Staring into the black eyes behind the iron-plated face of a bear, Kathikjhi readied his spear with both of his tightly gripping hands. The bear slowly approached Kathikjhi as he continued staring back, shifting his feet apart upon the beach sands.
Fighting within the warbear theater of the \’Lkaima-Gwhehlal Rebellion, Kathikjhi could not hear the sounds of men dying all around him, for his eyes fixed upon the warbear sent by the newly created Smoke-Towered Crown.
Baring its teeth, the warbear ran forward, as Kathikjhi pointed his sabretooth spear upon it. Although he struck the left cheek of the bear, it did not stop it from racing towards him. Instead, he rushed out of the way, as the bear nearly swiped his Silk-Sabretooth hide-coated armor.
Plovers-Of-Plenty developed spear-cannons decades after this Rebellion. So, the usage of warbears proved to be within the favor of whoever bred them in Masag warfare. Instead, Kathikjhi only relied on the bolted crossbows that sounded against the bear just near him.
Steering itself towards Kathikjhi, the warbear roared as it raced towards him once again. He steadied himself backward, squishing his feet upon the beach sand as the afternoon tide approached. Holding his spear directly at the warbear, he gripped upon it. The warbear lept forward, swiping its paws.
Kathikjhi managed to pierce through the warbear\’s throat, as he immediately fled to avoid getting swiped. Turning around he found the warbear waddled towards him before falling.
Warbears were a common feature among the pre-Ailoba Masag, before the innovative Plovers-Of-Plenty invented the ironbears. Bred in the snowy hills of Bimnili, the bears were sent by Saposant-harvested Houses there to the Estuary to provide war-engines.
Kathikjhi looked around to see that the warbears dwindled in number, yet they continued to remain a threat to the rebels. They continued to hestitate moving forward without facing the bears. The stairs leading to the city of Kathkadag were the only access to this section of the city, causing it to be flooded with rebels and bears.
He could see that his coffee-hued mentor and his own regiment continued fighting off the remaining warbears. After managing to scare them away, he ran to Kathikjhi with a sweat-drenched face.
\”We dealt with the warbears,\” he said. \”We need to advance further.\”
I cannot do it. Flame-Breath guide me away from this rebellion.
\”I don\’t have the will to do it,\” Kathikjhi grimaced, wavering in his duties as one of the top commanders of the Rebellion. \”You might as well slay me for disobedience.\”
\”I will not tolerate weakness,\” Ipaxu shouted. \”In my ranks! We need the two Houses to make the Saposant Spoils equal for all!\”
Ipaxu, the coffee-hued commander under Sagkom, towered over Kathikjhi and his men. Despite being born to multiple generations of Saposant Spoil citizens, Ipaxu was sent to live among his native Nyabi scar-cheeked of central Lemols to appeal to recruits and traders for the Spoils. After 28 years of being easily given to the fermented mango juice and after he nearly died taking his own medical advice, Ipaxu returned to the Kathkadag Spoil to serve House Gwhehlal.
He enthusiastically joined the rebellion to help create a cluster of Spoils without bias in regards to Saposant-origin and faith. I do not think that\’s possible.
Kathikjhi\’s other mentor, the ashlar-hued Naja Inkseed, raced back to him.
\”Will you give the order,\” Naja said. \”To continue the advance?\”
Named as such, Naja Inkseed soiled his reputation through flagrant corruption in the court of the Pig-Hatted of the southern Spoil, Dixodu. His expertise came from his military family, which helped him to solidify his connections to merchants between Dixodu and outside. After he thought he was wooed by a Star-Wreathed\’s wife, his embezzlement into her trinket boxes caused him to be chased out of the Spoil and removed from his position as the middleman between the merchants and the Numbers-Gathering quarters in the Spoil.
I cannot do this, yet Xima is not suitable to be a Smoke-Towered.
Kathikjhi nearly bubbled with tears as he watched his men continuing to break rank by advancing forward. He then looked to his two mentors who focused their gaze upon him, waiting for him to say anything.
\”Report!\”
He heard a Silk-Sabretooth approach them with great speed, ignoring the fallen soldiers and bears.
Since Silk-Sabretooths were the Numbers-Gathering that provide armed services, they had no qualms serving both sides–even if those both sides were the same people. What they really held to be important is upholding a code of honor to not engage in ceaseless murder and to keep faith in Flame-Breath, the Woodwind of war.
