Mallorean longboats
The Mallorean Empire is a major Angarak nation that occupies the entire Eastern continent, which is also called Mallorea. It was briefly visited during The Belgariad and much more extensively during The Malloreon.
The Cracking of the World[]
Mallorea is the ancestral home of the Angarak people, and following the re-arrangement of the world underwent massive social changes. Originally dominated by Torak from the High Places of Korim, the geographical alterations had now swamped the God's former residence. He relocated to the city of Cthol Mishrak in extreme northwestern Mallorea, on the shores of the Sea of the East. Meanwhile, the near-collapse of Angarak society saw the military take control, all but abandoning the once-dominant Grolim priesthood.
Angarak Society[]
Unable to integrate into this new power structure, the Grolims fled to the northern mountains of the new continent, settling at the city of Mal Yaska under the Disciple Urvon, whilst the military—and the majority of the Angarak remnant—settled in a fertile valley in the midlands, building the city Mal Zeth.
Melcene Society[]
Off the eastern shores of the new continent were the Melcene Islands. Originally separate, but close to, the proto-continent, the Islands were swamped and almost destroyed in the Cracking of the World. The bulk of the people were now left trying to survive on a pitifully small landmass. The administration, a ponderous bureaucracy, eventually decided to expand the Melcene race to the new continent, which was already inhabited by several primitive kingdoms. The Melcene Empire was described as being sophisticated and technologically superior to the Angaraks of the second millennium; they also had horse- and elephant cavalry as well as war chariots.
Existing Mallorean Nations[]
On the eastern coastline of Mallorea are the Melcene provinces of Gandahar, Darshiva, Peldane, Celanta, and Rengel. This is bordered in the north by the Seven Kingdoms of Karanda, and in the southwest by the Dalasian Protectorates, which stretches right to the western coast of Mallorea. The northwest portion of Mallorea was uninhabited until the arrival of the Angaraks.
Conquest, Assimilation, and War[]
The naturally fractious Angarak people, still divided between the secular Mal Yaska and the military Mal Zeth, continued to skirmish and fight, until Torak Himself issued an order to cease, and instead subdue the indigenous peoples of Mallorea. Forced into an uneasy alliance, Grolim and generals arranged a campaign against the neighbouring peoples, the loose confederation of primitive nations known as the Seven Kingdoms of Karanda. The trained and experienced Angaraks soon defeat the resistance of the Karandese, and with the fate of millions at stake, one of the most critical decisions in Angarak society was made.
The Grolims were preparing for a massive of sacrifice to Torak, but the General Staff saw an opportunity to assimilate the Karandese, providing a vassal state and expanding the burgeoning Angarak empire. Both options were presented to Torak, who—in a break with his usual bloodlust—sided with the military and demanded the subjugation of the Karandese to Angarak religion and governance. The Grolim priesthood reluctantly agreed and replaced the existing religion of demon worship, thus doubling the size of the Angarak presence in Mallorea.
In the southeast, Melcena was expanding its borders through far more peaceful means. The bureaucracy, aiming always for efficiency, preferred to simply absorb the coastline kingdoms, and rule through the existing royalty of each country.
With the Angaraks expanding east and the Melcenes expanding west contact was inevitable. Legend has it that the Melcene army, supported by formidable elephant cavalry from Gandahar, utterly devastated a numerically superior Angarak army. The Angarak commanders realised they could not succeed in conflict against the advanced Melcene forces. They offered a tentative peace to the Melcenes, who readily accepted; the bureaucrats could see Angarak numbers would eventually swamp the fledgling Melcene empire. The Angarak forces then turned their attention to the sprawling Dalasian territories, seemingly inhabited by simple village folk, thus consolidating their hold on the entire continent. This wary peace between the two dominant power systems of Mallorea was strained by several minor conflicts, but it is clear that neither side was willing to commit its entire might. In an attempt to foster peace—and no doubt conduct some information gathering—influential families of Melcene despatched young men to live with senior military officers of Angarak, and vice-versa, creating a generation of men with awareness of both sides and unintentionally setting the scene for the greatest political shift on the continent to date.
