[centre][img]http://i.imgur.com/KQMfWnO.png[/img]

[hider=Summary]Bet is apprehended for her crime, but is not killed as she is pregnant.
Arguments begin over who should succeed Eskandar as Patriarch and an all-out civil war starts when Orif is killed in a fray
Palo is maddened and takes his vengeance on the tribe
Elia declares herself innocent and is for long uninvolved
She is eventually dragged in and escapes from the camp with her clan
A final battle takes place where Elia is slain and Palo becomes undisputed Patriarch[/hider][/centre]

[centre]Thanatos VI[/centre]


Chief-Warrioress Elia looked down coldly at Bet, clutching the criminal by the hair in one hand, and Bato's spear in the other. Her Eliads - once Batowids - stood around her, and so too did the other Chief-Warriors and the tribals.
'This traitor has wounded our hearts,' she said with a trembling voice, 'and she has shattered our world and our link to the Moon-Mother. For the likes of her there can be but one punishment, do you not think?' she looked at Orif and Palo who were pale with shock and fury.
'One punishment!' Palo roared, and the cries of the people rose up soon after his. They wished for the blood of this treacherous heathen, this slayer of the Moon-Mother's prophet.

'No!' Bet cried, 'you cannot. You cannot do that now, can you? For I carry within me his child.'
A hushed silence overcame the people and Elia scowled. 
'To your tent will you be confined, and five warriors shall ensure your confinement until you put down your burden. And not a moment of rest will you be given thereafter, to the fury of the Moon-Mother will we condemn you,' with that, Elia shoved her away and commanded five of her Eliads to take Bet and detain her in her tent.
'And let not your eyes for a moment leave her, and when you tire, let another five take up your positions.'

Eskandar's body was taken down to the great river and washed clean of blood and gore. The evil woman had pierced his sanctified skin wherever she could find. His blessed neck was sliced, his back was cut and bruised, his arms and legs. Yet did he shine with the radiance of the divine. And they cleaned his hair and washed his beard and rolled him in many furs, and all the people marched in a great ceremony to the Ring, and there was the Prophet laid to rest. A great boulder was placed there to forever mark that sanctified earth where a being more god than man rested. TOBIA stayed in the encampment for some days after Eskandar was laid to rest, and then she left. And where that ancient ant went, none could tell, for she disappeared into the endless pages of history and was buried 'neath the endless sands of Time.

No more than a few hours passed after the ant's departure before the ugly divisions, held back by the Patriarch's presence, began to show.
'We are the children of Zekra, the first and most beloved of our Patriarch's life-mates, we are the ones worthy of inheriting him. His authority and his divine blessing, and his position must pass on to us!' it was Wezar, Zekra's sixth child, who was speaking, 'the Patriarchate is ours. The new Patriarch must certainly be a Zekrid!'
His words created an uproar.
'You cretin! We are all here children of the Patriarch, and no line is worthier of him than the others. Whether Zekrid or Beruwid you be, none we are all the Patriarch's children. So insult not our ears with your empty declarations,' Eril, third daughter of Beru, thus dismissed Wezar's words.
'It is only natural that you, who are of an inferior line, should wish to claim yourself equal to we who are far superior to you. Know your place, you Beruwid rat, and speak not unless you are permitted!' Wezar's words were met with much shock, and tempers were very quickly lost.

'Why! you dunderhead! Speak you thus of the Beruwids! Question you our furies and the purity and esteem of our line? Why, I shall show you!' and with that, Bish launched himself upon his half-brother and the scuffle quickly erupted into an all out riot as Zekrids sought to protect their brother and other Beruwids sought to stand up against Wezar's insults. 

'Why! Stand down!' Wezar ordered, 'if my fellow Zekrids will not put you in your place, then I shall! I claim the Patriarchate mine, and I your new Patriarch! So stand down and know your place, you treacherous ones!' and this new declaration caused an even greater uproar, and those who were children of Cala launched themselves upon the upstart Wezar, and near all others.
Bish, at last, got his hands upon Wezar, but Wezar was older and stronger, and he put down the Beruwid quickly. And though he did not mean to cause his brother's death, he did bash him strongly to the ground whereon he smashed his head against a stone and swiftly gave up his spirit and died. And all was chaos for a long time until the Zekrids managed to untangle themselves from the fray and withdraw.

