On the fifty-second day following departure from Crisremon the Dragon Expedition passed beyond the boundaries of the Core Provinces and into those territories integrated into the Empire during the reign of Husun the Second that came to be known as the Outer Provinces. Here, in the northeastern corner of imperial territory, only a single such province exists, the rugged Nla-Shdrast. This comprised the foothills and lower slopes of the western spur of the Shdrast Mountains. This province was then under the governorship of Yalum Nevastalm, formerly a general in the imperial army and of no relation to the Emperor. His administration was centered in the provincial capital of Nlamadt, the only city in the region worthy of the name.
For one who walks the grand imperial highways east and north, the provincial boundary seems a subtle thing, marked only by a carved stone obelisk arrayed in monument mostly to the hubris of cartographers, for it is on all sides surrounded by land that appears much the same in every direction as far as the eye can see. This is a dry region, with the ground mostly stony and barren. Scrub bushes predominate and here and there small tufts of grass find purchase. Small rodents can be seen bounding between rocks and such to evade hunting jackals and raptors.
The peaks are higher in the Outer Province, relief being greater with steeper slopes and deeper ravines. Accordingly, the water that races down those slopes with the coming of rare rains moves faster, passes over less land, and traverses few flat regions. Irrigated fields are therefore confined to narrow strips of leveled landscape and require considerable management and labor to sustain cultivation. The people here grow hardy varieties of wheat, rye, and barley that require little water and can withstand the blistering sun of the highland summer, but the grain they yield is limited. The resulting land is not one of prosperity.
Lady Indili claimed, through some combination of geological understanding and sense of the flow of divine energy across the landscape, that the Shdrast Mountains are younger than those to the south, which accounts for their great height and sheer escarpments. To my mind it seems madness to speak of mountains as young or old, but the patterns she called out to me are distinct upon the face of stone, and one can learn to recognize them. At the least, there are other, neighboring, ranges, that share this variance in slope and stone.
The residents of Nla-Shdrast refer to themselves as Sairns, and speak the imperial tongue, but any lengthy observation reveals this to be at least partially an affectation. All those born in the province speak with substantial accents, stressing certain long sounds in a rolling manner odd to the urbanized ear and they scatter words borrowed from some other, previously utilized, speech throughout their sentences. Those in the upper hills are barely understandable, having been touched least by the impact of imperial conquest. They are also dusky-skinned, possessing an earth complexion some shades turned toward reddish clay compared to that of most in the core provinces, though the resulting appearance is by no means unpleasant to look upon. The men here wear high-peaked fur hats and are inclined to grow narrow, pointed, short beards that they keep carefully oiled. This fashion is very distinct from the clean shaven appearance predominant in the core provinces. Women here braid their hair and tie it up behind their heads rather than looping it over the neck.
Most people of Nla-Shdrast live in the river valleys with their homes clustered close together around such durable wells as they possess, though variation in snowfall leads to much year-over-year inconsistency. They build low-roofed houses of dried brick and pressed earth, with temples formed from split stone. Each home is surrounded by a compact but carefully tended garden whose vegetables, combined with the local flat bread, serve to provide a considerable portion of their sustenance. The local bread is baked in circular form, pounded flat, rather than the rectangular sheets used in the core provinces, and seasoned somewhat differently as well, as local herbs and spices shift. Those used here are of local origin and mostly of little account, being common and lacking in strong flavor, such as the regional variety of basil, which is much less potent than cultivars grown near Crisremon on account of the harsh sun here.
Goats are herded up and down the hills, flocks always to be seen from afar. The shepherds are mostly younger men, for this is a hard life beneath the blistering sun and the cold night wind. The wandering flocks are kept for meat, hair, hide, and horns. Smaller numbers of a different, more docile breed with white coats rather than brown, are kept in the villages for milk and cheese production. The herders rely upon scraggly dogs to manage these headstrong animals. Sharp-eyed beasts with long snouts and pale yellow hair, they trick the inexperienced eye into believing them jackals until approached closely. Several of the members of the expedition proposed that these were indeed half-jackal by blood.
