terminus of the North Caravan Route out of Car og Nadrak, and the
island seaport of Kotu at the mouth of the Mrin River have been
important commercial centers since before the dawn of recorded
history.
With the possible exception of the sphinx-like Rivans, the Drasnians
are the most enigmatic of the Alorns. Perhaps because of their
isolated frontier situation and the brute savagery of the Drasnian
winter with its winds howling down across the Drasnian Moors,
they are at once openly friendly but with a certain reserve, seeming
to draw a line beyond which a stranger is not invited. They are hard
traders, but are scrupulously honest. Their profits are gained from
certain advantageous trade laws and toll arrangements. Like all
Alorns, they are warlike, and warriors from the northern reaches of
Drasnia – as a result of their life-long following of the reindeer herds
– are the finest infantry in the world, easily able to keep pace with
cavalry units on long marches. Like all infantry units, their weapon
of choice is the long spear.
The Drasnians are not as clannish as other Alorns, their culture
appearing to have progressed to the stage where district and
regional loyalties are at least on a par with blood ties.
THE HISTORY OF DRASNIA
like the Rivans and Algars, Drasnians were separated from the
main body of Alorns at the time of the break-up of the empire of
King Cherek Bear-shoulders at the end of the second millennium.
For the first thousand years of their history’ the Drasnians appear to
have been nomadic herdsmen following the yearly migrations of the
reindeer herds. One curious feature of their early history was the
existence of a series of fortified camps along the western reaches of
the mountain range which marks their border with Car og Nadrak.
The camps seem not to have been continuously occupied, but
‘rather to have been periodically used by any one of a dozen Drasnian
tribes. Evidence exists in the form of artifacts and large quantities of
skeletal remains that a major battle took place in a narrow valley just
before one of these camps. The invading force appears to have been
Angarak, judging from the artifacts and the distinctive skull-shape of
the majority of the remains, and it does appear that the Drasnians
won a decisive victory and stemmed what might have been a prelude
to a major invasion of the west by a highly organized Angarak force.
The event can be roughly dated to the 25th century and appears to
have been a major effort by the Angaraks, to penetrate the west
unlike the continuous probes sent down into Algaria throughout the
third millennium. Thus it is that all the kingdoms of the west owe a
profound debt of gratitude to those unknown Drasnian warriors for
stopping an invasion which, given the unorganized state of the west
in the third millennium, must certainly have resulted in all of us
growing up under an Angarak dictatorship.
* We chose not to follow up on this battle.
Once the aggressive push of the Angaraks was quelled by this
great but unnamed battle and by a number of similar, though
smaller, engagements in Algaria, trade began with the east, and the
Drasnians began construction of their capital at Boktor and their
seaport at Kotu.
Boktor grew rather naturally at the western end of the North
Caravan Route which existed long before it was formalized in the
agreement reached in 3219 between the Kings of Drasnia and Car og
Nadrak. Boktor became a major commercial center in the north long
before the other Alorn cities had even begun to consider the
advantages of trade. Kotu, meanwhile, flourished as the major seaport of
the north. By the middle of the fourth millennium, trade agreements
had brought Drasnia into the commercial empire of Tolnedra,
.although the hard-bargaining Drasnians had so twisted the standard
agreements that it is difficult to say where the advantage actually
lay. Suffice to say that the stipulation that all merchandise transfers
at Boktor take place through the agency of a Drasnian intermediary
brought tears of chagrin to the eyes of Tolnedran merchants, since it
effectively prevented direct trading with eastern merchants at the
terminus of the North Caravan Route.
Drasnia prospered throughout the fourth millennium, and by
the early years of the fifth stood as a commercial power rivaling
Tolnedra.
When the Rivan King was assassinated in 4002, the massed
Drasnian infantry made one of the most astounding treks in history,
covering the thousand leagues from Boktor to the Vale of Aldur in
sixty days to join forces with the Algar cavalry for the overland
assault on Nyissa.
* This was written before the scale was established. It is in fact 80 leagues from Boktor to
the Vale, and crack infantry could make that far in eight days.
