Tsotʻaan Xanaaq̇ut

Tsǫt'aan Xanaaq̇ut
Tsǫt'aan of the Dze Protector of the Human Peoples Heavenly King of the Näru Guardian of the Mong Lak
Portrait made by solarian explorers in 1611 AR
Tsǫt'aan
Reign	22nd Novus 1598 - present
Coronation	22nd Novus 1598, Leaf Lance Valley
Heir apparent	Ł̣t'tǫńat
Born	Ẋṭeḿł̣ǫq́ 7 Magnus 1527 (age 85) Ńepł̣ǫq́ river
Spouse	T'eweł̣q
Issue	Alẋtǫc Ńiin Ł̣t'tǫńat
House	Quƚaq
Father	Ł̣oq́ł̣eeq
Mother	Tẋeńat
Religion	Tẋeẋuq

Tsǫt'aan Xanaaq̇ut (born Ẋṭeḿł̣ǫq́ 7 Magnus 1527) is the founder and current ruler of the Third Dze Confederation, the largest nation in northern Pythia to exist in the last years. Having spent most of his latter years fighting human invader states, he has been at the command of several military campaigns over the last 30 years.

Born the first child of Ł̣oq́ł̣eeq, T'aan of the Alẋtśani people, on the 7th of Magnus 1527, Xanaaq̇ut would have to step into the role of leader soon into his life, his father dying in a battle against the Thuhaq when he was 16, however managing to expell the invaders and allow for the first years of his reign as T'aan to remain peaceful. By 1580 however the Thuhaq Kingdom had renewed its efforts to expand northwards and launched a suprise assault which culminated in the Alẋtśani massacre of 1583 in where Dze camps were burned as the warriors were away. This event began Xanaaq̇ut's plans to unify all of the tribes of the Dze and human peoples allied to them, which by 1598 he completed after a series of diplomatic moves and maneuvers in where he was proclaimed Tsǫt'aan of all Dze in a Great Meeting in the Leaf Lance Valley, the first Tsǫt'aan in over 2,500 years.

Afterwards he would turn his sights on reconquering all of the lands that once belonged to the Dze, the subsequent campaigns between 1598 and 1613 would devastate human populations in the south and east, with several kingdoms and polities who opposed him destroyed. The Thuhaq Kingdom fell by 1599, its people displaced and entire cities barren and turned to pastures, and most human resistance in the Hammerfell Peninsula collapsed by 1602. For the following decade he would instill a defensive policy as he prepared a grand offensive by 1612 in where he, in the span of little more than a year, would reconquer all lands inside the Dze's homeland.

Names and titles

Tsǫt'aan

Tsǫt'aan, meaning "Great Leader", (Old Dze pronounciation: [t͡sɔtʼaːn]) is an honorific title that was bestowed upon him by his people in 1598 AR, the title having been used by the rulers of the other two confederations prior to his.

Xanaaq̇ut

A given name, bestowed upon him at the age of 5, is said to have been due to a lightning storm in where he, according to the Writings of Ńṭhuuḿ, had walked outside his tent and faced the storm as a bolt struck besides him and he remained unphased. It became a secondary title as well during the Last Dze-Human War, replacing his given name and eventually becoming part of his title. The SRD romanization is Xanaaq̇ut (Old Dze pronounciation: [xanaːqʰut]), though it has also been spelt Xanaaqhut as well.

Ẋṭeḿł̣ǫq́

His birth name, according to the Writings of Ńṭhuuḿ, was Ẋṭeḿł̣ǫq́ (Old Dze pronounciation: [χtʰem̥ɬʰɔq]), meaning "blue river", and it was given to him, per Dze customs, at the age of 2 and denoted his birthplace, the blue waters of the Ńepł̣ǫq́ river.

Birth and early life

The birth place and date of Ẋṭeḿł̣oq́ was accurately described in the Writings of Ńṭhuuḿ to be the 7th of Magnus, 1527, as well as the birth region being the Ńepł̣oq́ river. Some alternative dates have been proposed by Solarian anthropologists and researchers, however due to the Dze's extensive literary tradition and noted accuracy of their writings, these are the most well established dates.

Ẋṭeḿł̣ǫq́ was born into the Alẋtśan clan to Ł̣oq́ł̣eeq and his wife, Tẋeńat, being his firstborn child. His father and mother would have three more children later and they all lived in the main Alẋtśani camp, where they would be for their first years in peace, learning the skills a Dze must acquire before adulthood.

