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

Karandese magicians soon discovered that the spells previously
used to control the demons were no longer effective. Any
magician could now reach into the realms of darkness only at
the peril of life and soul. The conquest of the Karands
absorbed the attention of both military and priesthood for the
next several centuries, but ultimately the resistance
collapsed and Karanda became a subject nation, its peoples
generally looked upon as inferiors.
When the army advanced down the Great River Magan against
the Melcene Empire, however, it met a sophisticated and
technologically superior people. In several disastrous
battles, in which Melcene war chariots and elephant cavalry
destroyed whole battalions, the Angaraks abandoned their
efforts. The Angarak generals made overtures of peace. To
their astonishment, the Melcenes quickly agreed to normalize
relations and offered to trade horses, which the Angaraks
previously lacked. They refused, however, even to discuss the
sale of elephants.
The army then turned to Dalasia, which proved to be an
easy conquest. The Dalasians were simple farmers and herdsmen
with little skill for war. The Angaraks moved into Dalasia and
established military protectorates during the next ten years.
The priesthood seemed at first equally successful. The
Dalasians meekly accepted the forms of Angarak worship. But
they were a mystical people, and the Grolims soon discovered
that the power of the witches, seers, and prophets remained
unbroken. Moreover, copies of the infamous Mallorean Gospels
still circulated in secret among the Dalasians.
In time, the Grolims might have succeeded in stamping out
the secret Dalasian religion. But then a disaster occurred
that was to change forever the complexion of Angarak life.
Somehow, the legendary sorcerer Belgarath, accompanied by
three Alorns, succeeded in evading all the security measures
and came unobserved at night to steal Cthrag Yaska from the
iron tower of Torak in the center of Cthol Mishrak. Although
pursued, they managed to escape with the stolen Stone to the
West.
In furious rage, Torak destroyed his city. Then he ordered
that the Murgos, Thulls, and Nadraks be sent to the western
borders of the Sea of the East. More than a million lives were
lost in the crossing of the northern land bridge, and the
society and culture of the Angaraks took long to recover.
Following the dispersal and the destruction of Cthol
Mishrak, Torak became almost inaccessible, concentrating
totally on various schemes to thwart the growing power of the
Kingdoms of the West. The God's neglect gave the military time
to exploit fully its now virtually total control of Mallorea
and the subject kingdoms.
For many centuries, the uneasy peace between Angaraks and
Melcenes continued, broken occasionally only by little wars in