THE FALL OF THE XATISTS
The Cherans and Balgras had forced back the Xatists for, it is believed, the hundredth time. As the Xatists retreated to seek forgiveness from their divine Messengers, another threat emerged from the northeast.
The Unaer’e, the same species of demon that would later shelter Amour Bali, discovered the weakened Xatists during a period of famine in their tribe and led a relentless assault on Xatist territory as well as their Tengri Keep. The divine Messengers themselves were unable to defend against numbers much greater than that of their own and were devoured ravenously by legions of the Unaer’e. The Unaer’e were not known for devious machinations as much as their brute strength and will to survive while promoting the spread of the Dusk with their presence. Because of this, the lands formerly owned by the Xatists were turned to the abyss of the Dusk, and the Balgras and Cherans were forced to form a temporary alliance.
This alliance lasted only for a month, however, as Shaman Cheranis soon stood adamantly against the idea of consuming both humans and demons and believed it a sin against his faith. When their political relationship fell apart, both sides ushered in a war that greatly pleased the Unaer’e. With the conflict raging in full, the Shaman came to regret his own misgivings and learned that the reign of his own people was coming to a swift end. He turned his gaze South and toward his old enemies and began planning his next moves.
THE FATE OF THE ALGOANS
In the land of Algoa, a pantheon of deities forced the Algoans out of their own territory and pushed them across the sea after having captured and killed the last of their leadership.
New forces steadily converged around the fortress of Haraja, and the Udochi readied themselves for a much graver scenario.
3069
(749 P.R.)
Dharmanic Leader Isolakandi had waited outside the remaining wall of Haraja for the past month when the gates were suddenly opened from the inside of the fortress.
His men were led inside, believing themselves victorious, and Isolakandi spake unto Shogun Vati:
“Today, belief in my Godhood has given the Udochi rulership over these lands and true supremacy against the enemy. I will establish thou as the True Shogun, so that ye may lead the people on your own.”
As the Udochi became comfortable, the gathered forces of the Hayashi as well as the Rotted arrived and surrounded the city. The God of the Udochi realized that he was now trapped and made to lay in wait for the enemy’s provocations, and the final wall was soon to collapse on its own.
Dogolin planned for Uras to cut through the Udochi’s men and finally slay the Dharmanic Leader with Haem and Lak’s focused Hatred.
THE COMING ALLIANCE
Uras was more than prepared to strike, but Kelphuren decided against a direct attack. Instead, the Hayashi God wished to see his rival suffer the results of his own stupidity. This angered Dogolin, who could not act without the consent of his leader. Before they could lead a definitive assault on the Udochi, however, the Cherans arrived from the mountains, the Algoans came from the sea, and both sought an alliance to secure their futures with Dharmanic Leader Isolakandi.
Although the Udochi themselves could not escape right away to meet with their forthcoming allies, Shogun Vati urged his men to send up banners of distress while focusing on escaping through the same tunnel the Kasakai had used. Dogolin had anticipated this and left behind more of the Rotted to infect the inner walls of Haraja.
As Doglin’s eagerness to triumph grew, so, too, did the power of Uras. His hatred became insurmountable; the Rotted would fall to their new enemies, but more would rise in their place. Both the Cherans and Algoans feared being trapped in their former land by their respective enemies, and so they fought forward in an attempt to locate the true source of the affliction. The war raged for another year.
3070
(750 P. R.)
ISOLAKANDI’S RESOLVE
On the inside of Haraja, the Rotted became a problem uncurable by even Isolakandi himself. Despite this, he possessed the foresight to know who the true enemy was. In their despair, and before he changed the focus of his defensive campaign, Isolakandi spake unto the Shogun:
“We shelter ourselves as cowards against wrath I believed buried long ago.”
“What do you mean, my lord?” Vati asked of him.
“Your service to me has proved invaluable, Shogun Vati; the fault lie within those who’ve renounced thy legacy.”
“Those now deceased? My sons?”
“Sons whose spirits are not quite gone from this world. The Solace were unable to claim such bitterness against a God, and so I must extinguish the source of it myself. Forsooth, it is I who have played the part of a coward when our enemies slaughter those who also seek unity in these now accursed lands. Shogun Vati, allow me to make one final request.”
“You may deliver a thousand requests unto me, my lord.”
Isolakandi spake unto him:
“When I ride into battle, do not stay at my side. Rather, rally both the Algoans and meet with Shaman Cheranis. Tell them that, verily, thou art the Shogun who shalt unite these lands against greater enemies and against the Rot. Only then shall the war between us end in a new destiny for mankind. Does this sit with thee?”
“Indeed, my Lord.”
Thus, Isolakandi surrounded himself with the remaining Udochi and, as it is said, he did not ask to be carried into battle. He hovered above his enemies while seeking the form of Uras, the enemy he’d seen in his vision.
Kelphuren Seiden discovered him first and bellowed to him across a great distance:
“God Isolakandi, I demand that thou satisfy my thirst for battle. What say ye? Shall we decide who is the one true God here in this place?”
