tortured ambassadors from [[Irongate]]. Irongate, [[Idee]] and [[Onnwal]] rebelled and founded the [[Iron League]] in [[447 CY]], joined in [[448 CY]] by the [[Lordship of the Isles]] and in [[445 CY]] by the County of [[Sunndi]], and allied with [[Nyrond]].{{:LGG|24}}

Ivid I ruled for 48 years before being assassinated by his son, [[Ivid II]], in [[494 CY]]. Ivid II quickly fell into dementia and was in turn assassinated by his own son, [[Ivid III]], in [[497 CY]]. Ivid III murdered all possible Naelax rival claimants to the throne, and imprisoned his sons and daughters in a grand palace for his own safety. He ruled into old age before declaring that his last surviving offspring would claim the throne. The survivor of the resulting bloodbath was declared [[Ivid IV]].{{:Wars|5|Adventurer's Book}}

Ivid IV's two eldest sons competed with each other for several years for the right of successsion, with the younger son eventually victorious. He killed all 123 of his brothers and sisters before bribing Ivid IV's favorite concubine to pour acid into his ear.{{:Wars|5|Adventurer's Book}}{{:Wars|26|Adventurer's Book}} The son ascended to the throne in [[556 CY]], taking the name [[Ivid V]].{{:LGG|24}}

===Collapse under Ivid V===

The Great Kingdom survived attack by the [[Golden League]] in [[579 CY|579]]-[[580 CY]] and civil unrest following the [[Red Death]] plague of [[580 CY]].

In [[583 CY]], during the [[Greyhawk Wars]] (582-584 CY), Ivid managed to unify the Great Kingdom's provinces long enough to wage war on Nyrond, Almor, and the Iron League, in an effort to restore the Great Kingdom to its historic greatness. The war was disastrous for the Great Kingdom, and in 584 CY, North Province declared independence. The Great Kingdom shattered into smaller provinces soon thereafter.{{:LGG|24}}

In [[586 CY]], reports began to spread that Ivid V had died, disappeared, or been deposed. Claimants to the throne marched on the capital of [[Rauxes]], when the city was engulfed by a wild and unpredictable magical effect. The ultimate fate of Ivid V was unknown, but with certainty the rule of the Overkings of Rauxes had come to an end.{{:LGG|24}}

===Successor states===

In [[586 CY]], Herzog Grenell of North Province declared his holdings the [[Great Kingdom of Northern Aerdy]], and took the title of Overking.{{:LGG|24}}

In [[587 CY]], most of the remaining former Great Kingdom united under Prince [[Xavener]] of House Darmen, who took the title of Overking of the new [[United Kingdom of Ahlissa]].{{:LGG|24}}

{{:Ivid the Undying|3}}


The Great Kingdom arose from the [[Kingdom of Aerdy]] in -110 [[Common Year|CY]], when the [[Aerdi]] forces of Grand Prince [[Almor II]] defeated the [[Nyrond|Nyrondese]] in the [[Battle of a Fortnight's Length]]. Aerdy nearly doubled in size, and was thereafter known as the Great Kingdom, though its ruler still held the old national title and office of Grand Prince. Despite the new moniker, power in the new empire would not become truly centralized until 1 CY, when Grand Prince [[Nasran I]] declared universal peace throughout the land and took the title of [[Overking]] of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy.

By the sixth century CY, however, the Great Kingdom had shrunk to a fraction of its size, limited to the lands east of the [[Harp River]] and [[Teesar Torrent]], and north of the [[Iron Hills]] and [[Thelly River]]. It began with the breaking away of [[Nyrond]] in 356 CY. In the century that followed the provinces of [[Medegia]], [[Almor]], [[North Province]], [[Bone March]], [[Ahlissa]] and [[Rel Astra]] grew increasingly more independant, as the [[Malachite Throne]] degenerated into the chaos known as the [[Turmoil Between Crowns]]. The Overking, [[Ivid I]], was eventually forced to recognize their complete independence.

Regrettably, the [[Turmoil Between Crowns]] also resulted in the destruction of the [[Royal Guild of Navigators]], the august body responsible for developing a more accurate method of navigating the oceans and seas of [[Oerth]], by creating a system of longitude and latitude. (0° longitude was established so as to run through the capital, [[Rauxes]], while 0° latitude was determined to run along the Oerth's equator).

In 586 CY, [[Ivid V]], last Overking of the Great Kingdom, was rumored to be dead after the devastation of [[Rauxes]], the nation's capital. This essentially brought an end to the Great Kingdom. Two successor nations, the [[Ahlissa|United Kingdom of Ahlissa]] and the [[Great Kingdom of Northern Aerdy]], now vie for control of the region.

==Geography==
===Terrain and climate===

===Borders===

At its greatest extent, the Great Kingdom stretched from the isles of the [[Sea Barons]] in the east to the Viceroyalty of [[Ferrond]] in the west; and from [[Sunndi]] in the south to [[Ratik]] in the north.

===Administrative divisions===

==People==
===Population and demographics===

===Religion===

===Languages===

===Notable individuals===

==Society and culture==
===Law===

===Magic===

===Education===

==Government==

===Heraldry===

==Economy==
===Resources===

===Trade===

===Currency===

===Taxation===

==Travel==

==Military==
===Land forces===

===Knightly orders===

===Naval forces===

==Relationships==
===Enemies===

===Allies===

===Other===

==In ''Living Greyhawk''==

==Creative origins==

==Publication history==

==See also==

==External links==
* Guarhoth, Taras. "Timeline of [[Aerdi]] Grand Princes and Overkings." ''[[Canonfire!]]''. Available online: [http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=36]

==References==
===Citations===
<references />
===Bibliography===
*[[Cook, David]]. "History of the [[Greyhawk Wars]]." ''Wars''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1991. Available Online: [http://www.nyrond.org/turbine/page/university/greyhawkwars.html]
*[[Bruce Cordell|Cordell, Bruce R.]] ''[[Bastion of Faith]]''. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1999.
*[[Gygax, Gary]]. ''The [[World of Greyhawk]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980.
*-----. ''[[World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1983.
*[[Gary Holian|Holian, Gary]], [[Erik Mona]], [[Sean K. Reynolds]], and [[Frederick Weining]]. ''[[Living Greyhawk Gazetteer]]''. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.
*[[Moore, Roger E]]. ''[[The Adventure Begins]]''. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.
*[[Niles, Douglas]], and [[Carl Sargent]]. ''[[The City of Greyhawk]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989.
*[[Carl Sargent|Sargent, Carl]]. ''[[From the Ashes]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.
*-----. ''[[Ivid the Undying]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, unpublished. Available online: [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads]
*[[James M. Ward|Ward, James M]]. ''[[Greyhawk Adventures]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1988.

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[[Category:Defunct realms]]