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Nice style, Machiavellian; A bit... arcane, I guess.
A great read, let loose the Mongols!
A great read, let loose the Mongols!
I am interested to see how this plays out. I wish the Horde good luck and good pillaging!
After his effortless victory over the Buriats, Kutula Khan still thirsted for actual combat. He felt that he could not truly honor the war god of the mongols, without an actual armed conflict, something which the Buriats had not offered. When in summer a boy from the buriat tribe who was considered to be blessed by the gods told Kutula the tale of his fathers death at the hand of the Merkits, Kutula decided to adopt the boy and ride against the Merkits.
The first of september in the year 1151 saw the mongol tribe of Kutula Khan riding against the Merkits. Where the buriats failed to offer resistance, the proud and formidable Merkits instead offered combat at every village. While the Merkits and their Khan Chiledu proved to be dangerous opponents, the gods favored Kutula. Combat between the two tribes remained confined to the lands claimed by the Merkits and much of their homes were burned, their horses killed. When in november the winter came early, Chiledu was thrown from his horse and killed. For a week, the Merkits fought on, the former khans sons fighting both Kutula and each other. But as the winter seemed only to get worse, the Merkits, their homes razed agreed to surrender to Kutula.
While the people of the buriat clans were treated as brothers to the mongols under Kutula, the Merkits were a conquered people and were treated as second class citizens for the next ten years. It would not be till the rise of Yesugei that the merkits would be treated as other mongols.
It is said that in the deep of winter, one night Kutula revisted the buriat boy who had spoken to him of the Merkits. Confused as to where he should next go, the boy told him that as long as the lands were open and free his horsemen would be unstoppable. At first Kutula did not know what to make of this, but when his scouts reported to him that the Nestorian Keraits were constructing walls to defend their lands from the agression of their neighbors, Kutula understood the warning the gods had sent him.
When winter began to let up in march 1152, Kutula khan and his tribe invaded the lands of the proud Keraits. It is said that many epic battles were fought that spring, some of which are still spoken of in tales to this day. As well as the Nestorian keraits fought, it was not enough. Kutula had absorbed two tribes into his own and had many more horses and men, well trained by recent combat. Ultimately the Keriats surrendered, their own khan taking his life to allow his people to acknowledge the leadership of Kutula. With great respect for the strange keraits, Kutula and Ambakai (Kutula's half brother and leader of the Tayichi'ut) agreed to treat the Keriats as brothers, joining their two heritages.
With the western border secured in Kutula's opinion, the Khans began to turn their attention east, for the most part ignoring the war that broke out between the Oirats and Kyrgiz to the west.
A "secured" western border. Oirats represented in tan, Kyrgiz by gray, and Naiman by turquois
The next few years passed in relative peace, the Mongol tribes under Kutula and Ambakai struggling to survive as they always have in their unforgiving land. In 1154, Kutula got fed up with the humiliations his second wife continued to bring him. Outraged, he banished her, having several of his most trusted men return her and his daughters by her to the girls father in the court of the Khitai to the south. Without the leadership of their old khan, one of the Keriat clans in Tannu Ola abandons the ways of the Nestorians, taking for their own the ways of Kutula and the mongol war gods. After five years of fighting, Katula khan discovers that the Oirat war ended with a defeat to the Oirats, in which they lost land and submitted an oath of allegiance to the victorious Kyrgiz. Kutula khan however was unconcerned with such news, as he and Ambakai were busy preparing a plan to bring an end to the mongol/tartar fueds that had begun even before the time of thier great betrayal when dealing with the two leaders father, Kabul Khan.
The first of september in the year 1151 saw the mongol tribe of Kutula Khan riding against the Merkits. Where the buriats failed to offer resistance, the proud and formidable Merkits instead offered combat at every village. While the Merkits and their Khan Chiledu proved to be dangerous opponents, the gods favored Kutula. Combat between the two tribes remained confined to the lands claimed by the Merkits and much of their homes were burned, their horses killed. When in november the winter came early, Chiledu was thrown from his horse and killed. For a week, the Merkits fought on, the former khans sons fighting both Kutula and each other. But as the winter seemed only to get worse, the Merkits, their homes razed agreed to surrender to Kutula.
While the people of the buriat clans were treated as brothers to the mongols under Kutula, the Merkits were a conquered people and were treated as second class citizens for the next ten years. It would not be till the rise of Yesugei that the merkits would be treated as other mongols.
