Chapter 161: Brae’ach the Unifier, Part I

Chapter 161: Brae’ach the Unifier, Part I

Who was Brae’ach? Why was he rampaging across Timagrin? Why did Avarice believe he threatened the entire world? To answer these questions, we had to understand the natural conditions in Davah, its history, and the culture of its people.

Avarice’s version of the story was long, providing a lot of context for Brae’ach and his home nation of Davah. She talked for hours, narrating an entire novel’s worth of information. She created illusions for imagery and spoke with voices for the characters that would have been impossible for a natural person with non-magical vocal cords. She even used sound effects! It was a very C3PO and the Ewoks type of presentation.

Including the whole thing word for word was tempting, but this ain’t a history textbook. Instead, I present:

Brae’ach and the Davahn Unification, Abridged

Written by: Esquire Arlo Xor’Drel, Platinum Delver, Extradimensional Traveler, and Astronaut

Davah is a large island nation in southwestern Arzia, about 10 times the size of Hiward, or roughly one-half of an Australia. It’s a harsh land, buffeted by frequent storms, blanketed in sweltering heat for most of the year, and infested with magical beasts whose ferocity is second only to the flora and fauna indigenous to the Less-Than-Habitable Forest.

The outer edge of Davah is ruled by wild jungle and its inner territories are dominated by sharp mountains and craggy terrain in a geologically impossible arrangement of hostile topography. There is little space for agriculture, and the humanoid society that calls it home survived primarily through hunting and gathering.

Historically, the nation was ruled by seven tribes, each of which controlled a swath of jungle that made up the outer edge of the country. Each tribe was composed of several clans of Davahns, who would engage in a healthy amount of infighting, sabotage, and general mayhem. The clans would occasionally set aside intra-tribal squabbles to band together and fight the tribe next door for land and resources.

The wars between tribes were usually incited by some natural disaster, such as a hurricane wiping out infrastructure or a drought destroying what meager crops the tribes were able to grow. Earthquakes were frequent, and sinkholes and fissures would sometimes sunder entire villages. To top it all off, beast hordes would arise from within the mountains and had to be carefully culled, but occasionally overran the hunters and invaded the jungle.

Understandably, the tribes were often threatened with resource scarcity, and such scarcity was relieved by stealing from the neighbors. The wars also had the handy side effect of reducing population, thus further alleviating strains on food and housing. Oddly, such things were seldom taken personally, and once peace resumed the tribes would quickly forget the hostility of their neighbors. They weren’t so naive as to believe it wouldn’t happen again at the first sign of weakness, but there was a turn-the-other-cheek mentality that would have been alien to most outside perspectives.

This attitude partially resulted from the need to manage the demand for food and shelter. It was so integral to the Davahn way of life, that self-sacrifice was culturally venerated. Whether it was through death in battle, or elder tribe members wandering into the mountains to never be seen again, making the personal choice to give your life for the tribe’s greater good was a pillar of Davahn society. This also meant that personal strength was held in high esteem, and every Davahn was trained to hunt and fight the moment they went from toddling to properly walking.

Most of Davah’s population lived on the coastline, the waters infested with sea creatures every inch as fearsome as the beasts on the land. Over time, a strong maritime culture emerged, and one of the outer tribes developed a powerful navy after several generations of prosperity. This group was situated on the northern side of the island and eventually made their way across the sea to the territorial waters of Timagrin. There, they engaged in the age-old practice of piracy, further boosting their affluence compared to the other tribes. The navy met several Timan warships, but Davahn warriors were fierce, their bodies and ships tempered by the constant struggle against magical predators, and the Timans were handily beaten.

While most Davahns resided on the coast, a scattering of nomadic clans eschewed the jungle in favor of the mountains. These Davahns rarely interfaced with the outer tribes, journeying to the coasts mainly to trade meat and materials earned by hunting the native beasts. They had no formal social structure, and conflicts in the central region were kept to a minimum out of necessity. All it took to wipe out a central clan was a single battle that drew the attention of a beast horde, so–unlike the outer tribes–these groups operated collaboratively toward mutual survival.

Their cooperation didn’t save them.

With their victories over the Timans, the northern tribe acquired a wealth of weapons and armor which catapulted them a century forward on the military tech tree. They invaded the mountains, enslaved the nomadic clans, and used the central territory to launch a campaign against each of the outer tribes in quick succession. The jungle tribes lacked coordination, so this bloody campaign steamrolled the nation and rapidly resulted in what was then referred to as the Davahn Empire by the rest of the world. For nearly a century the empire ruled Davah, ushering in a time of unparalleled prosperity, much of which was due to the Davahns continuing to raid the shores of Timagrin, Mittak, and smaller regions east of Davah along the tamer western edge of the Forest.

