“A Monk of Fife” (page 208); by Andrew Lang (1896) (British Library Catalogue digital ID 014815487)

A discussion on the Canonfire Discord channel with Jason Zavoda led to this article. He indicated he didn’t like the approach Carl Sargent had taken to the Scarlet Brotherhood in his book of the same name, and had always viewed them as more of an Illuminati type secret organisation operating in the shadows and pulling strings. As such, the approach of the Scarlet Brotherhood as expansionist invader in the Greyhawk Wars also jarred with him. 

Having bought The Scarlet Brotherhood book previously (I am interested in Hepmonaland and the Touv, which it covers), and also the Fate of Istus module recently (which has a part based on the Tilvanot Peninsula), it seemed to me that the Kingdom of Shar would need to be a proper political entity if the Brotherhood stepped back into the shadows. 

The Brotherhood might have been replaced by the Great Kingdom invading Idee and Onnwal, and the Sea Princes attacking Keoland on their own (which they had done before), but this was a more drastic change I did not want to touch (at this time - maybe a later “what if?” scenario to examine). 

Firstly, I commend to you an article on Canonfire by Rich D “Longetalos” on the population of the Tilvanot peninsula. Accessible here:

I have adopted that analysis and numbers in the amended details below. 

The Scarlet Brotherhood would not have the same name. Even if others might refer to it by that name. The Order clearly has members of both genders, and had such since the beginning (the second head of the Order was female). Suel Mages of Power were presumably male and female, and the Suel respected power above all - irrespective of gender. So it is properly The Order of the Scarlet Sign. 

Published Sources

The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting had an entry for the Scarlet Brotherhood as a realm. This should be replaced as follows:

His Royal Majesty, Zellif XXXIII, King of the Supreme Suloise Kingdom of the Shar

Population: 350,000 +/-

Demi-humans: None

Humanoids: Some but details unknown

Resources: rare woods, spices, gold, gems (I, III, IV)

A temple and monastery of the mysterious Scarlet Brotherhood is supposedly located in the well guarded fortress and walled town of Hesuel Ilshar, from which all foreigners and non-residents are banned and turned away. Visitors and merchants visiting the two ports of Shar they are allowed into report no demi-humans of any types apart from rare fellow visitors. However, scouts and explorers reaching south of the Vast Swamp report being turned back by well armed and trained humanoid forces.

The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer entry for the Scarlet Brotherhood should be replaced as follows:

Proper Name:  The Supreme Suloise Kingdom of the Shar

Ruler: His Royal Majesty, King Zellif XXXIII, King of the Supreme Suloise Kingdom of the Shar

Capital: Kro Terlep (pop. 6,000 est. plus several hundred to thousand tribesmen troops in transit at any time) 

Major Towns: Ekul (pop. 7,000 est., plus several hundred to thousand tribesmen troops in transit at any time), Hesuel Ilshar (exact location & pop. unknown - possibly in excess of 12,000), Taree (pop. 9,500 est.)

Provinces: Plantation lords under the rule of the king on the Tilvanot Peninsula; foreign holdings include part of the Sea Princes (Monmurg, Port Toli, Jetsom Island, Fairwind Island, Flotsom Island, Sybarate Isle), Onnwal (Scant only), both Olman Islands, and strongholds in the Amedio Jungle and Hepmonaland; the Lordship of the Isles is an allied puppet state

Resources: Rare woods, fruits, spices, gold, gems (I, III, IV)

Coinage: Unknown (accepts foreign coinage in its trade ports at strict rates, but allows no coinage of its own to foreigners except for local paper currency)

Population: 450,000 (exact numbers unknown)—Human 87% (Sfzt - citizens are Suel, slaves are non-Suel), Other 13% (Humanoid (60,000 - hobgoblins, goblins, and orcs)

Languages: Ancient Suloise, Common (Goblinoid languages amongst humanoids, in addition to Common)

Alignments: LN*, N, CN (Scarlet Brotherhood - LE*, NE, CE)

Religions: Pyremius, Syrul, Wee Jas, Bralm, Llerg, Nerull (in secret by a few Brotherhood assassins), Tharizdun (claimed by Brotherhood agents but not actually worshiped) 

Allies: Lordship of the Isles (puppet state), certain followers of Suloise gods in foreign lands (Syrul, Pyremius, etc.)

Enemies: Yeomanry, Sterich, Keoland, the Ulek states, Gran March, Furyondy, Veluna, Verbobonc,

Dyvers, Greyhawk, Iuz, Duchy of Urnst, County of Urnst, the Pale, Nyrond, North Kingdom, Ahlissa, Sunndi, Sea Barons, Rel Astra and allied cities, Ice Barbarians, rebel forces in the Sea Princes, rebel forces in Onnwal, Knights of the Hart, Knights of Holy Shielding, Knights of Luna, Knights of the Watch. Only Iuz can count more enemies than Shar.

If reports from northern spies (often suffering climate-induced fever, insect-borne disease, or worse) can be believed, the Kingdom of Shar controls the whole of the vast Tilvanot Peninsula, from the confluence of Vast Swamp and Spine Ridge to the immense tropical island of Lof Bosok, off the northeast coast of the mainland.

The nation's capital is the formerly closed northern port city of Kro Terlep, which now welcomes ships from distant ports, though few sea captains brave waters rife with piracy and sea monsters to trade with the Brotherhood. Vessels flying the colors of the Lordship of the Isles anchor in the eastern port of Ekul, near squalid shipyards teeming with activity. At least one ship departs Ekul for Hepmonaland every day—the purpose of these voyages can only be speculated upon in the north, though few believe the activities of Shar in Hepmonaland and the Amedio Jungle to be charitable.

