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neither as tall as the Nadraks nor as thick-bodied as the Thulls, nor
are they quite as muscular as the typical Murgo. Their dispositions
would seem to be more open, but the keen-eyed Drasnians have
noted a tendency among them to be - if not precisely fearful - at least
apprehensive in the presence of Grolim priests. Drasnian intelligence
speculates that Mallorea is in all probability a theocracy dominated
by Grolims who rule by terror in the service of Torak, the Angarak
God.
NOTE: The only Mallorean who has played any significant part in the history
of the west was the 49th century conqueror, Kal-Torak, who led the
invasion of the Malloreans and western Angaraks and who was
defeated at the famous Battle of Vo Mimbre. The prefix 'Kal' is
untranslatable, but would seem to signify that the meaning of the
name was 'Arm of Torak' or possibly 'Spirit of Torak'. The popular
superstition that it was the god Torak himself is, of course, nonsense.
THE GROLIMS
These are the ubiquitous Angarak priests who are seen in all parts of
the Angarak kingdoms. Little can be known of them except by
implication, since they steadfastly refuse to even speak to
nonAngaraks. No hints can be gathered as to their physical appearance
due to the shrouding, hooded black robes they customarily wear
and the soul-chilling steel facemasks which are the marks of their
priesthood. These masks, supposedly replicas of the face of the God
Torak, conceal the entire face and help to explain the awe with
which the Grolims are regarded.
It is unknown whether the Grolims are an order, selected from
the body of the Angarak populace, or if they are a separate tribe
Drasnian agents have attempted for millennia to unravel this
mystery but without success, since not even the most drunken
Nadrak n-dner will ever discuss the Grolims.
Fragmentary reports from the battlefield at Vo Mimbre hint at the
possibility that the Grolims are not exclusively male, but that there
were also priestesses among the bodies on that field, but the
necessity for rapid disposal of the dead to avoid the possibility of
pestilence made verification of this impossible.
Whatever their origins and true nature, however, the Grolims
dominate Angarak life. The hideous orgies of human sacrifice which
characterize the Angarak religion are presided over by Grolims, and
the sacrificial victims, despite popular belief in the west, are not
drawn exclusively from the ranks of slaves. Even the remotest
villages of Nadraks and Thulls have the traditional black altar of
Torak, stained with the blood of the unnumbered victims who for
millennia have gone screaming under the knife.
No information exists, of course, about the nature of the
organization of the Grolim priesthood. One suspects that there exists
somewhere - either in Mallorea or perhaps at Rak Cthol or some other
inaccessible place - some high priest or chief priest or some such
figure, but this is sheer speculation.
THE HISTORY OF THE ANGARAKS
Little is known of the early millennia of these people. It appears that
their migration across the northern land bridge from Mallorea took
place at the end of the second or the beginning of the third
millennium, much later than the western migration of the others of