And so, gentle reader, Geldaran gathered under the Uli banner a mighty confederation of rebellion, and did battle with the might of the Ascendancy. Many are the stories I could tell of that time. I could tell of the march to Keril, whereby Geldaran won herself a capital city, and the hearts of a kingdom. I could tell of the desperate ride of the Eleven to the lands of the Halflings, to take there the Uli banner and raise the Halfling nation. I could tell of the brave freedom fighters of Khorobit, many a day's ride from Mountain's Reach, but setting out still in great numbers to fight under the Uli banner. I could tell of the wrath of The People, and how they came like a storm out of the northwest, burning and pillaging across the protectorate of Sul, even to the gates of the Capitol itself.

I could tell of all these things. But in this short treatise I have not the space (nor, I must admit, the desire) to give a detailed description of all the many marches, counter-marches, sieges, skirmishes and battles of the Uli Rebellion. And there were many indeed, before the final betrayal. But certain events stand out. The Harrowing of Tuhl; the battle of Nunshul Pass; the siege of Keril; and, of course, the tragic finale. To consider these events in isolation is to see only the smallest parts of the great rebellion. The pattern and weave is lost, and the tapestry goes unseen. And yet I have little choice, and shall thus content myself with only these miniature portraits from a far greater canvas.

To the northwest of Mountain's Reach, on the far side of the Sword of the World mountains, lies the city of Tuhl. At the time of which we speak it was home to a large number of Ghorak Zo, settled there by the Emperor Mobius. On a still summer evening in the year 237, while the fires of rebellion flared in Khorobit, while Geldaran sat in the city of Keril in council of war, while the Halfling host marched across the Blight to Keril, an army of more than two hundred Fen'neko swept down from the neighbouring hillsides towards Tuhl. Those Zo outside the city were quickly killed, and the Fen'neko quickly stormed the city gates. Taken by surprise, the city's defenders had little chance, and the walls were quickly taken. But in the ensuing chaos, one stray arrow did a demon's work. It struck and mortally wounded the daughter of the Fen'neko commander. Unlucky, yes, but such things happen in war. Rage and a father's love explain, but can never justify, the brutality of the response. By the personal order of the Fen'neko commander, every living thing in the city of Tuhl, down to the household pets, was slaughtered. Those who fled for sanctuary to the Temple of Gaia were burned alive in the ashes of the temple. Those who managed to flee the city were hunted down one by one, and put to the sword. Those who cried out for mercy (and they were few) were denied, and those who did not (and they were many) were killed where they stood. Three days later, as the blood ran still in the streets, the quietness of death and desolation reigned supreme.

It is impossible to justify such brutality as was shown in Tuhl. The murder of innocent Zo children by the hundred must surely rank as one of the most shameful episodes of Shan Deral history. Militarily, the taking of Tuhl was essentially a failure, as an army of Ghorak Zo retook the city only weeks later, under the cover of smoke from the burning forests of Norlan (as recounted elsewhere). Politically, it was a disaster, as even those who opposed Mobius in the other Human protectorates were shocked to the core at these actions of the rebels. Perhaps, so many thought, the slaying of the Ghorak Zo of Mountain's Reach could be understood as an act of fear, of hasty bloodlust, of emotional rampage in the heat of the moment. But the cold blooded murder of thousands of innocent civilians, murdered with leisure over the space of several days? How could the stomach of those far away stand such things? It was the harrowing of Tuhl, more than any other single event, that harmed the political efforts of the rebels, and it is here that it's significance lies. In those few days, the rebels lost the political battle for the hearts and minds of the general populace, and they were never to gather the kind of widespread support that would have been necessary for a lasting victory over the Emperor Mobius.

And upon such small things as a stray arrow turn the destinies of mighty kingdoms. A trite thought, but a true one.