Ausjari

8th Century


Oral history begins at this time. Stories concerning the migration to Malomanan became heavily mythologized.

750AN: Mangeodge history begins with one name: Ausjari. That is his name as it is rendered by later Old Mangeodge chroniclers. His name as he knew it in Proto-Mangeodge was *ōsjare, a fossilized name from Proto-Sumro-Naukl *ha-hasærǎ "heavy leg". Ausjari was the youngest son of a sustenance farmer. All farmers in the 8th century provided solely for themselves, with surplus being traded with neighbors.

Such farms were inherited by the eldest son only, with younger sons getting nothing. Ausjari had an idea: to create a role where younger sons would act as guards for farms. Sometimes people would raid other farms and so there was a niche for guards. Ausjari was the first of such guards but the idea spread like wildfire until it became the norm for all Mangeodge farms to have guards. These guards were called Vojarli (sg: vojarlei) from the Proto-Mangeodge *vov-jarδi "disinherited daggers".

763AN: 13 years are the creation of the Vojarli, the Mangeodge farmers had a new problem. Many vojarli had began to extort their own farms, demanding more food and goods. This extra strain forced farmers to increase their production which demanded even more land. The need for more land was met by the Vojarli taking neighboring farms by force. The Vojarli had essentially now become captors of their farms and the farms' safety was their hostage.

The existence of the Vojarli essentially caused early Mangeodge society to become violent with farmers living at the mercy of countless local warlords. Ausjari felt guilt as he unintentionally caused this. By 763AN, Ausjari was an experienced vojarlei of high status. Ausjari felt compelled to correct the situation. Legend says that he was visiting a farm one day, only to find that some vojarli had attacked it. He witnessed a pregnant woman being cut apart as she was giving birth. This struck Ausjari with such disgust and hatred that he single handedly slew the attacking vojarli. The woman died as did everyone else at the farm but miraculously the baby survived. Ausjari took the child home and raised him alongside his own son Coraki (PM: *č-orak "swimming"). Aujsari named the baby Skeldi (PM: *k-selod "raiding"). The horrific sight that Ausjari saw was the final push for him to put an end to this cruelty. Ausjari rounded up his men loyal to him to enforce new rules which forbid certain actions and protected the farmers. This was the beginning of Mangeodge Law. Ausjari's efforts made him a well loved figure, although he met resistance from some vojarli. Chief among them was a powerful figure named Secgotori (PM: *seǰotor < PSN *sægjǒ-tor "hard sense"). Secgotori became the leader of those who opposed Ausjari. The conflict between these two men became the first example of large-scale Mangeodge warfare: Cganmarri jar Cecgebvi Amejotecvi "The War of Extortion".

764AN: The armies of Ausjari and Secgotori met for the first true battle in Mangeodge history in 764AN. The battle likely happened near what is now the town Svesvai. The location is hinted at via brief descriptions of the landscape in oral history which described the battle taking place on a land between a river on one side and foothills on the other (a vague description). Modern placenames also act as evidence. Svesvai sits a few miles away from the hill Ajāle jar Aujārala. The name of this hill is recorded in Old Mangeodge as Ausjardarolo and later as Ausjarrolo.The earlier name suggests the Proto-Mangeodge form *ōsjare darolux "valiant Ausjari". Svesvai also sits by a river named Vanjātvæŋo. In Old Mangeodge the river was named Vranejotavesku. The -sku is likely connected to Old Mangeodge skevovi "water" and vranejotav- being connected to ejovranejotvi "corpse". The name may be reconstructed into Proto-Mangeodge as *ēovranēot-awe skekwo "water of the corpses". The chronicles state that when Ausjari won the battle against Secgotori, that he threw all the enemy corpses into the river such that a man could walk across the backs of the slain from bank to bank without getting his feet wet. Another version of the story states that the battle ended in a truce where Ausjari was paid by Secgotori to retreat. The payment was in the form of hostages. Out of spite, Ausjari killed the hostages and let their corpses float downriver where the people of Secgotori's camp saw them. This battle is known in history as Cjarri Daveballi "The First Battle".

Ausjari gathered much of the vojarli loyal to him to fight Secgotori, however this meant that many farms were now vulnerable and open to attack. many small bands of unaffiliated vojarli attacked the defenseless farms. This forced Ausjari to pull back from the war to drive away the rouge vojarli. Secgotori pounced upon the opportunity and launched aggressive attacks on the land defended by Ausjari while Ausjari's force was spread out and busy.

765AN: One day, Secgotori took advantage of a storm which caused a river to burst its banks and partially flood Ausjari's camp. Secgotori sent most of his soldiers to sneak upon the remaining camp by sneaking through the forest. This proved to be a catastrophic mistake. Secgotori's soldiers inadvertantly walked right into flooded marshy woodland. The mud was so wet that most of Secgotori's men were stuck in it. They were spotted by the camp. Some accounts say that King God Desavrei himself flew over the forest, with his fiery body shining light upon the sneaking soldiers. Ausjari's men quickly killed the men trapped in the mud with arrows while the rest were slaughtered as they retreated. Secgotori himself escaped.

Secgotori's luck would only get worse. Around the same time, Ausjari had given a deal to the farmers in Secgotori's land: to burn their farms down and move into Ausjari's land. Secgotori's farmers had had enough of Secgotori's extortion and so most agreed to Ausjari's deal. This was a crushing blow to Secgotori as now his army's food supply was devastated. Secgotori resorted to kidnapping any farmers he spotted who were travelling to Ausjari's land, forcing them to farm for him under the threat of death. He also lead small raids on other farms where he would capture people as hostages and he forced them to farm too. However this was not enough as by this point his army was severely depleted. There was little of his original army left and even that tiny number of men he could not feed. Every raid he led to steal food and hostages always cost the lives of his men. To make things worse for Secgotori, his men kept fleeing to defect to Ausjari. In the end, Secgotori was forced to flee alone into the wilderness. This marked the end of the War of Extortion in 765AN. Ausjari was now unopposed and could finally enforce his laws without trouble.

It is said that Secgotori was found a year later. The story goes that he had snuck into a farm to steal some food when a scarlet snake bit him, causing him to give out a loud wail that alerted the farmers of his presence. They recognized him, having been one of the many farmers harassed by him years before. Secgotori was taken captive and brought into Ausjari's custody. Even though Secgotori was no longer a threat, having been reduced to a thieving hermit dressed in rags, Ausjari was determined to enact his new Mangeodge Law that punished extortion with death. Secgotori was executed by being boiled to death in a large cauldron.

Under Ausjari's law, the Vojarli once again served as a primarily defensive force. Raiding between farms was illegal and a few decades of relative peace followed. The Vojarli mostly fought criminals, wild beasts and foreign nomads who strayed too far.

780~789AN: Sometime in the 780's is when bands of nomads had attempted to invade chunks of land around what is now the Mewian provinces Greiro and Āpaml. These nomads raided farms and would slaughter the livestock to provide meat for great feasts for they had no notion of agriculture, being hunter-gatherers themselves. The nomads would also capture Mangoedge farmers as slaves. The chronicles of the Old Mangeodge period call these nomads variably as the Sejon or Sejonasm. These are clearly related to Old Mangeodge sejonti "to walk, to go, to travel". However their names don't appear to be derived in Mangeodge, rather they might have been loaned from what the nomads called themselves. The name sejon, assuming the Proto-Mangeodge form *sēonē, could have been loaned from Proto-Sumro-Naukl *siwn-nææ which meant "travel people" which is exactly what the later Old Sumre speaking civilization called themselves: Sumne. This suggests that the invading nomads were the ancient ancestors of the Sumne, the Tuurluosm, the Hajek shepherds and the Sucumian islanders.The other name backs this up for it can be traced back to Proto-Sumro-Naukl *siwn-ha-ǎś-ʉəm which meant "having traveled". Compare this to the PSN ethnonym *monqʷææhurfi meaning "they who are stubborn, they who stayed" which is where the word "Mangeodge" is from. The Mangeodge and the Sejon were once one people several centuries prior but had diverged when the ancestors of the Mangeodge became settled agriculturalists.

