The Kijotara Letters (Key-Sho-Tar-Ah)

Around 425 After Founding a the movement of the Zhen Gho Republic meet a particularly difficult adversary. The Warlord's name was Gin Balionx and he ruled in the city of Salyant. He had a massive force that was very experienced from constant fighting for the past ten years or so. Several others had attempted to take over the city and surrounding area but no one could get past the army or penetrate the city. The first attempts by the Zhen Gho Republican Army ended the same way as so many other forces had, retreating having tasted bitter defeat. Then along came Captain Nin Hojima. Captain Nin was not best solider or commander within the Army, however he had a unique set of skills and talents. He had been a spy of sorts before he joined the Army and continued to use his training for reconnaissance. He had trained a whole regiment worth of scouts dedicated to observing for the army in any environment. This being the case he began to apply himself to the problem of assaulting the city and defeating Gin Balionx.

Purpose

The purpose of these letters was passing information from Liona inside the city to Nin outside of the city. They were communicating pertinent details about the defense of the city and the offense of the army stationed there. They were encoded as love letters to one another with Nin asking questions and Liona answering them. They were intercepted and read quite often by soldiers there, but never suspected that there was anything more than two lovers writing to one another.

Document Structure

Publication Status

The letters, what ones are left, are available to be seen in Salyant. There is a collector there who keeps them on display for people to come and see for a small price. People are able to see and read the way the letter are written. There are people on staff who are able to explain the cypher and show within the letter how they were able to communicate with one another.

Historical Details

Background

Nin was able to infiltrate the city and during his scouting of the city he met Liona Dartes. He discovered she had been a member of the staff at the royal fortress and seen much of deployments and the upper command of the army. She wanted revenge for being replaced and literally kicked out of the palace for something she didn't do. They began talking and came up with a plan. Nin would leave the city and they would write one another to gain information about how to get into the city. In the negotiations Nin agreed she would be rescued and given protection by Zhen Gho when the city was taken. The writing of the letters began and Liona was able to give Nin everything needed. She gave him full army numbers, patrol schedules, detailed routes within the city that avoided defenses, size and weak points within the wall. She was even able to give him the base routine of Gin. Even with all this information there was still the matter of getting past the defenses in general. It was a key detail Liona discovered that finally found a weakness in the defenses. Beneath the city was a massive labyrinth of catacombs of burial sites that had been built by the Kijotara monks. They maintained the burial grounds of the families that led the city. Hundreds of generations of leaders and their families were buried beneath the city. It was widely believed that there was an entrance to these catacombs outside the city by no one could find them. Liona finally found the entrance by exploring the catacombs for weeks along with convincing one of the monks through some tricks and drink. With that last key detail Nin formulated a plan and a small force traveled through the catacombs getting inside the city. Once there they sabotaged as many defenses as they could and opened the gates for the main force of the army. After the army was inside the walls the battle quickly turned to the side of Zhen Gho. They were able to defeat the army, and free the city to join the Republic and end the tyrannical reign of Gin Bailonx.

Legacy

While the letters were the key to the defeat of a terrible warlord and brining yet another city state into the Republic it was not the most interesting detail. It turned out that while they were writing in code as lovers to pass information Nin and Liona began to actually develop feelings for one another. When the invasion began Nin made his way to find Liona right away. They embraced and Nin brought her to safety before he returned to the city. After the city was successful capture and was fully under Zhen Gho control Nin and Liona settled down and lived the rest of their days there making a large family.

by MidJourney

Type

Text, Letter

Medium

Papyrus

Authoring Date

425-430 After Founding

by MidJourney

Captain Nin Hojima

by MidJourney

Liona Dartes