It is said that in the deep of winter, one night Kutula revisted the buriat boy who had spoken to him of the Merkits. Confused as to where he should next go, the boy told him that as long as the lands were open and free his horsemen would be unstoppable. At first Kutula did not know what to make of this, but when his scouts reported to him that the Nestorian Keraits were constructing walls to defend their lands from the agression of their neighbors, Kutula understood the warning the gods had sent him.
When winter began to let up in march 1152, Kutula khan and his tribe invaded the lands of the proud Keraits. It is said that many epic battles were fought that spring, some of which are still spoken of in tales to this day. As well as the Nestorian keraits fought, it was not enough. Kutula had absorbed two tribes into his own and had many more horses and men, well trained by recent combat. Ultimately the Keriats surrendered, their own khan taking his life to allow his people to acknowledge the leadership of Kutula. With great respect for the strange keraits, Kutula and Ambakai (Kutula's half brother and leader of the Tayichi'ut) agreed to treat the Keriats as brothers, joining their two heritages.
With the western border secured in Kutula's opinion, the Khans began to turn their attention east, for the most part ignoring the war that broke out between the Oirats and Kyrgiz to the west.
A "secured" western border. Oirats represented in tan, Kyrgiz by gray, and Naiman by turquois
The next few years passed in relative peace, the Mongol tribes under Kutula and Ambakai struggling to survive as they always have in their unforgiving land. In 1154, Kutula got fed up with the humiliations his second wife continued to bring him. Outraged, he banished her, having several of his most trusted men return her and his daughters by her to the girls father in the court of the Khitai to the south. Without the leadership of their old khan, one of the Keriat clans in Tannu Ola abandons the ways of the Nestorians, taking for their own the ways of Kutula and the mongol war gods. After five years of fighting, Katula khan discovers that the Oirat war ended with a defeat to the Oirats, in which they lost land and submitted an oath of allegiance to the victorious Kyrgiz. Kutula khan however was unconcerned with such news, as he and Ambakai were busy preparing a plan to bring an end to the mongol/tartar fueds that had begun even before the time of thier great betrayal when dealing with the two leaders father, Kabul Khan.
In an effort to end the Tartar raids and the long standing fued that had existed between the Tartars and the Mongol clans under Kutula and Ambaki. The two, traveled to meet with Tartar shamans and the Clan leader in an effort to promote inter-marriage of the clans. The Tartars cared little for peace and instead seized the leaders and turned them over to the Jurchen Jin to the south for a sizable reward. The Jurchen Jin still hated the Mongol tribe for the actions of Kabul Khan in insulting their emperor and defeating their forces. A public display occured in Hui-Ning, where the two mongol khans were humiliated and then executed before the assembled masses of the Jin.
Kutula's younger brother Kaidu quickly took power and organized the clans under him. He said he would not have long to live, but if the clans followed him, he would breathe life long enough to avenge the insulting crime the Tartars and Jin had commited. Over twenty thousand fresh mounted warriors gathered to Kaidu's call for war against the traitorous Tartars and villainous Jin in the January of 1158.
In late February, amidst curtains of blinding snow, the mongol horsemen followed Kaidu on his 'ride of retribution' into the Tartar lands. The first battles caught the Tartars unprepared, as the forces under Kaidu encountered the enemy without their mounts. With gruesome efficiency, the tartar resistance was cut down or trampled under the weight of thousands of steeds. Later the mongols encountered more organized opposition and while they lost many brave warriors to tartar arrows or lance, with Kaidu's leadership they still carried the battles. Perhaps the greatest ally for Kaidu and his mongols though was not their own strength, but the weakness of the Tartar leadership and the renowned tartar treachery. In march, several powerful Tartar chiefs defected, joining Kaidu in his southern ride and pledging their loyalty to him. In one battle the Tartar Khan's own brother betrayed him, joining with Kaidu and slaughtering his own troops. As march came to a close, Kaidu recieved word that the Tartar khan was dead. Brutally he turned upon the Tartar chieftens that had defected to his cause, claiming that he could not trust traitors to clan and family in his midst. Hundreds of Tartar men were put to death, men who had fought with Kaidu against their own. The remaining tartars joined Kaidu, as he prepared to strike a blow against the Jin Empire.