“Never.” Isolakandi spake, “For I seek the one stronger. The one who calls the Rotted to action. When I have defeated him, only then will I be prepared to face what is lesser on Heaven and on Earth.”
Kelphuren, taking great offense, stole lightning from the skies and created a fissure the Earth itself with one strike. A rift crawled toward Isolakandi’s position and opened as Kelphuren’s own forces fell into it.
Isolakandi responded by blessing the Udochi with the ability of levitation while sacrificing his own ability to do so. Before he could fall between the opening rift, one of his soldiers caught him in their grasp and heaved him back onto stable ground. This soldier’s name was Deanshe, and Isolakandi blessed him.
He spake unto Deanshe, “From henceforth, if thou survive this conflict, verily, thou shall live out thy days with no end. Thy age shalt never fail thee, and ye shalt never die because of the immortality granted unto thee. Ride with me now, and subjugate the powers that stand against humanity. Together, Deanshe, we shall tear out the root and heal this world. What say ye?”
“In your honor, my lord.” Deanshe spake, and he was blessed.
Deanshe, his determination greater than ever, charged with the Dharmanic Leader through the enemy ranks and met with Kelphuren Seiden once more.
Kelphuren taunted them: “And thus, is Isolakandi brought to his feet as a mere mortal—for he worships his men rather than himself, rather than his proclaimed godhood. I would see thee struck down in this place.”
DEANSHE AND KELPHUREN
Before Isolakandi could offer a response, Deanshe stood in his place, “Silence thyself. For when I strike, thou shalt grovel at the feet of the Udochi and wish for a time more merciful in its embrace. Kelphuren Seiden, the Hayashi God and foreign to Earth, shalt yet unite with its soil and fall as a human might. I will face ye!”
Kelphuren was amused, and so he humored the soldier as Isolakandi proceeded to find Uras. The legends speak of Deanshe and Kelphuren’s battle together. Deanshe struggled against a God with his greatsword, and Kelphuren used mysticism to keep him away as he tired out the warrior. Long after the conclusion of the war, the battle raging between the two was such that the ground at their feet was carved by their collective might. Kelphuren and Deanshe
struggled for many days and nights, becoming buried deep beneath the Earth as part of the fissure created by the Hayashi God. Below the war, they continued their fighting for an age.
THE FALL
Isolakandi soon found the location of his ancient enemy. The mind of Uras had been entirely corroded by Dogolin’s influence and replaced with only the memories of both Haem and Lak. He’d plunged his bastard sword into the ground and meditated over it whilst waiting for the future. He saw a vision of the Rot covering the world, and his inhabitors were pleased. Thus, when the figure of Uras sensed Isolakandi’s approach, he withdrew his weapon and held it aloft as an arc of black lightning imbued it with the power to slay a God.
Dogolin, Haem, and Lak spake unto Isolakanid at once:
“Oh, Isolakandi, how thy presence has been desired beyond the ravages of time. How we have waited to witness Isolakandi’s fall from grace and his startled reaction to swift planning. Verily, we trapped thee in thy own ambition and have given thou no choice but to confront thy fate. Had ye only stayed within the lands belonging to the Udochi, ye might have prevailed in time, for the Algoans are frail, crippled by their own weakness. Shaman Cheranis, although powerful, maintains a lack of presence. Due to thy failure—due to thy humanity, ye have failed humans and given rise to the Age of the Decrepit. Verily, when thee art struck down, will the Rot take over and seep through every entity calling itself human.”
Isolakandi felt his spirit well up inside him. He knew of a much greater secret and spake unto him:
“Foolish Uras. Foolish Dogolin. Foolish heirs. Time has made thee impatient, ready to throw away all in favor of seeking only revenge. Forsooth, it is revenge that has ended ye and revenge that has caused thee to fall into a trap of mine own making. The world shalt be remade, indeed, but not with any of thee in mind.”
Isolakandi smiled and offered no defense.
Uras thus proceeded forward and struck down the God while overwhelmed with his contempt. As Isolakandi bled out upon the earth, he spake once more:
“How thee have fallen, Rot. How thee have lost…”
When Uras slew Isolakandi, little did he know that so, too, did he destroy his own hatred. As this hatred existed only in one entity and did not spread over to Shogun Vati, the demon Dogolin no longer held any power over the Rotted Humans. When the Hatred dissolved, both the spirits of Haem and Lak were quieted and made to fade into time’s expanse.
In Isolakandi’s place, a great stone tree sprouted from the ground and continued to grow as skyward as the God’s own ambitions. Uras felt a weakening inside of him, and he was no longer able to hold his own sword. His mind returned, and he was ashamed of the affliction surrounding him. With his last efforts, Uras propped his weapon against the expanding tree and impaled himself through the heart.
After his passing, the Rotted became vulnerable. Their affliction decreased in strength along with their willpower. Shogun Vati united the Algoans and Cherans under his rule and drove them through the enemy ranks upon hearing the whispering of Isolakandi’s spirit in his ear:
“They can be extinguished. The Root has been destroyed.”
