An outline for the history of the Hârnic Khuzdul
c. 600 BT – c. 300 TR
Disclaimer: This is a derivative work discussing Hârn or Hârn World, originally created by N. Robin Crossby. No assertion of copyright to Hârn or Hârn World is made by producer or the publisher of this work.
Introduction
What follows are some rambling thoughts about the history of the Hârnic Khuzdul. The inspiration to write on the subject arose from the discussions on the HarnForum concerning the Silver Way, the Azadmeran Peak Gold and Hârnic history, thanks due to Kerry and Juha. My initial thought was to study the history of the economical interrelation of Azadmere and Kaldor. However, while trying to figure out the starting time of this phenomenon – which I don’t think can be specifically dated – I found myself thinking of Azadmere soon after 120 TR, when hundreds (possibly more than a thousand) of Khuzan warriors arrived from Kiraz, never to return to their home again.
What happened in and around Azadmere in the two centuries following the Carnage of Kiraz? The Khuzan population of the tiny kingdom unexpectedly increases or even doubles, the Gargun are breeding in the mountain areas of Hârn, there is a period of mild years followed by severe climate and human and Gargun migrations, and the political situation in the neighbouring Kaldor basin area utterly and permanently changes with the emergence of the kingdom of Kaldor. The force of circumstances, both from inside and from outside, is pressing heavily on Azadmere.
Relations between the Khuzdul and the humans are of foremost importance to the understanding of Khuzan history. Since the coming of men and especially since the Battle of Sorrows and the ”betrayal of the Sindarin” the Khuzdul of Hârn have lived surrounded by humans. Even with minimum and ritualized contact, the humans are very much present in the Khuzan history. Hence, before moving to the aftermath of Kiraz, it is essential to reconstruct the preceding situation.
Part I: Khuzdul and human Hârn before the abandonment of Kiraz
Azadmere and the Jarin of Kaldor before Lothrim
The Khuzdul of Azadmere had invited some faithful Jarin to live in their land already before the Battle of Sorrows. Even if the outside world was of little interest to both the Khuzdul and the Jarin in Azadmere, they had reasons to keep up contacts to the lands beyond the mountains. Basic economic needs (of certain metals, for example) of the Khuzdul were intertwined with the family ties some of the Jarin were sure to have with Jarin outside of the valley. Also, even after withdrawing from the affairs of the humans, the Khuzdul occasionally travelled half the island to visit their brethren in Kiraz, and vice versa.
The humans living west of Azadmere were mostly of Jarin stock, and followed the Jarin tradition. They had a tribal society with the size of tribes ranging from some hundreds to some thousands. Whether they called themselves Taelda and periodically moved their settlements, or called themselves Jarin and led a more permanently settled life, all of them practiced some sort of agriculture, supported by hunting, gathering and fishing of varying intensity. Inter-tribal contacts and trade were a common phenomenon, and through the Jarin living in Azadmere, the Khuzdul were at least aware of – if not directly connected to – the human world in the Kald basin.
In the first century BT the Jarin living east of Nephen, on the banks of the rivers Selene and Vemion – in what is today Vemionshire in the kingdom of Kaldor – formed into three tribal realms (understood as settled and defined tribal territories with common customary laws and some kind of a ruling elite): Arwn, Darlen and Tanor. The presence of ancient hillforts in the region attests to similar tribal realms also in the past, and the history of these little Jarin tribal realms probably reaches into times before the Atani Wars. Even the building of keeps, first mentioned in the case of Athelren around 50 TR, probably was no new phenomenon. The area had definitely seen many similar wooden buildings come and go, and at the time of the building of Athelren, Zoben, and Minarsas in the 1st century TR no-one would have known that just these keeps would be continually and increasingly fortified for the coming half a millennia and more.
