Siege of Tarr-Hostigos Read online

  SIEGE OF TARR-HOSTIGOS

  JOHN F. CARR

  With ROLAND GREEN

  Pequod Press

  An excerpt from this novel first appeared in ARMAGEDDON!: THERE WILL BE WAR, Vol. VIII, edited by Jerry E. Pournelle and John E Carr, under the title “Siege at Tarr-Hostigos” in 1989.

  Copyright © 2003 by John F. Carr

  Original Cover Art--Copyright © 2003 by Alan Gutierrez

  ISBN: 0-937912-02-6

  DEDICATION

  To my loving wife Victoria, who puts up with my frequent sideways excursions to Kalvan’s Time-Line.

  SPECIAL THANKS

  First, I’d like to thank James Landau, Chief’s Special Assistant, who has been critiquing this book in its various incarnations for over 16 years! James is also my Chief Continuity Editor and plays a big part in keeping H. Beam’s Piper’s vision of Kalvan and Paratime alive and consistent.

  Next, I’d like to thank David Johnson for his enthusiasm and good advice. And thanks to Woody, my first reader, who’s going to be surprised at the changes that have occurred since he read the first draft several years ago. Enjoy!

  I’d also like to give special thanks to all the members of the new Copy-editing and Post-Proofing Team: Evan Gray, Eric Oppen, Dwight Decker, Erik Fisher, Bob Arrington, Victoria Carr and finally, Chris Corley (Chief Copyeditor). One of the Team Leaders of the V.I.E. Project, Chris has brought a new standard of excellence and professionalism to the copyediting phase of the Kalvan Saga.

  Lastly, a thank you to Tom Rogers, Piper and Kalvan Archivist, for keeping the records.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I’d like to give a big thank you to the Kalvan Sponsors and Donors who helped make this book a reality: Robert T. Noble, Gregory Eatroff, P.J. Porter, Bill Howell, M.B. McGuirk, Harold Wood, Lawrence R. Huss, C.H. Jervy, Michael W. Bringmann, John N. Baird III, Michael C. Marks, Bruce Villas, W.C. Cool, Francis W. Brown IV, Jay Morrison Harper, Tim McDowell, Spencer De Panus, Ian McCreath, Steven Carr, Jevon Kastich, Frederick L. Olmstead, Tom Rogers, Mark Curran, Gregory D. Weeks, David Sims and Thomas L. Bright.

  And a very special thanks to our two Angels, Erik Fischer and Andrew Vernale, Jr., and Eric and Peter Diamond, two Sponsors who helped spread the word by purchasing 10 copies of Kalvan Kingmaker to donate to “local school & municipal libraries.”

  I’d like to thank Barry Kerrigan and his crew for their great work.

  Heartfelt thanks to Alan Gutierrez who once again did a wonderful job on the cover and, at the last minute, found the time to create the three wonderful maps that grace this volume, when our original cartographer went south never to be heard from again!

  Finally, to H. Beam Piper who started it all!

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  Hos Hostigos & Allies

  Amnita--Princess of Sashta and wife of Balthames. Sarrask of Sask’s daughter.

  Armanes--Prince of Nyklos.

  Aspasthar--Royal Page and Harmakros’ son.

  Balthames--Prince of Sashta.

  Chartiphon--Former head of Hostigos Army and now Chancellor of Hos-Hostigos

  Demia--Princess, Kalvan and Rylla’s daughter, named after Rylla’s mother.

  Democriphon--Colonel in Royal Army of Hos-Hostigos.

  Ermut--Master at University of Hostigos. Later becomes Rector.

  Harmakros--Captain-General of the Army of Hostigos Hestophes--One of Kalvan’s top generals.

  Kalvan--Former Pennsylvania State Policeman who was picked up by a cross-time conveyer and dropped off at Hostigos. Now Great King of Hos-Hostigos and the declared enemy of Styphon’s House.

  Kestophes--Prince of Ulthor.

  Klestreus--Head of Hostigos Security.

  Lavena--Baron Sthentros’ daughter.

  Mnestros--Duke of Ubros and Kalvan’s ally.

  Mykonnos--Commander of Prince Sarrask’s bodyguard.

  Mytron--Highpriest of Hos-Hostigos.

  Nathros--Grand Captain and head of the Hostigos semaphore project.

  Fheblon--Prince of Nostor.

  Phosg--Peasant representative on the Hostigi Council.

  Phrames--Prince of Beshta and General in Royal Army of Hos-Hostigos.

  Ptosphes--First Prince of Hostigos and Rylla’s father.

