The Battle of Siksef Forest and the Death of King Tankuuthwar

Military: Battle

In the year 4992 Age of Man, the last true battle Men would ever engage in would commence. At the beginning of the year, Prince Uda – with his brother Hea, and his father, King Hal – would defeat King Tankuuthwar in a series of naval battles. This would leave the King’s lands vulnerable to invasion. The King would retreat with the entirety of his host to Haaled Hoose Fortress; it is thought that 50,000 Men made up this host.   King Hal would lead his host of 30,000 Men from Lela Docks to the mustering fields of Haad Huul. The King would assign each of his sons a retinue; Prince Hea would command 10,000 Men and would focus on keeping order in the area, along with securing the Docks and supplies. To Prince, he would assign 5,000 Men; many of them comprised of magic wielders trained under his tutorage, and he would be kept in reserve. The remaining 15,000 Men, King Hal himself would lead; and he would order them to make siege upon Haaled Hoose, and with great machines and weapons of war, the King did surround the fortress. But the supplies being ferried from the Farms of Vaad would continue, as the plateau was protected by mountains and cliffs. But with 8 months passing, the supplies were halted, and the siege would force King Tankuuthwar to sully out.   For 6 days and 6 nights, slaughter ruled the landscape; the ancient and youthful alike amongst the kin of Men wielded no mercy. Over 50,000 Men hacked, slashed, stabbed, and crushed their foes. The sounds throughout the battlefield blended into a muddy drone of misery; mud, blood and bile painted the once beautiful armour settings of these once noble persons. In the last hours of the 6th night, King Hal would order his sons to regroup and make ready. King Hal ordered Prince Hea to muster in the fields of Haad Huul. To Prince Uda, the King would command him to make camp in Siksef Forest. In the dawn of the 7th day, King Tankuuthwar had been successful enough to break the siege push the forces of King Hal between the fields of Haad Huul and Siksef Forest close to the cliffs. As King Hal’s forces were bottlenecked, more fell. His retinue now stood at least than 6,000 Men, against the might of King Tankuuthwar’s much reduced host of 20,000 Men. As the sun shone over the mountains that shielded Siksef Forest from the eastern winds, King Tankuuthwar made the order to force King Hal’s Men into the sea.   But when that call was sounded, King Hal – catching the light of the dawn with the steel of his blade – signalled his sons to action. Prince Hea, approaching from the southwest with his host of 10,000 Men, smashed into the flank of King Tankuuthwar, wailing upon the enemy with unmatched ferocity. Prince Hea would cut their forces off from the rear, making retreat to their fortress impossible. By midday, King Tankuuthwar was surrounded, and down to half the number of Men he started the day with. The battlefield was now piles of corpses, with the fallen now food for the various sea and land birds. Warriors were standing upon the bodies of the dead, no longer having foot upon soil.   As the afternoon came to its end, and with the fading of the sun, King Tankuuthwar signalled towards his fortress. Horns rang, and dust shook from the masonry of the grand building. The battlefield drew silent as all Men present stopped to look towards the castle. From the giant gates, legions of Men sullied out onto the battlefield. Taking Prince Hea by surprise, he was forced to turn and face the onslaught about to engulf him. The King had held over 10,000 Men in reserve within the fortress. The battle turned yet again; King Hal no longer felt as confident as he did those few hours before. Recognising the dire situation that now faced them, King Hal signalled towards the Siksef Forest by launching three fire arrows into the sky. At that moment, as the sun set, and darkness covered the battlefield, Prince Uda and his mage wielders emerged from the forest. Initially, he ordered that his Men search the battlefield and help those in mortal need, beckoning them to heal all those willing to be saved.   However, as the night marched on, across the battlefield, Prince Uda could see the almost hopeless situation his family was in; the enemy had an advantage of more than 10,000 Men over them, and his brother and father were surrounded, fighting for their lives. Gazing across the expanse of slaughter, he spotted his King Tankuuthwar with a small grouping of his Men. They were approaching the area King Hal and his guard were fighting. Both kings would meet in battle, fighting each other’s guards to a stalemate. Upon the dawning of the 8th day, from the originally grouping, only the two kings remained fighting. King Hal armed with his longsword, and King Tankuuthwar, brandished with a large sword and shield. As Prince Hea fought his way towards his father, King Tankuuthwar began to hammer down upon Hal. Prince Uda, closer than that of his brother would decide to intervene. Summoning elemental magic, Prince Uda would launch rocks at the enemy king. King Hal would retreat to Prince Hea’s side, injured from his duel with Tankuuthwar.   King Tankuuthwar was soon joined by more guards, who would regroup with the King and make an advance towards King Hal and Prince Hea. In that moment, Prince Uda recognised his opportunity to end the war in one act, though such an act may have future consequences. It was in that moment that Prince Uda would harness the power of the Realm of Contrast; drawing from the pools of life essence in the realm, Uda directed the essence towards the the guards about King Tankuuthwar. The battlefield lit up with a glowing blue hue, and the essence took the form of a blue sparking mist that bathed those he targeted. The battlefield fell quiet as those around would find their attention being drawn to the scene. As the blue light settled, the guards flowed with the same hue. But suddenly, the calm would turn to panic as Prince Uda would wield green lightening in his hands and guide in towards the same guards. Struck them this green lightening did, and dust clouds were formed; as Prince Uda’s green glow about his person began to grow, the life force of each guard began to leave them. Wrought from them like silver from a mine, each would drop dead; when the last fell, the prince concentrated the essence he had drawn upon and directed it towards King Tankuuthwar.   The King attempted to evade the green lightening by taking refuge behind his enchanted shield; but it was not designed to ward off such magic, and it would wretch it from his arm. The green lightening, glowing in a dark hue, surrounded the King and restrained him in the air. A pause was observed, then the King was disintegrated, atomised into nothing. With a wave of air sweeping across the battlefield, all those present had never been witness to such might of magic. When silence settled upon the field, the Men of the now dead King would surrender. The last of his house, King Tankuuthwar was one of the last of the original 20 Men. The only other that remained was King Hal Haab. In the aftermath of the battle, King Hal would take rulership of all the islands of Men and would finally bring peace to the race. However, in time, the cost would prove to deadly for Men. The final war of Men cost over 60,000 lives, as only 20,000 of those that marched to war, returned home. Additionally, those that were subject to the final battle and the power that Prince Uda had wielded, tainted the life forces of all. And in the 4095 year of the Age of Men, the population of Men would number 40,000.