The following was written in Domie 322 by Tassius, Emperor elect. It recalls a discussion following the recapture of the Western City States and defeat of the first Vanduric assault on the Holorian people. It opens with Vilmiud, chief of the Durya who men would later recall as having been Gods in human form. They were not. They were of the same race as the Vandur, though a seperate sect and who had fought the Vandur for several thousand years.

The passage opens thus:

I had spoken with Valisarius many times concerning the safe keeping of the two Glissidia that had by chance fallen into the hands of his people. He assured me that my fears were ill founded and perhaps he was right in his way, this warrior-Emperor. I lament the day he fell in Astaroth. He had raised the Western Empire from a tentative foothold to a considerable power in the minds of our enemies and that, in the lifetime of one man is no small feat. I had once considered that the only salvation of Men lay in the Sheahlin, in their millennia old defense against the forces that would but for their sacrifice have enslaved all living things to their dominion. I admit now that foresight had failed me and I was wrong. Had I known that when Valisarius subdued Faranor and Aldaran the Vandur for the first time sensed a threat to their expected victory then maybe we would not now be looking out upon a ruined city.


I had been several years away from Sarachia when the Empire extended its bounds and annexed the lands immediately to its north. My immediate concern was not as you might expect, for the Glissidia of Andeburg locked away in the mountains and all but forgotten in the minds of even the Sheahlin, but for the security of the wider lands of the south and the likelihood that the enemy would turn their attentions upon that part of the world so soon. I had always held a special fondness for the Sarach, as did Raudafel but they were hardy then as they are now and I knew they would weather the storm, but I sensed that the Holorians, given time and freedom from interference would become a bastion against the Vandur and for that I was willing to suffer their efforts to recreate the Eastern Empire, here on the shores of the West, cruel and ignorant as their efforts might at the time have seemed. For them to become an ally of our cause was to hope for too much. Their pride and utter conviction of their right as most civilized amongst the races of Men would have made any overtures by the Sheahlin a wasted effort, but we did not need their allegiance, merely their independence. I returned at once, gradually and with all the guile I could manage, ingratiating myself into the friendship and then trust of the Emperors until I had learned all that I could of these people from across the Middle Sea, which was just as well for it was only twenty three years before they discovered not one but two of the Glissidia. The first was as we had always suspected, lost in the subterranean lakes of the Grey Mountains and excavated purely by chance by the architects of the Capranecurum preparing the tomb of the then Emperor Gavian. Would that it had remained forgotten, then perhaps Illusidum would not now be a ruin. The second was a surprise to us all, a bauble in the possession of no less a tyrant than the Khan of the Iska tribe, though how he came to own such a trophy is beyond imagining. No doubt this ancient and priceless artifact had passed from one fools hand to another, from barbarian to barbarian, a mere trinket as part purchase for one night with a whore or some other inconsequential matter of tribal pride or honour. There is no doubt that the Vandur as their strength increased would have obtained this great prize through the merest of efforts, and but for the victory of Nicasus our future might be less hopeful. A happy chance as we say. This accounted then for two, whereas there was no doubting the location of the third and therein lay our weakness. The one Glissidia we considered beyond our enemies reach was indeed the first that they retook and such power it unleashed that I shudder to think what might have been had not two men met by simple chance on the edge of a battle and put their differences aside to make one journey. More happy chance, and one that might yet affect the future of all of their kind.

After this he became thoughtful and withdrawn and it was evening before any of us broached the subject, indeed it was for Rusika to tell us more. She was still weak from the terrible ordeal she had suffered but her energy seemed to return as she replied to Tassius questions concerning Raudafel.

I did not answer his summons directly, she said. I had another task, that of thwarting the Tamarae who were wreaking havoc along the coast and might if left unchecked have even threatened the sea lanes between Tharngul and Astaroth. I had roused many of the villages and towns of south Faranor and was hoping to see the Tamarae suffer at least one defeat before I left for the south but a premonition was on me and I sensed that Raudafel was in grave need. As it was I left for the Empire too late and managed only two days in meeting with my brother. I wish I had returned with him and not been so caught up in my own matters, but even the wisest amongst us cannot see all ends.

I found him at Greenbury. There had been murder, not one but several families all of them Holorian had been butchered, along with their household and servants. Immediately I saw the hand of the enemy in this and went with Raudafel into the hills where we discovered traces of Skaya and I even sensed the will of the Vandur, though Raudafel needed no convincing. He was angry, admonishing himself for what he saw as his own failures. I knew that Andeburg had been in his charge for some centuries and always considered him most diligent in his tasks so that it went ill with him indeed that he felt he had somehow been neglectful. We spoke for some hours concerning the Empire and the safety of the two Glissidia that resided at its heart. He suspected that in his exile from Illusidum the enemy had had a hand, that one or more of the Consulors who demanded his dismissal had somehow become corrupted or guided by the Vandur. We knew of the sect surrounding the demon-Emperor Tarma, I was surprised indeed to hear that child sacrifices had been performed under the very noses of the soldiers set to watch over Tarma’s tomb, but neither of us thought the spirit of Tarma had returned to spoil the Empire once more. A more vile shadow had fallen over Illusidum and the Middenstal, and why should it not? If the Vandur captured the two Glissidia at the Empires heart then why not the third in Andeburg? My heart trembled at the thought of it. The south would collapse, the Empire would rot from within as the Vandur extended their hold throughout, and the way would be open for the Karith and other barbarian hordes to surge north into the wider world. The Sheahlin were fighting a battle against dreadful odds and gradually losing, the Dwarrows had withdrawn into their stone halls and what few nations of Men held out against the Enemy would go down like trees before a rockfall. The world was on a precipice, so Raudafel told me, and from what I was hearing there was no doubt of it. And yet hope remained whilst the Western Empire was strong enough to present a barrier between the south and the north. I asked Raudafel if he intended to return to Illusidum in some other guise, to regain some of the trust of the Emperor or at least to keep watch for the Vandurs servants. He agreed that this was the only course open to him and that he would set out soon, but wished first to remain in Sarachia. Something had disturbed him and as we spoke further I began to understand his concerns. He had entered Andeburg and what he had found there although in no way conclusive had put the hand of fear upon him. He told me of his journey, and he had over the years made many, but this last one he said was wholly different. Let me describe to you in his own words:

