476-470 / 947-953 (actually another flashback to introduce more characters)

Bareda’s rise marked the start of a dark rule reminiscent of Liagu’s. Positions of power were given out to the Nilawi’s friends and favourites instead of being granted to capable people and corruption and inefficiency became the norm at court. For all that, anyone living in the marches or coming from abroad would have had trouble grasping the sorry state of affairs Nalari was in, for the Nilawi’s younger siblings, Nucibedu and Neri, proved to be great military tacticians and diplomats who were able to hold off any invaders and maintain relations with the neighbouring countries.

Nucibedu had always been an outstanding warrior and it was said by those who had seen him grow that he had been born on a horse, such was his prowess upon these mighty beasts. His ability in feats of arms prompted his mother to take him east with her during one of the major Heconuni incursions in 928, when he was sixteen years old. It was there that, to the more experienced generals’ surprise, he managed to deal the raiders their most definite defeat in years. While his mother’s troops chased the nomads in the usual assymetric warfare favoured by these eastern peoples Nucibedu tracked down the Heconuni’s supply chain, if the families that followed the raiders with the tribe’s herds could be called that. He knew that there weren’t many farmers in the Northern Marches, for the wall was still under construction in that part of the world and not many settlers had moved up north due to this land being liable to raids, so the reavers could not live off the land. It was this notion that brought him to attack their rear, cutting off their retreat and seizing their supplies and families. This forced the Heconuni to turn back and give battle, only to suffer a sound defeat when Nucibedu, noticing the hilly terrain of this part of the Kingdom, took the higher ground and rained fire on the raiders while his pikemen held the line and the cavalry, hidden behind a neighbouring hill, surrounded them in a pincer movement. The end was quick and brutal and the Heconuni who weren’t able to flee were swiftly put to the sword. Their tents were put to the torch and their women and children enslaved, a punishment that, in spite of the Ongin’s staunch defence of freedom, had become increasingly common to prisoners of war since the first Denli raids. Only the Heconuni’s cattle, strange fluffy animals [sheep domestication] were spared and taken back to Nalari. The events of that day won Nucibedu the name “Hecunnu” [Firehorse]. The Ongin would, in subsequent clashes with the Heconuni, capture more of these creatures, increasing the sheep stock until being able to breed them themselves.

But Nucibedu didn’t excel only in military matters, he was also the first Ongin noble to visit Severia, where he learnt from cheese and discovered that their northern neighbours were in fact an amalgam of several tribes and cities that, while nominally paying homage to a high king, were de facto independent in a way that reminded any learnt Ongin of the infamous Duri Period [208-440] which had marked the rise of the Nilawi over the Unautu and caused two centuries of bloodshed as the Duri failed to claim absolute power for themselves and various petty lords fought each other vying for influence over their peers, culminating in the Depelli Wars [438-452] and the Second Great Migration that had brought the Ongin to Nalari.

Neri, the youngest of the three siblings, had always been drawn to the sea and was to become one of the best sailors and commanders of the Ongin fleet. In fact, her connection to the sea was such that amongst the sailors of Hewaladi it was whispered that Neri was an incarnation of Acalei herself, although later events would prove that she wasn’t so. She quickly rose to prominence during the Piracy Wars that had involved both Denli and Ongin for around a century, in which she stood out by capturing many enemy vessels and succesfully raiding many coastal settlements, a feat that had become harder as Denli villagers, just like their Ongin counterparts, adopted measures to fend off the slavers. Her abilities and the myth that was created around her gave her the name Onhericonsu [Sea-spirit], and many songs were sung about her travels and adventures at sea.¹

She also visited Baccu in many an occasion not only to trade but also to cement and discuss the threat that Denli slavers posed to the Consu Gatti² together with the measures that should be taken to put an end to that long and strange conflict in which neither government had ever issued a declaration of war, instead limiting their actions to raids and state-sponsored piracy. It was also her who, during her visits to the island, noticed the huge towers that the Bacciutes (both Tao and Denli) used to guide the ships to safe harbour and upon her return to Nalari convinced her mother, thanks to her position of power, to build lighthouses in the Ongin harbours. Not stopping there, she encouraged Ongin architects to learn more from their Tao counterparts and make use of buttresses to make their buildings more classy and help ease the pressure on the walls.

It was Nucibedu and Neri who, despite their brother’s love for games and festivities which made him extremely popular among the populace but not so among nobles, managed to convince Angu to build new and better roads that could improve communication within the Kingdom. Now that the Ongin had bridges to cross from eastern to western Nalari swiftly it was needed to improve the roads. A costly affair by all means, but one that would be benefitial both for trade and warfare. And so the first flagstone roads were built in Onginia, with Angu’s begrudging acceptance before he went back to his bull-leapers, songs, wine, whores and flying candles. [Actually, it looks like candles are a tech although I’ve been loring them for a while. Stealing “zaosu” from the Tao]

And so, despite Angu being the most unfit person to rule a country the beginning of his reign managed to be succesful with both the plebs and the gentry thanks to the efforts and merits of his siblings, who helped maintain the Nilawi in a precarious position. But dark clouds were gathering ahead and not even Nucibedu and Neri would be able to prevent the upcoming storm.

¹ Hopefully I’ll write some stuff about her adventures when I have time. But first I need to write down the Second Depelli War, my lunisolar calendar and Ongin musical notation, so this porject will need to wait.

² lit. Channel Sea, name given by the Ongin to the narrow sea that connects Northern Dawn to Noon. It goes roughly from Old Dao-Lei/Bakku to Dawn and Noon Radet-Ashru.

Techs: Sheep domestication (Sunin), Cheese (Severia), Flagstone Roads, Candles (Tao), Lighthouses (Tao, Déan Enli), Buttresses (Tao).