A D&D player for less than half a decade, and one with no formal knowledge of Greyhawk whatsoever (just what I've cobbled together from books and these boards), I'm afraid I don't really know what the Scarlet Brotherhood is, other than some evil organization.
I did a search on the term and only found references to it, not explanations about it. I'm also not looking to get any books or anything. So, if someone could just give me an overview of what the brotherhood is, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Ya know . . . I'm in pretty much the same boat that you're in when it comes to these guys. But, I'm guessing the fact that we can't find an explanation of who they are is just part of the explanation itself.
Wikipedia is your friend...
In the Dungeons & Dragons World of Greyhawk campaign setting, the Scarlet Brotherhood most often refers to the Great and Hidden Empire of the Scarlet Brotherhood, a nation located on the Tilvanot Peninsula in the southeastern Flanaess, though it can also refer to the secretive organization which rules that land. The Scarlet Brotherhood is also the title of a 1999 sourcebook for the setting by Sean K. Reynolds.
Sometimes called the Kingdom of Shar ("purity"), the Scarlet Brotherhood is headed by a cadre of monastics, with final authority resting in the hands of the "Father of Obedience."
During the Greyhawk Wars, the Brotherhood made many gains, taking over the Lordship of the Isles, the Sea Princes, Idee, and Onnwal. However, they lost Idee to the South Province (now part of Ahlissa) in 586 CY, and in 589 the Hold of the Sea Princes errupted in civil war. In Onnwal, the Brotherhood rules only the port of Scant, though the Lordship of the Isles remains completely under their control.
The Scarlet Brotherhood is a caste society, valuing the Suloise race and culture above all others. Full citizenship is granted only to those of pure Suel blood who adhere to the Brotherhood's philosophy of Suel hegemony. Those who are of mostly Suel extraction have some rights, but not nearly as many as citizens. The lowest tier of Brotherhood society is occupied by its slaves, made up of non-humans and humans of "mongrel" blood.
The Brotherhood has an active eugenics program and conducts regular interbreeding experiments.
References:
* Gygax, Gary. The World of Greyhawk (TSR, 1980).
* Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (TSR, 1983).
* Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
* Moore, Roger E. The Adventure Begins (TSR, 1998).
* Reynolds, Sean K. The Scarlet Brotherhood (TSR, 1999).
* Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1993).
This about as uncomplicated as it can be-
Scarlet Brotherhood-
A mysterious organization of disciplined Human monks and assassins, they are subtle conquerors who use the politics of religious dominance and racial purity to hatch their evil schemes. Worshiping various evil dieties (primarily Lawful) they kill or enslave any that oppose them. Their nation far to the south of the Vast Swamp on a naturally protected jungled penninsula. Their holdings stretch far across the islands and jungles of the southern Flanaess including the recently conquered Hold of the Sea Princes.
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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The first "Savage Tidings" article in the new Dragon (#348) has a short write-up of the Scarlet Brotherhood as an affiliation your character can join. So if a racist order of militant monks, rogues, and assassins bent on recreating the glory of a millennia-dead empire seems good for your characater, you'll want to check it out! :)
--Erik
Yes, I was just about to post that, Kikai. Sounds like they're a bunch of (Hextor-worshipping?) Nazi monks from the tropical south.