The Erasure of the Tarmish

The story of the erasure of the Tarmish people is derived from the third canon of Jala, a holy text revered in the Hallowed Faith. The story recounts the tale of a queen of the tarmish people, she is a beautiful and lavished queen whose every desire is met. However, trouble is brought to the queen one day with news that her husband, the king, has fallen gravely ill and is no longer capable of ruling. The queen was given the opportunity to assume rulership of the kingdom, however, she declined this responsibility and instead trusted rule of the kingdom to the king's advisor, Albarcosh. The king's advisor would rule the kingdom as the tarmish queen would bathe and wander the gardens, this would prove troublesome as Albarcosh would cause tensions with a rival kingdom with whom the Tarmish were once friendly. Insulted by the dishonour of dealing with Albarcosh, they refused to do trade with the tarmish leading to great shortages of food amongst the common folk. The people attempt to compel the queen to help them and see that they may eat, however, the queen once again delegates the task to Albarcosh. A week passes but the situation has not abated, the people remain hungry and it is revealed the Albarcosh has been fraternising with another realm, an enemy of the kingdom whom Albarcosh had insulted. He had schemed a plan with this kingdom that they would invade their now mutual rival and split the lands and wealth thereof between them. The people protested such actions as they feared that such a war would only bring more suffering unto themselves, once again they pleaded with the queen to intervene. The queen did not hear their plea, instead, she chose to delegate to the grand general of the military, whom she entrusted to defeat the enemies who Albarcosh had created. The general was successful, however, his return from the newly conquered land was not a joyous one, he returned at the head of a hostile army which sought to enslave another kingdom as they had the first. The common folk rallied to the queen, certain she would lead a defence of her kingdom that was now in grave danger, she refused this call and instead ordered Albarcosh to form an army with which to defend her kingdom. Albarcosh defected to the invading army, who laid waste to the queen's kingdom and crowned its own general prince of the land. The queen was a royal no more and among the trappings of the peasantry, she became hungry and frail. She prayed to the deity Aakomet, the goddess of mercy and courage, to save her from the destitution which had engulfed her. Aakomet granted her voice to the peasant queen and commanded her to take her royal jewels to the market, from there she may buy seeds through which Aakomet may grant her grace and from them blossom fruit of which may feed the kingdom. The peasant queen refused, the jewels were her last claim to power, and so Aakomet cursed her so that she would crave the wealth of the slothful, banishing her to woods where she may only avail at night. The kingdom would crumble, being abandoned by even those who had conquered it. The peasant queen would inhabit the outer realms of men for centuries thereon, causing the downfall of all those who would not provide unto themselves the respect to handle their affairs, she would topple them and take all that they had possessed and yet her craving never ceased.