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bureaucracy. Grolim efforts to maintain their control were met with
universal hatred. Without Torak, the Grolims had no real power.
Though most of his sons had perished at Vo Mimbre, one gifted
child remained to the old Emperor, the son of his old age, a boy of
about seven. The Emperor spent the few years remaining to him
instructing, schooling and preparing his son, Korzeth, for the task of
ruling his far-flung Empire. When advanced years finally rendered
the old Emperor incompetent, Korzeth, then aged about fourteen,
callously deposed his father and ascended the Imperial throne.
In the years following Vo Mimbre, Mallorean society had
fractured back into its original components of Melcena, Karanda,
Dalasia and ancient Mallorea. Indeed, there was even a movement
in some quarters to further disintegrate the nation into those
prehistoric kingdoms which had existed on the continent prior to the
coming of the Angaraks. This movement toward separatism was
particularly strong in the principality of Gandahar in southern
Melcena, in Zamad and Voresebo in Karanda and in Perivor in the
Dalasian protectorates. Deceived by Korzeth's youth, these
separatist regions rashly declared independence from the Imperial
throne at Mal Zeth, and other districts- and principalities, notably
Ganesia, Darshiva and Likandia gave strong indications that they
would soon follow suit. Korzeth moved immediately to stem
the tide of revolution. The boy-emperor spent the rest of his life on
horseback in perhaps the greatest internecine blood bath in history;
but when he was done, he delivered a reunified Mallorea to his
successor on the throne.
The new Emperors of Mallorea, the descendants of Korzeth,
brought a different kind of rule to the continent. Prior to the calamity
in the west, the Emperor of Mallorea had quite often been little more
than a figurehead, and power had largely rested in the hands of the
bureaucracy. Now, however, the Imperial throne was absolute. The
center of power shifted from Melcene to Mal Zeth in keeping with
the largely military orientation of Korzeth and his descendants. As is
almost always the case when power is consolidated in the hands of
one supreme ruler, intrigue became commonplace. Plots, ploys,
conspiracies and the like abounded as various functionaries
schemed to discredit opponents and to gain Imperial favor. Rather
than move to stop these palace intrigues, the descendants of Korzeth
encouraged them, shrewdly perceiving that men divided by mutual
distrust and enmity would never unite to challenge the power of the
throne.
'Zakath, the present Emperor, assumed the throne during his
eighteenth year and gave early promise of enlightened rule. He
appeared to be intelligent, sensitive and capable. It was a profound
personal tragedy, however, which turned him from that course and
helped to make him a man feared by half the world. In order for us
to understand what happened to 'Zakath, we must first examine
what was taking place in Cthol Murgos. As is generally the case
when a nation survives for more than a few centuries, the Kings of
Cthol Murgos may most conveniently be considered in dynasties.
Upon their first arrival in the west, the Murgos had debated the
actual necessity for a king. Their aristocratic background, however,
coupled with the fact that the nations around them all had kings,
made the establishment of a Murgo throne inevitable. At first the
Kings of Cthol Murgos were for the most part ceremonial, with the
real power residing in the hands of the commanding generals of the
nine military districts. The military commander of the District of
Coska was elevated to the throne largely because he commanded