Springdale was an awfully long time ago, but I am inclined to believe you on that account. In recent times however, that seed has really been watered by Thulsoma's propaganda machine. Hatred of SA has become noticeably more virulent and unrelenting since the beginning of the Thulsoma affair. The ironic part is that those who hate SA have a tendency to be just as fanatical about it as they accuse SA of being, if not more so in fact. Rowan was a pretty moderate character, but Averoth and Caerwyn in the end refused to deal with him and succumbed to paranoid fantasies about non-existent SA plots. Averoth was offered unconditional peace, but never responded. As for Caerwyn, Rowan made several concessions, from peace talks with Averoth to rewriting the Brotherhood of Theocracies treaty. In the end however it turned out that Caerwyn was planning for war the entire time, apparently irregardless of anything Astrum could do to reassure them.
Ah well, I can't complain about how things are working out in the end.
Thulsoma might have fueled the fire already there. I honestly was never reached or greatly affected by Thulsoma propaganda, other than the desolating stories of 10 realms ganging up on a 1-duchy realm, which honestly spoke a hell of a lot more than anything the tyrannic Thulsomians ever said.
Not many remain from Springdale, I'd imagine, but they probably did all the groundwork about "See what happens when you let SA get a foothold in your realm: they grow as a cancer and make you fall to your knees from within, the masses of zealots then come in for the killing blow."
