C?no-Inchoroi Wars—The protracted series of wars between the Nonmen and the Inchoroi following the ancient arrival of the latter.
According to the Is?phiryas, the Inc?-Holoinas, the “Ark-of-the-Skies,” plunged to earth to the west of the Sea of Neleost in land ruled by Nin’janjin, the Nonman King of Viri. The letter sent by Nin’janjin to C?’jara Cinmoi, the King of Si?l, is recorded as follows:
The Sky has cracked into potter’s shards,
Fire sweeps the compass of Heaven,
The beasts flee, their hearts maddened,
The trees fall, their backs broken.
Ash has shrouded all sun, choked all seed,
The Halaroi howl piteously at the Gates,
Dread Famine stalks my Mansion.
Brother Si?l, Viri begs your pardon.
Rather than send aid to Nin’janjin, C?’jara Cinmoi assembled an army and invaded the lands of Viri. Nin’janjin and his Ishroi capitulated without battle; Viri became a bloodless tributary of Si?l. The western lands of Viri, however, remained shrouded in cloud and ash. Survivors from the region spoke of a fiery vessel streaking across the skies. So C?’jara-Cinmoi commanded Ingalira, a hero of Si?l, to lead an expedition to find this Ark. What happened to Ingalira on this expedition is not recorded, but he returned to Si?l some three months later and presented two inhuman captives to C?’jara Cinmoi. Ingalira called these captives Inchoroi, or “People of Emptiness,” both because the sounds they made were empty of meaning and because they fell from the emptiness of the sky. He spoke of flattened forests and gouged plains, of mountains thrown into a ring, and of two golden horns rearing from a molten sea, so mighty they brushed the clouds.
Repelled by the obscene aspect of the Inchoroi, C?’jara Cinmoi had them put to death, and set a Watch upon the Inc?-Holoinas, the Ark-of-the-Skies. Years passed, and the power of C?’jara Cinmoi and the High Mansion of Si?l waxed. The Mansion of Nihrimsul was subdued, and her King, Sin’niroiha, “First Among Peoples,” was forced to wash the sword of C?’jara Cinmoi. With the subsequent conquest of Cil-Aujas to the south, Si?l and her High King commanded an empire that ranged from the Yimaleti Mountains to the Sea of Meneanor.
During this time, the Watch was kept on the Ark. The land cooled. The skies cleared.
Either because of original inconsistencies or because of subsequent corruptions, extant versions of the Is?phiryas are unclear as to the subsequent order of events. At some point a secret embassy of Inchoroi reached Nin’janjin at Viri. Unlike the Inchoroi brought to C?’jara Cinmoi by Ingalira, these possessed the ability to speak Ihrims?. They reminded Nin’janjin of C?’jara Cinmoi’s treachery in his time of need, and offered an alliance to break the yoke of Si?l over Viri. They would undo, the Inchoroi said, the misfortune their coming had wrought upon the C?nuroi of Viri.
Despite the warnings of his Ishroi, Nin’janjin accepted the Inchoroi terms. Viri revolted. The Si?lan Ishroi within its halls were slain; the rest were enslaved. At the same time, the Inchoroi swarmed from the Ark, overwhelming the Watch. Only Oirinas and his twin, Oir?nas, survived, riding hard to warn C?’jara Cinmoi.
Sil, the Inchoroi King, and Nin’janjin assembled their hosts to meet C?’jara Cinmoi on the fields of Pir-Pahal, which Men would call Elene?t in a later age. According to the Is?phiryas, the Nonmen of Viri were dismayed by the sight of their allies, who wore fierce and festering bodies as garments of war. Gin’g?rima, the greatest hero among them, pointed to Nin’janjin and declared, “Hate has blinded him.” This treason within a treason was repeated by others, until it became a thundering chorus. Nin’janjin fled, seeking protection from Sil. The Inchoroi then turned upon their allies, hoping to destroy the host of Viri before C?’jara Cinmoi and the great host of Si?l could close with them.
Overmatched by the Inchoroi and their weapons of light, the Nonmen of Viri were driven back, with horrendous losses. Only C?’jara Cinmoi and his Ishroi Chariots saved them from utter destruction. The chroniclers of the Is?phiryas claim the battle raged through the night and into the following morning. Eventually, all but the most powerful of the Inchoroi were overwhelmed by the valour, sorceries, and numbers of the host of Si?l. C?’jara-Cinmoi himself struck down Sil, and wrested from him his great weapon, Su?rgil, “Shining Death,” which Men in a latter age would call the Heron Spear.
Much reduced, the Inchoroi fled back to their Ark, taking Nin’janjin with them. C?’jara Cinmoi hunted them within sight of the Ring Mountains, but was forced to abandon his pursuit when word of further disasters reached him. Emboldened by Si?l’s distraction, Nihrimsul and Cil-Aujas had revolted.
Weakened by the Battle of Pir-Pahal, C?’jara Cinmoi was hard pressed to recover his empire. A Second Watch was put upon the Holoinas, but no attempt was made to breach the gold-grooved faces of the Ark. After years of hard campaigning, C?’jara Cinmoi finally brought the Ishroi of Cil-Aujas to heel, but King Sin’niroiha and the Ishroi of Nihrimsul continued to resist him. The Is?phiryas chronicles dozens of bloody yet indecisive confrontations between the two Kings: the Battle of Ciphara, the Battle of Hilcyri, the Siege of Asargoi. Proud beyond reason, C?’jara Cinmoi refused to relent, and put to death every embassy Sin’niroiha sent to him. Only when Sin’niroiha became King of Ishori?l through marriage did the High King of Si?l concede. “A King of Three Mansions,” he is said to have declared, “may be Brother to a King of Two.”
The Is?phiryas mentions the Inchoroi only once during this time. Unwilling to assign desperately needed Ishroi to the Second Watch, C?’jara Cinmoi had charged Oirinas and Oir?nas, the sole survivors of the First Watch, with recruiting Men for the duty. Among these Halaroi was a “criminal” named Sirwitta. Apparently Sirwitta had seduced the wife of a high-ranking Ishroi and conceived by her a daughter named Cimoira. The Judges of the Ishroi were perplexed: such a thing had never happened before. The truth of Cimoira was suppressed, and despite her mannish blood she was accepted as C?nuroi. Sirwitta himself was banished to the Second Watch.
Somehow (the Is?phiryas does not go into detail) Sirwitta managed to enter the Inc?-Holoinas. A month passed, and all thought him lost. Then he reappeared, deranged, screeching claims so alarming that Oirinas and Oir?nas brought him directly to C?’jara Cinmoi. What was said between Sirwitta and the High King of Si?l is not recorded. The chroniclers say only that C?’jara Cinmoi, after hearing Sirwitta speak, ordered him put to death. A later entry, however, describes Sirwitta as “tongueless and imprisoned.” It appears the High King, for some unknown reason, had rescinded his warrant.