  Rogos--Count and Guild Master.

  Rylla--Great Queen of Hos-Hostigos, Kalvan’s wife and co-ruler.

  Sarrask--Prince of Sask, former enemy, now loyal subject.

  Skranga--Chief of Hos-Hostigos Intelligence.

  Sthentros--Ptosphes’cousin-in-law.

  Tharses--Uncle Wolf Highpriest of Hos-Hostigos.

  Tythanes--Prince of Kyblos.

  Waklos--Captain and Beshtan artillery officer.

  Xentos--Ex-Hostigi and Highpriest of Hostigos, now First Primate of Dralm.

  Xykos--Captain of Great Queen Rylla’s Bodyguard.

  Paratimers

  Aranth Sain--Study Team Military Expert.

  Baltov Eldra--Study Team Historian.

  Danthor Dras--University Professor and expert on Styphon’s House Subsector.

  Gorath Tran--Assistant Director of Kalvan Study Team.

  Hadron Dalla--Verkan’s wife and Paratime Police Chief’s Special Assistant.

  Hadron Tharn--Dallas twisted little brother.

  Lathor Karv--Member of Kalvan Study Team.

  Ranthar Jard--Paratime Police Inspector.

  Skordran Kirv--Paratime Police head of Foundry Security.

  Talgan Dreth--Director of Kalvan Study Team.

  Varnath Lala--Study Team Metallurgist.

  Verkan Vall--Paratime Police Chief.

  Zyldor--Director of the University of Dhergabar.

  Styphon’s House

  Anaxthenes--First Speaker, leading Archpriest of the Inner Circle.

  Aristocles--Knight Commander and second in command of the Order.

  Cimon--Inner Circle Archpriest called the “Peasant Priest.”

  Danthor--Paratime Professor’s undercover identity as Styphon’s House highpriest.

  Dimonestes--Archpriest, one of Roxthar’s followers.

  Dracar--Archpriest of Inner Circle and Roxthar’s puppet.

  Drayton--Styphon’s House Treasurer.

  Euriphocles--Archpriest, one of Anaxthenes’ co-conspirators.

  Grythos--Highpriest and candidate for the Inner Circle.

  Heraclestros--Archpriest, former Highpriest of Agrys City.

  Lymachor--Archpriest and one of Anaxthenes’ allies.

  Neamenestros--Archpriest and one of Anaxthenes’ allies.

  Orocles--Knight Commander and Soton’s second in command of the Grand Host.

  Phyllos--Highpriest of The Great Temple of Harphax.

  Roxthar--Holy Investigator and Torquemada of Styphon’s House.

  Sarmoth--Knight Sergeant of the Order of Zarthani Knights. Soton’s aide-de-camp.

  Sesklos--Styphon’s Voice and head of Styphon’s House.

  Soton--Grand Master of the Order of Zarthani Knights.

  Timothanes--Archpriest, one of Archpriest Dracar s supporters.

  Vyros--Archivist of Styphon’s Great Temple.

  Xenophes--High Marshal of the Styphon’s House Temple Guard.

  Allies of Styphon’s House

  Anaphon--New commander of the Royal Army of Hos-Harphax.

  Cleitharses--Great King of Hos-Ktemnos.

  Hythar--Count, Lysandros’ Chief Intelligencer.

  Kyphannes--Chancellor of Hos-Harphax and Lysandros’ chief advisor.

  Lysandros--Great King of Hos-Harphax and Kalvan’s enemy.

  Niclophon--Great King of Hos-Bletha.

  Phidestros--Grand Captain-General of the Holy Host.

  Phytocles--Healer sent to poison Sesklos.

>   Thessamona--Lady of Death, Anaxthenes’ favorite concubine.

  Zythannes--The new commander of the Royal Army of Hos-Ktemnos.

  Neutrals

  Demistophon--Great King of Hos-Agrys.

  Eudocles--Grand Duke of Zygros and Sopharar’s brother.

  Nestros--Great King of Hos-Rathon.

  Olmnestes--Uncle Wolf Highpriest of the Grand Host.

  Pariphon--Prince and Heir to the Throne of Hos-Zygros.

  Ranjar Sargos--Var-Wannax, or Great Chief, of the Sastragath.

  Rolthoff--King of Xiphlon.

  Selestros--Son of former king of Hos-Harphax.

  Sestembar--Count and Eudocles’ right hand man.

  Sopharar--Great King of Hos-Zygros.

  Theovacar--King of Grefftscharr.

  Vanar Halgoth--War Chief of the Tymannes and Captain of Kalvan’s Bodyguard.