Drasnian infantry was particularly effective
against Nyissan soldiery, since Nyissans traditionally took to the
trees when assaulted, and the long Drasnian spears were able to
quite easily reach them in the lower branches where they normally
took refuge. Indeed, in certain areas of the jungles of eastern Nyissa
the trees are festooned with human skeletons to this very day.
For all their power and courage, the Drasnians were the first to
fall when the savage Angarak hordes of Kal-Torak spilled down out
of the mountains of Nadrak and onto the plains in the spring of
4865. Although they resisted valiantly, the Drasnians were largely
destroyed. Their cities were pulled down, and those who were not
killed were enslaved. Upon command of the King, a few crack units
of the southern Drasnian army escaped into northern Algaria and
evaded the southward march of the main body of the Angarak
hordes southwestward toward Arendia.
These infantry units accompanied the Algarian cavalry across the
southern tip of Ulgoland and fell upon the Angarak left flank with
particular savagery during the decisive Battle of Vo Mimbre.
The units effected the release of the surviving Drasnian captives
from the retreating Nadraks, and these sorry remnants formed the
basis for the rebirth of the Drasnian nation. Assisted by Chereks and
Algars, the new monarch at Boktor, Rhodar I (the general who had
commanded Drasnian forces during the war) rebuilt the city of
Boktor, cleared the rubble and sunken vessels from the harbor at
Kotu, and rebuilt the great causeway across the northeastern reaches
of Aldurfens.
For a century following the Angarak invasion, Drasnian border
guards systematically and routinely killed all travelers from the east
until continued remonstrances from Tolnedra persuaded them to
abandon the practice and to restore normal trade along the North
Caravan Route. In some measure the decline of Tolnedra can be
directly traced to this drying up of northern commerce.
The present King of Drasnia, Rhodar XVIH, is an immensely fat,
jolly man in his mid-sixties who appears to be somewhat simple but
is, in fact, a shrewd and clever man who is ever watchful. Drasnian
merchants are found throughout the known world, and through
fheir agency the Drasnian intelligence system is probably the finest
in the world.
It is said – probably with some measure of truth – that the
Tolnedran Emperor cannot change his tunic without word of it
being delivered to Boktor within the hour.
Drasnia
COINAGE
GOLD
1. A 2 oz. gold plaque (rectangular) called a ‘Cold Bull’ – equals
about $250.00
2. A 1 oz. gold coin (square) called a ‘Gold Cow’ – equals about
$125.00
3. A ”oz. gold coin (also square) called a ‘Gold Calf’ – equals about
$62.50
SILVER
1. A 2 oz. silver plaque shaped into an open rectangle called a ‘silver
link’ (can be hooked together into chains)
2. 10 links make a’chain’- equals about $125.00
3. A 1 oz. square silver coin called a ‘Token’ – equals about $6.25
BRASS AND COPPER
Coins in these metals are, of course, the basis of trade among the
common people and are struck in each district. Called ‘coppers’ or
brass’
all are exactly 1 oz. Copper has one fifth the value of brass.
Brass has one fifth the value of silver.
Weights of Drasnian coins are extremely precise and the metals
are very pure.
in addition, the Drasnians have developed a rudimentary
banking system involving sight drafts between members of the same
family using complicated codes. i.e. ‘John gave me 100 chains here in
Boktor. You give him 100 chains in Yar Marak’ (less 10% of course).
COSTUME
* Quite frequently the costumes proved irrelevant.
MEN
Somewhat Russian. Heavy into furs. Linen tunics belted, leggings,
soft leather boots with heavy soles – felt boots in winter and huge
fur capes – like blankets.
Armor – steel plates sewn to leather. Helmets squared on top and
long nose guard.
Merchants wear fur-trimmed gowns – unbelted – and close-fitting
caps. Gowns are usually colored to indicate the area of trade.. The
color-coding is quite elaborate. All Drasnian men carry broad
daggers, but they are concealed under their clothes.
WOMEN