On the border of the old Tartar lands lay the rich lands of the Jurchen Jin and their splendid Capital of Hui-Ning. Unlike the other regions the Mongols had conquered, the Jin lands had walls and a well trained military. Kaidu however had an advantage of his own, the Jin never expected him to dare to attack. On the 1st of May 1158 he invaded, pillaging the countryside around Hui-Ning with impunity. Even though the Mongols could not penetrate the walls with ease, the Jin Emperor could not sit by and allow the hordes of Kaidu to pillage and raze the northern villages of his land unchallenged.
After months of suffering pillage and rape, the peasants of the Jin Empire cries for help were finally answered in early October, when an army of 12,000 marched in rank and file steadily north. Drunk on past victories, Kaidu foolishly challenged the army to direct combat, battering them with numerous charges. This proved to be a disaster. Well over seven thousand mongols and horses perished outside the walls of mighty Hui-Ning. Kaidu and the mongols fled back into the tartar land they now inherited from their former enemies.
Over the course of the following year and a half, Kaidu and his horde reverted back to the tactics which favored the mobile mongol horsemen and archers. Riding in to Jurchen territory, weakening armies and garrisons with quick strikes and then retreating with pillaged supplies and loot. The most significant of these raids occured in the may of 1160 when Kaidu and his horsemen attacked the fatigued Jin army of 12,000 when they were coming out of a particularly treacherous mountain pass. Over the course of the next week, Kaidu struck again and again at the army, weakening it with each sucessive raid and fleeing before the grounded Jin troops could really strike back. Two weeks after leaving the mountain pass, less then fifty troops of the 12,000 made it alive to the city of Hui-Ning. The Jurchen Emperor had enough with the troublesome mongols and delivered several chests of treasure worth around almost 100 bars of gold to convince the mongol Khan to "go home". Kaidu took the treasures and left, declaring his brother avenged.
The Tartars were no more and the demonized Jurchen had been forced to bribe the Mongols into a uneasy peace. Feeling his job done, Kaidu passed on control of the tribes to his brother Kutula's third son, Yisugei. Legends say that Kaidu then rode into the north where he met with the war god and gave his own life so that his brothers line might prosper. Others claim that Kaidu traveled east, before he came upon a trackless sea and tiring of his legs, grew fins and became a shark in the sea.
The mongol lands at the start of Yesugei's reign
Kutula's younger brother Kaidu quickly took power and organized the clans under him. He said he would not have long to live, but if the clans followed him, he would breathe life long enough to avenge the insulting crime the Tartars and Jin had commited. Over twenty thousand fresh mounted warriors gathered to Kaidu's call for war against the traitorous Tartars and villainous Jin in the January of 1158.
In late February, amidst curtains of blinding snow, the mongol horsemen followed Kaidu on his 'ride of retribution' into the Tartar lands. The first battles caught the Tartars unprepared, as the forces under Kaidu encountered the enemy without their mounts. With gruesome efficiency, the tartar resistance was cut down or trampled under the weight of thousands of steeds. Later the mongols encountered more organized opposition and while they lost many brave warriors to tartar arrows or lance, with Kaidu's leadership they still carried the battles. Perhaps the greatest ally for Kaidu and his mongols though was not their own strength, but the weakness of the Tartar leadership and the renowned tartar treachery. In march, several powerful Tartar chiefs defected, joining Kaidu in his southern ride and pledging their loyalty to him. In one battle the Tartar Khan's own brother betrayed him, joining with Kaidu and slaughtering his own troops. As march came to a close, Kaidu recieved word that the Tartar khan was dead. Brutally he turned upon the Tartar chieftens that had defected to his cause, claiming that he could not trust traitors to clan and family in his midst. Hundreds of Tartar men were put to death, men who had fought with Kaidu against their own. The remaining tartars joined Kaidu, as he prepared to strike a blow against the Jin Empire.
On the border of the old Tartar lands lay the rich lands of the Jurchen Jin and their splendid Capital of Hui-Ning. Unlike the other regions the Mongols had conquered, the Jin lands had walls and a well trained military. Kaidu however had an advantage of his own, the Jin never expected him to dare to attack. On the 1st of May 1158 he invaded, pillaging the countryside around Hui-Ning with impunity. Even though the Mongols could not penetrate the walls with ease, the Jin Emperor could not sit by and allow the hordes of Kaidu to pillage and raze the northern villages of his land unchallenged.
After months of suffering pillage and rape, the peasants of the Jin Empire cries for help were finally answered in early October, when an army of 12,000 marched in rank and file steadily north. Drunk on past victories, Kaidu foolishly challenged the army to direct combat, battering them with numerous charges. This proved to be a disaster. Well over seven thousand mongols and horses perished outside the walls of mighty Hui-Ning. Kaidu and the mongols fled back into the tartar land they now inherited from their former enemies.
