For a millennium, the Empire was at war. Fueled by military precision and an unprecedented alliance with dragons, the Imperial Armies knew countless victories and few defeats. The Empire grew until its greatest enemy was not any of the barbarian nations to the east, but its own unmanageable size. At the frontier, victories and expansion were replaced by an endless cycle of rebellion and re-conquest.
Weary of war, the Emperor crafted a bold new strategy: peace through trade. One hundred and seventy years ago, he ordered the establishment of Thandar, an independent frontier trading post at the confluence of the four great rivers. …