Vammush Vamoose

The Bards That Tried to Stop the Plague

Vammush Vamoose was a band of bards dedicated to humorously mocking the Grand Wizard Viaxis Vammush, the alchemical criminal known for spreading the disease he manufactured known as Dragon's Doom and causing the Age of Plague.

The Age of Plague's First Heroes

The Age of Plague was the first of the modern eras (after the year 0) which was colored primarily by tragedy rather than glory or complacency. This was all thanks to one particular figure: Viaxis Vammush.

Viaxis Vammush by Jarhed

Viaxis Vammush's Plague

To become Grand Wizard, lead the Draconian people, and make a name for himself, the Tamdian alchemist Viaxis Vammush manufactured a disease that he called Dragon's Doom, which he spread enough to ravage local populations at first.
It was considered, for a time, an issue centralized in one area, and for this many ignored it. Only when it truly began to spread outside of Zephys did the world take note, and most worried about the disease rather than Vammush himself.

Those With Foresight

Some, however, did see the threat posed by Viaxis Vammush. In particular, some Eallan bards, who already had reason to wish ill on the alchemist from Tamd (see the sidebar for more information).

Tamdian-Eallan Rivalry

The Draconian villages of Tamd and Ealla, home to alchemists and bards respectively, have never gotten along.
Not long after the two villages were founded, they went to war, and that war has technically never ended. Due to this, animosity between the citizens of both villages continues endlessly, and bards and alchemists are considered natural enemies.
Therefore, whenever an alchemist of particular note grows in prominence, either a group of bards or one singular bard appears who is dedicated to taking them down.
For prominent bards, a singular alchemist dedicates themselves to their downfall, as alchemists are more prone to solitude than teamwork.
Viaxis Vammush had many enemies, with most of the least notable being bards that believed they could rise to the occasion and kill him. Their efforts were, however, almost entirely fruitless.

A group of these bards began to form around the growing issue of Viaxis Vammush, and wanted to use their art to spread awareness and raise issues against Vammush.

Machadisine Sulrashiborim by Jarhed

Machadisine Sulrashiborim, also called Macha, was the leading bard in this group. She was known for her skills in improvisation, and thus the group of bards she formed specifically focused on this artform.
With their improvisational skits, Sulrashiborim's group started to perform first in Ealla, and later around Draconian Territory, urging people to use their voices to call for Viaxis to stop and leave the position. To, as some would say, vamoose. Thus, the name of the group began to stick: Vammush Vamoose. A call for Viaxis Vammush's exile and abdication.

Misused Talent

Their mission statement was, mostly, well-meaning. They wanted to stop a tyrant that had created a potentially world ending disease. However, the goals of Machadisine Sulrashiborim were not as noble. She was equally concerned with making herself into a figure that the world could latch onto, laugh at the jokes of, and listen to. Due to this, the art she made often lacked the teeth that a truly political piece would require to have any actual bite.
Instead, Vammush Vamoose just gave Viaxis a platform, as they would use some of his statements as jumping off points for their improv. When using his talking points, this spread his speeches and letters to more people, allowing them to hear what he had to say, even in a mocking way.
Thus, Vammush gained some people who thought, perhaps, Viaxis was not as bad as they said. Perhaps it was being exaggerated for the ego of Machadisine Sulrashiborim. Perhaps she was to blame for the state of things, in some way, not Viaxis.
The people who believed this were small in number, but their voices reached Viaxis Vammush in a way that Vammush Vamoose did not, and soon he began calling for the arrest of the dissenting bards.
Then came the chance for Machadisine to truly show where she stood. Would she stand up for what she said against the tyrant, sacrificing herself for the cause? Some of the other bards of the group did so. Machadisine Sulrashiborim, however, fled to Udai, where she later contracted Dragon's Doom and died. She wished to go there to seek a new spotlight away from Vammush, but instead died in obscurity to her rival's own creation.
At least, she called him her rival. He viewed her group as a nuisance more than anything, and did not even know her name.

Legacy

Ultimately, the view of Vammush Vamoose is disputed by many. Some see them as well-meaning artists with a message that they could not get across well enough. Others, instead, saw them as a product of a selfish feud that wanted more to inflate their own egos than actually do good.
They did raise money for those suffering from Dragon's Doom, but instead of focusing on that, they focused on the same thing they always did: ragging on Viaxis Vammush for the same old things. His isolationist tendencies, his hyperviolent nature, his manipulative manner of speaking, and his strange poses. They created a caricature of the man which has survived long after both him and the group that made it.