Knowledge of this had become distant myth to both peoples. The Mangeodge believed that the Sejon were humans who had been corrupted by the evil goddess Eisotrojaluku whose dominion was all the lands beyond Meilvarestu according to Mangeodge mythology.

when the Sejon began attacking farms, Ausjari responded quickly by gathering the Vojarli and thrashing the Sejon. The Sejon warriors were little more than unorganized and loose bands of men armed with hunting weapons. The Vojarli by contrast were disciplined soldiers armed with weapons derived from farming tools but adapted for war and most of all: there was much more of them. The Sejon were consistently annihilated whenever they Vojarli found them. The Sejon however were sneaky and preferred to attack by surprise, quickly taking what they could before disappearing again. Using this approach, the Sejon harassed the Mangeodge farms for several years until they were betrayed by one of their own.

The motivations for this betrayal are not clear. Possibly this individual had some rivalries or figured that he had something to gain by siding with the Mangeodge. This man, known to the Mangeodge as Tauraci (PM: *tōrök-ač "foreign spear"), approached the Vojarli promising that he would tell Ausjari where his kinsmen hid their camps in return for allowing him to settle among the Mangeodge. Ausjari must have been wary that this was a trap, afterall he believed that all Sejon, including Tauraci, were corrupted demons. To test Tauraci's loyalty he decided to give him a set of challenges to complete.

The first challenge was to single handedly kill a cave lion. In Mangeodge mythology, the evil goddess Eisotrojaluku had the physical form of a cave lion and so Tauraci killing one would prove that he defied this corrupting goddess. When Tauraci was hunting a cave lion, Mangeodge shamans enticed the god Vatabi god of predators to attack Tauraci. Vatabi took the physical form of a cave lion and pounced upon Tauraci. After a viscious battle between the two, Tauraci slew the god's physical form and presented the corpse to Ausjari.

The second challenge was to pluck a flower but this particular flower only grew near the top of the tallest mountains in the area. Tauraci had to reach the very top of the mountain and get back down. While Tauraci was at the top of the mountain, Mangeodge shamans performed rituals to entice the lightning god Ejovru to strike the mountain with bolts of lightning. Despite this, Tauraci made it down alive and presented Ausjari with the flower. That mountain to this day is called Ajalle er Taure "Tauraci's mountain".

For the third and final challenge, Ausjari fired an arrow into the middle of a lake and ordered Tauraci to swim to the bottom of the lake and retrieve it. While Tauraci was in the lake, Mangeodge shamans enticed Pralja goddess of storms and disorder to batter the lake with a storm that churned the water of the lake into a frenzy. Despite this, Tauraci survived and successfully retrieved the arrow. That lake to this day is called Vew er Taure "Tauraci's lake".

With these challenges completed, Ausjari told Tauraci: "You have killed our iconic enemy, seen our land from its highest point and its lowest but you are not our savior, not yet. You can't expect of us to build you a tower, not yet. You must now tell us that which you have promised, to lead us to the Sejon for one final slaughter. You will be free to live among us and live like the Mangeodge." These challenges have clearly been embellished by mythology but it is certain that Tauraci was able to convince the Mangeodge to accept him. As promised, Tauraci led the Mangeodge to the hidden camps of the Sejon and what followed was a complete massacre. Ausjari had successfully gotten rid of the Sejon in Meilvarestu. Tauraci did indeed get to remain in Meilvarestu where he was even trained to become a vojarlei himself under Ausjari's supervision. Ausjari and Tauraci seemingly became very close as, according to the chronicles, Tauraci married Ausjari's daughter Vaulazja. The daughter's name was very unlikely to have actually been Vaulazja as it is an Old Mangeodge name derived using a tradition that didn't exist in the 8th century. Indeed the name is derived from the Old Mangeodge word vaulazvi which meant "open sea" but also "foreign land" - a clear reference to her husband's origin. As such the name is most likely given to her by a much later chronicler, her real name being a mystery.

797AN: Ausjari died in 797AN. The exact cause of death is not known due to there being several differing accounts. The various explanations are that he was shot with an arrow by an unknown but jealous vojarlei, or that he walked into the forest and refused to carry a weapon only to be killed by a wild forest rhino. The most colorful story, although the least realistic, is that the evil goddess Eisotrojaluku blew a cloud of poisonous mist over many settlements near the border causing all who breathed it to become monsters. Ausjari ordered his vojarli to evacuate the surviving settlements while he charged into the evil mist to slaughter the monsters. Ausjari himself was not affected by the corrupting mist for his mind was of pure virtue. After slaying the monsters, Aujsari charged further yet to fight Eisotrojaluku herself. The battle took place far in a foreign land so no one saw it and Ausjari never returned. The evil mist did disappear not long after.

The final story is obviously not true not only for how absurd it is, but because it is an example of how the Mangeodge retold much older themes from mythology by inserting the themes into their history. With a knowledge of the mythologies of other Sumro-Naukl people it becomes obvious. The theme of an "evil mist" that corrupts who breathes it is incredibly ancient and predates the Mangeodge. The Sumne of the Sumric Golden Age told very similar stories. In their iconic text the Sumrichronicon, it is explained that in the times before humans when the world was still new an evil mist fell into the world and from the mist emerged an evil bat god called Bidyre. This mist has the ability to corrupt any spirit, human or animal, rendering them subservient to the wicked Bidyre. This is clearly the same mythical mist present in the story of Ausjari's death.

Ausjari's death caused a shockwave. He was the head of the Vojarli and he was the most ardent at enforcing the laws which prevented a vojarlei from seizing power for personal gain. It is quite unfortunate that his idea of the Vojarli as guardians rather than warlords died with him. Ausjari's death presented an opportunity for some vojarli to create their own positions of power. The Mangeodge still told tales of how people in times even more ancient than them ruled as kings. it is thanks to preserving these stories that the ancient Mangeodge even knew what kings were as they hadn't had any since centuries earlier when their ancestors still lived in the Makutevnag continent. This also allowed the Proto-Mangeodge to preserve a native Sumro-Letaeric root for "king": *nap.

800AN: Three years after Ausjari's death, six vojarli took council and together they agreed on how they would each rule over their own territories as kings. No longer were the Vojarli guardians of farms, they were now the nobility who ruled. Also during that council the six men discussed rules of war and conduct. They used Ausjari's law as a foundation but they changed it in ways that would make Ausjari weep. No longer were farmers protected. Now they were the property of their kings. The kings who acted as dictators.

What is surprising is that three of the six new kings were men who Ausjari cared for dearly: his own son Coraki, his adopted son Skeldi who he rescued as a baby, and his son in law Tauraci. The other three men were previously minor figures acting out of greed...but why would the three men most loyal to Ausjari defy Ausjari's will? The chronicles give no reasons. Maybe they foresaw that the gap left by Ausjari's death would trigger a power struggle and decided it would be best if they took power before men of lesser morals did. This arisal of the first Mangeodge kings would set the tone for the rest of Mangeodge history. The six new kingdoms were:


 * 1) Taurrek < PM *tōrökač-oraek. Ruled by King Tauraci
 * 2) Caurek < PM *čō-raek. Ruled by king Co (PM: *č-ō "recognizing")
 * 3) Correk < PM *čorak-oraek. Ruled by King Coraki
 * 4) Skeldrek < PM *kselod-oraek. Ruled by King Skeldi
 * 5) Aupjorek < PM *aupjoe-oraek. Ruled by King Aupjoi (PM: *aupjo-e "hawk leg")
 * 6) Alaskrek < PM *alaδaks-oraek. Ruled by King Alazaski (PM: *alaδak-s "I clothe")

The kingdom names were formed with the first kings' named plus the abstract noun suffix *-oraek.

At the council the six kings also agreed that each would erect stone pillars along their borders both to mark the borders and to intimidate anyone trying to cross them. Previously stone pillars were used to warn of nearby dangers, a practice also performed by the Sumne of the Sumric Golden Age. The kingdoms also agreed that Meilvarestu was now closed. No one was allowed to enter or leave.

