of the serious meat-famine which followed the Angaraks’ disastrous
adventure in the west.) To the south in the foothills of the mountains
a sparsely timbered belt exists which soon gives way to the empty
reaches of the wastes of Murgos. The southern boundary of Mishrak
ac Thull is the Taur River.
Cthol Murgos
This southern Angarak Kingdom is the most bleak and uninviting.
The seaport of Rak Coska at the mouth of the Taur is the only city of
any size in Cthol Murgos, aside from the theological capital at Rak
Cthol, and forms the eastern terminus of the South Caravan Route.
Cthol Murgos is, by any civilized ‘standard, an uninhabitable
wasteland. Because of the aridity of the country, agriculture is
minimal, and the Murgos must import virtually all their foodstuffs. The
bleak coastline is backed for a hundred leagues with the bleak
wastes of Murgos; there is again, as in llishrak ac Thull, a narrow
belt of stunted trees; and then there is only the endless barren waste
of the southern mountains.
* The Tolnedrans didn’t know about southern Cthol Murgos at this point.
The only geographic feature worthy of note in those mountains is
the vast, flat Wasteland of Murgos just to the west of the first range
of mountains. The area, perhaps a hundred leagues wide and three
hundred long, appears to have been a huge inland sea at some time
in the dim reaches of the pre-historic past. Either the sea was
drained during some cataclysmic geological upheaval, or a drastic
change in climate to the present aridity caused it to gradually dry
up. Whatever the reason, only the sea-bed remains. Enormous
stretches of barren salt-flats are interspersed with endless expanses
of black sand and ridges of tumbled basalt slabs. Somewhere near
the center of the wasteland is the Tam of Cthok, a foul-smelling lake
seething with chemical salts and so noxious that even the vultures of
Cthol Murgos are frequently overcome by the fumes as they fly over
it and fall into the water and perish. The marge of the lake is a
bubbling quagmire, forever churned by stinking gasses rising from
the very bowels of the earth.
Somewhat to the west of the tam rises, the solitary peak which is
the site of Rak Cthol, the forbidden theological capital of the
Murgos. The sides of the peak are smooth basalt, and the only
approach to the city is by way of a narrow, inclined causeway, built
“I LILT; uibLCULL pabl vy unspeakable amounts Of human labor. One is
sickened at the thought of whole generations of slaves toiling away
their lives to lay this pathway to Rak Cthol. The walls of the city are
as high as the peak itself. What lies within the city is a mystery, since
no outsider is permitted to enter.
As is the case with Nyissa, which forms the northwestern
boundary of this bleak country, the southern border of Cthol Murgos is
indistinct. The western reaches of the land of the Murgos are and
mountains, bleak and uninhabited.
THE PEOPLE
While they are all Angaraks, there are subtle distinctions between
the inhabitants of the three eastern kingdoms and between them and
the Malloreans (also Angarak) who dwell in unnumbered hordes in
the uncharted lands beyond the Eastern Sea.
THE NADRAKS
These northern-most Angaraks are more volatile than their brothers
to the south. While all Angaraks are war-like, it was the Nadraks
who conducted the centuries-long campaign which continually probed
the borders of Drasnia and Algaria during the third millennium.
,’Fortunately, the Nadraks are also acquisitive, and it was this
characteristic which made possible the opening of the North Caravan
Route from Boktor to Yar Marak. With the growth of trade, there has
also been a growth of information, and as a result of more frequent
contact, we know more about the Nadraks than we do of Thulls or
Murgos or Grolims. Nadrak hunters range the vast forests of the
north, providing the luxuriant furs for which Gar og Nadrak is so
,justly famous. Nadrak miners, unlike the Murgos to the south, scorn
the use of slave labor and hack gold and gems from the living rock
with their own hands. A rowdy group, these foresters, hunters and
miners are susceptible to the pleasures of keg and flagon, and
Drasnian agents, posing as merchants, have for centuries used this
susceptibility to their own advantage. Much information can be
gained concerning concentrations of troops, movements and even
the temper of officials in Yar Nadrak, the capital, for the minor
investment in a few kegs of ale in wayside camps and villages.
