Daruk of Bagrad

**Daruk of Bagrad**, or more accurately *Durhʢuk*, was a 1st-century NSY Buthenian king and warlord who oversaw a vast conquest of most of Zedia, Lietuva, and parts of Acea before being overthrown and executed by the Ahrem king Cynefir.

Though the conquest of Zedia and the ensuing war between the Ahremians and the Buthenians has been a popular folk story across Ivlon for thousands of years, the name and image of Daruk only came to prominence many years after his lifetime. Though he existed, many details of his life are either myth or non-existent. However, he is recognized as one of the most famous characters in the legends of both Ahremia, Zedia, and especially in Buthenia.

## Etymology

Though the common name for him in Ahremian, "*Daruk of Bagrad*" has a historical basis, it is not accurate to what he was called in his lifetime. *Daruk* is a ancient Buthen name originally pronounced "*Durhʢuk"*, with the "*ʢ"* being said as a **voiced epiglottal trill**. That noise now does not exist in the Buthen language, and the originally pronunciation is no longer used. "Bagrad" is a heavily altered word for the Buthen town of *Urbagrudask*, Daruk's mythical birthplace.

## Biography

### Pre-Reign

Legend places Daruk's birth around 32 SY in the town of Bagrad, in southern Buthenia. Much of the following is that legend. Daruk was born a bastard child by the daughter of the local chief, Ohlar. Ohlar originally wanted to keep the child, however received an omen in a dream that Daruk would, one day, spell chaos for the whole land of Buthenia. Thus, he had the baby thrown into the nearby river.

Ohlar would, in the following years, unite much of south and east Buthenia into one loose kingdom, crowning himself the leader of the chief council of Buthenia. Though a powerful man with rich exploits, Ohlar had still never produced a male heir, and Daruk's mother remained his eldest child. Meanwhile, the infant Daruk had miraculously survived and had been picked up by Raivon nomads who raised him on barren, windswept steppe, teaching him horsemanship, archery, and herding. Daruk's adoptive family was completely ignorant to his royal origins, and Daruk spent his early life never leaving the vast, unmapped tundra of northwest Raivon.

Ohlar died after a lengthy and eventful rein, and kingship passed to his son-in-law, Igreig, who was the husband of Daruk's mother. His ascension to the throne was much to the chagrin of the other chiefs, who feared him as a cruel and autocratic leader who would not hesitate to kill those who questioned him. Though he was aware his position was not appreciated by his counsel, he still kept solace in the fact that his right to the throne was not threatened in any way - with no brothers, sons, or grandsons of Ohlar in existence to overtake him. One night he was boasting over this fact when one of the older chiefs recounted the events two decades prior of Daruk's birth and drowning. Igrieg, surprised, found it worrying that no one had ever found concrete evidence of the baby's death. He sent a group of scouts to comb the river Daruk was once cast into, finding nothing. They were then ordered to search the communities along the river, going deep into the hinterland to find memories of a baby in the river.

Igrieg's scouts eventually ventured into Raivon and encountered a community of nomads who knew of a baby they had raised who matched a description and age of Ohlar's grandson. When questioned, Igrieg's family stated he had been sent to the city of Halhun to learn his presumed ethnic language, Buthen. The scouts didn't believe the nomads, believing that Daruk was still hiding amongst their ranks. Thus, the scouts slaughtered every man in the community and took women and children as gifts for the king. Daruk, who truly was learning Buthen in Halhun, eventually came back home to find nothing but the corpses of his family littering the charred remains of their camp. From that point, he pieced together why they had been killed - to find him, as he was the heir to the throne of Buthenia.

Daruk traveled on foot to the Buthen capital and arrived to the surprise and delight of the chiefs, who had been visited by the gods in their dreams proclaiming that a forgotten heir to Ohlar would come and restore the kingship to its previous status. He entered the chiefs hall and challenged Igrieg to one-on-one combat, to which he called his bodyguards - none came to his aid. Igrieg was forced to agree, and was quickly struck down by Daruk. Daruk was then crowned the rightful king of Buthenia.

### Zedian Conquest

Upon ascending to the throne in about 57 SY, the young king was ripe with ambition to conquer the territories of the heavily fragmented Zedian kingdoms and city-states. He annexed several small mountainous city-states to muster an army of both slaves and volunteers and made haste for Zedia. Little is known of exactly how Daruk conquered Zedia so swiftly, but it is remembered in the annals of ancient Zedian kings that Daruk was a skillful tactician who used a strategy known as "the ram", yet the details of how this strategy worked is not known. In about seven years much of southern Zedia had been conquered, with the exception of Iganisc, Monotiri and some larger cities. However the long-standing rival of Igansinc, Argis, was captured and became a ceremonial capital for the Buthens. Argis' power, once the second most powerful city in Zedia, had began to wane following its defeat in several conflicts in the past four hundred years. Despite this fact, the seemingly easy takeover of the city by foreigners was a surprise to the known world at the time.