The Crusades
The 41st century marked the beginning of events that would ensnare Meilvarestu and lead to the founding of the nations Medhiorn and Vitsoresh. The catalyst of these events occurred earlier however, much earlier. In the 29th century there was a plague that initially spread from south western Malomaman, from what is now the lands of the Mabjikmau nation. At the time that land was inhabited by the Afmuud Sumne, the hunter-gatherer speakers of Old Sumre. The Afmuud Sumre were experiencing a cultural golden age which was ended by the plague. This plague, called Khyldáu Mylt - Old Sumre for "the dry disease" due to the symptom of hydrophobia, quickly spread among the rest of the Old Sumre speaking lands. Curiously, the plague for the most part did not infect humans. Humans could be infected but the disease killed them too fast to allow it to spread. However the plague mostly infected other mammals causing the populations of many species to plummet. many of these species were vital sources of food for the Sumne.

The rapid decline in available prey absolutely devastated Afmuud Sumne society, indeed it destroyed it. The Afmuud Sumne were then forced to abandon their semi-sedentary lifestyles to become fully nomadic. They were also forced to migrate to new areas both to seek alternate food sources and uninfected prey populations. By the 30th century, all written records by the Afmuud Sumne cease as they abandoned literacy when they became fully nomadic, books being dead weight. This marked the end of the Sumric Golden Age and the beginning of the Sumric Dark Age.

The inhabitants of Meilvarestu at this time were oblivious to this as the plague never reached them and the Sumne were just some obscure foreigners hundreds of miles away. The Mangeodge were still completely isolated from the world so they had zero knowledge of these events, nor would they for a very long time.

The Sumne of the Sumric Dark Age expanded north, east and west. It is those who traveled west that concern us in this part of history. The Sumne who traveled west took to living primarily off of fish for their source of fat and protein. The lands to the west (modern day Medhiorn and Vitsoresh) were fairly rich in fish-laden lakes and rivers. Their migration west was a very gradual and slow one, taking place over many generations. The westward moving populations diverged over time as did all other descendants of the Sumne. Their language descended from the Hrȯtongi dialect of Old Sumre. The Hrȯtongi Sumne had always been fully nomadic so in the Dark Ages they mixed heavily with the Afmuud Sumne. Many of the westward moving Hrȯtongi were themselves displaced from their traditional bsamkos hunting grounds by incoming Afmuud. The Hrȯtongi dialect of Old Sumre then evolved into the Middle Sumri language. Overtime this then diverged into two languages: Late Middle Sumri - whose speakers had moved away from the rest of the westward bound people, travelling all over the Sumrosphere, and Misiuri. The Misiuri language got its name from the speakers' fishing lifestyle, coming from the word misiu meaning "we who fish". Misiu itself was derived from the verb misito "to fish" (from Old Sumre misjėtwo). However the ethnonym Misiu was then replaced by Misiurinī (sg: Misiurina) meaning "speakers of Misiuri".

Their gradual movement westward eventually brought them deep into what is now Medhiorn, right by the south eastern border of Meilvarestu by the 39th century - a thousand years after the plague. It took a while for the Mangeodge to even notice the Misiurinī. They discovered their new neighbors when reports began to surface of bands of strange foreigners appearing near border settlements, as one source wrote in liturgical Old Mangeodge:

Of course that author had a less than pleasant view of the foreign Misiurinī but this was the typical Mangeodge perceptions of all foreigners for much of history. The source does mention at least that some Misiurinī appeared in Meilvarestu just across the border. perhaps these Misiurinī were just exploring and happened upon the settlements by accident. After all the Sumne of the Sumric Golden Age knew little of the Mangeodge people and viewed them as mysterious and dangerous. A thousand years had passed so the Misiurinī likely lost any cultural memory of the Mangeodge. They possibly didn't know of their existence until they reached Meilvarestu itself.

The first encounters of Misiurinī appearing near the Mangeodge border towns were most likely a rare occurrence. Rare and seemingly absurd enough that they were dismissed as rumours for a long time. it is said that the validity of these rumours were taken seriously when the recently crowned king of Meilvarestu, the 17 year old King Eohtei iar Molanaulai, was on a tour around Meilvarestu - not uncommon for new kings to do. While in the town Naierrykle in south eastern Mewe, King Eohtrei saw a few Misiurinī himself. In a mix of awe and curiosity, Eohtrei chased the Misiurinī for a few miles before giving in to his advisers advice to stop. King Eohtrei was still determined however so he organised a band of soldiers in 4046 to explore beyond the border to find these mysterious foreigners. This band was primarily made of Mewian lords, from the sub-regions Taurrek Ertaili and Greiro which sit at the south eastern border, chosen for their local knowledge of the border. This band, which in time became a creed, was named Eonirko which in South Middle Mangeodge meant "followers of Eohtrei" (sg: Eonrikoi). The Eonriko began as a fairly small team of men. The first names of the first Eonriko would go on to become that of historical fame. Name such as Oruŋsni jar Borslajovi (Barlajuw), Svalesi jar Vadeju (Vedjo) and Garujosi jar Savitir (Setir).

The 31st of Jekdwonaes 4047 is when the Eonriko began The First Expedition. The esteemed men and their soldiers were the first Mangeodge to set foot beyond the border since...ever. They did not cross the border with minds of ease. The months prior were spent with the young King Eohtrei trying to convince the Lesgveiski Church to approve of this act. Simply travelling across the border was seen as travelling into the literal domain of the evil goddess Eisotrojaluko of Mangeodge mythology. After long negotiations a solutions was struck. The Eonriko would be permitted to cross the border but on strict conditions.


 * 1) For six days prior to corssing the border the men could only eat meat sourced from an ecdeovepi jar marucgei or a herd of sacred cattle belonging to the church.
 * 2) They may only drink water that has been boiled six times.
 * 3) Religious oaths must be uttered six times a day.

These actions were believed to help purify the men. When the Eonriko reached the border, they lit a great bonfire in hope that it would attract the attention of the Mangeodge god Desavrei. At last, the Eonriko crossed the border into unknown lands. The men were quite afraid that the goddess Eosotrojaluku would show up as a giant cave lion and eat them all. The Eonriko however crossed the border unharrased. They marched for several days, most nights they lit large bonfires to keep Desavrei's attention on them. The first few days were quite fruitless, all the Eonriko found was forests and rivers but no sign of any people. Svalesi was tempted to head back but was encouraged to power on. Eventually, the Eonriko did discover a small Misiurinī settlement. It was no town, not even a village, but they finally found signs of the foreigners! The small band of Misiurinī were quite alarmed by the sight of dozens of strange men right on their doorstep, especially as the band of Misiurinī was just a few small families. Despite the hostilities that the Mangeodge usually regard foreigners with, the Misiurinī families were left unharmed. The Eonriko believed that all foreigners were under the dominion of the evil goddess Eisotrojaluku and they did not dare harm a foreigner while in foreign land lest they summon the goddess's wrath. The Eonriko attempted to establish some form of contact with the Misiurinī families, offering small gifts of food, clothing and jewelry. Not much was said due to the language barrier. It was long before word of the Eonriko's presence spread and soon many Misiurinī travelled to where the Eonriko were camped. The arrival of much more Misiurinī made many of the Eonriko very wary. Some feared that they were about to be swarmed with enemies and so fear flooded the mind and washed away irrational thought.