\”The warbears have scattered, but the Smoke-Towered\’s forces have broken through and have decimated us.\”
Kathikjhi felt queasy, but also uplifted.
\”We need to withdraw back to the camp.\”
\”We have enough of a chance,\” Ipaxu said. \”To push through.\”
\”That\’s an order,\” Kathikjhi declared, returning back to his role as top commander.
#
The tent of House Gwhehlal unfurled the banners of the Gwhehlal sigil, which is a beetle\’s head overlapping a cabin. While the rest of the commmanders grimaced, Kathikjhi could see his third, coconut-toned tutor Gwato Gilded-Cabin gallavanting around.
Kathikjhi walked to him and asked \”Has Sagkom made a decision about our next move?\”
\”The man,\” Gwato declared, waving his hands. \”Fancies himself a Smoke-Towered himself. He wants to keep pressing forward.\”
Gwato Gilded-Cabin was of the highest ranked Saposant-harvested Houses–and acts as such. He was known for hosting lavish banquets, own castle-cabins, and host philosophical debates and plays. He was given the name Gilded-Cabin because the cabin-castle he guarded as a youth was painted in a gold-like plaster.
\”We cannot. The barricades are too filled. All of the Houses continue to support Xima\’s ascension.\”
\”You\’ll have to entertain that notion to him yourself.\”
In place of his late father, Kathikjhi developed a barely present father in Sagkom. Among his mentors, Ipaxu was the military father, Naja was the merchant father, and Gwato was the cultured father.
Baubles and delights. That\’s all Sagkom ever gave me.
Nearly pushing Gwato out of the way, Kathikjhi marched towards Sagkom, the coconut-toned, corpulent patriarch of House Gwhehlal. His gold-toned transparent robe barely contained his corpulence.
\”You still haven\’t advanced further into the Estuary,\” Sagkom snarled.
\”There are still many warbears to slay.\”
\”You do not need to take out any more warbears.\”
\”Sbamsimi\’s forces,\” Kathikjhi said, invoking the name of Xima\’s trusted general known as \”Xima\’s Peacebringer.\” \”Will devour us. We need to find another way.\”
Sbamsimi Xima\’s-Peacebringer, known for his undying loyalty to the Smoke-Towered since his days as a simple rainclothed, never received a wound in battle. As the first Peacebringer of the Smoke-Towered Throne, Sbamsimi became a symbol of pride and hope in the newly formed Smoke-Towered Throne.
\”We will press forward!\” Sagkom exclaimed. \”The people need us to overthrow the tyrant!\”
Despite being of Saposant, Sagkom of House Gwhehlal was of a small, desert island barely frequented by the other Saposant-harvested Houses. After gaining employment in the court of House \’Lkaima, he managed to bring his elderly, seat-bound father and the rest of the House with him to the hills of southern Kathkadag Spoil.
\”I never wanted this rebellion to happen!\” Kathikjhi shouted. \”Your selfishness will cost both Houses dearly.\”
\”Do you really think,\” Sagkom asked. \”That the cowardly Xima would allow influence from any House not of Daksapho into the Smoke-Towered Throne?\”
\”I\’m more concerned with keeping to ourselves.\”
While Kathikjhi viewed Sagkom as a father figure ever since he married his mother, ever since the Rebellion he has been arguing with him, defying his authority in any subtle way. Although Kathikjhi devoted himself to Flame-Breath, the Woodwind of war, he never wanted to needlessly engage in war for its own sake.
\”You will continue to advance, or I will have you executed.\”
This left Kathikjhi silent and he nearly took a step back. It was bad enough that the Houses all related to each other were fighting amongst each other, but to hear a man who adopted him as his son threaten him with death shocked him.
\”I will do as you command.\”
Until I find an opening.
#
Sitting inside of his own tent, watching his men pour out onto the cobbled streets of the capital, Kathikjhi had no strength left within him to go out and fight. He simply sat upon a crate and watched as the smoke-toned towers engufing in flame and people running about screaming. The forces of Xima\’s Peacebringer dealt a brutal blow to his own forces.
Originally from the apricot-toned House Moniwak, Kathikjhi\’s family originated from Bimnili. Their original domain was located on an island where their main coffers came from ploughmen. For that reason, the House got its name from the original phrase \”moniurak\’e\” meaning \”piercing one\” derived from the plough piercing into the soil.
