Balchoth History

Cughlara - The first tribe (To assemble) - A flag or banner, as if unfurled in the wind?
Darughci - The second tribe (The conquerors) - Possibly 'X,' representing the taking of slaves? Otherwise, possibly a horn, such as is used in Sumbel.
Degereski - The third tribe (To strike from above) - A mountain struck through with lightning
Keibur - The fourth tribe (A long-distance arrow) - A fletched arrow, presumably
Manglaila - The fifth tribe (To lead, to be in the Vanguard) - A serrated spear-head
Kuileghasun - The sixth tribe (Wolves who run together) - A wolf's head
Adagha - The seventh tribe (To strive) - A hawk, diving
Alabdeci - The eighth tribe (To raze with fire) - A flame
Qalqala - The ninth tribe (To shield) - A shield. Possibly a hammer and shield.
Yekingghar - The tenth tribe (Blades of the Ancestors) - The outline of a khopesh?
Duqu - The eleventh tribe (Almost there) - A sun, rising over the horizon? (The beginning of the final stages?)
Adaghla - The twelfth tribe (To be at the end) - A breaking wave


Ah! thanks for the edit, will be changing those things asap. I thought of that too, the spirit thing, and will have to think on it... unless other people have suggestions.

From this point, around 2251 of the Second Age, to the end of the second age, is just about a thousand or so years, and then to present we have just about another 2500 years. So in total we have 3,678 years of Balchoth History to fill out :D That actually isn't that bad, just about 300 or so years between each Call, which sounds more or less appropriate. There are setbacks in the history.

The rest of the second age has 1,190 years left, that means we have three or four Calls.
I. The original, that we have described here. Takes a couple hundred years to secure itself, slowly expanding.
II. Second Tribe - Calling to defeat a rival nation nearby?
III. Third Tribe - First move from the mountains to the west a little ways, having to defeat another rival.
IV. Fourth Tribe - Tricky, we have the War of the Last Alliance, Easterlings fight for Sauron but we don't know if it is -these- Easterlings. But - not a stretch to suppose that there was a Call, they moved west a little ways, helped Sauron a bit (a Vanguard to assist), but he was defeated, and so once again the Balchoth settled in. They are still a -long- way from Mordor, but during this war they got their first taste (in the past thousand years) if the Westman they are to defeat. Faith in Khamul redoubles, and they begin preparations already for the next call.

---THIRD AGE BEGINS---

Balchoth in the Third Age
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V. The Fifth Tribe - The Easterling Nations that assisted in the War of the Last Alliance were nearly wiped out, the Vanguard the Balchoth had sent destroyed. Hundreds of miles away, there was a turmoil in Rhun. Alliances and nations that were previously allied with each other against the growing might of the Balchoth splintered, and so the Tribes of the Balchoth united and snatched a measure of victory from the jaws of what seemed like a mighty defeat. For the next hundred years, the Balchoth spread north and south along the far eastern mountains of their borders, securing their position once again. The western nations, weakened from their losses during the War of the Last Alliance, saw the Balchoth horde coming from the west and were struck down. While still far from the Sea of Rhun, the Balchoth are now centered some distance from their former holdings beside the mountains. Once the Balchoth have pushed as far as their resources allow, they settle down and the Fifth Tribe is created in honor of the victory.
III. 300

VI. Threat from the north, great horde of barbarians are spreading from it. A call occurs, and the Balchoth gather to fight off the foul enemy. Khamul himself joins the Balchoth, and they rise up with an even greater army, and march northwards, defeating the northern enemy that has come down, and sweeping over the land like locust, gathering both slaves and settlements. The sixth tribe is created by Khamul on the northern borders of the Balchoth Nation in order to keep the northern front secure from any other threats. About this time enemies of the Balchoth known as Wainriders are being pressed westward by the expanding horde to avoid being conquered themselves, and throw themselves against Gondor. They are defeated and settle about the Sea of Rhun. In the future, these will be the people brought into the fold of the Balchoth, but for now they remain enemies.
III. 600

