The Battle Of Matriarch

The Battle Of Matriarch is considered one of the largest single battles within which Kanda has ever taken part and easily remains one of the most controversial battles in Kandia History; even considering over one and a half thousand years of conflict before it.
With over One Million individuals confirmed to have fought in the conflict; The Battle Of Matriarch included men, women, children and animals as active combatants on both sides.
Considered "A Battle Of Extinction" By Kandia Law, The Battle Of Matriarch decided the ownership of Soterri and whether or not the Southernmost Kandia Colony would survive.
Despite this legal status, the battle was the site of numerous war crimes that even "Wars Of Extinction" do not permit.
Chiefmost among the war crimes commited by the Kandia in The Battle Of Matriarch are the arming of non-performance slaves and children under ten, the use of Elephants in Combat and the enlistment of non-war deities during conflict.
This Battle Account, Written by Junior Scurrilos Neron Of The House Of Altinos On The Day Of The Battle, Is Hereby Used In "The Elephant Trials" To Determine The Nature Of The Aforementioned War Crimes Alongside Other Firsthand Accounts.

Purpose

This Document Is The Firsthand Account Of The Battle Of Matriarch By Junior Scurrilos And Battle Chronicler Neron Of The House Of Altinos And Was Written During And Shortly After The Battle Of Matriarch!
Neron was assigned by his guardian, Soterri Head Scurrilos Maximus Maximusad Auderra, to stay in what would become the centermost point of The Battle Of Matriarch and, as such, had the best view of the entirety of the conflict; able to use special magical devices granted to him by his guardian to see and hear specific happenings within the battle.
Because of his particularly opportune vantage point, Neron's report has been heavily referred to by The Empire Of Kanda as a primary source of information regarding the conflict; most specifically at Unamakhalu's insistence.
It explains both the part of the elephants in the battle as well as the part of armed slaves and fighting children; casting considerable light on the otherwise controversial happenings of the brief but intense "Kandia-Kobori Final War"

Document Structure

References

Neron Altinos was studious enough to mention a contemporary in the form of Aldonos Baldona: Ward Of Soterri Head Scurrilos Maximus Maximusad Auderra, in his account as well as personally referring to many other contemporaries and fellow apprentices to Maximus in his debriefing upon return to Kanda Sentran.
No less than twelve fellow Scurrilia in training were mentioned by Neron in person, though will not be included by name in this document.
Please Contact Soterri Longar Meningitis Drubarosad Soterrion For The Names Of Any Involved Chroniclers Not Otherwise Available In Public Record.

Publication Status

The Battle Of Matriarch by Junior Scurrilos Neron Altinos has been copied and appropriately disseminated to all Thinalaria in preparation for "The Elephant Trials" alongside all other written accounts and reports of the events of The Day Of Earth, Preserving 27, 1632.
In recognition of particular clear accounting of the events at the center front and of True Hero Unamakhalu, True Hero N'Golla The Wise, Jonathan Mondragon: The Maiden Of Health and Yuustan Abonde: The Hammer Of Soterri some Thinalaria have taken the opportunity to spread the story far and wide throughout The Empire Of Kanda.
Because of this, while the report was initially determined somewhat private, it is now publicly accessible and regularly told in lodging and drinking establishments with no small amount of embellishment.
Many Universities And Legal Schools have also gone out of their way to make extremely accurate copies of the original report so as to preserve its exact contents for posterity.

Legal status

The Document Is Valid Under The Kandia Laws Of Battle Chroniclers And Military Reports.
Brief But Definite Investigation Of The Statutes Of Eyes Establishes That Any And All Direct, Firsthand Reports By Battle Chroniclers And Any Other Scurrilia On The Battlefield Are To Be Regarded As Authoritative Unless Otherwise Directly Contradicted By Numerous Separate Reputable Sources.
As Neron's Report Is, First And Foremost, Both Accurate And Artful According To Any And All Witnesses Upon Closer Investigation It Is Regarded As A Necessary Primary Source Of Evidence For "The Elephant Trials."

