Jalandhara

Jalandhara was a sorcerer and ruler of tremendous power who had conquered and reshaped most of @Utanar by the time of the great exodus of the refugees from the city-state of Eshkar. Jalandhara is the Eshti name given to him, meaning devourer. His true name is not known.

History

As far as could be determined, Jalandhara was the twentieth son of a chieftain among the nomadic Khun tribes of the northern Utanar steppes and a Eshkari slave, believed to have been a powerful magician. His mother had gained favor in the lord’s eyes which saved her son from a life of servitude to his brothers and a chance to prove himself on the battlefield, which he did, with a bloodthirstiness and skill that caused him to rise high in both his people’s and father’s eyes.

His brothers exposed him practicing magic, taught to him by his mother. This was strictly forbidden to men of the Khun and he was stripped naked and banished to the wilderness and his mother murdered in front of his eyes. Jalandhara gathered a tribe of misfits, slaves and outcasts over years to form his own clan. They became powerful, having abandoned all the old taboos of the Khun but keeping their skill and bloodthirsty battle prowess. He grew to become a great sorcerer, paying well for training in the arts. Then for years he disappeared.

When he had returned, he was changed and had grown calmer and much more powerful. He had mastery over the earth, wind and waters that even ancient masters of the magical arts could only dream of. In the south it was whispered he had made himself an avatar of Bhimsaka himself, a deva walking the world as a man.

Over the following decade, country after country fell as his forces conquered the lands south, east and west of the steppes. All those of authority were destroyed. It is unknown how far his conquest continued after the destruction of Eshkar.