The Khuzan kygs in Minarsas and Kyg were abandoned and totally forgotten by this time, but the existence of Azadmere was definitely a reality for the emerging Jarin tribal realms. They were either the intermediates for the Azadmeran trade, or gave hospitality to the Azadmeran traders who travelled to and from the mountain kingdom. Through the exchange of gifts (valuables and weapons from Azadmere, animal and agricultural products from the Jarin leaders) and hospitality – possibly also of brides in case of the Azadmeran Jarin – the emerging Jarin realms were tied into the network of subtle Azadmeran influence. As master traders the Khuzdul of Azadmere probably travelled as traders themselves, and so the Jarin outside of Azadmere were meeting with Khuzdul at regular intervals. (If they knew they were meeting non-humans is not an important question here.)
Kiraz and the surrounding humans
The forefathers of the Urdu and Equani settled in the immediate surroundings of Kiraz in the 12th century BT. Having lived in eastern Hârn for the time of several generations, these tribal nations of Jarin stock had already met Khuzdul, either as traders or as travellers between Azadmere and Kiraz. It is not known if they knew they would meet still more Khuzdul in the west. This is probable, but it doesn’t mean either of the peoples was prepared for this.
While the Urdu and especially the Equani are today (720 TR) described as fierce warriors, we don’t know for sure what they were like almost 2000 years ago, or if they even called themselves Urdu and Equani. Especially in the case of Equani the Gargun threat of later times has definitely forced them to adapt into a more hostile world. (In the 1st century TR the Equani inhabited areas from the Morvilya Bay to the shores of Lake Benath, and it was only after the establishment of the Gargun colonies in the Rayesha Mountains that they were pressed solely into Equeth and lost contact with their Kabloqui brethren.) They lived from hunting, gathering and fishing, and probably knew crude forms of slash and burn agriculture.
Whatever was the tone of the initial contact between the Kiraz Khuzdul and the humans, after the Battle of Sorrows the pattern of human-Khuzdul relations did not follow the example of Azadmere. While the Khuzdul of Azadmere invited humans to live with them and eventually developed an economical system where the humans cared for the cultivation of (surface) crops and breeding of animals, the Khuzdul of Kiraz gathered and/or grew their food themselves. This is attested by the very fact that most of the able-bodied warriors of Kiraz were gathering food in the Uthel valley for the winter at the time Lothrim sacked the city. Gathering food for a population of several thousand – especially in the mountainous and forested land around Kiraz – means that the Khuzdul were claiming large tracts of land, and they definitely were not ready to give this land to the newly arrived humans.
After the Battle of Sorrows, the Kiraz Khuzdul did not have the option of their cousins in Azadmere. There was no secure valley around Kiraz that could be claimed, fortified and settled by a faithful human population. When the Khuzdul of Azadmere withdrew to their mountain stronghold and minimized their contacts with the outside world, the Khuzdul of Kiraz still went hunting and gathering in the forests, and surely met with the surrounding human population. It is inevitable that some kind of cultural change took place. The explorative nature of humans and the small numbers of Khuzdul meant that the Khuzdul would surely meet more and more humans without the possibility of conquering, subduing or exterminating them. Hence, instead of war, a peaceful if restrained co-existence with the surrounding humans became the goal of the Kiraz Khuzdul.
Intermarriage between Khuzdul and the humans was not an option, but trade was. It was perhaps also an interest of the Kiraz Khuzdul to delegate more of the hunting and gathering to the humans and concentrate on producing (metal) artefacts that could be used to trade the foodstuffs from the humans. As is usual, precious metals, superior objects of art (and religion), as well as weapons were sought after by the leaders of the human tribes. As in the case of Azadmere, also in the case of Kiraz it was probably the Khuzdul themselves who travelled abroad with their trade goods and presents, to secure the best possible deals. But because they mostly sought local foodstuffs, there was no reason to travel very far. Thus the Khuzan products in western Hârn travelled from human chieftain to human chieftain, as trade goods, gifts and dowries. The effects of this trade were felt in far Peran and in the Thard river valley. Some of the trade drifted eastwards, and in the region of Nuthela the forefathers of today’s Anoa, Taelda and Ymodi encountered Khuzan products from both Kiraz and Azadmere.