Historical Details

Background

All Kandia Battles Are Required To Be Covered By Numerous Scurrilia Chroniclers.
This Particular Account Happens To Be One Of The Reports Of The Battle Of Matriarch Particularly Germane To The Elephant Trials surrounding "The Kandia-Kobori Final War."
While Many Other Reports Of The Battle Of Matriarch Have Been Logged, This One In Particular Has Been Selected By Ta Thinal Do Kanda To Represent A Central Perspective Of The Battle Itself.
Junior Scurrilos And Battle Chronicler Neron Altinos Has Been Requested To Speak Before Ta Thinal Do Kanda To Provide Further Information And Answer Questions Regarding The Potential Crimes Involved In The War.

History

~~ As Presented By Scurrilos Turindos VI Of Entwi; Leader Of The Thinalaria Blues ~~
While Some May Be Aware Of The Recent Addition Of Soterri Into The Empire, It Should Go Without Saying That ALL KANDIA Understand The Universal Ban On Elephants In Warfare!
In The Year 400, After Victory Against {Name Lost To Time} Ta Kandia Thinal agreed unanimously that war was no place for elephants!
Elephants, it was decided, were unreliable and potentially as dangerous for allies as for enemies.
Worse yet, they trample friend and foe alike into the dirt; leaving little to be identified and nothing for the family and friends of the lost to properly put to rest.
This heinous crime of denying proper burials alone may well have inspired such a set of laws to be passed, as proper burial is something even the enemies of Kanda are granted!
Not terribly long after, more Elephant Laws were passed prohibiting the use of violence against or through Elephants even for entertainment, as an otherwise rousing day of animal slaughter in the arena was tragically ruined by 5 elephants begging for their lives from the crowd just as Humania would themselves do were they wrongly sentenced to death.
It occured to all civilized Kandia that Elephants are sweet beasts.
There is, after all, even a song about it!
And that song is rather specific!
We ALL Remember from our childhood!
Elephants swim and run and trumpet and carry people.
They haul goods.
They give children rides.
They make noise and fling water all around.
Elephants dance and elephants stand and do tricks and throw things!
They pull down trees and "I've never seen one pull a plough but it's not illegal anyhow!"
And they're "Too Happy To Hurt!"
But the song is ALSO very specific on more!
Elephants can do ALL of these things... but they DON'T fight!
They Don't Stomp.
They Don't Charge.
They Don't Wreck The Enemy Barge.
They Don't Jump. (They Just Can't... Terribly Sad, Really...)
They Don't Punch.
They Don't Kick.
They Don't Flatten The Enemy.
They Don't Throw Spears!
They Don't Throw People!
"Elephants Don't Fight!"
But, Of Course, We ALL Know The Song!
This law has held strong for over a thousand years and, throughout even the worst of conflicts, no Kandia has ever had to break it nor call in allies that use elephants to aid them!
Requiring such thoughtful, peaceable beasts to perform such violent acts is not only uncivilized but serves only as punctuation to the wanton endangerment of the young children, non-performance slaves and helpless women of Soterri!
This Document Only Shows That Elephants Were Used In The Battle Of Matriarch And Women, Children And Slaves WERE Armed Not Only Against The Daroba Savages That Set Upon Them But Against Kanda's Dearest And Most Sacred Laws; Those Concerning The Sanctity Of Dignity, Family, Decency And Civilization As A Whole!
And If The People Of Soterri Cannot Maintain Their Dearest Laws In Times Of War...
How May They Call Themselves Kandia In Times Of Peace?