Svalesi, one of the lords at the head of the Eonriko, conspired with his own men to attack the Misiurinī without telling the other lords. On one anxious day, Svalesi gave the command to attack. His men immediately began slaughtering unarmed Misiurinī who had the misfortune of being nearby. Innocent men, women and children fell to the cruel Mangeodge weapons. The lord Garujosi shrieked in horror as the bloodbath began. He feared that the evil goddess Eisotrojaluku would punish them heavily, that the Misiurinī would seek revenge. He tried to rally his own men to fight Svalesi's force. Those loyal to Garujosi obeyed but many others were reluctant to fight other Mangeodge, rather they joined the slaughter against the Misiurinī. The resulting battle was absolute chaos, Mangeodge slaughtering Misiurinī and Mangeodge slaughtering Mangeodge. The Misiurinī men fought back the best they could but their weapons were no match for the Mangeodge. In the confusion many of those trying to protect the innocent Misiurinī were slaughtered by them as the two groups mashed together in a chaotic formationless battle. The killing only ended when Garujosi yelled "Eisotrojaluku!". A number of Eonriko fled, thinking that the goddess had finally showed up. The rest either fled with them, were killed off or surrendered. Garujosi himself dropped his weapons and dropped to the ground in submission to the Misiurinī. His life was spared as his attempt to fight against Svalesi had been noticed. Garujosi also vouched for some of his loyal men, throwing himself between them and the Misiurinī's clubs. he let them kill the capuptured soldiers of Svalesi. This battle came to be known as The Battle of Foreign Malice.

What was left of the Eonriko fled back to Meilvarestu immediately. News of the battle took Meilvarestu by storm. Many voices roared claiming many things. The Eonriko were blamed as if they failed to do the purifying rituals and so brought divine wrath upon themselves. Others said that the expedition was doomed to fail by crossing the border. Much blame was focused on Svalesi when some soldiers confessed that it was his idea to start the slaughter. Svalesi tried to claim that he did so in the interests of King God Desavrei, attempting to appeal to the devout nature of his kinsmen.King Eohtrei was easily swayed by Svalesi's passionate descriptions of what happened, being so young and naive. King Eohtrei demanded that another expedition be sent but he struggled to get the church on board. After a few years of meetings, discussions and negotiations an agreement was reached. The Eonriko would go on a second expedition.

The Second Expedition was quite unlike the first. The First Expedition was a few dozen soldiers and a few lords sent to make first contact. The Second Expedition was much more than that. This time the church itself got involved. Priests and soldiers of the Taurkjeis (the holy army) joined with the intention of converting the Misiurinī to Lesgveiskism. The church decided that it could be worthwhile to convert the foreigners. Maybe it would please the god Desavrei, maybe they could push Eisotrojaluku herself back if the lands just beyond the border were converted to Lesgveiskism. Many more lords came this time with much more soldiers in tow. They also brought carpenters, masons and slaves to establish small colonial outposts. The lords were interested in revenge. King Eohtrei stayed in Meilvarestu to rule but he appointed Svalesi as the leader of the Eonriko. The Second Expedition would change the fate of all Misiurinī. It was unclear even to the Eonriko what the ultimate goal of the expedition was. There was plans of converting the Misiurinī but what would be done regarding governing the lands of the Misiurinī was still up in the air. The Second Expedition began their jounrey in 4050. Most of the expedition gathered in the holy city Jadæwe where they were saluted with public cheer, song and feasts. Then on the 34th Sepagananaes 4050, The Second expedition began its southward journey from Jadæwe. On their way south they passed through the towns Makæbjah, Gāsvai, Nasvai and Alaŋ, recruiting local lords, soldiers and labourers as they went. They finally travelled through the Dalane Valley which leads to a wide and easily traversable chunk of land by the border. Just like The First Expedition, these travellers had to abide by the three divine rules when crossing the border. As there was so many people this time a very large herd of sacred cattle was taken along to facilitate six days worth of meat for thousands of people. After crossing the border the expedition marched for several days before finding a suitable spot to build the first outpost. This outpost at first was quite rudimentary. Many small tents huddled around a few small stone buildings that were hastily built. One of the buildings was a temple in which there was a large fire which roared day and night. They believed that the fire helped the god Desavrei to notice them in the foreign lands. The other buildings served to store the vast quantities of food supplies. Very quickly the slaves and peasants set to work building wooden fortifications and digging ditches. Chunks of forest were cleared to provide wood and to prepare the land for farming - the expedition had enough food to last a year to allow time to create fields for the next harvest. They would be the first people to ever farm that land. By all measures the Eonriko and those who travelled with them proved their industrial ability. Svalesi chose to name the outpost after the king that he did best to impress. The settlement was named Blondevi jar Eonrai meaning "Eohtrei's forest clearing" in South Middle Mangeodge. In the liturgical Old Mangeodge it was named similarly as Blondevi jar Eoslei. This outpost would in time become the modern Medhiorn city Blondhîn.

When the wooden fortifications were mostly complete, the priests rode out with the Taurkjeis to find any Misiurinī and to finally begin the conversion. They came across many small Misiurinī camps but a glaring issue presented itself...the Mangeodge and Misiurinī couldn't take to each other at all. The priests resorted to giving gifts to entice people and build rapport but that can only do so much. Even worse, some of the Misiurinī fled at the sight of the Mangeodge. Clearly The Battle of Foreign Malice was not forgotten. Svalesi meanwhile hid away in Blondhîn plotting and planning his revenge to restore his military prestige but battles can only be fought when there is an enemy force to fight. So far Blondhîn was a small outpost in a seemingly empty wilderness. Svalesi had authority as Grandmaster of the Eonriko and King Eohtrei had given Svalesi a lot of power while beyond the border. Svalesi was a stand in for the king out in the wilderness yet he could not discuss his intentions of war freely. The Eonriko were not the only ones in the expedition. The church was present with their priests and the Taurkjeis, an army of holy warriors loyal directly to the church not to the king and certainly not to Svalesi. The church's main intention was to convert the Misiurinī to please Desavrei. They did not come to plunder. The Taurkjeis were there to defend the priests be it from the potentially hostile foreigners or scheming lords. The church was represented in Blondhîn by Vojarai jar Ejorurize (Irundrī) the napacgejosi "bishop" of Pelge. Vojarai was an older man but his resolve and dedication were resolute.

The issue regarding the language barrier was solved when several Misiurinī men approached the gates of Blondhîn. Guards were alerted at the sight of them but tension was replaced with confusion when the men in foreign clothes called out to them in perfect South Middle Mangeodge. The men explained that they were Eonriko who were captured at The Battle of Foreign Malice three years earlier.The survivors spent those years living among the Misiurinī learning their lifestyle and eventually the Misiurinī language. When the men heard news of large bands of warriors speaking a gibberish language wandering from camp to camp. Some of the survivors were eager to get back home and so set out to find their Mangeodge kin...some of them that is.

Svalesi wasn't so pleased to hear that Garujosi, the lord who fought against him in The Battle of Foreign Malice, was still alive. Svalesi at once demanded that the survivors who defected to him stay in Blondhîn to work as interpreters and to share what they know about the Misiurinī. One survivor was just eager to go back home to Meilvarestu and he became distraught about his new confinement in Blondhîn. His attempt to escape was poorly done. His plan was to steal a markesi deer and to ride it back to Meilvarestu himself. Fate shrouded the man in doom when he accidentally let a holy herd of deer escape into the wild while he scrambled for a mount. The great commotion attracted a lot of attention resulting in his capture. Vojarai demanded that the man be punished as a deer thief and for letting some sacred deer escape. Vojarai stated that the punishment would be to round up the deer who evaded initial attempts of retrieval followed by becoming a slave belonging to the church. A harsh punishment but Svalesi had his own judgement. Without consulting Vojarai, Svalesi had the man strung up and gutted alive. Svalei's intentions were more about intimidating the remaining interpreters but his actions weighed heavy in Vojarai's mind. The relationship between the church and the Eonriko had began to sour.

Svalesi hounded the surviving interpreters about who the mysterious foreigners were. The men explained how they were called the Misiurinī and that they lived in small bands of families, moving their camps once a month or so, never settling in a single place. They lived by fishing in rivers and lakes, the rest of their time being spent idle in the camp. The Misiurinī had no armies, no soliders and little in terms of true weaponru beyond their hunting tools: bows, spears and slingshots, and clubs. Svalesi was pleased to learn how lacking in military might the Misiurinī were.