Seeking the answer to this question I procured a dog that had recently died and a jackal killed by a shepherd and conducted a vivisection to conclude a proper comparison. The Lady Indili assisted me in this, studying the essences rather than the flesh. Though the task was a grisly one, we both reached the conclusion that the lineages were properly separate and possessed unique spirits. The clearest evidence was obtained by boiling the skulls and comparing the bones surrounding the brain. They were quite clearly different in structure. This conclusion found favor with both the locals and a number of the Stone Irons, who were born in Nla-Shdrast or had close relatives in the province, though some of the more superstitious villages found vivisection to be bordering on heresy, an infringement upon the domain of Ukut. Princess Romou publicly ruled that this was not the case, citing long established doctrine derived from the revelation that the examination of the dead for the acquisition of knowledge is perfectly acceptable so long as the proper invocations and ritual prayers are offered to secure the forgiveness of the Lord of Death. This has long been known, with examinations conducted by scholars, healers, apothecaries, and sorcerers alike for centuries throughout the empire, but it seems common people are less inclined to agree with such theology. Thankfully, objections did not progress beyond occasional grumbling deep in cups. The Princess, being stunningly glamorous and invested with both imperial and divine authority, was extremely convincing, and the sorceress, being feared, was not to be questioned.
Progress slowed in crossing this province. The corvee arrangement that sees the imperial highway maintained within the core provinces is not law in the outer provinces and the governors must rely on convict labor for this purpose instead. That source produces both insufficient labor and work of inferior quality, leaving maintenance lacking in all remote sections. Many of the hill paths were narrow, washed out at points, and the numerous mountain streams that must be crossed at the bottom of the endless valleys wholly lacked bridges. Proper fords were rare and poorly built when present. Combined with the heavy spring rains and snowmelt, this forced crossings deep enough in places that the expedition was obligated to swim the animals across the cold torrents and to wade the dangerous passages linked together in a rope chain.
Provisions were also difficult to secure, as many of the small villages had little enough to spare and were not equal to the task of supplying a large party such as our own, especially with the many animals. Instead, we were obligated to unload the pack animals and allow them some time to forage on the newly sprouted growth on the lower slopes several times each day, a time consuming and exhausting task. At least the season was favorable for this, which spoke to the wisdom of those planning the Dragon Expedition. To cross in high summer or autumn, with many seasonal streams dry and much forage depleted, is a difficult prospect indeed, and only much smaller parties make journeys across the province in that season, often porters relying on the harvest to feed themselves and unwilling to bother with animals at all.
It is a journey of nine days from the edge of the province to the capital city of Nlamadt. This city lies in a broad east-west valley and is fed by countless tiny streams from a great mountainous ridge to its south where snow persists almost the entirety of the year in some pockets. The city can only be approached from the northeast, along the banks of the river. This path is defended by a series of strongly built forts, making any forced assault extremely difficult to contemplate.
Letal Sakan, who called this city his home and was ever eager to highlight the valor of his mercenaries and his fellow residents, related the story of how the Sanid Emperor overcame the defenses and took the city, with the province falling by default thereafter. No other fortification of any size is to be found in Nla-Shdrast, Nlamadt is the only place where a resistance can be mustered.
The attacking army was led by General Annlat Unaish, a name well known in the empire's history and widely acknowledged as the greatest strategic mind in service to Husun the Second, called the Great. General Unaish was dispatched to this land, then ruled as an independent kingdom under the aegis of the Mamadt Clan, in order to bring an end to banditry then rampant upon the eastern edges of the core provinces and to push the empire's border all the way to the Shdrast Mountains, a natural barrier no invader could possibly surmount.
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According to our mercenary, the defense of the city was led by Tralum Mamadt, the younger brother of the king. His majesty was too invalid to take the field in person. Captain Sakan seemed surprised when I inquired as to the source of this malady, but duly relayed a list of symptoms recorded in the provincial histories. Though I am no healer, the description is strongly suggestive of severe gout, a disease ever the bane of kings.