Then, the Hiwardians discovered the Creation Delve, kicked some Littan asses, and began distributing creation slots to other nations in return for resources and political favor. Davah had few natural resources to exploit but were up to their necks in magical monster parts, which Hiward had many uses for in its burgeoning Delver economy. Deals were struck, and Davah secured 4 creation slots. This was the beginning of the end for the empire.

The outer Delver tribes attacked and sank his ship during their coup.

Of course, being the unadulterated hunk of raw badass that he was, Brae’ach survived and swam 30 miles to the Davahn shore, carrying Til’ach on his back the whole way.

What followed was a period of despotism that saw Brae’ach’s friends and family fall one by one under the savagery of the new Delver warlords. His prowess meant little in the face of a level 10 supersoldier, even though he often exceeded them in skill. He was used for sport by the Delvers, who could take him within an inch of his life and then heal him with their magicks, assuming they were in the mood to do so.

Brae’ach was a hunter, not a soldier, but he learned quickly and could soon meet most low-level Delvers on equal footing. During this period he also continued to hunt, and consuming the flesh of his mana-infused prey offered him a semblance of power like that of the Delvers, although its progress was slow and pushed his preternatural constitution to its limits. This went on for decades until the Delvers sailed on Timagrin and Hiward.

Brae’ach had no hand in that war. He took Til’ach, his children, and his grandchildren into the mountains, hiding from those who sought to conscript him for what he rightfully saw as a doomed venture. He’d built strong relationships with the enslaved nomads over the years they’d hunted together, and they kept him hidden in cave systems and deep fissures. His hope was that the Delver warlords would die in their campaign of hubris, and though many did, many more still returned home.

When trade embargoes came down on Davah, most who were affected had nothing to do with the war. The bulk of the Delvers responsible had been killed. Most of the rest fled the nation for greener pastures once it became clear that their homeland was quickly becoming uninhabitable from their own mismanagement. Four Delvers remained, however, secure in their power since no new Davahn Delvers would arise. They divided up what was left of the valuable lands and ruled with the insurmountable truth of their invulnerability.

Brae’ach became an important figure in what became the nomadic underground, with the ultimate goal of usurping the Delvers. They petitioned Hiward, Timagin, Mittak, and even Litta for aid, but their petitions went unanswered. Brae’ach saw this as a slight–especially since he believed these nations were partially responsible for the conditions in his country–but there are no records to indicate any of the envoys successfully made it to their destinations. Eventually, Brae’ach began seeking other, more extreme roads to power, a journey that took him into the darkest depths of the mountains.

He searched for ever more powerful beasts in the vain hope that the mana-infused flesh would give the nomads the strength to resist. The nomadic tribes faced heavy losses, dying in the hunt or perishing from mana toxicity when they consumed the meat. Those who lived slowly grew stronger while the Delver warlords were excluded from the Delves and stagnated in their power. Eventually, the ploy was discovered by one of the warlords, who personally began to exterminate what remained of Brae’ach’s allies.

On a cloud-covered night in the midst of scorching summer heat, the Delver came for the nomad hideout. Though they fled, Brae’ach’s family was slaughtered over the course of hours. Brae’ach took them deeper into the caves than he’d ever scouted, harried by beasts and hunted by the warlord. Despite all his strength, he was powerless to save them, and the first dregs of true despair began to enter his heart.

As the Delver followed them down, miles below the surface, his manic rage echoing off the walls, an earthquake hit.

Part of the cave system collapsed and the Delver warlord was crushed. Brae’ach and his mate were the only two of his family left, and Til’ach had taken a wound in the gut during their flight. They were trapped, alone, and Til’ach was not long for the world.

Brae’ach continued on, even deeper than before, carrying Til’ach and hunting for a way through the caves. He wandered for half a day, driven by some deep conviction that pressed him onward until he found the Altar.

Brae’ach discovered a great cavern, its walls sundered and revealed by the quake. At its center was a monolith made of unknown metal and stone, which came to life under the brush of his fingertips. He felt its connection to the mountains, to the ground beneath him, to a creature that lived below with all of Davah upon its back.

It was hidden but had not chosen to hide, buried by the ages as it slept. The world had starved it, but it had gathered its strength for untold millennia. It was waiting, and Brea’ach brought its wait to an end.

As Brae’ach’s finger fell away from the monolith, Unity made itself known.

The first avatar offered him salvation.