Though Daruk successful put down any major rebellions amongst his new subjects, the king was not skilled in managing such a vast empire. Many of the city-states continued to function nearly unaffected, say for an occasional tribute their ceremonial ruler. Argis was the one exception. Much of the large, historic public and administrative buildings of the city were razed and replaced with new buildings for Daruk and his chief council, mainly built with slave labor. Daruk had ambitions of conquering the largest and most powerful Zedian city, Igansinc, but never moved forward with his plans. After a short while of governing his lands from Argis directly, he appointed a chief, Gihar, to serve as governor while he pursued new prospects.

### Encounter with the Ahrems

Beginning in about 64 SY, Daruk had become convinced that vast swaths of fertile lands with few inhabitants lay the southeast of Buthenia, across the unforgiving Velosi Mountains which were rarely crossed. Ancient Zedian writers chronicled encounters with mostly uncivilized horsemen and nomads in the land that is now Ahremia and Birgolon, establishing two colonies - the cities of Sagda and Itiom, which had since been ceded back to the natives. Daruk formulated a plan to march to the colonies and retake them, and subdue the surrounding land and inhabitants, who he believed were weak and uncivilized. Thus, in 65 SY, a march began southwards across the less formidable Lagbern Mountains. On the way they made contact with the former colony of Pocametra, which peacefully offered tribute to Daruk. Upon crossing into northern Ahremia, they met only nomads and small villages who were uncommunicative and of little interest to the king.

Daruk reached the former colony of Itiom on the northeast coast of Ahremia. Daruk could communicate with the Zedian descendants of the Zedia, and demanded rule of the city based on the fact that the historic and ceremonial rulers of the city, Argis, was now under his possession. The king of Itiom, who was bound to vassalage under the nearby city of Lanturr (Dilare). Daruk therefore threatened siege of the city, but the nobles of Itiom pleaded with him to travel to Lanturr instead and seek the capitulation of their overlord, King Keifhe of Lanturr. Thus Daruk traveled to Lanturr and eventually fought for the city, winning, but letting Keifhe remain as a vassalized king.

#### Nazka

It is not known what exactly led Daruk to the Nazka, the capital of the Ahrem Kingdom, the only centralized kingdom in Ahremia. It is assumed that the fact that many of the smaller settlements he encountered reporting to be under rule of a *Cynefir the Ahrem* led him there. The most remembered part of Daruk's entrance to Nazka was how struck we was by the fortifications of the city, rivaling those of his own capitals. He spoke with Cynefir, again claiming kingship over Ahremia due to both its connection with Zedia and through divine right. Cynefir, remembered as a friendly yet firm ruler, declined any agreement with Daruk, and threatened to have him removed from his lands if he further terrorized his allies, Itiom and Lanturr. Daruk was infuriated, and began to attack the countryside around Nazka. Cynefir sent an army led under his son to attack the Buthens, decimating their army for the first time and sending them into an embarrassing retreat towards the north.

Cynefir, equally as infuriated, ordered his men to follow the Buthens and inflict whatever further damages to his army they could inflict. The two armies would skirmish until the Buthens fled south again, this time along the Ahremia foothills of the Velosi Mountains - unable to cross, as it was now winter of 66 SY. The Ahrems lost Daruk's army, yet remained in Lanturr to guard against a surprise attack.

### Birgols and Eventual Defeat

Daruk and the Buthens then traveled southwards, according to legends, ending up in northern Birgolon, in the modern-day area of Sagda and Tecurea. Daruk, realizing that his conquests had at this point been a failure, became anxious to claim booty to present to his chief council back in Argis. Thus, he went through the Birgol homeland and raided villages, taking many slaves. When word of this reached the city of Sagda, the nobles of that city became angry. They sent for the aid of the Ahrems, their ally, who responded by pledging to decimate the Buthens when they re-entered Ahremia. In about 70 or 71 SY, the Buthen army, now with many slaves, finally reached back to Mercia, ready to travel back to Zedia.

Cynefir and his army were waiting for their return, and fought with them violently at Itiom. The Buthens fled, with the Ahrem army in hot pursuit, following the Buthens as they fled over the Lagbern mountains. They eventually reached the Buthen capital Argis, in Zedia, easily as most of the Zedians had no interest in aiding Daruk. It was in 74 SY that Cynefir attacked Argis, burning the entire city to the ground, never to be inhabited again. Daruk was captured and executed shortly thereafter.

Though the Buthens lost any true foothold in Zedia after this event, Daruk's dynasty would still live on. His son, Hjarmunk, took over kingship in the newly-renamed Buthen city of Nevigan.