BM - the Battle of Kungumabog

[Deeza]

Slightly revised now to take into account changes since I first wrote it. There may be more details added as I build the village. Should be nearly finished though:

The Battle of Kungumabog

Though it might not appear so to the uninitiated visitor, the eerie, isolated Everglade settlement of Kungomabog is the scene of some of the bloodiest moments in Black Marsh's history. The source of this conflict? The unremarkable, house-sized boulder which pokes above the waterline just outside the town.

Yet closer inspection reveals it is far from unremarkable - the rock, known locally as the Earthgall, is in fact hollow, and floats upon the water! Such a rarity would be extraordinary in itself, but a narrow cleft, barely wide enough to stick a knife blade into, runs all the way around its exterior. For the rock can be opened by means of some secret ritual, and those who have seen its interior claim that it is "jeweled, as though it were a gigantic geode". Naturally, such a unique object has been much prized by many invaders and pirates, but a dark and ancient magic pervades the stone and every attempt to mine it or break it up for sale has been met with embarrassing failure.

Though the source of the enchantment is uncertain, a journey into arcane Black Marsh Lore reveals the stone to be one of the five Stations of the Eye, pilgrimage sites of deep significance linked to the legend of the Eye of Argonia and an important part of the ritual of the crowning of the Priest-Kings of old (the other Stations being the Pit at Soulrest, a Dunmer monastery in Arnesia, the Shatterstone in Lilmoth and the lost city of Helstrom).

Following the dissolution of the Imperial Monarchy of Argonia shortly after the War of the Red Diamond, the exact constitutional status of the Priest-Kings of Lilmoth has been so confused that it cannot even be summarised here. Suffice to say that conflicts between several pretenders to the title and the Royal Court came to a head on a misty morning one-hundred and fifty years ago. Anxious to build legitimacy for his cause, the pretender Priest-King Kikkirkrazz seized control of the Earthgall and dragged it off down the river under cover of darkness, much to the displeasure of both the Royal Court and the local leader, Mabog-Chief Debaiss. Skirmishes between militias supportive of Kikkirkazz and the Royal Guards were becoming frequent, and it was clear that open conflict would erupt soon.

The battle began shortly after Mabog-Chief Debaiss came back to his hut the following morning from a successful hunt to find a dead Paatru had been left in his nest-bed. Enraged at this warning, he gathered a posse of local warriors and marched straight to the Imperial colony of Glenbridge, where Kikkirkazz had occupied an Imperial inn. This started an open brawl in the streets of the town, during which Debaiss was wounded and carried back to Kungumabog, vowing revenge.

Unfortunately, the Royal Court was watching these events and decided to take advantage of the absence of Kungumabog's warriors to punish the tribe, which had long openly defied their authority and raided Imperial settlements and trade caravans. Even more unluckily, fearful of sending tribal Argonians to fight their own kin, the Royal Court dispatched foreign mercenaries, who were unused to the terrain and got lost, descending instead on the much larger tribal settlement of Go-Ja-Morgoa.

Ill-disciplined, drunk and frustrated after many days' wandering in the swamps, the Royal Court's foreign mercenaries fell upon Go-Ja-Morgoa and tried to put the place to the sword. Baffled by the size of the settlement they found themselves in, not to mention the fierce resistance of the tribe's warriors, the mercenaries beat a hasty retreat, during which the tall stilt-houses of the town were set ablaze. With the flaming huts fast sinking into the swamp, the War-Chief of the Go-Ja tribe fatefully decided to take refuge with his kinsmen downriver in Kungomabog.

Carrying all their posessions with them, the refugees from Go-Ja-Morgoa headed along the banks of the Dreugh River, where they came upon a group of the pretender Priest-King Kikkirkazz's followers, riding the floating Earthgall downstream with long punting poles. Realising what it was, the Go-Ja warriors challenged the riders and a battle ensued. Carrying the Earthgall in triumph back to Kungumabog, the Go-Ja did not notice the spies of Kikkirkazz slipping away into the reeds.