The Empire of Lothrim and the Carnage of Kiraz
The Khuzdul were definitely uneasy when Lothrim started to build his empire. But it was only afterwards, when Kiraz was dead and the Gargun run amok on Hârn, that the Khuzdul blamed Sindarin of not preventing Lothrim in time. The Khuzdul were connected to the human tribes around Azadmere and Kiraz (and possibly at other places, too), and were aware of their affairs either through first hand contacts or through intermediates. Human tribal wars and migrations were nothing new to the Khuzdul. The emergence of a large coalition led by a single, powerful person may have startled the Khuzdul, but they couldn’t have known what this meant to themselves, and seemingly didn’t care much of it. Otherwise they would have kept a keener eye on Lothrim, and would have been aware of the Gargun army approaching Kiraz from the south.
Looked both from Kiraz and Azadmere, the Empire of Lothrim was far away until the 110s TR, when Lothrim subdued the tribal realms of Kaldor – and even then he didn’t approach the Khuzan settlements until 120 TR. When Lothrim finally entered the Khuzan world, he met his death and his empire collapsed. The story of the Carnage of Kiraz with its aftermath has been told elsewhere. The lesson the Khuzdul on Hârn were sure to learn was to keep a constant eye on human affairs, and to support with assets and goods the rulers that would keep up the kind of stability the Khuzdul wanted.
The most widely felt result of the abandonment of Kiraz was the regression of regional luxury trade in western Hârn. Without the luxury goods originating from Kiraz, trade between the tribes in western Hârn lost many articles it was depending upon. The local aspects of the tribal societies grew in importance, and tribalism and wars – by no means non-existent while the luxury trade originating from Kiraz was going on – again became the main theatres of political interaction. The situation grew increasingly worse in and around the Rayesha Mountains, where the Gargun built several large colonies. While the importance of Kiraz should not be over-emphasized, the regression of regional luxury trade, resulting from the abandonment of Kiraz, is without doubt one of the causes for western Hârn to lack behind of eastern Hârn in the “state-building-process”. In the eastern Kald basin and around the Ulmerien and Horka rivers new and larger tribal realms and kingdoms emerged in the 2nd century TR, while the Thard river valley saw similar developments first in the 4th century TR.
Part II: After the abandonment of Kiraz
An uneasy settlement
After the Carnage of Kiraz and the Battle of Sirion, the Khuzan warriors sealed their loved ones in their eternal resting places, and abandoned Kiraz. Because of the racial loyalty of the Khuzdul and clan ties between Kiraz and Azadmere, it was never questioned if the emigrants from Kiraz could move into Azadmere. They walked in, and were invited to live with their cousins, who did their best to ease the immense loss, sorrow and hate the emigrants brought with them. But for every adult Khuzdul, both of the Azadmerans and those who arrived from Kiraz, it was clear that this was only a beginning – and they must have asked: “A beginning for what?”
The clans that emigrated from Kiraz had lost most of their womenfolk and all of their children. The proportion of males to females was vastly larger than the three to one in normal Khuzan clans. Intermarriage with Azadmeran clans could not make up for the difference, as there were simply not enough Khuzan maids. This resulted in substantially more Khuzan bachelors than in a normal Khuzan society. Many of these bachelors were widowers, and all who had had daughters and mothers living in 120 TR had lost them. Thus while the population of Azadmere curved up steeply with the arrival of the Kiraz Khuzdul, it was bound to diminish when the overtly male Khuzdul from Kiraz started to die of age.
Think about the slowly aging Khuzan warriors who had to leave Kiraz, the corpses of their women and children – their future – behind them, and live in the corners and alcoves of their cousins in a small and crowded city constantly reminding them of their loss. Think of the sorrow and hate, of the deeply wounded honour, the need for vengeance, and the disheartening knowledge that while they had survived and could survive still, their bloodlines would grow thin and probably disappear. The “victory” at the Battle of Sirion was empty. Lothrim had delivered the Khuzdul of Kiraz a mortal wound, and they were dying of it, slowly but surely.
Some younger and more optimistic Khuzdul may have thought of taking the utterly disgusting and horrible ocean voyage east or north, to Lythia or Ivinia, to obtain Khuzan brides from Khuzan conclaves outside of Hârn. Some may have left. If they walked from Azadmere to the eastern shore of Hârn in the early 2nd century TR, they met the newly migrated folk of fishermen, the Pagaelin, who still had contacts with their mainland kin in Lythia. But mostly, the Khuzdul from Kiraz didn’t migrate. They either had to believe that in the far future their kin would be able to resettle Kiraz, or to admit that they were beaten as a people, even if they still had strength as individuals.
