The daughter of Klaspet Cathuria, Hagande, took much more after her mother, who was of an old family of the privateer/ship-captains who previous kings had used to harry the Titans. It was needed, for the tentative addition of Thiamim...large in scope if small in people...made the Cathurian Empire take up a good fourth of the continent of Cathrarho. They occupied the least used and most despised lands of Cathrarho, including the desert lands, yet they had grown from a minor annoyance to now, lands large enough to seem to be growing towards one of the Titans' major cities.

Past Thiamim to the west were the Heimers Surtet, a high mountain range. The rocs, though large, were actually clumsy fliers, and could not ascend very high, and the mountains brought a prevailing wind that upset the clumsy fliers like the rocs. Past the mountains, where pheonixes roost, the last turns a little more fertile, and the great Pheobgram river runs from Rypym in the far north, into the southern sea. The great jinn-built city of Albysir was there, one of the most important ports of the Titans' empire, and the knowledge that the lands just to the east of them were human lands was troubling. These were rich hands, though ifrit-haunted, and the sphynx roamed here, also. Thulaod was the name of the land, and it was the richest Titan stronghold south of Rypym proper.

The fleet at Albysir was mostly merchants, but it was a pretty mighty fleet, with many man-of-wars. It would be total folly to attack it by sea. Yet Hagande eyed it hungrily. What a prize it would be for the Cathurian empire, and what a lot of human slaves could be freed. In fact, many of the human slaves were bought and sold there, to be sent upriver to Rypym.

Hagande sent her fleet to raid the coastline, but they met with humiliating defeats, time after time. She lost half her fleet in such raids. That increased her unpopularity, and the families that still had power that were related to the slain Vymthrius increased the muttering against her. Unknown to many, they were still receiving money from the giants in various ways, and the Emperor was trying to engineer a coup'd'etat in human lands. However, the Vymthians were so generally hated that even with funds they found it hard to build support. Hagande married a Rierian prince, which solidified her position...but some Vymthian fanatics invited her to a festival...and then assasinated her, hoping to seize control.

It backfired, horribly. All Vymthians were killed by the outraged people. Memories of the Return of the Chains were too raw. Her husband, the Reirian Prince, ruled as regent while Hagande's chldren grew. The phrase, "As unlucky as Hagande" became proverbial. She was never as popular as after she was assasinated. Before, her popularity was questionable. Afterwards, she became a symbol of solidarity.

Check out a map of Thuload.