The others took their slain brother and swore vehemently to have vengeance against his murderers. 
Seeing this, the Chief-Warriors brought the people together and attempted to restore calm.
'People, listen carefully, for we stand at the edge of an endless pit, and woe is ours should we willfully leap therein. News has reached us of the actions of Wezar, and he must be reprimanded, for his words are treacherous and his actions grave. And news has reached us of the Beruwid rage, and thought it is understandable, we must remain calm and united and uphold the Law of the Patriarch. Leave all thoughts of vengeance, for that shall bring us no good, and let us come together and do as the people of Maki do. Let us choose from amongst ourselves a Patriarch that we may remain upon the path of the Moon-Mother.'
'But who are you, Orif, that you may speak thus?' Wezar spoke up, 'you are but a child of Cala. You have no authority to punish and no authority to tell us how to choose a Patriarch!'
'Be quiet, damn you!' Elia snapped at the fool, 'have you not done enough damage?'
'By the Moon-Mother, Elia! you wrong me with these your words. I have but the good of our people at heart. What will come of us when we choose Patriarchs of their unworthy lines?' Wezar looked around him at the other Zekrids, and there seemed to be a fair number who sided with him on the matter.
'Boy! Speak no more, I am not so merciful as Orif here, and my patience not so great as Elia. Should I unleash myself upon you, you shall be as though you never were!' Palo gripped his spear and pointed it threateningly at Wezar.
'Woe!' Wezar shouted, 'you see this! You Zekrids! You allow this lesser creature to speak thus to one of you? You allow him to thus threaten my life? Why if the Patriarch were here, he would show this one no mercy!' and so the meeting devolved rapidly into one side hurling abuse at another, and thought Orif and Elia desperately tried to calm things down it was to no avail, and the factions lurched once more upon one another in an almighty brawl.
'People! Cease your foolishness! The Law! The Law!' Orif roared, but even as he spoke a large stone struck him a glancing blow on the side of the head, and he was dead before he hit the ground. 
As quickly as it had begun, the commotion died down, and all that could be heard was an unholy sound - and it came from Palo.
And Elia realised, in that moment, that all was lost. The near-maddened Palo clutched at his brother's body and let his rage and grief be known, and the Zekrids slowly withdrew as the gravity of what had happened slowly descended upon them. Only Elia remained, and she spoke.
'Know this I declare myself and my children, and these life-mates and children of Bato, who are as my own, free of and uninvolved in this conflict. We are innocent of the blood that has been shed and the blood that will be shed. Involve us not in your warring,' and with that, she retired to her tent and commanded all her children and life-mates, and all the children and life-mates of Bato, to have no part in the feud.

Palo swiftly brought the Beruwids and Calawids together under his leadership, and many of the children of Seri and Tse and Anja and Kae joined him too. Those who remained put themselves under Elia's protection and declared themselves innocent of all that was happening.

The conflict raged, and the Zekrids suffered a great many loss - the self-professed Patriarch Wezar was among the first to fall. Palo himself drove the spear that Eskandar had given him through his brother's heart. And that spear would drink amply of Eskandar blood. 
Zekra herself, filled with untold misery and grief, soon lay dying in Elia's tent, the other life-mates of Eskandar sitting miserably around her. And with her death, Palo grew ever more adamant to destroy the Zekrids altogether. Though Beru often went and spoke with her maddened son, he would pat his mother gently on the head and tell her that she had no reason to worry, he would soon cleanse the tribe of the traitors.

When news reached Elia that her eldest child, Ogos, had met his demise in a Beruwid attack on some Zekrids, she rose and went to Palo. Or the Patriarch, as he now called himself. 
'Listen to me Palo. I have told you before that me and mine are uninvolved in this conflict and innocent of the Eskanadran blood being shed. And here a child of mine has been killed. I wish after no vengeance and shall pray the Moon-Mother forgive you all. I bid you keep the evil of your war from me and mine,' and though he was full of resentment, he promised to do his all to give her what she wanted.

It was not long before Palo's anger turned upon others. The Zekrids had been so weakened that nothing much could be said of them anymore, and his anger and grief had given way to paranoia and suspicion. As children of Seri and Tse and Kae and Anja were indiscriminately targetted, the encampment filled to bursting with fear, and his paranoia soon reached other encampments which had capitulated to the Prophet-Patriarch in bygone days. And so began Palo's reign of terror, and the blood of the people flowed as forcefully as did the River of the Eskandars which ran through the great prairie-lands. And perhaps to Palo the blood which he shed was indeed as water. 

There came to Elia those who beseeched her to step in and put an end to Palo's tyranny and bloodshed, and her younger brother Hubal - one of the few remaining Zekrids - was at their helm. 
'Oh greatest warrioress! You pride of the Zekrids and pride of all Eskandars. None but you can put an end to this madman's rule. He has reached a level of haughtiness and elevation something wicked!' Hubal declared.
'I have neither a cow nor a bull in this conflict. It is not of my concern,' was her cold response. 
'Sister, listen to me. Do you not remember how our father brought you close to him and entrusted you with what he entrusted no other? And do you not remember how he brought you and elevated you and made you master over the Batowid host after Bato? And was it not known to all that Bato was the Patriarch's inheritor? And so you became Chief-Warrioress Elia of the Eliads, one of our tribal elders and greatest warriors and with a voice and authority amongst us. And it is the time that you rise up and take up your neglected duties and responsibilities once more - 'tis our right upon you to demand as much! For it is not you who was given this responsibility, but the Patriarch himself, and it is not yours to relieve yourself of what the Patriarch never relieved you!' 
'Begone from my sight, Hubal. You shan't drag me into this, and to what the foolish Wezar brought upon you all. By the Moon-Mother, you reap nothing more than the evil you did sow when first Bish was slain and then that colossal Orif was brought down by the lowest blow. Of this conflict I freed myself long ago, and of all the blood that has been spilt declare myself innocent!'
'Woe unto you! Woe! You free yourself of nothing through this hellish silence of yours! For in your silence you have taken a stance - a stance that allows the further shedding of blood! And by the Moon-Mother, when the matter reaches murder, and blood flows above the nose, having no position is the coward's position!' and with those cutting words, Hubal turned away and left with those who had come with him, and Elia was left to her thoughts.

