Ibrahim al-Iliesar Tanin
King of Akshus
King Ibrahim Tanin (a.k.a. Kepesk, Dragonking, Iliesar, the Storm)
Ibrahim er konge av Akshus, og har hatt eit langt og konfliktfult liv. Han har slåss for alt i livet sitt, og han har vunnet meir enn dei fleste på grunn av ein kombinasjon av personleg karisma, evne til å slåss, rein viljestyrke og commitment og drager.
Physical Description
Apparel & Accessories
The Conqueror's Crown
Ibrahim wears an iron crown made from the broken swords of the tribal chieftains who surrendered to him. Each of its cold, dark points represents a tribe Ibrahim has claimed by conquest, and he broke the swords publicly before gifting the chieftains new and powerful magical swords to symbolize fruits of this union. Ibrahim still has one unadorned part of the crown, where he will have the spearpoint of Dhamari's magical spear, once he has finally defeated the kaleites.
Ibrahim wears an iron crown made from the broken swords of the tribal chieftains who surrendered to him. Each of its cold, dark points represents a tribe Ibrahim has claimed by conquest, and he broke the swords publicly before gifting the chieftains new and powerful magical swords to symbolize fruits of this union. Ibrahim still has one unadorned part of the crown, where he will have the spearpoint of Dhamari's magical spear, once he has finally defeated the kaleites.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Ibrahim was the seventh son of chief Yususf el-Hiri Tanin, and great-grandson of Tanin. He would eventually have two more little brothers. As he grew up he realized that there was no glory to be had for him in Akshus. While he was a great warrior and clever fighter, he knew that his brothers would be chieftains and captains while he would at best be a captain of a warhost. This was simply not enough for him.
He spoke to his father, who admonished him and told him that he was a foolish young man, but that he hoped to have him back soon in his proper place.
And so Ibrahim travelled, with little more than his horse, the clothes on his back and his two swords at his side, and eventually he found his way to Sceya. There he travelled as a sword-for-hire, killing goblins, hobgoblins and monsters for a living. Eventually he found his way to Andreas, who would become friends for life. The two men, both equally ambitious in their own ways, travelled to Toirecíud together.
There they were approached by the wealthy and powerful Lady Alvana Edrys, who required their soldierly abilities for her own purposes. Ibrahim was, for the first time ever, given enough money for his talents to live life to its fullest. And boy did he live. Him and his party, the Thunderbolts, became celebrities in the city. They spent their days partying, planning and training, and their nights they spent fighting cultists, monsters and daemons. These were some of the happiest moments in Ibrahim's life, days spent fighting alongside his friends against an enemy who very much deserved it.
And Ibrahim did not only find fame, wealth and glory in Toirecíud. He also found love. Alvana Edrys' daughter, the talented and deadly Jeleneth Edrys, fought alongside Ibrahim in the Thunderbolts. The two of them felt an immediate attraction, and they enjoyed the discomfort of the rest of the party as they flirted intensly. Slowly but steadily, their mock flirting turned into hesitant attraction and then slowly mutual trust and respect. They saved eachother's lives many times, and they came to cherish one another in ways neither of them knew were possible.
Not long after the cult had been defeated Ibrahim approached Jeleneth, gave her a singularly beautiful necklace (which he had spent his entire fortune on) and asked her out on a date. Jeleneth said yes, and the two of them quickly became lovers.
These few weeks, between the defeat of the cult and what came next, where without a doubt the happiest in Ibrahim's life. He had all his friends near him and a lovely and wonderful partner whom he expected to spend his life with. Then he received the news from Akshus.
His entire family had been murdered in cold blood by chief Mehmet Mustar, in a cowardly act of betrayal under the guise of peacetalks. Ibrahim felt his world fall apart around him. His brothers, his sisters, his uncles and his father were all dead, his tribe was leaderless and in a losing war against the mustarites and he had never gotten to truly say goodbye. A cold, desperate rage overcame Ibrahim. He had to take vengeance, not for honour nor duty, but because those fucking bastards had killed his family.
He walked the streets of Toirecíud in the dead of night, the streets he had grown to love, but before long he was back at the Edrys manor. He took the fulgurite sword given to him by Alvana, Stormshard, his old desert-riding clothes and went down to the stables, without having spoken to Jeleneth or Andreas. When he came down, however, he found them there.
They met him and told him that they had heard, and that they were sorry. Ibrahim shouted out that they couldn't know, couldn't understand the rage in his gut. Jeleneth approached him and hugged him tight, and Ibrahim's rage gave way to a deep and terrible grief that came out of him through the tears and cries of a man who is totally alone. Andreas and Jeleneth both wept for Ibrahim's family, but no words were spoken. No words were needed. When the worst of Ibrahim's guilt and sadness had been cried out, although not all of it as he would always carry a core of guilt within him, Ibrahim said sorry to Jeleneth that he had intended to leave without her knowledge. Jeleneth said that she understood, but that she supported him in leaving. She told him to go kill those fuckers.
Ibrahim saw then that Andreas already had saddled two horses, and that he had packed his own blades and armour. He told Ibrahim that he was going with him, to aid him in his war and bring Mehmet Mustar to justice. Ibrahim hugged him tight, and told him that he was the greatest friend a man could have.
Jeleneth told Ibrahim that she wished she could join the fight, but she was locked in the city by politics. She would however support him however she could from Toirecíud, and she sent as much gold they could carry with him and Andreas. Before Andreas and Ibrahim rode off, Jeleneth pulled Ibrahim tight and kissed him one last time. Ibrahim could not promise that he would be back, and he honestly assumed that he was going to die, but that he would die with her name on his lips and when the desert grew cold in the dead of night he would comfort himself with thoughts of Jeleneth's smile. Jeleneth told him that she would be waiting for him, so he had better be back!
Those were the last words they uttered to one another. As Ibrahim rode east Jeleneth remained behind. She felt a headache coming on and she was nauseated. She assumed this was because of the horrible turn the night had taken, but little did she know that this was the first evidence of her and Ibrahim's daughter, Blaecbrand Edrys.
Andreas and Ibrahim travelled among the remnants of the taninites and eamilites, and gathered them together on the site of the great betrayal. Ibrahim told the gathered tribes that he would claim vengeance for his family and that they were free to follow him in his war if they so desired. The taninites, who had been in shock at the death of their chief, rallied around his prodigal son and threw themselves into war. Ibrahim led them in raids of mustarites caravans, stealing their cargo and selling them in Sceya and Toirecíud. He was approached by the eamilites who also sought vengeance. Ibrahim was named chief of both tribes, as he was the last descendant of fire genasis in Akshus and he could lead them in their war.
Ibrahim was the first akshusian to be chief of two separate tribes. At this point however, disaster struck. Chief Mehmet Mustar had grown irritated with the taninite raids, and had sent his fursiyya to end them permanently. The fursiyya destroyed several taninite warhosts and captured taninite civilians, whom they imprisoned and abused at their leisure. Ibrahim was furious, and led an attack with a combined eamilite-taninite warhost against a fursiyya prisoner caravan. The battle was hard-fought, and Ibrahim barely emerged victorious.
As Ibrahim looked down upon the battlefield, with the desert sands stained with the blood of both friends and enemies. He realized that he had a choice, and two options: He had to choose which was more important: satisfying his desire for vengance or victory. He could either throw himself and his tribes into a great, roaring war against the mustarites, destroying himself and his tribes in a great display of fury and revenge. Or he could bide his time, fighting the long, hard and brutal war that was required of him to truly achieve vengeance. He looked up at from his swords, and at Andreas comign towards him. And he chose the latter.
He and Andreas realized that fighting the fursiyya in a conventional akshusian war, one consisting of engagements in the desert, would be foolish. Trying to hold the east would likewise be foolish, as the mustarites would never surrender the traderoutes they so desprately needed. So the Ibrahim led the taninites west, into eamilite territory. There he held a meeting with all his captains and commanders, to decide on how to prosecute the war. The mustarite fursiyya held the line against the other akshusian tribes, and now controlled the eastern portion of Upper Akshus. The debate lasted the better part of a day, but in the end a plan was formed.
During his time in Toirecíud, Ibrahim had come to know the terrain around the city. He had learned that it was possible to take the western route around the Hightops, so the taninite and eamilite caravans and civilians would continue the crystal- and goldtrade by those routes. This plan required the cooperation of the tashkilite tribes in the mountain, to be sure that they didn't sell to the mustarites. This would help keep the traders and children out of the war, and would also provide Ibrahim with a steady income with which to make war. Andreas was given responsibilty for this part of the plan.
The actual war itself would be prosecuted in the Ye'or delta, for the mustarites had held the southern front but had not expected the taninites to leave their ancestral lands and so had left the northern flank open. Ibrahim would lead the warriors into the Ye'or delta, where they would take the grain for themselves and cut off Ælmesleóht's supply to the sea, starving the city and forcing the mustarites into submission.
