everything and almost anything can be considered an affront. The
period of the Civil War proves that they can be extremely
treacherous, however. The major concern of the monarchy is to head off the
Arendish tendency toward civil violence – no private wars. The
King’s time is taken up adjudicating disputes between the various
nobles.
Vassals are suitably subservient but very proud, nonetheless. The
commoners are servile, knowing that their masters have life or death
power over them. Arendish justice is capricious and savage. Serfs
are treated badly.
HOLIDAYS
Erastide – Formal banquets
Festival of Chaldan ‘ Late Spring – the most religious holiday
Festival of Korodullin and Mayaserana – A combination of the
celebration of the victory at Vo Mimbre and the unification of the nation
King’s Birthday – A patriotic holiday – formal jousting
The Lord’s Birthday – Local celebrations on each estate
RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
Pretty much medieval Catholic. Religious orders abound, supported
by the nobility and providing an escape for the serfs. Usually
established to provide perpetual prayer for victory of some lord. Three
major orders – Mimbrate, Asturian and Wacite monks. (The monks
are never molested in war – bad luck.)
*We largely ignored the Arendish church in the story There were occasional references to
monks and monasteries, but we saw no real purpose in getting too deeply involved in the
intricacies of a religion resembling medieval Catholicism.
Female orders formed for similar purposes. Severely cloistered.
They provide an outlet for surplus female children of the nobility.
Priests, Bishops and the head of the church, the Archbishop of Vo
Mimbre.
ULgOLAND
GEOGRAPHY
Ulgoland (or simply Ulgo as the Ulgos themselves call it) is
mountainous – indeed it consists solely of mountains. It is bounded on the
east by Algaria, on the west by Arendia, on the north by Sendaria
and on the south by Tolnedra. There are no known passes through
the country, and the only road to the capital at Prolgu was built
following the war against the Angaraks at the end of the fifth
millennium. There appear to be large amounts of mineral wealth in
Ulgoland, but the Ulgos steadfastly refuse to permit mining within
their boundaries; and, since time immemorial, expeditions of
adventurers into the country have vanished without a trace.
THE ULGOS
These are perhaps the strangest of all the peoples of the west. Not
only do they worship a strange God, live in caves deep in the earth
and speak a language unrelated to the civilized tongues of the north
or the west, but they are also physically different from any other
known race. They are significantly shorter than Alorn or Arend, and
their skin is markedly pale – perhaps as a result of generations of
cave-dwelling. Their hair is without color, and their eyes are quite
*This is almost entirely misconception – something on the order of those late medieval
geographies which announced (in all seriousness) that the natives of Madagascar had a
foot growing out of the tops of their heads.
large and sensitive to light. The extent of their numbers is unknown
since their habitations are below ground and no outsider has been
able to determine the extent of the caverns and galleries beneath
their mountains. They are a suspicious and secretive people and
appear to be totally uninterested in commerce or trade.
THE HISTORY OF THE ULgOS
It is speculated that the Ulgos are the original inhabitants of the
continent, although no known document records the first meeting
between a civilized man and an Ulgo. It is generally agreed that
civilized men migrated to this continent from the east sometime during
the first millennium, at which time the original five kingdoms
(Aloria, Arendia, Tolnedra, Nyissa and Maragor) were established. It
appears that the presence of the Ulgos predates that migration. Their
tive ways, however, makes it impossible to pinpoint specifics.
Because of the inhospitable nature of their country, few travelers
entered their land during the first four millennia of the present era.
Superstitious tales of hideous monsters who attacked travelers
without warning were undoubtedly the result of systematic Ulgo
terrorism designed to keep their country inviolate.
In more modern times a limited trade has been established, and
following the battle of Vo Mimbre, a road was pushed through to
Prolgu.
The first contacts with the Ulgos came about through the efforts
of the Tolnedran trade negotiator, Horban, who was the personal
representative and cousin of Emperor Ran Horb XVI during the
decade of the 4420s. It was Horban who braved the legendary
terrors of the Ulgo mountains and made his way to the forbidden
city of Prolgu with only a small detachment of cavalry as an escort.
At first the Ulgos not only refused to negotiate but even refused to
reveal themselves to him. For eight months he camped inside the
walls of what appeared to be an abandoned city. He wandered about
the moss-grown streets observing with amazement the incredible
antiquity of the place.
Late one afternoon in the fall of 4421, Horban was astounded to
find himself quite suddenly surrounded by a group of heavily
cloaked and hooded men who took him prisoner and spirited him
into a nearby vacant house. He was then taken into a cellar under
that house, and a door in the floor was opened to reveal the vast,
dimly lighted caverns beneath where the Ulgos reside.
Horban attempted to speak with his captors but without any
success. The languages of the west are, of course, all members of the
same linguistic family. Thus a Tolnedran may speak with an Alorn
or an Arend or a Nyissan without significant difficulty; and, with
great patience on each side, may even converse rudimentarily with
an Angarak; but the language of the Ulgos is totally alien.
He was placed in a fairly comfortable chamber, given food and
drink, and in time was visited by three very old men who attempted
to converse with him. When they discovered that he could not
understand them, they set about teaching him their language.
After two years of instruction, Horban was taken before the
King, who by tradition is named UL-GO or given the title ‘Gorim’,
apparently a term of respect.
The conversation between Horban and the Gorim of the Ulgos is
remarkable not merely for what it reveals, but also for what it
tantalizingly conceals. In his report to the Emperor, Horban provided the
following summary:
The Gorim first demanded of the emissary what business he had
in the land of the Ulgos and why he had desecrated their holy place
at Prolgu.
Horban replied as diplomatically as possible that since the Ulgos
chose to live beneath the ground, it was impossible for outsiders to
even know that they existed. He described himself as an investigator
sent to confirm or disprove persistent rumors about a people living
in the mountains.
Then the Gorim asked how Horban had escaped ‘the monsters’,
and would not elaborate on his cryptic question when Horban
professed ignorance of any such creatures.
* Obviously, the Algroths, Hrulgin, and Eldrakyn, among others.
And then, in open violation of the most fundamental tenet of
good manners, the Gorim asked Horban the name of his God. The
question was so startling that Horban was able to quote it verbatim.
‘And who is your God?’ the Gorim said, his face stern. ‘Is it he
who cracked the world?’
Horban quickly realized that the Ulgos could not be held to an
etiquette which had been developed by civilized men to forestall the
inevitable wrangling and probable bloodshed which would
accompany theological disputation and chose, therefore, not to take
offense. He replied, as formally as possible, ‘I have the honor,
exalted one, to be a disciple of the Great God Nedra.’
The Gorim nodded. ‘We know of hiim,’ he said. ‘The eldest save
Aldur. A serviceable God, though a bit too stiff and formal for my
liking. It is the third God, Torak, the maimed one, who is our enemy.
He it was who cracked the earth and unloosed the evil that bestrides
the world above. Truly, had you confessed to the worship of Torak,
would you have been carried to a pit and cast down into the sea of
endless fire that lies infinitely far below.’
A shaken Horban had then inquired of the Gorim how it was that
he appeared to have such intimate knowledge of the seven Gods.
The response of the Gorim sparked a theological debate which has
lasted for over 900 years. He said: ‘We know of the seven Gods
because UL has revealed them to us, and UL knows them better than
any, since he is older than they.’
This simple statement was, of course, a thunderbolt which
galvanized the theologians of all the western nations. They were
immediately roused from their involuted efforts to each prove the superiority
of his God and plunged into the most significant debate in five
millennia. The fundamental question, of course, was: ‘Are there seven Gods
as we have always believed or are there eight?’ If there are seven,