While contemplating random things, I turned my attention to the non-Keoland side of the map and gave another look at the demographics of the Iron League. While at first glance it appears to be human dominated, after looking at it again and considering the number of demihumans in the hills and forests - the Gloriole, Iron Hills, Hestmark Highlands, Hollow Highlands, Headlands, Rieuwood, and Menowood - it is no so clear cut.
Onnwal and the Lordship of the Isles are definitely majority human. Of course, post-Wars, the Lordship is controlled by the Scarlet Brotherhood and Onnwal is not fully liberated.
Idee has a more significant demihuman population, but post-TaB, it is part of the United Kingdom of Ahlissa.
Irongate is human dominant, but that fades rapidly when you consider the Iron Hills and the allied dwarves and gnomes of the Headlands.
Sunndi seems human dominated, though it has a grey elf count (king post-TaB). That switches when you add in the dwarves, elves, and gnomes of the surrounding wilderness.
This becomes a lot more obvious if you sift the News of the Flanaess military reports from back in the day in Dragon Magazine. The demihumans have significant armies compared to the humans, which means significant base populations.
Somewhere in there should be room to develop the area similar to the Uleks as a demihuman-led region, and then further developed for campaigns against the old South Province and Medegia or the new United Kingdom of Ahlissa, with a nod to the Scarlet Brotherhood in the middle, not to mention large-scale heresies involving keeping Idee and the Isles free or liberating them.
I do not have a full concept myself, so I am throwing it out there in case someone else wants an idea to run with.
Interesting thought bubble. One of the reasons my campaign is based in this area is for that reason. Dwarves from: Onnwal headlands, Irongate, Iron Hills, Hollow highlands, Glorioles and Hestmark highlands. Elves from Rieuwood, Ardri or Menowood. Halflings from pretty much anywhere. I also have had some plane-touched characters from Ahlissa. So I agree it gives a lot of depth.
In terms of leadership from demi-humans, IMC I see it coming through as influence rather than specifically heading things up. For example, key dwarven clands are influential in Irongate, King Holgi leads the Iron Hills, the Thane leading the Glorioles dwarves is officially on the council of Sunndi etc. Sunndi is massively influenced by the Gray Elves that lead that country. So I kind of feel that they already have a massive influence in leading the Iron League.
Another point that struck me in this area was population size comparisons. Onnwal was 110k, Irongate 70k, Sunndi 125k - and Ahlissa is 3,800k. It would seem that the Iron League could be swallowed up. But I realise they are many real life examples of successful small vs big succeeding. But I think part of the strength of the Iron League is the demi-human areas that are held in strength that even Ahlissa has trouble entering. I'm thinking Iron Hills, Glorioles and the Rieuwood. Perhaps also the Onnwal headlands. I think that might be the firm basis of the Iron League not being defeated any time soon. And you can add impregnable Irongate led by the wily Cobb Darg and it seems they can defend themselves well enough. But perhaps they would struggle to exert any influence beyond there own borders?
The other though bubble I have had as I explore the lore of Sunndi is the sparse population of Sunndi and how a large cavalry force from Ahlissa might easily overrun Sunndi. Geographically this is guarded by Rieuwood/Glorioles and if they decide they could also come in from Naerie via Adder pass which looks highly defendable, but weight of numbers etc. So this has me wondering if a nation as large as Ahlissa might consider that at some point. I find it a little strange that Sunndi has no large cities whatsever, the largest being Pitchfield (pop. 3,800) and Newkeep (pop. 2,700) which are tiny - especially if you have an adventuring party wanted to deal in magic items...
Just thinking about the relationship between city size and influence, perhaps the lack of any city in Sunndi supports the notion of influence from demi-human areas, notably the gray elves of Rieuwood and the Dwarves of the Gorioles.
So if you are thinking Iron League as Irongate, Sunndi, and Free Onnwal - there is significant demi-human influence and leadership already perhaps.
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