So Andreas led the caravans north into the Hightops, and Ibrahim led the warriors south into the Ye'or delta. Andreas was succesfull in persuading the tashkilites into selling to the eamilites rather than the mustarites and even convinced them to let the civilians live in the mountains. His arguments were that the mustarites would eventually seek to dominate them as well, but that Ibrahim fought for their rights. He then travelled to Toirecíud with the caravans and met with Jeleneth, where they used their connections to make the elves buy the raw materials for more than the normal price, the excess of which went directly to the tashkilites to keep them satisfied.
Ibrahim travelled into the Ye'or delta expecting brutal fighting against peasants, but was surprised to find that the yeorites already had risen up against their mustarite overlords. He saw his chance when a group of fursiyya came north from the southern front to quell the uprisings. He rode in with his numerically superior army and defeated the mustarite warhost, saving the yeorite uprising from certain doom. He travelled around the Ye'or delta quickly, killing all the mustarite nobles he could get his hands on and setting their slaves free before they could flee to Ælmesleóht. When he had secured the Ye'or delta, he called all the chieftains of the Yeorite tribes together to meet with him and discuss an alliance against the mustarites for freedom.
He made his case to the score of chieftains, that while they were a valiant and strong people they had neither the training nor the equipment to be true warriors. But Ibrahim would give it to them. He would train them in the art of war, and together they would bring the mustarites to their knees. But he would not train them in the way of the desert nomads, for they had other skills he needed. He would train them with spears and slings and stones, he would teach them how to ambush high-riders and pull fursiyya in heavy armour into the rivers to drown. He would teach them how to kill their oppresors. And they agreed to the alliance, but the yeorites are a people who have suffered much and they needed certainty that Ibrahim would not betray them if he won the war.
To prove his intentions of giving the yeorites true freedom and rights, he married the daughter of one of the chieftains, a woman named Esther. This bound Ibrahim and the taninites with the yeorites by blood and kinship, and the yeorites were satisfied that they for once had a leader who truly intended to protect them. This wasn't easy for Ibrahim however, as he still loved Jeleneth very much and felt that he was betraying her. He hardly ever saw Esther after their first night, as he dedicated much of his time to war to flee from what he percieved to be his own betrayal. This left Esther with a lot of time to kill, quite literally as she also served as commander during the war, even during her pregnancy.
So began Ibrahim's Ye'or campaign, and it was a resounding success. The mustarites sent numerous warhosts and warships to fight Ibrahim's coalition, but they were all destroyed. The fursiyya found that their armour, once their strongest asset, had become their greatest weakness. The eamilites and taninites were too quick, and would strike at weak points and disappear into the desert before the mustarites could reform and pursue. The yeorites had been trained in how to take horses down, and would strike quickly from the marches and rivers where the fursiyya couldn't use their horses properly. Throughout this war Ibrahim fought with fire and fury, often fighting multiple engagements in a single day and visiting almost a dozen villages in a single day.
As the war stretched on, Esther also became a famous and dangerous commander. She destroyed several mustarite warships and led several ambushes, and she did all this while pregnant. When the time came for her to give birth, Ibrahim finally joined her for a long time. There they spoke together properly, and they discovered that they were perhaps not so different after all. They were both headstrong, furious, proud and stubborn. Ibrahim discussed his plans for the war with her, and she started arguing and pointing out flaws and corrections, Ibrahim slowly fell in love with her. A part of his heart hated himself for this, as he had promised himself to Jeleneth. That part locked itself deep in Ibrahim, and he never stopped loving Jeleneth, even as the future with Esther became more and more clear.
Esther herself slowly came to adore Ibrahim as well, as he was a strong warrior, good leader and great lover, and the two of them together could finally bring justice to decades of yeorite oppression.
As their first son entered the world they were finally united as a family, in love of one another and in hope for the future. Ibrahim saw that it was possible to build a new family, with his own wife and son.
Eventually, Ælmesleóht began starving and King Mehmet had to crush Ibrahim's coalition once and for all. He gathered up the largest warhost ever seen in Akshusian history, conscripting thousands of city-dwellers into the army, and sent them west where they would take the Ye'or delta once and for all. They had express orders to bring Ibrahim back alive, so Mehmet could behead him himself.
Thankfully, an air genasi spy by the name of Sarab travelled to Ibrahim and told him of this development. She also told him that her father, Easefa, favored him in the war and that her father would aid him if he could give a suitable sacrifice. Ibrahim gave up Stormshard, and Sarab told him that the storm would take his side. And so Ibrahim laid his battleplans, preparing what he quickly came to suspect would be the decisive battle of the war. He sent word to Andreas, that he wished him by his side when the battle began, and Andreas joined his friend again in the Ye'or delta, riding hard from the Hightops.
The day of the battle neared, and Ibrahim formulated his plan. He would lead the eamilite and taninite cavalry himself, while Andreas would lead the Yeorites. They would take the Mustarite army in pincer maneuver and wipe it out. Ibrahim took the coastal route into a flanking position, using magical stones given by Easefa to keep in contact with Andreas and Sarab. Sarab gave them knowledge of the Mustarite warhost's position, and managed to trick the Mustarites into moving between the two armies.
Then, the storm came. A great sandstorm, one of the greatest in Akshusian history, rolled over the Mustarite warhost as it finally reached the Ye'or delta. Ibrahim, seeing the sign, led his army into the storm where his soldiers were unaffected. They slaughtered the conscripted soldiers of Ælmesleóht, and the Mustarite army broke under the advance. They fled into the river, where Andreas was waiting for them. The Yeorites came out of the river with spears and stones, and they killed all the fursiyya they could get their hands on. Thousands drowned in the confusion. When the storm stopped and the sands settled, the Mustarites were either dead or had surrendered. Cheers and laughter went up from the coalition's soldiers, and when Ibrahim rode to Andreas and Esther he famously said:
"They sowed the wind, now they reaped the whirlwind."
His soldiers gathered around him, and began shouting "King Ibrahim! A crown for Ibrahim! King Ibrahim!". They clamored to see him, the man who had given them vengeance and freedom, and he accepted the role they gave to him. He named himself King Ibrahim al-Iliesar Tanin, ruler by the will of the people.
He gathered his tribes, as they were truly his tribes now, in the Ye'or delta to celebrate and discuss what form their nation would take. Everyone who could make it came, and they celebrated with a grand market for ten days, during which time Ibrahim spoke with every notable person and convinced them that he would be a good king. Where that wasn't sufficient, he convinced them that his kingship would serve their best interests. From the very start he was a king of the people, who walked alongside the peasants, spoke with everyone who desired an audience with him and helped with manual labour where it was required. He was well-loved by the Yeorites, Taninites and Eamilites.
The Eamilites would continue the crystal- and goldtrade, while the taninites would take up the luxury trade from the mustarites and the yeorites would continue their work as farmers and fishermen, but with far more political and fiscal rights and with far less taxation. All the tribes would supply Ibrahim with both a permanent warhost and a levy in times of war, and men of the levy would be expected to train with weapons, and the tribes themselves would begin to intermingle and intermarry to blur the lines between tribes and unite them simply as akshusians with a common king. The final decision of the gathered prominents was that Ælmesleóht would be the capital of Upper Akshus. All that remained then was to conquer Ælmesleóht.
Ibrahim took his warhost then, alongside Andreas and Esther, and rode to Ælmesleóht. Sarab had told him that anarchy reigned in the city, and that he could simply ride in and claim it for himself. And so he did, riding through the great gate of Ælmesleóht being hailed as a savior and liberator from the madness of war. On his head sat a simple golden diadem, marking him out as King Ibrahim. When he came to the city he found that the last of the fighting was not quite over yet, as a few mustarite loyalists still held the great palace and the monastery of the githzherai. He travelled to the monastery first, personally leading the charge and cleansing it of treacherous mustarites. He freed the few githzherai who had been held captive for the past five years, who thanked him tremendously.
Then he went to the palace, where he found King Mehmet and his family. They had not fled the city, having nowhere to go in Akshus where they were not hated. For a moment, it seemed as if Ibrahim might order the death of the entire family, but Andreas intervened. He told him that they were innocent, simply pawns in the game Mehmet was playing. There had been enough death already, and another family being destroyed like his own would gain no one. Ibrahim hesitated, then agreed. He would only kill one of them: Mehmet himself.
The palace guardians fought valiantly against the ibrahimite forces, but they were no match for Ibrahim and Andreas' combined fury. In the end even these fanatics laid down their arms, and Mehmet and his family were brought out into the palace court. Mehmet was an old, frail man at this point. His eyes were glazed over by madness, and even as his closest fursiyya surrendered their scimitars to Ibrahim he stil ordered them to cut down the desert-born curs.
Ibrahim explained to him that this was over now, that he would avenge his family. He trew one of his scimitars to Mehmet, telling him that he could at least die a warrior. Mehmet ran forward with the sword, aiming to skewer Ibrahim. Ibrahim simply side-stepped and rolled his wrist, letting Mehmet's momentum do the rest. He was disembowelled, and he died in great pain in that courtyard.
Ibrahim told his soldiers to strip him of his jewelry and throw him in the river, he would be denied proper Akshusian burial just as Ibrahim's own family had been denied it. To the rest of the ruling family of the mustarites, Ibrahim simply said: "Leave, leave and never come back". He would come to regret this decision.