The present King of the Nadraks is Drosta lek Thun, an excitable
man in his early forties who has made some effort to make the court
at Yar Nadrak a more courtly and civilized one, but the ambassadors
of the western kingdoms realize that beneath his shrill charm,
drosta is a treacherous and dangerous ruler.
THE THULLS
These central Angaraks are bulkier than’ the Nadraks to the north,
who tend to be nearly as rangy as Alorns. Thulls tend to be broad of
shoulder, wide-backed, thick-hipped and somewhat slow-witted. In
battle we have observed that the Thulls are more likely to rely on
brute strength rather than on any degree of skill or tactics.
While it might appear that such people would be easy to best in
any kind of trade, merchants renowned throughout the west for
their canniness and the sharpness of their dealings have been
frustrated by the Thulls who display that suspicion that is frequently a
characteristic of the less-intelligent. Further, dealing with the Thulls
is a dangerous business since they tend in the direction of homicidal
rages at the first hint of chicanery – real or imagined.
Perhaps the fairest indication of the Thullish character is the fact
that the favorite sport at village fairs in the back-country of Mishrak
ac Thull is the head-butting contest – a form of competition that is
not infrequently fatal to both participants.
The Thulls are prolific, perhaps as a result of the legendary
appetite of the generously proportioned Thullish women.
The aged King of the Thulls, Clota Hrok, still sits firmly on his
throne in Thull Mardu, despite the efforts of his eldest son Gethel to
persuade to retire.
* Gethel was elevated to the throne in the Belgariad.
THE MURGOS
These are the most savage of the Angaraks. All Murgo men are
warriors and habitually wear armor as casually as civilized men
wear wool or linen. They are stockier than the Nadraks, but not so
bulky as the Thulls.
the murgos are close-mouthed to the point of rudeness, which
makes trade with them extremely difficult. The bleakness of their
homeland has perhaps infected their character. It is not uncommon
for a Murgo merchant to conduct negotiations without ever
speaking. He will examine the merchandise offered, lay a certain amount
Of gold on the table, and, if the trader objects to the sum, he will
simply pick up his gold and depart. For the trader, for whom
haggling is often more important than profit, this can be frustrating
in the extreme.
Murgos will not discuss their theological capital at Rak Cthol (or
even admit that it exists), and large portions of their uninhabitable
country are absolutely forbidden to outsiders.
It has been persistently rumored that the Murgo population is
much more extensive than the scanty numbers which are evident
along the South Caravan Route or in the streets of Rak Coska would
indicate, and many have suspected the existence of vast Murgo cities
lying in the southern mountains of Cthol Murgos below the river
Cthrog. Since those areas are strictly closed, however, the rumors are
impossible to substantiate.
One note of caution must be sounded in any discussion of the
Murgos. Murgo women are kept closely confined and are never seen in
public – not even the youngest female children. To the casual observer
it might appear that Cthol Murgos is inhabited entirely by males. This,
however, is not the case, and travelers and merchants who visit would
be well-advised to avoid those portions of Murgo houses normally
marked by black doors, for to violate the sanctity of the women’s
quarters in any Murgo household is to invite instant death.
The King of the Murgos is Taur Urgas, a man of uncertain sanity,
who holds the country in an iron grip.
THE MALLOREANS
Little is known in the west of these strange people. Occasionally, by
chance. Mallorean merchants are encountered in Yar Marak, Thull
Zelik or Rak Coska. Since they speak an Angarak dialect that is
virtually unintelligible to westerners, direct communication with
them is almost impossible. The extent of the Mallorean Empire is
unknown, but the traditional words, ‘limitless’, boundless’, ‘vast’,
and so forth indicate lands of staggering dimensions.
Agents of the Drasnian Kings, who from the time of the
establishment of the North Caravan Route, have probed the Angarak
kingdoms in the guise of merchants, have devoted centuries to the