In contrast to his elder brother, Tralum was a robust specimen, well-versed in war. I was later able to examine relief carvings of the man preserved in nearby hill caves, and though they doubtless exaggerate according to both the style and patriotism of the artists, he seems to have been a hale and capable warrior. The captain claimed the invading imperial army outnumbered the defenders ten to one. Though that figure is highly dubious, for the dry streams of Nla-Shdrast would scarce have the ability to quench the thirst of any such host, it is likely that General Unaish had a significant advantage in numbers.
Tralum made his stand at the switchback forts before the city. He threw back three assaults. According to legend he lost not one soldier in the third battle, but saw one thousand imperial soldiers riddled with arrows. Such a claim seems to be naught but absurd propaganda, until one marches up a trail so narrow that mounted men must march single file along a course completely exposed with round tower forts bristling with arrow loops looming above from every side. One of our crossbowmen, upon reaching the third fort, claimed that from its battlements he could destroy an assault one hundred strong by himself, given sufficient bolts. The elite crossbowmen of the Sairn are not given to exaggerations of their prowess.
The Empire attempted several assaults not against the forts but by clambering over the mountain ridges, but these efforts were scattered by terrain and weather and then trapped and shattered as they tried to descend piecemeal. According to Captain Sakan, General Unaish, realizing he could not overcome the defenses of the mountains and valleys, came up with a cunning stratagem. While maintaining siege at the base of the causeway, he dispatched his troops all throughout the province with axes and saws in hand. They chopped down every last gnarled shrub and scraggly tree they could find and carried them back to the base of the defense to be placed in a great mound of drying vegetation. After waiting for the weather to bring forth a wind that blew up the valley, this was set alight. Flames rose high as the greatest towers of Crisremon, and vast clouds of smoke rose up the path and surrounded the forts. All defenders were forced to flee into the city or face choking to death.
Tralum Mamadt was a soldier of his people in truth. He drew up his men before the city gates when the smoke cleared and the imperial troops stood mere meters from their lines. The cry went forth that they would not surrender, even if only one spear remained upright. The legend continues that rather than demanding surrender of those who would surely serve the empire better as soldiers than slaves, General Unaish ordered that all who laid down their arms would be granted amnesty and immediate employment as mercenaries of the empire. Tralum then offered his own life to the executioner and his men turned their allegiance in unison.
Many of the particulars related by the mercenary captain are surely exaggerated unto the fantastical, though I could find no telling that properly records these events. General Unaish's chronicle of the campaign was not preserved, having been burned along with all his possessions after he was arrested for treason upon returning to Crisremon as part of a plot to replace the emperor's heir with the son of his sister, one of the imperial concubines. The stones of Nlamadt do serve to confirm at least one part of the story, for the marks of a great inferno remain all along the switchback causeway, greater in intensity from bottom to top. So perhaps the fire tactic was truly deployed.
The city proper lies above this sharp slope in a raised valley between great peaks. It occupies the northerly side of the river that bisects the valley, and has buildings carved into the hills of the western end. The eastern half, though higher in elevation, is flattered and possesses a significantly greater accumulation of soil suited to cropping in narrow strip-fields. Vegetable gardens are packed tightly in between the houses and the river floodplain is used in the production of cotton and forage for a small herd of cattle belonging to the governor. Every scrap of space that can be spared is turned to cultivation. The paths through the fields are exceedingly narrow and caves have been carved loose of hard mountain rock to hold forges, kilns, and storage.
No grand city wall encloses the boundaries of Nlamadt, but all households are surrounded by barricades defending home and garden and these join together to form an unbroken ring surrounding the edge of the city save where broken by one of six gates each only wide enough to permit the passage of a single wagon. These simple walls are mostly brick, they rarely surmount the height of a tall man, and are commonly no more than two or three bricks thick. They are washed to gleam white, as are most buildings, using lime, and their tops are festooned with potsherds to discourage any who would climb over. Such constructions are incapable of resisting the least siege engine, or even a dedicated mason with hammer and chisel, but they suffice to cover a defender firing arrows or standing atop a platform to stab with a spear from above. More than enough in a place where siege machines cannot ever be brought or assembled and the provisioning of a large army would strain the mind of the best military scholar.
