Heroes and villains of Gaiacarius- II (or “I set out to write the short bio for the character and ended up writing the beginning of a seven-page epic, oops.)
Ganzorig Bat-Erdene; The King of Kings
Following the collapse of the corrupt and ineffectual Ijichi imperial rule, the Ten Year War was a time of great turbulence and turmoil in the Realm of the Sohozak; a conflict that saw warlords and regional rulers aspire to instate themselves as the new rulers of the realm. It was also a time that saw the rise and fall of many great heroes and villains alike; from great nobles to the common folk, honourable warriors and scheming strategists, there was no shortage of great men and women from this age of chaos. But among them all, one man stood head and shoulders above all others. A man who once was but a simple regional commander whose ardent ambition and military might catapulted him into the limelight.
His name was Ganzorig Bat-Erdene, the self styled Khagan of the Realm.
Ganzorig's story starts in the north-west of the Realm, in the land of Khablan. Bordered to the east by Yeong and the small mountain kingdom of Thaiba , and the kingdom of Zhou to the south, Khablan is a land of rolling arid steppes, grand deserts, ravines and great snow-capped peaks. But do not let the landscape fool you, for the land is a cruel and unforgiving mistress, ready to claim the lives of the foolish and ill-prepared. Though never conquered by the Nichijin during the Imperious War, the land of Khablan settled on acknowledging the Ijichi clan's claim of rule over all of the Realm in order to avoid further bloodshed. Despite their claims of admission and vassalage, the Ijichi royal family left Khablan largely ignored during their rule, and so the land was left to fend for itself, giving way to infighting and fracturing in the absence of Imperial authority, culminating with the invasion by Zhou and the subsequent loss of the southern territories.
Ganzorig was born into a family of no real renown in the town of Khorluut; a settlement of fair size to the west of the capital of Xanataar. With a rough and impoverished childhood, Ganzorig learned first hand the effects of the Emperor's indifference to the other lands of the Realm and its struggles, as well as the importance of one's ability over bloodline and titles; a trait he would carry with him for the rest of his life. In an attempt to escape the poverty that surrounded him, Ganzorig set out to join the army of the local lord, Jochi. Starting out as a door guard of Jochi's tent, Ganzorig would demonstrate a keen understanding of military strategy, as well as mastery of horsemanship, which would assist him in his meteoric rise through the ranks, eventually becoming a Noyan (military commander) and received his own territory to govern This would be the base from which Ganzorig would start on his ambitious path towards total domination.
As the New Dawn rebellion broke out over the realm in the year 2000, Ganzorig was called into action in putting down the insurrectionists. It was during this time that he demonstrated a certain merciless streak that would characterise his campaign; brutally cutting down and annihilating those who would not submit. Despite his brutal tactics, Ganzorig's campaign against the rebels was marked with victory after victory, earning him great fame and, more importantly, territory as he put down one rebel stronghold after the next. Because of his actions, Ganzorig was chosen, along with a handful of other Khablan warlords, to participate in the final battle against the New Dawn's leader, Kensuke Baba, as part of the Imperial army. This was to be the stage where Ganzorig would come face to face with many of the other lords and ladies who would play a pivotal role in the coming years of the war, notably the Ashani warlord Sanda Kyi. During the campaign against Kensuke, Ganzorig displayed to the world his mastery of military command and tactics as he thoroughly led the Khablan-Imperial forces to victory against the New Dawn, and was greatly rewarded and commended for his efforts. He returned home a hero, but having seen the misery that the indifference of the Imperial court was far more widespread than just Khablan, Ganzorig swore he would do something to change the state of the world, and thus started down his path of ambition and conquest.
Following the assassination of Emperor Go-Naosuke by Yuuta Miwa and his subsequent reign of tyranny, Ganzorig leads the anti-Yuuta coalition built by the cadet branch of the Ijichi clan. Here he would meet with many other future players of the Ten Year War, notably the Ashani warlord Sanda Kyi. He would also meet the Nijo general Natsumi Mori,, who demonstrated her skills by slaying the Yuuta loyalist Fan Hua in single combat. The coalition would meet difficulties at the capital, where the Mori commander, Ryoma Mori, is killed in a duel with Choi Seongjun, the Grey Devil. Though Seongjun escapes, the coalition secures the capital, ousting the tyrant and executing the Choi commander and family patriarch, Choi Han-Sung.
Following the coalition’s victory and disbanding, Ganzorig builds a close relation with the new emperor, consolidating his power and authority, making the suggestion to launch a punitive campaign against Seongjun as a “traitor” and re-establishing Imperial control throughout the Realm. Though in truth this would be more a display of Ganzorig’s military and tactical prowess, and a message to be sent to the other lords in the Realm. Given the go-ahead, Ganzorig leads the new coalition against the Choi stronghold of Wonjujin. After a lengthy siege, Ganzorig leads the coalition to victory, ending with the death of Seongjun.
Ganzorig’s next move, upon returning to Khablan, would be to unify the land under his banner. Styling himself as the Khan of Khablan, he sets out to bring the land to heel, using force when diplomacy fails him. He also stands out for doing something no other warlord had successfully done before; conquering the mountain kingdom of Thaiba in the process.
After consolidating his new gains, Ganzorig then sets his sights on the lost Southern Territories, now in the possession of the land of Zhou. Striking out from Khablan, Ganzorig’s armies smash the unprepared Zhou forces, and Ganzorig reaches the darkest point in his career as, following the refusal of Yang Biao’s surrender and/or vassalage, he sets fire to Hainan Castle, reducing it and its inhabitants to ashes. In an attempt to to push back the sudden attack, lords in southern Zhou ask their neighbours for help, and Sanda Kyi and several Nijo warlords come to their aid. However, their forces are defeated by the Khablan army, and Sanda Kyi is chased back to the Zhou/Gongor in the southwest.
Ganzorig’s next move was to tighten his grip on his newly-acquired territories, and then incited his allies abroad to instigate conflict (in the lands of Nijo, Yeong and the Do dynasty.). In repsonse to Ganzorig’s push for conquest, Sanda Kyi forms the Southern Army with Gongor, Ayutt and the Do dynasty as the main alliance members, with a few lords of both Nijo and Zhou aligning themselves with the Southern Army later.
Skirmishes between Ganzorig and his allies (now referring to themselves as the Northern Army) and the Southern Army break out throughout the Realm, but with no clear indication of one side gaining the upper hand, until the Battle of the Silver Lake, where the Northern Army suffers the most disastrous defeat at the hands of the Southern Army. Despite his loss, Ganzorig is able to escape the battlefield. Riding the momentum and fresh from their victory at Silver Lake, the Southern Army pushes on, more battles and victories follow, and many of Ganzorig’s former allies, sensing the change in fortune, defect and/or surrender to the Southern Army, further isolating the Khablan warlord.
Ganzorig’s meteoric rise and fall ends with the summer siege of the Khablan capital of Xanataar, and his subsequent death at the hands of Sanda Kyi
Ganzorig’s legacy lives in two different lights in the Realm; for the people of Khablan, he is regarded as a hero who provided for his people and would go to great lengths to secure a better future, while elsewhere (particularly in Zhou) he is remembered as a tyrannical and bloodthirsty warmonger willing to destroy entire peoples in pursuit of his ambitions.