Over the course of the following year and a half, Kaidu and his horde reverted back to the tactics which favored the mobile mongol horsemen and archers. Riding in to Jurchen territory, weakening armies and garrisons with quick strikes and then retreating with pillaged supplies and loot. The most significant of these raids occured in the may of 1160 when Kaidu and his horsemen attacked the fatigued Jin army of 12,000 when they were coming out of a particularly treacherous mountain pass. Over the course of the next week, Kaidu struck again and again at the army, weakening it with each sucessive raid and fleeing before the grounded Jin troops could really strike back. Two weeks after leaving the mountain pass, less then fifty troops of the 12,000 made it alive to the city of Hui-Ning. The Jurchen Emperor had enough with the troublesome mongols and delivered several chests of treasure worth around almost 100 bars of gold to convince the mongol Khan to "go home". Kaidu took the treasures and left, declaring his brother avenged.
The Tartars were no more and the demonized Jurchen had been forced to bribe the Mongols into a uneasy peace. Feeling his job done, Kaidu passed on control of the tribes to his brother Kutula's third son, Yisugei. Legends say that Kaidu then rode into the north where he met with the war god and gave his own life so that his brothers line might prosper. Others claim that Kaidu traveled east, before he came upon a trackless sea and tiring of his legs, grew fins and became a shark in the sea.
The mongol lands at the start of Yesugei's reign
I finally got up to reading this and I must say, this is great work! I love the maps and writing and especially the Mongolian MOD! I haven't seen a Mongolian on yet, other than this, which is very quite ironic. I'll be reading this one guaranteed!
Grew fins and became a shark? That's pretty cool. He did a great job during his reign, that's for sure.
So all in all the first ten years have been extremely productive. And a shark is very appropriate I feel. Keep up the good work.
In 1161 Yisugei came to power as head of the Mongol tribes. His father and uncle had done much of the work for him, defeating the treacherous Tartars and uniting the clans to the west. Yisugei became detirmined to leave a unified Mongolia to his sons. Appointing several wise men to his council, including some former Nestorian's, the first years of Yisugei's reign were slow, but prosperous. Food and hunting was plentiful and the steeds and cattle were well grazed. To those not of mongol blood, it may have seemed that Yisugei did not have the same thirst for battle as his relatives or that he was too cautious, but those of his tribe knew that he was gathering the strength of his people. A healthy and well fed population base would be better able to topple the forces of his enemies.
To the north, the former allies of the Tartars, the Lamutes found themselves without much in the way of food, horses, or willing fighters. In 1167 Yisugei began a series of devestating raids into their territory, slaughtering their women, capturing their children and robbing their cattle. Many mongol raiders were so pleased with the land and its women that they decided to stay, pushing the Lamutes that were still organized in resistance to their homeland. The raids began to stop, with many of the Lamutes accepting Yesugei as their leader, while those who did not settled in the region of Baladok, not having the strength to openly oppose Yisugei's seizure of land.
In 1169 a band of mongol warriors who thought they should not have to follow the will of Yisugei took control of the villages in Buriat. Their reign, which was far more brutal than what most enjoyed under Yisugei, only lasted a few months. During the time before the winter snows, Yisugei led a campaign against them, butchering the rebels and taking their wives and children for his and his warriors own.
The next few years passed as peacefully as they could in Mongolia. Yisugei making strides towards joining the last of the Lamute lands to his own and fulfilling his promise of a unified mongolia. In 1174, Yisugei seemed poised to achieve his goal. Yet on the eve of what would have been his lasting acomplishment, Yisugei was poisoned and quickly died. Many hands pointed to the Lamutes, but other more sinister rumors spread as well. Yisugei's son, Temujin, was to succeed his father as Khan, but he was only 12 and several conspiring clan leaders said no to the idea. Instead leadership of the Borjigid or united mongol tribe passed passed to it's 'ally' the Taichi'uts. The leader of the people of the hawk, Todoyan Khan, quickly seized power and unwilling to take Temujin into his own household, he exiled the young boy, his siblings and mother to the eastern border of Mongolia, in the harsh wilds barely tamed by the tartars.
Temujin was supposed to perish in exile, but this act of treachery only hardened the young boy. In the coming years, his skin became as tough as leather hide, his strength that of many bulls, and his resolve as unbending as stone. He vowed to fulfill his fathers dream and more, his path paved with hate and driven with the thirst for revenge.