The human forces of the lands formerly belonging to the Kasakai overwhelmed their enemies and subjugated the Hayashi. With them under the Shogun’s control, who was known as increasingly vengeful in his later years, Vati forced the Hayashi into servitude to all humans so that they may rebuild what was lost. Before the end of the year, Shogun Vati ordered the excavation of a path toward where Deanshe and Kelphuren had sunk in their battle. Along with that, he oversaw the construction of a stronghold centered around both Haraja and the stone tree left behind by Isolakandi.
3071
(751 P. R.)
THE CITADEL
Shogun Vati ordered a vast wall be constructed around a series of fortresses in order to prevent enemies from all sides from encroaching on their territory. Their coalition’s new opponents were sizable and outnumbered any of them individually, but no two opponents were interested in any kind of alliance with each other.
To the North, demons claimed the mountains. To the West and across the sea, the Divine Pantheon of Jelkora remained concerned about the presence of Vati, Kelphuren, and Cheranis—each of whom had grown powerful in their own right, although Kelphuren remained engaged with his opponent underneath the Earth. To the South, new clans emerged and warred with each other for supremacy of the desert and jungled regions. And to the East, various demon species engaged in ideological conflicts that would span an age and divide the Shogun’s people from other humans, hundreds of miles eastward, who inhabited grass plains, snow-capped mountains, valleys, and river kingdoms.
Utilizing the ruins themselves, Shogun Vati declared that the Udochi, the Cherans, and the Algoans would unite under the formation of a Citadel. As the Stone Tree of Isolakandi continued to grow, they would build structures to accompany its great width while aiming for a civilization positioned in the sky and far away from immediate threats.
Shaman Cheranis desired compassion for the people and influenced the Shogun’s decision to first house the elderly, the young, and the impaired in the highest places they’d constructed. In the meantime, the people of the Citadel exploited the Hayashi by taking from them knowledge of various schematics to develop more advanced weaponry. As the Pantheon to the West possessed ownership of guns, there was a push for the design of similar projectile weaponry. When the different purposes of metal became evident to the Shogun, his fortifications were improved with the times.
Enemies from all sides attempted to launch guerilla attacks against the Citadel to seek out any potential weaknesses. With successive failures, the Eastern Demons devised new plans to damage the inner walls of the Citadel. Dogolin, disgraced in his efforts, retreated to his homeland only to be banished and hated by his own kind for his failure.
As the year drew to a close, Shogun Vati’s people were soon able to burrow into Daenshe and Kelphuren’s ongoing skirmish.
3072
(752 P. R.)
THE CONCLUSION OF THE DUEL
Deanshe and Kelphuren Seiden were discovered anew and locked in a power of wills. Daenshe’s greatsword was blocked by Kelphuren’s hands of steel, and they’d remained in place as the Citadel flourished on the outside.
Shogun Vati commanded them to resolve the conflict, but neither of the warriors would refuse to give in to each other. In his rage, the Shogun struck down the Hayashi God, and in his place grew a Tree of Bronze. This Tree rose through the earth and stood at a distance of a hundred feet from the Tree of Isolakandi. Daenshe fell into a five-year slumber and failed to awaken despite the many blessings laid upon him by Shaman Cheranis.
With the Bronze Tree available as a new resource, Shogun Vati ordered that the Citadel be increased even farther in size in order to accommodate a walkway that would connect both oaks. Once they’d been connected, the Shogun would use them as a platform to continue expanding skyward as the Eastern Demons began building into their own territory.
In the meantime, the Divine Pantheon attempted to expand both North and East in order to create a greater barrier around the Shogun, but they were forced back by the emergence of several resistant nations and decided to bide their time while seeking out any further weakness.
3073
(753 P. R.)
During this year, Shogun Vati assigned Daenshe to become the leader of the Algoan immigrants whenever he awoke and assigned Shaman Cheranis the duty of setting about statutes for their united peoples. Cheranis, despite his religion containing roots within Xate, decided that the Way of Sidogush would be combined with the Tenets of the Eternal Blue Sky in order to set about declaring laws for the Citadel.
THE LAW AND THE WAY
As Shogun Vati stood across from him on the Tree of Isolakandi, Shaman Cheranis stood above the people on the Tree of Bronze and delivered the Way:
Sidoverse 1-1:
The Way of Sidogush is the Way of the People and the Way of the Eternal Blue Sky.
Those of the Citadel abide in Sidogush, and thus they must abide by the Way.
Sidoverse 1-3:
Those of the Citadel who do not abide shalt perish. They shalt perish along with their offspring.
Sidoverse 2-1:
In keeping with the Way, thou shalt refuse the temptation to murder. Murder shall be met with the justice of Death.
Sidoverse 2-2:
In keeping with the Way, thou shalt refuse the temptation to steal and to covet the belongings of others. Theft shall be met with the justice of Death.
Sidoverse 2-3:
In keeping with the Way, thou shalt obey the mandates of the Shogun. Failure to do so shalt be met with the justice of Death.
Angelos Odyssey Archives: The History of the Citadel: I Page 4