Gohma (Total War)

"This world is full of so much silence. I see it in all your eyes... All of you are so lonely in your head, screaming. Words are not enough. (...) I will see to it that all will dwell in harmony! Praise be to her will! Praise be to Sulkaris."

- Agitha propagating the Gohma philosophy.

The Gohma are a playable faction in Hyrule: Total War. They play an important role in the "Return of Sulkaris" chapter of Hyrule Historia.

Description
The Gohma are a very ancient race that once dominated a majority of Hyrule, having existed long before the Hylians and even the ancient Darknuts. As such, they are found as antagonists in the historical and religious texts of many races. The Gohma themselves are an arachnid species that thrives in swamps and otherwise dark and damp places. They feast on all manner of both living and dead things and are known for hunting down unaware people in the night. It is commonly believed that all Gohma are mentally linked to each other, and that calling any lone Gohma an individual would be inaccurate. Each Gohma operates more like a disembodied hand or appendage to a greater mind that controls their race. Whatever the case may be, their objective is very clear: expand and consume. Their desire of manifest destiny reflects in the armies; overwhelming numbers are the preferred tactic of their kind. Alone a single Gohma is weak, frail, and insignificant. In large swarms they are a terrible force that can bring down the largest of foes when working in unison. As such a Gohma army must be more concerned with surrounding and outmaneuvering an enemy army rather then facing them head on. The Gohma are masters at getting the upper hand in positioning, and when they surround a foe it's very easy for the enemy to want to make a run for it rather then stand and fight against an endless tide of spiders. A properly managed Gohma swarm is one of the most powerful combatants that an unfortunate army may face.

Age of Myth
The Gohma came to Hyrule long before recorded history, in the Mythic Era of the First Sages and Druthulidi. Among the Demons of Old unleashed into Hyrule by the First Sages' treachery was Iemanis, a being driven by its indomitable will to survive, control, and consume. When the Druthulidi, released into Hyrule as weapons by the First Sages against one another, proved uncontrollable, the Sages struck a bargain with an even darker power, which slew or drove the Demons into hiding. Iemanis, among the largest and most terrible of its kind, was seemingly stuck dead amid its nest in Misery Mire.

However, from its corpse, its Seven Eyes crawled forth with a Will of their own, becoming the progenitors of the terrible arachnid monstrosities that haunt Hyrule. Among these creatures was the Matriarch, first of the Gohma. Unlike its animalistic cousins, within the Queen of the Gohma was the capacity for intelligence, cunning, a will of its own. This was discovered by the exiled First Sage of Forests, Sulkaris, as she wandered Hyrule. Seeking vengeance on her traitorous siblings, she began to mold the Gohma to her needs, unwittingly falling under the influence of their Will in turn. In truth, the Will of Iemanis had lived on, and in Sulkaris, found its avatar to again spread through the world.

Ancient Age
Falling ever more under the Gohma's predatory influence, Sulkaris led the Gohma on a rampage into Hyrule in 3003 BG, tearing into the Kingdoms of the Akkalans, the Huskus, the Wind Tribe, and the Minish. Yet seemingly thanks to a miracle, Sulkaris was slain in 3000 BG, by an Akkalan Noble, Rhoaban of House Gustaf, with a Light Arrow during the defense of Akkala Citadel.

Yet, within the Will of the Gohma, Sulkaris lived, on, and in her death realized that not only had she achieved immortality but that her siblings were capable of being destroyed. So her will withdrew the Gohma back to Misery Mire, waiting for her chance to enact revenge and reveal the ancient treachery of her kin. Over time the word Gohma would come to refer exclusively to Sulkaris' Gohma, and not the spawns of the many eyes of Iemanis, like the Arurodas, Tektites and Magtails.

The Gerudo Wars
While the Gerudo waged war on the Kingdom of Hyrule, the Gohma had found their way into the Kokiri Forest. Sulkaris and her army make contact with the Kokiri Chieftan Mido, and he decides to help them when she makes it clear she will kill the Great Deku Tree and make him King of the Kokiri. While driven away, the Gohma still manage to do significant damage to the Deku Tree's Grove, even killing off Saria, and forcing the Great Deku Tree to revive her by naming her a Sage.

The Gohma under Sulkaris retreat, and Mido comes with them despite not belonging with them. She threatens him that she'll have her Gohma devour him, but he tells her that she still needs him as the Great Deku Tree had named a new Sage. He told her he'd expose the Sage to her so she could regain her immortal body, but only if she didn't kill him.

