The Great Khan

On his ascension to power, Kostten Khan had a lot to prove. He was only the second man to rule over a united Ukiah - until his father's unification wars, each of the Khans governed only the tribe or tribes under their banner, and warred with each other as much as against outside forces. But the Great Khan was not merely a political position, but a matter of great cosmic importance - at least if you asked the Ukians.

An old prophecy foretold that a great leader would arise at a time of strife and chaos for Ukiah, uniting the myriad clans beneath his sword, and crushing the enemies of the people - a great leader who possessed the strength of ten men, with the blood of the north wind in his veins. When Jahken Khan began to expand his reach, many believed that he was this prophecized leader. He was a valiant warrior and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, both as a commander and as a combatant, and he was recognized from birth as having the talents of a shaman, who were said to be "born of the winds" in some Ukian dialects. As he began to rally more tribes to his side, and launched the greatest raid against the Vardessians in recorded history, it only seemed more and more likely that he was the chosen one the prophecy spoke of - which, in turn, led to other chieftains pledging their allegiance to him, finding it wise not to go against the cosmic order.

There was only one problem. Jahken Khan died of a fever three years ago, with the Vardessians and Kvessians still very much unexpelled from the traditional boundaries of Ukiah.

If Jahkhen Khan could not fulfil the feats spoken in the prophecy, then he surely could not have been the chosen one it spoke of. Many Ukians reevaluated the prophecy. Some maintained that the magnitude of Jahken Khan's raid surely qualified for "crushing the enemies of Ukiah," and that the prophecy did not say that they would not strike back. Others argued if Ukiah had really been at enough of a time of crisis before the Great Khan's rise to power in order for his ascension to fulfil it in the first place. However, in the last few years, the prevailing theory has become that Jahken Khan was not the chosen one at all - his son, Kottsen Khan, is.

When Kottsen Khan arrived in his father's camp asserting his rightful claim to the position, many were skeptical. He had not grown up with the Ukians - in fact, his musclebound frame and red beard betrayed his origins as a half-Northman, fathered illegitimately by the Great Khan in a border raid and raised as a member of the Forevik tribe. However, he had discovered his heritage in the yurt of the shamaness Sagka, who took the young man in when he was lost during a hunt and recognized in a vision that he was the Great Khan's progeny. So too, she recognized his great strength and strategic mind, and believed that he was surely the prophecized chosen one. The two of them made the journey to the camp, and there, under Sagka's advice, he demanded that the clan recognize him as the rightful Great Khan of Ukiah.

This, predictably, did not sit well with the reigning Khan, Jahken Khan's legitimate son Mavdnos Khan. But, undeterred, Kottsen challenged him to a duel - and, as the story goes, slew him in a single stroke. Whether by the right of his victory or because such a show of prowess made enough of a case for his claims, Kottsen was granted the position of Khan, and from there began his aims of living up to and exceeding his father's legacy.

Of all the Khans of Ukiah today, Kottsen Khan undoubtedly commands the greatest army, and his influence reaches the furthest. In order to house his soldiers, his many wives, and their families, his camp is a veritable city of yurts, with as many winding streets between districts of tents as may be found in more settled lands, and is surrounded by a great wall where his soldiers may watch from towers to warn of any who come near. So too, there are several longhouses devoted to holding the Great Khan's vast wealth, where fabulous riches may be found - closely guarded, of course. Kottsen Khan's own yurt dominates the horizon, a great red-canopied tent flanked by fluttering banners that can be loaded onto a wagon and pulled by oxen during migrations, and with enough room inside to house all the delegates from the many tribes allied with his own whom he holds court with (even some elvish, orcish, and Kvessian and Vardessian ambassadors are among this court, though they know better than to attract his ire). From his throne, Kottsen Khan sends orders to his allies all across Ukiah, directing their movements and raids, and Sagka stays close at his side to provide counsel and to consult the spirits for their tidings; there is no matter she does not weigh in on. The Khan is a passionate man who has taken his newfound rule to heart, and devotes his loyalties to the Ukian people, vowing to unite them against foreign invasions that threaten their livelihood. Though he has not openly declared war on the forces of Kvesland and Vardessy, many believe it will only be a matter of time.

However, Kottsen Khan's reign over Ukiah is not absolute. He is a very powerful warlord, but far from the only one. Some Khans maintain that his claims to being the chosen one are the blasphemous blatherings of a fool, crafted to grant himself legitimacy and power, and that Sagka is little more than a puppet master feeding him the right things to say in order to advance his causes, and consequently her own. Perhaps, one day, that too shall spark war. But for now, the Great Khan is content to lie in wait, gathering influence and amassing his strength until the time to strike is at hand.