The relationship between Glantri and the Northern Plateau
by LoZompatoreJust to quote the Dragonlord Trilogy, if it could be of any help in defining the relationship between Glantri and the Northern Plateau.
In short: the Overlord teleported a massive fortress in the Plateau around AC 510-515 to invade Mystara. The Overlord was, a powerful crystal-like being who ruled an extraplanar empire and enslaved the Flaems (who were fleeing from the fall of Alphatia) and the Gemstone Dragons (also called "Masters" in the following - they were exiled from Mystara by the chromatic dragons in BC 3200). Part of the Flaems were sent to Mystara as an advance scout unit to study the Radiance and to assess the power of the local countries. The Flaems reached Mystara close to present-day Braastar and were given false memories that they reached Mystara by their own will. Notice that many other Flaems still lived as slaves in other planes of existence under the dominion of the Overlord.
The Overlord sent various armies to Mystara, the biggest one - over a million strong - carved a straigth road across the plateau marching southeast from the Overlord fortress in order to reach Glantri (in the following called "the Highlands"). Before this army managed to reach the border of the plateau the Overlord was defeated by the newly-appointed Lawful Dragon Ruler and most of the army was brought back to the places of origin by the dragons (both chromatic and gemstone, who were re-admitted to Mystara). Notice also that at that time the Flaems and the chromatic dragons were allied.
Here are the relevant excerpts:
The stronghold itself was actually an entire complex of great fortresses, neatly arranged in the same carefully laid grids as the fields, centered around an immense paved square that was probably nearly a mile long on each side. The fortresses were all nearly identical in form, solid, almost featureless structures built of gray stone that had been cut into vast, smooth sided blocks... Thelvyn realized that each fortress was nearly the size of a small town, covering an area of nearly a squaremile.
But it was the activity in the central square that caught his attention. A great arch of black stone in the very middle of the square, an oval that was large enough for both Kharendaen and he to have flown through side by side. The archway opened into a pit of utter darkness. Thelvyn... had no doubt it was a worldgate of tremendous size... The Masters had lost perhaps 100.000 warriors and fighting beasts in their sieges of Rockhome and the Highlands. Ten times that number were gathered in the square below and in hundreds of companies waiting in lines miles long on the roads leading through the two main passes of the ring of mountains.
We have some drakes in our company, small enough to go places we cannot go and act as spies. We cannot expect their reports to be perfectly accurate... but they tell us that there are some 500 gemstone dragons, about 40 metal warriors and an additional army of at least 1.000.000, consisting of monsters and creatures of various kinds... That was of yesterday evening, a full day ago.
Their entire invasion force moved slowly across the land, five entire armies marching side by side a mile apart, each army advancing in a column 200 yards across.Swift, stealthy scouts, Veydran and other warriors, advanced well ahead of the columns, seeking out spies and traps. Great beasts gathered from many strange worlds led each army, tearing out trees and stones and tossing them aside like playthings, while other massive animals followed behind to trample the torn ground into a hrad packed road. After that came the soldiers, rank upon rank, drawn from many different races, interspaced with trains of supply wagons, great wains the size of small ships drawn by horselike beasts nearly the size of dragons, supplies enough to keep even this huge force in the field for months.
And above the armies of the Overlord flew the Masters, hundreds of gemstone dragons of every color. Others led the humbering hulks of the metal warriors, who stood like mountains of iron over the ranks of the armies. The metal monsters had beed marching slowly outward from the secret stronghold of the Masters for the last six days, and ranks of soldiers and supply wagons were still coming through the great worldgate, taking their places at the ends of columns that now stretched for nearly a hundred miles. They would reach the mountains bordering the western frontier in another five days, although their intention was to head south to the great spur of the Wendarian Mountains to enter the Highlands through the wide valley of the Areste River.
With the help of the gemstone dragons, the dragon sorcerers reopened the great worldgate to the main stronghold of the Overlord in his own world, and from there they were able to locate many of the lesser gateways into other worlds that had been invaded. In this way, many of the slave races of the Overlord had returned to their own worlds, homes that most of them had not seen in generations. There were some who could not be sent home, either because their worlds had been destroyed or the gates were lost. After some negotiation, many of the nations of the Grand Alliance agreed to take in these wanderers, so they came to settle in the Highlands, in nearby Darokin and Traladara, and even in distant Alphatia.
The beasts were also a problem, not only in the mountainous west, but also in places like the Highlands and Rockhome, where large numbers of them had escaped during previous battles. Most were of exotic breeds, too dangerous to be allowed to run free in this new world, and there was nothing else to be done but to have the dragons hunt them down and slay them. Those that could be captured were returned to the worlds of their origin whenever it coud be determined. Inevitably, some escaped into the wild despite the best efforts of thedragons.
...the Flaems were joined by many of their kinsmen who had been held in slavery by the Overlord. Some other captive races settled here as well, and the newcomers worked very hard to rebuild their new homeland.
When the Flaems had first come into this world, the Masters had intended for them to estabilish their greatest city near the gate, so that the Masters could move quickly to seize control when they finally launched their invasion. Later. the Flaems had been permitted to move their capital to Braejr to protect the secret of the Radiance, which had been in danger of discovery by the elves.
When the Flaems first came into this world, their arrived somewhere near Braastar. That was where they built their first stronghold. The wizards moved to Braejr later so that they could more easily study and protect the Radiance. I've always wondered if their secret stronghold was somewhere near Braastar.
So, in my opinion, there could have been many Flaems - previously part of the 1-million army or slaves on other planes - who settled in the plateu following the Overlord invasion and defeat. They are of course in good terms with the Glantrians but they may not be part of that country. Moreover, many of the monsters in the plateau may be formerly part of the Overlord's army and were placed there by the dragons and the Flaems because of some Agreement following the Overlord's defeat. So, even these races/people should have been in good terms with the Glantrians, at least in the beginning (nothing prevents a shifting of allegiance in a later time...)