The owner of the boots was a tall man, clad entirely in black with his head clean shaven. He had alighted from a small boat whose prow was shaped in the likeness of a dragon and lay at anchor in the shallow sea.
The man was responding to the call of another of his kind, one who had just emerged from the heart of the steaming jungle. Picking up pace, he walked towards him. The calling man was joined by two more of his colleagues; the three men seemed excited by something.
Finally, he caught up with them. It turned out that, here, a small river emptied into the sea, colouring the waters with its muddy sediment. A small rowboat had been pulled on to the sand. it was weathered and bore the marks of one that had recently undertaken a lengthy journey.
The man stopped; he seemed excited.
‘Show me!’ he said at last. ‘Show me.’
The calling man was smiling. It was the beatific smile of one who had recently seen the face of his god. He opened his hand and held the object it contained up to the sky. The other three men fell to their knees and bowed their heads.
‘Our work continues, my brothers. The great cleansing of this Earth is still at hand. Behold the secret that the jungle has given up after thousands of years!’
And those that knelt looked up at the man, and the object he held in his triumph. They beheld its glittering beauty – how the sun shone through it and how the inner part of the great red stone appeared to move, as though some thick fluid was contained at its very heart.
Epilogue
The pass here, where it finally opened out into the great green plains that marked the beginnings of Arshuman territory, was wide, even and easy to traverse. It was guarded by a turreted stone fort, but this appeared to be deserted; even its customary yellow flag had been taken down.
But this was not the concern of Commander General Vergonen as he sat atop his great armoured steed on the hill the fortress occupied, just in front of its opened gates. Beside him sat the chiselled features of Ambassador Hylas and together they watched as the great Western Army of the White Empire of Chira, a force twenty-five thousand strong, slowly made its way on to the Arshuman plain.
The most striking feature of a Chiran army was its uniformity. Each infantryman wore a beaked conical helmet with a long neck guard of close-fitting metal scales. They also wore long shirts of similar scale armour; it would have been almost fish-like in appearance had not every scale been washed with lime so that each man there gleamed pristine and white in the sun. Their shields were white, too. Kite-shaped they were with each bearing a simple device, the blue diamond of the Western Army, over which was a number, denoting each man’s company within the army itself. Like Tanaren, blue was the colour of the Western Army, reflected in the cloaks of the soldiers and their banners, Tanaren and Chira, after all, did share a common heritage. Each man carried a tall silver-headed spear and at his waist was a sword belt. Short, stabbing swords were favoured in the Empire, far more effective when men were closely packed together. And when Chira fought, its men were always closely packed together.
Vergonen was smiling; it was the cavalry’s turn now. Chira itself was not a great nation of horsemen; rather the cavalry were drawn from all quarters of the Empire and as such looked much more of a patchwork than the footmen.
‘I never tire of it, Hylas,’ Vergonen was saying. ‘I never tire of it, seeing the army on the move – all those months of drilling the men, getting them to learn their formations, seeing it in action like this, I never tire of it.’
‘And now you have a whole country to add to the Empire,’ Hylas replied. A nation in collapse, allied with Koze; how you will rise in the Emperor’s favour.’
‘It matters not,’ said Vergonen, completely untruthfully. ‘You yourself gave their king the conditions for our support; that he has failed to meet them is his fault entirely. We are here to provide security for the Empire, nothing more.’
‘And when order is re-established, we will withdraw here?’
Vergonen smiled. ‘If it is the Emperor’s will.’
‘We should be at his palace in the morning,’ said Hylas. ‘There we can appoint a new king, a more loyal one, which shouldn’t be too difficult. Having said that mind I do feel a little sorry for Aganosticlan; it was hardly his fault that he supposedly came up against a dragon.’
Vergonen’s smile vanished. ‘It is no laughing matter. Tanaren seems to be a land of dragons. the Emperor’s symposium will be examining the matter carefully. If more dragons awaken, not even the Empire can feel itself completely safe.’
Hylas seemed unconcerned. Like many he had difficulty believing the veracity of these outlandish tales. ‘And what of Tanaren itself, I wonder? I will visit their Grand Duke the minute this Arshuman business is settled, but the Emperor’s eyes are ever restless.’