VII. To the far south along the mountains the Harad nations are struggling against a threat that resides there. The Balchoth press to the west is paused, and several Vanguards are sent southwards, and over the next several hundred years the greater horde creates settlements that push the southern border of the Balchoth Nation further towards the mountain. However, a heathen nation resides in between the Balchoth and the mountain, and must be defeated. There is a call, and a great army is gathered and presses south. The Seventh Tribe is formed once the victory occurs, however the horde must gather it's strength for the final push south to the enemy.
III. 900

VIII. Now that the distance between the Balchoth and the enemy of the mountain has been closed, war again is near at hand. Khamul himself is with the Vanguard, and strange allies and friends have come from the west to join the fight. They speak a strange tongue, and are kept far and away from the men. For two hundred years the forces gather, slaves are bred, and an army like that not seen since the last call is formed. So too to the south the enemy readies in their mountain fortresses, and Khamul speaks of glories and honor to be had with their fall. So a call is called, and an army who's boots shook the mountains themselves as they struck the dirt and rock beneath them marched towards the dark and towering mountains. It took three Vanguards to fully purge those mountains, the smoke of their burning cities blackening the sky. Tales of great heroes from those times are common, for these were a strange enemy, and it took the full might of the Balchoth of crush them. Once the victory is complete, the eighth tribe is formed on those southern steps, the smell of those burning mountain fortresses still thick in the air. For the next hundred years, while the other tribes have returned to the north, the Eighth remains and builds roads north and south through the mountains with the enemy slaves. Great mines are occupied, and trade with the souther Harads begins in earnest.
III. 1200

IX. While the forces of the Balchoth, and the eyes of Khamul are to the south, three old men made their way into the territory of the Balchoth. Tales from this time are scarce, but the one that is still sung often tells of a great betrayal, a Vanguard on their way back from the south never returning as they had intended. Instead, they returned to the center of Balchoth Lands corrupted, speaking lies and untruths, and committing heresy against the honor of Khamul! For nearly a hundred years they spread in the heart of the Balchoth like a foul cancer, until Khamul and others returned from the defeat of the Men of the Mountain. Once discovered, a great call was heard and a renewing of the oaths of the ancestors. Many priests had shaking visions of Ancestors weeping at the betrayal, and a great anger was roused in the hearts of all the people. Swift and brutal was the reprise, no direction from Khamul required for every able-bodied warrior and jackal to decend on the camps of the traitors. No prisoners were taken, no questions asked, and the land they occupied burned to be devoid of any life, and salt tilled into the soil so that all would remember what had occurred. Though the old men would not be found in the burnt ruins of the camps, all through the lands of the Balchoth messengers were sent to plead for vigilance against these sowers of lies. The Ninth Tribe was gifted their status as the shield-bearers and the keepers of the faith in Khamul for their ferocity of reprise against those of the Great Betrayal.
III. 1350

X. The Men of the West were now in sight, and a great call went up and the center of the horde began a massive migration was begun. Slaves were culled, roads were built, whole cities deconstructed and moved atop wagon westward. While still much to far away from the Sea of Rhun to send a Vanguard to it, the Balchoth settle in to prepare for what they anticipate will be one of the final battles on their way west. Several easterling nations, including the Wainriders, are pushed yet further westwards as the horde moves. Finally, as Khamul is gifting the tenth tribe, a great cry is heard from the priests. Visions of the Great Betrayers are spreading through their ranks, and the migrations is slowed for the moment. Then, men begin to fall dead on the spot, and Khamul speaks that the threat of the Great Betrayel has not yet been purged, and so the ancestors themselves are moving through the horde like a great Plague, slaying any that are not worthy. The Priests hold a great ceremony, and beg the Ancestors to have mercy, and set their powers on the west. Khamul himself is said to have appeared, and a Vanguard of the Damned is said to have been formed of those who have been struck with the sickness of the Ancestors. They march for the last time westwards, holding aloft Banners horde, and spreading the Great Plague onto the enemies of the Balchoth...
III. 1600