“I did not undertake a visit to Andeburg often, when other errands took me to Sarachia then I made it my business to look in on things, for peace of mind you might say. I had always considered Andeburg safe, even after the Sheahlin relaxed and removed their guard over the Glissidia I thought that an ancient fortress, years of neglect and landslip and an extensive labyrinth of tunnels would prevent even the Vandur locating and retrieving the thing that we had hidden there. I could not conceive of the Vandur daring to come openly to the south whilst there was so much at stake in their war against Tharngul, that they would use their entire strength to destroy the Sheahlin before considering opening a second front. I was wrong then, but that is not the worst of things, I was also blind to their coming when it did finally happen. When the Holorians annexed Sarachia I breathed a sigh of relief such as I had not felt in a long time. The Holorian Military although at that time no rival to the forces of the Vandur were sufficient to deserve a mighty effort and thus my concerns of a second front were utterly dissipated. I was so unconcerned that I left Andeburg entirely and gave no heed to the place until I heard that the Holorians had discovered silver and other precious metals in the mountains there, then I was angry with myself for my lack of foresight. By sheer chance they had accrued two of the three Glissidia that we had hidden under guard in the south and here they were on the verge of locating the third. I entered Andeburg and was wholly satisfied and relieved that the Glissidia was safe. The Holorians had discovered the fortress at Sugava, but only their scholars showed any interest in the place, wondering at the skill of its architects and pondering its purpose. I laughed when I heard their numerous theses, that it had been the capital of a once might and highly civilized people, a prison, a safe place for a long forgotten people, but nothing near the mark. I was not about to disillusion these learned men and I departed with a light heart, for there was no talk of excavating the ruins. The Glissida was safe, or so I truly believed until the plague came. I was in Caleth Fale when I heard of it and it was not easy to reach the Viknoy as you can imagine. I had to take a detour to the north, via Hazelgate and then to Midgeholme where it was an effort even for me to avoid the patrols that were abroad, combing the eastern shore and killing or arresting anyone they thought might have even set foot in Andeburg since before or after the disaster. From Midgeholme I went on foot until I was certain I was beyond watch then I swam the Viknoy and entered Andeburg to witness matters for myself. I did not tarry long. I had no power to heal the dying, nor could I do much to give them comfort other than to hasten the end, but the extent of the disaster was so vast that I was forced to abandon my plans and I left the province, sickened by what had happened to the Sarach who for all their faults had been no threat to anyone. And yet there it was, Andeburg, abandoned and empty, a place shunned by all living things. A wilderness indeed, would that provide more or less protection for the thing that we had hidden in its mountains. Would the once crow haunted and now silent walls of Sugava alone be enough? I could but hope.

Several years passed before I had the courage to enter Andeburg again and I tell you now that there was no sign of the Enemy, nor of the plague. The Holorians had kept such a watch over the river that not a boat could pass half way without being overlooked by one or more of the sentry towers. Life continued much as it had done in Sarachia, though the memory of the plague was still keen and painful in the memory of all but the youngest. I went to the very gates of Sugava and was at once satisfied that all was well, so much so that it was fifteen years before I would go there again. Of my last visit I will say only this, that I sensed the Vandurs presence even at the Valdensaga. Before when I had visited the fortress guarding the northern pass into Andeburg I was certain that no man, Skaya or other beast had come near to the place. The windows were vine hung, moss smothered the paving and the great gates were rusting on their hinges, seemingly already beyond any repair. Now the place was filth strewn and I there were the remains of watchfires through which the rats were still squirming as they sought out gobbets of fat and bones. I wondered at first if some war band had come south out of Larandor to make the Valdensaga their home and had scattered at the sight of my arrival, but as I ventured further along the valley I saw further signs and finally as I came across at the Andeburg mouth of the pass, a host of Skaya, cold smithying great gates and ironworks to repair the gates of the Valdensaga. I avoided them and pressed on further into the province. For a distance again there was nothing but wilderness until I reached the foothills of the Northern flank of the Barrier Mountains and there saw signs of the Skaya, burrowings that ran deep into the mountain rock, a city growing in the very earth so that a host could live and work there and yet from a distance not a sign of them could be seen. I knew then that the Glissidia at Sugava had been returned to the hands of the Vandur and that slowly they were drawing their forces and plans towards the ruin of the Western City States and that soon darkness would enfold the lands of the south. The prize, the enslavement of the Holorian race in the West, the harvest of its humanity to feed the hosts of the Vandur and the equally abhorrent prospect of two more Glissidia falling into the control of the Vandur. The time of war was close upon us and I had failed in my task.