387YE Winter Solstice winds of war
Overview
Over the last three months, Imperial forces have engaged in military campaigns. Sometimes those engagements have been wide-ranging and dramatic, other times they have been more sedate. Where there has been dramatic action, or where there are opportunities, we've given a Wind of War its own page; other military actions are discussed here.
As always, how much or how little of this information you choose to know in character is up to you. Part of the purpose of Winds of War and the Winds of Fortune is to make players aware of things their characters should know, based on what their roleplaying says they have been doing, and to maintain the Empire as a living, breathing place where all kinds of events take place beyond the scope of Anvil.
It should go without saying that we ask everyone to abide by the rules about online roleplaying with regard to the military campaign. It's important that the key in-character activity of the Empire world takes place at events. The game is busier and better if everything that can happen in the field, does happen in the field. Military planning and political discussions should happen at events. For this reason, we generally discourage too much downtime roleplaying between events and put strict limits on what can be done online, particularly using our forums and Facebook groups.
All that said, we now present a summary of the key military activity in the Empire - both with links to the expanded Wind of War pages and notes about other important things that have happened that didn't need a full battle campaign write-up.
| Conflict | Wind |
|---|---|
| Therunin | Crimson and green |
Fire and Wood, Water and Stone
Autumn to Winter, and the year ending. Nights lengthen at the expense of the day. Long evenings give way to long nights, rain and wind to snow and ice. As the rhythms of the earth slow, the drumbeat of war continues undiminished, unrelenting, never changing.
Turn your eye to the east, to the borders of the Empire, to sodden Therunin. First came the Druj, harbingers of slaughter and fear. They still hold that land which for centuries belonged to the Navarr. Their malice has awoken the vallorn of Tharunind, which swells and blooms beyond the Sweetglades and Greenheart. The colder weather does nothing to slow that irresistible vegetable tide that, unchecked, will swallow the marshes and the forests entirely. The Imperial armies have withdrawn but the fighting is far from over; the waters run crimson and green.
Battle opportunities
Imperial prognosticators have identified several possible major conjunctions of the Sentinel Gate at the coming summit. The Military Council will muster on Friday night, and the generals will select two of them to be taken up by Imperial heroes. At the moment the full details of these opportunities are not clear; more information will be provided nearer to the event.
All battle opportunities are Combat Highly Likely environments.
Conjunctions
The Sentinel Gate also allows smaller groups of Imperial citizens to reach locations all over the Empire where their intervention might change the course of events. Many of these conjunctions involve combat, but there are also a variety of other opportunities presented by the magic of the Gate.
For most conjunctions, the Civil Service has identified the Imperial titles that are the most appropriate to take overall responsibility for ensuring that a response is organised. Whilst the individual has been named by the Civil Service, there is no legal requirement for them to coordinate a response or travel on the conjunction. They may delegate oversight to another individual of their choosing. As always, Imperial war scouts will be on hand at the Sentinel Gate to provide further information to any citizens wanting to learn more. They can provide updates on the barbarians' goals, guidance on how to engage the enemy troops or advice on how to avoid casualties and return back to Anvil in safety.
Sometimes it is necessary for us to make small adjustments to the timing or size of encounters at the time of this publication and when an encounter runs at an event. Details for the conjunctions on Friday will be finalised on Friday afternoon of the event before time-in (18:00) whilst details for the conjunctions on Saturday will be finalised on Saturday before time-in (10:00). Please check the details of any conjunction you are interested in as soon as possible to ensure that you have the full and up-to-date information; it might also be sensible to check again shortly before the planned time of the encounter. You can check the details of a conjunction by casting Detect Magic (Discover Conjunction) on the Sentinel Gate in the presence of a referee.
It's very important to pay attention to the accessibility note for each conjunction, which covers the likelihood of combat. Further details about the accessibility of a conjunction are available both before and during the event. You can learn more about this on the accessibility page.