The Horse People and the Fortress People (in their own tongues the Kavaleri and the Bastolli) have fiercely and jealously guarded their independence and their right to dwell in their wild homelands since the beginning of recorded history, and perhaps before then. The alliance between these two great Warrior Tribes of the West is a very old one. In the early days their interests (one tribe being nomads, the other farmers) did not much conflict. Nowadays the tribes have interbred for centuries, and the term "Kavaleri" tends to be used to describe the field army, especially the cavalry, whilst "Bastolli" tends to be used to describe the townspeople and farmers, or the infantry who garrison the fortifications that protect them. Kaval is the language of the saddle, spoken by soldiers on campaign, hunters, trappers, scouts and cowherds, whilst Bastol is the language of the towns, villages and farms. But in practice the distinction between the two tongues is much more blurred. Both have acquired so many similarities that nobody bothers to separate them, and words from both sources are used indiscriminately in the same sentence.
They tend to be ruled by the strongest leader amongst them, who invariably seizes power. Long ago one man seized the thrones of both Cavalier King and Bastille King, and now there is (except in times of civil war) but one King, who is Cavalier King on campaign and Bastille King in his castle.
They worship the Gods Who best understand their wild and hard life: Those of Chaos and Evil, Who teach strength in adversity and the survival of the fittest and craftiest. Their laws are those which have been found to work in practice, for they are a people who have no time for abstract theorising.
Little wonder, therefore, that they have been at constant war to defend their way of life against the aggression of the doctrinal Valdrean Empire for some two millennia. But they are a strong people. Until the Year 2501 Rockholme, the greatest fortress of the Bastolli, had never fallen to the Valdreans (and even then the Citadel was not taken). But Valdran, the vast capital city of the Empire, fell to the Kavaleri in the Year 1000. The Valdreans claim to have retaken it in a "counter-revolution", but any true Kavaleri can see that there is much of his blood now flowing in the veins of the Empire.
The Valdreans refer to them by the term "Bandits", which is intended to be derogatory, but has become a mark of pride to the Kavaleri, who will often use the term themselves as a Valdrean translation of their nationality.
P.R. Wild, 23 October 1983; revised 3 January 1998
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