Quai Trodder Crisis
"A conflict as comical as it was harrowing. Who could think that one little species of bug could cause such distress, be it in faith of gods or government?"
Overview
The Quai Trodder Crisis was an unusual conflict resulting from supernatural phenomena in a species of invasive Galley Trodders during the reign of the Saltkrigere Empire. For unknown reasons, the mystifying deity of the Tara-Jhen known as the Quai would abandon its people in favor of these invasive arachnids. The Quai Trodders would travel to Trinen in the north, where they would leave a path of destruction in their wake, spreading the territory of the Quai as they went.
Cause
The Galley Trodders have anatomy similar to ants with a slooped bowhead and their behavior is similar to that of an army ant. Native to the Snow Rock Isles, they did not have the proper behavioral adaptation to avoid the Quai. Upon their consumption of the spiritual substance, they would benefit from the supernatural capabilities that the Quai offered, while spreading the deity in their travels. The thick travelling platoons of colonies would consume any fauna or flora in their wake, destroying the ecosystem around them. Their incredible colony growth as a result of no natural predators to winnow the population resulted in a recorded spread of 288 miles from the theorized origin point of their cradle ship's arrival. The Saltkrigere Empire cared little about the plights of the reptilefolk that suffered from the ecological disaster though, and would not respond until the Quai Trodders breached the national barrier in a series of villages near Saint's Maar.
Conflict
The conflict, so far as the Saltkrigere Empire is involved, saw the Quai Trodders carve a path through southeastern Trinen, where the their effects were first discovered in the destruction of an abandoned logging village, where the arachnids had all but consumed the rotting wood, wasp nests, gopher dens, and surrounding fields of wild wheat. In place of these resources was a new patch of Quai, which would serve as the first patch foreign to the swamps of Mot D'nir in over 1000 years. The colony would later move into inhabited territory, where they seemed to have no apprehension about the threat of local fauna, including the humans. Showing little self preserving behavior, they would shred the village of Hastavulger to its foundation. The "invasion" began late at midnight, resulting in the loss of 7 ox and 9 goats. Only 2 humans would perish during the infestation, as the remaining fled north, lacking any conventional methods of eradicating such a colony.
When word reached Saint's Maar, a dispatch of Consilium priests and laborers were sent to surgically carve the Quai from the village grounds. This task proved harder than your typical excavation, however, as the Trodders slumbered in the day but remained hidden within the Realm of the Quai. When their new patron was threatened, the wrath of the colony was unleashed, resulting in the death of 9 of the laborers in what the surviving priests called "a sight like no other, like a goat carving an ear of corn to its core, but in a rhythmic wave of the infernal colony."
The colony would eventually divide, unable to support its growing size. The first colony, which they would call "Orange Colony," moved to a mining town to the northwest of Hastvulger. The second, "Portbound Colony," intuitively went to the port village of Rustanchor. Each of these settlements had their own struggles against the infestation, with the mining town deciding it best to collapse the cave mouth to preserve future activity from being halted via a subterranean infestation. The port town would lose its wooden docks as orders from Saint's Maar declared that any ships that discovered any trodder presence were not to sail, and if they were already at sea, then they were to be capsized. As a new contingency, a Saltkrigere Paladin was sent to each town in order to head an extermination, both of which ultimately failed.
It was not until Eldurgrund was finally commissioned as a final resort that the conflict was silenced. A Saltkrigere Empire platoon was released to each known territory of the Quai Trodders where the Eldur Monks and Eldur Knights were released upon the grounds of the foreign deity. With fire and oil, the trodders were eventually cindered out and the Quai scorched back to the borders of Mot D'nir.
Results
The conflict with the Quai Trodders would cast doubt on the future of the Quai and the Tara-Jhen for humanity. The seeds planted in this nearly comical happenstance would further the anti-marsh ideals of the Augury, the successor empire to the Saltkrigere. Humanity would begin to see the Quai as a malevolent source of subterfuge and discord.
The Tara-Jhen would experience a brief cultural crisis, as the Quai selecting a non sapient species to bear its gifts was unheard of. Did the Quai truly care about those it benefitted? Did it pick them for divine purpose or mere coincidence? These were the questions that arose throughout Mot D'nir in the years following the conflict.
In order to preserve their progress, the empire would eventually push into the marsh, threatening to spread the Dark Crop, a known winnower of the Quai, throughout Tara-Jhen territory. The Quai seemingly responded to this threat, abandoning the trodders. The colonies still exist throughout Mot D'nir and have adapted to their ecosystem over generations, now permanently engrained in north eastern Mot D'nir and categorized as a new species known as "D'niri Trodders."All images made with Midjourney*
Quai: a God of Many Gifts
The Quai, to this day, is a deity with unknown motives; however, it provides those that it ordains with power many gifts. For most of history, its gifts have been uniquely bestowed upon the Tara-Jhen, who use its supernatural territories to "shift" across the marsh, as if its geographically separated domains are pulled together within the Realm of the Quai. In the past, it has abandoned the Tara-Jhen in favor of creatures such as the Kaban or Thanids, but other researchers theorize that it was the source of growth and power for both Korahaman and Kadelkonatl, both of whom were revered as gods-incarnate.
The unorthodox endowment of supernatural power on the Galley Trodders was a shock to all, but it was perhaps the best strategic decision that the world has seen. Small and lacking sapience, the trodders would be capable of spreading the Quai unnoticed for weeks or months. A lack of natural predators in the region, due to the invasive status of the trodders, meant that no local fauna or flora could oppose the hellish colonies. The lack of hives or permanent hills would also serve to ensure that the spread of the Quai was constant, giving the deity the one thing it wants for certain: spread and control.
The natural behavior and adaptations of the trodders would be enhanced upon their transformation into Quai Trodders. One of their supernatural capabilities would include passage into the Realm of the Quai, meaning that the trodders could spread to any corner of Mot D'nir, phasing across any geographic barriers between the Quai territories. Further, they could phase into this realm at will, meaning that they could rest or hibernate in the exclusive realm without worrying about the safety of the colony. These adaptation would make the colonies develop "ambush behaviors" when they first encountered anything that they may consider food, which could serve to explain how they managed to kill cattle, pets, and even humans in their travels.
Quai Trodders: Unorthodox, but Effective
Conflict Type
Military Campaign
Start Date
1351 HN, Orphember 12
Ending Date
1352 HN, Naiber 27
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