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the emissaries had hammered out over half a millennium of
negotiation and insisted that every concession granted in every treaty be
honored, slyly reminding the emissaries that he was the king and
asking them how they could presume to offer him less than they had
offered a mere Clan-chief.
The result was one of the more humiliating treaties ever concluded
by the Empire. No Tolnedran garrisons were permitted within the
borders of Algaria. No commerce was allowed within the country
except for certain limited trade at Aldurford in certain precisely
specified items - mostly tools and necessities rather than the high-profit
luxury items. There was not even the most-favored status
customarily
accorded Tolnedran merchants. This made it necessary for
Tolnedran cattle-buyers to appear at Muros in Sendaria and to
actually vie with others in the purchase of Algarian cattle rather than to
select, at their own price, the cream of the herd as was their practice
elsewhere. They were also forced to bid their lowest prices on items
the Algarian clans purchased in quantity (Algars seldom purchase
items individually) invariably in competition with other merchants
from other nations. All of this has made the great fair at Muros in
Sendaria one of the major commercial events of the year. Tolnedran
merchants have complained bitterly about the treaty with the Algars,
but Emperor Ran Horb ii had, at the time of its signing eyes only for
the vision of the Great North Road, and each of the concessions
granted the Algars forged more miles of that splendid dream.
When word reached Algaria in 4002 that the Rivan King had been
assassinated, an event took place which had never before been
witnessed. The Tolnedran ambassador, Dravor, reported in secret
dispatches to Tol Honeth that the entire population gathered at the
Stronghold leaving the herds only sparsely attended. There was a
great conference of the Clan-chiefs with King Cho-Ram IV, and an
army of the finest warriors was conscripted from the assembled
clans. Ambassador Dravor reported further that other elements of
Algar cavalry were set to patrolling the borders. Then, at the end of
sixty days, the multitudes of Drasnian infantry appeared and joined
with the Algar cavalry in their trek across the mountains to attack
the eastern borders of Nyissa. While this horde was technically in
violation of Tolnedran territory, the Emperor, Ran Vordue I,
prudently chose not to intercept them.
Algar cavalry struck terror into the hearts of the Nyissans, and
King Cho-Ram IV and King Radek XVii of Drasnia developed a
series of tactical alternatives involving the cooperation between
infantry and cavalry units which remain classics to this day.
Following the destruction of Nyissa, Algaria prospered, although
there appears to have been a significant tightening of security along
the eastern border.
With the invasion of Drasnia by the Angaraks, the Algars
attempted to aid their northern cousins but were repulsed by the
sheer numbers of the Angaraks and Mallorean hordes - estimated
by some to number as many as a half-million warriors. For the
second time the Algars gathered at the Stronghold and the
population - with the exception of the finest cavalry units, entered the
fortress and sealed the gates.
Following the destruction of Drasnia, the angaraks