And so the mustarite family, along with those most loyal, left the city of their ancestors in disgrace. Those who left had been those with the closest ties to the ruling family, their greatest champion and their families. Most of the rest of the akshusians were mustarites too, but they had had enough of the special privileges enjoyed by the central families, they were afraid of Mehmet's insane cruelty and the promise of a tribe-less Akshus where individual families and people could make their own way in the world appealed to them. So they threw in their lot with Ibrahim, and became the fourth tribe to join his kingdom.
Ibrahim took stock of the great treasuries of the mustarite family, which belonged to him now, and then used it generously. He gave a great deal of it back to the mustarite traders of Ælmesleóht who had lost money on the war, as he needed their support and expertise to function as a king, along with great gifts to the yeorites, eamilites and taninites who had backed him. He used the money to strengthen Ælmesleóht's defenses and on public works inside the city itself, and he used to money to build two new urban centers: the Crossroads and Fishmark. The purpose of this last policy was to weakn Ælmesleóht's position as the region's only city. The Crossroads was also supposed to function as a stepping stone for imperial traders and priests travelling into Akshus, and Fishmark was supposed to stimulate local trade between different yeorite tribes.
The rest of akshus looked on with satisfaction and dismay at what had transpired. They were satisfied that Mehmet had been dethroned, as he was an enemy of peace and many tribes held grudges against him, but they were dismayed that a new king had risen in Upper Akshus, one with more control over the individual tribes than Mehmet ever had, who threatened the akshusian way of life. There were also some who were sad to see the mustarites so reduced, as they were an old and storied tribe.
The githzherai petitioned to give some land to the mustarites, to ensure that their legacy would survive. None of the Middle Akshusian tribes were willing to give up their precious land, and neither was Ibrahim, who decided that sparing their lives was the last good thing he'd ever do for a mustarite. Thankfully, the kaleites, who had remained neutral in the war, were willing to give them some land along the Aghnia river for them to cultivate.
Ibrahim was now suddenly a king, having won a war he expected to lose in defiance. He had avenged his family, and had had their bodies cremated and buried in the ancient taninite burial mounds, as is proper. With so much war and death behind them, Ibrahim and Esther decided to look hopefully to the future. With their two sons, five year-old Ishmael and three year-old Asher, they now had to build their family and their nation. They both threw themselves into the work, wishing to leave behind a more peaceful and prosperous Akshus for their sons than what they had been given.
Esther, with her heart for justice, set to work restoring the traditions and culture of the yeorites, and organizing them as free peasants. She became a champion for the working man, ensuring the rights and fighting for the cause of yeorite farmer, mustarite craftsmen, tashkilite miners and eamilite and taninite traders alike on the international market.
Ibrahim took charge of the diplomatic and political aspects of kinghood, and he has won many of the ordinary people of Akshus over to his cause with witty banter, down-to-earth conversations and the force of his personality. Many of the chiefs of Akshus also came to respect him, as they saw that his cause was just and that his tribes elected him for his qualities, not for his blood.
In this time, Esther and Ibrahim both had a grand project for Akshus: uniting all of it under a single crown, their crown. Not through violence or threats, but by showing a different alternative to the traditional Akshusian way. Akshus need not be divided among warring tribes, the tribes could put aside their differences and share the spoils of the lands. Upper Akshus became a center of trade, culture and research, with Ælmesleóht at its heart. Many of the other tribes immigrated to Ibrahim's lands, and it seemed that their ambition was slowly growing closer and closer. Ibrahim became good friends with many of the other tribes.
In keeping with his agenda of building Akshus' prosperity, Ibrahim opened the country to the Gold Empire. With his connections with Andreas and Sceya, it was a simple matter to begin more trade than ever before northwards and inviting imperials down in Akshus to settle. Several halfling hamlets, dwarven families and sailors both sceyan and whiesian settled in the Ye'or delta and Ælmesleóht. Alchemists also came south, seeking to aid in the modernization of Akshus' farming and industry. This forged bonds of friendship between the Gold Empire and Akshus, and the Gold Emperor himself visited Ælmesleóht not long after Ibrahim's victory.
Ibrahim and the Gold Emperor spoke at length during that visit, and Ibrahim realized that the two of them were not so different. They both wanted peace and prosperity for their people, and to unite many peoples under a common banner and crown, bound together by law, justice and blood.
The Gold Emperor spoke to Ibrahim about joining the Gold Empire, but Ibrahim rejected his offer. He knew that Akshus would never bend the knee to someone sponsored by a foreign power. In the future, he said, when Akshus had been united and the peoples of the Gold Empire and Akshus had grown closer, then he would gladly accept. The Gold Emperor accepted his rationale, but told Ibrahim that a crown of gold was waiting for him at the end of the path.
While Ibrahim did not openly convert to the faith of Aurathear Darastrix, he did invite many priests to Akshus and sponsored missionary trips into Lower Akshus as well.
And so peace reigned in Akshus for nearly ten years, with Ibrahim at the center of it. He was a good king, a king of the people and a man anyone would be proud to call leader. He enjoyed life as a king, he was always smiling and the amused glint never left his eyes. He had two beautiful sons whom he loved and respected, a wife who complimented his traits and made him stronger and a third child on the way.
But, as the poets say, all good things come to an end. These good things came to an end on the fourteenth anniversary of Esther and Ibrahim's wedding.
In reaction to rumours that Ibrahim was to give Akshus over to foreigners, chief Azamat Dhamarin Kale supported chief Musaykah Mukhtaar Mustar's claim to the throne of Upper Akshus. Supplied with warriors, mercenaries and spies, Musaykah snuck into Ælmesleóht on its most open day, the anniversary of Ibrahim and Esther's wedding and celebration of their future third child. They managed to outwit the taninite troops, who didn't suspect a thing, and took their chance. They attacked the festivites in great numbers, overwhelming the family's token defenses in their own city. Ibrahim's family were butchered, his uncles and cousins killed in the street. During the festivites he and Esther had been separated and now he fought valiantly to get to her side. He fought like a madman, like a beast, he fought like he had never fought before. Esther's guards had been overwhelmed, and she had grabbed a spear. The furious woman managed to hold back four of Musaykah's thugs with her spear, but she was shot through the gut by a bolt from Musaykah's crossbow. Ibrahim just managed to round a corner as he saw his wife pierced by bolts, before she dropped dead to the ground. He shrieked out in pain and ran to Esther's side, to save her. He killed eight mercenaries, but he was pushed back by their sheer numbes.
The wounded and unarmoured Ibrahim vowed vengeance, managing to get to his two sons and fleeing north with them. Ishmael was saved by a Sarab. War between the ibrahimites and mustarites was again a fact.
Ibrahim rode hard north, seeking out the Gold Emperor, who had been travelling south for diplomatic talks. When Ibrahim delivered the news to the Gold Emperor, a great rage overtook him. He blessed Ibrahim and his sons as the thirteenth noble family of the Gold-Empire, the house of Tanin, and bonded them with the dragons Nysqwen, Arxiros and Rhoyhtas. Ibrahim took the words "Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind" as his own. The Emperor quickly assembled an army, composed of Sceyan and Whiesian regiments, his personal Dragon Legion and a contingent of the Devotion Legion, and joined Ibrahim on his quest to retake Ælmesleóht and punish the mustarites for attacking scions of the Gold Empire. Ibrahim and his sons, joined by Ibrahim's long-time friend prince Andreas "the Kind" Ari, travelled ahead, wishing to quickly sate his bloodlust.
Ibrahim's bonding with Nysqwen was a powerful thing, for both parts. In any such bonding, there is always a tug-of-war between the will of the dragon and the will of the noble. These need not nessecarily be aligned against one another, and they are often complementary to eachother. Ibrahim's pain, his suffering at having once again lost his family, hope and future, overcame Nysqwen's patient demeanour. She saw his pain and she saw that this pain came because Ibrahim more than anything desired to protect his family, and that he had failed. Nysqwen promised to Ibrahim, with fire in her eyes, that she would burn ANY who dared harm his family, and that together they would root out all the corruption from Akshus and secure their bloodlines against any and all enemies. Ibrahim felt the power of draconic fire within himself, a furious force he found himself naturally calling upon through his wrath, and he finally felt the ability to totally wipe his enemies from the world, leaving nothing but ash behind.
Nysqwen and Ibrahim bonded quickly and powerfully, their mutual wrath and desire to protect their families making their bonding easier than any before.
A rift began growin between Ibrahim and Andreas, one that was never put into words by either party. A small part of Ibrahim blamed Andreas for the death of his wife, since it was Andreas who had convinced him to show mercy to Musaykah all those years ago. He would not make that mistake again. He was never going to make the mistake of mercy again.