The bishop Vojarai has his own turn interrogating the interpreters. He asked about how the Misiurinī interact with the evil goddess Eisotrojaluku. Vojarai was instead told that the Misiurinī had never heard of her. The interpreters instead said how they asked the Misiurinī many questions about who they worshiped. From what they could gather, the Misiurinī have no knowledge of Desavrei nor of Eisotrojaluku. Instead they tell stories of different spirits. The Mangeodge were hesitant to call them gods as the Mangeodge have heavy emotions for their own gods. They love the good gods with a burning passion and they hate the bad gods with great disdain. The Misiurinī on the other hand did not love or hate their gods rather they just saw them as living entities that exist, only praising them if they specifically needed to. The Misiurinī believed in an innumerable amount of gods compared to the small and rigid Mangeodge pantheon. Among the many names that the interpreters remember hearing, they noted that Pijaro was one of the most notable names. The Misiurinī believed in a form of Skawechimism. Quite remarkably, one of the men had memorized a Misiurinī mantra which was written down by Vojarai. This is incredible as it is the only written record of the Misiurinī Sėanaga. The original Sėanaga was composed during the Sumric Golden Age in OId Sumre. It was simply 50 lines stating the names of the Sumric gods in an alliterating fashion. The Sėanaga survived into the modern day but the list had become heavily affected by the sound changes of each daughter language, the names blurring together to become meaningless syllables. The Misiurinī Sėanaga was recorded as follows. In brackets are the original lines as composed during the Golden Age:

Now that Vojarai had access to the interpreters, the priests could finally attempt to convert the Misiurinī. Initial attempts were quite difficult as the Mangeodge had never converted anyone before so the priests had a lot of trial and error ahead. A number of Misiurinī individuals, not a large number, were keen to hear about new gods especially as the priests rewarded them with miscellaneous gifts. The priests were disheartened as even these keen listeners at best believed that Desavrei might be real but in conjunction with their own deities. Their pantheon was certainly willing to add more gods freely. The priests had their work cut out to make these people devout followers of Lesgveiskism. The interpreters offered to teach the priests how to speak Misiuri but the offer was scoffed at. The priests thought that speaking the language was far below them and instead insisted that the interpreters teach the Misiurinī how to speak South Middle Mangeodge. The Misiurinī who paid attention to the preaching were put off by the language lessons. Some Misiurinī who were guests in Blondhîn even tried to leave but were prevented by the uncaring force of the Eonriko. The resulting commotion, though resulting in no casulties, made the priests reconsider and so they agreed to learn Misiurinī. This choice is what prevents the eradication of the Misiuri language as other parts of their culture became subject to forced assimilation. Misiuri had survived as a language of preaching although it would be subject to large amounts of Mangeodge loanwords, mostly regarding agriculture, religion and warfare, as time went on.

Svalesi's rash execution of the interpreter who tried to flee strained the Eonriko's relationship with the church. The bishop Vojarai, as the representative of the church in Blondhîn, was under a lot of pressure to punish Svalesi as such an act of disrespect could not be taken lightly. Vojarai decided that a large fine would be issues to Svalesi as executing him or banishing him would cause trouble with the Eonriko an King Eohtrei who foolishly admired Svalesi. The fine was 10,000 markesuja...an incredibly steep fine. Svalesi protested that the fine was far too expensive and that he wouldn't pay it. The pressure was now back on Vojarai to react to this open act of defiance. Vojarai couldn't just let Svalesi not pay the fine as the church expected him to fully enforce its will and the Lesgveiski church would never let Svalesi get away so easily. Svalesi was merely a local lord in Meilvarestu but by gaining the impressionable young King Eohtrei's favour and by becoming Grandmaster of the Eonriko as well as being granted authority in the outpost Blondhîn beyond Meilvarestu's borders - Svalesi grew arrogant. Vojarai felt that he had to remind the Eonriko that they were still under the authority of higher powers in Meilvarestu. Vojarai was a bishop back home but he was granted the title of Cgalasjosi - the head of the Taurkjeis or at least the Taurkjeis present in The Second Expedition. Vojarai gave the order for the Tarukjeis to caputre Svalesi. This task was fairly easy to do. Svalesi was invited to the small temple where he and his personal protection were easily captured. Vojarai now held Svalesi captive and would do so until the fine, now a ransom, was paid.

Svalesi was unable to pay the ransom in captivity, not that he could anyways as 10,000 markesuja is enough to buy the cavalry of many armies. While Svalesi was locked up the responsibility of the Eonriko fell on another Mewian lord named Oruŋsni jar Borslajovi (Barlajuw). Oruŋsni could not afford the ransom nor was he very willing to pay for Svalesi's release. Oruŋsni by many accounts seemed to have a more grounded and less aggressive approach to things. Oruŋsni felt that Svalesi was acting in self interest and was most likely secretly glad that the Grandmaster was locked up. Certainly Oruŋsni focuses on using the Eonriko as scouts to survey the surrounding land, to make contact with more Misiurinī people and to help with manual labour tasks in Blondhîn. The Taurkjeis and Eonriko were wary of each other so oruŋsni tried to ease things by sending some soldiers to accompany the Taurkjeis on preaching trips. The relationship between the Taurkjeis and Eonriko did ease a little but there was the issue of Svalesi's release. Oruŋsni was facing criticism from some of the Eonriko for delaying the ransom and how he wanted to replace Svalesi as Grandmaster. Some of the other soldiers agreed but thought it was good as Svalesi was very much a controversial figure. Oruŋsni did eventually make an effort to pay the ransom. He sent a few messengers back to Meilvarestu to appeal to the king and church and to raise funds for the ransom. When news reached Meilvarestu it certainly caused some trouble. King Eohtrei was furious that Svalesi was held captive. He ordered the church to free him but the Babeco,the head of the church, simply refused stating that Vojarai was acting within his authority. The young king flew into a rage but was promptly reminded that not even he could directly threaten the church. King Eohtrei instead resigned to paying the ransom. He initially tried to pay it using the treasury but he was harshly advised against doing so as it would be deeply unpopular. Indeed the counts objected to using the treasury as the price would then fall of them and the rest of the nobility to pay. The counts also did not favour the Eonriko as so far they didn't achieve much and have only caused drama so far. The Eonriko were mostly a pet project of Eohtrei and the counts did not care to be responsible for it. King Eohtrei was left to pay it himself. He resorted to raising taxes, selling personal items and taking loans. Eohtrei was harshly judged for this. In the end the money was raised but at a great cost both financial and of reputation. 2,000 markesuja was sent to Vojarai as his share while the rest was kept by the church.

The messengers returned with the money and documents demanding Svalesi's release. Svalesi was not harmed while in captivity but the experience made him deeply bitter and untrusting of Vojarai and the Taurkjeis. Svalesi was also not to happy to hear that King Eohtrei had named him as being legally responsible for the debt that he incurred paying the ransom. The newly released Grandmaster was at a loss as to how he'd repay the king. Eventually he thought to use the Eonriko and the new resources around him. Svalesi ordered the Eonriko to clear more land for farming and also to raid Mangeodge camps to capture slaves. By seizing "unclaimed" land and its agricultural potential and by selling slaves, Svalesi hoped to slowly pay his debt. This didn't exactly improve relations with the Misiurinī.

While The Second Expedition was struglling with internal conflict, the Misiurinī people were only beginning to get a taste of what fate would bring them. Small numbers of Misiurinī had been converted to the Lesgveiski faith or at least convinced by the priests to some degree. The initial gifts of food were quite enticing and it also freed up the Misiurinī's time allowing them to stay around Blondhîn for longer. Some Misiurinī had began trading fish in return for exotic items and food. Some even worked in the fields that the Mangeodge made. As such most of Misiurinī's agricultural vocabulary is loaned from South Middle Mangeodge. The less fortunate ones were those captured as slaves by the Eonriko. They were either forced to work in Blondhîn or transported to Meilvarestu to be sold as exotic property which a lord might buy for novelty as much as practicality. The Misiurinī at large were mostly unaware of the new incomers or what they were up to. This fact changed over time but it was noticed by the priests who complained about the Misiurinī being much more avoidant whenever they would come across a new Misiurinī camp. it was as if they had caught wind of the Mangeodge mistreatment of the Misiurinī. News of their kinsmen's enslavement of course spread but what was peculiar was how more and more sparse the population around Blondhîn had become, as if it was a co-ordinated effort. By late 4052 the only contact with new Misiurinī was with bands of warriors attacking the Mangeodge. It was remarked with great curiosity how the attacking bands seemed to adapt basic Mangeodge formations. The converted Misiurinī of Blondhîn claimed to have never heard of these battle formations before which left only one explanation. Someone had taught them.