They swore fealty to Saposant\’s descendants as the first Saposant Spoil of the Bimnili continent 50 years prior to Xima\’s birth. Their ploughmen who worked for House Moniwak would receive abundant help from the Glass-Steader Numbers-Gathering. As such, the Glass-Steaders were sponsored by House Moniwak.
Kathikjhi and his own immediate House Moniwak were less concerned with the toiling of the Bimnili soil, and more with the toiling of Saposant-harvested prosperity. If they offered Glass-Steaders to revolutionize farming, then surely they have more to offer?
Next to Kathikjhi, his three mentors watched him with concern. Kathikjhi could tell that they had the same worries he had.
He asked them \”Do you believe in this rebellion?\”
\”I do,\” Ipaxu quickly said. \”I cannot trust Xima to establish the ideal cluster of Spoils.\”
\”I do too,\” Kathikjhi remarked. \”But, this Rebellion was unneeded.\”
Ipaxu and the mentors nodded in silent agreement, which shocked Kathikjhi.
Even Ipaxu doesn\’t like it.
To Kathikjhi and his adopted House, as far as they were concerned, Xima was but a usurper, exploiting the exhausted Houses in order to procure more power onto himself and his House Daksapha. Instead of facing the plague and saving as many people as his House and their sponsored Numbers-Gatherers had the power to, he ran away and lived for one year in isolation away from the people who needed him. Even if he could not call upon Warm-Tidings to wish everyone in Kathkadag to be safe, he could at least offer hope and not selfishly ask for \”more days to live.\”
Gwato said \”I simply followed you wherever you go.\”
\”I have done insufferable things,\” Naja remarked. \”But, I cannot continue allowing this Rebellion to harm more people than the Great Suffocation already has.\”
\”You,\” Ipaxu said to Kathikjhi. \”Are as conflicted as we are.\”
\”We were promised wealth and titles,\” Gwato admitted. \”But, I cannot guarantee they will come.\”
\”Of course,\” Naja snapped at Gwato. \”You would be concerned with wealth and titles. At least, I could buy my way to such things through goldseeds or my tongue.\”
\”At least,\” Gwato responded. \”I wouldn\’t stoop so low as to buy such things. My Saposant ancestry entitles me to it.\”
Naja and Gwato, despite being friends, shared a rivalry commonly found among those playing flutteringball. Nevertheless, it annoyed Kathikjhi, who wanted to ensure that they focus on his aims rather than their own.
\”Stop,\” Kathikjhi declared. \”As your commander, I am ordering you all to stop.\”
When they fell silent, Ipaxu smiled \”You take more after me, it seems.\”
\”I take nothing from Sagkom,\” Kathikjhi snarled. \”He found my mother attractive. Nothing more.\”
After Kathikjhi\’s father died during his service as a Silk-Sabretooth, his mother remarried a member of House Gwhehlal. Because their new household was of Saposant, it meant that they were given luxuries that no one in the Saposant Spoils could attain, ranging from a view of the ever-expanding black sea to syrup-filled coconut-shaving delights. That was before the Great Suffocation, when House Gwhehlal were forced to reside inside their cabin-castle. When the Saposant-Harvested Civil War began, House Gwhehlal took the initiative to ally themselves even more with House \’Lkaima by moving in with them.
Kathikjhi immediately enlisted as part of the Silk Sabretooth Numbers-Gathering. He kept his new family safe, as they warded off encroachments from the other Saposant-Harvested Houses.
Houses \’Lkaima and Gwhehlal have become parts of me. I cannot leave them to die.
\”You clearly love Houses \’Lkaima and Gwhehlal as your own,\” Naja said. \”Why did you volunteer to become one of Sagkom\’s top commanders?\”
Indeed, despite the arrogant ambitions of Sagkom and the rest of the Houses, Kathikjhi shook his head and tried to fight back tears. He kept wobbling, as though the weight of the Rebellion yoked upon him.
\”You just answered that question,\” Kathikjhi croaked. \”I would die for my family, but now they might die because of my reckless decision.\”
\”What do you plan to do?\” Ipaxu asked.
Tears ran down Kathikjhi\’s eyes as he said \”We need to gather the families and sail.\”
This shocked the three mentors.
