Nightmaria was a mountainous, isolationist, and xenophobic Imperial Kingdom of hideous Fiends who few had ever seen.[1][2] It shared a border with the Kingdom of Farrog.[3][4] The borders of Nightmaria were heavily guarded - not only in the area around the seven trade posts which were located at each of the seven high-roads where they crossed the borders, but also the lands on either side of these high-roads. These lands were a "maze of gorges, sheer cliffs, sink-holes and crevices" which were patrolled by ever-watchful wardens. As a result, no "hardy adventurer or spy" had ever managed to reach the inner high plateaus where the Nightmarian cities "thrived" in their "splendid isolation". Any contact with foreigners was limited to the border trade posts and so, as a result, very little was actually known about Nightmaria and its inhabitants in the outside world.[5]
Nightmaria had but a single Embassy in the outside world. Located in neighbouring Farrog, it was staffed by Ambassador Ophal D'Neeth Flatroq, whose hideous reptilian appearance served as Farrog's only direct knowledge of the inhuman Fiends.[6]
In The Fiends of Nightmaria[]
King N'Gorm the Lesser of Farrog had been--in Ambassador Ophal's opinion--"excruciating useless".[7] Because King N'Gorm had been intimidated by the Nightmarians, his policies with regard to Nightmaria were basically those of appeasement, which led to the great enrichment of Nightmaria to the detriment of the coffers of Farrog. This status quo between the two adjoining countries ended abruptly when the necromancers, Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, arrived in Farrog. They beheaded N'Gorm and usurped his throne, leading to a change in policy which resulted in Farrog attacking Nightmarian Imperial caravans, trade posts, and traders. Under King Bauchelain the First's instructions, Grand General Pin Dollop planned an invasion of Nightmaria with the full complement of the Royal Farrogal Army's four thousand soldiers. Grand Bishop Korbal Broach further justified the scheme by declaring a holy war on Nightmaria in the name of the Holy Church of the Indifferent God.[8][9]
This outbreak of hostilities against Nightmarian interests resulted in Ambassador Ophal delivering the Nightmarian Emperor's own "Proclamation of War" to the Farrogese king. During his audience with the ambassador, Bauchelain was surprised to learn that Ophal's unhuman appearance was due to various birth defects and other disfiguring conditions that were unique to himself and not, as the citizens of Farrog mistakenly thought, common to all Nightmarians. In fact, the Fiends did not call themselves Fiends at all. Their true name was distorted by Ophal's distorted speech into "Firrwends", which was misheard as Fiends. The notoriously reclusive nation was only too happy to allow these misunderstandings to keep unwanted foreigners out.[10]
To Bauchelain's horror, the ambassador also apprised the King that the Southern Army of Nightmaria--some 150,000 strong and far outnumbering their own--had crossed the border and were only two days' march from the Farrog city walls. The Imperial Army consisted of:[11]
- 24 legions
- 80,000 Heavy infantry
- 12,000 cavalry
- 12 siege engines
- 18 trebuchets
- 2 legions of Imperial Sappers
- Royal Cadre of High Mages
- Wizards of the Ninth Order
Their intent was to take extensive and dire revenge on Farrog and all of its institutions. Bauchelain hurriedly ordered Emancipor Reese to ready the necromancers' carriage and horses to flee with the contents of the Farrog royal treasury.[12][13][14] A day later, they could see the city burning behind them.[15]
Trivia[]
Nightmaria and Farrog do not appear on any maps of the Malazan world published yet to date. Steven Erikson says, "I know where it is geographically speaking, but I think it's one of those...we have a number of maps that are simply land mass and there's no cities marked, there's no territories marked , so I think it's one of those, is where I placed that story."[16]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 7
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 3
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 5
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 7
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 7
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 7
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 13
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 3
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 5
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 7
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 16
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 16
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 19
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 21
- ↑ The Fiends of Nightmaria, Section 31
- ↑ Novellas (and more) with Steven Erikson - Smiley's Podcast - See 22:30