The reign of King Rolly of the Black Pass lasted upwards of 40 years, less than a lifetime, though the living consider this patch of time substantial, it really factors little into the existence of things like flowers and tectonic plates. Unique in that Rolly himself came to power through his own acquisition and lost it through his own error, the fact that his reign annexed the Black Pass region for this period now amounts to a temporary land lease, though at the time the players felt that he had a part in a monumental saga of regional dominance.
That said, the reign and its dissolution provides, like all historical events, lessons from which the modern reader, and especially leaders, may learn and apply to their own circumstances, so despite the lesser effect it had on humanity in general, we’ll take a moment to expose this trough of time in which Rolly and his associates ruled the area once called the Black Pass.
The Black Pass exists in a cliff shadow of what once held a vast riverbed, long since dried to a navigable stream on the west end the valley. The future king was born on the sunny edge of this stream, where the shadow of the dominating cliff gave way to a blotch of sunlight on the hill that rose facing it. Rolly’s father, as did his father before him, acted as the pass’s toll collector, and though some of the tolls ended up in his coffers, the remaining went to the regional king Ectron.
Rolly’s family lived in one half of an old timber fortress, a relic from the past when the toll collector also served as a border warden. The fortress once arched over the river entire but now heaved towards it with an awkward balcony where the bridge once began. It seemed fitting because it mimicked the looming cliff opposite, which also jutted out top-heavy towards the river, shading the fertile farmland on which a little settlement had collected into a town called the Black Pass. Rolly’s family lived more comfortably than most, due to their unique position. When a boat would float up to the pass Rolly would jump on board and inspect for goods. Rolly’s father would gage the toll paid based on a subjective formula of the cargo’s worth, taking tithe for the king, a trinket for himself (if he wished,) or, if he saw goods that might improve the station his local associates with trade, he would negotiate on the behalf of these local merchants to create trade partnerships. Thus he secured the prominence of Black Pass, which owed its growth not to birth rates, but as a center for trade.
Though he owed much to his father, Rolly found him greedy and domineering, always calling him to work, even at the youngest of ages, while his sisters, two intelligent twin beauties, frolicked in the fields at their leisure.
Rolly and his sisters grew up during the relatively peaceful period of King Ectron, a time recognized for its stability, when rulers expanded territory through marriage rather than warfare. At that time, the swath of land under Ectron’s influence contained two mountain ranges between which lay a vast valley of arable land intersected by rivers. The rocky crags to the north were termed the Goat Rocks, where only small pockets of goats and those who either herded them or hunted them populated the rocky tundra, snow-covered nine months of the year. Nobody bothered to dominate the Goat Rocks, but the rivers that sprung from their cracks carved Ectron’s kingdom into trade quarters. One river ran southwest to the sea, another ran northeast to a large inland lake, and the last ran direct south through the fertile valley where most residents of the area lived. Ectron’s citadel, overlooked the confluence of these rivers.
Though life was fairly easy for Ectron, as far as rulers go, early in his reign he did face a threat from the land of Inoil in the south. Inoil, three times the size of the Ectron’s land, had a similar peninsular topography with the exception that desert marked its southern and eastern borders and instead of craggy rock mountains, the ‘mountains’ of Inoil consisted of high rolling hills covered in grasses instead of snow. With a more pleasant climate and and long growing season, the population of Inoil matched Ectron threefold. However, Inoil’s offering of plenty depended on the storms that bore down from the northern coast, passed over Ectron’s land, and whatever was left shed in Inoil. During stormy years, the rivers of Ectron swelled, flooding out villagers who fled south in search of sun. During dry years, the starving of Inoil migrated north, over the border hills in pursuit of a more predictable water supply. About every 10-20 years or so a spate of three rough years spurred a mass migration one way or another. Few people had long enough memories to wait it out, including the rulers of the losing land. One year, Nemar, the ruler of Inoil, took the initiative to extend his borders by accompanying the migrant peasants with armed soldiers, which he presented as necessary for their safety. The soldiers escorted their people into the lower valley area of Dofer and built walled villages for their security. They then posted themselves in its turrets and raised their families.
Ectron, in a gesture of diplomacy, famously sent his sister down the Temall on an elaborate barge accompanied by his best engineer, and an army cleverly disguised as labormen. He offered King Nemar the assistance of his engineer to help construct a channel through the border plateau, joining the Temall to the Tocass river of Inoil, which provided the high hill country their main water source. At the time, the Temall took a U turn at the start of the plateau and emptied swiftly downhill to the sea. With the construction of what came to be known as the Tash pass, Ectron managed to calm the river (as now it no longer rushed towards the sea but flowed navigable through two empires), create a trade route, create a trade partner in Nemar, and marry off his older sister. The south secured, the north a non issue, the west the sea, and the east bordering his cousin’s kingdom, Ectron ruled in peace until his sons came of age.
Ectron had fathered twin sons, a rarity so problematic in royal bloodlines that one brother eventually succumbs to some misfortune along the way.Through the natural instincts of sibling competition, Eno and Lew both set their ambitions to the best. They practiced their studies with focus and traveled east to learn from the wisest sages of the empire. To build physical fortitude, they tested themselves with a week’s trek across the spine of the Goat Rocks with only the most basic supplies. They learned the deadly arts from the best generals, and delicacy from the finest ladies with the most discerning tastes. Though each hungrily sought perfection with every blink and breath, neither could win over the other, they remained equally matched in every way.
