The Blightbringer

 

And with this, his name is struck from history.   His legacy is naught but death. His rule has brought us ruin. Our people are scattered to the winds, or scattered across the earth. We cannot even remain to bury our dead.   The man is dead. All that will remain in the annals is The Blightbringer.

— ~An Elder, on the Night of Falling Crowns

  Of all the men who were laid low on the night of Falling Crowns, none were so reviled by their own people, yet so mourned, as the Blightbringer. Once the wise and respected leader of the Tlecti, the Blightbringer brought his people to ruin in a desperate attempte to save his people.  

Chieftan of the Tlecti

The chieftan of the Tletci is chosen as needed, either upon the passing of the former Chieftan or the universal agreement of the Elders. [name redacted] Was elected Chieftan in 1890, after his predecessor had passed due to an illness. The decision was near universal, the sole objecting voice warning that the man's obsession with his people's safety could be just as much a danger as it was a boon. The celebration of his election lasted for three days.   The early days of his governance were warm, remembered as of a golden age of antiquity. Crops prospered, culture thrived, and even the opressive governance of the Shimsharian Emirates was not as harshly felt. There was peace. [name redacted] spent his days wandering the fields, or the edges of lake Tonanepalt, gazing upon its crystal clear waters.   But alas, these days of peace were not to be.  

The Plague

It started small, and isolated. A pest from the distant Cincini had found its way into a shipment destined for Tlanexti valley, and escaped into the fields. Without any natural predators, the pest thrived, and soon began to decimate the fields they took refuge in. The Tlecti's attempts to kill the pest with all their previous methods failed, and more of their crops began to die.   Seeking a solution to this unpreceedented issue, [name redacted] looked to the lessons of the past. The very, very distant past. In a Memoria storage facility hidden in the Begoria Mountains, he found a collection of containers with a liquid that came to be known as Xocoakti-Poison Water. The Memoric remains, including a couple of functional Mechanical constructs, indticated that it had been used as a pesticide.   [name redacted] was determined to put it to good use.  

The Blightbringer

The elders were never sure what brought about the drastic change in the Blightbringer, but the common theory is that Xocoakti, the very weapon the Blightbringer had wielded against the plague, was to blame. Xocoakti was effective in clearing the blight from the fields, but it also brought about concerning change in [name redacted]. His jovial, gentle nature slowly vanished, replaced by paranoia and an obsession with removing every pest, every danger from the fields. His skin turned a sickly pale and his eyes grew a tinted green. He lost weight, becoming a sickly stick whle retaining his renowned strength. Family and Elders were pushed aside in favor of a fervrent goal; killing the Plague for good.   It was by pure chance that a retainer overheard his plan to pour Xocoakti straight into lake Tonanepalt. A resistance was swiftly formed, with the epxress purpose of stopping the Blightbringer's plot and stopping the man from hurting his people, and himself. The Blightbringer was indeed lain low during The Blightbringer's Wrath, but not before several containers of Xocoakti were poured into the lake. Anyone who drunk of it died within minutes. The Blightbringer's body was left where it lay, amoung the very containers he was convinced would save his people, having doomed them instead.