 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Empire against the Rivans. He was, however, brought abruptly to his
senses by a curtly-worded note from the Cherek ambassador.
'Majesty'' it read.
'Know that Aloria will permit no attack upon Riva. The fleets of
Cherek, whose masts rise as thick as the trees of the forest, will fall
upon your flotilla, and the legions of Tolnedra will feed the fish from the
hook of Arendia to the furthest reaches of the Sea of the Winds. The
battalions of Drasnia will march south, crushing all in their paths and lay
siege to your cities. The horsemen of Algaria shall sweep across the
mountains and shall lay waste your Empire from end to end with fire
and sword.
'Know that in the day that you attack Riva, in that day will the Alorns
make war upon you, and you shall surely perish, and your Empire also.'
Shaken by the awful finality of the note, Ran Borune reconsidered. A
hasty reading of the document which had laid down the stipulations of
the Accords of Val Alorn revealed a clause which had previously
seemed mere ritualistic gibberish, but the import of which now became
horrifyingly clear. The clause, 'but Aloria shall maintain Riva and keep it
whole', revealed the fact that the Alorn Kingdoms were bound into a
kind of confederation or Over-nation. Thus, a treaty with Cherek was
not a treaty with Aloria; and while Cherek had agreed not to make war
on Tolnedra, Aloria had made no such promise. With difficulty the
legions might successfully pursue war against any one of the Alorn
Kingdoms, but if those kingdoms joined together, they would be
invincible.
Thus it was that the project of a punitive expedition against the
Rivans was quickly dropped.
In time the Rivans relented and permitted the construction of a
commercial enclave outside the walls of their city, and, though they
grumbled about it, the merchants of the west were forced to be
content with that single concession.
Thus the FIRST BORUNE DYNASTY drew to a close. Its
accomPlishments were literally staggering, and, though it ended on a
somewhat humiliating note, it is nonetheless one of the most towering
Dynasties in the entire history of the Empire.
THE THIRD HONETHITE DYNASTY
3155-3497 (342 years, 17 Emperors)
The scramble for the Throne at the end of the FIRST BORUNE
DYNASTY marked the nadir of Tolnedran politics. Simple bribery
was no longer sufficient, and the contending candidates openly