MAFIA 100 - The Centennial - Malazan Empire

Tonight, I receive the Collector of Fables in the garden. I have chosen a place near the pond, where the waterlilies are beautifully lit up by the floating candles. My servants have set up a silk pavillion, and the stars twinkle in the night. Abdul seems a bit confused when I receive him in the pavillion and ask him to sit down amidst the pile of silk cushions, where yesterday, when he seemed much more in my favour before arousing my anger, I had him kneel on a hard stone floor.

I am not going to address that issue. Instead, I have a tale to tell him.

“Tonight, my dear Abdul, I will tell you another story about the Nepeth Drought. Yesterday, we left off with the feeble resistance of the Khanate and the displeasure amidst the merchants in Ishktar about the conditions enforced on them, and the threat of the Nepeth ever creeping closer to the Oasis.

With matters so disorganised, and with no clear leader for the resistance, it is no real miracle that the Nepeth continued to advance, trains of fugitives and deserters running in front of them. The Merchants of Ishktar lost their bearing, and instead of hiring guards and mercenaries, they sent their wives, harems and illicit mistresses (not to mention their eunuchs, pages and the odd goat) to Madeena al-Salaam.

Every day, the armies raced closer, the young Potedopeth leading the vanguard, sowing chaos wherever he went, his forces still in close contact with the main body of troops. And never a sign of the White Foal. The people of Ishktar and its surroundings, normally despising the horsemen and fearing them as the main potential disruption of their lives, began to watch the sand dunes for any plume of dust that would announce the arrival of a horde of screamers and horsebowmen, they even sent out scouts to search for the White Foal, but they found no-one.

Finally, on the fifth day since the start of the invasion, the first Nepeth troops reached Ishktar.

Where the few defenders expected spearmen and light armed slave troops, they faced the undead skeletons of Sepsuth Necropolis instead, lead by the necromancer-general Toliptoth. The sorceror had apparently rushed ahead, eager to claim glory and outrun the others, and he faced the consequences. Or so my generals tell me.” I wave a hand.

“I never cared much for strategy, I find that strategy is usually trumped by having a larger army and enough water and food.”

But what my captain of the guard says, is that undead are perfectly disciplined and able to take a beating without complaint, but are completely unsuited for house-to-house fighting as occurred now. It seems you need intelligence and initiative for that, and I can tell you from experience that undead lack such qualities. If you can call it qualities. And anyway, your average person lacks them too.”

And so, Toliptoth ended up with his head on a pike, and the merchants of Ishktar once more believed in a chance at victory.”

The Collector of Fables looks at me, eager to ask for heroics, for who performed the decapitation. I'm certain I could remember if I bothered, as everyone seems to love those details, but I just can't see the point. And thus, instead of taking a break to enjoy a peeled grape or two, I soldier on. Figuratively, of course.

“The following day, not one, but two armies appeared on the front, working in concert. And this time, no undead, but elite regiments of the Nepeth army. A fight began, and before long, the invaders had breached the walls, and fought their way to the heart of the oasis city.”

I look at Abdul. He is scribbling furiously, tip of his tongue curled to his upper lip. I decide to have some fun. “But none of that is really important. What do you know of peacocks, oh Collector of Fables?”

He nearly collapses. I press on.
“You see, one of the first notable people to die, was the esteemed Alisa ibn Ben Khar. Her life is an exciting tale, really. I urge you to look into her background, she was a special woman, not in the least because according to her father's will, she was actually a man. Alisa is... was... famous for her peacocks. They were a true asset, something that gained her praise, station, honor, fame. I have a few of her lesser successes in my garden, but even I have been unable to obtain one of her wondrous Red Peacocks. And do you know what the Nepeth did with them? Wrung their throats and ate them. It is a real shame.”

He mutters something that could be condolences, or an apology, or a curse. I think I heard him whisper something like “dumb bitch” which would make him the bravest man I ever met.

“Alisa was one of the first to fall beneath Nepeth axes, and that only days after she had become Tax Collector of the South. For those who had been against her appointment and the transfer of Ishktar to my estates, the pleasure was shortlived. The House of Delat somehow found a handful of unengaged retainers and proclaimed a new Tax Collector, one with even more ties to the House of Delat and much less to Ishktar, or what remained of it.”

Unfortunately, the person they elected was Sharif ibn Delat, the son of the Merchant Prince of that House, who had selected Ishktar Oasis as his temporary residence on account of what one might call the aftermath of a scam. Sharif is... was, a talented mage, just short of the title because he refused to do the exams, not through a lack fo skill. And for once in his life, he had decided to try battle magic – and caught an arrow in the eye for his trouble. Some ay he had sacrificed a goat at dawn on top of a barrow, and that this was excessive and a bad omen. If so, it proved to be true, for he died, too. The title was then transferred to one of the last remaining underlings of the Houses of Agreement, who faced the difficult decision of leading the House as well as being my Tax Collector.

The once-proud Meyern faction has become naught but ashes on the wind

Malazan Empire: MAFIA 100 - The Centennial - Malazan Empire

MAFIA 100 - The Centennial Game Thread

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