Vrüžnë

Vrüžnë, also known by his regnal name Kal-Vrüžnë, was the first Öšdúu-Haðü, that is, the first king of the city of Kal-Haðü, from its inception around 25022-21 to his assassination in 25018 AYM. His reign was marked by unsuccessful attempts to subdue the various warring factions that dominated the city during this time, a feat that was finally achieved by his successor Ðaŋharkhö.

Biography

Compared to the depth of information that exists about his successor Ðaŋharkhö, Vrüžnë himself is much less well-known or well-studied. All that is known comes from the histories of Ðaŋharkhö himself, in which Vrüžnë is portrayed as someone who had the right mindset but whose goal was only completed through his successor. As such, these histories almost certainly provide a limited if not biased portrayal of the individual, leaving much of his life up to speculation.

For his early years, the time period necessitates that Vrüžnë was born in the Ïlýrhonid Tribe. The name Vrüžnë seems to imply an origin within the Bašurhúd Family, as their naming conventions regularly created short, monosyllabic words. Like many other individuals born in the Ïlýrhonid Tribe, his name is not included in any of the 12 families' surviving Žötó-Ïdhatón (their genealogical records).

Vrüžnë exited the Ïlýrhonid Tribe during the highly-chaotic period from 25025 to 25022 AYM; the exact manner in which he emigrated (whether as part of the Wýðúric or Khýnýšic Expeditions, or the two major waves of emigration that followed each of them) is unknown. However, he must have exited early, as by 25022 AYM he was already at a powerful enough position within the city of Kal-Haðü to warrant becoming its first king. As one may come to guess, the method in which he even came to Kal-Haðü is also unknown; the transitional period of the Púlö-Ïlýrhonid means that he may have settled at any of the formative cities in the area before sticking to Kal-Haðü.

Reign

The situation at the time of Vrüžnë was highly chaotic. It was the apex of what is known as the Púlö-Ïlýrhonid, in which the populations of the various Wýðúrian Cities shifted dramatically as people moved to be with those that shared their beliefs and outlooks. By the time of 24023-22 AYM, these people of common ideologies began to fight aganst other groups for dominance of their respective cities. It was only upon the subjugation of these warring groups that the true 'fossilization' of the city (that is, the creation of the extremely isolationist and absolutist governments known as the Öšdúu) could be accomplished. However, Öšdúu-like governments (of which Vrüžnë's position was one) were also created in the midst of ongoing conflict as a preliminary attempt at subjugation. These primitive governments could be from one of the warring groups as away to assert their ultimate control, or it could be from an entirely separate individual or group. Vrüžnë is implied to be part of the former, although it is unsure which group he was part of.

Kal-Haðü was one of the very last cities to truly fossilize, being dominated by infighting all the way to 25016-25015 AYM. Vrüžnë, through his newly-established position of power, was mainly in charge of a personal army and tasked with using them to assert the dominance of his group by any means necessary. Although a promising plan in theory, Vrüžnë was extremely fickle in his duties; the annals of Ðaŋharkhö describe both him and Vrüžnë as being both 'thrust onto the supreme throne by force', who 'had little hope in the trajectory of the world in generalless the city, and who saw no way to recompense the evils therein with good'. The implication is thus that, at least for the majority of his reign, Vrüžnë was dragged down by inexperience, lack of confidence and determination, and severe dysfunction and structure in, among other things, his newly-created power status and the army that he was so abruptly given. For the first few years of his reign, he was almost constantly holed up in his palace, a specialized location built just for him in the middle of the city. This location, which was underground, held symbolic importance as it was also the location of the Wëbëlup-Wýðúr of the city, thus linking the newly-founded role with the overarching identity of the city.

Around mid-25020 AYM, Vrüžnë would change his behavior dramatically, possibly having been endowed with new ideas, or possibly being fed up with the constant haranging that he was subject to. From then until his death, he was never at his palace, but constantly led a series of frenzied attacks throughout the city that aimed to crush any and all resistance to his rule. At the beginning, his group was relieved at Vrüžnë being active, especially as his own reign wasa partly a reflection of his group as well. Vrüžnë would attack his first targets, a cluster of small groups located in the northern locale of the city, with devastating rage, commanding his army to carry out a grand sweep of the area in an action that did not seem like a mere attack, but more like an entire purging. All of a sudden, public perception towards him and his group soiled, as it was perceived that Vrüžnë was not bringing order to the city but destroying cultures and ideas and slaughtering people.

For the next two years, Vrüžnë would shut his ears from any rebuttals or criticisms and lead his army on these continued rampages. He led his army from the north to the east of the city and purged the inhabitants there, all the while his own group down in the south saw its getting targeted by more and more attacks by rival groups, who had largely united into one. They likely blamed them for Vrüžnë's behavior, perhaps suspecting that they were still directing Vrüžnë's actions. During those two years, Vrüžnë's group dwindled down from 2,000 to 400. The remaining members would collectively move to meet with Vrüžnë, and the rival groups gave chase. Vrüžnë's army, his group, and the rival groups all met up at the eastern city, with the first two attempting to reconcile and revise their plans before the rival groups appeared. Vrüžnë would briefly command his army to retreat before turning back and facing these groups. In the ensuing battle, his army was almost entirey wiped out, and Vrüžnë himself was killed, bringing an end to one of the most conflicted and chaotic reigns in the entire Hýyo-Wýðúr.

Legacy

Vrüžnë is mainly described as someone who knew what had to be done, yet had no intention of actually carrying it out. He did partly succeed in his goals, having cleared the northern and eastern parts of the city of infighting, but in response, the groups of the southwest and west banded together and brought an end to his rampages. In such a way, Vrüžnë did minimize the infighting in the city; he cleared certain regions, and his violence insinuated the others to group up as well against him. However, this relative peace was short-lived, as once again the allied groups fell apart in the mere days following the death of their common enemy, and new contentious groups sprung up in the northern and eastern parts of the city. Vrüžnë's own group found itself highly unpopular and a mere shadow of its former self, and would itself be destroyed by other groups even before the rise of Vrüžnë's successor Ðaŋharkhö.

Ðaŋharkhö is indeed seen as the true victor of the city, and someone who finally brought to a definitive close the infighting that plagued the reign of his predecessor. In so doing, Ðaŋharkhö had ironically followed the same general strategy of Vrüžnë; he also led several devastating campaigns that purged the city of radicals. However, he did so in defiance of his own group, who had installed him as a puppet leader and nothing else. In fact, it was his secrecy that many historians credit as the deciding factor and that which set him apart from the failures of Vrüžnë; he created a personal army of his own friends and acquaintances during the first four years of his reign, eventually gaining a substantial army with which he completely surprised his enemies and completed the objective that Vrüžnë had attempted to do.