Quon Tali
'Itko Kan Massacre', Interpretation by Corporal Nobbs
Itko Kan was a coastal region east of the Dal Hon Plains, on Quon Tali.
In Gardens of the Moon[]
In the 7th year of Laseen's rule, during the growing season,[1] a massacre occurred in Itko Kan. It happened towards the end of a day.[2]
Instigated by Ammanas,[3] the Hounds of Shadow killed all 175 members of the 19th Regiment of the Itko Kanese 8th Cavalry, their 210 horses, as well as an unknown number of civilians and animals in the surrounding area.[4] The total number of fatalities was estimated to have been in the region of over 400.[5]
The massacre happened on a part of the Imperial coast road, a raised gravel track with a white, dusty surface, built by the Empire[6] which was lined with heather and gorse. The road, with the sea to its left, at that point dipped after the crest of a hill for about a fifth of a league, climbing again to a promontory.[7] On the slope leading up to the promontory, a narrow track went off to the left, leading down towards the sea and a small fishing village. The path, the edge of which dropped away to rocks sixty feet below, skirted the promontory's bluff, descending down towards a small fishing village situated on a broad, grassy shelf at the promontory's foot, overlooking a crescent shaped beach.[8]
The carnage stretched from the crest of the hill, for half a league, all the way to the fishing village, which consisted of a dozen or so huts and half a league inland.[9] The huts had bodies in all but two.[10] All the dead soldiers had their weapons bared, indicating that they had unsuccessfully tried to defend themselves.[7] There were no witnesses.[5] The body of an old woman, presumed to be Rigga, was found on the road about half a league to the south of the crest of the hill.[10]
The massacre was probably not discovered until at least the day after, coinciding with the eighth day of a recruitment drive for the Genabackis Campaign[11] in the region. The local Captain deployed three companies,[12] a total of eleven hundred men,[13] to guard the site which by now was covered in carrion-eaters like gulls and crows.[7]
Adjunct Lorn arrived by Warren not ten minutes after the departure of the guarding companies[12] to investigate the massacre.[14] Lorn ordered the captain to have the dead removed and erase all evidence of what had happened as quickly as possible.[15] She involved Ganoes Paran, then a Lieutenant new to the local command,[5] in her investigation and attached him to her staff.[16] Lorn was able to detect that sorcery had been involved and that they were dealing with a set-up designed to divert them from discovering something else that had happened.[16]
Aftermath[]
Paran was dispatched to Gerrom by Adjunct Lorn to follow-up clues. When he arrived, he found the town abandoned. He estimated that the flight of the inhabitants had happened no more than a day before his arrival.[17] He found no bodies, other than the occupants of the Constabulary who were all dead within the building. The soldiers in the outer room, which was filled with black pigeons, looked as if they had suffocated. Their captain was dead at his desk in his office.[18]
The investigation eventually led them onto the trail of Sorry, later known as Apsalar, who was abducted from the area during the massacre.[19]
Investigations made later by Kalam Mekhar indicated that a Claw came in the wake of the massacre and silenced near everyone in the City Guard who might have talked.[20]
Quick Ben deduced from Lorn having been called in to investigate the massacre, that high sorcery must have been involved.[21]
Notes and References[]
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.20 - newly budding trees are lining the road
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.12
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.16
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.22/23
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.23
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.16/19/32
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.22
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.26/27
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.21/22
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.24
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.30/31
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.31
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.21
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.19-30
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.25
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.27
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.33
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.34
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.17-19
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 4, UK MMPB p.130
- ↑ Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 4, UK MMPB p.131