And yet that was not the last of it, for it seemed that none wished that she be left in peace. Nay, all wished to drag her in! People from far off tribes and camps, who had for long been under the suzerainty of the Eskandars, came to her and pledged allegiance and endless loyalty and obedience to her as the Matriarch. And they bid her come to them to free them from the tyrant's yoke. Even so, she rejected them and demanded they leave her be. 
'By the Moon-Mother!' one of them declared, 'if you shan't come to us then we shall gather up all our people and all our supporters and all who support you, and we shall all come hither at once - whatever the cost!' 
'I beseech you leave me be!' she cried, 'I have no desire for your loyalty or your allegiance, and I wish not to be your Matriarch. My heart's one desire is that you go and never return. Be grateful for what you have - for what makes you know that should I come with you, you will be freed from what you suffer? What makes you know that it shan't be even worse for you? Do you not know that such rebellion and treason against a Patriarch only brings about curses and more suffering for all?' and though she spoke with them long and besought them leave, yet they persisted until she reluctantly agreed.

News of this eventually reached Palo and he erupts with a fury and began plotting for Elia's downfall, and the downfall of all who followed her. Yet before he could clamp down upon her and her followers in the camp, warning reached her and she immediately brought her family and supporters together and made her escape.  
Even so, Palo was not deterred, and he brought his many warriors together and gave chase with earnest. And in the Little Big-Trees did Elia lie in wait and ambush Palo's lumbering force. and dealt the Patriarch there a defeat which quickly reminded him why she was known far and wide as Elia the Warrioress, why her father had, in bygone days, elevated her to the rank of Chief-Warrioress in Bato's stead. And victorious did she march to the safety of friendly camps.
 
The rule of Eskandar thus split in two, those who pledged allegiance to Palo, and those who declared Elia their Matriarch. And though uneasy peace reigned for a while, soon messengers came to her from the main encampment beseeching her to march out and end the rule of Palo forever, to reunite the realm of the first Patriarch and lead his people into a new age of prosperity and peace. Once more she refused, demanding they return and make peace with their life under their new Patriarch. 
'Heed us, oh Matriarch, you will find amongst us a great many supporters. All are ready to rise up, all they need is your coming and your leadership. March forth with your warriors, and you will find warriors rising up in your support everywhere!'
'This will not sway me! Return, I say! This conflict is done and I shall do nothing to reignite it!' and though that was her position, she found that those whom she now dwelled among were of a different mind.
'Come Matriarch, you freed us from that Palo's yoke, will you deny these good people that same blessing? We are strong and many, let us up and aid our oppressed brothers!' in exasperation and disbelief and some anger, she turned on them.
'By the Moon-Mother! What am I to you? You name me your Matriarch and pledge allegiance to me, and you give your unfaltering oaths that you shall not disobey me what I command you - and when I command you disobey!? What are you people? What am I to you? By the Moon-Mother, if you do this, then you do it without me, and may the Moon-Mother then rid me of you and followers such as you, and may she give you a leader worthy of your likes!'

And against her protestations they prepared for war, and Elia was not one to let her warriors fight without her. Though she let them know that they disobeyed her by doing this, she reluctantly prepared and reluctantly marched forth with them, tearful that yet more blood was to be spilt. And even as she marched forth, Palo discovered the plotters and executed their ring-leaders. And he so frightened them and blackmailed them with threats to their families and lives that they unwillingly marched forth with him to fight the Matriarch - for they were a people of little faith, and they did not think their families and live worth sacrificing that the Matriarch be victorious. When the news reached Elia she rose up and said some mighty terrifying words to her followers.
'Verily the Moon-Mother has heard my complaints! Verily my prayers are ere long answered!' and in the battle that took place between the Matriarch and the Patriarch, the two mighty children of Eskandar met on the field, and with Palo's spear buried deep within her chest, Elia gave up the spirit there.

And thus did Palo regain his rule over the Eskanadran lands. Many of Elia and Bato's family were handed to him, whereon they were immediately executed. But as is always the case with fugitives, some managed to escape. And so ends the beginning of the Eskandars. Future generations would tell how the maddened Palo later declared his great father a god and own life-mate of the Moon-Mother, the Sun-Father, and how he - Palo! - was their very own child and greatest of all mortals. And future generations tell also of the fiery haired prophetess who many years later came to the tribe and claimed to be descended of the Patriarch through the greatest of his sons, that legendary Bato, and how she was rejected. But what is that, good reader, to us? For these are mere tales and myths and legends of the ancients.