The History of Transoxalia, Part 1: The evidence from Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World

In this post I want to start examining the history and geography of an interesting part of Khul that I have so far not visited in my explorations of the Dark Continent - the area from Neuburg to Zagoula. Ken Beuden, in his interactive Map of Khul, calls this area Transoxalia, though it's not clear that this is where Luke Sharp intended that land to be (see my previous post on the topic). But I'm warming to the idea (it's not clear where else Transoxalia might fit, and the area is beyond a river, in this case the River Swordflow, which we can imagine having been called the 'Oxalis' in the long distant past).

Anyway, here's a map of the area I'm on about, by Steve Luxton from Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World:

 

This is a pretty key part of Khul during crucial periods in its history. Here's a summary of what we learn about the region from Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World (page references are A4/B-format). First of all Old Time (OT):

• Small towns in western Khul unite under the rule of King Klarash Silverhair in 1510 OT, the nation of Klarash growing by 1565 OT to stretch from the southern edge of Scorpion Swamp to the River Swordflow. (38/73)
• In 1542 OT, the first explorers from the kingdom of Klarash attempt to cross into the goblin-infested lands south of the River Swordflow. (38/73)
• During the reign of Klarash III (the original king's grandson), a new capital for the kingdom, Shakista, was founded (near the later Ximoran). (38/74)
• The southern goblins were eventually overcome and the city of Zagoula was founded in 1611 OT as a bulkwark against them. It quickly became a centre for learning and sorcery. (38/74)
• By the end of the 2nd millenium OT, the kingdom of Klarash extended as far south as the garrison towns of Yaziel and Hyennish. Scholars and sorcerers from Zagoula travelled across Khul seeking new knowledge. (38/75)
• In 1997 OT, adventurers from Zagoula found the Dead City, far across the Scythera Desert, and unwittingly unleashed the Forces of Chaos, changing the world of Titan for ever. (39/76)
• The Forces of Chaos that had been unleashed quickly gathered and in the spring of 1998 OT, they swept into Zagoula, destroying the city. (39/78)
• The exact movements of the chaotic armies aren't easy to explain following this, as parts of the army swept northwest to attack Kabesh at the heart of the continent, whilst another army made for the capital of Klarash, Shakista, but was stopped in the Anvil Pass through the Mountains of the Giants by a large force who had been warned of the invasion by survivors from Zagoula. The Mountains of the Giants are to the west of the lands of Klarash, and Ken Beuden, righty I think, places the Anvil Pass in the obvious narrowing of these mountains to the west of Shakista (as indicated in the map above). But why did the chaotic army that had sacked Zagoula so successfully retreat back into the centre of Khul and then attempt to attack by the Anvil Pass through the Mountains of the Giants, rather than push north from Zagoula across the River Swordflow into the heart of Klarash? (41/79)
• In any event, the armies of Chaos pushed the forces of Klarash back to Shakista. Having held back the invaders for 11 days, the defenders of Shakista were finally relieved by the armies of Brendan Bloodaxe from Arion. The Forces of Chaos were destroyed by the combined armies of Klarash and Arion, though the capital had suffered so badly that it had to be demolished. (41/82-3)

And After Chaos (AC):

• In the years after the invasion, Shakista was abandoned and the new capital, Ximoran, was built. The Klarash dynasty continued to rule from Ximoran for 60 years, but came to an end when the king died without leaving an heir. (43/87)
• Following this, the lands of the old Klarash dynasty were ruled by the Council of Seven, a council of members from the seven main towns of these lands (Anghelm, Buruna, Djiretta, Kalima, Kelther, Neuburg and Ximoran) (24/39, 43/87).
• Although Yaziel and Hyennish had survived the invasions by the chaotic forces, they were now sundered from the northern lands. (43/87)
• Zagoula never recovered from its destruction at the hands of the Forces of Chaos, and it was abandoned by all but the ghosts that haunted its chaos-tainted  ruins (43/87). Titan tells us (24/40) that Zagoula is now "a terrifying place, shunned by all but the most adventurous. Some ruined towers and battlements poke above the shifting sands, but most of the city is now underground, and its streets are now tunnels wandered by strange subterranean creatures and a great many undead souls".
• In the 'present day' from the perspective of the writers of Titan (284 AC), the lands of the Council of Seven stretch from the Coast of Sharks to the River Swordflow, where the "small walled city of Neuburg" is on the southern edge of the civilised lands. (24/39)
• South of Neuburg are wild, unsettled lands, inhabited by Goblins and tribes of "short, swarthy humans", supposedly the original inhabitants of much of this part of Khul. Titan describes them as violent and warlike, engaged in raiding for slaves and hostages, but that "swift action by organized troops from Neuburg usually keeps them from doing anything more dangerous". (24/40)

For more discussion of the recent history of Ximoran, see my previous post on the topic. A couple of interesting details are worth pointing out in this brief recap of the history of Transoxalia since later Fighting Fantasy publications contain further interesting details about them. Firstly, Titan tells us that Zagoula was destroyed by the Forces of Chaos and abandoned thereafter. It's quite possible that this illustration (probably by Alan Langford) from Titan (24/38) is a representation of its deserted ruins (especially since in the 1st edition of Titan the illustration appears right next to the description of Zagoula's ruins, and the picture fits the description, given above, perfectly), though it might be Kabesh (but it seems unlikely that someone would be riding a horse through the centre of the Wastes of Chaos in the dead heart of the continent).

