Our best source for the events of the next century is a poem known from its chorus-theme as Honeyed Words. Written presumably in the late eleventh century, this tells of the deteriorating relations between the brother-rulers of Peloria.
Sassacar (960-986 ST)
In Sassacar's reign the ambassadors of Dara Happa came and spoke in honeyed words to the Padishah and his court, like the fresh, pure honey which the bees gather from the golden flowers which grow in the rich meadows of the lowlands. And like bees, the three kingdoms worked together, creating great and glorious riches from their toil which others enjoyed after them.
{Wealth, power, prestige and perfection poem}
Sassan (987-1002 ST)
In Sassan's reign the ambassadors of Dara Happa came and spoke in honeyed words to the Padishah and his court, like the intoxicating golden mead which fires a man's soul to courageous deeds. And so it was that Sassan and his lion-hearted men were fired to deeds of glory, and rode forth to do battle with the corruption that was the Dragon Empire...
{Glory of Battle poem}
Killed fighting the EWF in Saird.
Sassandar (1003-1019 ST)
The kingdom shook at this blow. In the Oronin Valley, the noble families of Carmania mourned their dead, and waited for the draconic host to fall upon them with a tempest of wings and claws. The armies of the satrapies mustered and fell back on their altars and holy places. Ancestral debts were called in, and the spheres of Light and Darkness invoked to protect the capital, Surandash. Samandar, young son of the slain Saman, was consecrated by the Hierophant to defend the kingdom against its enemies to the last. Along the borders, men scanned the earth and sky, looking for their foes. But the enemy never came. No word came from the south: no flying or crawling armies of half-draconic men, no proud demands for tribute, no haughty priests of the Dragon Gods. Even as their armies reduced Carmania to its knees,
... Last-minute "Cavalry" rescue from Saird?? I think I'm going to have to lose this bit from here...
In Sassacar's reign the ambassadors of Dara Happa came and spoke in honeyed words to the Padishah, away from his court. And it was like the honey with which physicians disguise the taste of their purgatives, for they told him foul tales of treachery among his courtiers. And the Padishah weeded out those who were faithless among his viziers, and had them cast to the Black Dogs,...
{Fraternal loyalty poem}
{Hate Dragons interlude: a central Chorus?}
Massacar (1020-1043 ST)
Carmanian and allied (Survilstar's barbarians; Arir; Dara Happan; others) heroes campaigning in Saird and towards Dragon Pass. The leaders of the EWF were betrayed and slain in their chambers by the inhuman forces they had sought to join. The EWF was leaderless: the dragons had abandoned their worshippers. Across Peloria, their temples and fortresses fell to their former subjects.
1043: Heroes Return
1043½: Troubles start
Theme shifts in poem: the treacherous, sideways, left-handedness of the Open Dragons has been defeated, but the evil in them now lives in the hearts of the Dara Happans?
The ambassadors of Dara Happa came and spoke in honeyed words to the Padishah and his court, but it was like the honey with which an evil host conceals the rotten taste of his provender. For they advised that the Carmanians should trust in the men of Arir...
{Stinking politics poem}
The Shah is murdered at the start of the erNear revolt by a crazed goat-herd with delusions of glory.
Massandar (1044-1056 S.T.)
erNear revolt in Arir: returning hero discovers ancient spirits in a cave, leads national revival against Carmanians. Nasty, as we're fighting irregulars & so must use our (Pelorian levy) light infantry against them - when there's more than half a chance they'll desert or sympathise with the rebels.
"We still hate Darjiin usurpers!" Dara Happan army from Alkoth attacks Carmanian allied rulers of Darjiin, provoking reprisals and the start of an era of warfare along the Carmanian-Dara Happan border. Note that those rulers were originally from Dara Happa, installed in the mid-tenth century, and have since "gone native" (not living under the direct rule of Raibanth). There may be a moral in this somewhere.
The capital city of Darjiin which the Dara Happans destroy is on or near the site of the later Haranshold. Makes the later foundation more poetically apt.
The ambassadors of Dara Happa came again, speaking honeyed words to the Padishah. But these were like the honey with which a poisoner seeks to disguise the bitter taste of the fatal drink he presses upon his victim, for when they had gained the confidence of the Padishah they blinded him to dangers, and he was slain by his enemies at court.
{Filthy treachery poem}
And after that, no ambassadors from Dara Happa were welcome at the court of the Shah... but there were no Padishahs of Peloria any longer, for all of the lands were in upheaval, as brother strove with brother and father with son for rule in the divided lands. This was the evil which was wrought by the fratricidal ambitions of Dara Happa.
Three Generations of War
The first of these, of course, was Massandar; but he has already been treated in Honeyed Words. Conveniently, the remaining Shahs of this period are prominent in the great Pelandan epic, the Alkothiad of *N.
