Isikiro's Purge

"Isikiro's Purge" is the colloquial term for the event that occurred in the early spring of the year 4587 of the 182nd Age, when the Renkida Regent Isikiro Anazalrok cracked down on disruptive Arakos that were part of the Vestar-Menda cult in the Capitol city of Ezirco. It resulted in all four major bases and districts that had been controlled by the Vestar-Menda in the city to be eliminated or outright destroyed, which naturally resulted in increased tension between the Renkida and the Arakos.

While this event is not played out in full detail in the books, the final efforts and ultimate success of this endeavour are recorded in *The Crown of Zivia*.

## Origins

Various nations of Mencu have dealt with Vestar-Menda for centuries, mainly because the race's unorthodox behaviour is something they cannot outright ban or wage war against, rendering an extremely delicate and complicated political situation, especially considering the nature of Arakos and their politics in the first place. Rather than the entire race however, it was more the actions of the Vestar-Menda, a radical organization that vies for control over other races, that became the primary issue. However, superstitious Renkida coupled with the refusal of the Arakan government to condemn the Vestar-Menda only further complicated relations. Since it was not directly condoned by the government of Sacrisola, however, it did not strain formal political relationships between the two nations as much as it would have otherwise. Further investigation also showed no financial or political support from Sacrisola beyond independent individuals, which likely helped prevent an all-out war.

## Inspiration

The inspiration for Isikiro's Purge was twofold. Firstly, as a Vampire attempting to hide herself and her needs among Renkida civilization, Isikiro's methods of feeding had to be subtle, and she did not wish to prey upon innocents in a city that she had been given stewardship over. Secondly, with the Vestar-Menda becoming more and more zealous in their attempts to sway and convert the other Serenza around them, Isikiro felt a need to protect those that she had been placed in charge of, and as such, she carefully laid out a method to besiege the four strongholds of power the Arakos had within the city of Ezirco. Furthermore, evidence was discovered connecting the Vestar-Menda with a plot to sow enmity between the Renkida and the nearby nest of vampires that had been congregating around the Sezonzé region.

One of the few edges Isikiro had in her scheme was to attack the Vestar-Menda in such ways that they could not report it to other authorities without exposing themselves. She carefully mapped it out to be within her own jurisdiction, and capitalized in the enmity between Shioru and the vampires to get their support in attacking the Vestar-Menda. Many of the vampires were covert about this, and since Isikiro was fighting for their own rights, she was well-liked among her kin. While the enmity being sown primarily by the Vestar-Menda would eventually lead to the Renkida Vampire Crisis, it worked in Isikiro's favour for helping remove the overreaching Arakos from the bulk of Shioru.

## Execution

While the vampires would harass the radicals by night or during the less busy times, the bulk of the assault came from various task forces that Isikiro set up during her reign as regent, spurring the inhabitants of Shioru, particularly Ezirco, to rise against the Vestar-Menda and give them no quarter. While the ethics of such a radical move were worthy of question, Isikiro also did what she could to ensure that any Arakos not part of the Vestar-Menda were spared the wrath of the people, although this was a slight stumbling block as well. Isikiro recruited several factions to assist her in this endeavour, including the criminally-aligned Mazura, promising them that any Arakan loot or spoils were theirs to keep. Being motivated by money was enough for most of them (particularly a sizable number of Madizi in their ranks), and so they had no trouble executing Isikiro's orders and keeping the pressure on the Vestar-Menda, who were more and more helpless to resist.

While the Mazura and other less-than-savory organizations did not spend long taking orders from Isikiro, they did make off with a great deal of Arakan loot, which caused them to lay low in the Ezircan underworld for a while. Other groups, including the vampires, continued their onslaught until Isikiro herself led a final raid on the last hub the radical Vestar-Menda had, using her powerful lava magic to obliterate the base and most of the remaining holdouts in it. Most of the remaining Arakos surrendered or fled the city, and even those that were not part of the organization decided it was better to leave so that they were not victims of racial prejudice from soured citizens that may not have seen the difference between normal Arakos and ones that were part of the radicalistic faction.

## Results

While Isikiro's Purge seemed somewhat localized, with most outside civilizations paying it little heed, it had unintentional snowball effects, both directly and indirectly, being a tipping point for spurring different players into action, which led to much larger-scale events being triggered as a result.

### Immediate Aftermath

Ultimately, the Vestar-Menda was purged from Shioru as the name of said event implied, although tensions between the Shiorzé and the vampires remained. Similarly, a great deal of anti-Arakan sentiment arose, particularly in the city of Ezirco. This event was part of the inspiration for the Archon to begin his efforts in earnest to locate the Crown of Zivia, with the hopes of sharing this knowledge with both Shioru and Koldia in an attempt to repair the trust between the aforementioned parties. However, he decided to operate under the 'employment' of Empress Mieszko and Empress Venera of Koldia, who gladly donated their resources to this cause. This inadvertently led to the Vestar-Menda gaining power and influence among the Zukuren, which swayed the political direction the nation took. Unfortunately for them, this zealous quest for the Crown of Zivia attracted interest from the Karzez criminal organization, as well as a former smuggler turned Jalenga scholar named Raul, the latter of which would prove to be an indirect detriment to the ambition.

### Snowball Effect

Raul's association with the Serénez Tribes lent him an immense amount of information about the Jalenga and their downfall, most of which had been lost to the ages due to the thousands of years between present time and the destruction of Pikas-Jorgomna. Raul's own knowledge was particularly rare since most of the Serénez simply safeguarded the knowledge rather than trying to use it to change the outcome of world events. Raul's own efforts were cut short by a brutal murder at the hands of the Karzez, but not before he had imparted his knowledge and research to his eldest daughter, Tzakani. Her young age was not enough to take attention off of her and what remained of her family, which in turn spurred Tzakani into action. Tzakani's actions had their own chain reaction events, leading up to and including reshaping the entire governmental structure of Imperial Koldia due to an immense Civil War.

## See Also

* Isikiro Sherazi Anazalrok
* Renkida Vampire Crisis
* Vestar-Menda
* Crown of Zivia (artifact)
* Tzakani Nezami Serénez
* Elven Civil War