The Scarlet Brotherhood of monks that polices the king’s rule of Shar is said to be based in a marvelous walled city, seldom seen by foreign eyes. It is believed to be hidden somewhere on the massive Okalasna Plateau.

The armies of Shar, or at least those offloaded in occupied ports to the north and west, consist primarily of tribal warriors from the southern jungles, who give no quarter and who are said to indulge in ritual blood sacrifice. Their leaders are black robed monks or other advisers, all clearly of pure Suel heritage betraying their origins in Shar. These forces are supplemented by orcs, hobgoblins, and other creatures. Many in the north speculate that Shar boasts a standing army within its own borders, but little is known for certain. Many nations have met the impressive navy of Shar, which as often as not is supported by "independent" ships ostensibly from the Lordship of the Isles. 

In 573 CY priestly ambassadors from the south appeared in the courts of the Iron League. Speaking in whispers, they offered their services to the merchant lords, preaching the beliefs of their Suel deities and announcing themselves as peaceful envoys of the kingdom of Shar, an Ancient Suloise word meaning "purity." Those followers of the Suel deities in these lands welcomed these new missionaries, although they remained enigmatic.

At the time, few connected the appearance of these sagely, monastic advisers to the disappearance of Prince Thrommel of Furyondy, or to any number of political developments throughout the Flanaess. The envoys did trigger curiosity, of course, and in short order spies were sent to the Tilvanot.

Few agents returned to their masters. Those who did told of an agrarian society ruled by plantation lords under a king that lived along the coasts that farmed far more than it could consume, with huge shipments of crops sent to the plateau at the center of the peninsula. The farmers, it was said, were a regimented society under their king kept in line by their priests and an order of monks in red robes, men and women who had on occasion displayed unimaginable acts of unarmed martial prowess. These monks kept the populace in order, making examples of those few who would defy the king’s orders.

The spies also spoke of bredthralls, bizarre slave races created through magic and arcane science, and of the powerful Shar wizards who created and controlled them.

Needless to say, such reports frightened the rulers of the Flanaess, who turned to their own trusted advisers and agents in conference to plan strategies to deal with the growing threat. Unfortunately, many such advisers were themselves Shar (or properly Brotherhood) agents, and advised caution and patience in the matter. In time, they reasoned, the Shar would reveal themselves, and could be dealt with as the rabble they certainly were.

Time, of course, proved something else altogether. As the Greyhawk Wars erupted in the north, the envoys sent aid, advisers, and weapons to the states of the Iron League, disguised as succor from Shar. After supporting Irongate and Sunndi against the attacks of South Province, Shar struck in the Lordship of the Isles, replacing the reigning sovereign with his cousin, the corrupted Frolmar Ingerskatti, who declared for the Shar, ceding the nation and its powerful navy to his new ally. With Duxchan ships and charmed monsters, Shar set up a blockade along the Tilva Strait, effectively choking mercantile trade between the east and west.

Thereafter, envoys of Shar appeared in the court of Prince Jeon of Monmurg, bearing a simple message to the nobles of the Sea Princes: "Submit to the Kingdom of Shar or be destroyed." The princes, lawless nobles and pirate kings who had faced challenges more threatening than a band of men in robes, laughed at the emissaries. By the next morning, twenty-seven of the thirty Sea Princes had been killed. The conquest of Monmurg ensured Shar’s hold on the southern seaways. In a matter of months, Idee and Onnwal had fallen to invasion and assassination. Shar made a move for Irongate as well, but crafty Cobb Darg, who had suspected the allegiances of his "advisers" all along, survived the sudden onslaught.

After the events of the Greyhawk Wars, the expansionist goal of Shar is now clear. For a time, it appeared as though Shar would come to control even more of the Flanaess. Unsuccessful wartime overtures in Keoland betrayed a great ambition, and many feared what might come next. Fortunately, Shar’s gains soon fractured. In late 586 CY, South Province captured the northern half of Idee, and would own the whole of the territory by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the peasants of Onnwal threw down the Shar appointed government in all but the crucial port town of Scant. In 589 CY the slaves and former nobles of the Sea Princes took advantage of internecine struggles within the provincial leadership to engulf that nation in a continuing civil war.

Despite these losses, Shar is now much, much more powerful than at any time during its long history. While it has lost land, it has gained enormous wealth, destroyed and destabilized enemies, and made important gains in the southern jungles. Shar commands the southern seaways, with naval blockades in the shark-infested waters of the Tilva Strait, and in the so-called "Southern Gates" of the Azure Sea, between the Amedio Jungle and the Tilvanot Peninsula neat the Olman Isles. Perhaps most importantly, many rulers in the Flanaess believe they have purged their courts of possible Shar agents, giving sovereigns in courts still populated by inactive agents an unwise sense of security. Paradoxically, though Shar has lost much power since the wars, it is now more feared than ever before, and arguably remains poised to strike in several key, as-yet- revealed locations.

Conflicts and Intrigues: Key Sea Prince holdings are being infiltrated by new Shar agents, along with foreign realms generally. New breeds of monsters created in the Olman Islands are rumored to have taken over part of one island. Shar ambassadors dispatched to the northern barbarians report mixed results, with important ground gained with the Frost Barbarians.

To be continued in Part 2 ...