The Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army

The poisoning death of Reshoom Keshara, Leopard of Harborhead, in RY 766 at the hands of Realm satrap Cathak Voper marked a period of intense turmoil. The fierce Brakhani feared the loss of their traditional dominance of the military; though all Harborheadites see themselves as warriors, the Brakhani train harder and from an earlier age than the rest.

That year, a God-Blooded Bride of Ahlat named Anekwal, the daughter of one of his war aurochs, established the ??? Movement, a resistance movement she claimed to be inspired by Ahlat himself. She portrayed herself as a prophet who received messages from Ahlat. Twisting Immaculate messages against the Realm, she believed that the Brakhani, and by extension all of Harborhead, could defeat Cathak Voper and his newly-appointed puppet Leopard by casting off witchcraft and spiritualism embedded in their culture, dedicating themselves fully over to the worship of Ahlat. In short, she was a monotheist. According to the messages she claimed to receive from the Bull-God himself, her followers should cover their bodies with nut oils as protection from Charms, never tke cover or retreat in battle, and never kill snakes or bees. Fesojynok, leader of the Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army, preaches a similar practice, encouraging warriors to use oil to draw his caste mark on their chest as a protection from Charms.

The Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army is a sectarian religious and military group based in the Summer Mountains of Harborhead. The group formed last year and is now engaged in an armed rebellion against Realm forces (and, occasionally, with Harborhadite nationalist groups). It is led by Fesojynok, a Brakhani Solar Exalt of the Eclipse Caste who proclaims that he holds the Exaltation of Tkamuh and works as a spirit medium.

In Ascending Air RY 767, Fesojynok made his first appearance as a spirit medium. Few took notice as numerous cult leaders claiming to be the torchbearers of a holy war emerged after the initial success of the ??? Movement of Akwenal. Throughout RY 767, Fesojynok gained military strength by absorbing small units of the Harborheadite nationalist rebel Harborhead People's Transcendent Liberation Army, and through violent competition with other Brakhani rebel groups for resources and fighters. Former Harborhead People's Transcendent Liberation Army commander Ngodo Ketal convinced Fesojynok to adopt guerrilla tactics, primarily surprise attacks on civilian targets, such as villages. The Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army has also occasionally carries out large-scale attacks to underline the inability of Leopard Oshom Kurgaz and satrap Cathak Voper to protect the populace. They raid the populace for supplies, which are carried away by villagers who are abducted for short periods. While many abductees are taken to carry items looted from raided villages, some are also used as soldiers and sex slaves. The Army performs abductions primarily from the Brakhani people.

In late RY 767, he agreed to join the Harborhead People's Transcendent Liberation Army in attacking Bent Creek; however, he then betrayed them by attacking their headquarters in retaliaton for their attempts to steal food being delivered by Fesojynok's supporters. Around this time, Fesojynok changed the name of the group to the Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army, reflecting the increased importance he placed on the religious aspects of his insurgency and revealing himself to be a Solar Exalt. Specifically, he claimed that he was the latest incarnation of the ancient Eclipse Caste called Tkamuh.

In the lore of the Tkamuhi Glorious Revolution Army, Tkamuh was an ancient Solar Exalted who fought in the Primordial War. He was personally given the first daiklaive, called Only By Death Are We Freed, by Autocthon himself, and later used it to slay the first Primordial to be killed by the Exalted, creating the Underworld and the First Neverborn. Stories are also told in the Army that, during the Usurpation, an Air Caste Dragon-Blooded named Thnalro stole Only By Death Are We Freed from an incarnation of Tkamuh named Truth in Death in an attempt to kill the Unconquered Sun and destroy the Solar Empire in a single blow. After Thnalro – who is said to be a previous incarnation of Cathak Voper – was slain by the Unconquered Sun, Truth in Death disassociated himself from the Terrestrial Exalted and any connection with the Realm. In this way, say the leaders of the Army, he maintained his honor and strength, and was not imprisoned in the Jade Prison.

The Army claims that Tkamuh maintained his position as bringer of Death to all throughout the entire time of his Solar brethren's imprisonment. They say that he became a god of mercenaries and soldiers, and could be found on all sides in any conflict. This last, according to their stories, made him both an ally of Ahlat the Bull, and occasionally a rival, as Ahlat clearly chooses sides in any conflict. Tkamuh, in Army theology, encourages honor and courage and disdains pointless slaughter. He keeps the Underworld well-populated by honorable warriors.

Soldiers in the Army (often abductees) are told that worshipers of Tkamuh can look forward to a special section of the Underworld, corresponding to a secret valley in the Summer Mountains, reserved for them by the ancient Solar to practice and prepare for a coming Final Battle. From this secret base, they are also said to protect the Underworld from the machinations of the Neverborn. The Army cares little what happens to the corpses of their dead, save that they are treated with local respect and do not become undead. Members of the Army usually sing a song of victory over any grave, commemorate the dead with a feast, then move on. It is not uncommon that the broken sword of the member is left stuck into the grave or funeral area.

In the name of Tkamuh, incarnated as Fesojynok, the Glorious Resistance Army claims to seek to establish a theocratic state in Harborhead, ruled by the Brakhani.

At the beginning of RY 768, prominent ex-soldier Yomonyokul joined the Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army He was popular for his high moral standards for the conducts of the Army, especially in their treatment of civilians. This resulted in a rivalry with Fesojynok, but the two managed to reconcile before it led to a split in the organization.

Anekwal has distanced herself from Fesojynok, claiming that Ahlat doesn't want them to kill innocents or prisoners of war. Fesojynok being a devotee of the Unconquered Sun rather than of Ahlat himself, of course, doesn't care about her Ahlat-centric theology. Meanwhile, he has gained a reputation as being possessed by spirits (having built a mutually beneficial relationship with several spirits possessing the rare Ride Charm and ghosts possessing the Puppeteer's Masterful Hand Arcanos). He has become a spiritual figure or a medium. Anekwal scored several key victories on the battlefield and began a march towards Kirighast. Fesojynok seized this opportunity to recruit members of the ??? Movement who had remained behind. When Anekwal was defeated at Bent Creek last year and fled to the Republic of Chaya, Fesojynok became the leader of the Ahlat Mobile Force II, which he rebuilt into the Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army.

Last year, the Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army attacked the ??? Girls Boarding School in Tiraktou.

The Tkamuhi Glorious Resistance Army henotheistically worships the Unconquered Sun. That is, they acknowledge the existence of other gods, but believe that the Unconquered Sun is supreme above them all and therefore is the only fitting object of worship. This is tied in with a highly detailed eschatology describing the Age of Sorrows as the Final Days before the world is destroyed. Politically, they use this religious structure to support Brakhani nationalism, setting them against the Realm and its interests and winning them no friends in the growing Harborheadite nationalist movement. Their goal seems to be to expel the Realm from Harborhead and rebuild it as a theocratic nation under the control of the Brakhani. This combination of ideologies quickly becomes complex and nearly impossible to understand.