As Ibrahim, Andreas, Ishmael and Asher rode south, they soon commenced the first true battle of the war. Reports from taninite caravans told that the newly-proclaimed king Musaykah had taken a sizeable portion of his warhost westwards, to subjugate the yeorites and once again bind them in chains of slavery. Ibrahim, seeing that they sought to undo Esther's lifework, was even more enraged. They took their four dragons to the encampment of the army, north of the Marid's Eye, and they attacked it in the dead of night. The warhost was sorely lacking in archers or artillery, so the mercenaries were slaughtered and burnt to a crisp, the fire burning so brightly that many of those who survived were blinded. Ibrahim personally landed after the battle was over and moved amongst the wounded, burningas many of the crippled and cowardly mercenaries as he could. He killed them, and he made sure that they felt the pain of being burned alive. Asher too took to using his draconic powers like this, while Andreas moved throughout the battlefield, mercy-killing those he thought would die anyway. The only one who refused this duty was Ishmael, who though it immoral to so callously waste human lives just to satisfy a lust for vengeance against another man. He let many get away.
Ibrahim was furious with him, and he roared into the night at his son. He called him weak-willed, cowardly and a disgrace to his dead mother. A small part of Ibrahim knew that this was harsh, and that those mercenaries had not deserved to be treated so harshly, but his dragon-fuelled wrath and need for revenge overcame this old, human part of Ibrahim. Ishmael took the insults in silence, and when Ibrahim asked him if he would do as he was asked next time he said yes. In the end, however, Ishmael never killed a fleeing or wounded enemy. Had Ibrahim still been human he would have respected that, but with the fire in his heart he could see nothing but weakness in Ishmael's actions.
He had to teach his son how to destroy their enemies.
After the glassing, Ibrahim and his sons spent a couple of days looking for survivors, and when called back to the main army they ended their pursuit. A couple more survivors were hunted down by other ibrahimites and the whiesian cavalry, but many of those who are now part of the resistance were "born" during the Glassing.
The Siege of Ælmesleóht was a surprisingl quick affair, as imperial siegecraft broke the walls. The city itself fell mostly without fighting, as the citizens feared and hated their mustarite occupiers and had come to love Ibrahim dearly. The mustarites themselves, however, fought to the death as they knew they were dead men either way. The first wave of imperial forces took the walls and gates, and the second wave, consisting mostly of knights, took the fighting to the mustarites, slaughtering them all. Following the Siege it became clear that the kaleites had aligned themselves with the mustarites. When Ibrahim heard this he pressed for the Gold Empire to travel further south and bring him to justice. The Gold Emperor took stock of his army, and made sure that it was ready for the travel south through the desert and made sure that Ælmesleóht would be able to withstand a siege from the south.
As the imperial army marched south, intending to conquer the city of towers, it was ambushed by the Akshusian Coalition. Warhosts from all the tribes of Akshus were part of the conflict, most of them clashing with the ibrahimite cavalry forces. The kaleites and githzherai fought the yeorites, hoping to break them and overrun the imperial legions in the confusion. They were to be dissappointed however, as the yeorites held long enough for the legions and the Emperor himself to reinforce them, and the whiesian cavalry broke the meager akshusian forces sent to disctract them and encircled both the cavalry engaged with the ibrahimites and the kaleites. Many akshusians were killed that day, but most of the army managed to retreat as the githzherai sacrificed themselves to hold the line and let them flee. The Gold Empire had won its first major engagement against the akshusian coalition, and it had been a decisive victory. The surviving githzherai were imprisoned, but many of them managed to escape throughout the night and link up with the army with the aid of their psionic powers.
Ibrahim and his sons spent most of their time fighting the kaleites, as Ibrahim reserved most of his hate towards them. Ibrahim himself landed on the ground and challenged chief Azamat to single combat, but he fled rather cowardly. Ibrahim contented himself with burning as many kaleites to a crisp as possible, and once again he spent time after the battle to burn his wounded enemies. Once again, Ishmael refused.
The great warhost of the Akshusian Coalition moved to what they fought would be a safe position, a great camp just south of the glass desert. They had moved so far away that they would have time to regroup before the imperial infantry could catch up with them, and the ibrahimite and whiesian cavalry were not great enough forces to defeat them on their own. They had however, not expected Ibrahim's cleverness and the tenacity of the knights. Ibrahim took the cavalry south of the camp and made a great show of being about to annihilate his enemies. The akshusians, understandably, prepared for war in that direction and expected a hard-fought victory, as they outnumbered their enemy by a sizeable margin. Then they heard the sound of armoured boots behind them. The Dragon and Devotion legions had marched through the Glass Desert's scolding warmth, an impossible feat, and were now coming down from the north. The akshusians were completely annihilated, some of them only managing to escape again due to the sacrifice of the githzherai monks, holding off the knights long enough for them to flee. The akshusian coalition's army was at the end of its ropes and had almost been annihilated.
With the akshusian army on retreat to the City of Towers, the northern invasion force joined up with the Conquest Legion to lay siege to the City of Towers. Commander Allexander was here given command of the army, as the war seemed to be as good as over to the Gold-Emperor, and he had pressing matters of state in the north. Rather than wait long for the Sceyan siegeweapons to come south, the Grand Commander had another idea. He had sent a team of dwarf engineers with the protection of a few knights into the Azerheim-mountains to blow up a reservoar and cause the flooding of the city. The attack was timed perfectly, as man of the defenders were washed away and parts of the walls even broke. Allexander had no time for holding anything back, and sent his knights in first with support from Ibrahim and Andreas. The defenders of the City of Towers were completely annihilated by the knight charge, but chief Azamat managed to flee with his closest warriors again, as githzherai protected him. With the City of Towers taken, the last phase of the war could begin. The surviving warriors of the siege were either conscripted into the ibrahimite warhost, or if they were kaleites they were sent to a new prison camp formed by the Red Order.
During the fighting, Ibrahim tried to kill Azamat, but he was held back by githzherai monks long enough for Azamat to make it to their secret bunkers. Ibrahim and Nysqwen roared in syncronicity throughout the Gith Mountains, their long-sought after vengeance denied them. They flew across the mountains, roaring flame and fury.
With only the southern tip of Akshus left to conquer, Allexander thought the war would be over swiftly. He was to be dissappointed however, due to two factors. The gitzherai refused to give open battle, rather resorting to hit-and-run attacks on imperial fortifications and fighting out of defensive monastery-bunkers, and the non-legion portions of the imperial army proved to be unsuited to fighting in the cold climate of the Gith mountains against psionic enemies, which meant that he had to rely solely on his knights for the offensive portion of the war. So he decided on a new strategy, electing to spread the imperial army along the edge of the Gith mountains to keep the githzherai penned up in the mountains, and then slowly and methodically searching the mountains for bunkers and the Citadel. This part of the war has been going on for the better part of a year, and Allexander thinks he is close to finding the Citadel. The conquest of the Citadel, he is sure, will bring the end of this war.
Ibrahim has spent the last year or so brooding. He wishes to take the fight to the githzherai, but whenever his golden wings take flight the githzherai retreat into their underground bunkers, where they are protected from dragonfire by tonnes of mountain. He has more than once flown into the mountains, seeking the Citadel, but he has so far been unsuccessfull in finding it. Grand Commander Allexander has stopped him from further raids in the mountains, as they produce nothing of vallue and he is too valuable an asset to waste on scouting. This has left Ibrahim in a foul mood in the ibrahimite camp, from where he commands most of the southern blockade. His soldiers occasionally find kaleite resistance members for him to burn or githzherai monks trying to pass through the blockade for him to send to the Grand Commander, but mostly he spends his days surveying the trenches and speaking with prisoners from the tribes of Middle Akshus. He has tried speaking with some of them and explaining his motivations and plans, and he has succesfully convinced quite a few of the righteousness of his cause, but many more are in abject horror of the Dragon King they now must swear fealty to.
He has sent his two sons back north. Asher was sent north nine months ago, to aid in purging the countryside of bandits and training new ibrahimite soldiers. He was very displeased and angry to leave, as he wished to be fighting in the war, but Ibrahim would brook no defiance. He travelled north with enough soldiers to hold the Crossroads, and he has spent the last nine months training new troops for the front and burning bandits whenever he gets the chance. He is angry with his father for sending him away from the war. Ibrahim believes he has done the right thing, as Asher's talents are better spent up there and it is a place for him to learn leadership and the craft of war for himself.
Ishmael was sent north half a year ago, to serve as Prince-Regent in his father's stead in Ælmesleóht. It frustrated Ibrahim that Ishmael, even after all these years, did not seem commited to fighting the traitors. Ishmael had only grown more sullen and quiet, fearing his father's flaming outbursts but never compromising on his ideals. In a rare mood of relative tranquility and foresight gifted by Nysqwen, Ibrahim realized that this desire for vengeance was destroying his son. In an effort to save Ishmael from Ibrahim himself, he sent Ishmael north to Ælmesleóht, both to act as his regent and to give him a chance to do good with his draconic and scholarly gifts. The communication between father and son was very poor at this point however, so Ishmael saw it as a punishment for his own percieved weakness.
And so Ibrahim spends his days fighting a slow and grinding war now, alternating between fiery wrath and grief-filled self-reflection. Nysqwen suffers with him, and the two of them wait for their chance to burn Azamat and rule over Akshus, so they can finally put the country in order with fire and blood. No one will ever harm their family again.
He spoke to his father, who admonished him and told him that he was a foolish young man, but that he hoped to have him back soon in his proper place.
