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merchants are ever comfortable in Sthiss Tor. Most will limit
themselves to two or three voyages up the River of the Serpent. The
profits are enormous, but there is something about the Nyissans that
compels even the greediest to soon depart.
The most celebrated event in the history of Nyissa was the Alorn
invasion in 4002-3 as a result of the Nyissan assassination of the
Rivan King, Gorek the Wise. The motivation behind this apparently
senseless act has never been fully disclosed, although the Alorn
,Kings were able to extract it in detail from Queen Salmissra XXXIH
before she died. It is generally assumed that there was Angarak
involvement in the plot, but why the Angaraks would hold such
enmity toward the monarch of a remote island is unclear. Beyond
this, one wonders what could conceivably have been offered to a
Nyissan Queen to purchase her cooperation.
Whatever Salmissra's motives, the act was indisputably hers, and
the Alorn retribution was swift and terrible. As previously
discussed, the combined forces of Cherek, Drasnia, Algaria and the
isle of the Winds made quick work of the Nyissans. Following their
victory, the Alorns systematically and savagely destroyed the entire
nation, tearing down the towns and burning the villiages. All
Nyissans who fell into their hands were ruthlessly put to the sword.
Once again it was only the jungles that prevented the snake people
from being totally exterminated.
So brutal had been the destruction of Nyissa by the Alorns that for
five hundred years and despite frequent searches by Tolnedran
expeditions, no sign was visible that any Nyissans survived the
holocaust. Then, and only gradually,. did the snake people emerge
from the jungles to begin timidly rebuilding the capital at Sthiss Tor.
Amazingly, it appears that the Queen continued to dominate
Nyissan life even though her people had been scattered to the
winds. Queen Salmissra LXXIH emerged from the jungles as
imperious as had been her predecessors and so closely resembling the face
on ancient coinage that many had the eerie feeling that she was the
same woman.
The cause for this resemblance, however, had come to light
during one of the Tolnedran expeditions into Nyissa following the
Alorn invasion. In the vicinity of the capital were discovered several
stately houses, each identical to the others, and in the sealed central
hall of each house were discovered the skeletal remains of nineteen
youthful females. Remnants of clothing indicated that all were
identically dressed, and the remains were all precisely the same height.
In the surrounding rooms were the remains of numerous other
Nyissans as well - some in the garb of servants, others in the robes
of priests. The reason for the unbroken line and the uncanny
resemblance of each Queen to all who had passed before her became
abundantly clear. At a certain stage in the life of a Queen, a search was
made of the country to discover twenty young women who closely
resembled her. At the time of the old Queen's death, one of the
twenty was chosen to succeed her. The rest were summarily put to
death, along with their servants, teachers and priests, in order to
prevent any effort to supplant the chosen one. In this manner, the
Queen is made secure, and the line of succession is guaranteed.
Since their one excursion into the realm of international affairs
ended so disastrously, the Nyissans have remained steadfastly
neutral. Much concern existed in the Imperial court at Tol Honeth
during the invasion of the Angaraks under Kal-Torak in the 49