Whatever they thought, the Khuzdul knew one remedy to all problems: hard and selfless work for the common good. There was plenty of work to do in Azadmere. First the swollen Khuzan population needed to be accommodated and fed. Then it needed to start doing something for a living, which meant digging for more ore, building of new workshops and opening of wider trading contacts. Lack of food was the most eminent problem. The warriors that emigrated from Kiraz had one asset that their Azadmeran cousins mostly lacked, and that was sorely needed just now: skill and experience in foraging and hunting. Thus most of the newly arrived Khuzdul departed to the forested mountains and beyond to gather food, like they had done in that cursed autumn when the Foulspawner came.
And it was then that Hârn smiled for the beaten Khuzdul. Beginning in the 140s TR, there was a 30-year period of warm weather, resulting in increased bounty from agriculture, foraging and hunting alike. After surviving the immediate consequences of abandoning Kiraz, and when the apartments and workshops for the increased population of Azadmere were for the most part ready, many of the Khuzdul finally had a chance to concentrate on weightier matters than gathering food. The sounds of digging and hammering filled the chambers of Azadmere, and traders travelled out into Kaldor and beyond seeking ways of increasing the “Khuzan capital”. And there was a market ready for the Khuzan goods.
Azadmere and the emergence of Kaldor
It is my vision that through the trade of valuable (minted) metals and excellent finished (metal) objects, Azadmere has been a major player in the political, economical and even cultural emergence of the four kingdoms in the 2nd century that eventually formed the present kingdom of Kaldor. Of course, the role of Azadmere should not be over-exaggerated. It is clear that without the work of the Kaldoric rural population and the political aims of the Kaldoric elite there would be no kingdom of Kaldor. In addition, Kaldor and Azadmere were together facing circumstances of imminent and dangerous nature that at least temporally overshadowed trade. What follows is a description of a phenomenon that took decades to form, and thus is largely not political or situational history. Most of the humans and Khuzdul taking part in these developments were not aware of the grand picture, and this is probably not a history that could have been written by Hârnians. But it gives a valuable insight in the long-term macro economics that build up part of the context of short-term situational history.
Lothrim’s empire terribly upset the Khuzdul on Hârn. But when the survivors of Kiraz killed him in the Battle of Sirion, they freed a large part of the humans on Hârn from a powerful leading figure, releasing a succession of events that had great meaning for Azadmere – and for themselves. The collapse of Lothrim’s empire freed the tribal realms in Kaldor after almost 10 years of tyranny, causing a confused power struggle between old and new ruling elites. The centre of Lothrim’s power had been on the banks of the River Kald, but after the sack of Kelapyn-Anuz it was the region of the major tributaries of the Kald – Shem and Nephen – that gave birth to the increasingly important political centres of the 2nd century TR Kaldor.
Shala of clan Eith sacked Kelapyn-Anuz in 120 TR, founded Tashal in 121 TR and proclaimed the kingdom of Kephria in 128 TR. He was able to annex the southern part of Merila (that had been deposed of its ruling elite by Lothrim in 113 TR), and all of Gwethic, and at least claimed the regions of Bwilis and Warlech (which were, along with Gwethic, already devastated by Lothrim 15 years earlier). It is not known if Shala was of local origin, or if he came from some other part of the island, but he had served Lothrim as a mercenary captain. A warrior of similarly confused origins, Sanric of clan Ethelyen, conquered the hill fort of Olokand and proclaimed the kingdom of Nurelia in 125 TR. He claimed the pre-Lothrimian realm called Nuthenul and large tracts of land inhabited by the Taelda, and advanced into Merila and Panus conquering the territory of these realms west of the River Shem. But Kephria and Nurelia, their populations centred on the bank of River Kald, remained in practice much smaller than the area they claimed.
