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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.