Tavol Aylis

Tavol /tʌ'vɔːl/ (bukkean: Tovōl) (c. 1915-1947 SR) was the ruler of Loodon and is considered to be the true founder of the state, having expanded it from a city-state to a country that stretched from the ruins of Nator to Tarnaria. He was also the founder of the religion of Gods of Mercy, author of its canonical texts, as well as an important part of the theology.

Tavol became involved with Vantral's shady business from a young age and eventually became the chief of the assassins squad.

It turned out that the assassins had developed something akin to a religious cult, worshiping what they called the Gods of Mercy and considering themselves to be fulfilling the will of said gods. Tavol became a devotee of the cult, but as he was not just a mere assassin, but the brother of the ruler of Tlax, he began to be treated as a seer by other assassins, which gave him the opportunity to shape the cult. When Vantral ordered the murder of a wealthy merchant by the name of Dirdan Miln, it turned out that Tavol was in a relationship with her daughter. He asked Vantral to forgo the killing, but Vantral refused and pressed him to proceed. When Tavol pleaded with him again, Vantral dismissed Tavol from the position of the chief of assassins, assumed the role and went through with the murder of Dirdan himself. Tavol then persuaded the assassins that Vantral went against the will of the Gods of Mercy and they retaliated by murdering Vantral.

Tavol did not immediately assume the position of ruler, as his motivation for killing Vantral was more of a personal nature, but it soon became clear that Vantral's demise was taken by many of Vantral's enemies and underlings as a sign that they no longer owe Tlax anything. This prompted Tavol to take power and begin a series of local raids to establish himself as the ruthless ruler that Vantral had been, and as he was not afraid to use the full force of tlaxian forces, he quickly abandoned the complicated tactics of his deceased older brother and turned to simple expansion.

In January of 1939 Tavol led a campaign to Nator. After a brief battle outside city walls and then an equally brief siege, Tavol's forces occupied the city and mercilessly butchered all of its inhabitants. This was cruelty unheard of in the area at the time, and Tavol returned to Tlax an accomplished and feared warlord. At the same time, he introduced significant changes to the government and made religion the cornerstone of the law, elevating men from his group of assassins to government posts. A Temple of Gods of Mercy began to be built in the summer of 1939 and was still being worked on at the time of Tavol's death.

Immediately after the battle of Nator, Tavol set on a campaign to the east, to the city of Delbar with which Vantral had a lot of dealings. This was a highly political move for Tavol, meant to exploit Vantral's passive stance and increase local support and popularity with the troops: taking on Delbar was seen as an ambitious move. This strategy had worked, and Tavol became a popular leader.

Delbar was situated on the banks of the Taverda river and ruled by the powerful Overpol clan. They were supported by a superhero warrior, Earmont Overpol, who was the leader of the family at the time. Throughout most of the early 20th century SR Earmont dominated his region and was slowly expanding what was known as the Overpol Expanse. Similar to Loodon's approach, Earmont subjugated the population along the banks of Taverda. He had a good relationship with Vantral and considered him an ally.

Known to possess extraordinary speed, in reality Earmont's ability was a closely guarded secret. Vantral was one of the people who knew the secret and confided this information to his squad of assassins. Therefore, Tavol knew that Earmont had the ability to teleport to any location and two seconds later return back to his original spot. This way he was winning key battles and overthrowing whole clans, by killing their rulers, generals and commanders, and inciting fear. The Overpol clan employed a whole army of spies, who would enter a city long before the campaign and begin spreading rumors about prophecies, according to which the new age is coming and that it will be marked by sudden deaths of those in power. And as Earmont's army would be approaching, Earmont would sneak into the city with the help of his spies and murder key people.

Earmont would use his ability during battle as well, finding an opportunity to teleport close to a general, a king or a superhero warrior and stab them, undetected in all the action.

As Tavol knew of this devastating ability, he decided to use himself as bait, but had his group of assassins be on the lookout. As the battle for Delbar began, Earmont appeared right behind Tavol and stabbed him, but was in turn fatally wounded by an assassin's sword. Wearing armor under his clothes, Tavol sustained only a minor injury and proceeded to win the battle, albeit suffering significant casualties: Earmont's army was experienced and well trained.

Delbar was considered to be the capital of the Overpol Expanse, and, having entered the city, Tavol proclaimed all of the Expanse to be Loodon territory, and then proceeded to burn the city to the ground. Delbar was never rebuilt.

He then crossed the Taverda river and approached Dav, which was the home of the Overpol clan.

By this time the news had already reached Dav and a decision to open the gates was made. Line Overpol, Earmont's daughter, personally greeted Tavol and welcomed him into the city, acknowledging him as the ruler of the land.