Garujosi jar Savitir (Setir), the lord who defended the Misiurinī in The Battle of Foreign Malice in 4047, had spent five years living among the Misiurinī. He picked up their language and adopted their lifestyle becoming a fisherman himself. As soon as he had a firm enough grasp of Misiuri he warned that the Mangeodge would almost certainly return. Garujosi begged the Misiurinī to listen but he wasn't taken seriously. The people who took him in were convinced that they had repelled the foreigners away. When news spread years later of the Mangeodge arrival, they started listening to Garujosi. Garujosi had become deeply attached to the Misiurinī as did the other Eonriko who didn't defect to Svalesi to work as interpreters. Many of those who remained took Misiurinī wives and became family to the fishing people. Garujosi knew that the Misiurinī were no match for the Mangeodge's military might. Garujosi tried to educate the Misiurinī as best he could about the sheer importance of formations and strategy in battle. He knew that attacking directly was futile so he emphasized the importance of guerrilla warfare. He wanted to give them a chance at least.

Svalesi was furious when it became clear that it was Garujosi who was leading the enemy. He didn't waste much time in using the Eonriko to scour the forests to find Garujosi. Svalesi also had enemies within the fortifications of Blondhîn. A number of Eonriko looked down upon Svalesi for his actions. They also thought that Oruŋsni proved himself to be a much more suitable leader. These sentiments only grew with time until they caused serious division within the Eonriko. Oruŋsni himself was aware of this internal division and thought that he'd make a better Grandmaster than Svalesi, not out of greed but Oruŋsni saw Svalesi as a threat to the Eonriko. Svalesi had some awareness of Oruŋsni's intentions but instead of outright attacking him, which would further aggravate Oruŋsni's supporters, Svalesi chose to keep sending him on raids and scout trips in the hopes that a Misiurina warrior might finish the job for him. In a twist of fate, Oruŋsni ended up finding Garujosi. The two met as Garujosi lead an attack on Oruŋsni's band of Eonriko. When the two men recognized each other they stopped the violence to talk. Garujosi knew Oruŋsni as a careful and restrained man so he agreed to negotiate. Oruŋsni told Garujosi about the politics unfolding in Blondhîn and offered a deal: If Garujosi helped to get rid of Svalesi then Oruŋsni would stop the taking of slaves and he would also stop the raids for ten years. Garujosi was tempted to agree but he demanded weapons in addition as well as 100 markesi deer. The deal was made. The two men discussed how they would kill Svalesi. The idea was that Garujosi would entice Svalesi to attack by "capturing" Oruŋsni and a number of his men, forcing Svalesi to lead a force beyond Blondhîn to retaliate. With this understanding, Oruŋsni and his men rode back to Blondhîn. Oruŋsni spent his time vetting loyal supporters and planning. There was one flaw in the plan however. If Svalesi really wanted Oruŋsni to die then why would he lead a force to rescue him? After all he sent Oruŋsni on these raids hoping that he would be killed. Oruŋsni needed something that would draw the Grandmaster out.

When the time came, Oruŋsni and his loyal Eonriko left Blondhîn and they took a large number of enslaved Misiurinī with them. Svalesi was only informed about this after Oruŋsni had left. One man remained behind to tell Svalesi that Oruŋsni left to establish a secondary outpost and took slaves to use their labour. Svalesi was furious that Oruŋsni took his slaves, ones that he intended to sell, without his permission. The Grandmaster hoped that he could at least take credit for the new outpost's success. These hopes were crushed when he later received news that Oruŋsni's force was captured. While Svalesi didn't care to help Oruŋsni, he did want to retrieve the slaves and the rest of the Eonriko men. Svalesi also couldn't ignore the capture in fear of being seen as responsible for such a large loss. Svalesi and his force of Eonriko rode out from Blondhîn into the wilderness right into the trap. Svalesi came upon Garujosi and his Misiurinī men, the sight of which made him erratic and impulsive. He ordered all his men to charge without any coordination. Svalesi figured that the Misiurinī would be easy enough to kill but he didn't expect the ambush of Oruŋsni and his men. The combined force of the Eonriko and Misiurinī overwhelmed Svalesi. The battle was over quick. Svalesi was slaughtered as were most of his loyal followers. Oruŋsni was now able to claim the title of Grandmaster. As promised, he paid Garujosi with weapons and deer and freed the slaves that he brought with him. The two leaders then parted ways. Garujosi and his companions disappeared into the wilderness and Oruŋsni returned to Blondhîn to tell of how Svalesi rescued him but fell in battle against the Misiurinī.

The Eonriko had some internal stability now as Svalesi and his supporters were dead. Luckily the people at Blondhîn believed the account that Oruŋsni gave as did the Mangeodge in Meilvarestu. Svalesi's greatest admirer, King Eohtrei, granted Oruŋsni the title of Grandmaster of the Eonriko. For the next few years the Eonriko ceased their raids, allowing Garujosi and the Misiurinī to gather their strength. meanwhile the priests continued their efforts of conversion. The number of converted Misiurinī was rising. Oruŋsni's time as Grandmaster would prove to be a difficult one. To start with, King Eohtrei made Oruŋsni responsible for Svalesi's debt. Oruŋsni was from lesser nobility so he couldn't afford the debt himself and the Eonriko's presence beyond the border was hardly profitable. Oruŋsni thought to change this by clearing more land for agriculture with the intention of selling the land to nobles in Meilvarestu. The nobles owned the land form a distance but they often sent some peasants to work the land or they could pay extra for the Eonriko to source their own labourers. These labourers tended to be converted Misiurinī who worked in return for food as payment as well as spiritual purification. According to the Lesgveiski faith these converts were still corrupted beings from beyond the border and so the converts, convinced of their own corrupted origin by the priests, worked in return for purification rituals performed by priests. These rituals included running around the forests around Blondhîn shouting obscenities to Eisotrojaluku and then returning to the outpost to dance frantically around a bonfire. Deer belonging to a sacred herd were often sacrificed and cooked on these fires. It took several of such rituals to be considered a follower of Lesgveiski. A Misiurina person who completed this process was given the title of Davoasi Sresa "Cleansed Misiurina".

This purification was often drawn out to get as much labour from the converts as possible. Once a convert had the status of Davoasi Srese then the convert had to be paid extra for any labour done as Oruŋsni had forbidden the taking of slaves in his secret deal with Garujosi. A Davoasi Srese otherwise had the choice to leave Blondhîn and resume their lives albeit they were encouraged to convince other non-converted Misiurinī to convert at Blondhîn. This tactic had quite some success, enough so that in 4056 new outposts were built to deal with extra converts as well as to acquire more land. These outposts were Akesatovi jar Oruŋsni (Gudha Òros) "Oruŋsni's Place", Akesatovi jar Vojarai (Gudha Gwoyro) "Vojarai's Place" and Akesatovi jar Blari (Gudha Ba) "Blari's Place" - Blari being the South Middle Mangeodge-ised form of the West Middle Mangeodge name Blar which was the name of the Babeco at the time.

