Unseating of Morees

Unseating of Morees, popularly known as "the Serpent's Yarn", was a coup orchestrated by Mylda Toarlameek against the Murdoh of Qep city Erigma Moree in 1552 SR.

Background

After Maksag Oordar invaded Qep in 1514-1515 SR and installed his Jeen Ulan Moree as Murdoh of Qep city, Morees became the ruling family of the whole central region of Qep. Initially Ulan's rule was incredibly destructive since there was no clarity on the longevity of his role as Murdoh, but as it became clear that he is now the governor of the city, he began rebuilding. His rule was, nonetheless, oppressive and while Qep city soon reemerged as an economic and political powerhouse of the region, the vast majority of the population lived in poverty, as Ulan used a lot of slave labor, thus competing with the local landowners and their serfs.

Toarlameeks were a respected and wealthy family that were driven out of Qep city when Maksag invaded, and fled to Lora. Lora was then desecrated by Maksag, but he spared nobility, and Taley Toarlameek eventually became Murdoh of Lora. One of Taley's life goals became the restoration of his family's wealth, including lands previously owned by Toarlameeks in Qep city. However, Ulan refused to part with the lands and marched on Lora some time in 1530, but the siege proved unsuccessful and he left.

Ulan was succeeded by his son, Erigma Moree, who changed very little in the way Qep city had been ruled. Taley was able to forge a good working relationship with Erigma and earn his trust.

The coup

Although Erigma was in charge, his father was still alive. When Ulan died, Taley made the next move and introduced his daughter Mylda as a consultant to Erigma, as an expert on Lora's affairs who could help with strengthening the relationship between the two cities.

But Ulan's death set off a fight for power, as groups that were personally loyal to or afraid of Ulan now felt free to depose his son. Nilma, who had a vast network all around Qep, was informed of a coup against Erigma. He was then able to infiltrate the conspirators, learned about their exact plans and passed that on to Taley and Mylda.

Mylda was then able to upset the coup by locking the gates to the castle keep that the conspirators planned to use to get into the inner part of the castle. However, she made it known to the conspirators that she and Taley want to end the rule of Morees and that she will help them with the coup.

But just as the new plan was about to move forward, Mylda stabbed Erigma in his quarters and hid his body. She then called a meeting with the Moree clan and informed them about the coming coup. She also claimed that Erigma was kidnapped by the conspirators. She offered to lead the investigation and prosecution of those involved, to return Erigma alive and ensure that the family does not lose power. They agreed and Mylda proceeded to arrest and execute the conspirators, while also uncovering that Erigma had, in fact, been killed.

As the family began debating who the successor should be, the next phase of the coup began, as Lora's army led by Taley approached the city and presented Morees with the ultimatum: either the reigns go to Mylda or the siege begins. Mylda, having earned Morees' trust in uncovering of the coup, was able to convince Morees that if they nominally make her Murdoh, she will talk her father out of it and make him leave, while the real power will belong to them. The family agreed and Mylda was announced as Murdoh.

She then told Morees that she wants to let Taley in and begin the peace celebrations, so that she can poison him, which would also give Morees power over Lora, but she wants the Morees safe and outside of the city, because skirmishes might ensue. Morees were sent to a nearby hill from which they could observe the city, but as soon as they arrived, their guards cited Mylda's orders to hastily return back in order to possibly fight Taley's army. Morees were left with just two soldiers guarding them.

From their hill, the Morees observed some commotion around city gates, which turned out to be Taley's army leaving. Thinking that they can now safely return, the family approached the gates, but was instead greeted with an array of arrows, one of which hit and killed Erigma's brother. The two soldiers immediately ran away, abandoning the family, and Morees were forced to leave.

Morees after the coup

Their ultimate fate is unknown. There is a diary entry from Katsag, talking about "a family of some deposed ruler from Qep", and indicating that they had reached Maird, possibly in a bid to continue through to Tonaran and complain to Kren the Younger, but no further records about them exist.