The Doom of Kings_ Legacy of Dhakaan - Don Bassingthwaite [99]
The week since my last report has been eventful in Darguun. The rebel Gan’duur clan continue to raid out of their stronghold in the north of the country. Their leader, a hobgoblin named Keraal, claims the problem is with the individual warriors of his clan. He says that they are restless and that, while he disciplines them at every opportunity, their spirits will not be broken.
His words are widely seen for the hollow excuses that they are, but at the same time they have a power here, where ferocity and strength are valued. The “unbroken spirit” of the Gan’duur evokes a kind of respect, as though they fight for a just cause under the rule of a tyrant. In fact, Lhesh Haruuc seems to be bound by Keraal’s claims. The swiftest means to end this rebellion would be to move against the Gan’duur territories, but Haruuc cannot. The tradition of clan territories is strong, and as long as Keraal makes attempts to discipline his people, Haruuc must respect his territory.
I suspect he has another reason for not moving against the Gan’duur as well: If he brings down Keraal, the other warlords will wonder how long it will be until they, too, might be brought down. The armies of Darguun are in the main composed of the armies of the warlords. If a warlord does not agree with Haruuc’s measures, he may withdraw his soldiers—an act of rebellion in itself, but one that could produce a cascade of mistrust. Haruuc’s own clan, the Rhukaan Taash, and the most loyal clans, such as the Gantii Vus, would be enough to take on the Gan’duur, but I believe Haruuc sees the greater danger of placing his warlords into a position where they must choose. Better for his rule that he allow the fiction that Keraal has spun.
The Gan’duur raiders that are caught outside Gan’duur territory are another matter, of course. Haruuc has every right in goblin tradition to hunt them down, and he does so with a will that betrays his frustration at Keraal’s tactics. Other warlords join him in this, wrapping themselves in a mantle of loyalty, though I suspect that a few may actually be staving off Gan’duur raids with wealth rather than arms—I note that some clans seem to be less troubled by raiders than might be expected.
The raiders continue, in the main, the pattern that they began last month with the burning of the fields north of Rhukaan Draal. They have ventured south of the city now, and there has been something of a race to bring the crops in before the raiders strike. Disturbing news arrived only a few days ago, however, that the Gan’duur have taken the next step and begun striking at granaries and storehouses. Haruuc has personally ridden out to lead warriors in a hunt for those responsible. I have no doubt that he will catch them and that they will die in unpleasant ways. Stories return to the city of new scarecrows that watch over the burned fields. The zest with which the goblin people lap up these stories is a reminder that I am in a land made foreign by more than distance.
The Gan’duur strategy has, I believe, a deeper purpose than just challenging Haruuc’s warriors. The fields and granaries that they strike are those that would normally support Rhukaan Draal. I have heard rumors that the price of noon, the starchy balls that goblins eat like bread, is rising along with the price of grain. I notice that the loaves of human bread served on my table are smaller than they were when I arrived. Goblins are not a naturally agricultural people—their food stores are not as plentiful as in our nations, and hunger comes more quickly to the city than anywhere else. Food shortages in Rhukaan Draal will undermine Haruuc’s power as surely as rebel warriors. He may be able to purchase grain from the stores of his warlords, but this will in turn drain their supplies as well as his treasury. Farm wagons traveling to market at Rhukaan Draal have already been attacked. If Haruuc is forced to purchase grain, I have no doubt his supply lines will become targets as well.
How can Deneith benefit from this situation?
First, I would suggest the offer of additional mercenaries