When Naja lifted his hand to interject, the puffy-eyed Kathikjhi declared \”By Flame-Breath, I will burn this tent with all of us inside if you do not follow my command!\”
Ipaxu chuckled \”Where will you sail?\”
\”Wherever,\” Kathikjhi hoarsed. \”Anywhere hidden from the Smoke-Towered Throne\’s gaze.\”
\”You know,\” Gwato said. \”That those of Saposant are well-known for their sailing skills? They will find you eventually.\”
\”Then, we\’ll just go where those of Saposant typically don\’t trade.\”
\”Surely, it cannot have a cabin that shines blue in the evening Beam-Of-Light,\” Naja joked. \”Otherwise, they will find out.\”
Kathikjhi was given the name meaning \”blue as a cabin (in nighttime).\” Typically, a Masag adjective would\’ve had its vowel shortened when it modifies a noun, but a regular vowel Masag adjective develops a more poetic modification of a noun, leaving the listener to provide context in their own mind as to what makes a cabin blue.
\”They would just assume,\” Kathikjhi responded matter-of-factly. \”That the occupants are just ordinary folks with no rainclothed stakes. That\’s the point.\”
#
And so, with the three mentors, Kathikjhi sailed towards the cabin-castle that housed Houses \’Lkaima and Gwhehlal, appearing purple from the darkening, evening sky. Originally belonging to House \’Lkaima, throughout the Rebellion, it became a safe haven for House Gwhehlal throughout the Great Suffocation. It did not tower over any of the other buildings, though it did stand out since it rested on a hill.
The streets were lined with cobblestone, while artificial rivers ran wherever there was a low-enough elevation for the seawater to travel. As such, there were plenty of sporadic veins of rivers and bridges.
Kathikjhi approached the few men recovering and lied to him \”The Rebellion has lost. We need everyone in the Houses to come to the ship.\”
\”We\’re not going to flee, Farmer\’s-Daughter,\” he responded. \”This is our chance.\”
Kathikjhi socked him across the face and declared \”I am Sagkom\’s top commander and I order you to bring everyone to the ship.\”
Not wanting to challenge his authority, the men rushed towards the inner sanctums of the cabin-castle.
Always trying to compensate, Kathikjhi always tried to avoid being seen as effeminate. If it meant that he would work diligently on his training to the point of exhaustion, then he would do so. Ever since his mother had no other choice but to remarry, Kathikjhi was always worried about appearing foolish as a budding man. In order to maintain credibility, he had to appear strong and tough.
When he saw the horde of mothers, sons, daughters, and elderly flock to him, Kathikjhi walked outside to meet his three mentors standing outside of the ship. Two of Sagkom\’s wives and Kathikjhi\’s mother, their children, Sagkom\’s wife\’s \’Lkaima family, and the male and female guards carrying Sagkom\’s father followed Kathikjhi with a cacophonous chorus.
\”Tend to them while I keep watch for any of Xima\’s forces.\”
\”Understood,\” Ipaxu said, as Kathikjhi walked up to the galley.
He stood upon the bow, observing the city of Kathkadag engulf in flame as the remnants of the Rebellion started to intensify. He noticed that upon seeing the streets swarm with the Daksapha palm-tree-bird-cabin banner Silk-Sabretooths and their militia allies attacking the beetle-cabin banners.
Hopefully, they are too distracted to notice us.
When Naja approached him, he told him \”Everyone is one board.\”
\”Tell the foreman to set sail.\”
\”Understood.\”
Kathikjhi continued observing the Rebellion as it started to intensify. He kept a close gaze on them.
We picked a merchant\’s galley. Surely they would not be suspicious of us leaving.
When the galley lifted itself onto the estuary, the triangular sails unfurled and the great boat started picking up speed. As the air started brushing against Kathikjhi, he found that the two stretches of land started to move.
Good. We are about to break out.
Turning back, he could see that the city had become smaller with every jerk of the galley forward. He then turned to see that there were no Smoke-Towered ships locating them in the open waters.
They must have been distracted by the fighting. We definitely saw a bunch of them on shore.
When they found themselves in open, black water, the Beam-Of-Light started to dim into the night.
They won\’t be able to locate us.
As soon as silence fell upon the galley, Kathikjhi eased himself upon realizing that they escaped. He let the ocean air fall upon him, easing him into the life outside the Rebellion.
