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The Black Banner Hangs Over Ctesiphon

  • Author's Note: This is a heavily edited revision of A Newly-Forged World: a Hunnic Pādeshāh, a collaboration between my good Bacchanallia pal Kosta and Zuvaeq, a poster I've come to respect and admire due to his successful Remnants of Rome timeline a while back. The original timeline dates back to late 2010. It was a bit of a disappointment that it didn't catch on but after a few talks with Kosta about it, he seemed ready to put his utmost trust in me in fulfilling the vision that he and Zuvarq laid the foundations too. I will be working primarily off the Google Document that they had worked on together though I might put in my fair share of work into this. Thank you Zuvarq and Kosta for posting the original timeline. Here's to a fine timeline!



A Hunnic horse archer around the third to fourth century AD.


Vund, recently crowned as Khagan by the Huns, stood in front of the large mountain where they had buried the body of his father, the great king Dengizich. Once a minor tribal chieftain who ruled just one of the many Hunnic tribes dwelling in the Central Asian steppes to the north of the Sassanid Empire, Vund’s father Dengizich, in a timeframe of several decades, through a combination of political marriage, assassination, diplomacy, and more importantly war, had managed to accomplish the one thing no Hun was capable of doing in centuries: uniting the Huns under a single banner.

The news of Dengizich’s death hit Vund dearly. He and his close friend Balamir had just returned from a hunting trip when the messenger arrived with the news. They quickly rode back to the village, just in time for Vund to witness his father’s burial. He was devastated and mourned him in the way true Hunnic men mourned: no tears but with the blood of men. Vund and his father’s closest companions galloped in circles around the tent where old Dengizich had expired. They celebrated the man’s passing with a great feasting. Vund ordered the several hundred slaves that they had captured in their campaigns against their many enemies to divert a section of the closest river, bury the man, and then had them murdered to keep the location a secret from those who might desecrate it.

Vund was then crowned King of the Huns although there was a great uncertainty in the air.

In the weeks and months following Dengizich’s passing and burial, silence gripped the dominions of territories ruled by the Huns. For a single question loomed in the minds of everyone within the Hunnic kingdom, particularly in Vund’s court: does he have the capability to fit his father’s stirrups?

For thirty years, the official policy of the Huns was to follow whatever Dengizich said. His words would within minutes become official decree throughout the lands. Whatever the king wanted, it was to be done; that was how things operated and it was accepted by everyone who he lorded over without much hesitation. There was no choice when it came to obeying the man’s orders. Defying them was grounds to be executed by archers.

The King’s word was the law of the land. It was as if Tengri himself came down to the ground and dictated his will to his children. The warriors had put their absolute trust in Dengizich as his path was always the correct one. Now that he has gone, for many, it seemed that it would be impossible for Vund to command that same respect. Vund was a competent commander out in the battlefield, being responsible for many of their recent victories since the Hunnic tribes had been pushed to this land by a rival people. No one doubted that the man was a good fighter but being a good king was more than just leading your men in the battlefield, it required skill in diplomacy with the other nations living in the steppes and beyond for war was not the answer to everything. It required political maneuvering when it comes to matters such as mediating disputes and dividing up the war booty fairly among his men.

The challenge for the new King of the Huns was truly daunting. Many wondered whether Vund or anyone was capable to take the old man’s place. How could one succeed a man like King Dengizich? Some along Vund’s court proposed the idea of elevating his late father into the status of godhood, as the living embodiment of the Sky Father who descended down from Heaven itself to reunite his children under one flag! One banner so that they would be strong enough to impose their will throughout the world! Deified!

To young Vund, it was all idle talk to him. He was the Khagan and as such, it was now his utmost responsibility to lead his people in these dark times. They had many enemies but no greater enemy than that of the Aorsi who constantly raided their lands in the days before Dengizich, when the Huns were divided, too busy fighting amongst themselves to unite against the much more united Aorsi [1]. When Dengizich became the undisputed ruler over all the Huns, he had took them down a notch and for thirty years, the Aorsi were wise not to upset the Huns. Now, there was the good chance that they would return to their old ways, attacking the Huns, confident of knowing that Dengizich was not around to smite them with sheer retribution and force. That was not to mention internal enemies, those who wished to usurp the throne from Vund and lead as Khagan themselves..

Tough times were surely ahead.
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[1] Aorsi - they are the Alans.

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