Malkin War
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[edit] Introduction
The Malkin War is a major turning point in the history of both Kalchichi and the Malkin race. For the Kobolds it marked the end of their peacefull lives and the rise of an Empire. For the Malkin it was the appocalypse.
[edit] Root Causes
The war was catalysed by the appearance of the Shuldin in the Marabass Jungle. Until this time, the jungle had been the undisputed home of the Malkin. The resulting conflict forced the Malkin to emigrate from their homelands into the northen regions of Xindung were the Kobolds had already settled.
Kalchichi records (Pretty much the only written ones left.) claim that the Malkin attacked without warning, killing and conquoring as the mood tuke them. However, oral tales amongst the surviving Malkin claim that there were some unsuccessfull negotiations. Apparently, the Kobolds did not pay sufficient tribute, or possibly that the Malkin realised that greater gains could be made via warfare. The accounts are confused.
[edit] Early days of the War
While the kobolds have always been able to field large armies, their lack of physical power and resilience ment that they could be defeated by much smaller forces. As the Malkin started claiming land for themselves, the kobolds found themselves being forced into an ever smaller area. It was during this period that the Kalchichians' first started to live underground, hoping to find somesort of defence by living in cramped caves that larger races found hard to enter.
Many of the Kobold cities fell and the archeological records show signs of a lot of fire and death over a very short period of time. At this point it seemed that the Malkins advance would be unstopable, and the Kalchichi would vanish forever. So desperate was the situation that Hasi Calume order the construction of the unsuccessful Zaphor Gateway as a means of escape.
While the Malkin still recite poems about the glory of this time, it was not last. Retchan of Jiyank's invention and development of gunpowder weapons would alter the balance of power.
[edit] The Rise of Kalchichi
Armed with cannons and arquebuses, the tide turned. A kobold with a sword might not be able to stop a charging samuri, but one with a gun can. When equiped with these gunpowder weapons, the shear size of the kobolds armies gave them more firepower than anyone else. That it turn made victory so much easier. It was this advantaged that Hasi Calume used with profound skill upon the battle field, leading to victory even when it seemed impossible.
It would be wrong to say that the Malkin collapsed over night, but collapse they did. Forced back by weight of numbers and better organisation, those that survived fled over the boarder into Laschfell.
[edit] Consequences
The Malkin war forever changed the people of Kalchihci, producing the powerfull and militant country observable to this day. The Kobolds counter attack was so brutal that it almost destroyed the Malkin entirly. They have never really recovered.
