The Last King of Sippur
From Book Five of Kannes — Hamis
Upon Sundagashil’s death, the Sippurite Empire began to deteriorate when a series of bitter civil wars broke out between rival claimants to the throne. Multiple leaders claimed the title of Kysis after the tradition of Ordumash — some even at the same time — but most rulers of this period governed only a small league, or even a single planet, while others remained largely independent.
List of several Sippur dynasties
Guhuzupag Dynasty at Monan
Agughumis Dynasty at Gosumat
Bogdub Dynasty at Tulurisat
Mogakkunsumud Dynasty at Mangandamsuk
Sudd Dynasty at Multana (non-Saurian)
Grimtegshur Dynasty at Shubba-ar
Ubmurdufanaz Dynasty at Gosumat
Gordushumur Dynasty at Gosumat
Thakgroma Dynasty at Reber
Asturlunis Dynasty at Orma
Asturlunis, a direct descendant of Gordushumur, revived his right to kingship after his skillful army won a series of battles to capture the economic center of Seeruta. Shortly after, he was embroiled in a civil war with one of his own generals, Mantisimiri, who seized control of Allur and years later took the throne of Sippur itself.
Although relatively brief, during Asturlunis reign he was able to make great strides in restoring Sippurite homogeneity. He restored the ancient temples on Ungars and Tonnin. He eased taxation for many people, including in Alluria and Kamun. Subsequently, his death at the hands of Mantisimiri was met with outrage and led to revolts, and once again the empire began to spiral into anarchy led in part by the Allurians who grew increasingly resistant to Sippurite rule. Within a few short months, Mantisimiri was promptly deposed by the son of Asturlunis, Snakakashkun.
Upon his ascendancy Snakakashkun, commonly known as Syash, unapologetically assassinated his rivals, chiefly Pastashunkuntalan and the family of Vamasidolin of Seeruta. He next publicly executed Mantisimiri, who had depended on the loyalty of her former troops as leverage to spare her life, but support collapsed when several Allurian contingents defected. After securing the kingship, Snakakashkun promoted himself as the destined successor of Ordumash, and later claimed the right to rule as the only legitimate king of Sippur. Many of the non-Sippur states broke away from Snakakashkun and pledged their loyalty to Aby-Etanillum, an Allurian war-king who had openly spoken against the chaotic Sippur rule.
Aby-Etanillum tried to wrestle Seeruta, the Sippurite center of power in Alluria, away from Snakakashkun but he was defeated and killed after a long-fought battle memorialized as The Waste of Teliriand for Aby-Etanillum’s last stand against Sippurite rule. When news of his death reached Allur, the people rose up and forced the Sippurite guard into retreat, uniting behind Aby- Etanillum’s youngest son Aby-Zydu, known for being an uncompromisingly vicious warrior even by Sippurite standards. Two weeks after the death of Aby-Etanillum he succeeded him as the crowned King of Allur.
Snakakashkun launched an effort to retake Allur. He drove back the forces of Aby-Etanillum, now under the command of Aby-Zydu, to the edge of Saya and surrounded them for what was purported to be a final attack. Unknown to Snakakashkun, Aby-Zydu had simultaneously planned to penetrate the defenses of Orma with an elite fleet of his most seasoned guard. The plan succeeded and he surprised the Sippurites by boarding their vessels to destroy them from within. This tactic attributed to Aby-Zydu became known as “kulubban” or “breezing” — as in “breezing a vessel”, which means to aggressively breech and board an opponent’s ship while in space with the intent to capture or destroy it. Sometimes this was accomplished by ramming one ship into another. Other times small pods called “Uzulubs” were piloted by one or more soldiers who would navigate through an enemy’s defenses and pierce its hull, allowing the invading party to board the ship.
Once notified, Aby-Zydu left the Sayan battle to join his troops in Orma. The Sippurites were not able to halt the speed of his advance, and several of them abandoned their posts in fear, yielding an even greater opportunity for Aby-Zydu to push his assault further into Sippurite space.
Snakakashkun turned a great number of his fleet homewards, while leaving a contingent to fight the Allurians at Saya. His remaining troops were routed by the Allurians, who pressed on to capture Seeruta, placing all of Alluria finally in Aby-Zydu’s hands. Aby-Zydu declared himself King of Alluria while still fighting at Orma. The declaration emboldened his army and they pressed the offensive against Sippur by leading ground assaults to eventually capture many of Sippur’s largest capital cities.
After the defeat at Seeruta, the Mithi also declared freedom from Sippur dominion after consolidating their power to form what was to become Axum. Manaxe the Mithi king, made an alliance with Aby-Zydu and together they attacked the Sippurite forces. Sippur was now forced to confront two powerful enemies as well as deal with internal unrest. The war raged for several years, ending with the Allur-Mith alliance laying waste to Orma, after which they displaced or executed most of its populace. Snakakashkun was captured and delivered to Aby-Zydu.
Thus the Sippur Empire fell began. Snakakashkun was killed, however, his nephew Solaskilli was crowned king of Sippur with the support of Kamun, whose then dynasty had been installed by Sippur during the reign of the Thakgroman. The Sippur-Kamun alliance assembled a fledgling war fleet at Salstas, which came to notice and then under attack by an Allurian force led by Aby-Zydu. The Kamunan fleet lent its superior tactical skill to the embattled Sippurites, hoping to save the dying empire, yet they ultimately proved inefficient, mostly because they were unable to coordinate battle formations in conjunction with the depleted Sippurite forces. Their final alliance was routed in the Gulf of Askinay and Sippur ceased to exist as an independent empire.