When he was 12 years old, his father traveled with him to the allied Nuł̣ńt'e clan in search of a wife to arrange for him where it is said that after arriving, he would meet the T'aan's oldest daughter, T'eweł̣q, and they were betrothed after an "omen from the stars", nowadays interpreted as a meteor shower, from the spirits had declared the marriage to be approven and be set 4 years in the future. With the Nuł̣ńt'e asking for him to stay and work with their tribe as part of the dowry price, he would remain for four years with the Nuł̣ńt'e, his father riding back to his people.

Adolescence

The mostly peaceful life of Ẋṭeḿł̣ǫq́ would be cut short when his father died in a skirmish against the Thuhaq, which coincided with human raids into Alẋtśani camps, and he was forced to return to the now very weakened Alẋtśaq clan and become the T'aan of the tribe, taking care of his three siblings as well as taking the leading role in the war effort. He would also, as agreed in his visit to the Nuł̣ńt'e, that he would marry T'eweł̣q. During this period of time, the Thuhaq would not attempt any incursions, having deemed the Alẋtśani defeat irreversible and so this granted the young T'aan a few years to prepare and help his people recover from the previous disasters. This would not last for long, as he would be captured five years later by the Thuhaq during a hunt and remain prisoner for many years, which allowed his enemies to further weaken his people.

Rise to power

Early battles

After a daring escape in where he was badly wounded, he would return to his people in 1552 AR and, now angered after his capture, would resume the war effort his father previously led, beginning with small scale incursions throughout the following decades and, after gaining enough allies, launched a full scale invasion in 1563 AR where he would manage to defeat several Thuhaqan armies. During this time his first child, Alẋtǫc, would be born during the latter days of that campaign.

His success would be halted however when learning of raids into allied tribes, which forced many of them to return to defend their lands, leaving his army significantly reduced and forcing him to retreat back to his lands by 1565 AR; for the following decade a stalemate would take place where he would defeat Thuhaq raiding parties, but he lacked the force to strike back at them. In 1569 AR would be born his second child, Ńiin, and in 1582 his last child, Ł̣t'tǫńat would be born. During the first month of 1583 he would finally gather enough strength to present proper battle to the Thuhaq and set out on a campaign to the east.

Alẋtśani massacre

During the campaign of 1583 as he was battling in the east, he had not left many forces behind, believing the Thuhaqi to be solely focused on hunting him down, yet a second army would be organized and sent to strike directly at the Alẋtśani heartland. It is described in the Writings of Ńṭhuuḿ the following account of the event.

"As the young T'aan and his warriors were in a battle with the Thuhaq in the early weeks of 8,857 AC (1583 AR), a second army came down from the hills and laid waste to the camps of the Alẋtśan in the woods, slaying many of the warrior's women and their kin. Of these the wife of the T'aan and all but his youngest of his daughters were part of the slain as their mother took up sword with the women and elderly to help what few warriors remained; for the Thuhaqi paid dearly for every soul vanquished. The smoke was accursed and many of the dead had been desecrated as their bodies were strewn about or burnt without completion and it was a red day for the once called Ẋṭeḿł̣ǫq́, for as he returned and saw the bodies of his people, little remained of his former life and the glitter in his eyes would vanquish and his rage was heard across all of Dzeia"

Although few accounts remain of the event, during the T'aan's campaign in 1583 he would return to what was effectively a genocide, with over half of all Alẋtśani camps burnt and all who dwelt there killed. During the remainder of the year he would lead his people towards the mountains, gathering up the dead and properly cremating them. Nearly decade he would spend in hiding, recovering from the devastating blow, and by 1590 he had managed to gather a few dozen hundred warriors from his clan and a few thousand allied clans, most prominently the Nuł̣ńt'e, eager to avenge the death of their own T'aan's daughter, and launched a punitive campaign against the Thuhaq Kingdom.

Unifying the Dze

It was during this punitive campaign throughout 1590 and into 1591 that Ẋṭeḿł̣ǫq́ not only succeeded, but managed to triumph completely over his enemies, defeating the Thuhaqi in several small engagements before assailing them at the Battle of Whistles and annihilating the Thuhaqi royal family, slaying personally the king and his oldest sons.