‘Tanaren has little reason to concern itself with us for the time being. It is a trading nation and has many partners with whom our own trading relations are poor. It is strong with a battle-hardened army, but, as you say, the Emperor’s eyes are ever restless – nothing can ever be set in stone.’
‘Tanaren is a matter for tomorrow; Arshuma is the matter for today.’ Hylas’s face was ever grim. ‘See how the army floods this plain; they are almost all through the pass. Just baggage and rear guard remain. Let us move to the army’s head and direct its march from there.’
Hylas steered his horse down the rocky hill and forwards, but Vergonen held back for a little, admiring his command. Today another country had ceased to exist in its own right, becoming rather just another province of the Empire. The young but martial Emperor, Ucarioth III, would indeed be pleased with this day. A country in chaos needing the restoration of order, discipline and obedience, and Chira was just the firm guiding hand required in this instance.
A millennium ago, it was just another city-state nestling among the low mountains. Now it was the greatest empire the world had ever seen, bordering five oceans, uniting over fifty former kingdoms under the astute management of its Chiran officials. It was no coincidence that this had happened, for no city knew the values of self-sacrifice and unity in a common cause better than Chira did, no army was better paid or trained, no priesthood united more under its faith, and no Emperor commanded such respect as Ucarioth Alkyneses, Knight Reaper of the North.
And Vergonen knew that he was just a minor player in the perpetuation of such an empire. And yet, as he was taught as a child, even the most insignificant person has a role to play. And play it he would; with all his heart and every sinew he would play it. As Vergonen finally urged his horse down the hill, he knew that, while he still drew breath, the Empire’s thousand years of glory would be ever set to continue.
Appendices
Appendix I:
A Brief Chronology
The dating system currently in use in Tanaren was adopted following the securing of full independence from the Chiran Empire following the Battle of Hawks Moor. Prior to that, the Chiran chronology was the one widely used. This system counts year zero as the year in which its near neighbour and rival city-state Anmir was conquered, the formal date from which Chira started to count itself as an empire. The system in Tanaren has as its zero year the date the first Grand Duke, Tanar, secured Roshythe and landed in the bay in which Tanaren City was to be formally established. This occurred some 220 years after the Chiran year zero, so to count the years in the Chiran chronology, 220 years need to be added to each date below.
There have been 52 Grand Dukes, most administering the country as a Chiran client kingdom with full autonomy (providing they did nothing to seriously annoy their overlords). There have been three periods of full independence (the current period being easily the longest), while, from years 500 to 655, the Grand Dukes were appointed directly by Chira and acted as little more than provincial governors. This was the only period in which heredity did not count in the matter of succession. Not all the Grand Dukes are listed below for reasons of brevity.
c.-300 Foundation of the city of Chi
ra. Legend has it that Chir a shepherd from the high mountains happened upon a green tract of land nestling between two mountain spurs and when he struck his shepherds crook upon the ground a great river poured forth and the God Artorus appeared to him telling him to build the foundations of the city that would become the greatest in the world.
c.-280 First war with Anmir ends in defeat. A treaty is signed ceding land and money to the victorious city along with the payment of an annual tribute.
c.-260 Second war with Anmir ends in victory. All land and money reclaimed and Anmir were now required to pay tribute to Chira.
c.-220 Final war with Anmir. Anmir conquered and annexed and Chira formerly declares itself an empire.
-184 to -180 The great mage war. A collaboration of mages attempt to take Chira using their destructive powers. Thousands die before they are defeated. To control the mages in future, colleges are founded in remote areas where they are penned, trained and only called upon at times of need. Other countries see the system and copy it as nearly every country had been threatened by mages in times past.
-175 Lake Coteku and its peoples conquered by Chira.
-166 Lake Febrey and its peoples conquered by Chira.
c.-140 The remaining Lakes peoples accept Chiran hegemony.
-100 to -98 First rebellion of the People of the Lakes.
-90 to -87 Second rebellion of the People of the Lakes brutally suppressed.
-61 The First Wych War starts as Chira intercedes in a tribal dispute.