When Sulkaris and her Gohma attempted to absorbe the Sage of Forests, they ended up being locked in combat with the Kokiri, the Deku Scrubs, and even the Huskus, who had decided to help despite initially not believing in the Gohma threat. Sulkaris manages to consume someone she thought was the Sage. However, Mido had lied, and made her consume Mirora instead.

This would prove to be a fatal mistake, as Saria, under the instructions of Kasuto, managed to imprison the sage inside a veridian crystal. Said crystal was then given to the Huskus for protection, and the remaining Gohma scattered.

A Gohma Queen is later seen by Akazoo Vapith, nested inside the empty home of a Hylian child named Agitha who lost her parents during the Gerudo Wars. This would lead her to get infested by the Gohma and become part of their hivemind at a later point.

The Return of Sulkaris
Unsatisfied with the way they were rewarded after the Gerudo Wars, Akazoo and the Sheikah Azrily, sided with the Gohma using Agitha. This way, they'd buy themselves some time to prepare for their eventual spread and find a way to survive them.

In 126 AG, when Princess Oraiya Zelda IV and her daughter Princess Tetralyna Zelda V are on vacation at Malkariko, a city to the south, Akazoo summons Agitha to inform the Gohma the time to move is now: he has set up nests around the city, whose population can provide a good supply for a hive for several months and whose position is perfect to set up a forward base and strike at the Kokiri Forest. Agitha warns Akazoo and Azrily the Gohma still see them as a deception and won't spare their lives in spite of their aid, but Akazoo only requests the Gohma to let him deal with the Princesses, which they find acceptable.

Mido and Agitha then lead the Gohma assault on the city, manage to overwhelm the garrison. Agitha reveals to the Gohma their next target - Palagard's Sanctuary - the location of which is known to nobody but Mido. However, Mido only agrees to lead the Gohma to the city once his hated father is dead, so Agitha assigns a task force to strike at the Kokiri town of Kanokiri where the Great Deku Tree is residing.

As the Kokiri defenders desperately try to repel the Gohma back, Mido reveals himself to the Great Deku Tree and praises Sulkaris in front of him for having granted him freedom, that which Kasuto kept away from him. As the Great Deku Tree tries to explain, Mido orders an Armogohma to incinerate his canopy. In his death throes, the Great Deku Tree manage to kill many Gohma, though ultimately sparing Mido's life, before a squadron of Armogohma finish him off.

With his vengeance achieved, Mido leads the Gohma into Palagard's Sanctuary to free Sulkaris from his grip. At Palagard's Sanctuary, Agitha tries to convince the Huskus Empress Tamako to peacefully let Sulkaris free - to the expected result: the Huskus refuse to listen to her and prepare to defend their home against the Gohma. The Gohma, however, prove to be too powerful, and eventually overwhelm the Huskus. After Palagard is killed and consumed, Mido and Agitha enter the prison and coerce Saria into freeing Sulkaris, who then imprisons Saria back in her place and kills Empress Tamako.

Deciding the newly-established Lanayru Province to be the biggest threat to Gohma expansion, Sulkaris leads an attack on Airu to end the only threat facing the Gohma. She manages to kill Queen Rutela, but the rest of important Lanayru personnel all manages to survive. For the next month the Gohma advance further into Lanayru Province, consuming town after town until they reach Greshou, the residence of the First Sage Malkorbagia. Sulkaris kills Malkorbagia, drawing the attention of Demoko, who respond by first landing an Oocca army on the surface and later using the Aura to utterly destroy Greshou in an ultimately failed attempt to kill Sulkaris.

Sulkaris then turns to her next target: Maphaeus, First Sage of Fire, residing on Death Mountain. With the help of Gohma Shroud Walkers, Sulkaris uses Malkorbagia's Water Medallion to kill Maphaeus, drawing the attention of the other First Sages Solahrasin, Kovaloo and Evaleen. The Gohma engage in battle with them and the Gorons until Demoko uses the Aura again to destroy Sulkaris' physical body and kill the other three First Sages.

In her bodiless state, Sulkaris has Mido free Agitha, who is currently imprisoned in Hyrule, and uses her as her mouth to negotiate with King Kazakk Nohansen for an alliance against the Oocca. Kazakk accepts, and the Gohma march alongside their former Hylian, Goron and Zora enemies against an Oocca surface base to secure portals to the City in the Sky. Unfortunately, the Sulkaris's real goal is taking control of the facility and the Aura on board to claim the Triforce and cleanse the entirety of Hyrule.