Public Reaction

The Public largely celebrated the spectacular victory of a far flung Kandia colony against astronomical odds with the help of underdogs and unsuspected allies.
However, Ta Thinal has gone completely insane with conflict over the entire event; breaking into squabbling factions and seeking out their own private agendas over the matter.
Because of The Battle Of Matriarch and reports like this one there has been VIOLENCE in Ta Thinal for the first time in over twenty years... and it happened to involve over a hundred Thinalaria punching and kicking each other in an outraged brawl on the marble!
Perhaps MORE Shocking, Ta Kandar has become personally interested and has vowed that no expense will be spared to get to the bottom of this; almost seeming to those who know him to be in a feverish state of giddy excitement!
Numerous Scurrilia from around the empire have converged on Ta Thinal to voice their complaints and opinions over the potential havoc this may put the legal system through!
Over half of the highest rungs of the Empire's Kensaria have also made themselves heard; taken extended leave from their activities to discuss the potential consequences of the battle and its implications on the Kandia idea of Personhood within the walls of the capital, as the logistics of such things naturally fall on their shoulders!
The Council Of Exotic Peoples has had to quell potential riots in the streets by the minorities of Kanda, who scream for public recognition of the conflict in Soterri and demand a Grand Public Celebration for The True Heroes Of Kanda; Unamakhalu War Lola and N'Golla The Wise!
Worse yet, they demand that one such True Hero MUST make a public appearance; a near impossibility from over five thousand miles away on such short notice.
The sole sponsor of the Soterri Expedition, Thinalar Philanthropus Domitiad Magnomus "Generositas" has voiced his personal stupefaction at what many perceive to be a needless waste of Kandia life and a flagrant disregard for ancestral laws while, at the same time, managing to gracefully offer congratulations and encouragement to those who survived the conflict; thankful that most survived.
In support of the fighting men of Kanda and all those suffering the harsh living conditions of Soterri, Trueborn Daughter of the Kandar Aurelina Lucusad Nervantonin has announced a "Kandia Women's Migration" to bring hundreds of thousands of enterprising Kandia women to Soterri "As Reward For Their Unbreakable Loyalty To Kanda Through The Most Traumatic Of Conflicts!"
Commandeering a recently failed "Noble's Migration" and footing the rest of the bill out of her own pocket, Aurelina and four of her bastard sisters hope to turn the now "Safe" Longo Soterri into Kanda's newest international trade hub; using the now "Settled" ports of Soterri for their original purpose of opening up transit to The Distant West once again!
Furthermore, all five of the royal daughters hope to breath life back into Ta Fanusia Hyanus with the increased trade and necessary traffic through their waters to reach Soterri.
In the brief time since The Battle Of Matriarch fights have broken out in the streets from Entwi to Ta Geta over the conflict over five thousand miles away.
Is Jonathan Mondragon: The Maiden Of Health a War Hero?
A War Criminal?
Both?!
NEITHER?!
Regardless of whether or not Jonathan Mondragon "Did Nothing Wrong" SOMEONE must get sent to the chopping block over this egregious legal oversight!

Legacy

This Particular Document Has Stirred Extreme Concern Over The Potential Repercussions Of Acknowledging Elephants With Personhood In Light Of A Millennium Old Set Of Laws Otherwise Protecting Them And Forbidding Their Use In Violent Affairs.

IF The Words Of This Document Are Found To Be True It Could Imply The Addition Of Elephants Into The Ranks Of The Council Of Exotic Peoples And Inspire Considerable More Contemplation On Animal Rights In Kanda.
Perhaps More Concerning, It Would Require Many Old Laws Regarding Animals And Their Relations With Humans To Be Revisited In Ta Thinal Do Kanda; Causing GREAT Strain On The Otherwise Comfortable Present Status Quo.

