ascended the golden Throne. It was widely assumed that his youth
would make him easy to beguile by the older and more
sophisticated members of the court. Such quickly proved not to be the case.
In 3793, the young Emperor concluded the secret Treaty of the Plain
with the Mimbrate Arends. Perceiving that the endless Civil War in
Arendia had become a hindrance to the development of the west
and a disruption of trade and commerce, the Emperor sided with the
weaker faction, the Mimbrates, and joined in the final destruction of
the Asturian Arends. The Emperor let it be known in Cherek and
Algaria that the legions stationed in Sendaria for the maintenance of
the highways built there by the Borunes would no longer hinder the
movement of raiders upon northern Arendia. Thus, with their forces
divided, the Asturians were no match for the assault by the
Mimbrate Knights across the southern frontier of Asturia and the
diversionary movement of a Tolnedran column along the coast.
Then began in Arendia a war of attrition against the Asturians which
lasted for almost twenty years.
Meanwhile, Imperial negotiators, urged on by the Emperor,
concluded the Algarian agreement with Cho-Dom the Old, Chief of
the Clan-chiefs of the Horse People. The agreement caused a wave
of consternation among the merchant princes of Tolnedra, since
virtually no trade advantage was gained. Although it was widely
denounced in commercial circles, the one concession the Emperor
gained which made the treaty perhaps more valuable than any other
was permission to construct the Great North Road across Algaria to
the southern border of Drasnia. Thus, for the first time, a land route
directly to Boktor was possible. The legions were permitted to enter
Algaria for the purpose of constructing the road. As the Emperor
observed to one grumbling merchant, ‘I would trade off the Horse
People – even if they were ten times more numerous – for overland
access to Boktor.’ When one balances the volume of trade coming
out of the east into Drasnia, one can only agree with the wisdom of
our most splendid Emperor.
In 3822, Vo Astur, seat of the Asturian Arendia, fell before the
onslaughts of the Mimbrates, and, like Vo Wacune, the city was
destroyed. The Mimbrates, however, though they had won the
victory and crowned their Duke the first unchallenged King of
Arendia, were exhausted by the final struggle. The restrictions
imposed by the Emperor in return for Tolnedran assistance in the
destruction of the Asturians in many respects made the Arends
virtually a subject people. Though it rankled the proud Mimbrates,
they were too weak to protest, and the new King had other
problems. Though they had been defeated and Vo Astur had been laid
waste, there were still Asturian Arends in the north. They. mtrated
into the trackless reaches of the Arendish forest and began the
guerilla warfare which was to sap the strength of the Mimbrate
Kings for over a thousand years.
Nothing, of course, could have suited Tolnedran purposes better.
The open baffles and extensive military campaigns which had made
travel through Arendia so hazardous were at an end, replaced by the
hit and run tactics of the Asturians and the futile expeditions of the
Mimbrates into the dark forest in pursuit. The Emperor reached a
secret agreement with the Asturians which guaranteed freedom of
movement along the Great West Road which the legions were
constructing southward through their forest. At the same time, in
accordance with the Treaty of Tol Vordue, other legions were
constructing the southern leg of the highway north from the River Arend.
Although the Great West Road and the Great North Road were
not to be completed for over a century’ the concept was now clear.
When these colossal projects were finished, it would be possible to
travel overland from Tol Honeth to Camaar, from Camaar to Boktor,
and – along the North Caravan Routes – from Bok.tor to Yar Marak
and Thull Zelik in the Kingdoms of the Angaraks.
This was the zenith of Tolnedran power. Ran Horb II was quite
literally the most powerful man in the world. By Imperial Decree in
3827 he created the Kingdom of Sendaria on the northwest coast.