Cooperation and Integration[]
One of the Angarak youths sent to experience life in Melcena was Kallath, who lived with the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Melcene Empire. He regularly visited the court of the Emperor of Melcene, who had only one child, a daughter named Danera. The two youths got along very well, until Kallath had to return to Mal Zeth. There, his skills had him promoted to the general staff and he became the commander of the Rakuth Military District, the youngest man to serve on the commanding body of the Angarak empire.
Kallath promptly returned to Melcena and married Danera, and upon the death of Emperor Molvan of Melcene had himself declared the next Emperor. There were other candidates of course, but because he was ambitious (and Angarak), his rivals began having accidents. His next step was to summon the army of the Melcene Empire, and combine it with his own forces in the district of Rakuth in Angarak territory, forcing the General Staff to accede to him, and declare him Commander-in-Chief. Kallath was now the most powerful man in Mallorea, commanding both the armies of Angarak and the nations of Melcene. The integration of these two wildly different, antagonistic peoples was difficult, but eventually Melcene bureaucracy won out over Angarak bloodlust. Although the Grolim priesthood managed to convert the Melcene people to worship of the Dragon God, they were not able to command the abject fear characteristic of the Angaraks and their dominated subjects. Kallath became the founder of the Mallorean Empire, the largest nation on the planet.
Invasion of the West[]
Kallath's Empire lasted a few scant centuries, before the Angarak God Kal Torak himself arrived at the gates of Mal Zeth to depose the Emperor. Torak issued commands to the Murgo, Nadrak and Thullish Kings, preparing them for war, while his three disciples, Urvon, Ctuchik, and the Apostate Zedar, introduced a chilling regime of theocratic horror, destroying the secular nature of Mallorea and returning the Grolim priesthood to its place of power.
However, Torak's mobilization of Mallorea for an invasion of the Western kingdoms nearly destroyed the empire. Millions of Angaraks and Karands were marched north, and over the land bridge to Gar og Nadrak, while Melcene and Dalasian troops were sent to the port of Dal Zerba to be transported by massive fleets to southern Cthol Murgos. However, these forces were routed and destroyed after Torak was struck down at the Battle of Vo Mimbre, which had a catastrophic effect on all Angarak society. Leaderless and stripped of nearly the entire male population, the empire of Mallorea tottered on the edge of destruction. Only the aging former Emperor, Kallath, and his surviving grandson could repair the damage done. Korzeth, heir apparent, was tutored by his grandfather until the young man callously deposed the former Imperial ruler. He then spent the rest of his life welding the fractured Mallorea back into one piece in what is known as the bloodiest internecine war ever. He was successful, and delivered a newly unified Mallorea to his children.
This final, destructive act of aggression forged a new Mallorea. Before Torak's return, imperial Mallorea was a gentle bureaucracy, run from the Melcene center of power. Now, led by a succession of militant Emperors through violent periods, the Mallorean power base has shifted back to the Imperial City of Mal Zeth. A dictatorship had formed, characterised by centralized power and a shifting regime of intrigue, conspiracy and infighting. Korzeth's descendants realised, like many others, a divided and distrustful court could never rise up against the Imperial throne, much like the original Emperor had.
The Rule of Emperor Kal Zakath[]
Mallorea's recovery was almost complete by the ascension of Emperor Zakath, eighteen years-old at the time he became the most powerful ruler in the world. However, he was to become the victim of a paranoid plot by the xenophobic, psychotic Murgo ruler King Taur Urgas. Inexplicably fearing betrayal by his fellow Angaraks, who outnumbered the Murgo people by half, the insane King instigated a plot to try and control—or assassinate—the Mallorean Emperor: attempting to convince a young Melcene lady engaged to Zakath. Zakath discovered and had the lady and her family put to death, only to discover her innocence (that she would not go along with Taur Urgas' scheme). This revelation led to such a personality change in young Zakath, due to the personal nature of the conspiracy, that his own family could not recognise him.
A vengeful Zakath launched an invasion of Cthol Murgos that necessitated a response from the nations of the West, deflecting attention from the attempt by Garion to infiltrate Cthol Mishrak and face Torak. Zakath and his Mallorean forces attempted to smash through Princess Ce'Nedra's army at the Battle of Thull Mardu, as it stood directly between himself and the forces of Taur Urgas. The Alorn forces managed a staunch defence against Angarak assaults on both flanks, before withdrawing safely in conjunction with Nadrak forces under Drosta lek Thun who managed to smash the Malloreon troops threatening to overwhelm them.