Despatches from Syldavia

The sort of demonstration made by the Polishov Infantry in the previous post is not simply the fiat of some exuberant officer looking for promotion. The Polishov frontier is constantly being tested by the forces of Syldavia’s ancient arch-enemy, Borduria. Syldavia’s history is one of recovering lands lost to invaders from the north (and elsewhere) since long before the Ottoman Empire overran the kingdom of the tragic King Grygor. The Ottomans created an administrative district in Syldavia which was then attached to the Pashaluk of Borduria, and governed from its far-off capital of Szohôd on the Danube. The present Syldavian military command, the Könikstzrwa Zyldav krag ministarstvo, makes great efforts to intercept these infiltrations and show the flag of the Black Pelican everywhere along the frontier. Here soldiers of the Polishov Infantry march north along the road to the villages of Tzolardin, through the woodlands along the west bank of the Dirinje. They make themselves...