When certain northern merchants protested, he pointed out that it
was more efficient and far less costly to allow the Sendars to govern
themselves than it was to attempt to administer a country five
hundred leagues beyond our northern border. ‘Let the Sendars enjoy
the aggravation of administering their own country,’ he said. ‘So
long as we have the right trade agreements with them, we will lose
little by our generosity”
In the twilight of his life, Ran Horb II, then well over eighty,
concluded the Agreement of Sthiss Tor, formalizing trade relations
with Nyissa; and, in one of his most stunning moves, signed the
Accords of Rak Goska which established the South Caravan Route
through the mountains of Cthol Murgos. It would soon be possible
for a man on a good horse to depart from Tol Honeth, ride north to
Boktor, cross to the Eastern Sea at Yar Marak, then go south to Rak
Goska and cross the mountains to return to Tol Honeth. In his dying
words to his son, Ran Horb ii said, ‘Keep the roads. So long as the
roads are kept, Tolnedra rules the world.’
And so it was. The remainder of the HORBITE DYNASTY was
devoted to the completion of the system of highways which was to
make Tolnedra supreme in the west. There was little else to be done.
THE FIRST RANITE DYNASTY 3911-4001
(90 years, 7 Emperors)
The ill-fated FIRST RANITE DYNASTY ascended to power
following the death of the last Horbite Emperor. The verdict of history is
perhaps unkind to these unfortunates. A hereditary ailment in their
line struck them down inevitably in their prime. So it was that no
one Ranite Emperor lived long enough to achieve anything of any
significance. History quite correctly regards the Ranites simply as
caretakers.
THE THIRD VORDUVIAN DYNASTY
4001-4133 (132 years, 3 Emperors)
At the turn of the fifth millennium, the Vorduvians once again
gained control of the Imperial Throne. Since Tol Vordue is a major
sea-port, the Vorduvians have always felt that sea-commerce is
much preferable to overland trade, and during the century and more
of their reign, the roads of Ran Horb II fell into disrepair’ and the
power of the Empire declined.
No sooner had the Vorduvians been installed in Tol Honeth than
one of the cataclysmic events in the history of the west occurred. The
Rivan King, Corek the Wise, was assassinated at Riva by a
contingent of Nyissan merchants acting on the orders of Queen Salmissra
of Nyissa. Ran Vordue I stood by helplessly while the world quite
literally collapsed around his ears. The horrid suspicion that had
hovered in the most secret councils in Tol Honeth since the days of
the last of the Borunes became a dreadful reality – the Alorns joined
together to make war. Aloria did, in fact, exist. The campaign of the
Alorns against Nyissa was short and savage. Viewing the ugly
temper of our northern friends, Ran Vordue wisely chose not to
object to the technical violation of Tolnedran territory by the
southward-moving columns of Algars and Drasnians nor the presence in
our territorial waters of huge fleets of Cherek warships.
When the war was over and Nyissa had for all real purposes
ceased to exist, all Tolnedra quite literally held its breath. The
temper of the Alorns was ugly, and they had demonstrated a
capability for a sustained and coordinated military campaign none had
ever suspected. If they had chosen to turn north from ravaged
Nyissa, all the might of the Empire would not have been sufficient to
stop them. The entire fate of the civilized world hung on the whim
‘of the barbaric Kings of Aloria.
It was with enormous relief that Tolnedra watched the return of
the Drasnian and Algarian columns through the mountains toward
the Vale of Aldur and the swift passage of the lean, black warships of
Cherek northbound along our coast.
In the years following the war of the Alorns upon Nyissa, there
was turmoil in the west. The Alorn Kings seemed preoccupied and
gathered frequently for council at Riva. Without the firm hands of
their kings to control them, the rowdy Alorns frequently violated the
provisions of many of their treaties and agreements with Tolnedra.
imperial Ambassadors attempting to protest were frequently
ignored or curtly dismissed. The VORDUVIAN Emperors seemed
powerless to regain control of the situation.
THE SECOND HORBITE DYNASTY 4133-4483
(350 years, 16 Emperors)
It was during the SECOND HORBITE DYNASTY that the full
impact of the South Caravan Route began to be felt in Tolnedran
commerce. With an apparent sudden change of heart, the laconic
Murgos became almost overnight keenly interested in trade with the
west, and caravans soon were moving in both directions along the
South Caravan Route. Murgos, Thulls and even occasional Nadraks