Read the Document

The Battle Of Matriarch

The days had become dark and stormy; the sun itself entirely blocked out by clouds of ash summoned upon us by the rage and pain of the now Captured Mountain God.
We did not yet know that Unamakhalu (Known Now To Ta Thinal As The True Hero Of Kanda Unamakhalu Intubakhalad Ternadir) had stolen his power and delivered her revenge upon him… merely that he was angry and the Daroba had him on their side.
So I Am Told, They Had Sacrificed Hundreds To Service For His Blessings.
The Maiden Of Health had earlier discovered the foul hideousness of the Gulf God Njoloch and his true and terrible hostilities that make it impossible for all but magically assisted vessels to ply the waves toward peaceful harbor.
He and his kind are a foul and sinuous sort of monster made of something like tendrils of ilda with a bulbous central vein running through a near humanlike construct.
A giant, grotesque two-lobed head with bulging eyeballs of sickly yellow sits atop the whiplike body (if you can call it that) with a small but sharp toothed mouth that seems to cackle constantly and only speaks with the foul, shrill voice of a criminal eunuch.
When captured these strange monsters will laugh and roll their bodies into small enough packages so as to fit in their own mouths, after which they will bite off their own necks and befoul their surroundings with disgusting, salty ichor from within… far more than one might imagine their bodies holding.
Assigned to the top of Jonathan’s Bastion by my teacher, who reported from the walls of the Castan, I was able to bear witness to both sides of what would become our bloody struggle for survival.
Specifically, I was instructed to monitor the positions of Jonathan Mondragon: The Maiden Of Health and those directly protecting him.
Further inquiry into other factors of this battle should be brought to my contemporaries.
I would be particularly insistent that any and all investigators refer to my fellow Chronicler Aldonos Of The House Of Baldona for more reports indicative of the experience of Leconia on the flanks and periphery of the battlefield.
Watching the waves crest just off the sandy stone strongly enough to engulf any ship, I thought it fortunate that all fishing boats had been dragged ashore so as not to be consumed by the waves.
As hard as the waves crashed against the shore the sky rained black upon us and more than a hundred thousand elephants stood some distance away just beyond the slowly sloping horizon, listening with their gigantic ears for sounds of battle so as to join.
The small but sturdy force of twenty thousand Leconia stood within the Castan at the front geta with three hundred elephants at their head, who themselves stood restless but ready… the Savannah Prince’s Mother standing at the head of her herd stone still, waiting for the combat to begin.
With a single stomp of her right forelimb the entirety of the Elephants went quiet, a clear commander in the strongest and truest of senses; one who demanded respect and order from those under her, as any good Letanar.
She rumbled and trumpeted as she turned to her own and said something no human could understand but then returned to her stone vigil at the geta; a statue of regality and discipline in stark contrast to what I had imagined when I had heard of the Kandia fighting with Elephants; not upon them... but alongside them.
I have been taught, growing up, that Elephants are simply animals that merely possess more wisdom than others.
My experience leading to The Battle Of The Matriarch has changed my mind and the minds of my brothers of the quill to now know that these creatures are, like us, intelligent and well ordered people who, while they do not possess the hands to build plumbing or walls, still possess great and humanlike intelligence that we should never in the future disrespect.
At the wall stood The Maiden Of Health himself but all knew that when the battle truly began he would join The Maiden Guard; at the time a newly formed Kinatis dedicated to him after his arrival.
Because of a shortage of trained and battle hardened riders, no Kandia Cavalry took part in the fight, afraid that we might lose valuable trainers for the up and coming apprentice riders.
Without a strong core of heavy riders it was sure to all involved that there would never be a generation of Soterri cavalry again.