To the north, the former allies of the Tartars, the Lamutes found themselves without much in the way of food, horses, or willing fighters. In 1167 Yisugei began a series of devestating raids into their territory, slaughtering their women, capturing their children and robbing their cattle. Many mongol raiders were so pleased with the land and its women that they decided to stay, pushing the Lamutes that were still organized in resistance to their homeland. The raids began to stop, with many of the Lamutes accepting Yesugei as their leader, while those who did not settled in the region of Baladok, not having the strength to openly oppose Yisugei's seizure of land.
In 1169 a band of mongol warriors who thought they should not have to follow the will of Yisugei took control of the villages in Buriat. Their reign, which was far more brutal than what most enjoyed under Yisugei, only lasted a few months. During the time before the winter snows, Yisugei led a campaign against them, butchering the rebels and taking their wives and children for his and his warriors own.
The next few years passed as peacefully as they could in Mongolia. Yisugei making strides towards joining the last of the Lamute lands to his own and fulfilling his promise of a unified mongolia. In 1174, Yisugei seemed poised to achieve his goal. Yet on the eve of what would have been his lasting acomplishment, Yisugei was poisoned and quickly died. Many hands pointed to the Lamutes, but other more sinister rumors spread as well. Yisugei's son, Temujin, was to succeed his father as Khan, but he was only 12 and several conspiring clan leaders said no to the idea. Instead leadership of the Borjigid or united mongol tribe passed passed to it's 'ally' the Taichi'uts. The leader of the people of the hawk, Todoyan Khan, quickly seized power and unwilling to take Temujin into his own household, he exiled the young boy, his siblings and mother to the eastern border of Mongolia, in the harsh wilds barely tamed by the tartars.
Temujin was supposed to perish in exile, but this act of treachery only hardened the young boy. In the coming years, his skin became as tough as leather hide, his strength that of many bulls, and his resolve as unbending as stone. He vowed to fulfill his fathers dream and more, his path paved with hate and driven with the thirst for revenge.
Excellent AAR! The next post should be particularly bloody when Temujin takes revenge! 
As you wish: Gimme a T! Gimme an E! .... Gimme a N! Temujin, Temujin, Temujin!!!nalivayko said:Temujin, Temujin, Temujin!!! Let's all cheer him up
So, how's that update going, Machi?
In the four years after his exile, Temujin had grown into a great warrior and skilled horsemen, fueled by his hate and thirst for revenge. While Todoyan Khan of the Taichi'uts ruled over most of Mongolia, in the lands of the Tartars Temujin thrived. Still barely accepted amongst the other clans, the outcast Temujin was warmly accepted by the broken tartar clans after he proved himself. After leading several sucessful raids against the Jurchen, by 1178 A.D. Temujin had won for himself a place of respect and power within the tartars, this of course was not enough for the man who would one day become Genghis Khan.
Haunted by the memory of his father and the treachery that had prevented him from achieving total unification of mongolia, Temujin looked north of the tartar lands to the remaining territory of the Lamutes. Gathering to him many greedy and bloodthirsty warriors, Temujin decided that to win his vengence, he must first spread his name and influence. In April, Temujin and his loyal horsemen rode into the Lamute lands. The men who rose against him were cut down, the women and children smashed under foot. For over a year Temujin and his bloodthirsty warriors fought, pillaged and conquered the lamute lands and as he did, his name and reputation spread, gathering to him more and more disenfranchised fighters to him. The Lamutes had suffered enough and could fight no more, bowing before the superior organization of Temujin. They soon acknowledged Temujin as their leader, causing the new Tayichi'ut Khan, Aguchu to grow worried.
Over the following years, Aguchu Khan could only watch on with horror as Temujin's name spread and with it his influence. Aguchu put out rewards for Temujin's head, but most did not accept. Those that did either joined the growing army of the exile, or found their heads severed from their bodies and returned to their master to Aguchu's disgust. With each passing year, Aguchu Khan and the Jamuka coalition (the elders who did not accept Temujin as their leader when his father died) grew more afraid, relations becoming tense, causing bickering and infighting to errupt. This only aided Temujin and he soon found himself in the position to write history with his sword.
