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Driekan
Acolyte
Brazil
4 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Mar 2016 : 14:17:55
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Ever since the first bits and pieces of information concerning the Realms in the Fourth Edition began to trickle out, it became obvious that the Vilhon Reach region (at that time renamed the Vilhon Wilds) had gone through some major changes. However, the official sourcebook never went into enough detail concerning the region's state, and I never did get any of the novels which may have passed through or around the region.
Here is what I know, how I see, and what I wonder about.
Up until late third edition, Chondath had long been established as a bustling center of population, with cyclical migrations outwards from it due to its overpopulation. That is the reason why in some regions of the Realms, Chondathan might as well be the second Common, as pretty much every nation has it listed as a language, and the ethnicity is widespread.
Fourth Edition has Akanul replacing the northern end of the region. It is a Genasi kingdom of Abeiran migrants, with a much smaller population. The text mentions there are still people of other races in the kingdom, but that none but genasi may have leadership positions. It also indicates that being a Genasi in the nation's capital of Airspur "[...] means never having to worry about falling on hard times." The text is specific that this fact is exclusively true for genasi.
That always struck me as odd. Even with great cataclysms (and some territory-swapping) of the Spellplague, the complete depopulation of the region, down to the last living soul, is simply inconceivable. Many of the region's people were traders, and hence liable to be abroad at the time of the catastrophes, to only later return to their homelands, and that's assuming not a single person actually living in the region actually remained there, and alive. Given, thus, that many of the humans in the nation of Akanul must have been the native Chondathans, the text's emphasis on non-genasi being forbidden leadership roles and not having the same benefits as the genasi becomes... downright eerie.
Is Akanul portrayed as something of a "fantasy apartheid state" in any of the literature? Is this matter of racial disparity ever addressed anywhere? Is there any unrest, Chondath revival movements or foreign policy repercussions from nearby human nations? For something so major, the official text seems whitewashed.
Incredibly, the plot thickens even further.
The Sword Coast Adventure Guide includes mention of the return of the majority of third edition nations. I could find no explicit mention of Chondath, but neighboring Unther is back despite having explicitly been crushed under Abeiran land in fourth edition, thus presumably the bulk of Chondathan population should be back as well. Airspur is mentioned to still fly somehow, despite the end of the Sundering.
The earlier description for Airspur, however, had that most of it was on ground. The city was said to have numerous spires, which "[...] do not necessarily have a foundation on solid land (though most do)." This means that a large part of the city was not spires, and that what spires there were, only the minority floated. Can it thus be assumed that only the previously-floating spires kept on floating, presumably inhabited by the highest nobility and royaly of Akanul (given they had the fanciest, floating homesteads?), while the majority of the city's genasi population was left behind to face a presumably vindictive returned Chondath?
Given the plot of Faerunian returnees smashing Abeiran nations was used in neighboring Tymanther, despite that nation's far more respectful treatment of the previously-extant nation, and despite Unther's weakness prior to the Spellplague, should this not be even more the case in nearby Chondath?
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The matter of Chondath