And so Ibrahim travelled, with little more than his horse, the clothes on his back and his two swords at his side, and eventually he found his way to Sceya. There he travelled as a sword-for-hire, killing goblins, hobgoblins and monsters for a living. Eventually he found his way to Andreas, who would become friends for life. The two men, both equally ambitious in their own ways, travelled to Toirecíud together.
There they were approached by the wealthy and powerful Lady Alvana Edrys, who required their soldierly abilities for her own purposes. Ibrahim was, for the first time ever, given enough money for his talents to live life to its fullest. And boy did he live. Him and his party, the Thunderbolts, became celebrities in the city. They spent their days partying, planning and training, and their nights they spent fighting cultists, monsters and daemons. These were some of the happiest moments in Ibrahim's life, days spent fighting alongside his friends against an enemy who very much deserved it.
And Ibrahim did not only find fame, wealth and glory in Toirecíud. He also found love. Alvana Edrys' daughter, the talented and deadly Jeleneth Edrys, fought alongside Ibrahim in the Thunderbolts. The two of them felt an immediate attraction, and they enjoyed the discomfort of the rest of the party as they flirted intensly. Slowly but steadily, their mock flirting turned into hesitant attraction and then slowly mutual trust and respect. They saved eachother's lives many times, and they came to cherish one another in ways neither of them knew were possible.
Not long after the cult had been defeated Ibrahim approached Jeleneth, gave her a singularly beautiful necklace (which he had spent his entire fortune on) and asked her out on a date. Jeleneth said yes, and the two of them quickly became lovers.
These few weeks, between the defeat of the cult and what came next, where without a doubt the happiest in Ibrahim's life. He had all his friends near him and a lovely and wonderful partner whom he expected to spend his life with. Then he received the news from Akshus.
His entire family had been murdered in cold blood by chief Mehmet Mustar, in a cowardly act of betrayal under the guise of peacetalks. Ibrahim felt his world fall apart around him. His brothers, his sisters, his uncles and his father were all dead, his tribe was leaderless and in a losing war against the mustarites and he had never gotten to truly say goodbye. A cold, desperate rage overcame Ibrahim. He had to take vengeance, not for honour nor duty, but because those fucking bastards had killed his family.
He walked the streets of Toirecíud in the dead of night, the streets he had grown to love, but before long he was back at the Edrys manor. He took the fulgurite sword given to him by Alvana, Stormshard, his old desert-riding clothes and went down to the stables, without having spoken to Jeleneth or Andreas. When he came down, however, he found them there.
They met him and told him that they had heard, and that they were sorry. Ibrahim shouted out that they couldn't know, couldn't understand the rage in his gut. Jeleneth approached him and hugged him tight, and Ibrahim's rage gave way to a deep and terrible grief that came out of him through the tears and cries of a man who is totally alone. Andreas and Jeleneth both wept for Ibrahim's family, but no words were spoken. No words were needed. When the worst of Ibrahim's guilt and sadness had been cried out, although not all of it as he would always carry a core of guilt within him, Ibrahim said sorry to Jeleneth that he had intended to leave without her knowledge. Jeleneth said that she understood, but that she supported him in leaving. She told him to go kill those fuckers.
Ibrahim saw then that Andreas already had saddled two horses, and that he had packed his own blades and armour. He told Ibrahim that he was going with him, to aid him in his war and bring Mehmet Mustar to justice. Ibrahim hugged him tight, and told him that he was the greatest friend a man could have.
Jeleneth told Ibrahim that she wished she could join the fight, but she was locked in the city by politics. She would however support him however she could from Toirecíud, and she sent as much gold they could carry with him and Andreas. Before Andreas and Ibrahim rode off, Jeleneth pulled Ibrahim tight and kissed him one last time. Ibrahim could not promise that he would be back, and he honestly assumed that he was going to die, but that he would die with her name on his lips and when the desert grew cold in the dead of night he would comfort himself with thoughts of Jeleneth's smile. Jeleneth told him that she would be waiting for him, so he had better be back!
Those were the last words they uttered to one another. As Ibrahim rode east Jeleneth remained behind. She felt a headache coming on and she was nauseated. She assumed this was because of the horrible turn the night had taken, but little did she know that this was the first evidence of her and Ibrahim's daughter, Blaecbrand Edrys.
Andreas and Ibrahim travelled among the remnants of the taninites and eamilites, and gathered them together on the site of the great betrayal. Ibrahim told the gathered tribes that he would claim vengeance for his family and that they were free to follow him in his war if they so desired. The taninites, who had been in shock at the death of their chief, rallied around his prodigal son and threw themselves into war. Ibrahim led them in raids of mustarites caravans, stealing their cargo and selling them in Sceya and Toirecíud. He was approached by the eamilites who also sought vengeance. Ibrahim was named chief of both tribes, as he was the last descendant of fire genasis in Akshus and he could lead them in their war.
Ibrahim was the first akshusian to be chief of two separate tribes. At this point however, disaster struck. Chief Mehmet Mustar had grown irritated with the taninite raids, and had sent his fursiyya to end them permanently. The fursiyya destroyed several taninite warhosts and captured taninite civilians, whom they imprisoned and abused at their leisure. Ibrahim was furious, and led an attack with a combined eamilite-taninite warhost against a fursiyya prisoner caravan. The battle was hard-fought, and Ibrahim barely emerged victorious.
As Ibrahim looked down upon the battlefield, with the desert sands stained with the blood of both friends and enemies. He realized that he had a choice, and two options: He had to choose which was more important: satisfying his desire for vengance or victory. He could either throw himself and his tribes into a great, roaring war against the mustarites, destroying himself and his tribes in a great display of fury and revenge. Or he could bide his time, fighting the long, hard and brutal war that was required of him to truly achieve vengeance. He looked up at from his swords, and at Andreas comign towards him. And he chose the latter.
He and Andreas realized that fighting the fursiyya in a conventional akshusian war, one consisting of engagements in the desert, would be foolish. Trying to hold the east would likewise be foolish, as the mustarites would never surrender the traderoutes they so desprately needed. So the Ibrahim led the taninites west, into eamilite territory. There he held a meeting with all his captains and commanders, to decide on how to prosecute the war. The mustarite fursiyya held the line against the other akshusian tribes, and now controlled the eastern portion of Upper Akshus. The debate lasted the better part of a day, but in the end a plan was formed.
During his time in Toirecíud, Ibrahim had come to know the terrain around the city. He had learned that it was possible to take the western route around the Hightops, so the taninite and eamilite caravans and civilians would continue the crystal- and goldtrade by those routes. This plan required the cooperation of the tashkilite tribes in the mountain, to be sure that they didn't sell to the mustarites. This would help keep the traders and children out of the war, and would also provide Ibrahim with a steady income with which to make war. Andreas was given responsibilty for this part of the plan.
The actual war itself would be prosecuted in the Ye'or delta, for the mustarites had held the southern front but had not expected the taninites to leave their ancestral lands and so had left the northern flank open. Ibrahim would lead the warriors into the Ye'or delta, where they would take the grain for themselves and cut off Ælmesleóht's supply to the sea, starving the city and forcing the mustarites into submission.
So Andreas led the caravans north into the Hightops, and Ibrahim led the warriors south into the Ye'or delta. Andreas was succesfull in persuading the tashkilites into selling to the eamilites rather than the mustarites and even convinced them to let the civilians live in the mountains. His arguments were that the mustarites would eventually seek to dominate them as well, but that Ibrahim fought for their rights. He then travelled to Toirecíud with the caravans and met with Jeleneth, where they used their connections to make the elves buy the raw materials for more than the normal price, the excess of which went directly to the tashkilites to keep them satisfied.
Ibrahim travelled into the Ye'or delta expecting brutal fighting against peasants, but was surprised to find that the yeorites already had risen up against their mustarite overlords. He saw his chance when a group of fursiyya came north from the southern front to quell the uprisings. He rode in with his numerically superior army and defeated the mustarite warhost, saving the yeorite uprising from certain doom. He travelled around the Ye'or delta quickly, killing all the mustarite nobles he could get his hands on and setting their slaves free before they could flee to Ælmesleóht. When he had secured the Ye'or delta, he called all the chieftains of the Yeorite tribes together to meet with him and discuss an alliance against the mustarites for freedom.
He made his case to the score of chieftains, that while they were a valiant and strong people they had neither the training nor the equipment to be true warriors. But Ibrahim would give it to them. He would train them in the art of war, and together they would bring the mustarites to their knees. But he would not train them in the way of the desert nomads, for they had other skills he needed. He would train them with spears and slings and stones, he would teach them how to ambush high-riders and pull fursiyya in heavy armour into the rivers to drown. He would teach them how to kill their oppresors. And they agreed to the alliance, but the yeorites are a people who have suffered much and they needed certainty that Ibrahim would not betray them if he won the war.
To prove his intentions of giving the yeorites true freedom and rights, he married the daughter of one of the chieftains, a woman named Esther. This bound Ibrahim and the taninites with the yeorites by blood and kinship, and the yeorites were satisfied that they for once had a leader who truly intended to protect them. This wasn't easy for Ibrahim however, as he still loved Jeleneth very much and felt that he was betraying her. He hardly ever saw Esther after their first night, as he dedicated much of his time to war to flee from what he percieved to be his own betrayal. This left Esther with a lot of time to kill, quite literally as she also served as commander during the war, even during her pregnancy.