By the beginning of 1182 A.D., while not yet even twenty years of age, Temujin had grown into a fearsome warrior and honored leader. Declaring that the cowards of the Jamuka coalition had caused the death of his father and usurped his power and the destiny of the mongol people, Temujin made it clear that he had returned to right the wrongs done unto him. Taking the title, Great Khan, or Genghis Khan, Temujin broke the control of the Tayichi'ut's over the rest of the clans. With thousands of veterans from his years of exile, Temujin Genghis Khan invaded the north lands, knowing his time of revenge was finally at hand.
The lands of the Genghis Khan at his rise to power, 1182
In truth, the Tayichi'ut's did not put up much of a fight. Temujin and Genghis Khan became the name on every mongol's lips. For eight months Temujin and his forces overwhelmed the Tayichi'uts, slaughtering their forces at every battle. The great khan did not stop there though, Temujin hunted down every last member of the Jamuka coalition, then before slaughtering them like sheep, killed their children before their eyes and took their women or if he wasn't up to it, had one of his soldiers do it. Aguchu was spared that particular death, killed by an arrow to the throat in one of the early battles. Yet even with his enemies dead, Temujin felt unsatisfied. His vengence left him empty inside and at first the only thing he had to fill that space was hate. Ordering the death of all of the Tayichi'ut men, the Khan's army butchered the once proud Tayichi'ut, former allies, for another month. The women were spared, but the Tayichi'ut were no more.
Having built for himself a throne from the bones of his enemies, Temujin began the process of forging an empire fitting for such, one carved out at the end of a sword and fed from the flesh and blood of all who opposed him. The reign of Genghis Khan had only just begun.
Haunted by the memory of his father and the treachery that had prevented him from achieving total unification of mongolia, Temujin looked north of the tartar lands to the remaining territory of the Lamutes. Gathering to him many greedy and bloodthirsty warriors, Temujin decided that to win his vengence, he must first spread his name and influence. In April, Temujin and his loyal horsemen rode into the Lamute lands. The men who rose against him were cut down, the women and children smashed under foot. For over a year Temujin and his bloodthirsty warriors fought, pillaged and conquered the lamute lands and as he did, his name and reputation spread, gathering to him more and more disenfranchised fighters to him. The Lamutes had suffered enough and could fight no more, bowing before the superior organization of Temujin. They soon acknowledged Temujin as their leader, causing the new Tayichi'ut Khan, Aguchu to grow worried.
Over the following years, Aguchu Khan could only watch on with horror as Temujin's name spread and with it his influence. Aguchu put out rewards for Temujin's head, but most did not accept. Those that did either joined the growing army of the exile, or found their heads severed from their bodies and returned to their master to Aguchu's disgust. With each passing year, Aguchu Khan and the Jamuka coalition (the elders who did not accept Temujin as their leader when his father died) grew more afraid, relations becoming tense, causing bickering and infighting to errupt. This only aided Temujin and he soon found himself in the position to write history with his sword.
By the beginning of 1182 A.D., while not yet even twenty years of age, Temujin had grown into a fearsome warrior and honored leader. Declaring that the cowards of the Jamuka coalition had caused the death of his father and usurped his power and the destiny of the mongol people, Temujin made it clear that he had returned to right the wrongs done unto him. Taking the title, Great Khan, or Genghis Khan, Temujin broke the control of the Tayichi'ut's over the rest of the clans. With thousands of veterans from his years of exile, Temujin Genghis Khan invaded the north lands, knowing his time of revenge was finally at hand.
The lands of the Genghis Khan at his rise to power, 1182
In truth, the Tayichi'ut's did not put up much of a fight. Temujin and Genghis Khan became the name on every mongol's lips. For eight months Temujin and his forces overwhelmed the Tayichi'uts, slaughtering their forces at every battle. The great khan did not stop there though, Temujin hunted down every last member of the Jamuka coalition, then before slaughtering them like sheep, killed their children before their eyes and took their women or if he wasn't up to it, had one of his soldiers do it. Aguchu was spared that particular death, killed by an arrow to the throat in one of the early battles. Yet even with his enemies dead, Temujin felt unsatisfied. His vengence left him empty inside and at first the only thing he had to fill that space was hate. Ordering the death of all of the Tayichi'ut men, the Khan's army butchered the once proud Tayichi'ut, former allies, for another month. The women were spared, but the Tayichi'ut were no more.
Having built for himself a throne from the bones of his enemies, Temujin began the process of forging an empire fitting for such, one carved out at the end of a sword and fed from the flesh and blood of all who opposed him. The reign of Genghis Khan had only just begun.