After hours of standing vigil the first Civiandus caught sight of a great and powerful army across the Great River “M’Tufakhalu” (Known to Ta Thinal as The River Matofi Kayla) of no less than eight hundred thousand Daroba light infantry; dressed in skirts and skins and headdresses of all shapes and sizes with breastplates constructed of slats of wood bark and animal bone.
They held tall but thin and weak wicker shields and used mostly spears; shorthafted and with crude iron heads or even stone.
However, every well dressed chief of these people seemed to have a glowing green dagger of some sort, some even with swords of this variety.
Of their kind, Men and women alike were ready for the fight, with their women seemingly no less able or willing to kill than their men; mouths agape with angry screams as drums beat across the expanse of the water and reached Kandia ears even through the sound of choppy shores beyond the field of battle, over the din of torrential rain and deafening thunder.
For perhaps ten long moments the men flickered in and out of existence, using their foul practices to mask themselves from our eyes but The True Hero Unamakhalu stepped forth upon the wall of the Castan and, from the geta, summoned forth the power of The Earth to undo their sandwalking abilities; forcing them to remain visible to Kandia eyes!
As she dispelled their savage practices the men cheered, morale brought high from the greatest weapon of the Daroba being snuffed before their very eyes.
The Daroba showed confusion and outrage but the men of Kanda delighted to see that these savages could not hide from them.
Men rapped shields with swords and spears, sending foul words and threats across the river to the savages, mocking and laughing at them for not having foreseen the greatness of Kandia Ingenuity and Resourcefulness.
They were sworn at and ridiculed for not grasping the value of Kandia Diplomacy; for already MANY of their number had come to our side to be civilized.
Though the Daroba were standing in no particular formation, a single ball of fire rose from their ranks and was quickly undone as the Civiandia began firing spellbreaker bolts to intercept them.
Then another glowing ball of fire large as a Letanaria office rose from the army… and another and another.
One after another great, bright balls of fire the size of camp tents flew across the breach as the Daroba infantry advanced without formation to the edge of the great river, whereafter the Leconia on the wall began driving their favorite bullets to the now slowly submerging enemy line.
The farthest sending arms reached them but without terrific accuracy, though it did not stop the men on the wall from trying all the same.
The best and brightest waited until the enemy were well within the water itself, slower moving and easier to strike on the head from a distance for lack of any other targets.
Even still, as they crossed, many Daroba were pulled under the water itself by the mistress of the river, who was at that time on the side of Kanda and had already been enshrined in the capital.
This, of course, we all know.
However, too ill commanded and excited for the taste of Kandia blood, the Daroba of Soterri advanced through the river all the same.
Even as they did so their Shamans and Sorcerers fired back at the walls with increasing number, seemingly with a sort of rhythm to the foul beating of savage drums all the while.
Great and terrible casters with huge war masks of leather and reeds shook strange staves of gnarled wood and bone; blasted forth great balls of fire as they stepped out seamlessly onto the water without breaking the surface.
All the while while regular warriors swam under them and some drowned; others still shot while they were most vulnerable.
For perhaps two long hours the firing went on and it seemed for a moment that the force of magic and the power of siege engines were evenly matched.
As the army crossed the river and made charge toward the wall of Castan Mondragon some Civiandia fired ignition bolts into the killing fields, causing small fires and opening pits that the Daroba fell screaming into to be impaled on stone and wooden driftwood spikes.
The moat around the Castan had not been filled with water yet but the walls were steeper than normal; A factor the Chief Civiandus Antonius had prepared specifically for such a great battle as this.
Able to stand atop the ramparts with complete and total protection, the Leconia threw stones and bombs, boiling water and acid upon their enemies from above.
Though the Daroba were killed en mass it seemed that there were far too many of them to be taken from the walls.
Javelins and Bullets fell upon them along with all manner of other tools of war but it seemed as though only a quarter of their number felt the strike of steel and lead and stone!
Unable to storm the fortress, they fell like so much grain in the field, like so much water upon the cliffside.
Soon their bodies would pile to the brink of the wall and there would be nothing to be done to stop them.
Suddenly, however, a ball of fire from surprisingly close to the Castan hit the wall and tore a great hole into it right where The Maiden Of Health had been standing.
The Grand Mysterios Meningitis was able to save himself and the Maiden suitably but then The Maiden took place at the head of The Maiden Guard.
A second and third fireball struck the Castan Geta and damaged it heavily.
For a few moments the formation stood as the men on the wall maintained a defensive barrage.
However, as the Geta was being charged and battered Meningitis awaited the opportune moment.
As the enemy was finally able to bring the reinforced wood bending inward the Elephants Charged.
As they broke through the Geta of Castan Mondragon, wood and iron exploding outward at the force of three hundred elephants pounding through, the Prince’s Tusk: Sword Of The Maiden Of Health, called out valiantly to give a battle cry for his kind; trumpeting heard through the entire battlefield as the beasts led the charge like trained cavalry.
Without rider or trainer, harness or whip, direction or instruction the Savannah Prince’s Mother charged through the geta and, with her three hundred elephant herd, smashed through the throng of light infantry swarming the Castania Geta.
Behind them charged The Maiden Guard and then, behind them, the rest of the army as a whole; Twenty thousand veteran Leconia, hardened by the trip to Soterri and two years of ferocious combat to maintain hold over the land!
The charge cut into the tens of thousands of Daroba, led by three hundred powerful elephants that did not panic or balk at the sounds of combat as trained specimens are said to do.
Meanwhile, from perhaps fifteen miles away the remaining elephants, Led by The Grand Matriarch herself, charged into the enemy’s flank from the west; over a hundred thousand elephants shaking the very earth as they moved in.
The chaos was immediate as the Daroba, unable to understand proper formation or wartime tactics, had not suspected a counter-assault such as this.
In moments the Daroba started to break under the pressure of such death, though they seemed unable to truly leave the field.
Believing the battle to be finishing soon at this point my attention turned to the shoreline, where I heard the sound of screaming and of countless asses braying over the waves.
Turning, I saw that the civilians who were waiting dutifully and safe behind Jon’s Bastion were suddenly under attack by… birds!
Strange birds perhaps tall as a man’s lower leg charging up onto the shores in the thousands to attack the children and civilians and young elephants that were taking refuge there.
Following the strange, short, braying jackass birds were enormous seals as long as a man was tall and three times as massive; screaming and flopping toward the civilians to bite and even crush them.
Children were pushed back toward the bastion and adults took up hoes, pitchforks, pots, pans, knives, clubs, fishing spears and even rocks and sticks to strike back, maintaining a stern defense much like their husbands and fathers out on the field.
Young Elephants held up the youngest of children on their backs and hid behind the fighting humans for protection.
At the same time I had turned back to monitor the battlefield again and possibly signal the danger for those forces less engaged in battle.
However, just as I thought to fire off the Warning Signal above The Maiden’s Bastion the middle of the battlefield went alight as several balls of fire converged on the vanguard from all directions.
It was in this moment that the founder of The Maiden Guard, Yuustan Yuustanad Abonde: The Hammer Of Soterri, was flung from the shieldwall and his Leconis killed in action.
Broken from the order of formation, The Maiden Of Health called for a strategic withdrawal as the bodies of the dead started to slowly rise around them.
The Daroba Council of Soterri had, it seems, a way to return their freshly dead back to fighting fitness and every moment more began to rise even as the scattered Leconia tried to regroup.