With a lantern in their hands, Naja, Gwato, and Kathikjhi\’s wife Dsi\’uma, Sagkom\’s daughter. Unlike her corpulent father, she had thin frame and the hazel eyes.
\”We\’re safe for now,\” Kathikjhi assured them.
\”Where will we go?\” Naja asked.
\”Far.\”
Although the three were disturbed by such a command, they nevertheless stayed silent.
Trying to change the subject, Kathikjhi asked Naja \”You said you had a twin. What ever became of him?\”
\”Of course,\” Naja said, trying to keep the people around calm. \”Well, I heard that he died in a drunken brawl at the inn.\”
\”May Flame-Breath engulf his enemies,\” Kathikjhi said, offering the condolences that Flame-Breath could offer.
Dsi\’uma, ever brusque, told Kathikjhi \”You really played a huge risk. You jeopardized us for my father, and now you set us to sail.\”
Just like Kathikjhi, Dsi\’uma never had a good relationship with her father. She developed a better tie with her husband than him. She showed Kathikjhi her love in its full capacity–albeit in a cold, distant way.
\”Everything that happens is beyond my control. Everything is a risk, and you know that.\”
\”And we are risking our lives by traveling out here.\”
\”When we land on an island, we won\’t have to risk anything anymore.\”
Gwato then said in a forlorn tone \”Where will I get my extravagances now?\”
Kathikjhi chuckled \”An island can be our Gilded-Cabin.\”
#
After the death of Xima and the crowning of his son, Maasapho, a messenging Silk-Sabretooth arrived at Far Haven Island that was overgrown with jungle. He could see that the coasts were riddled with ships made to sink, stripped barren of their wealth and necessities.
What used to be the walls and artificial rivers of a Thinkinghub became a dense wilderness only inhabited by the ascetic Junglesparkles. They each wore a waisted sash filled with sparkly particles and a torc made from wood. Unlike Junglesparkle settlements, the remnants of the Thinkinghub continue to be used and there are clear evidences of renovations to several parts, such as the watchtower and the port.
He could see upon the rooftops the banners of blue-moss-cabin engulfing the cabin, as standard of all Saposant-harvested Houses. They unfurled with the wind as he continued walking throughout the settlement.
A smiling Junglesparkle hobbled towards him and offered him a goulash-stuffed eggplant, which the Silk-Sabretooth smiled meekly back and thank him as he took it for himself.
The Junglesparkles were known to be the ascetic group that sold soaps and fallen trees as firewood in order to maintain their lifestyle. They also offered food as a form of charity to any visitor. Apparently, it produce moderate amount of wealth to keep Far Haven Island from descending into chaos.
Walking up the steps of the main-office-turned-cabin-castle, he was escorted by guards contracted to serve House Jhilkaihlal.
There, he found a balding, wrinkled, apricot-toned man wearing a raincloth and a Star-Wreathed crown upon his head.
The Silk-Sabretooth told him \”I bring you an offer on behalf of Smoke-Towered Maasapho of the Saposant Spoils. He has agreed to allow you to stay on the island and will recognize House Jhilkaihlal as a Saposant-harvested House on the condition that you accept his authority.\”
\”Is he like his father in your opinion?\”
\”He is quite milquetoast compared to his father, for he does not worry as much when he has Cabin-Roofed from his father\’s time to help him.\”
The man smiled and said to his counsel \”I want to see you privately.\”
As the Star-Wreathed walked with his counsel down the tabby hall, they entered into the room just behind the throne. Upon the walls, there were paintings depicting the Woodwinds in all their vibrant leitmotifs, whether it would be Carries-A-Seed\’s twirling pattern or Flame-Breath\’s jagged pattern.
As per Ipaxu’s ideals, the island was made equal for all Junglesparkles regardless of which Woodwind they worshiped.
Sitting down, Kathikjhi told them \”Xima never accepted me. So now his son wishes to?\”
An elderly Naja said \”Apparently he is concerned about our ship-raids and our dealings with other islands.\”
In order to survive, House Jhilkaihlal raided any merchant ships that happened upon the island. They killed and took hostages in order to use the ransom goldseeds to finance their ekistics.
