Att-Rishgunn

**Att-Rishgunn** (c. 55 BCE - 18 August 2 AD) "the Colossal" was the founder of the Kakeuet Empire.

## Att-Rishgunn

Picture of Att-Rishgunn holding his battle axe. The picture dates back to the third century.

## Biography

### Name

The name Att-Rishgunn is most likely of ancient Gôríhík origin but has not been in use in its ancient form for centuries. The modern version of the name takes on the different forms of *Att Rísgunn* and *Att Rísín.* Its meaning remains unknown.

### Early Life and Origin

Not much is known about Att-Rishgunns childhood. He was born around 55 BCE in a town named Jag as the son of a blacksmith. He was an ethnic Gôríhík belonging to the subgroup of the southern Gôríhík. He was a tall, thin and frail boy, often mocked by other children because of his height. This made him very shy and so he didn’t have many friend except for his cousin, Kharawhur, who was the son of the swordsmaster. As such he spent most of his childhood forging with his dad and fencing with his cousin whenever their fathers, who were brothers, worked together. Most details of his early life comes from later biographical notes written by Kharawhur, who was a historian of some note.

### Becoming a Soldier

When Att-Rishgunn was around the age of 16 a military commander visited the town where he lived, seeking troops for his army. He had been sent from Kerhenek, the lord of Gherrapp, and seeing an opportunity to travel beyond his hometown, Att-Rishgunn volunteered to come with him, as did Kharawhur. Because he was a skilled fencer he quickly rose through the ranks and soon became the commander of a fortress named Kakeuet in 33 BC. But merely four months after becoming a commander he was tested when a large army fighting for the neighbouring lordship of Emott attacked. Though beeing outnumbered, and having received a promise of clemency if he surrendered, Att-Rishgunn decided to fight. He had no real choice, the fortress he defended was crucial for defending the capital of Gherrapp. In spite the odds he succeeded in securing brilliant victory and was praised as a hero. Although the victory was great he paid an equally great price for it. Just four days into the siege he was hit by an arrow between his legs, damaging his testicles. As he didn’t want to be away from the fight to long and have a surgery he had a soldier cut of part of the damaged genitals with a dagger on the very place were he was shot. This ensured that he would never be able to have a child.

### Rise to Power

After his successful defence, Att-Rishgunn was appointed to the rank of general by Kerhenek and he became a close advisor to the man. However Att-Rishgunns quick rise to power was not uncontested. Many nobles despised him as they didn’t support the idea that a man with a peasant background could to attain such a high ranking position. They also, with good reason, feared that he had grown too powerful too fast. This soon resulted in a plan to murder Att-Rishgunn being formulated. But words of this plan reached Kerhenek. The somewhat naive Kerhenek didn’t want to upset the nobility by dissolving the plot but he also didn’t want to loose his skilled general. Thus he advised Att-Rishgunn to take charge of a small fortress in the outer regions of his lordship. However Att-Rishgunn couldn’t tolerate such an insult and refused. He instead informed Kerhenek that he would solve the issue diplomatically. He then proceeded to walk home to the central figure of the murderplot, Ëmbono, in order to win him over to his cause. This failed after a brawl between the two ensued in which Att-Rishgunn threw Ëmbono out of his own window. Following this he took the man hostage and went to gather the other nobles detesting him, informing them all that he had allies everyone and should they go through with the plan he would easily avoid it and have them tortured to death. Intimidated by Att-Rishgunns harsh treatment of their leader as well as his surprisingly convincing threats they dissolved the plan. Not long after the incident Kerhenek unexpectedly died, possibly by murder, and left his three year old son in charge while all the power landed with the nobles. They immediately accused Att-Rishgunn, perhaps correctly, of having murdered Kerhenek and ordered Att-Rishgunn executed. In turn Att-Rishgunn accused the nobles, perhaps also correctly, of Kerheneks murder. He quickly gathered his loyal followers and soldiers and then proceeded to decisively defeat the nobles at the battle of Funar. He then took the rule from the new young ruler and had himself made lord on the 13th of July 32 BCE.

### Reign

Att-Rishgunn began his reign by appointing friends and family to positions of power, thus securing his own authority. He then went on to reform the law code, creating one of the first definitive collections of laws in history, known as the Oval laws after the name of his capital. These new laws ensured that his realm would be stable and internally peaceful. Having the law system fixed he could now focus on the thing he adored more than anything else, war. Most scholars believe Att-Rishgunn had a narcissistic and psychopathic personality disorder which would explain why he adored war regardless of its destructive nature. He reformed the military to include three main forces consisting of longbow-men, bowmen on horseback, and spearmen on horseback. Att-Rishgunn didn’t think infantry was as useful as cavalry and so he just had a few units of that sort. This new mobile force would move swiftly on the battlefield, changing formation and tactics rapidly in order to confuse and scatter the enemy which made his army one of the toughest armies to go against at the time. Att-Rishgunn himself always stood in the front of battle, setting an example for his soldiers and boosting morale through every rank of the army. His tall and dominant stature in the field got him the nickname “The Colossal”. Att-Rishgunns army soon became known as the earthquake army because of the thunder created by the horses and the dust racked up by the specially designed horseshoes. This allowed him to conquer city after city expanding his realm into an empire. In 24 BC he had himself crowned king of the Kakeuet Kingdom and in 19 BC emperor of the Kakeuet Empire. The name Kakeuet was taken from the Kakeuet fortress, which was vital to Att-Rishgunns rise.

### Later Years and Death

After his glorious conquests, Att-Rishgunn returned to his capital and started to consolidate his gains. He funded education of basic writing and reading to be given to everyone within his empire, not out of the goodness of his heart, but to promote his own greatness and spread propaganda through text. Although this was soon abandoned because of its impracticality. He also raised taxes and whenever someone complained about them he would force them into submission by the strength of his army. The biggest of these tax revolts was the Ŷnn revolt, which Kharawhur suppressed. Towards the end of his life he suffered several illnesses and during the last year of his life he contracted fatal insomnia. This made him unable to rule and because he was never able to produce an heir he appointed his cousin, Kharawhur, to rule during his absence and take the throne after he died. He finally passed away on the 18th of August 2 AD and was succeeded by Kharawhur just as he had intended.

### Legacy

Att-Rishgunn is highly regarded among historians for his military achievements, being viewed as one of the most successful conquerers in history. He also receives praise for his administrative ability, although he has been criticised for his cruel methods and high taxes. He is considered a hero among the Gôríhík people and has a noteworthy impact of the histories of Carparia and Situresk. In the medieval history book *”The lives and deeds of the Kakeuet emperors”,* Att-Rishgunn is portrayed as a wise and strong leader while simultaneously being viewed as a cruel and tyrannical person. The author of the book wrote about him: *”Never before has such a strong, wise and mighty ruler had such a bloody reign, for this is a man whom all feared and who would go to whatever lengths necessary in order to implement whatever he had in mind”.*