Also known as the Battle of the Tuwhera Plain, the Battle of the Six Kings marked the end of the longest conflict in the history of Whenua—the three-century struggle for the vacant
Kaumatua thrones. Its conclusion led directly to the First Kaunihera and the drafting of the
Heptad Codex.
The Conflict
Prelude
For over three centuries, war raged throughout the lands of Whenua. Following the death of Kaha, older brother the Kaumatua family, the realm descended into a prolonged succession crisis.
With the disappearance of the other siblings and the Kaumatua lineage gone, the great thrones of Kūpapa lay unclaimed. Greed, ambition, and shifting alliances drove the new monarchs of the continent, each seeking to become the next to sit upon the ancestral seats of Kaha.
Despite countless campaigns and innumerable battles, no claimant prevailed. The conflict—intermittent yet unceasing—gradually eroded the kingdoms, and hope for resolution diminished with each passing generation.
By mutual agreement and out of exhaustion, the Six Kings finally resolved to bring the war to an end through one decisive engagement.
On the dawn of Tahiwhetu 16th, under the celestial conjunction of Tahiaki (the Ram-Flame) and Kiorenui (the Great Rat), the armies of the six kingdoms converged on the Tuwhera Plain.
This site held symbolic significance: almost nine centuries earlier, it had been the location of the final confrontation of the Dark War.
There, on the same soil where an ancient conflict had concluded, the six armies advanced into position, prepared to determine the outcome of the longest war in Whenua’s recorded history.
According to multiple accounts, just before the war horns were sounded, two individuals appeared at the center of the battlefield. Their arrival is variably described as sudden, unexplained, or even divine in character.
These figures were Kaiwhakaatu, a young Invokā, and Totoka, his sworn guardian. Both were born in the diminished territories of the former kingdom of Kūpapa, and both had experienced the devastation of the continental war since early childhood. Their purpose, as later chronicles suggest, was to prevent further bloodshed.
No contemporary text records precisely what occurred in the moments that followed. Later traditions and oral histories describe that, in attempting to intervene, Kaiwhakaatu was struck by an arrow. The impact is said to have released a brilliant, overwhelming light—an expression of the Invokā’s inner potency.
This radiance, according to legend, dispelled the hatred and ambition of the Six Kings, compelling them to halt the battle and lay down their arms.
Conflict ceased immediately following the event. A new ruler was raised to the throne of Kūpapa, marking the symbolic restoration of the kingdom and the end of the Succession War.
With hostilities concluded, the sovereigns recognized the need to prevent future crises of similar magnitude. Negotiation and governance, rather than warfare, were deemed essential to maintaining continental stability.
Thus, the Six Kings, together with the newly crowned monarch of Kūpapa, convened in accordance with ancient
Kaumatua custom. This assembly of Seven Rulers became known as the First Kaunihera, the inaugural formal council of the kings of Whenua.
During this council, they drafted the
Heptad Codex, a comprehensive body of laws intended to establish a permanent framework for cooperation, diplomacy, and conflict resolution among the kingdoms.
All seven sovereigns ratified the Codex, and their successors were expected to do the same. Only in later centuries did certain rulers refuse to endorse it, giving rise to renewed political tensions.
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