  Varrack--Prince of Thagnor.

  MAPS

  Preface

  In our previous edition (2nd Edition) of Gunpowder Theocracy we chronicled the temporal displacement of Calvin Morrison (a.k.a. Lord Kalvan and Great King Kalvan), formerly of the Fourth Level, Europo-American, Hispano-Columbian Subsector, on Fourth Level, Aryan-Transpacific, Styphon’s House Subsector. Three years ago Calvin Morrison was ‘picked up’ after two conveyers interpenetrated on a Fourth Level Europo-American Sector time-line (one of the new Hispano-Columbian nuclear belts) and was able to exit the transtemporal conveyer1 on a Fourth Level, Aryan-Transpacific Subsector time-line which is now designated Kalvan’s Time-Line, on the Fourth Month, 14th Day, 12167 A.C. Kalvan, as we shall now call him, arrived within the Princedom of Hostigos, a relatively minor province of one of the five Great Kingdoms. The Aryan-Transpacific Styphon’s House Subsector is at the pre-mechanical stage of technology.

  1. See Appendix for transcript of the deposition by Paratime Police Trooper Araln Folen regarding the displacement incident on his conveyer on Fourth Level, Europo-America.

  The dominant political and economic entity in the Five Kingdoms is Styphon’s House, a typical mythic god of the usual Aryan pantheon. It is through the dissemination of the gunpowder formula2 and its manufacture that Styphon’s House has managed to elevate itself from the cult of a minor healer god to a major god of the Zarthani pantheon. The knowledge and use of the ‘Fireseed Mystery,’ the gunpowder formula, has allowed Styphon’s House to dominate local politics and create a kingdom-wide theocracy throughout the Kingdoms of Hos-Ktemnos and Hos-Bletha, as well as dominate the politics and military actions of the Northern Kingdoms (Hos-Harphax, Hos-Agrys and Hos-Zygros).

  2. Until Calvin Morrison’s arrival, the formula and manufacture of gunpowder (referred to as the Fireseed Mystery) was the total monopoly of Styphon’s House, the dominant sect on the Styphon’s House Subsector. Styphon’s House, through the manufacture and distribution of ‘fireseed,’ has been able to both reward its allies among the local lords, princes and kings, with cheap and abundant gunpowder, as well as punish its opponents by the levying of the Ban of Styphon, prohibiting the sale and distribution of fireseed. Styphon’s House has used its immense riches to establish large banking houses, cotton and corn plantations, large merchant fleets, and has in effect put their tentacles into almost every facet of Zarthani (the dominant people and culture upon the Styphon’s House Subsector) life. In the last ten years it has been moving northward into the Northern Kingdoms to consolidate its political control. See Chapters 7 through 23 for a history of Styphon’s House and its rise from a small cult of a minor healer god to the dominant theocracy on Aryan-Transpacific.

  At the time of Kalvan’s arrival, Styphon’s House was attempting to increase its sulfur production, which is the most difficult part of the ‘Fire-seed Trinity’--as the gunpowder formula is called within the Temple--to obtain in a pre-mechanical society. The sulfur springs which Styphon’s House was interested in obtaining were located in the small Princedom of Hostigos. Styphon’s House’s crude attempts to negotiate a settlement so they could locate a temple farm in Hostigos were rebuffed by Prince Ptosphes, who refused to negotiate with, as he put it, “Your false priests and highwaymen in bed sheets.”

  Ptosphes’ antipathy to Styphon was shared by many of the smaller Northern Princedoms who are often charged inordinate fees for the gunpowder they need to protect their lands and offices. Ptosphes was also a devout follower of Dralm, the Father God of the Zarthani pantheon, who is Styphon’s main competitor as the primary god figure in the Five Kingdoms. Styphon’s House responded by recruiting Ptosphes’ neighbors, primarily Prince Gormoth of Nostor and Prince Sarrask of Sask, to conquer Hostigos and partition it between themselves. Styphon’s House provided both Princes with large bribes, ample supplies of gunpowder, and enough gold to hire several thousand mercenaries in order to conquer Hostigos.

  Kalvan arrived in the midst of a Nostori-led bandit raid, which with the help of the local peasantry he was able to successfully repulse. During this action he was wounded by Prince Ptosphes’ daughter, Rylla, who after arriving late at the scene, mistook this stranger for one of the bandits. His act of heroism gained him the attention of Prince Ptosphes and the heart of Princess Rylla. Lord Kalvan, as he was called by the Hostigi, was careful not to reveal his true origins nor the method by which he reached Hostigos. He has led the local inhabitants to believe that he was sent from the mythical Cold Lands (Dyart) by a wizard who punished him with a spell that sent him far away from his home.