Further east of the Kald, the kingdoms of Serelind and Pagostra took a longer time to emerge, even if the region had lived through less destruction during the era of Lothrim. The nucleus of Pagostra was the tribal realm of Arwn, which had taken control of the southern Darlen already in 115 TR, during Lothrim’s era. It is important to note that while Arwn and its northern rival, Tanor, had fought each other already before Lothrim and did so repeatedly after his time, neither Arwn or Tanor was able to conquer the other. But when they faced other tribal realms and petty kingdoms further west and south, both kingdoms fared well and either conquered or annexed these realms with apparent ease, often without arms. One of the reasons why the tribal realms between the Kald and the emerging Tanor/Serelind and Arwn/Pagostra – Merila, Panus, Tyannild, Pari, Tarwyn and Hele – sought the political support of their eastern neighbours was the aggressively expansive kingdom of Kephria. But it is important to realize that this is no explanation at all, because Tanor/Serelind and Arwn/Pagostra were expanding as well. We should rather ask why the tribal kingdoms east of the Kald choose to join Arwn/Pagostra instead of Kephria, or Tanor/Serelind instead of Nurelia or Kephria. Why did they give up their independence peacefully to their eastern neighbours when they were prepared to fight for it against their western neighbours?
Before answering the question, we must remember that very little is known of the ruling elites in these tribal kingdoms and their contacts with each other. It may well be that the post-Lothrimian political marriages and family ties preceding the time of Lothrim were playing a major role in incorporating the small tribal kingdoms into expanding Tanor/Serelind and Arwn/Pagostra, instead of Kephria or Nurelia. But the kings of Kephria and Nurelia lacked something Tanor and Arwn had: silver and gold from Azadmere.
The critical decade from 135 TR to 145 TR – when the kingdoms of Serelind and Pagostra were formed and consolidated – saw the swollen Khuzdul population in Azadmere actively seeking ways to trade their products for food and security. Tanor/Serelind and Arwn/Pagostra were the first permanently settled human (Jarin) areas outside of Azadmere, and thus were the first ones to make deals with the Khuzdul. In effect this meant more silver, gold and fine Khuzan metalwork for the elites of the two human kingdoms. The Khuzdul in turn were rewarded with agricultural products and hospitality, and got important trading rights and security. The sword of Calsten was just one, perhaps the greatest, of the gifts the Khuzan king offered his new allies.
A situation where Azadmere, Tanor/Serelind and Arwn/Pagostra had much to gain from each other kept the two human kingdoms from attacking each other, and gave them assets that could be used for subtle and mostly peaceful expansion. As intermediates of the Azadmere trade these two kingdoms were rich, powerful and respectful, and didn’t have to push their neighbours to get what they wanted. They could offer gifts and pay for security (mercenaries), something most other petty kingdoms in the Kaldor basin, Kephria and Nurelia included, had no means to accomplish in a similar scale.
Thus it becomes more evident why it was Calsten of Tane from Tanor that became the king of Serelind and not some Merilan prince. Similarly, it becomes clear why Hele, Pari and Tarwyn sought the help of the future Pagostran king Hain of Parlis instead of forming a coalition against Kephria themselves, and why Lylan and Aamir in further south were incorporated into the kingdom of Pagostra instead of the kingdom of Kephria (or Chybisa).
Until the migration wars Pagostra looked like the big brother of Serelind with vastly greater territories and population. This was partly because already in the time of Arwn the future Pagostran elite had conquered some of their neighbours and was substantially farther in the way of becoming a “great power” in the Kaldor region. But Pagostra also faced south and connected with Chybisa, offering the Khuzdul of Azadmere a route to the mines of Elorinar (and potentially to the sea, to Melderyn and the wider world). The time of Lothrim may have been only a brief interlude in a wide-ranging luxury trade originating from Azadmere, but the emerging new kingdoms of the 2nd century TR offered simpler solutions, more security and wider possibilities for trade just when the internal situation in Azadmere was pressing the Khuzdul to trade more.
