The Strategos said:
Lengels can't fall until they fulfill their promise and attack Ikki
. How can history view them as terrifying demons when they don't even carry out all their threats??? Besides, there are a couple satirists in Ikki who've been itching to turn their pens against the Lengels
.
Mayhaps you will get your chance soon. The Lengels had no wish to fight in the mountains, but thanks to Davar's final stand we have a bit more experience in it.
Now, story time!
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A Citadel Study of Nkondi, 1242
It seems strange, that a mere fifty two years after the fall of Nkondi, that it could change so much. From our earlier accounts of Nkondi, it was evident that while the population was slightly barbaric, and very amazonian in hierarchy, they were simple farmers for the most part. Unorganized except in the main cities of the country, where most extremely religious Indians congregated to worship the Nkondi version of Crystalism.
Based on the scattered accounts we can collect, burned as they were, we can see that much of those religious Nkondians were slaughtered in the attacks on the cities, while those that weren't as religious were relatively spared in the country side in their farms. This religious purge was not the Lengel's intent, from what we have seen of their tolerant laws toward religion [1], but rather a side-affect of their brutal attacks on cities that refuse to surrender.
This purge later contributed to the Nkondi-crystalism exodus to Shalamari, the birthplace of their religion, although also a country Nkondi had past conflicts with. With the cities all but destroyed, the Lengel moved their massive horse and cattle herds into the country, and began grazing them on the largely unpopulated fields of Nkondi, as many farms had been arrayed near the cities, although not close enough to be affected by the Lengel attacks.
This Citadel expedition has theorized that from this simple action of moving in their grazing cattle and horses, the Lengel moved along greatly the assimilation and absorption of the Nkondi culture. Our travels across this land, speaking with its people has told us much of what happened following that fateful move.
Farming became less and less frequent, as more and more non-religious Nkondians viewing the slaughter of their religious brethren, and the seeming invincibility of the Lengels as a sign of a greater higher power, and converted to Tengri. This religion is a combination of monotheism and animism, all based around combat and struggle as nomads. This religion greatly contributed to the number of Nkondi nomads, as more and more began to choose that way of life.
The cities of Nkondi were the last strong-hold of farmers, and those farmers were also members of the Tengri religion. However, these farmers situated around the cities were mostly males, whose wives had joined the Lengel army, and the men were now supporting the Lengel through supplies of grain, and their crop.
The cities we have visited were not abandoned however, but bustled with life at various times during the week. Observing the city of Sasako, we have found that the city has become a meeting place of the various nomad Nkondi and Lengels who had migrated south. Its place on the Kalmar river made it a prefect location for the now nomadic Nkondians, as it was a place where their cattle and horses could drink their fill of water.
Sasako now has become a main trading location for the people of Nkondi. They trade anything from hides and carvings, to dairy and cattle. The Lengel presence is light in the city, but it is there, from what we can tell. Most of the time their presence is not felt, although there is always recruiting of new soldiers occurring, and the collection of grain from the farmers.
Men are becoming slightly more equal in Nkondi as well, after the Lengel invasion. While women are still viewed as more important, the Lengel military force of men greatly impressed many Nkondi women of their fighting skill, and so men have become well respected (especially Lengel men, as of the few that we have seen, they seem to always have plenty of Nkondian wives).
While we are not sure of the impact of Nkondian culture upon the Lengels, it is evident that women are more highly respected in Lengel lands as well. Other than this small, insignificant change that was already mostly prevalent in Lengel lands, it would seem that Lengel culture now greatly overshadows Nkondi's own, even within their homeland.
While ethnically they are Nkondi, and called as such even within the Lengel Empire, the Nkondi are most definitely Lengels now. While in appearance and location they might differ, but their beliefs are now almost completely alike to that of the Lengel's own.
What such a thing means, we have yet to guess. An in depth look into the culture of the Lengel within their own homeland will reveal more to our scholars in the Citadel. With that, we seal this scroll, and send it back to the Citadel while we continue our journey.
[1]: The Lengel horde does not prosecute the religions of its people, like the 'civilized' Swades have done, and instead merely hold (much like the Citadel), that all religions are the same, and that other religions merely have different names for the same God.
Why is it all these people stories are all cliff-hangers??? I want to know what they know! 