Slowly bodies with green, glowing eyes stood up as the black rain poured upon them and they jerked back into motion; grabbing at blades and spears on the ground and charging whoever they could with vicious malice and abandon; unthinking, unfeeling shells of former people brought back from beyond the veil of death simply to destroy!
While strikes from spear and sword were effective against the living, on these glowing eyed husks such weapons brought no pain that could halt the scrambling dead.
As The Maiden Of Health tried to bring order to the ranks and regroup, his Rival (Who I am told was named “Amanda”) flew across the field of combat like a falcon in dive and struck Jonathan Mondragon in midair.
Unable to resist the assault, The Maiden Of Health went flying but was able to land on his feet some space away.
Not wanting to let his rival best him, The Maiden cleared the distance with a blast of air that scattered the surrounding sand as he swung The Prince’s Tusk in a wide arc that drove the savage back several feet.
The two locked gazes and briefly exchanged deadly stares that turned the space between them red in a flash of hot light that made me almost need to close my eyes, though I could not do so, for the sight was too fascinating to look away!
It seemed, in that moment, that the savage was stronger than the founder but what heat passed through The Maiden’s own sight was not strong enough to hurt him.
In return The Maiden Of Health fired back with sunbeam stares, three that were all avoided or blocked by the Daroba’s wicker shield.
For a moment the two exchanged blows but Amanda was able to outmaneuver The Maiden Of Health and drove a glowing green knife deep into his shoulder before The Grand Matriarch was able to intervene, expelling Amanda from the area with her divine strength and allowing Jonathan Mondragon to return to his place at the center of the line.
By the time he had returned the ocean beasts had doubled their efforts and the Kandia civilians were crumbling under an attack of marine predators.
Perhaps the Gulf God Njoloch suspected that if the civilians of Kanda were killed The Kandia Leconia could not survive Soterri.
Regardless, a Daroba boy and a Kandia boy (Shaka Langasad Langa and Marcus Marcusad Saxa Respectively) banded together as impromptu Leconia and led the counter-charge against the beasts of the water just as great monsters thrice the weight of an Aurochs flopped out of the waves toward the civilians with great bladders on their faces that inflated when they screamed; like seals that had been force fed and suffered from a life of swollen noses.
Upon arriving at the line, one such specimen crushed a grown woman simply by rising up and throwing itself upon her whereas at least one defender had his arm torn clean from his shoulder before the birds and man sized seals chewed his face off and discarded his body to the rest.
Back on the main field The Kinatar Yuustan had recovered from a head injury suffered during the regroup and had discovered his Leconis dead at the hands of a savage’s shaman.
Taking his fallen brother’s Battle Sash and wrapping it upon his arm, he found The Maiden Of Health and said unto him,
“You are now My Leconis. Come My Brother!
We Charge To Battle!”
With a cry of rage and vengeance The Kinatar Yuustan led a Weialis on the charge; recovered from the scattered formations about the battlefield.
At the head of at least a thousand Leconia Yuustan and The Maiden Of Health led the charge against the rearmost position of the Daroba army; cutting through the lines and joining once again with the Grand Matriarch at the center of the field!
Seeing the tide turning and having lost hundreds of their own, the Grand Matriarch directed her elephants to the fore, running alongside the column in the charge to bolster the flanks of the formation and ensure that no force could stop the charge of Kandia Spears!
Alongside no less than twenty thousand elephants, the charge led by The Grand Matriarch herself, The Maiden Guard reached the Daroba Council’s position and destroyed their already fractious command; not yet knowing that another ally had already covertly lain waste to the highest Daroba highest leaders.
At that time, however, The Maiden Of Health was separated from his Leconis and much of the rest of the Weialis; finding himself taunted by Amanda The Monster on a nearby ridge at the edge of the battlefield.
There was a pile of a thousand bodies and many shaman from the Daroba courts at his feet.
Having seen the Daroba would be unable to win the battle, he turned on his superiors and cut out their hearts; consumed their flesh and drank their blood to gain power at the last moment and finish his transformation.
There he laughed at and mocked The Heroes of Soterri as he showered himself in the blood of his own commanders but, before The Maiden of Health could attack, a friend of The Kandia appeared!
“Kobori Immortals” they were called; now only one left.
The High Chief and True Hero N’Golla The Wise (Who Ta Thinal Presently Calls "Naygolla) appeared from the air and did glorious combat with Amanda The Monster!
He fought honorably but was sadly decapitated on the field after exchanging many fierce blows.
After this gruesome exchange a brave and glorious Leconis flung a javelin at the Monster but the projectile was caught and returned with instant lethal effect.
After another taunt The Maiden Of Health wisely attempted to advance to reinforcements some several hundred feet back into the battlefield but the Monster was able to fly as fast as he; giving chase and meeting the founder one-on-one!
The Founder brought the Prince’s Tusk upon Amanda The Monster but the savage was too fast on his feet and deftly slipped aside before staring The Maiden’s Shield to ash right in his hands and leaving the Founder with no proper defense!
Smartly, as the civilians on the shore were struggling with their assailants and The True Hero Unamakhalu went to their rescue, The Maiden Of Health flew to the River wherein his alliance with M’Tufakhalu had already proven fruitful, in hopes that she might be able to assist in destroying The Monster.
Broken apart and scattered, the remaining Soterri Daroba were crushed to dust in the sands, filled with bullets and spears by advancing infantry and blown apart by siege machines from the Castan walls.
The bodies of elephants and humans alike littered the fields and blood flowed like small rivers over the feet of those soldiers still alive.
As they went running the hundred thousand elephants gave chase off into the wilds to destroy all Daroba they could find.
Through the air, Amanda The Monster sought to stop The Maiden Of Health and, upon grabbing him they fell through to the river and skipped off the water like smooth stones.
Each bounced three times, spreading out in different directions along the bank as water and mud were thrown from the places of their impact.
Bodies having been dragged under the surf earlier were flung many feet in all directions as the two came to a stop and leveled harsh gazes at each other; the space between them exploding with red, fiery light once again!
Before the fight could continue, however, a great pillar of water revealed the River Goddess M’Tufakhalu; having grown fifteen times her normal height and having summoned great and powerful swells of water to her side to defend her homeland.
For only a few heartbeats of time, however, she was on the field.
As she addressed him, Amanda The Monster cast a glowing sword into her eye and she screamed!
And the river itself turned the color of blood as a fountain of her life showered upon the entire field and she shrank to the shore bleeding.
For an instant Amanda The Monster convinced The Maiden Of Health to stop his assault.
If he were to fight The Monster the River Goddess would die but if he were to dedicate his time to M’Tufakhalu Amanda would kill him while he was distracted!
N’Golla The Wise, however, had made a foul pact with what he has called “Null Gods” to return from the grasp of death itself and thus finish his duty in this world and destroy The Monster.
For a few short seconds they once again did brutal combat; blades swinging faster than the eye can see!
Perhaps, with the help of the Wise Immortal, the two could triumph!
Just behind me The True Hero Unamakhalu had arrived to save the civilians and youths!
With the power she'd stolen from the Mountain God she turned back the tide of battle, raising a wall between the battle and the water and encouraging Shaka and Marcus (Who Have Since Been Adopted By Jonathan Mondragon: The Maiden Of Health) to call forth their impromptu militia and drive the marine predators into the stone!
With a call to battle; women, old men, slaves, children, dogs, cats and baby elephants all pushed the remaining beasts of the sea into the kill space!
Gradually Unamakhalu closed the noose and, through a chokepoint of her own making, led the young men to finish the predators and save the remaining civilians of Soterri!