In reality, this was a carefully planned trap, devised by Landa, Earmont's mother and previous leader of the family. Calling in all the available forces from the edges of the Overpol Expanse to Dav, she was preparing to set a series of fires that would burn the houses in which much of Loodon forces would be stationed. Additionally, Dav itself had a sizeable army, but it was largely hidden from view, to create a false impression that would the battle ensue, Tavol would be victorious. Since Tavol's forces had been significantly weakened by the battle at Delbar, he, thus, wasn't too keen on yet another encounter and ordered his generals to contain the behavior of his army, which significantly reduced looting in Dav.

However, the devious strike of the Overpol clan did not seem to follow, and no orders were coming through from the palace. Instead, after several days of celebrations, Tavol and Line announced their marriage, with her taking Tavol's last name Aylis. Later that day Tavol's forces attacked several of the secret locations across the city, taking Dav's army by surprise. By morning of the next day, Dav was completely overtaken by Tavol's forces.

It turned out that Line had betrayed her own family and informed Tavol about her mother's plan. Tavol then told Line to tell Landa that he is moving his army to a different area of the city, to force her to change her initial plan. As a result, Landa called in her generals to regroup. Tavol waited until all of them were in the palace, and then executed all of them, including most of the Overpol family: Landa, her older brother Cono and later three of Earmont's sons: Donil, Trau and Ger. The only Overpol to flee the massacre was the son of Cono, Ton Overpol and his sister Gaine. Several palace servants, as well as palace guards were able to escape too.

News about Line's betrayal swept the Overpol Expanse and created an atmosphere of despair, leading most cities submitting to Tavol and the Overpol Expanse effectively ceasing to exist. The fortified city of Noral was the only major city which ignored Tavol's claim to power, though it was not part of the Overpol Expanse to begin with.

In 1941 SR Tavol and Line led a campaign to Noral. In spite of a difficult siege, they were able to defeat Noral's army, and then captured city's governor Tol Treen, who was a close friend to Earmont Overpol. The fortress of Noral was left in ruins and was rebuilt only a century later.

This turned out to be the last of Tavol's military campaign. Proclaiming himself as the greatest conqueror in history, he began exhibiting erratic behavior of a person, suddenly overwhelmed by success, power and wealth. He also began to focus heavily on establishing the religion of Gods of Mercy.

Tavol's change of focus from being a warlord to being a religious leader was so sudden and complete, that by the mid 1940s SR many of the cities of the former Overpol Expanse became more or less independent and none of them were paying taxes or using Loodon's banner, but neither had Tavol organized any sort of activity to regulate that in the first place, instead spending much of his time with Line and traveling between Dav and Tlax, overseeing the construction of the Temple of Gods of Mercy and writing the Scrolls of Gods of Mercy. A theocratic Tlax, ruled by his religious cult, began to be increasingly concerned with Tavol's inaction, however, as his lavish lifestyle and grandiose construction plans began to exert a serious strain on Loodon's treasury, while doing little to refill it.

Line Aylis grew impatient as well, as she seemed to have expected a glorious life full of conquest. Instead, her existence was reduced to week-long feasts and travel between Dav and Tlax. Tavol was also too focused on his religion and began to distance himself from her, frequently leaving to Tlax or Dav without her.

In 1947 SR Line conspired with the tlaxian faction to overtake power, and when one day Tavol came back to Tlax from his usual stay at Dav, Line's guards beheaded Tavol in his sleep, killing him in the same manner as he killed his older brother, Vantral. Several of Tavol's older companions from the original group of Vantral's assassins who held positions in the Tlax Chamber had been murdered with their families, to prevent the threat of familial revenge.

A seemingly unlikely candidate, Tavol is considered to be the first true ruler of Loodon. He had the combination of qualities that allowed him to impress his enemies and his own people, swiftly expand, as well as serve as a founder of a whole religion. Ambitious and even reckless, he was able to take on campaigns that seemed too unlikely for his enemies, but had actually been within the abilities of his army, abilities that he understood well.

Vantral kept the Tlaxian army in good shape and, although no campaigns happened after the unsuccessful march to Nator, had enough money to keep a healthy regimen in the city. Tavol's destruction of Nator made his campaigns a lucrative career choice for many. His campaign to Delbar featured a huge force and, coupled with his knowledge of Earmont's ability, allowed him to defeat the overpolian army. A decisive overturn of the Overpol Expanse made Loodon into one of the most important players in the region.

While Tavol's handling of the conquered Overpol Expanse was not intentional and seemed to be the result of a lack of focus, it gave the overpolians a feeling of being independent under Loodon's rule, which was exactly the selling point of the Overpol Expanse. This had significantly softened the attitudes of the overpolians towards Loodon and later allowed Potus to garner their support and have essentially joined the new Loodon under his banner. This made Ton Overpol's movement less effective, as many overpolians have already been invested into the Loodon project.