\”You mean,\” Kathikjhi remarked. \”YOUR dealings with the islands.\”
His wife, Dsi\’uma, said \”Don\’t forget that I was the one who coordinated the attacks on the ships.\”
\”And it was I,\” Kathikjhi responded. \”Who rescued you from an enemy island.\”
Dsi\’uma was known as the hot-headed daughter of Sagkom, for she was always fascinated by the life of the Silk-Sabretooths, and never got along with her father. Her devotion to her militancy nearly cost her life when she found herself held hostage by an enemy island, causing Kathikjhi\’s forces to force a negotation through Naja.
\”What should we do?\” Naja\’s son asked.
\”Bring in the Silk-Sabretooth,\” Kathikjhi said.
When the Silk-Sabretooth was brought in, he explained the reforms set by Xima.
\”Your descendants will become eligible to become Cabin-Roofed if they choose. Perhaps even Smoke-Towered considering their Saposant ancestry.\”
\”Is that one of the reforms that Xima enacted?\”
\”Any Saposant-harvested House has the opportunity to be sworn to become a Cabin-Roofed or even a Smoke-Towered so long as they can provide proof of lineage to Saposant himself. Your children are descendants through your wife?\”
Instead of responding, Kathikjhi slammed his fist upon the table to everyone\’s immediate shock.
\”I don\’t want to be indebted to a coward,\” Kathikjhi snarled. \”Who ran away from the estuary instead of facing the plague.\”
\”Be grateful you are not within the Spoils when you said that,\” Ipaxu said. \”Not only that, but you also ran away.\”
\”I\’m not of Saposant! I never had the power and wealth of one! At least I did my best to protect people.\”
\”You shouldn\’t judge Xima then.\”
\”He could have done more,\” Kathikjhi snarled.
\”That is quite a lazy argument to make,\” Naja said. \”If all we did was say that in any other circumstance, we would still find some flaw to mend. We would keep asking that question forever, enslaving us to the past.\”
\”You\’ve thought about it that deeply?\”
\”Of course.\”
\”But, he still destroyed two Saposant-harvested Houses.\”
When the \’Lkaima-Gwhehlal Rebellion ended, Xima gave the order to execute Sagkom and all of the men who fought for him, including the boys who held up a weapon, and have them sink to the bottom of the sea. The families that remained were condemned to poverty, while their assets were auctioned to the neighboring Houses. For that punishment, he was given the cognomen \”Sea-Of-Blood.\”
\”They arose in rebellion,\” Naja said. \”The punishment he doled out was lenient compared to the wholesale slaughter and wife-taking that occurred before the time of the Smoke-Towered Throne.\”
Prior to the ascension of Xima Sea-Of-Blood, the Saposant-harvested Houses were so distinct, their domains formed differing dialects. Some resided in Lemols, others in Bimnili. Some lived in islands, others in desert coasts. The only commonality they had was their descent from Saposant–nothing more. While Houses \’Lkaima and Gwhehlal sought to keep those distinctions, they only united under House Jhilkaihlal.
\”Are you loyal to me,\” Kathikjhi smirked. \”Or to the Smoke-Towered?\”
\”Surely,\” Naja said. \”You don\’t mean to execute me?\”
While Kathikjhi held strong to his animosity to Xima, the rest of his council moved on. Naja was the councilman that Kathikjhi had the most arguments with. However, over the years, he forgot his rage he held for Xima and House Daksapho.
\”I do not blame Smoke-Towered Maasapho for his father,\” Kathikjhi said, to the shock of everyone in the council. \”I no longer want to fight, but to live the rest of my life in peace. I also realized that Sagkom was a greater coward for sacrificing so many people for his own selfish ends.\”
When the survivors of House \’Lkaima and Gwhehlal were taken in by Kathikjhi, they thanked him. Upon arriving at the former Thinkinghub, the remnants of the family amalgamated into the new House Jhilkaihlal, with the three naming elements deriving from Kathikjhi, \’Lkaima, and Gwhehlal. This name means \”As blue as moss is the wind.\” As such, their new sigil was a cluster of blue moss. History would shrink the name Jhilkaihlal to Jilka\’al.
Kathikjhi told the Silk-Sabretooth \”I don\’t want to hold my children to my petty rage. I will let them live life as rainclothed.\”
Although most of the two former Houses sank deep into the black water, it did not work into the foundation of House Jilka\’al.