This expansion proved to be quite fruitful. The profit made by selling land rights was slowly paying off the debt. The role of the Eonriko had also evolved as a result. They began as explorers in The First Expedition then their role in The Second Expedition was quite vague, becoming raiders and slavers. By 4056 they had become guardians of the new farmlands as well as escorting supply chains to and from the border as these were occasionally the target of Misiurinī attacks. With more outposts and more people in them, the Eonriko had to recruit more soldiers to keep up. Oruŋsni sent some of his trusted man to return to Meilvarestu. They went on a tour to give some speeches in front of barons and lords hoping to convince them to join the Eonriko. In this the men were quite successful. This success was not just thanks to their people skills but not long after the Eonriko men arrived in Meilvarestu, a large band of Misiurinī had attacked the outpost Gudha Ba. When news of this spread it caused an uproar. Tales began to spread of how savages had burned Gudha Ba down and slaughtered the Mangeodge inside as if they were cattle. Indeed reports of the Misiurinī cannibalizing the inhabitants spread widely. The recruiters of the Eonriko used this attack to fuel emotional pleas and calls to action. Many noblemen were so stirred that they vowed to personally join the Eonriko. This was not some light choice to make as preparations had to be made to find trustworthy replacements to manage their estates while they were gone. The movement was so great that even King Eohtrei, now 27, felt that he was no longer the naive monarch he was when The First Expedition left 10 years before.

The Lesgveiski church also became heavily involved, sending a large number of Taurkjeis warriors to accompany the Eonriko. This new expedition was unlike the first two as rather than being about exploration or founding outposts, this was about revenge and conquest. What started as a response to an attack on an outpost became a passionate oath to the god Desavrei to spread belief in him and to drive away any savage that attacks anything in his name. This expedition was new a new kind of war that the Mangeodge had never experienced before. The Babeco at the time gave this new type of war a name in the liturgical Old Mangeodge language: Cganmarri jar Marucgi "War of Gods". So it was that on the 42nd of Lusnnaes 4056 that the crusades officially began. It would be some time yet before they truly began as preparing such a massive movement takes time and planning. It took two years for every participating noble to find people to manage their estates but also to write wills in the event that they died. a delay was also caused by one issue; King Eohtrei was childless. Many advised the king not to go on the crusade in case he dies with no heir. Fortunately King Eohtrei's wife Queen jarjalauja gave birth to their daughter Iania in 4058. Safe with the knowledge that he had an heir, King Eohtrei was eager to begin the crusade. On the 3rd of Jekdwonaes 4058 is when the First Crusade began its journey.

The lands inhabited by the Misiurinī at the time belonged to no nation. All there was, was loose bands of hunter-gatherers spread out in a vast wilderness. The Misiurinī used the word Misiurẽva to refer to the land they inhabited. This is the origin of the modern nation name Medhiorn. So far the Mangeodge outposts sat a few tens of miles south of the Meilvarestu border but they were just drops in a much wider Misiurinī ocean. The First Crusade intended to bring as much Misiurini land under its control as it could. For now the South Middle Mangeodge term Mitrineuja will be used to refer to the Misiurinī lands to avoid confusion with Medhiorn - the nation that these lands and more would become. The First Crusade arrived first in Blondhîn which by now had grown into a decent sized town. There King Eohtrei met with Oruŋsni. The two shared news and exchanged hospitalities. The soldiers that the king brought were inducted into the Eonriko and trained on how to deal with the Misiurinī. The crusades plan was to spread the vastly enlarged Eonriko across Mitrineuja and to forcibly capture any Misiurinī. The captives would be taken as slaves and could only be freed upon conversion after earning the title of Davoasi Sresi. Such an aggressive move was bound to get a reaction. Oruŋsni himself realized that the crusade would break his secret deal with Garujosi. The Grandmaster anticipated seeing his old ally again soon. He was now in a very tight spot.

It's not entirely clear what was going on amongst the non-converted Misiurinī population during the build up to the crusades. The Mangeodge had mostly been in contact with the converted population but even they were cut off from their kin while working in the farms out outposts. What can be said for certain is that the arrival of the Eonriko recruits was noticed by the Misiurinī. The news certainly must have spread via nomads lurking unseen in the forests or maybe the converted who were free to leave the outposts. Such a massive force like the army of The First Crusade is an impossible one to hide. It can be said for sure that Garujosi had some awareness of what was to come even if the details were unknown to him. No historical record tells of Garujosi's actions during this time but he must have spent his time preparing whatever way he could: rallying as much fighting men as possible and trying to build up resources - both hard to do with a spaced apart hunter-gatherer society. Either during this time or before is when Garujosi met the Misiurina warrior who would become known to many Eonriko. Ironically what he called himself was never directly recorded as the Misiurinī at this time were illiterate. The later descendants of the Misiurinī call him Gwyla (Medhio) and Wala in Risorese. Contemporary Mangeodge records call him Valanoi where the final -i is a typical Mangeodge ending in male names. It is most likely derived from the name Vállanko of the Sumric Golden Age. with this considered the expected form in Misiuri would be Válano. Typically this book writes names as they were written in sources but out of respect for his valiant deeds against his invaders I will use his name as it likely was in Misiuri: Válano. Válano was a young man, around 20 or so, when the crusades began. His exact relationship with Garujosi is hard to say. They could have been brothers-in-law or perhaps they were good friends. when Garujosi first joined the Misiurinī in 4046, Válano would have been a young boy. Perhaps Válano looked up to Garujosi as a mentor. He certainly learned much about Mangeodge warfare from Garujosi and trusted him deeply.

The number of Eonriko increased drastically but this gave little assurance to Grandmaster Oruŋsni. With the king present he was no longer the highest authority of secular affairs in the outposts. The king was not his only worry. Many of the noblemen that joined the Eonriko were of a higher status than Oruŋsni. There was an uncomfortable feeling that festered in the air as these nobles wondered whether they should recognize Oruŋsni's authority as Grandmaster of the Eonriko or his status as a small local lord. In true pompous Mangeodge fashion, the rigid inherited status of the Mangeodge hierarchy won out over the one granted by merit. Grandmaster Oruŋsni was essentially a baron or count of the outposts but this was seriously undermined by the new noble members of the Eonriko. Zekovai jar Ejonu (Ǣino) Lord of Ǣino and Zeikvei iar Avunks Lord of Avunks were the two main offenders of this as both were lords of major cities. Oruŋsni was not a man to grab onto power for his own ego but this overstepping of authority led him into a tricky spot. Both Zekovai and Zeikvei were eager to begin a full conquest, both champing at the bit to attack the "savages£ and to capture many slaves. Oruŋsni's issue with this was his deal with Garujosi. Oruŋsni promised ten years of no raids and he was only six years into that deal. The building pressure on the Eonriko to begin attacking forced Oruŋsni to break his dead. he figured it was better to spite a half wild leader of fully wild foreigners than the powerful nobles around him. The lords Zekovai and Zeikvei both rallied the soldiers they supplied to fight and Oruŋsni could do little to stop it even though the soldiers were Eonriko - this fresh blood was still loyal foremost to their lords. In order to keep an illusion of unity, Oruŋsni prepared his men for the initial slaughter. The first objective was to resettle the outpost Gudha Ba. When it was attacked two years earlier it was burned down, corpses were thrown into wells to poison the water and depictions of Eisotrojaluku were etched into the stone buildings. The outpost lay abandoned as any Mangeodge travelling there was attacked and the placed was considered defiled anyways. With a greatly expanded force, the outpost could surely be resettled and any attackers repelled.

king Eohtrei led the journey to Gudha Ba. Following him was Vojarai the bishop and leader of the Taurkjeis in Mitrineuja, Grandmaster Oruŋsni, Lord Zekovai and Lord Zeikvei leading the Eonriko. When they were a few miles north of Gudha Ba, the Eonriko spread out to search the surrounding area. Zekovai led his men south and west, Zeikvei led his men south and east while Oruŋsni led his men directly to Gudha Ba. The outpost was completely empty although many hunting traps had been placed throughout which maimed some men. The smell of death clung to every brick and burned beam. Gudha Ba was a dreadful place to be. The flanking forced of Zekovai and Zeikvei swept around the outpost and reported that there wasn't a single soul to be seen. With secuirty ensured, King Eohtrei and the rest entered Gudha Ba.