The city is a fine one, with many fruit trees planted along the streets to provide both cooling and additional food in troubled times, and the governor's men patrol with diligence. The streets are narrow, only a few major thoroughfares permit anything so large as a wagon, and many are too slim to allow anything wider than a wheelbarrow. Much transport is hauled by loud and ornery donkeys. This feels very confining at first, though the native people seem inured to it. In addition to the white of lime, paint is mixed here using dye from a blue flower that grows in profusion upon the peak to the city's south. This produces an initially strong blue shade, similar to indigo but less vibrant, but swiftly fades beneath the sun to the soft blue of a shallow lake's surface. Many important buildings, including the governor's palace, formerly the king's residence, are adorned in this manner. Many of the local gardens cultivate grapes in addition to vegetables, which grow well in the local soil. Consequently there is much wine, which is served heated in local habit, and is quite strong.
At the center of the city is the governor's palace, a slumped and stocky building clearly fashioned with defense primarily in mind. It stands across the city's only large square from an aged but well-maintained temple of the Three Divines. Styled as a fusion of three adjoining round domes rather than the vaulted triangular hall style commonly used in the core provinces, it is no less a holy place for that and displays the clear foundational intent to honor the Divines and the Enlightened Revelation from base to crest rather than betraying beginnings as a creation of some foreign faith only later converted to proper practice. The people here have accepted the Enlightened Revelation for just as long as any others who claim themselves Sairn, a key point in the empire's official acknowledgment of that status for the people of Nla-Shdrast. Nlamadt has grown significantly since its incorporation into the empire just over a century in the past and the temple is no longer large enough to hold the fullness of its citizenry during weekly services. A pair of smaller temples have been added on the northern edge of the city to compensate. These are more modern in style, though one, constructed under the guidance of an enterprising group of wandering scholars, has been hewn partly into the mountain itself in a most creative approach.
The square between palace and temple, being the only large open space in the city, has inevitably been forced into the role of marketplace and recreational center. Such activities would never be allowed in such close proximity to a temple in the core provinces, and the Princess Romou found this melding sufficiently offensive that she approached the temple only using the back streets from the opposite side, unwilling to cross paving stones she considered insufficiently purified. No one else raised any objections, and in truth the arrangement, given the city's natural boundaries, was surely a practical one. One of the governor's men told me that both the temple and the fortress greatly predated the rest of the city, being many centuries older than any other local habitation. The structures themselves had necessarily been rebuilt many times. If the Divines had any objection to their proximity, surely they would have made them known long ago.
The Dragon Expedition spent three nights in Nlamadt, mostly in order to repair and resupply. Following an invitation for himself and the Princess to a banquet by the governor, Erun proclaimed the first of what would be a very rare series of days of rest. Having no work to be done on the caravan myself, and not needing to recover from overindulgence of wine as so many had the night before, I spent this day exploring the caves above the city. These are quite extensive, for they are mined as a source of semiprecious stones, especially malachite of a very brilliant green and numerous varieties of quartz in many colors, that provide the city with much of its trade wealth. As seams are worked to the end the caves are bricked up and reinforced for service as storage or other useful purposes. A considerable quantity of these stones were purchased by the expedition for use as trade goods further afield.
Upon our departure the order was passed that all must thereafter march armed. Bandits were known to persist in strength upon the high paths, and dangerous beasts were often sighted as well. The governor, though a leal man of the empire, had few enough soldiers assigned to his command, and the province simply did not produce sufficient revenues to allow for the hiring of a mercenary force strong enough to properly clear the high pastures and hidden valleys. His guards did insist, quite adamantly, that all mystic beings had been purged or driven back into the heart of Shdrast in the time of General Unaish and that the province was free of any activity by nefarious wizards.
A simple declaration, but it carried with it the implication that this trait, considered a bedrock of life throughout all imperial lands, did not hold true on the other side of the mountains. Such thoughts made the long knife feel welcome at my belt, though I had never much loved the lessons in blade work demanded of me as a youth.