-37 The First Wych War, a conflict sporadic in nature with loyalties constantly shifting ends with the annexation of the Lutelia and Baetal tribes and the seizure of their lands. Many Wych folk flee to other tribes, but those who could not or did not want to flee become absorbed into Chiran society as a despised minority.
-14 Second Wych War commences as Wych general Gellethon invades the Lakes, defeating a small Chiran border force at the Battle of Nexi.
-13 Gellethon victorious at Battle of Lake Kepha.
-12 Gellethon victorious at Battle of the Shadows.
-11 Battle of Lebethra. Nearly 50,000. Chiran soldiers killed in a day. The Lakes are seized and the Wych folk besiege Chira City.
-7 Wych folk leave Chira City. Siege broken many times in preceding years as General Kathan keeps luring the Wych forces into piecemeal battles. They move back to the Lakes where Kathan continues to harass them.
-2 Stalemate of war broken when Chiran general Tolmareon invades the Wych homelands of the northern plains. Surprised, the Wych folk fall back before him.
0 Tolmareon’s chief commander, Tanar, invades the lands that come to be known as Tanaren. Roshythe taken in a near bloodless assault and Tanaren City founded. Tolmareon names Tanar as first Grand Duke and Tanar’s first commanders as hereditary dukes; this includes Linus Hartfield, Tanar’s closest confidant.
2 Battle of Shefom. Wych folk finally defeated, Second Wych war declared over the following year with colossal land gains for the Chiran Empire. The Wych folk either flee overseas or secrete themselves in the darkest woods. The remainder are absorbed into Chiran society.
3 The Battle of Metu. Tanar defeats a force of rebellious Wych folk and their Marsh allies. The following year punitive actions are taken against the Marsh folk. This battle is counted as the first of the nine great battles of Tanaren.
21 Tanar, the first Grand Duke dies. In the preceding years Tanaren is accepted as a Chiran client state and its borders are formally established. Tanaren City continues to swell and Tanaren now has its own standing army closely allied to Chira. Wych colonies are established in the Aelthenwood and the city of Zerannon is founded in the hope of improving relations between the two peoples. This contrasts sharply with Chira’s attitude to the Wych folk according to which they are little more than chattels.
40 Suspicious death of Culmenion of Zerannon ends the period of good relations between humans and Wych folk.
46 Christoph Hartfield becomes the sixth Grand Duke and the first not related to Tanar. The previous Grand Duke died without issue and so the remaining dukes decided the succession between them.
57–59 Third Wych War. The rump of the tribes still dwelling on the plains are finally defeated. No free Wych peoples now exist on the Great Plains.
72 The Battle of Oro-Califan. An invading Kozean army of 70,000 is surrounded and slaughtered, tipping the balance of power between the two empires and starting the slow decline of Koze.
c,100 Construction of the College of the Mages on the Isle of Tears is completed. The Isle of Healing is founded some twenty-five years later.
120 Tamas Hartfield, the eighth Grand Duke, formally names Tanaren City as the new capital. The city is often referred to as just Tanaren by the locals, causing much confusion between the country and city among foreign visitors.
160 Lorgan Mesteia becomes the eleventh Grand Duke ending the rule of the Hartfields.
225 Grand Duke Typhon Mesteia defeats a Chiran army at the Battle of Red Vale. Chira, riven by internal conflict at the time, is unable to resist, as Typhon declares full independence from Chira. This was the second great battle of Tanaren.
273 Death of Typhon the Nation Builder.
291 Arshuma, under the kingship of Otyx the Fell Hammer, expands his country’s boundaries north of Harshafan’s Belt for the first time. Its new territorial claims drive a wedge between Tanaren and Chira, meaning the Empire is no longer physically connected to Tanaren.
292 Battle of Donan’s Field. The young Grand Duke Donan Mesteia is cut down and killed by an Arshuman army.
293 Battle of the Meads. The new Grand Duke, Lasran Marschall, stops Arshuman ambitions by defeating them at this, the third great battle of Tanaren.