Work to restore Gudha ba began immediately. The bones were collected in a Dnasvi jar Svalecvi or a type of barrow which the Mangeodge used to store the bones of the dead. That barrow was named Dnasvi jar Svalecvi jar Tonu jar Belari in the liturgical Old Mangeodge meaning "Barrow of Blar's Children" in reference to the Babeco who the outpost was named after. new wels were dug and new buildings were built. It seemed as if the resettlement had been too easy. The Eonriko's desire for blood would soon be fulfilled. After a few weeks it was noticed that all messengers and supply trains that were expected never showed up. Misiurinī interference was assumed. A band of Eonriko were sent along the road back to Blondhîn to investigate. The Eonriko found their answer. Several miles of road had been dug up and churned into a quagmire. The mud was so wet and thick that even the markesi deer struggled to walk through it. Not only that but the corpses of every messenger, peasants carrying supplies and Eonriko meant to defend them were strewn around the destroyed road. The markesi deer ridden by the slain soliders were missing, likely butchered for food. Even worse, a few of the supply chains had carried hauls of fine Mangeodge weapons and not a single trace of them was left behind. Garujosi must have been aware of the new activity in Gudha Ba and sought to trap its new inhabitants there. indeed a letter addressed to Grandmaster Oruŋsni was pinned to one of the corpses left in plain sight to be found. In the letter, Garujosi shamed Oruŋsni for breaking their deal and openly threatened to kill him. it was lucky that the soldier who found the letter was a veteran Eonriko who ensured the letter was delivered directly to the Grandmaster lest knowledge of this secret deal become known to the king. The letter is interesting not solely for its historical value and confirmation of the deal between Oruŋsni and Garujosi but the language itself is an accurate depiction of the spoken language at the time. Garujosi, Oruŋsni and most of the Eonriko spoke South Middle Mangeodge however they lived at the end of the South Middle Mangeodge period (3100 - 4100AN) and the language at this time had already began to change into the later South Outer and Inner Mangeodge dialects, themselves ancestral to modern Mewian dialects. The written language at this time didn't show these changes but this letter was written in a very colloquial way - possibly a subtle insult to Oruŋsni to demean his status.

Initial sound changes of South Middle Mangeodge > South Outer Mangeodge that are visible here are:

If the king found out the Oruŋsni teamed up with the enemy to kill his dear Svalesi then he would certainly have Oruŋsni killed. The grandmaster was well aware of this and recognized Garujosi's massive leverage over him. With much hesitance, Oruŋsni snuck out of Blondhîm during the evening to meet Garujosi as the letter demanded. The grandmaster walked to the end of the road where he found the corpses, a decaying shrine of flesh dedicated to Misiurinī resistance. He walked five miles west and blew his horn. After what felt like an excruciatingly long time, Garujosi showed up. Garujosi commended Oruŋsni for arriving alone as demanded. Right away the Mangeodge-turned-Misiurina man bombarded Oruŋsni with questions about what the crusade was and what plans the king had. Oruŋsni reluctantly gave the answers. Oruŋsni did well to speak about the lords Zekovai and Zeikvei and how their presence seriously limited what he could do. Garujosi scoffed and said that is an issue that Oruŋsni will have to deal with himself. Garujosi leered over the grandmaster the whole time that he listed his demands: that Oruŋsni would become Garujosi's spy to report on what the crusade is up to. he also demanded hostages to serve as extra leverage against Oruŋsni. The demands filled Oruŋsni with dread but he had no choice but to agree.
 * VFV# > V:F#:
 * elevi "sad" > alēf (SOM alif)
 * Svalesi > Svalēs (SOM Valis)
 * mase "was" > mās (SOM mes).
 * The lowering of short /e o/ to /æ ɑ/. In this letter Garujosi spelt both /æ ɑ/ the same as the letter for /æ/ had not been invented yet although in SOM /æ/ merged with /ɑ/ while South Inner Mangeodge retained it. The vowels /i u/ lowered to /e o/ but only in open syllables:
 * Oruŋsnejo "Oruŋsni-OBL" > Arunsnajo (SOM Arunnajo)
 * auteti "to kill" > autate (SOM autate)
 * mejose "you were" > majasa (SOM meisa).

The Battle of Burning Road

The grandmaster returned to Gudha Ba with a heavy mind. Right away he thought about who he would choose to be Garujosi's hostages. He ultimately chose one of his own trusted men to lead a band of Eonriko comprised of a few of Zekovai and Zeikvei's men. Oruŋsni's trusted man was made aware of what the plan was. It was his task to lead the band into a trap to be captured. The Misiurinī successfully captured the men with no casualties. Grandmaster Oruŋsni now had to deal with matters that were stirring in Gudha Ba. everyone was talking about how the Misiurinī destroyed the road and trapped them in Gudha Ba. Meetings were quickly held to discuss what to do next. Grandmaster Oruŋsni sat oddly quiet as Lord Zekovai insisted that the Eonriko simply march out, rebuild the road and police the area to reestablish supply trains. Not all of the crusade was even in Gudha ba as the soldiers who didn't travel to Gudha Ba spread out amongst the other outposts and they must have noticed the lack of communication from the king in Gudha Ba. Even the force stationed in Gudha Ba was decently sized to take on some "forest savages". The king and many others agreed with this and so it was decided that Lord Zekovai would lead a large force of Eonrko along the road to repair it and to kill any Misiurinī that they come across. Unfortunately for Lord Zekovai, Grandmaster Oruŋsni informed Garujose about this. Lord Zekovai led a force of Eonriko to the end of the demolished road and immediately began repairing it. They came into no contact with any Misiurinī so for that Zekovai was almost a bit disappointed. His desire for bloodshed wouldn't go unanswered however. While the Eonriko were busy repairing the road, a few miles down the road towards Gudha Ba there were many Misiurinī men destroying that stretch of road. They dug it up and placed large mounts of dirt on it. Before the Eonriko even showed up, the Misiurinī were busy digging two long ditches that ran parallel to the road on either side with small pikes placed in them and hidden with vegetation. The ditches were also half full of various flammable wood and plants. They had planned carefully for this. Lord Zekovai on the other hand was arrogant and foolishly let his small army be spread thin along the long road in the forest. The Eonriko were mindlessly repairing the road when their mindless stupor was ended by a flash of flames erupting on either side of them. At first some men tried to leap over the walls of flame only to fall into the ditches where the fire consumed them. Those who stayed on the road had to look out for falling trees that served to divide the spread out army into manageable chunks. Then the Misiurinī thrashed the Eonriko heavily with arrows and slingshots. The Eonriko tried to fire back but their enemies were hidden in the forest and the fire was difficult to look through. The Eonriko could do little more than to hide behind their shields. The Misiurinī then began to pelt the trapped army with balls of burning animal fat as well as large bundle of dried branches and leaves which brought the dreadful fire onto the road itself. Large chunks of the army burned to death. The army couldn't fight back as they were trapped and divided. It was absolute chaos. Those that didn't burn to death died of arrows and those that weren't shot were slaughtered as the Misiurinī closed in on the small number of survivors when the fire died down. Only a small few managed to flee back to Gudha Ba alive. Lord Zekovai was one of them. This humiliating defeat utterly shocked everyone in Gudha Ba. It completely crushed their confidence that the Mangeodge soldiers could just crush the "primitives". Garujosi and the Misiurinī proved that they were a determined and capable enemy.

The crusaders cowered in Gudha ba trying to figure out a solution. They desperately needed to leave as their supplies were finite with no way to replenish them. Lord Zeikvei suggested that they forget the road and just travel through the forest itself. This wasn't preferable as they would be limited in what they could transport through the dense forest plus they would be unable to maintain proper formations. Without any better ideas, Lord Zeikvei went with it. Of course Oruŋsni informed Garujosi about this also. Lord Zeikvei's venture through the forest was a second disaster. The Eonriko astonishingly fell to a similar trick. When the Eonriko were travelling through the forest, the Misiurinī simply set fire to it and picked off those who fled the flames. Lord Zeikvei was among those who died that day. The remaining Eonriko in Gudha Ba were faced with the realization that there was no running away. The Misiurinī were too adept at fighting in the endless forest. Stories quickly spread of how the Misiurinī could lurk in the forest unseen and how they could speak to foul animals to know whether the Eonriko were in the forest. In reality the only foul animal that they spoke to was Grandmaster Oruŋsni.