"David Eddings - Malloreon 3 Demon Lord of Karanda" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eddings David)

military High Command and the Grolim Hierarchy to Cthol
Mishrak and delivered his commands in terms that brooked no
demur. Exempting only Mal Yaska and Mal Zeth, all towns and
districts were to be ruled jointly by the military and
priesthood. The subdued Hierarchy and High Command immediately
settled their differences and returned to their separate
enclaves. This enforced truce freed the generals to turn their
attention to the other peoples living in Mallorea.
 The origins of these people are lost in myth, but three
races had predated the Angaraks on the continent: the
Dalasians of the southwest; the Karands of the north; and the
Melcenes of the East. It was to the Karands the military
turned its efforts.
The Karands were a warlike race with little patience for
cultural niceties. They lived in crude cities where hogs
roamed freely in the muddy streets. Traditionally, they were
related to the Morindim of the far north of Gar og Nadrak.
Both races were given to the practice of demon worship.
At the beginning of the second millennium, roving bands of
Karandese brigands had become a serious problem along the
eastern frontier, and the Angarak army now moved out of Mal
Zeth to the western fringes of the Karandese Kingdom of
Pallia. The city of Rakand in southwestern Pallia was sacked
and burned, and the inhabitants were taken captives.
At this point, one of the greatest decisions of Angarak
history was made. While the Grolims prepared for an orgy of
human sacrifice, the generals paused. They had no desire to
occupy Pallia, and the difficulties of long-distance
communication made the notion unattractive. To the generals,
it seemed far better to keep Pallia as a subject kingdom and
exact tribute, rather than to occupy a depopulated territory.
The Grolims were outraged, but the generals were adamant.
Ultimately, both sides agreed to take the matter before Torak
for his decision.
Not surprisingly, Torak agreed with the High Command; if
the Karands could be converted, he would nearly double the
congregation of his Church as well as the size of his army for
any future confrontation with the Kings of the West. "Any man
who liveth in boundless Mallorea shall bow down and worship
me," he told his reluctant missionaries. And to insure their
zeal, he sent Urvon to Mal Yaska to oversee the conversion of
the Karands.
There Urvon established himself as temporal head of the
Mallorean Church in pomp and luxury hitherto unknown to the
ascetic Grolims.
The army moved against Katakor, Jenno, and Delchin, as
well as Pallia. But the missionaries fared poorly as the
Karandese magicians conjured up hordes of demons to defend
their society. Urvon finally journeyed to Cthol Mishrak to
consult with Torak. It is not clear what Torak did, but the