So began Ibrahim's Ye'or campaign, and it was a resounding success. The mustarites sent numerous warhosts and warships to fight Ibrahim's coalition, but they were all destroyed. The fursiyya found that their armour, once their strongest asset, had become their greatest weakness. The eamilites and taninites were too quick, and would strike at weak points and disappear into the desert before the mustarites could reform and pursue. The yeorites had been trained in how to take horses down, and would strike quickly from the marches and rivers where the fursiyya couldn't use their horses properly. Throughout this war Ibrahim fought with fire and fury, often fighting multiple engagements in a single day and visiting almost a dozen villages in a single day.
As the war stretched on, Esther also became a famous and dangerous commander. She destroyed several mustarite warships and led several ambushes, and she did all this while pregnant. When the time came for her to give birth, Ibrahim finally joined her for a long time. There they spoke together properly, and they discovered that they were perhaps not so different after all. They were both headstrong, furious, proud and stubborn. Ibrahim discussed his plans for the war with her, and she started arguing and pointing out flaws and corrections, Ibrahim slowly fell in love with her. A part of his heart hated himself for this, as he had promised himself to Jeleneth. That part locked itself deep in Ibrahim, and he never stopped loving Jeleneth, even as the future with Esther became more and more clear.
Esther herself slowly came to adore Ibrahim as well, as he was a strong warrior, good leader and great lover, and the two of them together could finally bring justice to decades of yeorite oppression.
As their first son entered the world they were finally united as a family, in love of one another and in hope for the future. Ibrahim saw that it was possible to build a new family, with his own wife and son.
Eventually, Ælmesleóht began starving and King Mehmet had to crush Ibrahim's coalition once and for all. He gathered up the largest warhost ever seen in Akshusian history, conscripting thousands of city-dwellers into the army, and sent them west where they would take the Ye'or delta once and for all. They had express orders to bring Ibrahim back alive, so Mehmet could behead him himself.
Thankfully, an air genasi spy by the name of Sarab travelled to Ibrahim and told him of this development. She also told him that her father, Easefa, favored him in the war and that her father would aid him if he could give a suitable sacrifice. Ibrahim gave up Stormshard, and Sarab told him that the storm would take his side. And so Ibrahim laid his battleplans, preparing what he quickly came to suspect would be the decisive battle of the war. He sent word to Andreas, that he wished him by his side when the battle began, and Andreas joined his friend again in the Ye'or delta, riding hard from the Hightops.
The day of the battle neared, and Ibrahim formulated his plan. He would lead the eamilite and taninite cavalry himself, while Andreas would lead the Yeorites. They would take the Mustarite army in pincer maneuver and wipe it out. Ibrahim took the coastal route into a flanking position, using magical stones given by Easefa to keep in contact with Andreas and Sarab. Sarab gave them knowledge of the Mustarite warhost's position, and managed to trick the Mustarites into moving between the two armies.
Then, the storm came. A great sandstorm, one of the greatest in Akshusian history, rolled over the Mustarite warhost as it finally reached the Ye'or delta. Ibrahim, seeing the sign, led his army into the storm where his soldiers were unaffected. They slaughtered the conscripted soldiers of Ælmesleóht, and the Mustarite army broke under the advance. They fled into the river, where Andreas was waiting for them. The Yeorites came out of the river with spears and stones, and they killed all the fursiyya they could get their hands on. Thousands drowned in the confusion. When the storm stopped and the sands settled, the Mustarites were either dead or had surrendered. Cheers and laughter went up from the coalition's soldiers, and when Ibrahim rode to Andreas and Esther he famously said:
"They sowed the wind, now they reaped the whirlwind."
His soldiers gathered around him, and began shouting "King Ibrahim! A crown for Ibrahim! King Ibrahim!". They clamored to see him, the man who had given them vengeance and freedom, and he accepted the role they gave to him. He named himself King Ibrahim al-Iliesar Tanin, ruler by the will of the people.
He gathered his tribes, as they were truly his tribes now, in the Ye'or delta to celebrate and discuss what form their nation would take. Everyone who could make it came, and they celebrated with a grand market for ten days, during which time Ibrahim spoke with every notable person and convinced them that he would be a good king. Where that wasn't sufficient, he convinced them that his kingship would serve their best interests. From the very start he was a king of the people, who walked alongside the peasants, spoke with everyone who desired an audience with him and helped with manual labour where it was required. He was well-loved by the Yeorites, Taninites and Eamilites.
The Eamilites would continue the crystal- and goldtrade, while the taninites would take up the luxury trade from the mustarites and the yeorites would continue their work as farmers and fishermen, but with far more political and fiscal rights and with far less taxation. All the tribes would supply Ibrahim with both a permanent warhost and a levy in times of war, and men of the levy would be expected to train with weapons, and the tribes themselves would begin to intermingle and intermarry to blur the lines between tribes and unite them simply as akshusians with a common king. The final decision of the gathered prominents was that Ælmesleóht would be the capital of Upper Akshus. All that remained then was to conquer Ælmesleóht.
Ibrahim took his warhost then, alongside Andreas and Esther, and rode to Ælmesleóht. Sarab had told him that anarchy reigned in the city, and that he could simply ride in and claim it for himself. And so he did, riding through the great gate of Ælmesleóht being hailed as a savior and liberator from the madness of war. On his head sat a simple golden diadem, marking him out as King Ibrahim. When he came to the city he found that the last of the fighting was not quite over yet, as a few mustarite loyalists still held the great palace and the monastery of the githzherai. He travelled to the monastery first, personally leading the charge and cleansing it of treacherous mustarites. He freed the few githzherai who had been held captive for the past five years, who thanked him tremendously.
Then he went to the palace, where he found King Mehmet and his family. They had not fled the city, having nowhere to go in Akshus where they were not hated. For a moment, it seemed as if Ibrahim might order the death of the entire family, but Andreas intervened. He told him that they were innocent, simply pawns in the game Mehmet was playing. There had been enough death already, and another family being destroyed like his own would gain no one. Ibrahim hesitated, then agreed. He would only kill one of them: Mehmet himself.
The palace guardians fought valiantly against the ibrahimite forces, but they were no match for Ibrahim and Andreas' combined fury. In the end even these fanatics laid down their arms, and Mehmet and his family were brought out into the palace court. Mehmet was an old, frail man at this point. His eyes were glazed over by madness, and even as his closest fursiyya surrendered their scimitars to Ibrahim he stil ordered them to cut down the desert-born curs.
Ibrahim explained to him that this was over now, that he would avenge his family. He trew one of his scimitars to Mehmet, telling him that he could at least die a warrior. Mehmet ran forward with the sword, aiming to skewer Ibrahim. Ibrahim simply side-stepped and rolled his wrist, letting Mehmet's momentum do the rest. He was disembowelled, and he died in great pain in that courtyard.
Ibrahim told his soldiers to strip him of his jewelry and throw him in the river, he would be denied proper Akshusian burial just as Ibrahim's own family had been denied it. To the rest of the ruling family of the mustarites, Ibrahim simply said: "Leave, leave and never come back". He would come to regret this decision.
And so the mustarite family, along with those most loyal, left the city of their ancestors in disgrace. Those who left had been those with the closest ties to the ruling family, their greatest champion and their families. Most of the rest of the akshusians were mustarites too, but they had had enough of the special privileges enjoyed by the central families, they were afraid of Mehmet's insane cruelty and the promise of a tribe-less Akshus where individual families and people could make their own way in the world appealed to them. So they threw in their lot with Ibrahim, and became the fourth tribe to join his kingdom.
Ibrahim took stock of the great treasuries of the mustarite family, which belonged to him now, and then used it generously. He gave a great deal of it back to the mustarite traders of Ælmesleóht who had lost money on the war, as he needed their support and expertise to function as a king, along with great gifts to the yeorites, eamilites and taninites who had backed him. He used the money to strengthen Ælmesleóht's defenses and on public works inside the city itself, and he used to money to build two new urban centers: the Crossroads and Fishmark. The purpose of this last policy was to weakn Ælmesleóht's position as the region's only city. The Crossroads was also supposed to function as a stepping stone for imperial traders and priests travelling into Akshus, and Fishmark was supposed to stimulate local trade between different yeorite tribes.
The rest of akshus looked on with satisfaction and dismay at what had transpired. They were satisfied that Mehmet had been dethroned, as he was an enemy of peace and many tribes held grudges against him, but they were dismayed that a new king had risen in Upper Akshus, one with more control over the individual tribes than Mehmet ever had, who threatened the akshusian way of life. There were also some who were sad to see the mustarites so reduced, as they were an old and storied tribe.
The githzherai petitioned to give some land to the mustarites, to ensure that their legacy would survive. None of the Middle Akshusian tribes were willing to give up their precious land, and neither was Ibrahim, who decided that sparing their lives was the last good thing he'd ever do for a mustarite. Thankfully, the kaleites, who had remained neutral in the war, were willing to give them some land along the Aghnia river for them to cultivate.