  A former soldier, Lord Kalvan used his knowledge of comparatively advanced military tactics and weaponry to help rebuild the Army of Hostigos, and he successfully orchestrated the takeover of a critical border castle on the Nostor border. He also revealed the gunpowder formula and its manufacture to all interested parties, thereby freely disseminating the ‘Fire-seed Mystery’. The revelation of the heretofore well-kept Fireseed Mystery has made Lord Kalvan the primary enemy of Styphon’s House. The leadership of Styphon’s House retaliated by using their influence and gold to provoke a war between Hostigos and the much larger Princedoms of Nostor and Sask. Through a combination of good military tactics and the judicious use of superior military technology (primarily rifled muskets and mobile small cannons), Kalvan was able to defeat the Styphoni-hired army of Nostor at the Battle of Lystra-Mouth and assert Hostigi sovereignty. A succeeding victory at the Battle of Fyk, against the Army of Sask (also financed by Styphon’s House), allowed Lord Kalvan to assert Hostigi dominion over the losing Princedoms of Sask and Nostor, and proclaim a new Great Kingdom, with Kalvan as Great King.

  At the time it was assumed that Kalvan’s arrival was the triggering event that allowed the successful rebellion of the small Princedom of Hostigos in the Great Kingdom of Hos-Harphax, since it was our opinion that the entire Aryan-Transpacific, Styphon’s House Subsector was in a state of cultural transition. Styphon’s House’s growing religious, political and economic hold on the Five Kingdoms was reaching a flashpoint as the religious/political organization sought total dominance of the northern Kingdoms (Hos-Harphax, Hos-Agrys and Hos-Zygros) where the worship of Allfather Dralm is centered.

  The war with Kalvan has precipitated a crisis within Styphon’s House, a temple ruled by a cynical upper priesthood that has dominated the hierarchy for centuries. The arrival of Kalvan and his revelation of Styphon’s House’s most highly prized mystery has allowed the true believers, led by Archpriest Roxthar, to gain ascendancy within the Inner Circle. Archpriest Roxthar is a fanatical follower of Styphon’s Way3,an obscure text that has been mostly ignored by the ruling hierarchy.

  3. Styphon’s Way. See Appendix for translation of the text. Styphon, the central figure of Styphon worship, was either one or more principals active in the founding of this faith. There is evidence that ‘Styphon’ was a healer who experienced a divine revelation, which his followers then documented: in this case, his aphorisms and declarations on life. In summary, this text is a typical revelatory document by someone who has ingested either psychoactive mushrooms or ergot-t
ainted rye bread. Of interest is Styphon’s insistence on a vow of poverty and charity, neither of which have been given any more than lip service by the Styphon’s House priesthood in centuries. Blaming the Daemon Kalvan on the Temple’s straying from Styphon’s Way has so far been successful; whether it will allow Styphon’s House to survive the dissemination of the Fireseed Mystery has yet to be determined.

  Roxthar has attracted a large following among the lower priests of the outer circle4, the ones who actually do the day-to-day labor and work of running the temples and are the core of true believers in their god, Styphon. Some of these lower priests are unbelievers, but have attached themselves to Roxthar‘s Investigation in an attempt to raise themselves in the Temple hierarchy.

  4. The outer circle refers to those priests who were not allowed access to the Fireseed Mystery before Lord Kalvan’s temporal displacement. These priests wear white robes, which Roxthar has adopted as the uniform for his Investigators.

  The Holy Investigation was instigated by Archpriest Roxthar to root out heresy among the Temple hierarchy. According to our agent within Styphon’s House, Investigator Roxthar was given this unprecedented power to conduct an inquisition because of the fear of Kalvan and his success in demonstrating how corrupt5 Styphon’s House has become. The Inner Circle protected themselves by declaring all Archpriests exempt from Investigation.

  5. After Kalvan’s victory at the Battle of Fyk and the subsequent invasion of Sask he was able to capture two Archpriests, Zothnes and Krastokles, and--upon threat of death--convince them to confess that they were unbelievers as were the majority of the upper priesthood of Styphon’s House. These revelations have been a public relations nightmare for the Inner Circle and have provided Archpriest Roxthar the leverage to prompt their capitulation to his demand for the extraordinary powers of Investigator of Styphon’s House. Roxthar’s Investigation has been well received by the populace, except in those areas of Hos-Ktemnos where the Investigation has been broadened outside the Temple and into the general population.