The Great Hordes

The great hordes were a large confederation of horse warlords that were most famous for their invasion of Western occentia during the 600'sAF. they formed a large empire in the region that lasted about fifty years until it collapsed due to internal division, overextension, and revolts.

## History

### Origin

very little is known about the early history of the Great Hordes, other than that they likely came from the deserts in southern occentia and migrated north during the Migration Period. it is unknown when they formed their confederation or why,

### Early Records

The earliest record of what is believed to be the great hordes comes from a group of tribes that crossed the Libla in the early 7th century. they kidnapped scribes of multiple towns in the area and had them write a series of letters the Fuluva III, the king of Mercania at the time saying "THEY ARE COMING". why this message was so vague is unclear but it is now commonly accepted that they were referring to the great hordes, as the kingdom of the Marsh fell to them only a month later. reasons for the vagueness of the message could be language barriers, as neither side had very much diplomatic contact, possibly that the tribes did not want to waste time trasnlating and needed to get a message through as fast as possible, or possibly that the tribes themselves didn't know what they were facing.

### Invasion of Mercania

when the Kingdom of the Marsh, Mercania's oldest vassal, fell to the hordes invasion, Fuluva III was quick to respond. he raised a large army of 40000 to counter the threat and marched south. he faced one of the hordes near servia and attempted to block them. he reportedly was surprised at the disorganisation of their forces, and wondered how a loose mob of horse riders could be so devastating to the countryside. but when they came into contact with the Mercanian line, they were rapidly overwhelmed not by skill, but by speed. during the chaotic fighting, most of the army was killed or captured, and Fuluva was killed in battle. upon Fuluva's death, the Twelve Year old Talin IV ascended to the throne, and realising he was facing a truly terrifying enemy, he knew he wasn't prepared to face the threat alone. he decided to delegate a large amount of power to his advisors, who all began raising numerous massive armies to counter the threat individually. despite seeing success in a few places, one by one the armies fell, as the hordes approached the capital. Talin began feverishly organising a defense of the city, Mustering 50000 soldiers to guard it. the hordes saw this awesome force and decided to dedicate three of their five war hordes to the invasion of the city. despite a fierce defense, the hordes broke through and began massacaring an burning the city. the royal palace was destroyed, most of its schools were destroyed, the walls were destroyed, and thousands of houses were burned down. the king and his bodyguards tried to flee but they were ambushed by three horde riders. one of the was able to lodge his axe into Talin's forehead, killing him instantly, and with that, the Mercanian Empire died with him. all the provinces became de facto independent as the post-mercanian successor states.

### Later invasions

the hordes attempted to conquer many of the remaining Mercanian states but they were unable to see much success. as the libla river proved a tough obstacle to overcome. they attempted an invasion into Garavosi that initially saw success, but when they tried to cross the libla river and head north, they were defeated in an ambush. Garavosi had won, but they were greatly weakened. this saw the great hordes reach their zenith.

### Decline

once the conquests had stopped, the 10 hordes had to find a way to administer their now enormous empire. they tried to work together in organised horde assemblies, but pretty soon ambition got in the way, because the hordes were not equal in size and strength. by the late 7th century, two hordes in particular decisively stood out among the rest and both were looking for a way to assume direct control. this lead to a civil war between the north lead by Charzha, and the south, led by Grruka. this resulted in the empire splitting in half, which quickly led to large numbers of revolts that they were unable to put down, leading he the empire falling apart and the hordes fading away into obscurity, likely assimilating into the local population.