Ibrahim was now suddenly a king, having won a war he expected to lose in defiance. He had avenged his family, and had had their bodies cremated and buried in the ancient taninite burial mounds, as is proper. With so much war and death behind them, Ibrahim and Esther decided to look hopefully to the future. With their two sons, five year-old Ishmael and three year-old Asher, they now had to build their family and their nation. They both threw themselves into the work, wishing to leave behind a more peaceful and prosperous Akshus for their sons than what they had been given.
Esther, with her heart for justice, set to work restoring the traditions and culture of the yeorites, and organizing them as free peasants. She became a champion for the working man, ensuring the rights and fighting for the cause of yeorite farmer, mustarite craftsmen, tashkilite miners and eamilite and taninite traders alike on the international market.
Ibrahim took charge of the diplomatic and political aspects of kinghood, and he has won many of the ordinary people of Akshus over to his cause with witty banter, down-to-earth conversations and the force of his personality. Many of the chiefs of Akshus also came to respect him, as they saw that his cause was just and that his tribes elected him for his qualities, not for his blood.
In this time, Esther and Ibrahim both had a grand project for Akshus: uniting all of it under a single crown, their crown. Not through violence or threats, but by showing a different alternative to the traditional Akshusian way. Akshus need not be divided among warring tribes, the tribes could put aside their differences and share the spoils of the lands. Upper Akshus became a center of trade, culture and research, with Ælmesleóht at its heart. Many of the other tribes immigrated to Ibrahim's lands, and it seemed that their ambition was slowly growing closer and closer. Ibrahim became good friends with many of the other tribes.
In keeping with his agenda of building Akshus' prosperity, Ibrahim opened the country to the Gold Empire. With his connections with Andreas and Sceya, it was a simple matter to begin more trade than ever before northwards and inviting imperials down in Akshus to settle. Several halfling hamlets, dwarven families and sailors both sceyan and whiesian settled in the Ye'or delta and Ælmesleóht. Alchemists also came south, seeking to aid in the modernization of Akshus' farming and industry. This forged bonds of friendship between the Gold Empire and Akshus, and the Gold Emperor himself visited Ælmesleóht not long after Ibrahim's victory.
Ibrahim and the Gold Emperor spoke at length during that visit, and Ibrahim realized that the two of them were not so different. They both wanted peace and prosperity for their people, and to unite many peoples under a common banner and crown, bound together by law, justice and blood.
The Gold Emperor spoke to Ibrahim about joining the Gold Empire, but Ibrahim rejected his offer. He knew that Akshus would never bend the knee to someone sponsored by a foreign power. In the future, he said, when Akshus had been united and the peoples of the Gold Empire and Akshus had grown closer, then he would gladly accept. The Gold Emperor accepted his rationale, but told Ibrahim that a crown of gold was waiting for him at the end of the path.
While Ibrahim did not openly convert to the faith of Aurathear Darastrix, he did invite many priests to Akshus and sponsored missionary trips into Lower Akshus as well.
And so peace reigned in Akshus for nearly ten years, with Ibrahim at the center of it. He was a good king, a king of the people and a man anyone would be proud to call leader. He enjoyed life as a king, he was always smiling and the amused glint never left his eyes. He had two beautiful sons whom he loved and respected, a wife who complimented his traits and made him stronger and a third child on the way.
But, as the poets say, all good things come to an end. These good things came to an end on the fourteenth anniversary of Esther and Ibrahim's wedding.
In reaction to rumours that Ibrahim was to give Akshus over to foreigners, chief Azamat Dhamarin Kale supported chief Musaykah Mukhtaar Mustar's claim to the throne of Upper Akshus. Supplied with warriors, mercenaries and spies, Musaykah snuck into Ælmesleóht on its most open day, the anniversary of Ibrahim and Esther's wedding and celebration of their future third child. They managed to outwit the taninite troops, who didn't suspect a thing, and took their chance. They attacked the festivites in great numbers, overwhelming the family's token defenses in their own city. Ibrahim's family were butchered, his uncles and cousins killed in the street. During the festivites he and Esther had been separated and now he fought valiantly to get to her side. He fought like a madman, like a beast, he fought like he had never fought before. Esther's guards had been overwhelmed, and she had grabbed a spear. The furious woman managed to hold back four of Musaykah's thugs with her spear, but she was shot through the gut by a bolt from Musaykah's crossbow. Ibrahim just managed to round a corner as he saw his wife pierced by bolts, before she dropped dead to the ground. He shrieked out in pain and ran to Esther's side, to save her. He killed eight mercenaries, but he was pushed back by their sheer numbes.
The wounded and unarmoured Ibrahim vowed vengeance, managing to get to his two sons and fleeing north with them. Ishmael was saved by a Sarab. War between the ibrahimites and mustarites was again a fact.
Ibrahim rode hard north, seeking out the Gold Emperor, who had been travelling south for diplomatic talks. When Ibrahim delivered the news to the Gold Emperor, a great rage overtook him. He blessed Ibrahim and his sons as the thirteenth noble family of the Gold-Empire, the house of Tanin, and bonded them with the dragons Nysqwen, Arxiros and Rhoyhtas. Ibrahim took the words "Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind" as his own. The Emperor quickly assembled an army, composed of Sceyan and Whiesian regiments, his personal Dragon Legion and a contingent of the Devotion Legion, and joined Ibrahim on his quest to retake Ælmesleóht and punish the mustarites for attacking scions of the Gold Empire. Ibrahim and his sons, joined by Ibrahim's long-time friend prince Andreas "the Kind" Ari, travelled ahead, wishing to quickly sate his bloodlust.
Ibrahim's bonding with Nysqwen was a powerful thing, for both parts. In any such bonding, there is always a tug-of-war between the will of the dragon and the will of the noble. These need not nessecarily be aligned against one another, and they are often complementary to eachother. Ibrahim's pain, his suffering at having once again lost his family, hope and future, overcame Nysqwen's patient demeanour. She saw his pain and she saw that this pain came because Ibrahim more than anything desired to protect his family, and that he had failed. Nysqwen promised to Ibrahim, with fire in her eyes, that she would burn ANY who dared harm his family, and that together they would root out all the corruption from Akshus and secure their bloodlines against any and all enemies. Ibrahim felt the power of draconic fire within himself, a furious force he found himself naturally calling upon through his wrath, and he finally felt the ability to totally wipe his enemies from the world, leaving nothing but ash behind.
Nysqwen and Ibrahim bonded quickly and powerfully, their mutual wrath and desire to protect their families making their bonding easier than any before.
A rift began growin between Ibrahim and Andreas, one that was never put into words by either party. A small part of Ibrahim blamed Andreas for the death of his wife, since it was Andreas who had convinced him to show mercy to Musaykah all those years ago. He would not make that mistake again. He was never going to make the mistake of mercy again.
As Ibrahim, Andreas, Ishmael and Asher rode south, they soon commenced the first true battle of the war. Reports from taninite caravans told that the newly-proclaimed king Musaykah had taken a sizeable portion of his warhost westwards, to subjugate the yeorites and once again bind them in chains of slavery. Ibrahim, seeing that they sought to undo Esther's lifework, was even more enraged. They took their four dragons to the encampment of the army, north of the Marid's Eye, and they attacked it in the dead of night. The warhost was sorely lacking in archers or artillery, so the mercenaries were slaughtered and burnt to a crisp, the fire burning so brightly that many of those who survived were blinded. Ibrahim personally landed after the battle was over and moved amongst the wounded, burningas many of the crippled and cowardly mercenaries as he could. He killed them, and he made sure that they felt the pain of being burned alive. Asher too took to using his draconic powers like this, while Andreas moved throughout the battlefield, mercy-killing those he thought would die anyway. The only one who refused this duty was Ishmael, who though it immoral to so callously waste human lives just to satisfy a lust for vengeance against another man. He let many get away.
Ibrahim was furious with him, and he roared into the night at his son. He called him weak-willed, cowardly and a disgrace to his dead mother. A small part of Ibrahim knew that this was harsh, and that those mercenaries had not deserved to be treated so harshly, but his dragon-fuelled wrath and need for revenge overcame this old, human part of Ibrahim. Ishmael took the insults in silence, and when Ibrahim asked him if he would do as he was asked next time he said yes. In the end, however, Ishmael never killed a fleeing or wounded enemy. Had Ibrahim still been human he would have respected that, but with the fire in his heart he could see nothing but weakness in Ishmael's actions.
He had to teach his son how to destroy their enemies.
After the glassing, Ibrahim and his sons spent a couple of days looking for survivors, and when called back to the main army they ended their pursuit. A couple more survivors were hunted down by other ibrahimites and the whiesian cavalry, but many of those who are now part of the resistance were "born" during the Glassing.