The war against the Gargun
The Khuzdul never forget what the Gargun of Lothrim did in Kiraz. Already in the 110s TR some Gargun had either escaped from Lothrim or were sent by him to settle in the hills east of Arwn and Darlen. It is not clear if the Khuzdul of Azadmere understood what these knew creatures were or what kind of threat they posed for the slowly breeding Khuzdul – after the the Carnage of Kiraz the Khuzdul learned to know it all too well. But the collapse of Lothrim’s empire initially also brought the collapse of Gargun population on Hârn, and during the years after 120 TR Gargun were hunted down and chased away from the settled areas. The surviving Gargun settled mostly in the mountains or in northern Hârn. Even when they bred rapidly it took some decades before the Gargun could pose any kind of threat to the settled populations. By this time Hârn was living through the “fat years” of the middle 2nd century TR, and the emerging Gargun threat was not felt as long as the humans, the Gargun and the Khuzdul had enough to eat.
In the late 170s TR the situation changed. What happened is known for the humans of eastern Hârn as the Migration Wars. This era is vividly described elsewhere. From the point of view of the Khuzdul of Azadmere the era is not one of invading human barbarians but of invading Gargun. With mutual racial hatred, the war was bitter and brutal: nothing but the extermination of the enemy was satisfactory. The Khuzdul, being dependants of food grown under the sky and to a degree abroad, could not just sit in their strongholds and ward off the Gargun attacks. In the suddenly worsened climate they were actually forced to go foraging themselves into the mountains surrounding Azadmere. They needed to attack from the start on.
Even if many Azadmeran Khuzdul had faced Gargun before the Migration Wars, Azadmere was fortunate to have many Kiraz veterans around. While some of them had died of old age and many had become feeble, there were still several hundred Khuzan warriors from Kiraz, aging about 100 years and up. Their spirit of fighting, their devotion to the war and their skills in mountain foraging were an enormous help for Azadmere. Supported by some Jarin hunters (most of the Jarin were needed to work and protect the fields around Habe) the Khuzdul formed into several seek-and-destroy bands which patrolled the surrounding mountains, killing every Gargun and destroying all Gargun nests they could find.
The war was horrible and the mountains around Azadmere were stained with Gargun blood. Every Khuzan warrior was worth of several disorganized Gargun, and the Kiraz veterans could sternly ambush, face and slaughter Gargun bands ten times as large as their own numbers. The Gargun were killed in thousands, their nests were burned with fire and steam, blown up or closed from outside. Gargun young was butchered, the eggs meticulously split and the unborn Gargun impaled, the queens ripped to pieces. Khuzan losses were inevitable, but their valour helped them to recover and fight another day. Many old Kiraz veterans actually enjoyed the possibility to fight the Gargun and to do something useful to help their Azadmeran cousins before laying on their deathbeds. What had started with the Gargun should end with the Gargun. For all Khuzdul the Great Gargun War was an almost religious experience of honesty, valour, justice – and vengeance. Whatever the cost, there would be no Carnage of Azadmere.
The Migration Wars and the Great Gargun War effectively brought the trade between Azadmere and Kaldor to a halt. But the effect of the Migration Wars on Kaldor is often exaggerated. The barbarians mostly conquered lands that were thinly settled or only verbally claimed by the four kingdoms. Serelind lost some marginal lands but was able to halt the onslaught right in the beginning in 180 TR. With help from Serelind, Pagostran territory north of the Osel was saved in 183 TR. The following year saw the allies of the Khuzdul merging peacefully together. Medrik of Tane annexed the remnants of Keprhia in 188 TR and proclaimed kingdom of Kaldor in the 11th year counting from the sudden onslaught of the Kath in 178 TR. For Serelind the Migration Wars presented as well an opportunity as a challenge.
But trade was essential both to the new kingdom of Kaldor and to the Khuzdul of Azadmere. As soon as the situation settled enough the ruling elite of Kaldor started collecting what surplus grain they could and sent it to Azadmere, receiving badly needed silver, gold and luxury goods to pay their mercenaries and to keep their new supporters loyal and grateful. What Medrik needed most was stability for his new kingdom, and this goal effectively meant more support and security for trade. Being the son of Calsten – who had received his sword from the king of Azadmere, the father of the present king – put Medrik into a special situation. After the annexation of Pagostra he was the man the Khuzdul trusted to make their deals, and he was also the man the Kaldoric nobles needed to make their deals. The Azadmere trade became the business of the king’s chamber. With the precious metals received from the Khuzdul as payments for the grain, Medrik was able to mint new coins (perhaps even gold coins) soon after 188 TR. If the coins didn’t bear the text “Restorer of Kaldoric Peace and Order” around the king’s head they definitely bore something similar.
