Batu: The Devil of the Realm

One of the ladies, clearly eager to contribute her own tale, leaned in and said, "Oh, yes, you ladies have no idea just how deeply Kara was involved in everything. He lived near my city, and his influence was immense. You don't even understand. If anyone so much as whispered a bad word about Timurtas, Kara would appear. It was like he sensed it. One moment you're gossiping, and the next thing you know, Kara would show up and take people into custody. And not just for simple things—if someone did anything to violate Yasa or Töre, they'd be lucky if they just ended up imprisoned. Kara had the power to execute on the spot if he deemed it necessary."

The ladies gasped, captivated by the drama of the tale. The storyteller smirked, clearly enjoying the attention before continuing, "But you know why Kara was like this? Like a spymaster, always watching from the shadows? It's because in Uluç's army, Kara was responsible for communication. He managed all the host messengers, those riders who carried updates across the empire. Kara knew how to transport information, using a system of messengers and several horses running at full speed, swapping mounts throughout the day. He was the one who connected Uluç's army with the empire."

She paused, letting the weight of her words settle. "And here's the thing—Kara had the power to give orders to those messengers. If a messenger came to your house and said, 'I need your horse for an urgent message,' and you refused to hand it over, they had the right to kill you on the spot. No questions asked. And no one could take revenge on that messenger. He was just following Kara's orders. That's the authority Kara had, and it was given to him by Uluç, straight from the top of the military hierarchy. You couldn't touch Kara. He was untouchable."

The other ladies murmured in awe, clearly stunned by the extent of Kara's power. The woman, now fully in her element, leaned in closer. "Kara wasn't just some soldier, you know. He was the leader of Noker, the intelligence group. Kara would one day be ordered to eliminate potential heirs to Timurtas. He would kill kings, and he'd even take care of the husbands of the women who had affairs with Timurtas. Kara was deadly in both high society and the dark corners of the realm."

Another gasp echoed through the room, and the storyteller chuckled. "You know, in rural areas, they call him Dajjal—the Devil. People feared him like a shadow, like a curse that moved through the night. But even in high society, in the courts of kings and khans, Kara was the furious and deadly hand of Timurtas. Always in the dark, always unseen, but always there."

The room had fallen quiet, every woman hanging on her every word. "Most of them didn't even know his face," she added. "They only knew the name and the towering figure. But, ladies, you know his real name, don't you? It's Batu. Yes, Batu. But out there, they call him Karadakh, the Khan of Emine Khaganate. That's his official title. But growing up, we all just called him Batu."

The ladies around the table exchanged wide-eyed looks, their excitement palpable. They knew Kara was a figure of legend, but the extent of his power and his role as the deadly enforcer of Timurtas was something few had understood until now. The room buzzed with whispered stories and the exchange of gossip, as each woman tried to recall her own memories of Kara, the silent shadow of the empire.