Playing A Character in Sunndi

Adventures

Most adventures will be set in Sunndi. This does not mean that your PC must be a native of the area, but that he/she must have a good reason for being there. Her background must of course also fit logically with Living Greyhawk. Characters may not be members of any evil aligned organizations, like the Scarlet Brotherhood and Wastri's cults.

Humans

Natives of the area are referred to as Sunndians or Sunnd's. The humans of Sunndi are mainly of Oeridian descent, they tend to be brown haired and have got an olive colored skin. Like most Oeridians they are quick to grab weapons to defend what they consider important. Due to centuries of oppression they appreciate what it means to be free and they prefer to let each other live as they want. They are a hard working, honest, hospitable and tolerant people, but they do recognize the value of some law and order (though they prefer to keep the amount of laws as limited as possible). There is one downside to the people of Sunndi: they are headstrong. Besides the original Oeridian inhabitants there are also large groups of refugees from Onnwall, Lordship of the Isles, Ahlissa and the Lendore Isles.

Other Races

Besides humans, there is a sizeable population of gray elves in Rieuwood and Menowood. The dwarves mostly hail from the Glorioles, though there also live large groups of dwarves in the Hollow Highlands. The same goes for gnomes, who mainly live in the Hollow Highlands. Halflings live all over Sunndi, though their main population is centred on the Hollow Highlands. The few native half-orcs of Sunndi either hail from the Glorioles Mountains or they are refugees from the surrounding nations (fleeing persecution due to the events on the Pomarj). Barbarians most likely are deserters from the Scarlet Brotherhood armies.

Attitudes to others

Sunndi never suffered the long deprivations by the hands of various evil humanoid races, with the exception of bullywugs (see below). Hazendel and his supporters also try to promote that actions not birth define a person, which also has its impact on the King's Laws which considers any sentient creature equal (for more information see the laws section). Hence in general, Sunndians prefer talk before shooting when facing some unknown sentient creature. Of course, as in any chaotic minded nation, there are certain exceptions to this rule and when such a strange creature hints at an aggressive action those swords (or when dealing with a brave but foolish farmer or shepherd a pitchfork, scythe or quarter staff) will be drawn quickly.

The most obvious exception are the bullywugs who raid Sunndi on a regular basis. To make matters worst they also worship Wastri, which in itself is a capital crime in Sunndi. They are utterly despised, they are not protected by the law and they will be killed on sight with little compunction. When the person who sees the bullywug(s) is not in a position to do the killing (as is quite normal for a typical farmer), that person will rush to the nearest group of people able to do so.

Further, many an orc, hobgoblin and goblin served in the armies of the Great Kingdom and their actions during the Greyhawk Wars and the short occupation did not endear those races overly much to the Sunndians. Especially old people and dwarves (known to keep a grudge) tend to hate the evil three. Most other citizens realize that any member of these races brave enough to walk into a village probably has peaceful intentions and in general curiosity will overcome any hatred and/or fear. These races should not try to do this in the Glorioles or the Hollow Highlands. The dwarves of the Glorioles utterly hate these races and since it are the dwarves who make the laws in the Glorioles these races do not get same protection by law as in Sunndi. The Hollow Highlands lack any central authority and some tribes still think their land is under siege by the Great Kingdom and the Scarlet Brotherhood (part of the Hollow Highlands border Idee and many tribesmen lost relatives during those years) and so they tend to have an attitude of better safe then sorry. In fact, any stranger should thread carefully in the Hollow Highlands no matter what race he belongs to. After all, both the Scarlet Brotherhood and the Great Kingdom use humans just as often as other humanoids. Convincing some of the more extreme tribes and clans that Ahlissa is not the same as the Great Kingdom might be a tad difficult and get yourself into trouble for being branded as a spy of the Great Kingdom.

In the Hestmark Highlands on the other hand, orcs are treated almost like equals, which has to do with the fact that the ogres and giants in the area do not make much difference between orc and human. An uneasy alliance has grown from this with the biggest and most peaceful minded orc tribe, which has greatly benefited both Sunndi and orc. Killing an orc in that region without proper cause -and orcs do have some strange definitions on what constitutes as a proper cause- will get you executed swiftly when caught by the humans or slowly when caught by the orcs.

So how does an average Sunndi -even in the Glorioles and most parts of the Hollow Highlands- react to a Norker? Not much unlike the people of Onnwal would (as far as I understood anyway). By asking what the hack it is and trying to find out whether it is dangerous or not. They might ask it at sword point (though they would not even do that in the central counties of Sunndi), but they will ask and they will accept it when a PC vouches for it. Of course, they keep a close eye on it, but that is no different then with any other stranger.