Part III: Twilight
The 2nd century TR brought drastic changes to the Khuzdul and their human neighbours. With the Empire of Lothrim, the abandonment of Kiraz, the Migration/Gargun Wars and the new kingdom of Kaldor the political situation in eastern Hârn had changed for good. However, the basics of the human-Khuzan relationship remained mostly the same, and trade was the main channel of contact. Before the emergence of larger political entities in western Hârn, trade westwards was of little importance to the Khuzdul and the kings of Kaldor. But connections with northern and especially with southern Hârn were of some importance. The predecessors of the Fur Road and Genin Trail were in existence probably before the Migration Wars, and were opened again soon after the barbarian incursions ceased.
While the roads were dangerous, the small-scale luxury trade with the Jarin of the north and the mainland Melderyni was lucrative. But the trade should not be seen as a commodity trade. Rather, much of the goods moving north and south were gifts between ruling families and individual friends, meant to boost the prestige of the giver. Thus the ability of the Kaldoric king to offer precious metals and exceptional goods of Khuzan origin was also a show of independence and royalty in relation to Chybisa, Melderyn and the surrounding barbarian nations.
Still, the kingdom of Kaldor was confined into the Kald basin and didn’t have as wide contacts as the area had seen before Lothrim or was to see later. Azadmere and Kaldor remained the only kingdoms in the area, and through the trade in luxury goods and food their fates were intertwined. Economically, the two kingdoms were symbiotically dependant of each other. The kings of Kaldor and Azadmere needed each other and had to seek the friendship of each other. A study of the royal letters travelling between Azadmere and Kaldor would certainly reveal an intense if ritualized contact. The grain sent by the king of Kaldor to the king of Azadmere also had value as a personal gift, as did the precious metals sent by the king of Azadmere to the king of Kaldor. It was only later – perhaps during the Kaldoric interregnums and the rule of a usurper, when the “Khuzan-friend” house of Tane was driven away from Kaldor – when the Azadmeran trade at least partially fell into the hands of merchant families.
The 2nd century TR can be seen as the morning twilight of the present human-dominated world order in eastern Hârn. The Khuzdul of Azadmere played a subtle but important role in the emergence of a strong Kaldoric kingdom. This was, however, probably the last time the Khuzdul could act out as an “elder people”. With the abandonment of Kiraz and the emergence of a powerful kingdom of Kaldor the Khuzdul vanished from the west and their role diminished in the east. In the Khuzan-human interrelations it was now the humans who were setting the pace, even if it could mean prosperity and security also to their Khuzan friends. With short generations the humans in eastern Hârn swiftly settled into the new world order: the annexation of Nurelia into the kingdom of Kaldor was a natural development in the “present” of the early 3rd century TR, when only few men remembered the time before the kingdom of Kaldor.
For the Khuzdul the days were longer. Many Azadmerans who saw the kingdom of Kaldor fully emerged in the 3rd century TR had been active in the processes that created that very kingdom. We don’t know if they liked what they saw, but among them lived the remnants of the Khuzdul of Kiraz, and for them the world was permanently changed. As years went by there was less and less hope for founding a new Kiraz in their lifetimes, especially with the new and serious Gargun threat. The Khuzdul of Kiraz spent hundred or more years building and protecting Azadmere, but in the late 3rd century and during the 4th century TR those who had not given their lives in the Great Gargun Wars were old, old men. For them, and with them for the Khuzdul of Azadmere, this time was an evening twilight, the definite end of an era.
“A beginning for what?” the Khuzdul had asked after Kiraz. The answer was given by a human from the family of Tane, originating from the Jarin petty kingdom of Tanor – and wearing Khuzan mail, carrying a Khuzan sword, lifting up a silver goblet crafted by loving Khuzan hands: “A beginning for us!”