294 With the army of Tanaren still weak and the Arshumans regrouping, Lasran Marschall asks the Chiran Empire for their protection. Independence is lost and the Marschalls are seen for ever after as Chiran sympathisers. The land lost to Arshuma is not regained.
305–401 Under four Grand Dukes, Bredun Marschall (305–26), Tobin Mesteia (326–33), Travanor I (also: the Great) (333–74) and Dane Mesteia (374–401), Tanaren enjoys the greatest period of stability it has ever known. Universities become fully established as among the greatest in the world, the grand cathedral and Ducal Palace double in size (the cathedral gets its golden tower at this time) and Tanarese sea power becomes pre-eminent. Trading links with the elves become strong and a great flourishing of the arts and sciences occur. The country is ostensibly still a Chiran client kingdom, and resentment begins to rise again. A secretive independence movement, the Army of the Blue, is founded.
415 The new Grand Duke, Eliobald Mesteia (401–16), is seen as weak and indecisive compared to his predecessors. Festering resentment focuses on Duke Hartwig in the northern heartlands and finally, in 415, the First Tanarese Civil War breaks out.
416 The Battle of Hartwig. Marius Hartwig advances on Tanaren City and Eliobald rashly rides out to meet him. He is killed and Marius Hartwig becomes Grand Duke, the only Hartwig ever to have the title. This is the fourth of the great battles of Tanaren.
418 The other dukes turn to Chira for aid. They blockade the harbour of Tanaren City and send a force to defeat Hartwig. After months of evasive action Hartwig is finally brought to bay and defeated at the Battle of Drego’s Spur. He is executed and the Hartwigs are stripped of the title of Duke. Hartwig’s son fights against his father and so is given the title of Baron. This is the fifth of the nine great battles of Tanaren.
444 The great insurgency, or the Second Tanarese Civil War. The new Grand Duke, Tolbas Edrington, is challenged for the title by Baron Radman Stramash, a bastard son. He allies with Kibil and Arshuma and his great army descends on Tanaren City. Tolbas again elicits Chiran aid and the forces meet close to the Red River. Baron Radman orders his Tanarese banner to be dipped in the blood of the dead from a previous battle and so the battle they fight becomes known as the Battle of the Blood-soaked Banner. In terms of troop numbers, this was the
greatest battle fought on Tanarese soil. Many thousands are killed, including Tolbas and Radman, but ultimately the Edrington forces triumph. Obviously, this is the sixth great battle of Tanaren.
491 Following the Battle of the Blood-soaked Banner an enormous Chiran presence is maintained in Tanaren City. Welcomed at first as liberators, as the years pass and Duke Colbas Marschall imposes Chiran law on its inhabitants, resistance to them slowly grows. The Army of the Blue swells its numbers and attacks on Chiran troops on the streets of Tanaren City become commonplace. Attacks are followed by bloody crackdowns and further attacks until finally, in a great uprising, the Battle of Tanaren City, the seventh great battle of Tanaren commences. The streets run red with blood for weeks with People’s Hill being the focus of the worst violence. Finally, the Ducal Palace is stormed and Colbas hung from one of its towers. The Chiran army is forced into a humiliating surrender and is banished from the city. The second (albeit brief) period of Tanarese independence commences. There is no Grand Duke, rather a Lord Protector elected on an annual basis.
500 Chira, not an empire that accepts humiliation, invades Tanaren with Arshuman collusion. Thirty thousand troops slaughter all opposition and Tanaren City is stormed, though most of the resistance has already fled. The Protector for that year is executed by disembowelment in the marketplace. A new Grand Duke, Monash Pretokan, a Chiran outsider is appointed. All Grand Dukes from 500 to 655 are appointed in this manner and nearly all are little loved by the people.
509–44 The one exception to this is Travanor II. A Chiran general, he changes his name to that of a well- known former Grand Duke and attempts to assimilate himself into Tanarese culture. He orders a great phase of new buildings throughout the country including a large expansion to the Ducal Palace. He instigates many more public and religious festivals, most famously the Winter Feast ball. This time, however, is seen as a return to decadence after the bloodbaths and austerity of the previous century and the organised gangs of the Rose District flourish.
The Forgotten War Page 148