Upon hearing the news, Kikkirkazz flew into a frenzied rage and ordered the massed ranks of his followers to march to Kungumabog and raze it to the ground. Meanwhile the Royal Court's emissaries had realised the mistake of their mercenaries and were hurrying to offer the Go-Ja compensation and defuse the conflict. They were too late. By the time they had arrived Kungomabog was also aflame, as arrows and darts rained down from the platforms into the ranks of Kikkirkazz's army. The Royal Guards quickly had to defend themselves, and the situation degenerated into a three-way brawl between them, the Pretender's forces, and the combined warriors of Kungumabog and Go-Ja-Morgoa.

Battle raged for three days. The Kungumabog had been given ample time to prepare for the assault and had filled the surrounding swamps of the Everglades with traps, constructing floating palisades as a defensive screen around their dwellings. Although the outer settlement swiftly fell on the first day, the warriors retreated to an inner circle of linked platforms high above the swamp, where they could shoot down with impunity. Thus the battle became a seige through the first night and into the second morning, until the assault of the Royal Guards distracted the attackers and allowed some of the Kungumabog to break out, escaping with the hatchlings into the swamp.

Shortly after this Mabog-Chief Debaiss disappeared, and rumour spread that he was dead. The War-Chief of the Go-Ja was an inferior leader, and the disheartened tribal warriors were soon fighting on the steps of their houses. The War-Chief was slain at midday, and they seemed to be fighting a losing battle until that evening, when Debaiss suddenly returned with a contingent of Paatru reinforcements from Tul'X'che. The conflict reached a deadlock, and at sundown all sides fell back to lick their wounds and prepare for a final assault the next day.

An effort by the Royal Court to mediate between the two sides failed miserably when their ambassador was assassinated by a lurking Shadowscale (or so it is said, though which side had employed the Dark Ones is unclear). Sensing the situation was getting out of hand, the Royal Court had force-marched some of their finest troops over from Blackrose, accompanied by a contingent of Imperial Legionnaries from the Rose Prison. However, other rebellious tribal warriors had also arrived during the night to aid Kungumabog, and launched a surprise attack shortly before dawn.

By this stage Kikkirkazz's forces were nearing exhaustion, and so the Pretender decided to enter the fray himself. A Bhuru magician of great power, Kikkirkazz devastated the ranks of the Royal Guard with corrosive, rotting magic. As they fled, only the Imperials put up much of a fight, and were swiftly overwhelmed. Free to concentrate on the tribal warriors, Kikkirkazz tried to break the stockades which had been built overnight around the Earthgall, but his reserves of magicka were draining fast. Mabog-Chief Debaiss, recognising his deadly enemy, leapt down from the top of the platform into the water far below and swam swiftly towards him.

The Mabog-Chief cut down Kikkirkazz's bodyguard, but was left unprotected from the full force of the Pretender's magic. Crippled by sorcerous energies, Debaiis nevertheless stumbled forward, and with his arms paralysed, ruthlessly headbutted his astonished enemy to death.

The end of Kikkirkazz was the signal for a rout of his army. The exhausted survivors of the Royal Guard were quick to take a pragmatic approach to the situation, and the Court's emissaries heaped praises on Mabog-Chief Debaiss and his warriors for "slaying a great enemy of the nation." His past activities forgotten, Debaiss accepted their thanks, and an offer of compensation for the burning of Go-Ja-Morgoa.

Today, Debaiss is one of the greatest heroes of Argonians who still keep to the old ways, though he is more widely known by the name he was given after the battle, Eikkai-Ottul, or "the Undefeatable". A great wooden totem pole erected to his memory now dominates the village of Kungumabog, itself rebuilt as a fortress to provide a stark reminder to any who doubt that the tribes are still a force to be reckoned with.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Originally posted by Deeza
Crippled by sorcerous energies, Debaiis nevertheless stumbled forward, and with his arms paralysed, ruthlessly headbutted his astonished enemy to death.

Sweet!

There's another fine grey area of lore neatly dealt with...