Avengement Unfulfilled

Seventy Third Hiqba Following the Revelations of Occulem, Fourth Mahj

Recorded quietly by melancholic scribes

Following months of struggle to mete out justice for the slaughter of the sacred Hyadina, the Ibesh host has been driven from the south eastern regions by the combined might of Khrom-Vestria and their vassal, the much scorned Rokkarstan. Countless scores of the valiant could not withstand the forces arrayed against them, woefully unequipped to contend with both superior numbers and the resistance to retribution which lead to grave losses for those of the faith. Leaving their fallen brethren behind to the cannibal horde and those that grant them sanctuary, the sapphire fleet withdrew from Rock Bay to face a most egregious reality. Sparing the further annihilation of Ibeshi souls, the Sultan decreed the granting of terms, himself wounded after personally leading several courageous charges against the foemen. Under a flag of truce, the prospect was agreed upon.

With the cessation of hostilities, captains under the command of Emir Imadh turned their sails to the waters  of Aldu'waltum to conduct negotiation and to face the grim severity of terms issued by the victors. Sultan Farrukh arrived in attendance in spite of his many injuries, the crowns of his adversaries presenting their conditions for peace of which while arguably generous, did little to lessen the impact visited on all that hold to the worship of Paratis and Occulem. The fleet held strong with minimal challenge or loss, yet the host of his Magnanimity remained thoroughly spent, denying the means to persist in this many-month war to honour the humiliation imposed on them. With grave and weary reluctance, signatures were given to the treaty that follows.

Access to the eastern seas will be permitted by Ibeshi vessels, allowing trade with the villages that had gracefully offered tribute to the northern vindicators using the landings established throughout the campaign. However strictly within a capacity for mercantile, with naught but merchant caravels permitted in the waters of Rock Bay with no measure of expansion. Furthermore, the surrender of two vessels previously employed during the war to the Kingdom of Rokkarstan. The proposal of lease allows the terms in question to endure in decades to come, to be revisited and decided by elective decision of those in future attendance.

In a fashion suited only to a blaggard, the contemptable King Kloinicus proudly declared personal responsibility for the brutal butchery of the martyred Hyadina. Having awaited until the Sultan's signature was set in ink, the jester flaunted his supposed invulnerability in light of the Ibeshi defeat for what had previously been an assumption of innocence with the crime being laid at the feet of a common footsoldier of the south. Disgusted by this discovery and restrained by both neutral guards and the mark left by Vestrian arrows, the Sultan demanded an answer for this travesty allowed by the monarchs that had defended the madman. With no answer and no restitution, his Magnanimity was forced to depart for the marshlands once more.

Though the Sultanate grieves in a manner that cannot be conveyed, war at last has been brought to an end. The sapphire fleet charted their passage home in the company of an army once bristling with zeal, now beyond halved in number with anguish being their only reward. An offense that is unlikely to be forgotten. The Ibeshi peoples prove intent on mending their suffering and resuming their mourning, praying for recuperation and divine mercy from these most tragic omens.

Occulem Rests