Back on the main field The Maiden Of Health propelled himself from his position on the bank into The Monster and Amanda, already busy kicking N’Golla out of the way, took a clean strike from the Prince’s Tusk; which threw all dirt and water away, such was its force!
Locked in the struggle, N’Golla the Wise returned from the ground and thrust his hand through The Monster’s shield.
The shield had been enchanted to resist The Founder’s dreadful gaze but, then damaged beyond integrity, the charm was set free and the three of them were scattered along the banks in the resultant blast.
At the behest of the gods, The Maiden Of Health landed near M’Tufakhalu and was able to heal the River Goddess as the Wise Kobori Chief strangely healed his arms and attacked The Monster without fear or delay.
Though seconds passed, it felt as though only the struggle between immortal and monster continued.
Then a scream of rage and hate from The River Goddess sounded across the battlefield; terrifying the Daroba and Elephants, Kandia and Sea Beasts alike.
The River Goddess Of Wrath And Power Had Recovered!
Healed enough to regain consciousness, The Great River Goddess stood and the river swelled to many times its original girth; threatening to wash over the closest walls of Castan Mondragon!
The springs at the mountains so many miles away brought untold volumes to her control and she swept Amanda The Monster into a pillar of water that he could not escape!
Lifting him high into the air, she crushed him in an orb of water until the liquid was a quarter of its original size.
After compressing this mass of water she discarded him to the mouth and into the gulf as with so many other bodies before falling to the shore of her newly expanded domain.

