The Great Liberator
Probably the most celebrated person in recorded history was Kal Verahda, who devised the plan to overthrow the longest-lasting and most oppressive empire in history. Kal was born of common stock and, through many adventures, progressed to the Korvahn (Great Fighter) class. He was well known among many nations for his superior swordsmanship and his courage in the face of death.
He was once rumored to have faced an urahthet barehanded. However, he personally refuted this rumor. He claimed he used a quantum energy rifle in the fight. The truth was that he used his sorcerous powers, which he wielded in secret since maturity, to overcome the savage assault of the urahthet. These sorcerous powers were ultimately the salvation of Arisdatha.
At this time in history, the world shared deep hatred for sorcerers and magic because of the reputation of a corrupt and sadistic sorcerer sect called the Zaldori. If anybody among the commoners had sorcerous powers, they were better off keeping them a secret. Otherwise, they would be persecuted unmercifully in almost any nation.
Also, they could not join a sorcerer sect for protection since most of these sects were exclusively upper class. There were some non-exclusive sects, but a person might have to leave family and friends to travel long distances to join them.
He was born in Hesgejev, a city in Sedrien, a province in the nation of Le Jhabir. His father was an antique merchant on the coast of Adronis by the foothills of the Hejebedi Mountains.
At age one and a half yahdi (about three and a half Earth years), his nation went to war with its neighboring nation to the north, Kysoré. Vastal sailed the Sea of Adronis during this time of history and preyed upon ships sailing through their waters.
One of these ships was a royal vessel carrying the jahnua of Kysoré to a diplomatic rendezvous in Emmrau. She was to meet and possibly court the vehjor of Emmrau. En route to its destination, the royal vessel was attacked by a pirate ship known as the Komaré.
Le Jhabir was directly between Kysoré and Emmrau and, since no witnesses ever reported the ambush, Kysoré blamed Le Jhabir for the disappearance of their jahnua, Allanerr of the house of Vaturé.
Kal Verahda grew up in a time of war and became exceptionally gifted with the sword and firearms of all kinds (even quantum energy rifles which the Behrahthi Empire forbade). The war lasted fifteen yahdi. In this time, Kal progressed through the military ranks to the Arisdathi rank of Januuk (see Ranking in Military).
Kal became a hero by ending the war when he secretly used his sorcerous powers to follow a lead on the whereabouts of the kidnapped jahnua. Although the jahnua had long since died of illness from her weakened morale in the hands of her abusive abductors, Kal was lauded as a hero for sending the dread vastal ship to its watery grave, thereby ending the bloodshed and bringing peace to Le Jhabir and Kysoré.
Kal lost his father and three of his brothers during the war, Kal being the sixth of five sons and two daughters. In all the bloodshed and tears of a devastating war, the Behrahthi Empire never once used its great military might to intervene to end the war. Diplomats from Le Jhabir repeatedly petitioned the tolkor for intervention.
But, every time, they were basically told that it was their squabble, so they should just deal with it the best that they could. This indifference fueled the bitterness that most nations held for Behrahth. But, the nail in the empire's coffin was the fact that it embittered the one man who would soon orchestrate the empire's downfall.
After the war, Kal used his influence as a war hero to meet with the heads of state of as many friendly nations as possible. The topic of these meetings was the formulation of a plan to once and for all overthrow the empire.
These meetings were successful in that Kal was given 85,000 warriors and spies to carry out the plan he had in mind. Two yahdi later, the details of his project were worked out, and it was ready to be put into action.
This plan involved a simultaneous strike upon all the imperial rulers of each nation. At the beginning of each new yahd, these political leaders became accustomed to celebrating the new yahd with a huge party that would last all night long. The party-goers would celebrate with abandon.
Unfortunately for them, none of them would live to see the new yahd since Kal Verahda's hand-picked assassins were hard at work ensuring that his coordinated strike would be a success. At the stroke of the first hour at dawn, Kal's assassins attacked with a vengeance.
Kal also had spies throughout the government to ensure that no one received word of the events until it was too late because, of course, dawn was not simultaneous all over the world. The plan was carried out to the minutest detail in every nation on the globe. However, Kal's sorcerous powers were the surest guarantee of success, although no one would know this secret until later.
All representative houses of the empire were destroyed in one megrah (the Arisdathi day) and three-quarters of the imperial military. When the world realized what had taken place on the first megrah of the new yahd, chaos broke out. Riots reigned in the street, and the military of almost all nations took advantage of the empire's weakened state, as planned, and attacked in full force. Project Gohmahtha was a huge success and soon the empire lay in ashes.
When the dust had settled and people discovered who the author of their liberty was, they proclaimed him a god and tried to instate him as the new tolkor. However, he quickly declined, stating that no man should have such power ever again.
Several megrahti later, Kal made the astounding declaration that he had used sorcery to affect the world's liberty. Even though the world had hated sorcery with a blind fanaticism for countless ages, they were still so grateful that they embraced him anyway.
Emboldened by his newfound favor, he instituted the guild of The Korvahn of Verahda, or Verahdi, that welcomed all honorable and courageous members of the Korvahn having sorcerous powers.
Many yahdi later, a new calendar was initiated. The calendar's starting point was set to be the megrah on which the world was liberated, and an aravaht was inserted into the calendar in Kal Verahda's honor, Keska-Verahda.
Comments