View source for Suel (Greyhawk)

{{Greyhawk}}
Descended from refugees of the homeland that is now the Sea of Dust, the Suel are a fair-skinned folk. Most Suel have merged with Oerdian and Flan to form a mixed population in the central Flaness; the groups that remain culturally Suel have done so because of isolation and xenophobia.

Nature: The Suloise Empire is vastly different things at different times. Compared to it, the Roman Empire was a short lived thing and the Chinese dynasties were only half as old. In it’s early stages, it was comprised of wandering related tribes who developed city states. These city states were similar technologically to the Mesopotamian states on Earth. Then, with the arrival of elves they became more like the Greek polis. And then developed into an empire which structurally was like the Senate driven Rome, and finally into aristocratic families and princes among which the Imperial rule passed. The Romanesque flavor of the Empire, was modified by the influence of the haughty grey elves. The elves introduced the magic which drove the quest for power and magic which dominated the whole of the Suel history. This additional element gives the Suloise an almost Melibonian oddness. A sense of haughtiness, of right to power, and of non-concern for others that is still not found in any other culture on Oerth. Even the structured Gray Elves had a sense of wisdom and compassion that was totally foreign to the thoughts of many of the Suloise rulers. The modern Suel (except those living beneath the Sea of Dust, those trapped beneath the Crystalmist, those in the Scarlet Brotherhood and perhaps those who fled west across the Vast Ocean) have lost this haughtiness…it is instead it is replaced by a bravura, and a wildness which is equally dangerous when roused. The savages of the Amedio, of Hepmonaland, and the Barbarians in the Northeastern Flanaess exemplify of this.

=== Divided We Fell ===
At the fall of the ancient Sueloise empire, the people fractured into several distinct groups. These include the following:
* The Fruz barbarians of the Thillonrian Peninsula. Their dialect is called Fruz. It is written using dwarf runes.
* The desert nomands of the Brigth Desert. They still speak Sueloise as a secret language amongst themselves, but speak Common with outsiders.
* The scattered colonists of the Pearl Sea region. They speak the Amedio dialect, a debased form of Suel.
* The Scarlet Brotherhood and those they have been able to put under their sway. They speak a reconstructed version of ancient Sueloise, almost identical to the original.
* The [[Other_Humans_(Greyhawk)#Q.27drans |Q'dran]] desert nomads of the far west, near the Celestial Empire. Their dialect is called Q'dran and it's spoken form is a remnant of a western Suel dialect, written in celestial script.
* The Suel bloodline is almost pure in the Lordship of the Isles and the Duchy of Urnst, but these people speak Common today and belong to the Common culture.

=== Strong Abilities ===
Strength, Intelligence, Charisma.

== Cultural Traits ==
The Suel are a race of contrasts, and their traits can manifest in very different ways, often in pairs of virtues and vices. Suel tend to go to extremes in alignment.

Thrifty/Selfish, Competitive/Domineering, Honest/Blunt, Self-assured/Opinionated, Ambitious/Proud.

=== Real-World Models ===
Scandinavians (appearance), Romans (culture), British colonials (attitudes). These are early Hollywood Romans; blonde, icy eyes, ruthless, efficient, cruel, and racist.

=== Alignment ===
The Suel are traditionally tolerant about good-evil variations. Even in the Scarlet Brotherhood, good members can be tolerated as long as they contribute to the power of the order. Instead, the conflicts within the Suel are between Law and Chaos. There is a constant conflict between loyalty and pride within each Suel. Few Suel are ever neutral on the Law - Chaos axle; it is not uncommon to have a crisis of faith, where the individual changes his past allegiance and decides to either roam free or adhere to order. Even seemingly lawful Suel often have some hidden vice, while the most freedom-loving and proud can accept great trials to uphold an oath or some tie of loyalty.

=== Sports ===
Suel love blood sports as entertainment, and build great coliseums to put on gladiatorial shows. 
Winners are idolized but don't gain any real status.
Noble Suel do not engage in competitive sport once they become adults.
In areas of mixed Suel-Oerdian  culture, this attitude changes, making real advancement through blood sports possible.

=== Sexual Mores ===

'''Practices''': Birth control (often post-natal). There is little tolerance for aberrant form or behavior among the young, and children have been set out to die for displaying non-Suel traits.

'''Taboos''': Breeding outside race, Incest. Genealogies are very important as the Suel definition of incest extends to second cousins.

'''Marriage''': Conventional. Decent is traced through the same gender, females having matrilinear descent, males patrilinear descent, leading to incredibly complex family trees. This is further complicated by strict rules against incest of second cousins, which means family trees are very important. The nuclear family is very strong, the extended family too complex and interwoven to function.

=== Magic ===
Suel have an deep attraction to magic and use it to change the world around them with transmutation spells or to summon and bind supernatural servants with conjuration spells. Great theorists, the Sueloise prefer wizards to sorcerers or bards. Divine magic is often focused on means rather than ends; Suel classify miracles by domain rather than ethos. The northern suel are under a curse that prevents them from using magic - even tough this curse is slowly lifting, their culture has become hostile to most magic use.

== Pantheon ==
[[Suel (Greyhawk Action)| Suel]] gods  tend to be very lawful or very chaotic and examples of skill and ability rather than great leaders with a personal agenda. There was a great turnover of [[Suel (Greyhawk Action)| Suel]] gods after the twin cataclysms; Lendor, the leader of the pantheon, withdrew from daily affairs and is hardly known today which left a power vacuum that still exists today.

== Lendor ==
{{ : Lendor (Greyhawk Action)}}

== Bahamut ==
{{ : Bahamut  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Beltar ==
{{ : Beltar  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Besmara ==
{{ : Besmara (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Bralm ==
{{ : Bralm  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Cyndor ==
{{ : Cyndor  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Dalt ==
{{ : Dalt  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Fortubo ==
{{ : Fortubo  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Jascar ==
{{ : Jascar  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Joramy ==
{{ : Joramy  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Kord ==
{{ : Kord  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Llerg ==
{{ : Llerg  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Lydia ==
{{ : Lydia  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Norebo ==
{{ : Norebo  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Osprem ==
{{ : Osprem  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Phaukon ==
{{ : Phaukon  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Phyton ==
{{ : Phyton  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Pyremius ==
{{ : Pyremius  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Syrul ==
{{ : Syrul  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Tharizdun ==
{{ : Tharizdun  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Tiamat ==
{{ : Tiamat  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Vatun ==
{{ : Vatun  (Greyhawk Action)}}
== Wee Jas == 
{{ : Wee Jas (Greyhawk Action)}}

== Xerbo ==
{{ : Xerbo  (Greyhawk Action)}}

== Traits ==
{{ : Suel Traits (Apath)}}