Mon Jun 19, 2006 4:52 am
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The "real" Zelrad is the Suel house. I believe there's references to them in the LGG, though I might be mistaken.
The story goes that the Zelrad were among those Suel who were either forced out of the Sheldomar or left to avoid the hegemony of the Rhola and the Neheli. They migrated east - probably being driven by various Oerid bands along the way and eventually fetched up on the borders of the Flan kingdom of Ehlissa. It's very likely that the Ehlissans and the Zelrads formed an alliance against the predations of Oerid (and esp. Aerdi) raiders, with the Zelrads being granted lands around the eastern feet of the Iron Hills (hence Zelradton), in return for technology, magical expertise and of course, fighting man-power and tactics. The queens of Ehlissa taught themselves clever in this land grant, kept the Zelrads away from the borders, where they might betray Ehlissa to the Aerdi, while making them a barrier to Aerdi raids towards the Ehlissan capital at Karnosa (near present day Irongate).
Though it isn't canon - I've speculated that Tuerny the Merciless (who Canon identifies as an Aerdi warlord - a Cranden as it happens) made war on the Ehlissans (and probably their Zelrad allies). Though he was undone by his own creation (the Iron Flask) before he could conquer the Flan, it wasn't before he'd slaughtered the flower of Ehlissa's warriors (the Hradikar - mentioned by Gary Holian in an LGJ article). In the wake of the disaster, the Zelrads become more influential in Ehlissa.
Their growing power reached its zenith after the first clash between Ehlissa and Aerdy, when the Ehlissan army and its aged queen (not the legendary Queen Ehlissa, but a descendent) was destroyed in detail on the plains of Ahlissa by a combined army of Cranden and Darmen princes. In the wake of the defeat, the late queen's daughter turned to the leader of the Zelrads to protect the realm. He duely did so by forcing her into marriage and effectively siezing the reins of power.
With the Aerdi in possession eastern Ahlissan plains, he had little choice but to cut a deal whereby he ceded all of what came to become called the South Province (or post 591, the Principality of Zelradton) to the Aerdi, keeping control of present day Irongate, the eastern Headlands and Idee.
In later times, this rump Zelrad kingdom of Ahlissa was further splintered by factional in fighting by Zelrad nobles, allowing Aerdy (under the generalship of Azharadian the Great) to hoover them up piece meal. This culminated in the sack and burning of Karnosa about -43 CY (this coincided with the Aerdi conquest of Onnwal, which had been ruled by another minor Suel house - the Onnwi).
Metagame wise - I assume that the Suel Zelrad (and Onnwi, which are an LG creation) were introduced to explain the minority Suel population in parts of the South Province, Idee and Onnwal.
P.
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