Part IV: The Pawn of Prophecy
Chapter 5 – A History of War
Timeline: Drokka History
As I’m sure you can guess, Hacktor will eventually become the king – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Let’s backtrack a few years so I can fill you in on a bit more of my process and you’ll understand the true beauty of my plans.
Remember, I made Baldur Kon-Herr too. Of course, I also totally toyed around with him and never really allowed him to do anything of substance that would make his name legendary. I was saving that for Hacktor.
By this point in our story the Drokka of The Rhokki’s had spent the last seventy years growing fat and lazy under do-nothing Baldur. But it wasn’t always that way – after their first king Ajax led his people into the freedom of the caves and founded the city of Oz, he quickly built up an army that became a fearsome force. Eager for revenge, Ajax and his troops sought to destroy their former slave masters in the Drokka-Derkka Death Wars.
Although the fighting lasted for nearly five decades, in the end neither side accomplished much except to kill off their young men, and the wars finally ended when the Derkka succeeded in destroying Oz and killing Ajax – thus ending The Freemaker’s legendary reign and forcing his people to flee their now destroyed capital city.
(Psst – you didn’t hear it from me, but Ajax wasn’t beloved by everyone – as so often happens with powerful men who rule for a long time, certain internal conspirators tired of his reign and perhaps (read: definitely did) passed along helpful information to the other side that made it easier for Ajax’s enemies to destroy him).
With Ajax out of the picture and the Drokka forced to move south, further down and under the mountains to escape their rivals, a new Kon-Herr took the throne. Born into the Nave family, The Kroniklz credit Gydyan I with founding the new capital at Rhokii Pass as the highlight of his reign…
But this king’s biggest impact came from his expansion of the influence of the Drokka priesthood. In fact, the ‘business’ of Gydyan’s family line was then further aided when the king gifted them the new region of Iztak to establish as the religious capital of the people. In return, the powerful influencers that were Gydyan’s clergy inspired a new crop of jihadist Drokka men with the desire to exterminate the Derkka in the name of Rhokki. For nearly six decades, these Purification Wars became a way of life for the mountain men. The fighting was never much of a success from a military standpoint, but it helped to enrich Gidyan’s dynasty with plunder and wealth from abroad.
Gydyan I enjoyed nearly 70 years on the throne mainly for two reasons. First off, despite the many bloody wars fought during his reign, Gydyan stayed at home to keep an eye on his kingdom. And secondly, the politically savvy king generously allowed the other rich families to keep themselves occupied by pilfering the many fertile areas within the mountains. The Drokka kingdom ballooned during Gydyan’s era as land grants were gifted to the Rukstinz for the regions around Duzarez, Busz clan for Kel-de-Kaba, the Gaaytz family for Chaldea, the Kyndyz for Al-Uzza, and the Bomas for Gaza. This was the period when the separation of classes within the society really took shape as The Have’s got vastly richer before The Have-not’s ever realized what they were missing out on (and by then it was too late).
Gydyan also saw the construction of The Siq Towers during his time on the throne – that awe-inspiring monument built as testament to the king’s never-ending reign.
[Gydyan subsequently died a year after The Siq was completed – the now elderly king falling down the stairs [was he pushed? I’ll never tell] and literally breaking his neck].
Other Kon-Herr’s from the power families followed, although none ruled for long because the elites as a whole had tired of kings with long reigns and thus continually battled with one another for the prize of the throne. And during all that time the lucrative foreign wars continued.
It’s true that a brief period of peace occurred during the forgettable reign of Volzung III’s, but when the legendary miner Burner Stynbakker discovered Rhokkium the Drokka military world was forever changed. Using that unique gem metal Hef Fastuz’ ancestor Max Fastuz taught the smiths how to make powerful new weapons. This resulted in an incredible 45-year War of the Rhokiium which even my colleague Gwar took part in.
After this came the War for the Might of Rhokki in which the Drokka believed they’d successfully sent Gwar to Kawkawzuz (never realizing he simply got bored and took himself to the continent of Hyperborea for a time).
My reason for sharing all this – the early ancestors of the mountain men were basically little killing machines whose sole focus was war (at least among the common people). Over time their superior weapons and jihadist beliefs gave the Drokka armies an edge over their rivals. Had the Drokka Kon-Herr’s allowed their armies to actually try to ‘win’ at war (instead of using it to enrich themselves and their cronies), the Drokka may well have wiped out the Derkka. But that didn’t suit the plans of the rich who much preferred a never-ending war. And it didn’t suit MY plans either — so I decided to make the Derkka women into baby making machines who soon birthed twins and triplets at an alarming rate – thus keeping Gor and Kra ‘well-stocked’ with goblin armies.
And so the fighting continued – and it was spectacular!
The Apocrypha of Azazel 