The following is a summary of game of Ten Candles set in the twilight of the Three Kingdoms Era of Korean history. Two Hwarang brothers from Silla accompany an envoy to the kingdom of Goguryeo to seek an alliance in the coming war against the rival kingdom of Baekje. In the eventual war between Silla and Baekje, these brothers join the Battle of Hwangsanbeol to avenge the losses of their kingdom.
Some significantly liberties were taken with history during the course of this game. Notably, Goguryeo when approached with an offer of alliance from Silla had made unacceptable demands for territory, which were rejected by the Silla envoy, Kim Chunchu. This prompted Kim Chunchu, who would later become King Muyeol of Silla, to seek an alliance with the Tang Dynasty (China) instead.
Notably, when the war between Silla and Baekje ensued, the army of Baekje led by General Gyebaek won the first four clashes at the Battle of Hwangsanbeol against the much larger Silla invasion force led by Kim Yushin. Baekje was defeated only after the young hwarang Gwanchang willingly sacrificed himself, boosting the morale of his fellow Silla soldiers.
Born in the kingdom of Silla, Gwanchang and Gwanwoo were members of the Kim clan and disciples of the Hwarang. In the years of their youth, they accompanied the Silla envoy Kim Chunchu on a diplomatic mission to forge an alliance with the neighboring country of Goguryeo.
Years ago, another neighboring kingdom, Baekje, had invaded the lands of Silla and conquered many castles. Their armies marched even upon Daeya Castle, whose castellan was the son-in-law of Kim Chunchu. They cruelly slew the castellan and his family, and they buried the daughter of Kim Chunchu in the grounds of a Baekje stronghold, so that her remains would be trodden upon. It was an act of revenge for the death of their own former monarch, King Seong, who befell a similar fate over a century ago.
Kim Chunchu, desiring his own revenge, beseeched Yeon Gaesomun, the Dae Makriji and de facto leader of Goguryeo, for an alliance. With the help of Gwanchang, whose political wiles and arrogance garnered Yeon Gaesomun’s admiration, an alliance was forged, though not without great risk and difficulty.
The sons of Yeon Gaesomun were envious of the Hwarang disciples and had them poisoned. Were it not for the Gwanwoo’s resilience and Gwanchang’s spirit, they would surely have succumbed, but the hardy hwarang youths withstood the attempt at their lives. Despite the treachery, the politically savvy Gwanchang brushed off the incident, leaving the sons of Yeon Gaesomun embarrassed yet indebted for the hwarang’s grace.
Therefore, the members of the diplomatic mission returned with an alliance, and had no need to seek further abroad for allies in the war to come.
Still more years passed before that war came to fruition. In the intervening time, Kim Chunchu ascended to the throne of Silla and became King Muyeol. The King of Silla dispatched his brother-in-law, Kim Yushin, with an army 50,000 strong toward the lands of Baekje from the east, while an army of 100,000 Goguryeo soldiers would march from the north.
On the way, the Silla army found that their supply lines were faltering, for such a mighty army had not been mustered in a long time. Therefore, they sacked the lands across which they had marched, realizing only too late that these were the very lands that Baekje had taken from Silla. The villages that they looted were populated by former peasants of Silla, cousins and relatives of the soldiers in the Silla army. Not a few were disheartened by this revelation, and still more despaired at the rumors that came from the west.
Stories spread of the great general Gyebaek who led the army of Baekje that would oppose them. He had slain his own family so that he would have nothing left to lose in the coming war. Rumor had it that he had taken his own life as well, and it was his vengeful spirit that now led the soldiers of Baekje, who too might be deathless warriors. How could the soldiers of Silla confront such a terrifying foe? At the sight of his faltering comrades, Gwanwoo sang songs of hope that reminded the soldiers of their homeland and what they were fighting for. The songs lifted their spirits, and the soldiers marched onward toward their destination.
Arriving upon the battlefield upon the plains of Hwangsanbeol, the soldiers of Silla looked across the field at the pavilions of the army of Baekje. They were not so great a force as had been feared. In fact, the army fielded by Baekje appeared to be but a tenth the size of the army of Silla. Yet there a great foreboding fell upon the Silla soldiers.
Upon the first day of the battle, the soldiers of Silla rained flaming arrows upon the field of reeds, turning it into a sea of fire, to terrorize the Baekje soldiers. But to their horror, they watched as the Baekje soldiers fearlessly crossed the burning field, and emerged on the other side wreathed in flames! The fiery wraiths of Baekje descended upon the soldiers of Baekje like demons.
In this dire moment, Gwangchang the hwarang assured his comrades that it was but a ruse. The Baekje soldiers were not ghouls, but merely men who had covered their armor with some sort of fire-resistant mud. Whether or not that was true, the story was enough to restore hope to the hearts of the Silla soldiers, who fought bravely against their terror. Moreover, Gwangchang’s brother Gwanwoo mustered the support staff of the Silla forces, including the army’s cooks and assistants, and together they sang a song of hope that steeled the hearts of their kinsmen. Together, the efforts of Gwanchang and Gwanwoo helped to turn the tide of battle and win the first day’s engagement for Silla.