As Demoko and the Oocca join sides with the forces of Hyrule, Agitha decides to let Sulkaris use her body to recreate her own, Mido's pleas falling on deaf ears. The fallen sage reveals her plan to Demoko and gets rid of her Kokiri accomplice now that he isn't needed anymore. The Oocca don't waste time and unleash Koloktos, to lure Sulkaris and her Gohma away from the Walker Cannons.

The plan is successful, and Sulkaris focuses on Koloktos and Liyer, eventually standing face to face with her brother. In a last ditch effort to buy Link and Ooccoo time to destroy the Aura for good, the first sage confesses to the ancient misdeeds of his kin and the innocence of Sulkaris. With the aura destroyed, the City in the Sky is bombarded by the cannons, and crashes on Hyrule's surface.

Even without the Triforce, Sulkaris, or rather, the Gohma themselves, still need the Sage Medallion in the possession of Demoko. He was wise enough to forsee they'd seek it, and gave it away to Liyer instead, buying them some time to fight back against the Gohma, and lure Sulkaris someplace where she can be killed off. That place is Hyrule Castle Town. As the sages enact their plan, King Kazakk, Commander Aydia, and Link prevent the creation of a hive in the ruins of the City in the Sky, forcing the Matriarch and her spawns to fall back to the Misery Mire.

Sulkaris rampages through the capital of Hyrule while battling the sages, but is left empty-handed once more, as Lyier had entrusted the medallion to Princess Tetralyna. Sulkaris leaves Demoko's follower to die and heads into the Temple of Time, to stand before the doors to the Sacred Realm. There, the Fallen Sage and the heir of Gustaf are locked in a duel, the sages joining him as the battle rages. Sulkaris ends at the hands of Link after being shot by a bomb arrow and decapitated by the Master Sword.

Her death meant little, as she was but an avatar for the Will of the Gohma, and the pests had not been fully eliminated yet. As long as they stood, Sulkaris could forever be reborn. They had to march to the Misery Mire, their homeland. Guiding them would be Mido, no longer affiliated with the Gohma, but he'd only do so in exchange of a full pardon.

Mido's help proved essential, as the armies of Hyrule, Lanayru, the Gorons, and the Oocca maneuvered through the countless pits and bogs and destroyed every single Gohma Hive in their path, eventually cornering them at the Central Hive Vitreous. That's where the Gohma had kept all the Sage Medallions they had obtained thus far, for a greater pourpose. Though on the outside, their leader was the Sage Sulkaris, something else had been using her likeness to carry out its will.

An army of Sulkaris-like Gohma had been created to combat the final invasion, and the Matriarch had inhabited an Armogohma body. A greater version of the Gohma Sulkaris controlled every other Gohma on the field. But even with their leaders slain, the war on the Gohma would not end yet, as they, their corpses, and their hives were quickly assimilated into Vitreous, a gigantic mass of slime and eyes at the center of the hive.

The ancient Druthulidi Iemanis, god of the Gohma, had been resurrected. It had been controlling the Gohma race for this one purpose, and Sulkaris had proved to be the perfect vessel for its will. Its mere presence on the battlefield was imposing, and its power was beyond compare too, quickly making short work of the allied army, and forcing them to retreat. Only the power of the Goddess Hylia could stop the fiend, and destroy much of the Misery Mire too. The demon of old was utterly crushed by her might, and the remaining Gohma were never able to recover from that defeat.

Sulkaris and Iemanis ended for good, and the Gohma were left to wonder aimlessly, perhaps to regress into a more animalistic state as their Tektite, Aruroda, and Magtail cousins had done long before.

Known Gohma and Infested

 * Iemanis (originator)
 * Matriarch
 * Sulkaris
 * Mido
 * Agitha

List of Appearances

 * The Fallen Sage (First appearance - Opponent)
 * Resurgence (Opponent)
 * Forest Fire (Opponent)
 * Of Princess and Portents (Playable/Ally)
 * The Blight Awakens (Playable)
 * Shattered Sanctuary (Playable)
 * Consuming Airu (Playable)
 * The Knight in Green (Opponent)
 * Day of the Arachnids (Opponent)
 * To Kill a Sage (Opponent)
 * The Cleansing (Opponent)
 * Escape from Death Mountain (Opponent)
 * Unholy Alliance (Ally)
 * Skyfall (Opponent)
 * Sulkaris Showdown (Opponent)
 * The Covenant (Last appearance - Opponent)