Secondly, the town of Neuburg must have existed before the end of the Shakista dynasty (some time after 60 AC according to Titan, 81 AC according the The Fighting Fantasy 10th Anniversary Yearbook), because the dynasty was succeeded by the Council of Seven, and Neuburg is named as one of the seven towns/cities which make up that council. But given the complete lack of reference to Neuburg in the OT period in Titan, and the fact that it is called Neuburg (= 'new castle'), we might expect that it doesn't have a long history before this point. Lastly, some of the lands south of the River Swordflow have been described in detail in later Fighting Fantasy publications, giving us a rather more complicated picture of these wild lands than is presented in Titan. I'll return to these issues in subsequent explorations of the history of Transoxalia and the rest of southwest Khul.

Transoxalia

Say what you will about Luke Sharp's fantasy-themed FF gamebooks (I know some of you hate them!), but I don't think anyone can disagree that the man had an eye for an interesting setting. Whether it be the Dark Chasms beneath Gorak, the Turkic-inspired lands of Kazan, or the weird mix of cultures and environments that make up Zamarra, he really did a lot to add interest to the world of Titan. I'll explore these lands in more detail in later posts, but in this post I want to pick up on one intriguing little reference in the Background section to Sharp's fourth Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Fangs of Fury. As he tells you about Ostragoth's plans for the destruction of Zamarra, Astragal the wizard suggests that:

"If he succeeds here, Gorak, Kazan, Transoxalia, all of south-west Khul will fall to his power."

Very interesting. These are lands in south-west Khul which were not detailed in Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World (Luke Sharp's books having appeared after Titan was published). We know about Gorak from Chasms of Malice and Daggers of Darkness. Kazan we know from Daggers of Darkness, and of course Zamarra is the location for Fangs of Fury itself. But what about Transoxalia? It's clear from the context that it is in south-west Khul and that it is probably a land like Zamarra, Kazan and Gorak, but other than that we know nothing, as this is the only mention of it in the whole of Fighting Fantasy. I like to think that it would have been the location for Luke Sharp's next book had he kept writing them or had the Puffin range not been cancelled. But where might Transoxalia be? Let's have a look at south-west Khul and the locations of other lands we know more about.

I've marked in the areas of the maps in Chasms of Malice, Daggers of Darkness, Fangs of Fury, and Peter Darvill-Evans' Portal of Evil for reference, as these are the only FF maps we have of this part of Khul apart from the Titan map. As you can see, we know a reasonable amount about the geography of south-west Khul, and there are a number of areas we can rule out as the location of Transoxalia. Firstly, anywhere north of the River Swordflow seems unlikely, as these are the vast lands of the Council of Seven and don't really constitute south-west Khul anymore. Secondly, we can rule out anywhere east of the Cloudhigh Mountains (essentially the Wastes of Chaos and the Scythera Desert), as again these aren't in south-west Khul and anyway they aren't settled lands which anyone would care about falling under Ostragoth's rule. Thirdly, we can rule out the lands already detailed by Luke Sharp: Kazan itself (i.e. all the lands between the River Swordflow, the River Dart and the coast; Zamarra, between the Lesser Ilkhan Mountains and the sea; and Gorak, between the River Dart, the River Swordflow, the Lesser Ilkhan Mountains to the south, and extending an unknown distance to the east.

So where does that leave us? One possibility might be one or both of the islands of Soldragar and Pendragar, but as they are already named this seems unlikely. Another possibility would be the area immediately east and south-east of Gorak, though there isn't a lot of room here before bumping into the forests around Kleinkastel. Better might be the area between the River Dagger and the River Swordflow, which isn't part of Gorak (see the Background section in Chasms of Malice). It might even be that this area could include lands south of the River Dagger, east of Gorak. The area around Zagoula is unlikely, as this ruined city is clearly an emerging centre of Chaos in the region, so Astragal is hardly going to be concerned about it being conquered by Ostragoth's chaotic forces. (Exactly where Ostragoth, his army and his fleet have come from to besiege Zamarra is another interesting question which I won't go into right now, though Zagoula must be one possible candidate.) Areas south of Zagoula might be possible locations for Transoxalia, including the peninsula southwest of it and the area around Yaziel and Hyennish (which was once the southern reaches of the kingdom of Klarash according to Titan, so we could imagine it retaining vestiges of civilisation). The only other place that Transoxalia could be is in the area between the River Swordflow and Lake Mlubz - i.e. the area detailed in Portal of Evil, the new southern limits of the lands of the Council of Seven. This is the location of Transoxalia assumed by Ken Beuden in his map of Khul but locating Transoxalia here isn't altogether unproblematic since Peter Darvill-Evans never uses the name for this region, most of it is unsettled or only recently settled forest and jungle and, in any case, it is part of the Council of Seven lands rather than a separate land in its own right in danger of falling under the rule of Ostragoth.

One clue as to the location of Transoxalia might lie in its name. Like many other names in Luke Sharp's fantasy books (see my Fact of Fiction article in issue 3 of Fighting Fantazine), this name is modelled on a name from the Near East and Central Asia - in this case the name of the Central Asian region Transoxiana, the land beyond the Oxus (Amur Darya) river as far as the Jaxartes (Syr Darya) river (note the name Jaxartes, also used in Fangs of Fury). The name Transoxiana contains the Latin prefix trans- meaning "across, beyond, on the other side", so it means "(land) beyond the Oxus". If we apply the same principles to the FF name Transoxalia, then it means something like "(land) beyond the Oxal" or something to that effect. The Oxal (or similar) would then be a geographical feature such as a river, a mountain range or a plain, beyond which lies Transoxalia. Now obviously this doesn't give us a location for it, but it might help us to work out where Transoxalia might lie.

So there you have it. My personal preferred location for Transoxalia is the area between the Swordflow and the Dagger, or the area around Yaziel and Hyennish, but I'm sure some of you have other ideas, which I'd love to hear.