Sunday, January 30, 2011

End of Empire

An excerpt from End of Empire by Yeshi the Observer

The Conqueror wintered in Hobras with his troops, near to the ruins of Vess, and his men fortified the city.  In so taking the upper reaches of the Ephacce River, the Conqueror impeded river traffic from Veladis northwestward.  The following spring there was an escalation in the cost of many goods normally traded along that river.  Some boatwomen returning from the river said that the Conqueror was confiscating barges and all their cargo.  Some said the arrival of the Conqueror had given rise to banditry.

The armies of Zefar could not do battle with the Conqueror.  Those who fell on the battlefield were left behind with their bronze swords shattered and their bronze shields shorn in two.  All the magic that had served the Zefari so well in the forging of their Empire had failed them now, for steel was stronger than bronze, and the secret of steel was not known to magic.

In all the cities of Zefar, the people turned against their masters.  The Zefari had ruled long over the others:  the Drendel horse-men, the Avadi northerners, and the Boda mentalists were all lesser races to the Zefari.  Now fear ran through the Empire, fear of the Conqueror that they could not halt.  The Zefari had failed to protect the Empire that they built.  Deprived of comfort and security, the people began to whisper of turning against the Emperor.

Only the Abbadar remained loyal to the Empire, for long ago, Ayalthar the United had offered clemency to those people and invited them back to their holy lands from whence the Empire had expelled them.  The Abbadar, all in appreciation, did swear undying loyalty to the cause of Zefar.

This was not popular among the people of the Empire.  Loyalty to a helpless Empire during this time of crisis was worse, in the eyes of some, than treason…

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