Yet their victory was bought by blood. In the evening, when the Silla soldiers rejoiced over their meal, many of them coughed up blood, for their food had been poisoned by Baekje spies while the support staff went to the battlefield.
On the second day of the Battle of Hwangsanbeol, the armies of Baekje and Silla stood off once more. This time, the soldiers of Baekje began by hurling cruel insults against their Silla counterparts. Such were the foul words which could not be repeated that the Silla lines began to falter, and each brigade might have acted on its own, descending into utter chaos. But once again, the hwarang heroes Gwanchang and Gwanwoo stepped forward and countered with insults of their own. Such was their avenging prose that the armies of Baekje fell silent. And the second day of the war was won for Silla once again. Even so, the army of Baekje yet remained strong and was not broken.
On the third way of the battle, the armies clashed once more, and many soldiers were slain on either side. But on the night of that cruel skirmish, the Silla watchmen reported a most terrible sight. The dead soldiers of Baekje appeared to rise and return to their camp. On the following morning, it appeared that the bodies of the Baekje soldiers had in fact vanished from the field, leaving the ground littered only with the Silla dead.
Therefore, on the fourth day of the battle, the soldiers of Baekje were deeply shaken, but only again the Hwarang brothers Gwanchang and Gwanwoo preserved their cause by bolstering their morale. They convinced their comrades that it was yet another ruse, and the soldiers of Baekje were only putting on an act by appearing to be wraiths. They had merely recovered the bodies of their fallen comrades while giving the appearance of rising from the dead through a clever performance. Such a revelation kept the morale of the Silla army intact, and they withstood the day’s fighting against the soldiers of Baekje with strong spirits.
However, that night a tragedy befell the Silla ranks. A hwarang hero was murdered in the night. He was not Gwanchang and Gwanwoo, as might have been feared, but nonetheless he was a high-ranking warrior and the son of a general among the Silla army. The general, deeply dismayed by the loss to his clan, withdrew from the battle, taking thousands of his vassals and fighting men with him. This dealt a heavy blow to the Silla forces. Moreover, their promised date of arrival at the gates of Sabi, the capital of Baekje, drew near. If they were late in arriving, and if the army of Goguryeo arrived there first, then Silla would be in a disadvantageous position when bargaining to divide the conquered lands between Silla and Goguryeo.
It was then that Gwanchang proposed yet another daring plan. He and his brother Gwanwoo, along with a force of Silla soldiers, would lure the Baekje general Gyebaek into a skirmish. If they could only slay the general of Baekje, then surely his army would falter and disperse. On the fifth day of the battle, the hwarang brothers put their plan into action with the blessing of General Kim Yushin.
The Hwarang succeeded in their plan and had surrounded Gyebaek and his warriors. But they had made a grave misjudgment. General Gyebaek had anticipated their move, and he was already prepared to give his life. Already, his lieutenants were ready to take up the mantle of leadership in his absence. His death would only harden his soldiers’ resolve and convince them to fight to the bitter end. Such a resolute army would take days more or even weeks to finally break. And already, the soldiers of Silla were faltering in their resolve.
Gwanchang and Gwanwoo knew that they had only one choice. They would need to give their own lives to bolster the morale of their comrades. Together, the brothers felt the wind upon their faces and smelled the burning of the flaming field one last time before they made their final charge against the Baekje lines. In their final moments, they sang the songs of their homeland, and their voices were echoed by their comrades whose spirits were lifted by their courage and their dying words…
“May our names be remembered, may the lands of Silla extend far and wide, and may the kingdom of our descendants be protected.”
Thus was the battle of Hwangsanbeol won on the fifth day for the army of Silla, thanks to the brave sacrifice of the hwarang brothers.
Epilogue
In the years that followed the fall of Baekje, Yeon Gaesomun of Goguryeo died in his old age. Before his death, he warned his sons not to fight among themselves. But with their father gone, his sons distrusted one another and vied for power. The eldest son Yeon Namsaeng had succeeded his father’s post but was forced to flee for fear of his life. As he stood upon the borders of his homeland and pondered where to go next, he weighed his options heavily.
He could go to the Tang Dynasty, where he might be received with honor befitting his station, but he would surely be forced to lead a Tang campaign to invade Goguryeo, betraying his kinsmen and his father’s legacy. Or he could go to the kingdom of Silla, a recent ally whom he might persuade to lend aid for his own restoration to power. Had not the hwarang of Silla shown mercy and grace in the face of his own deception?
In his heart, he made a fateful choice, thinking mainly of his own fortunes, which would nevertheless decide the course of his nation’s future.