The Riddle - Alison Croggon [202]
The Jussacks, a fair-haired and fair-skinned people regarded as barbarians by both the Pilanel and Bards, made an aggressive move south to Unt, colonizing the eastern reaches of the Arkiadera and slaughtering without mercy any Pilanel clans they encountered. By N900, the Jussacks had established a number of settlements around Lake Zmark and the Trukuch Range, of which the chief center was Ursk. From there they mounted regular attacks against Pilanel clans in the Arkiadera, and also mounted offensives against the Howes.
Nothing is known of the Norsk people from whom the Jussacks are believed to be descended, and so it is impossible to know whether their warlike mores predated Arkan’s influence. Jussack society in N945 was almost totally militarized: boys were trained as warriors from the moment they could walk, and they were feared as ruthless and merciless fighters, slaughtering or enslaving anyone they defeated. Women held little authority in Jussack society, being regarded as little better than slaves. In the summer months the Jussacks ranged across the Arkiadera on horseback in small bands, sleeping in tents, and pillaged and slaughtered any Pilanel clans they came across. There is no evidence that they developed anything but the most rudimentary of agricultures, depending for most of their supplies on what could be won by hunting or force of arms.
At this time, the defenses of both Howes were strengthened, although Murask, being much closer to Lake Zmark, was attacked more regularly than Tlon. Pilanel resistance to the Jussacks was fierce, but over the decades their traditional summer grazing grounds were steadily pushed farther west and south. By N900, the southern Pilanel clans no longer traveled northeast to the shores of Lake Zmark in the summer, and after negotiations with Lirigon, began to graze most of their herds on the Rilnik Plains, making the arduous journey through the Gwalhain Pass, rather than risking their traditional grazing grounds in the Arkiadera.
The Peoples of the North
Of the peoples who lived in the deep North even less is known than of the Pilanel, who after all had frequent dealings with the peoples of Annar and the Seven Kingdoms. In the Naraudh Lar-Chanë, Dharin à Lobvar speaks of at least twenty distinct peoples speaking different tongues who lived along the coastlines of the northern continent. “The Pilanel tell of at least twenty different peoples who live on the coast of Hramask, from Orun to Lebinusk,” he tells Maerad, “and there are probably more. And you must not think that one group is the same as the next: they have different customs and they speak different languages. The Wise Kindred are understood to be the oldest of all. Their name for themselves, Inaruskosani, means ‘those who first walked on the earth.’”8
Unfortunately, this mention in the Naraudh Lar-Chanë, and the description of the Wise Kindred, is the most comprehensive reference to the peoples of the North yet to be discovered. That more was known at the time is evidenced in the detailed maps of the North the Bards left among the Annaren Scrolls. Perhaps such teasing hints will be fleshed out as more documents come to light, since a great percentage of the Annaren Scrolls remain undeciphered and this is still a very new area of study.
THE Elidhu, also called the Elementals, are the most puzzling and elusive entities of Edil-Amarandh. Among the extant scrolls are literally thousands of references to Elidhu, but apart from a couple of notable exceptions