Having destroyed the majority of the enemy Daroba, the remaining soldiers were able to join The True Hero Unamakhalu on the shore where her wall of earth made sure that no beast of the sea could escape!
Thus all of these killers would in turn feed those they would have fed on.
I have enclosed feathers of the Jackass Birds and Teeth of The Largest Seal Monsters as proof of this heinous assault by The Gulf Deity Njoloch.
With peace achieved and extinction avoided, Jon was able to speak to The Grand Matriarch, who agreed to stay with her own herd and a few others as the rest of the elephants mercifully traveled back into the great expanse beyond the borders of Soterri.
However, at the time the elephants still desired vengeance and it was announced by The Grand Matriarch, for all ears to hear, that all elephants were to kill all "Naked Humans" on sight; henceforth indefinitely!
At pleas from The Maiden Of Health, she decided that children would be saved and returned to Castan Mondragon.
No Mortal Could Possibly Argue.
Left with hundreds of thousands of human and animal bodies alike, Soterri now seeks to rebuild.
The Final Tally Of Casualties Are As Follows:
On The Side Of Kandia:
6,201 Military Injuries (Non-Mortal)
1,516 Military Dead (Including Mortal Injury)
2,115 Elephant Dead (Including Mortal Injury. Non-Mortal Injuries Unknown)
11,423 Civilian Injuries (Non-Mortal)
5,590 Civilian And Slave Dead (Including Mortal Injury)
On The Side Of The Kobori Daroba:
837,806 Enemy Dead (Including Mortal Injury)
236,155 Enemy Re-Dead (Slain After Reanimation)
601,651 Enemy Consumed After Death By Magic
Retreating Enemy Number Unknown

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Type

Report, Military

Medium

Vellum / Skin

Authoring Date

Day Of Earth, Preserving 27, 1632

Ratification Date

Day Of Scholars, Preserving 29, 1632

Location

Longo Soteri

Authors

• Neron Altinos

Signatories (Characters)

• Meningitis
• Unamakhalu
• Yuustan Abonde

Signatories (Organizations)

• Kanda