XI. To the west, war broiled around the borders of Gondor as the Wainriders, Haradrim, and the men of Khand battle viciously against King Ondoher of Gondor and his sons. For the past thousand years, the Balchoth have pushed the Wainriders against the Gondorians to the west. They nearly defeat them, killing both the king and his sons, but alas! The Gondorians rally, and the Wainriders are pushed finally into the Dead Marshes. However, not squandering the defeat of their former enemies, a great call goes up around the Balchoth settlements near the Sea of Rhun, and a great army is gathered to sweep up the remains of the Wainriders. For the next hundred years, the Balchoth will march the two hundred miles to the Sea of Rhun from where they currently reside and conquer it's eastern shores. The men of the West are in sight, however resistance remains along the mountains at the western shores of Rhun, as well it it's forests. So the 11th tribe was gifted, and told that when it was strong enough, the Sea of Rhun would be theirs to conquer. A great frenzy went up among the ranks, for the prophecy stated that the next tribe would be the last. After it, no more tribes would be gifted.
III. 1950

XII. And so here the entire race of the Balchoth surged west to join their brothers, some well over a thousand leagues east. Cities were moved, slaves culled, roads built. For the Sea of Rhun would be where the Balchoth stepped off their final offensive on the west. All the sacrifice, determination, and faith in Khamul would come to a head right here. It is said that Khamul himself stood on the shores of the Sea of Rhun and let out a great cry beneath a blood red moon, and so too the thousands gathered on it's shores let up a cry, and the very waters trembled in awe, and the sky cried, and the ground shook in approval of the Balchoth. Khamul declared that the Sea of Rhun was to be purged of non-believes, and that all the ingenuity and war-craft of the Balchoth would be needed to drive the remains of the failed, the Wainriders, into it.
<to be continues>
III. 2200

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II. 2251
Khamul emerges changed and empowered from a cave far to the east of Rhun in the foothills of the eastern mountains. Soon he begins to speak on the Prophecy of the return of the Balchoth and the race quest, splintering from his former tribe and laying the foundations for a new one. While many heard the call and joined with Khamul, others, under the banner of Olii the Deaf, tried to snuff out the new tribe before it was even named. In the first of many trials that the Balchoth endured, Olii and his forces attacked the fledgling camp and slew many of those loyal to Khamul. As the numbers of the new tribe dwindled under the onslaught, Joreal the Believer took up a great blade of bronze and lopped the head from Olii the Deaf in the name of Khamul and the Ancestors. Olii's forces fled with the death of their leader, and were quickly brought under the banner of Khamul. These would in turn be the leaders of the newly named tribe, Cughlara. Men like Ailadul the Convert and his wife, Acila the Faithful, took the word of Khamuls and spread it wide to the surrounding tribes.

II. 2600
Since the emergence of Cughlara, the Balchoth have spread north and south along the mountains from whence they came, bringing into the Fold many who had once resisted. The splintered and wild tribes that scratched out a pitiful existence along the mountains were strengthened and united together, and the first city of the Balchoth was created on those windswept mountain slopes. A great cry was heard from Khamul as those first foundations were laid, and word spread through the camps that a new tribe was being gifted to those who would build the place. Darughci, the name of the second tribe and that first city, taking with it on it's banner and on the shoulders of it's men the Horn of the Sumbel, for now there was a hall in which to drink and speak the tales of those great men on who's labor the city was formed. Bacar the Smith, from who's forges the blades of the warriors came. Jida the Spear, who's courage led many a man to victory against those tribes that refused to hear the call.

II. 2900
So the years passed, and the Balchoth grew, rivals conquered, and at the dawn of the new year Khamul let out a call to arms. For the first time,