The Siege of Ælmesleóht was a surprisingl quick affair, as imperial siegecraft broke the walls. The city itself fell mostly without fighting, as the citizens feared and hated their mustarite occupiers and had come to love Ibrahim dearly. The mustarites themselves, however, fought to the death as they knew they were dead men either way. The first wave of imperial forces took the walls and gates, and the second wave, consisting mostly of knights, took the fighting to the mustarites, slaughtering them all. Following the Siege it became clear that the kaleites had aligned themselves with the mustarites. When Ibrahim heard this he pressed for the Gold Empire to travel further south and bring him to justice. The Gold Emperor took stock of his army, and made sure that it was ready for the travel south through the desert and made sure that Ælmesleóht would be able to withstand a siege from the south.
As the imperial army marched south, intending to conquer the city of towers, it was ambushed by the Akshusian Coalition. Warhosts from all the tribes of Akshus were part of the conflict, most of them clashing with the ibrahimite cavalry forces. The kaleites and githzherai fought the yeorites, hoping to break them and overrun the imperial legions in the confusion. They were to be dissappointed however, as the yeorites held long enough for the legions and the Emperor himself to reinforce them, and the whiesian cavalry broke the meager akshusian forces sent to disctract them and encircled both the cavalry engaged with the ibrahimites and the kaleites. Many akshusians were killed that day, but most of the army managed to retreat as the githzherai sacrificed themselves to hold the line and let them flee. The Gold Empire had won its first major engagement against the akshusian coalition, and it had been a decisive victory. The surviving githzherai were imprisoned, but many of them managed to escape throughout the night and link up with the army with the aid of their psionic powers.
Ibrahim and his sons spent most of their time fighting the kaleites, as Ibrahim reserved most of his hate towards them. Ibrahim himself landed on the ground and challenged chief Azamat to single combat, but he fled rather cowardly. Ibrahim contented himself with burning as many kaleites to a crisp as possible, and once again he spent time after the battle to burn his wounded enemies. Once again, Ishmael refused.
The great warhost of the Akshusian Coalition moved to what they fought would be a safe position, a great camp just south of the glass desert. They had moved so far away that they would have time to regroup before the imperial infantry could catch up with them, and the ibrahimite and whiesian cavalry were not great enough forces to defeat them on their own. They had however, not expected Ibrahim's cleverness and the tenacity of the knights. Ibrahim took the cavalry south of the camp and made a great show of being about to annihilate his enemies. The akshusians, understandably, prepared for war in that direction and expected a hard-fought victory, as they outnumbered their enemy by a sizeable margin. Then they heard the sound of armoured boots behind them. The Dragon and Devotion legions had marched through the Glass Desert's scolding warmth, an impossible feat, and were now coming down from the north. The akshusians were completely annihilated, some of them only managing to escape again due to the sacrifice of the githzherai monks, holding off the knights long enough for them to flee. The akshusian coalition's army was at the end of its ropes and had almost been annihilated.
With the akshusian army on retreat to the City of Towers, the northern invasion force joined up with the Conquest Legion to lay siege to the City of Towers. Commander Allexander was here given command of the army, as the war seemed to be as good as over to the Gold-Emperor, and he had pressing matters of state in the north. Rather than wait long for the Sceyan siegeweapons to come south, the Grand Commander had another idea. He had sent a team of dwarf engineers with the protection of a few knights into the Azerheim-mountains to blow up a reservoar and cause the flooding of the city. The attack was timed perfectly, as man of the defenders were washed away and parts of the walls even broke. Allexander had no time for holding anything back, and sent his knights in first with support from Ibrahim and Andreas. The defenders of the City of Towers were completely annihilated by the knight charge, but chief Azamat managed to flee with his closest warriors again, as githzherai protected him. With the City of Towers taken, the last phase of the war could begin. The surviving warriors of the siege were either conscripted into the ibrahimite warhost, or if they were kaleites they were sent to a new prison camp formed by the Red Order.
During the fighting, Ibrahim tried to kill Azamat, but he was held back by githzherai monks long enough for Azamat to make it to their secret bunkers. Ibrahim and Nysqwen roared in syncronicity throughout the Gith Mountains, their long-sought after vengeance denied them. They flew across the mountains, roaring flame and fury.
With only the southern tip of Akshus left to conquer, Allexander thought the war would be over swiftly. He was to be dissappointed however, due to two factors. The gitzherai refused to give open battle, rather resorting to hit-and-run attacks on imperial fortifications and fighting out of defensive monastery-bunkers, and the non-legion portions of the imperial army proved to be unsuited to fighting in the cold climate of the Gith mountains against psionic enemies, which meant that he had to rely solely on his knights for the offensive portion of the war. So he decided on a new strategy, electing to spread the imperial army along the edge of the Gith mountains to keep the githzherai penned up in the mountains, and then slowly and methodically searching the mountains for bunkers and the Citadel. This part of the war has been going on for the better part of a year, and Allexander thinks he is close to finding the Citadel. The conquest of the Citadel, he is sure, will bring the end of this war.
Ibrahim has spent the last year or so brooding. He wishes to take the fight to the githzherai, but whenever his golden wings take flight the githzherai retreat into their underground bunkers, where they are protected from dragonfire by tonnes of mountain. He has more than once flown into the mountains, seeking the Citadel, but he has so far been unsuccessfull in finding it. Grand Commander Allexander has stopped him from further raids in the mountains, as they produce nothing of vallue and he is too valuable an asset to waste on scouting. This has left Ibrahim in a foul mood in the ibrahimite camp, from where he commands most of the southern blockade. His soldiers occasionally find kaleite resistance members for him to burn or githzherai monks trying to pass through the blockade for him to send to the Grand Commander, but mostly he spends his days surveying the trenches and speaking with prisoners from the tribes of Middle Akshus. He has tried speaking with some of them and explaining his motivations and plans, and he has succesfully convinced quite a few of the righteousness of his cause, but many more are in abject horror of the Dragon King they now must swear fealty to.
He has sent his two sons back north. Asher was sent north nine months ago, to aid in purging the countryside of bandits and training new ibrahimite soldiers. He was very displeased and angry to leave, as he wished to be fighting in the war, but Ibrahim would brook no defiance. He travelled north with enough soldiers to hold the Crossroads, and he has spent the last nine months training new troops for the front and burning bandits whenever he gets the chance. He is angry with his father for sending him away from the war. Ibrahim believes he has done the right thing, as Asher's talents are better spent up there and it is a place for him to learn leadership and the craft of war for himself.
Ishmael was sent north half a year ago, to serve as Prince-Regent in his father's stead in Ælmesleóht. It frustrated Ibrahim that Ishmael, even after all these years, did not seem commited to fighting the traitors. Ishmael had only grown more sullen and quiet, fearing his father's flaming outbursts but never compromising on his ideals. In a rare mood of relative tranquility and foresight gifted by Nysqwen, Ibrahim realized that this desire for vengeance was destroying his son. In an effort to save Ishmael from Ibrahim himself, he sent Ishmael north to Ælmesleóht, both to act as his regent and to give him a chance to do good with his draconic and scholarly gifts. The communication between father and son was very poor at this point however, so Ishmael saw it as a punishment for his own percieved weakness.
And so Ibrahim spends his days fighting a slow and grinding war now, alternating between fiery wrath and grief-filled self-reflection. Nysqwen suffers with him, and the two of them wait for their chance to burn Azamat and rule over Akshus, so they can finally put the country in order with fire and blood. No one will ever harm their family again.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Aided in defeating the cult of the Eternal Thirst
Conquered Upper Akshus
Became the first King of Akshus
Failures & Embarrassments
Wasn't there to save his father and brothers
Failed in saving his wife
Has wronged and wounded both his sons, and thrown them into the very life of war he hoped they would never have to experience
Relationships
History
Ibrahim and Andreas met eachother long before they became king and duke respectively, adventuring together in the wilds of Sceya and streets of Toirecíud. Since Andreas aided Ibrahim in the Storm War and Imperial-Akshusian War, the two have been close political allies in the greater tapestry of the Gold Empire.
Andreas has sent his Irondeep regiments alongside Akshusian forces to Oilean, and has hosted all of Ibrahim's sons in Irondeep at different times, duke Ishmael for his educational travels, duke Asher Kale-Tanin for military excercises and prince Taimur as a ward for the last couple of years.
Ibrahim er konge av Akshus, og Blaecbrands far. Han er karismatisk, sint og heilt og haldent dedikert til å få hemnen sin. Han slåss med to sverd, rir på den kollosale dragen Nysqwen og er ikkje villig til å inngå noko kompromiss. Hans sinne har fortært han, og kasta Akshus inn i krig.
Character Location
Current Location
Nedre Akshus
by Ida Maria Aasgard Tveranger
Alignment
Neutral Evil
Current Status
Commanding the Akshusian forces in southern Akshus
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Konge av Akshus
Age
46
Date of Birth
4th of Gold
Birthplace
Upper Akshus
Family
Spouses
Lady Jeleneth Edrys
(Wife)
Esther Tanin
(Wife)
Siblings
Current Residence
Den adelege leiren i Nedre Akshus
Pronouns
he/him
Sex
Male
Gender
Male
Eyes
Molten gold
Hair
Black hair, with streaks of grey
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Grey, with many golden scales
Height
6 ft. 2 inches
Weight
180 lb.
Belief/Deity
Aurathear Darastrix
Aligned Organization
Related Plots
Related Reports
Ruled Locations
Comments