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information is so scanty that much of our understanding of the Angaraks
is the result of speculation and guess-work.
In essence, then, we have three tribes (or four - if one counts the
Grolims as a separate people) who migrated out of the dim reaches
of western Mallorea sometime at the end of the second millennium.
Some ancient and unknown enmity existed between them and the
Alorn peoples of the north, and for a thousand years they attempted
to penetrate Drasnia and Algaria but were steadfastly repulsed by
the legendary warriors of those lands. In time, those hostilities were
reduced sufficiently to permit a certain minimal contact between the
Angaraks and the peoples of the west.
In the fifth millennium, the Mallorean hordes under Kal-Torak
moved across the land bridge in northeastern Cor og Nadrak and
were joined by the Nadraks, ThuRs and Murgos in the invasion of
the west. Defeated finally at the Battle of Vo Mimbre, the surviving
western Angaraks fled back to their kingdoms along the shores of
the Great Eastern Sea.
For a century following the invasion, there existed a state of
virtual war along the borders between the Angaraks and the west.
Skirmishes and ambushes between the opposing sides made those
frontiers the most dangerous places in the known world.
Gradually, once again, relations began to normalize, and trade
though severely limited - was resumed along the North Caravan
Route. Almost five hundred years, however, were to pass before the
stift'necked Murgos permitted the reopening of the South Caravan
Route. Then, almost overnight, they quite suddenly relented
indeed seemed to welcome the resumption of commerce. Oddly, for
the first time, there has been significant caravan traffic from the east,
and the sight of mailed Murgo merchants and their Thullish porters
in the streets and along the quays of Tol Honeth have become
commonplace.
Alarmists have contended that these Angaraks are in fact spies
probing the west in preparation for yet another invasion, but these
are the counsels of timidity. Our own merchants in the south and
those of the Drasnians in the north have witnessed no unusual
military activity and the numbers of the western Angaraks are so
limited that without the aid of Mallorea they could not hope to
mount a sustained campaign against the west. Kal-Torak is dead.
ffis like will never appear again, and without such a leader to Spur
them on there is little likelihood that the hordes of Mallorea would
ever again join with the western Angaraks in those desperate
adventures which so nearly exterminated them in the past.
Car Og Nadrak
COINAGE
All coins have the likeness of Torak on the face, and all coins - even
though stamped in either Car og Nadrak or Cthol Murgos are
universal among the Angaraks. (Coinage originated in Mallorea.)
GOLD
Angaraks use large gold bars or ingots for major transactions.
10 lb. bar called a gold tenweight, worth about $20,000
5 lb. bar called a gold fiveweight, worth about $10,000
1 lb. bar called gold pound, worth about $2,000