Brunah And Glembridgen
Now after the retreat of Brunah form the battle with the Aginorian people, his fury knew no bounds, he had many soldiers killed for no reason save to appease he own anger and shame. He once again began preparing for war, “this time” he mused “every single one shall die, everyone of those accursed people shall be removed for the face of Olderion, as for the dog of king Namunkadar, he shall be brought to Bangotandrim, to spend the rest of his days in a dungeon of torture where I will personally spit in his face daily”.
He multiplied his BrizBulags and beasts until their numbers were beyond his own knowledge. He had men from the mountains brought to him and forced them to join his army or die, his plan was now to destroy both Mignon Angrand and Mundakag, for Angodrim he had other plans. Brunah heard of the beauty of the Princes Glembridgen in Angodrim and he lusted after her and desired her to be his wife. By this time his evil and madness was so far advanced that he had lost contact with the reality of the world beyond Bangotandrim, he now saw himself as the supreme ruler of all Olderion, he believed that if he desired to wed the princess she could not refuse him.
Brunah therefore sent a messenger to Angodrim saying “go you to Angodrim and speak unto its king thus”: “The Lord Brunah King of Bangotandrim and all Olderion desires the hand of thy daughter Glembridgen in marriage, ensure that she is brought to the palace of Bangotandrim ere the Lord Brunah should come and seek her himself, should he have to resort to the latter, he shall be unforgiving of you and your kingdom and the consequences of his wrath will be grave”.
Esseldar
King Esseldar of Angodrim, had managed to keep his kingdom out of conflict with Brunah.
Now the king had watched with some concern the coming into Olderion of the ships of the Aginorians, his spies constantly reported to him everything they did. He had hoped that there would be war between Brunah and the new comers, which would solve two things, Brunah would destroy them but at the same time, they would weaken the strength of Brunah and enable him to invade Bangotandrim and crush Brunah. After the fall of Ungalar and the destruction of the city of Feldgikin, Esselder became fearful of the might of Brunah for he knew that it would only be a matter of time before he too would be assailed by the forces Bangotandrim.
After Namunkadar had established the kingdom of Mignon Angrad, the news of the “magic fruit” of the new king reached the ears of Esseldar and he was full of envy and desired to gain possession of a Sirilis tree. It came to pass that a messenger from Bangotandrim arrived at the gates of Angodrim and declared that he had a message for the King Esseldar from King Brunah and the message must be delivered to the king personally. The messenger of Brunah was brought before Esseldar, “be swift and speak your message” said Esseldar less I should loose my patience and send your head back to your master”. “Your majesty” said the messenger “My Lord Brunah, King of Bangotandrim and all Olderion, desires the hand of your daughter Glembridgen in marriage and bids you have her brought to him without delay”.
Esseldar was incensed by this rash and arrogant request from Brunah, “King of all Olderion eh” said Esseldar, “the fantasy of Brunah has certainly exceeded his wit, return you to your master and tell him thus” “the princess Glembridgen will marry only one who is deserving of having her hand, not an evil necromancer and a murderer who deserves to be slain and his carcass be thrown to the beasts of the field which may even be loathe to touch it”.
One week after the messenger of Brunah left Angodrim, the princess Glembridgen suddenly fell ill. She suffered form and unknown ailment, for which no cure could be found. The king tried all kinds of medicine, sparing no expenses he hired the best doctors in Olderion but to no avail, the princess continued to languish. King Esselder decided that the only way he could save his daughter was to acquire fruits from the Siliris trees in Mignon Angrad.
The king sent for Mandokin his chief Marshall and spoke to him saying, “my daughter ails form a pernicious malady for which the doctors in Olderion can find no cure, I have heard of the healing powers of a fruit called the Siliris which grows in the Kingdom of Mignon Angrad, take with you twenty warriors and journey to Mignon Angrad”. “Speak to the king saying that the princess of Angodrim is gravely ill and I am asking that the king of Mignon Angrad, send unto the kingdom of Angodrim fruits of the Siliris which it is told has the power of healing”. Mandokin without delay departed for Mignon Angrad, it came to pass that as he neared the borders of that kingdom, he was waylaid by scouts of the palace who were out searching for spies of Brunah.
Mandokin and his companions were brought before Namunkadar the king who believing them to be servants of Brunah ordered them to be put to death, but Mandokin spoke up saying “my lord will you not hear our tale before you put us to death, for we are from the kingdom of Angodrim and were sent to you by our king to ask for your aid”.
Then Namunkadar became less hasty and ordered Mandokin to speak. Mandokin spoke thus “Lord I am Mandokin chief Marshall in the guard of the palace of Angodrim and I have come at the behest of our king Esselder. The princes Glembridgen is gravely ill and we in Olderion have heard of the healing powers of the fruit of the Siliris, thus we have come hither to ask of your majesty to send but a few fruits back to Angodrim in hope that the life of our princess may be spared”.
Namunkadar spoke saying “Do the people of Olderion pay tribute to Brunah the evil Lord of Bangotandrim?” “Nay Lord” answered Mandokin ” the people of Olderion pay tribute to none save the King Esselder” Then spoke Namunkadar again saying “If the people of Olderion do not have allegiance with Brunah why do they never go to war against him?” Mandokin answered, “My Lord, I know not the mind of our king as it relates to war but I do know that none in our land have allegiance with Brunah, no spy or servant of Bangotandrim has ever crossed our land and returned alive”. Namunkadar smiled and said ”
Then I do right in ordering your death, for I know not that you and your companions are not servants of Brunah.” Mandokin answered ” You would have done right Lord if we were indeed servants of Brunah but then if we are not and our story is true would not the king have greatly erred in his judgment Lord?” Then the heart of Namunkadar was softened and he looked long into the eyes of Mandokin then he said, “I can see that you do not lie and I can perceive no evil in you, I myself shall come to the aid of your princess”.
Namunkadar’s Dream
At that moment the dream that had been haunting him for over a year came to him and he was troubled. It was a dream he had been having every night of a beautiful woman who was lying in a garden of flowers, she was either asleep or dead and there were voices calling out to him, saying that he was the only one who could save her and time was running out. “But my Lord” answered Mandokin interrupting the thoughts of Namunkadar “there is no need for your majesty to make this long journey, if you would only order Lord, that my companions and I be given a few fruits of the Siliris. With which we shall return in haste to our princess”.
“The fruits you shall have” replied Namunkadar “but I shall indeed return with you to your kingdom to see your princess”. “But my Lord” protested Mandokin “let us at least first return and inform our king that he may prepare an official welcome for you, it would not be befitting for the king of Mignon Angrad to ride into Olderiom unannounced”. “Trouble not your mind with formalities” answered Namunkadar “I have a foreboding that if we do not arrive in Angodrim soon it will be too late to save your princess, we shall ride as soon as we can assemble the horses”.