One evening Ectron dreamt that he had suffered a fall and was paralyzed. In his state his sons started fighting over who would succeed him. Ectron, unable to move or even call out for help, watched the two tear each other apart with the ferocity of wild animals, and as dreams stray from the feasibility of nature he saw the active evisceration of his sons with paranormal detail, both grappling in the gore long after any human, however hungry for revenge, would have the physical ability to strain a torn muscle. He awoke with the superstitious conviction that a premonition had visited him, and he immediately set to heed the warning. He called for a great festival to be held at the citadel, without announcing a purpose for the fair. However, a festival was welcome with or without an announcement and nobody would pry the king, so they went to decorating the citadel to welcome the dignitaries, from Ectron’s kingdom and beyond. Warriors trained for the sport battles, and peasants paraded their best livestock in the marketplace for the privilege of bragging that their heifer touched the king’s lips.
Though Rolly’s father held no duchy of his own, nor had he proved himself through war, the toll collector, like the tax collector, enjoyed the status of serving as the Kings representative, and as semi-nobles, Rolly’s family had access to the grand fair. Rolly could sit in the arena and watch the games, he could dance with noble girls from far east in the revelry of the evening, he could meet the mentor of his future who would give him opportunities far beyond the Black Pass and the whims of his father. Rolly dreamed of these things as barge after barge arrived laden with fruit, fabrics and strange animals to be sacrificed for the event. Rolly became convinced, watching his father collect his tithes, a ream of silk here, peacock feathers there, that preparations were underway for enjoying the event in full.
Rolly’s father always hoarded away his extra tithes. Though he valued his booty he also feared the very suggestion of ethical lapse, so he locked the majority of his non-perishable acquisitions in what had once served as the fortress’s dungeon. From eyelets built into the ceiling he hung his goods in sacks to save them from the moisture of the floor. On celebration days something, stashed for five years or more, appeared on the living floors like a long lost cat who had finally found his way home.
When Rolly saw one of their workers sewing up a sack of the silk and feathers, he, who had hitherto divulged nothing to his parents about his anticipation of the fair, ran to his father to report the worker’s mistake. Finding him among his associates Rolly stayed quiet and fidgeted in his vicinity awaiting a barge to call him away from the table.
“No, no, no,” he heard his father declare, “fairs are frivolities to be gone in a fortnight, along with all your money. With a week of festivities people are always coming and going, we are better off here.”
“Has the king not lifted the toll during the festival?” the Miller asked.
“Oh, those with the royal sash pass through as usual, and we’ll have enough of those to keep the line moving, but no wedding has been announced, and with the exception of a coronation, weddings are the only events that I know that lifts the toll.”
This comment by his father struck Rolly cold, yet he held out hope that he might be granted the freedom many lads his age had already been given. He left the room decisively, and spent the following days formulating a plan to reason with the greedy man.
When he mentioned the idea to his sisters, Phete and Ani jumped on board with the enthusiasm of wild horses. Their mother had told them from the start that they would stay home so this hope from their brother fired a new ambition. It was all Rolly could do to keep them hinting throughout mealtimes. They asked each other to pass the steak when mutton was on the table, and sipped their wine delicately with raised fingers. They retired early and spent evenings preparing their best dresses, and strained his arm with their tugging entreaties to tell their parents. He knew his mother would comply with their desire to shine their pretty faces at the citadel, but neither of his parents would let them go alone, and his father depended more and more on Rolly to do the majority of the toll work. He bided his time, partly in fear of losing his dream, until the week of the fair arrived.
His father granted the noble barges the attention they expected. He offered them food and lodging, which only a few hours from their destination, he knew they would politely refuse in anticipation of the welcome they would receive. And they would share their wine or whatever token of travel they wished to vest upon the king’s servants to keep them in good favor. After one especially cordial group passed through, Rolly commented to his father, “What a nice family, a shame they couldn’t stay the evening.”
“Yes, well they must be getting on I imagine.” He could see the envy in his father’s face, and prepared his pitch.
“They resemble us a bit, except for two sons and one daughter, same age I imagine though.”
“Yes, more disciplined than the lot of you,” his father offered as a compliment.
“Shame the girls were in town, oh well, their future is here with the town folk anyway, not nobles.”
After a very quiet dinner, Rolly’s parents insisted the girls have two chaperones, and despite Rolly’s offer of one of any of his friends, his father called upon a comrade toll collector from upriver to donate the services of his only son. Rolly considered Thenen a strange choice. Though the same age as Rolly, Thenen looked considerably younger. He was shorter than him too. Rolly himself lacked much stature, but beside his companion he appeared the more formidable of the two. With his round boy face and half moon smile, Thenen could barely scare a child, forget protect his sisters.
On the day of the fair, the three siblings floated up to their companion who then provided the caravan that would take them to the festival. At that point Rolly realized why his father’s choice made sense; Thenen’s father had more money and thus a better vessel to present the troupe. He also had family at the citadel, with whom the group would lodge for the event.
With the exception of the pilot, none of the travelers had been to the citadel before, and as they approached the water became rougher, nearing the confluence of the three rivers, which slowed them to a crawl as the afternoon waned. As the waterway expanded, the craggy skyline of the Goat Rocks gradually came into view, and as they drew closer, one mountain in the center appeared prominently in the foreground. Then the citidel came into their vision, appearing through the hazy day as a castle on wide island.
When they docked, they found the land surrounding the citadel walls had developed into one large camp colony, and though the enterprising had created their own comforts, many more lined up to gain entrance to the inner city. The four stood in the crowd for hours, inching towards the looming entrance, an excruciating end to their long day of waiting. As night fell, the group began to get nervous, not used to crowds of strangers. It was dark before they reached the gatekeeper, who wearily inspected their father’s letters and flagged them through. What they found on the other side had little more appeal than the outside camp, the same crowd now even more closely crammed together. Still, the actual castle keep loomed high overhead festooned with bright banners that shone under the lit torches that crowned the cake.